Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Atelier Uzumaki ❯ Chapter 12

Kakashi got another hit in, hearing the growl from Zabuza. His blood scattered into the unreceptive air, and before the man could retaliate, the Copy-Cat Ninja suddenly disappeared and once more moved towards Zabuza's side, attacking again.

 

“Damn you, Copy-Cat!” Zabuza growled as he defended from the attack.

 

“It seems your preparations against me weren't up to snuff, eh?” Kakashi stated neutrally as he disappeared from sight, only to re-appear behind the man once more. He had to dodge though when the Devil of the Mist retaliated suddenly with a big swing from his huge sword.

 

“Hmph... no matter how fast you move, your movements are simple and predictable,” Zabuza muttered.

 

Kakashi smiled a bit. That was true, something he had to fix in Naruto's placements, but he wasn't a jounin for anything. When he felt a tug in his body, he chose to ignore it, and pressed forward. Zabuza, expecting his enemy to disappear from sight once more, was shocked when Kakashi suddenly came to him.

 

“How was that?” the silver-haired jounin asked as he slashed through Zabuza cleanly through his abdomen. It wasn't deep enough to count the man out, but enough to hurt. Before the Devil could retaliate, Kakashi vanished once more.

 

Zabuza looked around the mist, wondering where Kakashi was going to appear again. He didn't. Expanding his senses, he tried to feel for a trap, or anything that Kakashi might have left. The man like Copy-Cat wasn't one to leave battles.

 

He felt him near the female genin guarding the bridge builder. He felt confusion surfacing in his mind... and if he only knew, he wasn't the only one.

 

Kakashi looked perplexed when he realized where he was. Something was wrong... Naruto wouldn't bring him to Sakura or Tazuna without due reason. He really should have gotten those radios for his team. It'd make communication much easier.

 

“What is it?” the jounin asked.

 

“Sasuke...” the Naruto Clone panted.

 

“Sasuke-kun!?” Sakura looked panicked. “What happened to Sasuke-kun!?”

 

The Naruto Clone looked somewhat down, unsure to reply. Kakashi only hoped it wasn't as bad as the Naruto Clone perceived it. “Go help them,” he ordered.

 

The blonde clone didn't even need reply. He immediately ran towards the ice dome, leaving Kakashi, the bewildered and torn looking Sakura, and Tazuna alone.

 

“Kakashi-sensei...?” Sakura asked, worried.

 

“Don't worry... they're both fine,” Kakashi forced himself to say. Now... he knew he had to beat his opponent, fast. With thatin mind, he grabbed out a summoning scroll from his vest pocket, bit his thumb to draw blood, and smeared it to the scroll.

 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 

“You damned idiot…” Saki growled as she felt her strength leaving her. Naruto looked at her confused, and his eyes widened as he realized what just had happened. She collapsed.

 

“Sasuke…” he muttered as he stood up rushed to her. “Sasuke!”

 

Her face was getting paler by the minute. Naruto shook his head. This couldn't be happening. Going for his storage seals at his left sleeve, he extracted a healing potion, and made Saki drink it. Her complexion didn't change… her breathing was getting shallower. The blonde knew that his teammate was dying.

 

“Please, let this work,” he chanted softly. “Let this work!”

 

Extracting something else from his storage seal, he took out a small silver cup with a small amount of silver grey liquid inside. It was Nectar, one of the most powerful healing concoctions he had synthesized. According to his mom's scroll, this specialized healing potion heals grievous and fatal wounds instead of non-fatal ones. It could revive the dead, as long as the timing's right.

 

If anything… this was the thing that could save Sasuke.

 

However, even as she drank it, there was no change in her state. Her breathing was now slowing to a halt, and her eyes have stopped blinking.

 

“NO!” Naruto shouted, and began to shake her. “Wake up! You damned psycho girl! Wake the hell up!”

 

“Sorry… you moron…” she replied, her lips forming a slight smile. “I'm… too tired.”

 

“Why!?” the blonde demanded, not feeling his eyes tear up. “Why'd you do that!? Why did you take that attack for me!?”

 

“My… body… moved… on its own…” she coughed. She looked up, her smile now more pronounced. “Heh… I wanted to kill my brother… seems… I can't…”

 

She closed her eyes, her breathing stopping. Naruto's tears landed on her pale cheeks, and the blonde could only stare at her in deep shock. He doubted the notion, rejected it even. The psycho girl seemed to strong, especially back then. Now, she just laid there, apparently dead to the world. He then felt sorrow… anger… then rage.

 

“Was that necessary?” he asked in a cold voice, his eyes hardening, his tears still flowing as he looked at the masked-nin, who was now standing there, watching him.

 

“Yes…” Haku replied solemnly. “This is the ultimate price of living a life as a ninja. Death.”

 

The Naruto Clone finally arrived, squeezing through a slit between the mirrors, and looked at Naruto Prime standing in front of the fallen Uchiha. The clone immediately went towards Saki, and then, looked towards Prime. He too felt his creator's rage, and soon after, his plan.

 

“I will kill you then,” Naruto Prime declared.

 

Haku melted through one of the mirrors, and the masked-nin's form appeared in the others. Naruto Prime threw his Fate Deck towards his clone, and closed his eyes.

 

I need your help.

 

You have it.

 

For the first time since he became a genin, Naruto Prime and Kyuubi combined. Over his coat, a tattered cape, which looked and moved like it was fire itself, and his chakra suddenly exploded exponentially, mingling with a more powerful energy.

 

Haku was confused. Readying the senbon needles once more, the masked-nin blinked in surprise as Naruto's clothes changed, and more importantly, when the other Naruto, who just entered, shared the same expression as the former one. In one swift stroke, other Naruto threw his two hands forward the same time Haku unleashed his barrage of needles.

 

The cards spread all over the air, just like earlier. This time though, they doubled, making the wall of cards more effective than the last few walls the blonde had erected to protect his teammate and himself. Senbon needles bounced off the hard surface of the wall of cards, and they quickly readjusted themselves, reforming as if it was done earlier.

 

Free of worry, Naruto Prime recalled the Riblam. He was done holding back now. For the first time, he adjusted so that his magical bow would have maximum penetrating power, and to be sure, he readied a burst tracking shot. Thanks to his temporary union with Kyuubi, he had no fear from energy drainage.

 

“Clear the way!” Prime declared, and aimed up. The clone recalled all the cards, and Prime took his shot. The discharge spread throughout the air, and suddenly homed on one mirror.

 

Haku didn't have time to blink as the projectiles came.

 

The mirror shattered, and Naruto Prime spotted the masked-nin fly away. The surrounding mirrors began to melt and break, quite a fitting image if one looked through the masked-nin's eyes. Diamonds were sparkling behind the blonde alchemist, shattered as his fire-like cape swished behind him; on his hand, a huge bow, with a crimson eye at the back of his fist, walking towards his fallen opponent.

 

The masked-nin tried to stand, but was only able to get to one knee, too weak to fully stand.

 

“You…” Naruto Prime looked at his fallen adversary. The last attack had been strong enough to not only force Haku's mask off, but also something else. “You are a girl.”

 

Haku blinked, and looked down at her shirt, revealing her bindings. She immediately tried to cover them, but it was far too late. She had been revealed. She could only laugh at the thought. She had not only been beaten by a younger opponent, but he also found out what she hid from most of her enemies.

 

Her true sex.

 

“Finish it…” Haku declared. She was utterly beaten and that meant only one thing: she was useless now.

 

The blonde lowered his weapon slightly, his eyes confused. Haku could almost see the questions in his head.

 

“I killed your friend,” she continued. “Kill me.”

 

“Shut up!” the Naruto clone declared, rushing towards her, and punched her hard on the face, making her fall the second time. “Damn it! This is bull! This is not happening!”

 

Naruto Prime looked down, torn. His clone's thoughts mirrored his own, but had a darker emotion filling his heart. It was regret. Regret he had once more put up his pride so foolishly forward. He assumed he and Sasuke could take on their enemy. He assumed his little plan with using his fate cards as defense would be flawless.

 

He could have done better. He should have done better. Now… she was dead. She sacrificed herself for him… the one who led to it in the first place. He shouted. Naruto Prime shouted with everything he could muster. A horrible scream made the Naruto clone flinch, and brought fear to the heart of Haku. A scream that overpowered Naruto Prime's senses on its duration.

 

Then… gone. His emotions were spent, so was his breathe. He almost fell to his knee, but he just slumped there, looking defeated. No one spoke a word. The world outside went silent.

 

Learned your lesson, now did you?

 

Kyuubi's voice jolted him from his reverie. The words hit Naruto like a punch to the gut.

 

You… you bastard fox!

 

She's alive, you know.

 

Wha… what?

 

The Uchiha girl's still alive.

 

Impossible! She's… she…

 

There are only two reasons why a Nectar wouldn't work. The life had gone from the body too long, or the person wasn't dying. I saw you synthesize it. There was no way you'd have made a mistake. Whatever happened to the Uchiha girl, she isn't dead.

 

Naruto was silent, both physically and mentally. Confused at Kyuubi's words, he now began to feel another wave of doubt washing through his system, and then the anger towards his Mana partner of his silence in the matter.

 

If she was still alive, why didn't you tell me!?

 

Don't get angry, you moron. First of all, you, being the alchemist, should know the full properties and effects of the items you synthesize. Second, what that Haku girl said was right… being a ninja means you have to be prepared to face death. This will serve as a lesson to you. You're head was getting a bit too big. At your age, having three Mana partners and getting threeAlchemic weapons is impressive, but you have yet to mature in understanding how much responsibility your new power holds.

 

There was a slight pause.

 

You threw yourself too recklessly towards your enemy. You could have developed a better plan to beat your opponent or better yet, adapt and modify plan as it went along, but instead, you just used the first thing that came to your mind, thinking it was going to be enough. That resulted in your teammate's incapacitation. If it were any other opponent… she'd have been dead if you were lucky. If you weren't… you'd be the one laying in the slab.

 

You arean alchemist. One of the few left, maybe even the last. Please appreciate that responsibility.

 

The words were solemn. Kyuubi was giving Naruto a lecture, one without much insult. The blonde felt more weary, knowing he may had screwed up big time if the bastard fox was somehow feeling sorry for him.

 

I'm not ready for this… am I?

 

Che… the fact I'm lecturing you means that you aren't. However, as it pains me to say this, your heart is in the right place. It is your mind that needs more work.

 

That brought a slight smile on the blonde's face.

 

Heh… thanks. Bastard Fox.

 

Hmph. I just don't want my alchemist partner to embarrass me… moron.

 

A flash, and Naruto's clothes returned back to normal. The battle was over. Naruto Prime knew it, and his clone knew it as well. Kyuubi wouldn't lie about this… and even if he did, the fact the Nectar hadn't worked was sufficient proof enough. The only thing he felt was slight irritation that he had wasted the potion. It was hard to synthesize.

 

Haku was the one who was left confused. She had waited for the killing blow, only to get nothing. Looking at the two blondes, they lost the cold aura of contained rage that was present earlier. She couldn't read them. Then, a dark thought entered her head as he watched the two blondes steal a look at her. She immediately covered herself, ready to defend.

 

“Don't…” she muttered.

 

Both Narutos looked at her, confused. “Don't… what?”

 

“You know what…” she growled, her eyes hardening. What did the boy think she was, stupid? She wasn't clueless! He was at the right age, he had the advantage. It was something to be expected being a kunoichi. Zabuza had told her, reminded her lots of times of the unscrupulous inhuman acts that happened in his life.

 

“Kill you?” Naruto Prime asked, looking more and more confused at each passing second. “Just a second ago you were aching to go. Are you like… indecisive?”

 

Haku stood up, and Naruto Prime just aimed his weapon at her. He didn't want to kill her now that he had no reason to, but it didn't mean he was going to be careless around her. For a moment, the two Narutos stared at her in silence, wondering what they should say; Haku herself didn't look too sure what to do. She was outnumbered, injured, and exposed.

 

“My teammate's not dead,” Naruto Prime declared. It wasn't a question. It was a statement of fact.

 

Haku didn't even try to deny it anymore. She just smiled.

 

“Why?” the blonde asked.

 

Haku just shrugged slightly. “I just… couldn't.”

 

“Yet… you would have readily asked me to kill you,” Naruto Prime muttered.

 

“A ninja's life always ends in death,” she declared softly. “My heart wasn't hard enough. Because of that… you defeated me.”

 

Naruto Prime looked at her, his eyes narrowing. His words were honest, solemn, and serious. “I like your heart.”

 

“I'm sure,” she smiled. “But it doesn't matter… Zabuza-sama doesn't need a useless tool like me.”

 

“Why?” Naruto Prime demanded angrily. “Why him!? He's is working for a criminal who's stealing life from this country!”

 

“It doesn't matter,” Haku smiled a bit. “We all form strange bonds over our lives. He saved my life. That was all I needed. He is my precious person... and you took away my reason to live. He won't need a weak ninja like me. ”

 

They were silent once more. The two Narutos looked crossed between torn and angry, while Haku still held that serene smile. It was another minute before Naruto Prime spoke again.

 

“I'm Uzumaki Naruto.”

 

She looked at him, a bit confused, but still smiled. “Haku. Now… kill me.”

 

“No.”

 

She shook her head, as if annoyed. “I don't need your pity.”

 

“Say what you want,” Prime muttered, looking resolved, “but I'm not going to kill you.”

 

“Then I'll force you to kill me,” Haku declared, her voice now getting devoid of any emotion. Her hands immediately went to form seals, and Naruto Prime readied his bow, aiming at her, while his clone also readied the two deck of cards to defend or attack, whatever the situation called.

 

The mist cleared, making the three combatants pause. The blondes were more curious, wondering what was happening, while Haku looked behind her. There were only two reasons why the Mist jutsu was stopping either Zabuza had finally taken care of his opponent, or it was the other way around.

 

The sound of chirping birds answered her. No way would Zabuza, an orthodox silent killer, have something loud in his repertoire. Trying to focus on the shadowy figures as the mist thinned, she immediately spotted her teacher and savior pinned down by a group of summoned ninja dogs.

 

“Zabuza-sama!”

 

Naruto Prime and his clone watched in surprise as Haku suddenly moved away from them. For a moment, they thought she was finally attacking, but realized when she was dashing away from them, it wasn't that. The next time he saw her was when the mist finally cleared, where she was in front of Zabuza, and Kakashi's arm was sticking in from her chest out to her back.

 

She was smiling.

 

The blondes were completely taken by surprise, but that emotion was quickly replaced by anger when Zabuza suddenly raised his large sword, intent on cutting Kakashi and the smiling girl.

 

“NO!” Prime took the shot automatically. It was a reflexive action, and he had no idea what the results were. All he saw, all he wanted to see, really, was that orb of light smack the man trying to kill his teacher and cut that girl in half. He succeeded.

 

Zabuza screamed as he felt an impact, like a solid punch, ram right through his ribs, which he had in avertedly exposed when he raised his weapon with both his arms, and fell in a heap. Kakashi's eyes suddenly darted towards the source of the projectile, which was Naruto Prime, holding a rather large bow.

 

Where did the boy get that from? Oh well, questions could come later, he thought as he spotted Zabuza wheezing as he tried to stand.

 

“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto Prime ran to his teacher. “Haku... is she...?”

 

“Haku?” the silver-haired jounin looked towards the blonde, and towards the young girl that interfered with his attack. He then looked towards Naruto Prime with a pitying expression. “I'm assuming she's the fake hunter?”

 

Naruto just nodded. “Is she...?”

 

“I'm sorry, Naruto,” the jounin muttered as he lowered Haku and his arm, and slowly removed his intruding arm from her body. “Her lung was punctured and cauterized. Even if she was alive, she'd just die.”

 

Naruto Prime looked at Haku, his eyes hardening.

 

“Naruto... I'm going to finish Zabuza off,” Kakashi said in a matter of fact tone before he left, leaving Naruto Prime and his clone alone with Haku.

 

Taking his fingers to her throat, he tried to feel for a pulse. It was gone. Kakashi was right... she was dead. Prime then looked towards his clone, who immediately went for his storage seal, extracting a Nectar.

 

“Naruto...” Gwendolyn called from his right. “She was your opponent.”

 

“Am I doing anything wrong?” Naruto Prime asked with a somewhat hard tone in his voice.

 

“Of course not,” Gwendolyn said soothingly. “But you might make it harder for yourself...”

 

“She said she lived for that Zabuza guy she was with,” Mercedes joined in. “And I doubt your teacher will fail in killing him, especially after that rather nasty shot you gave him to his side. You may have cracked some of his ribs in that one.”

 

“She's strong, she'll find another reason to live,” Naruto Prime declared as he opened Haku's mouth, and poured some of the liquid in there and the remaining towards the gaping hole on her chest. She sighed a bit when the wounds suddenly began to close at an accelerated rate, and she began to breathe.

 

“Even if her new reason is vengeance? To kill you, the one that not only stole her reason for living, but also made her ultimate sacrifice useless?” Mercedes asked.

 

“I'll take it. Everything she'll have if she comes against me,” Naruto Prime muttered as he stood up, and then walked back towards where he had left the fallen Uchiha.

 

She was still there, laying down where he left her. She still looked dead, almost impossible to fathom she was alive, but she was. Kneeling down near her, he just watched her face without any outward emotion appearing on his face. For a long while, he just kneeled there, until finally, she finally opened her eyes and saw two blondes looking at her.

 

“Sasuke...” Naruto Prime greeted neutrally, though one could see a phantom of a smile on his face. “Welcome back.”

 

“Ugh... I could do better than see your ugly mug,” she muttered and shook her head. “What happened?”

 

“It's over,” Naruto offered.

 

“You beat him?”

 

“Her.”

 

The young Uchiha blinked. She half-wanted to ask what he meant by `she', and also half-doubting that her blonde teammate had done what she couldn't do earlier. Granted, she was taken out of the fight because she had protected her teammate, but she wouldn't have even gotten close if it wasn't for Naruto, who protected her while she planned her offense.

 

“Can you stand?” Naruto Prime asked.

 

“I think so...” she replied, and was helped by the two Narutos up, her arms over their shoulders. They stayed silent for a minute as they walked towards the direction where Sakura was, when the Uchiha said, “Naruto...”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You tell anyone I was beaten, I'll castrate you.”

 

Naruto Prime didn't know what castrate meant, but it sounded painful, so he just nodded. “Sure, Sasuke.”

 

“My name's Saki,” she corrected. “And don't call me that when there are people around or I'll-”

 

“Castrate me, I know,” Naruto Prime finished.

 

“You're getting cheeky, blondie,” Saki growled.

 

“And I guess almost dying didn't change you one bit, psycho girl.”

 

Saki just growled, but smiled a bit as she walked away from where she had lain earlier.

 

Naruto Prime wasn't surprised when he spotted Haku still laying on the ground. Saki stole a look at her fallen form, but didn't ask the blonde anything. She didn't even speak. They just continued to tread towards Sakura, who spotted them. Showing some professionalism, she didn't leave Tazuna, but she was waving her arm towards them.

 

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura declared as they came to arm's length. “Are you okay!?”

 

“Hn,” Saki muttered, but nodded.

 

“I was so scared!” Sakura eyes began to tear a bit, but vanished when she looked towards the Narutos, and her expression turned a bit dark. “This moron talked like you had died or something! I was really scared!”

 

“Hehe... sorry, Sakura-chan?” Naruto replied with a nervous smile. “I really thought Sak... uh, Sasuke died too.”

 

“You idiot!” Sakura half-shouted.

 

“Ancients, I want to strangle her,” Gwendolyn muttered as she flew across Naruto's shoulders.

 

“Hush... it'll push our partner closer to us,” Mercedes declared with a sly smile.

 

“Mercedes, drop that topic already.”

 

Naruto didn't know what those two Manas were talking about, so he just filed it at the back of his mind. Saki looked at him curiously, her eyes moving from Naruto Prime's face, to his shoulders. The blonde looked at her, confused.

 

“What?” he asked.

 

“Nothing...” Saki muttered. She could have sworn she spotted two small figures of light moving around Naruto's shoulder.

 

Ignoring the Uchiha, Naruto looked towards the direction where Kakashi was. He saw Zabuza, still alive, apparently, but heavily wounded. He had dropped his massive sword which was protruding from the ground, blade down, kunai blades sticking from his shoulders and gut, his arms on his side, useless. Kakashi looked unharmed, mostly, but what caught the blonde's attention was a mob of tough-looking guys with multitude of weapons staring down at them. At the front and center of the group was a short man with spiky hair, a suit and dark spectacles.

 

“What the heck is going on here?” Naruto Prime muttered, more to himself than anyone. Leaving his clone alone with the still-weakened Saki with the doting Sakura and their sober client, he slowly approached the two men, careful and alert in case Zabuza would turn to him.

 

Suddenly, Kakashi threw his kunai towards Zabuza. It wasn't a throw to harm, but more of giving the Devil of the Mist a weapon, who caught it easily in his mouth. And to add more confusion to Naruto's, Zabuza suddenly dashed towards the group of men.

 

“Kakashi-sensei...” Naruto called as he stepped towards his teacher who made no move as Zabuza cut through the ranks, taking hits from the mercenaries' attacks, but nothing they did stopped him. “What's going on?”

 

“You're about to witness why it's not very smart to renege on a contract with a shinobi... missing-nin or otherwise,” Kakashi muttered in an odd calm. “Gatou was foolish enough to think he could betray the Devil of the Mist and live to tell the world about it.”

 

Zabuza fell, not by Naruto's or Kakashi's hands, but by the multiple weapons that were now stricken all over his body, but not before he had reached the already short cowardly Gatou and made him a head shorter. Naruto was too surprised at the brutality that he didn't even look away, watching a speck, most likely Gatou's head, fly towards the body of water outside the bridge.

 

For a moment, Naruto thought he could understand why the man was called the Devil. He even died standing up for a second, before he finally fell.

 

“The end of a man who lead a difficult life,” Kakashi muttered with a tone of respect.

 

The mercenaries, probably after pissing in their pants, realized their adversary was finally dead, and also realized that paycheck had been killed. They then began to threaten to raid the whole town, essentially killing it. They didn't get far though... another surprise came to Naruto, and this time, it was of a smaller package.

 

Inari. Tazuna's little grandson, who he just saw earlier was leading a band of adequately armed villagers. He had a bow gun, which Naruto found somewhat funny since he had rescued the boy with an almost similar, if not bigger version of the weapon he was using.

 

The mercenaries still looked confident, until a group of Narutos suddenly joined in Kakashi's and Naruto Prime's ranks. Confused, Naruto Prime looked towards the clone he had left alone with Saki, Sakura and Tazuna, and he was giving him the thumbs-up sign.

 

The clincher was Kakashi, who decided that he too was going to join in. Using a bunshin instead of a Kage Bunshin, he added more illusions of himself to mingle with the Naruto clones, who looked ready to rumble.

 

“Want some of this?” Kakashi asked in his most menacing tone.

 

The mercenaries ran. The battle for Wave Country ended with minimum bloodshed, and the tyranny of Gatou ended with the whole country celebrating it later that night.

 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 

The day finally came when the bridge had been completed... ahead of schedule no less. This was because of Naruto's clones and the fact the whole village was now supporting Tazuna on his quest, and he happily enough took their thanks and rallied the strong men and women working together in harmony.

 

By this time, Naruto had made friends with Inari, and found out who he had lost to Gatou that placed him in a coward's attitude that had pissed the blonde so much. Inari's father figure, a man who had been called the bravest man of Wave Country stood up against Gatou. He was cruelly executed in public for his troubles. Although Naruto couldn't totally relate to Inari's loss, he knew the feeling, remembering Mizuki and Iruka's fight.

 

Saki had avoided him, sticking to her duties in silence. Sakura was always by her side, but since Inari and Naruto were developing their friendship along with the latter's help with the construction softened his sadness at his crush's absence.

 

Gwendolyn called it a small victory. Once more, Naruto was confused, and wondered what the heck the Wind Mana was talking about.

 

By the time it was time to leave, Inari was crying. This time, Naruto didn't say anything derogatory towards boy... it would have been hypocritical of him since he too was crying. Promising to visit when he could, Naruto waved at him one last time before he joined back at his team.

 

Leaving Wave Country wasn't exactly a happy affair, but at least Naruto felt some closure from his farewell towards Inari and Tazuna, their first client outside Fire Country. However, one thing remained on his mind, something that had been bothering him since after the battle at the bridge.

 

Haku.

 

She was never found after the battle. She must have revived after the mercenaries have left, when everyone was gathering their wits about them. He knew she knew about Zabuza's demise... it would be impossible to hide that fact.

 

What Gwendolyn and Mercedes told him the day he gave Haku the Nectar to revive her came back to his head. Was she angry at her loss? Would her anger direct itself on his path? Had he ruined a friendship, and in turn, earned an enemy in her?

 

Naruto trudged on his path. He would face it head-on, he promised to himself. That would be his nindo.

 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 

Overlooking Wave Country, Haku looked at Zabuza's grave. It was made well... he was buried deep enough to stop most desecrators. Above the simple gravestone was the head-cleaving sword that her father-figure used. At its hilt was his forehead protector, still smeared in blood.

 

It took her an hour, but she was finally able to free the sword from its confines, and she stumbled a bit at the weight and length of the sword, but she steadied herself, and placed it at harness at her back, careful the blade end wasn't touching the ground.

 

No one spotted her as she exited Wave Country in its newly built bridge. She had spotted its name, aptly named The Great Naruto Bridge. Naruto... the blonde who had defeated her, and revived her. She knew it was him...

 

Haku knew full well she was going to see him again. She gripped the forehead protector of Zabuza with her hand, her face unreadable as she walked over the bridge out of Wave Country, the resting place of her rescuer and her savior.

 

To Be Continued...

 

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 

Author's Notes:

 

I lost my mojo a bit, but did get it, thankfully in the end. I hope you guys enjoy this story. Later.