"They seem to have done a number on you Zabuza. I'm dissapointed in you." The short man said as he looked at Zabuza.
'That should be Gato and his men. Things are getting bad.' Max though as he looked at Kakashi and the others.
He had noticed that Kakashi should be the strongest one in their group, but he was already tired since he was fighting Zabuza. Max could fight with the goons normaly, but his right hand was still injured.
He also looked at Naruto and Sakura. Naruto could be said to be in the best condition out of the group, but Max remembered how he couldn't even react to the speed of Haku or him before so he didn't have much hope on him.
Sakura was still crying over Sasuke's death and Tazuna couldn't fight.
"What is the meaning of this Gato" Zabuza asked.
"You see, there has been a change in the plan. You will die here with the others." Gato said as he laughed.
"What?"
"You see, you are too expensive. So I decided to take you out of the payroll." He said after another laugh. "I mean look at you. So much for the Demon in the Mist. Instead of a demon, you look like a little kitten." Everyone of his goons started laughing after that.
'Infighting? But that doesn't change things. We still at a disadvantage.' Max thought as he tried to revitalize his body with what he has left of chakra.
"It seems that I have to apologize Kakashi. Our fight will have to end here. Since I'm no longer employed by Gato, I no longer have a reason to go after Tazuna." Zabuza said as he looked at Gato.
"I supose that you're right." Kakashi said. Kakashi know how most rogue ninja acted. If they didn't have a reason to fight, they would better avoid confrontation.
Then, he looked at the unconsious Haku on the floor. He wanted to say something but he didn't at the end.
"Ohhh? Did that little brat got killed? I hope not. I was meaning to get back at him for what he did to my arm. At least I get to torture his body when all of this ends." Gato said after looking at Haku on the floor.
But then he noticed that Haku seems to be breathing and got happier. "HA! I seems that luck is on my side. The brat is still breathing. All the plans that I had for him wont go to waste."
"You bastard!" Naruto screamed as he charged at the group. At least Kakashi was fast enough to caugh him.
"You, what are you doing. Why don't you defend your partner? Would you let that slide?" Naruto screamed at Zabuza.
"Shut up brat. Haku is one of my tools to make my ambitions come true. Now that he is useless, he I have no need for him." Zabuza replyed. "In this world, there are those use and those that are used. Like Gato is doing to me right now, I'm doing to Haku. We had use for some time. But when our use ends, whe can be discarted. This is what it means to be a ninja."
That comment pissed off Naruto and Haku. They remember how Haku spoke about Zabuza. How Zabuza needed Haku and how just that made him so happy.
"If you really feel that way, you are even worst that I thought. Did you know that he really like you?"
Naruto said as he pointed a Haku.
"That you are the most precious thing in his world for him?" Naruto said as tears start to fall from his eyes.
"And he means nothing to you? Even though that he sacrificed everything for you and was even willing to die for you. Did you really feel nothing?
He live for you!
He's strong for you!
He fights for you!
His dream is making your dream come true. To the point of not wanting anything else in life. His happiness is making you happy.
But at the end, when you no longer need him, he gets discarted away as a tool.
Such a life, is just to sad to live."
Naruto words made Max look at Haku. He felt the happynes that Haku showed when he talked about when we met Zabuza. Such happiness he had felt before. But that happines was taken away in one moment.
Haku happiness was stronger than that. Hake knew what Zabuza was, but he didn't care. For him, Zabuza was more than an angel than a demon.
*drip*
"You talk too much kid. Your words cut deep, deeper than any blade."
Zabuza's voice made Max looked back at him, which gave him a sudden surprise. After see what was happening in front of him, a smile appeared in the face of Max.
"While Haku was fighting you, his has was breaking. He's too kind and caring for this life." Zabuza says as tears fell from his eyes. After looking up for a moment, he continued. "He felt pain and sorrow when he had to fight you guys, even I could see that.
"At least, in the end, he wont have to in the future." Zabuza said as he resolved something in him. "Surprised that I'm human too, boy? Well, me too actually."
'Human? No, Zabuza. You are more than that.' Max thought as he started to make his way towards them.
"Kid, pass me your kunai. I have to end this." Zabuza asked Naruto after taking his bandages off from his mouth.
Naruto complied and threw his kunai in the air. Zabuza took the kunai in his mouth and charged at Gato, but-.
"Stop Zabuza."
He heard the voice of Max that was making his way to his side. Zabuza saw what Max had done to save Haku, so he stop when he heard his voice.
Max stopped beside Zabuza with a smile on his face. Even max could feel weird by how happy he felt at that moment.
'Now I can understand even better. Haku's happiness wasn't one sided. Zabuza was also happy when he was with Haku, that its way he was acting so strange when he fought Kakashi. He was worried for Haku, even though he didn't even realized that.'
"That guy called you 'Demon in the Mist'. So as a fellow citizen of hell, let this Devil pave the way. That is my final gift for both you and Haku." Max said as he moved his sword to his other side of his waist.
"Are you sure kid, I can see that it took a lot out of you to do the last attack." Zabuza said with a hint of curiosity.
"Don't worry about it. For the first time in my life, I feel in my soul that I need to do this." Max side as chakra bursted out of his body.
Gato saw that Max and Zabuza were about to attack and ran back. He got scared for some reason, so he decided to flee.
Seen this, Max charged foward followed by Zabuza. Max felt his chakra reacting like never before and knew that he could do what he planned to do.
As Max got closer to the group, he crossed his hands and gripped the hilt of his katana with his right hand and the sword with his left. He had read of this for of attack in his book. This technique is supposed to be at the middle level of mastery, which meas that Max needed to pass another level just to attempted.
But he felt that levels didn't matter right now. Something more important was at stake for him, which prompted action from the depths of his soul.
Max suddenly stopped in front of the first goon leading the group and acted. As he released both weapons from their sheaths.
Iai - Cross Scar
Max did two fast slash motions in the air. The slahes were so fast that they seen as only one fast motion. After the slashes were made, a cross like scar appeared in the air and then it accelerated through the goons following Gato as he escaped.
The goons felt something slice at then after the Cross Scar passed by them. Their bodies got cut as the imprint passed which killed them in an instant.
Gato had just made it to the back of the group of gons when he saw a big cross making it's way towards him. He could react at all as he prepared to meet his end by it when suddenly.
*swooosh*
The cross disipated just in front of Gato. Gato felt like he had just escaped death, but something else had made its way behind the cross.
Zabuza used the space created by Cross Scar to reach Gato. In a quick motion he used the kunai in his mouth to slash the throath of Gato and then send him flying with a kick.
Gato had died facing the demonic face of Zabuza. Zabuza on the other hand just turned around and faced the group of goons.
He noticed that Max's attack had killed 1/4 of the goons, so they weren't out of it just yet. But as he faced them, he saw that they all were afraid to even look at him.
The goons quickly turned around, but then they faced the one that had just killed a lot of them in a blink of an eye.
Max had now put back both weapons back on their sheaths while he rested his hand on them. He standing right there frightnen the goons and killed their will to fight.
"Fuck this!"
"Escape!"
"They are demons!"
The goons started to jump away from the bridge. After a couple of seconds, only the weapons of the goons were left on the bridge.
'The bluff worked. These lowlifes couldn't even noticed that they had the advantage.' Zabuza thought as he made his way towards Max.
"I didn't know that a samurai lived in the Land of Waves, thenkfu-" Zabuza was saying as he got closer to Max, but he suddenly stopped.
'Zabuza also think the same as me. The kid should be a samurai, but his techniques don't feel the same as them for some reason.' Kakashi was thinking.
"Hey Kakashi! I think you need to take this kid and help him." Zabuza said after he approched Max.
"Hmmn?" Kakashi got confused.
"By what I can see, his left aarm should be almost destroyed, while his right arm is fully destroyed. Also he is unconscious at the moment." Zabuza said as he took a look at Max.
Max had lost consciousness after placing both weapons on their sheaths. The pain of performing Cross Scar was too much for his body to take, which made him pass out.
*Sigh*
Kakashi could only sigh as he saw that.