Some more senbon was thrown at the duo. This time, they were able to dodge more than a few, but were still unable to completely dodge all of them. Naruto desperately ran around the dome, trying to guess where Haku would appear next. What it was near impossible.
Pain was all he felt as more objects pierced into his body, drawing more and more blood outwards.
This isn't fair! Even with my leveling ability, I don't have any jutsu currently to counter Haku…is this…the end?
The senbon stopped. "Amazing…the Sharingan. But will that change the result?"
Naruto prepared himself for another throw. But it was still too fast.
"Naruto, to the right!" Sasuke yelled.
Seeing no other option, he did what Sasuke told him.
Nothing hit Naruto.
Sasuke's eyes were glowing red.
Maybe they had a chance of winning now! With the same jutsu that Kakashi had, Sasuke got a serious power boost. Normally, Naruto would be envious, but right now, survival seemed to be the more important thing.
Naruto got up to his feet in a hurry, before running back towards Sasuke. He needed his guidance if he wanted to beat Haku right now.
Sasuke's eyes swirled rapidly. "Above us!"
Sasuke leaped out of the way, only to realize that Naruto hadn't done the same. His scarlet eyes widened. Did he—
Naruto had jumped upwards.
As Naruto met the incredibly fast Haku in the middle of his "teleportation" type jutsu, he grappled Haku's hands to the side before kicking him in the torso, away from his intended direction.
Finally, a direct hit!
But he didn't stop there. Quickly summoning clones, they caught Haku's flying body before throwing it back to Naruto. The blond slammed his foot into Haku's back, sending him into the bridge floor with a loud, painful thud.
It had to be over by now.
Naruto placed his kunai onto Haku's neck without hesitation, and stabbed inwards.
Into water.
A water clone?!
"I'm sorry, shinobi," Haku's voice said from somewhere behind him.
Sasuke's body lay still next to Haku, whose senbon stayed pierced all the way through the Uchiha's neck. Naruto's breath stilled.
Haku bowed solemnly. "It's amazing, really, to have found such a loyal comrade. He definitely could have dodged the projectiles at the last second, considering his own Kekkai Genkai, but doing so would have made you the target instead."
Rage.
"You must be one of his own precious people, for him to react in such a way. If it means anything, I'm sorry for killing your comrade. But it was for my own survival, if anything else. Shinobi are born…"
Fury.
"Please do not take it to heart—"
[Ding!]
[The "?" Wants To Lend You Chakra.]
[Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
"Haku…you're going to die…" Naruto growled quietly.
"I don't think—"
Naruto disappeared into thin air, before appearing next to Haku once more.
"And your death…will be especially painful."
He launched a hook at Haku's stomach, pushing him through ice mirrors. Glass shards exploded on the impact, creating a hole in the once impenetrable dome of ice. A tornado of red chakra erupted around Naruto's body as he glared at the
ragdoll-like body that rolled onto the bridge.
No mercy.
Naruto launched a kick straight into the face of Haku, cracking his mask into two. Haku's body spinned across the floor of the bridge, before he managed to grab hold of his balance.
But it was already over.
Tired, bloodied, and faced against an impossibly strong opponent, Haku was ready to give up. He stood up slowly, his eyes closed in acceptance of his death.
I…can't…
Naruto stopped his punch at the last second. A gust of air pushed Haku's mask off of his face, revealing the feminine face to the open mist of the bridge.
The whiskers on his face became less pronounced, his eyes became the regular, azure blue, and the red chakra no longer surrounded his body. Naruto stood in silence as he regarded the boy in front of him.
"Your friend is dead…killed by me…and you still won't kill me?"
Naruto's rage spiked in an instant, but he reeled it back in by continuing his punch to Haku's face.
"You've become weaker…what exactly was that form earlier? Not like it matters. Naive people seem to think that letting their opponents live is an act of kindness…but not for me. You've shattered my reason for living. A weak shinobi like me…isn't worthy enough to help Master Zabuza! So please…kill me."
Naruto couldn't help himself. He laughed in disbelief. "What's so great about him? He's a monster! He kills for fun! How can he be anyone's precious person?"
Haku smiled. "Maybe you see him as so. But in the darkness of my times, Zabuza was the one who helped me the most. If I'm no use to the one I'm living for, what's the point of continuing to live?"
This type of logic…it's horrible! I hate it!
"So you give up after being beaten once? What about all of the training you did to come so far? Was that all useless, Haku?"
Haku nodded. "Yes."
"You're…hopeless," Naruto whispered.
He brought up the kunai in a quick motion. He would do this quickly.
Haku's eyes widened randomly.
The missing-nin was gone.
Kakashi felt his Chidori impale itself into a body, but it wasn't the correct one.
His accomplice…sacrificed himself for him? Kakashi thought incredulously.
"Master…" Haku whispered quietly.
"Kakashi…you were wrong again…" Zabuza said, chuckling. Blood painted his masked face as his gray eyes started back at Kakashi's own.
"Thank Kami I helped the boy back then, if not, I'd be dead by now! Hahaha!" Zabuza shouted, laughing loudly.
He swiped his sword across, trying to cleave Kakashi into two, but missing entirely as Kakashi grabbed Haku's body and jumped backwards.
Naruto gripped his kunai, but stopped when Kakashi addressed him.
"Don't! This is my fight, Naruto!"
Naruto gritted his teeth, but stayed still nonetheless. Yeah, he mostly likely would have died if he tried to fight against Zabuza, but he couldn't care less.
"Naruto!"
Naruto winced at Sakura's voice.
"Thank god you're alive! Let's get Sasuke and get out of here with Tazuna-san, Kakashi sensei can handle this now."
"Sakura…" Naruto said, pointing to Sasuke's body, which was slightly obstructed by the mist.
Naruto watched as Sakura left with Tazuna towards Sasuke's body, before directing his attention back at the fight before him. Kakashi slowly dismantled Zabuza, the slow movements of the latter making it easy to guess his opponents, which was even easier for someone who had a Sharingan.
Kakashi then demobilized both of Zabuza's arms in a brutal display of fighting.
"No more jutsus or mist to hide behind, Zabuza. It's over," the Jonin said coldly to the Demon of the Mist.
Clack!
"Well, well, well. That man definitely made a fine fool of you, demon. A pity! If you die…how will I give you the proper fees?"
Naruto looked at the other end of the bridge to see a rather short man approach the trio slowly. Behind him stood a mob of bandits all equipping weapons of their own.
Jagged hairline, small, black sunglasses, black shit, and purple tie…the man screamed shady business.
"Gatou…what's all of this?" Zabuza asked murderously.
Naruto took a step back.
"Business, Zabuza. I'm going to kill you, now. So say your final prayers to the world, please. Don't worry, no one is going to miss you, hehe."
Someone would.
"What's the meaning of this?"
"You really think I would pay that amount for you? Never! I'm a businessman, not running a charity! You're infamous around these areas, and incredibly skilled. Trying to betray and kill actual shinobi would be hard, considering how many friends they've made along the years. But you…hahaha…you were perfect! A missing-nin that no one cares about. Does it matter if you die?"
"Don't take it too seriously, Zabuza. It's good business! Either way, it's not like you didn't cheat me either! The Demon of the Mist? Was that a joke? You lost to some random ninja that recently came here! You're not a demon!" Gatou said, cackling.
Zabuza looked back at Kakashi. "Kakashi. You are no longer my priority. End our fight. There is no motive for me to assassinate Tazuna."
Kakashi nodded in acceptance.
But…Sasuke…
Gatou stepped forward, kicking Haku's face with contempt. "This girl, or boy…just as annoying as you."
Naruto felt his rage overwhelm as he began running towards Gatou, only to be stopped by Kakashi who held the back of his jumpsuit.
"Naruto…there's too many of them."
Naruto directed his ire towards Zabuza. "Won't you do anything? He's disrespecting Haku in front of you!"
Zabuza shrugged, his arms stiff. "So? Haku died."
"So? So?! Haku was still your friend, a comrade!"
"There are no real friends in the world of missing-nin, child. We are either tools to be used or people who use others as tools, nothing more, nothing else. Haku was a useful tool that I appreciated for his strength. So I will repeat my question. So?"
Naruto growled in frustration. "So…Haku really meant nothing to you in the end? He sacrificed himself for you and you won't do anything? Just standing there?"
A long silence enveloped the duo, the thick atmosphere between the two becoming even thicker.
"Kunai…" Zabuza whispered.
"What?"
"Kunai!"
Naruto threw his kunai to the Demon of the Mist immediately after. Zabuza caught the weapon in his mouth.
"Hehehe. Emotional. Kill them all, people!" Gatou yelled.
The storm of people yelled as they infiltrated the bridge entirely, the sounds of multiple footsteps and battle cries filling Naruto's ears immediately. Zabuza went to meet them all at once.
But Zabuza was a demon.
He slashed through everyone using the kunai in his mouth, cutting through the mounds of bandits like scissors on paper. He dodged a dozen swords at once, before knocking into men several feet taller than him. Many bandits fell to the floor, lifeless, as a long gash spread through their necks in mere seconds.
But even they were too much for Zabuza. Swords impaled Zabuza's chest as the swarm of men began to overwhelm the one man. But Zabuza still didn't stop.
With the relentlessness of a starved lion, he embedded the kunai into Gatou's chest.
Zabuza laughed. "Hahaha…Gatou…I don't care if I die right now…but as long as you're coming with me to hell…I'll be happy."
The Demon finished the kill in its entirety soon after.
Zabuza smiled for the last time in his life. I won't be seeing you any longer, considering you would be going to heaven, Haku. But…thank you.
Naruto swallowed his throat in apprehension.
"Cherish the sight of a real man, Naruto," Kakashi said.
This was all too much for a recently made Genin. Naruto's eyes continued to stay wide as he swallowed all of the events into one session of his memory.
"Naruto! Sasuke is alive!"
Naruto's heart quickened as he glanced to his left, seeing the familiar blue-shirted boy raising a hand in greeting.
I see. You really were too kind of a person, Haku.
Naruto looked back at the bandits with anger. Now these guys…deserve to die.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
[—-]
A day later…
Zabuza and Haku's funeral was a quiet event. With only Team 7 and Tazuna present, the burial seemed to be more of a standard process rather than an act of caring. Which wasn't very surprising considering the lives the missing-nin had held.
Living solitary lives, they didn't have many friends to mourn their deaths for them. It was a small memorial site, the largest being the mountain of a sword behind Zabuza's funeral.
"It's an unfortunate thing. But don't be mistaken. Zabuza wasn't a good person, nothing he could have done would have changed that, but he did have his heart in the right place in the end. What's even more sad is that you, Genin, had to experience a type of mission like this so early in your lives. An A-rank mission…it's fortunate I was your sensei, or else…"
"Thank you, sensei," Sakura said politely.
"Well, I can't do it all the time. Should we leave, now?"
Sasuke nodded. "Hn."
Naruto looked at the graves before him. "I'll come, sensei. Let me just stay here for a bit."
Kakashi sensei raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
"Positive."
"Your wish. Sasuke, Sakura, let's go."
Naruto stayed still for much a while longer as the rest of the team left him behind. There was a particular reason why the blond stayed behind in the first place, and it wasn't because he wanted to contemplate on the deaths of the duo, no matter how sad it was.
The system was…telling him something.
[Ding!]
[New Skill Achieved: Shadow Extraction - Lvl 1]
[Info: Shadow Extraction allows the transformation of dead bodies into shadows which can be recalled at any time for The Player to use. Higher the difference in level, the lower the success rate. Higher the time taken after the body died, the lower the success rate. Higher the will of the person to stay in the afterlife, the lower the success rate.]
[Current Maximum Shadows: 2]
What…
Does this mean…
I can revive them as shadows?
Then came the next question. Who should he revive first? And would it really work? This was the first "real" ability the system had ever given him, so Naruto was slightly skeptical. Now, who should he go for next? Zabuza or Haku?
Eh, it didn't really matter since he had two available spots anyways.
But…were these shadows the actual ones that died earlier? Were they the ninja he had just fought yesterday? Was…Haku's sacrifice for nothing, if he could have revived her afterwards? Obviously, that wasn't the truth. But Naruto's paranoia quickly took over his senses.
The ability gave him the chance to reunite Zabuza and Haku. But what if one of the summonings failed? It was best to check the limits of the ability for now. Considering the system said the higher the level the harder the extraction became, it would be easy to test out the limits of his own capabilities for now.
Naruto went to the gravestone next to Zabuza. His hands were trembling, and his heart rate was at an all-time high. The grave stood painfully still, begging to be called upon, and the sword stood similarity, begging for someone to grasp its stilt once more.
Use Shadow Extraction on Zabuza.
[Extracting…]
[Extraction failed!]
What?
[Two more chances remaining.]
Try again.
[Extracting…]
[Extraction failed!]
[One more chance remaining.]
Naruto needed this to work. Zabuza's death…it wasn't meant to be so disappointing. He needed another chance, whether as a shadow or the real thing. He wouldn't lose now. No matter what it would take, he needed this extraction to summon.
[Activating…]
[Skill: Will of Fire- Lvl 1 Activated!]
[Skill: Will of Fire- Lvl 1 has bonus effect of increasing success rate of Extraction by 10%]
"Zabuza…your devotion to the sword is what got you the name Demon of the Mist. Now…show that same devotion to me! The same devotion that Haku served you with!"
Now…
"Arise."
[Extracting…]
[Extraction successful!]
Dark energy erupted from Naruto's body as he felt a rush of power exit his body like water behind a broken dam. The visceral aura flowed directly towards the dead bodies buried under the soil, until finally all of it disappeared into the ground.
Then silence.
But then the energy started pouring back out relentlessly. Tendrils of liquid shadows slowly began forming out of the grave, pooling into a shadowy mass without any defined shape. But the shadows continued to pool, building and building upon each other, slowly forming a familiar shape.
I-I can't believe it…
Naruto's eyes looked at the monstrosity before him.
The shadowy mass of Zabuza stared back.
[Shadow Zabuza, LV-1]
He looked the same as always, except for the fact that the colors of his clothes were replaced by a shade of black, and his face showed a wispy blue, entirely missing the humane colors he once had. On his back, the giant sword he always used was perched comfortably, every contour of the metal shaded black. A rough scowl was evident even through his bandaged face.
Zabuza looked scarier than when he was once alive.
"Where the hell am I, brat?"