Hey guys, this is the fifth chapter, so that means look forward to Friday, I will be wrapping up the wave arc in this chapter. Well, nothing much to say, so let's get on with it yeah?
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No one got any real sleep that night. The screams echoing throughout the woods, the deafening silence when their teachers came back from the directions of the screams. The blood on their hands and clothes, the stench of fear, this was a Shinobi. Naruto eased himself down the stairs, now he wasn't so much sore as stiff, but that should pass in enough time. He came into the dining area of the living room and saw Tsunami and her son there.
"Oh, Naruto-kun! You're awake, that is good, I was about to send Inari up to wake you up. I made breakfast if you're hungry." Naruto nodded taking his seat at the table, he saw the dark circles around Tsunami and Inari's eyes, it seems he wasn't the only one.
"I suppose they left already Tsunami-san?" Tsunami nodded and Naruto sighed, he finished his food and stood, he had to be on watch to protect these two. His orders were absolute, but he couldn't slip the feeling of cold, dread, and pain sweeping over the area from the direction of the bridge. He would just have to hold out unless he was called upon. Naruto heard a noise and drew his bow and knocked an arrow, pulling back he saw two men with swords coming near to him.
"Hey little fuck, is the lady of the house in, our boss wants her. Don't get in our way either or well feed you to the sharks." The man with the eye patch scoffed and took a step but suddenly he fell over dead. Naruto looked to the woodline, the hunter-nin from before was still alive! Naruto let the arrow fly piercing the neck of the other thug. Naruto knocked another arrow and aimed at the hunter-nin.
"What are you doing here! You are supposed to be dead!" The hunter-nin smiled weakly and stood, Naruto could look at the cuts that marred the ninjas body and he saw the broken fingers and arm, the holes in his right arm, the missing eyeball, and worst of all the missing skin and parts of muscle on the left arm. Naruto's hands shook as he looked into the remaining eye of the boy and his hands trembled, he heard the boys screams echoing in his consciousness and he dropped his bow. Naruto ran to the boy and picked him up bringing him over to the dock near the house. Giving him a once over Naruto could see the boy was on deaths door. The boy grabbed the collar of Naruto's shirt and pulled him close, Naruto could smell the stench of blood, bile, and death in the boys breath.
"My master is going to be betrayed, I came to warn you all, but your masters didn't believe me so they did this. Please, save my master, this is my last wish Shinobi-san."
"Naruto, my name is Naruto." The boy smiled softly and nodded.
"Haku, my name, my name is Haku." Naruto smiled softly and the boy started to go slack, he looked hazily into Naruto's eyes and he relaxed letting death take him. Naruto laying the boys body on the dock floor grabbed his bow and quiver. Naruto looked at his reflection, the war paint marring his face, the headband signifying his loyalty to Konoha, and his eyes fell on it, a single silver locket which contained a picture of his mother. He gripped the locket and stood wiping away the war paint he used the water and chakra to remove the rest of the dye from his hair and stood. Naruto gritted his teeth and ripped off his headband and laid it on the chest of the dead boy.
"Never again, I will not let this happen again, if this is what a Shinobi is, then I will change them, I will become something more. I will find my own path in this life, for me, my mother, and my loved ones." Naruto took off into the woods towards the looming bridge determination in his eyes and anger in his soul, Naruto was out for blood.
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Kakashi, Itachi, Sasuke, and Sakura arrived at the bridge with Tazuna. It was apparent by the sliced and destroyed bodies around the area Zabuza had been here. Itachi gritted his teeth at the slaughter that had transpired here, this was the work of a monster. Kakashi turned around when he heard clapping and his eyes widened in horror, there in front of him the man he had blown apart and left to die in the woods.
"How?! You were in more pieces than I could count! How are you here!" The man gave a grizzly smile that promised pain and suffering. He turned and ran towards the other end of the bridge, Kakashi went to stop Itachi but immediately had to duck from a large sword breaking air where his head had been previously.
"You bastard! What did you do with Haku!" Kakashi looked into Zabuza's tear streaked eyes and Kakashi knew this was the only chance he would have.
"I tortured him, flayed the skin and muscle from one arm, used a rusty metal pole and a hammer to nail his arm to a tree. That's not even the worst part, my partner over there put him through so much torture the boy wouldn't even react when we ripped him from the tree and threw him into the water for the sharks to feed upon. Of course that was after we gouged out his eye and forced him to eat it." Zabuza's eyes were wide and he yelled in agony at the thought of Haku being dead.
"He was just a boy! No older than your brats! I told him not to go, to warn you, but the brats heart was to soft! Now you will die for this! But I think I will be bringing your brats down with me!" Zabuza vanished but Kakashi was there with Sakura and Sasuke to stop the swing from killing them. Kakashi looked into the eyes of Zabuza and realized he made the worst mistake of his life, these were not an anger ridden mans eyes, these were the eyes of a man with nothing left to loose. Kakashi felt a knee in his gut, a fist to his neck, and the next thing he knew he was flying back into the metal railing bending the bars a good half foot back. Kakashi looked at Zabuza and saw him pulling his arm back to cleave the Genin and their client in half.
"SASUKE-KUN! SAKURA-CHAN!" Kakashi ran as fast as he could but all he saw was red, and Zabuza felt pain, true pain.
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Itachi stopped running and leaned backwards avoiding the triple bladed scythe, he rolled to the left dodging a blow that would have skewered him. Jumping up he had already drawn his katana and took his stance.
"You fucking bastard, I need to repay you, you heathen! Jashin-dono will enjoy your soul tonight!" The silver haired man ran at Itachi but Itachi was prepared, he parried the pike and ducked under the scythe. Rolling with his momentum he planted a firm roundhouse kick into the mans solar plexus flinging him away. Itachi activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, the shuriken pattern burning into the mans eyes.
"Tell me your name." The silver haired man scoffed and looked Itachi in the eye.
"Hidan, my name is Hidan Jonin of Yugakure. I am your executioner, so just die bitch." Itachi growled and charged Hidan, he made a single hand sign and sent five Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu at Hidan. Hidan rotated his scythe in his hands spinning it and using the momentum he flung himself over the first fireball, he ducked under the second, slashed through the third, baseball slid under the fourth, and took the fifth head on. Itachi smirked seeing Hidan take the fireball head one but was surprised to see Hidan walk out of the fire with only mild burns.
"It will take a lot more than this piece of shit to kill me fuck face. Try again why dont'cha." Itachi tensed seeing Hidan charge at him, Itachi charged his sword with Katon chakra. Itachi parried Hidans jab to the outside, he grabbed the scythe on the pole near Hidan's hands. Itachi yanked back and pulled the scythe from Hidan's hands, but he didn't expect the scythe to fly out of his hands nicking his fingers on the way out. Hidan started to laugh manically and he slashed his wrist open, using his foot he drew a symbol on the ground and once inside he licked Itachi's blood off of his scythe.
"Witness the true power of Jashin-dono!" Hidan raised his hand holding the scythe and sent it to plummet into his chest, but Hidan didn't expect to see Itachi using his sword and Hidan's pike to block the scythe. Hidan gritted his teeth and he struggled against Itachi's grip, Hidan saw his Mangekyō spinning wildly and smirked.
"Tsukuyomi." Hidan blanched as he was drawn into an inverted world, he growled trying to move but saw that he was tied down to a boulder. Itachi appeared in front of him and drove his blade into Hidan's chest.
"In here I am god, you will be tortured this way for seventy-two hours." Itachi smiled at Hidan's masochistic look.
"You fool, whatever damage happens to me happens to your body when this jutsu is active!" Itachi just stood there and smirked. Several hundred Itachi's appeared and one by one they stabbed Hidan, over and over again. After what seemed an eternity and over five thousand stabs Hidan sweating and in dire pain grinned at Itachi.
"Is that, that it?" Itachi smirked.
"Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds left." Hidan's eyes widened and he felt a sense of terror wash over him, could he actually beat this?
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Itachi stood straight the weapons falling to the side, the man named Hidan laying at his feet foaming at the mouth, Itachi drug him out of the circle and looked down at the body.
"You were strong, but you were unlucky to have fought me. Goodbye, Amaterasu!" Black flames flowered on Hidan's body and they started to spread. Itachi felt the drain of using these techniques when he heard a scream.
"SASUKE-KUN! SAKURA-CHAN!" Itachi knew it was Kakashi screaming and he ran as fast as he could towards them, when he arrived he saw something he never expected. There in-between Zabuza and the two Genin was their client, with his hands gripping the holes in Zabuza's kubikiribocho holding it in place. Zabuza shoved the blade forward the blade piercing through the bridge builder, he wrenched the blade to the left and tossed Tazuna's body away. The blood splattering Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke's clothes told the story, Tazuna tried to save them, and died. Itachi collapsed to a knee and he coughed up blood into his hand, he tightened his hand into a fist and cursed his weakness. Kakashi stood and his two hands charged with electricity in his original technique.
"Raikiri." Kakashi charged at Zabuza swinging his Raikiri at him, every slash blocked would gouge out pieces of the Kubikikibocho, every one landed would slice Zabuza open.
"YOU BASTARD!" Kakashi plunged the lightning blade into and through the sword clipping Zabuza's shoulder. Zabuza yelled out in pain and using the broken blade he swung it around gashing Kakashi's chest open. The two Jonin stepped back and threw their weapons away, what happened next was an all out brawl, man vs. man, Shinobi vs. Shinobi. After five minutes the two were beaten bloody and broken bones a plenty. Kakashi growled out not being able to finish the job, Itachi tried to stand but could do nothing in his current condition. Everyone turned to the end of the bridge where they all heard clapping.
"Bravo, bravo. To think the Kirigakure no Kijin would fall to a weak Konohagakure Shinobi. Pitiful, what was I paying you for again? Oh right, to kill the bridge builder, well it seems your job is done, your contract is fulfilled and you will be terminated." The short man snapped his fingers and several dozen men marched forward wielding spears, pole arms, katana, nodachi, and clubs. The man started to laugh and motioned for the men to finish off the Shinobi but they were stopped when a figure appeared at the end of the bridge.
"You are unforgiveable, and you shall die by my bow." The figure pulled his hand pack a glowing blue brilliant bow with a single blue arrow knocked. The figure twisted his knuckles and let the arrow fly, the twist in the string making it a glorified drill. The arrow cut through man after man until it buried itself into the heart of the short man. The mist clearing due to lack of fuel everyone saw a red headed boy with a glowing ethereal blue and white bow. Kakashi's eyes widened and he went to stand.
"Don't get up Sensei, you're injured, I can't forgive you for what you did to Haku, but you won't die here." Naruto looked at all the men who were assembled, scum the lot of them.
"You took out our meal ticket, looks like we will have to take it out of your hide." Naruto pulled back on the string and an arrow appeared.
"Shinkyū: Seinaru jihi." Naruto let the arrow fly and thousands of them appeared blocking out the sky, the rain of death descended upon them and in their screams of death Naruto felt his bow vanish. He looked to the men all of them had died.
"Pity, none of them were pure at heart." Naruto walked to his sensei shakily and he fell to his knees, he lifted the man up and Kakashi preformed a hand seal making Kage Bunshin to carry the others to the house. When Naruto went to grab Zabuza he found the man committed Seppuku. Naruto bowed to the man and he took Zabuza's body to the woods near where he was going to bury Haku. Naruto grabbed the hilt and partial blade of the Kubikiribocho and used it as his headstone, the two reunited in death, were now at peace. Naruto knew this was going to be hard to explain, but he had done the right thing.
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