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Chapter 13 – The Battlefield, The Bridge
Last time:
Naruto looked down at Inari and smiled. "They may have been bigger but I was smarter, faster and stronger. Besides I already told you, I'm here to get rid of Gatoh and these two work for him, so it's just the start. Oh, and Inari, sorry for yesterday. I went a little too far with that coward thing. You're just afraid for our lives, thanks for that. I'm still gonna kick Gatoh's butt though. Which reminds me, I better get to the bridge, I'll be back later I promise. The clones will watch over you until then. See ya!" Naruto brought his hands up into a seal and a small shock wave went out from him. He'd just lowered the level of the weight seal and after a second he disappeared.
This Chapter:
On the way to the bridge, team 7 and Tazuna, minus Naruto, came across the workers from the bridge all running the opposite direction. "Tazuna-san, go back to your home. It looks like there's trouble at the bridge, we'll take of it." Kakashi ordered the bridge builder.
Tazuna didn't need to be told twice. "Good luck." He said quickly before turning around and running back.
"Okay you two, be on guard. Naruto's clones probably saved those workers, by now though Zabuza has probably taken care of them." Kakashi warned Sasuke and Sakura before they started for the bridge. They both replied with a strong 'HAI!'.
They got to the bridge to find some signs of a fight and some puddles of water where Naruto's water clones had been destroyed. There was also a thick mist surrounding the middle of the bridge. "You finally came out, I was starting to think you were afraid." Zabuza called from the middle of the mist. "I was getting annoyed with these clones that the blonde gaki left here. I was hoping he'd be with you as well so I could repay him for what he did to me. I guess I'll have to wait a little while and make do with you three." Several of Zabuza's water clones appeared around the three on the bridge. "Oh look. That one's still trembling from last time." Zabuza taunted, referring to Sasuke, who was indeed trembling.
Sasuke looked up at the clones and tightened the grip on his kunai. "I'm trembling with... excitement!"
"Go ahead Sasuke." Kakashi told him.
In just a few seconds every clone was destroyed by the Uchiha, each one creating a puddle of water. 'I could see it.'
"Oooh, so you could see they were water clones huh? That brats improving. Looks like you got a rival Haku." Zabuza taunted again as he and Haku walked into view from the mist. They could see Zabuza had bandages where his gaping wounds used to be. The bandages were probably just to cover the scars.
"So it seems, Zabuza-sama. I would have preferred to have punished the blonde one for his attack on you but this one will do." Haku stated flatly.
'So it's true, Naruto was the one who made those wounds on him. How did he do it when I couldn't even hit him with the shadow shuriken jutsu?' Sasuke thought, seething slightly that Naruto could do such damage.
'Naruto-kun did that? I thought Kakashi-sensei did that somehow. Why didn't he say something when we reported to Kakashi-sensei!' Sakura thought, looking at the bandages.
Naruto was nothing more than blur when he passed the men he recognized from the bridge and Tazuna running back to his home. He had received the memories of his clones and it looked like Zabuza was back, fighting ready, even with the bandages. He wanted to lower the weight seal further to get there faster but lowering it would take too much time. Time he needed to get to the bridge and help his team defeat Zabuza and Haku. 'Haku, I hope I don't have to kill you.' He thought as he doubled his efforts to get to the bridge.
The two groups just stared at each other for a moment, team 7 had taken a formation so as to watch out for any surprise attacks. "So you really were working together. Seems Naruto was right about you two. Looks like you've been pulling scams like that for a long time." Kakashi stated.
"He's got some nerve facing us again after pulling that trick!" Sakura huffed in anger.
"And hiding behind a mask, who does he think he's fooling." Kakashi went on.
"Look who's talking, sensei." Sakura replied with an amused grin.
"That's it I'm taking him down! Who does he think he's fooling, hiding behind that mask like some sort of clown." Sasuke stated calmly.
"Sasuke you're so cool!" Sakura exclaimed, fawning over the Uchiha.
'Didn't I just say something like that?' Kakashi thought, while a large bead of sweat formed on his forehead.
Zabuza and Haku watched them banter with a bit of pity over the jounin for having a fan-girl on the team. "He's impressive, even though they were just 1/10 the strength of the original water clones, he did destroy them all." Haku stated in his monotone.
"That move still gave us the first advantage, use it!" Zabuza ordered Haku.
"Hai!" Haku disappeared in a small tornado heading straight towards Sasuke.
Sasuke was surprised to see the tornado coming right at him. "What's this!?" He swiftly took up a defensive stance, bringing both hands holding kunai up in front of him.
There was a small 'ting' as the small sebon hit the larger kunai. 'So he can keep up with Haku's speed.' Zabuza thought as he watched the two block each other's blows with their respective weapons.
"Sakura stay back for now. Provide help for Sasuke if he needs it." Kakashi ordered the pink haired kunoichi.
"Hai!" She quickly took out a kunai for her right hand and a handful of shuriken for her left. Ready to attack if need be.
The two spun quickly trying to attack the other and block at the same time. All they succeeded in doing was coming back to a stand-off. "We want the bridge builder, not you. If you leave now, I won't have to kill you." Haku stated in the same monotone voice.
"Save it! As you can see, the bridge builder isn't here right now, we're here to get rid of threats." Sasuke spat back.
"You're making a mistake, you won't be able to keep up with my speed. I've gained two key advantages." Haku stated in his monotone once again.
"Yeah? What are they?" Sasuke asked not believing a word Haku was saying.
"First, we're surrounded by water. Second, I've blocked one of your hands, therefore you only have one free hand to defend yourself." Haku said, again in the same monotone. He then started going through one handed hand-seals.
'What!? Using one hand!?' Sasuke thought, a small amount of panic rising.
'Hand-seals with a single hand I've never seen that before!' Kakashi thought, fearing for his student.
Haku finished his hand-seals and stated the name of the jutsu. "Sensatsu Suisho." He slammed his foot into a puddle of water and created some splashes in the air.
'He doesn't wanna kill the kid? Does he mean that!?' Zabuza thought watching the fight unfold.
The splashes of water quickly froze into many sharp needles. "Sasuke!" Sakura yelled out in fear. She didn't know what to do.
'Remember the training! I've got to summon the chakra at once... and direct it to my feet!' Sasuke thought as he molded the necessary chakra.
A second before the needles moved in for the kill, a blur sped past Kakashi and Sakura. The blur quickly multiplied and surrounded Haku and Sasuke and destroyed the ice needles. The cloud from the shattered needles covered the newcomer and his clones. "Sorry I'm a little late, had to save Tsunami and Inari from a couple of thugs." Naruto announced as the smoke cleared, revealing him, plus five clones, holding kunai in each hand. "Hey Sasuke-teme! Need any help with the hunter-nin?"
"Dobe! I can take care of this!" Sasuke called out as he took the kunai in his free hand and flicked it at Haku's face. Haku dodged by ducking down, allowing Sasuke to kick him in the face. The chakra he had directed to his feet for escape, he instead used it to add more force into his kick, causing the mask to crack slightly.
Haku Skidded to a halt next to Zabuza. "The blonde gaki!" Zabuza shouted looking at Naruto with murder in his eye. He threw six shuriken, one for each Naruto. Instead of dodging, all Naruto's brought up their kunai and knocked each shuriken away. Zabuza chuckled. "Good, I wouldn't want you dying too quickly on me." He looked over to Haku. "You gonna take that from the kid with the duck-ass on his head?"
Haku got up slowly as he placed a hand on his mask feeling the damage. "Very well. If you insist on continuing this fight, I will show you what real speed is." Haku formed a hand-seal no one had seen before, except for Zabuza. "Makyo Hyosho!" The water that surrounded Sasuke started to rise and freeze as Haku's jutsu took form. Mirrors surrounded Sasuke on every side and above him, creating what looks like a dome to everyone outside it. Haku formed a mirror next to him and entered it, reappearing a split-second later in the mirror's of the dome.
"What the hell is that!" Sakura yelled.
'What the hell is this?' Sasuke thought to himself looking at the image of Haku in each mirror.
"This can't be good." Naruto said, looking at the ice from the outside, his clones still surrounding the dome.
"I get it now. It's a Kekkei Genkai!" Kakashi exclaimed.
"A Kekkei Genkai?" Sakura asked looking over to Kakashi.
"It's an ability that's passed down through the blood, like my sharingan. It has to be in your genetic code for you to be able to use it. Which means I can't copy it." Kakashi explained to her.
"In here I can attack you from any direction, you cannot defend yourself." Haku stated and he started his barrage, cutting Sasuke with every pass he made.
'How did he do that!? I couldn't even see the senbon! Is he using clones in the mirrors to throw the senbon at the same time? No, it's too fast for that. Before I worry about that I may as well try getting out of here.' Sasuke thought as he looked at the mirrors again. He sped through hand-seals that were very familiar to him. He finished and called out his jutsu. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A stream of flame flew from his mouth, impacting with the ice mirror directly in front of him.
Sasuke dropped the jutsu and was horrified to see that the ice mirror hadn't even cracked. "You're going to need a fire much larger and hotter than that to melt these mirrors." Haku stated calmly from within the mirrors.
"Sakura! We need to help Sasuke, right now or else he's in serious trouble. Take off your weights, now!" Naruto yelled at Sakura.
"Hai!" She stored the weapons she had taken out and released the safety catches on the weights around her wrists and let them drop, creating a splash when they landed in a puddle. The ones around her shins soon followed.
"Kakashi-sensei, can you keep Zabuza busy while we help Sasuke?" Naruto asked Kakashi as he looked over to him.
"I'll try my best." Kakashi said as he went to lift his hitai-ite off his left eye.
Zabuza dashed at Kakashi. "Oh no you don't!" He yelled drawing a kunai and bringing it down over Kakashi's left eye. Kakashi blocked at the last moment. "You're no fun Kakashi using the same old trick."
"If it's just an old trick, why did you stop me?" Kakashi asked Zabuza.
"Let your opponent see your jutsu too many times and he'll turn it against you." Zabuza explained.
"Count yourself lucky. You're the only enemy to see my sharingan twice, there won't be a third time." Kakashi spat back.
"Even if you do beat me you can't beat Haku." Zabuza taunted.
Haku had just let loose another barrage of senbon on Sasuke, creating even more cuts and open wounds.
"Don't worry Sasuke, me and Sakura will figure out a way to help you!" Naruto yelled into the dome. "Okay Sakura I want you to get in there and defend Sasuke, I'll bring these mirrors down from here."
Sakura nodded to him and dashed into the dome, disappearing as she went, going through hand-seals as she appeared in front of Sasuke. She stopped on a hand-seal, waiting for the next attack to come. She felt it before she saw it but it was enough, as soon as she felt the first needle hit she went to the final seal and blocked every other hit. "Tatsumaki Benso no Jutsu! (Tornado Defense)" A sphere of swirling wind surrounded Sasuke and Sakura, every needle that tried to hit them was caught in the wind and flung to the floor.
When the barrage ended, Sakura dropped the jutsu. Sasuke was looking at Sakura with wide eyes. "When did you learn that?" He asked awestruck.
"Like it, Sasuke-kun? It's one of the defensive jutsus Naruto-senpai taught me." Sakura said looking over her shoulder at Sasuke with a smile. 'I hope he finds a way to destroy these mirrors some time soon I won't be able to use that jutsu much.' Sakura started going through the same hand-seals again and stopped at the same one holding the jutsu until it was needed.
"Interesting, you're stronger than I expected. You won't last very long though." Haku stated looking to the two in his dome.
'How am I supposed to get through this? The chakra is literally pouring off these mirrors it's making them incredibly tough. No wonder that fireball of his didn't melt them.' Naruto was broken out of his thought's when he had to dodge an attack from Haku coming out of the mirror he was studying.
"I don't know how you dodged my attack but there is no way you can help your friends." Haku stated calmly as he returned to the mirror.
It was simple really, Naruto had activated his fox eye jutsu and that helped him see the attack coming. 'If you really think that Haku, then you don't understand how powerful I am. These are my teammate's, my friend's lives on the line.' He thought of his plan and summoned a shadow clone to relay it to the other shadow clones surrounding the dome. He was going to fight chakra with chakra.
"He was just a street urchin when I found him but I trained him in the most advanced ninja techniques. I've taught him everything I know and he developed his own abilities. Soon he could take on the strongest opponent, outnumbered, in the darkness, it doesn't matter, he strikes with deadly accuracy. There's no way those genin punks can beat Haku. He's the ultimate weapon." Zabuza ranted on, lowering the kunai he attacked with.
"Are you finished bragging? You're starting to bore me. Let's finish this, now!" Kakashi said forcefully, fully uncovering his sharingan.
"I don't think so!" Zabuza leapt back a bit and went through hand-seals. "Kiri Gakure no Jutsu." He said calmly as the mist enveloping the area grew thicker. "You see, another of Haku's abilities is being able to see a jutsu once and then find it's weakness and a way to counter it." Zabuza explained from the mist. "Did you really think I would take your attacks like that, like some rank genin? I took them so Haku could figure out your Kekkei Genkai and he did. He figured out that were two parts, the piercing eye, which allows you to copy my movements and jutsu and the hypnotic eye which unsettles your opponent giving you an opening to use any jutsu you might have copied during the fight. Knowing this, I've employed a simple plan to defeat you." Zabuza explained, seemingly from somewhere else.
Another barrage was let loose on them and again Sakura activated the jutsu as soon as she felt the first senbon, protecting them from the rest of the attack. 'Wait a second I saw something there.' Sasuke thought as he watched the barrage from inside the protective sphere. He was watching the water droplets kicked up by the jutsu. 'The water it's being repelled, if I can follow the pattern I might be able to attack him preemptively, if only I can get a chance to attack out of this sphere.' The barrage died down and Sakura dropped the jutsu and was going through the hand-seals to get ready again when Sasuke spoke. "Wait , Sakura! Don't use the jutsu on both of us next time, only use it to cover yourself, I'm gonna try something." He explained in a hurried whisper.
She didn't like it but she agreed with a silent nod. She sidestepped a little until she was far enough away to only envelope herself in the jutsu. 'Don't get hurt Sasuke-kun.' She pleaded silently. She felt another needle hit her and she quickly finished the jutsu blocking all other senbon and kicking up more water.
'That's it!' Sasuke saw more of the water be repelled and burned the pattern into his memory. He tried ignoring the senbon as much as possible and realized something. 'Wait a second, the senbon, they aren't hitting any vital parts. All these wounds are superficial, they sting but they aren't life-threatening. He really isn't trying to kill us!'Kakashi looked about, panic almost setting in. He started hearing a sound coming from his left and recognized them to be the sounds of flying shuriken. He took out a kunai and swiftly blocked each shuriken. "Impressive, as is expected from Kakashi of the sharingan eye." Zabuza stated as he appeared from the mist behind Kakashi.
Kakashi turned to face him and discovered something. "What!? Your eyes are closed!" Kakashi exclaimed.
"That's right, I use the mist to nullify your piercing eye and I close my eyes to nullify your hypnotic eye. Too bad for you Kakashi I can work just as well blind as when I can see. The next time you see me will be your last. Now, time for some payback." Zabuza explained as he disappeared into the mist again.
"Payback?... Naruto!" Kakashi yelled.
Naruto was about to charge at the mirrors when Kakashi yelled his name. "Wha-?" He was suddenly flooded with the memories of the clones that had also been ready to attack and jumped.
Naruto narrowly dodged the blade that was aimed to slash at his mid-section. "Not bad, but can you keep it up?" Zabuza taunted as Naruto landed a few feet away and he brought the zanbatō up for another swing.
"I don't have time for this!" Naruto had charged up his chakra armor to drill into the mirrors and then destroy them with a layer of condensed chakra behind it but Zabuza's surprise attack on him caused him to lose it. Not only that but now he had to recreate the clones. "Zabuza, I can't take that much time with you, so I'm gonna have to use something I've never really tried in battle before." Naruto announced as he went through the hand-seals, his hands a blur. "Kitsune Bikou no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as nine red-orange tails with white tips emerged behind him.
"What kind of jutsu is that? What are you gonna do tickle me to death?" Zabuza taunted glaring at the blonde.
What Zabuza didn't expect was for two of the tails to lash out at him. He managed to block one with his zanbatō but was struck in the stomach by the second, it hit harder than he thought. "Still think it's a joke?" Naruto taunted as he withdrew the tails.
Zabuza reached up and pulled the bandages, now with a little blood soaking through them, from his face, spitting out blood once his mouth was uncovered. "That's twice I've underestimated you because of your strange looking jutsu, there won't be a third time." Zabuza left the bandages hanging from his face as he hefted the zanbatō up into a slashing position and dashed at Naruto. He brought his zanbatō down in a diagonal slash that should have gone from Naruto's shoulder to his hip. Instead it was redirected by one of Naruto's tails and was buried into the surface of the bridge.
Naruto saw his opening and ran up the blade's spine, going to kick Zabuza's face. Zabuza saw it coming and released his zanbatō to block and counter the attack by grabbing Naruto's leg and slamming him down into the ground. Zabuza followed up with a kick to Naruto's gut that sent him skidding along the ground. It wasn't until he did this that he noticed that two tails seemed to be stretching, holding on to something behind him. He looked back in time to dodge his own blade, Naruto had grabbed it's hilt with one tail and looped the second tail through the hole near the tip of the blade. He had then retracted the tails quickly trying to hit Zabuza with the flat side of the blade. He brought the tails to a stop next to his body and he got up. He spat blood out of his mouth and grabbed the blades hilt and hefted it up on his shoulders, the fact that he was short made the blade look even bigger. "This zanbatō you got ain't half bad! A little heavy, so it wouldn't be very useful against a fast enemy. Must have taken time to master, huh?" Naruto ranted as he grinned at Zabuza.
'I don't believe it, he got my blade off me! And he's actually able to handle the weight!' Zabuza thought, glaring slightly at Naruto. "Tell you what kid, if you can kill me, you can keep it!" He shouted at the blonde.
"Seriously? Awesome! I better get started then!" Naruto grasped the hilt with one hand and a tail for better control, he swung it out so he was holding it parallel to the ground to his right. He dashed at Zabuza, getting ready to cut at his mid-section.
Zabuza saw the attack coming a mile away, which meant one thing it was a cover for a second attack.
Sasuke was looking the worse for ware, he had been attacked several times now. He had managed to burn Haku's pants slightly in one of the attacks, but only slightly. His body was covered in cuts and a few senbon were sticking out of his legs from when he had tried to run out of the dome on one side and Sakura had tried another.
Sakura wasn't doing well either she had to stop using the jutsu before the last two attacks or she wouldn't have enough chakra to carry on. Right now she was opting to using the speed boost that dropping the weights gave her to dodge some of the senbon, some where sticking out of her arms and legs and she was tiring fast.
Sasuke looked over to Sakura. It was mainly thanks to her running about that he could get Haku that one time. Because she was running about Haku was concentrating more on her, that allowed him to use his jutsu. It also allowed him to get used to Haku's movements more. It had taken a toll on her though.
Haku started another barrage of his senbon. Sakura started running again, trying to dodge as many as possible and even trying to get out of the dome only to be stopped by Haku and struck, she was sent back into the middle of the dome. "I've had enough of this. This time you're going to stay down!" Haku stated.
Sakura was out cold for the moment. The hit was harder than it looked. Sasuke looked up to the mirrors to see Haku throwing more needles. He picked up a senbon and rushed in front of Sakura blocking each one Haku had thrown. "Sakura! Get up!" He shouted over his shoulder.
'He blocked the senbon! That's not possible! His earlier attack seemed like a fluke but this was more than just luck. He's following my movements.' Haku thought as he let loose another barrage of senbon, only for them to be deflected by Sasuke again.
'Focus, gotta watch everything! Watch for any movement!' Sasuke thought, watching Haku as he changed from one mirror to another. That's when he saw it, Haku threw a few senbon at Sakura next to his feet. He ducked down and grabbed Sakura by the back of her dress and jumped out of the way of the senbon, using his chakra to jump faster and higher.
'He saw every move but... there's no way he could do that!' Haku thought as he watched the two. Sasuke snapped his head back up at that moment letting Haku get a full-on view of his newly acquired sharingan.
Naruto swiped his sword across, going for Zabuza's mid-section. 'Alright, so where's the second attack coming from?' Zabuza thought, looking around for the attack he thought was coming.
Kakashi dashed from the mist, kunai in hand, aiming for Zabuza's back. 'Good work, Naruto! Now I can finish him off!' He thought as he came up to Zabuza's back.
"I don't think so!" Zabuza yelled as he turned around and with his own kunai, deflected Kakashi's. He then went on to slash Kakashi along the arm with the kunai, blood spattered over the bandages covering Zabuza's left hand.
Kakashi charged chakra to his feet and used it to leap forward into the mist again, rolling as he landed, clutching at his cut arm. 'Perfect.' He thought taking out a scroll from his vest, unraveling it and wiping blood from his arm along it.
Naruto looked on as blood dripped off his kunai. "That was the plan? To have your sensei attack me? You're gonna have to do better than that!" Zabuza yelled as he was engulfed by the mist.
'Damn, I can't keep going like this I need to help Sasuke and Sakura!' Naruto thought while looking about watching out for the slightest movement. He saw it, out of the corner of his eye, movement, Zabuza's hand appeared from the mist brandishing the same kunai that had cut Kakashi. Naruto couldn't bring the zanbatō around fast enough to block it. He started spinning the chakra covering his left hand and brought it up to block the kunai, the spin was started slightly too late though, as the kunai drove it's way through Naruto's hand. He winced slightly at the pain but then brought himself eye to eye with Zabuza, a grin on his face. He moved his eight remaining tails quickly to ensnare Zabuza, his right hand and one tail still holding on to the zanbatō. The tails grabbed Zabuza's right arm and pulled it as far away from his body as possible without breaking it, making sure he couldn't perform any jutsu.
It wasn't until then Zabuza saw that Naruto's eye's weren't the usual blue he saw in the forest before, they were blood red and the pupil's had become slits. "What are you!?" He asked as he tried to free himself from the tails.
"Your worst nightmare! Kakashi-sensei! Can you take it from here I need to help the others!" Naruto called into the mist.
"Alright Naruto! Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!" Kakashi called from the mist. A second later several ninken appeared from under ground and rooted Zabuza to the spot while Naruto retracted his tails and slid his impaled hand off the kunai, wincing once again.
"There, Kakashi-sensei can take care of you now. I gotta save my friends." Naruto told Zabuza as he ran into the mist heading for the ice dome, his hand already starting to heal.
Kakashi walked out of the mist and stopped a few feet from Zabuza. "Hello, I'll be your executioner today since Naruto wants to save his friends, don't hold it against him, he would have killed you himself if they were safe." Kakashi announced in a chipper voice, as if he were talking to a friend.
"I see you have a Kekkei Genkai as well." Haku stated looking upon Sasuke.
'It's not complete but I can see his attacks with it and that's enough.' Sasuke thought as he just watched Haku go through his mirrors again. His sharingan blazing, one eye with only one tomoe and one with two tomoe.
'To discover this power in the midst of a lethal attack, is an amazing feat. It must be because she is in danger.' Haku thought looking at Sakura's unconscious form, a few feet away from Sasuke. 'He is determined because his friend and teammate is in danger, amazing. I'm afraid I won't be able to fight much longer my chakra is running low and using this jutsu takes a lot of chakra. His sharingan also takes energy and the more I fight, the more he uses it, even now he's watching my every move, waiting for me to attack. I can't attack him directly he'll just evade it, which means I'll have to throw him off guard by attacking his teammate and then take him down.' Haku thought as he moved his aim over to Sakura.
Haku leapt out of his mirror towards Sakura, senbon at the ready. Sasuke saw it. 'No! I've got to stop him!' Sasuke charged chakra to his feet to give him extra speed. Sasuke stopped in Haku's path and struck his face, he grabbed an arm and swung Haku around flinging him into a mirror. There was a problem though as Sasuke had done that Haku had thrown two handfuls of senbon straight at him. They pierced his body, causing small droplets of blood to spurt out and land on Sakura's prone body. 'Naruto, you better save her, because I couldn't.'
Naruto arrived at the dome of ice, he took a few minutes to envelope the zanbatō in his Rasen Kikou. He then condensed the chakra and sharpened it, getting ready to release it all when he hit the mirrors. He hefted the zanbatō into a slashing position again and swung at the mirrors. Each mirror shattered as the blade went through it.
Haku looked over to the destroyed mirrors and saw the one person he did not want to see at that moment. Naruto stepped through the smoke still brandishing the zanbatō. "Hey guys mi-" Too late, he saw Sasuke's body, full of senbon, fall. He dropped the zanbatō out of shock.
Naruto dashed forward but it was already too late. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the body hit the ground. Then he saw Sakura's body, on the ground, in a heap, behind where Sasuke had stood, some blood decorating her face and clothes. He turned to Haku, murder in his eyes. 'Kyu-sensei, I'm gonna start taking some of your chakra, don't bother purifying it.'
'No, Naruto it's not what it looks like!' Kyuubi shouted in Naruto's mind.
It was too late, Naruto's mind was already clouded with the single thought of taking revenge. Kyuubi's chakra leaked into his Rasen Kikou and now there were streaks of red showing around his form. His nails elongated, his birthmarks deepened, his hair grew more feral, his canines elongated and his tails glowed brightly as they were waving about viciously, right now, if looks could kill, even the smallest single-celled organism wouldn't be alive in his field of vision.
"-I won't be using some stolen-" Kakashi stopped his sentence as he felt Kyuubi's chakra. 'That can't be good! Has he broken the seal? No, this is just a fraction of Kyuubi's chakra, he's just drawing the chakra through the seal.' He thought.
Zabuza was looking wide-eyed at the area the chakra was coming from. "What... what is that?" He asked in a slightly scared and awed tone.
"That would be Naruto. You're lucky he didn't bring out that power against you, he probably would have killed you in a split-second." Kakashi explained in a chipper voice. "Oh, yes. This is not a stolen jutsu, it's my only original jutsu and I'm going to use it to kill you."
"Naruto, I-" Haku didn't get to finish what he wanted to say as he was punched and sent flying straight through the ice mirror behind him. The mask shattered and fell from his face as he slammed into the wall on the side of the bridge. Naruto looked at Haku from the same spot, waiting for him to get up. Haku was getting up slowly, he spat some blood from his mouth, his clothes had ripped from skidding on the ground and it looked like he'd lost quite a lot of skin from it as well.
When Haku stood up straight, Naruto sprinted forward disappearing for a second reappearing in front of Haku gripping his collar and about to punch his head off. He didn't want to but the look in Haku's eyes made him stop. He could see them, regret, some fear and... joy? "I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm sorry for what I did to your friends but it was Zabuza-sama's will. I'm glad that you are the one to kill me though, I have become a broken tool and you, my friend would be the first person I wish to end my life and save me from the suffering." Haku said sadly, looking into Naruto's blood-red eyes.
Naruto dropped the power in his fist and knocked Haku in the jaw again, keeping a firm hold on to Haku's collar. "How can you say that! You're a person, not just some tool! Your life has value! You should fight right now! Instead you've been knocked down and can't be bothered to get back up because you think you have nothing left!"
"Even your friendship cannot save me for failing Zabuza. He saved me, from a meaningless existence. He gave me a purpose I became his tool, his weapon, nothing more." Haku stated.
"YOU STILL DON'T GET IT!? DO YOU!?" Naruto stopped his rant as the sound of chirping birds filled the air. The mist thinned and Haku and Naruto looked over to the source of the sound. What Haku saw caused him knock Naruto's hand away from him, freeing him. He performed some one handed hand-seals and vanished. "KUSO!" Naruto shouted as he sprinted toward where he knew Haku was heading, leaving a slight after image in his wake.
Kakashi had formed his Chidori, his only original technique. He was currently dashing at Zabuza ready to use his technique to deliver the finishing blow. Aiming directly for the heart.
'Damn. The kid didn't kill me and he still gets the sword, I would have preferred to face him head on though. I just hope Haku gets through this. With all that's happened to him through his life, I don't want him to turn into me, he's just too damn... innocent!' Zabuza thought as he watched the handful of charged chakra coming towards him.
Kakashi was just a few feet away now, he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. He didn't expect Haku to appear from a mirror from next to Zabuza and stand in the way, as well as destroy his jutsu by hitting the scroll with senbon. There was something else he didn't expect either and that was for Naruto to crash through the ice mirror and push Haku out of the way.
Naruto spun his Rasen Kikou like crazy, he just hoped that the mixture of Kyuubi's chakra with it would make it strong enough to block the attack. Thankfully, he didn't need to block the full on attack, the momentum of his entry meant he landed awkwardly. He wasn't standing directly in front of Zabuza but he was covering the heart. He felt it when Kakashi's Chidori hit the Rasen Kikou covering his right shoulder, it caused him to fall back onto Zabuza and the Chidori to glance off his Rasen Kikou and hit Zabuza in his right lung, going through the scar that Naruto had created in their first fight.
Zabuza hacked up blood as his lungs filled with it, there was no way he could survive this and he knew it. The ninken disappeared in puffs of smoke seeing as the ninjutsu scroll that brought them there was disrupted. Zabuza started falling back as Naruto leaned forward. He clutched to the gaping wound in his chest trying to draw breath, without drowning in his own blood.
Haku was on his knees where Naruto had knocked him to. He was glancing back and forth from his friend, who had just risked his life to save him, to the person that had given him a purpose, who he had just let down. He couldn't decide what he should be feeling, thankful that his friend saved him or regretful because he let down his teacher and guardian. He didn't get much time to think this though as a seedy looking, short man with his arm in a cast, appeared at the end of the bridge, followed by a few hundred thugs armed with all manner of weapons and farming equipment.
"Well, well, so this is how it turned out? He's done quite a number on you hasn't he Zabuza? You look more like a kitten than a demon right now! I must say I'm disappointed. Oh, look, your little lap dog survived as well, now I can get revenge for my arm." The man announced, looking over the scene in front of him.
Zabuza coughed up more blood as he rolled his body on to it's side so as to get a better view of the man who had just appeared. "Gatoh?" Zabuza rasped out.
"What are you doing here?" Haku asked out loud.
"There's been a change of plans. Seeing as your dying on this bridge today, then you're no longer on the payroll, after all you failed to get the bridge builder, he isn't even here. I've gotten these men together to take you down and the bridge builder later on. Of course these men cost me money, so if you feel like taking some out, feel free." Gatoh proclaimed.
"Looks like we're not enemies anymore, now that Gatoh has terminated our contract." Haku stated as he got up. He slowly walked over to Zabuza and kneeled next to him. "Do you wish for me to take revenge Zabuza-sama?"
"No." Zabuza coughed up more blood. "Slow down the bleeding in my lung." More coughed up blood. "I can last-" More blood. "-long enough to kill that grease-ball-" He coughed once more. "-myself!" Haku did as he asked and slowed down the bleeding. He then helped him up. "When this is over, I want you to go back with that blonde Konoha nin." Zabuza paused for breath and hacked up more blood. "You are his tool now, he and his sensei bested me and he managed to get my blade off me." He paused again and hacked up more blood. "If I'm still alive after killing the grease-ball, I want him to finish me off with my blade, he can keep it afterwards." Zabuza hacked up a lot of blood he'd been holding back. "And stay out of this fight, understood Haku?" Zabuza looked Haku in the eyes.
"Hai, Zabuza-sama. I will stay back." Haku replied, not daring disobey his last order.
"If you think I'm gonna let you have Gatoh all to yourself, you got another thing coming Zabuza." Naruto announced, appearing behind the two, the zanbatō balancing on his shoulders. His red eyes blazing at the prospect of ridding the land of the scum, Gatoh. "Besides, you look like you could use a hand, or a tail." He went on, a tail wrapping around the hilt of the zanbatō and the rest ready to support Zabuza when he was ready to go. "I'll try and keep those thugs off you, you can land the finishing blow to Gatoh if you want, I don't really care as long as he's gone."
"Fine, but do you expect me to finish him with my bare hands?" Naruto tossed a kunai to Zabuza who caught it with the hand he wasn't using to stem the blood flow from his chest. "I guess this will do." Zabuza stated calmly as he motioned for Haku to let him stand on his own.
Naruto wrapped a couple of tails around Zabuza's waist as three stayed behind Naruto and another three covered Zabuza's back. "Ready to go?" Naruto asked as a red claw made of chakra flared on his left hand and he brought the zanbatō up in front of Zabuza to block any attacks.
"You really are a demon from the leaf aren't you? Just don't drag me along, I'll run as much as I can, I still have my dignity." Zabuza replied. As soon as the last word left his mouth they both started forward. Gatoh started sweating profusely when he saw the two... demon's coming towards him.
"What are you idiot's waiting for!? Take care of them!" Gatoh yelled to the crowd of thugs as he hobbled his way through to get back to the boat he had arrived in.
"You're going no where, Gatoh! You're going to pay for what you did to the people of these lands!" Naruto shouted in a demonic voice as he started tearing through the crowd with his claw and the zanbatō, Zabuza striking out every now and then. A lot of the thugs were mowed down by the zanbatō in the first few minutes. None of them stood a chance.
They finally made it through the crowd and found Gatoh trying to untie the boat. "Hey short-stuff, I still have business with you!" Zabuza called the short man, coughing up more blood. Gatoh stopped and his face went pale as he looked over to his pursuers. Coming to a quick decision he started running again, heading for the unfinished part of the bridge.
"Should we chase him some more or do you want to end it?" Naruto asked the battered Demon of the Mist.
"Let's finish this I want to be conscious when I kill him." Zabuza replied, getting a little woozy from blood loss.
"Okay!" Naruto shouted as he rushed forward. When Gatoh came into view again Naruto leapt forward, stretching the tails holding Zabuza so as not to drag him along. When he got within range he slashed out with his clawed hand and made three cuts on Gatoh's leg.
Gatoh screamed in pain and fear when he felt the cuts. They caused him to fall forward on his face, he clutched at his leg, more pain rushing through it. "I never told you how I terminate my contracts did I Gatoh?" Zabuza asked the cowering man as he walked over, more blood coming from his mouth, which only made him seem more fierce and horrifying. "When I terminate a contract, I also terminate my employer!" Zabuza slashed across Gatoh's throat and then buried the kunai in Gatoh's heart. "I'm done here." Zabuza stated as he stood up straight again, being supported by Naruto's tails.
"Do you want me to finish you now or do you want me to go back so you can see Haku once more?" Naruto asked, looking up from Gatoh's body.
"I don't want Haku to see me killed up close. Finish me here, I can feel myself losing consciousness from lack of blood already." Naruto nodded and turned to face Zabuza, bracing Zabuza's body with his tails. He brought the zanbatō up, using both hands instead of his tail.
"You were a good ninja, Zabuza. It's just too bad that Konoha won't accept missing nins from other hidden villages." Naruto said before he slashed across Zabuza's throat and then diagonally over Zabuza's torso, effectively killing him. Naruto had a couple of tails take the zanbatō from him. He used the bandages around Zabuza's neck to cover the slit throat. He shunshined back to the others.
Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke between Kakashi and Haku. "Is Gatoh gone?" Haku asked looking at Zabuza's body.
"Hai, Zabuza dealt the finishing blow." Naruto replied. He looked over to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei? You got another one of those body storage scrolls? I wish to take Zabuza back to Konoha, to be buried." Naruto asked his sensei.
Kakashi just nodded, took out a scroll and tossed it to Naruto, who swiftly caught it. Naruto unrolled the scroll and gently lay Zabuza next to it. "Arigatou, Naruto-sama." Haku said in a low voice.
Naruto sealed Zabuza in the scroll, rolled it up and handed it to Haku, who accepted it with both hands. "No thanks necessary Haku, he was a good ninja, he deserves a proper burial. Don't start with the sama stuff either, I'm your friend not your master or commander. Now I need to figure out what to do about Sakura's and Sasuke's bodies."
"Naruto-sa... Naruto, they are not dead." Haku stated, looking down, gripping the scroll storing Zabuza's body, tightly. "I could not bring myself to kill them, I did not want to fail you as a friend but I did not want to fail Zabuza either. The girl is knocked out and the boy is merely in a death state. They will be fine after some rest." He explained.
Naruto looked up, surprised at Haku, as did Kakashi. Kakashi moved over to the two and checked for their pulses. He found Sakura's easily but as he was going to check for Sasuke's, Sasuke got up. "What happened to me?" Sasuke asked groggily. Kakashi turned back to look at Naruto and nodded his head.
Naruto looked back at Haku with some tears coming to the corners of his eyes. He brought up a hand and laid it on Haku's shoulder. "Thank you, Haku. Sorry to do this to you but my energy is gonna leave me in a few seconds." Naruto said to Haku as the red streaks of chakra left him. "I'm gonna lose consciousness any moment now. Please, don't tell my teammates about the power I used on you today, or the jutsu I used." Naruto pleaded as the tails retracted and dropped the zanbatō with an audible 'clang'.
"Don't worry Naruto, I will keep your secret, for I am your friend and you are mine." Haku told him with a sad smile. Naruto smiled back tiredly as his features returned to normal, he blinked as the fox eye jutsu left him. He blinked a few more times as he heard Inari and a lot of people yell something about being free before he finally lost himself to exhaustion.
Author Note;
Another chapter over. I have to say it was fun writing the fight in this one, I'm just sorry there wasn't more action.