BURN
It was early the next morning when the party of five set of for the land of waves. "Kiba, you take point. Sasuke, sakura take flanking positions, I'll guard the rear." Called out Naruto as the village walls disappeared in the distance.
"Hai sensei." Was the only reply, though he could hear some animosity in Sauske's voice. 'Probably about being passed over for taking point.' He thought to himself. However soon thoughts of his student's attitude problems faded into the background and he brought his focus back to the mission. Unfortunately his thoughts were soon interrupted.
"Tazuna-san do they have ninja in wave too?" asked sakura.
Naruto already knew the answer to this question of course but the look that briefly flashed across the old bridge builders face made him wonder. However with no solid proof he simply pushed his suspicions of to one side until he was able to find out more about the situation in wave.
"Ah, no no. There aren't any ninja in wave." Was his simplistic answer.
"Wave is a rather small country surrounded by the sea. Because of their natural defences no one thought to build a hidden village." Clarified Naruto, all the while giving the bridge builder a suspicious look.
"Oh, well what about other countries? Weren't there any closer villages to go to?" leave it to Sakura to dig for the truth.
"Ah, well it's just I heard how super awesome leaf ninja were so I decided to go to you guys instead." Naruto noted that their client was starting too sweet rather profusely. He had already decided that their client had lied to them about just what this mission entailed but with nothing solid he was forced to continue on.
XXXXXX
They had been walking for almost four hours now when he first spotted it. There in the middle of the road was a poorly constructed Genjutsu. Honestly it hadn't rained in weeks and they thought that that could fool any trained ninja. Unfortunately when he looked to his genin they seemingly had not noticed as they had walked by. Sighing to himself and making a mental note to up their training in detecting Genjutsu he slowed his pace so that when he had paced the puddle his team were already a few feet in front of him. 'Well sempi always said that life is the best teacher of them all, and they should start getting some experience now rather than when I'm not there to bail them out.' And with that thought he let himself be caught in the chains of the demon brothers and 'torn to bits'.
"Sensei!" all three genin screamed at once.
"hehe, one down." Said the taller of the two brothers.
"Four more to go." Whispered the shorter one from behind Kiba. Who then brought up his clawed hand in an attempt to ensnare him in the deadly chain that had just ended the like of their odd, but just as Kiba was about to go the big kennel in the sky Sauske's shuriken caught the chain and pined it to one of the many tree's around the road.
Surprise as they were that some gaki was able to pin them to a tree that they didn't even notice said gaki land on their outstretched arms in-between them and deliver two mule kicks to the side of their heads.
"Enough playing around brother, you get the old man; I'll deal with this little annoyance." And with that the chain connecting the two to the tree fell to the ground and both ran around Sasuke, one headed toward Sakura who had taken up a defensive position in front of Tazuna while the other ignored Sasuke and headed straight toward Kiba.
However before either of them could make it to within a foot of their targets a strong wind kicked up and then in the span of less than a fraction of a second both demon brothers were down on the ground, their head a few feet from their bodies.
"Sensei, your alive?!" yelled out Sakura.
"It would take more than just a few chunin to kill me. That being said you did good work protecting the client Sakura, you too Sasuke I can already see that your aim is improving." Sakura beamed at the praise her normally silent sensei had given her, even Sasuke showed that he was proud to of gotten praise from someone, who despite his earlier envy at the man's power, had come to respect. However the third genin on team seven was still looking down at the ground deep in thought.
'I froze. After all my talk and all the training sensei has given me and I still froze.' A sharp pain in his hand brought him out of his thoughts and back to reality. Looking down it was Akamaru who had firmly planted his teeth in his owner's hand. "Ow, dam it Akamaru what the hell?" with his sudden outburst the small dog released kiba's hand before falling back down to the ground and then proceeded to start barking and yipping at him. "Dam it your right, next time I'll show them just what we can do buddy I promise were never going to run from a fight like that again." Akamaru just yipped in agreement before jumping up and taking his usual position on kiba's head.
"Well were all glad that you have gotten you confidents back kiba there are more pressing matters to attend to." With that he quickly turned his head and shot Tazuna a very cold glare. "Would you be so kind as to tell my why you felt it necessary to lie to us Tazuna-san."
"I, uh don't know what you're ..." however before he could finish his sentence he found that the point of a very long sword was hanging precariously close to his thought. "Uh what I meant to say was, that, well ... alright alright, you caught me but I can explain really I can. You see wave is super poor right now, even our dymio is flat broke and the only hope our village has is the bridge I'm building. Unfortunately the man responsible for wave's current predicament doesn't want me to finish, he controls all the shipping lanes and if I can finish my bridge than his monopoly will be broken."
Naruto just nodded his head at the end. "If I may ask, just who has placed a price on your head?"
"You've probably heard of him, Gato of Gato shipping." He said in a quiet voice
"Gato, as in the Gato one of the wealthiest men on the continent?" 'Well that certainly changed things' he thought to himself. Politics and economic matters may not have been his forte but even he had heard of Gato. Shipping tycoon, one of the wealthiest men in the world and that was the biggest problem, with resources like that hiring jounin level nin would be nothing to him.
"Yes that Gato. Almost a year ago he came to our small country and started to take over, now were super poor and it was all we could do to save up for a C-rank mission." He said with his head hung low.
Naruto just gave him one of his cool stares. "Be that as it may this mission has exceeded our agreed upon contract. I would be well within my rights to end this mission now and to leave you to your fate."
If it was possible Tazuna's face became even paler, then suddenly he regained his composure. "It's alright I understand. I'll just go on on my own, don't worry about me I'm sure my death will be quick." The three genin were starting to give Tazuna an odd look. "But don't worry about me, it's my poor daughter that I'm worried about, her poor heart can only take so much pain and I hope that my death won't push her over the edge of despair and cause her to take her own life." Now all three genin were looking with pity in their eyes. "And my poor grandson having to go through life with no mother or any other family will surly fall into a life of crime probable ending with him dying covered in his own blood face down in a ditch somewhere. But your right, it's not your problem; I'll understand if you leave me here to my fate." He finished with a melodramatic sigh.
All three genin were looking overly uncomfortable now, not sure whether to feel sorry for the old man or to congratulate him on one of the best acting performances they had ever seen. "However, I'll leave the decision up to the rest of my team." Said Naruto giving a calculation look at the old man finding that even he had to admit that that was by far the best attempt to gain pity he had ever seen.
"Hell yha where going to keep going. I may of froze last time but now that I have a second chance there's no way I'm going to give it up!" yelled out Kiba followed but a loud bark from Akamaru.
"As much as it pains me to agree with the dobe I think we should keep going as well" said Sasuke poignantly ignoring the dirty look Kiba was sending his way.
Not wanting to be the only one to back out now Sakura quickly agreed to keep going.
"Very well then, however I want you to keep in mind that our next opponent will most likely be jounin level so I expect you to do exactly what I tell you to when the time comes. Now let's keep going we still have a few hours of traveling before we reach the boarder." And without another word he turned his back and started walking down the road in the direction they had originally be traveling before their unexpected pit stop.
XXXXXX
"Wow look at the size of it." said Kiba in awe.
They had been crossing the channel that separated wave from the rest of the main land when out of the mist appeared the largest bridge team seven had ever seen; even Naruto who had been around the word and seen many of its marvels was impressed by the sheer size of it.
"Quiet, do you want Gato's men to hear you." whispered the man who was fairing them across.
"Sorry, sorry" whispered Kiba in an admonished voice.
Thankfully the rest of the trip went off without a hitch and soon team seven and Tazuna were safely in the land of waves.
"Tazuna-san is it usually this foggy around here?" asked Sakura.
"It's not that uncommon this close to the sea, though I will admit its super foggy today." Replied the older man.
Sakura just nodded her head and kept her eyes on the road in front of them hoping that they wouldn't run into any trouble. Unfortunately just as she had assured herself that they would be able to make it to Tazuna's house without incident Kiba let out a rather loud war cry and fired off one of his kunai. When the group of ninja went to inspect what kiba had seen all that was there was on small snow rabbit with a kunai planted only an inch from its head.
"Kiba you idiot, look at what you almost did!" yelled Sakura before knocking him to the ground with a strong hit to the top of his head. However before she could get in any more hits she heard Naruto-sensei yell out to get down. Luckily with Kiba already down it was a simple matter for her to follow.
"hehehe what do we have here a bunch of snot nosed brats, and here i was hoping for a decent fight." Came a cold voice from over their heads. It did not take long for the genin to locate said voice. There standing on his massive sword was one very tall, very well built man.
"Zabuza Momochi, A-class missing-nin from Kirigakure no sato, Also known as the demon of the bloody mist." Said Naruto calmly.
"Well at least one of you gaki has some promise, so I'll give you a chance to back off now. Give me the old man and I'll let you go."
"That's not possible, we were hired to protect Tazuna-san, and I've yet to fail one of my missions yet and have no intention of starting now." Said Naruto taking a step closer to the missing-nin placing his right hand on the handle of his sword.
"heh you got guts kid, but you can't really think you'll be able to hold me off with that little butter knife of yours?" he laughed before grabbing his own sword and jumping down to the road, standing opposite to Naruto. The only reply he got was silence. "All right kid, you think you can play with the big boy's then so be it, just don't start whining when I start cutting off limbs." And with that he lunged bringing his own massive sword down in a vertical slash, only to be stopped by the blade of a sword that if possible was even longer than his own.
Finding himself being held at a standstill he jumped back to get a better look at his opponent. It was now that he was standing in front of him sword in hand that Zabuza knew just who he was facing. "Well fuck me, if it isn't konahas own angel of death. I'd recognise that sword anywhere. Well I guess that just makes things more interesting, though I have to say you're a lot shorter than I thought you would be."
Naruto gust gave him an annoyed glare, this not being the first time someone had commented on his diminutive size, before turning to his genin. "Stay back and protect the bridge builder, Zabuza is a high A-rank missing-nin, he's far stronger than the demon brothers."
"Ah I was wondering what had happened to them but seeing you here I can guess I won't be seeing them again." said Zabuza.
"I wouldn't say that seeing as how it seems I will be forced to separate your head from the rest of your body soon." Deadpanned Naruto before charging Zabuza and locking blades.
"You know normally I would just create a thick fog and sneak up behind you and cut your head off or something, but to be honest I've been wanting to lock blades with you for a while now, now let's have some fun." Laughed Zabuza before using the weighty of his blade to throw Naruto back a bit and charging with his own horizontal slash only to be blocked once again.
"Your overconfidence will be your end Zabuza." Said Naruto, who followed his statement up with a strong kick to the center of his chest sending him flying back.
That had shaken him and for a fraction of a second and in that time he had lost sight of his opponent. Unfortunately that was all the time Naruto needed taking a short running start he jumped into the ait to bring his sword down for a devastating blow to cut his opponent in half.
Acting completely on instinct he had honed over a life time of killing Zabuza was just able to block the attack, though the force behind it almost caused him to drop his blade.
Pushing off with his own blade Naruto landed a few feet away from the rival sword wielder landing on the dirt road without a sound.
"heh, is that all you got? I was expecting more from someone with your reputation." Grunted out Zabuza trying to convey a confidence he truly didn't feel, though neither had landed a hit yet it was clear to him that the kid was a hell of a lot faster and more agile than him.
"I simply didn't want to embarrass a fellow swordsman such as yourself, but if you wish to fight me at my all than that is your choice." And with that the air around them became so thick with killing intent that even the genin who were standing well out of the way could hardly stand. It was also at this point that Zabuza noticed another change. Before he had noted that his opponent had early glowing blue eyes, now however they were blood red.
Bringing his sword up in to a guarded stance he slowly started to circle his opponent, though prey would be a better word for it now. "Now would be a good time to pull out any jutsu you've been holding back, I would hate to finish our fight too soon."
"Cocky little gaki aren't you? But if you insist, Kirigakure no Jutsu."Suddenly all anyone could see was a never ending blanket of white. "Liver, lungs, spine, sub-cervical artery, carotid artery, brain, kidneys and heat. So many to choose from whatever will I do?" he laughed.
"Really now, you think that by simply taking away my sight that you've given yourself some kind of advantage?" he asked.
"Stop trying to sound so confidant, I don't care what you say, without your eyes you don't stand a chance."
"If you believe that so much than come and get me." He taunted
"So be it." he whispered, appearing behind the younger fighter.
"Predictable." Was the only response before the silver haired jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke indicating that it was just a shadow clone. However before he had time to fully defend himself a sharp pain exploded in his side, Naruto's sword only just missing any vital organs.
Staggering a little but otherwise unfazed Zabuza cancelled his obviously useless jutsu. "Lucky shot." Before he gathered his strength and charged once again using the weight of his sword to throw his shorted opponent back.
"You are strong Zabuza, but this fight is not going to be determined by who's the strongest." He said before diapering in a burst of speed only to appear inside Zabuza's guard to deliver a powerful kick to his sternum. "After all what good is your strength if you can't hit me." Again he blurred out of sight, this time reappearing behind him and slashing at his exposed back. Again he disappeared this time appearing back in front of him a few feet from where he struggled to stand. "Before I finish this I just want to remind you that you were the one who wanted to fight me at my full power."
"Yha, yha I brought this on myself. Now shut yer trap and let's finish this." He answered back before hefting his sword into a two handed defensive stance.
Naruto just nodded his head in consent before charging at the larger swords man, his own sword drawn back in preparation for a strong horizontal slash.
A resounding clang of metal hitting metal was resonated throughout the clearing when the two swords men meet. And soon it had become the only way to follow the match as both combatants were moving at speed none of the genin were able to follow.
"Wow, I knew sensei had to of been good, but this is unreal." It had been the first thing said from any of the genin since the beginning of the match. "I mean I can't even follow them anymore there moving so fast." Both Sakura and Sasuke could only nod in agreement. However all their thought were soon put on hold as the bloody figure of Zabuza came flying over the lake they had been fighting on, only to be stopped by one of the trees that surrounded them.
"Dam kid you really are the real deal. Hehe I can see why the call you the angel of death now, all I could see was a flash of black out there, any lesser ninja wouldn't of even seen that. To think that a village of tree huggers could produce someone like you," he coughed up a bit of blood. "You really should have been born in mist, they would have loved you."
"Perhaps, but we will never know now will we. Now is there anything else? Because I would like to be on my way." It wasn't really a question, just common cutesy between professionals.
"Just hurry the hell up already." Was his only response.
Naruto just nodded his head a raised his sword, but before he could strike the killing blow three senbon zipped passed him and imbedded themselves in to Zabuza's neck. Quickly turning his eyes were immediately on the hunter-nin standing in a tree not too far from where he was standing.
"I thank you ninja-san. I have been hunting Zabuza-san for quite some time and if it was not for you I imagine I would be hunting him still for quite some time." he said before jumping down and picking up Zabuza's sword as well as his body and shushaning away.
Naruto gave a suspicion glare to where the two had disappeared before tuning back to his three genin and Tazuna. "Tazuna-san, how far do you live from here?"
"Uh, not far at all just a half-hour walk that away." He said pointing down the road.
"Good." Was all he said as he closed of the supply of demonic chakra, his eyes going back to normal as well as the ever present killing intent dissipating back down to nothing. Unfortunately despite him not landing a hit Zabuza was one tough opponent and with the loss of demonic power flowing through his coils he soon collapsed on the road.
"Sensei!" Screamed Sakura in shock and fear.
"It's all right Sakura, he just suffering from chakra exhaustion, he'll be fine in a day or two." Said Sasuke, who was kneeling beside his now unconscious sensei. "Now get over here Kiba and help me get him to Tazuna's house."
Kiba just nodded as he looped one of Naruto's arms around his neck while Sasuke did the same to the other one. "Tazuna-san if you could lead us to your house, our sensei really does need some rest." Said Sasuke.
Tazuna just nodded his head before setting of down the dirt road that lead to his house.
XXXXXX
"Father, you made it!" greeted a relieved Tsunami. "I was so worried that Gato's men would ... but it's not important, your here and that's all that matters."
"And it's all thanks to these super ninja here, if not for them I would never have made it home." He said as he walked into the house revealing three children with another one slung over the shoulders of the two boys.
"My god what happened?" she almost screamed.
"Naruto-sensei just overexerted himself; he'll be fine in a day or two." Piped up Sakura. That was when she noticed the two pleading looks the boys behind her were giving her. "Oh right, uh do you have somewhere we could set him down, he's not as light as he looks."
"Of course, you can use the spare bedroom up stairs. But did you say sensei? He can't be any older than you all." Said Tsunami as she led them up the stairs to the spare room.
"Yha, but he's really strong. Were only genin," she said making a motion to both kiba and Sasuke. "But Naruto-sensei is already a jounin."
"She's right I saw him fight and he is most definitely a super ninja, now Gato doesn't stand a chance and I can finally finish my bridge and become famous all over the world as the best bridge builder around." Came Tazuna from down in the kitchen quickly followed by what could only be described as maniacal laughter.
"Forgive my father, sometimes he gets a bit carried away. Anyway you can put him in the spare futon here."
"Thank you." Said both boys as they unceremoniously dropped their unconscious sensei on the bed. "Gez for someone who's only as old as we are he sure as hell is isn't light."
"It's the sword." Everyone jumped when the new voice started talking. "The sheath may make it shorter but it doesn't do anything for the weight."
"Sensei, your awake?!" came the surprised voices of all three genin.
"For the moment, but that's beside the point. I just wanted to tell you to rest up, i only have a week to get you ready to face Zabuza again and I intend to make the most of it." was his only reply before he passed out again.
"What the hell did he mean by that? Zabuza is dead, we saw that hunter-nin kill him, didn't we?" asked a confused Kiba.
"I don't know either but I think we should trust sensei on this, at least until he wakes up again and can tell us himself." Answered Sakura.
"Sakuras right. We're just going to have to wait for him to wake up again, but if what he said was true then I'm not looking forward to the next week." Said Sasuke, who had noticeably paled at the thought of the kind of training they had to look forward to.
XXXXXX
It was early the next morning when the silver haired jounin woke up again. It took him a few minutes to remember that he was now in Tazuna's house and not captured by the enemy, thou the fact that his sword was lying on the floor beside him was a pretty good clue. So slowly rising out of bed he placed one unsteady foot in front of the other and slowly made his way down to where he could hear the voices of his genin as well as Tazuna and another voice that he vaguely remembered hearing during the short time he was awake last night.
"Sensei?! You're up." Almost yelled a surprised Sakura as Naruto walked down the stairs to the kitchen.
"gah, not so loud Sakura some of us are still just waking up." whined a semi-conscious Kiba.
"Will both of you shut up. We still have things we need to talk about, and you two arguing like that isn't helping." Snapped an annoyed Sasuke.
Both Sakura and Kiba stopped their arguing and went back to eating their breakfast.
"Hello, I'm afraid we didn't get a chance to be properly introduced last night, I'm Tsunami." She greeted him with a warm voice well serving him his own food.
"Hello tsunami-san. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, but you may simply call me Naruto." He responded.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Naruto-san" she said with a smile.
"It's uh ... nice to meet you as well Tsunami-san, and thank you for the breakfast." He said with a bit unease
"You're welcome, but it's the least I could do after you saved my father yesterday."
"There's no need to thank me, I was merely doing what I was hired to do." He said.
"In any case I really do appreciate everything you've done for us." She said as she turned back to do the morning dishes.
Naruto just sent her a slightly confused look before he schooled his face and turned back to his genin. "Now, last night is still a bit blurry, but I assume I mentioned something about Zabuza?"
"Yha, you said something about only having a week to train us to be ready for him. But he's dead, isn't he?" asked a confused Kiba.
"No, it took me a moment to realise, but that hunter-nin only put him into a near death state, Also whenever a hunter-nin kills one of their targets it standard procedure to remove the head for identification and to burn the rest of the body." He explained. "That's why I said I only have a week to train up, not only will we have to face Zabuza, but his accomplice as well, and I don't know how strong he is either."
"Wait, so that guy with the giant sword is still alive?" asked a now panicked Tazuna.
"Hai, but you can relax. We still have at least a week until he'll be in any shape to fight, and with myself and my team here you have nothing to worry about." He answered trying to assuage some of the older man's fears. "Now as I was saying, I only have a week to get you three in shape so finish up here and meet me out in the forest." And with that he got up from the table and walked out the back door.
XXXXXX
It was only a few minutes later that all three genin were standing in front of their sensei out in the forest.
"Now you all remember the tree walking exercise I had you complete?" It wasn't real a question so no one answered. "Then what I'm about to teach you is a more advanced version. Now follow me." He said as he turned his back and continued on further into the forest until they reached a small river. "As I said the principals of water walking are similar to the tree climbing exercise, however now you have to constantly change the amount of chakra your using to stay above the water." Finished with his explanation he turned back the way they had came and began to walk.
"Hay sensei, where are you going?" asked Kiba.
"Someone has to keep an eye on Tazuna-san, even if Zabuza will not be a threat in the immediate future dos not mean there are not others lurking out there." Was all he said before walking back out of view leaving the three genin on their own.
"Well this doesn't look so hard." Said Sasuke as he focused his chakra into his feet and took a steep out onto the water, only to fall through the surface of the water and end up waist high in cold water.
XXXXXX
It had been a very long, cold day for all three genin. And although Sakura had gotten the exercise down reasonable well by the end of the day even she was in a less than chipper mood. Unfortunately this was the time that Tazuna's grandson decided to make an appearance.
"Why do you try so hard? You're just going to die anyway." He asked in a rather melodramatic tone. "No one can stand up to Gato and his men so you should just go back to were ever you came from well you still can."
"Speak for yourself kid, I'm not going to let some little business man kill me, so just stop talking about things you don't understand." came Kiba's somewhat arrogant reply, Followed quickly by one of Sauske's monosyllabic 'hn's'.
"Why should I, it's not like you know anything about pain and suffering. I bet you never had to suffer in your entire life, living all nice and happy. So why should I listen to you anyway, you all just going to die anyway." He was almost yelling at the end.
"That was a very ignorant thing to say Inari-san" said Naruto in an unemotional voice, not even putting his chopsticks down to talk. "You should not assume things like that about people you do not know. I can assure you that although you feel as though you have suffered greatly there are many people out there who would trade places with you in an instant. I can name at least eight others off the top of my head." He said just as unemotionally as when he started.
"You don't know anything; you don't know how I've suffered. So don't tell me that there are other people out there that are worse off than me!" he yelled before running up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door.
"I'm so sorry about that, but he's never been the same ever since the incident." Apologized Tsunami for her son's behaviour.
"It's all right, but what incident are you talking about?" asked a curios Sakura.
And so Tsunami told the tale of Kiza and how he was once considered the hero of wave, how he had become a father figure for Inari, and how he had stood up to Gato when he had first started to take over their country, and of how he was killed by Gato in front of everyone.
"I know it doesn't excuse his behaviour but at least you know why he's like this now." Finished Tazuna who had to take over the story telling because Tsunami was unable to.
"That's horrible." Said Sakura who was almost moved to tears from the story.
"Well I'm defiantly going to be keeping my eye out for this Gato guy now." Said kiba rather hotly, Even Sasuke had a rather sympathetic look on his face.
It was a few minutes later when all four of them had been left alone in the kitchen after the other two had gone to bed that Sakura broke the silence. "Nee, sensei when you said that you could name at least eight other people who would want to trade places with Inari-san who were you talking about?"
The other two looked on curiously. Also wondering who he was thinking about when he had said that.
"The other jinchuuriki of course, although I have not met them all yet I can safely say that that the others would gladly change places with just about anyone." Was his only response.
"What are jinchuuriki sensei? I've never heard that word used before." Asked the ever astute Sakura.
"It means the power of human sacrifice. However in this context it refers to a person who contains one of the nine bijuu." He said as he pored himself a cup of tea.
"Wait, you mean there are people out there that have a demon inside them?" asked a shocked Kiba.
"Of course, bijuu are immortal, the only way to 'kill' them, so to speak, is to seal them away." He explained, while sipping at his tea.
"Wait you said the other jinchuuriki before does that mean ...?" she left the question at that not entirely sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
"Very astute Sakura, yes I am the jinchuuriki of the kyuubi no kitsune." That statement left all three genin in a shocked silence. After all they had been training under the man for some time now, and despite his aloof nature they had started to look up to the man as something they should strive for.
It was few moments before the silence was broken by an unusually quiet Kiba. "But you're not actually the fox right? I mean it's only sealed inside you right?"
"Very impressive kiba, many people would, and for that matter have not, come to that conclusion. Yes you are correct; I am very much a separate entity from the fox and although I can use its power it has very little influence over my mind." He said as he finished his tea.
All three genin gave a sigh of relief, though now that they thought about it wouldn't make much sense for a demon to train them in the ninja arts, not to mention that if he was the fox there was nothing stopping him from simply finishing what he started when he attacked their village all those years ago.
"So is that why you're so much stronger than us?" asked Sasuke cautiously.
"That is part of the reason yes. As well as the fact that I have been training to be a ninja since the time I was able to walk as well as a few ... other things." He said a bit uncomfortably at the end.
'It's no wonder he's so strong, to have all the power of a demon as well as being trained from an early age.' Thought a relived Sasuke, a bit of the jealousy he felt toward his sensei dissipating in the knowledge that no matter what he did it was unfair to compare himself to someone who controlled the power of a demon.
"In any case it is getting late and we have an early morning tomorrow so let's get to bed." And with that he got up, placed the tea cup in the sink and walked past the three still shell-shocked genin and up the stairs to where Tsunami had prepared a room for them.
XXXXXX
It had been another long night and not for the first time did kiba wish he wasn't quite so stubborn so as to stay out long enough to pass out in the woods. However unlike the other times he found himself being shaken awake. Sitting up with a start he took a quick survey of his surroundings and thankfully found himself in the clearing he had been using as his own training grounds. However unlike the last time instead of an empty clearing there knelling over him was one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen. "Uh ... hi" was all he could think to say.
She just smiled at him before giggling a little at his confusion. "Hi" was all she said in greeting.
"Uh ... not that I didn't mind the wakeup call and all but who are you?" he asked still a little groggy from just waking up.
"Haku, you can call me Haku." She said, her smile never leaving her face.
"Hi Haku-san you can just call me Kiba." he said his head starting to clear.
"Hello Kiba-kun it's nice to meet you." she said as she stood up so that she was now standing over his prone body.
"Ah, well it's nice to meet you to Haku-chan." He said nervously hoping she didn't take offense to his use of the chan suffix.
She just smiled at him and offered a hand to help him up. Grateful for the fact that she took his attention better than the girls back home he grateful accepted her hand and soon they were both standing.
"uh ... not that I don't mind the company but why are you here, this is a pretty out of the way place to take a walk and all?" he asked, even in the face of a pretty girl he was still a shinobi and paranoia was a shinobi's best friend.
"Oh I was just out gathering medicinal herbs; wave has a number of rare ones that can be used for all sorts of things." She answered sweetly completely destroying any suspicion kiba might of had about her.
"Well in that case can I help? It's the least I could do for making sure I didn't over sleep back there." He asked sheepishly.
Again she just giggled and nodded her head. "Sure, I wouldn't mind some company anyways."
"So uh just what are we looking for?" he asked, now kicking himself for not paying attention during the lecture's they had had on medicinal herbs back in the academy.
"I have a few here," she pulled out a small green fern looking plant from her basket. "Here you can have this one; there suppose to grow in the shade." She said as she handed him the plant.
"Right no problem." He said as he examined the plant.
It was a few minutes latter before either one of then started talking again.
"That thing on your forehead, that means you're a ninja right?" she asked
"You mean my hitai-ite? Yha I'm a genin of the leaf." He said as he proudly pointed his thumb at his forehead.
She just smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgment. Then she got a thoughtful look on her face. "if you don't mind my asking, when I found you out here it was because you were training to hard, correct?"
"Ha, well some people might say you can never train enough, but yha I kind of lost track of time and well ..." he said a bit sheepishly.
She just nodded in understanding. "Then, if it's not too much to ask, why are you training so hard?"
"Ah well to get stronger of course. Why else would I be training?" he asked not a little bit confused.
"Then let me ask you this, why do you want to get stronger." She asked
"Ah, well ... so I don't end up as dog food on one of my awesome mission I guess." Was his slightly confused reply.
"But what about your teammates, don't you want to protect them too?" she asked with an ever so subtle frown that went unnoticed by kiba.
"Well yha. But I don't really think sensei is ever going to need me to protect him, but Sasuke and Sakura, my team mates, might someday. So I guess in getting stronger maybe I'll be able to help them sometime." He finished with a contemplative look on his face.
By the end of his little speech the smile had returned to Haku's face. "That's good, I think that whenever we need to defend someone precious to us is the only time we can be truly strong." She said sagely.
"Heh I guess that makes sense. Hay do you have someone precious to you too?" he asked hoping to learn a little more about the girl in front of him.
"Hai, I do. He saved me when I was younger and ever since I've done whatever I could to help him along, in fact the herbs you have been helping me collect are for him. He was injured recently and these will help him a lot." She said with a slightly sad but still warm tone.
"Well then what are we doing just standing here talking, come on let's find some more of those herbs." Kiba said enthusiastically.
Haku just smiled one of her warm smiles and grabbed his hand leading him further off into the forest.
It was almost two hours later when the two pated way, both expressing their hope that they might meet again.
XXXXXX
The week went by quickly and soon all three shinobi found themselves on the mist covered bridge.
"Heh I've been looking forward to this, I went easy on you last time, and I'll admit I underestimated you, but you can bet that's not going to happen this time." Came the disembodied voice of Zabuza.
"Whether or not you held back last time is of no importance, the outcome will still be the same, only this time I will be sure to take your head off myself." Came the icy response from Naruto.
It was then that the mist cleared unveiling both Zabuza and his hunter-nin companion. "Don't get cocky kid, you may be good, but I got years more experience under my belt. Besides, I don't have to kill you, just hold you off long enough for my partner here to deal with the old man."
"You seem to forget that it's not just us here Zabuza-san." Still he used the same cold voice.
"What those snot nosed genin hiding behind you? Please they wouldn't stand a chance."
"I can assure you I would not of brought them here if I did not think they were ready."
"Fine if you want to get you genin killed that's no problem of mine." He then turned to his companion. "Go get them."
"Hai Zabuza-sama." Was the only thing he said before blurring out of sight only to be stopped half way by Sasuke.
"I don't think so; you're going to have to go through me to get to our client." He said as he tried to stab the hunter-nin with one of his kunai only to be stopped when his opponent used a pair of senbon to stop his attack. "Heh you are strong, but what are you going to do now?"
"this." Was his reply as he started to form single handed hand seals.
'Shit' was the only though going through Sauske's head as he jumped back to avoid the large number of ice needles that were flying at him.
Not too far away both Naruto and Zabuza were watching the fight, while watching each other of course.
"Your kids good but he doesn't stand a chance against Haku," Zabuza taunted "Hell Haku could probably give me a run for my money."
"Perhaps, but if that is the case then I will just have to take care of you quickly and finish off your apprentice myself." He said then turned to the remaining two genin. "Sakura stay there and guard Tazuna-san, Kiba if you get a chance try a help Sasuke with his opponent." He ordered before turning back to Zabuza drawing his sword and rushing him.
Zabuza blocked the initial attack easily. "I told you I wasn't going to hold back this time." He said before pumping chakra to his arms and throwing Naruto back.
"You were using weight seals before." It wasn't a question but it did prove to be a slight problem.
"Figured it out in one, it's been so long since I've had to fight anyone strong enough to warrant taking them off I almost forgot they were on there. But let's see how you do now that were matched for speed." He said as he charged swinging his massive sword like it was a simple ninjato.
Naruto ducked the first attack before jumping back and bringing his own blade into a defensive stance and blocking the next incoming strike. "You have gotten faster, I will give you that. But your form is too rigid; you've forgotten that your sword is only one of your weapons." He said before landing a powerful kick to his mid section. This in turn caused him to lose his focused giving Naruto some time to prepare for his next attack.
"Heh, all right kid you really are the real deal, and as much as I would like to continue to lock blades with you I have a job to do and you're in my way. Kirigakure no Jutsu." Soon the section of the bridge they were standing on was completely covered in fog even thicker than when they had first meet.
"You may of found me last time, but this fog is almost ten times thicker then before, in fact it's so thick that it even distorts sound, so let's see you find me now." His voice was coming from everywhere again and truly Naruto has a little baffled about what to do. Sure he had a number of jutsu that could take out Zabuza, or at least his mist, in one shot. The problem was that most of them would also take out a good portion of the bridge they were supposed to protect.
As Naruto found himself trapped in Zabuza's mist Sasuke was having no better luck against the mysteries hunter-nin.
"You can't win, just give up now and I will spare your life." Said the masked ninja.
Sasuke, who now had a good collection of small ice senbon sticking out of his body only gritted his teeth and charged once again.
"Very well I can see trying to talk you out of this is imposable, however Zabuza-sama still needs my help so I will end this quickly." With that the hunter-nin started a number of hand seals and soon both fighters were now trapped in a dome of ice mirrors. "This is my ultimate attack Demonic ice crystal mirrors. You are now trapped pleas surrender you have no hope of winning now."
"I've never surrendered yet and I'm not about to start now." A slight exaggeration seeing as how he had never fought anyone, besides the demon brothers, to surrender too but the hunter-nin didn't need to know that.
"Very well, if this is how it must be than the least I can do for you is make it quick." And with that the Nin melted into one of the mirror behind him and soon his reflection was in all of them.
'Shit' he found himself thinking this more and more often while he was fighting the hunter-nin but now as he was dodging hundred of senbon it was never so strong.
It could only have been a minute at the most but already he was starting to slow down and the hunter-nin could see this. However before the final blow could be delivered both Nin stopped in their track when the loud yell of Dual Piercing Fang was heard and two mini tornados came rushing in and smashed into one on the demonic mirrors. Unfortunately even with the power of two Dual Piercing Fan's the mirror was unscathed.
"uhg, what are those things made of?" asked a slightly groggy Kiba.
"Idiot what are you doing in here?" yelled an angry Sasuke.
"Saving your sorry ass, that's what." Snapped back Kiba.
"You idiot, now were both trapped in here, if you had wanted to help you should of attacked from the outside!" yell an exasperated Sasuke.
"Well hind sight twenty-twenty isn't it. But I'm in here now any way so we're just going to have to make due, you ungrateful ass." He muttered the last part under his breath.
"If you two are finished I will give you another chance to surrender, please I do not wish to kill you but if you continue to stand in my way I will have no choice."
"Whatever," Kiba then turned to Sasuke. "So what's the plan?"
All Sasuke could do was shake his head at his teammates stupidity.
Back with Zabuza and Naruto things had slowed down to a standstill, Naruto could not locate Zabuza in the mist and any time Zabuza tried to attack he was blocked effortlessly.
"You know this is really starting to get annoying." Growled out an obviously annoyed Zabuza.
"Agreed but this is your jutsu so all you have to do is drop it and I can finish this." He really was spending too much time around both kakashi and kiba; he never talked this much during a battle in the past.
"You'd like that wouldn't yha, but it's just a matter of time, you'll slip up and then I'll finish this." Said a smug Zabuza.
Although the chances of him slipping up were minuscule it really was time he finished this. He only hoped the bridge didn't take any damage. "Great breakthrough: wind release." Soon there was almost hurricane force winds blowing across the bridge and, along with pieces of stone and cement, Zabuza was sent flying.
Getting back to his feet shakily he didn't even notice that the silver haired jounin was now standing behind him until he felt Masamune protruding out of his gut. Then just as quickly the shorter jounin was now standing in front of him it time to end this.
All Zabuza could do was grin at the person who would be his executioner.
Back in the dome of mirrors things were not goings as smoothly for the Konaha-nins. Things had been looking up for a time when Sasuke had developed his sharingan but unfortunately by that time both genin were already tiered from dodging senbon, not to mention the fact that they weren't entirely successful in that regard and were already starting to look like pincushions. Unfortunately just as they had developed a strategy for taking care of the missing-nin said missing-nin decided to get serious and sent a barrage of senbon at Kiba, it was then that Sasuke did something that surprise everyone in the dome and took the hit for Kiba.
"I am sorry about what happened, but you can take solace in the fact that he died like a true shinobi." Said the hunter-nin with genuine remorse in his voice.
"Shut up." It came out as a whisper. "Just shut up! He gave his life to protect me!" yelled an irate Kiba.
It was then that the mysterious hunter-nin steeped out of the mirror he had been hiding in. "I am sorry but your friend need not die in vain, if you would just surrender I will spare your life."
"I don't think so. Get him Akamaru!" yelled out Kiba.
It was then the hunter-nin realised her mistake, she had been so focussed on the two genin then she had completely forgotten about the small dog that went everywhere with Kiba. and before she had a chance to turn to face the new threat a mini tornado of clawing biting dog flew into her, braking her concentration causing her jutsu to end.
"Good job Akamaru, now let's finish this. Dual Piercing Fang!" he yelled before turning himself into a miniature tornado himself and as one they both hit the hunter-nin, Kiba in the chest and Akamaru hitting the nin strait in the face casing the mask to crack.
"Ha let's see you get up from that." he boasted. It was then when the dust had cleared that he finally got to see the hunter-nin unmasked, and to say he was shocked would have been an understatement. "Haku? What the ... I ... what?" was the only thing he could seem to say.
She was barely able to stand but still she refused to give into her body demands. "I'm sorry Kiba-kun but I must do this, Zabuza-sama needed the money from this mission to fulfill his dream."
"But why are you with a guy like him anyway, I mean you're nothing like him. So why do you have to do what he tells you to?" asked Kiba trying to wrap him mind around the situation.
"Because Zabuza-sama is my precious person, I would do anything I could to protect him and his dreams." Said Haku with a slight smile on her face despite the pain she felt in her body.
"But why? I still don't understand why you would follow someone like that." asked Kiba desperately trying to understand what was going on.
And so she told him about her past, how she had been born in Mizu no Kuni, about the blood purges and fear of people with Kekkei Genkai, about how she had been forced to kill her father, how she had lived on the streets until Zabuza found her and given her a purpose in life. "So you see I am Zabuza-sama's tool. But he has no need for a broken tool so please kill me, don't make me feel what it's like to be like that again." she was pleading with him now.
"I ... what ... no it doesn't have to be like that, you can't just give up like that!" he yelled in angry frustration.
"Please, please." She was almost in tears now.
Kiba had no idea what he was suppose to do, on one had she had just killed his teammate and even if they didn't exactly get along he was still a teammate and a friend. But on the other he couldn't get rid of the image of the girl he had spent that morning picking herbs with. Finally, very slowly he reached down and grabbed on of his kunai from his hip pouch. "Are you absolutely sure it has to be this way?" he asked hoping and praying that she would answer in the negative.
The only response he got was a tearful nod. And so he drew back his knife and was just about to plunge it into the tearful girl's heart when a great wind blew along the bridge sending debris and dust flying in the air. Finally when the air cleared they were both meet with the sight of a battered Zabuza with a large gash in his side.
"Zabuza-sama!" cried out the girl when she saw that standing in front of him was a relatively unharmed Naruto with his blade drawn ready to impale the taller jounin. It was then that she made a split second decision she turned to Kiba, took a quick look into his eyes and did something that probable surprised her as much as Kiba, she planted a soft kiss on his cheek then turned and ran toward Zabuza, only making there a split second before Naruto's blade. And so instead of finishing Zabuza his sword was now implanted in the chest of Haku who held it with both hands to keep it from going all the way through her body.
Naruto just gave the girl an odd look not understanding why she had taken the blow.
"I'm sor ... sorry Zabuza-sama, I ... don't think I'm going to be able to help yo ... you any more" she said in-between coughing up blood.
"Its fine Haku, you've done just fine." he said as he hefted his sword to make w horizontal slash that would cut through both Naruto and Haku. It was only because Naruto was able to jump back pulling his sword out in the process and dropping Haku to the ground did either of them make it out unharmed.
Unfortunately Zabuza overestimated his strength and was carried away by the momentum of his sword.
"You might as well just give up; you can't even hold you blade anymore." Said Naruto a little less coldly than normally.
However before Zabuza could come back with any reply out of what was left of the mist came an army of bandits lead by a small business man.
"Gato, what the hell are you doing here? And what's with all the men?" asked a cautious Zabuza all ready having a good idea what was about to happen.
"Hehehe, the plans changed Zabuza, actual I planed on doing this from the start. Zabuza I'm going to have you killed here, I never planned on paying you!" yelled out an excited Goto. "It's so much cheaper this way, I hire you missing nin to weaken the enemy then take care of everyone with numbers, much more economical this way." The only problem was you, you were suppose to take care of all the others but I guess the legend of the 'demon of the bloody mist' was just that a legend, honestly you look more like a cute little baby devil." He laughed.
All the ninja on the bridge were stone still as they looked over the army that Gato had brought with him, each silently trying to calculate their chances.
"Oh look it's that bitch that broke my arm, too bad you killed her," Gato directed this to Naruto. "I bet we could have had all kinds of fun, after I had properly broken her in of course."
"Hay don't go talking about Haku like that!" yelled kiba as he rushed toward the group of thugs only to be stopped by Naruto.
"Don't be foolish, were outnumbered as it is we don't need you rushing in as well." Reprimanded Naruto.
Kiba pretended not to hear him. "And you, how can you let them talk about Haku like that, she really cared about you ya know."
"Shut up kid." Was Zabuza's lifeless response.
"Don't you feel anything at all? Weren't you two always together?" Kiba wasn't entirely sure why he cared about this so much, but he did and he needed to know the answer to his question.
"We shinobi are simply tools. What I wanted was her blood not her. As I was used by Gato I used her. That's just how the world works there are those that are used and those who use others, that's the world we live in as shinobi." Answered Zabuza.
"Do you ... do you really mean that?" asked kiba more put off than he had ever felt in his life.
The only response Zabuza gave was silence.
"No I won't accept that, she loved you, she really did, enough to give her life to save yours. Are you really telling me that that means nothing to you? Do you really ... really not feel anything? she threw away her life for you without a dream of her own, to die as a tool, that's ... that's just too much!" yelled out Kiba in-between sobs, tears freely flowing.
"Kid ... you don't need to say anymore." Said Zabuza as he turned to face kiba tears streaming down his face. "It pained her to fight you; she not only fought for me but for you guys to. She was always to kind." He looked down to the prone body of the girl only a few feet away. "ya know I'm glad I fought you guys in the end, and you may be right, shinobi are still human, maybe we can't become emotionless weapons." He then turned to face Kiba fully." look kid I want yo to do me a favour," then using all his strength he tossed his sword to Kiba who caught it but summarily fell on his but under the weight of it. "I want you to protect Haku with this kid; I want you to look out for her."
"But she's dead, how can I protect her now?" asked a now confused kiba.
It was now that his attention was focussed on her body that he saw that her chest was still moving up and down.
"just remember to look out for her, and if anything doe's happen to her, you better believe I'll find some way out of hell and kick your ass." For the first time in a while a smile could be seen on Zabuza face. "Now as for you" he now turned to face Gato and his men. "I think it's time you learned just why they call me 'demon of the hidden mist.'" And with that he grabbed two kunai from a compartment in his pants and charged the group of thugs.
"That enough kill them!" yelled Gato as he retreated to the back of his army.
And with a war cry the army of thugs charged forward to kill the charging Zabuza. However Zabuza soon proved just why he was an A-rank missing-nin, stabbing and slashing his way through the army leaving dozens of body's in his wake. However he did not make it out of his suicide charge uninjured and by the time he was standing in front of Gato himself he had a number of swords, spears and knives sticking out of his back.
"No, no go away, leave me alone." cried out Gato now faced with the bloody spectre of what could only be described as a true demon.
"I don't think so Gato, no I plan on taking you to hell with me, and then will see whether I'm a true demon or just some baby devil." And with that he plunged the two bloody kunai deep into Gato's neck and kicked his lifeless corps over the edge of the bridge. However as Gato's blood corpse sunk into the depth of the oceanic strength gave out and he promptly collapsed.
For a few minutes all the hired hugs just stood there around Zabuza's body all afraid to even approach him. It was during this time that sakura let out a loud scream breaking the silence. "Sasuke-kun your alive!"
However the happy moment was shot lived as it seemed the noise had also broken the remainder of the thugs out of their stupor and now without their boss to pay them they started to look to the village with hungry eyes.
"Hay now don't forget about us now!" yelled out one of the braver ones. "You dam ninja killed our meal ticket, now were going to kill ya and them were going to take what we want from that town over there as compensation!" then as one the reminder of Gato's army charged.
Naruto just looked at everyone else on the bridge. "Tazuna-san, I would recommend looking away, this is not going to be something you will want to see."
Of course Tazuna took this as not watching them all die, but he was an old man and he would be dammed if he didn't face his death head on, soon he would be regretting that decision.
After giving his warning he turned to his genin. "Stay there and if any one makes it past me it will be up to you to protect Tazuna." Getting a nod from his genin Naruto turned to the charging thugs, and in true shinobi fashion disappeared from sight only to reaper in the middle of the mob. "I will only give you one chance to lay down your arms and walk away from here." He said his voice having taken back its cold edge.
"Hehe you think were intimidated by you, your just a kid!" yelled out one of the closest thugs.
"Very well then." And with that he closed his eyes brought his sword up into an offensive stance and then when he snapped his eyes open they were no longer the creepy glowing blue but a deep blood red. "You have made your choice." And with that he stretched out his free hand the thickest concentration of men. The army of men stopped for a moment trying to figure out just what the silver haired kid was up to when the noticed that the temperature around them was starting to increase to uncomfortable levels. "FLARE!" suddenly a giant cone of fire sprouted out from the ground surrounding a large number of men, already there screams fading into nothing. As the flames died down every one strained themselves to see just what had happened. However the only thing that moved was the dust that had been picked up by the wind.
Taking advantage of his opponent's shock he once again sped off, only this time instead of simply appearing somewhere else he cut down all the men who were standing in his way. Arms, heads and other assorted body parts soon feel to the ground, soon followed by the rest of the body as he quickly moved throughout the mass of men, hacking and slicing until there was no one left standing.
All the genin as well as one old bridge builder were left standing there stunned by the carnage they had just seen. And although not everyone was dead yet, they all soon would be from either blood loss or infection seeing as how there wasn't a single body in that field of corpses that had all its limbs.
And there he was blood dripping off the end of his sword but otherwise unmarred from the massacre he had just initiated. "Tazuna-san I believe you will be able to finish your bridge unmolested now, and I apologise for any damage that the bridge may have sustain during the battles of the day."
All Tazuna could do was nod dumbly, deeply impressed by the boys skills and a little bit frightened.
"You three grab Haku-san and bring her back to the house, will let her heal up there." Like always his voice betrayed no emotion that might let them know his opinion on the situation but kiba in a hurry to make sure his new friend was safe didn't bothered trying to figure out their sensei and simply hurry over to the fallen girl's side.
He then turned back to Tazuna. "Tazuna-san I hope you don't mind the extra company, but I assure you that we as well as Haku-san will be leaving as soon as the bridge is finished."
"Uh, no problem, baring any major problems it should only take a week at the most to finish and I'm sure Tsunami will have no problem having another mouth to feed, especially now that Gato's dead and the price of food will be dropping." Said Tazuna still a little wary about the man standing in front of him.
"Very well then, I will remain behind to clean this up." He then pointed to his genin. "They will be going back to your house to tend to Haku."
XXXXXX
A/N well there we go it took a while longer than I would of liked but seeing as how its twice as long as my usual chapters it all works out.
As you can see I finished the wave arc in on (long) chapter, the reason is I'm trying to get through the parts I'm keeping cannon so I can start on my original stuff. Unfortunately I have that planed to stat after the Tsunade arc so there still a while to go.
Also some of you may be wondering about Inari and tsunami, easy answer Naruto left a shadow clone, but seeing as how motivational speeches aren't his forte Inari didn't gather the town's people.
Next Haku, one yes he is a girl (and I don't care what cannon says Haku's way to girly looking to be a boy). Two in case you haven't noticed I've been trying to make characters a mix of their Naruto selves and a person from FF7. I'll let you al guess who's who, not that it's very hard to figure it out so far, but if you get it right I'll give toy an E-cookie (not the bad virus kind either)
Anyway I think that's it for now, so till next time.
And as always reviews make me type faster.