The Start of Something

by RandomPersonPassingByJustCause

In another world, she would have never been born nor survived when Orochimaru escaped Konoha and destroyed all his labs. But in this world, a series coincidences allowed her to live and integrated into Konoha. An encounter between her, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke early on would change things, for the better or worse. (OC/Not Reincarnation)

16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Sharingan no Kakashi. Babysitting genins huh? I have no quarrel with you, I only seek to kill the old man."

"You three, protect Tazuna-san. This isn't a fight you can help with." Kakashi said as he pulled up his hitai-ate and revealed his Sharingan.

"Sharingan right off the bat? I'm honored." said Zabuza

"The man who has copied more than 1000 jutsus, 'Copy Ninja Kakashi', it looks like I'll have to get past you first." he said as he formed signs rapidly, "Ninpo: Hidden Mist no jutsu."

Heavily chakra concentrated mist began to surround them.

"H-he's gone." Tazuna spluttered

"Such strong killing intent." Sasuke said as he tightened his grip on his kunai

"Zabuza is famed for his silent killing." said Kakashi, "He'll come after me first."

"Ne Shiina can you sense anything?" Naruto asked nervously

Before Shiina, who closed her eyes to focus, could answer, Zabuza's voice rang from nowhere, "Eight choices, liver, lung, spine, cervical spine, neck vein, brain, kidney, heart…which one should I go after first?"

"Behind us!" Shiina shouted eyes flying open and the Konoha-nins all whipped around only to see Zabuza in between them and Tazuna.

Kakashi reacted first by stabbing Zabuza.

"Kakashi-sensei, behind you!" Naruto shouted as he saw a second Zabuza ready to strike

"No, that's also a clone!" said Shiina, "The real one is on that tree!" she shouted as she pointed towards the tree.

"Sensor?" said the real Zabuza lazily, "To be able to see through my Hidden in the Mist jutsu, not bad."

Shiina swallowed then answered, "Even if the mist and the water bunshin was heavily saturated with your chakra, only the real one would have the most abundant amount."

'Unless you are using shadow clones which evenly distribute chakra', Shiina thought to herself.

"Looks like I have to kill you first huh." followed by a spike in killing intent making Shiina flinch slightly.

"Don't worry Shiina, I'll protect you guys even if it kills me." said Kakashi with an eye smile, "I won't let my comrades die."

Shiina relaxed slightly, "Hai, sensei."

"How touching, but we'll see about that."

Zabuza charged towards Kakashi to the surprise of everyone because his words earlier implied that he was going after Shiina. He swung his large sword which Kakashi ducked down to dodge but Zabuza quickly used his sword that was stuck to the ground to regain his balance then launched at Kakashi again and kicked him into the waters. Then he shunshined to Kakashi's side and used Suiton: Suirou no jutsu.

"I got you trapped now Kakashi. Without you these children playing ninjas stand no chance." said Zabuza as he formed signs with his one arm to create a water bunshin.

"Take Tazuna-san and run you guys! As long as he is maintaining Suirou no Jutsu he can't move and the water bunshin can't be sustained far from his real body!"

"We can't just leave you to die!" Naruto shouted back indignantly

"You're the one the said it, those that don't obey the rules are trash but those that leave their comrades behind are worse than trash." said Sasuke with a scowl

"We can't outrun him sensei." Shiina analyzed with forced calmness, "Even if we run, if he fills Suirou no jutsu with water, in at most fifteen minutes you will drown and die. He can easily catch up to us in that time especially if we got Tazuna-san with us. You're still our best bet."

"You guys…"

"Do what you need to do kiddos." Tazuna suddenly spoke up, "I planted this seed myself, even if I die here it was perhaps meant to be and it'll be no one's fault but mine. I trust your judgments."

"You heard our client, Kakashi-sensei! We're gonna save you!" Naruto bellowed

"Hah…hahahaha" Zabuza laughed, "Look at you children, full of innocence and naivety, when I was your age my hand was already dyed red with blood!"

"Demon Zabuza."

"So you have heard of Kirigakure's graduation exam huh? Unlike Konohagakure whose overly soft or how it is these days, back then, our graduation exam was to kill another classmate, a fight to the death between former friends and comrades who had previously eaten, trained, and shared dreams together."

"It was stopped eventually after this man killed all of the students, over a hundred of them, all by himself."

"Ah yes, that was fun." Zabuza reminiscent with a crazed smile

Without preamble bunshin Zabuza charged that Shiina but Sasuke, with Sharingan activated, intercepted the blow.

"Another Sharingan!?"

"Did you miss the Uchiha crest behind my back?" Sasuke asked sarcastically, as he jumped back, then formed hand seals rapidly, and soon loud sparks that sounded like a thousand chirping birds rang through the clearing.

"Naruto distraction!" Shiina shouted

Naruto grinned, "Got it! Taiju-Kagebunshin no jutsu!"

Hundreds of Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke and tried to gang up on Zabuza and his clone. However, both Zabuzas were able to parry Naruto easily.

"Such large amounts of shadow clones but it's useless. That jutsu on the other hand…" Zabuza eyed the Chidori in Sasuke's hand, "Looks dangerous but it means nothing if it can't hit!" he said as he kicked a couple clones away.

"Doton: Quagmire."

Clone Zabuza's foot sunk into the ground and in his moment of surprise, a few clones grabbed his arms and Sasuke was easily able to pierce the bunshin and destroy it.

Sasuke then rushed towards the water, Chidori still in hand and was about to slam it into the water.

"You fool!" Zabuza bellowed as he jumped above the water, "That would only hurt your teacher!"

Sasuke smirked as he stopped just before touching that water.

I know. I'm just a distraction too.

Naruto threw a kunai then rushed towards Zabuza with a Rasengan in his hand.

"Tched."

Unable to dodge easily due to being in mid air, Zabuza grabbed his sword with his free arm and tried to swat Naruto.

Naruto intercepted the sword with his Rasengan. Screeching sounds of metal being grated rang through the clearing.

~Crack~

A small fracture appeared on the sword and got bigger. The sword had broken into two pieces.

"What?!"

Naruto flew forward due to the momentum but he grinned as he slammed the Rasengan into the water causing whirlpools that made Zabuza footing unstable.

"Now Shiina!"

Taking advantage of Zabuza's brief moment of unsteadiness and surprise, Shiina who was underwater and previously henge as the kunai Naruto threw, injected a large amount of chakra into the water that made up Suirou no jutsu and stole the control of the water from Zabuza then immediately released the jutsu.

"Shit! You brats! What did you do?!"

"I converted your chakra into mine." Shiina answered a bit fazed as the adrenaline caught up to her, "It's over now, Zabuza."

"Not yet!" Zabuba bellowed as he rushed towards the Shiina but he was intercepted by Kakashi.

"You won't be laying hands on my students."

The two adults jumped back then rapidly formed the 48 hand seals required to perform Suiton:Suiryuudan no jutsu that cancel each other out.

My movements..he's completely-

"Reading them" Kakashi said to the shock of Zabuza

What? Did he read my mind? Damn! That-

"Freaky eye is pissing me off. Right?"

"Heh all you're doing is copying me."

"You can't beat me, you bastard." Kakashi and Zabuza said at the same time

Enraged, Zabuza shouted, "Damn you! I'll make sure you can never open that mouth again!" he yelled as he completed his hand signs for his next jutsu.

But Kakashi completed the jutsu faster.

"What?! Impossible!"

Suition:Daibakufu no jutsu crashed into Zabuza.

While Kakashi and Zabuza were facing off, both Shiina and Naruto got back on shore. They watched as Kakashi perfectly mimicked the movements of Zabuza.

"Sharingan, it has the ability to copy any jutsu they see." Shiina explained to the shocked Tazuna who was surprised by the sudden turn of tides, "Well, provided that the user met the prerequisites."

"Hey Sasuke can you do that too?" Naruto asked, referring to how Kakashi was seemingly reading Zabuza's mind.

Sasuke paused and studied it then shook his head, "I have never tried. It appears to just be mind games coupled with the basic abilities of Sharingan. I'm not seeing any genjutsu being used."

Injured by the jutsu, Zabuza was frazzled as he asked in a shaky voice, "How…? Can you see the future?"

"Yeah. You're going to die." Kakashi said as he raised his kunai ready to finish the man off.

Suddenly, two senbons flew out and pierced through Zabuza's neck.

"Hehe…you're right. He's dead."

The trio immediately formed a protective circle in front of Tazuna and had their weapons out as they wearily eyed the newcomer.

'I let my guard down and didn't scan the surroundings', Shiina thought to herself. 'But, it doesn't appear that they are working together.'

"Thank you. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."

Kakashi checked Zabuza's pulse and nodded after he confirmed that there wasn't one.

"That mask…You're a Kirigakure Hunter-nin."

"Indeed, you are correct."

"Kirigakure has hunter-nin too?" Naruto asked out loud to no one in particular

They would know about Hunter-nins since Kiba had mentioned before that his dream was to become a Hunter-nin (technically his dream is to be Hokage but becoming a Hunter-nin was the first step in his grand plan) so they had heard a few things from him over the years.

Considering that Hunter-nin are a division of ANBU and yet the hunter-nin seems barely older than them judging from the height and voice, Shiina did a quick scan, partly to see how they compared to the hunter-nin and how the hunter-nin compared to Itachi, who Shiina was reminded of as he was also once a young member of ANBU.

The jonin level chakra was detected as expected but the faint chakra coming from Zabuza was unexpected.

"Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza is still alive, just barely!" Shiina shouted alarmedly

"...I will be interrogating him." the hunter-nin answered, "From here on out is Kirigakure business, I will take my leave." they said as took Zabuza's body then shunshin away

"Something feels off." said Naruto as he crossed his arms and frowned, "But I can't put a finger on it.'"

"...Kiba once mentioned that Hunter-nin disposes of nuke-nin bodies right away, that's the standard protocol." said Sasuke, "Is it different for Kirigakure?"

They turned to Kakashi for answers only to see him collapse.

"Sensei?!"

Shiina quickly knelt down and ran the diagnostic jutsu, "Just chakra exhaustion it seems. That's weird, sensei's chakra reservoir isn't half bad and he barely used any jutsus, he shouldn't be chakra exhausted."

"Tazuna-san, is there anywhere we can stay and rest? I have to give Kakashi-sensei a quick transfusion of chakra." Shiina asked

"Uh yeah, my house is super close."

Naruto looked at Shiina then at Sasuke, "So uh, which one of us is going to carry sensei?"

The trio looked at each other then turned to Tazuna in synchro. After all, with their height, it won't be so much carrying Kakashi but dragging him.

"Fine." Tazuna sighed.

~Tazuna's house~

When Kakashi finally woke up, he was in bed in an unfamiliar house.

"Ara! Sensei, you're awake." a woman exclaimed

"You are…?"

"My name is Tsunami, I am Tazuna's daughter. Your students brought you here and said you should be waking up soon."

"Ah. Thank you for your hospitality Tsuami-san. May I ask where my students and Tazuna are right now?"

"Otou-san went to check on the bridge and Sasuke-kun went with him. Naruto-kun and Shiina-chan went out to scout the village, they did draw a bunch of scripts around the house before they left, something about a barrier? I'm not really sure. "

Just as Tsunami finished speaking, the door opened and the trio walked in with Tazuna.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're awake!" Naruto cheered.

"Gave us quite the scare when you suddenly collapsed." said Shiina as she closed the door, "You barely used any jutsu yet undoubtedly you had chakra exhaustion. Has this happened before?" she asked, concerned.

Kakashi scratched his head sheepishly, "Since I am not an Uchiha, the Sharingan drains on my chakra more." He explained, "That's why I cover the eye when I'm not in battle or don't need it."

"Huh, that's weird." said Naruto who turned to Sasuke, "How does that work?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Hn. I don't know, I don't recall reading anything about this either. The Sharingan has always been kept within the clan, he might be the only person in history to be a non-Uchiha and possess a Sharingan so it's not like I have anything to go by."

"Interesting, what is it different about Uchihas that makes them unaffected from Sharingan's chakra drain…?" Shiina mumbled to herself.

"Let's have a quick debrief of the battle. Good job all three of you. You remained level headed and worked together to outsmart a stronger opponent, well done."

The trio preened.

"It was a good plan that we came up with on the fly!" Naruto boasted, "Raiton and Suiton mix weirdly, we learned that early on when Shiina and Sasuke were learning Nature Transform and a seasoned ninja like Zabuza would definitely know that and be caught off guard."

"Hn. He was underestimating us the whole time. Calling us 'brats playing ninja', he probably thought we had no idea what would happen."

"I wanted to use Fuuton but I wasn't sure how strong Suirou no jutsu was and if he released it to dodge it, it might have hurt you sensei so I went for Rasengan." Naruto rambled, "It was just to surprise him again and unstabilize the water he was standing on since I know from experience that you kinda have to focus when you're standing on moving water. Didn't think I'll break that ridiculously big sword of his but that definitely did the trick to surprise him for Shiina to come in and negate the jutsu."

"Yes I am most curious about this." said Kakashi, "How did you accomplish this Shiina?"

"From a guest lecture at the Hospital." Shiina answered sheepishly

"Huh?"

"Remember how I mentioned going to a seminar at the hospital where the topic was chakra transfusion? Typically it's done by the iryo-nin converting their chakra into blank chakra, which is why it has that signature light green color, then injecting it into the patient so that their body will do the work and convert to their own chakra. But this would be an issue when there's a lot of people to heal, a medic-nin isn't immune from chakra exhaustion. So the solution to that that they came up with recently was to have an otherwise healthy individual 'donate' some chakra, kind of like blood. Then the iryo-nin converts that into blank chakra and transfers that to the patient. This technique has roots in chakra absorption techniques which has always existed but they were never efficient enough to be popular. An iryo-nin adapted and improved on it to allow for this new medical advancement." Shiina explained excitedly

"So I knew taking control of chakra was a thing but admittedly I never tried it out on a jutsu. It was a gamble trying to use it on Suirou no Jutsu but I had a feeling it would work since theoretically I also have Water as my affinity and if Zabuza was caught off guard his control over the jutsu would weaken."

"Interesting, I was not aware of this as a possibility." said Kakashi thoughtfully, "This has a lot of potential."

Shiina beamed, "If it didn't work, I would have just controlled the water in the lake to drag Zabuza down into the lake then Sasuke and Naruto would be able to strike."

Kakashi nodded approvingly, "It's always good to have backup plans. Though I must ask, how did you three come up with the plans, you didn't converse with each other at all."

The three looked at each other then nodded, they can trust Kakashi.

"We got these wristbands. They have seals inside them." Naruto explained as he showed Kakashi his wristband, "We can channel chakra to them and the other two pairs would warm up accordingly. We made a code and also with a lot of practice recognizing what word the chakra pattern is tracing out."

Kakashi examined it, "This doesn't appear to be your's or Shiina's handwriting."

"We got them as entrance to the Academy presents from Uchiha Shisui." Sasuke answered, "Not sure where he procured them from."

"It resembles Jiraiya-sama's handwriting if I am not mistaken." Kakashi eventually said after thinking about the familiar handwriting. He handed back the wristband to Naruto.

"He is one of the best fuinjutsu users in the world currently."

Naruto frowned at hearing his godfather's name, he's not sure what to feel about the man. Then he shook his head, now's not the time to think about him, "Anyways, Kakashi-sensei, how did that hunter-nin use just two thin needles to incapacitate Zabuza?"

"Well-" Kakashi was about to answer then he suddenly fell into deep thought.

"Senbons aren't a very lethal weapon." Shiina said as she realized what was bugging them.

"But didn't the hunter-nin want to interrogate Zabuza, they would need Zabuza alive right?" Naruto asked

Sasuke frowned, "When the hunter-nin first appeared and fired the senbons they said 'He's dead' and that they had been trying to track down and kill Zabuza for a while. Only when Shiina sensed he was alive that they changed their tune and said they wanted to interrogate them. Then they got away before we could ask more. Which means…"

"That Zabuza is most likely still alive and out there." Kakashi concluded

"What!?" Tazuna, who previously left the room to give the ninja some time to talk and had just entered the room again only to hear that statement, exclaimed.

"It's possible to put someone in a near death state." Kakashi explained, "And that hunter-nin had done just that. It was convincing enough to fool me but not a skilled chakra sensor which they weren't expecting. That, combined with them trying everything to take away Zabuza even though the protocol is to kill then destroy the body immediately meant that they are probably working together."

"A-aren't you thinking too much?" Tazuna asked optimistically

Kakashi shook his head, "It's always best to keep in mind the worse case scenario, plus there's no guarantee that Gatou wouldn't hire stronger ninjas."

"So what do we do now?" Naruto asked unsurely

"Zabuza's not going to bounce back immediately from being put in a false death state so we got a few days to train, the focus would be dealing with melee range ninjas."

The door opened then closed.

"Tadaima."

"Ohhh, Inari, welcome home!" Tazuna greeted, "This is my grandson Inari. Inari, these are the ninjas that are protecting grandpa!"

"Inari, be polite and say hello to the guests." Tsunami lightly chided.

"But Kaa-san they are all going to die."

"Hah?!" Naruto exclaimed in outrage.

"No one can beat Gato. No one."

"Hmpt! We'll show you that we can do it!" Naruto declared back indignantly

"Whatever. If you don't want to die you should leave." Inari replied back then left the room.

Naruto scowled, "I'll show him." he said under his breath

~Forest in Nami no Kuni~

On their way to a clearing where they can train, Naruto asked Kakashi, "So that false death thing, how does it actually work?"

"Have you heard of acupuncture? It uses thin needles like senbons to hit tenketsu points to simulate effects. It's typically for therapeutic or medical purposes but it's possible to cause a faked death or even real death if the right tenketsu points are hit." Kakashi explained

"Huh, that's kind of cool. Since it's medical, Shiina could you do that too?" Naruto asked offhandedly

"I don't have that kind of aim." Shiina answered sweat dropping

Naruto snickered as he remembered the first day the three of them met and how Shiina didn't hit a single target back then, "Yeah, your aim was never that great, we knew that since the first day."

"Hey." Shiina protested halfheartedly, "That was my first time ever throwing kunais."

"Like you're one to talk, Naruto." Sasuke smirked, "I still remember you swore up and down that you could do much better than me at hitting the target but ended up just as bad."

"At least my kunais didn't go completely off target, unlike a certain someone who almost murdered us with their terrible aim." Naruto retorted

Kakashi smiled as he listened to their banter, he once had something like this but he didn't appreciate those times back then until it was too late.

Eventually, they stopped at an empty field.

"Our topic today is fighting melee weapons." Kakashi started, "While most ninjas stick to kunai as their weapon of choice, there are occasionally some that would have other weapons, most commonly a sword."

"As such, you three would need to know how to handle fighting opponents with weapons."

"Would this crash course really help?" Sasuke questioned, "Against a seasoned kenjutsu user like Zabuza?"

"I will handle Zabuza for the most part." Kakashi replied with an eye smile, "That hunter-nin is most likely fake and working with Zabuza so the mission of protecting Tazuna and fending them off will fall to the three of you. We have very little information on the hunter-nin but since they're probably from Kirigakure as well, there's a good chance they are also a kenjutsu user, Kirigakure is pretty famous for the talented swordsmens they produce."

"Like the 'Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist' organization that you said Zabuza was a part of?" Sasuke asked

"Yes. They are seven of Kirigakure's best swordsmen that wields one of the seven famous mythical swords Kirigakure possesses, one of which is the Kubikiribocho that Zabuza was using in battle today. The swords are passed down through to each new generation of Seven Swordsmen."

"That sword was a legendary blade?" Naruto asked incredulously, "But it broke so easily from Rasengan."

"There's something special about each blade which is why they are famous. If I remember correctly, Kubikiribocho has the ability to regenerate itself if it came in contact with blood." Kakashi explained

"What about the other swords? How did they make it?" Shiina asked fascinated

Kakashi shrugged, "There was something about a sword that causes explosions and a sword that sews people together. It's been quite a few years since anyone has heard anything about them. Due to the civil war in Kirigakure, many of the Seven Swordsmen had either deflected or died and a new generation had yet to be created, or rather it could not be created since several of the swords are in the hands of missing-nins."

"As for how they are made, no one knows, it's a very well kept secret of Kirigakure, but one thing is for sure, it didn't originate in Kirigakure for no one has ever heard of more extraordinary blades like the seven currently known ones. But the prevailing theory is that it's a product of Uzushiogakure. Kirigakure and Uzushiogakure had good relationships in the past although that stopped after the Third Mizukage, who would eventually order Kirigakure to help destroy Uzushiogakure, took office. Rumor has it that the Second Mizukage won a drinking bet with a talented fuinjutsu master and swordsmith from Uzushio and those seven swords were his prize."

Kakashi fake coughed, "Anyway, back to our topic, Sasuke has been training in kenjutsu so he has something for melee. What about you two, do you have a weapon in mind?"

Naruto and Shiina both shook their heads.

"Kunai will do for now, though do think about it. So today's lesson will be channeling chakra to weapons!" Kakashi announced cheerfully only to get blank stares from the trio.

"Like the White Light Chakra Saber?" Shiina asked

"...Yes." Kakashi answered, "Channeling chakra to a weapon strengthens them, whether it be pure chakra or nature transform chakra. The White Light Chakra Saber was really just a tanto that has pure chakra channeled. The white colored chakra was a Hatake clan clan trait, it doesn't do anything special though, it's just a different color. The sword mainly got its name and fame from my father using it frequently in his battles."

"Do you still have the White Light Chakra Saber?" Naruto asked curiously

Kakashi shook his head, "I broke it during the war. I tried taking it to a swordsmith but they said it was made in a special way so they couldn't fix it. It's still in my house though."

Naruto pouted, "Aww."

"So we just channel chakra to our weapons?" Sasuke asked dragging the subject back

"Yup." Kakashi answered, "The Konoha standard kunais and that ninjato you been using can all have chakra channeled, though of course they do not conduct as well or as easily as weapons like the White Light Chakra Saber that's made from material that's specialized for channeling. As a result they are less potent and more chakra intensive."

"Not just any chakra though. You three all happen to have affinities for nature elements that work well with melee weapons, namely Raiton and Fuuton. So your training would be to channel it through the kunai. A weapon coated with Raiton could send shocks through an opponent's body, making them wary of crossing blades with you, and if you're good enough you could make them momentarily paralyzed. Fuuton coated weapons have increased potency and force, in conjecture with bladed weapons it can be deadly."

Both Sasuke and Naruto eagerly listened to the possible things they could accomplish once they mastered the skill and were ready to begin at any time.

Shiina, though, had some reservations.

"Kakashi-sensei, Fuuton...isn't my strong suit." Shiina admitted, "It's difficult for me to isolate it from my Hyouton. But I do have something else in mind for melee."

"And that is?" Kakashi asked encouragingly

"Have you heard of chakra scalpel?"

Kakashi nodded, "If I remember correctly, it's able to make cuts inside the body without creating an outside wound hence it's often utilized in surgery. You want to use that in battle?"

"I think it's possible." Shiina answered unsurely, "I have studied the theory and practiced it before though it was in a hospital setting where I channeled it through an actual scalpel. Your demonstration with the kunai reminded me of it. I think if I can channel it through a kunai, it will give me a larger range and it would be equally devastating and unique."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try." said Kakashi neutrally, "If it does work out it would be a useful skill in your arsenal, it's also harder to counter than nature chakra just due to how uncommon it will be."

～A few hours later~

"It's getting late, let's start heading back."

The trio nodded.

"I heard from Tsunami-san that you guys went to scout out the village and the bridge?" Kakashi asked

"The village was…" Naruto couldn't really find the word to describe it.

"Lifeless. They had all given up." Shiina answered.

'I saw those same kinds of eyes in the labs, that is the look of someone with no hopes for the future', Shiina thought to herself. "The grocery store barely had anything in stock and there were many people walking aimlessly on the streets even though it was still typical working hours."

"The bridge is somewhat close to completion." Sasuke put in his two cents, "But there is a worker shortage problem, apparently many people had quit because they are afraid of being targeted by Gato if they continued helping to build the bridge. So right now it's just Tazuna and less than ten other people working on it."

"Kakashi-sensei, is this bridge really going to help?" Shiina asked, "Even if it gets completed, Gato can just continue to scare people off of it or just hire a ninja and destroy that bridge after we leave. The only real way to solve the problem completely is if Gato is dead." she said bluntly

Sasuke frowned, "Assassination isn't within our mission parameters though."

"Protecting Tazuna-san from ninjas also wasn't though." Naruto pointed out, "Speaking of that, didn't Kakashi-sensei say that fighting ninjas would be a B-rank mission? So what happens when clients lie about missions? Are we still getting paid a C-rank? Are there no penalties? Like isn't it bad if clients can just get away with lying about mission details and risking lives?" he asked rapidly

"Maa, I'll answer one at a time. One cannot just decide to build a bridge whenever they like, especially not one at the scale Tazuna-san is building that would be connecting two countries. He would have needed permission from both countries' Daimyos and the fact that he's already been building for a while probably means he's long since gotten permission. Once the bridge is completed, it will be property belonging to both countries' government most likely and so if Gato attacks it then, Hi no Kuni could retaliate legally. That's why Gato needs to destroy it now, before it finishes and connects to Hi no Kuni. Though he may not seem like it, Tazuna-san had thought things through, he is correct in that the bridge could be the hope of their country as it would be a direct method of travel to the more prosperous Hi no Kuni which would welcome merchants to come through their town and that open up job opportunities for the people of this village." Kakashi explained

"As for assassination, it's not as simple as it sounds. There's a reason why they are reserved for ANBU and not the normal workforce. That's because there are high stakes involved. Assassination targets are generally people who have high standing in this world, someone like Gato who is extremely rich for example. Typically these types of people have a lot of enemies who are also of high standing which is why they could afford to commission an assassination. Generally, these types of clients who are paying for an assassination wishes to be well hidden. If it was found out who did the deed or ordered it, there can have severe repercussions."

"Using Gato as an example, his successor could cut off business relationships with Konoha or Hi no Kuni as a whole as revenge. They could also ask their business associates to do the same, and that could have serious negative effects on our village and country's economy. Sure they will also lose business and money but some people will rather get revenge over making more money. This has actually happened a few times in history when an assassination mission had failed or when the identity of the assassin was found out. The victim or their family members or successors retaliated against the ninja villages that did the job, whether it be that they are truly angry and grieving or just for reputation or honor purposes. That's why the goal of an assassination is to kill the target without casting any suspicion on anyone. There's even a saying that a perfect assassination is one that's masked up as an unfortunate accident with no one wiser that foul play ever occurred." Kakashi explained.

"And that is why we cannot assassinate Gato. Right now, we are known enemies of Gato. If Gato mysteriously died tonight, everyone would think we did it even if we didn't. The second we entered Nami no Kuni as Tazuna-san's bodyguards, assassination was off the table, and especially not with Zabuza around. He himself was an assassination expert and would be on guard for any attempts."

"So we can only guard Tazuna-san and his bridge until completion?" Sasuke summarized

"Yes, that's the safest option. Zabuza won't be up and running after being forcefully put into a false death state like that, especially with his other injuries. So I estimate we have about a week of not being disturbed by him." Kakashi answered

"As for your question Naruto, normally if a mission becomes more than expected without anyone anticipating it happening, it's just an unfortunate case for the ninjas involved, since we have already collected the payment we can't demand more but those are pretty uncommon. In Tazuna-san case, he himself admitted to knowing withholding information so he'll face a penalty for this. For one, he will be paying the full price of a B-rank mission, with interest too, and until he paid off his dues he won't be allowed to request another mission. Typically, someone like that would be marked as an untrustworthy client, and we would charge them more in the future."

Naruto nodded righteously, "Tazuna-san is great and all but it just doesn't sit right that he can just get away lying and risking people's lives like that."

~Back at Tazuna's house later that night~

After dinner, everyone was in the living room and having pleasant conversations.

"Whose the person in the torn picture?" Naruto asked suddenly after seeing at it during dinner.

It quieted down the room immediately.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to pry." Shiina immediately apologized after noticing that the atmosphere was tense

"It was my husband." Tsunami said softly

"...And the man known as the hero of the city." Tazuna finished

Inari got up loudly from the table and left the room without a word.

Tsunami sighed, "Father, please don't talk about him in front of Inari."

"Is everything okay with Inari?"

Tazuna shook his head, "His death hurt Inari deeply, especially the way he went. He used to be a cheerful child but after his father's death…"

Tazuna then told Team 7 of the story of Kaiza, an amazing father, a hero and leader to the community at large, and how he was the first one to stand up to Gato but later targeted and executed in public, in front of everyone including Inari as an example.

"People lost hope after that." Tazuna said with a sigh, "That's why it's important for me to build the bridge, once it's done it'll bring hope back to everyone and Inari."

~At the porch later that night~

Everyone had retired for the night after the depressing story of Kaiza. The trio found themselves sitting on the porch of Tazuna's house, enjoying the night breeze that's unique from being near a large body of water.

"Heroes rarely have good endings." Shiina said suddenly, breaking the silence, "Being family to a hero is rough too. You have to understand that that is just who they are as a person, accept it, and pray for their safe return each time."

Naruto and Sasuke both turned and stared at Shiina in surprise.

"But the world needs them. Heroes are necessary. In difficult times they are the ones people turn to for guidance, they are a symbol of hope. But when you lose them, it's like losing the king in shogi, people give up. Not until the next hero steps up."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, "Tazuna is trying to be that hero but not quite one yet, he doesn't have that ability to gather people at his side and be able to convince them to take a stand and fight like Kaiza once did."

"No wonder Inari doesn't like heroes." said Naruto thoughtfully, "In a way he was expressing concern for us. In his experience, heroes get killed. He didn't want us to follow his father's footsteps."

Sasuke scowled, "That kid irritates me. I think he just reminds me of myself right after…that incident. Crying and helpless. But we got back on our feet and continued moving forward. He's still stuck in the past and hasn't moved on.

"We had hope." Shiina answered while staring at the horizon of the endless ocean, "We are Shinobi, we have hope and dreams that once day when we grow up and we will have the power to avenge everyone but Inari is just a civilian. There's nothing he can do. Gato can't be caught, tried, and punished since he probably bribed all the officials to look the other way with how brazenly he had Kaiza executed in public. Killing him directly though is against civilian law, not to mention the difficulty of even getting close enough to do it. His only hope is perhaps making enough money to hire a ninja to kill Gato but that would also be near impossible with the stronghold Gato has on Nami no Kuni's economy right now. The feeling of anger, at Gato and at himself for being so helpless and useless is probably why he's so volatile."

"But you know, even though Inari had said to our face about how we're gonna die for going against Gato, I noticed that he has never said it to Tazuna-san, even though he's doing the exact same thing, defying Gato to build that bridge, to the point where Gato had sent ninjas after him to kill him." Naruto mentioned offhandedly

Shiina and Sasuke both thought about it and realized what Naruto said was true, they couldn't recall Inari saying those words to Tazuna.

Shiina smiled, "Perhaps he hasn't quite given up yet deep inside despite what he says. Maybe he doesn't want us involved because he thinks Gato is a problem that needs to be resolved by themselves and not outsiders like us. Kind of like Sasuke back then, trying to push us away and trying to tackle the problem himself."

Sasuke blushed and looked away, "I agreed in the end didn't I?" to which the other two grinned at him knowing they worn him down.

"We're gonna make sure Tazuna-san finishes building the bridge safe and soundly and return hope to Nami no Kuni." Naruto cheered with a fist pump in the air, "Let's show Inari that heroes do exist and his grandpa is one himself!"

"Even if a hero falls, as long as their ideology is righteous, another hero will eventually step up, inherit their ideals, and continue the unfinished job. And protecting the people and those important to them is never a wrong ideology." Shiina mused

Inari, who came downstairs to watch the ocean as usual and accidentally overheard their conversation, pulled down his hat in embarrassment as the trio was spot on with their analysis. Feeling turmoil, he ran back to his room.

The trio heard his footsteps running away and glanced at each other. Maybe their words will have some impact.

"You know, rather than heroes," Shiina said as the thought came to her, "I'd rather us be living legends."

Naruto grinned, "That sounds way cooler too! Think of the monikers they can give us!" which made Sasuke and Shiina laughed as Naruto suggested ridiculous monikers one after another.

~Next few days~

Over the next few days Team 7 rotated. Everyday, Kakashi and one of them would be at the bridge guarding Tazuna. Another person stayed with Tsunami and Inari in case Gato decided to take them as hostage to threaten Tazuna which was the simplest trick in the books, and the last person will have a day off, and would either be training or come help out at the bridge.

Today was the sixth day they were here at Nami no Kuni and it was Shiina's turn at the bridge, Sasuke's turn to guard the house, and Naruto's day off. Yesterday when it was his turn at the bridge, he used shadow clones to help Tazuna out. While he knows nothing about how to build one, he could at least follow direction and help carry things around. Today was his break day so he decided to focus on training. He headed to the makeshift training ground in the forest early morning before breakfast.

He gathered wind nature chakra on his kunai, trying to coat the kunai with it, but after a few seconds, the faint chakra outline wavered and the kunai went flying from his hand.

Naruto scratched his head at another failed attempt. He plopped down on the grass and closed his eyes deep in thought. It was very similar to the process of Rasengan but somewhat harder because the kunai wasn't an extension of his body like his hand was and the shape of the kunai is hard to maintain although it was a little easier than Rasengan's requirement of multiple different vectors. Getting more familiar with manipulating his wind nature chakra would be crucial if he wanted to combine nature transform with Rasengan, something Kakashi had mentioned that his father had tried to do but never got to.

Suddenly, he felt a shadow over him and immediately opened his eyes.

A beautiful girl with long silky black hair and dark eyes in a pink kimono was looking over him. Upon noticing Naruto with his eyes open, she smiled, "You'll catch a cold if you sleep here." she said as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears.

Naruto blinked then grinned back, "I was just taking a short break, I'm not actually sleeping here."

There was something about the girl, something oddly familiar about her that lowered Naruto's guard to the point where he didn't even notice that it was unnatural for a civilian like her to be able to come near him without him noticing. Upon knowing the girl was looking for herbal medicine, Naruto volunteered to help. While looking, they struck up a conversation.

"So what are you doing here so early?" the girl asked

"I wanted to get some extra training done." Naruto answered

"Training? Oh, that headband, are you a ninja?"

Naruto tapped his hitai-ate, "Yup! I'm from Konohagakure!"

"It's in Hi no kuni right? I think I heard of it before. Why are you training out here, especially this early in the morning? You look plenty strong already."

"I…want to be stronger."

"For yourself or for others?"

"...Both." Naruto answered, "My dream is to be Hokage, that's the leader of our village, and to do that I need to be strong. I also want to help my best friends achieve their goals too, they want to defeat some bad people that are super strong, and at the level we're at now we're still no where close. And also, I want to be strong so I don't make my friends sad. Last time I wasn't strong enough I almost died and that made them cry because they thought I really did died."

Naruto scratched his head, "I guess what I want to say is, while my dream is to be Hokage, what I really want is to be strong enough to make sure we come back from missions safely every time. I want us to all be alive and still be friends even when we are old grandpas and grannies, teasing each other and reminiscenting about the good old days."

The girl smiled, "I believe that when people have something important to protect, that's when they are truly stronger. It sounds like you already have found the people precious to you."

Naruto grinned, "Yup! You know, a friend of mine said something similar, something about the ideology of protecting the people and those important to them is never wrong."

"They sound very wise. That's all the herbs I need, thank you for your help." the girl said as she stood up to leave.

"Yeah no problem. Happy to help!"

Without looking back the girl suddenly said, "By the way, I'm a boy."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock

Shortly later, Sasuke passed by the boy. He came to the clearing in search of Naruto because when he messaged Naruto through the wristband earlier about breakfast being almost ready, Naruto had responded with "busy, talking to someone right now". He glanced at the boy and like Naruto, he felt an odd sense of familiarity but he couldn't quite put a finger on it either. Then he saw that dumbfounded look on Naruto's face.

"What's with that dumb look?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow

"That person that you just passed? They're a boy."

Sasuke whipped around in shock to take a close look at them again but they were gone already.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

Naruto shook his head, "He told me himself. Probably got mistaken many times before. See why I was shocked?"

Sasuke reluctantly nodded, "Who was that?"

Naruto shrugged, "Some civilian that came here looking for medicinal herbs and I helped him with it. Then we just talked a little about me being a ninja. Something about him felt familiar though."

"Hn...I agree but I can't quite figure out who."

Naruto crossed his arms and squeezed his eyes close, deep in thought, "Hmmm…Maybe one of the Uchihas? He has the coloring of one. Maybe Mikoto-baa-san? They're both pretty, have long straight hair and dark eyes?"

"Maybe." Sasuke acknowledged that possibility, "Anyways, breakfast is almost ready? Are you still eating?"

"Of course!"

They walked back to Tazuna's house and when they entered the house, Shiina stuck her head out from the kitchen and said to them, "Perfect timing, breakfast is ready, can you guys go set the table?"

At that moment, Sasuke and Naruto both realized why that civilian they met felt familiar.

"Ah."

"AAAHHHHH!"

"?"

"Is there something on my face?" Shiina asked confusedly why the two boys seemed so shocked upon seeing her.

"Shiina. You. I mean-" Naruto spluttered

"What he wants to say is that we met someone that looked a lot like you. Only with dark hair and dark eyes." Sasuke explained

Naruto filled Shiina in on his encounter in the forest.

"Interesting." Shiina commented after hearing the story, "Well, they do say there are seven people in this world that look alike, maybe that was one of my doppelgangers."

"Are you…" Sasuke paused briefly before finally asking cautiously, "Are you sure it wasn't some relative of your's?"

Shiina blinked as she had never considered that, "I…don't think so? There's only one known relative on my father's side but she's in her fifties already I think. As for my mother's side, I heard they are all dead. They were some of the first victims of the bloodline purge and got hit unsuspectingly. My mother was supposedly the only survivor though maybe there were others that lived and the person you met was a descendant? Nami no Kuni is pretty close to Kirigakure but that does seem kind of unlikely though."

"Hmm…if you say so Shiina." said Naruto, "Speaking of which, you never mentioned your dad and his side of the family before though. Have you ever reached out to that remaining relative?"

"She's not in Konoha." Shiina answered succinctly, "I don't think she knows of my existence either."

Misled to believe that Shiina's last remaining relative isn't from Konoha which is an awkward subject, Sasuke redirected the subject back to breakfast. The mystery of why that boy looked so much like Shiina remained unsolved.

~Later that night~

"I'm back!" Naruto shouted as he entered the door looking visibly scratched up from working with wind nature chakra all day.

"Rough day?" Shiina asked as she activated mystic palm no jutsu and healed the wounds as the civilians watched in fascination.

"Yeah, still couldn't really get it to work but I think I get at manipulating it though. What about you guys, anything happened?" Naruto asked

"No one stopped by." said Sasuke

"Nothing happened at the bridge either." Shiina answered, "So I was able to get some training in."

"Maa, Iryoninjutsu is less volatile and dangerous than Fuuton or Raiton even if Shiina messed up." said Kakashi, "The two of you should still stick to empty clearings for you training."

"I definitely made some progress though." Shiina said cheerfully

"Same with the bridge." Tazuna said happily, "It's close to completion thanks to your help!"

"Wooo!" Naruto cheered, "Hard work pays off eventually!"

"Why…?"

Everyone turned to look at Inari who spoke.

"Why are you guys working so hard? You're still going to be no match for Gato's men! No matter what glorious claims you make about how hard you worked, when faced with someone strong, the weak only gets themselves killed!" he shouted in frustration with tears in his eyes

"Ne, Inari-san, I think you are overestimating Gato." said Shiina gently, "He might seem scary and all powerful to you but in the end he is just a normal person and a civilian. Those he hired are regular thugs that rely more on intimidation, weapons, and numbers. Even the ninjas he had hired were beaten back by us. We are stronger than you give credit for."

Sasuke snorted, "You have not seen what we have seen. Compared to what we are aiming for, Gato and his people are nothing."

"T-then why haven't you gotten rid of them already?" Inari refuted

"That's because the goal is to finish the bridge." Shiina answered, "We can't just go and kill Gato for political and economical reasons and even if we get rid of all his minions, he can always go and hire more."

"Speaking of Gato's minions, isn't it almost one week tomorrow? Will Zabuza strike?" Naruto brought up

"Most likely." Kakashi answered, "The problem is that if he strikes this time, he will for sure bring his accomplice. I will handle Zabuza, but then it would probably take two of you to fend off his accomplice leaving one other person to guard Tazuna-san. However, that would leave Tsunami-san and Inari unguarded at the house."

Naruto and Shiina grinned, "You don't have to worry about that sensei!" Naruto assured

"We built a barrier shield around the house on the first day that alerts us anytime someone enters the house then kept adding to it." Shiina continued, "We just need to get a blood sample from everyone then we can do the finishing touches. Basically, it will paralyze anyone who enters the house whose chakra signal doesn't match one of us. We weren't sure how to get Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san, and Inari-kun's chakra signal at first since they are civilians and can't use chakra even if they have it but then we remembered about blood, it's a medium that contains chakra for everyone." she explained excitedly

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, "So is this a barrier version of the paralysis seal?"

"Yup."

"I charged it up real good!" Naruto added then he turned to Inari, "So you have to protect the house and your mom tomorrow okay? If any bad guy comes, just run inside the house and if they follow they'll get a nasty shock and lose consciousness. Just be careful and don't invite anyone you don't want to hurt inside."

"Then you can toss them into the water afterwards." said Shiina thoughtfully

Sasuke snorted, "They'll drown won't they if they're still paralyzed?"

"That's the point." Shiina said with a bright innocent smile

"You're scary sometimes Shiina." said Naruto getting chills

Shiina shrugged then turned to Inari, Tsunami, and Tazuna who all looked a little horrified, "Of course if you don't want to, just throw them outside the house. Or if you can't move them they can stay in the house for time being since they'll be unconscious for a day at least until we release them from it. Then one of us can dispose of them when we're back."

"D-dispose?" Tazuna spluttered nervously.

Kakashi facepalmed and sighed. Of his three students, despite being the most passive one, Shiina is the one most capable of cruelty. Not to say she's sadistic or anything, but cruel in the same way young children are sometimes because they simply don't know any better. Kakashi and his team were only in Orochimaru's lab for a couple of hours that night for cleanup but what they witnessed there made them sick to the stomach even as seasoned shinobi.

But Shiina lived and survived in that hell for the first six years of her life, also known as the few years that influences and affects a child's personality for the rest of their life the most. It is a good thing she had a just guardian that guided her away from developing unsavory traits but growing up in a place where human life was devalued, had nevertheless left a mark on her. It shows sometimes when Shiina casually dismisses the loss of lives in a way Sasuke and Naruto never could. After all, if there is someone dying, and oftentimes in gruesome ways, almost every other day in front of you for years continuously, anyone would get desensitized, not to mention a child that only knew that as the "norm".

"It's a joke!" Naruto hastily explained, "Not a super funny one but you get the gist."

The civilians look a little relieved although they are still on the fence about whether Shiina meant it or not.

"Anyways." Kakashi said after fake coughing to get everyone's attention, "Since Tsunami-san and Inari-kun will be safe as long as they stay home, the three of you will be coming with me tomorrow to the bridge."

The trio nodded.

~Next day at the bridge~

As soon as they arrived at the bridge, they noticed the workers on the ground and blood splatters everywhere.

Tazuna and Shiina ran up to them. As Shiina healed them, Tazuna asked them panickedly, "What the hell happened?!"

"A-a monster."

Suddenly thick mist appeared.

"Tazuna-san! Shiina! Get back here!" Kakashi shouted alarmed, "He's coming!"

"Long time no see Kakashi." Zabuza's voice rang out from seemingly nowhere, "I see you are with the brats again."

"Shiina, can you identify where he is?" Naruto asked as he looked around nervously

Shiina shook her head as she gripped her kunai harder, "The concentration of chakra in the mist is much higher than last time, I would need to really focus to pinpoint him."

"Is that so."

Suddenly four Zabuzas appeared in their formation but Sasuke, with his Sharingan activated, quickly got rid of them.

"It seems like your opponent is eager to fight, Haku."

"Hai, Zabuza-sama." Haku answered.

Then suddenly he appeared in front of Sasuke and striked with senbons in his hand but Sasuke parried them. They exchanged a few blows but were evenly matched.

"I don't want to kill you but you won't stand down will you?" Haku asked rhetorically

"Not a chance."

"Pity."

Haku suddenly used one hand to make hand signs but Sasuke was faster and spat out a Katon:Great Fireball which forced Haku to jump away and dodge it. Despite that, Haku was able to complete the jutsu Suiton: Thousand Flying Needle of Death which made needles formed from the water puddle beneath them rush towards Sasuke.

Sasuke dodged them by focusing chakra to his feet to speed up his movements. The remaining water needles were suddenly blown away by a strong gust of wind.

"Don't forget about me!" Naruto declared

Sasuke quickly shunshin behind Haku to strike with his kunai and was able to draw blood this time although it was just a graze. Haku backed up next to Zabuza, "He's good Zabuza-sama. He and the other kid were both able to use sealless jutsus."

"Can't have you underestimating my team." Kakashi drawled, "They are quite the little genius, being the first in many years to graduate early."

"Well that's bad Haku. At this rate we'll get driven back." Zabuza said. However contrary to his words, he sounded confident and relaxed still.

"Yes, we can't have that indeed." Haku replied as he rapidly formed hand seals.

Hijutsu:Demonic Ice Crystals

Ice formed rapidly until a dome made of thick sheets of ice surrounded Naruto and Sasuke.

"This is…Hyouton?" Kakashi gasped

"What? You heard of it?" Zabuza asked surprised, "Well no matter, now that that jutsu is set up, those brats don't stand a chance."

Then to the shock of everyone, Haku entered one of the ice sheets and suddenly his reflection was shown in every one of the ice sheets.

"Ice mirrors?" Naruto exclaimed then the realization hit him, "Wait, is this Hyouton!? Then this guy…"

Sasuke nodded, "Probably that person you met in the forest and a relative of Shiina."

"Sasuke! Naruto! Will you guys be alright?" Kakashi shouted

"Yeah we'll be fine Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted back, "Leave this guy to us!"

Kakashi blocked a blow from Zabuza.

"You should focus on me, Hatake, I am your opponent!"

Shiina on the other hand, who had taken over guarding Tazuna was frantically scribbling fuinjutsu scripts onto the surrounding ground so that Tazuna would have enough security measures to be fine even if Shiina leaves his side to join the fray.

"W-what is that?" Tazuna asked referring to the ice dome

"Ice release. It's a kekkei genkai, special ability passed down through blood." Shiina answered as she drew, "My mother was from that clan too which means that guy is a relative of mine."

"D-do you know the guy?"

Shiina shook her head as she finished the last stroke. "No, I was under the impression that my mother was the last survivor of the clan, I didn't know there were more of them out there."

Like everyone else, she was shocked when she saw Haku enter the ice mirrors.

'Space-time ninjutsu!? I didn't know Hyoton could do that. I wonder if Sasuke could figure out enough details with Sharingan so that I could recreate it.' she thought internally

Sasuke and Naruto were trapped inside the ice dome and were glancing around at the reflections warily.

"Well then, shall I begin?" Haku said as his voice echoed from every one of the reflections.

Suddenly, a bunch of senbons struck Sasuke and Naruto. Blood gushed from the gashes.

"What the?! Where is it coming from!" Naruto exclaimed looking around

"You won't be able to catch me." said Haku

"Not if we destroy your mirrors." Sasuke retorted as he formed the seals and released a Katon:Hosenka no jutsu aimed at an ice sheet. However it didn't do much.

"Those pitiful flames of yours cannot melt through my ice."

Sasuke smirked, "I figured as much. After all, it does take more than that to get rid of Shiina's Hyoton as well."

"What?"

"Naruto! Let's use that!" Sasuke shouted which made Naruto grin as he understood the plan

"Osu!"

Naruto used Fuuton:Daitoppa right as Sasuke used Katon:Hosenka no Jutsu once again which combined into a heat wave that blasted a hole in the ice.

But before they could rejoice, the hole was patched up rapidly.

"Although that was impressive, did you think you could escape that easily?" Haku asked, "No matter how many gaps you create I can always fix them."

Sasuke tched.

"I think we blast a hole and get him at the same time." Naruto suggested

"You got a plan?"

Naruto nodded, "But it'll depend if those fancy eyes of yours can catch him in action."

Sasuke smirked as his Sharingan's three tomoe spun lazily, "It took a bit to get used to the speed but I can see him clearly now."

"Alright then, let's go! Tajuu-Kagebunshin no jutsu!"

Numerous orange clones emerged and overcrowded the dome.

"Numbers will not help you here!" Haku shouted as he came out of the mirror and destroyed some clones easily with a swipe of his hands and released senbons.

"That wasn't my aim!" Naruto shouted, "Bunshin Daibakuha!" he exploded all the bunshins which did damage to all the mirrors forcing Haku to escape into another hastily repaired mirror.

This was all seen by Sasuke who quickly signaled using their wristband, 'One o' clock mirror'.

Naruto and Sasuke both used their jutsus again specifically aimed at that mirror they know Haku is in and Naruto poured an outrageous amount of chakra into his Fuuton:Daitoppa this time for maximum effect.

The resulting explosion was huge. Haku was caught in the blast, his mask shattered in pieces, and he was flung several meters and rolled a few times before stopping. Despite being battered and charred he tried to get back up quickly. However a quiet voice made his blood run cold.

"Hyoton: Ice Cage."

Ice quickly formed on the ground and around Haku's appendages, chaining him to the ground.

"Hello there, probable cousin of mine." said Shiina cheerfully as she walked over

"Y-you could use Hyoton too?"

"Yes, my mother was from the Yuki clan."

"Oi! Shiina! Is it okay for you to leave Tazuna-san's side?" Naruto asked as he and Sasuke exited what was left of the ice dome and finally lowered their guards when they saw Haku held down.

"I put up the barrier seal so as long as he stays in the circle no one can touch him, at least not without us knowing immediately." Shiina answered. Then she pulled out a kunai, "It would have been nice to meet you if circumstances were different." she said to Haku slightly disappointed as she aimed the kunai at his jugular vein.

"Yes. It would have been nice." Haku answered as he closed his eyes accepting his fate.

"You're just gonna accept your fate like that?" Naruto couldn't help but blurt out.

"...忍, the kanji for 'shinobi' is made up of the kanji for 'blade' (刃) and 'heart' (心). To be a full fledged shinobi one must kill their heart just as the kanji suggests. That fear of death is something I have discarded long ago when I pledged my life to Zabuza-sama." Haku replied, "I no longer have any reason to live either, Zabuza-sama has no use for a weak ninja like me."

"Why would you pledge your life to that guy?" Sasuke questioned, "I don't see anything about him that inspires so much loyalty."

"I was once precious and wanted by my parents. They were good, kind people, and I lived a happy life. But when my Ice Release was discovered, my father killed my mother and then tried to kill me but I killed him first in self defense instead. I realized painfully that I was all alone in this world, I was unwanted and shunned. Yet, Zabuza-sama adopted me despite knowing my kekkei genkai, he cherished it and wanted it. He gave me a purpose in life and that is to be his tool, a purpose I have failed."

"So please, let me die."

Shiina sighed and lightly flicked Haku's forehead, "There's nothing wrong with our kekkei genkai, or any kekkei genkai. It is not really cursed or anything despite my personal feelings about it. A lot of it is propaganda from Kirigakure to the civilians in the Land of the Waters to pit them against the clans. In fact you will find that kekkei genkai is respected and even revered nearly everywhere else."

Then she knocked him out.

"I thought you were killing him." Sasuke asked puzzled

"It just came to me that his reason for fighting us is just that Zabuza was hired to do. So if Zabuza is gone then he won't have any reason to continue fighting us."

Naruto scratched his head, "But won't he want to avenge Zabuza though if we do kill him?"

"Or himself." Sasuke added quietly, "He would view it as failing his life purpose, just like he was asking us to end it earlier."

"Maybe." Shiina acknowledged sadly, "It's a gamble. I genuinely wanted to kill him but it's harder than I expected."

"His face and his attitude towards our kekkei genkai reminds me of my mother. Killing him defenseless like this is feels like killing her again."

Naruto nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I kind of know what you mean. If in one of our missions our opponent is a Uzumaki I would still give it my all in battle but it would be hard for me to kill them in cold blood like this."

Sasuke didn't say anything. If he meets any rogue Uchiha, it wouldn't be a simple matter of 'no hard feeling and we're just on different sides' so he couldn't empathize with the other two. He sighed and crossed his arms, "If you need me to do it just let me know."

Shiina nodded and gave Sasuke a thankful smile.

Sasuke glanced at Haku who was still knocked out cold, "There might be a chance though, he wasn't trying very hard to kill us this whole time. That's something at least, it proves that he isn't exactly the mindless tool at the beck and call of Zabuza like he said he was."

"Yeah. I mean sure senbons can be devastating but like all he managed to do was some scratches on us. He can definitely do way worse with his jutsu." Naruto added pensively

"Shinobi life is tough huh?" said Tazuna sympathetically as he overheard the conversation, "Needing to kill your own family if they are on the other side…" he shuddered.

"It not very common." Shiina answered, "Typically a single clan is aligned with a single shinobi village so it's unlikely one will run into a fellow clan member that's on another side. Even the deflection rate is lower for clan affiliated shinobi compared to people that are not. Naruto and I are outliers, our clans, the Yuki and the Uzumaki clan respectively, weren't affiliated with Konoha and were destroyed years ago and the members are scattered across the continent. Through various circumstances we were born in Konoha so there's always that chance that there are other survivors like our parents who settled somewhere else and brought up kids with allegiances to other countries. That being said, I truly thought I was the only Yuki left and did not expect to meet another Yuki."

"Wait did you say Uzumaki? A shinobi clan named Uzumaki…are you referring to Uzushiogakure?" Tazuna asked

"You know about it?" Naruto asked surprised, "Also didn't I introduce myself as Uzumaki Naruto? You didn't say anything then."

"I was a little tipsy when you guys said your names okay? It's also been years since I last heard of that clan, and with your blond hair it didn't even register. Any older folks around here would know them. We used to trade with them quite frequently. Can't miss them with their bright red hair. You're an Uzumaki by blood?" Tazuna asked Naruto almost scrutinizingly.

Naruto straightened up unconsciously, "Yes, through my mother."

"You would make them proud boy, especially with that seal thing, the Uzumakis were experts at them. I got a vermin exterminating seal thing set up at my house and that thing still works like the day I first got it more than twenty years ago, not even a mosquito ever in sight in that house. Best deal I ever made." Tazuna said reminiscently, "They were good people, always willing to lend a helping hand, and the best customers, never gave us any trouble and paid straightforwardly. If they were still around Gato wouldn't have stood a chance at all since they would have been happy to help. I'm glad that their legacy lives on in you. Maybe it was fate that brought you here to defeat Gato in their stead." he laughed

There's a warm feeling that arises when he hears Tazuna's words. Naruto would later identify it as clan pride. Sure he has known that he was a member of the Uzumaki clan for a while now but it didn't exactly feel "real" when reading the exploits of his clan from history books. The impact is just different hearing it in person from someone that has actually met the Uzumaki clan when they were around and that they would be proud of him.

"Thank you." he said earnestly.

The heartwarming atmosphere was swiftly ended by the screeching sounds of a thousand birds. However the mist was still too thick for them to tell what was going on on Kakashi's side.

"Naruto, could you use your lowest powered Fuuton and see if you can blow the mist away?" Shiina asked as the idea came to her head.

"Will that work?" Sasuke asked

"A normal wind might not. But even the lowest powered Fuuton from Naruto would still be extremely chakra dense that it will override the mist but not enough to hurt anyone, or at least that is my theory."

Naruto nodded, "I can give it a try."

And it worked. The mist cleared and revealed Zabuza was restrained by 8 dogs, looking bloody and battered. Kakashi was likewise equally battered but definitely looked the least hurt of the two.

"Looks like my students found a way around your signature jutsu." said Kakashi as he immediately noticed the disappearance of the mist.

Zabuza's focus however, wasn't on Kakashi, but rather on Haku who was laying on the ground motionless.

"Did you brats manage to beat and kill Haku?" he asked

Naruto was about to answer that Haku is still alive but Sasuke stopped him.

"Yes." Shiina answered, lying blatantly, "He was a tough opponent to take down but we managed with little injuries to ourselves."

"I always knew his soft heartedness would be the death of him one day."

"That's all you have to say?!" Naruto blurted out, "He was so devoted to you, to serve you was his literal dream and he gave his life away for that. Does all his years of companionship mean nothing to you?"

"Oi Kakashi, that brat of yours is really annoying, if you're going kill me can you make it quick?" Zabuza taunted and avoided the question but there was no bite behind it, it was as if his last bravado.

Then in a quiet voice he added, "If you're kind enough to bury us afterwards, bury us together if you can."

"What a pathetic look you got on your face Zabuza." a voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned only to see a short man with sunglasses and a cane and dressed in a suit. Behind him were a crowd of men that looked like thugs who were all armed.

"Gato." Tazuna growled

"Gato, what are you doing here?" Zabuza asked

"There has been a change of plans Zabuza, or rather your plans. This has been my plan all along. Skilled ninjas are too expensive so I never intended to pay you . All I had to do was to pit you against other ninjas and when you're both tired from fighting each other, I can just take both of you out with common thugs that are much cheaper."

"My only mistake was to hire you. Demon of the Mist? Pfft, I ought to sue you for false advertisement if you're not going to die right here today."

"Even we can take you down in the state you're in." the thugs behind Gato jostled and then there were taunting laughters.

"Forgive me Kakashi, but our fight is over. I no longer have any reason to assassinate Tazuna."

"I figured so." said Kakashi as he let Raikiri fizzle out and shifted his forehead protector back over his Sharingan. Then he dispelled his ninken that were keeping Zabuza restrained.

"What are you going to do now Zabuza-san?" Shiina asked

Zabuza glanced at her then quickly looked away as her resemblance to Haku reminded him painfully of what he just lost, "I'm going to kill Gato for lying and leading us into this mess. And as many of those thugs I can take with me. They have been rude to Haku ever since they saw his face."

"And kid." Zabuza suddenly addressed Naruto, "You had asked me if all his years of companionship meant anything. Of course it did…how can it not? Despite what some may say, shinobi are still people in the end, we aren't capable of being emotionless tools all the time. I know my current condition, there's no way I will make it out of this fight alive, but this is the last thing I can do for him and that is to avenge him by getting the true culprit."

Naruto was strangely moved and bit his lips wondering when is the appropriate moment to mention that Haku is actually still alive.

"You heard that?" Sasuke asked Haku quietly. He happened to notice that Haku's hand twitched just a tiny bit when Gato arrived which meant that he was conscious.

"...Yes."

Tears flowed down Haku's cheeks. But they were tears of happiness evident by his smile.

"Knowing that you're wanted by someone in this world is a marvelous feeling." said Shiina who couldn't help but smile too. She was lucky that after her mother left her she still had Koyama Yoru who was not a tsundere like Zabuza and later meet the boys, who had straight up told her that they were grateful that she was around.

Quicker than they could react and let Zabuza know, Zabuza had already headed toward Gato. Although Gato tried to run and hide amongst his hired thugs, it was no use as Zabuza sliced through the crowd easily. Then in one clean sweep, he beheaded Gato with his Kubikiribocho.

He glared at the thugs who all backed up unconsciously.

"H-he's only one ninja!" someone shouted nervously, "If we all swamp him we can get him!"

"Y-yeah!"

"We can do it!"

The thugs regained their courage and took a step forward as if to prove their determination.

"Damn you ninjas, you killed our meal ticket!" someone shouted more bravely

"And now you're gonna die!"

"We're gonna pillage this place and take everything of value!"

"Yeah! Yeah!"

Zabuza gripped Kubikiribocho a little hard. This will be his last stand.

"Tajuu Kagebunshin no jutsu!"

Suddenly the bridge was packed with Naruto clones.

"We got numbers on our side too!" Naruto declared triumphantly as he stepped in front of Zabuza.

"Kid..?"

"You might look scary and all but you're not actually a bad person." said Naruto, "You could have killed us and the other workers on this bridge easily so many times but you didn't, and you even tolerate Haku being soft hearted despite the whole 'ninjas must be emotionless tools' thing. Plus we don't have any reason to fight anymore and we're both fighting against Gato so you're on our side! Konoha doesn't leave comrades behind!"

Then an arrow landed between Naruto and the thugs.

"We're here too Naruto-nii-chan! We got your back too!"

It was Inari and behind him were other villagers who were all armed.

"If you come any further into our land you'll have to face us too! And you will die where you stand!" Inari shouted.

"Inari…and everyone…" Tazuna was moved and tears could be seen in his eyes.

"L-let's get out of here." someone said and suddenly all the thugs started to run back into the boat they arrived in.

"Not so fast." Shiina whispered as she formed some hand signs.

Ice suddenly formed around the thugs' ankles trapping them in place causing many people to faceplant due to the sudden change in momentum. Then large spikes of ice emerged from the ocean piercing through the boat and the net they used to get from the boat onto the bridge.

Shiina beamed, "Now then, shall we round them up?"

~An hour later~

With the help of everyone, the thugs were tied up and gagged.

"We'll leave them to you guys to decide what to do then." Kakashi said to the Nami no Kuni villagers.

"Thank you for the help." one of the villagers replied, "We couldn't have done it without you guys."

"It's what we were hired to do." Kakashi answered with an eye smile.

Leaning on the walls of the bridge was Zabuza who was being patched up by Shiina. Next to him was a beaming Haku who Zabuza avoided his gaze with due him thinking that his previous little speech was embarrassing.

While Shiina was working on healing Zabuza up and the villagers didn't appear to need any help, Naruto asked a question that has been bugging him, "Hey Shiina, why did you want to catch all the thugs? They were running away already weren't they?"

"They ran away this time because we were here dobe." Sasuke answered.

"But what will happen when we leave?" Shiina continued, "True, it may be hard for them to gather together without Gato but there is a chance they will band together take revenge on the villagers for today's incident. It's better to snip it at the bud and let them fear the villagers so that they will never try it again."

Zabuza nodded approvingly.

"And also…they were Gato's hired thugs. There is a chance that they have the blood of the villagers' loved ones on their hands. For example, Inari-kun's father. We were told that Gato put him to death but it must have been one of his hired thugs that did the deed." Shiina added, "This is the villagers' chance to take revenge for their friends and loved ones. I didn't want to deny them that."

"Revenge huh." Sasuke whispered quietly. Naruto looked pensive.

"Anyways, all done." Shiina declared, "You still have some chakra exhaustion so I would recommend resting for a couple of days before doing anything strenuous."

"You could stay at our house!" Inari, who had just happened to come over after the villagers finished rounding up the thugs, volunteered happily to the shock of his grandfather. Inari had arrived at the bridge just in time to see Zabuza execute Gato so in his mind Zabuza is one of the good guys and possibly one of his favorite people right now.

"I–Inari, he was the assassin that was after grandpa and wanted to kill grandpa." Tazuna begged his grandson to see reason.

"But didn't he kill Gato for us? He's a good person right?" Inari asked, confused.

Tazuna sighed as the turn of events were complicated to explain, "Fine, fine, you can stay with us for a couple of days."

"Thank you." Haku bowed deeply. Zabuza dipped his head slightly in gratitude as well.

"Hey Inari! Nice going there!" Naruto praised, "How did you get everyone to come? Is everything okay at home and Tsunami-san."

And so Inari told his story.

He was sitting in his room, staring at the ocean as usual when he saw two men with katanas walking towards their house from the other window by accident. He quickly realized where he had seen one of them before. The shorter, long haired one was the one that killed his father on Gato's command. He was frozen in place and began to shake in fear but then he remembered that his mother was still downstairs not knowing that danger was approaching. True Naruto and Shiina had set up a protective barrier around the perimeter but what if it fails? They were only kids themselves despite being ninjas, can they really be relied on?

Despite the fear in his heart, he still ran downstairs quickly to warn his mother.

Was this the bravery that his father used to talk about? The one that one needs to protect their loved ones? The one that he had almost forgotten?

That thought briefly flashed in Inari's head as he ran. He told his mother what he had saw and the two grabbed weapons, a crossbow and a kitchen knife, and hid inside a closet right as the two men sliced open their wall. With halted breath they watched as the men took a step into the house but thankfully, the seal worked as expected and the two dropped like flies.

Gathering his courage once more, Inari was the first to react by approaching the two men. He took the two katanas the men had and dropped them into the ocean. Then he asked his mother for ropes to tie them up. When mother brought out the ropes, he recognized them as the same ropes he had fetched for his father that one time their village was in risk of flooding. His father had used these exact ropes to save the village. Warmth flooded over him as he felt as if his father was still watching over him. Together, they tied the men up but then weren't sure what to do next.

While Shiina and Naruto assured them that they wouldn't wake up, they still felt uneasy being in the same room as them, especially since one of them murdered Kaiza.

With his mind made up Inari told his mother, "Kaa-san I-I'm going to push them into the ocean. T-that guy…" he took a deep breath and pointed at one of the men, "That guy was the one that killed Tou-san."

Tsunami hugged Inari tightly, it was the first time Inari had faced and accepted Kaiza's death without running away.

"Inari, you don't need to dirty your hands for this. Okaa-san will do it."

They watched as the men sinked into the ocean and caused air bubbles that rose up to the surface.

Eventually, it stopped.

While his mother patched up the walls, Inari ran around the village trying to convince someone to come to the bridge with him. He felt bad for telling his grandfather that nothing will come out of the bridge being complete and wanted to apologize in person. But no one wanted to come. Disheartened but still determined to go, Inari packed his crossbow.

"You're just a little boy, you can't go alone." His mother scolded him, "It's too dangerous."

"But no one in the village wants to come so I have to go alone. I may be little but I know how to fight. I'm Tou-san's son after all." Inari grinned in a way that reminded Tsunami her of her late husband despite the two not being related.

"Plus, the ninjas will be there, I'll be safe." Inari answered, "I have to apologize to grandpa in person."

He opened the door and to his shock, all the villagers were there and armed.

"We can't knowingly let Kaiza's boy go all alone to the bridge in good conscience." The lead villager told him and Tsunami, "It's too dangerous. To think this is the world we live in, where children cannot run around freely. You are right Inari, it's time we fight back."

Inari grinned, "Let's do it!"

The villagers cheered.

As Inari's story concluded, one of the villagers walked over and overheard the story.

"Out of the mouth of babes." He said proudly as he patted Inari's shoulders, "The boy was right. Not fighting back will just increase our regrets."

"I'm not a baby!" Inari protested

Everyone laughed.

"That's right, you're not a baby nor a crybaby anymore." said Naruto, "You're a hero to this village by helping everyone gain back their lost courage."

Tazuna sniffed emotionally, "Your father would have been so proud."

Inari grinned, "He was a hero and the best role model I could ask for. He lives on in the hearts of all of us!"

"Does the bridge have a name yet?" Shiina asked Tazuna suddenly

"No, not yet. I didn't dare to come up with a name yet less I jinx it."

"How does the name Kaiza-Inari bridge sound?" Shiina suggested

"Kaiza-Inari. The great Kaiza-Inari bridge." Tazuna mumbled it under his breathe to see how it sounded. "I like it! From hence forth this bridge shall be known as The Great Kaiza-Inari bridge!"

Cheers of approval met the declaration.

~The next day~

Since the bridge isn't done yet Team 7 has to stay for a little longer. However, due to the huge celebration last night over their victory against Gato, all the men got drunk so they were taking a break today and will resume work tomorrow.

As a result, Shiina had some free time and was able to speak with Haku before breakfast.

"You're…a descendant of the Yuki clan right?" Shiina started the conversation awkwardly, "I was told that there weren't any surviving members other than my mother so I was quite surprised to meet another Yuki." She rambled nervously.

Haku smiled benignly to soothe the unease Shiina felt.

Then he answered.

"I did some digging with Zabuza-sama, my grandfather was a Yuki but he was a civilian and as an adult he became a traveling merchant that brought goods back to the island where majority of the clan resided on. During his trips on the mainland, he fell in love with my grandmother who was also civilian. They got married and had my mother who was their only child. However, they both passed away before I was born due to a civil war skirmish. My mother fell in love with my father and moved to a small farming village in the mainlands to be with him. She probably knew of her heritage as she didn't seem confused why I manifested the Hyoton. But she was shocked because both her and my grandfather never manifested it and was scared due to the rampaging anti-kekkei genkai sentiments which my father shared."

"She was right to be fearful as my father killed her and tried to kill me for having the Hyoton."

"...And you?" Haku asked after ending on that depressing note.

"My mother died many years ago. She was…"

Shiina tried to find a more tactful way to say "kidnapped and experimented on".

"She was taken in by Konoha." Shiina eventually said, "She was the Yuki clan head's youngest child and was barely a ninja when the massacre happened, her family paved the way for her to escape."

"I see." said Haku as he sensed there was more to the story that Shiina wasn't telling but decided not to pry.

He took a scroll out and handed it to Shiina, "You should take this then. It's the scroll for Hijutsu:Demonic Ice Crystals as well as some other Hyoton jutsu. Zabuza-sama grabbed it from the Kirigakure jutsu library for me when he deflected. It's probably something they scavenged from the ancestral islands after the massacre. Hijutsus are typically passed down through the clan head's line so it's rightfully yours since you descended from that line."

Shiina thanked Haku profusely as she accepted the scroll.

"What would have happened if I wasn't descended from the main line?" she asked curiously

"I still would have given it to you." Haku answered truthfully, "I don't need it anymore after all. I would have just found a different reason to give it to you."

Shiina laughed at the honest answer. This new found relative of hers is very easy to get along with and likable. It's too bad she will likely never see him again after this mission. That's when the idea of convincing Haku to join Konoha popped into her head.

"Does he…treat you well?" Shiina asked Haku suddenly while staring directly into his eye in search of a truthful answer.

"He does." Haku replied with conviction, "He may look and sound mean but he is a kind person. True, it may have been my kekkei genkai being the reason why he kept me around but he showed kindness to me when I was a random child on the streets even without knowing that I had the Hyouton."

"He is…like the father I lost but even better. He actually wants me."

Haku's eyes shone with genuine happiness when talking about Zabuza. He truly believes in what he said.

Shiina sighed, "And here I thought maybe I had a chance to convince you to join Konoha where surely your talents would be welcomed."

Haku smiled as he understood this was Shiina being worried for him which filled him with warmth. Then he shook his head, "Unfortunately, Zabuza-sama has a goal he wishes to achieve and I wish to serve by his side to witness the moment he succeeds."

"A goal?"

"Yes, he wishes to kill Yondaime Mizukage Karatachi Yagura."

Shiina blinked, "Is there a reason why?"

"I was too young to remember all the details but according to Zabuza-sama, at first he was a good Mizukage. He was strong, young, charismatic, and seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. People were really happy to have him succeed the Sandaime Mizukage. However, shortly afterwards, his rule turned tyrannical. Exploiting money, zero tolerance for any dissent, and crushing oppositions harshly even if they are going about it peacefully. Though he helped accomplish Sandaime Mizukage's dream of uniting all the islands in the Land of Water under Kirigakure, he did so in such violent ways that the name 'Village of the Bloody Mist' stuck and rang true."

"Zabuza-sama, like many others, disagreed with his rule. He attempted to assassinate him but unfortunately failed and we had to flee from the Land of Waters. We have been taking jobs ever since to raise funds for a second attempt and had to resort to working for unsavory characters like Gato because unfortunately, they usually paid much more. Sadly, some of Zabuza-sama's supporters could not accept this and went separate ways with us." Haku explained.

"May I ask, how does raising funds help with a second attempt at assassinating the Mizukage?" Shiina asked curiously, "Is he going to hire help?"

Haku nodded, "There is a pretty infamous mercenary group known as the Akatsuki and the price for hiring them to do a job is very steep. Not much is known about them but there are rumors that they are a group of S-ranked missing-nin. What we do know is that they are very good, never failed, and thus worth the price. Zabuza-sama believes that if we had their help then our chances of succeeding this time would nearly be guaranteed."

"However, the job we have for them is to help assassinate a Kage who is also a perfect jinchuriki." said Haku with a head shake, "Although we haven't asked for a price quote yet, it's probably going to be even higher than their usual rates so we really need the funds."

"Sorry, did you say perfect jinchuriki?" Shiina asked. For a second almost thinking she was hearing things

"Yes." Haku nodded, "It's not common knowledge that Yagura is a jinchuriki but many of the higher ranking Kiri-nins know about this including Zabuza-sama who had told me about it. Oh, I should explain what a jinchuriki is?"

Shiina shook her head, "I know what a jinchuriki is but I'm not sure I understood what you meant by a perfect jinchuuriki."

"Ah. So you know how jinchuriki have a tailed beast sealed in them? The jinchuriki can draw power from the beast and some even gain special powers not unlike kekkei genkai when they use it. For example, when Yagura uses his tail beast's power, he gains the ability to create coral reefs on contact which makes a taijutsu match with him dangerous since those coral reefs can impede your ability to move. However, when inexperienced jinchurikis use their tail beast's power they can often go berserk and indiscriminately destroy everything in sight, friend or foe. A perfect jinchuriki, is someone that is in full control when using the tailed beast's power. I believe Zabuza-sama said that the first and second person to do so were jinchurikis from Kumogakure, Yagura would be the third."

"…I did not know that was a thing." said Shiina, shocked by the information.

'I have to tell Naruto about this', Shiina thought

"It's definitely not common knowledge. A lot of it was from the data gathering Zabuza-sama did using his position as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman when he formulated his plans to kill Yagura. That's all I know about it though, Zabuza-sama might know more if you're interested." said Haku as he noticed Shiina's interest in this subject.

Shiina nodded, "I definitely will ask him. Thank you for telling me all this."

"You're welcome." Haku smiled, "It might also please you to know that we are not the only Yuki survivors around."

"Really?"

Haku nodded, "This was something Zabuza-sama told me as well. Apparently, when the clans first joined forces to form Kirigakure, they all sent some children to live in Kirigakure as a token of goodwill. The Yuki clan, like many others, sent some children from the branch family. Those children had grown up and settled down in Kirigakure and their children are loyal to Kirigakure hence they were not included in the persecution."

"Branch family or not, the fact that there are still Yuki clansmen around is comforting news to me." said Shiina serenely

'Mother would have been overjoyed to know that', she thought bittersweetly.

There was a bit of awkward silence as they didn't know what to talk about next. Thankfully it was broken by Naruto coming to tell them that breakfast was ready.

~After breakfast~

Zabuza didn't show up to breakfast, a combination of his injuries and awkwardness eating at the same table as his former assassination target. So Haku was going to bring breakfast to him instead and Team 7 tagged along.

~Knock Knock~

"Zabuza-sama, it's me. I brought breakfast." Haku announced as he entered the room.

"Thank you." Zabuza, who was still bedbound, answered. Then he saw Team 7 behind Haku and frowned, "Why are you all here?"

Kakashi scratched his head, "The kids wanted to talk to you and I thought this would be a good opportunity to gather some information as well, especially about Kirigakure. No one is really sure what is happening there these days."

Zabuza snorted, "It's the same old stuff, people are unhappy about Yagura's rule and trying to kill him while he tries to squash any and all rebellion."

Naruto frowned, "But he used to be a good Mizukage right? What happened?"

Shiina had filled Sasuke and Naruto in about the information she learned from her conversation with Haku before they decided to talk to Zabuza. Naruto was especially curious about Yagura, a fellow jinchuriki who became a Kage, just like what he wants to do one day. He was sadden to hear that he was not well liked and was a tyrant.

"Who knows. We had high hopes for him when he first became Mizukage. I imagine that's how you Konoha ninjas felt when your Yondaime Hokage ftook office, though that might be a bad analogy since you three might not have even been born yet when it happened. But anyways, maybe the power got to him, no one knows." Zabuza answered

Then he hesitated before continuing, "There is…this theory that he is being manipulated." he finally said in a low voice.

"Manipulated?" Kakashi asked with a frown.

"Yeah. He was a few years older than me so I didn't know him that well but because he was such a good ninja even at a young age, a lot of us heard of him and he was always described as kind, friendly, and helpful, basically nothing like how he later acted. And the people who knew him well like his immediate family, friends, and old classsmates before he became Mizukage? Someone noticed that at some point, all of these people died. Like every single classmate of his, formerly known friends, and even friendly acquaintances."

"You mean someone killed them all so that no one can tell that his personality had changed drastically? So that the truth that he is being controlled goes noticed?" Kakashi summarized in shock.

"That is one theory." Zabuza answered, "It is awfully coincidental that all of these people close to Yagura died shortly after he became Kage. The way these people died were subtle, a freak accident here, a mission mishap there, no one would suspect foul play unless they looked deeply and realize they were all close to Yagura at some point. There just isn't not that many coincidences like that in this world."

"W-what kind of jutsu is it that can control a Kage like that?" Naruto asked as he swallowed nervously

Zabuza shrugged, "Like I said, that's just a theory and truthfully I don't even know if such jutsu even exist. I mean there is one that I thought of but it's impossible for it to be the jutsu used."

"What jutsu is it?" Sasuke asked with a frown

"Heh that's actually a question for you Uchiha brat." Zabuza replied almost smugly, "The legendary Uchiha Madara. Story has it that he did something to control the Kyuubi. Then maybe he can control a jinchuriki who is inherently linked to their tailed beast as well. Either way, that's either a fictional story or something only accomplishable by him. I personally think it's the latter since when the Kyuubi attack in Konoha happened years ago I heard you guys suffered great losses including losing your Hokage even though the Uchiha clan was still around at that time. So, do you know what Madara did to control the Kyuubi?"

Sasuke does have a guess, a guess he once shared with Shiina and Naruto, that being that the Mangekyo Sharingan can control a tail beast. But he didn't want to reveal the existence of it to someone he barely trusts so careful not to reveal anything on his face Sasuke answered, "No. Unfortunately I was unable to find any records of what Madara did to control the Kyuubi. Guess what he did might just be a mystery forever."

However, both Kakashi and Zabuza are seasoned ninjas, they could both tell that Sasuke was hiding something. Kakashi chose not to pry as it's probably an Uchiha clan secret. Zabuza didn't care enough to pry because even if such jutsu exists, it's an Uchiha clan secret which means tied to the Sharingan. And as far as Zabuza knows, there are only two Uchihas left in this world, one of them is the brat in front of him and one of them being the infamous Uchiha Itachi. However, neither of them could be the perpetrator because to the best of his knowledge, a jutsu typically stops after the caster's death but the only two remaining Uchihas alive todays are both way too young to have casted a jutsu (whatever it is) that is capable of controlling a Kage more than ten years ago even if one of them is a renown genius.

"You got any other questions?" Zabuza asked lazily, "If not I'll like to rest and heal up."

Kakashi sheepishly shook his head but then Shiina spoke up after some hesitation, "What do nuke-nins do after they defect from a village?" she asked

"What, you trying to deflect one day or something?"

Shiina paled and vigorously shook her head, "N-no. There's…some enemies we want to hunt down that are nuke-nins. I was wondering if I can get some perspective on nuke-nin life and that can maybe help us track them down one day."

Zabuza glanced at Sasuke who had his fist clenched at Shiina's words and immediately had an inkling of who Shiina was referring to. After all, the news that a 13 year old killed everyone in his own clan except his little brother overnight was such shocking news that everyone in the Elemental Nations has probably heard of it, and it was even more so when the clan in question was the infamous Uchiha clan.

"Don't know what to tell you." Zabuza answered truthfully, "Most important thing is of course money. You need that for food, for a place to live, etc. Unlike before, in the villages you can choose which missions you want take, but you don't get that luxury out there. Oftentimes in big cities there are job agencies that post jobs that villages don't take for various reasons and the people who take them are often nuke-nins or others with unlawful careers. That's where we found and took Gato's job offer. There's also some nuke-nins that go out and hunt other nuke-nins with bounties then turn them into agencies who pay them but also take a portion of the bounty as middleman fee since the agencies are borderline lawful existences that can turn the body in to the ninja village that posted the bounty and receive the money."

"There are also some that terrorize a village and live like kings there. And then there are also those that settle down somewhere remote, pretending to be a civilian, and live the rest of their lives unremarkably. That's generally the most common life paths I heard of."

"...I see, thank you." Shiina thanked Zabuza, "May I ask, what's your plan after you recover?"

Zabuza tched, "Well this job was a bust so we aren't getting paid, what a waste of two weeks of our lives. Probably going back to a big city to see if they got any good paying jobs posted recently."

Shiina blinked, "Gato is dead so can't you just go and get your compensation? He seems like the kind of guy with a lot of expensive decorative pieces in his house to brag about how rich he is that would probably sell a nice price."

"Gato did have some nice vases and paintings in his mansion." Haku supplied helpfully

"That's…not a bad idea." Zabuza considered, "A bit bad for our reputation though considering we killed our employer already."

"Well he tried to kill you first." said Naruto, "That was just self defense on your part."

"You can just blame it on the thugs he hired." Shiina suggested, "Spread the news that they were the ones that took all his things."

Sasuke smirked as he heard Shiina's plan, "Not like they can refute that rumor since they're all locked up right now. And it's also not like they are a team or anything, they will just assume one of them looted the place before they got to it and isn't being truthful. That would also destroy the trust they have in each other and ensure that they will never join forces again and threaten the village."

"Fine...I'll go later today and see what Gato's got." Zabuza eventually decided.

"I will come as well." Kakashi added to the shock of everyone.

"What? Don't trust me Hatake?"

"No it's not that." Kakashi answered with an eye smile, "Tazuna-san still owes us mission money. He lied about it being a C-ranked mission despite knowing that there will be ninjas after him. Since it was a ninja your caliber he ought to be paying for an A-ranked mission, plus the penalty for intentionally lying. What Gato has after you take your payment should be enough to cover that tab."

"Eh? Then what about training today?" Naruto asked

"Maa, you guys should take a well deserved break. Plus it's not likely that Tazuna-san will be going to the bridge today nor is there anyone after him anymore so let's take oday off."

With that the trio had free time this afternoon.

~Noon at Tazuna's house~

It was noon when Tazuna finally woke up and came into the dining room to eat breakfast/lunch with them.

Hungover and still a little delirious, he asked Naruto, "You said you're an Uzumaki right? Have you seen the Uzumaki shrine yet?"

Naruto shook his head, "Why is there a shrine in the Land of Waves?" he asked

"There were civilians in the Uzumaki clan that were merchants and the Land of Waves was one of their stops before entering mainland enroute to Konoha. So some of them built houses here to have a place to rest and had a shrine made too while they were at it." Tazuna answered, "Well technically I helped them make it that's why I know where they are."

"The Uzumaki clan didn't seem to believe in Shinto or Buddhism, they had their own religion. It wouldn't hurt for you to go and pay your respects there."

Since they had nothing this afternoon the trio decided to check out the shrine. They followed Tazuna's instructions on how to get there and arrived in front of an unremarkable shrine made from a dark wood that seemed like it would only fit a few people in there at a time. As they entered the place, their footsteps were imprinted on the thin layer of dust on the floors signifying that it has been a long time since a soul had stepped foot here.

Immediately a figure that was carved from wood that is painted and is placed in the center of worship caught their eye. It had purple skin, yellow eyes, long shaggy white hair and two red horns protruding from the head. It was dressed in a large white kimono which it held the sleeves of and on the left hand it carried a set of what looked like prayer beads. Most intriguing, it had a tanto that it clenched in its mouth with its sharp and pointy looking teeth.

"What…god is that?" Sasuke asked apprehensively

No one was able to answer him.

"Maybe there's a scripture around here?" Shiina suggested, "We may be able to glean some clues from it."

It took some looking around but they eventually found a hidden compartment that was guarded behind a seal. Thankfully it was a simple blood confirmation seal and after Naruto let a drop of blood drip onto the seal, the compartment opened, revealing it's content to be a scroll.

Naruto took the scroll out and unraveled it on the ground, beckoning Shiina and Sasuke to both take a look.

It was complete silence as they absorbed the contents. Eventually Shiina broke it as she came to a realization.

"This is...the Shinigami?"

~Extra 16: Shiina's Interlude~

Her earliest memory was being in a dim and humid cell where her mother would always be at the rightmost corner, staring into space and lifelessly still. She was extremely pale, a stark contrast to her long flowing black hair, like the way ink stands out on paper. Despite being unkempt due to the circumstances they were in, Shiina always held the belief that her mother must be the prettiest person in the world.

As a child, she would try everything to become close to her, but her mother would always push her aside, cold and unwelcoming, barely sparing a glance. But in rare days, days that Shiina had dubbed "good days", her mother would tolerate Shiina getting close but never enough to touch her. Nevertheless, it motivated Shiina to try everyday because maybe, today was a "good day".

The day she passed away, Koyama Yoru wasn't there, he was taken out of his cell for another round of experiment. In fact, her mother most likely chose that precise timing to ask her as Koyama would have figured out what she wanted to do and stopped Shiina who was oblivious to her plans.

When Koyama returned back to the cell the next day, he found a shell-shocked Shiina sitting silently by her mother's body with flecks of blood on her clothes, hugging her knees, head down, and eyes red from crying. Orochimaru took away the body, the only thing Koyama was ever grateful to that man for. Shiina would remain quiet for the whole week, barely eating and sleeping. Everytime she closed her eyes, she recalled that moment, especially her mother's last haunting smile, and reflected on the numerous times there were hints of what was going to happen that she willfully ignored.

"It wasn't your fault." Koyama repeated over and over to her during those few days.

The first time she spoke after her mother's death, she asked Koyama, "What was she like?"

She knew nothing about the woman that birthed her. Her name, her origins, her hobbies, there was nothing to remember her by. As the days went by and the memory of that incident slowly became more blurry, she began to fear that maybe one day she wouldn't even remember what her mother looked like.

"I don't know much either." Koyama answered, "By the time I came to this lab she was already heavily pregnant with you, in fact, it was just three days later that you were born. But I did hear about her from my old jail mate, Daikoji. Do you remember him? He used to sing you a lullaby when you were younger."

Shiina shook her head.

Koyama smiled sadly, "You might have been too little to remember him."

He hummed the lullaby.

Natsuhiboshi naze akai

Yuube kanashii yume o miita

Naite harashita

Akai me yo

"I…do remember that song." Shiina said slowly in recognition.

"Daikoji said he heard that song on one of his missions and it got stuck in his head. He said that since you got red eyes and cried a lot as a baby, as babies do, it was the perfect song for you. It would always get you to calm down and stop crying immediately." Koyama reminiscent bittersweetly

"He was here before me, before even your mother. A real outgoing and talkative guy. A lot of what I know about her are things I heard from him. A lot of people here do that, they will spill their life story to complete strangers when they lose all hope. Maybe they had the premonition that their death was near and want to leave behind a story, a mark, something to remember them by to prove that they were once here in this world. That's why you should remember this story I'm about to tell you, commit it to memory, you and the story are all that remains as proof that your mother was once here and alive."

"Yuki Sachi, that was her name. Not sure what kanji made up her name but if I were to take a guess it'll be the kanji for 'happiness'. If I was a parent naming my child, I would choose that kanji, it's the biggest wish a parent have for their kid. Her childhood was a happy one. She grew up on a small island not far from Kirigakure. She had a loving family; a doting father, a strict but fair mother who was also the clan head, and an older brother and older sister. She was the baby of the family, and lived an ojou-sama's life, spoiled by her family."

"Unfortunately, the tension of Bloodline Purge reached an absolute all time high by the time she was barely teenager. Kirigakure, or rather, the Water Country, is different from the other countries in that they are made up of numerous little islands, one of which is Kirigakure. Many distinguished ninja clans inhabited those individual islands as well, each of them basically ruling their own island that each island was basically it's own sovereignty. At the time of its founding, the first Mizukage had an agreement with those ninja clans, that they'll help each other out but promised not to interfere with each other too much. Many of the other ninja villages were formed hastily to counter Konohagakure and thus many of the finer details were not hashed out early on. That was the root cause of many issues for Kirigakure."

"The problem wasn't obvious during the short time the first Mizukage was around. The second Mizukage was from one of the big clans himself, he understood what the clans wanted and the clans were satisfied that "one of them" was in the seat of power. The third Mizukage however, was not. He had long been unsatisfied with how the big clans barely adhere to Kirigakure. A majority of the big clans still resided on their ancestral islands, sending the bare minimum amount of children that are from branch families to Kirigakure Academy, and had little loyalty to Kirigakure overall. The biggest issue was that due to their respective clans' infamy, a reputation cultivated during the Warring Clans era, many clients wanted to request them for a mission. However, instead of requesting Kirigakure, they would often directly request the clans, causing Kirigakure to lose a lot of revenue and humiliated in the process. The relationship between the big clans and Kirigakure became increasingly tense as the years went on."

"The breaking point was when the then Daimyo of the Water Country passed away. It was an unfortunate accident as far as anyone can tell but in the wake of his death there was a power struggle. His heir apparent was a little boy that was only 8 years old. On the other hand, there was the Daimyo's brother who was in his prime and he proclaimed to the world that the boy was not the son of his brother but rather the product of an affair between the Daimyo's wife and one of the palace guards. He procured letters that he alleged were correspondence between him and his brother that recorded the late Daimyo discovering the situation and was planning to divorce his wife and disown the child. He claimed that his brother's death was no accident and was actually orchestrated by his wife who found out about her husband's plan and decided to silence him for the sake of her and her son's future. Thus he claims that he is the rightful successor.

It was a mess sufficient to say. Kirigakure supported the boy and the Daimyo's wife but the Daimyo's brother contacted the big clans. He promised them that if they supported him and he successfully became Daimyo, he would grant them their biggest wish: to become their own ninja village, just like their neighbors the Uzumakis who founded Uzushiogakure. And thus, that was the start of the Water Country's long civil war."

"As the war raged on for many years, propaganda fabricated by Kirigakure began to spread throughout the country. 'The war was caused by bloodline users' rumors claimed. They had Daimyo's brother misled, tricked, under a genjutsu, etc you name it and it was probably said. 'It was all these bloodline users' fault that there was war' was the sentiment. And it was highly successful and gained traction with the civilians. Compared to the generic ninjas from Kirigakure, the kekkei genkai users were much more recognizable and thus the civilian's hatred began to turn towards them. Slowly, before the clans noticed, their revenue from missions dwindled and they began having a shortage of supplies. Due to living on an island, they need many goods from the outside world but they can't get them if the civilians refused to sell or trade with them. After all, even ninjas need to eat and they have to rely on civilians to grow and sell them food and other necessities."

"Then the Second Shinobi War happened. Kirigakure, in alliance with Kumogakure and Iwagakure, destroyed Uzushiogakure; it was another heavy blow for the big clans. It was a warning that they were next. Kirigakure then, to their surprise, took a step back. They gave the big clans another chance, either join and swear loyalty to Kirigakure or be destroyed and wiped out like Uzushiogakure. Many clans did join, but the Yuki clan was not one of them. And soon, the Yuki clan was the first to go purely due to them being the closest to Kirigakure geographically. Destruction rained down on them, their ancestral land was razed and destroyed, and the clan massacred as an example to the other big clans."

"Your mother barely escaped thanks to the sacrifice of her parents and older siblings who stayed to fight. They told her to go to another big clan that the Yuki clan always had good relations with and to warn them and seek refuge there, and that they will be there shortly to pick her up once the fight was over. However, that clan who had already heard about what had happened and had made plans to reconcile with Kirigakure, didn't want to take her in. They feared that Kirigakure might not be happy to accept them if they harbored an "enemy" so to speak. The fact that they didn't tie her up and hand her over to Kirigakure was already mercy shown on the account that their clans were good friends for generations."

"They gave her supplies and told her to leave, with the suggestion to forget about the Yuki clan and blend in with civilians. Fourteen and alone, with no home to return to and nowhere to go, your mother went to the nearest big city on their suggestion and left hidden messages leading to her hiding spot in a forest near the city for when her family to track when came looking for her."

"But they never did."

"Life was probably difficult for her during that time, uncertain about her family's fate, in an unfamiliar environment, having to work for survival for the first time, pretending to not be a ninja and hating on people with kekkei genkai, her own kind, in order to blend in with the civilians. In order to cope, she convinced herself that everything was fine, they will get back to their lives soon enough, maybe she just hid too well, maybe they were injured and that's why they still haven't found her yet. However, news that the Yuki clan had been wiped out finally reached the civilians and the city she was in.

All her hopes shattered.

But everyone else around her was overjoyed, cheering and celebrating the death of those she called family. And she could not say anything contrary less she blows her cover. She was…not in a good place mentally."

"And that is when Orochimaru found her. Using the marks she made to lead her family to her. It got that monster on her trail, who chose to follow the tracks simply because he was bored. He kidnapped her, kicking and screaming, and conducted experiments. Like most people, she was still defiant during the first few weeks but as time dragged on, she lost hope. The rest of us at least have someone waiting for us outside, family, a friend, or even a pet and hold hope that our comrades from Konoha will eventually come and save us. But she's got no one left in this world. No one knew she was missing and no one was awaiting her return. She eventually became very sullen, losing the will to even continue living, she was basically a living corpse for a couple of years."

"Then you came into her life, or rather, all of our lives."

"Perhaps because you were her only family, during the time she was pregnant with you, she at least tried her best to eat enough for the both of you despite it being difficult for her to even keep food down. After you were born we all pitched in to help. It was hard not to get invested and attached. You were a spark of light in the darkness, your existence made us remember what it meant to be alive and let us briefly forget the hellhole we were in."

What Koyama didn't say was that in the weeks leading up to Shiina's birth, almost everyone (except Koyama who was new and wasn't that well acquainted with Orochimaru's work yet) was actually frightened and wary. She was after all, a creation of Orochimaru. Who knew what kind of abomination that man would create in his attempt to manipulate and create life. To their utter surprise though, Shiina was just a normal baby, although quite a few others were waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Shiina to spontaneously grow fangs and turn into a snake or something. But as Shiina grew up and didn't show any abnormality, the fears eventually quelled though it did take the more paranoid ones a few years. Of course, Koyama was never going to breathe a word about this to Shiina, what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

"But perhaps we shouldn't have." Koyama continued, "Our attention on you let your mother take a step back, back to that empty husk of a human and never managed to bond with you. I know that sometimes mothers who just gave birth become depressed. They become hopeless and scared for the future, irritable, possibly due to the insomnia, have mood swings, some even have irrational fear that they cannot take good care of their baby. I'm no medic-nin but your mother showed many of those symptoms. Not to mention she was not in a good place mentally even before your arrival and this is no place to heal emotional scars."

"She gave up, she did a long time ago. After you were born, she was just done with this world. She thought you were in good hands. When you manifested the Yuki clan kekkei genkai, there was a spark of something in her eyes, a spark that has been missing for years. You made her last days very happy, you gave her comfort that a piece of her lost family lives on in you."

Shiina remained silent. She knew Koyama meant well but Shiina had overheard her mother crying that night she manifested the Yuki clan kekkei genkai. She was muttering softly as she sobbed but Shiina made out enough words to now understand why she was sad. She was blaming herself for passing down the "cursed" ability. Perhaps in her grief, she decided to blame the kekkei genkai for the fate of her family and clan. Maybe she used the facade she developed when she blended in with the civilians so much that she began to believe it herself.

"The girl once known as Yuki Sachi has been long dead, a large part of her died the day her family perished. What remained of her sought death everyday, you simply released her and now she could move on and reunite with her family. Though I do wish she didn't have to do it through you but you were the only way. You did her a favor, Shiina, it was what she wanted." Koyama explained as best as he could to mitigate any potential guilt Shiina was feeling.

"She smiled." Shiina said softly, "Before she…did it, she smiled at me. She died with a smile on her face. But she didn't say anything to me. I feel like she was trying to convey something with that smile but I don't know what it is."

Koyama patted Shiina's head, "She doesn't hate you so it couldn't have been anything negative."

Shiina nodded slowly, "I just…I just wish that she could call me by my name at least once."

"Me too kiddo." Koyama answered sadly, "Me too."

Koyama had been the one who insisted on naming Shiina. He felt strongly, as someone who grew up in an orphanage and shared everything growing up except his name, that a name was a person's most prized possession. It was his identity as an individual and not just "another orphan". It wouldn't do to keep calling the baby "experiment number 417". She was a living person, just like all of them and deserved a name.

In hindsight 'Shiina' maybe wasn't the best name as it was derived from 417 but it was the first thing Koyama could come up with and somehow it just fit. Although when Shiina asked, he would tell her that he always dreamed that if he had a daughter he would name her 'Shiina', with the kanji make up of "poem" (诗) and "summer" (夏) because it sounded fancy but cute for a little girl.

"Remember the story of Yuki Sachi but don't think about it too much." Koyama said soothingly, "Just know that it's not your fault."

Shiina nodded obediently even though a small part of her still blames herself.

She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep as the melody of the lullaby hummed quietly by Koyama permeated the cell.