Blood poured down Shi's back as she finally managed to get back into her crouch. Sakura, concerned, took a step forward.
"S-Shi? Are you… okay?"
Shi turned her snarling face towards Sakura, letting out a low growl, causing Sakura to back off, tears pricking the corner of her eyes. T-This isn't Shi! Something's wrong with her!
"Shi!" She shouted. "Shi! Come back! S-Stop being this… this thing!"
Her words didn't seem to have any effect at all on Shi until a murderous chakra suddenly surrounded the area. Sakura's whole body shook, but Shi simply looked away from her and let out a growl before charging into the mist once more.
Kakashi, having felt the same chakra and understanding that it was the cause of the ninetails' seal weakening, quickly began preparing his scroll to finish this fight. Brushing his thumb on the wound on his hand, he smeared it across the scroll, shouting at Zabuza the whole time.
"Zabuza, can you hear me… Neither of us has time to waste. This might not suit your style, but let's end the fun and finish this now!"
Zabuza snickered at Kakashi's words. "Hmph… Sounds interesting. What can you do in this situation? Kakashi, show me!"
Kakashi caught the falling scroll and did the hand signs, before slamming his palm into the ground. Ninpou Summon! Earth Tracking Fang no Jutsu! Zabuza, not knowing what Kakashi had done, continued to wait, about ready to set his own plan into motion.
"Hmph, whatever you do is useless. You can't figure out where I am, but I know exactly where you are. Kakashi, you are trapped by my jutsu!"
Suddenly, the ground below Zabuza began to shake and he was only able to take half a step back before a group of dogs jumped out of the ground and held him down, giving him nowhere to go.
Walking towards him, Kakashi said, "If eyes and ears don't work, then just use your nose. That's what happens when you have your eyes shut in the mist. This summoning is especially for tracking down an opponent. The reason I purposely let my blood spill was for this. These are my cute nin dogs. Their sense of smell exceeds that of all other dogs. You are the one trapped in my jutsu. The mist has cleared, Zabuza, and your future is death."
As the mist slowly began to lift, Shi jumped out to Kakashi's right, growling as the grey chakra around her pulsated dangerously. Kakashi, as surprised as he was, still tried to calm her down. It's not good if the ninetails gets even more riled up because of her, although it seems to have calmed down for now.
"Shi, let me handle this." He said calmly, hoping that she could still hear him somehow.
Zabuza, on the other hand, chuckled. "Why bother, Kakashi? Isn't it obvious she can't hear you? She's lost it."
Kakashi glared at Zabuza, but what he said still bothered him. She's got to be in there somewhere.
"Shi. Leave Zabuza to me… Go check on Naruto."
He hoped that by mentioning Naruto like he did before that it would calm her somewhat, but she didn't seem to care this time around. The lightning on her body jumped and sparked, when she suddenly charged at Zabuza bringing her hand up to slash through him with the lightning. Unfortunately, someone got in the way and as her hand sliced through flesh, everyone's eyes went wide.
Standing before her was, not Zabuza, but Haku. Both were covered in blood, breathing heavily, but for different reasons. Haku was dying and Shi was exhausted, working on pure adrenaline.
"My future is death? Heh, you're wrong again, Kakashi." Zabuza said, seemingly indifferent to what had just happened.
Shi growled, trying to pull her hand out of Haku, but Haku somehow had a firm hold on her and wouldn't let go despite the fact that he'd already passed on. Zabuza saw this as his chance and pulled out his sword once more, charging towards Shi and Haku, ready to slice them both in two.
"Shi!" Kakashi shouted, trying to get through to her as she struggled with Haku's corpse. "Shi! Move!"
"I sure picked up something useful!" Zabuza shouted, a mere foot away. "Giving me this final chance!"
"Shi!"
The grey chakra around Shi suddenly pulsated and she grabbed Haku, jumping back and landing next to Kakashi before pulling her hand out of Haku's corpse and stepping further back as she took deep breaths. One of her eyes, Kakashi noticed, was back to its usual blue color and he mentally sighed in relief knowing that Shi was at least partially back.
"Heh, with Haku dead, you can move." Zabuza chuckled and Kakashi knelt down to Haku to close his eyes, giving Naruto a glare.
"Naruto, stay there."
Kakashi knew that Naruto was a kid who would never want to see someone treat another this way, especially since Zabuza and Haku were supposed to be friends, or comrades at least. Kakashi himself felt the same way. One should never abandon their comrades and using them like this was just as bad, if not worse, in his book.
Looking up at Zabuza, Kakashi glared. "This is my fight."
Sakura suddenly shouted out at Naruto, having just spotted him. "Naruto! You're okay! Huh? What about Sasuke? Naruto, where's Sasuke?"
All eyes went to Naruto and when he turned away biting his lip, Sakura's face fell. Even Tazuna was worried. They are just kids. Zabuza though, he could care less.
"Kakashi! This is no time for sightseeing!" He yelled as he charged at the unsuspecting Kakashi.
He couldn't keep up though. Kakashi was suddenly faster than he was before and Zabuza was powerless against him. No matter how many times he attack, Kakashi blocked him. As they fought though, Sakura's cries could be heard as she knelt over by Sasuke. Naruto clutched his jacket just above his chest, hearing her anguished cries rip through him, making him feel guilty. It's my fault. He died protecting me. Not feet away from him though, Shi shook violently, coughing up blood as the grey chakra cloak slowly dissipated and the black marks on her arms went back a few inches. Seeing this, Naruto hurried over.
"Shi! Shi! Are you okay?"
The moment he touched her shoulder though, she turned and snapped at him, voice slightly distorted. "Stay back!"
Naruto flinched, taking a step back when he noticed that Shi's left eye was a striking grey.
"U-Uh, Shi? Why is your eye different?"
Shi's eyes widened and she covered her left eye with her hand, looking down at the ground. "Just… stay away from me, please."
He winced, thinking that it was his fault she didn't want to be near him, when in fact, it was just the opposite. Shi just didn't want to end up hurting him. I can't hurt anyone else. Just then, she lifted her head, pulling her headband down over her eye for the moment and going to pull her scarf up only to remember that Zabuza tore it in two.
Kakashi and Zabuza hadn't seemed to notice it yet, but it looked like the man himself had just arrived on the bridge with a group of thugs following in his wake. They were about to find out though, when Kakashi plunged two kunai into Zabuza's other working arm, thus keeping him from forming seals now that both his arms were useless.
"Oh? You're getting your ass kicked. How disappointing, Zabuza."
Everyone except Sakura looked at the imposing group with caution. Are they friends with Zabuza? Doesn't sound like it. Shi thought, trying to keep her limbs steady.
"Gatou… Why are you here? And what's with all these men?" Zabuza asked, also not liking the odds stacked up against him.
Gatou laughed. "Heheh, the plan has changed. Well actually, I planned to do this from the beginning. Zabuza, I'm going to have you killed here."
"What?"
"I never planned on paying you any money. Hiring a normal ninja from the village is expensive and they may betray me. So I get you missing-nins who are easy to take care of afterwards. I have the ninjas battle each other and once they're weakened, I kill all of them off with numbers. It doesn't cost me anything. Good plan, don't you think?"
Shi growled lowly, coming up next to Kakashi, the marks on her arm peeking back out again.
Gatou went on. "The only problem in the plan was you, Zabuza. The devil of the hidden mist? What a joke, if you ask me… Hehe, you're just a cute little baby devil."
The men behind him cheered. "We can easily kill you now!"
Without moving, Zabuza spoke over his shoulder. "Kakashi, I'm sorry. This fight is over. Now that I have no reason to go after Tazuna, I have no reason to fight you."
"Ah." Kakashi agreed. "You're right."
Gatou seemed to have noticed something then, and stepped forward. "Oh yeah. I owe this one." Speaking down to Haku's corpse, he frowned. "You squeezed my arm until it broke. Heh, he's dead."
Gatou kicked Haku's face, making Naruto furious. "What are you doing?! You bastard!"
Naruto charged, but Kakashi grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back. "Hey! Look at their numbers! Don't just jump in!"
Unfortunately, Kakashi wasn't quick enough to grab Shi as she rushed past, hurrying towards Haku's corpse with pure anger emanating off her.
"Shi!" Kakashi shouted, but was ignored as Shi stood over Haku's body, growling loudly.
Gatou, didn't see the danger and laughed. "What's this? Another beast? Ridiculous."
He brought his cane up and swung it down, only for it to snap in two the moment it made contact with the grey chakra that had once again begun to cloak around Shi.
"Ah!" He fell backwards with a thud, eyes wide, and the other thugs took a step back as well.
Anyone could feel the murderous intent radiating off of Shi, and the mere sighting of her sent shivers up their spines. Killers or not, Shi wasn't so injured that they'd have much of a chance against her. Zabuza though, was a different story. And now that Naruto had talked some sense into him, he was ready to roll.
"Kid, let me borrow your kunai."
Naruto nodded and tossed the weapon, Zabuza easily catching it in his mouth as he stated charging towards the group. Frightened, Gatou ran to the back of the group, shouting behind him.
"That's enough! Kill them!"
"Sure thing!"
"One badly injured ninja against these numbers?"
"You think you can win?" The group mocked him, just as Shi smirked and pulled the sword off her back.
"Then let's make it two."
She charged into the fray as well, ignoring Kakashi shouting at her from yards away, and the two of them took out a good half of the group of thugs; Zabuza getting in the final blow to Gatou, severing his head despite the numerous swords and other weapons embedded in his back. Shi was a bit luckier, having charged herself with magnetic energy to have the metal weapons bouncing off her chakra cloak.
Unfortunately, Zabuza was at his limit and he collapsed, surrounded by enemies. Noticing this, Shi hurried over and stood over him, growling at anyone who got close and ignoring Zabuza to complain about being protected by her.
"Oi… go away, brat."
"The hell I will."
Sakura shouted from the distance that Sasuke was okay and actually alive, lifting everyone's spirits, but the thugs were starting to get overconfident.
"Hey, hey, hey! You guys are too at ease!"
"Damn ninjas! You killed our meal ticket!"
"You guys are dead!"
"Now we're gonna pillage this city!"
"And take anything of value!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Let's begin!"
"Damn, this is bad." Kakashi muttered.
"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have a special jutsu to defeat them all?" Naruto called back, seeing just how bad this was.
"I can't. After summoning and using the sharingan this long, I used too much chakra!"
The group started to charge, but were halted by—not only an arrow—but Shi as well.
"If you come any further onto our island, the citizens of this country will stop you with everything we've got!" The people from the city shouted, having gathered to protect their home thanks to Inari.
Catching the hint, Naruto and Kakashi made some clones to trick the thugs into thinking that their side had the better odds, and it worked. That is as soon as Shi added her share of clones.
"Uwa! Let's get out of here!" The thugs shouted, running off to hopefully never return.
All the clones disappeared in puffs of smoke as the people from the city cheered and Shi dropped the chakra cloak once more as Kakashi made his way over to her and Zabuza.
"Looks like it's over, Kakashi… Brat."
"Hmph." Shi huffed, not pleased at being called a brat.
Zabuza chuckled at that. "Neh, Kakashi… I have a request."
"What is it?" Kakashi asked, bringing his headband down over his sharingan.
"I want… to see his face."
"Sure."
Kakashi picked him up and carried him over to Haku's corpse as snow began to fall. Shi went over and joined the others as well, swaying slightly. Once Zabuza had passed though, her energy must've ran out and she collapsed, surprising everyone.
"Oi! Shi!" Naruto shouted, hurrying over to her as Kakashi sighed.
"She overworked herself again." Although that chakra… Hopefully the Hokage knows something about it.
Kakashi picked her up, carrying her once more as he got help from a few people to help carry Zabuza and Haku's corpses. We'll bury them properly as soon as Shi is fixed up. Sasuke too. It wasn't until two weeks later though, that everyone was healed up enough to start heading back to Konoha. They all visited the graves shortly, but then it was time to say their goodbyes.
"Thanks to you, we've completed this bridge, but…this is super sad." Tazuna said.
"Thank you for everything." Kakashi replied with a closed-eye smile before he nudged Shi. "Oi, say thanks. You're the one who ate nearly all their food the moment you woke up."
Everyone laughed as Shi frowned behind her newly repaired scarf, rubbing her arm. "Yeah. Thanks."
"Don't worry! We'll come visit!" Naruto said, his face matching Inari's.
"You… better…"
Naruto seemed to be forcing himself, but managed to tease Inari a bit more. "Inari, you're sad, right? It's alright to cry!"
"I'm not going to cry! But Naruto, you can cry too!"
Naruto turned away with a short, "Fine… Later."
Naruto turned away, but Shi ruffled his hair as tears streamed down his face and they all walked off. She then remembered what Tazuna and Kakashi had spoken about before they left. Bridge… Oh yeah… We need to name the bridge. Well I have a super perfect name for this bridge… Oh? What is it?… How about The Great Naruto Bridge?… Hehe, that's a good name… You sure about that name?… hehe, this name is in hope that this bridge will never crumble and will one day become a super famous bridge whose name is known throughout the world. Shi looked down at Naruto, a worried look on her face, hidden by the scarf. He's going to be a great kid… I need to protect him, but maybe it'd be better if I was as far away from him as possible…
"Shi! Come back! S-Stop being this… this thing!"
"What's this? Another beast?"
"Hnhn. What a lovely monster you'll make."
"Oi! Shi! Are you even listening?"
Shi jumped, having been startled out of her thoughts by Naruto's shout. "Ah… No. Sorry."
"Ah! Shi! I said you gotta buy me some ramen when we get back! Just you and me, okay?"
"A-Ah. Sure." Shi replied, unsteadily while Naruto smiled and hurried a little further ahead with Sasuke and Sakura.
Walking quietly behind, Shi watched them enjoy themselves despite the near death experience they had just faced. It must be nice to have nothing to worry about. A hand came down on her shoulder and she looked over at Kakashi's smiling face.
"What're you so upset about, Shi? You're brows' wrinkled."
He poked between her eyebrows and she swatted his hand away with a sigh.
"I'm not… upset."
"Oh? Then what has you thinking so hard?"
Shi frowned. "Nothing… It's nothing."
Kakashi dropped the grin and raised a brow. "You sure? I may not have known you that long, but it's okay to talk to me, you know."
Shi nodded. "I know."
But how am I supposed to tell you what kind of monster I am?