Naruto: A Rift In Time
By: Arthemis N. Remison
CHAPTER 6 – ENTER: THE DEMON (PART II)
As morning came, Naruto woke to the sun caressing his face.
"Sun?! Oh shit! Im late!" cursed Naruto as realization reached the front of his thoughts.
The voice of Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, was heard outside the house, in the form of a scream. Inari was also heard screaming: "Let go of my mom!" And he charged as an enraged bull towards his mother's kidnappers. One of the samurai assailants knocked Tsunami out with a blow to the head.
As Inari closed upon them, their swords were drawn and soon found themselves in Inari's mid-section and throat. Or so they thought.
Soon "Inari" turned into a cut-up log. As the samurai turned they only saw Leaf Whirlpool engraved upon a man's white overcoat.
"The hero always arrives late. Right Inari? I love saying that line" said Naruto as he arrived to Inari's side, Tsunami in hand.
"You shall pay, stranger. Feel the blade of my sword." Said the first assailant as he moved to strike Naruto.
"Let's see what you offer. I have experienced Sasuke's sword. I doubt yours is any better."
The samurais engaged Naruto, but as their swords were released from their sheaths their swords disappeared from their hands and rested in the back of their heads.
"Tsk tsk tsk… and I for one thought you'd be quicker" and with that said Naruto struck them both in the head, effectively knocking them out.
-4 hours ago-
Itachi was up and ready to leave with Tazuna to the bridge. Hinata and Sasuke were also ready to depart.
"Well, what about Naruto? You will leave him here?" asked Tazuna.
"He deserves his rest. He made clones for us to train for 72 hours. He must be exhausted" said Sasuke.
"Very well Sasuke. Tazuna-san, whenever you're ready" said Itachi.
As they reached the bridge and Tazuna began his work, a thick mist covered the bridge.
"Be careful, team. This mist has chakra in it. Sasuke. Hinata. Eyes ready" ordered Itachi as their eyes came to life simultaneously "Sharingan! Byakugan!"
The team soon found their objective as Zabuza and a smaller figure were seen inside the towering mist. Tazuna tensed as he felt a presence but his weary eyes could not see his enemy. The workers, the few that were left upon the bridge ran scared as a few of them laid on the ground with small needles stuck to different parts of their bodies. Some squirming, and some knocked out cold seemingly dead.
"I see you brought a friend" said Itachi.
"Does his presence bother you, Ryuketsu? I only brought him to entertain your maggots, and so that our fight would not be interrupted" explained Zabuza. "His name is Haku, and he will be that last thing your … children will see in this life"
A chilling pause was felt in the bridge's footing. Zabuza soon interrupted it, with a command. "Haku, get them"
Upon command his only reply was "Yes Zabuza-sama"
Haku launched himself at Sasuke and Hinata passing right next to Itachi, but Itachi did not move a muscle.
"Why did you not attack my Haku when he passed you?" questioned Zabuza.
"I do not need to protect my brother or my team any longer. Also, a bigger threat stands before me. It would be foolish to turn my back oferring you a chance strike" replied Itachi with conviction from his eyes as he set ablaze his Sharingan.
"Ooh.. the famous Uchiha's Sharigan. I am honored to see it once more, but I haven't had the pleasure of fighting against it. Do make this… memorable" said Zabuza as he activated his Kirigakure no jutsu.
As Haku ran he withdrew a few senbons from his back and launched them towards Sasuke.
Following the order from his eyes, he quickly evaded the senbon forgetting for a minute what laid behind him: an unaware Tazuna.
"Tazuna-san!" said Sasuke as he recalled his mistake.
"I got it, Sasuke-kun! Shugo Hakke: Rokujuuyonshou! [Guardian Eight Divination Sign:, Sixty-Four Palms] Hinata created her signature defense in her hands concentrating it in front her as a wall of light effectively protecting her and her client. "Focus on Haku, Sasuke-kun. I'll see to Tazuna-san's protection"
"Arigatou, Hinata. Now I don't have to worry about that" said Sasuke as he withdrew his sword and filled it with lightning chakra.
At the same time on the other side of the bridge, Zabuza and Itachi led their own fight. Zabuza used his surroundings to his advantage as he obscured his presence and silenced his step as instructed in the arts of assassination by the Hidden Mist ANBU. He did not waste time and assaulted Itachi's left side by throwing a shuriken, easily evaded by the Ryuketsu no Karasu.
"Zabuza, I was once partner with one such as yourself in many ways. A powerful warrior, who favored using a sword amongst any other weapon and trained in the art of the Mist. Stop using the same boring tactic your masters taught you" explained Itachi mildly annoyed.
"There is only a handful of men that fit those descriptions, and all seven of them are either dead or on the wrong side of the law. How did you come by these secrets?" asked Zabuza with a scowl on his face.
"You don't need to know" said Itachi.
Acting from cold blooded rage, Zabuza hurled his sword towards Itachi, but his Sharingan would not allow his body to feel harm as they instructed him to evade the incoming object by jumping into the air. His maneuver was well read as, while in the air, he encountered Zabuza and a taijutsu battle was unavoidable. Zabuza unleashed a powerful right kick towards Itachi's left ribs, but as they found intended mark, Itachi wrapped it with his left hand only to unleash a set of right hooks to Zabuza. As Itachi's enemy grew tired of this assault, he proceeded to catch one of Itachi's arms leaving him with both his hands occupied as Zabuza used his leg to hit him in the chest while Itachi mirrored his move and they were both sent to the bridge's steady ground.
As their feet touched the floor, Zabuza retreated his hand as if pulling a rope. Itachi caught glimpse of his movement and questioned his intent only to realize a little too late that Zabuza's sword, pulled by a chakra string attached to the hilt, found his business' end to Itachi's left calve. Only a grunt escaped Itachi's lips.
"It seems I still have a chance against the mighty Ryuketsu no Karasu" said Zabuza letting out a subtle smirk.
On Sasuke's side, the battle took a turn for the unpredictable. Having faught Haku on a previews timeline he thought he knew Haku, but soon found surprise as he saw him perform a new jutsu. From beneath his mask he said in a low voice "Hyoton: Yuki no kosho [Ice Style: Snow Bite] as he slammed his palms against the floor and from the tip of her hands ice was quickly being created and assumed the form of two ice wolves bearing their frozen fangs at Sasuke. As Haku's foe witnessed the new technique, a feeling quickly found home in his heart: excitement.
Sasuke cleaved his sword to the ground and only a single word was born from his tongue: "Raiba! [Lightning Fangs]" Upon voiced command two lightning animals resembling his past technique Kirin were born from the ground, its electrifying mane swaying wildly upon their shoulders. On an invisible command all 4 beast engaged one another and savagely tore each other up with their frozen and lightning based fangs.
Once more on Zabuza's battle, Itachi was focused on his enemy more than his leg injury. It appeared as it didn't bother him, but such a trivial fact didn't hold much importance as Itachi's hand came once again upon his face, dealing a severe blow to his right temple.
"Ugh….your taijutsu is impressive, considering it bests mine at times." admitted Zabuza. "Lets try your ninjutsu! Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu [Water style: Water Dragon bullet]"
Itachi replied with his complete opposite. "Katon: Karyudan no jutsu [Fire Style: Fire Dragon bullet]"
The two similar beasts spewed forth from their summoner's mouth and found their opposite's throats in an overwhelming blast of steam filling even more the already foggy surroundings.
As both Zabuza's and Itachi's and Sasuke's and Haku's jutsus were undone, Naruto appeared in between the 2 forces.
"Stop!" yelled the blonde. "Zabuza, Haku please stop fighting! You don't need to follow orders from an evil man!"
"Of course they should not. Im not an evil man, im just a business man that can see a deal gone sour from miles." Said a man in a tuxedo followed by 100 men. "Gatoh"
"Zabuza, Zabuza, Zabuza….tsk,tsk,tsk… I thought you would be better than this. But here I stand and find you unable to complete but a single task: kill an old man, that's being guarded by children and one measly man. I think….. yeah…. I think you should die here as well, you filthy rat. You and your little bitch." said Gatoh.
Haku lost his temper for a second and ran towards the mob of criminals throwing senbons everywhere. He was doing pretty well for his own until an axe found his way to his chest. His small body could not contain the force behind the blow and was sent flying in the direction he came from.
"HAKU!" said Zabuza as his killing intent rose. "ENOUGH!"
Zabuza bellowed like a demon as his sword cleaved and butchered through all of Gatoh's men. Gatoh could only watch terrified as this sole man…no…not a man, this demon slaughtered his minions as they were nothing. Some weapons found themselves spiked against the demon's back but he ignored the pain and continued his rampage. As he neared Gatoh, the little man could not contain his primal instincts and ran from the beast he once knew as Zabuza. With the use of his Kubikiribocho, Zabuza decapitated the man, ending his pathetic life.
Zabuza came back to Haku's bloodied body and watched as life was escaping his eyes. The demon in him no longer took hold of his stare and a gentler spirit took place in his stead.
"I'm sorry I… failed you … Zabuza-sama" said Haku slowly.
"No you haven't, you foolish kid. Guess you learned your anger management from me" said Zabuza.
"Zabuza… I can help. I have healing abilities" said Hinata. Zabuza's eyes fixed themselves on Hinata's with hope but his past came back.
"Why should I trust you?" said Zabuza angrily.
"He will die if I don't do something quick. Trust me or not, he will die unless I help!" Hinata replied looking straight at this monster with unwavering determination.
From the ground Haku, grabbed Zabuza's leg and said: "They were all holding back Zabuza-sama…. I could tell from their previous battle… none of them are the same, except for Ryuketsu, and he never showed us his true abilities."
Zabuza focused his eyes on Itachi but continued to speak to Haku. "Holding back? Ryuketsu almost lost his leg in one of my attacks. I doubt he was hol-"
"Sorry Zabuza, but you didn't." interrupted Itachi. They looked down at his leg and passing his hand on the wound, it disappeared. "I used a genjutsu, so you would think you gained advantage."
Naruto then began to tell Zabuza his story. And even the details of how they met once before. He told Zabuza about how he used white rabbits as substitutions, about how Haku picked herbs for medicine and about Haku's Ice Jutsus. Everything fitted.
"Naruto, he is a missing nin. If words gets out that Zabuza is on the Leaf then war would surely follow" said Itachi.
"Yes, but only us know the truth, and of course Jiji will know." Said Naruto referring to the Hokage, his grandfatherly figure. "Please Zabuza, come join us in Konoha. You can live free"
"But their bodies. No one would believe they have died. And if they disappear it would only be the same. More running for them" said Sasuke.
"And that's where the Uchiha Brothers come in. I need you to burn these two corpses that Zabuza just took down from Gatoh's men. They are of proper height and build to match Zabuza and Haku. Nobody will recognize them" said Naruto.
After pondering the situation for a minute, Itachi answered. "Very well. We shall take them to Konoha, if Zabuza agrees.
"I have a debt to this Hyuuga girl. Nothing else ties me to Konoha. Why should I accept your offer?" said Zabuza eyeing the Konoha-nin.
Naruto looked back one more time at Zabuza and offered once more. "Zabuza, join us. You will be given a house, security, a place to call your own. You and Haku would be free from pursuit."
Zabuza considered once more the offer and with a small nod he accepted.
"You will first be questioned, and will serve time in the ANBU cells, but I'll talk with the Sandaime to lower your charges." Said Itachi.
"Agreed. Only to remove Haku from this cursed life." Zabuza gave Sasuke his sword and put his arms in front of him to be secured with chakra cuffs.
"Come on team. Lets go home."
As Team 7 arrived in Konoha, with two figures hidden below cloaks, the team decided to go straight to Sarutobi to address their issue.
As usual Naruto just kicked the door open as he usually did when visiting Hiruzen. "Hey Jiji! We're back!" said Naruto.
"And we need to discuss something with you Hokage-sama" added Itachi surprised to see Naruto's blunt disregard for honorifics.
"Hey Naruto! How does it feel to finally get out of Kono-.…. well, Im pretty sure you already know how it feels. And who are these Naruto?" said Hiruzen looking at the two figures.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about Jiji. I think we got 2 new recruits for Konoha!" said Naruto jumping right to the conclusion. "First of all, don't get mad."
Itachi took the hoods off and Zabuza's face was revealed, along with Haku's.
"Momochi Zabuza… and Haku? What is the meaning of this, Itachi?" said Hokage with the full extent of his authority. Itachi then proceeded to give his mission report and in the process explaining the current situation.
After said explanation Sarutobi called his secretary. "Rangiku, please send for my- nevermind. He's already here. Come in" ended Sarutobi as he felt a presence and a shadow entered through the window.
"I have told you to use the doors. You're acting as my advisor now, not as the ANBU Captain."
"Apologies, Hokage-sama. I was on the rooftop…uuhh... reading. So I figured its easier to enter through the window." Said the shadowy figure with an ANBU mask on his face and a tattoo on his arm.
Sarutobi then introduced him to the group. "Everyone, this is my new council advisor since the… forced retirement of Homura, and my most trusted ANBU Captain. You can take off your mask."
The man then took his dog mask off and introduced himself.
"My name, is Hatake Kakashi."