Chapter 17

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...

It's your choice. You decide whether you want to be affected by your circumstances. You decide whether people are able to hurt you or not. Life is in your control. Be kind at all times, for it is effortless. Set a price on your anger, rather than your kindness.

***

Taking a look at Naruto, he could see a light crimson aura covering his body. 'Is that his chakra?' He thought. It was too...feral to be a humans'.

As he was thinking along those lines, Naruto immediately turned to look at him in the mirror and what Haku saw made him freeze in fear for an instant.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!" Naruto said in a voice that promised nothing but death.

****

Title: Awakening 2

***

'Wh-What is this chakra?' Haku wondered in shock and disbelief as she felt the massive and ferocious aura emanating from Naruto. The chakra felt so feral yet, tamed.

Even without moving from his spot, the waves produced by the chakra was enough to shatter the nearby Ice mirrors.

This was the same mirror that not even Sasuke could destroy with his Jutsu.

As he gazed at Naruto, he was imperceptibly pulled into an illusion of sorts. Naruto knelt in place, that much she was aware of, but instead of him, she saw two massive suns gazing upon her.

That gaze promised total and utter destruction.

Snapping out of the illusion she took a couple steps back in fear.

'Impossible!! His chakra is able to physically manifest itself? A-and what an appalling amount of chakra that is...' She thought in disbelief. 'No human should possess this type of chakra...A child no less.'

However, his shock was yet to fade away when Naruto's arms, littered with wounds of varying degrees began regenerating at speeds visible to the naked eye.

'His hands... His wounds... they're healing themselves!' He was practically screaming internally. 'Who...! What on earth is he?'

As he was musing to himself, Naruto finally completed his transformation and looked at him once again.

It was at that moment that everyone with a decent level of awareness paused. They felt the menacing and fierce chakra that only a Tailed Beast could possess.

Yet, the two Jounins, having not faced the full might of a tailed beast before both thought otherwise.

Kakashi startled and thought. 'Is this Zabuza's doing?'

While Zabuza thought the same. However, Kakashi quickly threw out that possibility. Even he himself didn't have this Level of bloodlust despite killing a decent amount of people.

'This power... This energy... It's foul... It's Evil...and familiar...but it can't be!' Kakashi quickly put a few dots together. 'Unbelievable. It can't be... After all this time.'

"Has the binding seal begun to unravel?" Kakashi let out as cold sweat dripped down his spine, but remembering who had placed the seal, he quickly calmed down.

"No... I sense we're still safe...fo now. It hasn't broken through yet... Not completely...but it has slipped and cracked a little... The power of the Kyuubi is bleeding through." He muttered to himself while trying to regain his calm.

'There's still Shun... I doubt he won't be around when Naruto needs him.'

Dispelling his forming chidori, he pulled out a scroll, slashed his fingers and then formed a Summoning seal.

"Listen to me Zabuza. I'm a very busy man. We both have a lot on our plates... What do you say... How about we stop screwing around...."

Clapping his hands together he finished. "And wrap this up right now? One big move, winner take all.,?"

Zabuza who was also feeling the rising dreadful chakra replied. "An interesting proposal. What's left Kakashi? Show me what you've got..."

...

'He's attacking." Haku thought and made to take a defensive stance, however, he was too late as Naruto's face was already up in his face.

"RAAAA!!!"

Naruto roared, chakra surging uncontrollably, unleashing a devastating sonic attack that reverberated throughout the Ice Dome.

Naruto's voice, usually warm and vibrant, became a primal roar, carrying with it a resonance that seemed to pierce through the souls of those who heard it.

The air itself quivered as the sound waves intensified, creating visible ripples that distorted the very Space around them.

The sheer force of the sonic attack was staggering, the Ice around shattered into fragments, and even the mask Haku wore was unable to bear the sonic onslaught.

Haku stood rather feebly as he tried to regain his balance. With his ear drums shattered, that proved to be a daunting task.

To his reprieve, Naruto didn't immediately attack, enabling him to supply the Dome with Chakra to rebuild itself. Naruto noticing this, immediately went in for another attack but Haku slipped into his mirror and launched a barrage of Senbons at him.

Driven by instinct, Naruto roared again, but this time, it was focused on the area around him, directly deflecting the Senbons before they couldake contact.

In his shock, Haku paused for a few seconds, giving Naruto enough time to sniff out his original position in the mirror.

Not wasting any time, he immediately launched himself while also spinning at the mirror.

Haku however, reacted quickly and immediately dodged, however, in his panic, he failed to see Naruto changing position mid-air.

Before he could make it to the next mirror, Naruto was already unto him.

Coupled with his earlier injuries and the oppressive air of Naruto's Chakra, he was unable to make a quick decision and his face was punched by Naruto directly through the mirrors he had reformed.

Naruto stood in his spot waiting for Haku to come out from the rubbles formed by the shattered Ice.

As soon as his figure appeared, Naruto flashed to deliver another punch but stopped as he was met with the full visage behind the mask.

"You're... The kid I met that morning..." Naruto asked with his fist clenched a few inches away from his face.

"Why do you stop?" Haku asked back. "I murdered your comrade... You're beloved friend...and you still spare me?" Haku asked causing Naruto to look at Sasuke's seemingly lifeless body.

With his eyes red and aura still unleashed, Naruto indecisiveness, or rather, compassion causes him to hesitate, leading to the Kyuubi's chakra retracting.

"DAMN IT!!" He cried and punched Haku in the face. However, the punch didn't pack any force behind it causing Haku to merely take a few steps back before falling due to his lack of strength.

He was already resigned to die, him standing back up was merely to give Naruto a clear shot at killing him.

Gathering his strength once more, Haku made to stand up only to cough out a mouthful of blood. With gasping breath, he asked. "What happened to that energy from before? You can't defeat me with that kind of strength..." He said refering to the punch.

"Wasn't he someone special to you?" He asked, causing Naruto to grit his teeth in growing anger. He was reminded of the same question Haku had asked him when they had met.

"Many people misunderstand. They pity and don't finish off the enemies they're meant to finish off. They let them survive. To me, that isn't compassion or anything." Haku said as he wiped away the blood on his mouth.

"Do you know? How it feels to not be needed by anyone? To live day by day without a dream. The pain tof it all?" Haku asked

"What are you trying to say?" Naruto asked. Of course he knew the pain, however, he had his own dream. That was something no one could take away from him.

"Zabuza has no need for a weak Shinobi. You took away my reason for existence." Haku answered resignedly.

"Why..!? Why do you work for that guy?! He gets money from the thugs to do more bad things!" Naruto lamented in anger for his recent Frenemy.

"Is that No Brow The only one special to you!?"

Haku looked at Naruto as a small smile appeared on his face. "A long time ago, I had people who were special to me... They were...my parents."

"I was born in the Land of Water, in a small village heavy with snow. My parents worked on a small farm. We were very poor but my parents seemed to be very happy with it."

"I was happy then... They were loving parents... When I was old enough, something happened."

"Something...?" Asked Naruto curiously.

"My blood..." Haku continued but paused as he looked at the blood on his hands.

"Blood..? Go on. What happened!?" Naruto demanded

"My father... He killed my mother... And then tried to kill me." Haku answered with dead eyes.

"Huh?" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. "What? Why?"

"After the experience of the ceaseless war, people with Kekkai Genkai were hated and feared in the Land of Water."

Naruto squinted his eyes as he was rather familiar with the term but didn't understand why it was feared in the first place.

Haku mistaking this gesture as ignorance, went on to explain what the Kekkai Genkai was from her perspective. How clans possessing clan traits and Jutsus were exploited for battles of all kinds.

This, in turn, led to hatred and fear being generated towards those clans and individuals. They were labelled as agents of deaths and harbingers of destruction

After the various wars, those clans and individuals chose to hide away these special abilities. Anyone whose secret was discovered would only expect death.

A slow and painful one at that.

"I'm sure the boy went through such suffering as well." Haku said refering to Sasuke.

Naruto looked back at Sasuke and then at Haku and then shook his head but didn't say anything.

In a moment of wisdom, he chose to keep silent so as not to shatter the boy's perception.

"The greater your power the greater the fear..." Haku said. "My mother had the Kekkai Genkai. She kept it secret from my father. She hoped that for a while... No, she must have thought that we could have a simple live forever."

"However... Father had discovered our secret." A pained expression Flashed on his face before it returned to being impassive.

The moment he had joyfully showcased his ice manipulation to his mother, the anger his mother felt, the sorrow she felt and the guilt at having brought him into the world to suffer.

All these thoughts manifested as he recalled those memories.

He also recalled the memory of his father killing his mother with the help of a few others, as well as his intent on killing him, however....

In a moment of panic, he had blacked out.

"When I came to, I had killed my own Father. And that moment, what I thought of myself was that...No, that is what I had had to think." Haku continued.

"And then, I knew that it was the most painful thing."

"The most...painful thing?" Naruto asked despite his growing horror. This wasn't horror directed at Haku, but at the thought of a father killing or rather, even thinking of killing his own son.

"That I... That my existence didn't matter to anyone else in this world." Haku replied causing Naruto to look at him in shock.

'The same with the me of the past.' He thought.

"You told me... You'll e the best Ninja in the whole village and make everyone respect you. If someone comes along and accepts you for who you are, no one could be more important to you than that person."

"Even if he knew I was someone with a Kekkai Genkai, Zabuza-sama still took me in. My power that no one wanted, he wanted it, he needed it." Haku said his voice becoming calmer by the second.

Haku reminisced. The day he had met Zabuza, Zabuza had compared him to Street dogs that no one would ever want.

Haku had felt it. He knew it. No one need him, but the man in front of him had the same look in his eyes.

No one needed him too. He was an outcast. Betrayed and Discarded by the very people he had sworn to protect.

Haku smiled sadly as he remembered that moment. Zabuza had said: You are mine! Your power belongs to me. Come with me."

"I was happy..." Haku continued, his voice broken as he remembered Zabuza telling him they had to flee the village. Zabuza had declared that he would be back one day to rule the very land that had Discarded him.

-I understand Zabuza-sama. I am you weapon- Haku had happily and resolutely declared.

"I apologize, Zabuza-sama. I wasn't good enough to be the tool you were looking for." Haku sincerely apologized and began walking towards Naruto with slow and steady steps.

"Naruto... I want you to kill me."

...

At that same moment, Kakashi had just finished his handsigns and slammed the scroll on the ground.

[Ninpo: Kuchiyose: Earth Style: Fang Pursuit Technique]

"Whatever you do won't work." Zabuza's voice came from the mist. "You have absolutely no idea where I am now, However, I know exactly where you are and what you're about to do."

"Kakashi... You are completely in my hands now..." However, before he finished speaking, he noticed the floorboards of the bridge quaking imperceptibly. "Hmm?"

At that moment, the ground shattered as a hound jumped out and made for Zabuza's left leg.

Zabuza however, was a Jounin for good reasons and quickly dodged to the right, however, another hound appeared and made for his right leg.

He instinctively wanted to dodge but to his dismay, seven other hounds appeared all around him and bit into him, holding him on the spot.

"If you can't see or hear, you just have to simply use your nose." Kakashi said cooly as he stood up and looked at where Zabuza was being held. "That's what happens when you close your eyes in a fog."

Kakashi then went on to brag about his Summons being specialist in pursuit. There was nothing they couldn't find as long as they have the scent.

"You're the one who has been playing into my hands... The fog has been lifted... Your future now is.... Death." Kakashi continued cooly.

"I've had enough of your bluffs."

"Don't act tough, there's nothing you can do in this situation. Your death is certain." Kakashi said as the mist cleared to show them both facing themselves.

Kakashi then went on to narrate Zabuza's full story to him. About his failed assassination of the Mizukage and his leaving the service with a few men under him.

How he had become a rogue Ninja so notorious that his name had reached the Hidden Leaf Village.

As he narrated, Kakashi reformed his chidori to the amazement of Zabuza who had seen such a scene on only one person before.

Looking at Kakashi's white hair Once again, he couldn't help but wonder... 'Are they related?'

"You're too dangerous." Kakashi said as he raised his lightning coated hand. "Tazuna, the man you're trying to assassinate is the symbol of courage in this land."

"The bridge he's building is the hope of this Land . And your ambition will sacrifice countless lives. That isn't how a Shinobi is supposed to behave." Kakashi admonished with a glare.

Zabuza could immediately see the resemblance between Kakashi and that Accursed senpai of his.

They both had the same air that seemed to tell others that they were beneath them, the always seemed like they had everything under their control and to make matters worse, they both seem to gloat when they think they've won.

Recognizing his defeat, Zabuza smiled under his covered face. "Who cares. I've always fought for my own ideals. And that will never, ever Change."

Zabuza knew he would die, he was a genius, that much was known to everyone who knew him. And as such, he had dreams, goals and aspirations.

A dead Genius was no genius at all. He had been one as a kid, and be remained so as an adult. His pride wouldn't allow him to beg for his life. No matter what

"I'll say it Once again."

"Huh?"

"Your future... Is Death."

Saying that, Kakashi took a step and drove his hand towards Zabuza's heart.

...

At the same moment, Naruto was countering everything Haku had told him while rejecting, or rather, trying to make Haku understand that he wasn't a weapon or a tool.

"If only we'd met under different circumstances... We could've been friends." Naruto said from the bottom of his heart, but even he knew a lost cause when he saw one....

....At least in his perspective.

Haku had given up on himself. There was no way Haku could come to understand that he was a human. Alive in this wicked World.

That alone was enough for him to be happy with his existence.

Closing his eyes and firming his heart, Naruto pulled out his Kunai and went for the kill.... Afterall, Haku had really killed his brother...

However...

"Huh?!" Haku suddenly exclaimed and held Naruto by the hand.

"Huh?" Naruto also exclaimed, however his was in confusion. One moment the boy Infront of him wanted him to kill him, the next moment, he was fighting back.

Who wouldn't be surprised in situations like this.

"Forgive me, Naruto..." Haku said and used his free hand to form a series of handsigns. "I cannot die yet."

Saying that, he immediately disappeared leaving Naruto confused as he couldn't feel him around.

...

On the other hand, Kakashi, who was about to finish off Zabuza was shocked to see an Ice mirror suddenly appear Infront of him.

However, due to the excess momentum built up by the chidori, he was unable to stop himself in time...

Zabuza's eyes opened wide as he saw the mirror, in less than a split second, he already understood what was going on, however, he was currently held down and could do nothing about it.

Kakashi too, despite his confusion and unwillingness to kill an unrelated party, couldn't stop his momentum abruptly.

As all hoped seemed to be lost....

"Yare yare. Just when I said I should take my eyes off you lot... Silence!"