Sorry for the delay, time restraints, family, work and illness again cut into my writing time and creativity.
So without further ado, here's the chapter.
Enjoy.
Chapter 7
Bridge Builder Over Troubled Waters
As Kubikiribōchō slid into Naruto neck he disappeared in a puff of smoke only to be replaced by a log covered in explosive tags, Sakura and Sasuke also disappeared into puffs of smoke before the log exploded into splinters. The force of the explosion hit Zabuza full on causing him to burst apart into a shower of water, revealing him to be a water clone. The real Naruto was sticking to the edge of the bridge with one hand on his throat, pulling it away there was a small smear of blood on his palm.
"Okay, cut that a bit too close. First blood to you Zabuza." As he was about to pull himself back up onto the bridge memories from the clones he'd left back at Tazuna's house told him that Gato's attack on Tsunami and Inari had failed just like last time. Heaving himself over the edge of the bridge he saw Sakura and Sasuke coming out from their hiding spaces, the three of them moved to stand with Kakashi and Anko.
"Naruto?"
"I'm okay, just a scratch Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto touched his throat again. "See not bleeding anymore."
"You're a lucky runt blondie." Zabuza's voice said, coming from all around them. "I won't miss next time."
"If you get a next time." Naruto flashed through handsigns before forcing him palms outwards. "Futon: Asakaze no jutsu." (Morning Gale) A blast of wind came from Naruto's hands clearing away the mist in front of them. "Get down!" Naruto shouted and he started turning. The rest of Team 7, Anko and Tazuna dropped to the ground, Naruto kept turning and clearing the mist surrounding them.
"It's next time." Zabuza said in Naruto's ear as Kubikiribōchō came towards his neck.
"Not yet it isn't." Naruto dropped his hands to his sides and pumped more chakra into his jutsu, using the force of the wind to launch himself into the air. The sharp edge of Kubikiribōchō scraped and tore at Naruto's clothes, cutting the end of his sandals as he rose away from it. As he started to rise into the air, his shoulder caught Zabuza under the chin, the unexpected move catching the Kiri-nin off-guard. He staggered back before replacing himself with a pile of bricks on the other side of the bridge when Anko attempted to stab him with a kunai.
"Sakura, keep Tazuna safe. Sasuke, cover them and when Naruto gets back tell him to give them some clone cover." Kakashi ordered as he rushed towards Zabuza.
"I apologise for this." A voice said from Sakura and Tazuna, turning they saw the Hunter-nin standing behind them holding up a single handed handsign. Haku stamped in a puddle of water, using chakra to force the water into the air that she then turned it into ice senbon. Her hand darted about at what seemed like an impossible speed, plucking the ice senbon out of the air. "Hand over the bridge builder and I won't harm you."
"We can't do that." Sakura said, throwing a smoke bomb at her feet as Sasuke lunged forward with a kunai in his hand, swiping for Haku's throat. The ice user barely paid attention to Sasuke, merely swaying just enough to avoid the attack and darting into the smoke cloud in pursuit of Tazuna. When she exited the other side of the smoke she was greeted with four copies of Sakura and Tazuna.
"A clever, if basic, tactic but I can still sense your chakra." Haku said rushing towards the copies on her far right but partway there she stumbled and had to skid to a halt otherwise she would've fallen over. "Why..?" She mumbled to herself.
"Anko-sama gave me that smoke bomb, a quick acting drug that disorientates a person and affects their balance. It's not very strong but very effective." Haku would've replied but had to substitute herself with a pile of nearby planks of wood to avoid the fireball that Sasuke attacked her with, dissipating the smoke cloud in the action.
Taking a second to reach into her robe Haku pulled out a small ball and lifted her mask from in front of her mouth just enough to swallow it, she jerked and turned quickly to vomit over the side of the bridge. She quickly wiped her mouth and popped another smaller ball into her mouth.
"What the hell are they doing?" Tazuna asked.
"They're trying to get the drug out of their system and combat it with something else. It won't be an antidote but it's probably something that will help." Sakura replied.
Sasuke tried to take advantage of Haku's briefly distracted state of mind and threw a volley of shuriken but Haku vanished from before his eyes and he received an ice senbon into a nerve cluster for his trouble. He collapsed to the ground, grasping his knee as he tried to pull the senbon out only to find it had frozen itself to his leg.
"I will ask again, hand over the bridge builder. I do not wish to harm you but you are leaving me no choice." The temperature around them plummeted as Haku stood behind them all with her chakra visibly flaring in a pale blue, almost white, aura around her. Sakura could feel herself shaking, whether it was from the cold or fear she couldn't tell but she tightened her grip on the kunai in her hand.
"Sasuke, use your fire chakra to melt the ice, but do it might cause more damage if you go to quick." Sakura focussed her attention on Haku. "We won't hand him over."
"Very well, if that is your decision." Haku sighed before suddenly lunging forward briefly disappearing from sight only to reappear next to Sakura with a senbon stuck in her neck. Sakura fell to the ground limp but still conscious, Haku reached for Tazuna only for her hand to pass through him.
"Did you think it would be that easy?" Sakura asked smiling, getting to her feet and pulling the senbon from her neck. "You need to try harder then that." She dissolved into a flurry of sakura blossoms, with her laugh somehow echoing against the open air.
'Genjutsu.' Haku thought quickly bringing her chakra to a stop, disrupting its flow, breaking the illusion to find herself wrapped in ninja wire with Sasuke holding a kunai by her throat.
"Well executed." Haku praised them, "I hadn't expected such a genjutsu from one so young." She aimed her words at Sakura, "I assume I was caught while I was being sick?" Sakura nodded once. "I underestimated you, that won't happen again." With that said Haku used Shunshin to escape the wire and stood ten feet away from them with her back to them. "Hyoton: Kōtta Pēsu." (Frozen Paces)
Sasuke drew a handful of shuriken and threw them but when he tried to move he found his feet were frozen in place, muttering a curse under his breath as he looked up and barely managed to get a kunai out in time to deflect a senbon from Haku. Haku went through a series of one-handed signs, "Hyoton: Komori-uta." (Chilling Lullaby) A cold breeze flowed past Sasuke's ears as she rushed past him, the sound soothing his rapid heartbeat and countering the adrenaline in his veins. His body relaxed as his arms dropped to his sides and his eyes glazed over, staring off into the middle Sasuke temporarily incapacitated Haku turned her attention to Sakura, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Sakura tried looking around to find Haku but her hair was grabbed from behind and she was forced to her knees before she had a chance to do anything.
"Long hair is a liability when you're inexperienced." Haku said emotionlessly, pulling harshly causing Sakura to scream in pain. Looking around as much as she could Sakura glared up at Haku.
"Thanks for the… advice!" Sakura shouted as she brought her hand up, chakra visible surrounding her flat hand. While it wasn't as sharp or powerful as it should've been it would do the job she need it swung her hand above her head and cut through her hair, rolling away and putting herself between Haku and Tazuna. Due to her low chakra reserves and limited experience Sakura had run through a lot of her chakra between casting the genjutsu, making herself faster and keeping herself warm. She was in a vulnerable position and weakened state but she'd said she'd get better, there was only one way to do that and that was not backing down from a challenge.
"I'm afraid this is where our battle ends." Haku took a step forward, letting Sakura's cut hair fall from her hand, but jumped to the side as a kunai hit the ground in front of her.
"Things are only just getting started." Anko smirked as she licked her lips. "I'm going to have fun with you. Fangirl, help out the mental break and stay back."
"On it." Sakura took Tazuna's hand and pulled him towards Sasuke.
"So, where do I cut first?" Anko asked herself, running her tongue over the edge of a kunai and grinning manically at act and crazed presence that Anko caused Haku to feel something she'd never felt before, a chill ran down her spine.
Naruto wobbled in the air as he tried to control his return to earth, trying to aim for the bridge and not fall into the water below.
"This was a lot simpler in my head." He muttered as he watched the battle below unfold. "At least it looks believable, time to get back in there." Naruto cut the flow of chakra to his hands and began to drop towards the bridge, making his trademark cross handsign a swarm of Shadow Clones appeared in front of him. He landed on the back of the closest clone and jumped away before it poofed out of existence, he repeated the process again and again, each time loosing a little speed and allowing himself to control his descend to the bridge as well as where he wanted to land.
While everything else had been going on Kakashi had been locked in combat with Zabuza, minor cuts and bruises littered their bodies as they glared at each other. Taking a split second to catch their breaths they launched towards each other once more, kunai meeting Kubikiribōchō in a flash of sparks as both blades scraped across each other continuing their path to meet flesh. Kubikiribōchō cut into Kakashi shoulder while the Jonin's kunai slashed across Zabuza's cheek, the bandages on the rogue-nin's face fell away as the kunai sliced them open revealing Zabuza's pointed teeth as he grinned.
"Another point for me." Zabuza taunted.
"That's what you think." Kakashi replied before his form started to lose cohesion and revealed that he was a lightning clone, sending a shock down Kubikiribōchō causing Zabuza to fly backwards, sparking as he rolled across the ground. As the former Kiri-nin flipped back to his feet he swung his sword around catching Naruto with the flat of the blade, as he attempted a sneak attack, sending the blonde towards Anko as she dodged more of Haku's ice senbon.
"Now the brat's out of the way I can really let loose." Zabuza grinned as he stabbed Kubikiribōchō into the bridge and started weaving handsigns. Gripping his hitai-ate Kakashi slid it up to his forehead, revealing his Sharingan and closed his other eye, he then started to weave the same handsigns as Zabuza, racing to see who could finish them first.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" (Water Dragon) They shouted in unison and twin serpentine water dragons rose up from beneath the bridge, the dragons coiled around each other before clashing and breaking apart. The destruction of the jutsu caused water to flood the bridge, soaking everything in range and although the water made it easier for Zabuza to use his jutsu is also put him at a disadvantage as he saw Kakashi's hand start sparking with lightning. Zabuza quickly focussed his chakra and channelled it into the water around him, lifting it into the air and melding it into blades. "Suiton: Mizu Tanken no Jutsu." (Water Daggers) The blades flew at Kakashi, forcing the Copy-Nin to abandon his attempt to create a lightning jutsu in an effort to dodge. The water blades stabbed deeply into concrete slabs that formed the bridge before losing cohesion and returning to small puddles of water. A quick substitution jutsu let Kakashi appear behind Zabuza only for the Kiri-nin to release his jutsu, pull his sword from the bridge and spin around with a vicious strike aiming to separate Kakashi's head from his body. Even if this was only a fake fight, Zabuza would be damned if he wasn't going to enjoy wasn't every day you got to fight against someone with Kakashi's reputation.
Naruto managed to flip himself in the air after being battered aside by Zabuza only for him to slam into Anko before he could warn her. He tried to apologise but found himself surrounded by her bosom as she rolled both of them to avoid a shower of ice senbon.
"You might be the first to enjoy that without having to buy me dinner first blondie, I'll think of someway to get reimbursed later." Anko said as she rose to one knee, her eyes not on Naruto but searching the battlefield for her opponent. "Now get into this fight, we can't pin this bitch down."
"Please don't call me that." Haku said from Anko's shoulder as ice started to encase the purple haired kunoichi. Anko threw Naruto out of her arms and towards his teammates, so he wouldn't get frozen before she tried to escape herself but the act of saving Naruto was the last thing Anko did as the ice quickly covered her entire body. Haku stepped around Anko and in front of Genin portion of Team 7. "Please hand over the Bridge Builder, I don't wish to hurt children."
"We're not children." Naruto said, getting to his feet and pulling his hitai-ate tight around his head.
"We're Shinobi of Konohagakure." Sakura added standing next to him, putting a pair of black gloves on.
"And we're just getting started." Sasuke finished moving to Naruto's other side, spinning a kunai on his finger.
An unspoken agreement passed through the three of them as Naruto immediately made his favourite handseal.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted as massive clouds of smoke appeared around them and an army of orange clad blonde Genin charged out with a roar.
Haku watched the horde of Naruto approach with a sense of trepidation before gripping a handful of senbon and flashing through a series of one handed seals. Reaching the end of the sequence she slapped her hand to the water covered ground.
"Kōri no yōna hansha no Jutsu" (Icy Reflection)
From the water rose a large slab of ice and as the army of Narutos hit the mirror they were absorbed into it before being sent back out as ice figures, though in fewer numbers. While Haku was defending herself against Naruto's assault Sasuke had taken up a guard position with Tazuna so Sakura could run to Anko, once the pink haired kunoinchi was close enough she jumped forward with a chakra powered punch. The punch wasn't as powerful as it could've been as Sakura didn't know what would happen if she shattered the ice, fractures spider-webbed out from the point of impact but did little else bar allowing air to reach Anko. Sakura reared her fist back for another attack but a warning shout from Naruto forced her to abandon the punch and roll to the took a couple of senbon in the back of her shoulder, due to fatigue slowing her reaction time and her own past of not training as hard as she should've. Ice formed around her shoulder stopping her from using that arm and as a by-product stopping her from bleeding.
"Cover Tazuna." Sasuke shouted, as he surged forward with his hands swiftly flowing through a series of seals, stopping on the Tiger seal. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." (Grand Fireball Jutsu). Fire flew from Sasuke's mouth towards Haku, hitting the large ice slab she'd made earlier and slowly melting its way through.
"Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō." (Hidden Jutsu: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals)The ice slab shattered into pieces and flew away from Sasuke's jutsu, surrounding him. The young Uchiha dropped his attack as studied the panes of ice as they closed in around him.
"Sasuke move!" Naruto shouted as he ran in and pushed Sasuke out of the way before the mirrors could block off any escape route.
Rolling as he hit the ground Sasuke quickly turned his attention back to Haku's jutsu just in time to see Naruto give him a smile and thumbs up before he was completely hidden from sight.
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sasuke yelled, pulling out a kunai and wrapping an explosive tag around it. He launched the kunai at the nearest ice mirror hitting it with easy but when the explosion cleared the mirror wasn't so much as dirtied, let alone destroyed like he'd planned.
"I'm afraid your friend is doomed." Haku said appeared in the mirror he'd just attacked. "My mirrors cannot be destroyed by anything you currently possess."
"SHANNARO!" Sakura screamed as she attacked the mirror, landing a chakra filled punch dead centre of the ice pane only for Haku to look down at the fist.
"You do not possess the strength to break my mirrors either. Give me Tazuna and I will let your friend live." A cry of pain came from inside the icy dome, one of the panes of ice cleared showing Naruto standing uneasily with senbon sticking out of his arms. "He can no longer defend himself, do not test my resolve." The view of Naruto faded away. "The bridge builder, now."
"Keep Tazuna safe." Naruto called from inside the jutsu, "It takes more than a few pins to stop me." There was a brief pause before Naruto screamed in pain again. "That all you got?" Another scream split the air followed Naruto's taunt and every other taunt he shouted to the air.
Sakura made a move towards the ice dome but Sasuke stopped her, she turned to ask him why he'd stopped her. The sight of Sasuke cause her question to die in her throat, his eyes were glued to the ice dome and his fist clenched tight. She didn't know what was going through Sasuke's mind but the fact there wasn't anything they could do to help their teammate was frustrating him to no end. Obviously they could hand over Tazuna but that wasn't an option, they'd been hired to protect him and that's what they'd do. They could attempt to break Anko out of her frozen prison but there was no doubt in their minds that if they attempted it they'd be hit by ice senbon just like Sakura had been earlier.
"Tell you friend to stop resisting." Haku demanded. Sasuke replied with a short huff of amusement.
"Even if we did he wouldn't listen. He's that stupid he doesn't know how to stay down."
"Hey!"Came an indignant shout from Naruto.
"It's true, Naruto doesn't know the meaning of give up. He has stubbornness issues." Sakura added.
"Very well." Haku said sadly, disappearing from the ice pane before a bloodcurdling scream overshadowed all other noise on the bridge, even stopping Kakashi and Zabuza's fight as they looked to the source. Haku reappeared in the ice pane. "Hand over the bridge builder and I will allow you to retrieve your friend's body." Her tone was filled with regret and apology but didn't take away from the actions she'd taken. The ice panes moved to show Naruto laying on the ground with hundreds of senbon sticking out of his body.
Sasuke lashed out with a volley of shuriken which exploded into clouds of thick black smoke as they impacted Haku's panes of ice. He dashed forward under the cover of the smokescreen, sliding into the ice dome as the panes closed behind him.
"That was a foolish and useless attempt, if you had surrendered Tazuna I would have let you take your friend. Now I have another bargaining chip to use against the girl." Haku said, appearing in all of the panes surrounding Sasuke.
Sasuke knelt by Naruto and felt for a pulse, there was one but it was incredibly weak. As Sasuke started to stand he cried out and stumbled, a senbon piercing his ankle and sealing itself in with ice. He glared at Haku as she disappeared from one mirror and reappeared in another.
"I have hobbled you, I am stronger, faster and more experienced. You have no chance of victory, surrender the bridge builder. Haku stated plainly, moving from mirror to mirror at blindly speeds appearing in all of them at the same time.
"I have a goal that I must complete, I have to get stronger, so I'll beat you and anyone else that gets in my way." Sasuke said slowly, his voice steadily getting louder as he rose to his feet, keeping his weight off his injured ankle. His hands blurred as he focussed his chakra, as he was about to release another fireball he paused, seeing a faint blur escape the mirror he'd aimed for. On instinct he followed the blur as he let loose a fireball, barely catching the hem of Haku's kimono. As he continued to follow the blur he caught sight of himself in the mirrors and felt his confidence grow.
"A worthy attempt but futile."
"That's what you think." Sasuke said with a low chuckle. "But now I can see you!" Sasuke turned to the mirror Haku was in showing her a manic grin and revealing his eyes were no longer black but red with a single black tomoe. Sasuke Uchiha had finally awoken Sharingan and was determined to put it to good use. He stood still watching as Haku zipped back and forth between mirrors and shot out another fireball jutsu, once more clipping the end of Haku's kimono. The pair traded attacks back and forth, fireballs barely clipping Haku while senbon showered down on Sasuke, covering every inch of his body but not doing any serious damage. Mild paralytics slowing him down but his adrenaline and sheer force of will kept him from succumbing.
Sakura watched as gouts of flame shot from between panes of ice, worried for her teammates she wanted to run and help but protecting Tazuna was the mission and she couldn't leave him alone. She started to weave handsigns to cast a genjutsu but stopped when a flash appeared in the sky.
"Huh, it's about time." Zabuza grunted as he shouldered his sword, "Any longer and I would've had to start getting serious. Haku, let the little bitch out."
"At once, sir." Haku said, releasing her jutsu letting a shower of ice particles float to the ground. Sasuke made an attempt to attack Haku again but stopped when Kakashi appeared before him. Sakura flinched as the ice surrounding Anko shattered, as the Tokubetsu Jonin broke out of her confinement with a flex of chakra enhanced strength.
"Damn right it's about time. It was fucking cold in there, look my nipples. I could cut diamonds with these." Anko groused, opening her coat showing off her 'pain'. Kakashi sighed, Sakura's cheeks went a shade darker than usual and Tazuna just stared in amazement while Sasuke merely looked away. "Hey Emo, make me a bonfire before I get any colder. You know what, don't bother I'll do it myself." Holding up a tiger seal Anko spat a fireball at some timber that had fallen during the fight. "Ah, much better." She sighed happily, rubbing her hands together and holding them out to the flame.
"Wha…what's going on?" Sakura asked, confused about why one second her team was fighting for their lives and the next they were just standing around with their enemies like nothing had happened.
"A temporary alliance." Anko replied, not taking her attention from the flames. "Gato was going to betray them whether they beat us or not, so we faked the fight to draw him and his thugs out."
"What about Naruto?!" Sakura shouted angrily. "He's dead!"
"That's a clone." Anko said off-handily, flinging a kunai into Naruto causing him to disappear into a poof of smoke.
"But he had a pulse." Sasuke said, wincing slightly as he started pulling senbon out of his arms and legs. "It was weak but it was definitely there."Sakura walked over to start healing some of Sasuke's injuries.
"Chakra flow through a clone can feel like a weak pulse in some cases. Making a clone that sturdy takes a lot of chakra so it was more likely to feel as though there was a pulse."
"Where's Naruto then?"
"Look over the edge."Anko jerked a thumb to the barrier of the bridge."Situational awareness Fangirl, you need to work on it."
Walking to the edge the whole group peered over and saw a boat loaded with thugs that had been tied up with Gato lashed to the bow of the ship like a figurehead. Manning the ship's various functions were Naruto clones while the original stood on the rail at the bow of the ship, waving happily while looking soaked to the bone.
Flashback
Tsunami flinched as the front door of her home was kicked off it's hinges, turning from her sewing she watched as a gang of Gatos men entered.
"You're coming with us bitch, Gato's going to make an example out of you." Waraji said, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her out of her grin formed on his lips, revealing broken and rotten teeth."All of us are going to enjoy helping him too."
"Leave my mom alone!" Inari shouted as he entered the room, charging with a toy sword in his hands. Zōri just smirked as he drew his katana swinging it at the child, he expected to see a look of fear on the boy's face but instead saw a smirk. Inari slid across the floor, barely dodging the attack and went right between the man's legs.
"Sennen Goroshi." (Thousand Years of Death)
Zōri felt a ripple of pain rush through his body before he was blasted across the room headfirst into a wall, unconscious he crumpled to the ground.
"Never underestimate a ninja." Inari said dusting his hands before he disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing himself to be a disguised Naruto.
"You keep fighting and the bitch dies." Waraji warned, raising his sword to Tsunami's neck. Naruto closed his eyes briefly and sighed before opening them up again.
"What did I just say?" He replied. Waraji didn't have time to think about what Naruto had said as Tsunami disappeared in smoke and Naruto clicked his fingers, around the room various pieces of furniture transformed into Naruto and piled onto the thugs. Out of the corner of his eye Waraji saw the smoke clear and as he turned his head saw that Tsunami was now another Naruto.
"Never underestimate a ninja." The clone that Waraji holding said with a grin, grabbing Waraji's hand the clone kicked off the floor, swinging himself up and kicking Waraji in the face. Waraji released his hold on the clone's hair and his sword as he stumbled backwards holding his broken nose. The real Naruto charged forward and delivered a jumping knee to Waraji's face, grabbing the back of his head in the process and as Waraji's head reeled back pulled it towards his own, driving his hitai-ate into the bridge of Waraji's nose. With that final stab of pain Waraji's sight faded to black and he collapsed to the floor, blood slowly rolled from his destroyed nose and started to pool on the floor.
Naruto turned to his clones, ordering them to tie the thugs up and keep watch over on them, before walking to one of the bedrooms and swallowing a couple of soldier pills as he knocked on the door.
"It's okay, you can come out now."
The door slowly slid open revealing Tsunami's concerned face, Naruto smiled at her and Inari as the young boy poked his head out from behind his mother. Inari's hand were shaking but it didn't stop him from holding a small toy crossbow tightly.
"I've dealt with Gato's men, they're tied up outside and I'll fix your door when I get back. I've got some stuff to take care of and my clones will be around to look out for you."
"I…I want to help." Inari said stepping forward, Naruto grinned and pat the boy on the shoulder.
"If that's what you want to do then I won't stop you. Everyone can help in their own way but they've got to find out how on their own." Naruto turned and walked towards the front door, stopping before crossing the threshold. "Inari."
"Yeah?"
"Kaiza would be proud of you." With that said Naruto disappeared from sight.
A few minutes later he was further down the dock with Zōri tied upside down above the water, slapping the man hard across the face woke roused him from his unconsciousness.
"Where's Gato?"
"Like I'd tell a fuc.." The rest of Zōri's sentence was lost as Naruto raised a hand and Zōri dropped into the cold water below him, waiting a few seconds Naruto lowered his hand and his clones pulled on the rope raising Zōri from the sea. The rope led from Zōri to a pulley and then down to a group of five clones who had control of his position.
"Let's try this again, you have information I want. If you don't give it to me that I can move on to any of these other poor excuses for people, I don't want to kill anyone but I'll do whatever I have to to protect people and complete my mission. So, where's Gato?"
Zōri remained silent and was once again dropped into the water, for longer this time and additionally being jolted with electricity. Being lifted out of the water again he saw Naruto no longer standing on the dock but hanging off the edge with his hand just above the water.
"Lightning isn't my element but I can manage enough of a spark to make this very painful. Tell me where to find Gato or you'll experience pain like you wouldn't believe." Naruto's hand became enveloped in a thin coating of Kurama's chakra as it was placed on Zōri's chest, causing the man to scream in agonising pain. "Your choice, face justice or embrace death."
A couple of minutes later Naruto was running towards the opposite side of the village, where Zōri had told him that Gato had assembled his small army of thugs in preparation of killing everyone left on the bridge.
I've got to say, I'm a little impressed you had that in you. Kurama said.
Not the time. Naruto replied, cutting their connection and pouring on more speed but as he turned the corner of a house he caught sight of Gato's men on a boat slowly approaching. Acting quickly he pulled his goggles from his pouch, putting them on before sliding into the water unnoticed and created some clones, knowing his last second plan they got into position and waited. As the boat passed them, they latched onto the hull with chakra and slowly climbed their way to just below the water level while the original made his way to the stern. The clones counted to thirty before bursting out of the water and immediately launching an attack onto the thugs as the original Naruto crept over the edge of the boat, pulling his goggles down to hang around his neck and slipped into the cabin.
While his clones were dealing with the thugs and causing a distraction Naruto knocked out the captain of the boat, replacing him with a clone to keep the course steady and stealthily made his way below deck searching for Gato. Sticking to the shadowed ceiling Naruto crawled along, unnoticed by the few thugs that passed below him, eventually he found his way to the main cabin.
Two thugs guarded the door and then didn't stand a chance as Naruto dropped on top of them, cracking their heads together before driving them into the floor for good measure. Testing the doorknob revealed that the door was unlocked, Naruto grinned as he took a couple of steps back and charged at the door. He jumped and double kicked the door open causing it to fly open and crash against the wall as it swung on its hinges, Naruto himself landed in a crouch, steadying himself with one hand with the other reaching back behind him.
Spending a split second to glance around the room all he saw was Gato standing behind a desk looking slightly startled, the man seemed to be a little shorter and plumper then the memories Naruto had of him. Darting forward before the man could raise an alarm Naruto vaulted over the desk, scattering the paperwork and slamming into Gato, forcing the man back into a wall and pressing a kunai to his neck.
"Not a sound." Naruto whispered coldly into Gato's ear. Turning his attention to the man's face Naruto saw that the impact with the wall has caused Gato's glasses to fall from his face revealing a pair of small beady eyes which were initially filled with fear but now slowly started to calm down and take on a more confident expression. Chuckling lowly Naruto met Gato's gaze unflinchingly and gave him a wide toothy grin. "I might be a kid but there's a reason I'm called a monster." As he spoke Naruto's canines sharpened into small fangs, his whisker marks darkened, his hair started to sway in a nonexistent breeze and his eyes changing from blue to blood red. "Now, let's talk about how you're going to repay the people you've terrorized." Naruto's voice deepened as Kurama's chakra coated his vocal chords with every word he said.
The confidence in Gato's face slackened as the small blonde child in front of him gave off the most threatening aura he'd ever experienced, what little willpower he had left was dedicated to keeping his bowels from slackening as much as his face had.
Flashback ends
As the boat docked at the platform below the bridge Kakashi was waiting for it, Naruto hopped off the rail and turned to face Gato.
"Thanks for the ride." He said, lightly slapping Gato's cheek before turning to face Kakashi, holding out a slightly damp piece of paper. "All of Gato's secret accounts, some can go to Zabuza, we can take the rest of the mission cost and then what's left should go back to the people Gato stole it from."
"You think that's your decision to make?" Kakashi asked, taking the paper.
"No, but it's the right one." Naruto replied, meeting Kakashi's gaze. "We made a deal with Zabuza and we need to keep it, otherwise we're no different than Gato or any of the other bad guys out there."
"Sometimes we are the bad guys." Kakashi looked at Gato. "By stopping Gato from taking over we've damaged his company and put people's livelihoods at risk. Good and bad are a matter of perspective, take Zabuza for example, to the Kiri rebels he's a hero because he's helping fund them but to the Mizukage he's a villain that's destabilising his village and don't forget when we first saw him Zabuza was trying to kill our client." Sighing and looking back up to the top of the bridge. "For now, let's…"
"Oi, Cyclops get your ass back up here or you'll miss the fun." Anko shouted over the edge of the bridge.
"Gato can wait for now." Kakashi looked to Naruto's clones. "Guard the boat, don't let anyone escape or try and free Gato." Gripping the original Naruto's collar Kakashi Shunshined to the top of the bridge, charging towards the assembled shinobi was a group of roughly fifty thugs, all with weapons drawn ready to kill.
"Looks like we can still have a little fun." Anko said, a feral grin on her lips as she took off towards the thugs. Sasuke and Sakura were about to follow but stopped by a hand from Kakashi.
"Just stay here and recover some of your chakra, Anko will only complain if you get in her way." Kakashi reached back and pulled a familiar orange book out of his pouch, opening it with his thumb and started to read.
"But she's outnumbered." Sakura said.
"True, but they are greatly outclassed." Haku replied standing at Sakura's other side, her mask now held in her hand. "Your companion isn't even trying."
"Haku?" Sakura stared at Haku with wide eyes, having problems connecting the kind young woman she'd met a few days previously with the cold, emotionless enemy she'd been fighting minutes before.
"Yes, I'm sorry about the deception but it was necessary for Zabuza's mission and the plan to stop Gato." Hakus smiled apologetically. "Now watch your companion, you can learn a lot from her."
Turning her attention back to Anko, Sakura watched as the Snake Mistress of Konoha effortlessly weaved her way through the thugs and retaliated with brutal efficiency. There was an elegance to the way that Anko moved, her body twisting and bending in nearly impossible ways as she evaded wild swings before snapping into her opponent's personal space and delivering a punishing attack that sent them sprawling. If the weapons were ignored one could mistake the battle for some sort of dance performance, at least from Anko's side.
"Huh, she's using Uragira reta hebi no dansu (Dance of the betrayed serpent). Must feel like showing off." Kakashi said looking up from his book for a second before returning
Sakura was about to ask what he meant by that but stopped when she heard a shout coming from the far end of the bridge, running to the edge of the bridge to look past the thugs blocking her view she saw the townspeople heading their way. They looked like a ramshackle army company, wielding whatever was close at hand as a weapon and wearing anything that could provide them some form of protection as armour. Women screaming bloody murder with kitchen utensils reared back as weapons and baking trays held up underneath aprons as a makeshift chestplate, men carrying tools of all kinds and wearing hastily tied together wooden armour shouted their rage to the skies as they all charged headlong at the thugs that had been ruining their lives. Leading the charge was Inari, toy crossbow in hand and a pot on his head, crying a challenge at the top of his lungs as he fired the suction dart from his crossbow.
The villagers slammed into the thugs and attacked in a rage-filled frenzy, seeing themselves heavily outnumbered now the thugs turned and ran towards the watching shinobi in an attempt to escape past them.
"Oh, I don't think so." Naruto said, stepping forward, interlocking his fingers and cracking them with a grin on his face. A group of fifty clones popped into existence around him causing the thugs to skid to a stop. Seeing themselves trapped the thugs only had one option left, they ran for the edges of the bridge only to find themselves unable to move. A quick glance down told them all they needed to know as Haku stood from a kneeling position, lifting her hand from the ground. Where her hand had been placed a path of ice lead to the thugs stood and the ice had fully encased their legs, holding them in place.
"You must pay for your crimes." She said softly before disappearing in a small flurry of ice crystals from alongside Naruto and reappearing at Zabuza's side.
After delivering a well-deserved beating to the thugs and having the situation explained to them the villagers took the thugs and Gato away locking them up in the village jail, there wasn't really enough room for all of them but they did fit in with a bit of shoving.
"Hey kid, you're looking a bit feeling alright?"Anko asked, crouching down looking into Naruto's eyes.
"Yeah, I…I'm a bit tired but,"Naruto started to reply when Anko interrupted him.
"How many soldier pills have you had?"
"Er, two on Gato's boat, a couple after making the clone that came with you."
"Okay."Anko stood up and quickly threw Naruto onto her shoulder.
"What are…"
"You've taken four pills in one day, you look like hell and are probably going to crash at some point in the next hour or to mention be violently sick and wish you were now you need to save your energy so the effects aren't as severe."Anko expected to hear some sort of complaint or excuse but the only thing she heard was the slow breaths of an unconscious Naruto."You did good brat, even if you did push yourself harder then you should've."Patting his back as she made her way back towards Tazuna's home, she allowed a small smile to appear."I'll see what I can do about the deal we made too, cause if things are as bad as you've made Kakashi think it is…we're going to need all the help we can get."
Time moved on and within a couple of weeks, thanks to the many helping hands of Naruto's clones the bridge was completed. In that time Haku and Zabuza had taken their share of Gato's money and gone back to the Kiri rebels, with a reminder about Yagura being under someone else's control and a warning of a group of shinobi wearing black cloaks with red clouds. The trial of Gato and his thugs was completed thanks to the overwhelming evidence found in Gato's personal safe and they were all remanded to the custody of Nami no kuni's Daimyo for execution. Anko returned to Konoha to report her mission complete and deliver the money taken from Gato to pay for the A-Rank mission Team Seven's simple escort had turned into.
"I just want to say thank you again." Tazuna said as he and the rest of the village stood at the end of the bridge to see Team Seven off. "We're forever in your debt."
"No, you're not. You hired us for a mission and we completed it, no debt is owed and thanks are necessary. Should you need help again you know how to contact Konoha, just do me a favour and request the right mission rank next time." Kakashi said with his trademark one eyed smile. "Team Seven, our mission's complete. It's time to go home." With that said, Team Seven turned and started to walk away.
"Wait!" Inari shouted, "You need to see this." The young boy disappeared into the crowd of people and a few seconds later a cloth curtain that covered the sign atop the bridge fell away revealing the name.
'The Great Uzumaki Bridge'
Even though he knew the name of the bridge, just seeing it again and almost physically feeling the thanks and respect coming from the villagers caused the beginnings of tears in the corners of Naruto's eyes. As Naruto wiped his eyes with his sleeve Inari came back out of the crowd with a massive grin on his face.
"That was my idea, you did everything for this village and I wanted that to always be remembered." The boy waved his arm towards the sign. "Now everyone will know how you saved our village, until the end of time."
Naruto took a few steps forward and took Inari into a hug.
"Thank you." Was all Naruto could bring himself to say, otherwise he'd start crying properly. Naruto released Inari and looked at him with a smile. "Be kind like Tsunami, love this village like Tazuna and be as good a man as Kaiza. Do them proud and you'll be able to keep this village safe from anyone that tries to take it from you." Naruto ruffled Inari's hair, "See you around."
As he joined his team Naruto saw Kakashi whisper something to Sakura before they started to walk together back to the village he loved and a conversation that he had no idea what to say in.
As usual I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible.
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer
