Disclaimer: I am not Kishimoto. I am a teenager who wastes her spare time.

Zabuza Momochi's monstrously powerful feet passed from tree limb to tree limb, touching on each only long enough for his powerful muscles to ripple and coil for another jump. With his long legs, he had an immediate advantage over his smaller prey. Jinchuriiki or no, a child was a child. Their legs were shorter, and he knew quite well that for the past three and a half weeks the blonde he was chasing had shared his training routine. There was no way for the foreigner to outrun him without awakening the demon that Zabuza was nearly sure was nestled within him; an awakening that would be easily sensed.

The chase lasted nearly two hours before Zabuza caught sight of a tell-tale streak of orange through the rainy night.

Naruto Uzumaki's third doppleganger was able to hear the forest rustle around him. The shadow clone spent no time in relaying this to his identical counterparts throughout the forest, causing even the original shinobi to gain a sense of direction. His timing was perfect, because within seconds of this communication, the infamous Demon of the Mist was upon him, giant sword poised to take off his legs.

Naruto's duplicate swerved out of the strike's path as well as the second one that followed, more than slightly alarmed at the amount of violent intent Zabuza was showing. The man had been crazed and angry before, but it seemed now that Zabuza was trying to end the conflict as quickly as possible.

"I know what you are, kid. You aren't getting away." Zabuza stated, almost as if he had read the blonde's mind. "You're coming with me to the Village Hidden in Mist."

Naruto's clone swerved out of the way of another pass at his limbs awkwardly, taking in a gasp of air as he processed the information through Naruto's collective brain. The ever tight-lipped Kyuubi had to be as aware of the danger as he was. There was no way in hell he was going with this man now. The thought of what he intended to do with the demonic occupant in his body sent shivers through the clone's spine.

"I thought you owed me!" the clone retaliated, thrusting a few quick taijutsu attacks of his own, though his skill was mediocre at best; none did any real damage, and the last few blows not even connecting.

"You can live without an arm." Zabuza swerved and pulled a short water-jutsu that was intended to put his opponent of balance, but again the blonde jumped out of the way.

"After you help me destroy the Mizukage with your little tailed-beast friend, you'll be reward-" the man began gruffly, only for the kid's voice to interrupt him.

"I'll NEVER release the Kyuubi. Not for you, not for anyone!" the bunshin vented, leaping over another swipe of Zabuza's blade and landing behind him.

"You don't have a choice, kid!" Zabuza shouted, turning around with his eyes wild.

In the distance, the true Uzumaki was homing in on his doppelganger's location. In all truth, he couldn't even retain the slightest shred of hope for escape as long as the criminal was conscious. To be honest, he had a feeling that his escape might amount to what it had become. Zabuza had a high recovery rate. It was nothing on his, of course, but still impressive in many regards.

Within the fifteen minutes it took him to reach the Momochi, Naruto felt his doppelganger's defeat at Zabuza's hands. The shadow clone had been stalling well, but Zabuza must have finally succeeded in his 'amputation' of an arm only to be rewarded by a puff of smoke.

Naruto summoned his remaining shadow clones to his side and more than tripled their ranks for their charge on the eyebrow-less man's position. The massive amount of chakra it took to create fifteen shadow clones wasn't subtle; the blue-eyed son of the yondaime was sure Zabuza would be prepared, which he was. Fortunately for Naruto, however, his not-so-stealthy technique was detected by more than just his adversary.

Jiraiya's head turned towards the forest quickly. Something was going on within it, and he was now convinced it wasn't his imagination. Chakra flared from a position some seven kilometers southwest of his position. If the white-haired man hadn't been paying attention, he might have missed a fluctuation at such a distance.

The toad on which the sannin was seated stirred from a sort of repose, jerked into awareness by a pat to the head.

"…Jiraiya…?" it asked, recognizing the determined face above it instantly. The two shared an expression of understanding. It was time to go.

Naruto's miniature attack force leapt at the black-haired former ANBU captain from all angles. For the most part, Zabuza swerved out of their way. He had been prepared for the assault, and dissipated two at once with a single concentrate blast of water-natured chakra.

"I thought you wanted respect! I could have given it to you" Zabuza laughed deeply, thrusting his blade downwards into a whiskered face. It glared at him and caught the sword's blade with its own hands, which pressed onto it with rage.

"I want to go home!" Naruto's lips informed him through gritted teeth. Zabuza increased the force behind his blade, surprised with the sudden resistance. The boy's hand shook, the blade beginning to draw blood. Zabuza was aware tat he caught the original when the chakra copies vanished into oblivion.

"Go home to what? You have no home." Zabuza growled, pushing his sword further with chakra-fueled strength. The boy below him made a pained sound and began pushing the sword upwards again. In spurts, his chakra began to leak around the wound.

"You're wrong!" Naruto retorted, disarming his opponent with an anger-fueled burst of strength. "I want to be back where I belong! I want to be hit for things that weren't my fault! I want to sleep in my bed with my dream alive!"

Zabuza's sword flew from his grip, forcing the man to retrieve it. In the time that bought him, Naruto got back to his feet defiantly. With Zabuza's eyes boring into him, Naruto leveled himself and executed a few handsigns, and was soon flanked by more bunshin.

"You're alone, kid. Anyone can hear you moan in your sleep." Zabuza grunted and picked up his blade again. "-and if you won't stop this foolishness, I can't say you'll stay alive."

The Uzumaki stepped forward with another attack, throwing a chakra-infused kunai that missed.

"You aren't even trying to kill me, are you? You talk about going home, but for something you want, you won't even hurt an enemy? You are more deluded than I thought."

Naruto's face contorted with rage, and in the center of his irises, a scarlet bud began to bloom. His teeth began to painfully expand, and he felt his body fill with a burning adrenaline.

"Is that a threat to my life?" he asked, his voice almost foreign to him. Zabuza's haughty confidence was beginning to transform into horror.

The kyuubi's power coursed through him like a jolt, and within fractions of a second, Naruto was on him with a massive amount of chakra condensed into a small ball of energy he held.

"Ra….sen…ga-!" he began to shout, nearly losing himself in the violent tide of the Kyuubi's urges before snapping out of it. Haku…

Zabuza had braced himself for the final blow, but it didn't come. The chakra keeping him immobile dispersed like a cloud of smoke, and the bijuu he had been fighting had reverted, breathing heavily.

"I will not kill you, Zabuza." the blonde declared, despite his position, "-and I will not return with you…even if I die."

Zabuza's shock channeled into mocking laughter at the new turn of events. The kid before him was pathetic! He had harnessed absolute power and thrown it away. As much as the elite shinobi hated them, he couldn't help with Akatsuki's need to separate a beast from the host before controlling them. Perhaps he was wrong about the usefulness of the kid. He could train the boy al he wanted, but if the youth couldn't e reasonable…

He couldn't just let the boy go, either. The complications of that decision far outweighed the benefits. The best option was to put the kid down.

I'll just tell Haku he went to puppy dog heaven.

"So be it."

He approached the jinchuriiki again with his sword drawn, and Naruto shut his eyes, already trying to formulate his plan for when he repeated the last day of his life. Of course, what he hadn't expected was the short curse from the man who was supposed to be taking his life.

Naruto's blue eyes widened at the newcomer who had put Zabuza down with one strike. There, in the rain, stood the man Naruto had looked up to more than any other in his brief life. From the back of a summoned toad, said man looked at him with bewilderment.

The Toad Sage froze. Between the bright-colored clothing, bushy blonde hair, and bright blue eyes, no one could blame him for doing so. He had been surprised when he felt the kid master his own demon from a distance, but he hadn't thought.. There was no way in hell he was in the realm of reality at all.

With a numb hand, Jiraiya let out his chakra flare. Kakashi and he were going to have a long talk later.

Author's note: Please don't kill me. If you do, there will be no fanfic. You won't get to know what happens.