A pink haired genin sat down on the finished part of the guard railing, watching a dozen men carry out different tasks. Next to her were her two teammates, each watching their own things. Sasuke watched the inside of his eyelids and Naruto rested his arms on the railing and looked out over the body of water under them. The sensei of the team kept his eye glued to his favorite book.
Tazuna directed his crew almost flawlessly, handing out directions as soon as a task was finished. It seemed the end was in sight at the rate the building crew was going. But there was still one, large, lingering problem.
"Be sure you three stay on high alert. We aren't sure when Zabuza will show up, be on your guard."
The three genin nodded and continued with what they were doing. A few moments of silence passed.
"I see your solo mission went without a problem." Sasuke scoffed.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "I thought we got past this last night."
"I could have easily done exactly what you did, probably even better."
"Of course you could have Sasuke!" Sakura squealed.
"My idea, my mission. Besides, Kakashi sensei only agreed to it was because he wanted me to send a shadow clone instead."
"It would have been stupid not to." Kakashi spoke up. "What's done is done Sasuke, let it go. Focus on the present."
Sasuke grumbled to himself before finally letting it go.
Kakashi finally looked up from his book and glanced at the sky, noticing the position of the sun. "Well, now would be as good as time as any."
"What are you talking about sensei?" Sakura questioned.
"Tsunami is making sandwiches for us and Tazuna's crew. She said they would be ready to be picked up around this time."
"I'll go." Naruto instantly volunteered. "I'm fast enough to get there and back before anything can happen."
"Actually, I was thinking to send Sakura."
"Why me?"
"Naruto's shadow clones will be vital in protecting Tazuna. Don't worry Sakura, I'm sure nothing will happen. Just don't pander around."
Sakura was a bit hesitant about this, but it was her orders and there was no room to argue with her sensei. She nodded before turning to leave the bridge. The team watched her until they couldn't see her anymore.
"She's nervous." Sasuke stated.
"Can you blame her? Sakura's never been in a situation like this. Just give her some time, she'll come around." Naruto responded.
"You've always been very protective of her. What's the deal with you two?"
Naruto didn't say anything, and clearly giving no indication that he would. But Sasuke did notice that the blonde had put his hand inside his orange and blue jacket and kept it there for a few moments, as if he was holding something.
It was then the trio caught eye of a thick mist beginning to roll into the immediate area. Naruto and Sasuke removed themselves from the railing, getting into their fighting stances. Kakashi had already lifted his headband, fully exposing his Sharingan, standing at the ready with a kunai in hand.
They moved in front of Tazuna and watched all the workers run to safety on the finished part of the bridge. Two silhouettes materialized in the mist until they became full. Zabuza and Haku emerged with weapons drawn.
"You two ready?"
Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded, then charged at full speed.
-With Sakura-
Sakura wasted no time making back to the house, running as fast as she could in hopes to lessen the time she was away. She may not have been the strongest of her team but she was smart, smart enough to watch her surrounds as she headed back to Tazuna's home.
Sakura's eyes didn't catch anything out of the ordinary when she finally arrived at the home. She quickly entered and called out to Tsunami.
"Hey Tsunami! I'm here to get the- "
Sakura never got to finish her sentence because was quickly hit in the back of the neck with the hilt of a sword. Her entire world went black instantly. With her last split second of vision she saw Tsunami and Inari on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs.
"That was easier than I thought." The swordsman said.
"I figured they would have sent that dark-haired kid or the kid that broke into the mansion last night." The other bandit added.
"The mom and the kid are the ones Gatō wanted, this girl is just added leverage."
Tsunami and Inari watched helplessly as the swordsman bandit picked up Sakura and threw her in front of them. Tsunami feared the worst when the man drew his sword.
Inari feared for his life, something he had never felt before. He wasn't sure how but he was able to wiggle his hands free from the rope. He headbutted the swordsman on the groin and bolted out the door.
"Damn it! You were supposed tie them up!" The swordsman groaned, holding his hands over his crotch.
"I did! The little bastard must've broke free somehow. It's not like it matters though, the mother and this girl will be perfect."
-With Kakashi-
Kakashi blocked the downward swing of Zabuza's sword with his kunai, he parried the swing and countered. Zabuza barely dodged, receiving a small cut in his side. The swordsman jumped back while going through a series of hand signs, Kakashi went through the same signs.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu)
Two giant dragons created themselves out of the water from below the unfinished bridge sky rocketing up and smashing into each other, causing water the cover the bridge.
"You freaking copy cat!"
"Well, that is my name."
Zabuza growled, then noticed the water that was splattered all over the bridge. He chuckled to himself. "Your students are good as dead."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at?"
"This entire bridge is covered in water, Haku is unbeatable now."
Kakashi raised his eyebrow in confusion, turning to look over his shoulder at his students battle.
-With Naruto and Sasuke-
Naruto and Sasuke were doing well against Haku, their teamwork was proving to be too much for the masked ninja to handle. Haku may have the speed advantage, being able to dodge some of the attacks, but Naruto and Sasuke had the numbers. It was two against one. Speed could only get someone so far.
Naruto went into a slide while Sasuke jumped into the air, in hopes to catch the ninja off guard while she was airborne. It seemed her reflexes were just as good as her speed, Haku was able to maneuver her body to dodge Sasuke's attack.
"This turned out better than I wanted."
The two refocused their attention on the girl.
"Do you really think you can beat both of us together? Honestly, I'm not even sure you could beat one of us by yourself?" Sasuke glared at the masked girl, looking for any indication of an attack.
"Normally, I'd agree with you. But there is just so much water around you and both my hands are free to use my greatest jutsu." Haku began to go through hand seals at such a fast rate that even Kakashi's Sharingan was having a hard time keeping up with them.
Both Sasuke and Naruto's eyes widened drastically as the water around them began to rise. They suddenly formed into large, floating mirrors that were made of ice.
"Makyō Hyōshō." (Ice Style: Crystal Ice Mirrors)
Before either Naruto and Sasuke could react, they were trapped in a dome of crystal ice. Haku stepped into one of the mirrors and her image was projected onto each mirror. By Sasuke's count, there was twenty-one reflections of Haku. Twelve on ground level and eight more floating above, angling at the ground.
Kakashi stared in utter disbelief. 'What in the world is that technique?'
The jōnin wanted to go help his genin but he knew Zabuza would simply get in the way. Naruto and Sasuke were on their own.
The two genin kept their composure but were racking their brains on how to get out of this dire situation. Sasuke was lost, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this lost. Naruto had a similar feeling. They needed to act fast if they wanted to make it out alive.
"It's time I show you my real speed."
Just as the words left the girl's mouth, a barrage of hundreds of senbons that seemed to come from every direction. Both Naruto and Sasuke reacted accordingly and dodged what they could but they could only move so fast. Both were impaled by a couple dozen senbon and caused blood to fall from their wounds.
Naruto pulled the senbon that was restricting his neck movement and looked over his teammate. He wasn't fairing much better but he was still standing. Actually, Sasuke was just staring into a mirror. All Naruto could hear was a soft chuckle from the Uchiha.
"I can see…"
Sasuke's head shot towards a specific mirror, a smirk now present on his face. Naruto couldn't could back a small chuckle of his own. He honestly didn't expect it happen so soon, but he was glad none the less. Sasuke Uchiha had just awakened the Sharingan.
Sasuke kept his eyes trained on the same mirror, waiting for the perfect moment.
Haku was shocked. She should've realized that the boy was an Uchiha, that red and white fan on his back was a clear giveaway. And she knew the Sharingan was bad for her. Her jutsu required a lot of chakra to create, even more to maintain. It was only a matter of time before her speed would slow down enough to where the Uchiha would be able to read and fully predict her movements.
Haku sent another wave of senbon at the two. Naruto had the ability to dodge some but was still hit by most. Sasuke was able to dodge most but was still hit by some. The blonde limped before he fell to his knee. Senbons had hit a ligament in his left knee, it was practically useless at the moment. Sasuke remained standing but Naruto could tell he was having trouble.
Naruto remembered a scroll he read about the Sharingan. The dōjutsu was awakened by only two things, extreme stress or extreme emotion. Sasuke may have been angry but nowhere near enough to awaken his eyes, but if it were then his Sharingan would be much more powerful. Emotion is a catalyst for the legendary dōjutsu, stress simply was a starter.
Naruto pulled the needle out from his knee. "This isn't good."
"Just one more."
"What?"
"One more wave and I'll have her. Can you survive one more?"
Naruto let out a sigh. Him surviving another wave of senbon wasn't a concern, his healing factor was going to kick in at any moment. Sasuke was breathing heavily and couldn't hold the Sharingan for much longer. Naruto could see that much. The blonde nodded.
Sasuke nodded back. Then turned his attention back to the mirror Haku was currently in. "Is that all you got?!"
Haku launched a third wave of senbon and couldn't believe what she saw. Sasuke had completely dodged every single senbon she had thrown. And now his blood red eyes were trained on her, the real her. Most of her chakra had been drained, she couldn't keep the jutsu alive much longer nor her speed.
Sasuke smiled wickedly as he went through a series of hand seals.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)
Fire erupted from Sasuke's mouth and set the mirrors ablaze, slowly melting away at the ice. But the ice mirrors weren't melting easy. That showed just how much chakra it took to hold a jutsu like this. But they were weakened.
Sasuke collapsed to his knees, his Sharingan fading from his eyes. "That was all I had left." He gasped out.
Naruto stumbled to his feet. Senbons were falling out of his body as steam came from his wounds as they closed. "Don't worry Sasuke, I'll handle it from here."
Sasuke watched in shock as the senbons fell to the floor, completely flabbergasted that they were falling out on their own. He couldn't see the steam that healed his wounds because it was mixing in with the steam from the melting ice mirrors.
'How is he doing that?'
"You talk about speed, but you don't know what that is. Let me show you my speed."
Naruto cracked his knuckles, staring at the image of Haku in front of him. He could tell it was the real one, there was a burn mark on her left shoulder that none of the others had. He put his hands together and held a seal.
"Release!"
Suddenly, Naruto seemed to stand an inch taller than normal, like a massive weight was instantly lifted from his body. He pulled off a pair of white beaded bracelets from his wrists, that were hidden by his sleeves, and placed them in his pocket. Earning more confusion from both people near him.
"What were those beads?"
"A special kind of chakra weight. The more you train with them the heavier they get. Now that I've taken them off, you won't win this fight."
It was too quick to see, too quick to process the instant flash of blonde yellow hair that flew past her, smashing the ice mirror next to her, and skidding to a stop half way down the bridge. Naruto, himself, was surprised.
'I guess it's been some time since I've dropped the weights. Maybe I'll keep them off for a while.'
Naruto dashed again and punched through the mirror Haku was in, shattering it. He stopped next to Sasuke and realized Haku had moved to a different mirror. He scanned the remaining mirrors, looking for the burnt shoulder of the real one.
"Behind you Naruto!"
Naruto threw his elbow back and caught Haku in the center of her mask, cracking and breaking it. He put all his strength into that attack and it shot Haku back through another mirror and towards the center of the bridge, near Kakashi and Zabuza's fight.
Haku recovered from her tumble slowly, knowing Naruto was already charging towards her.
"I'm sorry Zabuza, but I cannot beat this boy."
Zabuza scoffed as he pushed back Kakashi. "Then let him kill you. You were a tool, nothing more Just a waste of time."
A lone tear streaked down the girl's cheek as she closed her eye, awaiting the final blow. But it never came. She opened her eyes again to see Naruto had stopped his kunai a mere inch from the bridge of her nose.
Confusion filled the hunter ninja, why wasn't she dead yet? This was the perfect opportunity to win the battle. Why would he stop? Then she heard the blonde mumbling to himself.
"Waste of time…That's all I was to you…"
Naruto rose his head up and Haku gasped in fear. The boy's eyes had changed from deep blue to blood red, his pupils had become vertical and silted. And his whisker marks were widening and darkening. Haku shakily stepped back in terror.
Both Kakashi and Zabuza felt the massive spike in chakra. Zabuza had never felt anything like this, it was unlike anything he had known. But for Kakashi it brought back the memories of that night twelve years ago, the night his master died and Naruto was born. His face paled as he began to sweat nervously.
'I have to end this now!'
Kakashi flashed a series of hand seals and placed his hand in front of him with his palm facing the ground as he left arm held it in place. Lightning began to arch from his hand, cracking and chirping like one thousand birds were near. Holding the ball of lightning in the palm of his right hand, he reached with his left and unbuttoned one his scroll pockets on the chest of his. He threw the scroll up and swiped his bloody thumb across the paper. He caught the scroll, which had rolled itself back up, and held a hand seal.
"Zabuza, we no longer have time to play hide-and-seek."
"Hm. Sounds interesting." Zabuza said from his position in the mist. "But whatever is happening with your student sounds just as fun."
Kakashi slammed his hand to the ground.
"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!" (Summoning: Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu)
Zabuza, hidden by his mist, chuckled in a amusement. "Do whatever, Kakashi. It's useless against my mist!"
Kakashi said nothing as he let his jutsu do its job, he waited patiently with lightning jutsu was still active in his right hand. He waited until the signal that his jutsu had found Zabuza. The sickening sound of flesh being bitten into.
"Ah!" Zabuza screamed.
Kakashi bolted towards the sound, leaving only scorch marks on the ground where he once stood. He zipped through the mist, dispersing it with his speed. He sprinted up to Zabuza, the swordsman was trapped by nine ninja hounds.
"Raikiri!" (Lightning Blade)
Zabuza watched helplessly as Kakashi charged towards him. His mind was going through past memories and he was shocked to see his 'tool' pass as well. It made too much sense for it end like this, it was his karma for treating the girl like a tool, a weapon for his gain only.
The pain of lightning wasn't what Zabuza expected it. It didn't burn. He really didn't feel the ball of compressed electricity rip through his heart. It passed like a flash of lightning. There was a bright flash, a arc of blue lightning being seen only for a spilt second, then darkness.
Kakashi didn't have time to dwell on his kill of the legendary swordsman, he had a bigger beast to deal with. He pulled his, now, bloodied hand from Zabuza's lifeless chest and sprinted towards the malicious chakra. The mist disappeared with Zabuza's life, the grey-haired jōnin was finally able to see clear.
Naruto had Haku by the neck, ever slowly increasing the strength of his grip around her throat. The poor girl was gasping for breath, struggling to break free. Kakashi quickly appeared behind Naruto and wrapped his arm around the boy's neck.
"Calm down Naruto! You need to snap out of this!"
Kakashi figured reason wouldn't work. Naruto was being influenced by, possibly, the strongest being in the entire world at the moment. He racked his brain for something to calm him down. Nothing came to mind except for brute force and the Sharingan.
Kakashi groaned as he flipped himself over Naruto and planted a strong kick to the enraged boy's face. The attack broke Naruto's hold on Haku and pushed him back. Kakashi dashed up to the boy and gripped the sides of his head, forcing him to look deep into his three tomoed Sharingan eye.
There was a deep growl that echoed inside Naruto's throat before he collapsed onto the ground, his breathing heavy and rasped. Sweat dripped from his brow, barely being able to hold himself up with his arms.
"W-What happened?"
"Your seal is weakening Naruto, the Kyuubi's chakra is starting to leak out."
"Leak out?"
"Kyuubi is leaking it's chakra through the seal to weaken it, trying to escape from it. You need to watch that leakage, the more that leaks out the weaker the seal becomes."
Naruto let that comment sink into his brain. That didn't make sense to the blond. If the Kyuubi was wanting to break free, why would he have hold him everything he did that day? And why help him train when he asked for it? Something wasn't right.
"Glad to see you're still in one-piece Sasuke."
The black haired Uchiha stumbled next to his teammate. "Where's Zabuza?"
"I took care of him. He's dead."
Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded.
"And the masked ninja?"
Kakashi turned his head back, watching the girl crawl to the dead body of her recently killed master. She held the body in her arms as she wept.
"I don't think we have to worry about her anymore."
Naruto looked at the sight and thought about their conversation from the other day. 'So that precious someone was Zabuza. But what will you do now that he's gone? Where will you go?'
"You two did well, much better than I could have ever hoped. You protected Tazuna while fighting off a strong opponent." Kakashi lowered his headband and covered his Sharingan. "You can come out of your hiding spot Tazuna."
The bridge builder emerged from his place behind a large box of supplies. He made his way over to the team. "You guys are something else. I've never seen anything like what you three did."
"Just doing what we had to." Naruto said, making it to his feet. He looked around to see that Sakura still hadn't come back. "Sakura still isn't back yet."
"She can't be that slow, can she?"
"Easy Sasuke. I'm sure there's a reason she isn't back."
Sasuke nodded but Naruto didn't like this. Sakura wasn't one to take long, she was always one to get her job done as quick as possible. And, yes, she wasn't the fastest but she wasn't, by far, the slowest.
"I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a dead body."
The group turned their attention towards the voice. It was a short, fat man, who had spoke, with roughly thirty armed men behind him.
"Gatō?"
"You seemed surprised to see me. What? Did you really think I was going to honor our agreement and pay you for killing a damn bridge builder?"
Haku clenched her fist, her anger growing.
"I do have to admit though, that attack last night did force my hand." Gatō snapped his fingers and some of his men brought something from the back. It was Tsunami and Sakura, bound and cut up. "You can blame this on yourself, blondie."
"No!" Tazuna screamed. He tried to run to his daughter but Kakashi held him back.
"Dad! Help!"
"Sasuke!"
Kakashi was tapped, he didn't have the chakra to deal with this many men. Sasuke was drained too, it seemed awakening the Sharingan took a lot out of him. And Naruto was still reeling from the Kyuubi chakra burst. It seemed that using the beast's chakra wasn't as beneficial as Kakashi first thought.
Naruto was wide eyed, he couldn't take his eyes off his pink-haired teammate. She was beaten. Cuts covered her body and a bruise was left on her cheek. And the way her clothes, and Tsunami's as well, were torn, it suggested the fact that she had been…
"…What did you do to them?"
One of Gatō's henchmen roughly grabbed the hair of Tsunami, jerking her head up. The poor woman yelped in pain. "Nothing really. We just had a bit of 'fun' with them."
Something deep inside of Naruto opened wide, that pull from the other day was back. This time, however, it was much stronger, so much so that the boy didn't resist the pull. He just fell into it and gave into the power, the darkness.
A burst of demonic, red chakra flared around Naruto, making his jacket and hair billow upwards as if they were in a gust of strong wind. His nails grew into claws, his whisker birth marks darkened and widened, his hair became untamed, and his incisor teeth grew into sharp points.
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Tazuna had to shield themselves because the heat that radiated off Naruto. The large group of men all felt the anger that the chakra held and it scared them. Gatō didn't fair much better than his henchmen.
"W-What the hell is that?!"
"You're dead!"
Naruto sprinted towards the group on all fours, like a predator chasing it's kill. He jumped into the air when he got close, he came down with his arm cocked back and ready to strike. His claw like fingernails slashed across a man's chest. The feral Naruto grabbed the sword that the man dropped and cut through a few more men before bringing Sakura and Tsunami to safety by Kakashi and Sasuke.
Gatō stumbled back in terror. "W-What are you guys waiting for?! Kill that thing!"
The thugs were hesitant but charged anyway, screaming loudly.
Naruto growled and lowered himself, preparing to strike. He slowly crept forward but stopped when scent caught his nose. Another large of group of people came up from behind Gatō and his men. It was the villagers of the town.
"We're tired of hiding! We're going to take our country back!"
"Inari!" Tsunami cried out.
The young boy so full of determination as he stood in front of the large group of people with a small crossbow. He looked like the leader of this small 'militia'.
Inari fired an arrow and it hit Gatō in the back of his knee. The small, fat man fell to the ground, clutching at his wound.
The still feral Naruto took advantage of the distraction and charged into the henchmen once more. The towns people ran at them from their rear. Gatō watched helplessly as his men was slaughtered by the people he had been oppressing and some animal.
"Are you guys okay?"
Tsunami and Tazuna wrapped their arms around Inari. "Yes sweetie, we're okay."
Sakura rubbed her wrists after Sasuke cut her loose from her ropes. "I'm glad you're okay, Sasuke. And you too Kakashi sensei."
Sasuke nodded and looked at his teacher. "What was all that with Naruto? I've never seen something like that."
"Is that Naruto? I've never felt anything so dark…" Sakura shuttered.
Kakashi wasn't sure what to say to his students. They had the right to know that their teammate was the jinchuriki but it wasn't Kakashi's right to tell them. It was Naruto's burden to carry. Kakashi watched the boy carefully. Naruto stood in the middle of the carnage of fallen henchmen, he was breathing heavily as his features returned to normal.
"Look, you two, Naruto is a very special case. He has a lot riding on him."
"What are you talking about sensei?"
Kakashi bit his tongue. He had said too much.
Unknowing to any of the three, Naruto was able to hear the entire conversation. Sometimes he hated his hearing abilities.
Gatō was slowly crawling away while everyone was distracted with celebrating in their victory. He almost made it off the bridge but was stopped when Haku stepped in front of his path.
"P-Please Haku, I-I still pay ya for what you've done. J-Just don't kill- "
The man wasn't able to finish his plea, Haku threw a senbon into Gatō's skull before he could. The hunter ninja stared at the body for a few moments before turning back to Zabuza's body. She stopped when Naruto appeared in front of her. Instinctively, Haku reached for a weapon.
"Relax, the fighting is done. Besides, since he's dead, I doubt you'd have a reason to fight anymore."
"It wouldn't have mattered if Gatō was dead or not, Zabuza was my only reason to fight."
Naruto nodded. "What will you do now?"
"I'm not sure. Zabuza was the only one to really give me any direction. Maybe I'll be a real hunter ninja, that's all I've ever really known."
Naruto nodded again. He thought about offering a place in Konoha but he figured that Haku wasn't going to like being in the same village with the man who killed the only person she cared about. "If you ever need help, come find me."
Haku raised her eyebrow at the blonde's words. "Why would I call on you for help?"
"Because I know what it's like to feel alone in this world. It's unbearable. I know what it's like to lose a precious person, it's a wound that does not close easy and is very easy to reopen."
"Why are you telling me all this? What's your point?"
Naruto looked over his shoulder, back at his team. Sakura was being a fangirl over Sasuke, who was standing there with his hands in his pocket, and Kakashi was already buried in his book, but Naruto knew he had his attention what him and Haku were talking about.
Naruto turned back to the hunter ninja. "It'll hurt for a while, a long while. In fact, that pain really doesn't go away. You get numb to it honestly. Find someone that helps the pain, they help keep that wound closed for good."
"Is that why you lost it earlier? Because that girl was tied up and beaten? Is she your precious person?"
Naruto turned and walked to his team. "I'll be seeing you, Haku." He put his hand in the air and gave a lazy wave to the hunter ninja.
Naruto walked up to his team with his hands in his pockets.
"Are you okay Sakura?"
"Uh, Y-Yeah. I'm okay, Naruto."
"You sure? They didn't do anything to you, did they?"
Sakura shook her head. "No. Just hit me a couple of times, that's all."
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, that's really good to hear."
Kakashi looked up from his book. "And what of your little talk with Zabuza's apprentice?"
"Her name is Haku, by the way, and she's not a problem anymore."
Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that?"
"I mean the girl just lost the one thing she ever cared about, she's grieving."
"You sound like you care." Sakura pointed out.
"I know what she's going through. I offered her a piece of advice. Nothing more."
Both Sasuke and Sakura nodded in understanding, both deciding now was not the best time to discuss anything with the blonde right now. There is always a time and place for everything.
"Well, I'd say this mission is complete! Let's head home."