The Tale of the Cursed Namikaze

by Datura7

Jinchuuriki, scapegoats of the village and society. And the jinchuriki of Konoha, a dumb blonde with an optimistic view on life. But what if, that boy was not dumb? What if he was our normal average intellect guy, with some curses or rather gifts? What if his parents were alive? What if he was still alone? How would he proceed? PS: The story will be a bit slower than average.

9. Chapter 9 - Woeful Wave

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters, Masashi Kishimoto and studio pierrot does.

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Chapter 9:Woeful Wave

Kakashi opened his eyes and saw a wooden roof and light entering a room. He got up and sat on the futon, on which he laid a few moments ago. He just thought about the battle he had yesterday evening. He held his head in his hand while telling himself, 'Whoever asked this, has stated a very true question…If iron rusts from disuse, water loses its purity from stagnation, so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind…My response to it is yes…Due to the long-relaxed period, my both mental sharpness and physical ability has rusted a bit.'

Kakashi then saw the sliding door open. He saw a lady at the door. The lady had long deep blue hair. She wore a pink shirt with the ends of the sleeves and collar being red. She wore a long blue skirt with that.

"Oh, you are awake that is good. And also accept my regards for protecting my father." Said the lady.

"No problem…Miss?" asked Kakashi.

"Tsunami, Tazuna is my father. Thank you for protecting him…Just wait for a moment I will call your team. They were having breakfast, and must have finished it by now." Said the lady.

Kakashi just hummed. A few moments later his team arrived and sat in front of him. Tazuna and Tsunami too had tagged along. Kakashi asked, "How are all of you?"

It was Sasuke who said, "Fine…The question is are you fine?"

"Yeah, you had frightened me for a second when you fell unconscious yesterday. I hope all is right?" Asked Tazuna

"I am fine, I will just be weak for a day after that I will be as normal as ever." Said Kakashi.

Sakura then said, "Sensei I know your sharingan is cool and all but if it putting so much strain on you. Then I think you shouldn't use it."

Kakashi didn't answer this and instead asked, "Naruto I see you don't have your bandages on you. So have the injuries healed?"

Sakura then in an annoyed tone said, "Even when I have forbidden him from taking it out, he did it. Sensei, make him understand that he is hurting himself."

"Sakura, I have already said this to you. My nose is now set and won't need a bandage. Within a day or two it will be perfectly fine."

"No, it won't. Even with ninja medicines, it takes around one and a half weeks. And you aren't even taking those." argued Sakura.

Kakashi then said, "Sakura…some people have a faster recovery and healing rate. Like Naruto, he has such a fast healing rate that it is drastically visible. What Naruto is saying seems to be true to me, from what I am able to see externally."

Naruto just nodded. While Sasuke thought, 'Is this the healing and recovery speed of the Uzumaki clan?!...This healing speed is crazy!…But well this also ends my confusion if he is an Uzumaki or not. Him, not having red hair really did make me doubt…But this unnatural healing speed confirms he is an Uzumaki…His one parental side must be Uzumaki…So our team has two members from dying clans, three if you add Kakashi also.'

Kakashi again said, "Well since all are here, I would like to say something important…Zabuza is alive."

Tazuna and Sakura had shocked faces and shrieked out in terror thinking the man was alive or rather not wanting to believe. Tsunami had a confused face as she didn't know what they were talking about. Both Naruto and Sasuke had little to no visible reaction. They had started thinking about what their sensei had said. Both did have a frown due to the implication that they might have to fight the demon of the Hidden Mist again.

Sakura with disbelief said, "Sensei what are you saying?!"

Kakashi then said, "Jeez, I thought I said it in plain language. I am saying that Zabuza is ali…"

Sakura then yelled a bit, "Yeah, I understood the sentence. I mean why are you saying that? When we saw him die, you checked his pulses and confirmed he died."

"Well, I made a mistake in interpreting one thing. Do you recall what weapon the tracking-nin used?"

To this Naruto answered, "The weapon was senbon, metal needles…It is a weapon with a low fatality rate. With the correct precision, it won't be hard to put a person in a death-like state. And considering it was a tracker-nin, that is Kiri's Anbu equivalent. That ninja may have the ability to do so."

Kakashi then said, "And recall the protocol such kind of ninja follow?"

Sasuke was the one who answered, "They are to take care of the body at the spot where they capture their target itself. They do this so no information regarding their village is leaked out. For example, like medicine they use, which in traces may be in their bodies or other information they might carry in their mind…That tracker-nin didn't do its job at the spot itself and seemed to weigh quite less than Zabuza."

Kakashi then added, "Yes, even if we were there. The logical action was to finish the job there. But Zabuza was carried away. The tracker-nin did unnecessary work…The tracker was an ally of Zabuza. And saved him by putting him in a death-like state when I was about to kill him."

Sakura was too stunned and terrified to speak now. Tazuna in a grim mood asked, "Aren't you overthinking a lot now? I mean like really is this case possible?"

Kakashi said, "Tazuna-san we are shinobi. We need to think about every possibility and act according to it. As a ninja what I said now seems to be the most probable case…Considering that, all three of you get ready, we are starting training immediately."

Naruto asked, "Sensei, how much time do we have till Zabuza shows up?"

Kakashi thought a bit and said, "Roughly a bit more than a week."

"Say what?!" Screeched Sakura, "Do you really think a week's training can make us defeat Zabuza?"

"Who said any of you will fight Zabuza?...I will go after him. You all will handle his partner. Last time I fell for his trap, which won't happen this time." said Kakashi.

"But then too a week is nothing." Replied Sakura already getting her hopes down.

Another voice now entered the room, "Listen to what the girl is saying. And leave this place as soon as you can. Or else all of you will die."

All looked at the newcomer, who stood at the doorstep. It was a small boy of about eight or nine years old. He wore a green jumpsuit, with a yellow shirt. He had dark-coloured eyes and black spiky hair, on which he had a white hat, with a single blue strip on it.

Tsunami then said, "Inari don't say things like this…Sorry to all of you on my son's behalf."

"But what I said was the truth. The weak can't defeat the strong. They are going to die." Cried out the boy.

"Inari don't be stubborn and rude to them. They protected me and brought me home safely." Said Tazuna.

Naruto while getting up to fetch and gather his gear said, "Well he is right."

All looked at him with a bit of shock at what he said. Naruto walked up to Inari and looked down at the boy. Naruto calmly said, "What you said is right. The law of this world is that the strong will always rule over the weak…But don't mix us and you in the same category…I am going to gather my equipment and will be waiting for the three of you in front of the houses for our training."

With that, he left for the room which was assigned to him to grab his gear. The silence was all that was left in the room now.

---

Laying on a bed in a hidden lair amongst the wood, was Zabuza. He just thought about his state and snarled. The door of the lair opened. Standing at the door was Gato and his two samurai bodyguards. Zabuza just breathed out in annoyance.

Gato marched into the lair while saying, "What happened? Why isn't the bridge builder killed yet? Didn't you say you could do the job?"

Zabuza didn't say a word. He didn't want to talk about the fight. Gato not hearing any response moved forward to grab the shinobi's neck. But his hand was grabbed. He looked at the person who had grabbed his hand. It was the tracker-nin. The tracker-nin in a calm voice said, "Don't even think about touching him, or else…"

The ninja started to apply a lot of force to his grip. Gato squirmed a bit due to his hand being squished. The tracker-nin left Gato's hand and he took some steps back. He just snarled. The samurai bodyguards had kept their hands on their swords, waiting for an order. Gato just said, "Damn both of you…I am giving you a last chance to kill that bridge builder. If the job isn't done, I won't pay my instalments and want my previous ones back…I will take my leave now."

With that Gato and his bodyguards left the lair. It was only Zabuza and the tracker-nin. Zabuza turned his head a bit looking at the ninja with a porcelain mask. He said, "How long are you planning on wearing that mask, Haku?"

"I like this mask. But if you don't desire me to wear it then I can remove it." Said Haku. With that, he removed his porcelain mask showing his face. He had dark brown eyes and a gentle smile. His face was a bit too feminine, and neither did the long hair help say the other way.

Zabuza then said, "You didn't have to do that. I could have taken care of them."

Haku replied, "Yes you could have. But you would have had to move. And that isn't advisable now. Considering the state, you are in you will be bedridden for another day or two."

Zabuza just snarled loudly. "Getting angry at those two won't help." Said Haku.

Zabuza in an even angrier tone said, "Just wait Haku. Once I get well, I will cut Kakashi and that blonde into two halves."

---

Naruto sat at the edge of the wooden pier that was the passage to Tazuna's house and also surrounded the house. He looked below at his reflection. He sees himself in full shinobi gear. Though he didn't have a tanto now, he still wore his strapping vest. It was something without which he wouldn't do any shinobi activity. Because without that person, he didn't know what he would be. He turned his head right to look at the opening door. He saw Sakura and Sasuke walk out and Kakashi followed behind, using a long stick as a walking stick.

Kakashi seeing all gather said, "Follow me to the woods nearby. We will train there."

All followed their sensei. Now, in the woods surrounded by tall trees, all three genin stood in front of their squad leader. Kakashi gave a last thought before he would say about the training. Kakashi just facepalmed his head and thought, 'If I say now then surely the other will get infuriated. But there is no need for him to be here now. Naruto must already know this. He was already able to walk on the water surface yesterday…Well, it will be good if I give Naruto the day off. We have no idea how grave or how healed his internal damage is. He did spit out a good amount of blood yesterday. I know if I just tell him to go, he won't. Well, whatever happens here we go…'

"Ahhm Naruto, I forgot. You actually don't need to do training today. You can take the day off and guard Tazuna. We have no idea about the damage to your internal organs." Said Kakashi, though already knowing what was the answer.

"No." That was all that Naruto said.

"Naruto don't play around with your body. Listen to sensei and rest for the day." Scolded Sakura.

"I already said I don't need rest. I can train. I know my limitations." Argued Naruto.

Kakashi sighed, he knew there was no way to convince Naruto to rest other than revealing what they would be doing. He just said, "Well Naruto I was planning to send a kage bunshin to guard Tazuna. While we here enhance our chakra control by doing the tree climbing exercise. I know you don't need to do it. So why don't you go and guard Tazuna?"

"Oh, ok but you could give me something else to practice. A jutsu maybe?" Said Naruto a bit excited to learn a new jutsu.

Before Kakashi could reply, Sakura said, "Sensei even Sasuke-kun and I know how to climb a tree."

"I mean without hands."

"What?! Are you out of your mind? How does a person do that? It is not possible." Said the pink-haired girl.

"He means by using chakra and sticking your feet to the tree. Like this." Both Sasuke and Sakura turned their heads around to see Naruto, who was stuck to a tree by his feet and was perfectly parallel to the horizontal ground.

"Wh-what?", was only what Sakura could say. While Sasuke snarled slightly on finding the blonde was a step in front of him. Kakashi then said, "That's exactly what I want you two to learn. It is very important to learn chakra control. The hardest place to do so is your feet. To improve the next step is usually learning to walk on water surfaces. Once you get this down, theoretically you can learn any jutsu."

Naruto walked down the tree with his hands in his pocket. Sasuke in an irate manner just thought, 'This blonde bastard did walk on the water surface yesterday, didn't he? Just how many steps ahead are you?…It doesn't matter how much but I will catch up and prove I am the strongest.' Sakura seeing the blonde walking down with his hands in his pocket got angry. Seeing the one who was called the academy dead-last, now doing things that neither she nor her Sasuke-kun knew do so casually, felt like a dig to both her and Sasuke.

She then in an irritated tone asked, "How the hell do you know to do this Naruto? It wasn't taught to us in the academy…And stop trying to act cooler than Sasuke-kun. And why are you still wearing that stupid strapping vest now? Your tanto was snapped. You don't need that now. You idiot!"

"Sakura why don't you shut up and spend your energy on the exercise rather than yelling?" Said Naruto. Internally he was a bit angry due to the comment on his strapping vest, but he didn't show it.

Sasuke on the other had realized something. And he didn't like it. He thought, 'Why the hell did he train this blonde? That's the only explanation he has such a similar vest. And also, him being this good. Why would a Uchiha train an Uzumaki?...Does he know that Itachi killed him?...Is he also after Itachi to avenge Shisui?'

"Now, now, there is no point in quarrelling. So…" Kakashi was interrupted in the middle by Sasuke. The Uchiha then in a bit cold tone said, "Before anything other happens. I would like to ask Naruto something. And Kakashi please don't stop us or interrupt."

Not waiting for a reply Sasuke turned showing his back to Kakashi and Sakura and looking at Naruto face to face. Both of them looked into each other with hardened gaze. Sasuke then asked, "Why did Shisui train you? Don't deny it. Your vest is screaming evidence of it. I can't believe that I couldn't notice it earlier."

"Why do you care? It doesn't concern you." Said Naruto. He really didn't prefer to talk about Shisui with Sasuke.

"Who is Shisui?" Asked Sakura.

Sasuke just with a cold gaze looked at the girl and said, "I asked Kakashi not to interrupt that means you also need to keep quiet."

Kakashi not liking the atmosphere said, "Sasuke you are not thinking properly. I am letting you ask your question, so it doesn't stay in your mind and interfere with other thoughts and training. That doesn't mean you can go around thinking you can say anything and all will follow. Neither can you make Naruto say something he doesn't want to nor can you shut Sakura from asking a question."

Sasuke snarled and said, "Uchiha Shisui…he was a leaf shinobi who was held as a prodigy, even by Uchiha standards. Graduating early, he had also gone up the ninja ranks swiftly. He had earned the name of 'Shisui the Teleporter', due to his extraordinary shunshin ability. He was arguably one of the best genjutsu users ever to exist. Considered as one of the strongest Uchiha, and a shinobi feared by many nations, with a flee on sight order by some nations…" With a lot of venom in his voice he now said, "…Moreover he was my elder brother, Uchiha Itachi's best friend. Shisui was the first victim of the Uchiha massacre. Itachi must have tricked him and killed him to obtain that power…I knew Shisui, he used to wear an exact same vest as Naruto does. It is custom made so you don't get similar pieces...There is no doubt in my mind that, Uchiha Shisui was Uzumaki Naruto's first Sensei…" Sasuke not seeing any denials got a bit mad and unconsciously sent some chakra into his eyes.

Naruto was the only one to see this development in Uchiha's eyes. He was a bit stunned to see the red eyes on the Uchiha's face. As fast as the eyes had appeared it had also disappeared. Naruto thought, 'Single-tomed Sharingan. Did he awaken it now? It is unlikely that's the case. For how long has he awakened it? The way it disappeared I think he doesn't know about it…And about Itachi, what power is he talking about?'

Sakura in a bit timid voice said, "Sasuke-kun, forgive me for speaking again. But I think you are kind of overestimating things. Remember Naruto was the worst in everything in the academy. He couldn't possibly have been trained by such a high-standard shinobi."

Not looking at her, Sasuke said, "Sakura, you are a bigger fool than I had initially thought…That all was an act. An act to deceive us all, into thinking he knew nothing. But in truth, he could have fought for the top spot and made it my competition tough in achieving it…Shisui was an Uchiha so it does concern me, why did he choose you?"

Naruto just said, "It was his decision. I don't know why. But I will always be grateful that he did."

Sakura was too stupefied to speak on the confirmation. She just had shocked eyes and agape mouth while thinking, 'All these years…he was acting?!...But why?' On the other hand, Kakashi just looked at them grimly. He mused, 'These two have to settle their contraries by themselves. I can just delay this argument not stop it. I will give them some more time to settle things or else I will have to assert authority…Man being a leader sucks…Did sensei used to get annoyed when I and Obito used to quarrel and fight?'

Sasuke again in an irate voice said, "Shisui deserved better. Itachi was a useless teacher and a worthless person. Shisui should have trained me."

Naruto just said, "I am sure you were the bad student and did not listen to what he asked you to do. Am I wrong?"

Sasuke got angry at this. There were many instances where Itachi asked him to do certain things and he thought they were just time pass and didn't do it. Not admitting it, in an angry tone, he said, "If Shisui could turn you into what you are now. Think how good I would be if he was the one who trained me…Didn't you ever wonder why would a Uchiha, nonetheless one of the strongest ones, would want to train an orphan like you?"

This time Naruto became very angry and did show it. He released a good amount of killing intent in the air. Sakura shivered a bit due to it. Kakashi too was shocked at the amount Naruto was releasing. Sasuke was a little stunned but still held his position. He then in disgust said, "What happened can't accept the truth? That Shisui made a mistake by nurturing and training you. He failed the Uchihas by training someone who isn't a Uchiha. Look where that took him, six feet under the ground as a failed Uchiha."

Naruto in a dangerously angry and threatening voice said, "Oi Uchiha, talk and say whatever you want. But if you ever again insult Shisui-nii…', there was a small pause, which just made the atmosphere just grew even more intimidating. Naruto too subconsciously sent some chakra to his eyes. His excessive anger had weakened the genjutsu on his eyes a bit. This caused his eyes to be a color that was a mixture of red and blue. That is purple. With the most hostile voice, Naruto said, "…I will kill you."

Kakashi was the only one who noticed the now purple eyes of the blonde. He was stunned upon noticing the change in the boy's eye color from his father's to his mother's. It confused him how was it possible? Sasuke didn't take note of the eyes he was seeing. His focus was on the threat he received and the matter they were quarrelling on. He didn't back down. It would have hurt his pride, if he did so. He now said, "You are not a Uchiha don't call him your brother. And kill me? You can't touch me, a Uchiha, Uzumaki know your place."

Naruto replied, "Why should I hear anything about brotherhood from a person who knows nothing about his own elder brother? And I am fine in showing you your place. Just don't cry in the end."

With more anger, Sasuke yelled, "You say as if you knew Itachi. He is an evil person. Rotten to the core."

"I know him better than you. You are just an insolent bug he sparred. He is not like you think he is." Naruto said in the most venomous tone possible

Sasuke didn't wait and immediately said, "Look at you. A failure of a brother to Shisui. Protecting the killer of your elder brother. How proud he must be?...You are just like Itachi. Pure evil, good for nothing swine."

Naruto just gripped his fists hard. He took a step forward and was about to punch Sasuke. Sasuke was also ready for a fight. But Naruto's hand was caught. Naruto in an angry tone said, "Sensei…let go of my hand. Let me smack the shit out of this bastard."

"As if you can." Retaliated Sasuke.

"Both of you stop it. You both are going too far. I was hoping to let you both talk and settle your matter but that is not the case. Neither of you are allowed to speak on this matter…Sasuke, now go and do the tree climbing exercise. That's an order. You too Sakura…And Naruto, come with me.", aid Kakashi.

Sasuke snarled and went forward towards a tall tree. While Sasuke was passing Naruto, the blonde only said, "I am not a failure of a brother. You will see, I will be the one who kills the one that caused Shisui-nii to die. Just you wait."

Sasuke got angry at what, according to him, the implications were. He just said, "Oi, don't you dare take my kill. I am the one who will avenge the Uchiha clan and kill Itachi."

In a serious tone, Kakashi said, "I will say this for the last time. No more discussion even slightly related about it now or even during the span of this mission." With that, Kakashi made a kage bunshin to look after Sasuke and Sakura and also give them instructions. While he directed Naruto, whose eyes returned back to normal, to another place in the woods.

---

Both Naruto and Kakashi now were in a small clearing amongst tall trees around them. Naruto was sitting on the ground not looking at Kakashi, showing his back to the jonin. He also made sure that the jonin would know he was upset. Initially, Kakashi didn't say anything and let Naruto calm down. But Naruto even after many minutes was in a bad mood. But now Kakashi knew that the blonde doing this to annoy and trouble him.

Kakashi just sighed while thinking, 'When I am alone with him, why does he become a big baby? Look at this tantrum! Why is he this mad with me?' He just said, "Naruto will you drop this mood now? I know what Sasuke said was unacceptable, I will talk or give him a punishment for that. But now I want to teach you a jutsu. This unresponsive state won't help."

"What do you expect? I can't just immediately forget it. I might would have if I had beaten the pulp out of him. But you stopped me." Said Naruto.

"Oh, so it is my fault?"

"Yes."

With deadpan eyes now Kakashi asked, "Do you want to learn a jutsu, or not?"

"Ok fine." Naruto was still sitting but he turned around to look at Kakashi.

Kakashi then asked, "So what is your elemental affinity? I have seen you use a fire jutsu. So, is that your only affinity?"

"Take out a chakra paper and be amazed." Said Naruto with an eager smile.

"Hymn okay let's see how far you amaze me…Here." Kakashi took out a chakra paper and handed it to Naruto. Naruto sent some chakra to the paper. And with that, the paper first split into three parts. One burned, another damped, and the last crumbled.

Naruto then looked at Kakashi with a grin. Kakashi hummed and said, "Well you certainly did amaze me. Are all natural?"

"Yes, they are."

"Well, this sure is something you would never expect. So which level of jutsu do you know?"

"Jiji forbids me from learning any jutsu more than a B-rank without supervision. So yeah, I know a good amount of jutsus till B-rank."

Kakashi now showed his famous eye smile and said, "Well I was hoping you had the Lighting element. You will be learning your first A-rank jutsu. A jutsu I created myself…Chidori."

Kakashi then went through a set of hand seals and then said, "Chidori." Lighting gathered around one of his palms. It sparkled and branched off a little while it made a blade-like shape around the palm, which was also too bright after a while that the palm was barely visible. He then left his crunches, ran toward one tree, and pierced his hand into the large trunk like it was butter. Kakashi removed his hand and showed the perfect circular hole that he had made in the middle of the trunk.

Kakashi turned towards Naruto and said, "This jutsu can help you cut through almost anything. And you are never to use this against a comrade even in spar. So, are you ready to learn it?"

"You bet I am."

"Okay then first you have to go through the hand seals are Ox, Hare, and lastly Monkey. After that gather the correct amount of Lightning Chakra and control it properly. And there you have your Chidori…Now give it a try."

Naruto went to the hand seals, gathered Chakra in his hand, and said, "Chidori." Lighting formed on his right palm but it also dispatched away very quickly.

Kakashi then said, "Unlike other jutsus which are fine with the release of chakra immediately. The Chidori requires you to hold it and mold it."

"You could have said that earlier."

"You should have figured it out."

Naruto again goes through hand seals and says Chidori. This time the lighting chakra stayed but danced wildly, with many branches of it off-shooting in any direction. Naruto in a bit of panic waved his right hand. Adding to the randomness.

Kakashi dodged all the lighting that came in his direction and then jumped near Naruto. He held the boy's wrist and squeezed it hard. Naruto due to the pain in his wrist subconsciously stopped the chakra flow as his mind deviated off of his failed Chidori.

Kakashi then left Naruto's hand and calmly said, "It won't do you any good if you panic, even when things go wrong. You will have to stay still and work on to fix and improve it…Find the perfect amount of chakra you will require."

"Okay." That was all Naruto said. Disappointed a bit with how he reacted.

Naruto repeated the process, this time again branches of lightning were formed. This time he stayed still. Much of the lighting struck him. It stung but he continued to regulate the chakra up and down, trying to mold it. Naruto released the jutsu when he felt he needed to redo it.

Kakashi just said, "Better…Now keep trying and find the amount that works properly for you."

---

Naruto now sat at the bridge overlooking for any danger and protecting Tazuna and all the other workers. Kakashi had forced him to stop and not over-exert himself just due to the uncertainty of his internal damage. He told Naruto to go and guard Tazuna. Naruto of course didn't want to go and instead wanted to figure out and complete the Chidori. He had a quarrel with the jonin. But the jonin won by threatening to tell his oba-chan about his Oiroke no Jutsu, if he doesn't listen. There wasn't even a nanosecond's need to come to a conclusion. So now here he was, looking at the bridge being built.

Tazuna came up to him and asked, "Are your injuries still troubling you?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"Sensei won't let me train more. He thinks I need rest." He said this in a bit bitter tone.

Tazuna just said, "Well he is just taking care of you. By the way, we are done for the day. We will be going to the village's marketplace and then return home."

Naruto nodded and left with Tazuna. Naruto and Tazuna were now at the center of the village. Naruto took a look at his surroundings. Sides of the streets filled with beggars, ages ranging from small children to old men. Stores with little to no stock. People doing nothing, just walking aimlessly with a grim expression on their faces.

Entering a grocery store, with almost all shelves with very little stock. Naruto just said, "It seems Gato is a very good leech."

Tazuna while paying for the groceries he was taking said, "He isn't only good in that matter. He might be the best. Now the economy of this island depends on which happens first. Finishing of the bridge. Or all of our stocks getting exhausted."

---

Naruto sat in the room given to him. He was now studying the seal patterns he was working on. He being inspired by the idea of putting a person in a death-like state wanted to make a seal which worked in a similar way. He thought, 'Let's see, during sleep a person's heartbeat and temperature decreases. My seal mainly needs to drop the body temperature and send some neuron signals to sleep. Let's work on the temperature part now, I will need to make a few trips to the library and find out about the neuro-signals and chemicals in the brain during sleep to complete this seal.'

He saw the door of his room opening. Kakashi entered and sat in front of Naruto. He with some mischief in his voice asked, "I hope you didn't train. Or else…"

Naruto scowled a little and then said, "Physically no. But mentally yes."

"Hymn I see. Making seals. I was notified of your seal master status by our Sandaime. So, building a new seal?"

"Yeah, Sleep-inducing. Unlike medicines, this won't leave traces behind."

"It can be very effective is all I can say. But why haven't you ever used fuinjutsu yet in front of others? It could have helped in the battle."

"Seals are great but I have never trained to use them in between my battle. Don't get me wrong I can use some. But my subconscious thinking of utilizing it isn't there. And I am not in a will to change it. I will use seals when I see it is fit."

Getting up Kakashi said, "Well ok. By the way, I came to say supper is ready. Come down. And don't pay Sasuke much attention. I don't want a fight now."

Naruto just scoffed and got up. When he got downstairs, he saw an exhausted Sasuke already on the dining table. Unable to resist he said, "Yo, teme, look at you already tired and giving up? I bet you couldn't even cross half the height of that tree."

"Shut it dobe. Unlike you who was sitting in a room all day. I at least worked. Slacker." Replied Sasuke.

"Both of you, if you only have insults then it would be better to keep your lips shut." Said Kakashi.

All the people in the house took their seats. Supper went uneventful until Sakura noticed one thing. She then asked, "Say Tazuna-san why is that photo on the wall torn?"

All the three family members froze a bit. Sakura was talking about a photo on the wall which was framed and had all three family members. And a torn-out part, to exclude someone. The tear seemed too perfect to be unintentional. Team 7 noticed the pause in the three's actions and inferred that this was an important detail. Though they were invading privacy, but as ninjas they had to so check for any connections that could be made.

Tazuna composed himself and then said, "The torn-out part contained a man called Kaiza. A hero."

Inari just dashed out of the house. Tsunami got up and, in a bit, irritated voice said, "Tou-san you know that you can't talk about Kaiza like that in front of Inari." She then ran to find her son.

Kakashi just hummed and said, "Interesting…Though you can stop if you want to. But if Gato is related, we would like to know."

"Well as you can see. Kaiza had a great effect on Inari. He still does. The man apart from blood, was his father in every sense. Kaiza was a fisherman from another land who had come here. He had saved Inari once from drowning. He and Inari had gotten along very well. Maybe too well. He and Inari emotionally got very close. Kaiza was also regarded as a hero by all in this land, for the bravery he would show, during times of heavy rains, which would cause floods…Inari used to smile those days. All used to be happy…But then Gato came. Kaiza being himself, stood against the oppression. But Gato to send a message, brutally killed him…publicly."

Tazuna sighed and continued, "That has affected almost everyone in the village. Building fear in them. Inari was hit by death the most. Kaiza had preached a lot about bravery and living without regret. Inari, I guess blames bravery as the reason for Kaiza's death. He still weeps over the death of Kaiza. It seems with Kaiza, the bravery of this island is also gone. People have succumbed to their fear and are afraid to be brave."

Sakura had a gloomy face on hearing the hardship that had happened. While Sasuke and Naruto didn't show much outside. Kakashi just said, "I know it is sad but this is a classic example of living in the past. One should always examine the past, not live in it."

There was silence in the room few moments. Then Naruto got up and went towards the door. Kakashi asked, "Naruto where are you going?"

Naruto replied, "This emo bastard is right I didn't do much training, so going to do some. Please don't stop me nor come to fetch me."

---

The sun had rose and birds had started to chirp. In the lair, we see Haku in a sleeveless pink kimono and a straw basket. He had also kept his hair open. So yeah, by a million miles he didn't look like a boy. He was going out to fetch some medicinal herbs for Zabuza. On the doorstep, he said, "I will be back in a while."

Haku was now in the woods finding, plucking, and taking the medicinal herbs. He went on and then saw something that shocked him. It was the blonde boy who had fought Zabuza. He was lying on the ground. 'What is he doing out here? What is he doing?' He took some careful steps forward. Haku realized and contemplated, 'He is sleeping!...This is a brilliant chance to take him out.'

Haku then took out some of his senbons and walked forward. Haku was right next to Naruto when his mind was invaded by the thought, 'Zabuza wants to kill this boy himself. Should I take his kill? Will he be pleased or mad? What should I do?'

Haku then panicked when he saw Naruto starting to move and stretch his body. Haku hastily kept his senbon back. Naruto opened his eyes and saw someone staring at him. Haku had composed himself and said, "Hey, you will fall ill if you sleep there."

Naruto groaned and got up. He just said, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just exhausted myself yesterday." He then turned his head and looked at who he was talking to. He then looked up. Not able to see the sun amongst the tall trees and due to the surrounding dew he deduced it was quite early in the morning. He then just asked, "By the way who are you? And what are you doing so early in the morning?"

"I am Haku. And I was gathering medicinal herbs for someone. And you? Are you a shinobi? You have a regulation Hitai-ate." said Haku.

Naruto didn't catch any signs of lying. So, he calmly said, "I am Uzumaki Naruto. And yes, I am a shinobi."

"You must be pretty strong then." Said Haku as if he was a civilian of the village.

"Depends on what you keep the standards. So, you are a medic in the village?"

"No. I just know some remedies. And a person I care about is now injured so I came to collect herbs."

Naruto just hummed. He didn't know why but the environment felt positive so he didn't leave and neither did his instincts say to. Haku too wanting to know more about the blonde sat down and asked, "So say Naruto why did you become a shinobi?"

"To be honest I never thought of myself, not as a shinobi. When I was a kid, it was due to seeing cool stuff. As I grew it became more about achieving certain goals."

"Hymn just some mind-made goals pushed you to jump into this dangerous world? Is your goal only to gain strength?"

Naruto just calmly said, "I will need strength. I will not deny that. But these aren't just some mind-made morning goals. What is your interpretation of shinobi? That they only work for strength and power?"

"Most of them, yes. But I feel if they focused on someone precious to them, and are adamant to protect it. Strength will follow that person on its own."

"Someone precious?" Naruto thought it aloud. He had heard its phrase from others before. But now when a 'girl' just a little over his age said it. It made him think, 'This is a statement, I would expect to hear from a wise old ninja, which I have from Jiji. I had that time concluded he was just asking me to think about what things I find important. But when she says it, I think it is much more than that.'

"Yes, someone. Not something. Like I hold the person precious for whom I am taking these herbs for now. If I hadn't, I would never have gained knowledge about medicines or other things and couldn't help anyone in needy times even if I wanted to…So is there someone precious that you wish to protect?"

Naruto just aimlessly gazed at the blue morning sky. Faces of his Jiji, oba-chan, his sensei Kakashi, and Iruka along with Kiyomi, Shikamaru, Choji, and yes even Sasuke came in front of his eyes. He was a bit confused as to why he saw Sasuke on the list even after such a quarrel, but he knew it was his true thoughts now. Not affected by anything. So, he didn't spend time denying it. At last, he saw a face that made his eyes a bit watery. It was the face of his nii-chan when he had first met him, back when he was five and Shisui was twelve.

Naruto in a sombre manner said, "I-I would like to be capable of saving them…I know how it feels if you can't."

Haku in an apologetic manner said, "Sorry I didn't mean to bring back sad memories."

"No problem sis. I know you didn't mean to."

Haku didn't react to being called sis, because he was kind of asking for it. Haku just asked, "So what were your previous goals made of?"

Naruto didn't find a reason or need to hide and said, "Well you see I always aimed to be the Hokage. And then a person came into my life. He helped me fly when walking was becoming hard. In the end, his wings were clipped in mid-flight. He asked me to become the Hokage. In his last words, I have promised him that along with to end all the unnecessary fighting that goes around. So, it is rather a promise that is driving me now."

Haku hummed and said, "It is very honorable and great to fulfill another's last wishes. And your goals too are quite high and respectable. Mainly the latter of stopping unnecessary fighting…But I still believe that protecting someone stands far more above. And you too said that you consider some to be precious to you. So, if fulfilling the promise and a person were on the line, and you could only save one, what would you choose? The promise or the person?"

"I…I…"

"You don't need to answer and honestly you can't. This isn't a thing that can be answered directly or by thinking just for some time. It will happen naturally. I can just hope that it will be the person."

With that Haku started to get up. Naruto then asked, "Haku…If you got into an argument with a precious person or he treated you badly what would you do? Will you stop considering him precious?"

Haku just gently smiled and said, "When people are close, fights happen. Even on silly things or more commonly on important things. That is because they know that even if they quarrel or fight. At the end of the day, they can also sit down and laugh together."

Naruto just gave a small smile and said, "Oh ok. Thanks for this last part."

Haku smiled and said, "No problem…", he started to leave but before going out of audible range he said, "…And by the way I am a boy."

Naruto in utter shock just said, "Whaaaaaat?!" 'For real?! She…no he looks better than most of the girls I have seen. This is so weird. This world is really fucked.' Was all Naruto could think while he sat like a statue in a stunned state and widened eyes.

He was brought out of his statue state by a slight bonk to his head. Naruto looked at the person who did it. He just said, "Teme you could have just called out my name."

Sasuke had come from the same direction from where Haku had left. So, he had seen the 'girl'. Seeing Naruto in such a state, he thought the blonde was getting funny feelings. Sasuke just said, "You had gone full statue after just seeing that girl. I didn't think you were one of those fall-in-love kind of person, much less just in one mere sight, you are weak to girls I see. An advice for you…Focus on goals not holes."

Naruto knew Sasuke hadn't heard anything. Or else he would have a very different thing to say. He was irritated by how Sasuke was implying things. He with an annoyed voice said, "Hey I am not. And she, wait I mean he was not a girl."

Sasuke with deadpan eyes said, "Not a girl?...Go check your eyes."

Naruto was about to retaliate but only said, "You know what let it be…Now why are you here?"

"Breakfast has been ready for a while now. Go and eat."

"I am not hunge…", at the perfect timing, Naruto's stomach rumbled.

"Yeah, sure."

"Fine, fine I am going." With that Naruto also left for the house, while Sasuke went to continue his tree climbing exercise.

Naruto was having breakfast now and was at the end of it. Though his hunger wasn't satisfied yet. He had drained a good amount of chakra and energy last night. He with some embarrassment asked, "Tsunami-san, is there some more left?"

Tsunami gladly said, "Yes there is. You are in luck. Sasuke didn't seem to be hungry and only ate a little." While Tsunami served Naruto more breakfast. The blonde could only chuckle and thought, 'You bastard.'

---

Two days had passed. The sun had set only a few moments ago, and here we find Naruto going through his attempts to get the shape of Chidori right. While panting, and for the hundredth time he went through the hand signs and said, "Chidori."

This time the shape was right. Along with that, the branching-off lighting didn't hit him either. His palm was covered by a bright blue lighting blade. Naruto had a grin on his face. He said, "Finally!..."

With that, he ran towards a tree. He then attempted to pierce it. He was excited to see the hole that he would make. But his expectations were faulted when his Chidori instead of drilling the trunk, was pushed to the side by the resistance that the truck offered.

He let the jutsu go and saw the scar that was made on the bark. He thought aloud, "Strange…My aim was perfect. It should have pierced the trunk. It rather slid to the side like a…", realizing what was wrong. He said, "Though the shape is right, the sharpness isn't. It is acting like a blunt blade now…Damn, damn when I think I have gotten it. I realized there is more…Well, let's get to work now."

With that Naruto now started to pay attention to another aspect of the jutsu.

---

Four more days had passed. Naruto was working on the sharpness of his Chidori. He was getting better but still hadn't been able to drill a hole all the way through. He had stagnated at halfway of the grith for a day now. Sasuke had finally completed the tree climbing exercise to a good degree, and he could do it subconsciously now. Sakura had finished the tree exercise within a day, due to her less chakra capacity. Kakashi had been making her work on her other ninja skills.

Now we could find all the occupants in the dining area. Dinner was ordinary, nothing much. And as it ended all still sat at the dining table, with the exception of Tsunami, who had started washing the dishes.

Tazuna felt like he should talk about his progress and so he did. "The bridge will be done in a few more days. In clear weather, we can now properly see the Fire country land…I would again like to thank the four of you for continuing your mission and protecting me…Though I still want to ask, why did you all continue?"

Kakashi answered the question, "There is a saying that the world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of the good people. And it has also been an essential thing that all the previous and current Hokage preach to their subordinate. Always extend a hand for the good."

Inari looked up after hearing the words. He looked around the table. He saw his grandfather smiling and thanking him. The jonin gesturing no need to thank him more. Sakura, who had few scars due to her training, was giggling at the antics of the two. Sasuke was leaning on the table, exhausted from yet another day of running vertically and taijutsu exercises. And then he saw Naruto. The blonde most of the time was with his grandfather guarding him. He never saw the blonde come exhausted. So according to him Naruto only roamed around the bridge and village. He saw Naruto just leaning against the chair and giving no reaction. As if nothing mattered. Free and carefree. And that pissed him off.

Then for some reason, he got flashbacks. Memories of Kaiza saving him from drowning. Him closing the gates of the wooden damn to stop the flooding river, saving the village. And at the last being publicly executed. His mind reached its limit.

He then slammed the dining table to get attention. And he did gather everyone's attention. Inari then said, "There is no output of all of your efforts. When will you understand that all of you are gonna die if you continue? The weak are not supposed to stand in front of the strong. What is so difficult to understand is that none of you are backing out. Just stop and leave."

Naruto in an indifferent manner said, "Oi, didn't I already tell you not to mix up us and you in the same category."

Inari yelled, "You shut up! You are always just roaming around and passing the time. Acting like nothing really matters. You don't know a thing. You are ignorant and foolish. You think our lives are a joke and don't care about it. It doesn't matter to you who dies. You live peacefully in your ninja village not knowing what it is like at the other places. You have no idea of how hard people's lives can be. Neither do you have the idea of suffering nor have ever experienced it."

Inari's hands were fisted due to his excessive anger. All were sensing a blonde volcano to erupt. Mainly Kakashi because he knew the most about Naruto's life and knew how false the last two statements were.

But instead of a volcano erupting, all heard a sound that sent chills down their spine. Naruto laughed. He laughed very hard, almost maniacally. While laughing he said, "I don't know pain?...Haha…Never experienced suffering?...Man this has got to be the best joke I have heard. Neh Inari, you wanna be a comedian when you grow up? Hymn?"

Inari got angrier. He yelled, "This is exactly what I mean. You don't understand a thing. You are just a…"

Naruto had stopped laughing and now interrupted. With a serious voice, he said, "What do you think Kaiza will be happy to see you all whimpering and cowering like this…Pathetic, you are pathetic."

All were yet again shocked at the statement. None had expected the blonde to attack the little boy's soft spot. Inari now had some tears running down. He yelled, but in a quivering and feeble voice, "Bravery is nothing. It is no good. It gets you killed."

"What do you think is bravery?", asked Naruto in the same serious voice.

"It is a virtual concept. A fake thing. Nothing more than that."

"What is fear?"

"It is the reality that keeps us grounded to the earth and makes us realize our position. Fear is the truth."

"As expected, from a feeble coward of a person like you.", said Naruto.

"What do you know about other's life?", said Inari, now shedding tears continuously.

"And what do you know about other's life?...Your mother cooks you food and takes care of you. Your Grandfather works for the house and betterment of the land. And you just sit here in your home. Crying, self-pitying, moaning...Such a hard life you have."

Naruto was now releasing a high amount of killing intent. This kept the civilians and civil originated silent. The other two also felt the rage. And knew better than to jump into the conversation now. Naruto got up from his chair. Went near to Inari. Inari could just tremble while looking at the frosty blue eyes. Naruto then said, "Let me tell you what I read once. Bravery doesn't mean not feeling fear. It means feeling fear and still going forward…I don't know why I am saying this to you. A meaningless moaning twat."

Naruto now turned and headed towards the door. He opened the door at the threshold Kakashi asked, "Naruto where are you going?"

"To let the lid loose."

And with that, Naruto left. After a few moments, Inari too dashed out from another door. Not wanting to hear anything more. Tazuna got up to talk to Inari, but Kakashi stopped him. He just said, "Let me handle this."

---

Kakashi found Inari sitting at the piers at the backside of the house. The boy was whimpering and crying a bit. Kakashi walked towards the boy. He then asked, "May I sit here?"

Inari noticed the jonin and his question. He just decreased the intensity of his crying. But didn't say anything. Kakashi nevertheless sat on the edge next to Inari. Looking at the vast never-ending sea. He then calmly said, "What Naruto said was maybe out of anger. But it was the truth."

Inari on hearing this fisted his hands a bit. He was expecting some words that soothed him, like the ones he had always received. Kakashi understood what kind of thoughts the boy was having. He then said, "You see Naruto said what he felt the right thing is to do. His life has been full of suffering and pain."

"That's false. You all live in ninja villages. Protected from evil. You all can't have experienced suffering or pain."

Kakashi just sighed and said, "Well Inari that is not true for all that live in ninja villages. For some okay that may be applied. But not all…Take Naruto for example. He never knew who his parents were. And is loathed by most of the villagers."

Inari with confusion now looked at Kakashi while muttering, "Huh?...He is an orphan?"

"Yes, his parents died the day he was born. Both of them. He has been all alone since the day he was born."

"But why is he hated? Aren't we supposed to be kind to orphans?"

"Yes, we are supposed to be kind to them…"

"Then why is he hated?", Inari now who had stopped crying wanted to hear what the jonin was saying.

"His birth coincided with a disaster that had struck my village. That disaster was what orphaned him. And also brought pain to many others. Naruto soon became the identity of that disaster. People blamed him for what happened and vented out their pain and anger on a boy who had just learned to walk…He was constantly chased and troubled. Brutally, sometimes…When he was little, he would cry…But after a point, he even stopped that. I guess he just got bored of crying."

Inari just said, "Ohhh…", feeling guilty for what he said.

Kakashi then said, "I didn't say this to make you feel guilty. I said this to make you realize that no one is born strong. All suffer and experience pain. But it depends on the person on how he acts on what is thrown at him. And once a person becomes self-reliant, he also expects others also to be self-reliant."

---

Naruto had been taking his frustration out on the tree trunks punching them. His anger had crossed its limit when he heard someone say that he experienced no suffering. He had laughed that time to prevent himself from squishing that boy into a human paste.

Naruto after his anger ran out, now again started to sharpen his Chidori. He went on for hours. Now we can see him panting and tired. Then too he went through the hand seals and in an exhausted voice said, "Chidori."

Lightning formed and sparkled around his palm, with a particular sound. The branches of lightning danced around his arm but did not touch him. Naruto ran towards a tree, and with all the strength he could muster up pierced the tree trunk.

This time Naruto's hand pierced the truck like it was butter. Naruto dispatched the jutsu, removed his hand, and with tired eyes saw the hole that he made. He in a tardy voice said, "At last done…"

It was quite late in the night and Naruto was exhausted. Naruto was falling back as he was already half asleep. But before he could touch the ground he was caught. Naruto looked at the person who caught him.

Naruto showcased a gentle smile and asked, "Sensei did you see it? I did it. I learned your Chidori."

Kakashi showed his eye-smile and said, "Yes Naruto you did. I am proud of you…Now sleep, you need it."

With that, Naruto fell asleep. Kakashi kept Naruto on his back. Naruto's head rested on Kakashi's shoulder. We can see Kakashi having a constant eye-smile and Naruto even in sleep has his face lit up with a smile. With that Kakashi gave Naruto a piggy-back ride to Tazuna's home.

---

Kakashi woke up and then proceeded to wake Sasuke and Sakura up. During breakfast, he then said, "Tsunami-san, please don't wake Naruto up. He is quite exhausted. If he wakes and asks where we are then tell him all are at the bridge." With a gentle smile, she said, "Yeah sure."

Kakashi before leaving the doorsteps also said, "Oh yeah also tell him that I felt a hunch that vision will be less." This left all confused about what the jonin was saying. But none asked anything. With that Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna headed to the bridge.

Naruto woke up just a few minutes after that. He yawned and then saw at the clock. He lazily said, "I overslept. Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

Naruto dressed and went down. He was only able to see the woman of the house. He asked, "Tsunami-san where is everyone?"

Tsunami only noticed Naruto when he spoke. She said, "Oh Naruto you are awake. Sit down I will serve breakfast in a moment."

"Ahh…thanks, and about where are the others?"

"Oh, pardon me. All of them have gone to the bridge today."

Naruto just thought aloud, "Why wasn't I woken up?"

Tsunami answered, "Your sensei told me that you were exhausted and not to wake you up. Now have a seat...Oh, I forgot, I don't know why your sensei told me to tell you that the vision will be less."

Naruto's eyes widened, understanding what his sensei wanted to say. Naruto ate his breakfast swiftly. He then went up and put on his shinobi gear. With that, he left the house for the bridge. While walking, at a distant tree to his right he saw a slice mark. He went to inspect it. Looking at the slanting mark closely he thought, 'It is a bladed slice. Though not of an axe. A woodcutter wouldn't cut a tree in a slanting manner…So he really did heal quicker than we anticipated. But I will first take care of the ones who made this slice.'

---

Kakashi and the group had reached the near edge of the incomplete bridge, with the cliff of the fire country visible. They saw the other workers lay unconscious. Tazuna in panic said, "What?! Who did this?"

All heard a raspy voice say, "Well obviously it was me." Then at the edge, they saw Zabuza, who now wore a black sleeveless shirt. Along with him was the tracker-nin, with his mask.

Tazuna and Sakura panicked. Sasuke held his ground. On the other hand, Kakashi was waving his hand, and cheerfully said, "Oh hey Zabuza. How are you doing? You seem to look better than the last time I saw you."

Zabuza just said, "I am now back to full strength Kakashi…Now be ready to be sliced into two."

"Hymn ok-ok that all is fine." Kakashi in a cocky voice now said, "But what's with the shirt? Embarrassed by the scar my genin made on you?"

The next moment Zabuza had closed the distance between him and Kakashi. All had only registered this when they saw Zabuza had made a downward slash towards Kakashi. Kakashi had simply caught the humongous sword. He could see Zabuza hadn't put much force. Which only resulted in a small cut on the jonin's hand, staining the blade with his blood.

The three of Kakashi's acquaintances looked with shock at how fast things happened. Kakashi calmly said, "Yare, yare, so much anger for just one cut…by a genin."

"You talk too much… Suiton: Kirigakur no Jutsu (Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique)" said Zabuza. With that, the area was filled with thick mist, and it also felt as if the temperature dropped a bit.

Kakashi while removing his Hitai-ate to use his sharingan said, "Tazuna take some steps back. Sakura guard him. And Sasuke you have our opponent there in front of you. While Zabuza…let's roll."

With that, all followed his order. Even Zabuza. Zabuza while attempting another strike asked, "So where is that blonde?"

Kakashi in a mocking voice said, "Hymn I think sleeping. It is better for you that he is asleep, considering what happened last time. Am I wrong?"

"Why you?!" With that, an angry Zabuza charged at Kakashi. And both the jonin now engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

---

"Get away from me!" screamed Tsunami.

The two samurai guards of Gato had come to attack Tazuna's family. They had broken the door and now were going to kidnap Tsunami. She was caught and gave a lot of struggles to their hold. One of the men saw Inari whimpering in a corner. Then he said, "Listen me out. If you don't stop the struggle now. I will take that kid of yours…"

Tsunami feared they would really take Inari stopping her struggle. She just said, "Please no…"

The other man said, "Well that stopped her."

Inari with watered eyes could only see her mother being taken by the two samurais. He could only say, "Kaa-chan sorry…what could I do?…I…I am too afraid." Then suddenly the words that Naruto said the previous night echoed in his mind, 'Bravery doesn't mean not feeling fear. It means feeling fear and still going forward.' With that, Inari made up his mind and then fetched the crossbow they had.

He went out and yelled, "Hey both of you leave my mother and go away. Or else…"

All had turned around to look at the small boy with a crossbow in his hands. One of the men then intimidatingly said, "Or else what?"

While the other said, "Hey lady your child seems to be quite dumb."

Tsunami just yelled, "Inari what are you doing?"

Inari did tremble a bit but said, "Or else I will shoot."

The bigger samurai laughed and said, "I would like to see you try…Come on punk. Take a shot."

Inari did take a shot. But it was miles off the target. The two samurais laughed while Inari looked in horror. Tsunami could only say, "Inari run! Run from here and stay safe."

Both the samurai now were unsheathing their katana. The buffer one says, "Hey how would you like to see your son being cut into pieces?"

"No, please. Let him go. please." That was all Tsunami could beg for.

"He attacked us. So, we should retaliate, shouldn't we?"

"Run Inari run!" shouted Tsunami.

Inari held his ground. He felt fear. A lot of it. But he gave himself courage by saying to himself, 'What would I gain by running away or playing safe if I will lose everything by doing so. It is better to go down with a struggle.'

The samurais took a step forward. Suddenly the buffer one was hit in his hind head, by a stone. Both turned around to look at a blonde, clad in black ninja wear and with various accessories. The buffer samurai while showcasing his sword said, "Oi, brat want some of this."

"Want? As if you could show me anything valuable." That was all Naruto said.

With that, the buff samurai raced towards Naruto. And made a long horizontal slash. Naruto expertly jumped above the slash level. Used the locked position of the samurai to land on his extended arms and kicked the hind part of the samurai's head, knocking him out. All saw the buff man fall like a sack of potatoes.

The other samurai with some anger advanced, with his sword ready to strike. But he hadn't anticipated that Naruto would close the distance between them. With shock, he saw Naruto give a powerful punch to his chest. Making all the air in his lungs leave. And then immediately grabbing his head and performing a long knee swing impact to his forehead. He wasn't even given the time to curse.

Now looking at both unconscious samurai he thought of what should he do next. He saw an object that gave him an idea. But before he could commence it, he heard, "Woow Naruto that was awesome!"

He heard Inari say that. He nonchalantly said, "You too did good on standing with bravery in you."

"That's all thanks to your words last night." Said Inari.

"But it was very reckless how you reacted. Though given you didn't have much of a choice." Said Tsunami. She then asked, "Naruto, it was incredible, how effectively you took care of them. But how did you know they came here?"

Naruto was now dragging the two samurais to a small row boat he saw. He while doing so said, "Well there were many slices made on the way so I was able to say someone was coming here."

Inari then asked, "But what are you doing now?"

"Well, I am going to let them have a tour of our majestic seas."

Tsunami then asked, "Won't that be a bit cruel?"

"It may be but if they are skilled, they will survive or else they will face nature's wrath due to their misdeeds." With that, he loaded the two and then kicked to boat to the sea. Naruto could have killed them, but he was unable to make himself to take life directly. This was the best way he found to dispose of the two without blood on his hands. He couldn't understand why he wasn't able to kill. If he said he could kill why couldn't in reality do it?

He then with the unanswered question turned around. He said, "Both of you be alert. I can't stay here I will have to go the bridge, towards the main fight."

With that Naruto took his resistance seals off and dashed towards the bridge.

---

Sasuke and the tracker-nin where now in a stalemate position. Sasuke held a kunai and pushed it against the senbon that the tracker-nin held. The tracker-nin said, "You are fast to match my speed. But now you can't use your hands."

"And neither can you." Said Sasuke confidently.

"Well not necessarily…" With that the tracker-nin started to make hand seals with one hand.

Kakashi taking a look from where he was said, "One had seals! I haven't seen someone this young use a sequence of one-hand seals."

Zabuza giving out a chuckle while also going for an uppercut said, "I trained the boy. Your genin may match his speed now. But when he goes all out, even I struggle to keep up with his speed."

Kakashi with a bit of amazement while dodging the uppercut said, "What?!"

Back where Sasuke was, two mizu bunshin of the tracker-nin were made. Sasuke left his hold and with agile and swift movements dodged the bunshin's attacks. And also finished them off, turning them into a puddle of water after his slashes. This trend followed for a few more water clones.

Sasuke then smugly said, "What? Is this all you got?"

The tracker-nin went through a set of hand-seals and said, "Well I hope this lives up to your expectations…Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō (Hidden jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors)."

The next moment all the water around Sasuke started to rise up and crystalize into rectangular ice slabs. The ice slabs formed a dome around Sasuke. Sasuke could only increase his guard while getting trapped and think, 'What the heck? Ice release…Is it a…'

Kakashi looking at the dome worriedly said, "A kekkei genkai."

Zabuza immediately said, "Yes, it is. Now focus." With that Zabuza went for a strong jab. Which Kakashi blocked with his forearm. They stood at a standstill for a few moments. Kakashi then said, "You found quite a gem didn't you Zabuza. Training someone with a kekkei genkai, considering what is going on in the water country."

"Sure, I did, and when he goes all out…That genin of yours doesn't have a chance to survive."

Inside the dome, we could see an image of the tracker-nin in one of the ice mirrors. He had entered the slab from outside as if it was a portal. And now Sasuke stood in the middle trying to grasp what was happening and what would happen. The image of the tracker-nin showed that it threw three senbons. The next instant the three senbons come out of the mirror, at the trajectory the image showed. Sasuke dodged it. He then looked up again at the same mirror from where the senbons came. The tracker-nin wasn't there. Sasuke immediately turned his back. The enemy ninja was in an opposite mirror and again threw senbons.

Sasuke while dodging could only think, 'How did he reach the opposite in a blink of an eye?' This trend went on for a few more times. Sasuke then went through hand seals and said, "Katon: Kyuuka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Flame Sphere Technique)"

The fire impacted with the ice. The ice didn't melt at all. Sasuke had shock written all over his face. The tracker-nin used this and threw another set of senbons. With Sasuke getting pierced by some senbon to his shoulders. The tracker-nin came out of one of the mirrors. This time looking one could conclude that it indeed was a portal. While standing outside of the dome he said, "How does this feel to you? You can't get out of that dome. While I freely go in and out. Yield now. Or else you will have to die."

Sasuke just growled, even while knowing his position he said, "Not a chance in hell." Sakura from afar yet audible range, fearing Sasuke could die. Removed a kunai and yelled, "I won't let you do that!" and threw the kunai towards the tracker-nin. The tracker-nin just turned around. The kunai inches from his mask. Then too, with ease, he caught the kunai with just two fingers. He dropped the kunai and said, "At least don't yell when you try a sneak attack."

With that, the ice user again went back into an ice slab. Sakura could only watch in horror, at how easily he had caught the kunai. While now Kakashi himself and taken out a kunai to defect and stop the long slashes made by Zabuza. Zabuza in a laughing manner said, "Haha Kakashi how does it feel while seeing the doom of that genin."

With that, the demon of the mist jumped toward the copy ninja and swung his sword from above. Kakashi dodged the attack, while Zabuza's sword sliced through the concrete. Zabuza took out his sword immediately and again went for a downward cut. Kakashi this time knew there wasn't much force behind the attack. So, he blocked it solely using his kunai.

While again in the standstill Zabuza mockingly asked, "Well Kakashi I asked you a question." Kakashi just glared at the other jonin. He said nothing.

All of them heard a peculiar electric rumbling sound but didn't think much of it. Zabuza then said, "Say Kakashi how do you feel? After that one dies, I will hunt the blonde one down. Cut him in front of you. Save us some time and tell me where is that blonde brat?"

Kakashi had a gleam in his red eye. He jumped back while saying, "Why don't you find by yourself?"

Before Zabuza could go after Kakashi, his danger senses rang. He looked up. And what he saw shocked him to the core. A big barrage of kunais and shurikens raced down on him. Zabuza crouched and used his gigantic sword as a shield. The barrage rained down on him. As soon as it ended Zabuza got up. Took out a kunai that embedded him. Instead of finding him angry, one could find craze in his eyes. He then with glee shouted, "So you have come, haven't you, you blonde bastard? I will cut you in half!"

"First focus on me Zabuza." Said Kakashi while giving him a roundhouse kick. Zabuza was barely able to block it, and it sent him skidding a few feet. Kakashi while retaking his stance thought, 'It was a good way to signal me by the sound of Chidori, Naruto. And as expected you still stay hidden.' Kakashi was about to go for a taijutsu combo but stopped. Again, the electric rumbling sound came.

Again no one except for Kakashi paid attention to it. Zabuza then regaining his composure said, "Why the halt Kakashi? Becoming kind, are we?"

Kakashi just relaxed and pointed up, "Well if I were you, I wouldn't stand still."

Zabuza took some time to understand. And then he looked up, to see yet another barrage of kunai and shuriken all aiming towards him. With shock, he could just say, "What the fuck?! How much stockpile does that bastard have?!" He dodged and deflected the barrage again. Zabuza in his mind could only seethe, 'Damn that blonde, using my mist to hide and attack me! How is he able to jump or move with this much silence? No noise at all!'

Here we see Naruto standing on a railing, opposite of where the jonins were. He couldn't properly see but could make out where others were and what was going on. He saw Kakashi go ahead and give Zabuza an uppercut. Seeing his chance Naruto went through hand seals and said, "Chidori."

Immediately dissipated his jutsu and then shunshined right above Zabuza. It was a great advantage that his shunshin was soundless and left no residue. He took out a kunai and a shuriken. He threw them and then went through hand seals and mentally said, 'Kage Shuriken no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow clone Jutsu)' Both the objects multiplied in number. He went back to his place on the railing.

He could hear Zabuza shout, "I will find and squash you to the ground and cut you into two." He remained quiet not wanting to give away his location. Naruto finds another opening and repeats the attack. Signalled using Chidori, then shunshined above the target. Took out the weapons and when he was about to throw them, he saw Zabuza vanish.

Then suddenly to his side, he heard a whisper, "How long did you think you could hide? This is my environment, my mist, my chakra. It was only some time I needed. I would have found you anyway."

With shock, Naruto realized that Zabuza had also shunshin where he was. But before he could do anything. Zabuza turned three-sixty in mid-air and gave a painful heel kick at Naruto's guts sending him down at immense speed.

On impact, Naruto could only groan in pain, and again spit out some blood. Before Naruto could register anything, he was pulled out from that place by Kakashi. Just a moment later Zabuza landed at the exact place striking his sword to the ground, cracking it. Zabuza just said, "So you pulled the brat away…"

Naruto got up while wiping the blood out of his mouth. Kakashi in a serious manner said, "Naruto let's go." Naruto nodded and now both Kakashi and Naruto dashed towards Zabuza. Zabuza too ran towards the two.

Now we could see Zabuza trying to constantly adapt to the size difference of Naruto and Kakashi. When Zabuza blocked the jonin's attack. Naruto was given an opening and vice versa. Zabuza taking enough of it, moved his sword in an intent to slice both of them. Both of them jumped back. Kakashi before anyone could move another muscle grabbed Naruto's arm. Swinged and threw Naruto towards Zabuza. Naruto flew towards the target at great speed. Mid-air he had changed his position. This resulted in his feet making a perfect connection with Zabuza's face.

Zabuza lost his balance due to this hit and fell to the ground. Naruto landed a few feet behind Zabuza. Zabuza stood up, anger radiating from him. He in an angry voice yelled, "Enough is enough!"

Both Naruto and Kakashi were about to move and attack the man that stood between them. But before Naruto could start running, he was caught. The tracker-nin had taken hold of Naruto and now pulled and threw him into the ice mirror dome. Even Zabuza was surprised by this and asked, "What was the hell that for?"

The ice user said, "It was visible that the two were overpowering you. It will be better if you take them one at a time."

Zabuza just growled and said, "You better not kill him. I want to do it."

"No, I won't." said the ice user and entered his rectangular ice slab.

Zabuza turned towards Kakashi and said, "Now where were we?...Ah yes…enough is enough!" Zabuza started to go through an extensive set of hand seals. Kakashi knew what jutsu it was, he also went through the hand seals. Both of them in unison yelled, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile Technique)"

With that two columns of water rose from the sea. Forming ferocious dragons. Both the dragons swirled around each other and then clashed head-on. Water sprayed all over the bridge, while the jonins stared at one another.

Naruto looking around saw ice mirrors everywhere with not very large gaps in between. He then glanced at his teammate. Sasuke seemed exhausted, with a few senbons stuck to him here and there. Naruto calmly asked, "Sasuke have you figured out anything?"

Sasuke immediately replied, "Not much…Only that this is a space-time ninjutsu, with the mirrors being portals. Also, they are extremely cold and hard. Neither fire can melt it nor force can break it. He also travels very fast from one mirror to another."

"So, no use of using any jutsu." Said Naruto.

"No…we can only dodge and hope to tire him out." Said Sasuke with anger due to the position he was at the moment.

Then both of them saw the image of tracker-nin in one of the frontal mirrors. He while throwing his senbons said, "But that won't be possible." Both Naruto and Sasuke dodged the attacks. This went on for quite a while. The ice user had also increased his speed. Both of them still kept dodging.

Outside the dome both the jonins had been sending one powerful water jutsu after another. Zabuza glancing at the ice mirror dome said, "Hymn Kakashi your other brat is also good, he has kept up with a kekkei gankai user and still alive."

"Well, he himself is a kekei genkai user and it seems he has finally achieved it."

"You don't mean he is…"

"His full name is Uchiha Sasuke. One of the last of the Uchiha clan."

"Hymn I did hear only three were left after that incident. That explains a little that he has been able to keep up…And what about the blonde one? Before I cut him, I want to know his name."

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto…"

"Uzumaki eh? No wonder he is difficult to kill. Uzumakis were one tough clan. It took three whole nations to wipe out that one clan, that too in a surprise attack."

Back in the dome Sasuke just glanced at a nearby mirror. He saw something that shocked him, but that shock turned into pleasure. He grinned a bit. He looked at his reflection which had red eyes with a black pupil and one tome surrounding it. He saw his first staged sharingan. It had just evolved and now the Uchiha knew about his dojutsu. He couldn't be happier.

He then looked at Naruto, who crouched to the ground while gritting his teeth. Naruto too under his genjutsu had his sharingan activated. He repeatedly dispelled his sharingan, but the fast attacks of the tracker-nin activated it again. This irritated him to no end. He didn't want to use it, but it activated from time to time, without his will.

Sasuke thought due to his sharingan now he was on a whole different level than the other two. He just cockily said, "Ice user it's your end now. I have attained the sharingan. I can't be defeated by the like of you or him."

Naruto with an irritated voice said, "Oi Sasuke we are on the same team you know."

Sasuke nonchalantly said, "I was just stating facts."

Naruto internally said, 'Facts my ass! Overconfident prick.'

The ice user then said, "Well then, I shall go all out now…Last chance back out."

Sasuke confidently said, "Never."

"Fine then…" said the ice user. Next, what happened made both Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes widen to the extreme. The tracker-nin was present in every single mirror in the dome. Then all the images gave the action of throwing senbons. Now both were seeing an income of senbons from all directions. Both Naruto and Sasuke tried to dodge them to their best abilities.

None would deny that the task of dodging was not easy. But then Sasuke due to his enhanced sharingan saw something that sparked some hope. He just said, "Naruto dash out for an exit. He has to come out a bit to throw those senbons. A large deviation in your position should force him to come out. I can see it. I will try to attack at that time."

Naruto deciding to believe just nodded. Before another strike could come, he dashed for a gap between two mirrors. The tracker-nin seeing this came out of his mirror. He aimed for Naruto. And threw the senbons. Sasuke then first threw a kunai and also immediately went through hand-seals and internally said, 'Katon: Kyuuka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Flame Sphere Technique)'

The fire sphere just touched a bit of his but the kunai made a good scar on the porcelain mask. Naruto dodged the senbons but one stuck near the center of his back. The tracker-nin went back to his mirrors. Naruto just fell, face first to the ground with shock and pain in his eyes. Sasuke too looked at Naruto in a stunned expression.

The ice user then said, "It was smart of both of you to force me out but I also have now crippled his neuron response and stimuli from and to his lower body. Now Uchiha I will give you the final warning. Just stay out. I would rather not kill."

Sasuke was too stunned to respond. He after knowing Naruto, the real side of the blonde for the past month never thought the boy could end up in such a state. The tracker-nin not hearing a response just said, "You leave me no choice."

All the images of the ice-user now threw senbons. Naruto could only look in horror. He tried to use his upper body strength to move him. But there we too many senbons. It was impossible to dodge in this crippled state. He saw the senbons approaching him. Suddenly his view was obstructed.

Sasuke had moved and stood as a shield in front of Naruto. Taking all the senbons full force. The Uchiha gave out a painful grunt. He then fell to the ground, backward. After the thud sound of his falling Naruto was able to register what happened. Naruto was on the ground with his frontal side downwards. While Sasuke's back was to the ground. Both of their heads were just a little distance apart.

Naruto in a hoarse voice asked, "Oii…why did you jump before me? You idiot!"

Sasuke turned his head and looked at Naruto. With pain evident in his voice he said, "I don't know. My body just moved…", Sasuke coughed a bit, "…Naruto don't die. H-he, my brother, Itachi is still out there…avenge Shi-shisui and my cl-clan…my-my goal…com-comple…", with that Sasuke's voice died and he shut his eyes.

"Don't die on me like this! Oi, wake up what will I tell Kiyomi and oba-chan? Sasuke WAKE UP!" Yelled Naruto. His hands trembled. Not wanting to accept Sasuke's death. Anger and anguish build up in him due to Sasuke's death.

Now from one of the mirrors, there was only one image of the tracker-nin. Sensing the despair and anger from Naruto he calmly said, "Is this the first time a close one had died in front of you?...That boy who saved you was truly powerful. Not due to strength, but due to sacrificing himself for someone he held precious. He has my respect."

Naruto didn't want to hear that voice. Anger flying off the roof. Orange chakra starts to surround him. The pressure of the chakra sent the senbon out of his body. Naruto slowly rose. The orange chakra surrounded him, with many branches whipping out here and there. His eyes were red!

But it wasn't the sharingan. The eyes were having a slit instead of a pupil. His whiskers thickened. His nails grew and sharpened. His overall features became more feral. Now Naruto in a more demonic voice said, "I don't want to hear a word from your mouth."

The ice user prepared for his attack while thinking, 'What kind of power is this? This chakra is so strong! So potent! So malicious!' Outside the dome, the two jonins got a very faint sense. Zabuza with shocked eyes thought, 'What is this? What is this that I sense? It is very powerful! Too powerful!' While Kakashi too with shock thought, 'The nine tail's chakra! Has the seal broken? I need to end this and check what is happening fast.' While inside in the depths of Naruto's mind, the ancient creature gave out a hearty laugh.

Inside the dome, the ice user again makes many images with all of them throwing senbon at Naruto. As the senbons approached, Naruto gave out a roar and flared his chakra. All the senbons stopped or flew back. Naruto then dashed towards where the original tracker-nin was. He blindly lunged towards the mirror with his now animalistic hand. His hands aimed to hold the head of the ice-user.

The power of the chakra first made a crack, then another, and moments later the mirror shattered. The ice user could only see in horror what was happening. Naruto proceeded to grab the tracker-nin by his face. Cracking the scared porcelain mask. Both of them due to Naruto's momentum continued them to move fly back. Both of them fell to the ground, a few feet apart. Naruto got up and was about to charge. But then subconsciously stooped.

Naruto's chakra started to recede back. His eyes turned back blue. All his features getting back as it was. Naruto then stuttered, "Ha-Haku?!" The thing that caused these actions was due to Naruto now knowing who the tracker-nin was.

Haku just got up and wiped his mouth of the blood that came out. His balance fumbled a bit. He just kept an impassive expression on his face. Haku just said, "Yes, it is me, Naruto."

Naruto then just asked, "Do you know which side you have chosen?"

"I am well aware of my decisions. I don't regret them."

Naruto in an irate manner yelled, "Don't regret?! The other day you were talking as if saving precious people was important. And now you stand at the side which will cause people to suffer. See their precious ones in pain. And you have the audacity to say you don't regret your choices."

Haku coughed a bit more. The Kyuubi enhanced hold had done a number on him. He just said, "Naruto, I still stand by those words. And the decisions I have made, if I was given the same conditions, my choices would be the same as before."

"What were the conditions life presented to you that you are with Gato and Zabuza?"

"What will you do by knowing about my life?" Asked Haku.

"I would like to know what kind of person are you and how valuable are your words." Replied Naruto.

"Well then…As you may know, the water country has been in civil war, due the two factions, differentiated by their opinion on kekkei genkai users. Most people blame us kekkei genkai users for the great powers that we possess, as the cause of their mishaps. They blame that power as the reason for the causes of war. The Mist village and other places in the water country were and still are engulfed in a bloody civil war. One side is determined to wipe out the kekkei genkai users, while the other is for their survival and the ones who don't blame God-gifted people. The civil war is still going on…I myself am a kekkei genkai user. I was the son of a poor farmer on the outskirts. My mother was from a clan that held the ice release kekkei genkai. She had hidden her identity and started to live a life as a poor farmer's wife. We were poor but happy…I had no clue of these things one day by sheer coincidence I was able to unlock my chakra and started manipulating water to ice…My mother saw this and beat me to stop it. Knowing if someone saw both of us would be in danger…", Haku took a deep breath in, "Unfortunately for us, my father from far away had seen it…He-he proceeded to kill my mother…"

Naruto's eyes had widened on hearing this, "Fo-for real?"

"Yes…with eyes full of tears, after killing mother was about to kill me…But my body subconsciously defended me. Big ice spikes defended me, by killing my father. Yes, even if unknowingly, I killed my father…I fled my village. I wandered around hopeless for days. Without food, without shelter, without a purpose…On one cold snowing night, I sat motionless on a bridge. A man came and asked me if I would join him and help him achieve his goals. In exchange, I would have food, resources, a roof, and most importantly a purpose."

Naruto in a low tone took a guess, "And that man was Zabuza?"

Haku passively said, "Yes…Zabuza gave me a purpose. He trained me. He made me the shinobi that I am today. He is the person that I live for now. He is the sole precious person I have. My dream is to fulfil every one of his dreams. I am a tool at his disposal."

Naruto scowled a bit and said, "So that's what you consider yourself? A tool?"

"Yes, I am. But now I am of no use. My body is giving up. I am of no use to Zabuza now. So, Naruto please do me a favor and kill me. I request you. I have no reason to be alive now. The way of shinobi was always difficult for me. But I kept on. But now I can't go on any longer."

Naruto was stunned by the request. He could only stutter, "Wh-what?"

---

On another location of the bridge there we see Sakura kneeling near the motionless body of Sasuke. As soon as the dome broke, she ran to see what had happened. She was devastated to see Sasuke lying motionless on the ground. Tazuna guessing how the girl felt said, "You can cry. Don't hold your tears due to my presence."

Sakura while desperately holding back her tears said, "I-I don't know how to act…There is one of many rules of shinobi, never show your emotion. I always memorized it and wrote it in exams and scored ace marks…but now I have no idea how to act…"

Sakura then kept her upper body on Sasuke and cried. She couldn't control herself any further.

---

At the location of the jonin fighting you could now see Zabuza heavily injured and being held by many dogs. Those dogs were Kakashi's summons. Kakashi now looking at the other bound jonin, said, "So this is it, Zabuza. End of the demon of the Hidden Mist Village."

Zabuza outwardly didn't give any reaction but internally a storm was running in his mind. Kakashi just said, "Zabuza you were a strong shinobi. But the decision you made after your failed assassination of the Mizukage, led you down to this. He may be the main figure who led to mist to where it is now. But your ambitions of a second attempt made you follow the wrong steps to gather money for it. Making you stoop as low as to make a deal with a man like Gato…There is nothing more I can say…", going through some hand-seal he then said, "Raikiri."

Lightning chakra, with unmatched intensity, started to form around his palm. Raikiri was a jutsu that took the Chidori to the next level. It was an S-rank jutsu. Raikiri enabled Kakashi to even cut through other lighting jutsu, which is not possible with Chidori. Zabuza seeing the jutsu could only think, 'Chakra so powerful that it is visible!'

---

"Wh-what?"

"Yes, Naruto you heard right." Said Haku.

"Haku just because one thing ends doesn't mean another won't start." Said Naruto.

"Well, Naruto you and I live with different ideals. But maybe what you say is true, I can start a new thing. But from my side, I don't want another start. I like this end. I don't beliv…", Haku's sixth sense worked. He now immediately said, "Sorry Naruto. Changes of plans. I can still be of some use." With that, Haku made a mirror and jumped in it teleporting to another place.

Naruto immediately turned from where he heard sounds. He ran in that direction. What he saw widened his eyes with shock. There stood Kakashi with his lone red eye widened and Zabuza, still bound by the dogs, too had a bit of shock written in his eyes.

Haku had teleported in between Kakashi and Zabuza. Taking the Raikiri in full force. Kakashi's hand was through the chest, near Haku's heart. Blood flowing out with no constraint. His feet barely touched the ground. His body now going cold hanged by Kakashi's arm. Haku had jumped in between the jonins to save Zabuza. It was the last thing he did to make himself useful. Kakashi released his Raikiri. The summoning dogs also poof out in smoke returning to their realm, as their summoning time was up.

Zabuza immediately taking this opportunity of being released swung his large sword at Kakashi. It would have cut both Kakashi and Haku's cold body. Kakashi jumped away and dodged it while holding the cold body. He took his hand out of Haku and gently rested him on the ground. Kakashi then stood up and in an irate manner asked, "Is that how you treat a comrade? Is that your respect towards the one that died for you?"

"Shut up Kakashi…It was Haku's choice to do so. I am here to cut you. I will do whatever is the best way to do so."

"Fine then let's finish this." With that Kakashi with unimaginable speed jumped towards Zabuza. Gave him a roundhouse kick. That sent Zabuza flying back. Kakashi didn't wait he again closed in the distance when Zabuza got up. Kakashi stabbed Zabuza in both of his arms with kunais. His arms radiated pain now. He couldn't use them anymore. He dropped his sword. Moved a few steps back, and grunted out in pain.

Kakashi again went through hand seals and said, "Raikiri."

But before Kakashi could go ahead and attack all heard clapping sounds. Kakashi released the jutsu. The mist was lighter than before. All turned their heads. They could see Gato with about a hundred men at the edge of the unfinished bridge. Gato moved forward while clapping.

Zabuza then asked, "What's the meaning of this Gato?"

Gato then explained, "Well you see you ninja cost a lot. So, I thought why not cut the expenses by hiring these thugs and criminals who will kill you all while you kill each other? I can save a lot of money you see."

Gato then saw the lying body of Haku and went near it. With a grin on his face, he then said, "Isn't this the punk that nearly broke my arm? Now take this." Gato started to kick the dead body of Haku.

Zabuza and Kakashi just looked at the disrespectful gesture, it was expected from such a con man. Naruto though expecting it, got his blood boiling. He turned to Zabuza and said, "So what you will just stand there and see him kick Haku?"

"What do you expect me to do? And why should I?" Asked Zabuza.

"WHY?! I will tell you why. Haku sacrificed everything for you. He did what you said to do. He lived to complete your dream. Don't you feel anything?"

"Be quiet you fool. Haku is dead it doesn't matter. The loss of his skill and strength yes that may be something to mourn about. But the boy, no there is no need to mourn. His usefulness has come to an end."

"How could you?" Said Naruto lividly. Kakashi kept an arm on the blonde's shoulder and said, "Naruto calm down." Naruto brushed off Kakashi's hand and continued, "Haku lived for you! The only thing that mattered to him was you. And you say you feel nothing for him. He threw his life away. Just to protect you. For what your dream and you. Now that's how you repay him."

Naruto was panting a bit due to his anger. Zabuza for the first time in a calm tone said, "You talk too much…I had come here to cut you in half…But you, your words cut deeper than any blade…", Zabuza shed some tears. While Naruto was saying he was getting flashbacks of memories of Haku and him. He continued, "…Haku was always too soft, too kind. His heart was breaking into two when he fought you. Haku felt pain and sympathy now curse him, I feel them too."

Zabuza proceeded to tear off the bandages that covered his face as a mask, solely using his mouth, now showing his full face. He then said, "What cat caught your tongue? Not speaking anymore…We all are humans. We, shinobi tend to forget that and start acting as if we can follow rules to every literal word. Once a shinobi stops his emotions, he is no longer himself. Emotions are what makes us humans. I can feel them finally after a long time, it has been long, too long…Naruto throw me a kunai."

"Huh?", though having doubt he throws a kunai to Zabuza. Zabuza caught it with his teeth. He then said, "Gato…be ready for your end."

Gato finally paid attention somewhere else. Now he saw Zabuza with a kunai held in between his teeth. Gato scared for his life ran towards the crowd for cover. He yelled, "Kill him. All of you kill him."

Zabuza moved in between the crowd while being impaled by many hand weapons. He still moved on in pursuit of Gato. Pushing the others out of his way. Gato reached the edge. He had nowhere to run anymore. Zabuza then appeared, all bloody. Blood gushing out of his back. Numerous weapons, still intact on his back. He then slowly walked towards Gato.

Gato with fear said, "Za-Zabuza we don't have to die. We don't need to meet that boy. I-I will pay more than what we agreed. Just don't kill me."

Zabuza just gave a hollow chuckle. He then said, "We won't be meeting Haku. He has gone to heaven. While you and I will be going to hell. The worst part of hell is where we both belong to." With that Zabuza using the kunai in his mouth slashed Gato's neck. And for surety kicked the dwarf off the bridge down to the sea. It was the end of the business tycoon Gato. Zabuza then let his exhausted body drop to the ground.

Everyone saw Gato dropping down to the sea and then Zabuza falling to the ground. Naruto just stood still and Kakashi crouched to the ground. Tazuna too witnessed what had happened. He was too stunned to say anything. He could just think, 'I don't know about this world. Contrary to what I believed before. The shinobi are too hard on themselves. They lose themselves to their ideals.'

However, the thugs and criminals didn't share the sympathy that the others were having. One of them shouted, "How are we goona get money now!" Another one said, "Hey there still may be something in those villages. Let's all raid them…Even if money is not there. There will be women." A collective yeah was given out.

Naruto just scowled at the thugs. He looked at Kakashi. He could see, he had overused the sharingan a lot now, and with the various jutsus he had used up. He didn't think his sensei would have enough chakra. Then too he asked, "Sensei how much chakra do you have?"

"Exhausted. I had put the last bits of my chakra in the last jutsu. Just give me…" said Kakashi. Looking grimly at the numbers. He knew he could take them, but not without any cost.

Naruto interrupted, "They won't just go away, will they?"

Kakashi replied, "No, unlike Zabuza who locked his feelings. These people have feelings and like seeing others suffer. They are just unpleasant."

Naruto with a hardened expression said, "Fine then…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." With that, there were more four of him. Then all of them went through the same hand seals. Electricity started to gather near their palms. Sounds of electricity started to pierce every ear. Once the jutsu was stable. The real Naruto just whispered, "Chidori."

'Ugghh…Ahh. What is there on my chest it is hard to breathe.' Sasuke opened his eyes. Apparently, Haku had put him in a death-like state. Sasuke then saw a cluster of pink hair. He then said, "Sakura, get off. It is hard to breathe."

Sakura abruptly stopped crying while saying, "Sasuke-kun?!" She then moved off and looked at Sasuke's face. Seeing the open eyes happy tears started to flow out of her eyes. She helped Sasuke sit up. Sasuke just asked, "Where is Naruto?"

His question was answered when all heard the electric sound. They saw Naruto with four clones having some kind of lighting jutsu on their right hand. Naruto and his clones ran toward the thugs. What followed was a collection of screams and stabbing sounds. All could just look in that direction and do nothing.

Kakashi thought, 'Damn you Naruto! You acted too fast. You should have given me just one more moment. I would have regained more strength…It can't be changed now…Shinobi usually deals with one first kill. It is hard to deal with. But you will have to with a hundred…To how much extreme condition will your mind handle?'

As soon as the last thug fell dead on the ground, Kakashi swiftly went near Naruto. Naruto stood there in the middle of the bloodied ground. Bodies all around him. Holes in the corpses' bodies. Naruto just looked around. Seeing each one reminded the face he had before they died. Expressions yelling no, fear visible, and begging for mercy. Naruto lifted his hands a bit. His breathing became faster. He looked at the blood-filled hands. He with dread and craze thought, 'I killed. Nearly a hundred lives ended by my hands. Can a human kid do that?…Is this how it feels like to be a monster? This feels so...'

Kakashi then held Naruto's hands and calmly said, "No you are not…" Naruto gasped at seeing Kakashi holding his blood-filled hands. His mind was filled with the question, 'Why are you touching me? After what I did you still want to associate with me?'

Kakashi kneeled, bringing his face to Naruto's face level. As if reading his mind, he gently said, "Naruto no matter what I will always protect you. I always have and will continue to my full ability…Don't think what you did was wrong. You had no choice. But it was neither completely right. Taking a life should always be that last retort. In this world cruel things like this happen. Don't blame yourself for their lives."

Naruto calmed down a bit. He nodded at what Kakashi said. Kakashi got up but still holding one of Naruto's hands. Kakashi indicated Naruto came out of the heap of dead bodies. Kakashi then heard, "Kakashi please take me near Haku. I want to talk with him one last time."

Kakashi nodded and carried Zabuza near Haku. Kakashi gently rested Zabuza near Haku after he took out every weapon on the mist jonin's back. Zabuza turned his head to look at Haku. He brought his hand near Haku's cheek. He then said, "Haku…forgive me. I was never a kind man. I should have acted more rationally. I got you killed. This world has lost not only your skill and strength. It lost you, your kindness. A big loss. A one to mourn on…"

All looked up at the sudden change in weather. Snow had started to fall. Zabuza in a sombre manner said, "…Haku is it you? Are you crying from up in the heavens? Forgive me I can't come up there to wipe your tears…As for I am going to spend the rest of eternity in hell…Goodbye." With that Zabuza took his final breath.

The mist started to go away. All saw the light falling on the two shinobi that had now gone to the afterlife. Tazuna just started to murmur a pray for the peace of the souls of the two. Though they had attacked him, listening and seeing what all happened. He couldn't help but pray. Sakura just said, "I hope the two of you meet again, in heaven." Sasuke just looked at the now motionless bodies. Naruto still holding Kakashi's hand looked at the two and thought about the talk he had with Haku. The fight that they had. The consequences. What was the gain he thought? His ending thought was, 'Is there ever any gain to what we do? Does this world deserve to exist?'

Kakashi in a tranquil tone said, "Zabuza don't be so harsh on yourself. You were not that bad after all. You will ascend to heaven. Meet Haku and keep your emotions unlocked this time. Rest in peace both of you."

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AN: Well yeah very canon. I agree. But as I said wait for chapters after the settlement of chunin exams. It will diverge to completely non canon. I have roughly written them you all won't need to wait long.

Thanks for spending time reading and criticism is welcomed.