Blood-Stained Kubikiri

…Chapter One…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, it's the property of Masashi Kishimoto, and this disclaimer is for the entire fanfiction!

Note From The Author: Ehehehe, I know I still need to update my other fanfiction and all but I just cant focus on the same thing constantly. So I felt like starting a new one, with a totally different genre. That being said, you guys should most likely vote for the pairing, and it will greatly affect the outcome. You can basically vote for any female to end up with Naruto EXCEPT HINATA OR SAKURA. Those are pairings I will not do. Also the pairing will most likely come later, serious stuff will most likely happen when Naruto is 16 or 17. Just know you are free to vote for basically any female, but the ages wont change, if you vote for Tsunade, she is still 50, same with everybody else. Anyway that's about all… Onto the fic!

"Kakashi-sensei, Naruto still isn't here!" Sakura whined.

Sasuke stood against a tree with his scornful gaze aimed at the ground. It was safe to say the Uchiha was brooding, as he always did.

"Did he get lost on the road of life as well?" Kakashi asked, his face buried in his pornographic novel. The Jounin was a few hours late, yet again, however the third member of Team 7 was still missing.

"Let's just go on without the idiot. He always messes the missions up anyway. Not to mention he's a hindrance anyway," Sasuke stated flatly, his hands resting in his pockets.

"It isn't very nice to leave your teammate behind," Kakashi said.

"C'mon Kakashi-sensei! This team would be better off without him! Let's just go like Sasuke-kun said," Sakura complained.

"The dobe probably overslept," Sasuke commented.

"Or he's stuffing his face with ramen," Sakura said.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. Let's get going," Kakashi replied. He really wasn't in the mood to spend his whole day searching for the hyperactive blonde, besides it was just a simple mission, one Naruto would complain about doing if he figured out what it was.

"Great! We don't have to be bothered by the "annoying Naruto" today, isn't that great Sasuke-kun?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Hn," he grunted back.

Naruto snorted and chuckled to himself. The blonde shinobi watched his team leave through the gate, Sakura fawning over Sasuke like an idiot as usual. He was perched on the branch of a tree, only about one hundred feet away from his team's meeting place. How he ended up with such a pathetic team he'll never know, and how the famed Kakashi was such a moron in real life the Kyubi container will never figure out.

Naruto chuckled to himself. The Sharingan bearing Kakashi couldn't even slightly see through his act. Of course, the rest of the world couldn't either. But that's because most people treated him like shit, or didn't give him a second glance because he wasn't important enough. Sure Kakashi realized that the said shinobi had potential, but he never acted upon it one bit. They could all drown in their ignorance for all he cared.

The blonde shinobi looked through the fluttering leaves into the deep blue sky. He smirked, recalling the words of his black-haired brooding teammate. Him, a hindrance? If anything that pink-haired sack of crap was the one that never did a single thing on their team. And they believed he liked her? For having Sharingan they were worse than blind. How could anyone like a useless ugly bitch that needed anger management like her?

Naruto still put an act up in the academy of being the cheery and talentless troublemaker everybody thought he was, but it was nowhere as severe as it is now. What too many people didn't know about Naruto is that he didn't trust other humans, in fact he despised them. Growing up all alone, and having everybody spit at your feet, it taught him to only trust himself. So one day, he can teach the village a lesson. How? He dint know yet, but that time would come up; it was destined to. So for now our blonde Kyubi container decided to put up an act, so when the time came, nobody would be able to foresee what he truly was.

Sure some people treated him nicely, Iruka and the Sandaime, but he saw through their acts not too long ago. Iruka just felt sorry for Naruto, since the Chuunin could relate to him; they were both picked on and grew up alone without anybody. If Iruka truly cared for him, he might as well have adopted him earlier, instead of just buying him ramen now and then. Iruka was just trying to feel better about his past by giving guidance to Naruto, who he saw as himself. The Sandaime gave up his position to Yondaime, who soon after had to sacrifice his life to protect the village. So Sarutobi felt like he had to look over Naruto, since he felt like it was his fault the fourth Hokage died. After all, since Naruto knew of the Kyubi residing in him, the motive of the Hokage's care wasn't too hard to figure out.

When the blonde shinobi did find out about Kyubi from Mizuki, he didn't know quite how to take it. He knew why the villagers despised him so much, but it was a stupid reason. Those morons wouldn't even be alive if he didn't hold the fox; they would have all been killed by it ages ago. So why did they scorn him for saving their hides? But taking in the fact that he holstered a demon wasn't too hard for him. In fact he took the nine tailed demon fox inside of him as something positive. He could scare any villager shitless, and being able to tap into the Kyubi chakra was great. Yet most of his true self was created from the influence of Haku and Zabuza. Naruto gazed at the sky, the endless blue reflecting in his own irises filled with oceans.

"Haku, Zabuza, I barely knew you, but I miss you guys."

FLASHBACK

"Oi, dobe, are you coming back with us or what?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke-teme! I'm gonna stay here and master climbing this tree unlike you!" Naruto yelled back.

"Suit yourself Naruto. Tiring yourself out wont speed things up," Kakashi stated plainly.

"Naruto you baka!" Sakura said.

"Hmph," the blonde shinobi replied.

Naruto watched the rest of his team walk away, going through the underbrush and leaving the forest. When they were finally out of sight he started laughing. "Hahaha! Idiots!" The Kyubi container walked up to the tree he was trying to walk up earlier. He placed one foot on the trunk and slowly began making his way up the tree.

"Heh, treewalking. Piece of pie, I can't believe Sasuke can't even do this." He kept walking steadily up the tree with no problem. When he finally reached the top, he took out a kunai, and after twirling it with his fingers made a slash on the very top branch. Naruto then hopped back down to the ground.

"Now for some real training!" he exclaimed. He formed his hands together into the ram seal and began focusing his chakra. A massive blue burst of energy erupted from him. It swirled around him, flowing freely. "Ok then, time practice molding that demon chakra!" The blonde shinobi began concentrating harder, and more of his own blue chakra began flooding from him. "Raaaaaagh!" he began yelling. Soon a red spark surrounded him, and before he knew it a mountain of red chakra was rapidly swirling around him. Naruto felt his fingernails and canines lengthen and grow. He grinded his teeth, trying fiercely to focus on compressing the rabid chakra. "Must maintain it!" he shouted aloud, his body already shaking from the strain of the red chakra.

The Kyubi chakra swirled intensely around the blonde ninja. The ground around him was rupturing and cracking apart. The skin on Naruto's arm suddenly ripped making a large gash run down from his elbow to his hand, blood freely flowing from it. The same thing happened on his other arm, and he could feel blood dripping down from his chest and the rest of his body. The chakra was taking its toll on Naruto, and with one last yell, his eyelids closed and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

The light trickled through the canopy, making shadows run along the blonde shinobi's face. His arms were sprawled out on the grass, his injuries from the previous day already healed. Birds hopped and pecked around the unconscious ninja. Naruto's eyelids slightly opened, not used to the glare of the sun after being closed for so long. He could suddenly feel somebody shaking him.

"You're going to catch a cold if you sleep there," the mysterious person said.

Naruto sat up all rubbed his eyes. "Who are you?" he asked in a weary voice. The girl with long black hair wearing a strange outfit smiled back at him. "Did you wake me up? By the way, what are you doing?"

"Picking herbs," the person answered.

"Herbs?" Naruto questioned.

"That's right. It's to cure injuries and illness."

For a few minutes Naruto helped this mysterious person pick herbs. "Doing a tedious job like this in the morning?" he questioned.

"What are you doing here so early in the day?"

Naruto decided to keep up his act for a while longer with this person. He smiled, and confidently said "Training!"

"Are you a ninja or something? That forehead protector…"

"Do I look like one! Yes, I'm a ninja!" he exclaimed.

"Wow, you're amazing. But were you training?" the newcomer asked again in a monotone voice.

"I need to become stronger!"

"For what reason?"

"To become the number one ninja in my village. I'm going to make everyone recognize my powers," Naruto lied.

"Are you doing that for someone else, or for yourself?" the black-haired girl asked.

"Huh?"

"Do you have someone that is important to you?"

"Important? What are you trying to get at?" Naruto questioned. The black-haired person got a distant look in her eyes, filled with something Naruto recognized. It was a different pain from his, but the pain of being alone was still in there. He was going to drop his act now.

"Actually no, I have nobody important in my life," Naruto said. The girl across from him looked up a little startled at his change of tone; it was no longer cheery and enthusiastic.

"A person is able to become truly strong when they protect someone they cherish," the person replied.

"Well then, I hope I eventually find somebody to cherish," Naruto replied harshly. There was a brief moment of silence. "You, you're that person that made us believe Zabuza was dead aren't you?" he questioned.

The black-haired person looked up startled. "What?" she exclaimed. "How do you know?"

"Gut feeling," Naruto replied. "You're eyes… are familiar. What's your name?"

"Haku," Haku replied, looking back down at the ground, trying to hide the pain in her eyes.

"I'm Naruto." He paused for a short period of time. "So Zabuza is your precious person? And those herbs are for him, huh?"

"Yes," Haku replied, not sure what to do about Naruto, killing him was something Haku really didn't want to do.

"Can you take me to Zabuza then?" Naruto asked.

"What?" Haku exclaimed, not expecting this in the least.

The staying place of the two mist nin was quite well hidden in the thickest part of the forest. Not to mention it was surrounded by a thick fog. The inside of the layer was quite dull and had an atmosphere Naruto didn't even like.

"Momochi Zabuza is in this room," Haku said, and pushed the large door open. It creaked as it swung aside. "Zabuza-san." Haku called out.

"What is it, Haku?" the former demon of the mist replied, currently lying down on his bed with his arms crossed behind his head.

"A certain person wants to see you," Haku stated, unsure how this situation would turn out. And at that moment, the blonde ninja walked through the door.

"You, you're that kid that was on Kakashi's team," Zabuza said, picking up the kunai next to him and twirling it between his fingers.

"Hello Zabuza-san," Naruto greeted, giving a slight bow. He really didn't feel like getting killed off, so being a bit more polite than normal would probably help.

"Why are you here, kid? Haku, mind explaining what you're doing?" Zabuza asked.

"Well, I'm still not completely sure why I'm here Zabuza-san. I just felt like I should come here," Naruto answered.

"Well, you are not leaving. Haku, please terminate this pest," Zabuza ordered.

"Zabuza, you seem a bit lost. And you're eyes… cover up your pain don't they?" Naruto questioned.

"You have guts kid, coming here, and then asking questions as pathetic as these," Zabuza smirked. Haku stood there and watched the situation. This Naruto kid was putting his life on the line, and it seemed he didn't even have a reason for it.

"Well, me living my life the way I did, I can usually see barriers people put up to bottle up their misery," Naruto replied. "You're eyes are full of it Zabuza-san."

The sword-wielding nin crossed his hands, and smirked. "Haku, please go use those herbs to make medicine," the bandaged man ordered after a brief moment of silence.

"Yes, Zabuza-san," Haku replied, and walked out of the room. The marble floor echoed the retreating footsteps.

"You most likely see the pain in my eyes too, don't you Zabuza-san? Just like you saw the pain in Haku's eyes when you took her in," Naruto stated.

"You're analyzing skills are quite superb, you're getting the right answers on things you have no clue on," the demon of the mist replied.

"You can smile, you can laugh, you can cry, but all those things can easily be fake. A person's eyes can't lie. No matter how thick your mask or cover-up, a person's eyes still reflect the life they lived," the blonde ninja said, still not loosing his eye contact with Zabuza.

"But one thing you should know, Haku is a boy," Zabuza said.

This caught Naruto off guard. "Well… that's kind of awkward." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "He has superb cross-dressing skills," the Kyubi container joked, finally breaking eye contact with the mist nin.

"The reason I took Haku in…" Zabuza began. Naruto looked up, focusing his attention back on the mist ninja. "Is in fact because of how miserable he looked. It was after that that I discovered he had a bloodline and could be of huge use to me. The look in his eyes was so severe he was on the edge of having no emotions at all. It looked like he would give up on life at any second. In fact, it seemed like he was waiting for the snow to bury him and take away his life when I found him at that bridge." Zabuza took a brief pause and looked down at the ground. "At the time I thought I had gotten rid of all my emotions. But it seems I still had a heart."

"Life, it can be a bitch can't it?" Naruto said, having a slight compassionate smile on his face.

"That's one way of putting it." Zabuza lied back down on the bed. "I guess you can relate to us more than I thought, brat." Naruto remained silent.

"I used to be called the demon child of the mist long ago," Zabuza began. "From what I've heard, my father was mad. When I was a small child, he killed off a member of the council of the mist village. Then he went on and killed civilians for no apparent reason, and when other ninja tried to stop him, he ended their lives as well. He caused a massacre in the village; the streets were overflowing with blood that day. When they cornered him he tried using my mother as a hostage, but killed her off as well. Then he was captured and publicly executed. He was then referred to as the demon of the mist.

Since I was his son I was naturally called the demon child of the mist. I grew up alone, and barely managed to survive. When I walked by, people walked the other way. Nobody wanted to be near me. Beating me to the verge of death was a hobby for many shinobi of the village. How I managed to survive I still don't know. I entered the ninja academy, but nothing changed. I sat alone on one side of the room, with everybody avoiding me, the teacher tried to pretend I didn't exist. I kept all that pain and suffering hidden away, I didn't want to break down like a weakling. After class, my classmates beat me, on the way home shinobi of the mist beat me. My house was just a small shack, but most of the time it was sabotaged.

You've already heard of that graduation exercise of the mist, where best friends are made to kill one another. On that day I couldn't take it, and I snapped. All the pain I kept hidden away escaped and took over. It turned into wrath, and as soon as that graduation exercise began, I killed all the academy students. I laughed when their blood splattered on my face, I wanted to rip their arms off, to cut them into pieces. I found each and every academy student, I hunted them down, and I killed them all. I was laughing the whole time, I wanted that blood to soak my skin. It was the happiest day of my life. Technically, the point of the exam was to kill each other, so I wasn't executed for doing such an act. But that day I became the demon of the mist. My father's legacy became my own.

From then on I lived at the edge of the village in complete solitude, training every second of the day. The village council now knowing of my skill soon assigned me to be an assassin, and for the years to come I worked as a killer for them. And one day I felt I was strong enough, and I tried to assassinate the Mizukage. However I failed, and had to flee from the village before I was caught. On my way out I came across Haku. I left telling him we would return to the village, but we would have control over it when that happened."

Naruto bit his lip and looked down at the ground, his fists clenched. "Heh, and I thought I had a bad life. Humans can hate for the stupidest reasons can't they?"

"I don't think Haku and I will be around for much longer…" the sword-wielding nin stated.

Naruto's head jerked up, the surprise evidently showing in his eyes. "What?"

"For the past few years, we tried to gather forces and to earn money so one day we could take over the village of the hidden mist. Hunter nin were constantly on our tail, and when it seemed things were finally going our way there was a setback.

Brat, you said I seemed lost, well I am. Only a little while ago had I realized that this really was a lost cause. Our goal will never be accomplished, and our lives will never get better. I think fate has it set for us, we won't be part of this world much longer," Zabuza explained.

"You're giving up?" the blonde ninja asked.

"One way of putting it. Maybe in the afterlife Haku and I can finally be at peace. In two days your team will fight against us, and most likely that's when Gatoh will try to exterminate all of us. I'll kill the bastard before I leave this world, at least then this country will have a chance to survive."

"You still have a heart after all, Zabuza-san."

"Emotions are a lot harder to get rid of than it seems, kid," Zabuza stated. He sat up and opened the drawer next to his bed. He rummaged through materials inside it until he pulled out three scrolls that seemed quite old. He tossed them to Naruto who caught them and examined them. "Some jutsus from the mist village, from the looks of it you instructor wont teach you anything useful anytime soon."

"Thanks, Zabuza-san." The Kyubi container put the scrolls into his pockets.

"Now leave this place, or else I might actually kill you."

Naruto turned away from the demon of the mist and began walking to the door.

"One last thing," Zabuza began.

"Hm?" Naruto looked back.

"Take my sword, Kubikiri Houcho, and use it as your own. I don't want it to rust away at my grave, I made that sword after all. One of those scrolls is a sealing scroll, and you can keep Kubikiri hidden in there so no suspicions arise."

Naruto smiled a true smile. "I'll take good care of it. We… we are much more similar than we seem, aren't we?"

"I trust you know you shouldn't tell your team anything about this, for both our sakes," the demon of the mist said.

"Don't worry, I'm not THAT stupid," Naruto replied, and walked out the door.

Zabuza lied on his bed, looking at the dull grey ceiling. He shut his eyes and smiled. "His eyes really are similar to mine," he muttered to himself.

Naruto leaned over Sasuke's motionless body, checking his pulse. There wasn't one. Many needles adorned the Uchiha's body, blood trickling from the places they punctured his skin.

Naruto looked up at the frozen mirrors in front of him that reflected a masked person with needles in his hand. "Haku, did you actually kill him?" the blonde ninja asked.

"No, I struck the certain parts of his body that makes him appear dead, same as I did with Zabuza that one time," the masked boy replied, stepping out of the ice mirror and approaching Naruto. The Kyubi container grasped the needle in his shoulder and pulled it out. He winced at the pain. He proceeded to do that to the rest of the needles that covered his body.

"Sorry about that," Haku apologized.

"Its fine," Naruto replied, pulling out the last needle stuck in his body. "Kakashi might suspect something if Sasuke got beat and I didn't, so just in case…" He formed the ram seal and began focusing his chakra. A colossal amount of blood red chakra escaped from Naruto swirling madly in circles like a rabid beast. Naruto kept the chakra churning around him until his body began shaking from the pressure. He then stopped gathering the chakra and it soon vanished. Haku stood there watching the boy, awed at the drastic chakra that he just molded.

"So… that's the reason you were hated your entire life?" Haku questioned.

"Bingo," the blonde answered. There was a brief pause between the two. The mist cascaded across the bridge, and Haku's ice mirrors melted back into water.

"Zabuza-san and I won't live until tomorrow, isn't that right, Naruto?" Haku asked.

"How did you find out?" the Kyubi container replied.

"I also had a gut feeling about it," Haku looked down at the ground, his eyes swirling in a pool of sadness. "I remember how happy he was when he took me in, he saved me, I owe him my entire life." A lone tear trickled down Haku's cheek. "I regret nothing that happened during all the years I was by his side."

"Haku… it might not happen that way. Even if it is fate, fate can be changed," Naruto argued.

"Even if we live, life will only get harder and harder. There is no future…" the black-haired boy said in a low voice.

Naruto clenched his fists. 'This isn't fair. These two… They can't just die like this!' the blonde ninja thought.

"Naruto, I hope you find your precious person," Haku smiled at the blonde boy.

"Haku…"

"Zabuza-san!" Haku exclaimed. In a poof of smoke the boy was gone.

"Haku?" Naruto yelled out, surprised at the sudden disappearance. "Shit!"

The rabid sound of chirping birds echoed throughout the bridge, disrupting the eerie silence the mist created. Kakashi hand was surrounded by a massive amount of chakra that resembled blue electricity. The Jounin thrust his hand forward and a shockwave from the impact could be felt from the other side of the bridge. Blood splattered into the air, landing on Kakashi's and Zabuza's face, and a torrent of the red liquid gushed down onto the ground.

Needles pierced the scroll used to summon the dogs, and in turn the canines attached to Zabuza's arms and torso disappeared. Between Zabuza and Kakashi stood Haku, his outfit completely soaked in blood. Kakashi's arm penetrated Haku's body and went all the way through it. Haku's eyes were wide open, but no remains of life reflected in them. He was smiling, happy that he could protect his precious person.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked aloud. He looked around himself franticly. "The fog, it's clearing." The blonde ninja peered through the fog; he could make out a few shapes in the mist. The Kyubi container ran forward, but stopped dead in his tracks as he saw what the shapes were.

His sensei's arm was gouged through Haku's body, blood still gushing down onto the ground below. "What the hell is the meaning of this?" he asked aloud.

The blonde ninja watched Zabuza pull his sword, and began swinging it at both Kaakshi and Haku. "Kakashi will dodge it…" Naruto said aloud, knowing that the demon of the mist would never do something like that to Haku. 'Damn it, Zabuza was right after all about the outcome of today… It's not fair!' Naruto clenched his fists, and grinded his teeth.

"Naruto, you're okay!" a familiar voice called out. He looked up, and saw the pink-haired girl waving to him. "Where's Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto cringed. 'Is all that fucking bitch cares about Sasuke? Can't she see the fucking situation here?' he screamed in his mind. He felt himself shake, the pain and anger of everything that was happening overwhelming him.

"Naruto, where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked again. Naruto tried to refrain from yelling at the girl, his fists clenched. He bit his lip and felt it draw blood. Sakura obviously misunderstood Naruto's expression and looked like she was going to break down right there.

"Kakashi! You don't have time to look away!" Zabuza yelled out and charged at the masked ninja. Kakashi kicked Zabuza back and lunged toward him.

Sakura began running to where Sasuke was, Tazuna following her. She ran past Naruto not giving him a second glance. 'I hope she has a heart attack over Sasuke. Besides, he isn't dead anyway,' Naruto thought to himself.

Kakashi and Zabuza kept fighting, the sword-wielding mist nin doing a lot worse then he did before. Soon his sword was knocked aside and skid to the edge of the bridge. Kakashi managed to get kunai to pierce both of Zabuza's shoulders, and at this point the demon of the mist couldn't even use his arms.

Naruto watched the two ninjas clash. Zabuza was fighting a lot worse from before, even though it didn't look like it, Haku's death must have been taking its toll on him.

"Now you can't use your arms, you can't form seals anymore," Kakashi stated. Loud footsteps could be heard from the other side of the bridge. Kakashi looked at the direction they came from. Naruto turned his head to see who was coming.

"Looks like you got beaten pretty badly," a short man leaning on a cane said. He was wearing an expensive looking black suit along with a red tie, and had dark round glasses. Zabuza looked in the direction of the voice, recognizing it immediately. "I'm disappointed Zabuza," the man continued. Behind him was an immensely large group of people, all carrying swords, maces, knifes, spears, and other different types of weapons.

"Gatoh, why are you here? And what's with those subordinates?" The mist nin questioned.

"We had a little change in plans," Gatoh laughed. "I'm sorry Zabuza, but you're going to die here," he smirked.

"What?' Zabuza pretended to act surprised.

"If I rent official ninja, it would cost a lot of money. So, I rented an exiled ninja like you," Gatoh began. "If you ninja just killed each other it would have saved me a lot of trouble and money. And you call yourself the demon of the village of the hidden mist? You're just a cute devil if you ask me," the short man teased, and the army of men behind him laughed.

'Who are they? There are so many of them,' Naruto thought.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry but the battle ends here. Since I no longer have a reason to kill Tazuna, I have lost the reason to fight you," Zabuza stated.

"Yeah, you're right," the masked ninja replied.

Gatoh walked forward until he was right beside the dead body of Haku. "Oh yes, I owe this guy a favor. For gripping my hand until it broke!" Gatoh kicked the dead corpse with all his might. Naruto's eyes widened as he registered just what happened. "He's already dead," Gatoh said.

"BASTARD! What the hell are you doing?" Naruto shouted, rage overwhelming his entire body. He lunged forward and charged at the short man.

"Stop. Don't move so carelessly," Kakashi said as he grabbed Naruto and prevented him from moving.

"Why don't you say something too? He was on your side, right?" Naruto yelled at Zabuza.

"Shut up, kid. He's already dead," Zabuza replied.

'He wants to make this situation realistic…' Naruto thought sadly. "You really don't feel anything about what he did? You were with him a long time, right?" the blonde ninja shouted.

"Like how Gatoh used me, I was just using Haku. I said this before. We ninja are just tools. I wanted his abilities, not him. I have no regrets," the demon of the mist lied.

Naruto clenched his fists. "Do you really mean that?"

Kakashi placed is hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Stop it Naruto, we don't have to fight him anymore. Besides-"

"Shut up!" Naruto interrupted and knocked Kakashi's hand away. "He's still my enemy!" The Kyubi container panted. "He… He really liked you! He really, really liked you!" Naruto shouted, pointing at Haku. "And you really don't think anything of him?" Naruto let the tears fall from his eyes, and they ran down his face. These tears weren't part of the act; they were his actual feelings for the situation at hand. "Do you really… really not think anything of him?" When a person becomes as strong as you, do they start to think like that…?" Naruto sobbed. "He sacrificed his life for you! He couldn't even see his own dream… Dieing as a tool… is just… just… too painful…" By this time the tears flowed freely down his face and dripped to the ground. 'Haku… Zabuza… I'm sorry it had to end like this for you…' he thought.

"Kid…" Zabuza began. Naruto looked up. "Don't say anymore…" The tears cascaded down the bandaged face of the mist nin. He finally let his emotions out, and the river of tears dropped to the ground. "Haku, not only did he hurt his heart to fight for me, but he also hurt his heart for you. I know. He was too kind. I'm glad we were able to fight you as our final opponents." 'You were glad that you met me before you guys died…' Naruto thought, understanding the message in Zabuza's words.

The demon of the mist bit off his own bandages and let them dangle downwards until his face was revealed. Tears were still streaming down his face, and cascading to the ground. "Yes kid, it was just like you said. Ninja are human too. They might not be able to become a tool without emotions. I lose." Then Zabuza's tone changed. "Kid, give me your kunai."

Naruto shut his eyes. 'Goodbye, Zabuza.' He reached into his weapon pouch and pulled out a kunai knife and tossed it to Zabuza. It twirled through the air and the demon of the mist caught it by the handle with his teeth. Insatantly he lurched forward with intense speed, startling Gatoh who stood in front of him.

"Hey! Kill them!" Gatoh yelled at his miniature army and ran behind them to take cover.

"Idiot, do you think you can beat so many of us on your own?" one man with a large sword yelled at Zabuza, but at that moment Zabuza dashed past him, slicing his waist with the kunai in his mouth as he went.

As he ran through the crowd he madly sliced at their vital points, blood splashing into the air as he passed them. He dodged the weapons being swung at him and kept slaying more men that got in his way like a rabid animal. One person managed to shove a spear into his back, but the mist nin kept going, slicing and slashing the necks of the people. More swords got gouged into his spine and torso, and the crimson liquid poured down his back like a waterfall.

He finally burst through the large crowd of people and zoomed toward Gatoh. The demon of the mist was living up to his name, a huge evil chakra was surrounding his body and you could almost see it shape into a demon. Gatoh let out a scream as Zabuza dug the kunai into his chest, blood flowing freely from the wound.

Gatoh backed up, clutching his wound in pain. "If you want to go where your friend is that badly, go by yourself!" Gatoh shouted.

Zabuza looked up at Gatoh with a purely evil look in his eye. "Unfortunately, I don't intend to go to the same place as Haku. You're going to hell with me!" The demon of the mist swung his head, the kunai piercing Gatoh's neck and shredding away at his flesh. His head flew off from his body and rolled down the bridge leaving a bloody trail behind.

Zabuza turned around, the pure killing intent radiating from him made all the hired men of Gatoh make a path for Zabuza to get through. The mist nin began limping forward, and the bloody kunai dropped from his mouth, making a shrill clanging sound against the ground.

Zabuza walked onward, his vision blurry, but he could still make out the shape of his dead subordinate lying on the ground. "Haku…" he wheezed, "It's time to say goodbye Haku… Thank you for everything. I'm sorry," and with those last words the demon of the mist fell to the ground.

Naruto cringed and looked away. 'Goodbye Zabuza…. Goodbye Haku….'

"Don't look away," Kakashi ordered, "It's the end of a man who lived desperately."

Naruto focused his gaze back on the body of Zabuza. 'I won't look away for a different reason.' He thought.

"Naruto! Sasuke-kun is okay! He's alive!" Sakura shouted to the blonde ninja.

Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke slowly stand up. It was difficult, but he tried to put on a happy face. 'Of course he's alive,' he thought.

"I see, so Sasuke is safe too. I'm glad," Kakashi said, looking back at the Uchiha.

A loud clinging caught the attention of the ninja. "Hey, hey! You guys are feeling too safe!" a man from the group of thugs Gatoh hired called out.

"Damn ninja! You killed our source of revenue!" another shouted.

"Now we have to attack the town and steal all the valuables," another said, and the whole group of armed men yelled in agreement.

"This isn't good," the masked ninja stated. At that moment the group of thugs charged.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have some jutsu that can beat them all at once?" Naruto asked urgently.

"No, I've sued up too much chakra," he replied.

At that moment an arrow struck the ground in front of the charging men and they abruptly stopped. Inari had gathered all the people of the village and they had all came here to defend what was theirs.

"Alright I'm going to help too!" Naruto exclaimed, and created four kage bunshin. 'I could create a lot more but then it would be too suspicious,' the blonde ninja thought.

Then Kakashi created nearly one hundred normal bunshin, but since the hired thugs didn't know the difference it didn't matter.

And with this all the hired men of Gatoh dropped their weapons and ran back to the ship, which soon bean sailing away.

Kakashi made his way over to Zabuza, and Naruto closely followed. The mist nin was at the verge of death, and had lost a ton of blood.

"Looks like it's over," Zabuza hoarsely said.

"Yeah," Kakashi replied.

"Kakashi, I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"I… I want to see his face."

Kakashi covered his Sharingan eye with his headband. "Sure." He picked up Zabuza, and began carrying him down the bridge. Naruto felt something cold land on his face. He looked up and saw snowflakes steadily make their way down to the ground.

'Haku, are you crying?' both Naruto and Zabuza thought.

Kakashi gently put Zabuza down right next to Haku, the snow by now was already settling on the ground. "Thanks, Kakashi," Zabuza said with a weak voice. The masked nin then walked back to his team.

"We've been together all this time… So I'll die next to you," Zabuza said to Haku. He mustered all the strength he could and placed his hand on Haku's cheek. "If possible… I want to go to the same place you're going to…"

He snow fell and covered the ground like a thin blanket. The clouds opened up and the sunshine danced on the two figures. A lone tear escaped Haku's eye, and made it way down onto Zabuza's hand, and from there it trickled to the ground. The two died together.

Naruto couldn't help the river of tears that raced down his face. "I will never forget you Zabuza… Haku… Thank you…" the blonde said, loud enough for only them to hear.

Naruto looked at the two graves upon the hilltop, the setting sun shining down on them. The sky was a vivid orange color, with the clouds tinted purple. Zabuza's sword, Kubikiri Houcho, was shoved into the ground between the two graves. It reflected the sun, and let off a bright gleam.

"I was wondering Kakashi-sensei… Does a ninja really have to be the way they said a ninja should be?" Sakura asked.

"Shinobi are not supposed to seek their reason to exist," Kakashi answered. "It is important that they exist as a tool. That idea exists in Konoha too."

"Is that what being a ninja really means? I… kinda don't like that," Naruto stated. He looked down at the two graves in front of him. "All right!" he exclaimed, "I've decided I'm going to follow my own "way of the ninja"! I'll run down the path where I won't regret anything!"

In a few minutes Team 7 began making its way down the hill, back to the home of Tazuna. Naruto, however, remained standing in front of the graves, looking up at the setting sun.

"Are you coming, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"You, guys go on head, I'll follow in a few minutes," the Kyubi container replied. His team proceeded to walk away, leaving Naruto to stand there alone.

"My way of the ninja is to live to make you proud, Haku… Zabuza…" the blonde boy said to the two graves. He firmly clasped the handle of the large sword, and with one pull plucked it out of the ground. Holding the Kubikiri Houcho gave him a sense of strength, and the feeling that Haku and Zabuza were with him. It felt right in his hands, it belonged to him. "I understand, by giving me your sword, you gave me yours and Haku's will, your strength, your hopes…" The sword glistened in the sun, and Naruto saw his own reflection on the surface of the blade. He smiled. "I will make you proud!"

The blonde shinobi took out the scroll Zabuza gave to him and opened it. He bit his thumb, and smeared the blood onto the paper. He touched the scroll to the blade, and with a large puff of smoke, the head cleaving sword was gone, successfully put into the scroll for storage. Naruto tucked the scroll away into his jacket, and ran down to catch up with his team.

FLASHBACK END

Naruto halted his reminiscing session, and smiled at the sky above him. "Well… I guess it's time to do some training," the blonde boy said to himself. He jumped down from the tree and proceeded to walk to the nearest training area. He didn't know what destiny had in store for him, but he would confront those challenges head on.

ENDING NOTE: Thank you very much for taking the time to read my fanfiction, now click that pretty purple button and submit a review. You know you wanna. I hope to update this fic soon, as well as my other one.