A/N: We're nearing the end of the Nami no Kuni arc…soon we'll have the Chunin Exams to deal with later. Do read and review would you kindly?

…

[Nami no Kuni Bridge, two days later…]

Things had been quieter, relatively speaking in Naruto's case, as he still heard the sound of jackhammers and shovels at work. Since he had been given the shift to guard the bridge, there was no word of workers being killed, but at the same time there were still many who were deserting the project. He'd been witness to six employees coming to Tazuna to tell him quit and things had progressed to the fact that there were only seven employees now.

"Tazuna, I've been thinking," said one such worker, much to Naruto's anger and disappointment, "Why don't we quit while we're ahead?"

"We can't quit now," said the bespectacled old man, "We've come so far."

"Yeah, but we've lost so much. Is this bridge really worth it?"

"You want to know what your problem is?" asked Naruto, not holding back any venom behind it. This had turned the employee's attention to him at the disrespect he was receiving.

"What was that you said?"

At this point, Naruto's anger had gone up. "Are you deaf? I asked, 'do you want to know what your problem is?'"

"What does a kid like you know of our troubles eh? Sure, you're blind, but I seriously doubt you know what the problem is!"

Naruto turned to face the construction worker, with the venom on his tongue intensifying. "Oh, but I do in fact know. You think I'm one of those pampered kids that are lucky enough to have parents? Tough luck, because I had to grow up real fast—and that's just enough time for me to see what the problem of this village is!"

There was outrage in the employee's aura, and it just so happened that many people had stopped in their work to listen in. With sarcasm in his voice, the employee that tried to get Tazuna to quit the project had a retort in mind. "And what pray tell is our problem?"

With the rage in his voice clear, Naruto decided to press on as his voice started fading in and out from yelling. "Can't you even see what your problem is? And I thought blind people were not supposed to be able to see anything! You want to know what your problem is then I'll tell you: you are all nothing but a bunch of cowards! You let Gato in, and you knew what he was doing, but you are all too scared of death to do anything about it! In my eyes, you are even worse than Gato because you are all so pathetic that you let this atrocity happen to you and you continue to let it persist! You don't even try to fight back; you just lay down on the sidewalk willingly so that he could stomp on your necks! Have you no pride? No courage? Dignity? Where the fuck is your shame? On second thought, you want to leave now? Then do it! You'll just prove me right, and I guarantee that your ancestors will be rolling in their graves upon knowing that you did something so shameful. Why? Because you, and every one of you that has deserted or is likely to desert Tazuna in his bid to fight back are nothing more than a bunch of spineless, whiny, pussies that are less than human—you are all nothing but a bunch of worms in human skin! Hell, I'll bet even your kids and your wives have more spine and dignity than any of you here!"

When he was done chewing out the construction worker, Naruto quickly turned his head in disgust—a clear sign that he wanted nothing more to do with him. The poor construction worker on the other hand simply had his eyes wide open in surprise; in his mind however, he was contemplating this young man's words. With a sigh, Tazuna turned away from him and went back to work. "I think how he said it was a bit uncalled for," he said, his disgust in his employee clear, "but nonetheless he is right. Go about your business for now…and don't bother coming back to work tomorrow."

A look of shame had crossed the man's face as he immediately removed himself from the premises. Either way he saw it, claret was imminent if he stayed. When he was sure that the employee was out of earshot, Tazuna then turned to the rest of the construction workers. "And don't think for a second that I'm done with the rest of you; if you don't want to be here then you can follow that asshole! But keep in mind, that what the brat was saying just now is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I for one am tired of Gato walking all over me; I'm tired of watching him kill this village the way he is! And I have had it with him getting his way, while I cower in some faraway corner hoping he won't take my family from me! In building this bridge, we are fighting back—we are threatening his source of income and weakening his power over us with this bridge, and he fucking knows it! And it's because we're fighting back that he's afraid! He's so afraid of us in reality that he's sending people to kill me just to cover up the fact that he is really a dickless coward, and that he actually holds no power over us—as a matter of fact, he wants me dead because he doesn't want you all to know how right I am.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am fucking tired of being afraid. I aim to misbehave by continuing to fight back! I intend to finish this bridge so that I can actually hit the fat bastard where it hurts! So if any of you have anything to say that is a complaint or that is not helping, then get the hell out of my sight! Otherwise, get back to work!"

Naruto smiled at Tazuna's speech. He sensed the courage building up in a good number of the ones who remained—all of them having had their fear turned into pride that had been damaged upon hearing his words earlier, but some of them were really motivated by the old man's example. At this point, he came to respect the ones who stayed because they all grew a backbone…true a lot of them only stayed to prove the blind kid wrong, that they did in fact have balls, but it was still a good improvement. Now they will fight back, and for that he shall do his part. He could only hope that Zabuza got his message so that he could proceed as planned…

…

[Meanwhile, in Konohagakure no Sato…]

A girl wearing a panda jacket with ears on the hood was walking down the street wearing a pair of sunglasses and a bandana covering the lower half of her face. Her destination was to Chōza's Bar and Grill due to the fact that they bought a new DJ table there and that Akimichi Yoko was partnered up with her fellow Queens of Konoha, Inuzuka Hana and Haruno Sayuri, were to serve as judges for a talent show to find a player for it. This would be a challenge for the young girl as those three women were all music enthusiasts, and so they all knew talent when they heard it.

"Are you nervous?" asked a little girl next to her wearing a blue hoodie, "I mean, at least one of those three are bound to recognize us. And then if we get caught, we're not going to hear the end of it back home."

"Will you relax?" hushed the taller girl, "I've got it under control! Just be yourself."

"Easier said than done, we're both wearing disguises for Kami's sake!"

"Just relax, and play like you always do. We'll get the spot—I know it!"

After feeling reassured by the taller girl, the two of them stopped at the restaurant to a depressing sight—a man dressed up with an overly large T-shirt, shorts that were so low they exposed his underwear, a beanie, sunglasses, and an excessive amount of fake gold on his person was walking out the door of the restaurant hunched over in defeat. It didn't help with confidence that he was crying, but that didn't stop the taller girl from dragging her little counterpart through the doors of the bar.

"Pretentious asshole!" hissed out the voice of Akimichi Yoko, "When I find the horrible excuse of a rapper that inspired him, I'm going to gut him like a Cornish game hen!"

…

[Kumogakure no Sato…]

Surprise had filled the air as a white-haired man wearing sunglasses let out a very loud sneeze. "What's the matter?" asked Samui, looking concerned for her master, "Are you catching a cold?"

"Hey, I'm fine enough go out and dine, yo!" said Killer Bee, going back to rapping, "But still, I can't help but feel a pretty big chill!"

Karui simply sighed in frustration.

…

[Back at Chōza's Bar and Grill…]

"Tell me about it," said Hana, very angry and disappointed that another singer decided to waste their time, "but for the record Yoko, you'll have to beat me to him—as soon as I meet whoever it was that dared to fill my ears with that shit rap music (even if it was indirectly done), I'll have the Haimaru triplets rip out his fucking throat!"

Sayuri could only agree. The last person they had in the talent show didn't even know the first thing about how to operate a DJ table, and was wasting their time on horrible rap skills. This set had an electronic keyboard, discs for scratching, and a variety of slides and buttons for all kinds of sounds. "The two of you can go on without me," she said, with depression clear in her voice at being unable to help her friend, "I swear to you: if we don't find some real talent soon, I am going back to my stand, I am going to get my bat out, and then I'm going to bash myself in the head for even thinking of subjecting myself to such torture!"

"Umm, excuse me?" said a voice from behind all three women, "but I hear that there are tryouts for DJ's?"

All three of them turned around, and found a duo of little girls wearing hoodies, sunglasses, and bandanas. Yoko let out a sigh. "Sorry girls, but the auditions are over for today. You'll have to come back…"

"Don't worry," said the taller girl in the panda hoodie, with so much confidence in her voice that the three older women could've sworn they felt her smiling, "we still have time…"

…

[Somewhere in the forest near Tazuna's house, the next morning…]

The crisp and clean morning air was doing wonders for his breathing. The rustle of the leaves, the sound of construction work in the distance, even the gentle howling of the wind were aiding in his meditations. Naruto blessed the morning for such a peaceful moment to meditate—the twins were making progress if the increased height of their pacing were any indication. He was not surprised that Satsuki was progressing a little faster than her sister; this was because she was the more patient and level-headed of the two, and so she always took the time to master and perfect whatever technique she learned. Tsukiko on the other hand was essentially a master of improvisation, and so she was able to understand the trick behind the tree-climbing exercise at a slower rate but on her own terms.

In his meditations, Naruto used the chakra radar at higher and higher frequencies to try and get more accurate scans of the area surrounding him. Whenever he used this sort of echolocation, he was able to add contrasting colors of bluish white to the world of black around him—it was like seeing those old black-and-white photographs as long as the radar was on. The problem was that the pictures he saw were very fuzzy, and that it cost him a lot of chakra to use his "Mind's Eye" to see, but then again, that was why he was doing these meditations: to make the images clearer and the cost in chakra cheaper. His meditations were disturbed when he felt two chakra signatures entering his domain. "It seems someone is feeling better," said Naruto, knowing exactly who it was that showed up, "I'm actually surprised you're willing to talk with me, all things considered."

"Yeah, well you actually caught my interest," mumbled Zabuza, "and besides, it's the least I could do as a fellow student of GSD's teachings to hear you out. So why don't we get straight down to business shall we?"

Naruto simply chuckled lightly, not moving from the lotus position of his meditation. "I hear your employer wants to kill my colleagues' client. Do you even have an idea as to why that evil pig you call a boss wants the bridge-builder dead?"

A look of bewilderment had crossed the rogue ninja's features. What was that kid getting at? "No. I actually make it a rule of thumb that the client's reasons are their own."

"I assume you've not been in town, have you? Otherwise, you'll see exactly what the bridge-builder is doing is actually of benefit to the village."

"That is none of my concern."

At that, the blind genin frowned. "Oh, but it is—for you see, Tazuna is this place's only hope for a better future and Gato wants to kill any of it for this village. He wants the bridge-builder dead because what he's doing is threatening both his wallet and his power."

Zabuza was losing patience with the boy. The sarcasm was clear in his voice as he chose his next words. "That's sad and all, but I still fail to see how any of this has to do with me and Haku."

"Aren't you a little suspicious that a greedy man like Gato is willing to part with a load of money for you to kill Tazuna?" asked Naruto, still not happy with the jōnin's decision.

Now this got Zabuza's attention! He was starting to get a better idea of what the kid was talking about, but he needed to confirm. "What are you getting at brat?"

"Zabuza-san, we both know that Gato is a criminal businessman—and crooked businessmen like him do not part with money unless they need to. In fact, most businessmen I've heard of are cheap as hell, which sort of makes sense. Why pay one ninja a load of money to kill one person when you can hire hundreds of bandits and mercenaries to do the same job and for less? I'm no prophet, but I have a feeling that the next time we fight will probably be your last."

Haku held her adoptive father by the arm. She was trying to comfort him because she saw him open his eyes wide in shock. That was before she saw him look to the blind genin with something in his eyes she could not identify. "So what do you want me to do about it? I can't very well leave this contract—my reputation would be on the line. Besides, the chance to fight you is an opportunity I seriously do not want to pass up."

Naruto only grinned with a devious look on his face. "I have a plan where we all walk away from this where everybody wins. You get to keep your head and Haku's, and still get paid the money you've been owed; the Konoha shinobi I am with on the other hand get an easier time of protecting the client. The only loser will be Gato, and anybody that is on his payroll. Interested?"

"What's the catch?" asked Haku, the suspicion adding an edge to her voice.

The edge to the Hyoton-wielder's voice was not lost to Naruto, nor did it detract the devious grin on his face. "Before I give you my plan, I will have some questions for you. First off, how much money do you have on hand in total?"

A look of bewilderment crossed the features of both Zabuza and Haku as they looked each other square in the eye before turning their attention back to the kid that was grinning. "Who wants to know? Besides, why should I trust you with any?"

"My plan involves going to the casinos, and if I am going there I need to know how much you have."

In that moment, Zabuza let out a sigh of exasperation. "Fine!" he grunted out, "I have 50,000 ryo saved up, you happy now?"

"Very good, I think we can work fast enough with that amount," said Naruto thinking, "now the next question: how much did Gato say he was going to pay you?"

Still confused as to what the brat was going on about, Zabuza sighed. The kid already knew how much he had saved up, he may as well tell him the details of the contract he had signed with Gato. He may as well humor the kid. "He agreed to pay me 600 thou if the hit on the old man was successful."

At that, Naruto whistled. "Now that I can manage. Okay then, you get me all the money you saved up, and I'll guarantee you that it's going to grow even bigger. Haku will have to guide me to the nearest casino, and it will be done."

"Excuse me, 'casino'?" asked Haku, the outrage clear in her voice.

"Trust me on this; I'll have that casino killed twice over by the end of the day. If not, then I think our duel is likely to come as scheduled by the pages of history. Are we in agreement Zabuza-san?"

With a contemplative look on his face, Zabuza started thinking about the decision. On the one hand, he had a self-proclaimed casino-killer who was offering to make him a lot more money to help finance the rebellion he was fighting to start. On the other, he had a crazy kid who was lying to him so that he could use the money for his own ends. What to do, what to do? Before long, he had finally come to a decision! "Kid, if you want to get that seed money so bad, you're gonna have to fight for it first," he said, fingering his zanbatou with one hand while reaching for his curved kunai with the other, "so why don't the two of us have our duel now? If you win, then you get your seed money. If you lose, then not only will you lose your head, but that fine-looking katana at your side is mine!"

Naruto chuckled darkly as he stood up while turning to face his opponent. "You've got good eyes," he said, fingering the handle of his katana, "this is the last work of the great swordsmith Gyudo Nyudo Masamune. It reacts extremely well to chakra and so my chakra-based attacks are stronger with it. I hear it's worth millions, but Masamune-san gave it to me personally as a gift free of charge. Because of that, I am hesitant to part with it, and I feel that it would be a great insult if I lost it to anybody without a fight."

"Well what do you know? At first, I thought it was simply a fine-looking sword; but now that I know it's that valuable, I'll have to rethink some things. And because it's made from Masamune's hands, that makes the deal even sweeter. I swear to you kid, if that katana gets into my hands, I'll wield it in your name!"

"That's assuming you can pry it from my cold dead fingers old man," began Naruto as his right hand started fingering his standard-issue zanbatou while his left hand was left hanging in the air anxious to move, "but just so you know, Mizu-hime can tend to be a loyal or finicky woman as far as swords go. If you don't measure up to her expectations, then she may make you into less of a man. Are you prepared to take that risk?"

"That's the name of your katana eh? Well don't worry about it, I'm pretty sure that I'm man enough for her."

Knowing that blood was imminent, Haku stepped away. She knew that when Zabuza wanted a duel, and he was dead-set on it, he had this aura of killing intent that showed that he refused to cave in. The second she found herself a few steps away from the improvised arena, she felt a wave of killer intent that seemed to match Zabuza's in terms of raw power—and it was all coming from the blind genin that made her master's blood boil with excitement in dueling. It seemed that even her master knew that this killing intent was there as his eyes had widened in surprise at feeling such an aura, but it turned back into confidence an excitement at the prospects of fighting an opponent that was equally strong. Yes, this would be a match she would remember…

…

[Somewhere in the forest…]

He felt it! Kakashi watched as the demon-slut and the Kirigakure no Oni relatively stared each other down, fingering their massive swords and waiting for each other to make the first move. It wasn't long until he felt the combined killer intent from both combatants…only monsters make that kind of aura, and that simply proved to him without a doubt that the demon-slut was impersonating the son of his sensei! How the fuck dare she! Had she no shame?

On that night she was taken by that old man with the demonic arm, Kakashi had subtly manipulated everything in such a way that the crowd would have an easy time of killing the little bitch. He was also watching from afar as the Chunin in the group were massacred when the slut decided to show her true colors. Possessed? Pfft! Yeah right! It was clear as day that the Kyūbi no Yoko was using the form of his sensei's late son to lie to poor old Hiruzen! Since that's the case, Kakashi had no other choice but to free the old Hokage of the burdens of being lied to!

Now he had an opportunity to kill the whore! Now he could be the son his sensei and his loving wife deserved, the big brother to the little boy that died with the harlot's unprovoked attack that took Rin from him! All he had to do was wait…

…

[Tazuna's Home, almost five minutes later …]

While she guarded the house and protected Inari, Meilan felt it prudent that she aid in cleaning the house a bit. It was the least she could do. As she looked at a cup, she reached out to put it away, only to see it crack before she could even touch it. She had a bad feeling about it the second she saw it happen. Something was wrong, and she felt it.

She looked out the door with a look of concern on her delicate features. "Naruto-kun…"

…

[Elsewhere in the woods…]

The Uchiha twins had been going up the same tree for a while now, racing each other to the top, and now they were both lying down with their backs on the grass looking up at their progress as they tracked how far up their respective trees they went. The pointer that Naruto had whispered in both their ears was the biggest help to the both of them thus far, and it showed in the fact that the both of them managed to get as far as 12 meters up their trees. As they both lay on their backs, both twins were satisfied with their progress thus far—panting, but satisfied nonetheless.

"Well we seem to be making good progress aren't we Satsuki?"

"We only have only about eight meters to go. Every step we take to the top of our trees makes us one step closer to being the ones to win his heart!"

At that, the look on Tsukiko's face had turned serious. "It's also another step in concluding our argument against him…" she muttered.

Once she heard that, Satsuki shared in her sister's glum feeling. "I know what he did was not exactly kosher, but do you really think he was entirely wrong? I mean, you've seen how mom was like when she was around the other Uchiha members, save a few."

"That's not the point," answered the younger Uchiha twin, as she almost shouted the words, "the point of the matter is that Itachi killed his own family…our family. Don't you miss Uncle Wangetsu? What about Cousin Himiko? Not to mention he almost killed mom! I mean, yeah he killed everyone else in our family—the majority of whom were assholes anyway (dad included), but he also killed the few who were not! How can you justify that?"

"Don't get me wrong sis, I'm with you on the revenge for the few family members who were not assholes and I'll follow you to the grave because I love you through thick and through thin—Kami knows what I'll do if you die on me. It's just that I'm afraid of what will come of it. I mean, once we get started on this path, who knows where this will stop?"

Tsukiko had a contemplative look on her face. With a long, drawn-out sigh, she had the answer prepared. "I plan on this ending as soon as we end Itachi."

"Even if you have to kill Naruto in the process?"

Those words had hit a nerve in Tsukiko as she looked to her older sister with horror crossing her features. "No! I absolutely refuse to do that!"

Satsuki looked to Tsukiko with a sad look in her eyes. With that one look, the younger twin understood the warning in her sister's eyes even before she would say it. "If we follow the path of revenge, people will always get caught in the crossfire. In our case, it's only a matter of time before people we love are in it. The only question I have is how many people have to get stuck in the crossfire just so that we can kill him? I don't want people to die unnecessarily."

Now that she thought about it, Tsukiko finally understood what her older sister was getting at. If they continue down this path, how long until someone they love gets caught in the crossfire; until their mother gets caught in it? What about Naruto-kun? Would she be willing to kill Naruto just to kill Itachi? With a long-winded sigh and words ready in her mouth, she was just about to say something when she heard the sound of steel clashing on steel.

The twins looked to each other, as if wondering if what they heard was an illusion before they ran off to the direction of the sound upon hearing it again. This was not the sound of a blacksmith's hammer pounding at a fresh ingot of steel against an anvil; this was an actual sword fight going on judging by the weight of the steel they heard! With that on mind, the Uchiha twins ignored the feeling of weariness burning away at their legs and adding weight to their chests as they ran to the direction of the sword fight.

When they arrived, they found themselves slowed by a sort of dense fog before they were intercepted by a cage of ice spikes shooting up from the ground around them and the apparent duel that had apparently started. To their fury, the fake Kiri-ANBU had appeared before them. "I really wouldn't disturb them," she said from behind her mask, "this is a duel of honor between students of the same basic school of swordplay. Your friend is currently trying to win a bet to try and make things easy for the rest of you Konoha-nin—just sit back and have faith." She then turned to watch the duel that was going on behind her. "And don't bother trying to break the ice, whether figuratively or literally; it's laced with chakra, and so it won't melt until I will it to do so. The two of you will be free once the duel is over."

Seeing that they had no way out, the Uchiha twins simply watched from behind their icy cage as Naruto did battle with Zabuza in a dance of blades. What they saw was burned into their minds as they witnessed the younger ninja's mastery over his weapons and the teachings of his last sensei showed as he wove through Zabuza's heavy swings with the grace of a goddess and counterattacked with his tetsubo with about as much force an oni was likely to use. Above his head were two glyphs similar to the ones they saw him use when they rescued Kakashi and Yūgao, and he was surrounded by a ring of runes that was slowly rotating around him. Soon, they were joined by a third glyph while Naruto jumped over another horizontal swing and then he swung his club upward before bringing it back down for that move the two of them saw him using on the first day of class. Unfortunately for him, his efforts were for naught as the wheel of chakra had shredded a Mizu-bunshin…the only effect it now had was that it created a fourth glyph over Naruto's head before the two of them stopped momentarily to catch their breath.

The twins had looks of curiosity on their faces when they saw the glyphs appear just like that. What was significant about them? "Impressive Zabuza-san," said Naruto as he panted, while sheathing his tetsubo, "most people are caught off-guard when I use this technique on them. As a matter of fact, since you're dueling with me in the first place when it's supposed to be illegal among ninja tells me you follow bushido well. I'm pretty sure you would've made a great samurai one day."

"And for you to stand up to me for so long tells me you're at least on par with my protégé," replied Zabuza, grinning wildly at his opponent under his bandages, "I think you'll be more useful to me alive than dead! And now that I think about it, those symbols of yours floating above your head seem to make you even stronger…once I find out the secret behind them and learn how to use them, my rebellion is as good as won!"

At that, Naruto simply let out a light laugh as he continued to pant. "It would've been easier if you just gave me the money. I've heard whispers about your coup against the Mizukage while studying under GSD-sensei, and I also heard that you're not the only rebel faction fighting against him. From I've heard, a woman by the name of Terumi Mei has already got a good head start over you."

"Yeah, but I want to see if you're worth every penny." He quipped.

"If you're that stubborn, then I guess I'll have to really beat you down and I have the technique to do it…" The two of them stared each other down at that. Even the twins could feel the tension in the air from behind their cage as the two of them started reaching for their weapons and the silence was such that one could hear a pin drop from a mile away—the only thing that could be heard on the other hand was the sound of the four runes above Naruto's head as they gave out a low and pulsating whine as they orbited above his head. One thing was clear with those two: whatever was going to happen was going to be quick.

Suddenly, Naruto quickly drew his katana, charged a large amount of chakra into it while winding up for a heavy swing, and swung downwards but not before shouting out, "ASURA BUSTER!" as he sent a large crescent-shaped wave of chakra flying towards Zabuza at high speed and creating another chakra-amplifier above his head. The result of this ended up with the wave cutting a gash across Zabuza's chest, and more than twenty trees being bisected in a straight line. The speed of the attack was such that the rogue ninja barely had time to make a Mizu-bunshin at the last minute, but that moment was enough to allow Zabuza to get even closer. Naruto simply smiled and suddenly raised his hand. All five of his chakra amplifiers flew into a ringed formation, knocking Zabuza back before he hit some kind of invisible wall. The next thing to happen was that the rogue ninja noticed that he was rising into the air, while the five runes collapsed into large spheres of energy. At that, he knew it was helpless for whatever was going to happen. When he had reached a certain height, Zabuza saw he spheres rushing towards him at high speed. The impact of the first sphere was like getting hit by at least a hundred of his own chakra-enhanced fists, the next hit with almost the same amount of force. After that, it was simply wash, rinse, repeat as the five spheres hit him at increasingly higher speeds.

By the time the jutsu was done, Zabuza was sent flying and into a tree…he then watched as Naruto walked forward with that fine-looking katana of his. He willed himself to move and fight back, only for him to stop, the tip of a sword directed at his throat. "Do you surrender?"

There was no other way out of this, he knew. Oh well, it wasn't like he had anything to lose, now was there? He heaved a sigh. Zabuza had the words of surrender ready in his mouth only to stop as Naruto quickly swung his sword to cut a kunai in half and then performed an upwards cut behind him in order to cut a log in half, shortly before he was stabbed in the back. "I knew you were there Kakashi," he said as he felt the blade, slowly digging closer towards his heart, before he felt it being taken out just in time for him to try and strike down the meddler, "I wasn't sure when you'd snap and try to kill me."

"You think I haven't seen your techniques before you slut?" asked the masked ninja, brandishing a bloodied kunai in his hand and his Sharingan eye active, "I remember seeing Kushina-sama using those same exact techniques, and I will not allow you to sully her memory when you've murdered her!"

Ignoring the pain, Naruto managed to prepare himself for another attack with Mizu-hime at the ready. "You're little better than the idiots that have tried to kill me in the past," he said, sneering at Kakashi, "at least you know that the Kyūbi no Kitsune is a woman…but you fail to understand the idea that if I were a henge, I would have been dispelled by now. Now for the last time, I am not the Kyūbi no Kitsune—she is sealed into my arm!"

"Shut-up you demon slut! Your lies will not affect me! I see through your disguise—you're not one of those unfortunate souls that have demons sealed in their arms, you are the demon!" Once he let out those last four words in a shout, Kakashi charged in for a lunging stab at Naruto only for the blind genin to dab his sword in his own blood, and then quickly performed a cut in the shape of the kanji for 'ten'. The effect it had was instantaneous as Kakashi was knocked back by the cut which penetrated his flak jacket. Naruto started taking steps towards the jōnin, ready to decapitate him with his sword, only to feel pain after the fourth step. He then started gripping at his chest before coughing up blood.

"Aw, what's the matter?" asked Kakashi in a mocking tone, grinning wildly under his mask as he twirled the kunai he used to stab Naruto, "Is the demon whore finally feeling the effects of my poisoned kunai? Well don't be surprised, because this mixture is guaranteed to weaken you Bijū and Jinchūriki before killing you in a slow and painful manner. The good thing is that I'm feeling generous enough to end you now!" Once he stood a few inches away from his victim, Kakashi looked down. "Any last words whore?"

With one last effort of defiance, Naruto managed to spit in Kakashi's face. Angered by this, the jōnin raised his kunai up to stab the boy in the head only drop the blade as an arrow made of ice penetrated his hand, and was then followed by three more ice arrows that pinned him to the ground. He turned just in time to watch as the imposter Kiri-ANBU ran up and smacked him across the face with a bow made of ice before grabbing both Zabuza and Naruto and teleporting away from the battlefield. Upon knowing that he had failed yet again to kill the 'demon whore', Kakashi let out a roar of anger!

Little did he know that he had two witnesses against him that had just fled the scene swiftly and silently. Witnesses who both swore to kill the jōnin for what he'd just done!

…

A/N: As a reminder to those who have not been paying attention, Satsuki is the older twin by 1 second. Anyway, I've decided that both Zabuza and Kakashi will die in this canon (the latter will be dying much sooner).

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Updated Character Classes:

Jūgo: Berserker/Avenger

Shizuka: Striker (she will encounter Naruto in the Chunin Exams with the Dark Elves)

Karin: Crusader

Sayuri: Blade Master (Bludgeon)

Fem-Samurai: Blade Master (Katana) (not sure how Mifune will take to his niece being in love with a shinobi, and one he knows because of GSD no less)

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Dungeon Fighter Techniques Used:

Murderous Wave: Asura—Naruto's killing intent vs. Zabuza's

Path of Frost EX: Glacial Master—Haku intercepts the Uchiha twins (in this case, it is a controlled version)

Wave Manifestation Brand: Asura—Naruto starts gaining glyphs

Mind Snap!: Asura—the ring of white runes orbiting Naruto

Wave Wheel Slasher: Universal Slayer—making another glyph

Spirit Crescent: Asura—First move of Round 2

Agni Penacle: Asura—Naruto finishing off Zabuza

Flip-Side Counter: Blademaster—Kakashi interrupts Zabuza's surrender

Gore Cross: Universal Slayer—Naruto stops Kakashi

Broken Arrow: Glacial Master—Haku saves Naruto and Zabuza

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Songs Used:

"Dreams of Cruelty" by Valve Studio Orchestra from "Team Fortress 2": Naruto chewing out construction worker

"Duke Devlin's Theme" from "Yu-Gi-Oh!" (US version): Zabuza's challenge

"The Next Door (Indestructible)" by Exile from "Street Fighter IV": Tension build-up and then the duel

"Jinchūriki" by Takanashi Yasuharu from "Naruto: Shippuden": Kakashi's sneak-attack

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Vocabulary/Culture Notes:

Bushido—this is literally Japanese for "Way of the Warrior"; it is a code of conduct that samurai follow in the same vein as chivalry for knights.