Hey guys, so this is slightly shorter than the previous chapters, just closes things up in the land of waves :) Enjoy. Just a heads up I uploaded two at once so if you haven't read chapter 4 go back and do that first :P

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The Champion of Clan Namikaze

Chapter 5: The Bridge

When Naruto awoke the next morning he was greeted with a sight he hadn't expected to see. There was a beautiful female ninja strolling across the field toward him.

He knew she was a ninja from the fact that she was making almost no sound as she walked; ninja had a habit of doing that wherever they went, civilians, not so much.

Tensing when she saw him open his eyes she flicked a senbon into her hand.

"I know you're a shinobi," Naruto said, "but I don't want to fight you."

"How can I trust you," her sweet voice drifted over to him.

"From the looks of it you could have killed me from a distance with that senbon while I slept. You didn't so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Now that I'm awake however you'd be hard-pressed to actually kill me anyway. What's your name, because I'm Uzumaki Naruto," He had a sheepish grin on his face, and yawned, his hand rubbing the back of his head.

Haku was unsure of what to do. She could have killed him while he slept but that just hadn't felt right. He had looked so peaceful from where she was standing. He didn't seem threatening now that he was awake so she guessed she could go along with it, as long as she got these supplies back to Zabuza, "I'm Haku."

"So what are you out here gathering herbs for Haku?" Naruto enquired innocently, trying to lighten the mood.

"They are for someone very close to me; they were injured and these are going to help them get better."

"Well do you want a hand gathering them? I could make your job a lot easier," A number of clones appeared before Haku could object and began searching through the woods and clearing for the herbs that Haku needed, "Now sit down," Naruto said with a smile.

"But I-"

"No buts, come on and sit down, my clones will still get the herbs you need, don't worry."

"Okay," she said sitting down opposite from him, still wary of what he was doing.

For a while they explained pleasantries, with Naruto explaining that he was a going to be Hokage one day and protect the village, then out of nowhere he asked a rather unexpected question.

"So Haku, is Zabuza recovering well enough?"

She flinched, not knowing how the boy who was only just younger than she was had figured it out.

"Calm down, like I said I don't want to fight," Naruto tried to defuse the situation before she could take any action against him.

"I could tell you were a ninja from the way you walked, you said you needed to help someone who was close to you, you use senbon, and you have the same build as a hunter-nin that carried away one supposedly dead Zabuza, your facial twitch just then confirmed my suspicions. Don't worry, like I said I don't want to cause you any harm. We both have our missions; it just so happens that they oppose each other. I'll hold no grudge against you for it, but I do hope we can get through this with as little bloodshed as possible."

All Haku could do was nod in response. She didn't know what it was about this kid she liked, but she knew that he wasn't going to hurt her while she sat there with him. He was too sincere.

As Naruto's clones walked back over each with a pile of herbs he got up.

"Well here are your herbs Haku, I have to get back to my team, I just want you to know that even if I don't want bloodshed I'll still protect my team with everything that I have."

"So is that where you get your strength from? From willing to do anything to protect those close to you?"

Naruto nodded before disappearing.

"Me too Naruto. I guess next time we meet we'll see whose desire to protect is stronger."

xXx

Naruto appeared next to Sakura, having used her seal as a beacon for his Hiraishin no Jutsu.

"Where have you been?" Sakura look concerned as she worked on improving her earth release; he could hear Sasuke trying to still climb a tree not too far from them, "Kakashi figured you'd be okay and had to head off to defend Tazuna, but where were you?"

"Same place I was when you left me last night, I fell asleep hehehe," He rubbed the back of his head a little embarrassed, "And then I met the hunter-nin that I now know saved Zabuza's life, we didn't talk for long, but she seemed nice enough."

"WHAT?" Sakura screeched, "You didn't have to fight her or anything?"

"Well no, that's not part of our mission, and I'd rather not have to hurt people if I can get away with it. She could have most likely killed me as I slept but didn't, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't like she didn't know who I was."

"Okay, well as long as you are safe Naruto-kun; at least now we know that Zabuza will probably make another attempt at Tazuna's life." Naruto nodded, "Anyway now that you're here let's get back to training," Sakura smiled, looking forward to the day ahead.

They were surprised when Sasuke approached them halfway through the day looking as downcast as ever, a hint of frustration glinting in his eyes when he turned his head toward them.

"What do you want now Sasuke-teme, I don't want to fight you, I'm training with Sakura-chan." Naruto said sizing up the Uchiha.

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you could help me with wall-walking," Naruto could tell just by looking at him that it was taking all of Sasuke's effort to suppress his pride just to walk over and ask that simple question.

"Sure no problem," Naruto said with a sincere smile as he created a number of clones to go and offer the young Uchiha instruction, "These guys will let you know what you might be doing wrong.

As Sasuke walked away with the clones, Naruto turned back to Sakura, "Maybe we're finally getting the message across?" he said hopefully before they both smiled at the small change that they'd made in Sasuke.

By the end of the day Sasuke had finally gotten the hang of wall walking, and had started going through light sparring exercises with Naruto's clones. Kakashi was pleased by the progress that the Uchiha had made and was even more impressed that he'd asked for help.

Naruto explained that tomorrow he'd teach the Uchiha water walking if he wanted the help. Surprisingly enough he accepted.

The next day when Sakura was off training with a Naruto clone in the woods, Sasuke was standing with the real Naruto at the edge of the water near the house.

"Okay Sasuke, you seemed to pick up wall walking pretty quickly with our pointers. Water walking however is fairly difficult in that you have to adjust the amount of chakra sent to your feet constantly in order to stay afloat, as opposed to the constant level you send to your feet in wall-walking. You should get the hang of it pretty easily, but we'll start you out on the shallow water."

It took Sasuke most of the day to get the hang of the technique but by the end of the day he was slowly edging out further and further over deeper water. Naruto slowly started throwing stones at him to try and break his focus but the Uchiha was a fast learner and very rarely fell in after that exercise; until Naruto did something completely unexpected.

He called out to the Uchiha to get his attention, but when Sasuke looked up to find his friend he went white in the face and a small amount of blood trickled from his nose.

There standing before him was a gorgeous brunette that looked about 18 years old. She was the epitome of perfect with just the right amount of ridiculous curves, and she was completely naked save for the smoke that surrounded her chest and pelvic region.

Sasuke probably would have passed out from the nosebleed he would have received had Naruto not bothered with the smoke. It was easily enough to break his concentration and send him plummeting into the drink. When he resurfaced Naruto was on rolling around in his original form in a laughing fit.

Over in the trees Kakashi's hidden shadow clone had passed out on the ground from lack of blood and dispelled.

xXx

On the bridge everyone was quite confused as to why the Konoha jounin had rocketed down the length of the bridge with a torrent of blood pouring from his nose and proceeded to pass out from blood loss.

xXx

Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the tactic employed by his teammate, even if it had gotten him soaking wet.

"You're such a pervert dobe,"

"How am I the pervert Sasuke-teme, you're the one that got the nosebleed. Bahahahahaha," Naruto was trying to talk in between fits of laughter.

"How could anyone but a pervert come up with that move?"

Naruto could see his logic, but it only made him laugh harder. What was even better was that Sasuke seemed to be genuinely smiling for once.

"Okay, enough joking around. Get back to throwing rocks at me," Sasuke said as he slowly and steadily pulled himself out of the water.

"Okay, Sasuke-kun," A soft female voice echoed across the water as the now brunette sex-bomb started throwing rocks at the genin, and it wasn't long before all the smoke had cleared.

Needless to say Sasuke had never had a stranger training session. Jumping across the top of the water while dodging rocks with a constant stream of blood streaming down his face. The fact he wasn't falling in this time was the only consolation he could give himself.

It was all fun and games until Sakura arrived back on the shore and saw what was happening.

She spent the next half an hour chasing Naruto around trying to beat the living daylights out of him while Sasuke just laughed at the scene.

When she realized she couldn't catch Naruto-kun she stormed out onto the water and started chasing Sasuke. WHY WAS HER SASUKE-KUN A PERVERT! The nosebleed hadn't gone unnoticed.

Over the next few days Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura bonded more as a team, Sasuke slowly getting over some of his hang-ups. They worked on team combinations using their jutsu.

Naruto and Sasuke even tried to combine their flame and wind techniques Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthough) and Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) to destructive effect, both agreeing that they would only use that combination on someone they really hated. It's destructive power was easily enough to incinerate a small portion of the forest when they used it.

One night as they were sitting at the table, Inari had finally had enough. He hated these ninja and told them that what they were trying was futile and that they should give up. A short yet fiery retort from Naruto about how little respect for quitters he had and how he and Sasuke were still going strong after everything they'd been through shut the kid up as he ran outside.

"Sorry Kakashi, but it needed to be said," he stood and went upstairs to sleep.

They trained throughout the week, preparing for the attack they knew was going to come now that they knew Zabuza was alive.

As the week progressed they knew Zabuza would be gaining strength. For this reason Kakashi started taking Sakura with him to help protect the bridge, that way they could all be on the scene in seconds thanks to Naruto's Hiraishin no Jutsu.

And so one morning as Naruto and Sasuke trained outside the small house Naruto felt the familiar chakra pulse in his arm. He turned to Sasuke, "Looks like they need us on the bridge Sasuke-teme."

"Well get us over there,"

Naruto created a few clones before walking over to Sasuke, "Guys, keep Tsunami and Inari safe, and don't let them out of your sight. Gato might have men come after them," and with that Sasuke and Naruto disappeared.

xXx

When they appeared on the bridge they couldn't see five feet in the thick mist. They appeared next to Sakura, and could hear Kakashi and Zabuza talking.

"So the brat that was talking to my Haku is finally here," Zabuza said, hearing them arrive through the mist, "That's a pretty handy technique he's got there."

"That's only the half of it Zabuza," Kakashi was standing between the three genin and Zabuza, ready to fight the missing-nin.

"You don't need to let your genin get killed Kakashi, I might be inclined to spare you all if you just let me have Tazuna."

"Never!" Naruto wasn't going to fail his mission; he liked the old man, as much of a drunk as he was.

"Your funeral kid, Haku, take care of Tazuna."

Naruto could barely see what was in front of him, but at the last second he saw a movement in the mist and managed to bring a Hiraishin kunai up in time to deflect the senbon that was heading straight for the old man.

"Guys we need to get out of this mist," Naruto urged his team backwards toward the completed end of the bridge trying to catch a glimpse of his opponent.

Haku made a few attempts to stop them but was thwarted by the three as they protected the bridge builder. She finally emerged from the mist as they all now stood in the open.

"You have to come to us, so let's see how you fight without that mist," Naruto was confident that he could take whatever this girl could throw at him.

Just what I expected from him, he was observant enough to work out who I was, it's no surprise he changed the battlefield to give him the advantage.

"It's no matter, I'll complete this mission for Zabuza-sama if it's the last thing I do."

Naruto was a little confused with the way Haku talked about Zabuza but figured there was some personal reason behind the honorific.

They all stood tense, waiting to see who would make the first move while the sound of metal striking metal echoed from their sensei's conflict.

It was Naruto who acted first, trying to test the waters as he threw regular kunai at the missing-nin. She dodged them easily before responded with a barrage of accurate senbon.

Unfortunately he had to try and block most of them as stepping out of the way would put Tazuna in danger. A few of them made it past his guard and struck him in the chest. He didn't feel any pain though and when he looked realized that the three he didn't avoid had struck a storage scroll he kept in his coat.

The storage scroll that happened to contain his Hiraishin Kunai was the one that had taken the hits. He figured that after taking three senbon straight through the center any seal he had on the scroll wasn't going to be working. Guess he was stuck with the few Hiraishin kunai he kept on his person.

He needed to take up Sasuke's habit and store them in a bracer or something; he'd work that out if he made it through this fight.

"Guys, protect Tazuna I need to keep Haku away from you guys," With that he disappeared in a blur and was on the offensive, striking at Haku with his Hiraishin as he kept her from attacking the bridge builder.

She deftly deflected each of his strikes with her senbon before dropping down and attempting to take out his knees before he could react.

Naruto flipped his Hiraishin kunai into the air, sending it spinning above her and at the moment she'd fully committed to her senbon strike at his knee he disappeared, reappearing above and behind her, falling down in the perfect position to strike.

Haku responded by turning from her lowered position and using the momentum from her failed attack to spin around. Just as Naruto's feet began to touch the ground and he brought his kunai down she kicked her leg out, sweeping his feet from under him.

He stuck his arm out to stop his fall and brought his own foot around at the side of her head as she was still in a crouched position. Blocking this with her left forearm but feeling the power of the kick she was shaken; and retreated for the moment to get some space and rethink her approach.

This time though when they broke apart she was now between him and Tazuna. Not willing to take any more chances with Naruto and his ability to seemingly teleport Haku went through a short series of hand seals before any of the genin could respond.

An ice mirror formed behind Haku, preventing Naruto's approach, but he could see another mirror forming behind Tazuna. This can't be good Naruto thought when he saw what appeared to be the reflection of Haku appear in that mirror, reaching out for the old man.

Naruto was next to Tazuna in the blink of an eye, thanks to the seal on Sakura, deflecting the senbon that the missin-nin was projecting towards his brainstem.

Having had her attack thwarted by the strange blonde she took the opportunity to attack his black haired teammate, the only one of three not guarded.

He had his newly acquired sharingan active but it didn't help him stop the attack that came at him so quickly.

Two senbon struck him in the neck, while three hit him in the chest and in an instant Haku was emerging from her first mirror.

Sasuke stumbled, the Sharingan in his eyes flickering as he fell. Naruto managed to catch him before he hit the ground and quickly removed the needles before setting him down.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!"

"I'm afraid he won't be waking up again, I'm sorry but I cannot let anyone stand in the way of Zabuza-sama's goal."

Naruto checked the Uchiha's vitals and was shocked to find them deteriorating rapidly, he could barely feel his pulse.

"NO SAKURA DON'T!" It was already too late; in her anger at Haku over what she'd done Sakura had charged the senbon wielding kunoichi.

It put her on the defensive for a second before Haku jumped back and went through a series of hand seals again, "Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals). A large number of the ice crystals appeared surrounding Sakura. No, this is bad Naruto though as he looked between Tazuna, Sakura and Sasuke.

He was about to Hiraishin to Sakura to get her out of what looked to be a death trap but saw at the last second Haku throwing senbon from the mirror that was still behind Tazuna; the old man frozen in fear during the whole fight.

Naruto cursed, rushing toward the old man and pushing him out of the line of fire just before the projectiles would have killed him.

As he did so he flung one of his kunai at the ground and disappeared, but it was too late. In saving Tazuna he'd given Haku enough time to launch an attack at Sakura. By the time he arrived by her side, even if it was just mere seconds, the girl was riddled with senbon and looked to be just holding on to her life.

He flashed back to the kunai he'd just previously left on the bridge and tried to place her on the ground as comfortably as he could.

"Don't worry Sakura, hold on, I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe," Naruto had tears running down his face as his eyes flickered red, and his fingernails grew into claws.

Yes boy, draw on my power, YOU NEED IT TO TAKE REVENGE ON THAT ICE BITCH, without it you'll never save your friends! He could hear a strange gruff voice in the back of his head. He disappeared into his mindscape, letting the rage take over.

Growling, the enraged Naruto disappeared in a red blur, intent on rending Haku in two. The killing intent washing over everyone was enough to force Tazuna to his knees.

xXx

(Tazuna's House)

As the three Naruto's sat in the trees around the house they heard two men walking down the road.

"Hahahaha those ninja won't know what hit them. Gato's plan is brilliant, how about we celebrate our success today by having our way with that hot MILF Tsunami? That bitch is fiinneee," One of the sword-wielding thugs was saying to the other.

"Only if I get to go first, we can even make that little brat watch, hahahahaha,"

"I'm afraid that won't be happening today; or ever for that matter," One of Naruto's clones said as it dropped down in front of him.

"What does a little runt like you think you can do to stop us."

"Oh nothing. Just this maybe," and with that the other two clones emerged from either side with chains made of chakra extended from their hands. Within seconds the thugs were bound to a tree and the head clone was standing in front of them.

"Now you are going to tell me everything I want to know about Gato's plan, or –"

"Or what? What are you going to do you little shit," One of the thugs still had a little confidence.

"I'm going to cut off your balls and make you eat them, because rapists are scum," and as Naruto dropped the pants of one who had spoken and twirled a kunai in his hand they spilled every one of their dirty little secrets.

xXx

Naruto was destroying Haku. He had broken all of her mirrors, and was overwhelming her with his feral taijustsu as he raged about the fate of his teammates.

He was about to make the killing blow on the missing-nin when images flashed into his head; memories from one of his clones. His clawed hand stopped inches away from her face.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING! TAKE REVENGE, FINISH HER, USE THE POWER THAT I'VE GIVEN YOU! No, this doesn't need to end in any more bloodshed Naruto thought, as he tried to fight back the rage and hate that had been let loose. Eventually he managed to get himself back under control and composed himself, as Haku lay broken on the ground.

"Zabuza, Kakashi-sensei, STOP FIGHTING! THIS DOESN'T HAVE TO END IN ANY MORE DEATHS! HAKU WAS WILLING TO DIE FOR YOU ZABUZA JUST TO PROTECT YOUR WISHES, IS THAT WHAT YOU REALLY WANTED?"

The way he said that makes it sound like someone is already gone Kakashi turned toward the sound of his student stunned and wide eyed at what he was hearing.

The two jounin separated for a moment while they turned and listened to the genin.

"I have evidence that Gato was going to betray you Zabuza, your mission was for naught, NOW STOP FIGHTING!"

"Where is this evidence kid? How do I know this isn't some trick Kakashi thought up?"

"I don't know anything about it Zabuza," Kakashi said as he turned to the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Within seconds Naruto had disappeared and reappeared with two men and two clones; Naruto's clones still had them firmly secured on their knees, wrapped in chakra chains.

Zabuza let the mist fade to see what the kid was trying to show them.

"These are two of Gato's thugs who I caught about to try and rape Tsunami, they were also talking about Gato's brilliant plan. Now boys, how about you tell the guys over there what you told me and maybe I'll be inclined not to carry out my threat."

"G-g-gato was planning on betraying you after you completed your mission and were weakened by the enemy ninja," one of the men hurriedly blurted out, fearful of what the young genin might do to them if he refused to say. He really should have been afraid of Zabuza though.

The man lifted his huge sword and slowly walked over to the two men who were on their hands and knees on the bridge; too weak to stand. When he got next to them he raised Kubikiribōchō, ignored their pleas for mercy and decapitated both of them in one strike.

"Well well well it looks like you really were useless Zabuza," a short man said from his position at the end of the bridge, revealing that he was now there. He was surrounded by a large number of mercenaries.

"Gato, you little double crossing bastard," Zabuza spat, "I really didn't think you'd have the balls to betray me, but it's your funeral," he disappeared and with a swing of his massive blade brought an end to the twisted little man's life.

It wasn't long before the mercenaries were lying dead, scattered all about the bridge; they were no match for even an injured Zabuza.

While they were doing this Naruto quickly ran back over to Sasuke and Sakura, checking to see if they were okay. Sakura was in a stable condition but was still unconscious thankfully. Sasuke had the faintest of heartbeats but it seemed as if he'd recovered slightly from earlier.

Either Haku hadn't aimed to kill, or Sasuke, with his sharingan, had been able to move enough in time to avoid death.

Naruto was relieved beyond belief. Even with all his training his teammates still almost got killed. He removed the senbon scattered about their bodies and flashed them back to Tsunami's where he'd left a kunai; making sure she treated them and got some rest.

He then came back and checked on Haku as Zabuza and Kakashi just stood watching. She was in a bad shape, but she seemed as if she was going to make it.

"Why did you spare me? Why didn't you take my life after what you saw me do to your friends," she whispered from her position on the ground. The two jounin level ninja heard her as they walked closer.

"Because violence isn't the answer," Naruto said as he handing her over to Zabuza.

At this Kakashi smiled and Zabuza turned to him, "Some genin you've got, looks like we didn't need to be enemies after all. Maybe next time we see each other we'll be allies," and with that Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, disappeared into the shroud that had once again settled over the bridge.

"Let's get back to Tazuna's Kakashi-sensei, I think we could all do with a rest."

"Tell me about it."

Over the next week they all recovered from their injuries, Tazuna completed the bridge, and they headed back to Konoha finally crossing the completed "Great Naruto Bridge".

xXx

They got back to the village and Kakashi gave the report to the Hokage.

"The mission was a close call, and easily an A-grade. I'm a little worried about what happened with Naruto. It would appear that in times of extreme emotional distress and anguish he's more inclined to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra. He seemed to get it under control before he took a life unnecessarily, even if it was the enemy, but I'll be making sure to keep a closer eye on him."

"Yes that would seem to be the wisest course of action," the Hokage said from behind his desk, a look of concern upon his face.

xXx

Over the next few weeks Sasuke seemed to lighten up a little and was more inclined to come and train with Naruto and Sakura after the events in the Land of Waves. He was finally starting to act civil with everyone, even Sakura. They still called each other dobe, and Sasuke-teme but that was more just out of habit and a running joke between the two, rather than out of malice or disdain.

They improved as a team and even helped train the other squads sometimes. It wasn't long before one training session Kakashi called them over to talk to them.

"Okay team, The Chunin Exams are coming up in a few months, and I've decided that I'm going to enter you for promotions. The only way you can do this though is if you all feel that you are ready, it has to be a team effort," the timid Sakura of old was gone, the obnoxious fool that was academy Naruto nowhere in sight, and the depressed brooding Sasuke had been left in the dust.

Kakashi knew they were ready, but more importantly, they knew they were ready.

Don't forget to review :) and next up the setup for the chunin exams and probably the start :)