Eldeweiss: I'm glad you found it so emotional. I was worried I wouldn't be able to properly convey Haku's death. I'm finding writing somewhat difficult, but fun.

serialkeller: Yeah it does, but depending on how well this story does I may write up other stories I had ideas for. Haku will play a major role in one of them if I do. Too many authors write dozens of stories all with the same pairing. It's annoying.

Chapter 9

(Wave Bridge)

Zabuza had picked up Haku's body and began carrying it back to Wave. He paused just after passing Kakashi and spoke without turning around. "Whatever else happens, Gatō's head is mine."

The team, excluding Menma, watched him go before turning their attention to the village. It was a mess. Many buildings were collapsed and destroyed, while others were on fire. The surrounding forest was just catching fire as well.

"Come on, let's put those fires out," Kakashi said quietly. Most of the team followed after him, leaving Menma and Sakura.

Menma stared at the spot Haku had been lying, lost in thought. "Menma?" Sakura's voiced was laced with worry. He turned to stare out silently at the results of Haku's attack.

After nearly an entire minute of staring he nodded as though he came to an understanding. He turned around with a determined look on his face. "Let's go, we need to help with those fires."

Sakura cast a quick glance at the ocean, remembering Haku's last words, before chasing after him and the rest of their team.

'Could I make the same sacrifice?'

The villagers had returned shortly after the team had reached the village and begun putting out the fires. Everyone that could fight was armed and ready. That attack had been the last straw. It was time to deal with Gatō once and for all.

In the first couple of days after the attack the genin learned that Tenzō had the legendary Mokuton bloodline. He had used his abilities to help reconstruct the village. They had wanted to question him about it, but like everything else that wasn't immediately important to the mission, it got pushed to the back of their minds.

They spent a week training the villagers in proper battle tactics and formations. They still needed a lot of work, but they would be facing undisciplined thugs, so even the smallest advantage would help.

Zabuza returned at the end of the first week. He didn't speak anymore, but it didn't stop him from spending the next week training the villagers how to properly wield their weapons. He may have tried to convince people in the past that Haku was just a tool, but everyone could see it was otherwise. It was like the man was already dead and simply waiting for his own death to come so that he could see him again.

(Wave Shore)

Two weeks had passed since the ambush that had claimed Haku's life. It was the middle of the night and in the morning they were going to start planning how to attack Gatō's castle.

Menma was standing on the beach that was the furthest possible point from both Wave Village and Gatō's castle.

"If I don't want them wasting more time building catapults and a long drawn out siege, this is it." He looked down at his right forearm. In the light of the nearly full moon his new summoning tattoo could be seen. He had just finished the seals. Starting just below his wrist on his hand and snaking up his right forearm was a tribal looking nine-tailed fox.

"Moment of truth. God I hope he was kidding about the blowing us up part." Menma bit his left thumb and swiped it across the tattoo. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." He concentrated on releasing only the smallest amount of power. With a burst of power the great Kyūbi no Yōko appeared in all his glory. Almost.

"I'm... free?"

Menma held up his forearm to show the beast his tattoo. "I finished it. I can now officially summon you from the seal."

"Why am I so weak? Give me the rest of my power!"

"Sorry, Ichibi noYōko, but this was just a test run to make sure I didn't blow us up. I'll let you out to cause chaos soon," Menma replied with a grin.

"You had better, runt," the beast glared at him.

"Yeah yeah." Menma released the summon and the Kyūbi vanished back into the seal. Menma staggered around a moment before hurrying back to the village. Hopefully with this the attack would go smoother.

(Wave Village)

Team 7, Zabuza, Tazuna, and several other key villagers, were in a new building built by Tenzō planning the assault on Gatō's castle.

"It'll take us some time to build catapults to take down those walls," said one of the villagers attending the meeting. "To build enough and get them in place I'd say... a week, maybe two."

"Actually," Menma said as he stepped forward from a shaded corner he had been standing in, "those walls won't be a problem. We won't need catapults, let me deal with them."

"Even the strongest ninja in the world couldn't tear those walls down without siege equipment," sneered one of the villagers.

"As much faith as I have in you, Menma," Kakashi added, "you don't have the power to tear them down yourself."

"Both true statements." Menma said, holding up his bandaged right arm. He pulled the wraps off revealing his summoning tattoo. "But I never said I would be the one doing it."

Kakashi's eye widened. "Then last night... you actually managed it? You can summon Kyūbi?"

"The monster that almost destroyed Konoha?" Another random villager asked. "Why not just let him destroy the castle and Gatō then?"

"Because Gatō is neither mine nor the Kyūbi's to kill," Menma said, glancing at Zabuza.

"So?" The villager persisted. "Then just have it destroy certain things."

Menma frowned. "The Kyūbi is like a hurricane, or a tsunami, a force of nature. I can turn him towards a direction and unleash him and he'll cause mass destruction, not surgical strikes. I can summon him to take out the walls, but then I'll have to dismiss him so he doesn't take out anything else." Zabuza gave him a nod of appreciation, which he returned.

Kakashi nodded and turned to Tazuna. "Get everyone ready. Gatō dies tonight."

(Forest outside Gatō's Castle)

The combined force of villagers and ninja stood at the edge of the forest looking at the large castle in the distance. In front of them, lit by the full moon, was a large open plain. Like the previous base Gatō had cut down the trees around it creating a clearing that denied enemies cover.

"Well, let's see this monster of yours," sneered the same villager from the meeting. Menma ignored him and turned his head to look at Kakashi. Kakashi simply nodded and Menma stepped forward into the plain.

He calmly pulled the wrap off his arm. The villagers tensed.

He bit his thumb and smeared blood on the seal. The thugs on the walls turned and looked out into the night.

He slowly went through the hand seals. The thugs started pointing and shouting.

He slammed his hand on the ground with a whisper of "Kuchiyose no Jutsu.". The thugs raised the alarm in the castle.

With a roar Kyūbi appeared, however he was restricted to three tails. Thugs flooded on to the castle walls.

"You want to have some fun, right?" Menma asked the beast. "See that wall with all those insects on it? Do me a favor and destroy it all." With a maniacal grin the Kyūbi charged the castle and began destroying the walls.

The villagers sent up a roar and chased after the beast.

"When I dismiss the Kyūbi it'll leave me temporarily weakened," Menma informed them.

"Then you'll stay here with Sakura and Sasuke. Once you've recovered, join the attack," Kakashi commanded. With that, the three elder ninja rushed to join.

(Plains outside Gatō's Castle.)

Kyūbi made short work of the walls and thugs so it was only minutes later that Menma dismissed him and collapsed to his knees to catch his breath. "Ugh, I need to train so I can control his power better."

"Oh? And what power might that be?" A sinister voice came from behind them. Sasuke and Sakura spun around, instantly on guard. Menma simply looked over his shoulder, too exhausted to do anything more.

A pale man with straight long black hair rose from the ground before them. His amber eyes had slit pupils and purple markings surrounding them.

"Who are you? One of Gatō's lackeys?" Sasuke asked warily.

"Why, I'm just a concerned citizen trying to find out what all this fuss is about," the man replied with a grin.

"Except that all the 'concerned citizens' are back there trying to kill a tyrant," Sakura snapped.

"Kukuku. It seems I've been caught," the man said, his smile growing wider.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan. "Then we'll deal with you before Gatō."

The man jumped backwards towards the forest, summoning a giant snake as he did so.

"You two deal with him. I'll take care of the snake," Menma said as he struggled to stand.

The man let out another creepy laugh and disappeared into the forest. His summon snake, diving towards the group. Sasuke and Sakura nodded and jumped past the snake to chase the man down.

Menma looked passively at the snake bearing down on him and readied himself.

(Gatō's Castle)

Zabuza should have been dead several times over. His original wounds from Gatō's betrayal joined with those he had suffered in the ambush at the village combined the new injuries he suffered as he forced his way through the castle had left him a mess. But he couldn't die. Not yet. Not while that worm still lived.

He reached a large set of double doors and kicked them open. Inside he found a hallway. It was ornately decorated with tapestries hanging from the walls. They all bore the same icon on them that vaguely resembled the international symbol for currency, Gatō's personal crest. At the far end of the hall was a large throne upon which sat Gatō. Between the throne and the doorway stood a dozen ninja all wearing forehead protectors with that same stupid crest.

"Whoever brings me his head gets double, no triple pay!" The midget cried. The pseudo-ninja all jumped at Zabuza.

Zabuza charged, his eyes never leaving Gatō. The enemies were all throwing themselves at him so all he had to do was swing his sword. He took more and more wounds as he cut his way through the ninja, his clothes were tattered and his facial wrappings fell away. With a final swing a head rolled across the floor. Gatō was dead.

Zabuza fell backwards to the floor with a growing puddle beneath him. His eyes were losing focus but moved as though he could see something else in the room.

"Didn't even leave my side in death, huh? You're too soft, Haku."

"Of course. I had to wait to welcome you home, after all."

"Home?" He let out a wet laugh. "I doubt I'll be going to the same place as you."

"My place is by your side, wherever that may be. Besides, home is where the people you care about are."

Zabuza grunted as his eyes drooped. "In that case... I'm home... son."

"Welcome home."

There, in that room filled with blood and death, the Demon of the Mist died, with a happy smile on his face.

(Plains outside Gatō's Castle)

Menma had struggled at first. How does one fight a snake the size of a building? The damn thing had eaten more mud clones than he cared to count. Stabbing it seemed like a good idea. But where? The scales were a natural armor.

The two faced off briefly. The snake had slowed down after how much mud it had consumed. It's tongue flicked lazily out of its mouth.

Menma activated his Sharingan hoping it would give him some insight into the creature. Then it struck him 'The eyes!'. He quickly created two mud clones and sent them to wait near the treeline. As the snake dove at him to eat him he used the same trick he had been since the fight started. He used Kawarimi on a clone. The difference this time, was that he immediately followed it by using henge to transform into a shuriken for the second clone to throw at the snake. The clone missed, but it was close enough for him to unhenge and stab the snake in the eye with a kunai.

The snake hissed and flailed around. He tried to stick to it with chakra but the scales were too slick. He slipped off the far side of the snake and slashed it's remaining eye as he fell. He dodged the writhing animal and jumped away so he wouldn't be crushed.

With the snake distracted he shed his coat and used Kawarimi on the second clone. As he dashed off into the trees after his teammates the remaining clone picked up his coat and put it on. The snake's tongue flicked out again, and it focused on the clone.

(Forest outside Gatō's Castle)

Sasuke and Sakura were having a tough time with their opponent. He would dodge nearly everything they threw at him and the few times they did get a good hit on him, it turned out to be a mud clone. They were starting to get angry. It was bad enough when they sparred with Menma they didn't need an enemy trying to kill them using the same tactics.

The man appeared behind them again, snakes shot from his arm and struck Sakura before whipping her into a tree, dazing her.

"I'm disappointed. You'll never defeat Itachi when you're so weak," the man said.

"You know where Itachi is? Tell me!" Sasuke demanded.

"You'll have to defeat me if you want to find out."

Sasuke rushed at him only to get viciously kicked back. He then pulled out a dozen shuriken and threw them at the man. The man, seeing the ninja wire attached to them prepared to jump out of the way and nearly tripped when he tried. He looked down to see Sakura had recovered enough to latch on to his feet to keep him from moving. He sneered and raised his hand to smack her across the face but got wrapped in the wire. Sakura let go and with a jerk, he found himself flying through the air and into another tree.

"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" Fire streamed down the wires and slammed into him as he tried to wriggle free of the tree and wires. After ten seconds of holding it, he let it go and the flames died down.

The figured struggled up to its feet. His skin was blackened and charred with portions dripping like wax. Two hands shot out of his mouth and forced it open. It opened wide before being pulled down revealing the man without injures and covered in goo.

"You did better than I expected." The man made a hand sign and his head shot forward, biting Sasuke on the neck. After leaving a mark his head pulled back. "So I'll give you that gift. We'll meet again, Sasuke-kun."

He sank into the ground and vanished.

Menma had trouble finding his teammates. He guessed that the man was leading them away from him and the snake to prevent him from helping them. Since he couldn't find them he decided to cut the man off at the bridge. A stranger that wasn't working for Gatō wouldn't travel all the way out to Wave just to kill some genin. His bet was on a ninja from a rival village. Someone trying to steal the Sharingan, no doubt. He just hoped the man arrived by land and not by sea. If he had a ship he would never find them.

He didn't wait more than ten minutes before the man showed up. Alone.

"Where are they? What did you do to them?!" He demanded, Sharingan blazing.

"Sharingan? So he wasn't lying, you really do have one. Kukuku."

"He? He who?" Menma growled.

"What was his name again? Ah, yes, Eiichi. He said he almost killed you when you were younger, right after he killed his wife."

Rage filled Menma's mind when he heard that name and he threw himself at the man, Kyūbi's chakra bubbling out of him and forming three tails.

The man grabbed Menma's outstretched arms and flipped him back over his head using his own momentum to send him flying.

"Now, now, it isn't polite to interrupt someone when they're talk-"

Menma flew at him again. When the man went to repeat the throw Menma latched on to one of the arms and reversed it on him, using his moment to throw the man in turn. He didn't let go of the arm however, and it tore off as the man flew away.

Seeing the man lie on the ground with an arm missing cooled his rage and the cloak dissipated.

"Now, tell me where he is," he demanded.

The man's head seemed to bulge and another version of the man without a missing arm slithered its way out of the mouth of the one lying on the bridge.

"Forcing me to use it twice in one evening," the man said while standing. "Konoha ninja are talented. You've earned my interest. I think I'll leave you with a parting gift as well." He formed the same hand sign and his head shot out. Menma, caught off-guard, barely managed to bring his arm up in time to block him. The man's teeth sank into his left forearm and left a mark.

Menma grit his teeth in pain. "Damn you, monster. Where is he?!"

"Well now, that was rude, I have a name you know. My name is Orochimaru, and if you want to find that man, you will come with me."

"The only reason I would follow you is to kill you," Menma spat out.

"Kukuku. One of you will join me. If you will not, then Sasuke-kun will," the man said, sinking into the ground. "After all, we both know how far he'll go to get revenge."

Menma sagged to the ground, the exhaustion from the Kyūbi's chakra and the pain from the bite overcoming him.

'Sasuke wouldn't go that far for revenge, not anymore... right?'

(Konoha)

By the time Menma had returned to consciousness the battle was over and the villagers were celebrating. Wave was free.

After taking a beating at the joined forces of ninja and villagers, and finding out that Zabuza had snuck past everyone and assassinated Gatō, the majority of the remaining thugs fled or surrendered.

Kakashi had apparently already buried Zabuza next to Haku, leaving the sword as a tombstone.

The bridge had been named. Originally, Inari had suggested they name it after Menma. He had shot that idea down quickly. "Who the hell names a bridge after ramen toppings?" He had asked. Eventually they had settled for The Bridge of Heroes in honor of all those that died in the fighting and to remind them that heroes really do exist.

Team 7 had been forced to stay for two days after the battle as the village celebrated. They had finally managed to convince them that they needed to return home and had set out earlier that day.

They had left the gates an hour ago with Kakashi dismissing them and telling them to get some rest. No doubt they would be meeting the Hokage the next day for debriefing.

Menma stood in his apartment bathroom looking at himself in the mirror after a shower. Somehow over the course of the mission to Wave his hair had grown out to shoulder length. With how busy they had constantly seemed he hadn't bothered to check his appearance, much less worry about hair cuts.

'We were only gone two... three months? How long was it?' He looked over at his untouched calendar as if it would have magically kept track of the days without him there to take care of it.

He decided he simply didn't care enough to bother with it. Shoulder length it will stay. He finished drying it before collapsing into his bed. 'Let the nightmares come. I need sleep after Wave.'

His nightmares weren't the usual fare this time. He dreamt of another life.

He dreamt he was a blonde-haired, loud-mouthed idiot screaming about being Hokage.

He dreamt he had a massive crush on Sakura, despite her abusive behaviour.

He dreamt of Sasuke, throwing away everything for the sake of revenge. His friends, his village, his future, all of it was discarded like so much trash.

He dreamt of Haku pouring his life into an attack to protect the person he cared about more than anything else in the world.

A sudden pounding on the door woke him up. The sunlight blinded him as he jerked awake.

(Hokage's Office)

Their debriefing had just finished.

"Now, before you leave, we have something else to discuss," Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe. "I have bad news and I have good news. Which would you like first?"

"The bad news," Sakura blurted out before anyone else could respond.

"The bad news is that the chūnin exams started a week ago. The rest of your classmates have entered. You, however, have missed your chance at entering them. The finals take place in a month."

Team 7 seemed crushed at this. Their friends were going to surpass them.

"After careful consideration, reviewing the results of your mission in Wave, and on the recommendation of both Kakashi and Tenzō..." He paused and pulled out three vests, placing them on the desk in front of him. "You have all been promoted to chūnin due to your efforts on the field of battle. Congratulations."

Team 7 stood in shock.

Hiruzen leaned forward and propped his hand up beside his mouth like he was telling them a secret. "That was the good news," he stage-whispered.

The three of them stepped forward and took their vests. Sasuke had a cocky grin on his face as he held his. Sakura was trying very hard not to squeal as she put hers on. Menma grinned and sealed it away in a scroll.

"Team 7 will have time off while the exams are going on. Make sure you support your peers in the finals. You are dismissed."

End Chapter 9

A/N:

Wave is officially over.

There will probably be a bit of filler in the month-long break for the exams. I keep forgetting to add things in chapters that are possibly important. Maybe. I'll have to check.

I apologize for any joined words, bad grammar, and typos. I'm feeling particularly lazy today.