Took me a long time to get this semi right. It's not exactly what I had I my head but its as close as I can get it given the limited time I have nowadays.

I realised that the summary for this story is terrible so I'm going to change it to something a bit more exciting.

-0-

Fight and Flight (Prelude)

He tried to breathe, but he couldn't. His chest was filled, but not with air. Consciousness slammed into him hard and Naruto rolled over quickly and emptied an obscene amount of sea water from his stomach and probably lungs. He retched and lurched violently at the agonizing experience. He drew up to his knees gulping harshly, filling his lungs with lifesaving air.

Taking stock of the situation, he stood up straight and took in his surroundings. He was on an island, that was a good start. Given their trajectory before the Fury technique was released, he figured he was on or close to point one-four-seven. The Fury technique was one of the most dangerous jutsu in existence. It was more of a seal than a jutsu, one that once applied could in an instant turn even the most miniscule of its wearers chakra into an explosive that could level villages. It was of Uzumaki design, a design that found its way into the hands of some extremely dangerous people when Uzushiogakure was destroyed. Ironically, it was this very same seal that was used to destroy the village hidden in the whirlpools. Many of other cities and villages were obliterated during the years after.

Konoha held them responsible. His mother had spent a great deal of her short life searching for and eradicating any trace of the many dangerous secrets that escaped her village after its destruction. Now that task had seemingly fallen to him.

Point one-four-seven was a moderately sized island, sandwiched between two smaller islands and contained an old stash house that Konoha ANBU had used during the third shinobi war. Given that the war ended well over a decade ago he doubted there was much left of it. In all honesty he had no idea what the meeting point was supposed to look like, he had reviewed the mission pack thoroughly, but Konoha didn't have much info on these islands outside of some worn pictures and an outdated topographical map. The exact rendezvous point was near the centre of the island, about eleven kilometres or so from his current position.

From where he was standing, he could make out moderately hilly terrain that rose gradually as it went inland. The ground that wasn't covered in fine white sand, sprouted slick moss like grass that glittered in the mid-day sun. Overhead hung a variety of trees, from simple palms to fruit bearing fauna that no doubt supported some form of animal life.

A steady breeze streamed across the island, rustling his blond hair as he knelt to check his equipment. He looked around quickly before emptying his weapons pouch on the sand below him and ran a mental count of eight kunai, seventeen shuriken and a small roll of explosive tags. His spare pack that was around his waist had fallen off during the explosion. That meant no caltrops and most annoyingly, no ready-made seals. His cloak was also nowhere to be seen.

Sighing he began to tighten his arm and shin guards, then moved unto securing his remaining weapons against his leg. He reached under his right arm guard and pulled out a very small white scroll.

He held it in his left palm and applied a minuscule amount of chakra and with a pop the scroll unsealed in a small cloud of smoke. It cleared, revealing a bottle of water and an MRE rations bar. The feeling of a salty water in his stomach was making him slightly nauseous. As quick as he could he tore into the bar and gulped down most of the small bottle of water before tucking what remained into one of the large pockets that adorned his pants.

That was his emergency ration, ideally, he would have waited until absolutely necessary but throwing up earlier meant he needed to replenish his bodies water stores lest he dehydrate in the heat.

The first thing he needed to do was rendezvous with his team, wherever they were. He couldn't see any tracks except his in the sand around him, that meant he was probably alone. Normally he would shoot of a flair with his chakra but there could be enemy shinobi all around him for all he knew. The best strategy was to recon the island and secure a defensive position that offered him high enough visibility to spot an ally or to evade potential enemies.

-0-

He began to make his way to the centre of the small plot of land, the terrain rose as he walked along it. As he came across the tallest tree on the beach, he kept walking until was at the top it. He could see the whole beach from his position. Across the water were two other land masses, too close for him to gauge their sizes but their presence confirmed that he was indeed at point 147. That meant his team would be heading in this direction if they weren't already there.

He noticed a small dot on the beach of his island, it could have been debris from Toru's ship or a person. It was just far enough away that he couldn't really make it out. Gathering himself, he darted off the palm tree he was occupying and cautiously made his way to what he was quickly identifying as a small person.

After making sure he was alone, Naruto tentatively approached the body, it was the small girl that was with Zabuza earlier. She lay on her stomach completely still. He could make out the faint traces of her footprints leading to from the shore. He quickly flipped her over and began CPR but after a few seconds nothing changed.

"Come on, come on" he pleaded.

I desperation he held a palm in front of him and did something he was far too inexperienced to even contemplate at his current level. Concentration furrowed his brow and a moment later a pale green glow engulfed his palm, Tsunade was going to kill him when she read his report. He brought his palm to her chest and watched as the glow intensified, he gently began to move it up towards her mouth and then back down again. His eyes were closed, and he was visibly sweating, on his third trip to her mouth the young girl began hacking and coughing up globs of salt water.

He rolled her over and began to pat her back. A few seconds later her heaving had ceased, with a tremble she began to look around. Her dark eyes settled on the blond who smiled meekly in an attempt to calm her down a bit. With a shriek she pulled up and raised a frantic hand in his direction. In an instant thin spike of ice rose from the damp sand and pierced the blond through the chest and legs. The girl screamed as Naruto fell back onto the sand with a pained look on his face, she covered her mouth in horror and grew even paler at her actions.

The moment was short lived however, as Naruto exploded in a puff of white smoke.

"That was close" His voice came from all around her.

The young girl began to scream again before a gloved hand covered her mouth "easy there" Naruto said calmly. He had reappeared on the other side of her, ever thankful for the replacement jutsu and his wherewithal to always have a clone hidden somewhere.

"You're okay?" She whispered almost in disbelief, eyes tracing across his body to confirm he was indeed 'Okay'.

"Okay, is one way to put it" He smiled at her "How about you, how are you feeling, are you hurt?" He maintained eye contact as he spoke.

"I'm fine" She was a bit put off by his questioning.

"Good" he responded "that's a pretty neat jutsu you've got there" he motioned to the melting icicles that almost killed him a moment ago.

"oh, sorry" she seemed honestly sorry "It was a reflex." She drew up on to shaky legs and began to look around. Naruto watched her as she chewed her lip desperately trying to come up with a plan.

"You're looking for Zabuza" He stated. She whirred at him with hard eyes and began to back away slowly. The events of the day where probably coming back to her.

"I haven't seen him but if you're here he must be close. I'm sure he's fine" He was trying to be reassuring but he wasn't sure why. Zabuza was an unknown variable as likely to behead him as he was to offer assistance.

"He's injured, I have to find him right away" Worry was etched into her every word.

"There might be enemy shinobi in the vicinity, its best we stick together" He was deadly serious, chances are there would be combat. If she was here then Zabuza could be here and if Zabuza was here, then the two shinobi that were chasing them could also be here.

She began to walk away, obviously not convinced they needed each other in this situation. The young girl didn't make it very far before her legs gave out and she fell face first into the warm sand. She immediately tried to get back up, but it was safe to assume she would need more time than they had to regain her footing. Naruto sighed as he looked at her prone form. She struggled to her feet again but this time before she could fall, he was there to meet her.

She landed softly on his back and he wrapped his arms around her legs to keep her steady as he rose up. She gasped silently when she realized what was happening.

"Put me down" She protested. She pushed meekly against his shoulders in protest.

"No can-do miss. If I leave you here, chances are you'll get caught and you don't want to know what Kiri intelligence does to war criminals" he adjusted her slightly "especially those with Kekkei Genkai and call me a chauvinist but I can't stand by and let that happen" He hoped he had used that word right, Tsunade had lectured him for hours about how not become like Jiraiya and the word chauvinist kept coming up. Well, it was the nicest of the words that kept coming up anyway.

She sighed and relaxed slightly into his back. Naruto smiled at that. This just became much easier.

"Naruto" he said. He received no response and for a second he thought she had blacked out. "This is the part where you tell me your name".

"I'm not supposed to" She replied.

"Hi 'I'm not supposed to', nice to meet you" He chuckled to himself at his wit.

She groaned loudly into his shoulder.

"What? That was funny. My Godfather has a million of those. And I'm happy to tell you every single one until you tell me your name" He was definitely threatening her. When she remained silent, he began again "Do you know why I don't like stairs?" again silence "because they're always up to something!" He had the decency to pause for applause. Yet still nothing. "Okay this next one's gonna have you in stitches." He felt her dainty fingers dig into his shoulders.

"Please, don't" she pleaded.

"What's your name?" he asked. Again silence "What do you call a fly without wings?" She groaned so loudly he was afraid she would give away their position to everyone on the island but all he could do was chuckle. His own fears had seemingly dissipated now that he had someone to talk to. "A fly!" he finished as he walked along the mossy floor heading to the islands interior and away from the beach.

He was unprepared for the very un-lady like snort of laughter that was quickly covered with a hasty and entirely fake cough.

"That was terrible" she said.

"Really?" he was undeterred "You'll love this one then".

-0-

Twenty minutes had passed without incident as they slowly made their way inland.

"Okay, what did the fish say when it swam into a wall?"

"Damn" She replied quickly.

"Duh, you're from Kiri, you'd obviously know that one.

"My father told me that one" She said with a sombre tone.

"oh" Naruto mumbled. "what's the deal with you two anyway? has he got a plan; I mean where are you guys gonna go with half of Kiri on your tail?"

"I don't know but Zabuza-sama always has a plan."

"Oh, okay"

"by the way, He's not my father."

Naruto didn't reply. He kept on walking under the ever-thickening canopy of tall tropical trees that covered almost the entirety of the small island.

It was actually quite beautiful when he took a second to admire it all. Lush greens and vibrant blues with bright yellow beams of light darting between the leaves to give his surroundings an ethereal beauty. Moss covered most of the floor, every rock, branch and stump was slick with a thin coating of verdant green.

A fresh breeze went steadily about them. It swayed the palm trees ever so slightly and ruffled the short bushes and shrubs that he waded through on his way to the designated meeting place. The constant chirping of rainbow-coloured birds gave off a strange melody that filled his periphery with a life all its own.

He stepped over a thick exposed root and stopped dead in his tracks when his senses screamed at him. In one quick motion he seemingly phased from existence in a rustle of leaves that were instantly scattered by the giant sword that cleaved clean through a thick tree trunk and embedded itself firmly into the soft soil where he once stood.

The girl on his back eeped loudly when he reappeared behind another tree a few yards away. He quickly dropped her to the floor and covered his lips with a finger, signifying for her to remain quiet. Naruto then quickly palmed a pair of kunai.

"Can you stand?" he whispered.

She nodded and rose to her feet. He wasn't sure how capable she was, and he wasn't foolish enough to believe for a second that he could take on a Kiri Hunter by himself.

"I'll try to distract them. When I create an opening run as fast as you can in that direction" he pointed off into the bushes "got it?" she nodded again.

And with that he was gone. A perfect Shunshin placed him high in the canopy. From this position he had much more visibility of his surroundings, but he was also more exposed. He search quickly for his attacker. A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he was forced to abandon his position as kunai rained down on the branch where he once stood. Appearing again not far from his original position he breathed steadily and ran through his situation in his head.

He was up against a Kiri hunter who was wielding the Kubikiribōchō. Not only that but he had no idea if said hunter was alone and on top of that he had broken protocol by interacting with the girl in the bushes below him. This was going downhill quickly. He needed to act. He darted from his position to another branch and with a flex of his dense chakra he seemingly split into twenty versions of himself who each sprang off into different directions. A second later a there was a distant pop as one of his clones was dispelled, the memory flooded his brain immediately and he whirled in mid-air and ran through hand signs.

He inhaled so deeply his chest puffed out and then he blew out a torrential gust of wind from his mouth that tore through the forest in front of him. Entire trees were uprooted, and a great swathe of the forest was levelled as he pumped as much chakra as he could into the technique. Hopefully the girl knew that was her opening.

He had exposed his positing now. A second later the great blade whisked through the air forcing him to duck. It passed through the bark of the tree his stood on as if it was butter. Naruto lashed out with a kunai at the figure holding the blade. They arched back and drew ready for another swing at him. Naruto leapt away and sent his kunai whistling through the air at them. That kunai became a hundred as they peppered the tree, burying themselves up to the hilt.

His opponent sped away into the forest, but Naruto had a bead on them now and with precision sent a thin beam of white-hot flame from his mouth to cut off their retreat. The flames roared ahead and engulfed the horizon in an orange blaze. Kiri hunters prided themselves on their assassination techniques. If he removed all hiding spots it would give him a better chance than playing cat and mouse with a specialist tracker. The plan was simple, keep his distance for as long as possible while peppering the enemy shinobi all the destruction he could muster. Hopefully one of his teammates would notice the commotion and come to his aid.

Naruto landed not too far away and was already running through hand signs when his opponent burst from the flames, seemingly unscathed and made a beeline for him. The giant blade trailing in their wake. He could see them clearly now. A man, in the traditional kiri ANBU garb, a baggy black jumpsuit under a heavy looking flak jacket. His mask had the tell-tale slitted eye holes of his nation's hunter-nin. Naruto was sure he could see perfectly well through those as slits as many of Konoha's ANBU masks didn't even have eye holes.

Naruto was quick to retreat away to create distance, but his enemy quickly sprang from the branch Naruto had vacated and with a roar carved the blond in half in mid-air. The clone he had swapped with disappeared in puff of white smoke, leaving a log in its place. A log that sizzled and glowed a bright white as the explosive tag attached to it went off. Air born as he was, the Kiri shinobi had nowhere to go as the grade-3 explosive tag denoted, filling the sky with fire and smoke.

Naruto spotted the man rocketing out of the explosion, he had used the blade as a shield. Before his feet touched the ground another barrage of kunai was sent his way, forcing the kiri-nin to pivot in mid-air and block the sharp knives with his sword. This time the barrage was sustained. Hundreds and hundreds of deadly projectiles bounced away into the canopy. While he was distracted a fireball raced down from the tree line behind him. Another clone, of the batch Naruto had created earlier, finished a complex series of hand signs and coated his hands wild, sparkling electricity before putting them above his head and bringing them down with as much force as he could muster. The technique arched from his hands and careened toward the enemy shinobi.

Time stood still for a moment and Naruto allowed himself to believe he had secured victory. Less than a second later it was as if a tornado had landed on top of him. A sphere of wind formed around his opponent before rocketing out in all directions. Dense, hammer like gusts of wind buffeted at him and swept him away into forest.

He found purchase on a thick bark that bent almost to breaking and held on for dear life with chakra, sticking to the prickly wood. A heavy piece of debris slammed into him, knocking the air out of him and sending him violently into another tree that cracked under the force that he slammed into with. He bit back a scream and mentally thanked Konoha R&D for the sturdiness of his loaner flak jacket. He was forced to cover his face with his arm guards as small branches cut into him, leaving small red whelps along his upper arms.

It had only lasted a moment but by the time the technique had faded a large circular clearing had been formed. Nothing above knee height stood unscathed. Naruto rose to his feet and surveyed the area around him. That would have definitely caught the attention of his team. Though he was largely unscathed, his ears rang, and his feet seemed unsteady underneath him.

His enemy had seemingly disappeared back into the tree line. A jutsu like that was indiscriminate in its destruction. The hunter probably lost sight of Naruto in the chaos. This was his chance to create some distance. He drew his strength and hobbled into the tropical forest around him. He had been completely turned around and it took him a moment to find his bearings.

The girl must have been long gone by now. He had pointed her in the direction of the rendezvous point but now that he knew for a fact that there were enemy shinobi in close proximity, he had to be even more cautious.

-0-

It wasn't long before a scream pierced the air. It was the girl. Naruto took to the trees and pinged from tree to tree as fast as he could. Then he saw her. She was on the floor, terror etched across her small features as the hunter-nin stood above her.

"Tell me where he is, filth" The man spoke down at her. "Tell me or I'll peal the skin from your tainted bones".

She didn't speak. Naruto wasn't sure that she could even if she wanted to.

"ah" The hunter spoken again "you think you're better than me. You think you're special because of your tainted blood. Genkai scum like you deserve no mercy beyond death. Now tell me where Zabuza is damn you!" He drew up the giant blade ready to cleave the small girl in two.

He didn't get a chance to. Before Naruto could react a thin stream of pressurized water shot through the man. He quickly turned to water and dissolved at the girl's feet. Naruto took the chance to drop down secure the girl and disappear into the trees.

She clung to him tightly and whispered a hasty thank you when she realized who he was. He beamed at her with a smile.

"You okay?" She nodded at him. "Good, let's get you out of here." He carried her in his arms as he leapt from branch to branch. The rendezvous was close now. He could make out the clearing in the distance.

He was forced to stop cold as a compressed ball of air collided inches away from his position. He was sent flying, the girl slipping from his grasp and disappeared under a spray of splintered wood. He hit the ground, hard. Spots filled his vision, but he was quick to his feet. The girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit, where are you?" he mumbled under his breath. The sound of a tree bark shattering drew his attention to his immediate left. A spray of water created a thin mist as a jutsu collided with a large rock. It crumbled like paper under the force of the high-level technique. Naruto was forced retreat as a blur sped past him at a speed he could barely comprehend.

A tree fell in the distance followed by a loud boom as two water jutsu battled against each other creating a pillar of water that rose high into the sky. He felt a great whoosh of wind and had to move or be blown away by an unseen wave of air as the forest around was torn to shreds by an invisible battle. There was a lull and silence filled the space around him.

He quickly surveyed for any trace of the girl. There was none. She was gone. He wasn't sure who was fighting but he needed to create some distance, he would have known by now if it was a member of Kakashi's squad. That left two very uncomfortable options. Either Zabuza had found them and was fighting the hunter-nin or there was another unknown variable fighting the hunter. Neither would work out well for him when the battle was over.

He was taken from his thoughts as a great dragon made of water came crashing through the treeline. In its giant maw was a compressed ball of water and at is centre was the hunter-nin. With a roar the dragon crashed into the side of a cliff, smashing the ball of water deep into the rock face. Great slabs of stone fell to the ground kicking up a wave of dust that swept across the tropical forest.

The water dragon had created a straight line through the trees and at the end of it Naruto could see Zabuza. The missing-nin was bloodied and breathing harshly but clinging to his back was the girl. She was alive at least. Is that why Zabuza was going all out? Big flashy jutsu didn't fit the dossier he was provided on the Demon of the Mist. He was primarily trained as a hunter-nin himself. Preferring quick, precise close-range combat to big one-shot techniques.

It was obvious now that Zabuza was doing all he could to keep the hunter at a distance. He was trying to protect the girl.

There was a rumble as the pile of rocks that used to be a cliff began to shift before exploding outward as the compressed ball of water that protected the hunter-nin expanded rapidly and then exploded outward. Quicker than Naruto could follow the man raced toward Zabuza. Naruto made up his mind, protocol be damned.

Once again, the two high level shinobi engaged in blistering combat. The kiri shinobi was trying to get close enough to Zabuza to cut him down with his own sword and the missing- nin did everything to keep as far away as possible and launch a long range jutsu when an opening presented itself.

Zabuza's wounds eventually caught up to him however, and he was a moment too late to escape the flat of the beheading sword as it crashed into his already heavily bandaged arm. Sending him careening into a nearby tree. He was quick to right himself in the air but was unprepared for hunter's follow up as the man flew at him intent on removing his head.

Just then a thick wall of solid earth rose up between them. The great blade dug deep into it but ground to a halt before it could reach its target. Before the hunter could remove his sword, giant spikes shot out of the earthen wall, forcing him back. They extended just far enough that he had to choose between being impaled and leaving his sword stuck where it was. He chose the latter as the wall exploded outward towards him.

An instant later Naruto was upon him from all directions. His feet had barely touched the floor before it turned to a whirling river of mud. Naruto raced through hand signs and blew a torrent of raging wind at the hunter, next to him a clone drew back and then belched a white-hot stream of fire. Both techniques collided inches away from his enemy, who had only just made contact with the muddy floor.

The world disappeared into ball of light and heat as the fire storm rage meters away from him. Naruto didn't stick around to see the results of his combined techniques. He flickered over to Zabuza and the girl. She looked at him with astonishment.

"You're alive" she said, covering her face from the heat of the blast.

"I guess, I'm hard to kill" He said, eyes never leaving the missing-nin who stood between them. He was obviously very protective of this girl.

"Leaf shinobi are like cockroaches" Zabuza said. He already had Kubikiribōchō held tightly in his hand.

"Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment" Naruto gestured to the dozens of bloody bandaged that lined the man's upper body.

Zabuza ignored the slight and focused on the dissipating technique that was revealing the sheer scale of destruction that the young blond was capable of.

"That won't be enough to kill him." Your jutsu was too slow. "he said to Naruto.

"I know, I was just hoping to slow him down some." The blond responded. He surveyed what was left of the rendezvous point. The earth was blackened and desolate. It steamed thick black smoke as fires burned all around where his technique had detonated. The explosion had levelled trees for meters around where the hunter-nin stood. Yet, there was no trace of him. "This game of cat and mouse is getting old fast".

"We're shinobi, boy. If you find yourself in pitched battle, you've already failed" was all Zabuza said before turning to address the dark-haired girl. "Get as far away from here as you can, I'll find you once I've dealt with this problem".

"And how do you plan on achieving that?" Naruto jumped in "He had you on the ropes and you look like you can barely stand".

"Just stay out of my of way, kid. Keep her safe and I might not kill you when this all over" was the man's response.

Before Naruto could offer a rebuttal Zabuza disappeared in a flicker. He looked over to the worried girl.

"A real people person, that one." he said flatly. The girl laughed softly.

"Haku" she said after a beat.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"My name, it's Haku" she repeated "You've saved my life three times in an hour. It's the least I can do."

He smiled brightly at her "Come on, let's get out of here. We're too exposed." He reached out to pick her up, but she put her hand out between them.

"Zabuza-Sama gave me a soldier pill, I'm fine to walk on my own now." she said.

The blond arched an eyebrow at her. Soldier pills had a terrible effect on younger shinobi. They were not designed for anyone below Chunin much less a civilian, kekkei genkai or not. Still, now wasn't the time to argue.

He began to run into the trees at a steady pace and was surprised when she shot past him at what he could only call shinobi speeds.

"You've been holding out on me" He said when he caught up.

"Zabuza-sama taught me the basics. I used up all of my chakra when we were escaping the Land of Water" she offered.

"Okay, just stay close" he said.

Loud clangs began to ring out around them as the battle between Zabuza and the Hunter-nin resumed.

-0-

They had covered most of the way back to the beach and could still hear the tell-tale signs of battle in the distance. Naruto was sweating hard by now. The humidity of the dense, tropical forest was making his gear unbearably clingy. He looked over to Haku and could see she shared his fate. Her black hair stuck tightly to her furrowed brow. He noticed that her fists where clenched by her sides and she shook with what looked like anticipation.

"I know what you're thinking" The blond said. She turned to him "I'm thinking the same thing" There was a silence. Then both of them turned and ran towards the violence.

The sounds of battle had died down by the time they arrived. What greeted them was a harrowing sight. They hid behind a tree and watched as Zabuza was driven into the ground by a brutal kick to his chest. He lay, broken, gasping for breath as the hunter-nin glowered over him.

The area around them showed the scars of their battle. So did the hunter-nin, even in his weakened state Zabuza gave as good as he got. The hunter was missing his mask and a deep jagged cut ran across left leg. Blood dripped form the side of his head, matting his black hair and making it stick to his face. His left eye had been beaten shut and he held a hand over a kunai that was sticking out from his abdomen. Though Naruto could see the tell take signs of his own combination jutsu in the mans charred flak jacket.

Zabuza reached meekly for the giant blade buried in the ground next to him.

The hunter removed the kunai from his side with a squelch and buried into Zabuza's hand. The man let out a pained grunt and tried desperately to get up. A foot landed on his chest and pushed him back into the dirt.

"You made me work for this one Momoichi. But I expected no less from the Demon himself." He looked over to the great blade that stuck out from the ground next to Zabuza "Don't worry, I'll put her to good use. We'll play a bloody symphony together, we will. Starting with the tainted girl you seem so fond of."

A kunai flashed in the hunter's hand and he knelt down to deliver the finishing blow.

Before Naruto could come up with a plan Haku broke cover with a scream and with a wave of her hands the air grew thick as ice raced from her position in spikes towards the kiri-nin. He was quick dodge. He then dashed towards her, covering the ground between them in an instant. She tried to react but was too slow to avoid the kunai aimed at her head. Lucky, Naruto wasn't. He met the blade with his own, slowing the man's momentum. Sparks filled his vision as his opponents free hand lashed out at him. He struck Naruto with force enough to send him tumbling into Haku. He pushed her hard out of reach before rolling to his feet just in time to avoid the man's follow up slash. Naruto back peddled till he was far enough out of reach to plan his next move.

He drew his last kunai and flipped both of his weapons into a reverse grip. He didn't have a lot of chakra left and he didn't want to waste what little remained on anything he wasn't a hundred percent certain was going to connect.

The only thing in his favour now was that his opponent had taken such a s beating from Zabuza. Jonin or not he taken quite a bit of punishment and would likely try to end this as quick as possible. Naruto could take advantage of that.

He sprang into action and darted towards the man. As he approached, he split into four versions of himself. Two went high and two went low. They clashed in ferocious close combat. Naruto wasn't tall for his age, but he was quick and always felt more comfortable up close and personal in a fight. He could barely keep track of his opponent before, but now that he had been injured, he was considerably slower.

Naruto's form was perfect, he flowed like water around the older man's attack. While his clones pressed front on and were quickly dispelled, he spun at the last second to come up at his opponents' side and lashed out at his injured left leg. He was surprised to feel the resistance of the man's kunai, but he shifted his momentum to throw off his enemy's balance and then snapped off a kick to the back of his leg.

He cried out and slammed a gloved fist into Naruto's jaw and before the blond could compose himself a kunai flashed into view and he felt hot steel cut across his cheek. Were it not for his reflexive replacement with a log he would have been in a bad way. He felt warm blood drip down his face on his collar.

His heart was pounding in his ears now, his blood felt like liquid fire as he shook with adrenalin. That was close, he thought.

When Haku began to pepper the hunter-nin with icicles Naruto once again dived into the fray. As the man dodge and weaved away from the gleaming ice spikes, Naruto anticipated his trajectory and was there to meet him next time he touched the ground. He lashed out with his kunai and was gleeful when he cut a deep line across the man's shoulder. His clone tackled the hunter from the side but was dispelled as soon he made contact by an elbow driven into its back. A backhand connected easily to Naruto's head, again sending him airborne. This time Haku caught him before he hit the ground.

Naruto smiled up at her through bloodied teeth. His opponent would have been upon him with a follow up were it not for the sizzling sound that was coming from the back of his flak jacket. The man moved with incredible speed to remove the armour, but it denoted an instant after the pulled it over his head. He disappeared into the explosion.

Both of them stared at the space the kiri-nin had occupied before the explosion.

"Move!" He heard Zabuza shout. He grabbed Haku and flickered into the treeline as far away as he could just in time to avoid the ball of compressed air that destroyed the ground he just stood on. When the dust cleared the hunter stood in the crater of the explosion caused by Naruto explosive tag. He is jumpsuit was burnt to tatters. The bare skin of his chest burnt an angry red with black blisters littering his arms.

"Enough!" He yelled. "This ends now!" His green eyes scanned his surroundings frantically.

"Is it just me or does the big bad hunter-nin look scared?" Naruto's voice rang out from all around the kiri shinobi. The man whirred on the spot, trying to get an idea where the boy had escaped to.

Zabuza's laughter barked out from his prone position. "I always knew you were a weakling, Kimura. Is that the best you can do against two children? They're not even Chunin."

"Shut up Mamoichi! I'll deal with you as well, just you wait. Come out leaf ninja or I'll slit his throat, are you willing to watch him bleed out?" Kimura cried out.

"Yes" was Naruto's reply. That gave Kimura pause. "Do you think I came back to save him? Don't be stupid. I figured even in his state he would be more than enough to beat you. I'm actually surprised you're still alive".

"Bullshit!" Was his response "I could have killed you a hundred times over when I first came across you. I toyed with you. I wanted to see what Konoha considered worthy of their ANBU"

"So, you chose to pick on the smallest one" Naruto's voice rattled in all directions "You're a coward Kimura, and you're going to die screaming like a little bitch "

Just then Naruto came rushing from the tree line and two other Naruto's followed closely behind. The first was dispelled with short jab but the second went under Kimura's extended hand and delivered an uppercut to his sternum. The third clone drove his knee into the older man's face. Kimura recovered quickly and countered with two slow punches that blinded him in smoke when the clones popped. There was a lot more smoke than usual. It hung thick in air and was only broken by beams of blue light that emitted from the swirling mass of chakra in the blond's hand as he charged into the smoke.

"Rasengan!" He yelled as he drove his most treasured technique at the hunter-nin.

"No, wait!" Kimura screamed.

"No" Naruto said as his jutsu connected with the man's chest.

He felt the tell-tale resistance before he pushed forward and allowed the powerful ball of chakra to explode outward into a cyclone that carved a crevice into the earth beneath and tore deep into the trees that were behind Kimura. Nothing seemed to withstand the devastation.

The smoke was cleared by the swirling chakra, leaving Naruto facing the results of his technique. "Told you" He said into the air.

Haku came out of her hiding spot to stand next to him. Her eyes were wide in an astonishment.

"What are you?" She asked. Instead of waiting for an answer she ran over to Zabuza.

Naruto joined her a moment later as she knelt by his side. He was sitting up now. The man simply refused to stay down. Even now, as blood leaked from his bandages and a kunai was lodged through his hand he didn't even look particularly bothered.

"I see it now" he said as Naruto approached "I see your future".

"Oh, yeah?" Naruto challenged. The adrenalin from the fight gave him courage.

"You're going to be another one of those monsters Konoha pumps out." He replied "They're going to parade you around, fill your head with dreams and lies and when you're loyal enough to whatever they want, no matter how terrible, they'll unleash you on the rest of the world. I wonder how many villages you'll burn in the name of peace".

"You don't know anything me" Naruto countered

"I know enough. I was the same. I did everything. Anything they asked. And then my number was up they sent fools like Kimura after me. They burnt entire villages to find me. Her village was one of them" Haku hung her head and it all began to make sense to the blond.

"I don't know what you went through but we're nothing alike. I would never butcher my comrades for the sake nor would I ever be ordered to. You served a broken system it only makes sense that you came out of the other end just as broken."

"Tell that to the white fang".

"That's different and you know it".

"No, it's the same. The mission comes first, it will always come first. It's your arrogance that blinds you. You think you'll be special; you'll be that one in a million that will never have to make that hard choice. No amount of camaraderie will stay your hand when that orders given. You'll tell yourself that it's for the good of the village, your people, your family. "Zabuza looked away. There was definitely something beneath his words. It was pain, the blond realized.

"Yet here you are" Zabuza eyed the blond waiting for him to continue "You're fighting to bring down the system that made you, in the hopes that something better will take its place. I saw the look in your eye earlier, the way you protect Haku. You put on this whole angry murder machine act but deep down I think you do the right thing when given the opportunity to. So maybe there's still hope, maybe special is just doing the right thing."

"The right thing? Boy there is no right thing in this world. There is only power. Powerful people cast the illusion of right and wrong to keep idiots like you bound to their ideals!" Zabuza said heatedly to the blond "we are powerless in the face of their decisions. We just suffer the consequences. "

"My godfather once told me that no suffering is infinite. He said we all have a chance to change our destinies." Naruto replied.

"Your naivety is disgusting" The older man scoffed as he drew up to his feet. "We're Shinobi, boy. Our destiny is to suffer".

"Okay, so do we end our suffering? Enlighten me." Naruto was getting frustrated now. Who knew the demon of the mist was such a talker?

"Death" Zabuza replied quickly "It's not the scares, and broken bones. It's the forfeiture of our humanity, our souls wilt and die under the weight of this system and we are husks by the end of it. That's why we are capable of so much evil" There was a melancholy about him now" Our suffering only ends with death".

"We need to leave, Zabuza-sama." Haku interrupted their debate.

"We aren't going anywhere". Zabuza brought a hand up and with a chop knocked her unconscious. He caught her before she hit the ground. "Take her with you "He said to Naruto.

"Are you sure, shouldn't we ask her?".

"Take her with you. She deserves better than what fate has in store for me. Next time we meet we'll see how much of a monster you've become" He handed Haku over to the blond and took a step away.

"And I'll end your suffering." Naruto said "I think deep down you're a good person, Zabuza. And you've suffered long enough."

The man eyed his for second a before letting out what could be misconstrued to be a laugh. "I look forward to it" Was all he said before he vanished in a burst of speed.

Naruto was left in a contemplative silence as he stared down at the girl in his arms. His whole had just changed, he could feel it. He knew to expect the unexpected on such a high-grade mission, but the events of today were beyond his wildest imaginings.

Just then a presence prickled at the edge of his senses. He looked up into the treeline to see Kakashi arrive in a flicker of movement. His team arrived an instant later, the children they had rescued earlier strung over their shoulders. It was a tense sight, he had to admit, the crisp white of their ANBU masks staring down at him impassively.

"Your mission was to secure the holder of the fury technique." Kakashi said down at him "Not find yourself a girlfriend" there humour in his tone.

Naruto sighed heavily and dropped down onto his backside. He was exhausted "screw you, captain" he replied. Protocol be dammed.