Rise of the Namikaze

by s15945

Twelve years ago Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed herself in order to protect her village from the Ninetails by sealing it into the eldest of her recently born twin daughters.

5. The Battle of the Bridge

They had finished their training on the fifth day since they'd arrived in the Land of Wave. On the sixth, all five Konoha shinobi and Gisei arrived at the bridge, only to find it covered in mist, which, according to Tazuna, was rather odd since it was already past ten o'clock. Naruto, stating the obvious, said, "They're here.

To that, Miwa sarcastically said, "Ya think?"

Naruto, purposefully ignoring the sarcasm, said, "Yeah. That's kinda why I said it Miwa."

"It's why you…?!" Miwa started to exclaim, but stopped and let out a calming sigh. She said, "No Miwa. Ignore it. It's not worth getting worked up over. It's just Nii-chan being Nii-chan."

Naruto thought, 'Oh? Guess I'll have to work harder now.' He sighed when he saw who came walking out of the mist. He thought, 'Figures that Zabuza'd get him.'

Itō Daichi said, "Namikaze."

Naruto nodded and said, "Where is she?"

A kid asked, "Where is who?" as he emerged from the mist to stand by Daichi.

Naruto ignored the kid and called out, "Mafūma! Where are you? I know you're here!"

Daichi said, "She's not here, Namikaze."

"Bullshit. She's always somewhere close by." He looked down at Gisei and said, "Gisei, go and find whichever tree Mafūma's hiding in."

Gisei sniffed the air before rushing over to a nearby tree and called out, "It's this one!"

Naruto looked straight at the branches of the tree and said, "Whatever he's paying you, I'll double it."

Mafūma swung down from her perch, hooking her legs on a branch so that she was upside down, looking at Naruto. She said, "Really?!" in a happy tone.

"You know I'm good for it," Naruto said, having put an end to more than one of his 'get-togethers' with Daichi like that in the past.

As Mafūma visibly struggled within herself, Zabuza thought, 'She's not really going to…'

Eventually though, Mafūma sighed regretfully and said, "Sorry. But I can't do that this time."

"Why not? There's never been any problems with it before."

Haku, still in the mist, thought, 'What is this?!' and called out, "I thought that you said that you were a professional!?"

"I did, kid," Mafūma said. "Don't try and impugn my honour as a facilitator!"

Naruto and Daichi sighed at the same time and said, "You don't know a thing about her, kid."

Haku asked, "What do you mean?"

Daichi explained, "Mafūma is a professional facilitator. For them, the highest paying client is the one that gets to make use of her services, and I work for her."

"So then…if she'd accepted you would have turn on us?"

"If it was anyone other than Namikaze, without a thought."

"What do you mean, 'if it wasn't him'?"

"He only ever makes it so that I don't interfere with what he's doing at the time. But, like she said, that ain't gonna fly this time."

At that, Naruto called out, "So, why not?"

Mafūma said, "Zabu-chan saved me a while back, so this is me repaying a favour."

Naruto sighed and said, "Alright then. Sorry for trying." He then focused back on Daichi. He said, "Mizuko, that kid's your opponent."

Mizuko asked, "The one with the freak in lime green?"

"That'd be him."

"Hey! Don't you insult Daichi-sama! You blue-haired freako!"

Mizuko said, "I'm gonna kill that punk!"

Naruto blinked at his sister's words and said, "Mizuko, remember what I said about victory."

"What you said? You mean about how it means different things to different people?" Naruto nodded. "What about it?"

"In this situation, against him, just holding him at bay is victory enough."

"Why? Isn't he impeding our mission, therefore an enemy?"

"No. This time, Daichi has probably been hired to prevent me from interfering with Amayah's fight. Right now, I need you to prevent that kid from interfering in mine."

"I see. Alright then, Nii-chan."

Before they started, Daichi said, "You dragging your sisters into this? You've really changed, Namikaze."

"No," Naruto said. "The reverse, in fact. They dragged me into this."

"I see."

"Uhh...this conversation is good 'n' all," Miwa said, "but…you know…what about us?" pointing at both Isamu and herself.

Naruto said, "Isamu, release your seals."

"Hai," Isamu said, starting to make hand signs.

Naruto said, "Miwa, you and Isamu are to protect the client and take care of anyone else."

"Hai, nii-chan!" Miwa said, drawing a kunai and holding it in a defensive position as she moved closer to the client.

Daichi said, "Hito, be careful. That blue haired Namikaze is probably more than she appears."

Hito asked, "What do you mean, Daichi-sama?"

"She's his sister, and probably has the same affinities as him."

"What's your point? Even if she does, she's still only genin-level."

Daichi sighed and said, "You might be right. But be careful anyway."

"Hai, Daichi-sama!" Hito said and drew a curved kunai that had a sharp blade on one side with a blunt 'back' edge."

At her opponent-to-be's action, Mizuko drew one of the kunai that Naruto had given her when he was teaching her to use his 'sword' and held her other hand over a spot on her haori. Daichi and Hito then backed into the mist, disappearing from Naruto and Mizuko's sight. Naruto said, "Come on Mizuko," walking into the mist, activating two of his Namikaze-ryū: Reisui no Tsurugi.

"Hai, Aniki," Mizuko said, walking by her brother's side as she activated one of her own.

As the Namikaze siblings followed their opponents into the mist, the mist rolled forward, continuing on to cover Amayah and Zabuza while Haku advanced on Isamu and Miwa, content with dealing with them outside of the fog, not being anywhere near as skilled as either jōnin, or even Daichi's apprentice, who had only just started learning silent killing techniques himself.

XXXXX

Inside the mist, Mizuko heard a high-pitched male voice, say, "The larynx, the spine, the lungs, the liver, the neck, the kidneys, the heart, which vulnerable spot would be best I wonder?"

Mizuko said, "I don't suppose 'none' is an option, is it?" and channelled her iryōton chakra to her eyes to test if it would let her see through the mist. It didn't. It had the opposite effect, making the mist appear to be even thicker than it was. She let out a sound of annoyance before letting the chakra go. Mizuko felt a heat source coming from behind her and quickly spun around, bringing her sword around to deflect a jutsu that she was surprised to see. She said, "That jutsu is…" and frowned.

"What of it?" Hito asked.

"Is it a copy, or…?"

"No. It isn…"

Naruto's voice rang out through the mist, saying, "Yes, it is."

"You liar!" Mizuko accused.

"I'm not lying! Daichi-sama taught me this technique himself! Besides, from what Daichi-sama has said, your brother has a tendency to copy jutsu himself, so I hardly think that you have any right to judge."

"He does NOT!" Mizuko exclaimed, and relaxed her block, letting Hito's sword to push hers forward as she stepped to the side. As she did, she slashed at Hito, who flipped over her blade, using his own to push her blade further, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to attack him while he was still in the air. When he was back down, he had to immediately bring his sword up to defend against a strike from Mizuko's sword. She said, "How is that working against my water sword?"

"It's because Daichi-sama's jutsu is better than your brother's."

"Ridiculous!" Mizuko said, and stepped to the side as she reduced the length of her sword before extending it again, as her brother had the first day after she'd mastered it, and slashed at Hito's shoulder.

Hito cried out, "What the!" and jumped back to get away from the strike. "Hey! My sword can't do that! You're cheating!"

Mizuko said, "There is no such thing as cheating for a shinobi. Only victory and defeat," and pursued Hito further into the mist.

When he heard the line, Daichi said, "Damn Namikaze, you really used my line to train your sister?"

"What can I say? It's a good line," Naruto grinned as he pushed away from Daichi's blades. "But seriously though, that fūinjutsu that you're using to enhance your Tenro Kami has come a long way since last time."

Daichi grunted and said, "I suppose that you think that you could do better then?"

"Hey, who are you talking to?" Naruto joked. "Of course I could."

"So bring it out then," Daichi said, nodding at Naruto.

"That doesn't mean that I have."

"Quit screwin' around! With you, it's always, 'if I can, I will', or 'already have'."

"Well…you are right there. And I have. But…well…I just don't have access to it at the moment."

"Why's that?"

"You don't want to know, trust me," Naruto said.

"Oh, I see. So then, you've given it away or something, have you?"

"Or something," Naruto agreed. "So, I'm afraid that you'll just have to settle for these for the time being."

"I suppose there's always next time, huh?"

"That's if there is a next time," Naruto said as he rushed at Daichi.

XXXXX

As Naruto and Mizuko fought against Daichi and his apprentice, Miwa clashed her kunai against Haku's senbon. They spun around, trying to skewer the other with their weapon, but both leapt backwards when they realised that they would both get hit if they continued with their attack. As Miwa slid to a stop, Isamu rushed forward, and twisted slightly before punching at Haku, who ducked under it and kicked at his chest. Isamu brought his arms up in a cross to block the kick.

Haku didn't have time to breathe though as a sparking kunai flew towards him. He wasn't quick enough to dodge it completely though, and it tore through his mask, causing what was left to fall from his face. He frowned and thought, 'These two are better than we'd thought they were. However…' He started forming hand signs and said, "Suiton: Sensatsu Suishō!" causing one thousand long needles made of water to form in the air around them. He jumped away as the needles started to move.

Isamu ran after Haku, now being fast enough to get out of the flight path of the needles before they were low enough to hit him. Miwa though, wasn't so lucky. But, she did see an escaped route above her and jumped up, out of their reach. But the genin weren't the target. Haku hadn't bothered playing around like some green shinobi straight out of the academy. He was targeting Tazuna. Tazuna's eyes widened as he saw the oncoming needles heading right at him and flinched away, but, he was well aware that it wouldn't do much good with the number of needles that were heading straight at him. As Miwa saw where the needles were headed, her eyes widened, realising what had happened. She said, "Raiton: Senjūden Kunai Raiu Bunshin no jutsu!" instinctively streaming lighting through her kunai and throwing it at the needles before it split into a thousand.

The three shinobi all stopped when both jutsu finished, looking at Tazuna, none of them able to believe that he was still in one piece. Miwa broke the silence, saying, "Well, what do you know, I didn't think that that would actually work!"

When he heard that, Haku thought, 'Then she didn't plan that? If that's the case, it's clearly a move born from desperation. However, if she can pull something like that off on the fly, then I need to end this before she can come up with an actual plan.' He started making hand signs as Isamu started to question her on the move, completely ignoring Haku. They cut their conversation short however, when Haku said, "Hyōton: Makyō Hyōshō!"

XXXXX

Amayah drew a kunai and brought it up just in time to defend against Zabuza's strike at her neck, trying to let his sword live up to its name. she grunted as she was flung back. She slid to a stop, just in time to get the kunai in the way of the Kubikiribōchō, this time redirecting it to slide to the side. As it did, she immediately jumped up and attached herself to the flat of the blade and smirked down at Zabuza as he glared at her. Zabuza grunted and said, "That's cute, and twisted the blade, causing her to fall from it as he cut up at her arm. He sliced through it, only for smoke to emerge from the cut and coalesce into another arm. He said, "Genjutsu, huh?" and released it.

Amayah said, "Huh, and here I was hoping that it would last longer. But, I suppose that in the end, it doesn't matter one way or the other. It bought me the time I needed."

"What for?"

"This," Amayah grinned and revealed a seal on a scroll that she opened. She said, "Kai!" as she tapped the seal. She reached into a cloud of smoke and drew a sword with a straight blade. She said, "I'm going to do you a favour and introduce you to my family's sword, the Yogiridashi."

"I thought that you were from a genjutsu clan."

"I am. But, unlike most genjutsu clans, mine doesn't shy away from melee combat…or, well it used to anyway. Recently though, it has raised a lot of shinobi that rely heavily on it, but you could say that I'm a bit of a throwback."

"So, is there any inherent abilities that it has, like all of ours?"

"Ours? Does saying that mean that you still consider yourself as one of the Seven Swordsmen?"

Zabuza declared, "Don't be absurd! I want nothing to do with any of those guys. I never have, and never will. However, until I no longer possess this blade, in the eyes of Kiri, I will always be counted as one of their Seven Swordsmen."

"I see. That's too bad then."

"How's that?"

"Well, I'd always figured that it would be pretty cool to wield one of their swords, but if that's the case, then I don't want it."

"Well, that only goes for Kiri-trained shinobi that have undergone the specialised training for them."

Amayah said, "Ohhh? That sounds interesting then," as Zabuza slashed through her, but the slash only caused her to dissolve into smoke again. Zabuza grunted and said, "Genjutsu again?" and made a seal before saying, "Kai!"

But, as Amayah's form solidified again, she grinned and said, "Sorry, not this time."

"What was that?" Zabuza demanded as he realised that his cancellation hadn't worked.

That's the power of the Yogiridashi. It strengthens any genjutsu used by the wielder by casting them through the blade, rendering them incapable of being released."

Zabuza grunted and said, "Well then, I'll just have to disabuse you of that notion then," as he started forming seals. When he was done, he extended his thumb and tapped a spot on his chest above his heart as he said, "Juinjutsu: Kijin Mōdo!" After he had, a dark chakra started to be emitted from his body and he disappeared from sight for a second before slicing at Amayah, who got her sword in the way, just in time to block the attack, but got sent tumbling away from Zabuza. She sprung up and said, "Well damn. Would you look at that, and here I'd thought that only Naruto and Itachi could counter my sword's abilities."

Zabuza grunted and said, "I don't like comparisons to the likes of them," and slashed at Amayah again, this time, sending a crescent blade of black water at her.

XXXXX

As he fought Daichi, Naruto thought, 'Damn! That's a pretty cool trick you've got there Zabuza, mixing in dark chakra with your suiton. However, that's not going to be enough to impress Amayah, who fought by my side for years.'

Daichi said, "Let me guess what you're thinking, Namikaze."

"You can try, that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to tell you whether you're right or wrong."

"Fair enough. Right now, you're probably thinking that Zabuza has mixed dark chakra in with his suiton jutsu, producing that black water that we saw just now."

"Your point?"

"You're wrong. Well, kind of."

"Oh? How so?"

"Zabuza converts his chakra within his body into dark chakra and then uses that to perform his jutsu, so saying that they're a kekkei genkai, or an approximation of it, like your swords, is a bit too much of a stretch." Naruto grunted and his lips twitched downwards as he slashed at Daichi with more force than Daichi had been expecting, and slid back, away from Naruto. Daichi blinked and said, "What's wrong Namikaze? Did you fail at that or something?"

Naruto said, "Zanzo Bunshin no jutsu." And multiple copies of the blonde shinobi appeared.

Daichi's eyes widened and said, "So, going to take this seriously, are we?" Naruto didn't say anything as he slashed through Daichi's body.

Hito exclaimed, "Daichi-sama!" and started to run towards Naruto.

Mizuko was faster though, and blocked a wild strike with her blade, saying, "You're fighting me."

Daichi said, "Hito, don't think that something like this is enough to take me out," as his form transformed into a dark flame before reforming. He said, "Myōhō Kaeninpō: Kaen Tensei no jutsu," as Naruto bifurcated him once again before slashing the halves in half before they'd fully reformed.

Naruto said, "This sure takes us back, doesn't it, Daichi?"

"Yeah," Daichi said. "It's just like that ridiculous match that we had in the Chūnin Exam. However…" Daichi's flaming sword changed to match the dark flames of his body as he cut through Naruto's sword, and his body. "…this time, I have a sword too." Unlike when Naruto had cut through Daichi, his body fell to the ground in two.

Mizuko exclaimed, "NOOO! Aaarrrggghhhhh!" as tears ran down her face. Suddenly, red clouded her vision as she felt a dull burn in her right eye. Suddenly, she saw a red outline of where Hito's sword was going and dodged around it before slashing him with her Suiton: Kaichō, taking him out of the fight, but not killing him. she then threw the watery blade at Daichi, who stepped backwards to dodge it. However, as soon as he had, he had to duck under a wild swing of a Reisui no Tsurugi, courtesy of an enraged Mizuko that had used the Kawarimi jutsu on the kunai that she'd thrown. Daichi grunted as he punched the angry kunoichi in the stomach, sending her flying backwards, through the fog. When she stopped rolling, Mizuko found that, for some reason, she was unable to move. She couldn't see it, but it was due to the black marks that were now covering her body, and the immediate area of the bridge around her.

As she screamed out in frustration, Daichi said, "So, you willing to stop for now, Namikaze?"

Mizuko exclaimed, "No! Never, you killed…"

Naruto said, "Looks like it might be a good idea," as he hopped back over the bridge's railing.

"What? Aniki?!" the red glow fading from her vision. "Where? How?"

Daichi said, "Alright," ignoring Mizuko. "There'll be two conditions though."

"What's that?"

"You stay away from the other fights."

"And?"

"Heal Hito."

"Sure," Naruto shrugged. He said, "So long as you release Mizuko," as he went over to the kid and knelt down next to him."

"Alright. But only if you guarantee that she won't try and interfere either."

Naruto said, "Done," and Daichi went over to release Mizuko from the binding seal that he'd put on her.

When Mizuko had been released, and Hito had been healed, they sat on the railing. Mizuko looked at her brother and asked, "Why'd you agree to that, Aniki?"

Naruto sighed and said, "When Daichi and I are fighting against each other, and he uses his Kaen Tensei, it becomes a contest of who can outlast the other, and since we have about the same amount of chakra and physicality, well…let's just say that it takes longer than either of us would like."

"But that was a katon jutsu, wasn't it?"

"That's right, kiddo," Daichi said.

"But then, shouldn't the Reisui work then?"

Naruto grunted as Daichi grinned and said, "Nah. It grants me intangibility, so even if, in theory, it should work, it doesn't."

"But surely…"

Naruto said, "Mizuko. The shōsen element of it compacts the water together with enough density to make it comparable to a physical object."

"Then wouldn't the Kaichō…"

"Well…" Naruto said, scratching his neck and looking away.

Daichi grinned and said, "Over time, elements of his Reisui bled into his Kaichō. So even that is useless against me when I'm using that."

Mizuko exclaimed, "Seriously?!"

Naruto protested, "It makes it more effective! Well…usually anyway."

"Then…why did you just teach me both of them?"

"A few reasons. The preeminent ones being because you could handle them, and needed some offensive and defensive jutsu."

Mizuko said, "What do you mean 'defensive'? All you taught me was those two and the Mizurappa."

Daichi's eyes widened and he said, "Damn! You learned three jutus in what?" Daichi paused as he calculated the time that Haku would have needed to get to Tanzaku-gai. "A week?"

Mizuko looked at him and said, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Hito looked at her horrified as Daichi laughed. He said, "Damn Namikaze. She's just like you, isn't she?"

Mizuko beamed as she said, "Really?"

Naruto said, "In some ways, yes."

"Hey…Aniki…"

"What?"

"In one of the textbooks that we had to read at the Academy, I think I read something about an intangibility jutsu that uses suiton."

"What about it?"

"Couldn't you just use that to fight against him," Mizuko said, twitching her hand to point at Daichi.

"Does it really matter?"

"Well, no. But…"

"In any case, I didn't need it to substitute with a blood clone right after I used the Zanzō Bunshin."

Hito asked, "What was that jutsu anyway?"

Naruto said, "It's not really all that complicated a feat." Naruto nodded at Daichi and said, "He can tell you all about it later."

"Why can't you tell me now?"

Naruto sighed and said, "He really does have no limits, does he?"

"No. But your sister seems to be cut from the same cloth."

Naruto looked at Mizuko for about a second before he sighed and said, "Fair enough." Mizuko glared at Hito, for some reason being annoyed at being compared to Hito in any way. Hito glared right back at her before they both humphed and looked away. Naruto and Daichi silently grinned at each other, remembering the first time that they'd met and done much the same thing, though there was more grabbing and attempted hitting and kicking as their respective sensei dragged them away from each other.

XXXXX

From inside his mirror, Haku said, "I will congratulate the two of you. However, this fight is over."

Miwa said, "The hell it is!" as she scythed her hand through the air. "This ain't over until we beat the hell out of you! Believe it!" and pointed her index and middle fingers at the mirror that she had seen Haku enter, saying, "Byakurai!" When the lightning contacted the mirror, it was repelled and, more strangely, somehow, the image didn't change. She said, "What the…" as Isamu cried out. Her head whipped to look at him and saw two needles sticking out of his right arm, crying out, "Isamu!" Miwa looked at the mirror behind the one that she was looking at and demanded, "What the hell did you do?"

Miwa heard Haku's voice coming from above her and jumped when she saw his torso appear from the 'roof'. Haku said, "This jutsu is made with my kekkei genkai, and cannot be destroyed by techniques as basic as that one is. And even if you did somehow manage to destroy it, it won't affect my body."

Isamu said, "If you don't mind my asking…why did you just say that you were going to congratulate us?"

Haku said, "This is only the second time that I have ever had to use this jutsu, and because you have forced me to do so, I shall become a shinobi and use my full strength to defeat you."

"What do you mean 'become a shinobi'?"

"Shinobi are the tools of their superior, to be used for whatever purpose they deem fit. In order to achieve their goals They sacrifice their humanity, and discard the tools that are no longer of any use."

Miwa said, "That's bullshit!"

"How can you say that? If what Zabuza-sama was telling me was correct, your brother and Zabuza-sama epitomise this dichotomy. In your brother's case, he sacrificed the time that he should have spent with you because your village leaders could use him to cover up whatever misdeeds they had undertaken, no doubt 'for the sake of the village'. Zabuza-sama was used by his village until it was inconvenient for the village elders and he was discarded."

Miwa's face darkened as her eyes started to glow yellow and she started to leak killer intent. She growled, "You don't have the right!"

Haku asked, "I don't have the right to what?"

Miwa jumped at Haku, her fist drawn back as she screamed unintelligibly. She punched at haku, or rather, she tried to, but found all that happened was pain shooting throughout her arm. She looked at it and saw needles placed into her elbow, wrist, fingers and joint. She groaned and squinted against the pain."

Isamu gasped, "Miwa! But how?"

Miwa grasped at the needles, but stopped moving when she felt the same tingling sensation as she had when the needles had been inserted in her other arm. She said, "Damn! I know how that mirror jutsu works!"

"What? How?"

Haku thought, 'She can't possibly. Not after this short a time. Not without a dōjutsu or being able to use hyōton herself, and there's been no indication whatsoever that she is capable of doing so yet.'

Miwa said, "Rather than a strict ninjutsu, like that Sensatsu Suishō, this is an augmentation-type jutsu, like Hana-sensei's Shikyaku no Jutsu. It massively increases his speed when moving from one mirror to another, which means that he was right when he said that destroying the mirrors would leave him unaffected, because he'd just move from one mirror to another by the time that a jutsu that was powerful enough to destroy it would be able to reach the mirror."

Isamu thought, 'It's an augmentation jutsu? Hana-sensei needs to continuously supply chakra to her Shikyaku to keep it active, but, from what I'm sensing, this person doesn't seem to be supplying any more chakra to himself to increase his speed, or to maintain those mirrors. So how…wait…maybe…' Isamu bit his lip as he thought, 'But that's impossible. If they used some kind of repulsion and attraction force to increase the speeds, then Miwa and I should be affected by it as well, but it's only affecting Haku. Then maybe it's something within the mirrors themselves. If that's the case, then we should be able to destroy them if we can attack them simultaneously from both inside this shell, and outside of it.' he said, "Miwa, can you contact your sister?"

"Mizuko? Yeah. Why?"

"If we want to get out of here, we need to attack the mirrors from both sides at the same time."

Miwa exclaimed, "Seriously!?"

"Yeah. It's the only way."

Miwa said, "Alright," and thought, "Sousei Renkei no Jutsu!" activating the jutsu that augmented the link that the twins had.

Mizuko, thought, "Miwa!" as she cut down Hito.

"We need you to attack these mirrors at the same time as I do."

"Right. Just let me…" Mizuko flung her watery dagger past Daichi's face.

After nothing happening for a while, Miwa thought, "Mizuko?"

Miwa got back, "Sorry Miwa, you're on your own. I can't get out of this stupid seal that Daichi put me in."

Miwa sighed and said, "Alright. We'll just have to do something about it ourselves." She sighed and said, "Sorry Isamu. Looks like we're gonna have to take care of this one ourselves."

Isamu sighed and said, "Well, it was worth a sho-!" and he collapsed, full of needles.

Miwa exclaimed, "Isamuuu!" and fell to her knees at his side, tears running down her face.

Miwa glared where Haku's voice was coming from as she heard, "I told you, didn't I. Shinobi fight, and fight, until they are no longer of any use to those that are left behind."

Miwa groaned, "Aaaaaoooooaaahhhhhhhhh!" as her anger flared she rushed at the mirror, as strange red chakra burst from her skin, forcing the needles from her arms and increasing her speed to the point that she could even see Haku as he tried to leave the mirror. But, before he could, she grabbed his neck, forcing him through it, causing it, and all of the other mirrors to shatter. She tossed him up before levelling her fist into his chest, knocking the wind out of him as he tumbled across the bridge.

Miwa looked down at Haku as he propped himself up, looking at her, shaking in terror from the strange red chakra surrounding her. She said, "You said that shinobi kill their emotions and fight until they die, right?" Haku rapidly nodded his head. "Well, I just beat you with the anger I felt from what you did. So I'd say that being able to feel emotions is not a hinderance to a shinobi, but a source of strength. If that's not proof enough, look at yourself, right now you're shaking like a leaf about to fall from the tree. Now…" She took a step forward, drawing a kunai, causing Haku to shuffle backwards, away from the red-clad menace. "how many cuts should I make before I slit your neck, or should I skin you alive? No. Wait. I think that, just for good measure, I should use you as target practice."

Miwa drew her arm back to throw a lightning-charged kunai at her downed foe, when she heard a faint, "Mi-wa," coming from where Isamu's body had been and she looked back.

She said, "Isamu?" as he pushed himself up, crying out in pain from the needles that were still stuck in him. She looked at Haku and said, "It would appear that you fail from your definition of a shinobi, Haku," and stopped streaming lightning into her kunai.

As Miwa went back to help Isamu, Haku said, "Kill me."

Miwa looked back at him and said, "What? Why are you asking me that?"

"I failed to accomplish my mission. That means that, as you said, I failed to be useful to Zabuza-sama. As such, I no longer have any purpose in this life. So, please, kill me to atone for my failure."

"No way," Miwa dismissively said, waving her hand in the air.

Haku said, "Then in that case…" drawing a senbon. Miwa's eyes widened and threw her kunai at Haku's arm, piercing through it, forcing Haku's arm away from his chest. Haku asked, "Why did you…?"

Miwa said, "The victor gets to decide what happens with the loser. And I don't want your death on my conscience. If you want to make it up to Zabuza, then live, live and make up for it by not failing the next time."

On the railing, Daichi smiled and said, "That speech sounds familiar, doesn't it, Namikaze?"

Naruto blew a stray lock out of his eyes and said, "Don't remind me."

Mizuko looked up at her brother and asked, "What does he mean?"

Naruto sighed and said, "I was forced to give one just like that to one of Daichi's teammates when we met during the second round of our Chūnin Exam. She'd been in some kind of strange mindbending waterfall in the Land of Lightning and was jabbering about killing someone by mistake on a mission."

XXXXX

As Zabuza continued his futile attempts to bifurcate Amayah, Amayah kept on dissipating into smoke before the Kubikiribōchō could cut into her. Conversely, as soon as she'd dissipated, she returned to normal and sliced into the legendary sword, streaming her Yōton chakra through her sword, transforming the edge of the blade into diamond. Zabuza's blade stopped short of cutting into her again when they heard someone tapping the ground with something. Zabuza looked at the source and said, "Gato. What are you doing here?" taking note of the hundred or so goons that he'd brought with him.

Gato said, "They've done quite a job on you, haven't they, Zabuza? I must say, I'm…disappointed."

"I don't care. Answer the question. While you're at it, you can tell me who these thugs that you brought with you are too."

"Yes," Amayah said, "I'd like to know too. Didn't you hire Zabuza for some nefarious plot of yours?"

"I did, but there's been a slight change in the plan. According to the new plan, you all perish, including you, Zabuza."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he growled, "What?!"

"It's too expensive to pay you, or whoever will be left after you die against that girl, so I decided to take you all off the payroll. Of course, these thugs cost a lot of money as well, so if you could slaughter a few of them before you die, I'd appreciate it. Do you think that you can manage that, 'Demon of the Mist'?" Gato scoffed. He said, "Look at you. Right now you look about as demonic as a wet kitten," causing the thugs around him to start laughing.

Amayah said, "Well Zabuza. It looks like you're no longer employed."

"Yeah. you're right. That old man's got nothing to fear from me or my men anymore. There's no need to fight you anymore either."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right."

Gato said "Oh yes, that reminds me. Your punk apprentice grabbed me and almost broke my arm, didn't he? When you're done, I'll take my time with him."

Naruto sighed and said, "Well, looks like its time that we got involved, don't you think, Daichi?" as he stood up and tapped a spot on his haori.

"Yeah. I'd say so," Daichi agreed, drawing a scroll from his kunai pouch before standing up. He unraveled it as they walked over to Amayah and Zabuza.

When Naruto and Daichi were standing next to Amayah and Zabuza respectively, Zabuza saw the swords and said, "So it was you that took down Kushimaru, Namikaze?"

Amayah said, "It's been a while since you've used Nuibari Naruto. Are you sure you still can?"

Naruto scoffed and said, "I've just never had the need for it since the war. Since we're teaming up though with Zabuza, I figure that it couldn't hurt. Now, before we really get down to business…" Naruto paused before saying, "Fūton: Fūjin no jutsu!"

As wind rushed down the blade of Nuibari, Zabuza said, "Suiton: Kuroi Suika no jutsu."

Daichi said, "Myōhō Kaeninpō: Kaen Tensei no jutsu," reactivating his own elemental body transformation technique."

Amayah said, "Yogiridashi: Asagiri."

Seeing nothing different, the thugs all started laughing. That stopped when they realised that the four jōnin were no longer there. Instead of four jōnin standing twenty metres away from them, they heard screams, yelps and groans as they were slashed, pierced, burned and turned into smoke. Some of them actually managed to hit the jōnin with their swords, but, all that happened was either they cut straight through them and into their own men, or they blew up, or got blasted away by a sudden burst of wind. Within seconds, all that was left, was Gato.

When they were done, the four jōnin looked down at Gato, who had turned into a sniveling mess and simultaneously said, "Now, what was that you were saying, you scum?"

Naruto said, "Hey, Zabuza. How much were you going to get paid for ending Tazuna?"

"150,000 ryō. Why?"

"What would you say to collecting a bounty on Gato's head for a quarter of his business interests?"

"A quarter? Who gets the rest?"

"Since he clearly likes muscling in on other peoples businesses and stealing them, I'd say that we could provide an even split between the four of us."

"Sounds interesting, but I've got no interest in being a fishing merchant."

Naruto sighed and said, "Yeah. Me too." He looked at Amayah and Daichi and said, "What about you two?"

"Nah, not interested," Daichi said.

Amayah said, "Too busy."

They all heard a female voice say, "I'll take it," and Naruto and Daichi laughed, having expected it.

Mafūma pouted as she appeared between the two. She said, "Would you two not laugh at me as if I'm not here?"

Naruto sighed and said, "Mafūma. You are, as ever, one of a kind."

Daichi mumbled, "You got that right."

Amayah said, "You…" taking in Mafūma's appearance.

Mafuma looked at her and said, "You mean me?" cocking her head as she pointed at herself.

Amayah said, "Yeah. You look…familiar…say. Do your eyes ever change colour when you're angry?"

"I don't know. Why? Is there something special about it?"

"Well, I don't know how rare it is, but…hmm…" She sighed and said, "Can I have some of your blood.

Mafuma cringed away and said, "Eeww. No way! I'm up for a lot of sick and twisted things…or…so I'm told…but even I have my limits."

"What? No!" Amayah blushed. "That's not what I…"

Naruto sighed and said, "Mafūma. Amayah's not into bloodplay. She probably wants to run a blood test, that's all."

"What? A bloodtest? Why? I know I sleep around a bit, but I'm absolutely certain that I don't have a…"

Naruto cut her off, saying, "No," before pointing at the genin. "You really need to cut that crap out around children."

"Oh!" Mafūma blushed herself. She yelled, "I'm sorry kiddos! Ignore what I just said," causing Miwa and Mizuko to start to glare at her.

"In any case, just do it. If you don't, you'll find her popping up in Tanzaku-gai more often than your clientele would like."

Mafūma sighed and said, "Oh, fine. But I still get the business regardless, right?"

"Of course."

"Great!" Mafūma said and, with a large smile, disappeared before reappearing with Gato's head in her hand.

Naruto sighed and said, "Well Zabuza, with this all over with, can we assume that you'll have no more business here in Wave?"

"Yeah. I'm done."

"Where'll you go?"

"Who knows? Maybe We'll hole out in Tanzaku-gai for a bit. Or, maybe not."

"Well, just so long as I don't catch sight of you on my next mission."

"I'll make sure of it. Just out of curiosity though…"

"What is it?"

"You're not thinking of founding your own troupe of swordsmen, are you?"

"No. Why?"

"Oh, it's probably nothing, but before we came here, I heard some rumours about a sword made from lightning being wielded by a jōnin from Amegakure. It could be nothing, but I heard a story from one of my senpai that your Niidaime had a sword similar to that."

"I'm not going to thank you, but I'll look into it."

Zabuza said, "I'd kill you if you did. Well, I guess I'll kill you next time, Namikaze." Naruto nodded and he walked off, helping Haku up when he'd finished binding his wounded arm.

"Well," Naruto said, "if that's that, see ya," and waved over his shoulder as he walked over to the genin, who had all converged on Tazuna while they tried to watch the jōnin slaughter the thugs, though they ended up too quick for them to be able to see anything at all.

Naruto's hundred or so clones helping caused the bridge to be completed within the week, and have the bridge named after him

XXXXXXX

A/N

Weapons & Attacks

Amayah

Yogiridashi / Night Fog Pointed Knife

A white straight blade with two sharp edges that tapers to a point.

Zabuza

Kubikiribōchō

A massive sword renowned as the "seversword" (断刀, dantō). It is a large broadsword, as tall as a full-grown man, shaped like a butcher knife. The blade itself has two cut outs, a circle close to the top and a semi-circular one nearer to the handle, the former of which is aptly fitting the sword's purpose of decapitation. It possesses the ability to reform itself using the iron harvested from the blood of its victims.

Kijin Mōdo / Demon Mode

When Zabuza uses this, dark chakra starts to emit from his body. To use this, Zabuza transforms all of his chakra within his body to dark chakra, increasing its potency. It has the side effect of giving all of the user's jutsu a black shade. Zabuza came up with this after having been given the title Kirigakure no Kijin.

Suiton: Kōseki no jutsu / Water Release: Wake Technique

Referencing the wake of a boat, the user streams water into their blade that falls to the back of the blade before getting thrust forward in the direction of the swing.

Suiton: Kuroi Kōseki no jutsu / Water Release: Black Wake Technique

A more powerful variant of the Suiton: Kōseki no jutsu that is coloured black. It can only be used by a user of Kijin Mōdo.

Daichi

Myōhō Kaeninpō: Kaen Tensei no jutsu / Dark Phoenix Flame Ninja Art: Blazing Reincarnation Technique

A technique where the user's body transforms into black flames, granting them a type of temporary immunity to physical attacks. However, it takes up a large amount of the user's stamina to keep active.

Miwa

Raiton: Byakurai / Lightning Release: Pale Lightning

The user points at the intended target with their index finger and generates a bolt of lightning to use against the target. They can adjust the width of the bolt as needed. They can also use their middle finger if their control isn't high enough to use and direct the bolt with a single finger.

Namikaze-ryū: Sousei Renkei no Jutsu / Namikaze-style: Twin Link Technique

Increases the strength of the link that Mizuko and Miwa have to each other, letting them communicate their thoughts to the other. They tried to teach it to Hana and Isamu, but, to their annoyance, found it beyond futile. Activating it in one, activates it in the other.