Team 7 lay dead and scattered across the bridge. The Genin were veritable pincushions, bristling with glittering white senbon. Their teacher was pinned by the long blade of Kubikiri Houcho, the sword almost as wide as the young Jounin's chest.
Zabuza Momochi stood, leaning on the sword, bleeding heavily from a few cuts on his torso and breathing hard as Gato strolled onto the bridge.
"Well, I suppose you finally earned your keep. Too bad I don't pay weaklings."
The Missing-nin scowled, growling through his bandages at the stumpy form of his employer.
"So you've betrayed me? You were never going to pay me!"
Gato sneered, lip curling disdainfully.
"Only an idiot would pay so much for so little."
"Okay, I think that's enough."
The little bodies on the bridge dissolved into the thick mist, the Jounin following suit a moment later, reappearing a little behind Zabuza's shoulder, whose injuries likewise disappeared. The former Kiri-nin glowered unhappily as the Leaf ninja spoke in an even and unimpressed tone.
"I did tell you. Never underestimate a greedy individual's capacity for self-harm."
"What?! You didn't kill them? I knew you were worthless!"
Hiroki-sensei gestured towards the stupid, ranting businessman invitingly.
"I believe you were going to express your displeasure? Hmm?"
Naruto watched from his position in a protective bubble around Tazuna alongside his team as Zabuza hefted his massive sword and with a blurring motion disappeared into the crowd of thugs around Gato. The huge blade swung once, cleaving Gato's head from his shoulders in a single movement, earning a polite golf-clap from Hiroki.
"Well, that makes our job much easier, thank you. Now for the rest of the rabble."
Sensei gazed at the collection of nervous and angry thugs for a second, before his gaze flickered back to Team 7. Naruto wasn't sure why, until the Jounin raised a politely expectant eyebrow.
Naruto gulped, and shifted on his feet, hands tensing as he gripped his sickles tighter. He could almost hear Sensei's words in his head, but…
"Sensei, are they bad people?"
Hiroki merely shook his head.
"They are just people Naruto."
The older nin sighed heavily, a tired sound as they looked at each other across the grey expanse of concrete.
"Naruto, I believe, that if you tried, you could change them. With your clones, and your light, and your dedication, if you wanted to, you could make them better. You could turn them from darkness to light, from violent thugs to productive members of the community. I believe, that it is possible, that you, by the strength of your own hands and will, could change the world without shedding a single drop of blood."
His hands clenched tighter around the wrapped metal of his weapons as he stared resignedly down at the surface of the bridge. He could hear what Sensei hadn't said too. He could. It was possible.
But not likely. There was a cost to everything, a price that must be paid; he could save these men, change their fate, heal whatever wound of the heart pushed them to this life of banditry. But if he did that, he wouldn't be able to do other things.
Gato's thugs might be redeemable, but the same could be said for others, and the effort he spent on these men he wouldn't be able to spend on those others, stronger enemies maybe, people with more capacity for good… or for harm.
His teeth caught on his lower lip as he tried to push himself, to- to make his body move, to make sure these cruel people who had hurt others and would likely do so again couldn't, but…
Sensei sighed gently.
"It's alright, Naruto. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here."
A faint, sort of plinking melody filled the air as his teacher began to sway a little from side to side… before he moved. [Rude Boy - Zed's Dead]
It was beautiful, in a rather horrible way, like a pendulum swinging or watching the smooth turning of gears in some machine. Sensei's bracers gleamed, as did the blades extruding from them as they swept in arcs and dips through the mass of thugs, disappearing every few seconds to abruptly shift from one point to another as the speed briefly accelerated too fast to follow. Every movement was just so, every step moving the masked ninja deeper into the group which had begun to panic in slow motion ripple as their numbers rapidly dwindled. Hiroki didn't look gleeful, or hateful or, anything really, but his face was still disturbing for it bore a look of… contentment maybe? Relaxation. An actor who knew his role to perfection and played it flawlessly.
It was like a dance, almost, though the almost music was harsh and grating and jerked like the twitching limbs of a marionette, it was… beautiful. It was also very, very red.
Naruto didn't have time to be distracted though, for Sensei couldn't be everywhere at once, and a small clump of Gato's thugs had decided to cut their losses and run. Unfortunately, that meant they had to pass through Team 7's position.
His hands tensed around the handles of his sickles, but something was holding him back. He didn't want to hurt these bandits, despite… everything. Everyone had something to live for, something to offer, but-
There was a cruel, hateful look in the eye of the closest bandit, and the thug swung his polearm at Sakura to try and clear the way. His teammate hopped back quickly, but she must have been as surprised as he was, for her response was a little slow.
The edge of the rusty blade just nicked her arm, barely a scratch, drawing only a thin line of red-
He did not like that.
A flicker of memory, the pretty, feminine boy he had met while patrolling the village-
-when a person has something to protect; that is when we become truly strong-
There was a hot, churning feeling in his gut, a burning, almost acid intention, and the thug's glaive was stopped abruptly by his crossed kama, catching the haft below the blade in a scissor lock. With a burst of strength, the length of wood was sheared apart sending splinters flying and knocking the bandit back.
He pushed forward, doubts and worries shoved aside, tucked away in a little box where it couldn't bother him, couldn't slow him down, because the Team was everything, and nothing would take them away.
Naruto could feel his breathing deepen, a thread of raging panic welling in his mind as he batted aside the feeble defence of his target. They might not be bad people, but they were doing bad things, and they were threatening people he cared about.
The slightly serrated blade of his sickle buried itself in the gut of the man who had injured Sakura, the chain slipping from the boy's fingers as he swept past towards the next target. That's all they were. They were [targets]. He was a shinobi. He would defend his client. He would protect his Team.
His fingers tightened on the links of metal sliding across his palm and he pulled hard. The blade whipped forward trailing bits of- He twitched and the sickle swung overhead to slash across the chest of another [target] before he pulled it behind him, the length of chain sweeping along in a wide arc, his team reacting perfectly, Sasuke twisting over the distraction, sword darting out to puncture flesh like a soft balloon, and Sakura sliding underneath, her fans sweeping out to neatly sever the tendons of the [target] on Naruto's other side, the motion turning into a graceful spin to take out the groin, liver, and throat of the stumbling [target] as the blond's weapon slid neatly back into his hand.
He did not think for several more moments, the span of seconds dragging out as he simply moved, his team at his side like a single unit, an impulse throbbing in his head like an unceasing drumbeat -defendtheclientfindnexttargetprotectteammovestrikemovekeepprecioussafe- Dull grey chains gleamed in the wet fog lingering in the air, every broad swing making openings for Sakura to thrust and deflect, herding and harrying the [targets] and leading them right towards Sasuke's blade, carving silver crescents into the volume of their authority. They were in control. They did their duty. They protected each other. They kept the client safe.
Naruto came back to himself slowly, hands rock steady as they held his sickles in a ready position as the last [target] fell with a faint gurgle. He felt like he should be shaking, or like he wanted to throw up, or fall to his knees and never stop crying. He didn't though. He was safe, his team was safe, the client was safe. The bridge was still, and only Tazuna, Team 7, and their Jounin were left standing.
A figure emerged from the shifting fog as a breeze blew through, Zabuza perched on the railing and staring with a sort of hungry fascination at Sensei as the other Jounin swayed slightly to the fading strains of the song, faint drips coming from arms bloody to the elbow. The Missing-nin gave the Genin a sort of assessing glance for a moment, and Naruto almost wished Zabuza would say something, show an indication that he was an enemy too, because this was all his fault and…
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pulling himself back even as his hands trembled and the Mist-nin turned back to their Sensei.
"And that is why they call you the Muse, isn't it?"
Naruto frowned at the tone, dislike for the Missing-nin warring with the urge to be sick at the goopy mess covering the stretch of bridge. Hiroki still looked lost, absent, mind wandering far afield as he stared at Team 7 through his crimson soaked fingers.
"Everyone deserves to be beautiful, Zabuza. Even if only for a moment. Even if only once."
The other Jounin snorted, a small, cynical sound made lound by the echoing fog, before turning and disappearing once more. Naruto caught a glimpse of the boy, Haku, who gave him a small wave of farewell. His hand mirrored the action, dimly surprised, but Zabuza's Apprentice was already gone, vanished into the mist after his Master.
He shivered and hugged himself tight, perpetual cheer dampened by the cold and the death and the strange and unfamiliar sea air. It was time to go home.
. . .
July 25, 13 AK
After a month, even home can start to get stifling. Since the completion of their first C-rank (turned A-rank), nissan had requested fewer D-ranks for them. Now they only went on 2 a week, rather than 6. The extra time was dumped into… more training.
Hiroki kept his word of course, and each member of Team 7 learned a new jutsu aligned with their elemental affinity. Sasuke had complained about learning a Lightning jutsu at first (admittedly that invisible flame breath thing Sensei had used against the water clone was pretty cool), but the raven's grumbles eventually subsided in the face of practicality.
"You already know the Grand Fireball. Ghostfire is not really a step up. Besides which, it would not synergize with Great Breakthrough."
Naruto preened slightly as his brother sent him an approving look. It had taken him 4 days to get the jutsu down, but with the amount of chakra he could dump into it he could topple trees with ease, and if Sasuke blew a Fireball into it as well they could probably burn down Konoha.
"But, Sensei, wouldn't it be good with my Water Bullets?"
He blinked at Sakura and had to suppress a small flush yet again. She had updated her outfit a little, her dress was shorter over her shorts and came with detached sleeves. It was… really cute, actually, and he had been noticing that sort of thing more in the last few weeks for some reason. Naruto noted that Sasuke's new masky-scarf thing was kind of nice too, making him look sort of suavely handsome and mysterious and… uh… that was weird.
Their Jounin-sensei hummed agreeably.
"It would… but not as well as the Water Bullet goes with the Lightning Rod."
The blond grumbled a little and scuffed the ground. The jutsu Sasuke had learned was admittedly pretty awesome, not that he was jealous or anything! Great Breakthrough was way cooler, and he was already learning how to channel a bit of Wind Chakra into his sickles so they could cut through anything. It was kind of scary, actually, because the style he was learning for their use was very… swingy… so he had to be even more careful with them. A single glance could slice off someone's arm easily, and Hiroki-nii wouldn't always be there to put them back together.
Well, fortunately he had Shadow Clones to practice with, so he would probably be more than ready come the Chunin Exams. And maybe he'd see Hinata there...
His wandering attention was brought back to the present abruptly as Sensei clapped his hands.
"Well, you've all shown admirable progress over the past few weeks, so… I think we're ready for another C-rank, don't you? An actual C-rank, this time, I mean. I've been vetting the incoming missions personally, and I think I found one which shouldn't take too long, or be too much of a bother. Simple courier job, taking a scroll from the Capital to a mining town in Stone Country. What do you say?"
Team 7 exchanged a long look, considering the proposal. Wave had been… well, it had been a disaster, honestly. Helping out those people had been great, but there was a real chance of death the entire time. That was true of all ninja work, of course, but Konoha worked hard to ensure that its ninja were given the best chance possible at success, and Genin paired up against Jounin level Missing-nin was definitely not part of standard operating procedure. But it wasn't like they could just sit inside the village forever either.
As one they turned back towards the waiting Jounin.
"We accept."
. . .
A/N: Naruto killed some people. This is a funny topic, because he saves the world with his belief in the intrinsic goodness of others and so on, and in canon he never actually kills anyone. Seriously, it's a little ridiculous, but even Kakuzu is technically just beaten near death by Naruto, then chidoried by Kakashi. But it was pointed out to me that all of the times Naruto's opponents died without him having killed them, he was actually ready to kill them. He wouldn't have liked it, he would work to avoid it, but if Nagato had just been like 'go suck my atrophied dick' rather than ressing everyone,then our plucky blond protagonist would have been willing to rip his head off.
Some authors treat it like he can't possibly kill people and still be a good person, like he's some perfectly naive and virginal snowflake, but that isn't the real Naruto.
Thematic music for the fight: Rude Boy by Zeds Dead
Edit: Oh! I almost forgot; someone mentioned Zabuza taking the fight to casually, because his Bingo Book should list Hiroki as S-rank. So, couple things about that, first; it is sort of implied in canon originally that Bingo Books were sort of like a ninja's personal notebooks about other ninja. Eventually that was expanded in fanon into 'every bounty hunter has a bingo book' and eventually 'there are publicly available bingo books that list everybody's stats'.
In this case: The Bingo Book listing Hiroki as S-rank was published by Kumo. It is debatable who has access to it in other countries beyond the higher ups that receive reports from agents in the field. It is also up in the air how much stock Country A puts in Country B's rankings of ninja. Additionally, Zabuza thought he was good enough to take out an S-rank Mizukage, so even if his book is up to date he might consider himself to be bordering S-rank anyway. And, finally, Zabuza has been out of the game for... like at least a year or so, right? So there is a very good chance his Bingo Book is simply out of date.