Thanks guy for the views, we're almost at 1,500. All the support is greatly appreciated, especially the reviews. Also to the reviewer from March 1st: "I was also wondering how Zabuza gained & knows of Haoshoku haki in the first place if that's what it is. Also Kakashi shouldn't be all out of it. As Haoshoku haki is almost just like kiling intent as he's felt that type of feeling before in the 3rd great ninja war & after with his stint in Anbu black ops & the kyubi's killing intent is far greater than any humans killing intent or Haoshoku haki & as we seen in the anime flashbacks of the attack kakashi wasn't all out of it from the kyubi's presence he wanted to help in battling the kyubi so why is scared like a fresh out of the academy student when Zabuza used Haoshoku haki."
Well, in response to your first statement, (I only use English so sorry), Conqueror's Haki is a naturally stronger form of Killer's Haki in my story, and Zabuza has it because during his past he was trained extensively. Killing Intent in Naruto was originally just like Killing Intent in real life, but only became a technique later, Conqueror's Haki is a power used on the weaker willed to knock them out. When he gets hit by Killer's Haki in this story and he falls for it twice, it's because he was distracted, he's out of practice, and Zabuza is just that strong. The fear is not what causes the Killer's Haki, the Killer's Haki causes the fear. Killer's Haki causes paralysis and intense fear, leaving you on the border of consiousness, I wanted to express the feelings of being under such an attack. Kakashi was out of practice, as was Zabuza actually, so both are not at the top of their game, but Zabuza is less out of practice than Kakashi and when he was targeted by the Killer's Haki, he was distracted so he couldn't fight it off.
The Way of Heroes
A2 E3/5 Kakashi Ends Things. The Glass Shatters.
Zabuza watched in terror as the kunai knife was thrown at him, and he barely dodged the projectile before he was hit just below the eye. He furiously spun the Fuma Shuriken, reaching speeds that a turbine would've been jealous of. The Demon threw the Leaf's original weapon, aiming for Naruto's head. Eyes bulging, Zabuza growled, "I will destroy you..."
Then a splash came out of the water, and Kakashi blocked the spinning blade of the shuriken with his own arm. The blood squirted from the wound, but the Sharingan Ninja had stopped the deadly twirling. Soaked through, Kakashi angrily locked eyes with Zabuza, and a flash from his Sharingan made Zabuza freeze.
"Naruto, that was an excellent plan. You've really grown haven't you?" Kakashi commended his swimming student, who laughed, "I knew I couldn't beat him with my Shadow Clones, that was just to distract him. While he fought the Clones I turned into the Demon Wind Shuriken. He didn't know what to do, believe it!"
An odd, foreign feeling rushed through Zabuza as he couldn't take his eyes off the Sharingan. The icy emotion of fear replaced all that Zabuza was, all that he had ever been, and all that he dreamed. The Demon had never felt such Hell in his life. Then combined with the paralyzing terror, shock played through his nerves as well. He couldn't move, he'd let Kakashi get the drop on him, just as he had done twice before. He felt powerless, and in fact, the dreaded Demon of the Bloody Mist was.
Kakashi tried to move, but as soon as he did he saw that Zabuza began to move slowly, but began moving none the less. So, the Sharingan Ninja focused his power through his eye, and into Zabuza's own body, just as Zabuza had done minutes before. His concentration on other things allowed Naruto to continue monologuing, "When all my Clones attacked, I had one of my Clones throw me to Sasuke. He knew it was me as soon as he got it, and while no one was looking, he pulled out his own shuriken. Then there were two shuriken, was one real, but the other one was me, it was awesome! Believe it! I hid in the shadow of the real shuriken, and my target was the real Zabuza. Of course I knew that I couldn't fight Zabuza by myself, that wasn't in the gameplan. I just wanted to get in there and break up his Water Prison. I didn't know his Clone would be wrecked too, that was a bonus!" Sasuke smiled slightly, but added, "Don't brag, we just lucked out." "The whole thing was just a fluke!" Tazuna agreed.
Zabuza's eyes danced, and his chest was able to take a deep breath, and he smiled as he noticed the faded look of Kakashi's Sharingan Eye. "I got distracted and lost control of the Water Prison Jutsu, then I let you trap me with your Killer Power Kakashi, but it seems you're getting tired out, Friend-Killer Kakashi..." Zabuza said, knowing that he hit a nerve as the Sharingan Ninja flinched, "Don't flatter yourself. You weren't distracted, you were forced to let go."
"Your techniques, they are powerful, but I won't be fooled again," Kakashi said, and Zabuza nodded, "I was about to say the same thing. I wouldn't expect anything less from the Savage Friend-Killer." Kakashi angrily whipped a Kunai knife out, and Naruto questioned, "What does he mean Friend-Killer Kakashi-sensei?" But the jounin ignored the Fox Ninja, Kakashi asked his opponent, "So, what's it gonna be?"
As soon as Kakashi had pulled the knife, in the same instant Zabuza pulled a curved variation of his own. Now the pair were in a standstill, neither of them could make a move without leading the other to stab the fool who had attacked. This was a catch-22, and both of their eyes flashed once, but seemed to fade out instantaneously, but in that instant, the energy crackling between the two could've fried a few dozen eggs. Neither budged an inch, because both ninja knew that as soon as either gave at all, the other would be on top of them. The tension in the air caused the entire forest to grow silent.
All of a sudden, from out of the Forest, a tanned boy in a Straw Hat yelled, "Gum Gum Rocket!" Shooting out of the wood like an idiotic warhead, Luffy came crashing into both the jounin, breaking up their fight. Both Zabuza and Kakashi were knocked into the water, but the Rubberboy realized his fatal mistake as soon as he hit the ninja.
Naruto, oblivious to the error, cheered, "Yeah! Go Luffy!" Sasuke then beared the bad news, "That idiot! Look what you did Luffy!" The Rubberboy grinned, laughing, "Oh, I knocked into Kakashi too, I didn't see him! Hahaha..." Sasuke slapped himself in the forehead, "No you idiot! You can't swim!" Luffy paused for a moment to take his teammate's logic into account, and noticed the water all around him, and suddenly and comically went under.
As the Devil Fruit user sank beneath the water, Kakashi and Zabuza appeared on top of the surface of the lake again. This time they were a fair distance apart, and took up duelists's stances as they stared eachother down. "Naruto! Save Luffy!" Kakashi ordered, and the blonde dutifully swam under the water to reach his pirate friend.
Kakashi took account of his own body, as well as assessing his enemy's. We've both taken some hits, and my Sharingan is really draining me. I'm exhausted, and using my Haki didn't help at all. But he's flashed his Killer Haki several times now, so he must be at least as tired as I am. Neither of us have really used all that much chakra though, so maybe he has another trick up of sleeve. As the stood on top of the water, both put the kunai in their hands back in their respective pouches. But, how did he know about that name? It's been a long time since anyone has called me that. That was years ago... Zabuza made a hand sign, and as soon as he saw it, Kakashi's Sharigan widened. Sasuke called, "The Sharingan!"
Zabuza made dozens of signs in quick succession, reciting the names of each as he did so. Kakashi followed suit with identical hand signs and the same names in perfect order as he locked eyes with his enemy. Neither of them had enough energy to use Haki, so both were certain that their opponent wouldn't use any tricks other than Ninjutsu. However, Zabuza wasn't expecting an identical attack from the Copycat Ninja.
Soon, as Zabuza made his signs quicker, Kakashi picked up even more speed, and was quickly in sync with the Mist ninja, but they both continued for several moments. Concluding this dance, they both called, "Water Style - Water Dragon Jutsu!" Enormous, aqua serpents formed and wrapped their long water bodies around one another, as if attempting to choke the other. Then they both bared their chakra-infused fangs at eachother, and smashed their heads into eachother, dismantling their form.
Beyond them, as Naruto slowly made his way to the shore carrying a passed out Luffy on his back, a huge tidal wave created by the clash of giants crashed into the water around him, and he and Luffy were sent sprawling onto the grass away from the sea. So out of that particular element, Luffy gained his strength back at alarming rates, just in time to see an angry pinkette come out of the forest yelling, "Luffy you idiot! Why would you try to fight Zabuza! You were just going to get in the way of Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei!"
Sakura dusted off the dirt and blood out of her red clothes, and ran towards the Rubberboy, punching him in the head. Than she saw that Kakashi and Zabuza were still fighting. Sasuke had been ignoring his comrades, gaping in awe at Kakashi's Sharingan prowess. Wow. So many hand signs and he mirrored them all perfectly. Instantly, it's like he saw the future.
Sakura pulled herself away from her stupid friends, and ran over to Tazuna, remembering the mission, then she allowed her focus to turn towards the fight at hand. Sasuke had ran up to the shore, only stopping to gaze at the pure power used by the two fighters. Luffy and Naruto behind him, Sasuke started to run towards the water, but he felt an elastic appendage grip his shoulder, and the energy sent him sprawling back next to Naruto and Luffy, who scowled, "That's their fight Sasuke. You can't interrupt."
Then as the trio watched the clash of the jounin, their Sensei had pulled a kunai and barely held off the giant sword in the hands of Zabuza. Neither budged, and yet again, they were locked in deadly combat. Both grunted, but it seemed that Zabuza's confidence was shaken. He did it right. The Sharingan can comprehend and replicate the enemy's technique, however, both jutsu occured simultaneously, which is something that the Sharingan is not supposed to do! But could he have...
From the woodlands, a masked ninja watched the conflict play out. The person wore the uniform and headwear of a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Mist, but somehow their gait was not of a born ninja.
Grunting, the horrible sound of steel scraping steel, both fighters abandoned the fight, instead flying backwards. Zabuza ran in a circle, with Kakashi also circling, and as Zabuza made a hand sign and raised his opposite arm, Kakashi did the same at the same time as the assassin. Zabuza's eyes widened in fear, and he choked, "Is this your Power again Kakashi?" But Zabuz shook his head, recognizing this was merely intimidation on the Copycat's part, but the assassin also knew that he had fallen prey to it.
Tazuna commented, "Kakashi isn't just following, he moves the same way at the same time!" Sakura, who had joined her team closer to the water, asked Sasuke, "How's he doing that? How Sasuke?" But the stoic teenager had no idea, and thus didn't respond to her question.
Kakashi cooly watched Zabuza, taking note of the sweat around his face. Zabuza was not keeping a coolhead as Kakashi was, instead he felt the urges of a wild beast goading him to abandon the mission, but the Demon never quit a mission until it was finished or he was dead, and despite the dozens of missions he had done, Zabuza was still not dead. My movements, it's as if - it's as if he knows...
"What you're going to do next?" Kakashi yawned, mocking the Demon. Zabuza's eyes widened with terror, but he maintained his stance, Is he reading my mind as well? Both made a different move, and Zabuza was slowly breaking down, He looks at me, with that eye... Kakashi asked, "It makes you furious doesn't it?"
Zabuza laughed, but it seemed empty, like he knew that the situation was gravely serious, "All you're doing is copying me, like a monkey," he tried, but the Demon failed to get back the intimidation factor. With this, Kakashi knew that he had the Demon beat. Then in sync, both the ninja called, "You can't beat me with cheap tricks, I'll crush you!"
Then Zabuza started ranting, almost near tears, "I'll make sure you never open that monkey mouth again!" As soon as he said that, Kakashi smirked, and a shadow materialized behind the Copycat. This shape took a familiar silhouette, a tall thin man with a huge sword and short hair, then the thing formed colors and shades and hews, giving the creature dimension and definitive identity. Noticing the similarities between himself and the thing, Zabuza called, "It's - it's me!" But how? Shaking off the fear momentarily, Zabuza tried to move his hands, but realized he was paralyzed again. Kakashi... You bastard!
Kakashi watched his prey, the fear boil over in his eyes, and the tables had turned. From the treetops, the masked ninja watched it all happen and quietly comment in a shallow voice, "So, he fell for that fool's genjutsu, then he let himself be codemned by Haki." Kakashi's eye widened, and was now completely gray, the trinity of shapes in the Sharingan nearly indiscernable from the dark pool they floated in. The Copycat called, "Water Style - Giant Vortex Jutsu!" The swirls spun around the single black point in the center of the Sharingan, and Zabuza's bloodshot eyes widened, and sweat poured down his face. The Demon couldn't breath, couldn't move, he could only watch as his defeat was beginning.
Forming a last hand sign, a huge twister shot towards him, filling with water and sent Zabuza shooting through the forest along with the water that drowned him. He would've felt similar to a sock in a washing machine, and the trees that had broken off from the forest slammed into him. That bastard! I was about to create a Vortex, but his Power kept me from moving! I'll get you KAKASHI!
The avalanche of water sent shockwaves into the trio of genin and Luffy and the Bridge Builder, while the Masked Ninja vanished in the wind before the power of the attack could reach him. Soon the water settled, and Zabuza found himself slammed into a tree with water up to his knees all around him. Luffy had quickly shot himself into the tree tops to avoid being trapped by the sea.
As four kunai pierced him, Zabuza screamed in pain, but the knives were deep in his skin, and he was then pinned to the tall plant. On the tree above him, Kakashi crouched and watched his victim writhe in pain. Luffy joined Kakashi via jumping from tree to tree, and wondered, "Why didn't he just swim Kakashi?" But the jounin didn't answer, instead shaking his head at the pirate's question. "You're finished, Blood Mist Zabuza," Kakashi concluded.
"HOW?" Zabuza coughed, blood spilling through his bandages, he asked, "Can you see into the future?" Kakashi grimly joked, "Yes. This is your last battle Momochi." Pulling out a kunai, Kakashi got ready, "Ever." Then out of nowhere, two needles with black tips shot into Zabuza's neck from the side, and blood shot from the wound. Everyone watching cringed and gasped, and Kakashi and Luffy looked to find the source of the attack. They looked over, seeing the ninja in the white mask watching them behind the obscuring red swirl.
The Demon fell, dead. The masked killer laughed, "You were right. It was his last battle." A tense feeling permeated the air, and Luffy screamed, "You bastard! That was Kakashi's fight! You didn't have to kill him!"
Luffy rocketed towards the tree where the masked man was standing, but as soon as his long sandaled leg hit the wood, a flash and a kick knocked him onto the ground, and a single needle was drawn from within the killer's cloak, with a black energy covering the whiteness of the weapon, flowing like ink on it's surface until it's entirety became a shadow.
Luffy fell from the tree, and as he hit the ground, he turned, coughing up blood onto the ground, nearly choking on his own bile. Naruto growled, looking from the masked man, to his downed friend, then to Zabuza. Kakashi bounded to the body, and looked at the wounds that had brought down the swordsman. The Copycat felt for a pulse, and found none, "No vital signs," Kakashi reported to himself, and he sighed.
He looked at the masked ninja, and the killer bowed, "Thank you, I have been tracking Zabuza for a long time. Waiting for this chance to finally take him down." Kakashi nodded, commenting, "By your mask, I see you are an ANBU of the Hidden Mist, a tracker ninja to be precise." "Impressive, you are well informed, Kakashi of the Sharingan," the Tracker commended, taken aback by the level of understanding the Leaf Ninja had shown.
Naruto landed next to Tazuna and the gang, with Luffy backing up to get a better look at the masked ninja, bumping into Naruto and getting into his way. The blonde shouted, "Watch out Luffy! A tracker!" Sakura rolled her eyes, "Naruto you don't even know what that is! You were skipping class again as usual. You were probably out with Kiba again..." Sasuke sighed, tired of his teammates's bickering.
Sakura explained, "Tracker Ninja have a special role, they are only used in the Hidden Mist, but they can also be lent to other Villages. They specialize in hunting down rogue ninja that break away from their Village. Rogue ninja have secrets with them, the secrets of their people. Trackers are sent to hunt down these ninja and eliminate them. That way, the secrets remain secret." The masked Tracker certified, "That is correct. I am a member of the Elite Tracker Division of the Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza." Luffy accepted their explaination, seeming to understand until he said, "So he's a mystery ninja!"
Kakashi noted to himself, From his size and voice, he is the same age as Naruto, but he's an elite assassin? That seems odd but he did have the skill to take down both Luffy and Zabuza. The wind rustled the silence, and the killer's long hair blew in the wind. He's no ordinary kid, but what is he? Kakashi thought, and Naruto ran toward the huge tree. He groaned, looking from the Tracker to Zabuza's corpse. He remembered how much his team had struggled.
"What is this? Who do you think you are?" Naruto asked, pointing at the Tracker, while the Bridge Builder and his fellow genin gasped at Naruto's anger. Luffy grimly understood his friend, and said nothing. Naruto started hyperventilating, his body stopping him from calling out the ninja. He collected himself, "DID YOU HEAR ME?" Kakashi patted the blonde's shoulder, "Easy Naruto, he's not our enemy," Kakashi soothed, but Naruto wouldn't calm down any further, "That's not the point! Did you see what he did to Zabuza? Just like that, he was huge and powerful like you Kakashi-sensei! Like some kind of monster, but this kid just took him down like it was nothing! No bigger than me, he brought him down with one move. What does that make us? We're just fumbling around, we don't know anything! How can I accept that?!"
Kakashi answered, "Well, even if you don't accept it, it still happened Naruto." He pat his student's head, with his other hand in his pocket, he explained, "In this world, there are kids who are younger than you, but can become stronger than me. We all must face this, this changing of power. Someday you four will be stronger than me, and after your time has passed you will be succeeded by someone stronger than you."
Making a hand sign, the Tracker vanished, and appeared again next to Zabuza's body, picking up the cadaver and hefting it onto his back, only to dissapear again after saying, "Your struggle is over for now, I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body, they must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please excuse me, and farewell."
Kakashi returned his headband to it's normal position, obscuring his most powerful weapon. Naruto ran to where the boy had been, but Kakashi confirmed, "He's gone now Naruto. Let it go." Naruto pounded the ground, "What are we doing here! We're nothing, I can't believe it!" He continued to blast the earth with his punches.
"As ninja, the things we encounter are never easy. Save your anger for the next enemy," Kakashi said, grabbing the Fox Ninja's arm. Luffy walked calmly over to his comrade, who had ripped his arm out of Kakashi's grip. Naruto started to punch the ground again, this time harder, "There is always a next enemy... I can't become Hokage when I'm this weak! I can't beat Sasuke! I couldn't even fight a Clone!" Luffy held Naruto's arms, grabbing him in a Full Nelson, yelling, "NARUTO! You can become more strong from losing than from winning! We can become strong together, this isn't the end! The only place to go is go up, we are at the bottom!"
He stopped struggling against the Rubberboy, who quieted down, and said, "Knowing both victory and defeat, that's the way you become a real man." Kakashi helped both of the kids up, and said, "Now, our mission is not over, we still have to get our Bridge Builder to his bridge.
Tazuna laughed nervously, "Sorry I caused all this trouble for ya! But uh, you can rest at my house when we get to the village." He poked his broad hat up with his finger, and rubbed his gray scruff, with Kakashi ordering, "Let's get a move on!" He and Naruto took the lead, and as soon as he took a step forward, Kakashi fell on his face.
Sakura screeched, "WHAT happened?" All of them ran over to the fallen sensei, and Naruto asked, "Kakashi-sensei? Are you okay?" But the elite didn't respond, and his eye was closed in a scowl. Luffy and Naruto screamed, "KAKASHI!"
AN:
Anyone who thinks they can come up with a better title, be my guest, because I'm not sure how I feel about this one.
There's the latest chapter from 'The Way of Heroes'. Thanks for the view, see ya next week, and please remember to read, review, and get your game on!