And here's chapter 6, sorry for the long wait guys, and I'll apologise now because it'll be some time before chapter 7 due to university work. Anyways thanks to everyone who's been patient and continually reviews this fanfic, I really enjoy reading your comments. Anyways here's another poll ^^ would you guys like to either have Haku and Zabuza get killed as per canon, or have Naruto spare their lives? Please tell me what you want in the reviews and until then Dattebayo!
The trio soon arrived at the Land of Wave and it soon became clear why the bridge was needed: the people were dirt poor, the entire area was in poverty, Tazuna had mentioned that even the local lord had no money and Naruto didn't believe him but seeing the people he had to swallow his words and admit that perhaps what Tazuna said was true, "Damn...I didn't think it would be this bad" Naruto admitted.
"See...this is why we need that bridge, once the bridge is completed then we can break free from Gato's grip and this land will prosper again" Tazuna said.
"Then we can be sure that Gato will send more shinobis after us and it won't be some Chunnin missinv-nin; it'll probably be some A-ranked shinobi so stay on your toes Naruto" Jiraiya said.
"Yes Jiraiya-sensei" Naruto said as he kept an eye out for any further attacks while Jiraiya also kept an eye out for any other shinobis; the plan being that Naruto would protect Tazuna while Jiraiya fought any shinobis that would try to attack them.
However they soon arrived at Tazuna's place where they were greeted by a tall woman with long black hair and wearing a kimono, "Father you've returned" she said with a smile.
"Yes Tsunami I've returned" Tazuna said with a smile, "and its thanks to these shinobis guarding me" he said gesturing to Naruto and Jiraiya.
"Thank you so much for taking care of my father" Tsunami said bowing, "hold on let me call my son." As Tsunami called out to her son.
Soon a young boy camd down with a rather grumpy expression, which brightened up when he saw Tazuna, "Grandpa!" he cried out as he hugged his grandfather.
"How are you Inari?" Tazuna asked, "Meet the shinobis that helped me cross the sea, they'll be helping me out while I finish making the bridge."
Inari's face then soured again, "Those guys should go home" he said bluntly.
"Inari!" Tsunami cried out, "Don't say that."
"But it's true!" Inari retorted, "No one can beat Gato...they'll just end up being killed by Gato's men."
"Don't worry kid" Jiraiya said, "it'll take more than a couple of shinobis to stop a Sannin!"
Naruto sighed, "What he said but with less emphasis on the Sannin part" he said.
"It doesn't matter if you're a Sannin or not...no one can stop Gato" Inari said as he ran back to his room.
"Inari!" Tsunami cried out, "I'm really sorry about him...but its been difficult for him these past few months."
"I understand" Naruto said as he sat on a chair and waited for Jiraiya to tell him what to do.
"I think its best if we help Tazuna finish the bridge so we have less chance of going into a long mission" Jiraiya said.
"So we help him complete the bridge, Gato can't do anything and we get to go home" Naruto briefly summarised what was going to happen.
"Exactly" Jiraiya said with a big smile.
"Thanks you two, I really appreciate it" Tazuna said. The rest of the day was spent supervising Tazuna as he worked building the bridge, however it seemed that not a lot of people agreed with Tazuna, they saw at least two people who decided to call it quits and stop working on the bridge; their face a mixture of both shame and fear, the latter because they would be failing their village and the former because of Gato and his men. Naruto looked on and understood why Tazuna desperately needed to create this bridge, without it they would not be able to break free from Gato's grip and they would be forever trapped within his powers.
At the end of the day Tazuna had made significant progress despite two people leaving his side, also there hadn't been any trouble from Gato or any of the other shinobis that he hired to kill Tazuna. However the two shinobis had their guard up just in case their was going to be an attack while they were walking back home; they never knew when an enemy might decide to attack Tazuna so they never let their guard down until they were well inside Tazuna's home and they were sure that there would no attacks did they let their guard down, "That was too easy" Naruto commented.
"Don't let your guard down Naruto" Jiraiya said, "tomorrow Gato will make his move."
"How can you be so sure?" Naruto asked.
"Shinobi intuition" Jiraiya said as Naruto face palmed in annoyance.
"Are you really a Sannin?" he asked Jiraiya who had chosen to ignore that comment.
"How long will it take for the bridge to be finished?" Jiraiya asked..
"If all goes to plan and I don't lose anymore workers then in a week" Tazuna said.
"Then a week it is" Jiraiya said as Naruto nodded with him. The next day they went out to the bridge to protect Tazuna; it had not been 30 minutes when mist suddenly appeared in the area, "becareful Naruto!" Jiraiya yelled out, "This is certainly the work of a shinobi."
Naruto went to Tazuna's side to protect him so that no shinobi could get near him, "Nice try boy but you cannot protect him just by yourself" a cold voice said; Naruto turned around to see Zabuza before him and before he could move Tazuna was cut down by his blade...only to disappear in a puff of smoke.
"Sorry" Naruto said smiling underneath his mask, "that was a Shadow Clone" he then kicked Zabuza in the chin and sent him flying backwards; followed with a punch to the gut but Zabuza caught the fist and he countered by kicking Naruto in the gut and sent him flying.
"You may have some good moves but you're just a Genin...you're not a true shinobi" Zabuza said as he gripped his blade tighter. He then jumped up and made a downward slicing motion at Naruto who side-rolled to the side before countering with a punch to the head that sent Zabuza flying.
"You bastard..." Zabuza growled as he took a step forward but he was then hit by a senbon and he fell down dead. Then a masked figure emerged from the mist, holding several senbon in his hands.
"I apologise for being late...I thank you for distracting Zabuza for me" the masked figure said.
"A Hunter-nin from Kirikagure?" Jiraiya asked, "About time."
"A Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked never hearing the word before so therefore it was a new concept to him.
"When a shinobi runs away from their village they essentially becomes missing-nins, a rouge ninja, most of the time ANBUs are sent out to dispatch them before they can reveal village secrets to the enemy, in Kirikagure there is a special unit that are called Hunter-nins that essentially are assassins that go after these missing-nins and destroy their bodies so that Kirikagure's jutsus are not revealed to enemies."
"That is correct" the Hunter-nin said, "I have been hunting down Zabuza for some time, its good to know that I can complete my mission."
"So...he's dead?" Naruto asked, his hand near the hilt of his Dragon Sword.
"Yes" the Hunter-nin said, "I will dispose of the body immediately, again I thank you for helping me kill Zabuza" and with that the Hunter-nin then lifted Zabuza up his shoulder and he then went off and out of the Koknoha shinobi's sight.
"That's it?" Naruto asked, "He just lets us do all the hard work and he bags the kill?"
"That's how the shinobi world works Naruto" Jiraiya said as he went to Tazuna to talk to him, "are you okay?"
"Y-yeah" Tazuna said, "thanks for saving me."
"No problem, that's what our mission says and that's what we're going to do" Jiraiya said with a smile as Naruto nodded with him.
"Thanks, the bridge will be finished in a few weeks time" Tazuna said, "until then can you please protect me?"
"Of course" Naruto said as the trio then went home much to the joy of Tsunami and Inari joy though Inari was displeased that the shinobis were still here but he didn't say it out loud.
Meanwhile Haku took out the senbon from Zabuza's neck, "I'm sorry Zabuza-sama, did I hurt you?" he asked as he took of his mask.
Zabuza groaned and sat up, "No, thank you Haku, but I could've taken care of that Genin" he said.
Haku nodded, "I know Zabuza-sama but I had a feeling that the Genin has a power that is beyond yours, I could sense a strong chakra force in him and I was worried about your safety so I knocked you out and convinced the shinobis that you were dead and I was simply collecting your body."
"One of them was the Sannin of Konohakagure, Jiraiya" Zabuza said, "I'll have to be even more careful now..." he said, "though I never expected him to take on a Genin as his companion."
"It's probably his apprentice" Haku deduced, "its the only reason he would take someone like a Genin with him; Jiraiya is mostly known to be a loner and he never takes anyone without a good reason" he said.
"Damn...this'll make the job much harder than it already is, and Gatou is already urging me to quickly kill the bridge-builder so he can dominate what's left of the Country of Wave" Zabuza growled.
"I'll try my best to help you Zabuaza-sama" Haku said with a smile, "I owe everything to you for saving me."
"I know" Zabuza said, he was proud of his tool, he had found Haku while he was a shinobi of Kirikagure and had trained him into becoming the ultimate assassin, one who would never disobey him and would kill his enemies without the slightest of remorse, the perfect killing machine, "get ready Haku...we're going for the kill, you're going to fight Jiraiya's apprentice while I deal with the Sannin myself."
"Can you beat him Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked, "he is the Sannin of Konohakagure."
"I can try, he won't be expecting me to be alive again after your little show" Zabuza said, "and I can always use my full powers to beat the likes of him."
"Yes Zabuza-sama" Haku said nodding, "I will do my very best" he then looked out to the night sky which was twinkling with the stars and he hoped that the two of them would be able to be together forever.