Chapter 079

Haku looked at him for a moment and saw the hesitation in his eyes. She smiled at him, reaching out a hand she began to gently stroke the whisker marks on the left side of Naruto's face.

KAWAII! She thought with an inner squeal as Naruto began to lean into her hand and purr.

"What do you want to tell me?" She asked.

Naruto opened his eyes, which he had closed when Haku began her whisker stroking. He grabbed her hand to stop her, finding it difficult to concentrate due to her ministrations. Haku blushed a bit when she realized what her actions were doing to the blond.

Taking a deep breath Naruto began to tell her something that no one in his age group knew. "The day I was born, the Bijuu known as Kyuubi attacked my village…"

Kakashi looked at the three genin, all of whom were looking rearing to go, "Are you three ready?" he asked.

"Hn," Sasuke said/grunted with a smirk. He felt more than ready to prove his might as an Uchiha to everyone. With all of the training he had done the raven-haired Genin had never felt stronger.

"Yes sensei," Sakura said, looking a little unsure of herself. Truthfully, she felt nervous and sick to her stomach, but she wanted to prove to her Sasuke-kun that she could be a valuable comrade.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, looking at the blond who had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"Something's missing…" Naruto murmured before the proverbial light bulb snapped, "Ah hah! Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Two dozen clones appeared with a puff of smoke before spreading out around the house.

"Just in case that midget Gato decides to send some goons to deal with Tazuna's family while we're away," he explained at seeing the questioning glances.

"That's a very good idea Naruto!" Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"You know with the way you're all talking, it sounds like this Zabuza character's is going to come back right now," Tazuna said with a nervous laugh.

"Sorry," Kakashi replied, "just being careful is all. So are you ready to go, Tazuna-san?"

Tazuna nodded, "Of course, I want to get this bridge done. And with the gaki's help it should be possible to finish the bridge in no time!"

"You can count on me ya binge drinking old man," Naruto said with a two fingered salute.

"That's not a very nice name…" Tazuna complained with his head down.

Naruto grinned, masking his nausea from knowing what's to come, "Let's go!"

"Is the ambush ready?" Gato asked from his cell phone.

On a small boat under the bridge the Akuma brothers, Haku and Zabuza didn't bother listening as Gato began squawking for them to answer him.

"Are you ready Haku?" asked Zabuza.

Haku hesitated as she put on her mask. "…Yes."

"I need you to get in the game Haku," Zabuza said, "we can't afford to get careless around Kakashi and his brats."

"I understand Zabuza-sama," Haku said.

Zabuza looked at her while the Akuma brothers looked confused.

"Hmmm…very well, let's get this show on the road."

"Wh-What is this!" Tazuna shouted as he the mist was covered in a thick fog. So much so that the only thing visible beside the bridge, were the bloody bodies on it, thankfully they were still alive.

Tazuna ran over to one of them who was conscious and lifted the man up, "What happened Ed!"

"A m-monster…" the man choked out before passing out from blood loss.

"So he is back…" Kakashi muttered.

The mist began to thicken and Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "Here they come! Defensive formation!"

Kakashi and the three genin pulled out their weapons and surrounded Tazuna, as the mist became so thick they could not see more than ten feet in front of them.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted as fear began to take her again, but she quickly steeled herself, "This is…"

"Yeah, this is Zabuza's Kirigakure No Jutsu alright," Kakashi said, wearily eyeing the surroundings even thought he could not see very far.

"Long time no see Kakashi," came Zabuza's disembodied voice. "I see you're still with those brats… and look at that one…he's still shaking."

"That's just cuz' the teme forgot to take a piss before we left and has to go real bad." Naruto said, keeping Sasuke from saying something cool. "You wouldn't mind if he goes over the bridge before we get this party started do you?"

"Dobe!" Sasuke grunted with embarrassment.

"Naruto-baka!" Sakura shouted with an angry blush on her face.

"Looks like that brat's still got a mouth on him," Zabuza commented, "perhaps I should fix that!"

After he said this a dozen Mizu Bunshins appeared around the group. All of them holding the swords attached to their back.

"Hey teme," Naruto commented with a smirk forming on his face, "want to see who can kill the most first?"

"Hn, you're on!" Sasuke smirked.

The two disappeared in a burst of speed, reappearing at their original positions several seconds later as all the Mizu Bunshin dispersed.

"I think it's six for six," Naruto mumbled before turning to Zabuza and shouting, "hey no brow-Ojisan, think you can make another one for the tie breaker!"

"Tch. Cheeky brat," Zabuza muttered, appearing in the mist. "They saw through my Mizu Bunshin. My how you brats have grown, it's a good thing I've got my backup with me."

On cue Haku and the two Akuma brothers appeared within the mist as well.

"What the fuck! Didn't we deal with those losers before we got here?" asked Naruto as he saw the Akuma brothers.

"It looks like they managed to escape their confinements," Kakashi said, "I thought the ANBU would have picked them up."

"I take it you want the blond brat, Haku," Zabuza said.

"…Yes," Haku replied.

"You're too soft Haku."

Haku did not reply as she stepped forward and prepared to face Naruto in combat.

It's a good thing both Naruto and Sasuke have grown, I didn't take the Akuma brothers actually escaping into account, Kakashi thought. I'm gonna have to talk to the ANBU about getting a quicker response.

"Sasuke, with your increased speed you should be able to deal with the Akuma brothers," Kakashi said. "But be weary, last time they were caught off guard because the element of surprise they were going for didn't work. That won't be the case this time."

"Hn. Whatever," Sasuke said, he had wanted the hunter ninja. However two on one was just as good. He tightened the grip on his two kunai and charged.

"Naruto…"

"I know," Naruto interrupted his sensei, "I've got the hunter ninja."

Kakashi looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Good luck," he said before running off into the mist.

Unlike the others who had ran off to fight, Naruto calmly walked away from Tazuna, moving several meters away from the bridge builder and Sakura to start his battle. Haku followed him, stopping when they were unable to see the others.

"Naruto-kun…" Haku started.

"Don't," Naruto interrupted with a head shake. "We both knew this was going to happen, I don't regret meeting you, even if this battle was inevitable."

"I feel the same," Haku said, her masked face looking down.

"Haku, do you think you can take off your mask? I want to see that pretty face of yours even if we're supposed to be enemies," Naruto said.

"Still the charmer even in battle," Haku replied, taking off her mask to see a tear-stained yet smiling face.

"Hey now, no tears," Naruto said, "if you start crying, then I'll start crying and then I'll be considered a hypocrite for calling Inari a cry baby."

Haku made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "Sorry," she said, wiping her eyes.

"Don't be, I'm barely holding myself back from balling like some snot-nosed brat here. You've got nothing to be sorry about," Naruto flipped his kunai into a reverse grip. "It actually makes me feel kind of special, knowing you can cry for me even though we have to fight each other."

"Then I'm glad I can do this for you at least," Haku said, "…I suppose we should start…"

Naruto sighed as he closed his eyes, "Yeah…" Opening them again, he looked at Haku and charged.

Haku did the same and the two met in the center of the arena, Naruto's kunai clashing against Haku's senbon.

The battle of the bridge had begun.

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