Chapter 29: Uchiha's Power
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"Are you not going to wake Naruto up?" Asked Tsunami, pointing right towards the Naruto that was peacefully sleeping right on the ground below.
Kakashi eye-smiled at her, nodding his head as a response.
"He needs it. Once he wakes up, tell him that we're at the bridge. He knows where it is." Tsunami nodded, knowing exactly what to do when times like this are at odds.
Once everything was settled, the team went right on out of household and walked right on the wooden deck alongside Tazuna himself. They were now in a hurry to finish this bridge.
As they all walked, Tazuna brought out a brilliant question.
"What are the chances that Zabuza and his little wacky are going to appear?" Asked Tazuna, hoping for a very low probability with chances being around just below 10 percent.
Kakashi went silent for a few seconds or two before fully answering the question that was just given to him by Tazuna.
"Around 60 percent is fair enough. Though the chances may lower as time goes on." This made them have their eyes bulge right out of their own sockets at these answers.
"What the hell? That can't be true at all." Kakashi sighed.
"It's the sad truth. But also don't forget that not only can the percentage get lower, but it can also go even higher than it is now." Kakashi was just continuously spilling the bad news to them all.
After minutes upon minutes of walking, they had finally made it to the bridge that was almost completed. But as soon as they got there, they stopped walking with widened eyes.
There were bodies on the ground. Shit.
"Everyone, surround Tazuna." The other two nodded and surrounded the bridge builder, Tazuna. They looked around, tensing up in the process. They were now entering a potential battle.
"He's here, isn't he?" Asked Satsuki, getting a nod from the cyclops himself. The two were shaking in their bodies, readying themselves to battle to the death.
Suddenly, mist started to form all around them. Shit, now they were sure Zabuza and his little buddy were here. The mist started to thicken without much problem.
"Hatake Kakashi." They heard someone say. It was so masculine and deadly to the tee. Oh, yeah, it was definitely Zabuza without a single doubt going through their brain.
Suddenly, multiple Zabuza's appeared right around them. Their eyes narrowed down and looked at all of the Zabuzas that had just appeared all around them all.
It was just water clones that was surrounding them. But where was the real Zabuza?
"It seems like your genin are scared beyond insanity," said one of the water clones. He aw Satsuki shaking like before when they had first faced off a few days ago.
"Tch, scared? Me? Think again." In an instant, all the water clones were destroyed in a single slash. The sliced up Zabuza water clones became nothing but a pile of water that was on the ground of the bridge that they all stood on.
"Hm, it seems like you have a rival," said Zabuza, slowly appearing in the thick mist that covered the whole area around them. But it was not only Zabuza there, but someone else also.
"The Hunter-nin."
~~~
Naruto slowly awoke from sleeping through the whole day. He sat right up and looked around the room. He raised an eyebrow, seeing that no one was there.
Are they at the bridge? Shit. Naruto thought, getting right up and putting on his attire for the day. Naruto slightly groaned, walking down the stairs where Tsunami was at.
"Are the others at the bridge?" Asked Naruto, getting a nod from Tsunami in return.
"They are. Your sensei thought it would be a good idea for you rest for the day. He said something about you training way too hard." Naruto nodded, understanding what she was saying to him.
"He didn't think you would wake up for the day." Naruto formed an 'O' with his mouth before nodding his head once more. He made his way out of the house.
"I'll get going." Naruto ran out of the door and onto the wood deck that was just right outside the house that Tazuna and the other had allowed them all to stay in.
Naruto ran into the the woods and applied chakra towards his feet. He walked up the trunk of the tree and stood on the thick branch that was sticking right out side of the tree.
I should be able to get there in 10 minutes. Naruto thought, jumping right on a tree. He was observing his surroundings very carefully for any suspicious along the way.
While Naruto was in mid-air, he saw something to the side of him. He raised an eyebrow.
A dead boar. Naruto thought, stopping his momentum and looked at the dead boar that was laying right on the ground. He furrowed his eyebrows, jumping right on the ground.
Naruto walked right up towards the boar and observed it carefully.
Hm? It seems to me that someone was practicing their sword skills. Naruto thought, looking all around him. There were marks on the tree that indicated that someone was here.
This boar hasn't rotten too. So it must have been recently. Naruto thought, looking even further from their current starting point. He narrowed his eyes as he saw more marks up ahead.
They marks lead to Tazuna's house. Naruto thought, retracing his steps once more. Naruto looked back as he made his way towards Tazuna's house.
Sorry, I'll be there later. Naruto thought, turning his away once more and focusing on getting back and seeing if his suspicions were true. Though he had a sneaking suspicion that his suspicion was true.
Naruto jumped from tree to tree, slightly gritting his teeth. There could be a chance that he was too late and that he had let the two of them in the house to die when he could have changed it.
~~~
Two men barged into the house that Tsunami and Inari were in. She widened her eyes, turning around and saw the two of them with their own weapons.
"Who are you?" Asked Tsunami, using a ladle to protect herself with. The two laughed, not even provoked one bit by her so-called 'weapon' of choice.
"That ladle won't help you at all."
"I asked you, who are you?!" Tsunami gripped the ladle even tighter than before. The two had a menacing glare as they readied themselves just incase she would try and retaliate.
"You want to know? It's quite simple really."
"We're here to take you hostage." Inari was peering right behind a wall. The two caught sight sight of him and sent him a murderous glare in return.
Tsunami widened her eyes.
"Inari! Don't get closer!" She yelled, looking at him dead in the eyes. He froze, frightened at the presence of the two gang members that were right in front of him.
"Now, we need to get you to Gato." They pulled her arm and yanked her away. She struggled to break free of their grasp. They were too fucking strong.
"Your attempts to break free is nothing but futile efforts." One snarled at her, dragging her away even harder. Tsunami felt the pain course through her arms as she was taken right outside of the dock.
Just when they were a few meters away from the house, they heard a voice.
"Hey! Eat this!" Someone yelled from behind. They looked behind and saw Inari throw 2 empty cans right at their face. The sharp metal cut their cheeks.
Blood slid down their faces.
"You brat!" They yelled, letting go of Tsunami and making their way towards the little boy in question. They unsheathed their blades and were ready to slice Inari in half.
He gulped, seeing as this was now the end of the line for him.
"Inari!" Tsunami yelled, trying to get up from her position. Just before the blade could reach Inari, another voice made itself clear to the world around them.
"Don't move." They heard behind them. They froze almost immediately due to the coldness of the voice that was directed right towards them.
Inari disappeared in a split second and appeared sitting on the deck. He widened his eyes, looking right in front of him. The two looked around and saw Naruto looking at them.
"You two are wasting my time," said Naruto, pulling out a kunai from his holster and holding it tightly in his hands. The two members of Gato's gang got a smirk on their faces.
"It's just another kid! Let's get him!" The other nodded, rushing right towards Naruto like a speeding bullet. Though they were obviously much slower than a speeding bullet.
Naruto just stood there, completely silent.
"What's wrong! Scared out of your mind?!" One yelled, gripping his katana so tightly that the hilt could shatter in absolute pieces. Naruto did not do anything at all.
Just this made them uneasy.
In a split second, Naruto appeared right in front the two. "I'm just out of your league," said Naruto, using his leg and brought it up to kick one of their faces.
"AGHH!" He yelled, feeling the pain rise up to his face. More blood slithered right down his face as he fell to the ground, feeling the agony of the pain that risen to his brain.
Naruto ducked down to avoid a katana being struck through his brain. He looked up with his deadly but lifeless eyes and did one slick and fast motion with his kunai.
In a split second, a large gash appeared on the last man's chest. He widened his eyes, not paying attention to the fact that Naruto maneuvered his way around him and kicked him in the head.
Blood splattered right on the deck.
Those two were knocked out clean. Naruto stretched his limbs and looked right at Inari.
"You know, you did surprisingly good out here." Inari widened his eyes. Naruto yawned lightly, walking right past Inari. Just before he left, naruto said something.
"Crying is necessary. It's what makes us human."
~~~
Satsuki and Haku clashed. Her kunai and his senbon needle were battling for the tide of the battle every single second that pasts. Satsuki gritted her teeth slightly.
Though it seems like Haku was barely breaking a sweat.
"Give up. I wouldn't want to kill a kid that is much younger than me." Haku had a very calm voice that made it seem like he wasn't having a hard time.
And he wasn't.
"I already have an advantage against you. The first one is the water that the water clones that Zabuza-sama had created and that you destroyed." He was now moving onto the next one.
His other hand started to get closer to his mask.
"The second is that I have your hand locked. You are going to have to block my next move with your other arm." Haku started to form hand seals with just one hand.
Satsuki widened her eyes.
Shit! One hand?! Satsuki thought, trying to jump away in time for her next jutsu. But it seems Haku had other plans and lock Satsuki's fingers tightly.
"Thousand Water Needles of Death" Satsuki widened her eyes, seeing Haku stomp on the water to make it rise up and form sharp needles that were ready to attack Satsuki.
She thought of a quick and simple plan to escape. Satsuki felt Haku stop gripping her fingers with his own to back away from his own attack.
Satsuki used this time to launch right up in the air and pull out just about three kunai from her holster that was right on her leg. Without anyway hesitation, Satsuki threw the kunais right towards Haku.
He dodged by backing away just a few meters away.
Haku looked up into the air and saw Satsuki soon disappear in the blink of an eye. He widened his eyes and he felt the wind rush right behind him.
"From here on out, I will be the only one dealing the attacks."
Haku dodged a punch that was aimed right towards him. He moved back just a couple inches away to dodge another. He held his senbon needle tightly as the two clashed once more.
Satsuki pulled out another kunai and aimed it right towards Haku's head.
He quickly dodged but couldn't react fast enough to block Satsuki's kick that kicked her away. Zabuza slightly widened his eyes at the sight in front of him.
Haku is being defeated? No. Zabuza glared at the incomplete Team 7. He saw Haku stand right back up. Zabuza eyed Haku with his two eyes piercing right behind him.
"Haku, do it now," said Zabuza, ordering Haku to do something that will without a doubt turn the tide of the battle towards their own side of the spectrum.
"Yes, Zabuza-sama." Haku did a special hand seal.
"Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals"
Satsuki widened her eyes at the feeling of the air that was looming all around them. Such cold air. Satsuki thought, readying herself for any possible attacks going right towards her.
Though she did not expect ice forming all around her area.
Mirrors? Satsuki thought, observing everything all around her. It seems like there were ice mirrors that Haku had created. She never saw such a jutsu before.
Kakashi widened his eyes.
"That's a Kekkei Genkai." Satsuki and Sakura widened their eyes, hearing those two words escape from his mouth gave them terrible chills to the spine.
Satsuki gritted her teeth. Haku entered one of the mirrors.
Now every ice mirror that surrounded Satsuki contained a Haku of their own. She looked around, heavily huffing and huffing. Shit, she was completely trapped.
"Now, I'll show you how speed truly looks like."
Haku threw a senbon right towards Satsuki. She didn't have any room to react and suddenly felt the senbon needle cut a bit of her sleeve and gave her a slight cut to the skin.
Satsuki widened her eyes, feeling another senbon needles pierce her skin once more.
"AGHH!" Satsuki yelled, feeling the intense and sharp pain wash all over her body. Haku shot another senbon right towards Satsuki. It pierced her skin also.
"Give up. It is not my intention to kill any of you." Satsuki scowled and growled at Haku.
"It doesn't matter. You're going down!" Yelled Satsuki, huffing from the amount of pain that she was currently experiencing all through her body.
God, she was fucking tired.
Just before all the Hakus that surrounded her threw another round of senbon needles, Satsuki started to form hand seals.
Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
Satsuki inhaled. "Fire Release: Great FireBall Jutsu" She then exhaled and blasted a large fireball from her mouth. She watched at the fireball made its way right towards one of the mirrors.
The fireball did absolutely nothing.
Satsuki widened her eyes at the sight. "Your fire that you sent will do absolutely nothing. That level of fire is nothing but food for the ice mirrors." She gritted her teeth at this news.
Just before Haku could send another round of senbon needles, someone appeared right beside Satsuki. She widened her eyes, seeing the person right next to her.
"It seems you're in trouble."
"You finally made it, Naruto." He did not respond and just readied himself for battle. He heard Satsuki get up from the ground and stood right next to him.
"You could've attacked from the outside." Naruto shrugged at her.
"Yes, but, the chances of it failing are fairly high. If it failed, then I wouldn't be able to get in since she will know that I am around." Satsuki scoffed, getting into her stance.
Naruto activated his 3-tomoe Sharingan.
"I saw what happened while I was sneaking around. I'll need this to help us." Satsuki nodded, knowing that his increase in perception will indeed be helpful in this entire fight.
"Alright, now it's 2 on 1. Let us see who will be the victor of this battle." Naruto saw multiple senbon get sent right towards them. He grabbed Satsuki and pulled her with him as he jumped back.
But he didn't expect the Hakus that surrounded them to jump right out of their mirros and attack them as they flashed by in an instant. But he was still able to see them.
I can see it, but I don't know if I'm fast enough to dodge. Naruto thought, yanking Satsuki with him as the pair dodged another round of senbon needles.
She gritted her teeth, letting herself go from Naruto's grip.
"I can take care of myself. Just tell me what to do once you see what he does or she?" Naruto sighed, looking all around them. He shook his head at her.
"I can't. While I can see them, they will hit me once I finish saying to do. Just follow my lead." Satsuki scowled before nodding at him. She started to closely look at Naruto.
Haku readied himself to throw another round.
Naruto looked at one of the Hakus. His eyes spun wildly as he analyzed and pierced through what Haku was currently doing. Naruto saw him pull back his arm.
"Jump in the air." Naruto jumped in the air as he saw Haku throwing the senbon needle right towards them. He panted, feeling quote nervous.
He looked around and saw the Hakus once again get out of their mirrors and launch themselves at Naruto and Satsuki and attacked them one by one before they went back to different spots.
The two fell right on the ground.
Fuck. I'm not fast enough to dodge all of the Hakus all at once. Naruto thought, looking around once more. He was looking everywhere but this one spot.
Haku threw a senbon right towards Satsuki while Naruto was not looking. She widened her eyes, feeling her life flash all around her all at once.
What the? Satsuki thought, slowly seeing herself become much more. . . perceptive.
She jumped to the side, her Sharingan spinning wildly. Satsuki widened her eyes at this type of feeling coursing all around her entire body and eyes.
I got it — the Sharingan. Naruto looked at Satsuki, eyes slightly widened at the sight in front of him. So, she finally managed to get the Sharingan? It seems so.
2-tomoe and 1-tomoe. Weird. Naruto thought, jumping right next to Satsuki in an instant.
"It seems I don't have to baby you anymore."
"You never had to." Naruto shrugged, disagreeing with her on that type of statement that she had just made. But the real problem the two now had were. . .
Endurance.
They were continuously moving to dodge the attacks being made by Haku. The two gritted their teeth, feeling the fatigue that was coursing all around their body.
I don't think we can keep going for longer than 5-10 more minutes. Naruto thought, looking at Satsuki with worried eyes. He turned away and looked back towards all the Hakus that surrounded them.
Naruto felt his heartbeat go rapid.
"Satsuki, I'll provide a distraction. You try and shatter a mirror." She nodded, getting ready for the distraction that Naruto was telling her about. Naruto summoned a dozen of Shadow Clones right beside him.
They all did the same hand seals.
Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
"Fire Release: Great FireBall Jutsu" All them shot out a ball of fire right out of their mouths. They all did this in different sides so they could block Haku's view of them.
"Satsuki! Now!" She nodded, jumping right towards on of the mirrors. But they had underestimated Haku's guts to go through the fire and fell to the ground — Satsuki they mean.
The two saw the burn marks on all of the Hakus that illuminated their sight. The two gritted their teeth as Satsuki recovered her balance. She stood up and winced at the pain she was receiving.
Naruto felt his hear beat even faster and faster.
Fuck. I don't know how to damn counter these ice mirrors. I don't have a fire jutsu that exceeds the endurance of the ice mirrors. Naruto thought, lost in thought as he felt the frustration boil up from within.
Haku noticed Naruto lost in thought and did another round of senbon from Naruto's front. Satsuki widened her eyes as she noticed what Haku was doing.
"Naruto! Watch out!" She yelled, jumping right in front of Naruto. He widened his eyes at the sight. Satsuki was right in front of Naruto, shielding him from getting pierced by the senbon needles that were supposed to be directed at him.
"S-Satsuki."
She fell down on the ground, unable to move. His eyes twitched as he fell down to his knees and looked at Satsuki. She looked back with a weak look.
"Why? Why would you d-do that?" Satsuki gave him a light smirk.
"It was. . . my turn to. . . save you." Naruto froze, feeling everything around him tune out. Only he existed. Endless thoughts and questions she had the need to save him.
I. . . I would've survived. Naruto thought, feeling a single tear roll down his face. Why? Why was he feeling so. . . lonely? He felt Satsuki stop moving. He felt Satsuki's heartbeat.
He widened his eyes. She's. . . alive. But. . . all I feel is. . . hatred. Naruto heard Haku start talking behind him.
"Is this your first time seeing a comrade die?" Naruto froze once more, the hatred bubbling inside of him. He looked back towards Haku, his 3-tomoe Sharingan no longer there.
No, it was something much powerful. The tomoes doubled and was connected with a thick-black circle that surrounded his pupil. He stayed silent, his deadly and sharp eyes spinning wildly.
Haku suddenly felt the wind become wild.
"I'll. . . kill you," said Naruto in such a calm but dangerous tone. A grey aura started to rise from his body. A grey skeletal-like ribcage formed all around him.
More. An arm and hand formed.
More. Naruto thought, finally surrounded by a complete-skeletal Susano'o. Naruto slowly picked up Satsuki off the ground. He slowly stood up and regained his balance on the ground.
A lone tear escaped his eyes as more as he looked at Haku with his lifeless eyes. He had Satsuki in a bridal carry. He just stood there, feeling the power course through his body.
"Haku," said Naruto, his voice chilly to the bone. "I finally have a concrete answer. . . to your question." The wind felt even more intense than before as Naruto took a step towards the mirrors.
"I'll protect Satsuki with my life. . . even if I fall into the Uchiha's Curse of Hatred."
~~~