'Ellos my fabulous readers! Well, this is the chapter I'm sure you guys are looking forward to. Kakashi and Zabuza, the fight over our heroine (that she seems blissfully unaware of) ^w^ I wonder what'll happen. –evil grins- well, I guess we'll have to read to find out!
Chapter seventeen: Face off at the bridge.
Moriko glared at Zabuza, when he finally decided to come for them. Sasuke was trapped within Haku's ice mirror technique. Kakashi and Zabuza were having their own glare-match, while Sakura and herself were protecting Tazuna from any sneak-attacks. "What is it with these boys and calling 'dibs' on enemies? Geez, from the way Kakashi and Zabuza are glaring, you'd think they were arguing about something." She glanced over at the uchiha, worried. "I hope that dunderhead knows what he's doing. Haku's ice-mirror technique is difficult, even for me, to defeat…" The blonde watched as sakura threw a kunai to sasuke, only to have Haku catch it before sasuke could.
A shuriken appeared from nowhere, nearly slicing Haku's throat open. Lo and behold, Naruto appears out of thin air. "Uzumaki Naruto… at your service!" Moriko sighed, shaking her head softly. "Yep. Stealth is definatly not his strong point." Chuckling softly, she stared the blonde down with an even gaze as he continued to brag about heroism and whatnot. She saw the expression on Kakashi's face and her chuckles turned to giggles. "Blast!" She quickly turned to see shuriken that had been heading for the loudmouth blonde get stopped in its tracks by Haku's acupuncture needles. "Haku…. What are you doing?" "Zabuza, sir, please let me have this boy. I want to fight him in my own way."
Moriko chuckled. He was defiantly the same Haku she knew and 'mothered'. From the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto sneak over to where Sasuke was crouching. The Uchiha twitched, disbelief on his face. "Y-you doofus! No stealth… no caution… and you call yourself a ninja?! Now that you've gotten yourself trapped in here with me… Just do what you want. I don't really care." Naruto scowled. "Oh, fine! I went through hell to rescue you, and this is the thanks I get?!" She sighed, turning to kakashi. "Jeez, those two fight like an old married couple. Hey, guys!"
They looked over at her. "Kiss and make up later! You two need to pay attention, alright? Haku's ice mirrors aren't easy to beat, ya know!" Naruto yelped while Sasuke scowled at blonde girl. She watched Haku slip into the mirrors once more, smirking. "Over here." Sasuke, an idea coming to mind, quickly flashed a few hand signs. "Fire style… blaze of glory!" A blaze of fire shot from his mouth and hand at the mirrors. Unfortunately, they had no effect on the mirrors.
Moriko quickly turned her attention to Kakashi and Zabuza. Kakashi quickly blocked the kunai aimed at his sharingan, blood dripping from his hand. "You can sneer all you want about my "Lack of finesse," Zabuza… but it doesn't change the fact that you're afraid of my sharingan. And of me." Zabuza scowled, bragging about how he trained Haku since he was a toddler, and how they'd never be able to defeat him. Moriko sighed. "Zabuza." The man turned to face her. "You know what Gato is really going to do, don't you?" He stared. "He isn't going to pay you guys… He's going to kill the both of you instead. So, why don't we just-." She went silent, a thrill going up her spine. She quickly turned her attention over to the boys. Her eyes widened. "Kyuubi…" An aura of blood red chakra enveloped Naruto, taking a form of its own.
Sasuke was unconscious, needles sticking out of him at nearly every angle. He appeared to be dead, but she knew better. Moriko turned back to face Zabuza, staring him down. "Damn it Zabuza! Are you really going to get the both of you killed for that slimy bastard?!" As if to prove her point, Haku flew across the bridge from Naruto's punch. Moriko flinched, a deep ache in her chest. She nearly started to run where the feminine boy lay, but she managed to calm herself. "Zabuza. This is your last chance to make the right choice here. You KNOW I'm right." Zabuza stared at her before gazing at the scene on the bridge. Haku, bruised and bleeding from the beating he received from the now calm naruto. Sasuke unconscious on the ground, with sakura sobbing at his side. "When did she….? Never mind, Tazuna is with her, so there's no problem with her being over there."
Zabuza sighed, catching her attention once more. He looked back at her, about to reply when a sniveling, pompous voice cut through the air. "Well, he certainly made a mess out of you! What a pity…" "So he decided to finally show, huh?" Everyone turned to face the new arrivals. "Gato… what are you… doing here? And why did you bring all of… them?" Gato smirked, adjusting his sunglasses. Moriko hurried over to where Haku stood, quickly healing the boy with a touch of her hand. "Need a soldier pill?" He shook his head.
"Forgive me Kakashi… Our fight is over." The silver-haired man nodded in agreement. Moriko motioned for Haku to stay put, and walked over to Zabuza, healing him as well. "Gato… I'm sure you remember me." The man's grin faltered, and he swallowed. She gave a dark chuckle. "Hey, Zabuza." He glanced down at her. "I don't know about you, but I'm a little… thirsty. Why don't we take care of them, like old times?" He gave her a fearsome grin, gnawing through the bandages covering his mouth and nose. "Lets."
She chuckled, her head bowed down. Her chuckles grew and grew and she suddenly threw her head back, her laughter turning psychotic. Shivers ran up every man's spine, as they watched the blonde girl. Her laughter died down and she lowered her head. Her eyes had turned silver, her nails and teeth sharper than any kunai or needle. "Zabuza…. I want Gato." "…Take him then." The silver-grey aura swirled around her like a cloak of mist and she bared her teeth at the group in animalistic hunger.
Gato trembled. "T-that's enough! What are you waiting for? Kill all of them!" The men's cheer died out as the duo ran at them. Zabuza's chakra trailed behind him, resembling the face of a demon. Moriko gave a demented screech of delight as she flew into the crowd, tearing them apart with her fangs and claws. Zabuza, more refined in his approach, hacked them to bits with his sword. Kakashi watched, his jaw dropped open in shock. Naruto and the others stared, trembling at the young woman's bloodlust. A scream caught their attention, and they saw the blonde tackle him, piercing his throat with her fangs.
Everyone froze, staring in horror as she buried her fingers in his hair, draining him dry. Gato wheezed, pathetically attempting to escape her iron-like grip. Soon, the light in his eyes dulled and he went limp in her deadly embrace. She pulled her mouth from the gash on the corpse's throat and sighed, standing. She was soaked in blood. "Zabuza… I'm still hungry." Gato's men trembled, terrified. She slowly turned, revealing her blood-caked face and they whimpered in fear. She heard several gasps and turned to see the island's inhabitants staring at her and gato's corpse.
She turned her gaze back to the men, and grinned demonically. She whispered. "Run." And they screamed, running from the horrifying sight, and the village. All was silent. After a few moments, Haku walked over to her, handing her a cloth. She smiled, showing her blood-stained teeth before placing it on the edge of the bridge and diving into the water below.