Chapter 7

"Hinata, protect Tazuna. Stay away from the bridge until the mist clears. Sasuke and Naruto, I'll take Zabuza, tou take down his accomplice." ordered Minato. The gang filed out, following their orders. Sasuke and Naruto found Zabuza's accomplice, a tall person in a blue robe and wearing a hunter-nin mask.

"My name is Haku. I cannot allow you to get close to Zabuza. Goodbye." said the masked ninja. Naruto was suddenly bombarded with little spears of ice.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out as he fell to the floor. The two of them were quickly encased in a dome of ice mirrors. Haku's reflection shown on each of them.

"You two are dead now. I can move faster than light in these mirrors. I can attack you from anywhere, anyplace, at anytime. In here, I'm God." boasted Haku, swiftly attacking the two helpless Genin.

'Crap, that ninja moves way too fast! I can't see the attacks coming! I need to see, or I can't react, and if I can't react, I'm dead!' paniced Sasuke. A surge of chakra was involuntarily sent to his eyes, and everything seemed to slow down. He could much more clearly see Haku moving.

'Could...could it be? Have I awakened my Sharingan!? Yes, I have, I can feel it!' thought Sasuke, visibly excited. Sasuke shot a fireball at Haku, but it missed.

'Ok, focus Sasuke. You can do this.' He stopped and concentrated. Things became more clear. Sasuke threw another fireball. He missed again, but this time he singed a piece of Haku's shirt!

'Yes, I'm getting better! It's only a matter of time...' Haku must have been thinking the same thing, because he went for Naruto next, who was already immobilized.

"No, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, but he couldn't react fast enough, and Haku's senbons appeared to pierce vital areas. Naruto seemed to be...dead. Sasuke knealed over his corpse.

"No, no, this can't be happening. I just started to have a family again, and now this one gets taken away too!?" exclaimed Sasuke, starting to cry.

"Is this the first time you have seen a friend die in battle?" asked Haku. Hearing the killer's voice awoke something within Sasuke. The ground around him began to shatter as massive amounts of demonic chakra poured out of him. A small red aura covered Sasuke. His teeth became fangs, his nails became claws. His eyes, which reverted to normal when Naruto was attacked, became dark red again, sporting a black sclera like a fox. Also like a fox, dense 'whiskers' formed on his cheeks. His hair grew slightly longer, and became bloody red. He turned to Haku, bloodlust palpable.

"You'll pay for that!" shouted this new Sasuke. Away from the battle, Minato sensed something odd in the air...something evil.

'Shit, did he...?'

Back in the ice dome, Sasuke roared with anger, causing a few of the ice mirrors to crack. Sasuke, with his new found chakra fueling his new born Sharingan, saw Haku flying through the mirrors much more clearly. Before Haku could make another revolution, Sasuke punched Haku square in the face, thrusting the enemy ninja through the ice mirrors, destroying all of them. Sasuke lunged onto Haku, pounding and clawing until Haku was no more. Until Sasuke's hands were stained for the first time in his life. Until Haku was dead. Seeing Haku dead caused the violent chakra to slowly calm down. Soon he was in control again. He knew that, as a ninja, he would be required to kill eventually, but he didn't know it would be like this. He had heard that ninjas often feel guilt or grief when they first take a life. Not Sasuke. He liked it... he liked it a lot. He didn't stop to really think about it though. The mist was clearing, and he could see Zabuza lying on the ground, a kunai sticking out of him...

"Sensei, something happened back there. Something intense, something crazy. I was useing some totally new chakra. Do you have any idea what happened?" inquired Sasuke, excitedly. Minato sighed.

"Yes, unfortunately I do. About 12 years ago, a Nine Tailed Fox attacked our village. The Second Hokage gave his life to seal it away into a new born baby; you. Your father and him made the arrangement. What happened back there was you tapping into that hidden source of power. Just be careful Sasuke. Where's Naruto?" Minato-sensei explained.

'Who...what...wait, what happened? Oh man, this explains so much...' thought Sasuke, pointing to Naruto's body. As Minato went over to check on Naruto, Sasuke walked over to Zabuza's lifeless body. Sasuke took his very large sword and strapped it to his back, as a little trophy of the battle. He returned just as Minato was pulling out senbons from Naruto's corpse. Suddenly, his eyes fluttered open and he began breathing again.

"Wh-what...happened?" he weakly asked.

"Oh thank God, I thought I'd lost you! I mean, It's good that you're not dead." replied Sasuke. Naruto smirked.

"Careful Sasuke. It almost sounds like you missed me."

"If you mean I was starting to miss getting a good laugh out of your idiocy, then yes, I missed you." Naruto looked as if he was going to retort, but he was cut off by Hinata and Tazuna calling their names. The team found eachother, and Minato-sensei vaguely explained what was going on. Together, they all finished the Great Konoha Bridge, which is what Tazuna decided to name it, within hours. The Leaf Ninjas were at the gates preparing to leave, when Tazuna caught up to them.

"Wait! I wanted to make up for lying to you guys. This bridge will bring economic stability and prosperity to my village, and will allow us to overthrow Gato. All of this is only possible thanks to you four. As a token of my appreciation, I have left a letter to the Hokage explaining the situation, and the remaining funds for an A-ranked mission. I hope this helps." With that little speech, Team 7 waved goodbye to the town's people and took to the trees. They didn't want to waste a second. God they missed their home...