Ghost Wolf: You've been challenged.
Quote the Speechless: Yes, I have and I must rise tothis challenge.
Ghost Wolf: So what is Kyuubi's gender?
Quote the Speechless: The gender of an Elemental/Great Spirit? Whatever the hell it wants!
Ghost Wolf: Well A-Man thinks Kyuubi is a female, what do you say to that?
Quote the Speechless: I say Prove it.
Ghost Wolf: How long does he have to do this?
Quote the Speechless: He has till the next update, so that means something like two to four weeks, I'll try and get the next chapter up in three weeks.
Ghost Wolf: Okay but I don't think it'll happen.
Quote the Speechless: I can so get the chapter up in three weeks.
Ghost Wolf: I was also referring to the challenge... I don't think he'll find any proof or that you will up date on time.
Quote the Speechless: Alright, but don't you think there should be terms?
Ghost Wolf: The proof has to be from an official website... no random fansite B.S. and no stories from other authors.
Quote the Speechless: Yes, that sounds agreeable. But I alsothat the information has to be verified.
Ghost Wolf: okay and now on to the chapter!
Quote the Speechless: Agreed, It is about time that you people see this wonderful piece of creation.
Ghost Wolf: yeah... "Wonderful"
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Nine - Revelations
The next day all three of the Genin went out into the forest. No one spoke about what happened. Sasuke tried, but Sakura managed to stop him. Sakura explained to Naruto why they were climbing the trees the other day.
"Oh man," Naruto complained. When Sakura looked at him oddly, Naruto explained. "My control sucks. I'm alright with my hands, and inside my body, but if I have to work with my feet, this is going to really suck," Naruto grumbled. Unfortunately this revelation made Sasuke smugger, and he laughed when Naruto fell his first few times.
After about half an hour of Naruto expending a lot of chakra and getting nowhere, he walked over to Sakura who was resting.
"Hey, uh, can you give me a tip?" Naruto asked. He sounded a little nervous, but Sakura was overjoyed that Naruto came to her when he was having trouble. She started by giving Naruto the basic lecture of Chakra and what it was – the strength of the body mixed with the power of the mind. Then she talked about chakra paths and how one could mold it for a jutsu. Finally, she gave him advice for clearing the mind and directing the flow of chakra. Naruto paid closer attention to her lessons than he ever did when Iruka was lecturing.
Naruto didn't say anything for a long time. He sat and digested all the new information. His mind wandered back to his experiences with Kibou and Keito, and what they taught him about controlling his chakra.
"Damn," he said as he brought himself out of his memories. "That exercises again." He got into a position and brought his hands together. He didn't focus chakra into any specific part of his body but instead let it flow all around inside him. Though Sasuke and Sakura could not see it, they could feel some change in Naruto.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked. Both of his teammates were watching Naruto.
"Flow exercises," Naruto said. Three right-legged kicks – low, middle, and high – flowed into a set of sweeping left-legged kicks. "I have an abnormally high amount of Chakra, but the downside is that my control is terrible. I overuse chakra, and it's hard for me to direct it fully into one thing. I've looked up dozens of exercises for control, but I've never seen the tree walking one before." Naruto went into a series of alternating sweeping kicks aimed as high as he could kick.
"So? Why aren't you climbing?" Sasuke wondered for a moment if everything required such a trade off, but only for a moment. He preferred to think of Naruto as an idiot who didn't know how to use what he had.
"In a moment," Naruto continued his kicking exercises. "Right now I'm doing this to get used to focusing chakra into my feet." He continued for a few more moments before a final back flip, landing with his feet together. "Ok, I'm ready now," he ran directly at a tree.
Naruto started to go up the tree. Sasuke and Sakura watched carefully and they could see how much Naruto struggled with his control. Every couple steps, one of his feet would slip a little before it stuck to the bark, or the tree would crack a little under the force. He managed to climb twenty feet up before his foot slipped and he started to fall. He made a scratch on the tree with his kunai and flipped back down, landing on the ground on all fours. Naruto looked at his progress up the tree and sighed.
"This is going to be a long day," he sighed. Naruto stood up and ran at a new tree, not wanting to do more damage to the one he had just fallen out of.
And so the day progressed. Sasuke and Sakura continued to use the same two trees while Naruto never used a tree more then twice for fear of damaging it too critically.
Sasuke asked him why he didn't just keep using the same tree until it was impossible to run on any more. Naruto just responded by saying that he didn't want to anger his Third Brother. He never used their actual names, which pissed Sasuke off because it didn't give him any idea about who they were.
After a while, Naruto had used most of the trees in the area. While he had improved and could get most of the way up each tree, he was still slipping on or cracking the bark.
"I'll find a new area, you two stay here for when Kakashi comes back," Naruto said when he had exhausted the trees he could use. "I'll go that way until I find another stand of trees that's good." Naruto pointed in a direction and headed off.
Sakura was almost in awe of the boy. The amount of chakra that he had used was easily three or four times what she had on the best days. He didn't seem any more than winded. Sasuke was using a fraction of the chakra that Naruto was as he was getting better at his control, but he looked about the same condition. They could only watch as Naruto headed off to a new area and continue his training.
"'Abnormally high amount of Chakra my ass," Sasuke said as soon as Naruto was out of sight. "It's got to be a trick of some kind. There's no way he can have that much chakra." Sasuke was not pleased. Naruto's tremendous amount of energy along with his steady progress up the trees meant that soon he would be able to outstrip them all.
"But Sasuke," Sakura pleaded. She liked Sasuke a lot, and she didn't want her teammate upset at Naruto. "Why don't you believe him? You've seen how bad his control is. Yes he has a lot of chakra, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person. I don't understand why you're so upset."
"Because he has so much power, and he acts like it's nothing," Sasuke said angrily. "Power should be used, instead he throws it away." Sasuke turned and punched a tree.
"Please Sasuke, give him a chance," Sakura asked him. "He's still young, we all are," she sighed deeply as that revelation hit her as well. "We're still growing up. Give him a chance, please. Remember what Kakashi said, we're supposed to be a team, we can't be a team if you're going to fight about Naruto."
"Well we're not supposed to hide things about each other either." Sakura could not reply to that. "I'm going to make him tell us something when he gets back. For now, I'm going to keep training like Kakashi told us to." Sasuke started training, and with some reluctance so did Sakura. She was glad that he was leaving Naruto alone for the moment, but things were getting more complicated.
Naruto, on the other hand, was sitting in the middle of a field of flowers he had found. Meditation did not come easy to the boy, but he had to admit that it did help his control.
"The unity of Mind and Body will produce better control than any training," Keito had told him when she first instructed him on meditation. "You don't have to train nearly as much as most people do to increase your chakra. So the best thing you can do is work on control. Through meditation and flow exercises with the Element styles you will be able to increase your control greatly. It will take time, longer than most because of your ever-changing chakra, but in the end it will be a greater payoff."
And so Naruto was meditating, taking all of his power and trying to mold it into something inside his mind. To him it took the form of a roaring fire that he was trying to put into a white hot ember. It had taken him a week of work with Keito, Kibou and Kyuubi all together for him to finally pull it off, and even now it was not as easy.
Since Naruto had gotten the bowl of Kyuubi's essence, his control had improved over the demon half of his chakra, but the overall amount of chakra he had was larger as well, so he practically ended up back where he was before.
"It is time for me to train you some more, kid," Kyuubi spoke up suddenly, breaking Naruto's concentration. "Especially if you want to be able to pass my siblings' tests."
"What do you want me to do?"
"It's actually not that hard," Kyuubi said in that tone that Naruto always associated with trouble. "You're going to transform and go through the stances for the Element styles, ALL of the stances. You will also have everything weighted, four steps higher than previously. Along with all your senses, human and demon, reaching out to your full extent." Naruto could only groan as the list got longer. "Make that Five steps, now get to work."
Naruto transformed, finding it easier than the last time, though the tail always stung. He closed his eyes and performed the jutsu, increasing the weight of his clothes as Kyuubi had instructed. Next, he closed his eyes and let his senses expand to their fullest extent. When Naruto opened his eyes, he was slightly startled when he could feel two beings he thought were Sakura and Sasuke on the edges of his spirit awareness. Apparently, they had returned to training. He also felt the spirits of every animal and plant within a one mile radius of his position. It was quite distracting as he started to go through the positions and had to manage his chakra flow at the same time.
At first, Naruto messed up a lot, with all the distractions, but on his sixth try he finally managed to get through all the stances. Then Kyuubi scolded him for not molding his chakra as he had been trained, and set Naruto to do it again. Naruto ended up doing the exercises for hours on end.
The Sun was getting low on the horizon when Naruto felt another presence on the edge of his Spirit Sense. He paused part of the way through a series of punches and blocks to see if he could get a better feeling of who it was. The new person approached the ones he thought of as Sasuke and Sakura. There was a brief exchange and the two started walking away as the third started in Naruto's direction. It was time to end the training. Naruto transformed back his human form and started walking towards the new person.
Kakashi was getting worried. Sakura's and Sasuke's attitudes when he mentioned Naruto had indicated to him that something had happened. Kakashi sighed, this teaching assignment was harder than any mission he had ever been on and he doubted it would be over any time soon. He ran into Naruto walking his way. It only mildly surprised him to realize that the boy had already known that Kakashi was coming to get him. They walked back together. Neither said anything for a long moment.
"You have to tell them something," Kakashi said, breaking the silence.
"Like what?" Naruto responded. "I'm part demon? I'm the container for the strongest demon in a century who's been teaching me Jutsu? OH! Wait, no I've got a great one. I'll tell them all about my Brothers and Sisters!" Naruto looked sidelong at Kakashi. "You must have already guessed about them." Kakashinodded.
"I understand that this is not easy, but they are your teammates," Kakashi said. "Tell them something. They're starting to loose trust in you, Naruto. You need them as much as they need you right now. Just give them something to think about for now. At least something to hold us over until we can get back to Konoha and speak to the Hokage." Naruto sighed, Kakashi was right.
The rest of the walk was made in relative silence. Relative silence because Naruto was thinking about what to tell them while Kakashi was reading one of his novels and giggling every once and a while. Naruto didn't know what to tell his teammates. He wondered if he should make something up, like an unknown bloodline or something. In the end, he was glad for the rigorous training session that Kyuubi had put him through that day because it gave him an excuse to head straight to the table and slump down, resting his head on his hands.
"How was your training today?" Tsunami asked as she started to serve the food. Her son Inari was watching Naruto, scowling.
"Good," Sakura said pumping an arm. "I'm feeling a lot stronger, and Sasuke is incredible as always." She blushed as she looked at her Crush who didn't do more than reach for the food.
"What about you, Naruto?" Tazuna asked. "Think you can take on that Demon guy again?"
"Oh yea, and I won't miss next time," Naruto grinned at the thought.
"Why do you bother?" Inari spoke up. "No matter how hard you try you're no match for Gatou's men." Something broke in him and he started to cry. Inari stood up and pounded his hand against the table. "No matter what you say or do they'll always be stronger than you! If you fight them again you'll just die!"
"I'm not like you kid," Naruto said dismissively.
"I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE YOU," The outburst startled everyone, but Inari didn't care as he continued to yell at Naruto. "You don't know anything about us! YOU DON"T KNOW HOW HARD LIFE CAN BE!"
The entire room seemed to drop several degrees after Inari's outburst. Naruto looked up from the table directly at the boy. No one spoke, all eyes were focused on Naruto. Kakashi knew he should step in and attempt to defuse the situation, but he didn't do anything, ust watching to see what Naruto would do. Sasuke was even intimidated by his teammate. Sakura watched, shaking, as Naruto's eyes slowly started to change. The blue eyes that so reminded her of the sky on a clear day now only reflected a coldness that was bitterer than any winter she had experienced.
"Don't you Dare speak to me about how hard life can be," Naruto's voice was soft, but everyone heard him, and felt the steel in his tone. "I've been alone forEleven years. NO family, no friends, only ME." They could only watch in fascinated horror as Naruto's eyes changed again, but this time it was nothing like a moment ago. The iris slowly started to shift until his eyes were a blood red, and the look was no longer cold, but one of burning fury. "I was not only alone, but HATED by just about every person I ever met." The fury was evident in his voice, but he held it in check if just barely.
"NEVER given a chance to prove myself. NEVER shown anything but hate and Contempt. And you DARE to speak to ME about having a hard life!" Inari was rooted to the spot. If he could have, he would have run. "Spendallyour life being blamed for something that you had nothing to do with and could have done nothing about. THEN we can talk about living a hard life."
"Naruto," Kakashi finally found his voice. "That's enough." Naruto glared at Kakashi for a moment before looking away. When he looked back, his eyes had reverted to blue and the intense feeling that he had been giving off had faded just a little.
Naruto glanced back at Inari before stalking out of the room. Sakura started to get up and go after him but Tazuna stopped her. He shook his head and Sakura slowly sat back down. Tsunami was comforting a still shaking Inari. She didn't know how to feel. Naruto's outburst had shaken even her. She didn't know whether to feel more sorry for Naruto, who had lived such a hard life, or Inari who had taken the full force of the red-eyed fury.
"Is it true?" Tsunami asked, looking directly at Kakashi.
The Jounin sighed and looked down. "Every word." No one felt like eating any more. The revelation seemed to put Naruto in a whole new light. "He hasspent his life all alone." He wondered idly why Naruto had saideleven years.Had the boyfound someonetwo years ago who he could trust?
Sakura could not believe that Naruto had all that anger bottled up inside of him. Even when Kakashi had told them Naruto had led a hard life, she had never guessed the truth was so extrene.
Sasuke wondered what Naruto had been talking about, what could the people have blamed him for, but he found he was no longer angry or upset. If anything he felt empathy for Naruto for both their lives were far from easy.
"He's stronger than I ever gave him credit for," Tazuna said after a few minutes. The others could only nod in agreement.
After they cleaned up the uneaten meal, Sakura and Sasuke went out to find Naruto – they had a lot to talk about. They eventually found him lying on the roof, watching the stars. Naruto didn't say anything as they took up positions on either side of him. Sakura was on his right, hugging her knees against her chest as she looked up at the stars. Sasuke sat on the peak of the roof and leaned back against the chimney.
"Sorry," Naruto was the one to break the silence. "I guess you two deserve to know what's going on."
"No." What startled them was that that it was Sasuke who spoke up. "We shouldn't be pressuring you. Just tell us when you're ready." Naruto looked over at Sakura to see how she felt and she smiled at him and nodded.
"Thanks guys," Naruto lay back and closed his eyes, feeling more comfortable than he had in days. Naruto lifted his right hand into the air, making a fist, he looked at Sasuke and Sakura. "Team Seven?"
Sakura and Sasuke reached over and, making fists as well, rested them against Naruto's.
"Team Seven," they chorused. And they knew that they had overcome a great hurdle and became a closer team because of it. Kakashi smiled as he watched them from the branches of a tree. They truly had the potential to become great on their own, but together, it wasn't potential, it was fact. It was good that they had overcome their differences because tomorrow they would all be needed to protect Tazuna. By his estimates, Zabuza would be healed enough to return, and Kakashi doubted that he would come alone.
Kakashi returned to inside the house and reassured Tazuna and Tsunami that everything would be alright. At the same time, the three genin sat on the roof and talked about nothing in particular. When they came back inside, Kakashi told them the plan and they all agreed it was time. Naruto finally felt the full fatigue of his training as he almost collapsed into the bed. Kakashi looked at him and saw that he was exhausted. He explained to Sakura and Sasuke that Naruto had been drained and would require and extra day to recover. Though in truth he was not sure how long it would take to restore such a massive reservoir of chakra. They agreed, saying that they had seen how he had seemed very tired while they talked.
The next day, Sakura and Sasuke headed off to the bridge with Kakashi and Tazuna. Naruto was left sleeping while Tsunami looked after Inari.
Naruto didn't wake up until a scream, Tsunami's scream, pierced the air. He jumped out of bed and didn't even pause to get dressed before running downstairs. He was greeted with the sight of Inari running at two large men with swords. The men reached for their swords, only to find their swords halt part way through drawing them. Two clones of Naruto had appeared and were blocking the handles of their swords, leaving them unable to attack the boy as he screamed for them to leave his mother alone.
"Only cowards attack the weak!" was the last thing that the two men heard before the real Naruto spun down through the air and kicked each of them in the head, knocking them out.
"Good Job, Inari," Naruto said as his clones dragged the swordsmen away and tied them up. "You see that true strength comes from the desire to protect others, and prove yourself." Inari nodded, finally understanding how Naruto had become so strong. "Right, now I've got to go. I'm betting that my friends are under attack as well." Naruto rushed up to his room, putting on his clothes and not putting the weight Jutsu, he needed all the speed he could get.
On the way, he activated his Demon Eyes, levels one and two, and his Spirit senses. As he got closer to the bridge, he sensed that a fight had already started. Kakashi was facing off with Zabuza, while Sasuke fought with a new individual. Sakura was still guarding Tazuna. Naruto arrived in time to see the new person activating an unknown seal and ice starting to form around Sasuke in the shape of many ice mirrors. They reminded him of the mirrors that Shibi had made to arrange the Council of Demons, though these mirrors appeared to made of ice, instead of water.
"You shouldn't underestimate us, Zabuza," Kakashi said as Naruto slowly walked out of the fog that Zabuza had summoned with his Jutsu. "Sasuke was the number one rookie student of his class, Sakura is the brightest and has the best control, and Naruto, well, you remember Naruto."
Haku, the nin who was assisting Zabuza, stepped into the mirrors as Naruto approached. Naruto slowly walked around the mirrors, inspecting them, apparently unconcerned with the masked ninja who had created them. Naruto could not tell whether the person was male or female and the voice was equally androgynous. Naruto guessed that it was a girl by her Aura, but he wasn't sure.
"I have a sister that can do something like this," Naruto said as Kyuubi started feeding him information on things that might be helpful in this situation.
"Impossible," the masked ninja told Naruto. "This is my Bloodline Limit, the Manipulation of Ice. I am the last of my clan. Your sister can't possibly do this." But Naruto could see that she was curious from the aura that she was giving off.
"HAKU!" Zabuza yelled. "Get serious, finish them, and don't underestimate the short one."
"Just a moment, if I may," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke. "I would like to speak with my teammate before you fight."
"Make your final words short," Haku said, letting Naruto in past her mirrors.
"I doubt they will be our final words, but have it your way." Naruto walked up to Sasuke, lowering his voice so they could speak. "Think you can take her?" Sasuke studied Naruto for a moment before responding, he didn't think Naruto would be able to make it.
"If I could activate my Sharingan then this would be easier," Sasuke said, trusting that Naruto had a plan. "But because this… person has a bloodline limit it may not be easy even if I could." Sasuke obviously believed it was a guy, but even he hesitated very slightly before using the pronoun.
"Alright," Naruto held out his hand to Sasuke and Sasuke took it, they looked into each others eyes. "Focus chakra into your eyes, but that will only get you halfway there. You must also want to SEE how to fight her. Don't ask how I know, just trust me. Just one more thing," Naruto tightened his grip on Sasuke's hand and his eyes widened as he guessed what Naruto was about to do. "You're sitting this one out." Naruto spun, still holding Sasuke's hand. He lifted the other boy off his feet and before even Haku could respond, he had thrown Sasuke out between gaps in the mirrors.
"Why did you do that?" Haku asked Naruto. "You have only allowed him to live a little longer than you." With that, she began her attack. Using senbon needle, Haku attacked Naruto, moving at such speed that along with the other reflections of her it was nearly impossible to tell where she was attacking from. After the first wave of attacks, Naruto was left in the middle of the area, several needles sticking through his jacket that had saved him from slashing attacks. But there were cuts along his face and from the placement of the needles he was having a hard time moving.
"I did it," Naruto said as he guarded against an attack with a kunai in his left hand while he reached around to pull out needles from his shoulder, legs, and other places that he could reach easily. "Because he's the last of his clan." Naruto straightened up, his wounds already healing to some degree. "And because I can last a lot longer than you can," Naruto turned to look at the mirror that held the real Haku. The first level of the demon eyes showed where the true attacker was, while at the same time revealing that the news that Naruto could outlast her had confused and worried her. The second level of the Demon Eyes revealed that Haku's chakra was being drained to keep the mirrors up, and from Naruto's and Kyuubi's estimates, she could only keep it up for a few minutes.
Sasuke couldn't believe what Naruto had done. Before last night they had almost been enemies. But Naruto had just put himself in Sasuke's place, right in the middle of an enemy's attack. He had to trust that Naruto knew what he was doing. Sasuke formed the Tiger seal and started to focus chakra into his eyes. He didn't know if Naruto could actually withstand the attacks long enough for him to activate his eyes.
Haku was attacking continuously now, piercing Senbon through Naruto's jacket. Because of the metal mesh between the layers, a slashing strike from the light needles would only do light impact damage. That meant that the masked nin was forced to rely on piercing attacks, which are harder to achieve on a moving target. Naruto was doing anything but staying still. Haku could no longer try and throw her needles to hit Naruto, instead she started to launch herself out of her mirrors, using the reflections to increase her speed greatly. Then she could stab the needles into Naruto instead of throwing them. Her attacks were fast and relentless, aiming for Naruto's vital spots.
It was only Naruto's incredible healing that kept him from succumbing to the attacks. When he realized that the girl was moving too fast for him to block her attacks, he dropped the kunai and focused solely on pulling the needles out of his body. The bloody weapons littered the ground around Naruto.
Sasuke was getting more desperate. Even he could see that the attacks were starting to wear down Naruto. The outer layer of his orange jacket was in tatters, revealing a layer of metal mesh that had the senbon stuck through it. His pants were in the same condition. He was trying to see how the boy attacked, but it still wasn't enough.
"Why do you fight?" Naruto asked as he pulled needles out of his back and sides. "You don't want to kill me, I can see that." The attacks stopped suddenly. "You could be doing so much more." Naruto continued to pull the senbon from his body until he was able to fall to his knees. The continuous need for healing was draining his available reserves, but he had not yet tapped into Kyuubi's chakra. That would be his ace if he needed it.
"I am the weapon of Zabuza," Haku said. "That is what ninja with advanced bloodlines were for, to be used as the weapons of shinobi nations." The masked nin started to flash from one mirror to another, picking up the senbon that Naruto had pulled from his body, preparing for a final attack. "I was not lying when I said that I did not want to kill you, in truth, I am too kind to be a shinobi. But for Zabuza, I can kill my heart, and take your life." Haku had finished retrieving the needles and was ready to attack.
Sasuke was starting to see it, the motions and speed of the boy. He was starting to be able to see and sense how he moved. It was then that he realized that Haku was preparing a final attack. Naruto was too drained. He wouldn't be able to move in time, even to lesson the blow. Sasuke started to run. He only had a moment before Naruto got it. Only a moment before the only person he had ever met who could relate to him got struck down. He HAD to make it.
Naruto closed his eyes, and brought his arms up in an attempt to block the attack. He tried to channel Kyuubi's chakra but he couldn't do it in time. He only hoped that the attack wouldn't be fatal, to give him a chance to heal. But when the attack didn't land, Naruto opened his eyes, wondering why the girl hadn't finished him off. What he saw was worse than he could have imagined. Sasuke was standing in front of him, senbon needles stuck all over his body. Haku was laying on the ground several feet away, laid out from the single punch Sasuke had managed to land. Sasuke's two-tier Sharingan faltered and faded as he fell back into Naruto's arms.
"Why?" Naruto asked, as he lay his teammate down. Sasuke didn't have Naruto's healing ability, so he couldn't safely remove the senbon. "I didn't ask you to save me."
"I don't know," Sasuke coughed up blood along with his response. "My body just moved on its own." Sasuke closed his eyes and his head fell to the side. Though Naruto didn't know it, Sasuke had managed to move in such a manner that none of the needles struck vital organs or blood vessels, and he had only passed out because of the sudden intense pain and effort in activating his own Bloodline Limit. To all appearances, Sasuke was dead.
"He struck me down with one final blow," Haku said with admiration as she started to get up. "He died to protect you. You must have been a precious person to him. I am sorry you had to see him die. But do not worry, you will join him soon." The masked nin turned in preparation to attack Naruto again. What she saw startled her greatly. Red chakra was burning around Naruto. It started ripping up the stone of the bridge, spiraling out from Naruto.
The grief of Sasuke's apparent death drove Naruto to the edge. To his great surprise, though, he felt more in control of his power than he ever had before. Apparently, absorbing the essence of the Great Demon Fox meant that he could remain in control of himself rather than succumb to the rage that he normally associated with releasing Kyuubi's chakra. His feelings focused like a laser and his control rose exponentially. Naruto started the hand seals.
"Katon: Ryuuza Hane Hitofuki no Jutsu (Fire Type: Dragon Wing Gust Technique)" the great wings formed on Naruto's back and as he flapped them, massive waves of intense heat hit the mirrors. Because of Haku's attempts to hold back the force of Naruto's chakra and sustain the mirrors, along with the fact that she had been using her Bloodline Limit for an extended period of time, the mirrors Naruto aimed at started to shatter and melt. One by one, the mirrors disappeared and the water evaporated so they could not be reformed.
"One Technique destroyed all my mirrors?" Haku was in shock. "Who are you?" She was afraid. No one, not even Zabuza, could break her mirrors, but this boy had done it with ease. She was left in the last mirror, facing Naruto as he walked towards her.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto," he said calmly. The wings slowly faded away, but the intense aura of his chakra did not diminish. "And You are very lucky." Naruto's new focus and control allowed him to activate all his demon senses without any outward appearances. Because of that, he could tell that Sasuke's aura, while diminished, had not disappeared. "He's still alive, and you won't die." Haku was spending all her chakra just to keep the mirror she was in from shattering and even now there were small cracks forming at the edges.
"Why? I meant to kill you. And him," Haku was forced out of her mirror. She fell back out of it just before it shattered. "You should kill me, that is the shinobi way," she stood up, reaching up to the mask and taking it off.
"That may be," Naruto said. Around them the fog started to fade. "But it is not my way. Kakashi will finish his battle with Zabuza, and then your fate will be decided, but you will not die."
"Zabuza," Haku said, turning to face where the other battle was taking place. Zabuza was being held in place by several dogs that appeared to have come from under the surface. Kakashi looked like he had a lightning bolt in his right hand, radiating sparks and energy around him as he prepared his final attack. "NO," Haku tried to run, tried to get between her teacher and the deadly attack, but she could not – Naruto had a vice-like grip on her arm. She struggled, but Naruto held her. "Let me go, I Must Save Him!"
"No, his time is at an end," Naruto spoke with an odd calm. "But there are others." Naruto spoke of the hundred or so spirits that he could sense beyond the falling fog. When he looked at the aura that they gave off, he saw it was malicious with not a small number of insane members. There was the sound of thousands of birds and sickening sound of blood being spilt and a body falling to the ground. Naruto knew it was too late for Zabuza when his aura faded as the spirit slowly fled his body. Finally, he released the girl's hand.
Haku ran to Zabuza and lifting his head, she cradled it in her lap.
"I am sorry, sir," she said, tears in her eyes. "Your weapon has failed you. I… failed you."
"No," Zabuza whispered through the bandages on his face. "Live free, be your own weapon, live your own life." With his last strength, he dragged the handle of his massive sword over towards Haku until she finally took it from his hands. "Take my sword… Find the next… Sword Man." Those were the last words of The Demon Zabuza, one of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist.
Naruto, meanwhile, was kneeling over Sasuke, taking out the needles from his body. When she saw that Kakashi was done and the battles were over, Sakura rushed to where she had last seen Sasuke. Tazuna followed her because he still wasn't sure and she was a better guard than nothing. What they saw startled them. Naruto, with clothes torn from the fight, was leaning over a needle-pricked Sasuke.
"He's alright, just unconscious," Naruto said in response to their presence. Sakura didn't ask how he knew they were there. She walked over and knelt down, taking a roll of bandages from her pouch. She had better first aid training, so Naruto got up and took off his jacket. He folded it up and put it under Sasuke's head as he started to wake up.
"You just rest, Sasuke," he told his wounded friend. Sasuke nodded and drifted off again, secure in the knowledge that he would recover.
A male voice cackled with laughter. Everyone's attention turned and focused on the group that Naruto had sensed earlier. The group was full of samurai, missing nin, and other bandits, all of them armed with a wide assortment of weapons.
"I see that Zabuza failed me," the man said. He was dressed in a black suit with a cast around his left arm. "It doesn't matter. I was going to kill him anyway. Hiring a ninja from a village is very expensive. It is much easier to hire Missing nin like him. And clean up the mess with my little army here." He walked over to where Haku was still cradling Zabuza's head. "You're the girl, you broke my arm last time I saw you." He brought up his cane to hit her, but was stopped before he could bring it down. He turned to see that Naruto was behind him, holding the end of the cane. In one motion Naruto had pulled the cane from his hand and thrown it off the side of the bridge.
"Oops," Naruto smiled and stepped around the man kneeling down by Haku's side. "Come on," but Gatou wasn't finished.
"I don't care what you have to do," he yelled at the missing nin behind him. "Kill them all and bring me their heads." He hobbled off but didn't get far.
The missing nin saw him stop and a slow look of shock spread over his face before he started to fall. Two senbon needles stuck into the back of his head. The Missing nin didn't take that very well and all started to charge, angry at the fact that the one that was supposed to pay them had been killed. They didn't get far before they encountered a dozen Naruto clones, each in a different fighting position. The nin were about to attack when armed villagers appeared out of the remnants of the fog, ready for a fight. Kakashi felt that it was almost enough, but he was there to tip the balance. A swift jutsu later and there were dozens of Kakashi clones looking ready to fight. It was too much for the missing nin to take and they turned and ran.
In the end Sakura helped Sasuke walk back to Tazuna's house. Naruto lead Haku back. Haku carried Zabuza's massive sword as the villagers, under the orders of Tazuna, carried the body of Zabuza back to be buried.
Quote the Speechless: Alright, maybe one more challenge, but this one goes to a vote.
Ghost Wolf: What now?
Quote the Speechless: What is Haku's Gender? I am completely ambivalent about this. Haku could be either male or female, as of right now in the writing process it will have no bearing on how he/she acts.
Ghost Wolf: Then why do this?
Quote the Speechless: Because i want my readers to feel like the matter... I mean I want them to have some part in the creation of this story.
Ghost Wolf: Fine... majority rule on Haku's gender. It is getting late. We both need sleep. People who review place your vote. Good night all
Quote the Speechless: Goodnight, and don't be afraid of sleep.
Ghost Wolf: Sleep!