AN: Sorry the interval between this chapter an this last one is longer than usual. I usually upload every 3-4 days but I was on holiday/vacation.
Genius Gengus: Kurotsuchi x Naruto is rarely done for some reason and I've enjoyed a few of it. Hence, I decided to try my own at it.
Enjoy, Merry Christmas and Enjoy the last few days of 2023!
Haku was sent flying back by Naruto and Sasuke's combination jutsu. Many parts of her clothes were burnt off. She was laying on the ground staring up into the sky. 'I guess this is the end. I'm sorry Zabuza-sama, I can no longer be your tool.'
Naruto and Sasuke rushed to Haku. Sasuke picked her up by her collar. "Finish me, Uchiha. I can no longer be a tool for Zabuza-sama." She said, resigning to her fate.
"What the fuck? What do you mean by tool?" Naruto asked.
"I am a tool, just like all shinobi are. You both are tools for your village while I am a tool for Zabuza-sama. I will serve him faithfully and see that his aspirations comes true." She said, shocking the two boys.
'How can she think like that?' Naruto thought.
'A human can't just be a tool. What the hell!' Sasuke thought.
"Why Haku? Why would you serve someone like him?" Naruto asked. Why would someone such as Haku serve a demon like Zabuza?
"Because he is precious to me. He is the reason I live." Haku proceeded to tell her back story. She had killed her father who killed her mother. She was taken in by Zabuza and they fled their village after a failed coup. "So you see, there's no reason for me not to serve him."
"Of course there is! You're a human! Everyone deserves to have their own hopes and dreams, no matter how good or evil they may be." Sasuke said furiously. He could not take it anymore. He could not imagine someone who has no sense of direction in life. He just couldn't.
"Just finish me, Naruto-kun." She said as she closed her eyes. Just then, a loud noise could be heard across the bridge. It sounded like thousands of birds chirping at the same time.
"That's Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri (Lightning Blade) . He's gonna kill Zabuza." Naruto said. Kakashi was known for the Raikiri, a jutsu he had created and was super effective at assassinations.
"Maybe I can still be a useful tool to Zabuza-sama…" Haku said as she gathered any remaining chakra she had left. Naruto, sensing what Haku was about to do, quickly made some hand seals and placed a hand on her shoulder. Haku found that she could not move and her eyes widened.
"I'm sorry, Haku. I'm not going to let you die as a tool," Naruto said as he placed a paralysis seal on Haku. No matter how much she tried, she could not move muscle.
"No. Naruto-kun, please! NO!" Haku said as tears started flowing.
Naruto suddenly stiffened and Sasuke noticed. "What's wrong?"
"Shit, someone's coming." He said as he sensed a chakra signature nearing them. "And I don't know who."
With Zabuza and Kakashi
"This is the end, Zabuza." Kakashi said as used his famous jutsu. A coat of lightning chakra wrapped around his hand and was sharp enough to cut through lightning itself. Zabuza could not move as he was held in place by several nin-dogs that Kakashi had summoned.
As Kakashi charged closer to Zabuza, his life flashed before his eyes. He recalled when he killed everyone in his class, when he found Haku, when he failed the coup, when he and Haku travelled. At that moment, he truly realised that he cared for Haku like his own daughter. 'I'm sorry, Haku.'
Zabuza closed his eyes and awaited his end, which never came. He opened his eyes to see Kakashi's Raikiri engulfed in a wall of water centimetres away from Zabuza's heart. It was easy to say that everyone on the bridge was shocked.
A masked man wearing clothes similar to Haku appeared on the bridge. Everyone grew tense at the man's arrival before he placed his hands in a surrender motion and slowly took off his mask. "I'm sorry, Kakashi Hatake. I can't let you kill him yet." The man said.
The man had blue hair and wore an eye patch on his right eye. He wore the headband of Kirigakure and had a talisman on each ear. "I am Ao, by the request of the Godaime Mizukage, Zabuza Momochi and his partner, are ordered to return to Kiri effective immediately. I have a scroll addressed to Kakashi Hatake from the Hokage." He said as he threw a scroll to Kakashi.
The scroll was true and was written by Hiruzen. It had the signature and stamp of approval from the Hokage and Kakashi had no choice but to release them. Zabuza and Haku were to return home to Kiri as an act of friendship between the two villages.
Kakashi looked up and looked towards his genin before looking back towards Zabuza and sighed. He reluctantly disengaged and made his dogs release him. "Looks like the Hokage wishes for me to let you go."
"WHAT!" Exclaimed both Naruto and Sasuke. They had heard the message and were shocked. Sasuke turned around and took a kunai and aimed it at Haku's neck. "To hell with that! She killed Shikamaru, and nothing's gonna stop me from avenging him."
"What if I said he wasn't dead…" Haku said in a strained voice.
"What? You better not be fucking with me. I will end you!" Sasuke said as he gripped the kunai harder.
Naruto rushed to Shikamaru's side to check if it was true "Shika…Please wake up if you're there…please" Naruto said as he held Shikamaru in his arms and rocked back and forth. He closed his eyes and cried silently. He did not get a reply.
Sasuke saw this and turned around to Haku. He lifted his kunai and prepared to stab her. He was stopped when a voice came from behind it.
"Damn…I knew this mission was troublesome…" Naruto opened his eyes and saw Shikamaru breathing. "First chance I get to sleep and you wake me up…"
"Shikamaru!! You're alive!" Naruto exclaimed as he hugged his friend. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Calm down. My back is still painful, you idiot…" Shikamaru said as Naruto let go of him and placed him gently on the ground.
"Did you do it on purpose?" Sasuke asked as he dropped his kunai. A few tears welling up in his eyes.
"I never kill…" Haku said in a whisper as she fell unconscious.
A few minutes had passed and the group sat at the bridge to cool off. Tazuna had fainted when he saw Naruto kill the demon brothers and had just come to. Ao was tending to Haku who had fainted. Kakashi was talking and checking over Shikamaru.
"The Godaime Mizukage… The Yondaime's finally dead," Zabuza said in disbelief. After fleeing Kiri, he always aspired and aimed to return to overthrow the Yondaime Mizukage. Now, it seems the job has been done for him.
"What did the Yondaime Mizukage do that he was hated so much?" Sasuke asked as he sat down to relax his muscles.
"The Yondaime Mizukage purged Kirigakure of kekkei genkai users. Apparently he had a deep hatred towards them and sent out an order to kill them all. Am I right Zabuza?" Naruto said, taking a seat beside Sasuke.
"The gaki's correct. The Yondaime caused a civil war in the village. I was one of those who opposed him and when we tried to overthrow him, we were overpowered. He's just like you," Zabuza said, gesturing to Naruto. Sasuke looked towards Naruto with a curious and confused look. Naruto looked up at Zabuza and realised what he meant.
Naruto sighed. He knew that this topic would eventually come up. "Sasuke…Please don't tell anyone about what happened just now." Sasuke was about to interject when Naruto put a hand up to stop him. "Please. I will tell you soon, just not now." Sasuke nodded his head. Naruto was usually an open guy and would keep secrets only if it's necessary.
"Zabuza, what's with Haku and her calling herself a tool?" Sasuke asked.
"Due to the civil war, Haku was naturally one of those hunted down. I guess she lost all her emotions due to the constant running and need to survive. When I found her, she vowed to always be my tool. It was probably the first time she probably felt anything positive after a long time."
"You care for her don't you?" Naruto said. Zabuza was about to deny it but was stopped. "Don't. I can see it in your eyes. Kakashi-sensei's raikiri did something to you and you finally realised it."
"You're one wise gaki." Zabuza sighed as he knew that what Naruto said was true. He could no longer deny it anymore.
"She cares a lot for you, Zabuza. I met her before this and she said that she had only one precious person in her life." Naruto said as he pointed to Zabuza. "Don't throw her away or I will personally send you to the demon brothers." Naruto threatened.
"You got balls, gaki. I'll give you that. Still can't believe those fools lost to you in one strike," Zabuza said while shaking his head. Soon, Naruto sensed a large group of people approaching the bridge and stood up.
"Looks like they did it." He said as he wrapped his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. They went to the front of the bridge to see a mob of people. At the front of the mob was Inari and Tsunami who were standing beside team 10 and a tied up Gato. Behind them were the townspeople with various weapons.
"Looks like you made it." Kakashi said to Asuma.
"What's Zabuza still doing here?" Asuma asked as he prepared his trench knives.
"Calm down. Here," Kakashi threw the scroll from the Hokage to Asuma and he began reading it.
"No hard feelings?" Zabuza asked nonchalantly. "Looks like my contract is done."
A large party was held at the centre of town. It had been a few days since the fight at the bridge and the bridge was finally completed. Gato's fortune was ceased and given to the people of Wave. He was then executed on the very bridge he tried to destroy by Zabuza.
"To the heroes of Wave!" Tazuna exclaimed as everyone raised their glasses. "To our freedom and to the end of Gato!"
The party was buzzing with life. Haku and Shikamaru were sitting on a bench watching the party from the sidelines. "I'm sorry for nearly killing you, Shikamaru-san." Haku said. She had suffered from chakra exhaustion and had been unconscious for a day. She and Shikamaru had suffered the greatest injury and could not move properly without help for two days.
"Nah, it's ok. Although it was troublesome, it was the first time I got any proper sleep on this journey. Besides, I'm alive aren't I." He said.
"That's the spirit, Shika!" Naruto said as he slapped Shikamaru on the back.
"Argh!! My back's recovering you bastard! If I could move right now, I would kill you!" Shikamaru said in pain.
"It's only a little pain, Shika," Naruto said.
"Oh that's it. Sasuke! We're gonna kill Naruto!" Shikamaru said as he trapped Naruto in his shadow jutsu.
"Gladly." Sasuke said as he lined up a punch for Naruto.
"Now, now Sasuke, Shika. We can still talk this o-Argh" before Naruto could finish, Sasuke punched him in the jaw.
Haku and team 10 laughed at their antics.
Naruto stood back up and decided to talk with Haku for a bit. "Haku-chan, I'm sorry about the whole paralysis seal thing. I know it was your wish to be his tool and it was not my place to stop you but it just didn't seem morally right. I hope you can forgive me."
Haku smiled at Naruto's pure heart. "It's okay, Naruto-kun. Zabuza-sama has also talked to me about it. He said that he no longer wants me trying to die for him. It's hard to come to terms with it but I hope to get better."
The Konoha teams and the Kiri shinobi stood at the end of the bridge to say their goodbyes to the people of Wave. "Goodbye, Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san. Thank you so much for your hospitality." Kakashi said as the Konoha shinobi bowed.
"No, no. Thank you. You guys gave us something much more special, our freedoms. We can't thank you enough." Tazuna said as the mass of gathered people bowed in a thank you much to the protest of the Konoha shinobi.
Naruto looked down to see Inari struggling to hold back his tears. It seemed that Inari had finally moved on and stopped clinging onto Kaiza's memory. He was clearly failing at holding back his tears as a few droplets managed to stream down his cheek. "You told me not to cry…" he said as he wiped his tears.
Naruto crouched down to his level and gave him an eye smile and ruffled his hair. "Its okay to cry when you're happy. Don't hesitate to cry out of joy." Naruto said as he extended a hand to shake him.
"Yes, Naruto-nii!" Inari exclaimed as he furiously shook Naruto's hand. Naruto smiled at the suffix. "I promise to not be a crybaby anymore. From here on out, I'm going to help Oji-chan and become a builder like him."
"Good. Make your family proud," Naruto said before giving Inari a light hug.
"Please call me if Konoha or Kiri needs a repair job," Tazuna said. "And don't be shy to pay a visit."
The group waved their goodbyes and was soon out of the view of the people of Wave. "What are we gonna name the bridge?!" Someone shouted within the crowd. Everyone murmured similar things as all eyes panned to Tazuna.
"The Bridge of Heroes!" Inari exclaimed. "We'll name it after the people who saved the Land of Wave."
Tazuna smiled at the suggestion. "You're right! Let's name it that. The Bridge of Heroes!" He felt that the name was fitting in commemorating those who had helped Wave.
The Konoha group said their goodbyes to the Kiri-nin a few minutes later at a fork down the road. "I'm afraid this is where we part." Ao said.
"Goodbye, Haku-chan. I hope to battle one on one again one day. Enjoy your time in Kiri," Naruto said as he gave Haku a hug.
Haku smiled and hugged Naruto back. "Thank you. I'm looking forward to fighting you too. Always remember that true strength comes from your precious people, Naruto-kun." She said, "I also look forward to a rematch, Uchiha-san." Sasuke smirked and merely nodded.
Zabuza shook hands with Asuma and Kakashi. "Good thing I didn't kill you, huh." Asuma said.
Zabuza snorted at the comment. "You mean, good thing I didn't kill you." Zabuza said as he and Asuma stared intently at each other while their grips tightened.
"Maa Maa, now how about we stop fighting. It seems the Godaime Mizukage wants a good relationship with Konoha. Wouldn't be good if we killed each other at the start." Kakashi said as he pushed the two away from each other.
"Goodbye everyone!" Naruto said as he waved the three shinobi goodbye.
"Home sweet home." Naruto said as he entered his and Kakashi's house. Kakashi had a few more things to clarify with the Hokage so Naruto was currently home alone. He took a shower before eating an instant ramen cup. It had been quite a long time since he had ramen and he really missed it.
Soon, he laid down on his bed, tired from all the travelling. As he stared at the ceiling, he couldn't help but think back to the events of Wave. 'Shika could've really died that day…If Haku was bloodthirsty, we could've truly lost him…'
'That's the reality of life, kit.'
'Yeah…I nearly lost myself when I saw him on the ground. I can't, I just can't let that happen again. I will protect my comrades and those precious to me. I promise that. I will make it my ninja way,' Naruto pledged. Before the events in Wave, Naruto wanted to protect his precious people but now it became a goal, a dream, a need.
Sasuke was lying down on his bed staring at the ceiling. 'I awakened my Sharingan but at what cost… what would've happened if Shikamaru really died for me. Could I live with it? No, I can't let people close to me die again. Not after what he did,' Sasuke vowed.
Shikamaru was lying down on the hospital bed staring up at the white ceiling. 'I almost died…Maybe Naruto was right, planning and strategy doesn't always win. I can't just keep depending on them. It's so troublesome, but I have to get stronger. I need to be part of the strategy and not just create them. I need to protect them. After seeing Choji beat up like that, I cant see another friend like that without knowing I've tried,' Shikamaru promised himself.