Chapter 18: Chapter Fifteen: Wave Part Two
And what exactly do you mean by that?" asked Zabuza.
"Well you see both Naruto and Sasuke are the heirs of the two most powerful Clans in Konohagakure, who founded it" replied Kakashi.
At this Zabuza eyes widened in surprise when he realized what Kakashi was saying "You mean?"
"Yes Sasuke full name is Uchiha Sasuke and the unique bloodline of the Uchiha Clan runs through Sasuke's veins and the Sharingan is his birth right" stated Kakashi before he continued on. "And Naruto's full name Senju Naruto sole heir to the Senju Clan, the main founders of Konoha".
"Ah! I had heard the rumours that a single young boy had survived the tragedy of the Uchiha Clan…no wonder he advances so quickly. But I don't believe you on that other brat, there's no way that brat could be of the Senju Clan, as that Clan is extinct…the only actually living member is…" spoke Zabuza confidently until it suddenly hit him, where his eyes widen in shock. "…No! It's not possible!"
At this Kakashi smirked behind his mask, seeing that Zabuza had realized the truth, "Oh yes it is, as Naruto is the son of Senju Tsunade of the Sannin, as well as the direct descendant of the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama and the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama".
"Tsunade of the Sannin had a child?" said Zabuza is surprise, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No wonder that brat is so strong…he the son of one of the sannin"
"Correct and I tell you little something else about him..." spoke Kakashi as he lifted his headband to reveal his Sharingan "…Naruto's potential surpasses my own".
At hearing this Zabuza's concerns grew as he was beginning to doubt Haku's chances to win, as Sasuke would be trouble enough. But given Naruto and his revealed heritage along with Sai he was beginning to wonder if Haku could really win, especially after Kakashi stated that Naruto's potential surpassed his own. As Zabuza knew that Kakashi wouldn't say something like that unless he believed it to be true.
"Blast, I can't afford to toy with Kakashi anymore; as I need to take care of the bridge builder and Kakashi now and then help Haku. Not to mention, if I'm right about who trained the boy, given his kenjutsu style, some serious trouble is most likely on the way here", thought Zabuza with a frown. After which he used his Kirkgakure no Jutsu to make the mist thicker and disappear, so that Kakashi could no longer use his Sharinagn on him.
When Kakashi and Zabuza recommenced their battle Naruto and the others continued with their battle.
As the battle raged in the ice dome Sai quickly deflected several Senbon needles fired at him by Haku from one of the ice mirrors. But as soon as Sai deflected the Senbon needles, Haku appeared out of another one of the ice mirrors behind Sai, and tried to stab him with some Senbon needles in the back of the head.
But before Haku could hit Sai, the young ice user suddenly heard Sasuke's voice cry out "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique)!" When Haku glanced to the left, the young ice user saw a large ball of fire flying towards him.
Upon seeing the large fire ball, Haku quickly avoided the attack, but after avoiding Sasuke's attack Haku then saw Naruto appear next to him with his Katana in mid swing ready to slash him.
Seeing this Haku quickly spun to the left to avoid the slash, but even though Haku avoided Naruto's slash, the young ice user still received a slash mark on his mask.
When Haku avoided Naruto's attack, Haku then quickly merged with another one of the ice mirrors, right before Sai's ink beasts could hit him.
After avoiding both Sai's and Naruto's attacks, Haku quickly transported to a different ice mirror near Sasuke and tried to attack the young Uchiha by using his high speed. But when Haku stuck, Sasuke spun around and blocked Haku's strike with his Kunai, much to the young ice user surprise.
"Impossible! There's no possible way that normal human eyes could keep up with my speed…so how did he see me coming?" thought Haku with surprise.
Although Sasuke could not see Haku's face, he could tell that the young ice user was surprised.
"You're not the only special one here" spoke Sasuke with a smirk, where when Haku looked directly at Sasuke face the ice users eyes widens slightly in surprise, as he saw Sasuke eyes. For instead of black eyes, Sasuke eyes were now red with two tomoes in his right eye and one in his left.
"The Sharingan" muttered Haku in surprise.
"It's not complete, but it's still enough to keep up with your speed" spoke Sasuke, after which he then, tried to kick Haku in the side. But was unable to hit Haku, as the young ice user was able to jump back, but just as Haku avoided the kick, Naruto appeared from above him and attempted to slash Haku again with his sword. But once again Haku avoided Naruto's slash and merged with one of the ice mirrors.
When Haku merged with the ice mirrors again Naruto quickly glanced at Sasuke and smirked, "Pretty good moves there teme and I see that you've finally acquired the Sharingan"
"Yea now I can keep up with his moves and you weren't too bad yourself there Senju" replied Sasuke.
After Sasuke said this, Haku then appeared in the ice mirror in front of them "It seems that I have greatly underestimated you all, especially you two" stated Haku, where the ice user looked at Sasuke and Naruto.
"I had no idea that you were of the Uchiha Clan…" said Haku when the ice user looked at Sasuke, before turning to Naruto "…let alone that you Naruto were of the Senju Clan, as I was under the impression that your Clan died out".
"Well you find that I'm full of surprise Haku" replied Naruto with a smirk.
"Indeed" replied Haku, as the young ice user knew that he could no longer let this battle continue on. As the Makyō Hyōshō used up a great deal of Chakra and took even more to maintain, meaning that if this battle continued much longer he would run out of Chakra.
Deciding to end this now Haku quickly went on the offensive, where images of Haku once again appeared all around the three Konoha Genin. After which a barrage of Senbon needles were fired from all direction, forcing Naruto and the others on the defensive. But even though Naruto the others were able deflect most of the Senbon needles; they were unable to deflect them all, due to the sheer number of them and the speed they flew at.
But what Naruto and the others didn't know was that this barrage of needles was just a distraction to keep them occupied, which allowed Haku to appear from the ice mirror directly above them and jump down between them.
When Haku suddenly appeared behind them, the three boys quickly spun around to face their opponent, after sensing him, unfortunately though it was too late for both Sai and Sasuke, as Haku quickly hit them with several Senbon needles, where both boys fell to the ground in a deadlike state.
Naruto although was able to avoid being hit, by raising his Katana up in time, but when he did this, some needles were able to hit certain points in his arm, making it go numb and worthless and causing him to drop his Katana.
Seeing what happened, Haku quickly moved forward on Naruto so to finish the job on him and take advantage of his disability.
Seeing this Naruto quickly flipped backwards, just as Haku struck at him, where he then threw several Shurikens at Haku, forcing the young Ice user to jump back to avoid them, upon which Haku then merged back in with the ice mirrors.
After forcing Haku back, Naruto then quickly went over to Sai and Sasuke to see how they were, where when he checked their pulses, he couldn't feel anything at first. But Naruto quickly realised that they were in a death like state, (much like Zabuza was in earlier on), when he saw the positions that the needles were in on their bodies.
Sighing slightly in relief, Naruto turned around to face Haku, who had just appeared in one of the ice mirrors.
"Your friends are now dead Naruto-san and you are all alone and you have lost the use of your right arm, you've lost this battle" spoke Haku, although became curious when Naruto just smirk.
"Can the act Haku, you know as well as I do that neither Sasuke nor Sai are dead, they're just in a death like state, just like the one you put Zabuza a while back and you're no killer… As for my right arm being useless… I wouldn't be so sure of that" said Naruto, where he then pulled the needles out of his arm and was able to move his arm again much to Haku's surprise.
"But how even if you pull the needles out correctly, the effects should still take hold of you for some time" spoke the surprised ice user.
"Well let's just say that I heal fast and leave it at that" replied Naruto, as this was one of the rare occasions that he was glad he had the Kyuubi in him.
"I see, but even if you can use your right arm again, you still cannot win as you are alone" replied Haku.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that either" replied Naruto with another smirk, where the then did a single hand-seal and cried out "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" where several dozen suddenly appeared around Naruto, much to Haku's surprise.
Upon which Naruto then had all his clones attack the ice mirrors at the same time, reacting quickly to Naruto attempts to escape the ice dome, Haku quickly used the technique that projected images of him on all the mirrors and attack the clones, destroying most of them within a few seconds.
Unfortunately Haku was unable to destroy all of them, where one of the Naruto's was able to shatter one of the mirrors with his bare fist, much to Haku's surprise.
"Impossible! How can he have the strength to be able to destroy one of my mirrors with just his bare hands?" thought Haku is surprise, but quickly got over it. As the young Ice user then quickly transported to one of the shattered pieces of the ice mirror that Naruto destroyed and emerged from it and attacked Naruto from behind and stabbed him in the back.
But as soon as Haku had done this "Naruto" puffed into smoke, revealing that he had been a clone, realizing that he had been tricked, Haku tried to renter one of his mirrors. But before the young ice user could, he felt a hand grab hold of him, stopping him from moving.
When Haku turned around the young ice user saw that it was Naruto who had grabbed hold of him, upon which Haku realized that Naruto had used the clones not to break out of the ice dome, but as bait to lure him out of the ice mirrors.
"This is where it ends Haku" stated Naruto, where he then quickly raised his arm and used his enhance strength (not at full power) and punched Haku right in his mask causing it to break into pieces, as well as sending the ice user flying straight through the one of the ice mirrors and shattering it.
After being sent through the ice mirror, Haku continued fly through the air a bit (due to the power that Naruto put in his punch), before crashing to the ground in a heap. Where after landing Haku tried to pick himself up, but was unable to do, due to the punch that Naruto gave the young Yuki Clan member.
When Haku looked up the ice user could see the ice dome falling part into pieces (due to him being out of Chakra), as well as Naruto coming towards him, with his Katana in hand.
"Forgive Zabuza-sama…I 'am …no match… for this boy" thought Haku sadly, as Naruto stood over him holding his Katana in front of Haku's face.
As Naruto held his Katana over Haku's face, the young ice user spoke, "Why do you hesitate kill me…I've lost my purpose in living…I've failed Zabuza-sama…I' am no longer fit to be his weapon".
"What kind of fucked up crap are you talking about? You're not a weapon, you're a human being, you have your own life and your own free will, why the hell would you want to die, simply because I defeated you?" asked Naruto, what Haku was saying didn't make any sense.
For the next few minutes Haku went on to explain his life in Mizu no kuni (Water country) and how when his father discovered that he and his mother were bloodline holders. He gathered a mob and killed Haku's mother and then tried to kill Haku, but were killed themselves when Haku accidently used his bloodline to kill them.
After which he roamed the cold streets of Kiri during the dead of winter until he was found by Zabuza and made him his weapon, thereby giving him a purpose in living again.
When Naruto heard this, several different thoughts ran through his head as he was unsure what to say or think at what Haku told him.
"I can understand why you feel that you owe Zabuza after he took you in, but that still doesn't make it right that he views you and treats you like some kind of weapon" spoke Naruto.
"But is what I'm, I' am his tool to use in whatever why he wishes", spoke Haku
"STOP BEING SUCH A BAKA HAKU!" cried Naruto angrily, which surprised the young ice user. "You're a human being, just like me, you're not a tool, you feel pain, you feel joy, you feel sorrow and you have your own dreams just like me or anyone else. The only person that has a right to decide how you live your life is yourself, as it's your life not his!"
As Haku heard this, the young ice user understood what Naruto was saying, but even still he was too loyal to Zabuza. "If you say that I can choose how I live my life Naruto-san, then I choose to serve Zabuza-sama as his weapon. As that is my purpose and my dream is to help him to achieve his dream, for he is my precious person and I would gladly give my life up for him…so kill me now and be done with it".
"Agh!" cried Naruto in frustration "Damnit Haku I won't kill you, simply because you think you should die!"
At this Haku couldn't not help but smile kindly despite the situation he was in as the young ice user could tell that Naruto was a kind individually and that the two of them were a lot a like many ways.
But as Haku and Naruto were talking to one another, the two Shinobi's heard a cry of pain, after which the mist slowly began to die down, where they then saw Zabuza a pack of on top of Zabuza, biting deeply into his arms and legs, preventing him from moving. Also at the same time they heard a large chirping noise, where when they looked they saw Kakashi holding his right hand, which was now covered in Lightning.
"Shit's that Kakashi-sensei Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)!" thought Naruto in surprise at seeing the jutsu's with his own eyes for the first time. As he had heard about it from his Godfather, as it was one of Kakashi's strongest moves and was the advance form of his only originally Jutsu the Chidori (One thousands birds). He had also heard from his Godfather that Kakashi had given the technique this name after he cut a bolt of Lightning with it.
Upon seeing that Zabuza was in trouble, as well as seeing that Naruto was monetarily distracted, (as he was looking towards Kakashi). Haku quickly took advantage of Naruto's distraction and spun around, kicking Naruto off his feet and making fall onto his back, after which Haku then quickly got back onto his feet. But before he raced of towards Zabuza, Haku turned to look at Naruto sadly (who was still on the ground), I'm sorry Naruto-san, if he had met at another time and in another place, I believe we could've been friends.
"But we're friends Haku!" spoke Naruto as he tried to stop the young Ice user as he knew what Haku was planning to do.
At hearing this Haku could not help but smile sadly before disappearing and using the last of his Chakra to create an ice mirror so to appear next to Zabuza.
"Damnit Haku you baka" muttered Naruto as he got back up, where when he saw Kakashi racing towards Zabuza, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop Haku in time, leaving him with only one other option left, where he then started doing some quick hand-seals.
"I'm going to be in some much trouble after this"
"This is the end for you Zabuza…your future is death" stated Kakashi as held up his Raikiri and charged straight at Zabuza.
But just as he was charging at Zabuza, Kakashi suddenly saw an ice mirror appear next to Zabuza, where Haku suddenly emerged from it and stood in front of Zabuza to shield him from Kakashi's attack with his own body.
Kakashi of course could not stop or avoid Haku in time and just when he was about to stab Haku right through the heart with his Lightning covered hand, he suddenly heard someone cry out "Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Style: Gunshot)!", where a large blast of Water crashed right into him in the side and sent him flying sideways and onto the ground .
Surprised by this Haku and Zabuza both quickly turned to where the blast of water came from; when they did they were surprised to see that it had been Naruto who had fired the Jutsu.
"Naruto what the hell are you doing, why did you just attack Kakashi-sensei?" cried Sakura in surprise as both she and Tazuna had seen what had happened.
"I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei, but I couldn't let you kill Haku, it wasn't right" spoke Naruto.
"Naruto" thought Haku, as the young ice users didn't know what to think as Naruto had just attacked his own comrade just to save him.
"Muhahaha…hahaha…Well Kakashi, it seems that you were wrong again about me dying" spoke Zabuza as he looked over toward Kakashi, who was just picking himself up after being hit by Naruto's attack.
"And this time I was saved by one of your own students" continued Zabuza, where despite his injuries from Kakashi's Ninja dogs (who had returned home, right when Kakashi charged at Zabuza). Zabuza lifted up his arm and took hold of his sword and pushed Haku to the side and charged straight at Kakashi.
Seeing Zabuza was coming towards him Kakashi, quickly prepared to defend himself, but just as Zabuza had crossed half the gap between them. Zabuza suddenly found himself being wrapped around by a chain, which pinned him arms to his body and forcing him to stop. After which Zabuza found an unknown Konoha ninja standing behind him with a Kunai against his neck.
"Nice timing Yamato" spoke Kakashi as he greeted his comrade, who nodded.
"Zabuza-sama" muttered Haku, who was about to once again about to go help Zabuza, but before the young ice user could, he found the tip of a blade at his neck, where when Haku looked to the left, he saw Naruto standing next to him with a serious look that said "Not this time".
When Zabuza saw the situation that he and Haku were in now, he knew they had lost, where he cursed himself several times over, as he had become too focus on his battle with Kakashi, that he had forgotten about Naruto Sensei's.
"Well, well, well It seems that the big bad demon of the hidden mist was all talk just like I thought, you couldn't even kill a simple old man" spoke a new voice, where when Zabuza, Haku, Tazuna and the Konoha-nins looked to the end of the bridge. They saw Gato along with a hundred or so of his hired goons.
"Gato! What they hell are you doing here?" asked Zabuza angrily when he saw the greedy businessman.
"Isn't oblivious, I'm here to do the job you couldn't, as it's clear that you weren't up to the task, but it's just as well as I never planned on paying you to begin with, and since most of you are all tired out and hurt from fighting each other, my men will have no problem taken you all out".
"Gato you piece of vermin!" cried Tazuna out angrily.
"Sticks and stones Tazuna, sticks and stones, besides I suggest that you not resist not unless you want that lovely daughter of yours to be hurts, as I sent my two best men to your house and they should be here any minute now with her", sneered Gato.
When Tazuna heard this, he was about ready to tear Gato apart, but before Tazuna could say or do anything, Naruto spoke up.
"If you're talking about those two wannabe Samurai who you sent to kidnap Tsunami, then I guess I should tell you not to expect them anytime soon, as they're taking a long nap and won't be doing anything for a long time".
Upon hearing this Tazuna sighed with relief at his daughter being safe and planned to thank Naruto later. While at the same time Gato frowned at this information, as he had begun to wonder what was taking his men so long.
"Huh! It doesn't matter as you're all going die here" replied Gato with a sneer, before he turned back to his men "Alright you lot, I don't want a single one of them left alive and there's a ten thousand ryo bonus for the man who kills the bridge builder and a fifty thousand ryo bonus for the head of Zabuza's brat, as I want him to pay for breaking my arm".
At this the small army of thugs cheered loudly at the idea of being paid bonuses.
When Zabuza heard what Gato said, he turned to Kakashi, "It seems that our fight has come to an end Kakashi and we are no longer enemies".
"So it seems" replied the copy-nin, where he signalled to Yamato that he could let go of Zabuza, as with Gatoi betrayal, Zabuza no longer had a reason to be their enemy and they were now on the same side.
Yamato of course loosen the chain around Zabuza letting him go, although did stay near him, on the chance that he might try something against them.
Seeing Zabuza and the others were going to resist, Gato just sneered, as he was certain that with the number of men that he on his side, he would win. But before Gato could give the order to attack, an arrow suddenly flew right past him, barely missing his head.
"What the?" spoke the short businessman when he saw the arrow and looked to the other end of the bridge, from where the arrow came from. When he looked he saw all the villagers gathered at the edge of the bridge, right behind Zabuza and the Konoha shinobi's and were being led by a young boy. Who was wearing a stir fry pan on his head like a helmet and was holding a crossbow in his head.
"That's as far as you go Gato, we're not going let you take on step into our village" spoke Inari, where all the villagers behind him cheered, as they were all ready to fight to defend their home.
Tazuna of course was amazed at the sight, as he never thought he would see something like this, as ever since Kaiza death, the people of Nami no Kuni (Wave Country) had lost their will to fight. Yet now he was seeing his entire village here standing up to Gato and his men and willing to fight for their homes.
But what shocked Tazuna even more was that it was his own Grandson who was leading the villagers and rallied them to stand up and fight Gato. When he saw this the old bridge builder could not help but wonder what happened to his Grandson to cause this kind of change in him.
At the same time, Naruto could not help but smirk, at seeing Inari leading the villagers of Nami no kuni against Gato "Nice going Inari".
When Gato saw this, he became furious at how the people of Nami no kuni were raising up against him, he got even angrier when he saw that some of his men look worried, as these weren't the same broken villagers that they had been use to dealing with.
"What are you lot doing? They're only a group old men and women, with pit forks and rusted tools, being led by a brat!" cried Gato, where upon hearing this, his men regained what little courage they all had to begin with.
"Now kill them all and don't leave a sin…Arragh!" spoke Gato, but cried out in pain, before he could finish speaking, when a sword sprung out from him chest. After which the blade retreated back into Gato, where the greedy tyrant fell to the ground dead, in a small growing pool of his own blood.
"Finally the bastard shut up", muttered the person who had stabbed Gato.
When the men saw their leader fall to the ground dead, they immediately took notice of the person who had appeared out nowhere right behind Gato and killed him.
The person in question was a tall attractive young woman, with long bright red hair wearing an ANBU outfit and holding a long Katana in her left hand (1).
After stabbing Gato the woman in question then quickly Shunshin (Body flickered) away and reappeared right next to Naruto and Haku.
"Nice timing Kushina-sensei, but sure took your sweet time" spoke Naruto with a smirk, when he saw his female sensei.
Kushina of course smirked back at the remark, before speaking "Yea sorry about that, by time we found Zabuza's hideout the entire place was empty and we realised that he and Gato must have left to attack to attack Tazuna and the rest of you, so we raced as quickly as we could here. But by the time we got here, we saw that Kakashi was about to finish off Zabuza, only to be stopped by you" stated Kushina were she stared at here student with a serious look.
At this Naruto started to sweat a little with worry, as he knew he was in trouble with his Sensei "Eh…yea…about that" spoke Naruto nervously.
"We talk about it, once things are settled here" interrupted Kushina with a serious tone, where Naruto just gulped, not looking forward to that talk.
At the same time that this was happing Zabuza was staring at the newly arrived Kushina intently "So I was right, the brat is the student of the Buraddi Shinku no Ikari (Bloody Crimson Fury), I knew he had to be, as she's the only one that could've taught him the Arasuijin no Mai fighting style" thought Zabuza. As he had heard of Kushina, back when he was still with Kiri in ANBU, she was especially famed in Kiri for the unique Kenjutsu style that she created and used.
Zabuza's attention although soon turned back from Kushina to the army of thugs that were in front of them, as the thugs were unhappy at how Kushina had just killed their meal ticket.
"What are they hell are we going now", spoke one thug.
"I say we kill this lot and take whatever is worth taking from the village" spoke another thug.
"Yea, and if we take Zabuza's head along with his partner's to Kiri, maybe we can a reward for it" said third thug.
"Dibs on the redhead there, as she looks like she could be fun", said the first thug, as he eyed Kushina with lustful eyes, which made the redheaded Kunoichi, feel dirty and want a shower.
Upon hearing this, Naruto became furious, where he slowly walked forwards towards the thugs, since being raised by two women for most of his life, Naruto had naturally had a strong hatred of rapist or those who abused or beat women. Hence after hearing on what one of the thugs wanted to do to his sensei, not to mentioned what they were thinking on doing to Inari's home, Naruto wasn't planning on showing these guys any mercy.
When Kushina saw Naruto walking forwards towards Gato's thugs she called out to Naruto, telling him to stay back and let her and Yamato deal with them as both of them were fresh and could easily deal with them. While Naruto and Kakashi were both tried from their battle and neither Sai nor Sasuke were in any condition to fight.
Naruto of course ignored Kushina as she called out to him, and continued to walk towards the men. After walking a few metres away from Kishina and the others, Naruto stopped.
"Well, well, look at this boys, it seems that this brat is going to take us all on by himself" spoke one of the thugs where the others just laughed.
Naruto of course ignored the thug's laughter and began to slowly crack his knuckles, where upon seeing this, the Konoha Shinobi quickly realised what Naruto was going to do.
"He isn't going to do what I think he's going to do?" asked Sakura slightly worried.
"I'm afraid so" replied Yamato, with a slight sigh.
"Oh boy" spoke Kushina.
"When Zabuza, Haku and Tazuna heard this, all of them had confused looks on their faces, along with most of the villagers of Nami no Kuni, as none of them could understand what the Konoha Shinobi's were talking about.
"Hey Tazuna!" cried Naruto as he looked over his shoulder to look at Tazuna, do you've any spare building material for the bridge.
"Eh yea plenty of it, why?" asked the old bridge builder.
"Good, because I'm afraid that I'm going to be putting you behind schedule a bit" answered Naruto.
At this Tazuna became even more confused at what Naruto was going to do, but before he could ask what Naruto met, one of the thugs suddenly cried out "Enough of this crap, Let's kill them!" upon which the hundred or so thugs charged forward at Naruto and the others.
-Begin Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack -
As the Thugs came towards him, Naruto just smirked where he then quickly channelled an immense amount of Chakra inside his body, and a moment later gathered it into his fist. After which Naruto then slammed his fist into the ground and cried out "Chikakuhendō (Earthshaker Impact)!" and released the Chakra into the ground.
Where thanks to Naruto's superhuman strength the entire section of the bridge that the thugs were on began shake, causing the thugs to stop in their tracks. After which, cracks began to appear on the bridge section, where the ground underneath the thug's feet rose up and the entire front section of the bridge fell apart into pieces into the water below, along with the thugs themselves. Where many of them drowned due to either being unable to swim or because large pieces of the bridge fell on top of them, while the rest quickly swam back to the boat from which they came from with Gato and quickly sailed away never to come back.
Naturally after seeing this all the non Konoha Shinobi's were of course completely blown away at seeing Naruto destroying the entire front section of the bridge with just a single punch.
When Inari and the rest of the villagers of Nami no Kuni saw this every single one of their Jaws literally hit the ground, while their eyes with the size of saucers.
Tazuna himself was dumbstruck, where he planned to get himself plastered later on, as he couldn't believe what he had seen.
Zabuza himself was equally as stun, as he couldn't believe the strength that Naruto had, especially at so young an age "Unbelievable…they boy really is the son of Tsunade of the Sannin".
"Amazing" muttered Haku with a shocked look, as they young ice user still found it hard to except that Naruto possessed that kind of strength and held it back during their battle.
-End Himetaru Toushi Soundtrack -
"Figures Brat had to hog all the glory for himself" muttered Kushina with an amused smirk, while her partner Yamato just sighed at what Naruto did, as he was getting more and more like is mother, where he would cause more and more excessive destruction.
Kakashi himself let out a tired sigh, after his battle, where he just sat on the ground and smirked behind his mask as he looked at Naruto.
"You certainly have a knack for the dramatics, Naruto", mused the copy-nin, as Naruto had ended this battle in a way that no-one would forget it anytime soon.
-Several days later-
The next several days after the battle on the bridge had been fairly calm in Nami no Kuni, for Naruto and the Konoha-nin, with the exception of a few incidents.
After the battle, both Kushina and Yamato spoke to Naruto about interfering with Kakashi's battle with Zabuza. When Naruto told them his reason as to why he attacked Kakashi, both sensei's were somewhat understanding towards Naruto's plight and why he did what he did. But even still Kushina and Yamato had to punish him, as things could've easily had gone wrong.
Hence Naruto was giving several intense training regimens, along with helping with the building of the section of the bridge that he destroyed. As well as helping to heal and care for Kakashi while he recovered from his injuries and from using his Sharingan for so long.
Kakashi of course made sure to milk as much as he could out of the situation, where he had Naruto wait on him nearly hand and foot, where he Naruto do thing likes, getting him something to eat or drink. As well as feeding him, having him hold up his Icha Icha book (which Yamato force Naruto to give back to Kakashi) and turn the pages for him, as well as many other things.
Naturally Naruto had been fairly ticked off, with how he was like Kakashi's slave, but knew he had little choice, given how he did technically attack him. But eventually Naruto reached his limit when Kakashi called him "Nurse Naruto", after which Naruto then forced feed Kakashi with the worst tasting medicine that the copy-nin had ever tasted, thereby insuring that Kakashi would never call Naruto nurse again.
Kakashi of course was not Naruto's only patient, as he also has Sai and Sasuke, along with Haku and Zabuza, who despite being former enemies, were allowed to stay.
Both Sasuke and Sai were of course bed ridden for a couple days; due to being in the deathlike state that Haku put them in with the Senbon Needles.
When Sakura found them, she had naturally be distraught, when she though that her "Sasuke-kun" was dead and even tried to attack Haku, believing that the ice user killed Sasuke.
Naruto of course stopped her and explained to her that neither Sasuke nor Sai were dead, and that they were put in the same kind of state that Haku had put Zabuza a while back, where once Naruto correctly pulled the needles out, both Sai and Sasuke awoke.
When Sakura saw that Sasuke was alive, she natural became teary-eyed and hugged Sasuke tightly (much to the young Uchiha discomfort, where he tried to get her off him).
Naturally after the battle of the bridge things had been a bit unsettling for Tazuna and his family, when Naruto and the others brought the injured Zabuza and Haku into the house. This was of course understandable given how they had been hired to kill Tazuna, where the members of the family were of course nervous to be around Haku and Zabuza. Even after Kakashi and Naruto assured them that neither of Zabuza or Haku had any reason to harm the bridge builder or his family anymore.
Eventually though things calm down, where Tsunami even became friendly with Haku, where they two would often work together to make meals.
But even so not everyone was as forgiving towards Haku as Tsunami, as Sasuke still held a slight grudge against the young Yuki Clan members, due to Haku defeating him. This defeat was made all the more bitter to the young Uchiha, when he learned that after Haku had knocked out him and Sai. As well as Naruto defeating Haku and then later taking out Gato gang of thugs by himself. But even still Sasuke took some solace in the fact that he finally awoken his Sharingan, where upon recovering he began to practice in using it, so that he could activate it when he wanted it.
Haku injuries had been of course minor, despite the slight injury that Naruto had given the young ice user when he punched Haku in the head, where thankfully the masked had protected him from much of the harm. Naruto had of course offered to give Haku a full check over to make sure that the young Ice user had no other injuries, but Haku and stated that he was fine and he could check himself over.
Zabuza's injuries were of course a bit more serious, where much like Kakashi he was bedridden for a while, where the two men were left in the same room together. This was to make sure that Zabuza would not try anything, for even though Zabuza had no reason to go after Tazuna and his family. It did not state that he wouldn't try anything against Kakashi or the others, hence either Yamato of Kushina, would always be on guard in the house, whenever everyone was gone to work on the bridge or asleep at night.
"Well Zabuza it seems that you're healing quite nicely" spoke Naruto after checking on the former Mist swordsman injuries.
"Tsk! Yea well, when can I finally be able to move and get outta here as unlike Kakashi over there, I don't like spending days on end lying down and doing nothing" spoke Zabuza, as he looked over at the sleeping Kakashi.
"Well I'm afraid you just have to bare it for a little while longer, as although you're healing well, your wounds can still easily open up, meaning you've to stay in bed for a while longer and rest" answered Naruto.
Naturally Zabuza was not pleased to hear this, as he wanted to be on the move as soon as possible, before Kiri's hunter-nin squads caught onto him and Haku.
"Since you'll be with us for a little while longer there is something I want to talk to you about" spoke Naruto.
"What about?" asked Zabuza
"It's about Haku"
"What about Haku?
"What is Haku to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is what do you think of Haku? do you think of him as a friend, a comrade or something else?" asked Naruto
"Haku is just a tool to me, a weapon that I use against my enemies, nothing more" replied Zabuza without any emotion, but as soon as he said this Zabuza found a scalpel blade pointed right at his throat, with an angry Naruto standing over him.
"You dare call Haku that again and I swear I open you up and gut you like a fish, here and now" spoke Naruto in a deadly tone.
Surprised but unafraid by Naruto's threat, Zabuza raised his eyebrow, "Why do you even care what I think of Haku? Better yet why do you even care about Haku to begin with?" asked Zabuza. Since this was the second time that Naruto had defended Haku, the first being when he stopped Kakashi from stabbing the young ice user with his Raikiri.
"Because Haku is my friend and I won't stand for anyone attacking or insulting my friends" replied Naruto, which surprised the former demon of the mist, at how Naruto called Haku his friend so easily.
"You may be skilled boy, but you're naive in the real world of the Shinobi, as I'm merely using Haku skill and power for my own use, just as Gato tried to use me" replied Zabuza.
"So mean to tell me that all those years you and Haku spent together, fighting alongside one another and traveling together, meant nothing to you?" spoke Naruto. "Because if you do mean that Haku means nothing to you, then you're an even bigger fool than I thought you were".
At this comment Zabuza did not reply and simply looked away from Naruto.
When Naruto saw this he became even angrier, "Why you! After everything Haku has done for you, he lived for you and was willing to die for you without a second thought and yet you're telling me he met nothing to you at all? Haku has given up everything just to help you achieve your selfish dream of becoming Mizukage and you've never once considered letting Haku live his own life his way, you never let him have his own dream or give him a choice in anything. You a probably the closest thing that Haku has to a family and you treat him like a disposable tool instead of human being...that isn't right, Haku deserves better, you know it and I know it!"
After saying all this, Naruto saw that Zabuza kept looking away him, refusing to look at Naruto.
When Naruto saw this he grew angry, but quickly got up and walked out of the room, refusing to waste any more of his time on the man.
Once Naruto left the room, Zabuza remained silent for several minutes, going over what Naruto had said to him and has much as he hated to say it. Naruto's words had gotten to him, they had cut deeper than any blade or injury that he had received over the years, as Naruto had been right, Haku did mean something to him, no matter how much he denied it to himself. Zabuza had also realised how badly he had treated Haku and how Naruto was indeed right, at how Haku did deserve better.
"He got to you didn't he?" spoke Kakashi suddenly, causing Zabuza to turn to the copy-nin.
"So you were awake…" stated Zabuza, "I'm guessing you heard everything?"
"Pretty much" replied Kakashi with a slight smirk behind his mask, "As it's not every day that one would get to see the fame Kirigakure no Kijin at a loss of words after arguing with a young Genin".
At this Zabuza just scoffed and turned his back to Kakashi, who just smirked further, knowing that he was right about Naruto getting to Zabuza. He also guessed that Zabuza had a lot to think over the next few days now, after which Kakashi decided to leave Zabuza been and closed his eyes to get some rest.
-A few days later in the early morning-
As the early morning sun rose over the horizon and it shone through the window of the room that Naruto, Sai and Sasuke were sharing. The rays of the sun shun down on Naruto's face, (due to him being nearest to the window), where he slowly woke up.
After fully awakening Naruto looked out the window and saw that it was going to be another beautiful day.
Not wanting to wake either Sasuke or Sai, who were still sleeping Naruto quietly sunk out of the room and headed to the bathroom to wash and change, as he wanted to do some early morning training before everyone else got up.
When Naruto reach the bathroom, he quickly opened the door, believing that he was the only one up and that there would be no-one in the bathroom. But upon opening the door, Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in surprise, for when he opened the bathroom he saw Haku stepping out of the shower with a towel being the only thing covering the ice user's body.
Normally this would not be a surprise or be an issue with Naruto, but the thing that caught Naruto by surprise was the fact that the wet towel that covered Haku's body clung tightly around the ice user's body, showing two medium size lumps on Haku's chest along with a slightly curvy figure and long feminine legs.
"Y-Y-Yo-You're a girl!" stuttered Naruto in surprise as he pointed at Haku.
For a moment or two, the two of them just stared at one another, frozen is surprise, but that soon came to an end when Haku then let out a loud scream in horror, before the now revealed female Haku began to grab onto anything she could grab hold of and throw at Naruto. Who did his best to avoid everything that Haku had thrown at him, although eventually Naruto was hit right between the eyes by a large bar of soap that Haku had thrown, causing the young Senju to fall backwards and out of bathroom. After which Haku then created several ice needles and sent them flying at Naruto, who couldn't avoid them in time and was pinned against the wall behind him.
Still in full feminine fury and outrage and not able to fully think on what she was doing, Haku quickly took hold of a plunger, which was nearby and planned to beat Naruto over the head with it. But as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom and into the hallway, she found Tazuna, Inari, Tsunami, Sakura, Yamato, Kushina, Sasuke, Sai along with Zabuza and Kakashi (who were now well enough to walk around) standing in the hallway, (due hearing Haku's scream and believe that they were under attack) staring at her towel covered body.
When the rest of the household saw the towel covered Haku, the majority of the group (with the exception of Zabuza) were shocked, at Haku being actually a girl, as they were seeing the same things as Naruto did when he entered the bathroom.
Seeing that everyone was now staring her and Naruto in the state that they were both in (with Naruto in just boxers and a shirt and her in a wet towel), Haku's face quickly turned bright red (not unlike a certain Hyuga heiress). Upon which she quickly dropped the plunger she planned to beat Naruto with, and quickly ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her, at which point Kuhsina spoke out.
"Well that was interesting", leaving everyone to have large sweat drops on the back of their heads, not knowing how to comment on what just happened.
Eventually though, things calm down from the escapade of the early morning, where the mortified Haku eventually came out of the bathroom, in her usual attire, although both she and Naruto had trouble looking at one another. As Haku was still very much embarrassed at Naruto seeing her right after she came out of the shower, while Naruto had trouble looking at Haku without turning red and remember seeing her all wet, as she came out of the shower and with just a towel, where it clung tightly around her body.
When everyone asked why both Zabuza and Haku had played the whole façade of Haku being a boy. Zabuza explained that after he and Haku left Kiri, he had Haku tell everyone that she was a boy and had her dress the way she did, so to hide her figure, so to prevent any other Nuke-nins that they might work together with from trying to harm Haku.
At first the group had trouble believing it, but as they thought about it, it did make sense, where although Haku voice and face did look feminine, she still kept her figure hidden, making hard for people dispute whether Haku was a boy or a girl. Plus given how most of them did believe Haku was a boy for most of the time, it showed that it did work, as most people wouldn't feel comfortable asking someone like Haku if she was girl after she stated she was a boy.
Naruto himself was also slightly grateful that Haku really turned out to be a girl, as the idea of him being even momentarily attracted to a boy who looked like a girl creeped him out.
Once the excitement of the morning died down, Zabuza later on took Haku away, stating that he had something important to talk to the now revealed female ice user about.
The two of them of course did not return until several hours later, where Haku, eyes were buffy red as if from crying a lot, although instead of looking sad, she looked happy. She also then later went up to Naruto and hugged him tightly and said thank you to him before, giving the young blonde a kiss on the cheek, (much to Naruo's and everyone's surprise).
Naruto was of course confused by all this until Kakashi explained that seemly his little talk with Zabuza, had gotten through to the demon of the mist and seemly had forced him to revaluate his views on Haku, which was seemly what he and Haku went off to talk about.
When Naruto heard this he was of course glad he gotten through Zabuza, and hoped that things would of course be better for Haku now.
-A Week Later-
After almost two weeks since the battle on the bridge, the bridge had finally been completed two weeks ahead of schedule despite the delay, when Naruto destroyed a section of it.
This was of course thanks to the help of Naruto and the others, including Zabuza and Haku, who had decided to help, since they didn't have much to do, as they couldn't really leave the island until the bridge was finish.
With the bridge now finished the mission was finally over, where Naruto and the others would be heading back to Konoha the next day.
As Naruto and the others walked back to Tazuna's home, Naruto decided to ask Zabuza something he had been wondering the past few days. "So Zabuza, what do you and Haku-chan plan to now, with Gato dead?"
"To be honest kid I'm not exactly sure, as considering recent events, I'll have to rethink some of my plans" replied Zabuza, where he glanced a Haku for a moment and smirked a little. "Although one thing will be for certain…neither Haku or I can stay here much longer as Kiri's hunter-nin squads are certain to come after us".
"But why don't you head back to Kiri?" asked Naruto
At this Zabuza looked at Naruto as if he was nuts "Are you insane, the moment that we step foot in Kiri, the Yondaime Mizukage will have our heads"
Naruto of course tried to reply to this comment, but before he could, Zabuza and Kushina and even Sai suddenly drew their swords, while Yamato and Kakashi took out their Kunai's and Haku took out her Senbon needles.
"Kakashi-sensei's what's wrong?" asked Sakura not understanding what was going on.
"It seems that we've an unexpected visitor following us", answered Kakashi, where he put his senses on high alert, as he and the others had just sensed an unknown person nearby.
"Make that a group of unexpected visitors", spoke Kushina, "as he or she has some friends with them".
"She right", spoke Zabuza, "I can sense them…there are about four…no…make that five of them and given the way they got so close to us without us knowing I would say they are at ANBU level".
"Agreed" spoke Yamato, as he could tell that the people that they were sensing were quite skilled.
At hearing this, Sasuke, Sakura quickly drew their own Kunai's, along with Naruto who drew his own Katana, while Tazuna stood in the certain of the group of Ninja's, where they all took a circle like formation with their backs to one another.
Soon enough though the identity of the unknown party was revealed with for masked Shinobi's appeared on both sides of the groups, surrounding them. When the masked Shinobi's revealed themselves, Zabuza and Haku, along with Kakashi and his fellow Jonin's, Kushina and Yamato realised that the Shinobi's were Hunter-nins from Kiri, due to their masks.
"Shit! …they found us quicker than I thought they would" thought Zabuza, before he turned slightly to Kakashi.
"Kakashi, you and your teams should take the bridge builder and get out of here while you can, as they're after us… not you".
Before Kakashi could respond to this, the fifth person that they had sensed earlier appeared in front of the group and spoke up, "That won't be necessary Zabuza, as we aren't here to fight you".
Upon hearing this, the group quickly looked towards the person who had spoken; when they looked forward they saw the person in question was a middle aged man, wearing the same kind of uniform that Haku wore, and had blue hair and a patch over his right eye. Along with a talismans on each ear with the kanji for a humble form written on them twice on each side.
"Ao!" spoke Zabuza in surprise recognising his former ANBU comrade, who was also the captain of the Hunter-nin division and was one of Kiri's best.
"It's been some time Zabuza, Haku" spoke Ao.
"So the Mizukage has sent you after us …I'm flattered" spoke Zabuza, and he raised his sword, as he had no plans on making this easy for Ao or his men, where if he was going down, he was going down fighting and would take as many of them with him as he could.
"Take it easy Zabuza I told you already, we aren't here to fight you" spoke Ao.
"If you're not here to kill us then why are you here?" asked Zabuza.
"We're here to take both you and Haku back to Kiri on the orders of the Godaime Mizukage's, as the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura is dead" said Ao, which surprised the majority of the Shinobi group, as none of them had heard of the death of the Yondaime Mizukage or there now being a new Mizukage.
After the surprise of this information sunk in Zabuza then let out a low chuckle before he spoke "Hehehehe…do you really think that I'm that stupid to fall for such a lame and obvious trick Ao?"
"It's no trick Zabuza, as Yagure is indeed dead, as there was a coup d'etat and he was over thrown and replaced by the Godaime Mizukage", answered Ao.
Before Zabuza could reply this Naruto spoke up, "He's telling the truth, as I heard about it from Ero-senin, a few weeks before I arrived in Konoha"
When Zabuza heard this, he of course raised a non-existent eyebrow in surprise, "And why the hell didn't you tell us earlier?"
"I tied but I never got a chance to" retorted Naruto.
As this was going on Ao eyed Naruto with curiosity, as he wondered how a young boy like Naruto learned of the coup d'etat, but before he could think about Naruto more, Ao heard Zabuza addressing him.
"So who exactly is the Mizukage now?"
"Terumī Mei"
Upon hearing this, Zabuza raised his non-existent eyebrows in surprise again "Mei?...she the Mizukage now?" where Ao just nodded in confirmation.
"Do you known her Zabuza-sama?" asked Haku.
"Yea…I met her a couple times, back before I found you Haku, she is a powerful and highly gifted Kunoichi" spoke Zabuza, for as much as he hated to admit it, Mei was stronger than him.
"But the thing that is most surprising about her, is that she is a bloodline holder or to be more precise, she's a duel bloodline holder, where she possesses both the Yōton (Lava Release) and the Futton (Boil Release) bloodlines".
After hearing this, Haku along with the Konoha-nin group were of course shocked, as none of them had heard of a dual bloodline holder. What was even more surprising was that Kiri of all places had elected a bloodline holder as their new Mizukage, especially given their past history when it came to bloodline holders.
"So why exactly did they elect Mei as the Mizukage?" asked Zabuza.
"When the Yondaime Mizukage was killed, the elders decided that to help heal the wounds of the bloodline purge between the remaining bloodline holders and the rest of the people. They would elect the Mei-sama as the new Mizukage, along with the fact that she was the strongest Shinobi in the village".
At this Zabuza just nodded again, "So why does the Godaime Mizukage want me to come back to Kiri? Does she hope to make a mark for herself by having me executed in front of the village?"
"Hardly" replied Ao "With you, Kisame and Raiga all gone rogue and the others members of the Mist swordsmen dead, the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū is practically non-existent, something that the Godaime Mizukage wants to change. That's why she sent me to find you, as she wants to rebuild the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū and with you back in Kiri, it would be possible".
"Why me?" generally curious at how the Godaime Mizukage was willing to overlook the fact that he once tried to take over Kiri for himself".
"Well you, Kisame and Raiga are the only surviving members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. Both Kisame and Raiga are out of the question in being allowed to return to Kiri, given their crimes. But you can be accepted back, since your crimes are only of revolting against the Yondaime Mizukage, which can be forgiven" answered Ao.
After hearing this Zabuza didn't know what to think, for right now he was being offered a chance to return to his village, where he would no longer be a hunted man. But if he accepted he would then most likely have to give up on his dream on being Mizukage, but given his own situation now, the chances of him ever becoming Mizukage were highly unlikely.
As Zabuza thought more on Ao's offer, he glanced a Haku and remembered Naruto's words on how he had never considered Haku when it came to the decision he made. He also knew that regardless of his own feelings, Haku would follow him anywhere without compliant.
"So what is your answer?"
After much thought Zabuza came to a decision, "Fine you got a deal".
At this Ao just nodded, as he was pleased with Zabuza's answer, prefering not fighting the former Mist swordsman and would rather have him back on their side.
When Haku heard Zabuza's answer, she was of course surprised by her master's answer, where he quickly turned to him, "But Zabuza-sama, what about your dream?"
"Some dreams are met to just stay as dreams, besides for the past few years you've been helping me trying to achieve my dream. It's time that you've a dream of your own and live your own life as how you see fit, as staying on the run with me isn't a life for you nor one you deserve. And if that means I must give up on my dream on becoming Mizukage and return to Kiri, then it's a price I'm willing to pay".
After Haku heard this, she didn't know what to say and her eyes became teary like, but quickly wiped them away before they could fall. After which she then looked up at Zabuza and smiled, said "Thank you".
With the matter of Zabuza and Haku returning to Kiri settled. The two groups headed back to the Wave village, as there was going to be a party in the village, in celebration of finishing the bridge and Gato being gone, where Naruto, Kakashi and all the others were all invited as honoured guests.
-The Next Day at the Newly Finished Bridge-
The following morning, after the celebrations in the village ended, the two Konoha teams were about ready to head back home to Konoha. Tazuna and the villagers of Nami no Kuni were of course all there to bid farewell to them, along with Zabuza and Haku, who were accompanied by Ao and his team, as they would be leaving right after Naruto and the others left. Although not everyone was a clear head or has happy due too many people were suffering from severe hangovers, due to drinking too much ().
"Well this is where we part ways, thank you all for everything you done; we won't forget what we done for us, especially you Naruto" spoke Tazuna.
"Not a problem Tazuna", spoke Naruto, before turning to Inari, "Make sure to take care of your gramps and mom Inari".
"Don't worry Naruto-nii-san I will" replied Inari with a smile.
After saying goodbye to the villagers of Nami no Kuni, Naruto turned to Zabuza and Haku.
"Well we be seeing you around brat" spoke Zabuza.
"Yea I been seeing you, but don't forget what we talked about" said Naruto, where he shook hands with Zabuza, who just smirked behind his mask and nodded, saying he wouldn't.
"Take care Naruto-kun…I wish you a safe journey home" spoke Haku, as the young female ice users shook hands with Naruto.
"You too Haku-chan, I hope we met again soon and this time not as enemies".
"As do I" replied Haku with a smile, after which Naruto and the others started their journey back to Konoha.
As Naruto and the others headed back to Konoha, one of the villagers suddenly spoke up, "So what do you think we should call the bridge?
"How about the bridge of hope, as this bridge was the hope our Country" spoke another villager, where many muttered in agreement.
"I've a better idea, I think we should call it, The Great Naruto Bridge, in honour of the boy who helped save our country and helped give us back our hope and courage. Besides I think the name would help bring good luck to the bridge as I'm certain we be hearing many great things in the near future about that boy", spoke Tazuna, where everyone in the village quickly approved of the bridge's name.
Zabuza and Haku of course both smiled at hearing this, as they both could not help but concur with what Tazuna said, as they were certain that they would be hearing great things about Naruto as well in the near future.
After which the two of them, along with Ao and team, began their journey back to Kiri.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone