Whirlpool of the Mist : The Mixing

Summary: It wasn't something that was planned by either of them, but it would change the future. This time, it wasn't really Haku that had the biggest effect on Naruto, but rather, it was Zabuza. Only impression happens in the most unexpected of ways.

Warnings: Cannon typical violence, homosexual relationships, language, and sexual content.

Authour Note: So, as of 2/3/2017 I have a beta writer for this story. The title has been changed, and over all the story will come to be smoother and flow better with less mistakes in grammar and spelling. Their username is Giou Yomi they have some interesting reads over there. I especially liked their Naru x Kaka story. Soon enough this chapter will be edited for mistakes - followed closely after by the others. It's unlikely that I will update a lot until after we have caught up to what is already out.

2/11/17: Giou Yomi has gone through my trash writing and made it a master piece, adding in smoother transitions, cleaning my grammar, and making an all around better product! I can't wait to get all the other chapters up to the par that this first one has now set.

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The midsummer breeze was blowing away the remaining chill of the light snowfall. The air was clean, the excitement having long since died down, and everything was silent. No more fighting, no blades clashing, just a stony and peaceful silence.

Zabuza was dying.

Blood dripping from his mouth, he looked toward his greatest failure. His Haku, who died thinking that he was nothing more than a tool to his master. Shinobi were practically born to be killers, their lives expendable, but Haku was more than that to him. Still a tool, still a shinobi, but he was also his student - His legacy. He turned painstakingly toward the blonde Genin. The seemingly weak child who had fought so earnestly, the child who had a hidden strength and a way with words that could shake the strongest of wills. He had proved it against Zabuza himself, after all…

Naruto Uzumaki.

Looking at the blonde now, you wouldn't know it. Even beaten as Zabuza was, the blonde was scared of him. His gaze met anything but Zabuza's eyes and his hands still trembled. He seemed like he was trying to hide it, an almost broken mask barely being held together. This was the kid who had lectured the Demon of the Mist with so much vigour?

The blonde hit it so well though. If anything, the fear was a good thing in this case. It meant Naruto knew his place in the world, knew that there were monsters,but he was still willing to fight. A brave fool in a world of cannibalistic hunters, but a fool nonetheless. Zabuza inwardly scoffed, but now knew that despite how tiny and weak the brat first seemed, at least he was mildly interesting.

"Why are you shaking so much, gaki? Has your childish bravado finally abandoned you?" Zabuza motioned with his head toward kubikiribocho, "I'm interested to see just what you'll become... be it man or monster. Take this… I'll be watching you from hell, so you'd better use it right. Now take me to them."

Kakashi and Sakura were utterly silent. Sakura was still shellshocked, both by Sasuke's near death and the massacre that just occurred. Zabuza wasn't an ally, not even a victim because he's to blame as much as Gato for Nami's situation, but a shinobi who fought until the end for his believes. That much deserved respect.

Despite everything that happened, Naruto couldn't bring himself to allow his fears to overwhelm him to the point where he couldn't grant a dying man his last wish. Therefore, Naruto grabbed Zabuza's sword and hoisted it up in one arm, and leant down to help Zabuza over to Haku with the other. Naruto could feel his arms screaming in pain as the muscles cramped, the abuse of his already battle worn muscles challenging Naruto's pain tolerance. Haku would want it though, had already expressed his wishes to stay with his master forever, so he pulled through, enhancing his strength with chakra he didn't have to stabilize himself.

He laid Zabuza down next to the ice user as gently as possible. Zabuza reached over, touching Haku's cheek softly, "Haku..."

Naruto stepped back, touched by the heavy grief that was carried in just one word. Despite how private it was, Naruto, uncharacteristically silent, couldn't bring himself to look away - as though he needed to see this.

Sakura tried to look avert her gaze, feeling as if she was intruding on something, but her head was held in place by a heavy hand that carded gently through her hair, "Don't look away, Sakura. These are the last moments of a proud shinobi who died for what he believed in. Cherish this moment, and learn something from it." Kakashi's hand lingered for a few seconds, then dropped to his side.

They both looked back to where Zabuza was laying down next to his student.

The missing-nin was tenderly stroking Haku's cheek with a fondness that was unusual for such a bloody killer, yet it was somehow appropriate and bittersweet. Zabuza didn't like or want regrets, and Haku was only one of many - one that he didn't know he regretted until the very end. A loving child shattered by his own master's incompetent hands.

His vision blurred at the edges. Death was near, and Zabuza was ready. Perhaps he'd get to meet Haku in the afterlife. But that wasn't possible, was it? Because Haku was going to Paradise, if such a place existed, and he would be in Hell.

A shivering breath escaped his lungs, like the wind on a stormy day, and he stilled.

Pain buzzed in the back of Naruto's mind, but he ignored it considering the current situation.

…

Naruto's head started to throb but at first he had ignored it figuring it was probably just the exhaustion from the battle finally acting up. But in only grew more and more insistent. Naruto closed his eyes and gritted his teeth against the pain.

"Naruto?" A faraway voice called. It sounded unsteady to his ears.

It wasn't really a surprise. The exhaustion had finally caught up to Naruto, having barely recovered from using Kyuubi's malevolent chakra when fighting an opponent far above his own level. He had watched Zabuza die, next to one of the only people he could ever think to call his friend. He didn't kill either of them, but had contributed enough to feel the guilt all the same. It was one thing to relish in the victory of beating up an opponent, and another entirely to live through the aftermath of his first real battle.

It was nowhere near the glorious emotion feedback that he'd always imagined would come with victory.

However, that was not the reason behind sudden pain digging into the Uzumaki's eyes. It wasn't the exhaustion, the malevolent chakra, or the swirl of emotions that ran through him.

He passed out.

...

A steady wave of information flooded his brain. Had he been anyone else, the jinchuuriki of the Nine tails, he would have died from such an influx. Instead, his brain rewired itself, neuronal connections rearranging and multiplying, not destroying but building on what was already there. Always adding, supplementing, layers and layers of knowledge transmitted in a fraction of a Kyuubi awoke from his light slumber and growled threateningly at the multicolored strings and beads forming before his cage. With a snap of his tails, they disentangled, knots coming undone under the potent chakra of the beast.

Suddenly, Naruto remembered.

He smelled the odour of salt water and cold humidity stuck to his skin. Warm, dark toned blood, water-washed and tasting of bitter copper, permeated his clothes and pooled at his feet. A sense of self-satisfaction and deep euphoria welled up inside of him. A familiar, heavy weight rested against his palm. Kubikiribocho.

A demon, he cackled madly. Was it Naruto? Was it Zabuza? Was it Kyuubi?

Too much information was flowing through his brain at once. His brain rewired itself to only call upon those memories when Naruto consciously made the decision. Perhaps with a little bit of secret help from a certain fox. Having a brain dead host was not exactly a good thing, after all.

…

When Naruto woke up, he was surrounded by familiar trees. The smell of wet dog assaulted his nose. Silver, gravity-defying hair tickled his chin and the gentle, swaying motion of being held in a piggyback fashion by his lazy sensei was calming.

The young Uzumaki scrambled for his thoughts, but his head throbbed in protest.

"Good morning, my adorable little student. You've been out for a few days." Kakashi greeted, having felt the subtle tensing of Naruto's muscles as he had woken up.

"Really?!" Naruto couldn't remember himself ever having been unconscious for so long.

Kakashi hummed in agreement. "Do you feel well enough to walk on your own? We're still an hour's walk from the village."

"I'm not really sure…" Naruto mumbled against the Jounin's neck, "Where's my sword?"

Naruto felt his mouth form the syllables, but didn't even understand what he was asking for. His sword? Yet, a memory that felt far away moved through him, hands slick with blood gripping a blade so hard the handle would have broken should it have been a different sword, and so much red. The blonde could feel a weird sensation in his head, a strange itching at the back of his mind, and Naruto reached out. An explosion of sensations Naruto hadn't ever felt, emotions he'd never dreamed, and injuries he'd never experienced.

Zabuza, the name echoed in Naruto's head with a weight that Naruto hadn't felt for anything other than his own name.

"I put it into a sealing scroll for now, just until we get back to the village. Can't have my injured student hulling that piece of metal around."

"Like Naruto-baka could even use a sword like that. I bet he can't even pick it up!" Sakura harrumphed, not even looking in Naruto's direction.

For the first time ever, Naruto felt a stab of annoyance toward the girl. At the very least, she had been there when Naruto picked the blade up, and sure, he wasn't yet capable of doing so for any long period of time, or even capable of using it just yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't hold it. He was not that weak, despite his skinny build, and he was stronger than the pinkette fan-girl.

Naruto was almost shocked by his own thoughts of the matter.

He's had a crush on Sakura for as long as he could remember. She was lovely, intelligent and didn't hesitate to state her opinions. Yet somehow he felt more annoyed at her than anything else, even if normally his heart would skip a beat by just looking at her.

A part of him felt like she was too weak. Too skinny, too superficial. She certainly had the temper of a kunoichi, but misguided, and her mindset wasn't fit for their profession. Too innocent.

Naruto frowned. Innocence? Was it necessarily a bad thing? He risked a glance at the girl. He took in her loose hair, obviously well cared for yet absolutely useless in a fight, her prepubescent body, her noisy footfall and the shine of gloss on her lips, and the way she would stare at the Uchiha, and Naruto just… felt nothing.

Nothing if a dark sort of pity for the girl, because with the way she was going she would be nothing more than cannon-fodder on a battlefield.

Sakura was nothing like a true kunoichi, nothing like Mei Terumi. Was Konoha really that weak?

Naruto's thoughts halted.

There was no Mei Terumi in Konoha. She was a Jounin, he knew that, but he didn't remember seeing her name on the mission roster that he used to steal to plan his pranks.

Another thought came to the forefront of his mind. Somehow the green of fresh leaves in spring didn't suit her. Mei was more.. Fire, red-hot lava and steam, beautiful and deadly like a water serpent. Mei, who liked to wear blue and white and who had dark orange hair.

Mei, who, the last time he'd seen her, had worn a Mist headband.

He hasn't seen her since he had become a missing-nin and picked up Haku from the streets.

"Master!" Haku, who he loved like a son. Haku, in front of him, a fist through his heart and still smiling so beautifully. Haku, who died protecting his worthless self.

He remembered the fight. The blood. The snow.

He remembered Zabuza Momochi.

Naruto buried his face into Kakashi's hair, mind whirling, flabbergasted.

What exactly was going on?

...

Gradually, more of Zabuza's memories leaked through. Naruto was having problems sorting through all of them. Most were just blurry forms of what could have been people. There were distant impressions of a village, training, and the pride of being one of a famous group of swordsmen.

Naruto's head ached, and his neck felt stiff. Too much was happening and he was still very tired. His face scrunched up a bit as he tried to concentrate. He figured that if the memories came when he thought about something related to them, then he should be able to shut them out just as easily.

Suddenly, an image flashed in front of him. It was a chamber with high ceilings, where water caressed his shins and multicolored beads hung from strings attached the walls. Gigantic metal bars delimited the shadows that grew from one corner of the room.

The scene disappeared just as quickly.

Naruto opened his eyes and blinked. His thoughts were… less off, not as dark, and certainly didn't include Gramps grabbing him with the intent to torture information out of him. He felt his teammates' gaze on him. They were looking at him weirdly, walking silently beside their sensei. Naruto wondered why that was, tilting his head toward the side.

"What? I'm just thinking about all the ramen I'm going to eat when I get home."

He turned his head away from his team, whistling innocently and sweating heavily. The rest of the team gave him a disbelieving glance, but he ignored the looks, determined not to say what the real problem was.

Why should he potentially give away such important information to such undeserving little –

The thoughts snuck through again. Naruto could feel himself frown slightly, that was certainly something that he would have to work on. He can't very well slip into a whole other personality whenever he lost concentration. He would probably have to go through the memories on his own later so that they would stop distracting him. If it became necessary, he could always seek advice from Hokage-jiji.

A wave of distrust ran through him. Naruto ignored it, knowing that the old man would never actually hurt him. Hiruzen Sarutobi was Hokage, an active shinobi years after his prime, but to Naruto he was the one who took care of him when no one else would. He can be trusted.

The village soon came into view, and Naruto could feel warmth spread through him at the view.

...

"Alright Naruto, I'll drop you off at your place and leave the sword there as well. I'll go debrief the Hokage by myself, you all deserve the rest. I'll send you a message for the next team meeting." Kakashi looked specifically toward Sasuke as he spoke, but the words rang true for all the Genin. This mission had tired even Naruto after all. So, once Kakashi was sure that they understood, he started to walk toward Naruto's apartment, still carrying Naruto on his back.

"I'm sorry about your friend, Haku. We gave him and Zabuza a proper burial before we left." Kakashi finally spoke, his voice grave in a way that Naruto hadn't ever heard before.

"I'll just have to live up to both of their expectations." Naruto spoke, voice hard with determination but cracking slightly. The past few days had been stressful, and he was still, in so many ways, just a child.

Truthfully, Naruto was surprised that Kakashi even bothered to mention it. The man had seemed distant before, and even now, Naruto could practically feel how uncomfortable he was if the tension in his shoulders was any indication. Considering just how good Naruto's sensei usually was at hiding his emotions, it went a long way in telling Naruto just how new or awkward the situation was to the Jounin.

"In this ninja world, we all lose precious things, it could be your friends your family, or even something dear to you… The sad reality is that we are tools to be used, professional killers for hire, and sometimes these uses cause death. Zabuza and Haku were a tragic case…" Kakashi continued, but still seemed weirdly awkward.

"Are you trying to lecture me, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto stated shrewdly, "No one is just a tool, and if that is how this ninja world works, then I'll change it. Especially now that I carry the weight of Zabuza and Haku, I'll carve my own path, and I'll keep my word. that's my ninja way!"

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. In a rare display of affection, the man turned his head to nuzzle lightly Naruto's hair. Naruto couldn't see his face, but the crinkling of his teacher's eye hinted at a true smile, "I'm sure you will my cute little student. Only after you get a lot of rest though."

They reached Naruto's apartment building. Kakashi didn't bother with the stairs and directly jumped to Naruto's window, prying the old panels open with one hand and steadying Naruto with the other. Kakashi jumped inside the bedroom and laid his student down on the bed

He pulled out a scroll from the pouch on his vest and Kubikiribocho poofed into existence with a wave of his hand. He balanced it against Naruto's bed, "We won't have a team meeting until two weeks from now. Take that time to heal properly. I wouldn't want my cute little student to fall behind the others, would I?"

With that, Kakashi teasingly poked Naruto's nose before disappearing.

Naruto stared at the leftover smoke from the Shunshin, then heaved out a sigh and sunk into his blankets. Maybe that guy wasn't that bad of a teacher after all. Still, that was no excuse for the way he treated Naruto as if he was a baby. Nor did it excuse his lateness… Or those books… Or that weird mask… Moreover, that haircut of his…

Maybe Naruto could ask him for help later on - he hadn't agreed before the mission, but Naruto himself had changed a great deal through the ordeal. Perhaps Kakashi could be convinced if Naruto showed off a little of his newfound maturity.

Still, finally alone and lying in his bed, Naruto knew that he would not be able to find any sleep until he made sense of the current situation he found himself in. Having Zabuza's memories was not something that either of them had planned on, but ultimately this was a chance that could not be turned down even if Naruto wanted to. He now had the memories of a Jounin at his disposal, ready to be used. Naruto is not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He relaxed into his pillow and allowed the memories to wash through him.

Blood, training, hard work. Sweat and blood, his achievements, his fame, and red, red, red…. Blood…more blood…. So much blood.

Naruto resurfaced with a horrified gasp, sweat running down his temple. This clearly wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped. Those memories that were inside of him, they weren't Zabuza's whole life, but snippets of it. Little, dark things, hard-learned lessons, important skills that were beaten into him…Zabuza's skills were an undeniable advantage from anyone's point of view, but those memories? Naruto wasn't sure if he wanted - if he could - shoulder all the regrets and grief, the weight of heavy bloodlust, the desire to protect and destroy. Maybe when he needed the experience, or when he needed to be reminded if he was making a similar mistake… However, those memories didn't belong here, not with him; they belonged with the dead Zabuza.

Except… Naruto was in some ways, Zabuza himself now. At least, he was all that remained of the man.

Naruto had said he would live up to Zabuza and Haku, and he would do just that. He would take on these memories, they would become his, and he would continue to grow strong… strong enough to achieve his goals, strong enough to defend what was his.

Just….

After a good night's rest.

R&R