NARUTO

Nox Noctis Ingredior

Going Out with a Bang

It took Naruto and the others only a split second to react to the new threat that had arrived on the bridge. Without a second thought, Zabuza picked up his sword and threw himself down the structure, charging head long towards the blond haired freak with the mouths on the faces of his palms. He swung his sword back, his sprint covering a relatively long distance in just a short period of time.

Deidara grinned, the mouths on his open hands opening wide as he shoved them into the two large bags on either side of his belt. His arms rummaged for the contents.

"Ho! You first then, hmm?"

In a blink of an eye, the man withdrew his hands and clenching fists, held them back, before throwing them forward and crossing them over. Two bursts of smoke shot forth from his enclosed hands, before two four more objects shot out a second later. The white projectiles spun and unfolded in mid-flight, revealed to be small, artificially made birds, each about the size of a robin, each of them hurling themselves at the charging swordsman.

This all happened in a span of about ten seconds, with Zabuza spotting the immediate danger.

"Watch out, Zabuza!" Naruto shouted from where he knelt by Haku's side, who was being tended to be Sakura. The masked boy was already recovering from the exploding mine. "That man uses explosives to attack from a distance!"

"E-Each of those birds are loaded with compressed ch-chakra!" Hinata also yelled, Byakugan active.

The swordsman swung his sword out, slicing two of the abseiling birds in half with one, accurate swing, the halves flying past him. The other two birds however honed in on target. Deidara slapped his hands together, and then formed a hand seal.

"KATSU!"

BOOOM!

The clay birds detonated with resonating succession, the blasts ricocheting off of the sturdy bridge, but not in the least upsetting its foundation. This was also shown in the mine that had punched a gaping hole through its walkway, which did not affect the structure at all.

Its strength matched that of the people defending it…

The fiery smoke consumed Zabuza, and it was unknown what had happened to him until he came barrel-rolling out of the cloud. Deidara grinned at the sight of his slightly scolded opponent, who leapt back to his feet immediately after the roll and continued his charge, unhindered.

"Hahaha! Not bad! I expected nothing less from a ninja of your caliber!" Deidara exclaimed, clapping his hands together and tightening them, the mouths interlocking and exchanging protein-clay, enhancing its potency and quickly setting, ready for use. "Zabuza Momochi… prefers direct attacks to long range… specializes in the Hidden Mist Jutsu! This is easily countered…"

Immediately upon separating his hands, elastic like clay became stretched between the two mouths as they parted. As Zabuza continued his charge, coming within ten meters of his opponent, Deidara began flinging his hands outwards in circular motion, feeding the clay between his hands and ringing it out like ramen noodles being made. After refining the clay through quick hand movements, so that it became thick and stringy, the blond grinned and flung it out, striking the swordsman when he was in striking distance and catching him in the shoulder. The clay stretched and spun around the man, the dense material entangling him and almost consuming him.

Deidara flung his arms out before clapping them together into a hand seal, the swordsman struggling against the white, muddy bonds now beginning to swallow him, almost in a possessive manner as it bubbled and grew in size. He was now stopped in his tracks, at a five meter distance from his target, and being eaten by clay.

"C1 Clay Monster!" Deidara said, grinning. "If the pressure from it doesn't kill you, the explosion afterwards will! Hmm…"

However, just before the mad bomber could proceed with his next move, and just as Zabuza was almost completely swallowed up by the clay, Deidara detected another presence. His eyes widened when he sensed a person behind him, and glanced behind him just in time to see Kurenai right behind him, kunai drawn and ready to strike. Everything seemed to slow down from him in that instance.

"You're done…" Kurenai said, before driving the kunai straight into his back. Deidara arched back and yelled out in agony from the attack, blood spurting from his mouth and flying outwards in a spray.

However, when the raven haired Jonin thought it was all over, she suddenly received a shocking realization.

Blood was not white…

She looked up at her foe in shock to see a grinning clay statue of her target standing in the originals place. It was completely solidified, the clay now beginning to wrap around the hand she was holding the kunai, which as driven into its side.

"No!" the woman growled, now trying to pull her hand out. However, the density and strength of the material prevented her from doing so, and the woman was now fighting against time as the clay began swallowing her up as well.

A blur shot passed the woman, with Kurenai following it with her eyes in shock when she saw the real Deidara sprint past her and the still stuck Zabuza, with only his sword and head sticking out of the clay. Both Jonin watched in surprise as the blond bomber began charging towards their group of students and their client. A grin was plastered on the ninja's face as he formed two hand signs, not even glancing back at his trapped opponents.

"He used a clay substitute? But that's impossible! That's way too fast for an ordinary shinobi!" Kurenai thought.

"The clay doppelgangers can perform ninjutsu in my place if I continue feeding them chakra!" Deidara exclaimed as he sprinted, forming one last hand sign.

"Dammit!" Zabuza yelled out.

In an unexpected, last second move, his hands punched through the clay, showing off his incredible physical strength. Forming a quick series of hand signs, the Missing Nin ditched out his escape jutsu, a trump card he had been saving.

"Please work…" he growled. In just two seconds, a humid mist formed up around him, swirling like a tornado, which also consumed Kurenai and enveloped her. However, things didn't look too good when Deidara triggered his bombs.

"KATSU!"

Just as they were enveloped by the mist, Zabuza and Kurenai were seemingly engulfed in an earth shaking explosion, the fiery red clouds sucking them in as they were blown to smithereens. Their students were in awe, but didn't have time to mellow the situation over, as they had the mad attacker now barreling down on them. Deidara saw that there was little opposition between him and his new targets now, and after covering half the distance to get to them, slid to a stop and shoved his hands into his pouches again. A second later, he withdrew them and clenched his fists, holding both out to his sides.

"I shall have the pleasure of making you my next works of art! Hmm!" Deidara exclaimed in a theatrical way, the explosion behind him creating an almost inspirational sight with him in the foreground and the fiery clouds in the background.

Throwing his hands out, he unleashed his next barrage, puffs of smoke bursting out once again, and followed shortly by the appearance of a flock of six birds, these ones a little bigger then last time, about pigeon size. This sight indicated that this was the real Deidara, who was focusing chakra and techniques more prominently.

The birds spiraled through the air as they flew straight towards their targets. Reacting quickly, Shino leapt in front of Naruto and Hinata, and threw both his hands in front of him. In a rush of wind, swarms of bugs flew out of his sleeves, and filled the air in a wall of fluttering insects. The birds flew into the swarm one after the other, the rogue bombs suddenly stopping upon entering the mass. Within seconds, the birds were quickly drained of chakra, and the moment they were sucked dry, the useless clumps of clay were spat out.

Naruto sighed in relief, grinning at Shino's back.

"Nice one Shino…"

"You s-saved us…" Hinata exclaimed. Tazuna was relieved that they had managed to save his hide, and was able to relax for the moment. Haku was back on his feet, shaking off the ringing in his ears.

Deidara smirked, seeing his first wave of attacks fail.

"Interesting… that fellow uses insects to drain chakra! This may be a little tricky!" Deidara exclaimed. He reached into his bag again, his hand biting down on a huge chunk of clay and he pulled it out. Quickly chewing and molding it with his mouth hand, the blond then fisted his hand, bringing it above him, and punching it straight into the ground. The surface of the bridge cracked and split where his punch landed and continued to do so, heading straight for the crowd of Genin.

The man then pulled his arm out of the bridge and clapped his hands together, forming a hand sign. His eyes widened.

"Now what will you do, hmm?"

Just as Shino's bugs were about to fan out again, the bridge road behind them suddenly burst into a shower of debris, and in a flash, a massive insect like creature encircled the group. After a brief glance, the group was able to identify the new creation as a clay-made centipede, the monster surrounding the group in seconds and quickly beginning to tighten the circle. Deidara grinned as the Genin fanned in a defensive perimeter, caught off guard by the new attack.

He set off the bomb, the centipede's massive body beginning to rupture and burst. However, in that same instance, Haku formed a series of quick hand seals and, utilizing the water that was surrounding him, massive ice sheets shot out of the ground, the liquids quickly becoming a solid. The defensive wall encircled the group, in between them and the exploding centipede. It was in that quarter of a second the defense was initiated the explosion of the bug was suddenly sucked into the ice mirrors. This technique certainly surprised Deidara.

"What the?"

A cold grazed the back of his neck and he glanced behind him, another ice mirror forming right there. When it was completely formed, and Deidara had turned to face the unexpected sight, the blond bomber was suddenly caught in a rush of hot air shooting out of it. In a blink of an eye, a ball of fire shot out which was the explosion from his technique, and he barely had time to shield his face as the ht flames and smoke roared around and right into him, tearing up his clothes and scarring him.

"ARGH! DAMN THEM!" "Good thing I limited the amount of chakra to C1 to test that defense…"

He spun around again, glaring through the smoke; a little burnt from his own blast but overall, was okay. Just then, the smoke in front of him parted and charging through it, he suddenly saw the spiky haired blond kid from the group come flying at him, kunai in his mouth and both arms held back, with two more kunai held in between his fingers of both hands. Deidara was impressed at the speed displayed by the team thus far, and grinned at the lunging Naruto, who was now in striking distance.

"These ones are exceptional ninja, no question. Hmm…"

Deidara leapt back as Naruto slashed out, hitting the ground with one foot and propelling himself forward again. The blond bomber ducked and rolled to the left, effectively avoiding the jinchuriki strike and allowing him to sail right passed him. The moment Naruto missed with his first lash and his foot touched the ground, he swiftly changed direction, at the same time as spinning around, he tossed the two kunai he held at Deidara behind him. The blond bomber quickly got back to his feet and leapt in a different direction, once again avoiding his attacks.

Dodging the two kunai, Deidara sprinted across the bridge, heading for the railing on the other side. His hand left the bag it was tucked in and flung out and upwards, sending barrages of clay kunai at his opponent. Naruto ran in a semi-circle around and behind the blond attacker, effectively avoiding the kunai which struck the ground where he was before, effectively detonating with each impact.

Circling around behind the retreating target, Naruto tossed his last two kunai towards Deidara's back, the weapons flying through the air and gaining ground. The running blond detected the attack, and managed to duck underneath the two as they flew over the bridge and out over the channel.

However, before they could completely disappear from sight, a blur shot out of one of the kunai ahead of Deidara, and from it formed Naruto, the blond running out of his jump to his flying weapon and straight for his opponent. The bomber was shocked at the sight of the Genin in front of him, but decided to meet him head to head, throwing his hands back and quickly spewing out strings of clay around him. He flung the net in front of him, a flying web of thick elastic spastically flying through the air straight towards its target.

Naruto had but a split second to make a few calculations as to the trajectory of the strands and crouching at the last second, flung himself forward, crossing his arms ahead of him, he spun through the air like a drill, barley fitting straight through the web, kunai held in front of him. He glared up, his world around him slowing down as he flew straight at his target. Deidara blinked in shock, and barely had time to react when the blond plunged straight into him, kunai first.

Both of them were sent flying back across the bridge, before landing dead center, Naruto landing on top of Deidara. The young Genin pinned the older ninja under him, and dug his kunai in deeper into the man's chest, burying them to the rings. However, just when he thought he had had the sprawled out ninja beneath him over and out of the fight for good, he noticed the grin and blood trickling out of the man's mouth, that blood flow suddenly changing to the color of white.

"I was counting on that…" Deidara exclaimed, before his entire form suddenly turned white and plastic like.

"A clay substitute!" Naruto tried to yank his hands free, which were now slow becoming consumed by the sticky material. He growled and gritted his teeth, trying to pull his limbs free. The boy didn't have much time to wait for help, when Hinata came to his aid, and with a kunai in hand, began cutting away at the clay.

The two of them sensed something in the air and looked up ahead of them, where they saw a massive white animal fly straight up from the other side of the bridge and high into the air. They followed it till it reached an altitude of a hundred meters above them, and realized to their shock that it was the mad-bomber, riding his own creation like a summon. Hinata, Byakugan blazing, looked up at the creature, and was able to make out their target through the clay bird.

"Oh no!" Hinata gasped.

"What is it?" Naruto looked at his teammate.

"He's getting ready for his next attack!" Hinata yelled. "He's got a mass of chakra gathering in his hands! A lot of chakra!"

Deidara chuckled and opened his hands and held them out, his hands spitting out a pair of birds, smaller versions of the large sparrow like one he was flying. A grin spread across his own lips as he marveled at his work.

"Art in its raw form, soon to become free and pure! Marvel at its beauty!" he shouted, preparing to launch them.

However, a sight from far below caught his eye and he looked down. On the water's surface, he saw a water spout suddenly appear, a small one but noticeable, rotating around a single individual standing dead center of it. The raised arm and hand seal with the massive sword on his back could be seen from a mile away.

Zabuza glared up towards the bird, his chakra fluctuating.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

The water spout exploded out of the water, chakra wrapping around it and giving it shape, before it rose majestically to form its very name. The water beast gave a great roar, before turning on its target flying just above it and charged him down. Deidara was shocked at the sheer enormity of the beast, but then grinned down at it, clenching his hands, his mouths swallowing his miniature creations.

"Lovely! You truly make your techniques a sight to behold, hmm!" Deidara shouted, within seconds, he spat out two smaller birds from each hand. "I can parry this technique using C2 Bombs! It can be destroyed by attacking the chakra base points that hold it together! If that doesn't work, I will continue to bombard it till it's obliterated!"

"Come! You and this bridge will become my greatest master piece… yeah!"

Deidara moved, the bird he was riding veering hard left and diving. In that same instance, the water dragon made a lunge, the roar of its charge filling the skies with a shower of water as the ocean fed it strength. Zabuza kept the dragon going, bringing both his hands up and beginning to guide it. The massive water technique pursued its target, flying after the mad bomber.

Kurenai, back on her own two feet, rushed to one end of the bridge and looked over, accompanied by Haku, Tazuna and Shino. The four of them watched as the bird flew over, quickly followed by the Water Dragon Technique, which showered the bridge and soaked it. Haku was able to stop himself from getting wet, throwing his hand up and shielding himself, the water stopping over him, like it was hitting an invisible umbrella. The others however, were soaked.

After watching Deidara evade the dragon for a moment or so, Kurenai noticed that they had left Gatou and his goons unattended, and quickly made a decision. She turned towards Shino, the boy also switching glances between their flying opponent and the large group of armed mercenaries on the other side of the bridge. The Jonin made the boy's target clear through hand signals.

"Take them, Shino! Knock them out so that we don't have to worry about sabotage or interference!" she shouted. The Genin nodded and leapt into action, charging towards the group. Throwing his hands back, streaks and tendrils of bugs flew out, and surrounded him in defensive formation as he ran.

As Deidara ducked and flew around the water dragon, he caught sight of the glasses boy running towards his client, and grinned. Bringing his right arm around, he clenched the birds between his fingers and took aim.

"Aiming to destroy my source of income for my troubles…hmm? Not on my watch!" He tossed a cluster of birds towards the bridge, which expanded in puffs of smoke before making a dive bombing run on the Genin, who was completely unaware of the incoming threats.

Someone else was on the look out though, and Haku quickly sprang into action. Bringing the water up from his feet, he leapt forward and swung his left hand back. In that same movement, water gathered between his fingertips and solidified into senbon. With deadly accuracy, he flung them straight up, knocking out each bird one after the other. On impact, each bird exploded in a shower of fire, debris and smoke, clouding the sky.

Deidara cursed his luck, but didn't have much time to contemplate his next move when the water dragon he was still evading shot up behind him and lunged down at his bird. The blond quickly directed his bird downwards and dived, descending to sea level and gaining speed. The water dragon technique continued to follow, lashing out every now and again, but missing as the bird ducked and rolled.

Within seconds, Deidara was under the bridge, and was thinking of losing the dragon when he came out the other side. However, someone else had seen him make the evasion, and was quick to respond. Naruto looked over the bridge to see the bomber disappear under it, and thinking on his feet, spun around and sprinted full speed toward the other side of the bridge. Timing it just right, the whisker-marked Genin leapt over the railing and dived, aiming straight for the back of Deidara's bird.

Too focused on his next move, the missing-nin didn't even notice the blond Genin from earlier until he heard a thud behind him on the tail end of his clay bird. He spun around, and saw the blue-eyed shinobi glaring back at him, crouched and kunai in hand.

After that, everything unfolded within a time-span of ten seconds. Deidara swung his right hand out and sent a cluster of spiders straight at the blond, which unfurled in mid-flight and aimed to latch onto their target. Naruto rolled right in evasion then leapt left, slicing one or two spiders while they were in mid-flight, the halves exploding behind him, where the water dragon was still seen in hot pursuit of them.

Naruto didn't want to give any more time to his target to cook up his next clay statue and leapt at him, swinging his left arm back in mid-air, hidden blade flying out and prepared to land. However, Deidara had another move to play from his box of tricks, and forming a quick hand sign, fell back onto the clay bird he was perched on. The moment he hit the surface of the clay, he sunk into it, vanishing inside of his bird, just as Naruto slapped his hidden blade down on his opponent, but instead hit the back of the clay bird's head.

The blond growled. "Damn it!"

A clay fist flew straight up at him and smashed him in the face, sending him flying off of the bird and straight towards the water dragon. However, Naruto wasn't about to give up yet, and while in mid-fall, reached into his jacket and pulled out the crossbow attached to the spring load to his gauntlet. Cocking it back, he fired a few, accurate rounds at the clay bird, hitting the wings, before crashing to the ocean below, disappearing from view as the water dragon roared over his landing spot.

At first, nothing happened. But just as Deidara popped out on the underside of his bird, now ascending higher into the sky, and was preparing to finish off the water dragon and water-logged opponent, the paper wrapped around the arrows lodged in the bird's right wing unfurled themselves. Sparks flew from them, revealing to be exploding tags attached to each arrow, and the moment they opened up, they detonated simultaneously.

The blast shredded the wing, and sent the bird spiraling towards the ocean, with Deidara losing his next cluster of flying bombs in his hands when he was tossed about in the explosion.

He leapt out of the bird just in time, reaching back into his pouch and bringing out a premade, miniature owl statue. Tossing it under him, the clay statue exploded in a cloud of smoke and the creation increased in size, the blond landing atop of it just in time to avoid falling into the water, and pulled up, barley avoiding his other clay bird, which soared right over him and spiraled into the channel below.

Deidara soared high up, avoiding the dragon again as it lunged him. While flying over it, the blond dug his hands into his clay pouches and pulled them out. Crushing it between his hands, it took a second or so for him to create his next piece, and when completed, opened his palms to reveal a small dragon of his own. Grinning he tossed it down towards the dragon now circling about to come at him again. Forming a hand seal, the clay dragon exploded into action, flying out of a white cloud of smoke and diving at the water-made dragon.

The moment it collided, it was consumed by water, and the bomber ninja took his chance, forming a one-handed hand seal.

"KATSU!"

The C2 Dragon detonated with incredible force, disintegrating the water dragon technique and creating an explosion that resembled a tactical nuclear bomb blast. The mushroom cloud that shot into the air was nothing compared to the shockwave, which thrashed about Deidara on his owl, rattled the bridge, and knocked not only Zabuza, but everybody else off of their feet.

Shino and Hinata, who were in the process of tying up the incapacitated enemy, including Gatou, were suddenly thrown about when a massive blast of wind hit them, and sent them hurling towards one side of the bridge. They managed to stop themselves at the railing from going over the edge, and looked up in time to see the massive, fiery mushroom cloud shoot up into the sky and begin to die down. The magnitude of the blast was incredible, and left the two of them staring awe-struck at the explosion.

As the air began to clear, and the waves in the channel hitting the bridge lessened, things became visible once again. Kurenai dragged Tazuna back to his feet, Haku accompanying. She looked around; making sure that the bridge wasn't damaged by the blast.

She was more then amazed that it was still standing as firm as it was before.

"Everyone alright?" she asked.

"Yes…" Haku groaned, shaking his head, and removing his mask. "What the heck was that?"

"Uhh… I think I bruised my tail bone!" Tazuna muttered, rubbing his buttocks. "Good thing I landed on something soft…"

"You're welcome," Kurenai replied, straightening up with her hands behind her, her spine audibly cracking. "Oooh… man…"

Just as the three of them were recovering, they heard a thump behind, and they spun around, where they saw Deidara standing about thirty meters out from them, giant owl perched behind him and a grin on his face. Aside from a few bruises, burns and tears in his clothes, he was relatively fine and still fighting fit. Everyone else however were struggling to keep up with the one man.

"My, this bridge is a tough one…hmm?" the blond grinned, bringing his arms in front of him and crossing them over, palms open and revealing his grinning hand-mouths. "Even with my C2 Dragon detonating at only a hundred meters away, this marvelous structure is still standing! That's saying something…hn!"

Kurenai and Haku leapt in front of Tazuna, taking up defensive stances. The mad bomber chuckled and shoved his hands into his pouches again, rummaging for a second and pulling them out. Bringing them out, he threw them forward and in a blink of an eye, two snakes shot out of his hands. The clay spiraled through the air and flew at Tazuna, aiming to impale him or ensnare him, but before they could even get half way, Haku tossed a barrage of senbon in their direction, hitting the clay snakes head on and also directing a few towards Deidara. The missing nin responded quickly, bringing out a kunai and quickly blocking the barrage, eyes fixed on his two opponents.

In that same instant Kurenai charged at him, two kunai drawn and ready for action. She threw the first one at the blond, who ducked under it and in response, also charged at the woman. Their blades clashed in the center, with Deidara quickly gaining the upper-hand in the grapple and pushing Kurenai back. The raven haired ninja struggled to hold her own in the grapple, sparks flying between her and her opponent as they pushed at each other. Deidara grinned.

"With your hand occupied, what are you to do? Hmm?"

Kurenai grinned at the man, and suddenly, her body disintegrated, scattering in a shower of pink cherry blossom petals. Deidara gasped and suddenly staggered forward, losing his footing. Spinning around him, he found himself surrounded by flower petals, eyes darting from left to right as he attempted to seek out his opponent through the haze. But just as he was still searching for his opponent, large tree roots shot out of the ground at his feet, and curled around him legs, trapping him, before the roots and branches grew upwards and formed into a giant tree. The man growled as he felt his limbs bound by the genjutsu, and glared up, seeing his opponent's upper-body shoot out of the side of tree right above him.

The red-eyed Jonin grinned, her kunai brought around to bare down on the Missing Nin.

"You're mine!" she exclaimed, thrusting down to deliver the finishing blow. Deidara grinned and bit the corner of his lip, drawing blood.

That shook him out of the genjutsu, and he ducked down just in time to avoid the hook of the kunai as it came at him from his blind spot. Responding quickly, he kicked out at the woman's feet behind him, tripping her and sending her to the ground. The raven haired woman gritted her teeth and leapt back, back-flipping several times before stopping at a safe distance away from her opponent. She was certain she had got him, but he had seen through her genjutsu.

"Damn it!"

"Don't mock me with your fake techniques!" Deidara shouted, licking his bleeding lip and bringing about his own kunai back up, grinning. "You think that by confronting me with your genjutsu that you can trick me…hmm? Genjutsu is like a bad copy of a true master piece! Nothing can compare to the original works!"

"I'm not done yet!" Kurenai replied. Bringing her hand back round to her pouch, she drew a cluster of shuriken and quickly threw them at her opponent.

The shuriken were easily avoided, and Deidara predicted that the woman would come at him again. He was right, and was ready to meet the raven haired woman as she came charging at him. However, before she even came in for a strike, she exploded in a shower of pink flower petals again, which blanketed over the blond like a cloud, and surrounded him. The missing ninja growled and looked through the petals, finding that he was completely surrounded by the genjutsu.

Before he could take any action though, he suddenly saw the woman burst through the cloud of petals in front of him, kunai drawn back and ready to strike. She came in fast, swinging out with her blade and hitting him in the chest, or so she thought.

Deidara managed to bring his arm up just in time to shield himself, and was thrown back when the woman hit him, sending him flying back from the blow. He skidded across the bridge, stopping about ten meters away from his opponent, and now apparently out of the genjutsu from the pain his brain received from the blow.

"Good thing I have a high pain tolerance! Yeah…" the man exclaimed, looking down at his forearm to see that the kunai was driven all the way through to the other side. He grinned and lowered his arm. "I won't pull it out, or I might bleed to death! That will be a major blow to the artistic community and to my art, hmm!"

"Just shut up!" a voice roared from behind, and Deidara's eyes widened in shock. He spun around, seeing Zabuza with his massive Decapitating Blade being swung at him, coming up right behind him. The blond furrowed his brow and glared at him.

"You again, hn?"

He ducked just in time to avoid the swing of the blade and leapt away, right underneath a second swing when Zabuza came back around with it. The blond bomber moved into retreat, crouching low when he managed to put distance between him and his opponent. He tossed a couple of clay spiders in the swordsman's direction, and detonated them while they were still in mid-air.

Zabuza shielded himself with his sword, since it was so massive and acted as a large shield as well. Unheeded by the blasts or smoke, he dashed through it, once again charging at his opponent, who grinned at the man, clearly impressed by his own tolerance and durability. Deidara stood, and ducked under another swing, and leapt away, quickly pursued by the furious Missing Nin, now swinging his massive blade in his direction.

Deidara quickly found himself at a disadvantage, and was becoming a bit insecure by how fast the man was managing to swing his blade around him with such ease. It all became to clear to him when he received a massive blow across his chest, the Executioner's Blade slicing a nice gash across him, and forcing the missing nin to leapt further away in response.

Landing a top of the bridge railings, Deidara frowned as he watched Zabuza take a more secure stance, and face him down. He huffed in exhaustion, with the big swordsman also panting from the efforts. Kurenai was on her knees at this point, a little dizzy from the amount of genjutsu she had to dish out in a row to throw the man off.

"These shinobi are tough, hmm? I'm impressed…" the young blond thought, before sparing a glance towards his primary target and his client. He saw that Tazuna was still being well-guarded by Haku, and that Gatou and his henchmen were all tied up and under watch by Shino and Hinata on the other end of the bridge. The man frowned, and reached into his pouches, finding that he only had just a bit of clay left. "I'm down to my last mouthful… guess it's time for a retreat!" He glared towards his giant owl still sitting where it was, lifeless. "I can use that…"

Just as he was rounding on a conclusion, Deidara was hit in the head by a stone, and ultimately staggered by the blow to the side of the head. Bleeding a bit, the man glared in the direction it had come from, along with everybody else who had their eyes on him and saw the stone. When they looked towards the island entry to the bridge, they received quite a bit of surprise when they saw a turnout of over a hundred civilians on the bridge, all of them armed with whatever they could find, and glaring down the missing ninja.

Led by Inari, the villagers from the Wave Country let out a roar, a declaration of war as they faced off against the blond ninja, knowing that he was the ne responsible for the commotion going on.

"This fight ends now!" Inari shouted, the boy wearing a soup-pot for a helmet and armed with a crossbow. "Leave this country and never return!" The villagers responded with another outcry, and moved forward in response, obviously in an attempt to scare away the attackers. Gatou and his minions tied up but in plain view, were terrified at the sight.

Tazuna grinned. "Inari…everyone…"

The boy grinned towards his grandpa and gave him the thumbs up. "We're here to help, just as you guys have helped us!"

Haku also smiled at the sight, along with Hinata and the stoic Shino, but Kurenai and Zabuza were still a little concerned for the crowd's safety. At that moment, Deidara grinned at the hordes of vigilante's coming to the aid of the shinobi, and let out a tremendous laugh. This silenced the crowd's antics and drew everybody's attention towards him. The missing nin laughed out right at the sight and the joy he was feeling at that moment, and wiped his eye of a single tear. His teeth were bared in that characteristically insane way.

"Oh this is beautiful! Truly magnificent! An audience has turned out to witness my greatest creation, hmm!" Deidara laughed, glaring towards Zabuza and Kurenai. "This is perfect; an excellent opportunity to show off my latest master piece: an explosive ballet the likes of which the world has never seen…hmm!"

Kurenai furrowed her brow at the laughing man.

"This is bad… what is he planning?"

Deidara's grin widened.

"You all just watch, as I obliterate this bridge and everyone on it! The fleeting moment this structure shall perish in will be a grand spectacle!" Smirking, the blond turned and sprinted for his giant owl, and Zabuza was right on his tail. The mad bomber however managed to get to his bird in the nick of time, and took off just before the swordsman could even get near him. Under a barrage of pelted stones and pitch forks, the blond bomber took to the sky, with the crowd and everybody else on the bridge looking up with uncertainty and shock.

"This is not good…" Zabuza commented.

Deidara ascended to an altitude of about three hundred meters. Once in position, he put both his hands into his pouches and rummaged through the remaining contents and brought them out. Slapping both hands together, he began molding and shaping the chakra. After about ten seconds, he had completed his work, and parting his hands, he revealed to have created a miniature, ghost shaped statue. It resembled one o the statues of a spiritual entity, but which one is unknown.

The man chuckled, sweat dripping down his face. "Not as strong as the ones in my collection, but it'll do: C3 Ohako… this should deliver the destructive power I require!"

Just as he was getting to his feet, and readying to release it, his right leg gave way and he collapsed onto all fours. He panted heavily from that.

"My chakra is almost gone… I've dragged out the fight using C1 and C2 for too long…"

"But this should do it…hmm!" Deidara exclaimed, holding up his statue in one hand. "My master piece…shall be unleashed!" He tossed it over the side, and slapped his hands together into his familiar hand seal. The clay doll fell as fast as gravity and weight took it, and as it fell to a suitable altitude, it began to expand, arms extending and inflating, giving it more lift and slowing its descent. It grew and grew, till it almost blanketed the shinobi and crowd below in its large shadow. Kurenai, Zabuza, Haku and everyone else gazed on in shock, not knowing what to do with such a large scale bomb plummeting towards them.

The crowds cried out and ran for it, but knew they wouldn't be able to escape what was to come, and everyone on the bridge braced themselves for impact.

Deidara grinned, and formed his last hand seal.

"Watch on everyone! Witness the beauty of my creation! Because my art… "

He wasn't able to finish his statement, as he was distracted by the arrival of a familiar face on the bridge. Kurenai heard a clanging sound behind her, and turned to see a soaking wet Naruto climbing back up the bridge, glaring up at the massive statue falling towards them from where he was perched on the railings.

"Oh shit… that's not good at all…" he wasted little time with his next move. Standing up on the railings, he pulled out two of his uniquely shaped kunai with his father's familiar seals inscribed on its handle. He took aim and pitched the first kunai in his right hand, sending it over and around the Ohako in an excellent curved throw. The second one, he placed between his fingers. Flipping through a quick series of hand signs, he then held it straight up towards the falling behemoth.

The Ohako statue detonated right above them, the explosion careening straight towards the bridge. But then, just as it was about to consume everything and everyone on it, the fire, smoke, ash and debris were suddenly caught in a rift, and began disappearing. The slipstream sucked the entire blast into the kunai held in Naruto's hands. He had an extreme amount of trouble controlling and containing the explosion as it got absorbed into his kunai, sweat pouring down his face as the entire blast vanished in a blink of an eye. Everyone who was watching was stunned.

Deidara frowned, hoping that his trump card would have done the trick. But all thoughts and contemplation vanished when he heard a thump, and looked over the side of his owl to see a kunai lodged in the side of its neck, with strange markings on its handle. He raised an eyebrow.

"What the…?"

Naruto grinned and formed one last hand seal, taking aim with the explosion he had managed to catch with his father's space-time technique.

"My art… is a bang!" Naruto exclaimed.

BOOOOMM!

Deidara was consumed in his own explosion, which detonated out from Naruto's kunai. The fiery cloud enveloped him, seemingly disintegrated him, and sent the missing ninja from Iwagakure packing. The blast safely detonated above the bridge and out of range, but enough for the shockwave to hit everyone down below almost like a blast of wind that staggered the crowds and rattled the shinobi. The blinding flash, the fiery clouds and everything else appeared and disappeared in an instant.

The dying of the explosion and the empty sky meant that this fight was over.

Kurenai sighed in relief and fell back onto her behind, resting against the railings. Zabuza also fell over, propping himself up on his sword and wiping his brow.

"Man… controlling that Water Release Technique really took it out of me…I need to get back into shape…" Zabuza groaned.

Hinata and Shino stood where they were, relieved that they had just avoided death. They had all formed the mercenaries up, all of them either unconscious or in states of deep shock. Gatou was among those who were unconscious, and was looking a little terrified at the moment.

"Damn shinobi… you can never rely on them to do anything…" he grumbled, while sweating like a pig.

Naruto meanwhile, let out a sigh of relief, but then just collapsed, fainting from the effort. Haku jogged over and knelt at his side, checking to see if his friend was okay. Confirmed he was okay, the young teen smiled up at Kurenai and gave her the thumbs up, to which she nodded.

"He's had it rough… let him sleep," the Jonin exclaimed, smiling. Zabuza chuckled and shook his head.

"Kid's got stamina, but even some techniques can be taxing on the body…" the swordsman stated, shrugging his shoulders. "Particularly the ones I've seen him perform; the Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu, the Rasengan, the teleportation techniques… those are three of some of the most advanced moves I've ever seen, not even I can use to such a degree…"

"That was a big Water Dragon Bullet Technique you were able to use. The size you conjured it too was phenomenal," Kurenai exclaimed. "And that Mist Clone technique was really impressive too… definitely got us out of trouble…"

"To do something like that takes a lot of chakra, especially in the small time frame I had to use it to escape that clay-monster, beast… whatever's explosion," the man replied, pushing himself back to his feet. He swung his sword around him and sheathed it onto his back. After Kurenai picked up Naruto and placed him on her back, she then accompanied Zabuza and Haku over to Hinata and Shino, who were now unceremoniously ordering Gatou and his hired goons back towards the island.

The prisoners were escorted towards the waiting crowd, where a great number of them threw fruit at Gatou before processing him towards the nearest jail cell. When word spread that the businessman/tyrant that was and had been controlling their lands had gotten out, the whole village was in celebration. Cheers of happiness and cries of joy spread across the entire town, and to the crowd that was still on the bridge, they too celebrated, hugging, shouting and cheering loudly till their voices were hoarse.

"Gatou has fallen!"

"The bridge has been saved!"

"We're free!"

"FREE!"

"Well they seem to be in a good mood," Tazuna chuckled as he and his protectors returned to the island, some of the limping, the others just exhausted.

"I guess it's been a while since they could party in the streets… a first time in years," Kurenai laughed. "Having finally gotten their hands on Gatou means that the chains of oppression have finally been unlatched, and they can all breathe easy once again…"

"Yup…" Tazuna was trying not to skip ahead in joy… it was bad for his knees. "It's been a long time!"

Hinata smiled, hands laced together. "I-I'm so happy for them…"

Shino looked over at his friend, trying to smile under his collar, but finding it incredibly painful to do so. "It's not only our victory, but theirs as well. Courage came from fear, despair, pain and suffering… and that little glimmer of hope helped it along."

Hinata smiled looking back over at Naruto riding on Kurenai's back. The boy, who had dropped to the ground from fatigue, was now awake, eyes barely open and looking back at Hinata and Shino. The purple haired girl, overjoyed to see he was awake, ran up to him, while Shino trudged along behind her.

"A-Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm fine, Hinata-chan…" the blond replied, his vision clearing. "Although, I'm a little tired. You handled yourself really well out there… thanks for the heads up."

"That's okay!" the girl exclaimed, smiling care freely.

Naruto grinned at her, and also through a smile at Shino, who was still blank behind his shades and collar. "What? Not even a laugh? Come on Shino… give me something to remember…"

"Maybe another time, Naruto Uzumaki," the bug user replied in monotone.

"Your techniques are scary… but they are really effective," Naruto said a-matter-of-factly. "Wish I could use chakra absorbing bugs."

"It's a lot of work raising a hive and nurturing it, Naruto," Shino stated, but smiled a small smile out of sight. "You should be proud of your own techniques, you did really well…"

"That guy was tough. A really ruthless and dangerous man," the blond replied, looking towards the sky where the remnants of the smoke cloud hung. As he was carried off of the bridge by Kurenai, and the group, including Zabuza, Haku and Tazuna were on their way home to rest for the day, the young jinchuriki couldn't help but wonder.

"Although…I still can't help thinking that I haven't seen the last of him…"

Miles away…

Hiding in the treetops, perched on one of the many large branches, sat a rather bruised up and winded Deidara. The blond had his arm practically charred in the explosion, and his clothes were rather tattered. He was in the process of bandaging his wounds, his hand-mouths cutting the straps as he wrapped his arms up.

The blond smirked under his bang of hair.

"Perhaps I underestimated my opponents a little bit… hmm?" he mumbled to himself, knotting up his bandage. "The swordsman is strong, so is that genjutsu kunoichi…but that little brat. Able to turn my own attack against me… how did he do that?"

Furrowing his brow, Deidara shook off his injuries and dizziness, and leapt from his perch. He landed in the shrubbery and started on back home. He was low on clay, only carrying enough for a flight home, and was rather staggered from his low chakra levels.

"I'm looking forward to facing those Konoha shinobi again," the man smirked widely. "I have to practice my art some more, and get stronger for my next encounter. Next time… I will surely decimate them…hmm?"

The man stopped in his tracks, when he suddenly spotted a bunch of people standing in his path, just several meters out. He blinked, analyzing their attire and statures. For one, they all wore similar outfits, black cloaks with red clouds on them. The middle one was a tall man wearing a straw hat with paper streamers covering a blue face, and had a massive sword on his back. The one standing on that man's right was a middle-sized you man wearing the same hat, only he appeared to have black hair, overshadowing his eyes. The last of them was a short figure, a man hunched over, and had a rather old, wrinkly face with a bandana worn over his mouth. If the missing nin wasn't mistaken, that last guy's face looked quite artificial, and ghost like.

Deidara blinked, and reached back for a kunai.

"What do you fellas want…aye?"

The young man standing next to the tall guy tipped the rim of his hat up, and glared at the blond. The young missing nin thought he was tripping for a moment, when he saw a pair of red eyes glaring back at him, black tomos spinning around the irises.

"We just want to talk…" the young, cloaked ninja calmly replied…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note:

Do not comment... for the last time, on the origins of the ninja, if I mispelled anything or misplaced a ninja from whatever country they are from, it's driving me nuts! I would just like comments on how the story is progressing.