Drifting

by AlphaDelta1001

Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem

15. Land of Waves Arc - Back on Track

NARUTO

Drifting

Getting Back on Track

Back on the bridge…

On his hands and knees and sweating profusely, Naruto breathed in and out heavily as he attempted to recover from the strongest Jet Hand technique he'd ever performed. While the normal ones he'd used countless times before in the past had been easy and carried a small amount of energy behind them, the charged one he just executed a few minutes ago was able to send his opponent into temporary supersonic flight. No matter how you looked at it, that was in no way an easy thing to pull off, even for him. The amount of chakra he had to unload to carry his target the distance he intended and across the country at that speed, had taken a sizable chunk out of his reserves.

He almost went completely orange for a moment.

While Naruto had tons of chakra in his tank to burn, not only was this his first time using his unique jutsu on such a scale, he was also still recovering from serious injury, he'd had to move at his fastest speed just to get close to the bastard to execute it, he'd had to avoid his weapon and block him to create an opening, and it had also been the most terrifying thing he'd ever done. The chances of the attack actually being successful with such a small window of opportunity had been roughly fifty/fifty, so it had also been a wild gamble.

Hidan could have chosen to run. If he hadn't been so shocked at having his curse ritual cut off and stubborn enough to hold his ground against his attackers, whom he had greatly underestimated, then the whole plan would have fallen to pieces. That man was seriously strong and scary to get up close with. Naruto was only grateful he'd had Haku there to help him out.

They'd made one hell of a team.

After watching the speck on the horizon that was his opponent vanish and the vapor trail start to disperse, Naruto pushed himself to his feet and slowly made his way back over to the group and the downed Zabuza.

While walking, the blonde stumbled upon the triple-bladed scythe wielded by their opponent lying in the pool of water covering the bridge not too far from where he'd been launched. Easily spotting it from the glare of the sun reflecting off of its menacing blades, the jinchuriki strolled over to its position and looked down at it with momentary interest.

Picking it up, Naruto got a feel for the weight of the weapon and inspected it from base to tip. At first he thought about taking this thing for himself as a souvenir of his battle here. However, knowing that it had been held by the worst possible human being he had ever laid eyes on and the very same person that attacked Haku's teacher and him in the must inhuman way possible, he soon found himself unable to look at it any longer. All it reminded him of was that man's retched grin and cruel eyes.

Gripping the handle of it tightly, Naruto looked around once before, cocking it back and taking aim, threw the weapon out over the ocean. As heavy as it was, the blonde was still able to hurl it further than any kunai he'd ever thrown, where he then watched it plunge into the channel and sink to the bottom of the causeway, never to be seen again.

Satisfied knowing that all traces of that man were gone, Naruto gave an affirmative nod and the smallest of smiles, before quickly jogging staggeringly over to where Haku and the others were. All exhaustion from his previous attack was wiped clear from him and replaced with boundless energy once more, which carried him, limping, over to his comrades' sides.

When he arrived, he found Haku kneeling beside Zabuza alongside Isaribi, with the former desperately trying to fix the man up and cover his wounds. Looking down at the blood the Jonin still had pooling out onto the floor and the amount of damage he'd taken, Naruto knew that out of all of them the missing nin got hit the worst.

Unlike him, Zabuza didn't have the luxury of rapid healing. He was just a man.

The sight of his grievous injuries immediately had Naruto set on concerned as he joined the girls in trying to help the Jonin, even though whatever help he could provide would only be patchwork.

"Z-Zabuza-sama," Haku exclaimed in a voice filled with worry and fear. "Please hold on. We'll get you to a doctor. Stay with us."

With his mask removed completely from his face, everyone could see how dreadful the Jonin now looked. Not only was he bleeding heavily from the mouth, his eyes also had dark rings under them indicating severe exhaustion and he was incredibly pale. If you were to touch him in one spot, you could literally feel the heat leaving the area you were in contact with, indicating how fast he was slipping. His chakra was also absolutely spent, as the last technique he used to wash away Hidan's blood circle was done while he was practically on his last limbs. All of this on top of where he currently was meant that he was, right now, in really serious, dire straits.

Desperate to save him, Haku did everything she could for his injuries. She ripped his shirt open to try and plug the ridiculous amount of holes he had punctured in him, and did her best bandaging up the wounds in his arm and leg. However, with his chest and stomach messed up the way they were, the chances of him making it through this were… well…

Naruto gritted his teeth and shook his head furiously. He didn't want to think about that. No. Hell no.

He had to think positive. Zabuza was going to pull through this for sure. Yeah. He was a tough man. He could definitely get up from this, no problem. They always did.

Dropping beside Isaribi, Naruto pulled some bandages of his own out of his pouch as well as a collection of medicinal herbs he always had on him. However, before he could get start trying to fix the injured shinobi up, he suddenly felt his hand grabbed by Zabuza's and looked at the man in surprise. When he did, he saw the battered swordsman stare at him momentarily, before the hard warrior's gaze softened and he shook his head in a clear 'no.'

Though it took a moment, Naruto got the message and dropped his material in utter shock and defeat. Eyes shimmering, the boy bit his teeth together tightly and looked away, tears beginning to creep their way into view.

"No," he breathed, "No… it's just." Balling his fist, he punched the ground repeatedly in both anger and frustration. "It's just not fair! IT'S JUST NOT FAIR, DAMN IT!" After all that planning, and after fighting so hard against such a powerful opponent and winning, it still ended like this. "YOU CAN'T! You can't let this beat you…"

A small chuckle came from Zabuza's lips as he looked up at the distressed boy next to him. "Things… don't always go exactly as planned… kid. Some days you win… some days you lose… that's just how it is." A smile tugged at his mouth as he continued to stare at the youngster, giving him a more considerate expression as he sized him up one last time. "Heh… that was one hell of a show… you put on there for us. For Konohagakure's jinchuriki… you really are something else."

Naruto blinked, looking the rogue ninja in the eyes in confusion before gulping nervously. The frustrations he felt dissipated with that moment, leaving him shaken and spent. "R-Really…?" So he was able to figure it out?

Zabuza nodded weakly, but smiled nonetheless. "This was… your win today. Be proud of that."

Before he could say or do anything else, the sound of footsteps from behind drew Naruto's and everybody else's attention towards the end of the bridge. When they turned, they saw a girl around the jinchuriki's age with wild red hair, a Konoha headband and wearing a khaki battle dress running towards them from the access point in the guard rail. She also had a small swallow fluttering alongside her.

When the girl coached to a halt some paces away from the group, Naruto blinked through tear strung eyes when he recognized who it was. "T-Tayuya-chan?"

"Naruto-kun… wha…" the winded kunoichi was about to speak, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the wounded Zabuza on the floor as well as the other girls kneeling around him. Looking at each of their faces, noting the damages they had taken, the blood collecting on the ground, and taking in their downtrodden expressions, Tayuya quickly read what was going on here and, being the smart girl that she was, ceased talking altogether.

She wisely kept her distance from that point on for the sake of the moment.

Naruto nodded at her considerate decision and panned back to the others, who were giving the newcomer uncomfortable stares. With a few silent gestures, the jinchuriki assured them that it was okay, and looked back down at the swordsman in the middle.

Assured that the new girl to arrive to the scene meant them no harm, Zabuza gave Naruto an approving smile before, much to everyone's shock, the man sat up. Having not expected him to just right himself due to all the grievous injuries on his body and the wounds around his midsection, Haku and everyone else looked towards the swordsman with mixed feelings of concern, seeing him reach over, pick up his sword, and shakily prop it up beside him for support.

Panting, the warrior bit his shark like teeth together before glaring up through the sweat pouring down his tired face. "I bet that attack you just used… could be seen for miles. Chances are… the other one is on his way." His eyes then cut to his right, with all of the youngsters around him following his gaze towards the island.

When Naruto, Haku, Isaribi and Tayuya glanced out over Wave Country, the group saw a pillar of fire shoot up into the sky on the other side of the highest hill. Judging from the sheer size of the attack and the flash, the group guessed it was somewhere on the far side of the mangroves and inlets, way out of reach of the main village.

Nonetheless, to be able to see a fireball the size of a tornado unexpectedly shoot out of the forests was not something to take lightly. It was in fact a major cause for concern.

The sound of Zabuza getting onto his knee and pushing his body up drew their attention round to him once more. "Even with our numbers, in my condition… we don't stand a chance against Kakuzu. If he comes now… and finds all of us still here… he will kill us."

"Then… what do we do?" Isaribi asked while trembling anxiously. They couldn't fight. Not after the battle they just had. They were exhausted.

If Hidan gave them that much trouble and had damn near came close to killing everyone, then they couldn't imagine how powerful this Kakuzu guy was.

Knowing that their only option was to run and hide, and aware of his current state, Zabuza steeled himself for the worst. Clenching his fists and biting back the intense pain shooting through him, the man concluded that there was one thing left for him to do, and one thing left that he could do. With the amount of chakra he had in reserve and acknowledging his current condition, he had no doubt in his mind that he would be able to pull it off.

He also had a strong incentive to do so as well, which was what inevitably sealed his decision. "Kakuzu won't leave this island… not without good reason." His expression darkened considerably as he glared ahead of him. "I'll give him that reason… and take him down with me."

Everyone looked at the man in horror, but not to the degree as the one who'd known him the longest.

"NO!" Haku said loudly, placing her bloody hands on the swordsman's shoulder and getting him to look over at her. "Master! You can't die! Not here. Not in this place. What about your dreams? Your ambitions?" She shook her head in defiance as she clenched her jaw tightly and ran her hand over his wounds, trying to clean them up. But without any healing jutsu, the damage was beyond her ability to repair. "I can't let you die here. I won't! You still have so much to do and so much to accomplish."

"Haku…"

"You trained me to be your weapon, Zabuza-sama!" Haku shouted on, the teen using disinfecting powder from a bag she was carrying before pressing a mass of gauze against his stomach. "You trained me to be a perfect shinobi, to be your tool; the very thing meant to help you realize your dream for a better future. You told me to do my best to fulfill your wishes and to not accept failure. If I cannot fulfill the purpose you set for me, then what good am I to you?" Securing the bandages and applying pressure, Haku looked on frantically as blood seeped through into it.

Isaribi, on the verge of tears herself, reached over and grabbed hold of Naruto's jacket.

Also showing sadness yet trying to remain strong, the jinchuriki clenched his fists as he felt the girl next to him lean into his shoulder and hold onto his sleeve, both watching Haku grip Zabuza's shoulder tightly.

Hearing nothing but silence from the Jonin and seeing his serious eyes fix on her own the ice user bared her teeth in dismay. A few seconds of tears later, she pulled out a senbon. Taking it into two hands Haku held it up and positioned it in front of her throat, her actions startling Naruto, Tayuya and Isaribi, as the state she assumed only meant one course of action could be taken from there.

"If I can't save you, Zabuza-sama… and if I cannot fulfill my duties… then I am of no further use to you," Haku exclaimed, closing her eyes.

However, before she could do anything irrational beyond that, her wrist was suddenly grabbed and pulled down. Shocked, she looked to see Zabuza staring at her seriously and giving her a look that promised severe reprimanding should she continue on her current path. Despite his life force slipping and his organs failing, the swordsman was still able to act to talk some sense into and pass on his last few words to his apprentice.

As this would be the last words he would ever speak to her… and the last time he'd ever see her… he had to make them count.

"Don't…" He shook his head at her, "Don't." The Jonin then smiled and, reaching up, rested his hand against the side of her face. When he did, he gently brushed the tear that strayed from her eye and beamed. "Haku… all these years… you've been hiding your true feelings from me… so that you could become the perfect shinobi… the perfect weapon… for me?" Seeing her nod, the assassin chuckled in amusement. "I always believed… above everything else that a shinobi shouldn't have feelings. But it seems… I wasn't able to live up to that ideal. We're human before we're shinobi… so no matter how hard we try… we can't kill our own feelings."

He gave the kunoichi kneeling beside him a warm look when he saw the girl gaze at him speechlessly, before he then spoke clear enough for everyone around him to hear. "For the longest time you and I… were always together. To me… you were more than just my weapon… Haku. You were and are… my precious student." Gripping the handle of the giant sword next to him, he lifted it up to her, astonishing the girl further when he pushed it into her hands. "My dream… is now your dream." Releasing the handle, he watched as his student weighed the massive blade in her delicate fingers, before she turned to look into his eyes once more.

In the midst of their grieving, Naruto suddenly felt something cold touch his nose and brushed it. Looking at his hand, he blinked at what he saw before feeling more land on his open palm, "Snow?" Surprised, he, Tayuya and Isaribi glanced up towards the sky, where they saw that it had not only clouded over but had also begun to shed white flakes.

Snow slowly cascaded around them, causing everyone there except Haku to look on in wonder before they panned back to Zabuza, whom they could see had tears coming from his eyes as well.

Placing his hand on top of Haku's, which she had wrapped around the handle of his sword, Zabuza spent his last moments with his student as he felt the cold of the sky fall upon them. It was clear to him that Haku was crying for him, so much so that she was causing the heavens themselves to weep, which moved him more than you could even believe.

When he felt it right, he gave the girl one last smile before giving her the last words he would ever speak to her.

"Live… not just for me… but for you."

The kunoichi blinked through tears, "Zabuza-sama?"

"Live… Haku…" With one last squeeze of his hand around hers, the swordsman pushed himself up onto his feet. Wobbling slightly, an action that had Naruto and Haku move in to support him if necessary, the Jonin then gave all the kids around him his trademark glare. "Go." Seeing them all hesitate, especially his apprentice, Zabuza frowned deeply. "NOW!"

Isaribi and Tayuya quickly did as commanded, beginning to make their way down the bridge, followed closely by Naruto. When the blonde saw Haku was refusing to move and was remaining in place looking defiantly up at her master, the boy walked over and grabbed her arm. Though he tried to pull her along, the girl quietly insisted on staying a little longer, before he too looked back up at the swordsman to see the man's glare resting on them.

For a few seconds nothing but silence prevailed, before Zabuza's gaze warmed and he nodded towards the jinchuriki. "Take care of her…"

Acknowledging his order, Naruto then began dragging Haku along. The girl fought, but she too eventually relented, yet was still unable to stop herself from looking back as the swordsman saw them off. For the next minute or so as they ran, the ice user watched her master's silhouette shrink away into the distance, standing proudly against the sky despite his injuries. Eventually a thin mist settled over the area, his form sinking into it and disappearing completely from their sight.

Biting her lip, Haku held back tears and turned, continuing to run alongside Naruto who held her arm tightly. As much as she wanted to stay, as much as she wanted to fight and protect the person most precious to her, she still respected his wishes and followed his orders above everything else. She'd sworn she would do as she was instructed by Zabuza. This meant that she was determined to follow his last order, even if it meant losing him.

Once the kids disappeared down the bridge and were safely on the island, the exhausted Zabuza turned around to face the incomplete end of the structure. Looking up to see that the vapor trail from their opponent had finally disappeared, the rogue swordsman gave a low groan when his body shuddered unexpectedly before falling to his knee. Retching and coughing, the man held his hand over his mouth momentarily to try and suppress his sputtering. When he removed his palm to look down at it, he quickly saw the profuse amounts of blood he managed to choke up.

Glaring at it distastefully, the Jonin closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Pathetic. To think that I… the Demon of the Hidden Mist… could end up in such a sorry state," Zabuza exclaimed almost ironically. A harsh chuckle escaped his lips and a smile returned to his face. "Well… if these are going to be my last moments… I might as well go out the same way I came into this world: massacring everyone standing in my way…"

Oh yes. The Demon of the Hidden Mist was born on the day he butchered and killed over a hundred academy students in a single afternoon. Hell, he wasn't even admitted into the academy then and he was still able to slay over a hundred of his fellow villagers without breaking a sweat, many of whom had been prospects gunning for the positions of future Seven Ninja Swordsmen. It was a day many would mark as one of the bloodiest examinations in his village's history and one he would not soon forget. However, as fun as that day had been for him, it was a side of his character he'd refused to show to his apprentice; the side that gave him the strength and will to cut down so many people when he wasn't even adept at using either chakra or proper ninjutsu ability.

No. He'd killed every one of them with his bare hands and a kunai… the bare minimum.

Now on the brink of death, suffering from serious injury with only a miniscule amount of chakra to spare, this was the perfect time for him to completely cut loose and go back to how he was before.

Since he was going to die anyway, he was going to go out swinging.

For the next several minutes, Zabuza knelt facing the incomplete side of the bridge in silence, thinking back on all the wrongs and rights he'd done in his life and feeling the snow from the clouds above continue to trickle down to land upon him and the land. While it was true he had so much more he'd wanted to accomplish with himself, he'd still been unable to ignore the sickening feeling in his stomach that his past was eventually going to catch up to him. With all the terrible things he'd done in his career as a shinobi, he wasn't surprised.

Though he regretted not being able to accomplish his main goal in life, there was still one thing he'd managed to do with his strengths that he would never regret.

Haku.

He took her in, gave her a purpose, gave her a life, and saved her from her loneliness. In turn, she helped mend him, gave him company when he needed it most, and gave him a new goal to strive for, and that was to create a better world, not just for his village and himself… but for Haku.

While he may not be able to fulfill his promise to her today, the least he could do was give her a chance… and something for her to remember him by…

"I guess it's too late to turn back now," Zabuza spoke, opening his eyes and grinning up towards the end of the bridge, before projecting his voice loud enough for the individual that had appeared behind him to hear. "But given the circumstances I wouldn't want this any other way."

Without even having to look over his shoulder, Zabuza knew his opponent had finally arrived.

Standing several meters down the bridge, draped in his ruined cloak from his battle with Kimimaro, the masked form of Kakuzu could be seen glaring across at his kneeling target. After days of searching, traversing this island and hunting down the swordsman, the wolf had finally found him. While not in the condition he was expecting to find him, especially after the battle he'd just experienced and what he expected the Jonin to have gone through, the bounty hunter was nonetheless satisfied with his prize.

"It's a shame… I wish I could have done more…"

Without a single tell on his face, Kakuzu smirked. "Not all legends last forever. A person like you should know that. Like all things in life, shinobi, even the most powerful, age, wither away and die. No matter how hard we try to fight it, nothing physical in this world lasts forever. Everyone eventually passes on."

"Funny. That's not what I keep hearing about you," Zabuza exclaimed in amusement, fists clenching. "So many tales… so many ridiculous stories… I don't even know where to start…"

The masked Akatsuki member laughed flippantly, "There's no such thing as true immortality in this world. I'm just a person playing it close to the line."

"Hmph. Too much of a stretch to go all the way?"

"More like it's impossible. There's only one real and immortal ideal worth living for… and that's money. It's the only constant in this reality and it's the reason why I continue to exist. It doesn't curse at you, it doesn't run away… and the best part… it doesn't try to stab you in the back."

"That's a very hollow point of view," Zabuza replied, another scoff escaping his lips. "Is that the conclusion you arrived at when you returned to your home village and they threw you into a cell to rot?"

Kakuzu's frown deepened. "Not the proudest moment of my career… but I got my pound of flesh as compensation in the end."

"So I heard," Zabuza murmured, finding a little bit of distaste in that story before breathing out a sigh. "Well. You're right about one thing. Physically… nothing lasts forever. It's what you leave behind and the memories you've instilled in others that will carry on… and I can assure you that that will never die."

"As much as I would like to stand here and talk values with you, I've still got a job to do," Kakuzu exclaimed, stepping forward. "While you may be reaching the end of your life, your body is still worth something to me. There's a huge bounty hanging over your head and I intend to collect on it." He tilted his head at the hunched over figure and took note of all the pools of blood surrounding him. "Judging from your current state, taking you down won't be too difficult. Even with medical attention you still wouldn't last for very long. An easy eighty-million in the bank… plus a little extra from Gato… once your heart stops beating."

A series of chuckles came from the swordsman after that. Kakuzu held his ground as he listened to the Jonin laugh, before watching him rise to his feet and turn around. When the swordsman faced the bounty hunter and hardened his stance, not only did he show off the grievous amount of wounds he'd sustained in his fight with Hidan and the amount of blood covering him, he also flashed the man his most terrifying grin.

His dilated pupils and irises only seemed to enhance his murderous expression.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, old man… but you won't be getting that little extra bonus from Gato… nor that eighty million," Zabuza exclaimed. "Not now… not ever."

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Grin widening, the now demonic looking swordsman spoke his next words sharply and loudly, "He's gone… I killed him."

The hunter's eyes widened, "What?"

"If you're planning on breaking a deal with the Demon of the Hidden Mist… you'd better be prepared to face the consequences. It's an unspoken rule amongst shinobi," Zabuza laughed, blood dribbling down from his mouth as he held back coughs. "The man had it coming… and so did your partner."

Expressing surprise at hearing this, Kakuzu stared for a few seconds longer before furrowing his brow and clenching his fists into vices. The tightening of his knuckles echoed out over the bridge as his anger at learning of his client's premature demise finally processed itself through his head, and he lowered his head dangerously towards the wounded swordsman standing in line of his shadow.

You could practically hear the hunter's impatience escalate from mild to absolutely enraged.

"You shouldn't have done that," Kakuzu said with warning. After all his efforts here in this retched country, he wasn't even going to get paid the full amount for his services. That was an offense that was just not going to stand. "Zabuza Momochi… I plan on getting a good deal off of your corpse. I won't be satisfied on just the selling price. I'm going to haggle at the next bounty station until you make up for my losses…"

"Provided you're still alive to do the job and still have a carcass to sell!" Zabuza's glare became more manic as he locked gazes with the now infuriated Akatsuki member. In spite of the amounts of killing intent he now had blasting him in the face, the swordsman matched it with his own, as a strange purple aura of chakra like smoke began to lift off of his body. "All legends eventually die! Even yours won't last forever, Kakuzu! You said so yourself! If you think that I'm going to come quietly and hand myself over to you on a silver platter… YOU'RE SADLY MISTAKEN!"

All of a sudden, the purple wisps of fumes wafting off of his shoulders suddenly exploded from him in a rush of wind. In a stunning show of power, the cloud blasting from his back formed into an enormous mass behind him, which eventually turned and shaped into the face and head of a large demon. With its fangs bared and eyes blazing, the creature let out a terrifying roar that sent gales whipping down the bridge to hit Kakuzu in the face.

The masked man stepped back a bit and looked on in surprise. "What the? What is that?" Chakra that was visible? In his current state and with all those wounds riddling his body, the rogue shouldn't have had any chakra left. What kind of stand was he going to make in his condition?

If he used a jutsu now, with such low reserves… he was going to die.

Exerting chakra outwards to manifest behind him, Zabuza then held up both his hands and slammed them together into the snake seal. "You can forget about claiming that bounty on my head… BECAUSE THE DEMON OF THE HIDDEN MIST IS GOING ON A ONE WAY TRIP STRAIGHT TO HELL… AND I'M TAKING YOU THERE WITH ME!" the swordsman bellowed, his chakra shroud increasing several times in size before massive walls of water the height of cliffs shot up out of the ocean on either side of the bridge and into the sky.

The sight of the massive parapets of water blocking out the sun had the stunned Kakuzu look up in shock. It took him several seconds of processing, but eventually the man realized what his target was now doing. "Oh shit!"

"SUITON: BAKUSUI SHOHA!" (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave)

Voice echoing out from the bridge, Zabuza then willed the massive towers of water to converge on both him and his opponent, the massive waves on either side suddenly plummeting towards the bridge, and slamming into it with enough concussive force to cause the entire island and the coastal area of the mainland to shudder under the shockwaves that followed. Kakuzu was immediately swept up by the tsunamis wrapping around the structure, his cry of agony muffled by the sound of rolling thunder that pulled them straight down into the channel.

Zabuza was swept away too, hitting himself flush with his own attack that had both him and his adversary blasting off of the bridge, and sent them both tumbling into the ocean inside a swirling, twisting vortex from hell. It was like he had been sucked right into a maelstrom straight into the ocean as he was ripped apart by the rushing torrents.

As he was pulled away by the otherworldly forces he'd called upon to drown his opponent, the Demon of the Hidden Mist smiled and closed his eyes.

"Haku… I know that this is a lot to ask from someone like me, but… I would… really like to see you again… in another time… in another place." His smile then turned into a grin as his world faded to black.

"Until then… have fun… and make it count."

And with that, his body was whipped away and sucked into the depths of the ocean, the light of the sun high up in the sky vanishing as he was submerged in darkness.

From their spot a kilometer or so away, up on top of a hill overlooking the bridge, Naruto, Haku, Tayuya and Isaribi watched in astonishment as the massive walls of water that crashed on top of the bridge sank back into the channel, leaving behind an utterly soaked, but still standing and intact viaduct. When the waves settled and the space cleared, they saw that the bridge was empty, and that Zabuza and Kakuzu were nowhere to be seen.

Tears pouring from her eyes, Haku bit her lip and locked her fingers together, squeezing her hands tightly. After which she then shut her eyes and bowed her head in respect to her precious teacher.

"Thank you… Zabuza-sama…"

OOO

Elsewhere on the island…

In a certain part of the mangrove forests that dominated the Land of Waves, a long way out from the main waterfront, Gato's mansion and Orochimaru's now destroyed hideout, a small area of trees had seemingly collapsed on itself.

Inside a large, smoldering crater that had formed from a very violent crash landing, a bunch of mangroves and other elements of forestation had caved in and buried whatever it was that had made impact with the hard ground. From the extent of the damages and the smoke still rising into the air, it seemed that whatever may have made landfall in that area was probably dead, as was everything else that once populated that section of wood. However, from the pile of splintered remains, leaves, bushes and rubble, movement could be seen.

The collection of broken trees and snapped branches shifted a few times, as whatever it was underneath them started to make its way to the surface. Though the thing buried under how many tons of trees in all good conscience should have been pinned and killed, the being that was in fact buried under all that rubble was not your ordinary living entity. After shifting a few more times under the collapsed forest and trying to shift the weight in an effort to dig itself out, the trunks and logs pressing down on top of it were then blasted away and deposited outside of the center.

From the dust and smoke that rose into the open canopy, a silhouette staggered out and into view. Bleeding profusely with most of his clothes torn or burnt away, Kimimaro stumbled into the light. Propping himself up against a still standing tree at the edge of the clearing he'd created, the Kaguya revealed the amount of damage he'd taken from his opponent's last attack.

Not only were most of his clothes left in tatters, but much of his skin had melted off of him, revealing an armor of bone underneath it, from which he had also dislocated many of his limbs. The amount of damage he'd sustained was horrendous. On top of that, it was also taking almost all of his chakra to heal himself from them, which was proving to be a bit of a strain even for his seemingly indestructible body.

Gritting his teeth, the frustrated, albino warrior rolled his dislocated shoulder back into place before pushing himself off of the tree. Despite the fact the flesh on his hand had practically melted off or had been burnt black, ever so slowly, new skin started to grow over the injuries and replace the ruined muscles.

It was clear he'd messed up badly, as he'd stupidly left himself open for that attack. He paid the price of it with his body and chakra, but he was quick to learn from it.

"If I ever meet that man again, I swear… I will be sure to kill him," Kimimaro vowed silently to himself, expressing anger at his loss by clenching his messed up fist.

Furrowing his brow, the boy ripped off the remains of his top and left it on the ruined ground before slowly beginning to march out of the area. He still had the data from the base he'd come to collect. With this, along with the knowledge of the startling new developments that had taken place on this island, he had way more information to report back to his master then he expected to leave with.

Hopefully his punishment for his failure in today's struggle wouldn't be too severe, but Kimimaro was more than prepared for the consequences that awaited him. It was the path that he chose after all; to serve his master and to be of use to him.

He was willing to accept the charges of failure.

OOO

That afternoon…

One heart.

Yep. Counting all five of them, Kakuzu had lost one heart in his incredibly brief skirmish with the Demon of the Hidden Mist Zabuza Momochi. That last attack had been one doozy of a water release technique, as it pretty much had taken all of the water in the channel they had been standing over and dumped it right on top of them in one go.

He was pretty sure that those waves could've been seen for miles. Thank Kami for his jiongu ability; otherwise the damage would have been much, much worse.

After managing to drag his ass out of the ocean several miles away from the Land of Waves, a close to waterlogged Kakuzu quickly ran damage control on his body to see how badly he'd been hit. Once he'd assessed all the breaks and removed all the organs that had failed him while he was being tossed around the high-speed riptides, the bounty hunter then walked down the beach for a little ways, climbed further inland and, upon finding an appropriate position, stood and glared out over the coast in the direction of the small island nation he'd left far behind.

He could pretty much guess how far he'd been dragged from tasting the air or however the hell he managed to navigate the shinobi nations. Even if he did know his exact location, the Akatsuki member knew it would've just been a waste of effort to go back and see if he could find any remains of his quarry. Hell, he'd even taken it upon himself to search some of the beaches around here to see whether or not Zabuza's corpse would wind up on some random bank or reef or something to make up for his embarrassing mishap. However, based on what he'd assessed of his opponent back on the bridge, remembering the sheer size of the final jutsu he'd used and the distance it'd taken them after it hit them with the force it did, there was no possible way he was getting that body even if he spent months out here.

It was gone, which was just bad fucking luck.

Actually, now that he thought about it, it was bad news for Kakuzu for a number of reasons. Not only had he basically been sent on a two-day wild goose chase after a swordsman whose body had now been dragged far out to sea, only to stumble upon his cronies and a hideout belonging to the snake Orochimaru, he had also been forced to fight a battle that was just a waste of his time and, in doing so, had been unable to collect much significant Intel regarding the matter. To top it all off, not only were the bridge builder's family unaccounted for, but his partner had also been sent packing to Kami knows where and his employer was dead, which meant that after all his trouble, he wasn't even going to get paid for it.

He also needed to find a replacement heart from someone with an affinity for fire.

This pissed Kakuzu off something fierce.

Sure, the lack of cash at the end of the working period was one thing to deal with, he would also have to report to his boss that his teammate, the newly recruited and thought to be unkillable Hidan, was now incapacitated until further notice.

If he wasn't scattered across an entire country, in which case he was never coming back.

"Leader-sama is not going to like this," Kakuzu thought irritably as he marched up the hill towards a tree. Looking at it for a moment, the bounty hunter gave his situation one last moment of thought before, without hesitation, he raised his fist and chopped at the trunk. With a single blow, he smashed the entire thing to pieces.

Letting out a low growl as the tree collapsed to the ground, Kakuzu then turned and left the vicinity, surprised that he just didn't go straight through every tree in the direction and haste he moved with.

Due to being unable to pick up any traces left of the swordsman, there was also no way he was going to find any appropriate consolation in all of this. Hell, he wasn't going to be finishing any of the assignments he'd been given by his latest client, period.

This whole mission had gone to shit, and the only thing the Akatsuki member had to show for it was the bodies he was able to collect in Zabuza's old hideout and a ruined cloak. Without another word on the matter, the seething Kakuzu began making way to his organization's nearest outpost to go make his report.

He'd had enough of this shithole.

OOO

That night…

Outside of Zabuza's new hideout, Naruto stood looking straight up into the sky.

Not wanting to disturb Haku after the day they'd just had, the boy had wisely decided to give the girl some space for her to mourn. After covering his wounds up with ointment and bandages, most of which could be seen wrapped around his waist, leg and arm from where he'd received the most crippling injuries from Hidan in their fight, the boy had then stepped outside into the cool air of the night and planted himself on what he perceived was the front yard. The sight of the starry sky above gave him the distraction he needed from the memories of the battle he and his group had recently fought, one he was sure would resonate for many months to come.

While he was standing outside up on top of the hill, he suddenly felt the familiar presence of Tayuya approaching him from behind. Looking over his shoulder momentarily, he saw the kunoichi stop behind him and smile in his direction. It was warm, small and comforting, something he would expect from his person most precious to him.

He also noticed that Swift was still sitting on her shoulder, watching him intently.

"How are you feeling, shithead?" Tayuya asked.

The jinchuriki shrugged before turning back to the sky, hands slipped into his pockets. "Lousy."

"I can imagine," the kunoichi replied, taking a few steps closer till she was only inches away from his shoulder. "I heard what you'd been up to from Isaribi and got the rest from Tsunami and Inari. Gato…?"

"The villagers are holding onto him," Naruto replied, baring his teeth and clenching his fists momentarily before relaxing. "We decided to let the Land of Wave choose what they're going to do with him and give the people a chance to pass judgment. Hopefully the sentence they give that monster will make his life as miserable as the lives he's destroyed."

Giving him a moment to compose himself, the red haired kunoichi beamed before wrapping her arms around his. She held onto him supportively, a gesture that did not go unfelt by the jinchuriki who looked back down at her to see his friend saddle up right alongside him. There she stood, and rested her head against his shoulder. "You've been through a lot these past couple of days, huh?"

"Yeah," Naruto murmured, breathing deeply, "Thankfully we managed to get rid of that other asshole on the island. There was no way we could have won a second fight head on, especially against an opponent like that." Whether he was alive or dead now it didn't matter. He was gone.

After seeing what that Hidan guy was capable of, he wouldn't be surprised if that Kakuzu character managed to survive that last attack.

Naruto had a feeling he'd be seeing him again later.

Tayuya looked down thoughtfully, giving the information she'd learned about these 'Akatsuki' people a moment of consideration. "Who were those bastards, anyway?"

"Hopefully people I won't be seeing again for a l~ong time," Naruto replied. Unfortunately, he had a bad sense about him that with his luck, that won't be the case. There was a good chance he would be seeing these people again sometime in his future, especially if what Isaribi said was true about them hunting jinchuriki. "I'll need every second that I can get to train and get strong enough to fight shinobi of that level."

Hearing this had the kunoichi glance at him again, this time with a look of concern. "They're really going to be coming after you then?"

"To be honest, I don't want to have to worry about it too much," Naruto stated, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them to face the sky again. "I won't be able to sleep right if I'm constantly looking over my shoulder for these people. But I do know what I have to do and that is to prepare for the worst."

At first Tayuya smiled at the boy's resolve. She figured he would have recovered completely by now and would be back kicking and punching again. He was pretty stubborn, after all. However, as she looked up at his averted gaze, she suddenly saw a tear fall from his eye and recoiled in surprise when she saw his face scrunched up painfully into a clear expression of regret. When he looked back down, he tensed up, and did his best to hold back his frustrations.

"Naruto…"

"After everything we did… after all the effort we put into it… it still wasn't enough…" Naruto said through bared teeth and shook his head. "We planned it out so well and fought so hard, but even after all that… Zabuza still died. He didn't have to die. Nobody had to die. If only I was stronger… if only I could have done more… I…"

Before he could finish, Tayuya wrapped her arms around his body and held him closer, resting her head against his. This seemed to calm him down enough to keep him from breaking down, and the jinchuriki held firm. The kunoichi smiled as she felt Naruto's eyes rest on her and squeezed him reassuringly.

"You did your best, Naruto-kun," Tayuya exclaimed, beaming. "You always do…"

Naruto stared at her for a moment, silence playing out for a few minutes longer before his mind lingered back to what Zabuza had told him before passing on. Some days you win, some days you lose. What the Jonin meant by that was that no matter how hard he tried, there would still be things that would be far outside of his control, and that he wouldn't be able to save everyone. That was the reality of their world and the world of shinobi.

He knew this… and Zabuza had known this more than anybody else, since Naruto had heard everything from Haku on the night before about both their lives up to that point.

The jinchuriki took these words to heart and allowed his lips to turn upwards slightly.

"I'll become stronger… so this doesn't happen again," Naruto exclaimed before grinning, "That's a promise."

"That's the shithead I know," Tayuya giggled, hugging him even tighter.

XXX

Two days later…

Standing in front of the newly made memorial, as noted by the small mound of earth and the wooden cross embedded in the ground behind it, a fully recovered Naruto, Haku, Tayuya and Isaribi, along with a somber Tsunami and Inari stood staring down at the space they had erected in memory of one Zabuza Momochi.

In the same night following their victory over Hidan, the group of youngsters had taken it upon themselves to create a simple cenotaph for the Jonin who'd finished that fight for them on top of the hill overlooking his last battleground; the incomplete bridge. They held a small, simple ceremony for him in the hour, after which they then stood and paid their respects to the Jonin.

Having known him the longest and being the one to have given her all to accomplish his dreams, Haku stood by the grave all through the night… or tried her best to.

Naruto stayed with her until she fell asleep, exhausted from her fight with the Akatsuki member, and spent the hours following her crash watching the stars and reflecting on the day that had come and gone. It had been tough on all of them, especially on those who had been directly involved in the battle. Naruto suffered at the person's merciless hands, Isaribi had been beaten down emotionally, and all of them had lost someone dear to them, or someone they had come to respect greatly. In the time he'd spent getting to know the swordsman and seeing his relationship with Haku, Naruto could understand how heavy the loss of the Jonin came to her. This was why he gave her all the breathing space she needed to grieve. As strong as she was, her feelings for Zabuza had been powerful and the boy acknowledged that.

After thinking about it for the longest time and wondering what was going to happen afterwards, the jinchuriki tried to put the matters as far out of his mind as he could and focus on the other things. The rest of his time that night sitting beside Haku and watching her rest was thinking about how his friends were doing at home.

Tayuya joined him in the morning, bringing food for the two owls out on the grass, after which both she and the jinchuriki spent the hours afterwards taking Tsunami and Inari home, and having a platoon of clones fix her ruined house.

While they worked, Naruto and Tayuya then spent some time over at Zabuza's old hideout with Isaribi and Haku, the latter of which spent her time packing up all of her personal effects.

This eventually led them all here, to the day where Haku would pay her last good wishes to her master with everyone who'd met him.

Walking up to the cross, Haku placed a hand on it, where the Kirigakure symbol and the man's name could be seen engraved upon it. Watching it stand under her palm, the kunoichi gave one last, sad smile and ran her hand over the side momentarily, before turning heel and stepping back over to Naruto, Tayuya and Isaribi.

The ice user was dressed in the pink kimono Naruto and Tsunami had met her in, and was also carrying a travel pack with her along with Zabuza's massive sword. Additionally, she had allowed her hair to fly loose, giving her an empowering image as she stood with the sun at her back.

The jinchuriki beamed at the teen when she stopped in front of him. "What will you do now?"

Haku smiled warmly, "I'm going to do what Zabuza-sama told me to do…" She reached up and placed her hand over her chest. "Live." She saw the jinchuriki's smile widen and expanded on the words she had been passed on from her master. "He said that his dream was now mine, and that I could follow it if I chose to. I think I will adhere to that choice and finish what Zabuza-sama started; by bringing about change to the Land of Water."

"That's a really good dream to follow," Naruto exclaimed, looking over to Isaribi to see the smiling girl nod in agreement. They both then glanced back at Haku, whom they saw was still beaming brightly. "If you need any help, don't hesitate to come find me, okay Haku-chan."

Eyes shimmering at his words, the older girl took a moment to breathe deeply before stepping forward and planting a kiss on his cheek. When she stepped away, she saw the surprised boy gazing back at her. "It's a promise."

Blinking, Naruto blushed lightly and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Even though he didn't turn to look, he could still sense the amused expressions on Tayuya and Isaribi's faces and the smiles on Tsunami and Inari, both of whom were waiting in the background.

With that said and done, Haku then turned to the girl in bandages positioned comfortably beside the jinchuriki. When her eyes locked with hers, the older teen bowed respectfully to her. Since meeting her and getting to know her the day beforehand when she was packing to leave, the kunoichi had come to share a lot with the newcomer and sympathize with her for her past. It helped them to bond and become, what Naruto already was with the girl, friends.

She raised her hand to the purple haired chimera without hesitation, "Look after each other."

Seeing her eyes cut briefly to Naruto, Isaribi nodded before walking up and hugging the girl instead. Surprised at first, Haku nevertheless returned it and stepped away from each other once best wishes had been exchanged. They then moved aside and allowed her passage through, the ice user nodding to Tayuya on the way before turning to face Tsunami and Inari, both of whom walked up to her next.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" the young boy asked sadly, eyes shimmering.

"You don't have to take off so quickly," Tsunami added, really wanting to return the favor to the teen for everything she had done for her family. "You could stay with us for a while. I'm sure that my father would be thrilled to have you. This whole country is grateful for everything all of you have done for us."

Haku shook her head, "I'm not the person who made this all happen. Though I played a small part in it, I cannot take credit for the victory here." She turned and looked back towards Naruto, Isaribi and her master's resting place. Fixing on the spiky haired blonde standing and watching her with a smile, the raven haired kunoichi gazed at him for a few more lingering seconds before panning back to the woman speaking with her. "All of us have Naruto-kun to thank. Without him, we wouldn't have won that fight, nor would our hearts have changed from what they were. He saved all of us."

Tsunami nodded in understanding, holding her hands together while Inari gripped the side of her dress and held back tears. With the amount of fluids that ran down his face, it was hard not to call that crying.

"Take care of yourself," the woman exclaimed, shaking hands with Haku and receiving a fond smile in return.

After exchanging thanks of appreciation and hugging a sobbing Inari goodbye, the kunoichi, with her eyes set on her next path, moved off of the hill. Going at her own pace, she took a moment to look back at all the friends she'd made in the past few days and the bridge under construction once more and sitting over the rise. Eyes reflecting the sunlight, the happy teen breathed a sigh of relief and left, holding the straps of her bag and, upon adjusting the large sword she was also carrying, disappeared into the woods.

When they saw her leave, Tayuya turned to Naruto and smiled. "She's really strong; able to keep moving… even after this."

The blonde nodded in agreement and turned to stare out over the bridge just as his friends did. When Tsunami and Inari came to join them, the jinchuriki grinned. "I hope I get to see her again. I'll start to miss her if she's gone for too long."

Hearing a sniffle, Isaribi looked at him in amusement. "You miss her already."

Tears dripping down his face, the boy turned away and rubbed it on the back of his sleeve, "No! Not at all! Don't be ridiculous." Tayuya shook her head at him and elbowed him in the side.

Giggling at his defiance and attempting to hide his real feelings, Isaribi moved over to him and gripped his jacket. When his tear-clear eyes shifted to face her, the purple haired girl smiled up at him and, with a small glow of red in her cheeks, timidly spoke to him again. "S-Since this is over… d-do…" Gulping, the teen braced herself and looked up at him strongly. "Do you think… I could come with you… back to your village?"

Pausing for a bit out of surprise and after processing her question to him, Naruto quickly smiled and nodded back to the diver without hesitation. "Sure you can." Upon watching her face light up at his answer, he then turned towards Tayuya to see what she thought of the decision, to which he immediately saw the musician shrug and nod towards him affirmatively. After that, the jinchuriki panned over to the purple haired girl, took her hand in his and looked down at it. "If you want, maybe my village can help you. I'm not sure how good the doctors are, but perhaps they can undo what those creeps did to your body and make you normal again."

"Y-You think so?" Seeing the reassuring glint in his eyes, Isaribi seemed to glow even brighter before hugging his arm tightly, placing her head against his shoulder. "Thank you."

Grinning, Naruto jumped when he suddenly felt something land on his shoulder and saw his friend Swift sitting there looking at him curiously. Chuckling when he heard her song and the words she spoke to him, the blonde stroked the bird under the chin with the knuckle of his finger before he, Isaribi, Tayuya, Tsunami, and Inari turned toward the bridge.

Together, the group watched the sun rise over the horizon and gazed down at the site where the many workers continued construction on the viaduct across the channel.

XXX

Over the week…

In the days to follow after the battle on the incomplete bridge, a lot of things started to happen that managed to lift the spirits of Naruto, Tayuya and Isaribi respectively. While the first couple of days had been spent with Haku and company healing over the loss of a person close to them, and repairing the damages done to their homes, the changes that came next came by swiftly.

After tying and locking Gato up in a well concealed storage shed in the village to be processed on a later date, when word eventually spread that the magnate had been kidnapped and possibly killed, everyone under his employment started to panic. The staff he left in charge of the various docks and facilities under his banner had no idea what to do, as the command in the mogul's shipping industry was in shambles. Even the mercenaries Gato had hired to enforce his rule on the nation started going ballistic, as they no longer had a commander and chief to rally under. Basically the first couple of days for the gangsters were spent trying to get into contact with the man in charge, looting, and trying to get their shit in order.

Most of those that had been at the mansion at the time of Gato's disappearance left without a single word, wanting to get the hell out of dodge before something bad happened. They were off the island in a heartbeat. The people most loyal to the magnate however managed to escape along with the others, and informed the rest of their comrades about his kidnapping.

The news soon trickled down to the villagers who, after being informed by Inari that Gato had been defeated, rallied all of the townspeople left, right and center against the brutes that had been oppressing them. Most of this happened on the third day after the battle on the bridge, in which they all stormed the businesses and docks, and took back their boats. Those that tried to run on the seagoing vessels were sacked by Isaribi or sunk, while Naruto and Tayuya had a ball on the island and shoreline beating the snot out of all the thugs that decided to fight back.

When shit started to hit the fan, all of the staff Gato had stationed on the island quickly gathered up whatever belongings they had and fled however they could. Most of them were captured on the days the Wave Country started to rebel, with all those ending up under the heel and pike of the former fishermen being locked up in the local warehouses. Since the prison on the island was so small, they needed to use the former facilities under Gato to house the dozens of captured criminals so that they could be processed in due course.

All in all, it had been a damn good day for the week, and not only had the villagers regained their hopes and their homeland, they'd also regained their freedom.

After that, more good things started to come about that began to raise the spirits of the island even further. Most of the men who had lost their jobs got them back and were able to start fishing again. With the daimyo's help, he was able to reestablish connections with the mainland and hasten the construction of the bridge by putting all able-bodied civilians into it. Heck, almost the entire village put their full support behind it, and once repairs were made to the damages caused by the shinobi that fought there, work on the incomplete side went on unhindered.

While the country was recovering and all the men able to move started to get back to their feet, Naruto, Tayuya and Isaribi did whatever they could to help the villagers out. After fixing up the bridge builder's home and helping Tsunami and Inari move back in, they then went about helping out the orphaned and starving kids out on the streets, as well as the mothers who were barely able to support themselves under Gato's rule. That bastard had taken so much from the people that the entire island was starving, but now that he was beaten and his armies were gone from the land, he was now set to face punishment by the proper authorities for all the crimes he'd committed.

To take up their time in the week to follow, Naruto gathered all the kids together to teach them how to fish.

The second day after the rebellion of that week was a real blast…

With the sun starting to come up over the horizon, almost every single child in the village that had been out on the streets had gathered together on the footpath just beside the canal running between their island village and the mainland across the way. Overcome with curiosity and awe, the children stood back and watched as the blonde haired boy who'd brought them here had fishing lines in the river and was, one by one, pulling large fish up out of the ocean and laying them out under the diming light of the day.

Grinning in success after pulling up a mid-sized tuna, which had damn near put up a good fight, Naruto wiped his brow and looked down at his kill. Every boy and girl sitting or standing on the side of the road admired his catch for a full minute before looking up to see the boy beaming at them. Today, Tayuya had chosen to help the villagers in fixing up the ruined buildings, deciding to leave the fish catching to her roommate. He didn't need any help in that department, judging from the numbers he'd already managed to pull to shore, so she went about assisting in any other manner she could.

"See! That's how you catch the best fish the conventional way," Naruto said before pointing towards the lines he still had cast. Earning nods of understanding all around, he then turned back to the waters, "And I think that my submariners are close to finishing their run too."

The moment he said that, the shore at the wharf was quickly disturbed by a couple of shadow clones dragging themselves out of the channel. Soaking wet and looking a bit ragged, they pulled up with them nets filled with sea cucumbers, jelly fish and clams. The squad of doppelgangers was quick to deposit their catch across the cement and racks kindly provided by the original, who nodded his head approvingly as he surveyed the latest batch.

"Oh yeah, these will do nicely. Cucumber and jellyfish taste great pickled," Naruto exclaimed. Rolling up his sleeves, he waved the kids standing on the side of the road over. When they came to wait timidly before the line of sea creatures caught by the boy, the jinchuriki couldn't ignore the sounds of hungry stomachs and the looks to accompany them from the youngsters. "You guys have been living hard out here, huh? I assume you haven't had a decent meal in a long time." He saw them all nod. "Well then you're in luck, because now I'm going to teach you how to make the greatest sea chow in the world; Uzumaki style!"

The kids looked on excitedly with great intent, leaning forward to watch as the blond pulled out a butcher's knife from his pouch. Why he had one was a real mystery, but that was the beauty of being the most unpredictable ninja in the world. You could pull crap out of anywhere.

Before he could proceed however, loud splashing from the side was suddenly heard, which drew Naruto and the children's attention back over to the channel. When their eyes landed on the footpath, they saw a cheerful Isaribi clamber out dragging a stretch of line with her. Grinning when she saw Naruto and his catch, she then pulled with all her might her catch out of the water. What followed after her line was one, two, three- NINE tuna the size of sharks and a massive marlin, which she had gone out of her way to snag as well.

Gawking, Naruto observed as Isaribi held up her large wall prize proudly and spoke up, "Jealous?" She waved the sports fish from side to side teasingly.

The jinchuriki sulked, "Show off."

When Isaribi stuck her tongue out at him, all of the children there looked between them in confusion. After a few moments of perplexed glances, they simply dismissed the pair's brief interaction as something that a couple would do. That simultaneous thought amongst them brought a sneeze from Naruto, who then proceeded along with Isaribi to show the kids how to cook for themselves.

If entertaining the children and helping the villagers wasn't enough, for the following days Naruto, Tayuya and Isaribi also assisted on the bridge's construction. The blonde's shadow clones were fantastic for the job and helped haul around both the heavy material and the equipment. They did most of the work up top in the most hard to reach areas, while Isaribi helped with the undersea work and the support beams. You could say that with their combined support the team helped speed up construction by seventy percent… or at best eighty.

In that week they spent on the island, the three of them stayed at Tsunami's home with her son. In the afternoons, when they were free and buggered from a day's work, they would spend a lot of time with Inari and play games with him. His mother was positively thrilled to have the trio over, not just for everything they had done, but because they were a joy to be around and she hadn't seen her son so happy in a long time. The dinners they had together and their company was wonderful.

Tayuya didn't mind hanging out with Isaribi either, taking time to get to know the new girl as well as partaking in some off hour activities together. However, in the periods Naruto spent hanging around with both girls whenever they were alone, he couldn't help but notice that they got a bit clingy with him. Kind of strange to see both of them acting in the same way, but he let it slide as just one of those things that girls normally did. Tayuya liked playing around with him and Isaribi was probably just living it up at finally having a real friend for the first time.

Things turned out really well in the end, and Naruto could feel really good about himself for all the hard work they'd all put into here. It wasn't just a recovery time for the village, but an enlightening and mending experience for all three of them too.

However, as the proverb went, all good things eventually came to an end, and for Naruto, the end came a little bit too soon…

XXX

At the end of the week…

After being waitlisted at Konohagakure for the shinobi support he needed for the C-Rank escort service he was asking for and being forced to wait a long time for somebody to be assigned to the job, you could say that Tazuna was more than a little bit concerned for himself as he began his journey back with the group assigned to provide protection for him. The old man had spent all that time up until setting off in the hotel biting his nails and drinking sake, wondering whether his family back home was doing okay, the builders he'd left in charge of the bridge were fine and the people he'd hired were at least going to be competent.

Unfortunately for him, his escorts for the assignment didn't turn out to be all he had been hoping for. Due to the price he paid for the C-Rank classification of his mission in the order form, what he got were a bunch of kids and their teacher. You could say all of his hopes were riding on them, because while he couldn't pay any higher due to his limited funds, he at least had shinobi to do the job. Tazuna only prayed that they would stay on if they eventually found out about his circumstances back home.

However, due to his extra long absence from the island and waiting around for a team to be chosen to accompany him back to the danger zone that was his home town, you could believe how surprised Tazuna actually was to return and find the entire island nation… well… several thousand times better than it was when he'd left.

Standing on the shoreline of the Land of Fire and looking out towards the island, Tazuna saw not only tons of old fishing boats he hadn't seen in action for months out on the water, but that his bridge, the bridge he'd spent the past year building, just a few hours away from completion. Team 8, who had been tasked with protecting him on his way back, were a little bit confused to see how shocked he was, but chose not to say anything when they met up with his friend, who then took him across to the small nation in his boat, in broad daylight no less and with no shows of concern whatsoever.

In the brief trip, Tazuna tried asking his fellow villager about what was going on and why the channel was open again, fearing the worst. Instead, his friend laughed and told him to wait until he got to his place to be filled in on the details.

When they arrived at the waterfront, they found a bustling village undergoing serious renovations and repairs. People greeted the team pleasantly as the small convoy passed down the main road and the children Tazuna remembered seeing on the streets were running around, cheerful and looking exponentially healthier. Kiba, Hinata, Shino and Kurenai just didn't see what was so wrong with the place and why their client had been under so much stress on their journey over.

"The place seems to be doing well," Kurenai pointed, smiling across at the architect as he strolled along, looking absolutely bewildered. "And your bridge seems to be coming along nicely. From the looks of it, we should be done by the end of the day."

Tazuna, shaking his head, rubbed the top of his nose when they spotted his inlet-side home just down the road. "Uhh… yeah. I'd say so too."

What the hell was going on?

And secondly, why the hell did his house look like half of it had been torn down and rebuilt?

Arriving on the front porch, Tazuna knocked on the door, expecting either his daughter or grandson to greet them. With Team 8 filed up behind him, they waited patiently to be greeted by whoever was waiting for them inside and when the door finally opened they found themselves confronted by a girl in bandages and purple hair.

Blinking in surprise, Tazuna stared down at the newcomer in bewilderment before speaking, "Um… hello?"

"Hello?" Isaribi replied, equally surprised as she looked around at the people outside, "Can I help you?"

"I'm… Tazuna," the bridge builder said slowly, raising his hand in inquiry before pointing at the building. "Is my family here?"

"Oh. You're the bridge builder?" Isaribi replied brightly, smiling when she saw the architect nod and stepped aside. "Right, right, come in. Tsunami-san!" She called into the house as the old man and the team slowly stepped through, everyone giving the strange girl odd looks when she led the way. "Your father is back!"

"Grandpa!" A child's cheer suddenly echoed out, followed shortly by footsteps coming down the stairs.

Turning, Tazuna was quickly tackled in the stomach by a little black and white blur that quickly latched onto him the instant he made contact. Shocked, the old man chuckled and bent over, returning the hug he received from the little child that came down from the upper floor to greet him. "Inari! Did you miss me?"

Team 8 watched on quietly as the young child pulled away from the bridge builder to beam at him. With a smile that lit up the room, the boy nodded his head enthusiastically, "I missed you heaps, grandpa. You wouldn't believe what happened to us while you were away."

"Oh… I think I can guess," Tazuna replied, though he honestly had no clue. He smiled at his beloved grandson and ruffled his hair, "You can tell me all about it over lunch."

"'Kay!"

Taking off their sandals and setting their bags aside, Team 8 then followed Tazuna and Inari into the kitchen, where they found Tsunami in the process of repairing one of the chairs. She greeted her father with a hug and a kiss, at the same time saying hello to the Konoha shinobi he'd brought along with him. As the squad spread out across the dining room and were beginning to settle in, Kiba and Akamaru stopped when they suddenly picked up a familiar scent hanging in the air.

Of all the scents mingling in the atmosphere, next to the fried fish, the ocean, the scent of grass, and those belonging to the family, it was a very distinct calling card.

"Hey… what the?" the Inuzuka blinked, looking around before turning to Shino, where he saw the boy also glance across at him with a flash of his glasses, "Do you sense that?"

"Yes," the bug user replied in monotone before looking ahead of him. Hinata noticed her teammates' respective reactions and in turn became concerned, looking between them with her fingers lacked together. "This chakra. It seems familiar. Why you ask? Because we know him all too well back in our village."

Before either of the boys could ask about the strange reception they were picking up, Tazuna suddenly interrupted them with a yell of shock, "WHAT?! Gato is gone? How? When?"

Tsunami giggled at his bewildered expression and the way he seemed to curl over in utter bafflement, "Over a week ago, dad. I figured somebody back in the village would have told you the moment you arrived."

"Well… everyone was being so damn cryptic and sneaky I couldn't get anything out of them. Even Giichi wouldn't tell me a damn thing, the idiot," the old man grumbled.

"Hmm. We may need to fix that," Tsunami giggled, pulling up a chair beside the table and sitting the old man down to collect his senses. "I'll tell you all about it, and Ms. Sensei if she would like some tea too." She looked up towards the raven haired Jonin standing nearby hopefully and with a pleasant air about her.

Kurenai smiled and also pulled up a seat, quickly planting herself in it. "Sure. I'd love some."

Beaming, Tsunami went to collect the kettle from the stove before turning to the three kids still standing and looking around, not really knowing what to do. Taking note of all of their confusion, the cheerful woman gestured them towards the door, "If you like you three can go say hi to your friends. They're out on the dock fishing."

"F-Friends?" Hinata murmured.

Kurenai gladly dismissed her team and allowed them permission to wander about. Even though they were still technically on a mission, there was really nothing around the place that she sensed garnered any need for concern or preparation, so she was perfectly content with allowing them the opportunity to explore. With Isaribi opening the door for them and led the way out, the team wandered out onto the deck, with all intent set on finding out who these people Tsunami said they knew were and whether or not they were actually friends of theirs.

Stepping into the sun and surveying the gorgeous scenery of the sparkling lake, the trio was unwittingly beaten to the wharf by Inari and Isaribi running past them, with the former gleefully sitting down beside the blonde haired boy at the end and the girl stood behind him and his other companion.

Seeing the two persons' backs to them, the curious group of teenagers approached, only to stop and look on in surprise when they recognized the mop of yellow hair, orange jacket with the red swirl symbol on the back, and the length of red hair sitting beside him. The laughs were a dead giveaway too.

"NARUTO?!" Kiba exclaimed, Akamaru letting out a bark of surprise when they recognized who it was.

"T-Tayuya-san too?" Hinata also chirped.

So that's why the house smelled like ramen! The two of them were known village-wide for their love of the food.

Turning around when he heard the familiar voice, Naruto grinned when he saw the shocked expressions of Kiba, Shino and Hinata staring back at him. Although with the Aburame it was impossible to tell, from the looks on everybody else's faces you could assume he was just as surprised as the rest of them. Tayuya also acknowledged their presence with a grin and a wave, before returning to fishing alongside Isaribi, who leant over to see how well she was doing.

"Hey guys!" the jinchuriki said pleasantly, "How's it going?"

"What are you two doing here?" Shino asked, stepping forward with his usual, passive visage.

Hinata, blushing brightly with her fingers locked together, gazed down at the blonde fondly, "E-Everyone in the village has been wondering w-where you two are."

Tayuya grinned as she panned over her shoulder again, "Didn't you guys read the note I left on the door? We're on vacation."

"Taking leave without giving prior notice to your team leaders or to your village," Shino asked experimentally, giving his words a moment of pause and lowering his gaze once he'd finished processing the question. "I can buy that."

Kiba snorted at his faceless comrade, "You don't seem too bothered by this."

The bug user turned to the Inuzuka blankly, "Not at all. It's because we know that it's in their nature to wander outside of the village. Especially Naruto's."

Shaking his head at the weirdness of his friend, Kiba glared back at their fellow villagers sitting at the end of the wharf and pointed at them. "Alright. Talk! What happened, why are you here, and how did you get here?"

Still grinning brightly along with Inari, Tayuya and a cheerful Isaribi, the boy patted the space of the bridge behind him eagerly. He then turned around completely when the three did as silently instructed and handed the fishing rod over to the bridge builder's grandson sitting next to him. "It's one hell of a story. I doubt any of you will believe me, but I'll tell you anyway, just for the fun of it."

When Team 8 got comfortable in front of their fellow Konoha shinobi, he then began telling them all about his crazy adventure through the island nation and how he came to be here. It would be a long story, but it was one he had no hesitation in telling.

XXX

That night…

Elsewhere, many, many miles away from the Land of Wave in another part of the large continent that was the foundation of the shinobi nations and hidden inside a large cave, a series of figures had gathered in conference. While a meeting like this would have been considered unsettling if they were ordinary physical silhouettes cloaked in darkness, all of the figures were shimmering and transparent, as in they were projections.

The fact that they were all ethereal bodies and there was not a physical soul in sight made this meeting even more disconcerting than it already was. With the most distinct markings on either of them being outlined cloud patterns on their cloaks, it didn't help to ease the tension very much.

All eight figures were arranged into a circle around the entire cave and were looking around at one another intently. Even though they were just holograms, mere projections of their physical selves, the atmosphere was still clouded, heavy and intense.

"Hidan is gone," the lone figure in the far corner spoke, his red and green eyes and deep voice immediately identifying him as Kakuzu.

"The new guy?" the tall figure with the sword on his back and round eyes exclaimed in surprise, "Wasn't he supposed to be… I don't know… tough? How can he just be gone?"

"I don't know what to tell you, but apparently the opponent he was stuck fighting with was too much for even him to handle," Kakuzu spoke again, his voice monotone and reflecting no signs of pity at the unfortunate event whatsoever. "He got careless… and got beat. Simple as that."

The hunched over figure of the group narrowed his eyes on the masked figure thoughtfully. "Even if he is temporarily incapacitated, I'm sure he'll come back to us sooner or later. Wasn't that why he was teamed up with you, Kakuzu; because you kept on killing your other teammates that we needed to find someone even you wouldn't be able to put down?"

The bounty hunter glared back at the short individual speaking to him, "You really want him back? Well, you're more than welcome to go look for him."

Panning around the room, the masked man saw the red eyes of the figure standing beside the sword wielder looking across at him curiously. "Where is Hidan now?"

"Somewhere to the north. His opponent sent him packing with a technique that put him into low-level flight and sent him across the entire continent," Kakuzu stated, silencing everyone in the room and getting a share of blinks. "Yeah. I'd like to see one of you guys stick that landing. There's a good chance he's probably in pieces by now." Unless you were aerodynamically shaped and made of metal, surviving a fall at the speed Kakuzu saw he had been moving at without being ripped to shreds would have been impossible.

For a full minute, none of the Akatsuki members gathered said a word. Maybe they were overwhelmed by the fact that one of their members, classified S-Rank and reputed to be unkillable amongst shinobi, had actually been defeated in battle and put into a situation where he would eventually die for real. It seemed almost like a ridiculous farce.

"Who did him in?" the figure with the long bang, pony-tail and one eye exclaimed as he looked across at the tall figure that looked like he had insectivorous jaws growing out of his shoulders, "Zetsu? Did you see who it was, hm?"

The figure with the menacing protrusions shook his head, "No. We weren't anywhere in the area."

"We were running errands in Suna," another, deeper voice came from the same individual.

"I do not believe that any ordinary shinobi could have defeated Hidan," the voice of the leader spoke up; a figure with spiky hair and strange purple eyes with ripple-like rings moving out from the pupils. "I do not believe that any ordinary shinobi could have sent someone sailing across an entire country either."

"It had to be somebody with an ability we have yet to see," the voice of a woman spoke. "Somebody powerful."

Kakuzu glared across at the duo to have spoken last. "I was stuck fighting the Kaguya brat working for Orochimaru, so I wasn't able to see what happened. However, both of us were there on that island hunting down several different targets. One of them was Zabuza Momochi; the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

The tall man with the sword chuckled in amusement. "Ah. Old no-brows. How's he doing?"

"Dead," Kakuzu replied blankly, before fixing his gaze back on the leader. "From the damages I managed to examine on the bridge where the battle took place before I got carried off, leads me to believe that Hidan ended up engaging the swordsman… and that Zabuza wasn't fighting alone. He had help. I could have gone back… but there was nothing to gain from another pointless hunt." Especially since Gato was no longer around. No money. No paycheck. Just a waste of effort.

The issue of Zabuza Momochi was done and dusted anyway, so whatever men he still had left working with him were of no concern to him or the organization and were long gone by now.

"So… Hidan was taken down by several foes. Not one," the hunched figure spoke again, grunting indignantly at the end. "Even though he was able to pull his own weight in the end, he was still too conceited about his inability to die."

The man with the ripple-pattern in his eyes narrowed his gaze as he glared around at all members present once more. "We can discuss this matter further on a later date. For now, we have a lot more work that needs to be done. There is a little problem arising in and around the nations of shinobi disappearing without a trace; most notably rogue ninja possessing powerful kekkei genkai. I advice all of you to be on the lookout for the perpetrators responsible, as they may be after something that could jeopardize the whole operation we've spent years setting up."

"Hmm… I've been hearing a lot about these mysterious disappearances lately," the tall one with the sword exclaimed, glancing across at his red-eyed partner. "Do you think it has something to do with him?"

"No. It's not," the hunched figure spoke again with a hard gaze. "Orochimaru is still held up in the smaller countries tending to his little soup kitchens. He hasn't made any big moves against the hidden villages, nor has he ordered any kidnappings." If the bastard didn't keep switching locations they would have had him by now, but the snake had bases set up all over the continent and the operative he had incised within the Sannin's ranks could only give him so much during their meetings. Plus he wasn't around Orochimaru that often, since the man had him running other missions elsewhere. The Intel he'd provided however regarding the snake's experiments had been helpful in determining what the man's true intentions were. "Clearly, someone else is playing their own dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the shadows."

"This might be a little bit troublesome for us," the red eyed member of the group spoke.

The leader nodded his head in understanding before glancing back at his other subordinates. "We will tend to it personally if the issue becomes of greater concern for us. At this time, it is not. For all we know they are a small band of missing-nin and nothing more, and we cannot commit anymore manpower to another wild goose chase."

"Plus there is no profit in it for us," Kakuzu added. His last mission would have been more profitable had Gato not decided to go and get himself killed. The fact that there hadn't been anything in it for the Akatsuki member anymore kept him from returning to that island and wasting more of his time chasing up any of his other assignments.

It was time he had planned to make more money, find a replacement heart and let off some steam.

An unfortunate band of wandering mercenaries served that last purpose.

"Keep an eye over your shoulders. We will continue preparations for the ceremonies… and in the meantime find some new recruits to replace the members we have lost."

"Just when we manage to get someone to replace the snake, we lose him two months later, hm," the man with the ponytail exclaimed exhaustedly.

"Kakuzu," the leader continued, glancing over at the masked figure to see him cut over intently, "We'll review the information you managed to gather on Orochimaru and follow up on any notable leads we can find. However, we must first assign you a new colleague; someone who fits your character and will be able to tolerate your short temper."

The bounty hunter grunted. "I doubt you'll be able to find another nutcase like Hidan to fill his position anytime soon. How many Jashin worshippers are there in the world?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, the leader then turned to another member of their group. "Zetsu; I need you to run an errand for me to Ishigakure."

The man with the Venus flytrap enveloping his head blinked. "Oh… do you mean…"

"Yes, I'm sure he does."

"Extend an invitation out to Misora. We can at least ask if she's interested in joining," the leader exclaimed, getting a nod of understanding from the runner before turning back to the rest of the group. Seeing the eyes of all members of the organization rested on him, he glared back firmly. "The day where we'll finally be able to realize our dreams for a new world is drawing nearer. Let's keep a clear head from now on and get back on track."

XXX

Two days later…

It had been pretty easygoing in the time following the whole Gato expedition on the bridge, but nobody was complaining. A couple of days after arriving, it was time for Team 8 to finally leave.

While the youngsters on the squad had initially been surprised at Naruto and Tayuya's presence there, the one who had been the most upset over their appearance was Kurenai. She scolded the pair for going out on their own without their teammates or their team leaders to a place that had supposedly been under extreme lockdown, and said that they'd be having a little talk with the Hokage when they got back to Konoha. While this didn't bode well for either of them, the pair was at least content that they'd managed to do some good in their lives before facing the gallows, or whatever punishment awaited them on their return to the village.

Packing up everything that they had brought with them, weapons and all, the Genin squad and their extra company gathered at the island entrance of the new bridge. There, they were seen off by Tazuna, his daughter, best friend, grandson, and all the people of the small nation who'd managed to catch wind of their departure.

From their point of view, it was like everyone in the whole area of the waterfront had gathered to see them off… and they had.

"Thanks to you guys we managed to complete the bridge," Tazuna exclaimed before a small frown appeared on his face. It was hard for all of them not to notice the growing expression of grief and upset on Inari. "But this is super sad."

"It's a shame you can't stay here any longer," Tsunami spoke up, earning nods of agreement from the villagers who'd at least spent some time in the team's presence. Those who had come to learn of Naruto and Tayuya and their kind nature were particularly upset, as they had grown quite fond of their adventurous spirit, mischief, and how they came to play the role left behind by Kaiza, even if it was a small part. "Are you sure you have to go back so soon?"

"I'm afraid so," Kurenai replied with a small smile. "We've fulfilled our contract and have to report back before the final date. Of course, we also have to work out what to do with these two, since both of them decided to scamper off on their own, even if one of the incidents was purely accidental." She said this while resting a hand on Naruto's shoulder, getting looks of dread from both him and Tayuya, and a giggle of amusement from an accompanying Isaribi. "It's time that we returned to our duties as shinobi of Konohagakure." Shino could agree to this wholeheartedly, whereas Kiba and Hinata were more interested in the cloud of misery hovering over the jinchuriki's head.

Managing to shake it off, Naruto grinned brightly at the townspeople, "Don't worry. We'll come by to visit sometime!" The swallow perched on his shoulder chirped, flapping her wings to show off her enthusiasm. He saw smiles brim on everyone's faces, especially the children and the grandson of Tazuna trying desperately to hold back tears.

Obviously Inari was taking Naruto's departure the hardest. Ever since their victory on the bridge, the boy had tried to spend as much time as possible with the blonde haired wanderer he'd come to view as a hero and older brother figure. Upon learning of his leaving the day earlier, he wouldn't let Naruto out of his sight and, by morning, had tried in vain to hold back tears. Even now he was struggling to stop the waterworks, much to the amusement of everyone there.

He had just one of the cutest faces possible as he squirmed and writhed trying to suppress it all.

"You'd better come back to visit," Inari said while trembling, looking up at Naruto as best as he could. "I'll miss you!"

This seemed to get a rather profound response from the jinchuriki, who started trembling himself as he forced a grin. "Inari… you're sad, right? It's okay for you to cry."

Inari looked back defiantly before yelling, "I'm not going to cry! Why do you think I would do that? You're going to cry too, aren't you, Naruto?"

"Nope," the blonde turned before giving a wave over his shoulder. The bird ignored his sudden gesture by hopping onto the other side he didn't wave with and pecked at him. After wincing, Naruto started down the bridge as fast as his legs would carry him, watched by a perturbed Kiba and a curious Hinata. "See yah!"

Inari was shocked at how the blonde just brushed him off like that. However, after everything that had happened to them and after all their goodbyes, including this one, the youngster just couldn't find it in him to yell or chase after the Genin. However, it was clear that he was going to miss him deeply from the way he jerked forward sadly. And instead of pursuing, he just settled for crying and sniffling. The river came in full force as Tazuna proceeded to rub his grandson's head comfortingly.

Much to Naruto's relief, the village behind him didn't see the tears starting to come from his eyes as he moved away. With his back turned and most of him pretty much ahead of the group, he too allowed his emotions to brim and spill over, coming out with such intensity that streams came from both his eyes and his nose. Unfortunately though, the entirety of the group, Isaribi included, could see him as clear as day, and all of them looked at him in amusement while Kiba made facial comparisons between his rival and the equally tear strung Inari behind them.

Kurenai chuckled and shook her head, "Oh, good grief…"

"Geez. What a stubborn guy," Kiba thought with a sweat drop.

Swift chirped out a laugh, nuzzling her companion's cheek as he sobbed freely.

The entire group waved as they parted from the shore of the village. Side by side, the seven of them moved down the newly constructed bridge, taking their time to look back at the people they were parting ways with and the amount of effort put into the causeway they were now treading. It was the bridge built through the blood and sweat of those that had been willing to stand against Gato, and the young shinobi now returning to their homeland with the team were the ones who went to war against him. Though it was brief, it ended for the best, and the soul once taken from the dying land was returned to its people.

It was this thought that filled Tazuna's heart and mind as he watched the youngster who carried most of that burden fade from sight.

"That boy made allies out of enemies, changed the hearts of those around him, and reached out to the rest of the villagers when they were in need," the old man exclaimed with a sniff of his own, rubbing his finger under his nose, "His act in turn allowed Inari to find strength and change the hearts of everybody else for the better, bringing the people together to find the thing that they thought they'd lost. Naruto created a bridge of courage and determination, which then led to hope and salvation. A strong man like that only comes around once every hundred years…"

"He certainly is strong that one," Tsunami exclaimed, looking down at Inari to see him wiping his eyes with the back of his arm. "Naruto-kun saved us… all of us."

"Bridge, eh?" Tazuna's friend Giichi standing beside him also murmured, before suddenly perking on the matter, "Oh yeah! That's right. We have to name this bridge too, don't we?"

"Yes. Of course we do," Tazuna chuckled, rubbing his head embarrassingly. "I was so distracted with everything else going on I almost forgot. But… I think I already have the perfect name to give this bridge."

"Really?" his daughter responded in surprise, the villagers behind them looking towards the architect and head of the project with intent. "What did you have in mind?"

The drunk chuckled as he placed his hands on his hips. "Just a couple of days ago I learned from an old work friend that a great landmark similar to this one, in a country somewhere to the far West that was once occupied by Gato was named after a very important person that just happened to be passing by. He said that this person came to this country and, without hesitation or asking for anything in return, saved the entire nation and its people from the tyrant's wrath. They named the structure that they dedicated to this person after his name, to thank him for everything he had done for them."

"Hm? What did they name it?" a random villager asked.

Tazuna's grin widened. "They named their new monument The Naruto Uzumaki Big Bridge." After saying that, he heard the sounds of jaws dropping and eyes bugging out in a satisfying verse, his words even causing Inari to gaze up at him in surprise. The old man stood proudly with his chest puffed out and fists placed firmly upon his hips. "I think we should follow their example, and call this The Great Naruto Bridge!"

Recovering quickly, Tsunami giggled and nodded her head in agreement. "That's a splendid name. Naruto-kun's spirit is so great he's having bridges named after him. How about that?"

"Heh. Are you sure that will be alright?" Giichi asked through chuckles.

The liberated bridge builder nodded affirmatively and breathed in deeply. "Of course. I want to name it that because I hope this bridge will never crumble… and will one day become a super famous bridge, whose name will be known throughout the world…"

XXX

The next day…

The Third's fingers rapped in an impatient manner along the surface of his desk as his eyes cut between the two guilty looking teenagers standing before him with their heads down, along with their company of Kurenai's group and their tagalong. Judging from the stoic look on his face and the glint in his eyes, you could tell he was thinking things through quite thoroughly.

Amongst the pile of headaches he'd had to churn through over the past week and a bit, which consisted of a lot of paperwork grinding and signing, Hiruzen Sarutobi also learned recently that, for the second time in two years, his village's jinchuriki and resident troublemaker had just up and vanished without a trace. Sure, the news of this unanticipated and second disappearance only arrived to him about four days ago when Team 7's Jonin captain and his teammates came into his office inquiring about their third member's whereabouts, Naruto had in fact been labeled as missing as far back as two weeks ago… days before the first official inquisition. The elder only found this out through word of mouth, which had all been started by Tayuya returning home about a fortnight ago and finding her friend just gone.

Not only that, but two days later the kunoichi herself had also up and disappeared, which gave Hiruzen an even bigger headache to contend with when her teammates eventually came asking about her too.

It wasn't that he was irritated at the children; he was exhausted from the workload. This was because as soon as he heard that Naruto and Tayuya had gone off somewhere, he organized search parties for them, mostly through use of their respective teams. However, about several days later, much to everyone's surprise, they finally returned to the village with Kurenai's team.

An interesting development if anyone was keeping score.

After hearing what both of them and Kurenai's team had to say, Hiruzen breathed a heavy sign and shook his head, "Are you making this some kind of a habit, Naruto-kun? Knocking yourself out chasing birds and winding up in the back of a carriage that drags you all the way to another country?"

The jinchuriki, not really sure how to answer that question, grinned sheepishly. "I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, Hokage-jiji."

"Part of me would like to believe that. But another part of me says otherwise," Hiruzen replied good-naturedly. He then looked across at Kurenai to see the Jonin and her team standing patiently in front of her. "So… I can assume from the story that you four completed your mission successfully?"

The raven haired woman nodded, "Of course, Hokage-sama. It was all smooth sailing, thanks in part to young Naruto-kun and his little misguided adventure." She cut down to the kids to see the blonde hunch over in a visible wince when he felt her eyes on him. "No dramas or anything disconcerting to report."

"Well… as long as the mission was completed and you all made it back safe and sound, then good job," Hiruzen replied. He then nodded to each of them in acknowledgement. "Team 8 has officially completed their second C-Rank mission. Well done. You all deserve a good rest." He pulled his pipe out from his robe and began filling it. After stamping out their scroll and rolling it up, he then gestured to the group filed up before him. "You're all dismissed for the day. Naruto, Tayuya and… Isaribi," He glanced towards the purple haired girl also with them, who lowered her head when she was directly addressed, "Please stay. I still need to speak with you."

The young members of Squad 8 and their Jonin captain all bowed in response. After saluting the village leader, they slowly filed out of the room, with Hinata giving Naruto a warm smile and Kiba patting him on the shoulder, silently passing on his luck before vacating the premises. Once the door to the office closed, the three teens still in the presence of the Hokage turned back to him to see him light his pipe and breathe out a cloud of smoke.

After setting up his little soul soother, the man focused all of his attention on those who remained. He had Chunin guards stationed outside in case any problems aroused here, however this was only procedure. There was nothing he needed to be really concerned about here.

He knew the two kids he was speaking with well and had nothing to fear from the new girl.

"Now that we're alone, we can talk more in detail about what happened," the Third exclaimed, glancing over to Tayuya to see the kunoichi stand further at attention. "I understand what must have transpired over in that country and the events leading up to it, as you delivered the entire tale in brief from start to finish. But I'd still like to reflect more on some of the highlights of your ordeal. After finding out what must have happened to Naruto-kun, you decided to go out in search of him?"

"Yes… Hokage-sama," Tayuya nodded firmly before her eyes panned to the elder and focused completely on him. "I know it's unorthodox to leave without being given consent and asking for it, but…"

"You were worried about him… your friend and comrade," the Hokage finished, nodding when his eyes met hers.

"And I know full well that Naruto-kun would have done the exact same thing for me too." She turned to the jinchuriki in question, who beamed at her before both of them turned back around. "I have no excuses for leaving Konohagakure. It was my call, and… I'm willing to accept the penalties for my actions."

Hiruzen raised a hand to stop her, "Later. You left the village without authorization and without informing anyone else of your intentions, but it was all for a good cause. And I can understand that Naruto-kun's absence was all due to circumstances that were beyond our knowledge and control. However… what I would really like to know is some of the things that took place over there in the Land of Wave." He turned to Isaribi and gestured to her, "First; your friend here. You said that you… met her on the island?"

"Yes," Naruto replied affirmatively without hesitation. "She was living alone on the outskirts, way out of reach of the main village."

"You also mentioned that she was experimented on, but you never specified by whom," the Hokage exclaimed, lacing his fingers together and giving his undivided attention to the purple haired girl. "Tell me child; in whose custody were you in before Naruto-kun found you?"

Isaribi, nervous as ever, closed her eyes fearfully. "I was under the care of Amachi… a medical man and researcher working for the Sannin Orochimaru…"

This immediately had the Third raise an eyebrow. "Really?" It was clear that he was surprised, but he did not allow this to affect his train of thought. Getting a nod from the diver in return, Hiruzen continued on without missing a beat. "He was a former comrade of ours that turned rogue and left our ranks to pursue his dream of becoming a powerful shinobi. His ambitions once encompassed the civilians of our village and I thought he would perhaps have a change of heart if I allowed him to go free… but now I see his darkness has involved the innocent outside of Konohagakure." He closed his eyes and bowed to the girl. "I'm sorry…"

"I-It's okay," Isaribi murmured, sniffing. She felt Naruto rest a hand on her shoulder, which gave her some small measure of comfort. "I… can't blame you for what happened to me."

"You have every right to," Hiruzen stated firmly. "Orochimaru was my student… my responsibility. Because I decided to let him go, his evil managed to spread from our village to the rest of the world." Breathing a sigh when he felt eyes on him again, the elder rubbed his brow and inhaled on his pipe, before releasing another plume of smoke into the air, "The best I can do now is try to make amends for my mistake. You can ask me for anything you wish."

Naruto, sucking up, stepped forward with his arm still around the timid Isaribi. "I promised Isaribi-chan that I would help her. She had nowhere else to go and no one to turn to, so I brought her with us. Do you think… she can live here in the village, oji-san?"

Hiruzen nodded, "I don't see why not." This earned a smile from the jinchuriki, on which the old man led off from. "She will need to be put past Inoichi first before I can write up on any of the paperwork. She may know something else important regarding Orochimaru and his work, perhaps even his whereabouts." He turned to the child in question again. "Is that okay with you, Isaribi-san? I promise nothing bad will happen to you."

The purple haired girl nodded quickly. "Y-Yes."

"Very good…"

Happy at this response, Naruto pressed on. "She also wants to be made normal again, jiji." The blonde exclaimed, nudging Isaribi and getting her to tug on the bandages on her face. When she showed the elder her skin underneath the man acknowledged her problem with a gentle gaze, "Will the doctors here be able to help her? She still wants to keep her abilities… she just wants to look like an ordinary girl again so she can fit in."

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, the elder proceeded on unimpeded. "I'll see what I can do." He nodded toward the newcomer, who visibly brightened at the man's answer. "Don't worry child. Our village has some of the best medical staff in the nation. I'm sure we'll be able to help you."

Heart soaring, Isaribi clasped her hands together tightly while her eyes shimmered with tears of joy, "Th-Thank you so much."

When she hugged Naruto around the arm and got warm looks from everyone present in the room, she then faded back into the line, while the jinchuriki and Tayuya took the spotlight again. They fell under Hiruzen's gaze once more, who continued to puff on his pipe while retracing his steps on the tale they were still discussing.

"If I recall correctly you then went after Gato, but then came across a problem."

Naruto's expression steeled. "Yes; two men wearing black cloaks with red cloud symbols on them. Both of them were really strong." He gestured to Isaribi, "One infiltrated her hideout and fought with the people there. Another one went after the bridge builder Tazuna's family. I saved them and he chased us. Afterwards I ran into Zabuza Momochi and his student, and we teamed up to fight him." The jinchuriki saddened at this part. "One of them didn't make it."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding, having heard this part. "Who were those two?"

"Members of a group called Akatsuki; nuke-nin and mercenaries for hire. One of them was named Kakuzu… and the one that our group fought was Hidan," Naruto stated straight out, not even bothering to lead into it. "I don't know what happened to Kakuzu, but I'm sure we killed Hidan. It took an entire team to take him down, and even though we had a Jonin and a Chunin level shinobi with us, this guy just kept on coming. We didn't even put any real damage on him."

"How come?" Hiruzen asked.

"With his fighting style he was able to avoid most of our attacks. We had to swarm him and continuously take him from all sides to keep him defensive. But even when we did hit him, he kept fighting at a pace like he had no damage whatsoever," Naruto stated, gritting his teeth as he remembered the details of that battle. "He survived having his throat cut open, stabbed, his vitals punctured, kunai and shuriken to the body, crushed, drowned, and beaten, and even after all of that he still didn't go down. Not only that… but he had this really scary technique where he took someone's blood, drank it, and whatever damage he took or inflicted to his own body, bounced back on the person who he stole blood from."

Honestly, the Third hadn't heard of that one before. Even after all his years of being a shinobi and seeing so much of the world, to hear that somebody could take on the most brutal punishments imaginable and walk through them like they were nothing, was just completely farfetched. While it was true he'd heard of high endurance before, what Naruto just told him about their opponent was something else entirely. However, from his years out on the field and sitting behind a desk, the wisest and most respected elder in the village had come to accept that the only thing you could really expect from this world were surprises, because no matter how much experience you got, even if you knew everything from the books, you could still be caught off guard.

"He stabbed himself repeatedly, and nearly killed Zabuza," Naruto said with a frown. "He got me too… but… I can survive attacks like that." The jinchuriki then rubbed his stomach, where he remembered taking all of those phantom blows from his enemy. "Zabuza then gave us an opening by taking out his ritual circle and I sent that freak packing."

"Where?"

"The other side of the country," Naruto said, pointing up towards the sky, even though there was a roof over their heads. "I needed to put him where he couldn't hurt anyone anymore, so I taught him how to fly."

"I saw it myself," Tayuya said, holding up her hand and getting the Hokage's attention. "I was stuck on the other side of the channel dealing with Gato's men posted at the docks, but I saw what happened to the guy. There's no way we'll be seeing him anytime soon."

"A stubborn opponent, huh?"

"Yeah. After that, Zabuza told us to leave him so that he could deal with the other one when he showed up. He took him down into the ocean with a massive water release attack and sacrificed himself to save us. I'm not sure whether Kakuzu managed to survive or not, but if he's anything like his partner… he may have survived. But… Zabuza…" Naruto hesitated, not needing to say anything further for the Hokage to understand what had taken place after that. He'd already been told this.

Hiruzen nodded, putting his hands together again and giving the small group a more considerate stare. "I can only imagine how much you've been through. No Genin should have experienced the pain and challenges you've had to endure."

"Add it to our resumes," Naruto replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Actually, I think I will," Hiruzen exclaimed, surprising both the jinchuriki and his roommate when the elder pulled out a new scroll from his desk, rolled it open, and began writing in it. "Though you two were their off the books and got involved in something you probably shouldn't have, you still saw your roles through to the end and succeeded in liberating an entire nation. From what you've told me, what you two just performed was equivalent to an A-Rank mission. This is clearly an accomplishment I simply cannot let slide." After scribbling what he needed to across the paper, the elder beamed once more, "I'm putting this on your permanent records: A-Rank mission to Wave Country: completed."

This brought a round of smiles to the group of youngsters standing in the office, with Naruto and Tayuya pushing their forearms against the other in congratulations. Once the brief celebrations and high-fives were over and done with, the Genin turned back to the Third and faced him once more.

"Despite your success, you two will still face repercussions for leaving the village without giving prior notice," the old Sarutobi stated, taking whatever wind they had out of their sails and leaving them deflated. The sight of their paling expressions afterwards had the old man chuckle. "Now don't give me that. Due to the extreme circumstances and seriousness of your absence, your actions will require some form of penalty." While leaving the village through the main gates wasn't a crime, it all depended on what you were leaving the village for and how long you were gone. In his youth Jiraiya strolled in and out of the village on a daily basis and would not be seen for weeks, and many other shinobi came and went as they pleased, even Genin.

After everything that had happened to Naruto and Tayuya, not to mention after all the ruckus they'd caused around the village itself, he still needed to lay down the law as their role model and leader of the shinobi forces.

"Yes… Hokage-sama," both Naruto and Tayuya groaned with rainclouds over their heads and Isaribi looking across at her friends anxiously.

"D-Rank mission: one week baby-sitting the daimyo cousin's son without pay. Good luck with that," Hiruzen replied, ripping off a slip of scroll and holding it out in front of him. "A reasonable punishment. You need to make up for lost hours, after all…"

Looks of dread came across the pair's faces, both of which made Isaribi giggle at how silly the two of them appeared together.

In spite of this unceremonious upset, it was still the way of the shinobi. Even if you followed your own path, people still needed to abide by the rules established by the world. It was how general order was kept. Not only did they have to pay the Hokage back for giving him such a headache, but the duo also had to apologize to their teams for being away for so long. That was also something they weren't looking forward to.

"By the way," Hiruzen exclaimed, looking across at the two youngsters curiously. "What happened to Gato?"

Blinking, Naruto, Tayuya and Isaribi smiled deviously at each other after processing the elder's next question.

OOO

Later that night…

Back in Wave, things weren't going so well for the billionaire shipping magnate.

In his confinement to a filthy little jail cell that had served as his domain for the past few days, Gato had quickly found himself on the receiving end of a lot of ill will, care and conduct. This mostly came from the people tasked with guarding him and looking out for his condition in the form of spittle, verbal abuse and rough handling of all kinds, in which he found his experience locked away in that building eerily similar to how cattle were horded around at local farms and mills. It was an almost ironic image, considering his few days here were turning out to be a glaring reflection of the many years he'd treated countless others who were beneath him.

Like animals.

He didn't let this thought get to him though. It was depressing enough that he was wedged in this jam in the first place, but also something he was constantly and incessantly reminded of.

Anyway, after what felt like months of being locked away in a cold, dark place, without prior notice or word, early that morning the man was woken up and dragged against his will over to the daimyo's home for what he assumed to be an interrogation of sorts administered by the authorities. When he arrived there expecting a massive reception, he quickly found himself thrown into a small court that had been setup with all the village elders and those of political significance gathered before him for the scheduled 'hearing'.

The trial consisted of the usual spiel; they read him his rights as a human being (ha), they read him his charges, and then began passing out his sentence without even giving him a chance to defend himself. This wasn't any ordinary court session the boss was used to with the cliché judge, jury and executioner. There was just a judge, the people, and there was no sign of the executioner… yet.

The systems were different in every country wherever he went and, what with everything that had gone on here in Wave; this was what Gato quickly deduced to be their system.

The system the people of this country could setup in time to hold him, anyway.

After passing him through the hammer of the daimyo and flashing through the paperwork before any words of protest could be given, while at the same time keeping the knowledge of his holding here safely inside the country itself so that no more trouble came knocking looking for the man, Gato was then escorted back to the prison by the nation's feudal lord guards.

It was a grungy old place, something you would expect for a small country; a wooden building with thick walls, floor, and two levels with isolation wards confined to certain parts of the structure. Gato was put into a special cell at the end of the hall, being a priority prisoner and currently the land's most important guest.

Only wearing a beaten up, button shirt, pants and shoes, the small business owner was pushed into the cell and slowly had his cuffs removed. The soldier who put him there frowned as he watched the miserable weasel step back while rubbing the sores and burns he'd gotten from the wooden shackles with iron fittings. After shutting the gate on him and turning the key, the armor-clad guard then turned his glare on the unsightly figure and looked him over with a disgusted scowl.

"All criminals get what's coming to them, Gato," the soldier stated while surveying the man through the square spaces of the gate. "No one can run forever. Eventually… all of that shit you pull comes back to bite you. It hurts, doesn't it?"

Gato said nothing. He only glared back at the man defiantly with whatever confidence he had left.

The guard's frown deepened before he knocked against the wooden bars. "You took a lot from these people… not just their money, but their right to live. If the world is as fair as it is, I hope that they take every last bit of ryo away from you." With that said and done, the man turned heel and walked away, slamming the iron door shut at the end of the hall.

Growling through his teeth, Gato turned to face his room that would be his place of residence for however much longer this country was going to hold him. It was a depressing place. Wooden walls, gate, floor, ceiling, with a tiny window well above the ground with iron bars, a flat bed with a blanket, toilet, sink, and only two candles outside his cell lighting the room, leaving the rest of it in total darkness.

At least they were kind enough to leave him the sheet. Really, that was the only positive he could get from all of this. After all of his hard work, after all the trials and tribulations he had to go through, the people he had to talk to, the people he had to work over and the lies he had to sell, this was where he was inevitably led to: a cold, dingy cell with terrible, damn near rotten conditions. There was nothing good about this place.

Sure, his main concerns should have been focused on the charges he had been confronted with and his sentences. He was in for extortion, money laundering, bill padding, human trafficking, drug dealing, drug manufacturing, multiple counts of murder, and other notable crimes against humanity.

And what did he get for all this?

Execution.

And the crowning ceremony was tomorrow.

Guess the guard was right about taking every last ryo away from him.

"Damn… these… sewage rats!" Gato cursed, kicking at his cell bar and uselessly injuring his toe. Hobbling back and hissing in pain, the unbecoming gentleman grabbed his shirt and buttoned up his collar. "I should have killed every single one of them when I had the chance!" Damn that bridge and damn that blonde haired demon brat that terrorized him for years!

That kid, the source of all of his nightmares, had finally got to him. It made him sick to his stomach.

However, before the former billionaire business owner could start wallowing around in his misery and start compiling his mentally assorted memoirs, the sound of chuckling suddenly had the man freeze up. While the echo that bounced off of the walls was chilling enough, the fact that it came to him in such volume told him that the laugh had come from the very same cell he was in.

Cutting towards the corner, Gato almost let out a shriek of terror when he saw a tall shadow standing just outside of the beams of moonlight coming down from the window above. Laughing at seeing the prisoner press his back up against the cell gate and breathe heavily at being startled, the individual decided to finally step into full view so as to not leave his identity to question. Adorned in his blue shirt with pants, white vest, strange gloves, headband with no village symbol on it, with long orange spiky hair, sharp eyes and a mole directly under his right completing his façade, the visitor made his presence known with a breathy sigh and a grin.

The intruder threw his arms out in an attempt to calm his audience, but in reality was just saying surprise, "Money-bags! You hanging well?" Seeing Gato's startled blink then reminded him of the events that had transpired as of late and the man made a gesture of realization. "Oh, wait. No. That's tomorrow. Sorry… I'm getting ahead of myself."

Gato gulped and pushed himself off of the wooden bars, "I-Ishidate?" He adjusted his broken glasses as he fixed on the man strolling across the light. "W-W-What the hell are you doing here?"

The man in question chuckled and kicked at the ground. "I just dropped by to see the sights. What? Did you think I was here for you?" The rogue ninja then flashed a mischievous smirk at the magnate and thumbed over his shoulder. "Hey. Did you know they just opened up a new bridge? Oh man. That's a real beauty. I'm thinking of having my picture taken on it."

The short man glared back at the intruder as he broke a few sweats, "Wonderful." He stepped forward to the shinobi posturing around his cell. "But, tell me… what the fuck are you really doing here?"

Ishidate raised an eyebrow at the short person's inflection in speech patterns and beamed condescendingly. Processing his rough question, he then shrugged absently, "I'm working." Clicking his fingers the man circled around as Gato kept his distance from him. "Today I'm running an errand on behalf of my employer to see how his little investments are doing. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about, money-bags."

Gato stopped so that both of them were facing each other down. He was well aware of whom he was speaking with, which was why he was keeping so hard up against the wall. Whereas the man he was addressing stood in the middle of the chamber like he owned the place. The magnate's fingers tightened against the woodwork as he looked the man over, as if searching for a weapon. "Yeah… I know who you're talking about." He then bit his teeth together and snapped back at the arrogant prick. "My business with him concluded months ago. I gave him everything he needed. Weapons, manpower, machinery, materials, ships! We signed off on everything and that was the end of it!" You could tell his impatience was growing. He was trying to adjust to the fact that he was going to be executed tomorrow.

"Yes, yes, of course. Don't worry. All of the goods you sold to him are working well. Top notch stuff. We're not asking for any refunds or anything, but, heh… it's not like you'll be taking any returns anytime soon, will you?" The wandering ninja gestured to the weasel before placing a hand on his hip. "No. I'm just here to settle one last piece of unfinished business."

"What?" Gato asked impatiently.

"My boss was a little bit concerned that all those billions you've made over the years," Ishidate continued in reading while waving flippantly, "All of those properties you'd bought and all of your beloved industry would just get flushed down the toilet or consolidated between the other corporations looking to pick at the stinking carcass of your ruined empire. Since he's invested so much into your research, development and manufacturing of weapons and alike, he just went ahead to make sure that if you did somehow manage to make it out of this shit you've landed yourself in, you wouldn't have anything left to come home to."

This had Gato freeze up and gaze across at the man in confusion. "W-What are you saying?"

Ishidate grinned and marched forward, bending over and pulling on the bewildered man's cheek. The stone fingers of his gauntlet pinched the magnate hard, leaving a red mark. "What I'm saying money-bags, is that all of your precious billions are now safely in the hands of your company's biggest shareholder." He then shrugged and leaned back to full height. "Basically, when your staff across the pond found out about your little situation... you know, the whole being kidnapped and 'killed' business, they decided to cut you off, salvage whatever they could and sold your company to the highest bidder. Naturally, it fell into the hands of the first man with the biggest pockets to come along, and my boss was very interested in picking up where you left off."

"Th-That… that's impossible," Gato exclaimed, his eyes widening as his mind was thrown into despair and shock. "You can't… that's…"

"Come on. It's not like you were going to weasel your way out of this pickle, so why fight it," Ishidate exclaimed, ruffling his hair playfully. "Look, it's all a bit technical but… the important thing is that your company's future is secure." A satisfied grin crossing his face when he saw Gato begin to slip down the wall, the shinobi allowed the boss to bask in his misery for about a minute or so, before his grin widened considerably and he lifted his right hand up in front of him. "Well… that just about wraps everything up. My message was delivered and this little appointment went off without a hitch. I just have one last thing left to do."

Gato looked up, giving the man a clear view of his current expression that deteriorated further into terror when he saw Ishidate pull back the sleeve over his stone gauntlet, which suddenly lit up. The purple veins spread along it like fissures and the orange eye on the back flared into life, filling the room with a haunting, devilish glow. "N-No…"

"The boss wanted his take-over to be absolute with no loose ends attached. He also didn't want any names nor numbers being divulged at any of your trials should you feel the need to squeal in your final assessments leading up to your execution tomorrow," Ishidate exclaimed while grinning. "You didn't squawk today… but we're not going to be taking any more chances."

The magnate shook his head desperately, "No. NO! PLEASE!"

"Goodbye, Mr. Gato."

"NO~OOO!"

Gato's cry of fear echoed throughout the entire building, his arms shooting up to shield himself but were too late to respond when Ishidate placed his glowing hand atop his head and his body suddenly turned to stone. From the top down, the petrification effect spread like wildfire before completely encasing him in a substance similar to limestone. Once the freezing process was over and the man had stopped twitching, the shinobi who delivered the killing blow relinquished his hold and admired his handiwork from a couple feet back.

"What a nice expression," Ishidate exclaimed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Very realistic. I was hoping for more of an overcome with pain one, but I guess you can't modify a carving." He'd frozen Gato in the middle of a terrified scream with tears coming from his eyes while he was pressed up against the wall trying to fend off his attacker. "Oh well. C'est la vie."

Rubbing the back of his head and assured that he had done the world a good service, Ishidate then strode towards the wall he originated from and vanished in a puff of smoke. The moment he vacated the cell and the prison itself, he didn't leave a single trace of his presence behind.

Gato had been scheduled for execution tomorrow.

He simply moved it ahead a day earlier.

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: And Gato is finally gone. Gone in a way no one expected him to go. And guess who did him in!

Obviously something big is going down around the shinobi nations. If you've been paying attention to the conflicts going on in the shadows for the past several chapters, you would know something fishy is going on. Someone else is screwing around in the shadows and it even has Akatsuki's attention.

While I originally wrote the Wave Arc where Zabuza and Haku both survived, I realized after writing it that having too many characters living through the story dampens it too much and makes it a very stagnant tale. Sadly, Zabuza did die, but I gave him a death worthy of the Demon of the Hidden Mist, where he went down swinging against an S-Rank and super-powerful missing nin rather than an army of cannon-fodder mercenaries. I thought that was a nice touch, and so was Haku being given the executioner's blade. That would be really interesting seeing her work some combinations of the massive sword in with her ice. Imagine that thing hitting you while she's traveling through her mirrors.

Kakuzu obviously didn't want to waste anymore time chasing shadows and just left the island, seeing as how irritating the whole assignment there was for him.

Kimimaro also survived his clash and lives to fight another day. He will play a bigger part further down the line, but for now has retreated to regain his bearings.

And Isaribi has joined Naruto's crew. Yep. Now that everything has cooled down, she's sticking around the jinchuriki to see what will happen.

With the Wave Arc over and done with, it's now time to shift into the Chunin Exams. I hope you're all looking forward to the next chapters, because the mysteries are starting to unveil and the real action is about to start.