734Naruto Uzumaki - The Greatest Prodigy
Chapter - 22
Note - Been a while how are you guys, it's been a long time since I uploaded the story and I also apologise for not responding to any of your messages, I hope you can forgive me for that and thanks for worrying about my well being. I can assure you I'm fine. As for my absence I won't go in details but past year or two has been very tough for me mentally. So I was in no condition to concentrate on writing. I hope you guys can understand.
Talking - Normal Human
Thinking - Normal Human
Talking - Summon/Bijuu/Jutsu
Thinking - Summons/Bijuu
Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. This is for entertainment only.
Secret Hideout
Jiraiya let out a sigh as he walked through a dark corridor which could only be described as hell.
His eyes burned with self hatred.
The smell of rotten dead bodies of countless men, women, and children scattered all over the place. The kind of torture these poor souls went through was clear as day.
Jiraiya kept himself composed and his steps didn't falter for once as he made his way out.
Once outside, Jiraiya looked around his surroundings before he found his masked companions who were busy searching for anything valuable they could find.
Jiraiya did not say anything upon arriving; he just stood with fists clenched, hoping to calm his anger.
Orochimaru...
This was the 6th Hideout that Jiraiya had found in just a few months. But still he could not say they were close to finding the whereabouts of his traitorous former friend. Which frustrated him greatly.
"Jiraiya-sama...there is something you should look at."
Jiraiya's attention shifted towards the young Anbu officer who showed him documents of some kind.
As Jiraiya went through the found data carefully, he couldn't stop a frown coming over his face. "That bastard...how in the world did he get his hand on something like this."
"By the looks of it, the report is incomplete."
"It doesn't matter. Even small details of this kind are dangerous in the hands of someone like Orochimaru," he responded with a glare. "There might be a traitor in our medical corps leaking such sensitive information."
"Then Hokage-sama needs to know that as soon as possible before it becomes a problem," the Anbu stated.
"Did you find anything else?" Jiraiya questioned.
The masked man shook his head and said, "We have gathered everything we could; there is nothing left here." The Anbu paused before he continued. "We should join Neko-taicho and others on the rendezvous."
Jiraiya gave a slight nod before giving a final look at the documents in his hand. "Let's head out"
After exiting the base, they quickly make their way towards the rest of the remaining members of the squad waiting for them outside at a safe distance. "Did you guys find anything?" Jiraiya asked straight away as he landed.
"Nothing that can be of help, but we have secured all the leftover data by Orochimaru," an Anbu with a boar mask said. "We've also set up everything from our side as you asked."
"Excellent. Any information on Orochimaru is of our benefit no matter how small it is.," Jiraiya said before looking at the squad leader. "What about you Neko?"
She looked at him for a moment before answering. "Nothing...Jiraiya-sama." Jiraiya nodded in disappointment
"Well it's alright, you guys have been a great help," Jiraiya said, handing the documents over to the captain as she looked at them for a second before looking back at the Sannin.
"These documents are to be reported as soon as you get back to the village, understood?"
"Hai...Jiraiya-sama," she replied with a bow. "Do you need help with anything else?"
"No...you guys can take your leave now. It'll be better if I take over from here. You kids don't need to worry."
"Very well, good luck on your journey," she said and the whole squad bowed before they left the scene.
Jiraiya turned around to look at the base again, as he whispered. "Now what to do here."
(Land of waves)
THUD...
A dead silence fell over the dinner table from a sudden outburst by the young boy who slammed his hand on the table and stood glaring furiously at all the ninjas.
"Huh...?"
The Konoha shinobi looked surprised at the kid's behavior.
Prior to this, they were all talking and sharing stories while enjoying their dinner after a tiring day of intense training.
Until a sudden outburst from Inari changed the mood for everyone. It was a surprise to see such behavior from someone who was usually quiet.
"Why do you even try?" he spat bitterly.
"Try? what do you mean Inari?" Sakura tried to ask kindly in hopes of calming the boy.
"Nothing is going to change. All this training and cool things you say, it won't change the fact that you're still weak compared to Gatoh," Inari shouted with as much rage as he could muster. "He's got an army by his side. So stop pretending like you're some kind of hero, stop giving false hope to people of this island. The strong always win and the weak always lose, that's the law of the world we live in."
His outburst was not taken lightly by everyone, which could be seen in Sasuke's eyes as well as Shikamaru, who's eyes narrowed slightly. The others didn't let it show.
The strong always win and the weak lose, it is the undeniable truth of the world that nobody can change. That's the ultimate reality.
That is why humans strive for strength. After all, it's about their survival.
Which is why Naruto didn't mind what the kid said. But there's one mistake he made, the mistake of looking at Naruto while he said it.
Like it was directed to him more than anyone else.
Foolish kid.
If anyone looked at him, they'd find him completely cool and calm beside Kakashi, but there was a slight twitch of his fingers.
"Mah mah... We are quite strong then you give us credit, Inari," Kakashi said lightly, putting his hand up with a smile, making Inari frown. "Once the bridge gets complete things will go back to normal like they were before."
"Simple for you people to say who don't know what we have to go through everyday. While you were enjoying your life back home with your families. Just looking at you all makes me sick, always laughing, chattering, and acting cool. You can never understand what pain we have to suffer."
"You are right, it is simple for us to say that," came the voice of Naruto getting everyone's attention, especially Inari, who flinched at the tone.
"You know why?" Naruto leaned forward and continued. "Because unlike you, we are not cowards. We don't bow down to any person especially when that person has killed our family."
Naruto did not stop even when he saw Inari trembling as tears rolled down his cheeks. In fact, his eyes hardened despite the fact that Tsunami continued to apologize on behalf of her son.
"So if you think I'll allow a coward and loser like you to disrespect my comrades, then you're totally mistaken brat," Naruto went on. "Be glad that your father died before he could look at how much of a disgrace his son actually is."
A couple of people gasped around him. But he did not care, especially not when he was being judged by some kid who had done nothing beside running away.
Naruto leaned back, noticing most of the eyes on him, but he kept focus on the crying boy. Before he could speak further though, Inari ran away upstairs, ignoring his mother's plea and shutting the door forcefully.
Again a silence fell around the dinner table. Tsunami was glaring at Naruto. "Why did you bring up that topic in front Inari when I told you not to?" she said in anger.
"Then you should have taught your son the right manners when talking to people," Naruto snapped back, not backing down under the woman's glare.
Tazuna sighed, looking at the scene. "It's alright Tsunami."
"But father?"
"Someone has to tell him somehow; we can't tolerate his behavior all the time, especially not when these people are risking their lives for our freedom."
Suddenly Naruto stood up and walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked, his tone commanding.
"Out," was all Naruto responded before stopping, turning his head just a bit to look back at his team and saying. "Be on time tomorrow."
"On time? for what?" This was the thought running through the heads of the three genins, but they did not have the courage to ask him anything at the moment.
So all they could do was nod in response as Naruto exited, making them let out breaths they had been holding.
"That guy has quite a sharp tongue, ayy?" Tazuna said.
"Haha… Sorry about Naruto..." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "He's not very good with people."
"That doesn't mean he can speak to my son that way," Tsunami said, still upset about what happened earlier.
Kakashi nodded in an apologetic manner, not knowing how else to respond. But he was a little surprised at the way Naruto reacted too.
Sasuke stood up, catching Kakashi's attention. "I'm going to take a rest." he said and wandered upstairs.
Again silence consumed the house as they ate their meal quietly.
Naruto stood with his head down, panting heavily in the middle of an opening, his clothes tattered while long bangs fell over his eyes.
He was surrounded by hundreds of remaining shadow clones who'd just survived his attack. Everyone stood still watching Naruto slowly lift his head with his Sharingan blazing in the dark.
Then he vanished with a crack of lightning, appearing at a distance, and slammed his lightning coated fist on the ground, destroying a bunch of clones in the process.
Sensing the incoming attack from the side, Naruto blocked the kick with his left forearm and grabbed the clone before throwing him at a nearby clone. His eyes moved from side to side, scanning every move.
At the moment Naruto looked like a man possessed, ripping through his opponents with unmatched brutality. The look in those blazing red eyes was so intense that it was ready to set the world on fire if provoked.
"Get out of here boy, we don't serve your kind."
A powerful kick slammed down on to another clone. "Ahhk..." before he burst out in a cloud of smoke.
"I heard his parents left him the day he was born."
His head was hurting but Naruto did not stop, his brutal assault continuing just like the whispers didn't stop.
"How can Hokage-sama allow that thing to be part of our group?"
"P-please...let us live."
"His attacks are getting violent," a clone said in all seriousness, seeing a powerful wind attack ripped through a good portion of the ground.
"This has to be stopped otherwise this could attract a lot of unwanted attention."
Naruto, on the other hand, was wrapped up in his own thoughts and didn't know what was happening anymore. All he could see was eyes full of hatred directed towards him.
"Y-you nev-r fin-d...ple-ase."
It was like his body was acting on its own as he went on. This could no longer be called a training session.
"You're just a tool Naruto. Your past, present, future does not matter anymore. Forget them."
"FORGET THEM ALL."
"AAAHHHHH..." With that yell, Naruto was suddenly yanked out of his thoughts with a stunned expression before a powerful fist collided with his face, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying back before he slammed against a tree.
He slowly slid down to the ground and wiped the blood off his face.
"Have you had enough now?"
Naruto looked up at his own clone and asked, "What happened?"
"You were losing control."
"Tchh..." Naruto frowned deeply at the response and again looked at the clone with a conflicted expression. "Was it the fox again?"
The clone was reluctant to speak, seeing the look in his originator's eyes. But he nodded, forcing Naruto to tighten his fist in anger. "Dispel yourselves."
"Will you be alright?"
Naruto snapped his head towards the clone and hissed. "Just do what I said."
Hearing the command, the remaining clones poofed out of existence, leaving behind a huge cloud of smoke.
Naruto sat alone with his head bowed, wondering how he could let his emotions affect him in such a way. He was angry at himself and the way he reacted to that kid's nonsense. Yeah, that's what it was.
Nonsense.
He was a former Anbu for all the Gods' sakes; how could a child get him to react in such a way? "This mission's nothing but trouble," he muttered. He just wanted it over as soon as possible.
Naruto sat for hours under the shining light of the full moon with his thoughts running in his mind. The things he had experienced here had awoken memories which he normally kept buried deep in his mind.
Finally though, his eyes closed and he fell into a deep slumber.
Unaware of his surroundings. When a large shadow flew over him.
Inari sat outside his window gazing over the horizon. The neverending sea was illuminated with the reflection of the moon. His eyes were red and puffy from crying.
"Dad." The smiling face of Kazia flashed through Inari's eyes for a moment. Why did his dad have to be a hero?
If not, then he wouldn't have been killed and everything would have been alright. They would be living their happy lives.
But no, it was ruined by Gatoh. Just because his father was a hero.
Inari hated that word.
There was nothing he hated more than people who gave false hope. Just like these ninjas were doing to his country.
Knock...knock
There was a sudden knock on the door and a gray-haired Sensei entered his room.
"I thought you'd still be up, so I decided to come and apologize on behalf of my friend," the Jounin said with a soft tone as he stood by Inari.
But Inari remained silent and returned his gaze back to the previous scene. After a moment of silence he muttered, "I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have shouted at you all."
A smile appeared on Kakashi's masked face after hearing that. "Mah...You're a strong boy Inari."
Inari's eyes widened and he looked at Kakashi in shock. No one had said anything like that since his father died. He couldn't understand but there was also something different about the way Jounin said it.
(Next Morning)
Naruto's eyes flickered open when the sunlight hit his face. Sitting up straight he looked at his surroundings as his eyes adjusted to the light.
The memories of the night before came flashing back as his eyes went back to the half-destroyed field around him.
Naruto pushed himself off the ground and sensed a presence nearby. It didn't feel hostile or dangerous. Maybe it was someone local. But just to be cautious, Naruto walked toward the direction masking his presence.
Upon arriving, Naruto found a girl around the age of 13-14 if he could guess. She was collecting herbs.
The girl was beautiful, her long silky black hair falling back freely, and she wore a pink sleeveless kimono decorated with small plum-coloured swirls that went to her ankles.
Around her waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow. The girl was humming in a soft tone while Naruto watched her from behind a tree.
"Can I help you sir?"
His body tensed when the girl suddenly looked in his direction. Seeing no point in hiding, Naruto came forward.
"Ohh, sorry if disturbed you, I was just taking a stroll," he said politely, noticing a basket in her hand. "Would you mind if I help?"
"I wouldn't mind a helping hand."
She nodded with a smile as Naruto helped her pick up the herbs. Carefully looking at it for a moment, he said, "These herbs are mostly used for curing injuries, aren't they?"
The girl didn't respond.
"Is anybody hurt?" Naruto asked.
The girl's shoulder tensed for a second before a soft smile tugged her lips again. "It appears you're quite knowledgeable in the medic field."
"I wouldn't go that far but quite a few people I know are experts in these types of things, so you know," he said. After the girl didn't say more, Naruto pushed again. "You didn't answer my question?"
"My grandfather got hurt in the field, and my family can't afford expensive medicines," she finally responded. "These are hard times."
"I see… By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Naruto."
"Nice to meet you Naruto, my name is Haku." She offered a friendly smile.
After that, they stayed silent as they picked up the ingredients for the basket, but Naruto kept note of her movements.
"You must be quite strong Naruto-san?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion at the sudden question. "What do you mean?"
"Your clothing and that forehead band tells me that you're a ninja. There's a lot of rumors going around that you're here to help us against Gatoh and his men."
"That's our mission, Haku-san, and we intend to finish Gatoh's hold on this country."
"Then I wish you luck Naruto-san," Haku said, standing up and facing him. Naruto followed suit and stood up. "Thank you for your help. I hope we meet again."
"Don't worry about that, we will meet soon," Naruto said as Haku bowed and quickly turned on her feet to leave.
A light smirk tugged the corner of Naruto's lips as he stood watching her. "Definitely meeting soon."
Haku stopped midway before slightly turning her head to look back at him with a smile. With her eyes closed, she said, "By the way… I'm a boy." With that, Haku left, leaving behind a stunned Naruto.
Gone was the smirk on his face, replaced by a look of embarrassment. "What...?"
Naruto stood still even when his team arrived. He did not acknowledge their presence until they spoke.
"Wow...who was that beautiful lady you were talking to sensei?" Ino asked with a teasing voice.
Naruto rolled his eyes. Not even wanting to think about that, he said. "Let's just start with our training."
"Huhh? Ohkayy."
"Ohh...by the way sensei, we bought you breakfast." Choji handed him a bento wrapped under a cloth before following behind his team.
(Hidden location)
"You shouldn't move too much." A soft voice spoke to a person seated on a bed swinging a big sword. "Your wounds are not fully healed."
"I feel a lot better now, thanks to you," the person grumbled. "Just a bit longer and I'll show that copycat and Uzumaki-"
"Don't bite more than you can chew, Zabuza." A third voice spoke from the door. Zabuza's partner ran to take a protective stance in front of him as a figure approached slowly from the dark hallway.
When the figure became visible, both Zabuza's and Haku's eyes widened in shock. Because there stood a blond ninja staring back at Zabuza.
"Y-you?" Haku stuttered in shock. It couldn't be possible. How did he find this place?
(Few Days Later - Bridge)
When team seven and Tazuna arrived at the bridge, they did not expect the sight which greeted them.
Through the dense mist they could see the bodies lying motionless on the ground around them, blood splattered on the ground.
From the mist, a figure slowly crawled towards them. Tazuna, taking notice of him, rushed to his side before turning him over to check his condition.
"T-azu-na...th-they came o-ut of n-nowhere," the worker said before he collapsed.
"Zabuza." Kakashi called out, and his body tensed when the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Two figures materialized through the mist.
The crashing of waves in the ocean below was the only sound audible on the bridge.
As the two groups stood against each other, the pressure grew heavier with every passing moment.
"Hello again Hatake." Zabuza couldn't stop grinning under his bandaged mask. "It looks like you're short on some members, ayy."
"Ka-kaka-shi sens-ei," came the shaky voice of the only female of the group.
At that, all Kakashi Hatake could do was glance at his students in slight worry.
"Hahahaha..." It was a mocking laughter from Zabuza. "The duck-haired again shaking in fear."
Hearing the comment and the mocking tone directed towards him, Sasuke's anger shot up slightly. He quickly calmed himself down and let a small smirk appear on his face. "I'm not shaking in fear, just excited to fight you again."
"Ohh...fight me?"
Ten water clones shot towards the leaf shinobi.
"Let's see how you fare against them."
"Go ahead Sasuke," said Kakashi with a confident smile towards his student.
Without hesitation, Sasuke rushed towards his targets with impressive speed. In his run, Sasuke disappeared and reappeared a moment later with a kunai in each hand before the clone exploded.
"The boy has gotten better," Haku said, observing the Uchiha.
"Fast as well."
"Let's see then how much he has improved." Haku rushed forward at greater speed than the leaf genin.
"How can I be so careless?" A blond shinobi was sprinting through the forest at a very fast pace.
A look of panic and worry clearly on his face.
"Just hold on till I can get there." Naruto was on his way back home from his morning patrol when he came across a dead boar.
Finding a dead boar in a forest was not a matter of concern but the wounds on the animal's body was a warning to Naruto. Although, no trained assassin would leave a trail behind on purpose. So the obvious fact was that it could be the work of bandits.
But Naruto didn't want to take the risk. It could be Zabuza leading a group of men and to make the matter worse, Kakashi and his squad had already left for the bridge.
That could only mean his students and Tsunami were in grave danger. With that thought in mind, Naruto pushed his speed even further, moving at a blinding speed.
"Just hold on for a bit."
"Just get out of my way kids. Or else..." The man tightened his hold on the blade, bringing it to Tsunami's neck in a desperate attempt. "Don't blame me for what happens to this woman."
Tears started gathering in Tsunami's eyes as the face of her son came into view, while the genins stood shocked as she struggled to get out of the strong grip of the man.
"Hold still you bitch." He started pulling on Tsunami's hair, making her scream in pain.
But suddenly, to everyone's shock, Inari sprinted towards the man with a kunai in his small hand.
"LET GOOO OF MY MOTHER." He ran screaming at the top of his lungs.
"NO...INARI WAIT."
"INARI."
The boy did not hear and just before he could get any close, his steps suddenly got stuck. In his rage the kid looked down in confusion and saw a long black shadow attached to his, reaching all the way to Shikamaru.
He continued to struggle in vain. "Let go of me." Just then Choji jumped next to him and picked him up before jumping back to a safe distance once again.
"She is going to be fine, Inari." Choji comforted the child softly.
"P-please save mom..."
"Just trust us." He whispered gently, placing a hand to cover the boy's eyes.
Just then, in a flash of lightning, Naruto appeared behind the man, slicing his throat in a swift motion before anyone could even blink.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH..." The loud scream of Tsunami filled the area when her captive dropped dead behind her leaving his blood all over her clothes.
"Everything's fine Tsunami-san, you're safe now."
Hearing the gentle voice of Naruto did calm her down a little. She hugged him tightly, her voice shaking.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou," she repeated over and over again until her son sprinted towards her and enveloped her in a tight hug and crying his heart out.
Leaving the mother and son duo, Naruto looked around seeing dozens of men lying motionless on the ground. His gaze settled on his students before a proud smile appeared on his face.
"Well I hope we put on a good show?" An annoyed voice said, which could only belong to a Nara.
"You sure did," Naruto replied. "But you didn't finish your opponent when you had the opportunity. Luckily I was there to save the day for you guys so no harm done."
He received an annoyed grunt from his students while Ino let out a huff. "Oye oye...oyee sunshine."
"Well...we kinda put Tsunami-san and Inari's lives in danger, I wish you could've stepped in a bit sooner." Choji's voice sounded sad looking at the mother and child.
"I could have. But then how would've I known how much you guys have matured since we became a team? I'm sure Asuma would be proud."
He was proud of the hard work they continued to put into their training, and he had grown attached to these kids. Although, he had to keep reminding himself that he was just a replacement. Sooner or later he had to part ways with them when Asuma returned.
"You kids alright?" he asked.
They looked alright other than a couple of bruises.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME?" And all Naruto could do was sweat-drop at the loud response he got from Ino. "Hmmm, I wonder who's more loud. Ino or that girl from Kakashi's squad," he wondered, listening to her rant.
"WHAT'S so funny... that STUPID looking guy even ruined my clothes, now-" Naruto put a hand over Ino's head, stopping her blabbering. "Huhh?"
"You guys did very well," Naruto said, much to the surprise of his team, who looked at him with wide eyes before grinning at the praise.
"Haa...you bet." Choji beamed at him with a thumbs up, while Shikamaru just muttered, "What a drag, most of them were not much of a challenge but the guy you just killed fought like a properly trained ninja."
"Well...he won't be a problem anymore," Naruto said. Tsunami walked up to them with Inari by her side, still shaken by the earlier events.
"Thank you everyone for saving me and my son." She managed to speak but her body flinched when Naruto looked at her.
Naruto nodded. "Just take some rest and you'll be fine Tsunami-san."
Ever since the incident during dinner with Inari, she hadn't spoken more than a couple of words to Naruto.
Tsunami gave a light smile towards Naruto and said, "I don't think my family will ever be able to repay you and your friends Naruto-sun."
"We are just doing a job. Besides…" Naruto trailed off a little towards a motionless body on the ground and said, confusing everyone around him, "It's not over yet."
"What?"
"The bridge." Naruto began looking at the fallen bodies as everyone listened on. "That is the most likely place we will be expecting an ambush, meaning that our total focus should be on protecting Tazuna and his workers."
"So they must have thought they could use that as a distraction to take Tsunami-san hostage to lure us into some trap."
"Then that means team seven could be under attack?" Shikamaru voiced his thoughts and from the look on Naruto's face his assumption was right.
"Come on, we need to leave now." With an urgency in his tone, Naruto turned. "Zabuza should've also recovered by now, but I can't trust if he took my words and stayed away from the bridge builder. For all I know he might be the one attacking Kakashi and his squad."
"We must get there as quickly as possible,"he thought before looking back at his team. "Ino, Shikamaru you're staying back," he ordered, surprising both. Just when Ino was about to protest, Naruto continued. "We need someone to look after Tsunami-san and Inari. Gatoh might send more men."
With that, Naruto sprinted away, not even waiting for any response. Choji followed suit after him, leaving behind his friends.
"Wait..." Ino tried to stop them, but all she could do was watch them leave. "We could've helped too."
"Tsunami-san and Inari's protection is important too, Ino."
"Shut up...Shikamaru." It was a low whisper which took the lazy Nara by surprise.
"She looks disappointed."
Sasuke panted as he went toe to toe with the fake hunter ninja.
"He's fast and strong too," Thought the Uchiha as he and Sai continued their tag-team attack on the masked ninja.
The battle was evenly matched so far and neither party was able to gain the upper hand as kunai and senbon locked against each other.
"You can't use any jutsu while one hand is occupied." Sasuke's eyebrows raised in confusion before his eyes widened in shock when the boy started waving single hand seals at a quick rate before Sai could even reach him.
"Impossible..."
"Single handed seals." Kakashi watched in shock before looking at Zabuza who was watching him carefully for any opening.
"I won't be able to help them."
Haku stomped the ground with his left foot before he jumped back as water around them started to rise. He called out the jutsu in mid air.
"sensatsu suishou" The water formed into dozens of needles which surrounded the two young genins.
Noticing the incoming attack, Sai nodded to Sasuke before they jumped back just in time when the water needles crashed to the spot where they were just a moment ago.
Haku looked impressed, when he seemed to sense a slight movement behind.
"You may be fast, but I'm faster."
Haku jumped back just in time to skip Sasuke's swiping kick.
But before he could relax, he saw Sai coming down on him with his sword held out.
Haku closed his eyes as the gap closed, and at the very last moment his right hand shot forward, grabbing on to Sai, rotating their body upside down with the help of motion, and slammed his foot on his back.
Sending him crashing on the ground.
Ggrrkkk...
Sasuke rushed to help his teammate as he aimed his kunai towards Haku's face, who blocked it with his needles. He grabbed on to Sai's back before he jumped back to a safe distance.
"I shall admit you two are very talented as you managed to push me this far." Haku's hand started waving hand seals as the two genin readied themselves, feeling the sudden drop of temperature in the air.
"W-what is happening?"
The water on the ground once again started to rise around them and formed a dome made of ice mirrors
Kakashi, who had watched the whole thing unfold, widened his eyes in shock. "That just...it can't be..."
"Makyō hyōshō." Haku, finishing his jutsu, stepped in one of the mirrors before his image was displayed in every mirror.
"There is no escape now," he said in his usual gentle voice, as the two genin watched. "This ends here."
"What is that jutsu?" Kakashi wondered.
He was moving to help his students when Zabuza blocked his path. "Let the kids play Kakashi, your fight is with me."
"Damn." Kakashi gritted his teeth in frustration, just when he heard Sasuke's painful scream.
AAHHHAHHHHHA
Again cursing his luck, "Where the hell are you Naruto?" He looked at his female student who was shaken after hearing Sasuke's scream.
"Sakura, protect Tazuna," he yelled, just when the mist started to thicken and the rogue ninja disappeared within the mist.
"This mist is a lot denser than the last time." Kakashi observed his surroundings with his now uncovered Sharingan eye.
Zabuza's laughter floated in the mist. "This is one of the weaknesses of your Sharingan, Hatake. As long as you can't see me, you can't copy my moves or hypnotize me."
"That means you can't see me as well. We are at a stalemate."
"Ahh, that could be a problem. But did you forget that I'm the master of silent killing?" the former mist ninja reminded him with glee.
Again, Zabuza's laughter echoed as Sai and Sasuke screamed further down the bridge.
"Tchh... Then I'll find my own way," Kakashi hissed, hiding his frustration.
Zabuza again asked with a grin, "How long do you think Haku will take to kill your boys?" His eyes were closed, concentrating to pinpoint Kakashi's position.
There was silence before Kakashi answered. "Don't underestimate them. Sasuke is from the Uchiha clan and Sai...he was...trained by the elites."
Zabuza grinned under his mask. "Well...that's fitting. Haku's ice technique is also a Kekkei Genkai, just like the Sharingan."
"Is that so?" Kakashi asked in surprise, listening intently for any movement. Suddenly his eyes widened, sensing a rapid movement. He sent Chakra through his leg before he jumped.
"None of your genin can match against Haku."
Sakura screamed in fright as she fell on her butt as a slash from Zabuza that was aimed at her head was countered by Kakashi.
He had to use his body as a shield, which resulted in a large gash on his chest. It wasn't life-threatening but enough to make Zabuza grin.
"I almost had you there, Kakashi," he said before he disappeared in the mist.
"That was close," Kakashi thought before looking towards where his other two genins were fighting. "I have to put my faith in them and focus on Zabuza and end this now."
Kakashi slipped a scroll out of his pocket and slid his thumb over the wound on his chest.
"This has gone far too long, Zabuza. What do you say we finish, once and for all?"
"End it?" Chuckled Zabuza. "Let's see what you have in mind, Kakashi."
Kakashi opened the scroll while sliding his blood-soaked thumb along the length of it before it rolled shut.
Kakashi ran through a few hand seals before slamming the ground.
"Kuchiyose: Doyon: Tsuiga no jutsu." Kakashi looked up as the ground around him rumbled.
So far the two leaf genins had done pretty well in dodging and deflecting the hail of senbon that were being sent their way. Still, they got hit quite a bit. They had tried various jutsu as well but they'd all failed against the hunter-nin.
Sasuke glanced at his teammates with his newly awakened Sharingan and asked. "Do you have a plan?" His breathing was labored.
"I'm of no use against him, all my techniques have proven useless," Sai answered, taking a moment to look at Sasuke's condition. A newly awakened Sharingan had negative effects on the chakra.
"Even your fire jutsu seem ineffective, and seeing your condition, you can't use any more jutsu without killing yourself," Sai said. "Even you are useless now...dickless."
Tchh...Sasuke groaned at the weird sense of humor of Sai despite the situation.
"I don't like to kill but one of us has to die here." Haku readied his senbon once again before striking.
They deflected and dodged most of them. However, a painful yell from Sai distracted Sasuke and several senbon struck him.
Two in his leg, one in his left arm, three in his right.
Sasuke winced and knelt down on the ground. He tried standing back up but failed.
"Fuck...He struck some pressure points..."
He looked over at Sai and saw the boy on the ground in pain picking himself up.
The next wave of senbon was impossible for the Uchiha to dodge and he earned a few more of the needles in his back and legs.
Haku looked over at the fallen Uchiha to find him struggling.
"It has to be done."
Sasuke was trying his best to move when he sensed movement. He looked up to find Sai standing in front of him.
His eyes widened when he realized what had just happened. "No"
Sai shuddered as he fell backwards.
"Why would you do that?" Sasuke asked.
Sai gave him a smile which was not convincing at all. He said. "I had to protect you, dickless."
With that, Sai's eyes closed and his body went completely limp. Sasuke stared, not able to comprehend what had just happened.
"Is this your first time losing a comrade?" Haku asked and all he received was silence.
"It is a difficult thing to have happen, but we are Shinobi, this will happen often. We must kill, or be killed..."
Anything Haku was going to say was cut off when he heard a strange noise, like a thousand birds were chirping together.
His eyes widened when he felt a chakra in the distance for a powerful jutsu. He also sensed a few other chakra signatures pinning Zabuza down and two fast approaching.
Zabuza's eyes widened as Kakashi charged. "Damn dogs." He tried to struggle, yet he was pinned.
Kakashi was traveling fast, the blue electricity and chakra in his hand making the chirping noise.
Just when he was about to pierce Zabuza's chest, Haku appeared in front of Zabuza fully prepared to sacrifice himself.
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Shit...I can't stop." Suddenly a figure appeared and grabbed Kakashi's hand, tackling him to the side.
The jutsu cut through the concrete ground, as the two individuals rolled on the ground before coming to a halt.
Kakashi picked himself up before looking at the blonde figure down on the ground in pain as blood poured from his side.
"Naruto?" The copy ninja rushed to his side. Naruto stood up holding his side; his injury wasn't life threatening. But still Kakashi asked angrily, still trying to process what just happened, "What are you doing Naruto?"
"I c-can't allow you to kill the-m."
They were stopped by the sound of clapping as the mist started to clear, along with the ice mirrors slowly melting.
"SASUKE..." Sakura rushed towards her childhood crush. Choji was standing by his side.
They noticed the large army of mercenaries behind a short businessman with a cast on his left arm.
"Some demon of the mist you are Zabuza. More like a baby demon if that."
Zabuza glared at the short man and his army and asked, "Gatoh, what the hell are you doing here?"
Gatoh laughed. "Ohh Zabuza...Zabuza, did you really believe that I would pay you? I just wanted all you shinobi to wear yourselves out and when you were tired enough, I would just hire an army of bandits to kill you all. Missing-nin are never truly missed and they're so easy to manipulate."
"Well Kakashi, it looks like our fight is now over," Zabuza muttered angrily, his look directed towards Naruto.
Kakashi nodded as he relaxed slightly and dispelled his summons. "Looks that way..." he mumbled, not taking his eyes off Naruto.
Gatoh walked forward as his eyes landed on Haku, who looked slightly worn out and shaken from what transpired a moment ago.
"Boy, you're still alive," he said with hate in his voice. "Well, that leaves me the pleasure to cut you myself." The mercenaries behind him laughed.
"Gatoh..." Zabuza growled, his eyes burning with hatred as he glared at the man. "I will fucking kill you."
Haku readied himself by his side.
"You can't take them on by yourself, not in the condition you are in," Naruto said, standing beside them. His injury was somewhat healed.
"What? you gonna lend a hand, Uzumaki?"
"Go for the main head. The rest, we'll handle," he responded confidently. As Kakashi joined him, carrying Zabuza's sword on his shoulders, Naruto tossed a kunai towards the demon of the mist.
Zabuza caught the kunai between his teeth. His arms were practically of no use at the moment.
Gatoh's face lost color, looking at the newly formed alliance in front of him. He quickly ran back towards his army to get farther away from the ninjas. "GO YOU FOOLS...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" He yelled frightfully. "KILL THEM!"
Everything came to a halt when Zabuza kicked Gatoh's headless body from the bridge.
Dozens of men lay beaten or dead on the bridge while the remaining watched in shock as their cash cow got killed.
Soon an angry mob of men, women, and children joined the battle, led by Ino and Shikamaru, and by their side was Inari proudly holding a bow and arrows.
It was like the whole Island had come to fight for their freedom.
The remaining bandits tried jumping in the waters to save themselves from the angry mob.
Soon enough, loud cheering could be heard on the bridge as people cried and hugged in joy of their freedom.
"Are you going to keep your words, boy?" Zabuza said, as he stood supported by Haku, his eyes staring at Naruto.
Naruto nodded. "Konoha will contact you in the coming weeks." He was aware of the suspicious look Kakashi gave. But he could deal with him later.
"Get that in your head, Uzumaki, as an assurance. I want you to accompany me, or else our deal is good as dead." With those final words Zabuza and Haku vanished in the mist.
"Care to explain what that was all about?" Questioned Kakashi. It was only them now; their students were checking on Sai who had just woken up.
"I was only following my orders, Kakashi."
"Orders? from who?" His eyes narrowed while his hand gripped a kunai.
Naruto waited, not backing away from Kakashi, before he responded. "From the Hokage."
"The kids could've been killed," Kakashi said. "You put their lives at risk."
Naruto gave a final look at Kakashi. "No one's dead, Kakashi." He disappeared in a standard leaf shunshin.
Kakashi was left alone to stare at the empty place. He sighed and turned to look at the genins laughing and enjoying themselves with the locals.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Finally it is done. Took me a while then I expected. So let know your thoughts on the chapter. To be honest I don't really like this while wave arc and I know how important it is in Naruto for for him and the development of his a character, but still.
At the beginning of writing this I wasn't really sure if i wanted Zabuza and Haku to survive but moving forward I think they'll be important in coming arc. Also I've dropped a few easter eggs in this chapter, so let me know if you guys find any.
IMPORTANT MENTION - FOR THE BATTLE SCENE ON THE BRIDGE I TOOK NOTES FROM - RISE OF NAMIKAZE NARUTO BY BENJI90
Let me know your reviews good or bad and constructive criticism is welcome as long as it is not abusive.
If any of you want to work with me on this story fell free message me on discord. My d*scord is ( Ravenking#6476 )
My old discord account is dead for some reason I couldn't access it sorry if you trying to contact me their.