A/N: Hey guys, it's official, I am, in fact, alive. I just got caught up in playing Tekken 3 (so what if it's old? It's good!) and just now got around to typing up this chapter… of course, it didn't help that I had an idea for a Halo fic that I spent probably a week (or five) ironing out… anyway, onto the important matters. So far, I only have one person telling me to save Zabuza. Unless I get a few more people saying "Yes" to saving him, he's gonna die. Then again, he might live. Actually, it'll fit better into my plans if he lives, so unless I get some people saying "Kill Him!", he'll live. (By the way, can somebody send me a pic of Zabuza's sword? I lost my second Naruto graphic novel, and I keep picturing Zabuza with a blue Buster Sword, and I KNOW that ain't right.) So now that that's out of the way, here's the story… and just in case you need a reminder, I DON'T OWN NARUTO!

The Tale Of Three Outcasts

Chapter Four: The Beginning Of The End

By: Del'Cera Osirin

Last time:

Their waitress came up and deposited their orders, and Akira gave her a good tip, for he noticed that she saw them talking and she waited until they were done. Thanking him, the girl went back to the kitchen, leaving Naruto alone with Akira, and more questions than answers.

As the two boys continued to eat, Naruto, curious as to the details of Akira's herblore training, began to ask Akira more questions.

"So," He began, "you trained with your sensei for four years? How could you possibly stand that?"

"Naruto, I never said anything about training with Rin-sensei (A/N: No, this is NOT Kakashi's teammate, Rin. It was just the only name I could think of.) for four years. We would've driven each other crazy. The six months I was there were like hell on Earth. For both of us. For instance, I'm an early riser, and the words 'Not a morning person' don't even begin to cover her… she regularly wakes up at at least noon. Most of the time, though, it's one to two in the afternoon."

"Wow." Was all Naruto could say. He had never known anybody to sleep that late, ever.

"Yeah, so anyway, it took me six months to learn how to work with the herbs, and then she gave me this little book that had everything else I need to know in it."

"Mind if I take a look at it?"

"Go ahead. But it'll probably look like gibberish to you." Akira said, while handing Naruto a small, black book with a leather binding.

Opening it, then quickly closing the volume and handing it back to Akira, Naruto said, "Wow. You're right. I can't make one lick of sense from that. But, I guess you know what you're doing."

"Here," Akira said, procuring another book out of his trenchcoat, "you might be interested in this. This was the single most helpful resource I had when I was learning to cook in the woods. It'll probably help you too."

Akira handed the book to Naruto, who took the time to look it over. It was leatherbound, just like the herb book, but this one had a forest green cover and had little knots over it for a better grip. (Think basketball-type cover) "Thanks, man." He said, patting Akira on the shoulder. Noticing how stiff his trenchcoat was, Naruto just had to make a joke about it. "Wow, you use enough starch in that thing?" He said with a laugh.

"This? No, I don't starch it. It's made of paper, just like the rest of my clothes."

"What? Seriously? All of your clothes are made of paper?"

"Well, I do have some things under it that are actual cloth, but the outer shirt, outer pants, and the trenchcoat are all made of paper. It helps to have some around at all times, even if the clothes are a little stiff. But once I sleep in them for a few days, they'll be really soft."

Naruto could only stare wide-eyed at Akira's confession. How on earth could he stand wearing paper? Even if he did have things under it, it must've gotten really hot in the summer. After voicing his opinions, Naruto couldn't help but stare as Akira laughed. "Nah, they don't get hot." He said. "They're light enough so that, even with clothes under them, they aren't too bad. Hey, shouldn't we get back to Tazuna's? It's getting sorta late, and we still need groceries."

"Good point. Let's get going."

After buying their groceries, Naruto and Akira headed back towards Tazuna's house. As they returned, Tsunami thanked them and ran off to unpack the groceries. After a few hours, Tsunami began to make dinner. During the meal, Sakura noticed, and commented on, a torn picture hanging on a wall by the table. What followed was a long, sad retelling of how Inari met his surrogate father, then how he was subsequently killed by Gatou for 'crimes' which amounted to nothing more than trying to save the country of Wave.

A few days later, they were afraid that Zabuza had recovered, so all of Cell Seven (save Naruto, who overslept) went out to the bridge to guard Tazuna while he was working. As they neared it, though, something felt drastically wrong. The closer they got, the worse the feeling got, until the smell of death was all around them, crushing them under its iron grip. Finally, they saw what caused the feeling- every worker on the bridge was lying dead, all in a circular formation, all with the same slash marks at roughly chest level. They knew of only one man that would have the almighty gall to do something this heinous, and their suspicions were soon proven correct when a heavy mist rolled in.

A/N: And to think, I could stop this chapter right here and have you guys hate me for all eternity because of the wait, the shortness of the chapter, and the cliffie… but I'm feeling generous, so I'm gonna continue it- feel special.

Zabuza and his 'Hunter-nin' subordinate stepped out of the mist, and began to converse with Kakashi. After a few seconds of tense dialogue, Kakashi's Sharingan met the air for the second time since their journey began, and the fight continued from where it left off at the lake.

A resounding "SHIT! I OVER SLEPT!" Was heard all across Tsunami's house, causing said woman to chuckle and sweatdrop at the same time. She watched as an orange and yellow blur tore out the front door saying things like "I can't believe they left me behind!"

As Naruto leapt through the forest, he noticed something on the ground that shouldn't have been there. Now, Naruto would have passed over the dead boar, feeling sorry for it of course, had it not been for the way it died. It was covered in deep gashes that appeared to be made from a sword. There were also several identical gashes on trees leading… back… to… TAZUNA'S HOUSE! Naruto quickly pulled a 180, and gunned it back to the place he had just left not five minutes before. He quickly spotted two samurai, one of them holding Tsunami captive, the other advancing on Inari, who acted brave, but was giving off distinct signs of being scared. Luckily, that held the samurais' attention long enough for Naruto to use a quick replacement on Inari and save the boy's life. After telling the boy that he did a good job fending them off for as long as he did, Naruto began his assault on the two samurai. After not but a few minutes, Naruto told Inari to tie up the now-unconscious samurai, then to gather up every villager he could find and bring them to the bridge with whatever weapons they could scrounge. With that, Naruto tore toward the bridge with renewed vigor. His time had come. The fight for Wave's survival was at hand.

While Sakura guarded Tazuna, Sasuke and Akira faced off against the still-masked Haku. Akira's feeling of nostalgia came back with a vengeance, but he managed to push it down for a second time, though it was admittedly harder than the first. The masked nin created a few Mizu Bunshin, which were quickly cut down by Sasuke's kunai. That was when the masked nin spoke.

"That was a big mistake. Now I can unleash my true power."

With a cry of "Sensatsu Suishou!" the water around them rose up, assumed the form of a senbon, froze into ice, and launched at Sasuke and Akira, all within a few seconds. Akira yelled at Sasuke to "Go guard Tazuna. This one's mine, and mine alone. Tell Naruto that I won't be needing help. And if he tries to intrude, hold him back." All of this was said while Akira grabbed Sasuke roughly by the shoulders, threw him out of the deadly ring of senbon, and leapt into the air, performing multiple backflips to stay in the air long enough to avoid being skewered. As he landed he yelled at Sasuke to leave, and Sasuke, noticing the boy's powerful desire to take on the masked nin in one-on-one combat (comparing it to his need to kill his brother, Itachi), went to go assist Sakura in guarding their charge.

Naruto arrived at the bridge to see something he never thought would happen. Kakashi was on his own against Zabuza, and Akira yelled at Sasuke, who actually listened, and took on the masked nin that he saw during the first fight by himself. Naruto began to run over to Akira, only to be stopped by Sasuke, who related what Akira said. Naruto struggled for a few moments, then resigned to guard Tazuna, realizing that his newfound friend was completely serious in his desire to fight the strange ninja alone.

"You can drop that mask." Akira said. "It's not fooling anybody. You aren't a hunter-nin, and I prefer to see faces when I fight."

With that, the masked ninja took off her mask, revealing the girl that Akira had met in the forest a few days prior. Right then, Akira knew why he felt the waves of nostalgia every time that he saw this girl. This was the same girl that he had played tag with as a child. This was the same girl that knew his deepest, darkest secrets, and didn't care one iota. This was the girl that he swore upon his, and his mother's, lives to protect. This was his sister.

A/N: Yes, yes, I know. It's short. Only three pages this time. But please, don't try to rip out my guts and eat them yet. I'm gonna wait a week, then the new chapter will be in the works. After that, I won't accept any more votes on whether or not Zabuza lives. So, on 7/21/06 (That's July 21st 2006), Zabuza's fate will be decided. Until then, people!