Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Or any souls. My evil overlord just took them away.

Sorry it took so long to get this one out. I've been busy because of Thanksgiving, and then I rewrote this chapter three times.

I know this Naruto is useless, I wrote it that way on purpose, but this chapter he is anything but. He gets some action, and it's violent.

Warnings: Language and violence.

Chapter 9: Immigrant Song (by Led Zeppelin)

After Sakura's frightening display of brute force, the fight resumed, Kakashi giving Mr. Misty-Sword a good thrashing, mainly with water-based jutsus. Then out of nowhere, a hunter-nin showed up and "killed" Zabuza. Seemed a little too easy to Naruto, though, 'cause really? Naruto was just going assume that Mr. Misty-Sword was dead, problem solved, no more trouble for Team 7?

Not frickin' likely.

Then, because Kakashi-sensei used up too much chakra, he collapsed making the genin drag him all the way to Tazuna's house. Honestly, that man was probably just faking it, just to get a free ride. Then again, maybe not, since he wouldn't wake up that night, no matter how many times Naruto slapped him.

By morning, Kakashi-sensei still wasn't moving much, but at least he was awake. He was still groggy and spitting slurred words all over the place, but at least Kakashi-sensei was alert enough to hand out orders. Joy.

After breakfast, which was made by Tazuna's lovely, perfect, sweet, caring daughter Tsunami, Kakashi had the genin mostly training. Sasuke went out to finish learning the tree climbing exercise, while Naruto sent out about a dozen clones with Sakura, to help her train her taijutsu. Help her train her taijutsu without damage to the local landscape, anyway.

Naruto got to stay at the incomplete bridge with Tazuna, who was surprisingly sober for once. But, Naruto was bored and decided to read one of the fuuinjutsu books he'd brought with him while sending out a couple clones to check out the town. When Tazuna took a short break, he came to sit with Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto," Tazuna said. The man had taken up the common courtesy of actually calling the genin by their real names after the Zabuza Smackdown.

"So, how many of those clones can you actually make?" Tazuna asked, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. Naruto sighed, he saw where this was going.

"Many, many more, Mr. Bridge-builder. How many do you need?"

Tazuna smiled and asked for about twenty clones, if Naruto could do that. Naruto returned the smile and gave Tazuna forty clones to help work on the bridge.

As soon as Naruto was sure he would die of boredom, he start getting information from his clones that were training with Sakura. The girl was already getting a bit better with her taijutsu, even after only a half day of training. She'd just beat her first clone in a real spar. Sakura had trouble actually hitting the clone, but when she finally got a hit in, it was only a light tap that shouldn't have dispelled the clone. But this was Sakura, with her new freaky strength.

Well, freakier strength.

Which came from a very surprising source. Sakura finally told the team how she got so powerful, when she should have been the weakest of the three physically. The story was that, not long after they'd become a team, Sakura happened upon one of Naruto's clones in the library one day. After seeing what book the clone was reading, she decided to be nosy and check it out herself. It was about chakra techniques, and she found herself very interested.

Long story short, Sakura found out that she could be using chakra to make herself stronger physically, and then took the idea a little too far.

Naruto was so proud he could cry. Just as long as Sakura didn't come after him with that monster right hook of hers, 'cause then he'd be crying for real. And most likely missing his face or something.

As for his other clones, only a few on the bridge had popped, and only because they'd done something retarded, like drop a bag of dry concrete on their foot or walk off the end of the unfinished area. The idiots.

Naruto's clones that were unaccounted for, the two that were scouting the town and surrounding area, were still out and about, looking for anything of interest. Neither of them had dispelled yet, so Naruto figured they were having a bit of fun. Which was fine, as long as it wasn't at his expense.

)(

That night, Sasuke joined his team at Tazuna's in an extremely foul mood. Not only did the Uchiha fail to conquer the tree climbing, but he was still angry at Naruto and Sakura about the chunin exams. Naruto figured Sasuke would just have to get over it, and take the exams next time. In Naruto's opinion, it was best to do something right the first time, without failure, instead of just trying to gain strength the fast, cheap way. Until his dying breath, Naruto would defend his use of clones to learn quickly as a legitimate strategy.

When they'd returned to their rooms, Naruto and Sakura were privy to a Sasuke tantrum when the dark-haired boy had a fight with his sleeping bag.

"Don't worry, Sasuke, you'll get it soon enough. Just keep at it." Sakura said, and both boys instinctively knew that she wasn't referring to the uncooperative sleeping bag.

Sasuke just frowned and grunted, not in the mood for praise or sympathy from the annoying girl. It seemed to the Uchiha that he was being left behind. Not only did Naruto have practically infinite chakra reserves, but Sakura had practically perfect chakra control, and he couldn't even stick to a tree. Sakura had made the chakra exercises look like child's play, and who knows how easy it was for Naruto. As crappy as it sounded, Sasuke hated his teammates for surpassing him.

"Would you like a bit of advice?" Naruto asked.

"Not from you." Sasuke snapped, then climbed into his sleeping bag. He turned away from Naruto and Sakura to glare at the wall. Sasuke seriously doubted Itachi had ever had this much trouble with one simple chakra control exercise.

Naruto noticed the painful look on Sakura's face and it made him feel immensely guilty. If only he'd just signed those damn chunin exam entrance papers, then Sasuke wouldn't be acting like a spoiled brat and Sakura wouldn't be hurting. But Naruto's fear and paranoia had won out in the end, and the only comfort he could take was that he might have saved his team from something terrifying.

Maybe if Naruto took another approach to dealing with Sasuke the Prick?

"Don't get all pissy, Sasuke. I mean, I'm a retard and I learned how to do both the tree climbing and water walking, and all it took was, like, four or five stinking months. Sakura made it look easy 'cause she's a genius, the stupid woman."

There. Force Sasuke to hear him out, and bring a little sarcasm into the situation. Did it work, though?

Sakura gave Naruto a half-hearted glare for calling her an oxymoron and for trying to defuse the angry aura around Sasuke. The two stood silently for a few seconds, then Sasuke finally spoke up.

"I said I didn't need help, moron, so just shut up."

Didn't work. And now Naruto was starting to get mad too.

"You know, Sasuke, you're a jackass. We're just trying to help you, you know? That's our job as your team members. So, you're going to get advice whether you want it or not. We want you to succeed."

Sasuke scoffed bitterly at that, making Naruto flinch. Yeah, Sasuke was a douche. And that made Naruto feel rather crappy.

"You know what, Sasuke?" Naruto snapped as he flopped down onto his own sleeping bag. "You are acting like a child. Can't you get it through your thick head that you have people around you that care about you? All I want is for you to be a great ninja who can take his revenge. But I want you to do it the right way, not the fast way, 'cause just half-assing your way through life will only cause you trouble and unnecessary pain. But, that's your choice, so, whatever." Naruto finished his rant, and like Sasuke, burrowed into his sleeping bag and turned away from his teammates. This caused Naruto to face Kakashi-sensei, who was laying there, pretending to be asleep. Naruto met the lidded eye of his jonin instructor and stared back, waiting for the inevitable silence to resume.

Sakura gave a light sniffle, and Naruto had to fight the tears that had gathered in his own eyes. Naruto watched Kakashi-sensei, silently pleading for the jonin to say or do something, but the man just lay there, waiting as well.

Then Naruto heard Sasuke sigh as if the world had just come to an end.

"What would you suggest then?" Sasuke said suddenly.

Naruto turned over, shocked, before sharing a triumphant grin with Sakura.

Under his mask, Kakashi smiled fondly. Finally, his genin were getting it.

)(

The next three days continued the same way for Naruto. He'd sit around guarding Tazuna at the bridge while he made his clones work, Sakura and Sasuke were still out training, and Kakashi was recovering. On the third day of this, the jonin had finally gotten up and started hobbling around on crutches.

That was how Sasuke began his water walking exercise.

After the night of the fight, Sasuke ended up listening to the advice Sakura and Naruto had given him, and it had helped. The idea was to get just the right amount of chakra in your feet to stick to the tree. The same applied to water, Sasuke found out, but this time he'd have to pay very close attention and constantly alter the amount of chakra to stay on top of the water.

"Go with the flow," Naruto had said, and it seemed to be helping more than Sasuke would like to admit.

Sasuke never thanked his teammates, but they weren't really expecting him to. The Uchiha was still angry over missing the chunin exams, after all, but he was being a bit more decent. Sasuke was back to being his only-slightly-bitchy self, for the most part.

There was another problem that Naruto decided to ignore in Wave Country. Tazuna's grandson, Inari or something, kept mention how Team 7 was going to die. Now, Naruto recognized the same wary pessimism in himself, but this kid took the cake. The first time Inari approached Naruto with the grim news, claiming that everyone was going to meet their death, Naruto could only laugh nervously and say "yeah, eventually."

Inari had glared at Naruto and left in a huff, making Naruto worry for the kid's future. And so far, that very scene had replayed at least twice more until Tazuna sat down and explained a bit about Inari's tragic past. Naruto's heart went out to the kid, but still…

Man, Inari really freaked him out.

)(

On the morning of the seventh day, Naruto woke in the early dawn with a jolt. He had been sleeping soundly, dreaming about something awesome that he couldn't remember. It most likely had to do with ramen, so he didn't mind too much, since ramen was best in real life, not in dreamland.

The memories from his clones he sent out to investigate the town flooded his mind and forced him to fully wake up. Naruto shivered as one of the clones' memories played out in full detail.

The clone had been alone, leaving its brother to watch over the bridge during the night, just in case. Then, the loner had wondered off to inspect more of the forest area around Tazuna's house. It had wondered too far, and ended up finding an occupied clearing.

There, it watched Zabuza being treated by the hunter-nin with herbs found near Tazuna's home.

Naruto had always been good at hiding, and this had always come in handy when running from ANBU after a particularly nasty prank. Naruto had ended up learning how to hide his chakra the hard way, and even knew how to slow his breathing so he could sit absolutely still. The clone employed this technique, and had sat like a statue for two days to watch Mr. Misty-Sword recover. The clone had finally run out of chakra and dispelled the morning after the second night, the clone on the bridge doing the same not three seconds later.

The last conversation the hidden clone overheard worried Naruto. Zabuza was going on the offensive the next day, and he was bringing the hunter with him.

'Here we go,' Naruto thought with a sigh before nudging Kakashi-sensei awake.

)(

By the time the mist rolled over the bridge, signaling the arrival of the enemy, Team 7 figured they were as ready as they could be.

The bridge had been filled with Naruto's shadow clones, all transformed to look like the men who worked there everyday. Using the same strategy, a fake Sakura was now guarding a fake Tazuna, while the real Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei prepared to fight on the bridge. The real Sakura was with the real Tazuna, back at the bridge builder's home with Tsunami and Inari.

The fight started, and a clone of Naruto watched Sasuke's back as the Uchiha attacked the hunter-nin, now known to be named Haku.

The real Naruto watched the fight from atop a scaffolding, waiting for the perfect opportunity to help. But the mist had hampered all visibility, so Naruto would have to either find a new place closer to Sasuke's fight, or make a move now to dissipate the mist.

Getting rid of the mist would be easy. Naruto could concentrate his chakra, then send it all out at once in a pulse, and the mist would be cleared. Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei would be able to see clearly, and the enemies would think they were being ambushed from elsewhere and drop their guards against the sharingan users. It was a good advantage for Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, but Naruto would be found out when he started drawing on his chakra, and possibly attacked when he was trying to clear the mist.

Unless Naruto had a way of getting a large amount of chakra all at once, and that chakra was so strong and malicious that it could scare the crap out of a fully grown missing-nin…

Like Kyuubi's chakra.

Naruto grinned mischievously as he considered the pros and cons of his new plan. He'd been training with Kyuubi's chakra and was able to call up almost a tail's worth in less than two seconds. It was powerful stuff, and would definitely send Mr. Misty-Sword and Haku on edge, which would give him enough time to move out of their line of sight. But, how would Sasuke and Kakashi react? There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that his sensei knew the fox was sealed inside Naruto, but Sasuke would be completely clueless.

Time was wasting, so Naruto made a decision. He'd always been good at thinking quickly and felt good about it. If it was reckless, then oh well, he could fix it later.

As soon as he thought about taking the fox's chakra, Naruto was enveloped in a red cloak, and just as quickly as he got the chakra, he let go of it. The bridge was covered with a sudden strong, hot wind, and the mist was gone. Naruto moved quickly, using kawarimi to replace himself with a bag of unmixed cement that was hidden behind a stack of rebar metal.

Naruto had just been able to catch a glimpse of three equally shocked faces before he'd gotten away, and he tried not to giggle and give away his new hiding spot. That hunter may have been wearing a mask, but Naruto just knew the guy was freaked too.

Then, surprisingly, Sasuke took the advantage Naruto had made and knocked Haku to the ground. Hard. Both fights resumed, and Naruto sat back to watch and plan.

But, the blond wasn't able to rest there long. Haku apparently got fed up with Sasuke matching his speed with the sharingan, so he trapped the Uchiha in a dome of mirrors that looked to be made of ice. Naruto's unease got worse as Sasuke failed to take down the mirrors with his strongest fire jutsu. The whole time Sasuke dodged and rolled, trying to stay out of the path of the hunter's senbon needles, but in the end, the Haku was faster, and Sasuke was starting to tire.

Naruto felt like hyperventilating when the red of his teammate's eyes bled back into black and Sasuke kneeled on one knee, unable to move. The hunter took aim.

This was to be a killing shot, and that was not on at all.

Naruto, without thinking, used the kawarimi again to replace himself with Sasuke, hoping against hope that it would work, and in time. It did work, and Sasuke was now safely hidden as Naruto took the hit. No less than twenty senbon pierced Naruto's torso, arms and legs, and down he fell.

Naruto was beginning to black out, and the faint whisper of the demon inside could be heard. A resounding laugh echoed, and Naruto's head began to clear. The blond had been wrong about the hunter-nin. This was not meant to kill Sasuke, just stop him.

This realization made Naruto feel slightly bad about what he was about to do, but Haku was the enemy, and Naruto's emotions were out of his control. The hate, anger, and desperation were fueling the blond now, and once more, the red cloak of demonic chakra sprang to life around him.

A wave of his arm and Naruto broke the mirrors like the ice they were made of. Haku jumped to the ground and uttered the words that had Naruto growling.

"What are you?"

Haku tried to close in on Naruto quickly, but Naruto's speed was superior now. Haku came at Naruto with four senbon, one between each knuckle. The blond grabbed Haku's arm, twisted it around, and stabbed the hunter-nin with his own senbon. A crack was heard as Haku's arm broke when Naruto had forced the needles into the hunter's back. The senbon sank deep into Haku, right between the shoulder blades, and his arm fell to his side, completely useless.

Before Haku could retreat, a foot smashed in the side of his knee, breaking it as well. Haku cried out and fell to the cement, now completely broken and useless as a shinobi. Naruto did not stop, and left the hunter laying on the bridge. A red streak of hot air collided into Zabuza a moment later.

Kakashi watched as his opponent skidded across the bridge, Naruto on top of him. They left a long mark along the cement, and Kakashi cringed, knowing Zabuza probably had no skin left on his back. That had to have hurt. Kakashi ran to stop Naruto's attack, not knowing if the fox had taken over Naruto completely or not. He contemplated what should be done if that was the case, but decided not much could be done. The day may turn into a free-for-all against Naruto. What a failure to Minato-sensei that would be.

But, Kakashi found Naruto pinning Zabuza to the bridge, neither ninja moving. Zabuza, for all the talent and killing intent he had, looked scared. In all honesty, Kakashi didn't blame the man. He never wanted to face the Kyuubi either.

"Naruto," Kakashi said in the softest voice he could, lest he bring the demon down on his own head. Naruto turned his glare toward Kakashi.

"You should've finished this guy off sooner, Kaka-sensei, then maybe Sasuke wouldn't have been in danger."

Zabuza struggled under Naruto, but the blond quickly put a clawed hand against the man's throat. Zabuza immediately tensed up, the skin around the boy's hand getting burned from the red chakra.

"So," Naruto said. "How should I kill this guy, huh? You're my teacher, so teach me."

Naruto gave Kakashi a condescending smirk all the while clinching his hand around Zabuza's throat.

A cry rang out, breaking the unnerving silence.

"No!" It was Haku. "Please don't kill him! Kill me instead!"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. He'd forgotten about the little hunter. He turned to see Haku trying to crawl his way over. Didn't Haku realize who was in charge here now? It wasn't Zabuza, it wasn't Kakashi, and it sure as hell wasn't Gato. But, the sight of a broken boy begging for mercy made Naruto's heart seize up.

What had he just become?

Naruto suddenly let go of Zabuza and jumped up. He refused to look at the missing-nin as he laid on the ground, now coughing so hard blood was sprayed across the cement. Naruto could feel Kakashi-sensei's eye boring into him, and the rage was leaving Naruto, though the demonic chakra wasn't. Sasuke choose this perfect moment to hobble over.

When the Uchiha saw Naruto, he stopped. Sasuke stared at his teammate in confusion. What the fuck was that chakra? Was it even chakra? Before Sasuke got the chance to ask, a loud clapping sounded from the end of the incomplete bridge.

There a short tubby man stood, applauding the scene. A large group of thugs with weapons waited behind him, and Zabuza gave a raspy growl.

"Gato."

The little man gave a chuckle.

"There's been a slight change of plan. You're going to die, here and now, Demon of Kirigakure."

Zabuza looked to Haku, and gave another growl.

"You must have guessed," Gato continued. "I never intended to pay you or your little pet."

Gato walked straight toward the injured Haku and looked down in disgust.

"Get away from him," Zabuza said.

"No," Gato replied. "I have a score to settle." Haku could do nothing as an expensive shoe collided with his nose, adding that to his list of broken bones.

Naruto watched, speechless as his anger came back in full force. Zabuza was doing nothing to help Haku.

"Well," Naruto said, gaining attention to himself. When Gato looked up to see who had just spoken, he stopped his assault on Haku. Standing there, smirking, was a child. A child who was a real demon.

Naruto turned to address Zabuza.

"Maybe I should have chocked you to death. After all, you can tell a lot about a person by the way he treats his subordinates. You're standing there, watching Haku get kicked around. Haku, who just begged me to spare you. You, Mr. Misty-Sword, are nothing but a coward."

Gato laughed. "Hey kid, you're right! He is a heartless coward isn't he!"

Naruto turned to Gato, and just as the little man went to kick Haku again, Naruto suddenly put himself in between the downed hunter and the rich man. Gato gasped and quickly backed up. The thugs raised their weapons, ready to defend their source of money.

"I would stop that, if I were you, Mr. Gato," Naruto said. "You wouldn't want me to rip your leg off and beat you to death with it, now do you? Sounds like a horribly unpleasant way to die."

"Naruto," Kakashi began, just to be cut off by Zabuza.

"Your kid's right, Kakashi. That man needs to die, and I want to do it." Zabuza said this easily, as he knelt down to help Haku put a piece of cloth over his nose to stop the bleeding.

Naruto stepped back, letting Zabuza past. The red chakra finally disappeared, leaving Naruto swaying where he stood. But Sasuke was near enough to reach out and steady the blond. It surprised Naruto, and Sasuke refused to look at him. The rest of the day was going to go wonderfully, Naruto could just tell. Naruto and his team stood back and watched Zabuza take out Gato and his men. It was nothing short of a massacre.