Chapter 17: Chapter Fifteen: Wave Part One
Disclaimer: I do not and will not ever own Naruto!
-The Hokage Office-
Several days after the events with the Fire Daimyo's wife, Naruto along with his sensei's Kushina and Yamato were called in by the Hokage for a mission.
"You called for us Hokage-sama" spoke Yamato after he, Kushin and Naruto entered the room.
"Yes, I did, thank you all for coming so quickly".
"So what is it that you need us for Hokage-sama?" asked Kushina.
"I called you all here because I've an important mission that I need you for".
At hearing this Naruto immediately got excited as he was getting pretty tired of all these D-rank missions, and wanted to do something a little more exciting, where he could put the results of his training with Kushina and Yamato to use.
Kushina and Yamato of course remained a little more sober, as they knew there was more to this than a simple mission, given how serious the Hokage was.
"And what exactly is the mission, Hokage-sama?" asked Yamato.
"The mission involves sending you to Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) and support Kakashi and his team on their mission in helping to protect a bridge builder named Tazuna" answered Sarutobi.
At hearing this Kushina raised her eyebrow in curiosity, "Excuse me Hokage-sama, but why are you sending us to support Kakashi and his team on a mission, that is clearly a C-rank mission. Surely Kakashi can handle anything that could happen in a C-rank mission", spoke Kushina.
"Normally I would agree with you Kushina, but this is not your ordinary C-rank mission, for you see, it seems that the client Tazuna lied to us when he requested our assistance" replied the old Hokage.
"How so Hokage-sama?" asked Yamato.
"According to the message that Kakashi sent to me, it seems that Tazuna is being targeted by a man name Gatō"
"Gatō? As in the wealthy shipping magnate and leader of the shipping company, Gatō Corporation?" asked Kushina.
"The very same, although from what recent intelligence has told me, Gatō's export and import business is actually a front for smuggling illegal goods and selling drugs. This has resulted in Gatō becoming one of the richest men in the world as a result".
At this Kushina, Yamato and Naruto all nodded their heads in understanding, after which Naruto then spoke up.
"But how is he involved with this mission Jiji?" asked Naruto.
"Well seemingly, Gatō has set up his headquarters in Nami no Kuni, as the Country is in a key position for sea trade between Hi no Kuni (Fire Country) and most of the other island nations. He then used his monopoly over shipping to take control of the country's economy, which is allowing him to slowly take control of the country itself. But Tazuna is threating all this with the bridge that he is building to connect Nami no Kuni to the mainland, which would destroy Gatō's monopoly over Nami no Kuni. Hence he has hired a group of Nuke-nins to eliminate Tazuna", spoke the Sandaime.
"If that is true Hokage-sama, why didn't he tell the truth? Where we could've sent a team more suited for the mission than a team of Genin and their Sensei" spoke Yamato.
"Seemly from Kakashi's message Tazuna-san, and his people have spent most of their remaining money on the equipment and materials needed to build the bridge, and did not have much left to request a higher rank mission, hence why he lied when he requested our help".
"So what did Kakashi go against on the mission, to make him call for backup?" asked Kushina, as she knew Kakashi was no pushover and it would have to be something dangerous for him to need help.
"Well it seems that when Kakashi and his team where traveling to Nami no Kuni, they were ambushed by the Oni Kyōdai (Demon Brothers) Gōzu and Meizu. Kakashi and his team easily dispatched them and left them to be arrested by our forces, after sending word of what happened. Upon which he and his team then continue on with the mission, but after they landed on Nami no Kuni they encountered Momochi Zabuza the fame Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of The Hidden Mist)".
Upon hearing this, the eyes of Yamato, Kushina suddenly in widen, as they had both heard of the infamous Nuke-nin of Kiri. Even Naruto had heard of the former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (The Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist), who had lead a failed revolt against the Yondaime Mizukage and was force to flee afterwards. Naruto only knew about him since his mother had made certain that he knew all the high rank Nuke-nins in the Bingo books on the chance that he encountered one.
"The Demon of the Hidden Mist…no wondered Kakashi called for backup" muttered Kushina to herself.
"You need not worry about Zabuza, as Kakashi reported that he defeated him, thanks to the help of his team, after which Zabuza was killed by a Hunter-nin who had been tracking Zabuza", spoke Sarutobi.
This of course surprised the three Shinobi, especially Naruto, since he knew that they only way that Sasuke and the others could have helped Kakashi in any way, would be if they worked together. This of course was surprising, since he didn't think Sasuke would work with his team-mates, let alone that they all could work together to begin with.
"But if Zabuza is dead, why do we need to support Kakashi team?" asked Naruto.
"Although Zabuza is dead, we don't know for certain that he and the demon brothers were the only ones that Gatō hired to take out Tazuna. This is why I sending you all to support him and team seven, since after his battle, Kakashi was left gravely weakened and even with Zabuza dealt with, who was most likely the greatest threat. Kakashi will be in no shape to defend Tazuna for a while" answered the Sandaime.
At this the three Shinobi's nodded again in understanding, although Yamato suddenly spoke up again.
"If I may Hokage-sama, why are you sending us on this mission, as surely this would be something for a more senior team?" asked Yamato.
"Normally I would do so, but unfortunately our forces are spread rather thin, where if I were to send a more senior team, it would weaken our defensives, which is why I'm sending you three. I have no doubt that whatever happens on this mission you and Kushina can handle it with Kakashi's help. While Naruto as you both known, is already a skilled Shinobi who can hold his own in most situations, not to mention he is also skilled in medical Ninjutsu thanks to his mother's training, where he can help Kakashi recover more quickly. Also Naruto already has some experience in combat thanks to the incident in Oni no Kuni (Demon Country), so I've no doubt he will be of help, whatever happens".
After hearing this Yamato only nodded, upon which he Kushina and Naruto left the room to pack for their mission, where two hours later they left the village and headed for Nami no kuni.
-Three days Later near Tazuna home-
After three days of travelling from Konoha to Nami no Kuni, Naruto and his Sensei's arrived at Nami no kuni, where they entered the nearby village. When they arrived at the village, they found it in an appalling state, where most of the people were in in tattered ragged clothes, with sorrowful looks on their faces, as if their spirits had been broken. The children were even in worse shape than the adults, as they were all skinny and dirty with tattered clothes and just sitting on the ground, with blank looks on their faces.
When Naruto saw this, he could not help but become angry at seeing all this, as he knew that Gatō was responsible for all these people suffering.
Soon enough though they found a person who directed them to where Tazuna home was.
When they arrived at the gate they all sensed a familiar presence nearby watching them, but before any of them could call to the person to come out, the person in questioned jumped out in front of them from a nearby tree.
When the person appeared in front of them, Naruto and his two Sensei's saw that the person that had been watching them was Sai, who had been keeping guard of the house in case of any sneak attack.
"Greeting's, so you're the ones who the Hokage has sent to assist us" spoke Sai.
"Correct, could you please bring us to Kakashi-senpai", spoke Yamato, where Sai just nodded and led them into the house.
When Yamato, Kushina and Naruto followed Sai into the house, they saw a young woman in a small kitchen cooking what most likely was evening dinner for the group. They then saw an old man, who was most likely the bridge builder Tazuna, sitting at a table drinking sake. While sitting in the far corner was Sasuke with his eyes closed, only to open them when Naruto and his Sensei's entered the house.
When Naruto and his group arrived, the young woman in the kitchen quickly turned around and smiled, "Oh! New arrivals are these the people, that Kakashi-san said would arrive to help?"
"Indeed we are" replied Yamato.
At hearing this, the woman's smile grew, "Then you've our gratitude…my name is Tsunami".
"It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Yamato, this is my partner Uzumaki Kushina and this is our student Senju Naruto".
"It is very nice to meet you all…please make yourselves at home, I will prepare some more things for dinner" spoke Tsunami
"That is very kind of you, thank you" spoke Kushin respectfully.
"Hmph! Another brat! But at least this time they sent some people that might actually be of some help to us" spoke the slightly drunk bridge builder.
At hearing Tazuna calling him brat Naruto scowled, "I suggest you be more grateful you old fart…as it was brats like me that helped save your sorry ass earlier…" retorted Naruto, remembering the Hokage report of what happened with Kakashi and his team.
When Sasuke heard this, he could not help but smirk at Naruto putting the old drunk in his place, as he had received such similar remark from Tazuna when he and his team first met him
At hearing this Tazuna scowled at Naruto's remark, but before he could retort back, Naruto continued. "…Besides that, you should also be grateful, that our village even sent us to help you, as our Hokage could have easily just called Kakashi-sensei and his team back, like most Shinobi villages would. Especially after you lied to our village about the dangers of the mission and but Kakashi-sensei and his team in danger and nearly got them killed"
Tazuna was of course taken back by Naruto response and as much as he hated to admit it Naruto had a point and was indeed correct, as he nearly did get Kakashi and his team killed, because he held back information from them and lied to them. But even still, he was a stubborn old man and wouldn't back down in argument, especially to someone Naruto's age.
Thankfully though before an argument could break out between them, Tsunami placed her hand gentle on her father's shoulder, stopping her father from making the argument go any further.
Yamato also did the same, by placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder calming the hot-headed young blonde from fighting with Tazuna anymore.
"Please forgive my father, he gets rather moody when he is drunk" spoke Tsunami, as she apologised for her father's remark.
"Of course, and allow me to apologise for my student, as he can be rather hot-headed at times" replied Yamato.
Tsunami of course nodded, after which Kushina asked where Kakashi was, where Tsunami pointed to the room next to them indicating that Kakashi was in there.
When they entered the room, the team found Kakashi lying flat on his back, with a blanket over him and Sakura sitting next to him, making sure that he was ok.
When Kakashi heard the door to his room opening, he lifted his head up slightly to look up to see who was entering the room. When he saw that it was Yamato, Kushina and Naruto, along with Sasuke and Sai (who had followed Naruto and his Sensei's), he greeted them and gave them his tradition one eyed eye smiles (while keeping his Sharingan eye closed).
After entering the room, Naruto then began to do his check up on Kakashi to see the extent of his injuries, which were remarkably minor, much to Naruto's surprise. As he expected a great deal more damage from Kakashi, after he fought and defeated the infamous Demon of the hidden Mist.
"Well Kakashi-sensei, your injuries aren't as bad as I thought they would be and I healed them all, but your main problem is that your suffering from Chakra exhaustion, most likely from using your Sharingan for a belong period, correct?" stated Naruto. As Jiraiya had told him a while back, that due to the fact that he wasn't an Uchiha and didn't possess the Sharingan naturally. Kakashi couldn't turn off his Sharingan, nor could he use it for long periods as it drained too much of his Chakra.
Kakashi of course just nodded as what Naruto said was correct
"Well I'm afraid there is little I can do there, as it's best to let your body rest and recovery by itself, so as long as you don't do anything too strenuous and keep resting, you should recover in a couple of days' time", stated Naruto, where Kakashi just nodded again.
Once Naruto had finished his check-up on Kakashi, Kushina then spoke up "So Kakashi why don't you tell what happened in detail with you and Zabuza?"
Kakashi of course complied with his former senior ANBU captain question and began to describe in detail what happened between him and Zabuza. Throughout the explanation, Kakashi told them, how he had fought Zabuza and was tricked and trapped by him in a Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique). Where he only to escape thanks to Sai and Sasuke working together to free him (Kakashi), where Sai used his Chōjū Giga (Super Beasts Imitation Picture) to create several Ink birds, which distracted Zabuza. Allowing Sasuke to fire a barrage of Shurikens and Kunai at Zabuza, forcing him to move and freeing Kakashi, who reengaged Zabuza and defeated him. But before Kakashi could finish him off a Hunter-nin arrived and stabbed Zabuza in the neck with some Senbon needles.
"Using Senbon Needles?...that's an unusual choice of weapon for a hunter-nin" commented Kushina.
At hearing this Naruto began to frown, as something didn't settle with him, "Eh Kakashi-sensei, do you know where exactly the Hunter-nins hit Zabuza with the Senbon needles in his neck?"
Kakashi nodded, where he then indicated on his neck with his hand, where exactly the Senbon needles hit Zabuza.
When Kakashi showed Naruto where Zabuza was hit in the neck with the needles, he frowned, as Kakashi confirmed what he feared.
"Zabuza isn't dead" spoke Naruto suddenly, gaining everyone's attention.
"What do you mean Senju? Of course Zabuza dead, we saw it with our own eyes" spoke Sasuke.
"What you saw was what Zabuza wanted you to think" replied Naruto.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Sakura, not getting what Naruto meant.
"It's simple, like Kushina-sensei said, Senbon needles are an unusual choice of weapon for a hunter-nin to use. But they're a perfect weapon for a medic-nin like me, especially if you want to do something to someone's body without doing any serious harm. From the points that Kakashi-sensei indicated, Zabuza was put in a near death state by the Hunter-nin, where Zabuza's heart rate was slowed down to a point where it can be barely felt, even if you checked for it".
When Kakashi heard this he felt like he could slap himself, where he would've if he could, as he couldn't believe he had forgotten that or hadn't noticed it earlier.
"Kakashi-sensei, is what Naruto saying true, is Zabuza really alive?" asked Sakura with some worry, at the idea of Zabuza still being alive.
"I'm afraid so Sakura, as what Naruto said is indeed true, not to mention another fact that I didn't notice earlier, where the Hunter-nin did not cut Zabuza head off when he "killed" him. As a hunter-nin is to decapitate his or her target on the spot and then destroy the body, so that that there is no chance of enemies learning any secrets of the village from the body. While the head is used to prove that the target has been eliminated", spoke Kakashi cursing himself for not seeing it sooner.
"It seems that you're losing your touch, Kakashi" spoke Kushina.
"You might be right Kushina-senpai" replied Kakashi with a sigh.
"Clearly the Hunter-nin was in league with Zabuza, where he watched your battle in case Zabuza lost, so that he would intervene and save Zabuza before you could kill him, and you would believe that he is dead. Giving Zabuza the chance to attack you when your guard is down", spoke Yamato, where he had to admit it was a clever ploy, which could fool most people.
Naruto himself also had to admit that the fake Hunter-nin was also very skilled, maybe as skilled if not more skilled than him, as it would take keen knowledge on the human anatomy. Not to mention to be highly skilled in Senbon needles, to precisely hit the small points on Zabuza neck with just the right amount of force and put him in the near death state, while at the same time, doing it all without killing or permanently paralyzing Zabuza.
"Well there is a bit of good news", spoke Naruto, gaining everyone's attention again.
"Which would be?" asked Sai.
"Well Zabuza won't be able to make any kind of attack on us for a little while, as the side effects of putting someone in the near deathlike state, is that the person will be unable to fully move their body for some time", answered Naruto.
"How much time would we have exactly?" asked Yamato.
"Well given the injuries he suffered after fighting Kakashi-sensei, along with being put in the deathlike state, I would say just over two weeks, but if the Hunter-nin is as a skilled medic as I think he is, given how he saved Zabuza. I would cut that recovery time in half and given the time that has already past, we only got a couple of days".
After hearing this Kakashi, Yamato and Kushina frowned, as that didn't give them much time to plan what to do.
Sakura, of course began to worry, while Sai remained emotionless and Sasuke actually looked eager at the idea of going against Zabuza again.
"Well it seems that we have quite the situation here and if we want to survive it, we're going to have to make you guys even stronger", spoke Kushina, as she looked at the members of team seven.
At hearing this Sasuke actually looked even more eager than before, especially at the idea at becoming stronger.
"Very well then, we'll start training tomorrow" spoke Yamato, after which the Konoha group began to talk over what they would do tomorrow, right up until they were called by Tsunami for dinner.
-The Next Morning-
The next morning in a small clearing in the woods of Nami no Kuni, the members of team seven along with Kushina, Naruto and Yamato prepared to do some training.
When they were planning on what to train team seven in last night, Naruto and his sensei's learned that Kakashi had yet to teach Sasuke and the others tree climbing. This of course surprised Yamato, as tree climbing should've been taught in the second week of taking in a team or at the very least before the team took on a C-rank mission.
Kushina of course rebuked Kakashi for not teaching his students something so basic and important sooner.
Kakashi of course tried to explain that he had been busy training to get his team to work together.
Normally such excuses would not work, but when considering how badly the members of team seven were getting along with one another and how until only a few days ago, couldn't work together. Yamato and Kushina could understand where Kakashi was coming from, but even still, Kushina did reprimanded Kakashi for not teaching his team simple three climbing, before they took this mission.
Kakashi himself was back at Tazuna home, where Tsunami made sure he did nothing too strenuous so that he could rest and recover more quickly. Normally this would be no problem for Kakashi, as he would use such time to read one of his Icha Icha books. But sadly when Naruto was doing his check up on Kakashi, he took the book from Kakashi, stating that he needed to focus more on recovering than on reading his book. Although Naruto also state that he was taking Kakashi's book as punishment, for not training his students in tree climbing, before they took the mission.
"Well now, since we're all here and we know what we're going to do for the next few days, I believe we should give a demonstration, of how exactly three climbing is done…Naruto would you care to show them how it's done?" spoke Kushina, as she then turned to Naruto.
Naruto of course nodded, where he started to channel his Chakra to his feet, while explaining it all to Sasuke and the others.
Once he had finished explaining to the others on what to do, he then simply walked up the tree and up to a large thick branch on a high part of the tree.
Seeing this, both Sasuke and Sakura looked surprised at this, as neither of them had seen anything like what Naruto was doing before. Sai on the other hand remained as emotionless and as blank as always, not showing the slightest sign of surprise.
After Naruto had shown them what to do, he quickly jumped down to the ground, upon which Kushina then told the three other Genin to attempt it as well.
The three Genin of course nodded and where they each took their own individual trees and channelled their Chakra to their feet and attempted to walk up the tree.
Sakura was able to walk up the tree she had chosen on the first attempt with no difficulty, which was of course no surprise to Kushina, Yamato, as they had read Sakura's academy report, where it showed, that much like Naruto, she had flawless control over her Chakra.
Sasuke on the other hand was having difficulty climbing the tree, where each time after only taking a few steps, he would fall to the ground, whether it was from streaming too much or too little Chakra to his feet, to keep himself on the tree.
Sai also seemly had the same problem as Sasuke, where he kept adding too much Chakra to too little, although Naruto believed he was doing it on purpose, so to stay close to Sasuke and keep an eye on him. Naruto guessed this, since he highly doubted that Danzo wouldn't have already trained Sai to do the tree climbing exercise.
Yamato and Kushina were of course of similar minds as Naruto, as they had heard from the Sandaime that Sai was a spy belonging to Danzo.
Seeing that Sakura could already do the tree climbing practise, Kushina decided that she would send Naruto and Sakura to guard Tazuna, while he and his men built the bridge.
Both Genins of course nodded, as having no problem in doing what Kushina asked them to, where they left together for the bridge.
Soon after, Yamato left to head back and guard Tazuna's family, in case Gato's men tried to kidnap them and force Tazuna to submit, while leaving Kushina to watch over Sasuke and Sai.
-Next day at Tazuna home-
After another day, the members of team seven along Naruto and his sensei's were sitting down around the small table in the living room with Tazuna family, eating dinner. Also among the group was Kakashi, (who was now well enough to move around a little) and Inari, Tazuna's grandson, who mainly kept to himself.
Naruto and Sakura had spent much of the day guarding Tazuna and his workers as they worked on the bridge. Naruto even helped a bit where he created clones to help the workers build the bridge.
Yamato had also kept guard over Tsunami and Inari as well as Kakashi, while he was recovering.
Kushina also kept watched over Sai and Sasuke as they trained in the tree climbing practice, where Sasuke was making good and steady progress, where he had already gotten half way up the tree before falling. Sai was also at the same level, but Kushina guessed he was only doing that so that he could keep an eye on Sasuke for as long as possible.
Throughout the past few days Inari had kept his distance from Naruto and all the others, Naruto, Sakura as well as Kushina had each tried to befriend or talk to the young boy. But each time any of them tired, he would yell at them to go away and would then runaway crying.
When they asked what was wrong with Inari, Tazuna went on to explain the sad story involving Inari's step father Kaiza, who had tried to stand up to Gato and his goons, but was beaten and executed in front of everyone by Gato's men.
As they all ate dinner together, Sakura decided to try and start a conversation and ask Kushina how Sasuke and Sai were doing in their training. Kushina of course answered saying that they were both making progress, but neither of them had reached the top.
As Sakura and Kushina continued to talk Inari suddenly spoke out.
"Why are all even bothering? You're all going to die anyway, none of you can beat Gato he's too strong!"
After hearing this, Sasuke frowned at Inari's little rant and was about to retort, about how a weakling like him wouldn't know anything about them, but before he could, Naruto suddenly spoke up.
"Don't act like you know anything about us brat, as we're a lot stronger than you think we are and we've no intention of dying to scum like Gato", replied Naruto.
"No you wrong! You're all going to die, as you've no idea what's it's like for us here, no-one can beat Gato!" cried the young boy.
At this Naruto just frowned further, at hearing how Inari telling them all, that it was useless and that they were all going to die. Naruto of course despised people like Inari who gave up on something without even trying and let bullies like Gato walk all over them and others.
"You're right I don't know what's it like to live under Gato's rule, but I sure as hell know that your step father Kaiza is probably turning over in his grave as we speak, at seeing how much of a whining cry baby and coward you've become. Your Grandfather is risking his life right now trying to build this bridge, all because he wants to save this country and give you a better life. While you're just sitting there crying, telling everyone its hopeless and that they should give up without even trying yourself" retorted Naruto harshly.
When Naruto said this, Inari quickly broke into tears and then ran off the next room, where Naruto just scoffed, after which he stood up from the table and began to walk out the front door.
"Naruto!" spoke out Yamato, when he saw his student getting up from the table, as he was about to rebuke Naruto for losing his temper with Inari. But when he spoke out to him, Naruto ignored Yamato and continued to walk out of the house.
"Naruto where are you going?" asked Yamato, where Naruto simple replied "out" before shutting the door behind him.
Yamato was of course going to follow after him, but was stopped by Kushina, who placed her hand on his shoulder, "Easily there Yamato, leave him be, he come back when he cools off a bit".
Yamato of course just nodded, knowing that Kushina was right, after which he turned to Tsunami. "Please accept my apologies for my student's outburst towards your son, as he can be rather hot-headed at times".
Tsunami of course nodded in acceptance "It is alright Yamato-san, as Inari can be rather difficult at times, ever since my husband's death, as it had an awful effect on him. But even still that did not excuse him for what he said, so I hope you can accept my apologies as well".
Yamato naturally accepted Tsunami apology, although was still planning to have a talk to Naruto about controlling his temper better.
Deciding to change the subject a bit Tazuna decided to ask Yamato something that he had been wondering for a while.
"If you don't mind me asking, but I've been wondering, why is it that kid has you two as his Sensei's? Why isn't he on a team like this group?" asked Tazuna as he indicated towards Kakashi and team seven.
"Naruto is a special case, where due to certain abilities he has, Kushina-senpai and I were assigned to help train in him. Although another reason why we were assigned to train him, was also to help protect him as well", answered Yamato.
"Protect him? But why?" asked Tsunami.
"You see Naruto is the heir to the Senju Clan, who were the main founders of our village and were said to be the strongest a Shinobi Clan in the world. Naruto is also the descendant of both our Shodaime Hokage and Nidaime Hokage, who led the building of Konoha. Not only that, but Naruto is also the son of Senju Tsunade the Slug Princess, credited of being the greatest Medic and strongest Kunoichi in the world and is a member of the Densetsu no Sannin (The Three Legendary Ninja's). The three strongest Shinobi's that our village has ever produced" spoke Kushina.
"So the kid is basically like royalty in your village, since he the descendant of your village's first two leaders and is the heir to the Clan that founded your village" replied Tazuna.
"One could look it at that way, but the reason as to us protecting him isn't for what you may think. For you see as I said, Naruto has certain unique abilities that make him a special case, ones that if certain people found out that he had them, they would hunt him down relentlessly. Also being the heir of the Senju Clan and the descendant of both the Shodaime and the Nidaime Hokages, along with being the son Tsunade, puts a very large target on Naruto's head, once the rest of the world learns of him. For many groups and rival villages would target Naruto, either due to grudges they may have against Naruto's mother or his Clan or because of the potential threat he represents to them once he is older" stated Yamato before he continued.
"It's because of these reasons that Naruto had to start training to be a Shinobi at a very young age, so that he would have a chance of surviving later on in his life, when those who would target him come after him. Also it because of these threats that Naruto had to grow up constantly on the move with his mother, so that no-one could discover him, this also resulted in Naruto growing up with very few friends. Also when he was seven, Naruto had to kill an enemy Shinobi in self-defence, when the Shinobi attacked Naruto and a young girl that he was defending".
Naturally after hearing the last part about Naruto, everyone in the room gasped in surprise (Minus Kushina and Kakashi, who already knew about that event).
"You mean that kid actually had to kill a person when he was just seven?" asked Tazuna is surprise as he found it hard to believe.
"Yes, although it was unintentionally I can assure you" replied Yamato.
"I guess the kid has it harder than I thought" muttered Tazuna, as he felt kind of bad for Naruto.
Tazuna of course was not the only one, as Sakura felt equally as bad, as she doubted she could have dealt with the fact that she had killed a person if she had been in Naruto's shoes.
Even Sasuke felt somewhat sympatric towards what happened to Naruto when he was seven.
"Indeed, which is why I believe that Naruto acted so harshly towards your grandson, as to Naruto, giving up without even trying to defend the people your care about, goes against everything he been raised to believe in" spoke Yamato.
As everyone in the living room thought over what they had heard, Inari who had been silently listen in to the conversation, also mulled over what he had heard, where he could not help but remember what his step-father Kaiza told him
"If something is truly important to you... even it's heart-breaking, even if it's sorrowful... you keep on trying and trying, even if you lose your life, you keep on protecting it with these two arms! ...Then, even if you die, you leave behind the proof that you are a man... forever..."
"Tou-chan…what do I do?…what would you do?" thought Inari sorrowfully, as a tear fell down his already tear stained face".
-Next morning in Zabuza's Hideout-
Currently sitting beside Zabuza's bedside, as he recovered from his battle with Kakashi, was Zabuza apprentice Haku, who had been treating Zabuza's wounds for the past few days. Haku had also been protecting him as well from Gato, who had appeared yesterday with his two his two wannabe Samurai goons Zōri and Waraji.
When Gato tried to touch Zabuza, when he was in his weakened state, Haku had broken his arm and then quickly subdued Zōri and Waraji, when he left; Gato had stated that Haku would pay for breaking his arm.
As Zabuza lay on his bed, Haku saw the light of the early morning sun shine through the window. Seeing that Zabuza was still sleeping and due to the early hour, where no-one would be up, Haku decided to get more herbs to treat Zabuza's injuries.
Quickly changing into a pink sleeveless, low-cut kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-coloured swirls, Haku began to silently walk out of the room. But before Haku could leave, a now awake Zabuza suddenly spoke up.
"Where are you going Haku?"
After hearing Zabuza's voice, Haku quickly spun around, "Forgive me for waking you Zabuza-sama, it wasn't my intent to wake you, I was only going out to gather herbs to help treat your injuries".
"Hmph! fine, just don't be too long" replied Zabuza, before he closed his eyes again, when Haku nodded and left the room.
After an hour and a half, Haku had gathered all the necessary herbs that would be needed to help heal Zabuza, but just before Haku could start heading back. The Young Hyoton (Ice Release) user notice several trees that had been seemly cut down.
Deciding to investigate further, Haku walked up to where the cut trees were, upon which Haku then came upon a large clearing, where there were several more trees that had been cut down, by seemingly a single cutting slash.
After studying under a former member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, Haku of course knew a little about swordsmanship. Hence Haku knew that whoever did it had some skill to be able to cut down a large tree with a single slash.
Looking more around the clearing, Haku noticed that, there were several large dents on the ground, as if being punched by someone or thing. Haku also noticed that there were several large dried patches of grass and flowers, where they all seemed to be brown and shrivelled up, as if all the moisture had been drained from them.
It was after seeing this that Haku noticed that there was a person lying on the ground among a large patch of flowers in the clearing. As Haku looked closer it almost seemed like the flowers were thriving around him, as if the flowers where growing stronger from being next to him.
Once Haku came up to the person, Haku saw that the person in question was a young blonde haired boy, holding a long Katana in his hand. As well as wearing a Black sleeveless vest with a Green sleeveless zip up top over it. He also wore Green pants and Black boots with Green elbow pads and Green fingerless gloves with s bead like bracelets on both his wrists.
But what caught Haku's attention the most, was the Konoha headband that was wrapped around the boys' head.
"A Konoha Shinobi…but not one of the group that Zabuza-sama met when he fought Hatake Kakashi…did they call for reinforcements?... if so, why did they send a young boy, as he looks no older than the Genin from Kakashi's team…He must be with another team and if so there must be others" thought Haku with concern, as Kakashi was a dangerous enough opponent to face against.
"I must eliminate him here and now, as give the state of this area he clearly has some skill and could be a danger to our mission" thought Haku further and drew out a set of Senbon needles.
But before Haku could make even an attempt on Naruto, the young Hyoton user heard a groan coming from Naruto, where his eyes began to slowly open. Seeing this, Haku quickly put away the Senbon needles before Naruto fully woke up.
As Naruto was waking up, Haku spoke "Are you alright?"
"Huh?" spoke Naruto has he fully woke up, where he looked straight up at Haku "Sorry did you say something?" asked Naruto, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye.
"I said are you alright? I saw you lying on the ground and I didn't know what was wrong with you", spoke Haku.
"Oh sorry, I guess I must have fallen asleep when I took a break from training last night", replied Naruto, who was a little embarrassed.
"You should be more careful, as if you sleep on the ground outside you'll catch a cold or get sick" warned Haku.
"Nah, I be alright, I've never gotten sick in a day in my life", said Naruto, which was true as it helped to have the world greatest medic as your mother, to keep you from getting sick.
At this Haku just nodded and stood up, when Haku stood up, he noticed the basket full of herbs next to Haku. "Oh! Are you collecting healing herbs?"
Slightly surprised at Naruto knowing that the herbs were for healing, Haku just nodded at first before speaking, "Eh yes I' am, a friend of mine had an accident and I was collecting some herbs to help heal him", answered Haku with a half lie.
Hearing this Naruto just nodded, where he continued to look through the basket full of herbs "Hmm, You seem to have a good collection of herbs needed to heal injuries. Although there is one that you're missing that would be quite useful"
"What would that be?" asked Haku generally curious.
"Here I show you, it's not a hard plant to find", spoke Naruto where he led Haku to some trees and began looking for the plant, as they looked for the plant Haku and Naruto got to talking.
As the two talked, Haku asked Naruto a question, "Tell me Naruto-san how is it that you know so much about herbs for healing and medicine?"
"Well my mom is a medic, who taught me a lot about medical techniques and my Nee-chan taught me about herbs and how they were used for different types of injuries.
Haku of course nodded in understanding as it made sense, where the young Hyoton user also found it interesting.
Soon enough though Naruto found the herb that he was looking for and showed it to Haku, the plant itself was a small weed like plant, with small white flowers top. "This is Milfoil, it's an excellent herb for treating wounds and injuries, it's also a good digestive aid, for treating menstrual cramps, and is a mild sedative", spoke Naruto, after which he explained how to make it into medicine correctly.
After showing Haku the plant, Naruro helped the young Ice user to gather more of the weeds and place them in the basket. As they gathered the weeds, Naruto could not help but notice that despite her age Haku was a very beautiful young girl. By just looking at her Naruto knew she was maybe only a year or two older than him. Yet she was already extremely beautiful, showing that in a couple of years' time, when she has grown into full adulthood. The girl would most likely be a major knockout on the level or Kurenai or his mother.
Naruto of course quickly got out of his staring when he heard Haku suddenly speaking to him, "Tell me Naruto-san do you've anyone precious to you, someone you would want to protect?"
At this question, Naruto thought for a moment before answering, "Eh yea I do…I have my Kaa-chan, my Nee-chan, our pet pig TonTon, my Jiji even my perverted Godfather Ero-sennin".
At this Haku smiled a little, as it was clear at the way Naruto spoke about them that he cared for them all deeply.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well I believe that when a person... has something important they want to protect... that's when they can become truly strong" replied Haku, where Naruto could not help agree.
Soon enough Haku had gathered enough of the Milfoil and decided to head back to Zabuza.
"I think I have enough now…thank you for your help Naruto-san it was nice talking to you" spoke Haku.
"It was nice talking to you to Haku-chan, I hope your friend gets better soon" said Naruto, where he then shook hands with Haku.
Haku of course just nodded and then started to walk back towards Zabuza's hideout.
As Naruto watched his new friend walk away, he soon saw Haku stop and turn around slightly, "Oh and Naruto-san I think you should know I'm a boy" after which Haku continued on towards Zabuza's Hideout, leaving a stun Naruto behind.
"S-Sh-She a HE! ...I was actually attracted to a guy!" cried Naruto in horror as his face turned deathly white when he realized this.
"AAAHHHHHH, I can't believe I was actually attracted to a boy?...But he looked like a girl and even sounded like one…he must be one of those pretty boys Shizune-nee-chan told me about…but I thought they were only a myth" ranted Naruto in his mind, as he felt like he wanted to have a shower. Not that he had anything against guys who like guys, it was just that he was straight, Sai or Sasuke might be those type of guys considering how they showed no interest in girls, but wasn't certain, as considering the types of girls that were around them.
But still Naruto could not help but be weird out by what Haku said, he was also slightly grateful that his godfather wasn't around, as knowing Jiraya he tease Naruto to the end of days about it. Although then again, if Jiraiya really thought Naruto went for guys, he probable beat Naruto until he went straight, as he was certain that Jiraiya would not stand for a godson that went to the other side.
At the same time, when Naruto was coming to terms to what Haku had said to him, the young Ice user in question was walking slowly back to the hideout with a solemn look.
"I would prefer if you and I were to not meet again Naruto-san…for the next time we meet, I fear we'll met as enemies, something I would greatly dislike, as I would not what to fight someone like you…but I fear it is inevitable and only one of us will most likely walk away".
-The Next Day in Tazuna House-
Currently sitting around the living room table, after eating dinner the seven Konoha Shinobi's planned out what they were going to do next, since they knew that Zabuza would most likely recover in the next few days and attack.
"So what exactly should we do?" asked Kakashi
"Well we can't just wait, for him to attack whenever he wants" replied Kushina.
"Why not, since he doesn't know about you or Yamato-sensei, where together the two of you along with Kakashi-sensei could beat him" spoke Sakura.
"We can't be certain that Zabuza doesn't already known about us, as Gato could've people watching us, where he could've then told Zabuza about us", said Kushina.
"But we don't know that" replied Sakura.
"True but it's always best to assume the worst situation, so that we can prepare for it" answered Yamato.
"But even if he does know about you three, it would still be all of us against him and his partner", spoke Sasuke.
"You're right about that, but even still you four are all just Genin and although you're all pretty skilled, your still no match for someone like Zabuza, as any one of us would've trouble with him. Beside we don't even know if Zabuza doesn't have more subordinates or partners with him. Not to mention as well Zabuza is a master in using Sairento Kiringu (Soundless Murder Technique) in conjunction with Kirigakure no Jutsu (Art of Hiding in the Mist), where he wouldn't have much difficulty using that to fight against all of us, which would put us at a disadvantage", spoke Kushina.
"So what should we do sensei?" asked Naruto
"I think we should strike first at Zabuza, before he can recover, while at the same time take out Gato, since Zabuza would most likely be hidden someone near where Gato is", answered Kushina.
"But how do we even do that? As we don't know where they are?" asked Sai.
"Kakashi, can't we use your dog summons to track Zabuza? As I remember you saying that you found a piece of cloth that belonged to Zabuza, after you defeated him" spoke Kushina.
"I suppose that you could do that, but I do not think we should all go, as some of us should stay here in case Tazuna or his family is attacked by Gato or his men"
"Agreed, I believe Kushina and I would be enough, while the rest of you stay and protect Tazuna and his family" replied Yamato.
The rest of the group of course agreed with the plan, believing it was the best thing to do, as it would be the best way to protect Tazuna and his family without endangering any of them. Hence it was decided that Kushina and Yamato would go and track down Zabuza tomorrow with Kakashi's dog summon Pakkun.
-At Zabuza's Hideout-
Currently sitting up on his bed the nearly recovered Zabuza was eating an apple, while Haku finished checking him to see if he'd fully recovered.
"It seems that you've just about regained your strength Zabuza-sama" spoke Haku.
"Yes…and tomorrow we will strike at Kakashi and the bridge builder and kill them" spoke Zabuza.
"But what about the possible other team that I mentioned to you?" asked Haku.
"Given how the boy you met was just a Genin, it just means we be dealing with another team of Genins and their Jonin sensei, which won't be too much trouble for us…as we'll crush them", spoke Zabuza as he crushed the apple in his hands
-Next day at the bridge-
"Hold on what the heck is going on here, what happened?" spoke Tazuna in surprise, as he saw his workers, all on the ground hurt and unable to move, as they groined in pain from their injuries. "Someone was here, someone got to them".
"Could it be?" thought Kakashi, as he saw the injured men, but just as he was thinking of this a thick mist began to roll in.
"This Mist!" thought Kakashi, before he quickly cried out to his students, where they took up a defensive stance around Tazuna.
"So Naruto was right, he was alive…I guess he couldn't wait till round two, but why did he have to attack now of all times, when Yamato and Kushina were away" thought Kakashi, as he kept his senses on alert.
"It's Zabuza isn't sensei?...Naruto was right about him still being alive" spoke Sakura.
"So you knew I was alive…Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi" spoke Zabuza as he stayed hidden in the mist. "I see that you still have those brats around you…It looks like that one is still trembling…pitiful".
It was after saying this that several Zabuza's, suddenly appeared surrounding the group.
Upon seeing this Sasuke just smirked, which surprised Zabuza, "I trembling with excitement".
After hearing this Zabuza just smirked, amused at what Sasuke had said.
"Go ahead Sasuke, Sai" said Kakashi, knowing that his two students could handle this.
Acknowledging the go ahead from Kakashi, both Sai and Sasuke attacked, the two Genin charged forward with impressive speed. Where within the space of only a few seconds, the two Genin easily despatched the Zabuza's that surrounded them, where they all reverted into clones.
"Not bad, it seems the brats are improving…and it seems that you've some rivals in speed Haku" spoke Zabuza, as he and Haku appeared in front of team seven.
"So it seems" spoke Haku without an emotion.
"Well, well, so Naruto had it right, it was all an act" spoke Kakashi.
"An act?" asked Tazuna in surprise.
"Yes and it was all done with a simple little mask"
"So you mean to tell me that all that stuff that guy said about being a hunter-nin protecting his village, was a bunch of bull?" asked Tazuna
"Correct" replied Kakashi, "And I'm willing to beat that those two have played this little trick a few times before".
"That mask guy is mine, I'm taking him out" spoke Sasuke with determination, where he and Haku then charged forward at one another.
-Tazuna Home-
At the same time that team seven and Kakashi were facing against Zabuza and Haku, Tazuna daughter Tsunami was washing the dishes from breakfast.
As she was washing the dishes, she suddenly heard the door opening, when she turned around she saw Gato's two bodyguards Zōri and Waraji entering the house.
"So you're Tazuna daughter huh? Too bad for you, as you'll have to come with us" spoke Zōri.
Upon seeing them, Tsunami tried to runaway but she could not, as Zōri quickly grabbed hold of her arm and pushed her into the nearby wall.
Hearing his mother screams and the sound of things breaking Inari quickly ran into the leaving room to see what was happen.
When Tsunami saw her son she told him to run away, seeing Inari, Waraji quickly grabbed hold of Inari and pushed him into the other side of the room opposite his mother.
"Should we take this kid as well?" asked Waraji.
"No, Gato's asked for just one hostage" replied his partner.
When Inari heard this, he then realized that Gato wanted to use his mother as a hostage and force him to give up.
"Well that's fine by me… let's waste him" said Waraji with a sadistic grin as he drew his Katana out.
"Wait…please don't hurt my son, he just a boy, he hasn't done anything wrong…I do anything just don't hurt him", spoke Tsunami.
"Fine… then you will come with us, without any resistance" said Zōri before he turned to the teary and scared young Inari and smirked. "Guess it's your lucky day kid, your mom just came through for you".
After seeing his mother being tied up by Waraji and Zōri and walking out the house with her, Inari began to cry even more and telling his mother that he was sorry over and over again and how he couldn't, as he was too scared. But as he was crying he began to remember what his step-father told him and what Naruto told him at the dinner table.
Realizing that he could not just sit back and cry and let Waraji and Zōri take his mother away, Inari knew he had to save his mother.
As Waraji and Zōri led Tsunami, Waraji turned around and cupped Tsunami face, where he had a perverted like grin, "Don't worry your pretty little head, we're going to treat you fine".
"Come on Waraji, we don't have time for this" spoke Zōri, but before they could walk on, the two men and Tsunami, suddenly heard Inari from behind telling them to stop.
When they turned around they saw Inari coming out of the house charging straight at them.
Seeing Inari charging at them, the two men just smirked unafraid at the young boy.
"No Inari don't, run away!" cried Tsunami, but after saying this Zōri just hit her at the back of the head and knocked her out, not wanting to deal with her any more.
"Let's finish this" said Zōri, as if he was board, where he and his partner drew their Katana's and charged straight at Inari and slashed at him.
But just when they had slashed at Inari, he quickly turned into a log.
"A Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)!" said Zōri in surprise recognizing the Shinobi technique.
"The woman she gone!" said Waraji, when he turned around to Tsunami and saw that's she was gone. "What they hell is going on here?"
"Well looks like Kushina-sensei was right on the money about what Gato would try" spoke a new voice, causing the two men to start looking around and try and find who had just spoken.
When they turned around to look behind them, they saw a young blonde boy in a green outfit, putting Tsunami gently on the ground, all the while still holding on Inari.
"Naruto what are you doing here?" spoke Inari, as Naruto put him down.
"Kushina-sensei always suspected that there was a good chance that Gato might try and kidnap you or your mom, so to use against your Grandfather. Hence she, Yamato sensei or me, would take turns to hide in the trees and watch the house, in case Gato did try this", spoke Naruto.
"Also sorry I was late, when I saw those guys enter the house, I didn't want to fight them in there where your mom and you could've been caught in the crossfire. So I waited until they came out, but before I could act you came out charging" continued Naruto where he then smiled at the young boy. "And I've to admit that you were pretty brave there and you did great, as when you distracted them, it gave me the opening I needed to rescue your mom without them knowing".
"Hmph! This must be one of those Shinobi brats that Tazuna hired" commented Waraji, when he saw Naruto.
"Get him" spoke Zōri, where he and Waraji redrew their swords and charged at Naruto.
Seeing the two goons charging at him, Naruto quickly threw some shurrikens at the men, who quickly blocked the shurikens with their Katana's.
But what the two wannabe Samurai didn't know was that the Shurikens where just a distraction, where Naruto suddenly appeared right in front of Zōri and punched him the gut, while using his super human strength.
After Naruto punched him, Zōri was then sent flying into a large tree several meters and caused the tree to crash right on top of him.
"What the?" thought Waraji, when he saw what happened to his partner, but before he could think about it anymore. Naruto quickly spun around and delivered a powerful round house kick and sent Waraji flying into the water, a few meters away.
When Inari saw this, he was of course shocked at Naruto's incredible strength, as he had taken out the two men with little to no trouble.
With Inari and Tsunami now safe, Naruto then told Inari to take care of his mom, while he went to check up on his friends at the bridge, as he guessed that if Gato was trying to kidnap Tsunami, then he was no doubt making his move on Tazuna at the bridge.
-At the Bridge-
"Clang, Clang!" were the sounds that echoed around the bridge, where Kakashi and Zabuza fought one another.
As the two Jonin Shinobi's broke apart from one another Kakashi glanced slightly at the dome of ice mirrors that now surrounded Sasuke and Sai.
At the beginning of the battle Haku and Sasuke had fought each other in a fierce battle, where the two of them ended in a stalemate, with each of them blocking the other attack, where neither could use either Jutsu or at least that was what Sasuke thought. For as soon as they had reach this deadlock, Haku had revealed the ability to do one handed hand-seals, much to everyone (minus Zabuza's) surprise.
Where after doing the hand-seals, thousands of ice needles formed around them and floated in mid-air, ready to strike.
Seeing that Sasuke was in trouble, Sai had moved in to help Sasuke, by appearing behind Haku, where he tried to stab Haku in the back with his Tanto.
Unfortunately though, Haku expected something like this, where before Sai could stab the young ice user, Haku quickly jumped into the air to avoid the stab, while at the same time firing the ice needles that surrounded Sai and Sasuke.
Luckily though, thanks to the tree climbing exercise, Sasuke as well as Sai were able to avoid being hit by the needles, by channelling their Chakra to their feet and jumping up high into air.
After avoiding Haku's needles, Sasuke and Sai quickly went on the offensive, where Sasuke threw several Shurikens and Sai used his Chōjū Giga (Super Beasts Imitation Picture) to create several lions.
Seeing the attacks, Haku skilfully avoided the them, but as soon as he did, he was put on the defensive as Sai and Sasuke attacked him from different direction. Eventually though Haku was beaten, where after avoiding a strike from Sai, Haku was sent flying by Sasuke, who had appeared next to Haku and delivered a strong kick to his mask covered face.
Naturally when Zabuza saw this, he had been surprised, as he never thought that mere "brats" could defeat Haku.
But just when the two young Konoha shinobi's thought they could win, Zabuza revealed that Haku had been going easy on them. After which Haku revealed his strongest technique the Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors), where he created a dome of ice mirrors around them. Upon which Haku then merged with the mirrors and attacked Sai and Sasuke from all directions, making it virtually impossible for them to defend themselves.
Kakashi had of course tried to help them, but Zabuza had intercepted him, forcing Kakashi to fight him.
After glancing towards Sasuke and Sai, Kakashi quickly glanced at Sakura who was staying with Tazuna to defend him, in case Zabuza somehow got by him (Kakashi) and went for the bridge builder.
Seeing Kakashi glancing at his students, Zabuza smirked in amusement, "I would be more worried about myself than those brats if I were you Kaskashi".
At this comment Kakashi did not respond, but narrowed his one visible eye and readied himself to continue the battle.
As Kakashi and Zabuza faced off against one another, Sai and Sasuke were having trouble with their opponent where both were heavily injured, with several needles sticking in them. Both of them were also having trouble moving, due to several needles that were stuck in the acupuncture points of their bodies. Even after they pulled some of them off, the effects of being hit in the points by the needles were slow to leave.
"This the end for you both, please do not bear any ill-will towards me, as I do this only because I must", spoke Haku sadly from the mirror. After which images of Haku appeared on all the mirrors, making it impossible for Sai and Sasuke to tell which one was the real Haku and which direction the ice user would come from.
Once the images of Haku appeared on all the ice mirrors, Haku then fired another barrage of needles at the two Genin.
But upon doing this Haku, Sai and Sasuke suddenly heard a familiar voice cry out Surasshu-fū (Wind Slash). After which the top mirror that was directly above Sasuke and Sai shattered, where a crescent shape blade cut through it and the made a large cut on the ground. After which a green blur suddenly entered the ice dome and the sound of metal clashing with metal was heard.
It was after this that Sasuke and Sai turned around to the side and saw another person standing next to them, who had defended them for Haku's assault with his now drawn Katana, the person in question was none other than Naruto,
"So it seems that we were indeed fated to meet as enemies Naruto" thought Haku sadly
"Your time is quite impeccable Naruto-san" spoke Sai, with some small ounce of gratitude, where Naruto just nodded.
You should have just stayed outside the dome dope, as you would've actually have been of some use out there" spoke Sasuke, as he didn't want to admit that he owed Naruto one.
"Tsk, I would have, but I had to save your sorry ungrateful ass teme" scoffed Naruto, as he kept his eye on Haku, who had remerged with the ice mirror.
"So I'm guess this is the guy who pretended to be the Hunter-nin that "killed" Zabuza right?" asked Naruto, where Sai and Sasuke just nodded in conformation.
"Correct, and as you can see he can use some kind of ice techniques" spoke Sai.
"He's a Hyoton user from the Yuki Clan of Kiri then" stated Naruto, surprising Sasuke and Sai and even Haku.
"You know about him?" asked Sasuke in surprise.
"Only bits and pieces, that I heard from Ero-sennin, from what I heard from him, The Yuki Clan was a small Clan in Kiri, who possessed a bloodline that allows them to use Hyoton, where they can create Ice techniques that only they can do. Although until now I thought the Clan was extinct, as the Clan was said to have been wiped out a few years ago back when Kiri went under an upheaval. Where people began to turn against bloodline holding Clans, because they feared their great power on the battlefield and because they believed that the bloodline holders were the cause of all the war and infighting that was going on in Kiri" spoke Naruto, which of course surprised his teammates, when they heard this.
"You are well informed Naruto-san, as you are indeed correct and I'm indeed the last living member of the Yuki Clan" spoke Haku.
When Naruto heard Haku's voice, his eyes suddenly widen in recognition, "Haku is that you?"
At this Haku let out a sad sigh before speaking "Yes it is me Naruto-san"
When Haku said this, Naruto began to think over when he met Haku and remembered how the young Hyoton user, had told him that he was looking for herbs for healing a friend that was injured. When he remembered this he cursed himself for not noticing this earlier and how he should have realized who Haku really was.
"You met him before Naruto-san?" asked Sai.
"Sort off, back when I left the house to train I met him, as he was picking herbs, I didn't know who he really at the time, so I helped him a bit" replied Naruto as he stared coldly at Haku.
"I would prefer not to fight you Naruto-san, so I ask you only this one time, leave now…my object is only the bridge builder not you".
"Can't do that Haku…Tazuna hired Konoha Shinobi's to protect him and as one I will protect him with my life" spoke Naruto as he raised his Katana up, where both Sai and Sasuke nodded in agreement and smirked slightly, where they prepared to continue the fight.
"Very well then, but know that none of you'll leave this place alive" spoke Haku, before attacking with another barrage of needles.
Seeing the needles, Naruto quickly turned his Katana around, so that he was holding it backwards, after which he then told Sai and Sasuke to stay close to him. After which he then started to gather the water around him and spin around at a high speed, where he then cried out "Senkai no Mizu (Swirling Water)!" and created a vortex of water around him and the others, protecting them from Haku's needles.
Naturally when Haku saw this, the young Ice user was surprised, but as surprised as Haku was, Zabuza was even more surprised he knew that technique and the style that it came from.
"That style! That's the Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess) fighting style" thought Zabuza in surprise as he recognised the sword style. "But how on earth can a mere brat use that fighting style? Also what was that technique he used to break Haku's ice mirror, it looked like some kind of Wind technique, just who the hell is that brat?...Could he be actually a student of her?"
Once the water vortex around Naruto, Sai and Sasuke died down, Sasuke quickly turned to Naruto is surprise. "What the hell was that?"
"It's called the Senkai no Mizu (Swirling Water) technique, it a Kenjutsu move that Kushina-sensei taught me not long ago" replied Naruto as he kept his eye on Haku, who was in front of him.
Upon hearing this Sasuke frowned again in frustration at seeing how even after a few weeks Naruto had become even stronger.
"Most impressive Naruto-san, you're indeed skilled, just as I thought" spoke Haku.
Naruto of course did not reply to Haku's praise, where he just readied himself for battle along with Sai and Sasuke, where after a minute or two they attacked.
As the battle with the three Genin and Haku waged, Zabuza and Kakashi continue with their battle, but soon enough they broke apart again from one another.
After breaking away again from Kakashi, Zabuza quickly glanced over at where Haku was fighting Naruto and the others, when he looked over he could see that despite their situation the three Genin were able to still hold their own well. As whenever two of them went of the offensive the third member would defend the others, from any attacks from behind by Haku.
Zabuza also saw that Naruto was actually able to do some damage to Haku mirror dome, much to his surprise, where Naruto had used his Surasshu-fū to destroy several of the mirrors. But luckily though, Haku was able to reform the mirrors just as soon as Naruto destroyed them.
Seeing this, Zabuza turned back to look at Kakashi and smirked slightly behind his mask, "That's quite the impressive brat you got there Kakashi".
"I'm afraid I can't take credit for him Zabuza, as he isn't exactly my student or at least not my full time student" replied Kakashi, which made Zabuza frown, not fully understanding what Kakashi meant by that.
"Well even so, those three brats are as good as dead, as no-one can escape Haku's technique… not even me" replied the confident Zabuza.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that Zabuza, especially when it comes to Naruto and Sasuke"
"Oh and what makes you so sure of that?" asked Zabuza generally curious as to what Kakashi had such fate in Naruto and Sasuke.
"Well it quite simply really, since I know what both those boys are capable of and you would understand as well if you knew who they really were", answered Kakashi.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone