Title: Faith Arc - Faith in Humanity (PG-13)

Author: Karrafear

Summary: AU. What if Naruto survived a murder attempt on his life at the age of 6 and had to leave Konoha for his protection. Now 12, Naruto and Jiraiya returns to face the genin test.

The majority of votes came in with people wanting me to keep the title as it is, and so it'll stay. Thank you all for giving me your opinions on the matter. I really appreciate all reviews.

Warning: Naruto OOC. PG-13. In this story, Naruto is a very conservative and internally insecure person whom refuses to acknowledge anyone unless they have proven themselves trustworthy.

This chapter will have less dialogue once the action starts, because I really don’t like having a lot of talking when people are suppose to fight. So it might be a bit fast paced and a little bit confusing, I apologise for the inconveniences now. Um.. it starts off slow with the bit about Inari but as I’ve said before, once the actual Haku fights begin, then comes the fun, so be patient people. The fight scenes in this chapter are based on the manga but will diverge into very DIFFERENT endings. There’ll be a LOT of JUMPING in the same time frame, so please bear with it. Here, you may get a glimpse of Naruto’s true power as well as the introduction of my own original Tenkun no buki (Weapons of the Heavenly Warriors Series). Enjoy!

""..."" means "thoughts"

xxxxxxxxx means "time passed"

Author’s interruption

Chapter 4

Naruto awakened to the sounds of bird chirping happily outside of his window as well as the bright sunshine beaming onto his face. He blinked groggily, deciding to turn away from the light and bury himself under the blankets again. ""Ugh! What’s wrong with me!"" Naruto blinked several time and finally gazed blearily at his current surrounding. ""An unfamiliar room.."" His mind slowly rose to conscious level and he realised that this is his room, the one he had never used until now. ""Oh... that’s why it’s so much more comfortable than the forest ground."" Naruto thought as he closed his eyes in tiredness, allowing himself to fall asleep again.

After a few long minutes of just lying on his futon, covered by blankets, Naruto realised that there was no way he could go back to sleep. He had always been a very energetic person, so once he’s up, he’s up indefinitely. ""There’s no point in staying in bed. I’m just avoiding the inevitable."" Depressingly, Naruto knew that he still didn’t want to deal with the Inari issue from last night. ""I suppose I should apologise. Some of the things I’ve said weren’t necessary..."" After a few more moments spent on reviewing his words last night, Naruto decided that he really didn’t want to do it now. ""I’ll apologise later, just not now.."" Recognising it as just an excuse, Naruto was still too hungry and too tired to bother pushing the subject at hand. ""I didn’t even finish my dinner last night."" Grumbled Naruto mentally.

After leaving his comfortable haven, Naruto set out to brush his teeth, comb his hair, change his clothes and finally, decided that he was ready to face the outside world. Upon reaching the kitchen, Naruto only found Tsunami there.

"Oh, Naruto-kun. You’re finally awake!" Tsunami smiled at him, as if the events of last night didn’t even faze her. "Your breakfast is already prepared. I’ll just bring it out for you now." And she set about doing just that.

Naruto sat nervously on the chair next to the empty table as Tsunami served him his well-earned food. He expected at least some backlash from the way he acted towards her son yesterday night and didn’t really like the fact that they’re all ignoring the problem. Sighing, Naruto decided to be the first to broach the subject at hand. "Um... about last night... I’m really sorry. I didn’t..."

"It’s quite alright." Tsunami interrupted. Naruto only managed to blink back at her wide-eyed in response. She giggled at his expression and made to sit down beside him on the table. "Listen Naruto. I don’t blame you for reacting like that last night. I know you’ve been under a lot of stress lately. And frankly, Inari kinda deserved that. He really needed someone to force the truth on him... and I’m just not strong enough to do that." Tsunami looked down sadly. "I’m glad you said what you said, though not the way you said it. One way or the other, he needed to hear it. And for that, I thank you for having the courage in doing that."

After that finished statement, Tsunami returned to doing what she was doing before hand, and Naruto was left alone to contemplate what had just happened while he finished his breakfast in a mechanical fashion. It wasn’t ramen after all, so he didn’t need to show any enthusiasm towards eating it. After his late breakfast, Naruto decided to take a stroll outside.

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"Is he gone?" Inari whispered to his mother in the kitchen.

"Yes, dear. Naruto went out for a walk." Answered Tsunami.

Inari sighed and sat at the same table that Naruto had just left only moments ago. A long silence ensured as Inari tried to find something to talk about. Finding none, he shook his head in frustration and started getting up off the chair and left the kitchen to go to his room.

Half an hour later, Tsunami got two very unexpected visitors. Two of Gatou’s henchmen (wearing Samurai-like clothes) sliced their way through the front door of Tazuna’s home and started walking in as if they owned the place. Tsunami was shocked and scared, knowing that she was currently helpless without the added protection of the ninjas; she of course froze in fear. The men asked her if she was Tsunami, Tazuna’s daughter. She nodded jerkingly in reply.  They smiled savagly at her and grabbed onto her arms, telling her that she had become their hostage from now on.

Inari, hearing his mother’s scream while still in his bedroom, ran towards the sound to investigate. As a result, he found the kitchen and living room trashed and his mother shivering in fear on the floor, arms being grabbed tightly by two strangers with swords strapped onto their belts.

"MOM!!" Inari screamed in fright.

"What? A kid?" One of the men seemed surprised.

"INARI! Don’t come near me! RUN AWAY!!" Tsunami shrieked, knowing that what ever happens to her doesn’t matter, as long as Inari is safe.

"Should we take him too?" The same man asked the other.

"We only need one hostage." Answered his partner.

"Heh heh... Should I kill him?" The first man sneered viciously, striding towards a shivering Inari on the ground. The ugly looking man slowly but surely pulled his long sword out, ignoring Tsunami’s desperate shouts in the background. Inari shook violently in fear and started crying as he watched the two men descend on him.

"WAIT!! If you touch that child... I will bite my tongue and kill myself! YOU HEAR ME!!! You want a hostage, right!? Then leave him alone!!!" Tsunami screamed to catch both men’s attention, and showed her determination in doing just as she had threatened if they did not comply.

After a moment of silence, the man pushed his sword back where it belonged and started walking away leaving a snivelling Inari where he had kneeled over in fear and resignation. "Heh... Thank your mom kid."

As the two men continued to mumble to each other and dragged a reluctant Tsunami away, all Inari did was kneel on the floor and cry. ""Mom. I’m sorry. I’m weak. I couldn’t protect you... And I don’t want to die. I’m afraid and scared. I don’t want to die.""

That was the moment when memories of Naruto’s words came back: >

Kakashi’s previous words also added to the effect: >

And so did his late father’s words:

""They’re all so incredible, so cool, and so strong. Will I... Will I also be able to become... strong? Dad?"" With each thought, more flashes of memories, good ones, bad ones, all flicked in Inari’s mind, helping him make one final choice. Inari rubbed his eyes clear of the tears that had plagued him for years. ""It’s time I stop being a cry-baby!"" 

"WAIT!" shouted Inari as he ran towards the two men and his mother with determination blazing in his eyes. ""I WILL NOT RUN!! I CANNOT RUN!! I’M NOT RUNNING AWAY ANY MORE!!!"" (1)

"Huh, it’s that kid!?" The first man who had threatened to kill Inari said in astonishment and amusement.

"Inari! What are you doing?!" Shrieked Tsunami in fear. "No! Don’t come here! Run Inari! RUN AWAY!!"

""I WON’T RUN ANYMORE!!"" "LET GO OF MY MOM!!!!" Inari bellowed in anger.

"Cut him." Ordered the man who rarely spoke.

"Sure." Smiled the first, eager to finally get some action.

"INARI!!!" Screamed Tsunami in fright.

Just as the two men raised their swords, intending to slice Inari into pieces, they were both surprised that what they had cut in their haste was nothing more than pieces of wood. ""KAWARIMI NO JUTSU?!"" went through both men’s mind as a new voice joined their confusion.

"Sorry for being late. But great job Inari!" A slightly tired Naruto smiled genuinely back at Inari, whom was looking at him with shock written over his face. Tsunami was also safely taken away from the two henchmen as she was now sitting behind a relaxed Naruto.

The two men were obviously furious at being tricked by a brat and started charging towards Naruto in rage. Naruto stood confidently in front waiting for them.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked a nervous Inari, looking back and forth between Naruto and the charging men.

"I’m fine. I wouldn’t even have to lift a finger." Naruto smirked as several Kage Bunshins (shadow clones) suddenly jumped out of the surrounding water, and some even appearing behind the henchmen themselves. After a few seconds of fighting, the clones triumphantly disappeared into smoke leaving behind two very battered and bruised men. 

"How did you know these samurais were coming here?" asks Inari curiously.

"Hn? There was a cut up boar in the forest. And a bunch of trees had sword marks on them as well. The marks were heading this way so I got worried. But I still stayed behind a while to help heal the injured boar, since it wasn’t dead yet. And I rushed back here as fast as I could." Explained Naruto sheepishly. Actually, he had to take a slight rest after healing the boar. He had exerted himself quiet a bit to reach here in time. He’s still very tired from his two weeks of almost no sleep and very limited food.

A slight pause in silence followed. Naruto took a deep breath and tried to broach the original subject (that he dreaded) again, "Um Inari..."

"Huh?" Asked Inari, uncertain.

Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "About yesterday. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean those words. Just forget it okay?" Breathing in another gulp of courage, Naruto reached out and rubbed Inari’s head affectionately. The last time he’s done that was on Ellie’s (2) head, which was more than 2 years ago.

"I was wrong, you are strong..." Naruto’s final words brought Inari to tears.

Inari’s eyes widened in surprise and started building up with moisture. "Damn it. I decided I wasn’t going to cry anymore. You’re going to make fun of me and call me a cry-baby." Inari struggled to stop the tears.

Naruto pulled him in for a hug. "I never said it was wrong to cry, just don’t cry all the time. People cry for different reasons: because they’re scared, angry, hurt, happy and so on. Sometimes, it’s good to release your emotions in tears. Just... never give up hope! It’s okay to cry when you’re happy." Inari hugged Naruto back in relief.

Without letting go of Inari, Naruto looked back at the beaten up henchmen. "If they’re here, then Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura would also have their hands full right about now. I’m gonna go and help them." Looking back at a smiling Inari, "I can count on you here, right?"

"YUP!" Inari finally let go of the hug, and held up his thumb in a good guy sign. Naruto smiled and disappeared into a cloud of smoke, using teleportation instead of travelling on foot (3).

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[At the bridge]

Kakashi and company had just arrived at the bridge building sight only to find all the rest of the bridge builders lying dead or unconscious on the ground. Immediately, the ninja group members formed a slight circle around Tazuna, protecting him from the unseen enemy.

Just then, a slow and slightly visible mist surrounded the group and suddenly, ten Zabuza forms emerged from the mist. ""Mizu Bunshins (Water clones)"" confirmed all three ninjas, as both Sasuke and Sakura started shivering in tension and excitement. Kakashi looked over at Sasuke, nodding in his direction as an indication for him to start first. Sasuke nodded back and immediately disappeared from view, silently slicing up each and every clone in sight using his newly acquired skills of the Chakra enhanced kunais and his newly developed speed. Within seconds, Sasuke had returned to his original position and all 10 clones splatter into water molecules.

That’s when Haku and the real Zabuza finally emerged from the surrounding mist. Zabuza made a slight comment to Haku, saying that he might have found a new rival in speed. Haku nodded back silently, acknowledging the fact that Zabuza had just asked him to take care of the genins. Haku stepped forward in a challenging stance aiming his steady gaze at Sasuke.

"I’ll take care of him." Sasuke said, not moving his gaze from the boy but he could see the others agreeing from the corner of his eyes. He too, stepped forward, to accept the challenge.

Suddenly, both Haku and Sasuke advanced into fighting positions. Haku, spun into action, reaching Sasuke’s side in less than a second, and tried to stab him with a metal needle. Sasuke reacted by blocking it with his own Chakra enhanced kunai, clashing metal against metal. But Haku’s needles started to bent under the stress of the powerful kunai, and he decided to change tactic by performing a one handed seal. ""HE CAN DO SEALS WITH ONE HAND?!"" This thought went through all three Konoha ninja's minds but it was short lived, because just then, Haku stomped his foot on the ground and the jutsu immediately reacted.

"HiJutsu Sensatsu Suishou no Jutsu!! (Special jutsu: Flying water needles)!" Haku yelled as the metal needle held in his hand finally gave way to the more powerful kunai. But it did not matter anyway, for Haku had immediately jumped to the side to avoid the multitude of water needles that had since surged from the surrounding wet grounds and poised to strike at Sasuke. To Haku's surprise, Sasuke was able to dodge the needles by jumping straight up, avoiding all of their deadly strikes. From the air, Sasuke shot several Chakra enhanced shurikens at Haku.

Haku managed to dodge all of these power-enhanced shurikens as he back-flipped away from danger. The shurikens barely missed harming Haku’s body and landed on the surface of the bridge, leaving behind crater-like holes a metre wide each. Haku back flipped one final time onto the ledge of the bridge and launched himself to the side, trying to avoid the last shuriken. To his surprise, the shuriken changed direction in mid air and continued flying towards him. Haku shifted to his side slightly again, just barely missing the shuriken but it still managed to cut across Haku’s right shoulder resulting in some small amounts of blood being released from the wound.

When the shuriken turned around again to aim at Haku, Haku managed to grab onto it with his right hand and started dissolving Sasuke’s Chakra with his own, returning the shuriken to normal. ""Things made out of Chakra can be destroyed by simply pouring Chakra into them.""(4)

However, Haku had become so focused on the shuriken that he didn’t realise, until too late, that Sasuke had suddenly appeared behind him and was trying to stab him with another kunai. Haku barely blocked the second attack with his left arm. Nevertheless, as he saw Sasuke preparing to flick the Chakra enhanced kunai right into his face, he ducked in time to miss the kunai flying past, just barely missing his head. By then, Haku barely noticed Sasuke twisting his body in such a way that he managed to ram Haku’s face with his swinging foot.

Thrown from the impact, Haku immediately tried to gather himself together, doing a somersault in mid-air and landing awkwardly on the wet ground, dragging himself a bit due to the slipperiness of the water. As Haku looked up, Sasuke had already prepared a new seal. "Gokakyuu no jutsu! (Powerful Fireball Technique)" yelled Sasuke as he blew a huge burst of fire from his mouth towards Haku.

Haku reacted instantly, performing a seal of his own. "Suijin Heki no Jutsu (Water Barrier no jutsu)!" He yelled, creating a huge wall of water to dispose of Sasuke’s fire. Once the fire was dissolved, revealing Sasuke’s annoyed face on the other side, Haku launched himself into another set of seals. While doing so, he commented to Sasuke: "It seems I have underestimated you, it won’t happen again."

He called upon the water summoned by his previous jutsu to surround Sasuke completely and then finish performing his most deadly seal. "Hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou (Special Jutsu: Demonic Ice mirrors)!" Sasuke was soon stunned into immobility as shards of mirrors started forming from all sides surrounding him. Sasuke pulled himself out of his shock and started launching "Gokakyuu no jutsu" (Powerful Fireball Techniques) one after another, trying desperately to melt the ice mirrors before they completed their formation, but to no avail.

Again, to Sasuke’s surprise, Haku seemed to approach the mirror and merge into it, becoming part of its reflection. Sasuke started shooting several Chakra enhanced kunais towards that particular mirror, hoping to kill Haku while he was in it. However, to Sasuke’s continual annoyance and horror, all the kunais struck through the mirror but then the mirror itself quickly started regenerating until it revived itself into its original form.

"You won’t be able to escape my demonic ice mirrors." Haku said icily as his reflection began appearing on all the mirrors’ surfaces and he started to bombard Sasuke with his metal needles for all corners.

Sasuke screamed, trying desperately to avoid the deadly needles: "AAARRGGG!!!!!!"

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"Sakura, guard Tazuna and stay behind me! If you can, get the rest of the workers out of here." Kakashi ordered as he watched Sasuke’s fight anxiously though purposely not showing any of his nervousness in front of his enemy. Hearing the scream, he rushed off towards his pupil but was suddenly blocked by Zabuza when he somersaulted over the demonic mirrors and landed directly in front of him.

"Your opponent is me! Kakashi…" Zabuza sneered cruelly. ""DAMN!"" thought Kakashi. "If you get by me, I’ll kill those two behind you."

Thoroughly worried about Sasuke, now trapped in the ice mirrors, Sakura decided to take a small chance, and began running towards the others while throwing another Chakra enhanced kunai at the mirrors. Hoping that the mirror was weaker on the outside so she could get through to help Sasuke. Sakura was surprised and then disappointed when Haku unrepentantly emerged from the mirror catching her kunai easily.

"Hn." Zabuza saw his opportunity to kill Tazuna right there and then, so he threw several shurikens towards Sakura aiming to kill her. At the same time, he immediately followed that action by swinging his massive sword in an arc, trying to decapitate Kakashi (while he was distracted by Sakura's actions) in front of him. Kakashi blocked the swing with a kunai of his own and both of them could hear Sakura blocking all the shurikens that Zabuza had sent her way with her own kunai in hand. ""Thank God I asked Naruto to train them beforehand."" Thought Kakashi while he concentrated on trying to kick Zabuza away so that he may be able to reach Sasuke.

However, Zabuza recognising what he was trying to do, decided on jumping backwards, dragging his massive sword with him as he made the mist thicken by doing several more quick hand seals. With the decreased visibility, Kakashi cursed himself mentally because he had forgotten that Zabuza was a silent killer and he had the advantage currently. A sound of movement was suddenly heard from behind and Kakashi immediately turned around just in time to see Sakura blocking Zabuza’s big sword from slicing Tazuna-san straight down the middle. ""Sakura’s speed and senses had developed a lot."" Kakashi started rushing towards them and managed to kick Zabuza’s sword away from a struggling Sakura from his side. Sliding in front to block Zabuza from his prey, Kakashi quickly lifted his head protector to reveal the Sharingan. Finally, with the Sharingan on, Kakashi would probably be able to combat against Zabuza more effectively.

Behind him, Sakura quickly performed a new set of seals, grabbing onto Tazuna-san and disappearing into the mist. She had just used the Invisibility Genjutsu that Naruto had taught her and had also completely erased any sight, sound, scent or any other sense of them, even if they are hidden in the mist.

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While Kakashi was busy with Zabuza, Sasuke was finding it very difficult to figure out a way to defeat his opponent. Now, with his limited Sharingan that had showed up during his fight inside the Makyou Hyoushou (Demonic Ice Mirrors), Sasuke was able to dodge most of Haku’s deadly needles but was still at a loss in finding a way out of this death trap. With all the continuous fighting, Sasuke was rapidly running out of Chakra and soon would be unable to do any more jutsus. Finally, deciding on trying out one last time at breaking Haku’s mirrors, Sasuke decided to use up the rest of his Chakra in this final attack.

Sasuke acted upon his plan during the fight when Haku started leaving the safety of his ice mirrors to rush towards Sasuke, intending to stab him with his needles in close combat. Sasuke hit back using his kunai. He managed to punch Haku’s face and force him to fly back due to the impact, smashing against a mirror then falling forward onto the ground. Gaining some time, Sasuke immediately threw another Chakra-enhanced kunai towards Haku, whom recovered just in time to use his hands to push and jumped backwards, merging back into the mirror, barely avoiding the kunai hitting him. Said kunai smashed through the mirror but before Sasuke had a chance to escape, Haku reformed his mirror blocking Sasuke’s escape.

To Haku’s surprise, the kunai had a string attached to it still held by Sasuke. Sasuke quickly held the string within his mouth, performing a few hand seals, and called forth a new technique. "Katon: Ryuuka no Kutsu (Fire type: Dragon Fire no jutsu)!"(4) Fire appeared from Sasuke’s lips and travelled down the string quickly setting alight the mirror that was blocking its path following the kunai. Haku quickly thrust his hand out, grabbing onto the string before the fire reached his mirror and froze it. The ice that flowed from Haku’s Chakra consumed the fire completely. Once done, Haku easily cut the string away to complete the reformation his mirror, while Saskue knelt on the floor in exhaustion. Keeping the Sharingan going was really draining his Chakra and with that last assault, Sasuke wasn’t sure if he could continue fighting any more.

Haku then performed a familiar seal as he had used it before, "HiJutsu Sensatsu Suishou no Jutsu!! (Special jutsu, Flying Water needles)!" The leftover water on the ground lifted up and started flying towards Sasuke from every angel, striking his already battered body into submission. Sasuke tried to escape but with the mirrors blocking his upward passage, he could only avoid so much using his Sharingan. As a result, he ended up being stabbed very deeply on some parts of his back. Bleeding profusely, Sasuke finally collapsed onto the cold floor in exhaustion again, this time he had completely used up all his Chakra and was unable to battle anymore.

Closing his eyes in anger, frustration and disappointment, Sasuke waited for Haku to kill him off. ""DAMN IT!!! WHY?! WHY AM I STILL SOOO WEAK!!!!???"" bellowed Sasuke mentally ""AM I STILL NOT STRONG ENOUGH?! HOW FAR AM I SUPPOSE TO GO TO FINALLY REACH UP TO YOU, BROTHER?!!!!! HOW HARD AM I SUPPOSE TO WORK?! AND NOW... NOW... I’M ABOUT TO DIE! I DON’T WANT TO DIEEEEE!!!"" Desperately hoping for a miracle, the fates seem to have answered him this time.

Haku was just about to finish off Sasuke within the confines of his mirror, when a sudden wave blast of water overflowing with Lightning and electricity smashed against one side of his row of Demonic Ice Mirrors. The water forced its way through the barrier, breaking one of the mirrors and flooding the area within (surrounding protectively around the fallen form of Sasuke) while electrocuting Haku with a high voltage of electricity as it went by. "Raiten Mizu Bakuhatsu" (Lightning Water Blast/Explosion) (5) the calm voice of Naruto filtered in as he smashed his way through the Mirror’s foundations. For the time being, Haku was unable to move due to the paralysis caused by the electricity still coursing through his veins, so he could only watch on as the electrified water slowly dissipated letting Naruto across the still wet ground. He walked slowly towards Sasuke and knelt down next to him, starting a quiet conversation with the fallen boy.

 "Always late, aren’t you? Still as unmotivated as ever, dobe." Sasuke grunted through his pain. ""At least I have my Pride!""

Naruto smiled slightly at Sasuke’s ever-arrogant attitude, even when facing death. "Don’t talk and don’t move. You’ll be fine, Sasuke." Naruto checked over Sasuke’s injuries but found that the needles did not attack any vital points, so with time, Sasuke would recover completely.

Sasuke gasped in slight pain as he is being lightly probed with a gentle finger and showed some of his fear. "I don’t want to die. I still have my dream... to kill Itachi."

"Hush now, rest, you’ll be fine, just tired, let me handle the battle for now." Naruto looked at Sasuke determinedly.

"Heh, and let you hog all the glory, no thanks." Sasuke snorted.

Naruto smiled gently again, "I don’t think you’re in any position to complain, I’ll give you permission to kick my butt later but for now, let me handle things."

"Heh, a baka all the way." Said Sasuke as he drifted into unconsciousness and Naruto quickly tried to heal some of the more severe wounds by pushing his own Chakra into Sasuke to strengthen his body. ""I know he would never allow me to heal him if he was conscious, so it’s better if he stays unconscious.""

Once satisfied with Sasuke’s eventual recovery, Naruto stood up once again to face Haku. Already, the Ice mirrors have all reformed and Haku had recovered from his paralysis. "That was impressive. But I will not let it happen again." With that said, Haku launched many needles towards Naruto. Naruto dodged most of them but some still managed to injure him slightly. Coming to a standstill, Naruto took the opportunity to have a talk with Haku.

"Why? Why are you fighting us? Why are you trying to destroy Sasuke’s dream, Tazuna-san’s dream, by killing them." Naruto asked, hoping that it would bring some remorse into the other boy.

"Because I too have a dream. I want to protect someone precious to me. To work and fight for that person. To make that person’s dream come true. My dream is to fulfil Zabuza-san’s ambition. To help him take over the Water country and become the Mizukage himself." Haku answered determinedly.

"Why Zabuza?" Naruto questioned, still not quiet understanding. "I know you. You are that boy I met yesterday morning. Why did you not kill me then when you had the chance, instead of choosing to fight us now?"

"Because..." Haku paused. "To become a True Shinobi is difficult for me. If possible, I don’t want to kill you and I don’t want you to kill me. However, if you come at me to stop Zabuza-san, I can destroy my kind heart with a blade and become a true Shinobi. This bridge is the place where we fight for our dreams. For my dream, I can become a Shinobi and kill you. Do you understand?" Haku confirmed.

"Yes, I understand." Naruto nodded in recognition that there was nothing he can say that will sway the boy’s opinion. "And for my dream, I can’t die here. No matter what the cost, I refuse to die" Naruto also acknowledged this fact, but continued with the rest of his explanation: "However, I won't kill you."

"Then you are naïve and not a true Shinobi. Shinobi’s are tools of war that are without emotions and feelings. We are simply weapons." Haku shifted into a battle stance as he ended his part of the conversation.

"I know, but I refuse to acknowledge that path." Naruto made his final point. Quietly, Naruto mumbled to himself though still talking to Haku, he ended the rest of his point almost subconsciously. "I’m a lot like you. I used to be like that... But I don’t want to be any more. I’ll follow my own path, the path I chose."

With the conversation finished, Naruto immediately performed a complicated seal. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! Tenkun no buki! Come forth, Ginshi no himo!" (Summoning Technique! Weapons of the Ten Heavenly Warriors! Silver Strings of Death!!) (6) A puff of smoke appeared and slid away revealing a metal object on Naruto’s right wrist. It looked like a thick metal wristband shaped like a common reel of thread, only bigger with the hole able to fit a person’s wrist through. These particular threads in this device were made up of millions of tiny silver strings.

Haku, confused by the odd-looking object chose to ignore it and sent hundreds of needles towards Naruto. Naruto calmly raised his right hand (with the object attached) towards Haku and said in a soft tone. "Absolute defence."

Immediately the strings originally wrapped around Naruto’s wrist object started moving of their own accord. Many strings began twisting and swirling around Naruto creating a barrier protecting Naruto and Sasuke from the on coming needles, battling and deflecting them easily. Having dealt with the needles, Naruto silently sent all the silver strings to launch at all the Ice Mirrors, smashing its way through the thin ice and shattering them in the process by absorbing the Chakra used to create them.

At the same time, Naruto also sent three strings towards Haku, smashing its way through the Mirror currently inhabited by him to wrap around Haku’s left and right wrist tightly as well as his abdomen. Haku was rendered immobile as the strings pushed him directly through the Demonic mirror and started sucking up his Chakra as well. With Haku in possession, the rest of the Demonic mirrors slowly started to crumble away and the rest of the strings returned to Naruto leaving only the three attached to Haku.

Looking around, Naruto sensed someone close by, whom had used his own original jutus to hide themselves. It could only be Sakura. He then ordered her to take care of Sasuke while he dealt with Haku, which she promptly did.

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Currently, Kakashi was busy parrying all of Zabuza’s shurikens, kunais, and his big sword. Slightly slowing down during part of the fight, Kakashi purposely let Zabuza land a hit on his right shoulder, resulting in a large wound as well as leaving a trail of blood on the big weapon. That was the moment when Zabuza became distracted by Haku’s scream of pain as he was pinned by Naruto’s strings. With the time that Naruto had granted him, Kakashi quickly puled a scroll out of his vest, flipping it through the air, rolling it open and dabbing part of his blood on it, closing the scroll again and performed a complicated seal. Once finish, he slammed his hand (with the scroll it between) onto the ground and shouted: "Ninpou Summon! Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!! (Earth type: Earth Tracking Fang no jutsu!!)"

Once the words were called, Kakashi’s summoned dogs immediately buried themselves under ground, travelling towards Zabuza’s currently location using their sensitive sense of smell. Once located, the dogs smashed their way out of the ground, surprising Zabuza and biting him into immobilisation. While the dogs kept Zabuza trapped, his summoned mist automatically started clearing, showing Sakura next to an unconscious but breathing Sasuke, and Haku still trapped in Naruto’s strings.

Unseen by both, Naruto was actually starting to shake slightly due to the stress of handling the special weapon. He only hoped that he could let go of Haku soon, because if he kept on holding the weapon for too long, not only will Haku’s life be in danger, so will his. However, unbeknownst to Kakashi, Naruto’s predicament was not noticed and neither will it end soon.

Kakashi took some precious time to catch his breath back. Gathering his strength, Kakashi performed several seals to create his only original jutsu, the Chidori (Thousand Bird / Lightning Edge). Once complete, the sounds of the thousand birdcalls can be heard throughout the bridge and into the surrounding areas. Kakashi started running towards Zabuza in high speed with determination in his eyes. However, he’s attack was interrupted again when layers upon layers of ice mirrors emerged and stood in his way defiantly!

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Naruto did his best to hold Haku away from the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza with his silver strings but it still couldn’t stop Haku from desperately trying to save Zabuza. Using the last of his strength and Chakra, Haku directed his right hand to perform seals, summoning as many Mirrors as possible to stand in the way between Zabuza and the rapidly approaching Kakashi. With his left hand, Haku managed to throw several needles at Kakashi’s scroll on the ground to un-summon his summons.

The action happened so fast that no one was sure as to the outcome of the fight. Finally, when the smoke from the resulting blast of the Chidori completely cleared. The scene showed Kakashi managing to strike all the way through Haku’s Mirror barriers and had his palm against Zabuza’s shoulder. Zabuza seemed to be hurt but not as much as to lead to his death. The Mirrors took on the blunt of the attack, water and ice managing to absorb most of the electricity of Kakashi’s Chidori before it reached Zabuza.

Kakashi was surprised by this event but just managed to avoid Zabuza’s big sword as it was swung to decapitate him. Landing some distance away, Kakashi took some time to survey’s his opponent’s injuries. ""Left arm still working holding the sword, but the right arm is useless because the Chidori has completely pulled through all his shoulder muscles."" Determining that he had a good chance to win, Kakashi continued on with the fight.

However, even with one arm, Zabuza was still a formidable opponent. Though, due to Zabuza's own exhaustion, Kakashi was able to slam two more kunais into the elbow of Zabuza’s left arm, leaving both arms broken and immobile. Kakashi was just preparing to launch again when the infamous Gatou appeared out of nowhere with many henchmen behind him sneering and laughing at the current combatants.

Gatou sneered coldly at Zabuza and Haku as well as the rest of the Konoha ninja team members. Naruto ignored his obvious insults to concentrate on how many men he had brought with him. ""Around fifty or so, I can handle them with Ginshi no himo."" Naruto thought as Gatou finished off his irritating speech and called his men to attack. However, Gatou surprised all of them when he told his men to leave the snow boy (indicating Haku with his fair complexion). He wanted to take some pleasure in getting his revenge on that boy!

Gatou smirked cruelly as Zabuza snarled back in anger. Naruto continued to sway rather dangerously at the moment but sill concentrated enough to hear Zabuza and Kakashi acknowledging the fact that they were no longer enemies. Relieved by that announcement, Naruto slowly but surely lowers an exhausted Haku onto the floor. But no sooner had he done that, Zabuza asked Kakashi for a spare kunai, Kakashi readily threw one towards him, that Zabuza suddenly launched towards Gatou, intending on killing him using the kunai held in his mouth.

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While Zabuza ran off aiming to kill Gatou, Haku could only watch helplessly as Zabuza was stabbed time and time again on his way. After cutting off Gatou’s head Zabuza finally fell onto the ground in exhaustion. Haku then became even more frantic as the all those henchmen started to advance on an unconscious Zabuza, but he was stopped by Naruto.

Kakashi had told Naruto to take point because he himself had ran out of Chakra with the use of his Chidori, but Naruto still didn’t want to kill anyone. ""I’ll just threaten them a little."" Thought Naruto as he aimed his strings towards them and randomly grabbed onto several of the henchmen, lifting them off the ground and into the air, while sucking their energy.

"If you move one more step, I will kill those already in the air and will also have the pleasure of killing the rest of you!" Shouted Naruto in his pissed off mood of voice. The rest of the group became slightly nervous by the threat. Soon however, Naruto was starting to sway dangerously again while he was still standing. Kakashi had also just noticed Naruto’s odd behaviour when he was distracted by Sakura’s scream of joy. Behind them, Sasuke had finally regain consciousness and was just in time to watch the rest of the fight. While the henchmen were confused over what they should do next, Inari came to the rescue with the other villagers, scaring them off once and for all.

Once all the chaos was done and over with. Naruto watched as Haku, forcing himself onto his feet, ran towards an injured Zabuza immediately. Naruto, firmly exhausted, knelt down on the cold ground. He noticed that his hearing was starting to dim slightly as if he was far away from his current surrounding. His visions too, started to blur, turning into black and white representations. ""SHIT! I’VE HAD IT ON TOO LONG!!!"" Trying to focus, Naruto stabbed his own right hand with a kunai to keep it immobile. Ignoring the distant shouts of his name, Naruto used the pain that flared up his right hand to help him concentrate more. He held his left with the palm open to the side of the silver device on his right wrist, and released ("Kai") his summoned weapon.

In a blink of a second, Naruto found himself screaming in agony as a white-hot flame burned through the inner tissues of his right arm. From the wrist to the shoulder, everything was hot and in immense pain. Muscles and blood burst out of his opening points and his veins are all singing with liquid fire. Understandably, Naruto fell into unconscious pretty quickly after such a shock; he dimly noticed that there were many cries for his name just before he passed out. He vaguely remembered that there seemed to be a lot of people worried about him.

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Naruto slowly but surely opened his eyes, but he had to blink them shut again at the glare of the sun. Sensing that someone was near him, he whispered a question, since his throat hurts also. "How long?"

"Four days." Answered Kakashi’s voice. "The fever broke early this morning."

Painfully, Naruto nodded his acknowledgement and promptly fell into unconsciousness again.

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The next day, Naruto recovered further from his ordeal and asked Kakashi for a status report on his health. Kakashi summarised.

For four days straight, Naruto had been unconscious and on the verge of death due to his sudden high fever. His entire right arm was still completely immobile and useless until it healed (which in itself was already a miracle) and he will be feeling a lot of pain if he moves it even a little bit. Kakashi and Sasuke had both healed a lot due to Haku’s herbal remedies and Zabuza had died on the second day due to the severity of his injuries. Before he died though, Zabuza had also set Haku free and wanted Haku to continue living and live happily. Due to Haku’s involvement with the Coup de ta, he would be killed if he ever returned to the Hidden Mist Village. Kakashi had asked him if he wanted to return to Konoha with the rest of the group and Haku had graciously accepted. He was extremely glad that Kakashi and the other two had accepted him even through he had done terrible things to them in the past.

When Kakashi had finished his report, the other occupants of the house took that moment to surge on an un-expecting and still injured Naruto.

"NARUTO! YOU'RE FINALLY AWAKE!" Shouted Sakura happily as she entered the room followed by the rest of the gang.

"NARUTO-NISAN!! NARUTO-NISAN!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT???!!! YOU FEELING BETTER NOW!!??" Screamed Inari, even louder.

Naruto groaned from the attention and tried to hide under his blanket, but flinched in pain due to his arm. He had forgotten that he wasn’t supposed to move it just yet. "Don’t move your right arm, Naruto-kun!" Exclaimed a familiar and yet unfamiliar voice. Naruto looked up at the same boy he had first meet in the woods, as well as the same boy he had fought a few days ago.

Naruto blinked. "Hi! I don’t think we were ever properly introduced before." Haku smiled and giggled slightly in response.

"My name is Haku."

"Good to finally meet you Haku. My name is Uzumaki Naruto... I’d shake hands but as you well know, I can’t move one right now."

Haku giggled again while Sasuke snorted in the background, something sounding suspiciously like "Idiot."

"Alright. Alright. Give the guy some room to breath." Kakashi consoled as the rest of them moved slightly away from Naruto but stayed in the same room. Looking pointedly at Naruto. "So, are you going to explain yourself or am I going to have to force you to talk."

Naruto looked back at Kakashi determined face and sighed. There’s no way for him to escape interrogation. "It’s called the Ginshi no Himo (Silver Strings of Death)... It’s one of the Tenkun no buki (Weapons of the Heavenly Warriors)."

Kakashi blinked. "But that’s just legends! There’s no way that it could possibly exist!"

Naruto interrupted: "They do exist. And they’re very powerful."

Sakura looked confused: "What are... Tenkun no bukis? Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi paused to gather his thoughts. "Thousands of years ago, when demons still rule this realm and humans are always living in fear of them. The first of the Shinobi people whom specialise in Chakra studies decided to rid the world of demons to create a peaceful world. However, because they were weaker then the demons, they started experimenting and created weapons that would be able to rival the power of such demons. The first of these Super Powerful Weapons were called the Tenkun no Buki, or the Weapons of the Heavenly Warriors. It is said that they are so powerful; they always inflict pain and injuries on the opponent as well as the user, so only a selected few could possibly handle any of these weapons successfully. When all ten of these weapons are in use, no demon will ever stand a chance, and so the demons soon disappeared or went into hiding. When it is concluded by our ancestors that these weapons are too dangerous to be kept by humans, lest they be used for war against one another. The 10 Tenkuns no bukis were either hidden or destroyed. And since then, they have become only legends or myths."

"And you’re saying that you’ve not only found one of these legendary weapons, you can actually use it too." Sasuke interrupted thoughtfully, wondering if he could use one of these weapons as well.

"NO!" Naruto exclaimed. "They aren’t to be used by people... or they shouldn’t." Looking straight at an annoyed Sasuke, Naruto continued his explanation: "These weapons cannot be used by just anyone. They kill their user just as they kill their opponent. You don’t understand Sasuke! They crave blood. These weapons are alive and they think. They have desire and they will use all forms of seduction to get what they want! No human can handle them without either dieing, or going insane and killing thousands."

"Then how come you can handle it." Scoffed Sasuke angrily.

"They chose me." Naruto whispered sadly. "I am one of only a few people in the world that can handle them. It is a hereditary trait in my family, like a bloodline limit."

Sakura was about to interrupt the argument when Kakashi stepped in with a question of his own. "Why is it in your possession?"

Naruto smiled in a very self-condemning way. "Because it has been my mission to find, collect and learn about all ten Tenkun no bukis.. for the last two years of my life."

Kakashi’s eyes widened. "You mean all that time that you’ve been travelling with Jiraiya-sama is to find these damn things?!" When Naruto nodded slightly in acknowledgement, Kakashi was still confused. "Why?"

Naruto answered secretively: "Because it is my destiny."

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A few days later, with Naruto slightly healed from his ordeal and able to travel, the group finally sets out to return home to Konoha.

On the day they decided to leave, the entire village had turned out to thank them. Inari, especially, started to cry and Naruto hugged him awkwardly with only one hand. Naruto then whispered into Inari's ear that his father would be proud. Inari smiled.

Once they have left, Tazuna asked one of the villagers if they could call the bridge "The Great Naruto Bridge." Watching as Naruto slowly but surely made his way unsteadily across the bridge, they agreed.

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On their travels, Naruto sleepily mumbled that he’s happy they’re finally heading home. Kakashi smiled secretly, glad that Naruto was finally starting to call Konoha home.

(1) Sorry, influence of Neon Genesis Evangelion. ^^;;;

(2) Ellie’s story will be explained later, maybe in the next chapter or after. It’s a really sad story that explains why Naruto goes psycho sometimes when he encounters really evil people. So stay tune, this is actually very important.

(3) Teleportation jutsu is another jutsu that Naruto knows, but it is NOT taught by Jiraiya. This jutsu is actually a forbidden jutsu that is taught to Naruto by his mother’s only living relative (which is his only relative left). ^_^ Don’t worry, I’ll be introducing this original character later on during the Chuunin exam. Think of it as another mystery for you guys! ^_^ Can’t WAIT!!!

(4) Dragon Fire no jutsu, Sasuke used it against Orochimaru in book 6, Chapter 49

(5) Original jutsu, it translates to: "Lightning" "Water" "Blast" – I think you get the picture. ^_^

(6) Another original weapon, one of my infamous (or will be) Tenkun no buki. ^_^ Translate to: "Silver Death Thread/String" or "Silver Stings of Death". Its power and effect will be explained later. It sort of looks like a wristband with lots of metallic threads revolved around it. I’m sorry I can’t describe it better, I’ve actually got it drawn out already so if I ever get it uploaded, I’ll give you guys the site name so you can see for yourself.

I’m sooooo sorry it took sooooo long to write, but you’ve got to admit, this is the longest chapter yet for my Naruto fic. And it’s got a tonne of detail onto the fight scene, I hope you like it. It’s hell to write though!! >-< Not to mention, I've been busy trying to re-edit all of my other works.

The next chapter (hopefully) will be out sooner than this one but it’ll be a lot more light hearted and you won’t be having many surprises, I just wanted to move the plot along a bit. ^_^

Well, keep on reviewing and motivate me!