AN: View count on stories are finally not bugged out - woohoo! I wanted to make a big like thank you once I hit 1k views, but I couldn't see that milestone and instead I see that we just hit over 2k. That is amazing to me! We also broke 50 followers and are closing in on 50 favorites. For those who followed but didn't favorite, let me ask you this: what is stopping you guys from the favorite!
Anyways, this was probably the hardest chapter for me to write so far. Fight scenes are an interesting issue for me. I hate when things feel very like 'bull shit deus ex machina' so hopefully what I've done here isn't along those lines.
Naruto giggled as he slammed a small wooden piece onto a shogi board. Said board sat between him and his teammate, Sakura. "I win, I win I win I win I win I win. IIIIII WINNNNNNN" Naruto repeated and repeated as he cheered and jumped in the air. Kakashi gave a short laugh before he patted Naruto on the shoulder.
"Alright now kid, it's time to wrap this up. We've gotten lucky this far in not being surprised and ambushed by Zabuza - the bridge has about one day left before we finish it. We all need to head to bed and get a good sleep. There's no way we won't be attacked tomorrow."
"That's right," Anko added. She was sitting next to Kakashi, who was next to Naruto. On the other side of the table sat Sakura and Tsunami. Sasuke demanded more training time with Kakashi. In return, the masked man gave him a clone to work on reactions with. "I could sense a few different chakra signatures close in on the bridge earlier today. Nothing that had me too concerned. It felt like maybe just a couple of lackeys of Zabuza - regardless, they're definitely planning something."
Kakashi grunted in acknowledgment, remembering back to the tale that Tsunami had told the group about her late husband. "Knowing how Gato likes to operate I wouldn't be surprised if he's going to try and use this as another display of power. As a way for him to wretch even more control over these locals." His voice then grew oddly chippy for the situation, We're not gonna let that happen now, are we, so let's get some rest." At this point, the suggestion from earlier seemed more of a demand. He then left the room to grab his other student.
Naruto let his enjoyment stay internal. I was finally able to beat Sakura, and she didn't let me win, I could tell! So, how about those rewards hehe, he giggled internally as he brought up his quests.
Quest Completed!
Beat Sakura in Shogi.
Rewards Granted:
+5 to Intelligence
+2 to Stat Points
Naruto saw the scroll poof and energy flow into his body. Right before he could pull up his status screen Sakura pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Good game Naruto, you've really been able to learn a lot this past week. I guess those shadow clones really do help," She said with a little laugh. "But Kakashi-sensei is right. We need to get to bed."
The pink-haired girl began cleaning up the table that the two were playing on. Anko had already left the room, but not before instructing Sakura to bring her a few items from the kitchen when she was ready to head to bed. The group had a split living situation. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto all slept in the living room. Meanwhile, Anko and Sakura were given the luxury of sleeping in the same room, a spare bedroom that Tazuna had for guests. The items being asked for were simple. A mortar and pestle.
Naruto grinned as he brought up his stat page
Menu - Stats
Name: Naruto Uzumaki | Affiliation: Konohagakure | Rank: Fresh Genin
[Strength: 14 | Intellect: 15 | Dexterity: 9 | Constitution: 36] [Points Avail: 2]
[Ninjutsu: 4 | Genjutsu: 2 | Taijutsu: 15] [Points Avail: 0]
Naruto smiled as he saw his stats increase. His nin and gen jutsu were both extremely low, at least in comparison to his taijutsu. As of right now, he would fall for the simplest of genjutsu. On top of that, if his 'spells' were really jutsu then he would have a hard time controlling them. Luckily for Naruto, while some spells required nin or gen jutsu stat checks, many of the early ones relied on stat checks around his primary stats. As it stood his constitution was still leagues ahead of all of his other stats. Okay, I got two points. I think putting one in strength and one in dexterity is the way. Gotta stay well-rounded. Besides, I don't even know what type of spells I wanna specialize in yet. There are so many options.
Naruto pulled out his spellbook and looked down the several different paths that he could learn spells. He had two key spells in mind. Currently, the number of spells that he could learn was completely up to his intellect stat. For every five points he obtained in intellect, he would learn one spell slot. At least, that was the scaling of spells right now. Of course, the power scaling of his spells relied on things like his strength or dexterity. It all depended on the type of spell. Most fire and earth abilities required strength. Anything with stealth, shuriken, or poisons needed dexterity. When it came to water, wind, and other sorts of elemental releases, the required stat largely depended on the purpose of the ability. Most physical-based attacks and physical-based defensive abilities required strength. Anything mental required a lot of intellect. Any sort of healing ability also required high intellect.
I definitely need to spend time working on my dexterity next.
Well, you wouldn't need to work on it so much if your clothing didn't scream 'please kill me now' A familiar voice rang in Naruto's mind.
Sure, but if I can get my dexterity high enough then it wouldn't matter! I'd be able to sneak past anyone regardless of what I'm wearing.
I uhh, don't think it works like that. Then again, I don't exactly make the rules. I just bend them.
Well, Kura- Naruto had begun shortening Kurayami's name to Kura - I still think my best course of action would be getting my intellect to 20 and then bringing my strength and dexterity up to the 30s. I noticed that my constitution is getting higher the more I fight - so I don't need to worry about that. A lot of these abilities I can look at in the spellbook need a ton of strength and dexterity. Thankfully I got enough stats for those two abilities though.
Keep in mind one of them is going to require a lot of focus tonight to set up. It's going to drain your stamina for a bit.
I know I know. But, it'll definitely be worth it. Naruto grinned. By this moment, everyone else in the house had fallen asleep. Naruto made a few key choices in his spellbook then pulled out a crystal from his bag that had just seemingly appeared. Before he could continue his thoughts the voice of Kurayami rang once more.
I just have one piece of advice for you Naruto. Make sure you don't skimp out on the traditional ninjutsu of this world. While my abilities may help you in your endeavors, it would be a shame to see you use them as a crutch to lean on.
Naruto snorted - internally of course - at his shinigami friend. Yeah yeah, well if these powers are here for me to use, then I'll use them. He then clutched the crystal in his hand and began to focus his powers, channeling chakra into the clear crystal. The white crystal initially turned blue, and as Naruto felt exhaustion phase over him the crystal slowly turned from blue to amethyst to a deep purple. This deep purple slowly changed in tint until it became a dark profound crimson. Naruto clutched this crystal in his jacket late into the night until so much energy was taken that the boy lost consciousness.
"Well, he's not moving…" Kakashi sighed as he tried shaking Naruto awake. Naruto, laying on his back, was still snoring away. Sasuke and Sakura joined Kakashi in this sigh as Anko facepalmed.
"Well, might as well leave him. Guess it isn't a bad idea to have some level of protection on the house." Anko added before walking out of the room.
"Idiot," Sasuke remarked as he followed in tow with Kakasshi. Sakura, although having thoughts of concern and taking a moment longer, followed the group.
Several hours later the remainder of Team Seven plus Anko stood on the bridge. Anko stood forward toward the broken side of the bridge. Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke all stood several yards away, alongside Tazuna - who was currently on break. Anko made a hand sign to Kakashi and he nodded, immediately understanding what was being said. Kakashi turned to Sasuke and Sakura before lifting his headband revealing his words needed to be said. The two knew exactly what this meant - Zabuza was here.
Just like clockwork, a mist enveloped the entirety of the bridge before a chuckling rattled the soon-to-be battlefield. Following the noise came waves and waves of killer intent. Sakura felt as if she was suffocating, and Sasuke was only holding up a little bit better. Kakashi turned and instructed his students in a stern tone, "find your resolve, take a deep breath, and regain your focus. And do not worry, I am not going to let my comrades die."
"Those are some heavy promises Kakashi."The familiar voice of Zabuza flew through the mist, chiming in seemingly all directions. Out of the mist, a glint of a blade could be seen falling down onto the silver-haired man. At the last moment, Kakashi was able to find his footing and utilize a kunai to brace the edge of the blade. This kunai only lasted a few seconds before the blade began to cut through the metal. Kakashi, reactions quick enough, jumped back and created a bit of distance between him and Zabuza. In a flurry of hand signs Kakashi then inhaled deeply before expelling his chakra. "Wind-Style: Great Gale Breakthrough!" He screamed as a torrent of wind exhaled from his mouth, strong enough to even blow some metal bars from the bridge into the water. This wind jutsu also carried the mist away revealing that Zabuza had been pushed back and to his side, a masked individual, as well as two unnamed water ninjas stood. Anko could not be seen, causing Kakashi to wonder if he had maybe gone a bit overboard with the power of the jutsu.
"Clever, I guess I should've expected copycat Kakashi to know a wind jutsu," Zabuza snarled.
"Hmm, I don't know why I expected you to attack the bridge builder rather than me, but I guess I should thank you for making my job of protecting him easier," Kakashi pointed out calmly.
Zabuza laughed as he shouldered his blade, "I did my research. Sure, I'll make a pretty penny off the old man over there. But you, and that bastard woman, and that dark-haired boy - those are my targets. Your head would sell quite nicely, and so would the woman. Not to mention, if I can capture that boy," Zabuza swung his blade down directing it at Sasuke. "I know several villages who would pay top dollar for him, alive… or dead." His chuckling continued before it began to be full-blown laughter. "I'm not just going to kill the bridge builder. Oh no. That small job doesn't particularly interest me anymore. Today, you and your squad of pathetic leaf ninjas die."
Zabuza charged Kakashi again, the two engaging in combat similar to that of their previous encounter. Zabuza attempted to chop at Kakashi but to no avail. Kakashi's eye spun to life, tracking every move that Zabuza could make. Every attack either dodged or countered perfectly. Kakashi was slowly developing the edge in this fight. In the midst of these blows the masked individual next to Zabuza threw several senbon at the pair of Sasuke and Sakura.
The two jumped back in separate directions. Sasuke to the right, Sakura to the left. The masked individual nodded and the two other water ninjas sprinted forward, directing their attacks at Sakura. At the same moment, the masked individual pounced toward Sasuke. The battle ensued, three fights all at the same time. Kakashi was too preoccupied to try and help Sakura. His kunai is currently being held in place by the meat cleaver of a blade that Zabuza weld. "You should pay more attention to me," Zabuza yelled as he yet again tried to cut Kakashi in two. "Don't worry too much about your students. They're as good as dead. Haku, my boy with the mask, he'll be taking quick work of Sasuke. He is a killing machine, faster than even me. The boy hails from an incredible bloodline. And the other two, their synergy makes them an incredible asset. One attacks the body with quick blows, while the other waits for the opportunity to latch at the opponent's mind. If our last encounter is anything to go off of, that girl is hopeless."
Kakashi glared daggers into the man in front of him before jumping back and sending a barrage of shuriken and kunai. Zabuza humphed before twisting his sword, using it to deflect the onslaught of metal. Once the noises stopped Zabuza twisted the sword back to see Kakashi finishing a hand sign. Tiger, oh shi- Right before Zabuza could finish the thought Kakashi began to spew out flames from his mouth.
Reacting just in time Zabuza was able to yield enough hand signs to produce a water gun projecting from his own mouth. The two masked men stood even for a moment before Zabuza's jutsu overwhelmed the fire style of Kakashi. Water does happen to be the natural counter.
"Mizen, I don't think we'll need your abilities here." The unnamed water ninja on the left said. He was in full-clad water nation-style camo, much like his comrade. While the two wore identical clothing it was very clear that this ninja was more physically adept. His tan build filled out his clothing, while his friend's clothing appeared baggy and loose. Not to mention the pale face of his friend indicated a particular lack of outside activities.
"No, I don't think so at all Temin," The pale man spoke as he also charged at Sakura. The girl stood in a defensive stance, kunai in hand. Although she was standing ready to defend herself, it was clearly shown in her body language that she was terrified. Her knees shook and it took every ounce of willpower she had. Mizen and Temin went to strike Sakura on both sides, one aiming for the head while the other going for the body.
Sakura flinched, closed her eyes, and held up her Kunai in hopes to defend herself. Her cries rang out and filled the bridge.
Sasuke turned as he looked at the noise of Sakura. Unfortunately for him, the only thing that met his gaze was his own eyes. Icy-glass mirrors had risen up from around him as Haku trapped the boy. "You should keep your attention on the opponent in front of you. Your friend should not be of any concern," he said without a tone. Haku then began to engage Sasuke in physical combat. Haku couldn't break a sweat. Sasuke on the other hand struggled to keep up.
Every blow that Sasuke sent was simply deflected or countered. His right jab was slapped to the side and then countered with a swift strike to his ribs. Sasuke winced but then sent a roundhouse to Haku's side. Haku simply ducked before giving two punches to Sasuke's gut.
The way in which Haku fought brought Sasuke to anger. He never threw his own attacks, only countered Sasuke. He was fighting completely defensively, almost in such a manner that would indicate that he was simply toying with Sasuke.
"Enough of this," Sasuke yelled as he ignited his feet with Chakra and blasted himself back. A thin line of sweat began to drip from his brow as his hands clasped together several times before ending in the sign of the tiger. "Fire Style: FireBall Jutsu!" He exalted his breath releasing a large ball of fire at Haku. Haku simply dipped into the icy mirror behind him and absorbed the attack.
"Good try," His voice echoed all around Sasuke, causing him to fling his head in all directions. Haku appeared in every mirror. "But now, it's my turn."
In one moment Sakura could see two men launching at her. The next, she closed her eyes and said a prayer. The sound of leaves rustling, men grunting, and two distinct splashes of water shook her out of her prayer. She opened her eyes to see a familiar woman standing in front of her.
"Brat," the woman growled through clenched teeth, "you tell me all this crap about you wanting to be a real kunoichi, and then you just stand there like a sitting duck waiting for these idiots to kill you." Anko had shown herself to be quick to anger, but this was a level that even Sakura hadn't seen before. "I'll give you one chance and one chance only - you fight here today with me or you lose any chance of being a kunoichi, you got that!"
These words shook Sakura out of her stupor. She knew that Anko was right, that she had just stood there and waited for either her death or for a savior. If Anko wasn't here I'd be dead. Her mind went back to the two missing water ninjas who had originally attacked Team Seven. If Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi weren't there before then I would be dead. I need to stop relying on others.
Sakura readied herself with newfound determination. In her mind, this was it - her last chance to prove herself. She hoped that the third try would truly be the trick. Disturbing her out of her thoughts was the sound of water splashing followed by Temin.
"Where's your little water friend," Anko spat as she charged the man. Temin remained unphased as he charged toward Anko. His speed was nothing for her to worry about. She began casting hand signs, but right as the man got close enough she caught a feeling of immense chakra being built in his feet.
Temin channeled chakra into his feet giving him a short burst of speed, just fast enough for him to pass by Anko. The woman yelled in shock, attempting to warn Sakura. The girl threw her kunai at Temin before jumping back and sending a few more shuriken to follow. None of these attacks were direct hits, although two of the shuriken did draw blood - just barely grazing Temin's shoulder and knee.
"Your aim is almost as pathetic as you are," he yelled as he punched the girl square in the cheek, causing Sakura to fly back on the bridge, rolling a few times before she came to a stop. The girl coughed up blood before bringing herself to her hands and knees.
I am not going down just like this Her inner voice screamed as she flung even more weapons from her pouch toward Temin. Just as before none of these weapons made a direct hit. Every hit was simply grazing the man, leaving nothing but paper cut-sized slices in his skin.
"You really aren't worth taking seriously, you know that." Temin laughed as he slowly approached the girl. Behind him Anko stood, her eyes glazed over.
What's happening? I can't move my body… Anko thought as he looked around the bridge. It felt as if time altogether had stopped. Kakashi and Zabuza locked in place, kunai to the sword. She couldn't tilt her head but by moving her eyes around she also could see a figure standing behind Sasuke as he stood unmoving in the ice cage. As for Sakura… I can't see her. I don't know what's going on here, and I can't even bend my chakra. It's gotta be genjutsu…
She could feel a sharp cold metal being raised to her neck. A small pale hand holding a short blade. "Did you know…" a shallow voice whispered, "most of the human body is made of water. And all it takes to disturb this water is a simple… slash." Anko cursed herself at the realization of what was going on. When she had flown Mizen into the water the man made his move. Through the cover of water, he must've cast his genjutsu. The sound of the splash utilizing as a way to carry his chakra.
That was Mizen's special ability. A specialist in stealth and genjutsu, the man had spent countless hours working on techniques that utilized the water in the human body as a means to keep the user under genjutsu. "The beautiful part about this genjutsu is that it required just a small bit of disturbance to your system to work. And now you're stuck, paralyzed in time as your body is stuck to my will."
Anko, at that moment, felt helpless. While she had a vast array of abilities and methods to trap and torture her opponents, the one thing she didn't have was an immense and powerful chakra. When it came to most genjutsu her control was good enough to break free, but in this instance, she felt it impossible to even call upon enough chakra to try and release herself from the mental warfare. On top of that she couldn't even move her body, so self-harm as a means to flash back to reality was impossible. A small tear dropped down her face as she knew what she had to do. Dark energy began to surround her as he neck stung, feeling as if a thousand hornets were stinging her. The mark on her neck began to spiral to life before markings etched over half of her body. The sad look on the woman's face quickly became overwritten with arrogance and anger. Her frown curled into a smirk as she bashed the man behind her with her own skull. The man fell back, clutching his now broken nose and screaming in pain.
"Agh, what the fuck are you!" He screamed in fear as Anko turned, a clear look of hatred in her eyes.
"But now, it's my turn," Haku stated as he appeared behind Sasuke. The boy hugged Sasuke from behind and clutched his body in place. His arms warped around Sasuke and the two were now interlocked, neither able to make hand signs.
"You got me in a hold, so what," Sasuke grunted through panted breaths, "it isn't like you'll be able to do anything with your hands occupied." Acting quickly Haku then began making one-handed seals, to which Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise.
"You shouldn't talk so much while in combat, it is quite disrespectful," Haku stated in a cool low tone before his hand stopped and the sweat on Sasuke's brow began to levitate in front of him. "Ice Style: Sweat Barbed Barrage" all around the boy the sweat on his body began to float out and then turn into small icy spears. The spears began flying toward Sasuke before he heard a shout.
"Piercing Wind Gale Jutsu!" A familiar boy's voice rattled the field as the ice spears flung away, and the ice prison rattled. Haku turned and saw a flash of blond before he was tackled to the ground. The trio stumbled, to which Sasuke was flown to the right while Naruto and Haku bundled together. Haku resulted below, while Naruto sat atop the boy, fist mid-throw as he attempted to punch the masked man. Haku, acting quickly, kicked the boy off of him with both of his sandalled feet before making a jump back into his ice mirrors.
Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, "Thanks, but you're still an idiot. You should've-" before he could continue he was cut off by Naruto.
"Shut it," the blonde growled through angered teeth. Naruto remembered his death in this cage, and he knew exactly where Sasuke was going with that statement. A brief flashback appeared in his mind as the memory of Sasuke scolding him for not attacking from the outside of the mirrors replayed. "I helped, now just shut it, and let's take this masked loser down," the boy's serious tone left Sasuke surprised. Sasuke in retort smirked.
"Alright, I'll save the comments for after this loser is in the dirt." Sasuke didn't have any sort of good plan for dealing with Haku. His movements were simply too quick for Sasuke to follow with his eyes, even trying to anticipate them was a struggle. "Naruto, this is going to sound stupid, but I need you to just keep trying to break these mirrors with your clones."
Naruto laughed, "sounds good to me," and right after he made his classic hand sign and several copies of himself appeared. They all charged the mirror, to which they all received the same treatment. Barrages of icy senbon were sent at Naruto and his clones, causing them to disappear in a puff of smoke. Haku danced between mirrors, sending barrage after barrage of senbon into the pair of boys. Sasuke grunted, his clothing being ripped apart by the attacks. Naruto frowned but stayed determined as he continued to launch his assaults.
"I could do this all day, but you really need to come up with a better plan. I can only buy us so much time." Naruto panted out between attacks. Just need three more minutes, then I can use Gale Wind again.
"Isn't this fun Kakashi, fighting a battle until you die, all the while your students are trapped." Zabuza stood across from Kakashi, his sword pointing at the man.
Kakashi glared, his Sharingan analyzing every aspect of Zabuza. "Enough talk," he began making hand signs in which Zabuza reacted, making similar hand signs. Kakashi launched a water dragon at Zabuza, in which he was able to just in time summon one of his one from the waters below. The resulting clash of water caused rain to fall on the bridge. The crash of the two dragons also flung Zabuza back. During his fall back Zabuza made a few more hand signs and a dense mist enveloped the battlefield yet again.
No sense in wasting chakra on another wind jutsu. That last one took a lot out of me. If I want to track Zabuza down I'll just have to use this mist against him. Kakashi ripped a scroll out of his pouch, bit his thumb, and then spread out the scroll and made a command for his summoning jutsu. Several hounds puffed into existence, snarling and looking around. If I can't see you, I'll just have to smell you. "Go!" He commanded and his ninja hounds followed, dashing into the fog. Kakashi then made a few hand seals and then disappeared into the ground.
The unsuspecting Zabuza didn't stand a chance. Hound after hound attacked him from the fog, his own cover that was meant to protect him now served him a disadvantage. The ninja dogs, while not the most powerful in strength, attacked with speed even faster than Kakashi. Zabuza, after suffering enough damage, finally made a successful strike at one of the hounds. The blunt edge of his sword sent away one of the brown-colored dogs. The hound whimpered before disappearing in smoke.
"Enough of this!" Zabuza screamed before dispelling his own smoke, revealing 4 other hounds. Charging the large bull-dog-looking mutt Zabuza went for a lethal strike before having his legs gripped beneath him. "What!" Zabuza roared, getting extremely furious.
The dogs then charged their rooted target, latching on one by one at his legs and arms. The big bulldog gripped him from behind, his teeth digging into Zabuza's neck. Kakashi then made his way out of the ground, jumping onto the bridge and locking eyes with Zabuza. He kicked the man's cleaver across to the other side of the bridge before making a few hand signs. He began to pool his chakra and gripped his wrist.
"This is the end Zabuza," right as he finished his sentence the sound of birds chirping filled the battlefield. Then, from two directions, dark energy flooded the bridge. Kakashi turned to his left, seeing Anko consumed by her curse mark. One water ninja currently lay in a pool of his own blood, while Anko towered over his soon-to-be corpse. A look of fear took over Sakura's face as the tan man in front of her went completely pale. To Kakashi's right, he could sense another familiar dark chakra. One that he hadn't felt in years. The sound of chirping slowly subsided and Kakashi made a deep sigh. I need to stop the fox before its too late. I can't let the spirit overwhelm Naruto… not to mention Anko's curse mark. There's no telling what she'll do under the influence. Kakashi made a shadow clone and the two beings dashed in opposite directions, hoping to take care of the imminent dangers.
Four, three, two, and one. Checkmate, I win.
Heh, got him, CHA Sakura's internal thoughts screamed as she grinned. There may have been blood in her mouth, and she may have been feeling more pain than she had ever felt before, but she did it. She managed to inflict enough damage and stall just long enough for the substance to take effect.
"What're you smiling at pinky? What, do you get off to being beaten or something?" Temin laughed again, taking his sweet time in reaching the girl. Suddenly a sharp pain began to radiate within his muscles. The areas which were originally cut turned a deep purple. His right knee was rendered useless, and the man fell on his other leg. He used his right arm and left knee to keep himself up. Suddenly the papercut-sized damage that he has ensued earlier began to burn with a pain deeper than he had ever felt. He screamed in agony as his body slumped to the ground. "W-what is this? What agh what did you do to me?" The man spat through clenched teeth. Sakura stood, clearly still in pain from the blow before.
"It is simple really - Poison." The girl smirked as the man's eyes widened as he cursed himself for not taking the fight seriously. Sakura looked past Temin and saw Anko moments away from having her throat gouged by the other water ninja. She went to move and scream, anything to try and help the woman who taught her to utilize poisoned weapons just the night before. Then, right as she blinked her eyes Anko's body was engulfed in purple flames, and Mizen's body fell to the ground paralyzed. Sakura then looked up and saw Anko obliterate the man that was behind him and turn, looking at her and Mizen. The look on Anko's face and her killing intent caused Sakura to fall to her knees and gasp for breath. She couldn't control herself, the suffocating feeling was worse than anything she had ever felt. Her physical injuries were nothing compared to this.
In a flash, Anko appeared in front of the paralyzed man and dug her foot into him. She was unphased by the other demonic chakra that radiated on the field.
Inside the ice prison, Sasuke sat in shock as the blond boy in his arms began swelling with red chakra. What, what is this? Just moments before Naruto had sacrificed himself for Sasuke, taking a bunch of senbon that was meant for his teammate. Haku had made sure to target Naruto in such a way that would simply incapacitate the blonde. However, Naruto had anticipated sacrificing himself for Sasuke. He knew exactly what would happen. Naruto knew that he would launch attack after attack toward the ice prison - to no avail of course. Naruto knew that Sasuke would awaken some sort of red-eye ability. Naruto knew and was fully prepared to die. The stone that he had channeled his chakra into was a little ability that he picked up the night before - Soul Stone. It required that he channel energy into it and focus his life force for several hours, and he could also only prepare one of these at any given time. The result of the Soul Stone is simple. Any user who casts and channels their energy into the stone will have their chakra essence take over their corpse and rejuvenate their body to life. This was Naruto's ace in the hole. He figured he could get the jump on Haku by 'playing dead' - after all he was dead. The thing Naruto didn't anticipate was that the Soul Stone required immense amounts of chakra to even use. More than he could supply in one night, and as a result, most of the stone was filled with energy provided by the Nine-Tailed Fox.
"No one," Naruto gasped as he came to life, being held by Sasuke. "No one hurts my friends," His face jerked up and he jumped out of Sasuke's grasp, running on all fours toward one of the ice mirrors. His speed was just fast enough to where Sasuke could see him - but even then Sasuke sat in shock at the speed at which Naruto ran. Naruto slammed his clawed fist into one of the mirrors, shattering it and knocking Haku out of it in the meantime. The boy then jumped onto the masked man and began assaulting his body before hitting the mask so hard that it shattered. Kakashi rushed behind him while he was in the process of ripping Haku to shreds.
Right as Kakashi was about to knock Naruto unconscious the boy broke the mask on Haku's face revealing the porcelain boy's face. The realization took in as Naruto looked into Haku's eyes. This was just another kid, another kid just like Naruto. Naruto calmed down and the red chakra subsided. Thank Kami Kakashi thought as he turned his attention back to Zabuza, the man still incapacitated by his hounds. I guess I'll deal with him again. He began to make hand signs.
On the other side of the bridge, his clone had a hand on Anko's shoulder. The woman was currently stabbing the bottom of her foot into the chest of the water ninja responsible for attacking Sakura. The man, already beaten, was now just spitting up blood and writhing in agony. The agony served to please Anko with every ounce. "Anko, you need to stop," the words fell on deaf ears. Kakashi would either need to restrain Anko or put the enemy ninja out of his misery. He took a step and slapped Anko, the action causing the woman to attempt to strike him, just for him to dodge backward. She spat his name in response.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
"Look at yourself. Look at what you're letting yourself become," Kakashi spoke, his eyes looking square at Anko. He stood in between her and Sakura. "You're also suffocating Sakura with your killing intent." Anko couldn't care, she swung at the clone, resulting in the clone disappearing in a poof of smoke. The smoke cleared and revealed Sakura on her hands and knees, struggling to breathe and horribly shaken up. Anko's eyes widened, realizing that Sakura was terrified, but not of the water ninja who had assaulted her. Sakura looked at Anko with eyes full of fear. Eyes that resembled that of those in the village who didn't understand. Eyes that stung deep in Anko's heart. The woman desperately tried to regain herself and her proper train of thinking. The curse mark began to recede and she fell forward, looking up at her prospective student with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Sakura…" the whimper left her mouth as she lost consciousness.
Naruto sat on Haku, one question slipping from his mouth "Why?" Blood spilled from Haku's mouth as he answered, giving Naruto his entire story. A boy cursed with a bloodline trait that caused his entire town to hate him. A boy whose father slaughtered his own mother, and in return was killed by Haku himself in self-defense. A boy whose entire existence had been whittled down to being a tool for his master. Zabuza had come into the boy's life and given him a purpose. Zabuza ensured that Haku had a mentor and a purpose. In time Haku began to see Zabuza in the light of a father. Haku would do anything to ensure his master's success. But now he was nothing but a broken tool.
"Kill me. Naruto my time as a tool for Zabuza has come to an end. A broken weapon serves no purpose. So please, kill me." The boy said this with a small smile on his face. Something that shook Naruto to his core. He shook Haku violently, attempting to talk sense into him. Sasuke walked over to the two, unsure of what just happened. He felt immense power exude from not just Naruto but also Anko. Similar chakra signatures, both dark energy that held power he couldn't comprehend. His Sharingan was barely able to see either of them move when they were powered up.
This is ridiculous. When I fought Naruto I had to hold back just so that he could have a chance of having decent training. And now he took out Haku who I couldn't keep up with. On top of that, this random woman also receives some weird powerful chakra. What's going on here? Is this some sort of borrowed power? I refuse to just let myself fall behind any longer. Thoughts of jealousy and rage bounced around the Uchiha's mind. His pride wasn't just bruised, it was completely sprained. His one tomoe Sharingan blazed furiously.
The sound of crackling shook him out of his thoughts. His head snapped in Kakashi's direction as the silver-haired man was sprinting toward Zabuza's still incapacitated body.
"Now, you die!" Kakashi screamed, but right before his hit landed the unthinkable occurred. Haku, utilizing his one-handed seals, saw Kakashi make his jutsu and in response created two ice mirrors, one below his body and one right in front of Zabuza.
"Sorry Naruto, but it looks like I still have one use left in me," he said as he faded into the mirror, only to be reflected in front of Zabuza and in between the swordsman and Kakashi.
Naruto's eyes widened. He's really going to kill himself for that scum! I won't let it happen. He prayed that five minutes had passed and called upon every bit of chakra that he could muster.
"Piercing Wind Gale Jutsu!" As the words escaped his mouth so did a gust of air so strong that caused Kakashi to change his course. Rather than his lightning blade striking the boy through his heart Kakashi struck Haku in his left shoulder, leaving a large wound and shattering the ice mirror behind him.
He didn't even cast any hand signs Sasuke thought in a mixture between shock and rage.
Kakashi stood with the boy in his arm, shocked beyond belief. Zabuza, mustering the bit of strength he had left, channeled all of his chakra and moved to swing a fist at Kakashi. The resulting movement caused his arm to rip from the jaws of one of the ninja hounds. Kakashi stood, shocked that the attack against Haku didn't even phase Zabuza. Zabuza's blow landed, sending Kakashi to the ground while resulting in Zabuza's right arm being rendered useless due to the ninja hound's teeth. "I'll do whatever it takes Kakashi, I refuse to fail my mission," the man spat through his mask.
Naruto and Sasuke stood to the side, utterly stunned with shock. The ninja hounds that Kakashi summoned all dissipated in a bloom of smoke the moment that the man hit the ground. Sakura couldn't fight in her state. Anko was unconscious. The two water ninjas that Zabuza had brought were both incapacitated - at best. Kakashi was stuck, fist in Haku's shoulder. The boy fell unconscious from the ability, most likely due to a combination of blood loss and shock.
The two were brought out of their stupor by the sound of a cane hitting a stone. There, at the end of the bridge, stood Gato and a band of at least one hundred bandits.
"Well, isn't that good to hear Zabuza," the short gremlin chortled. "Because if I recall correctly, someone took a bit too long to kill a target that should've been an easy one-and-done job. But no, you wanted to go and play an assassin. You said damn to your mission, you'll wait and prepare and get even more foolish ninja goons to help follow you to your demise. All your chatter about the worth of the heads, the worth of the heads. What, did you think I wouldn't catch on or overhear? You were staying in my compound, you fool! Now, what do we got here? A bunch of passed-out and exhausted shinobi, just ready to die. I cannot wait to cash in all these bounties."
Suddenly the demeanor of Zabuza changed, no longer wielding his anger against Kakashi. "Well, it looks like we might have a truce on our hands for the time being," Zabuza spoke, walking toward the blade that Kakashi had kicked to the edge of the bridge.
AN: Okay, I know I jumped around a lot during this chapter during combat, but I actually like the pacing with it. I think setting it up this way where multiple things are happening at once is really annoying. I don't think that's going to happen often. It can be extremely difficult to write scenes like that. I also wanna say sorry that this chapter is so long and yet we still aren't done with this arc. I like to try and cap these chapters at around 4k words, and I feel like if I go over then the pacing is all messed up.
Two questions of the day for this one, since someone pointed out that I missed that last time o.O
QOTD 6: Thoughts on pairings? Yeah, it is my story and I can do what I want with it - but if having a pairing isn't something you all wanna read then I'll save it for another story.
QOTD 7: Naruto had one remaining spell slot that he did in fact utilize. What do you guys think this spell is?
ALSO side note : after the next chapter I am going to release one that will be used sort of similar to how the databooks are used. I think wrapping up arcs with a check in to our main cast of characters to show their power level is a good idea. Would you appreciate that?