To Go Back

Chapter 14

The week passed much as it had last time. Naruto showed that he knew the tree walking exercise, while Sasuke and Sakura practiced. And on the day when Haku stumbled across a sleeping Naruto, things began to get more interesting.

"Wake up, you could catch a cold."

Naruto was elated to hear Hakus voice again. He slid his eyes open and sat up.

"Hello. Thanks for asking me, but I have no chance of catching a cold."

Haku tilted his head. "How so?" He inquired.

"I know you know who I am Haku. You can drop the act. Can you take me to Zabuza?"

Hakus eyes widened. He studied Naruto for a moment, searching for hidden intentions. He was caught off guard by how expressive the blonds blue eyes were.

He sighed, nodding. Naruto smiled at him softly. Haku grabbed Narutos wrist and they disappeared in a swirl of ice shards.

Zabuzas brow furrowed as he felt the icy draft that signalled an Ice Shunshin.

He tried to stand as he saw the blond gaki appear, eyes warm. Pain stabbed his wounds and flowed through his body. His muscles tensed as he tried to fight back the pain.

"Stand down, Momoichi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist." Naruto stood tall, staring down at Zabuza with a firm look in his eye, and pure power in his stance.

Zabuza slumped back, and Haku rushed over to elevate the pain and heal any wounds he had opened.

They watched warily as Naruto began to glow with a soft purple light, eyes closed, and found themselves frozen in shock, Hakus medical jutsu flickering out, as Narutos hair lengthened, he grew taller, filled out and became leaner.

Naruto opened his eyes and formed a half ram sign. His clothes changed, taking on the image of what he wore before. A black long sleeved shirt with a bloodstained Jounin vest that he had found lying on the battlefield. A spare pair of Kakashis pants, that he had borrowed the night before the ambush, and worn sandals. His weapon pouches were near bursting, full of any stray kunai and shuriken found strewn across empty battlefields.

His eyes had narrowed some, and he was eerily reminiscent of the Yondaime. He looked at Zabuza, and his blue eyes were chips of ice, just barely beginning to melt after years of death and destruction.

A golden cloak blanketed his form, and he made his way towards Zabuza. Haku tensed, and Zabuza placed a hand on his arm, getting a peaceful aura from the blond. Haku relaxed, and Naruto touched two fingers to Zabuzas forehead.

Instantly, Zabuza felt a mild discomfort as his wounds healed rapidly, skin knitting back together, and dead cells regenerating. He shifted minutely, and was instantly pierced by blue eyes, intense and faintly worried.

"Stay still. Moving may disrupt the healing process." He murmured, and Zabuza held still, breathing evening out as his broken ribs snapped back into place.

The healing only took minutes, but it felt as though hours had passed as the trio stared each other down, trying to figure out what the others intentions were.

Finally, Zabuza stood, and it was with the grace of a battle with shinobi. He walked over to the blond, and idly noticed the thin streaks of red bleeding from his scalp. He stood in front of Naruto, who stood patiently, yet blank faced as Zabuza grabbed his blade, the famed Kubikiribōchō.

Haku gasped as he watched his master kneel, and hold out his blade, to this man. He watched in silence, as history fell into place, as it should have been.

"Momoichi Zabuza. You wield Kubikiribōchō, the Decapitating Carving Knife. You are rumored to be the second strongest of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, The Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist, second to none other than Hoshigaki Kisame, wielder of Samehaeda. Who made your blade?"

Zabuza kept his head down as he answered.

"Uzumaki Kenji."

"How did Kiri get these blades?"

"The blades were a gift of peace."

"Who violated that peace?"

"Kiri."

Blue eyes glinted faintly in sadness.

"Who, Momoichi Zabuza, are you loyal to?"

"You. Uzumaki-sama."

Naruto sighed faintly, and laid his hand on Kubikiribōchō, feeling the sentient being thrum under his touch. He ran his palm along the edge, saturating the blood that spilled with chakra. All faint nicks and scratches vanished, and the blade glowed faintly.

"Rise Zabuza. You are now a leaf shinobi under my direct command. My orders transcend even the Hokages. For though he may the the third, I am the seventh."

Zabuza stood, grabbing his blade, and marvelled at how alive it felt. It whispered indistinctly, telling stories of a different time, different home. He hadn't felt Kubikiribōchō this alive since he got it. And even then it was nowhere near where it was now.

He bowed his head to the Uzumaki, respect saturating his voice.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-sama."

Naruto smiled slightly. "It would have been terrible if a great man such as you died for a lowlife like Gato. When you report tomorrow, look for a younger me, in different clothes. When you see him, kill Gato. Then leave like nothing happened. My clone will henge as Gato, and start filtering money and supplies back to wave. After that, I will appoint a CEO for Wave Industries."

Zabuza nodded, while Haku just stood off to the side, confused, but beginning to understand.

"Haku." His head snapped up, surprise at being addressed shown clear on his face. He nodded hesitantly.

"I want you to help my teammates. They are weak, and with the threat that approaches the shinobi nations, they need all the training they can get. Kakashi and I will be drilling them when we return to Konoha, but until then I want them to train on unfamiliar grounds. Do you mind staying with us at Tazunas?"

Haku just shook his head. His mind was still reeling from the event he had just witnessed. He didn't mind, and would love to get to know some people around his age.

"Thank you." Naruto said warmly. He came over and leaned over, so only Haku would hear.

"I grew up alone, had no one until I was eight. I sympathize, and I'm not adverse to having an otouto."

Haku stared uncomprehendingly as he tried to process that. His soft brown eyes widened, and filled with tears that refused to fall. Why would this man, who was strong enough to bring Zabuza-sama to his knees, care? How could a man who was alone like him, have so much compassion?

Suddenly he understood. That event earlier, Zabuza-sama bowing to the blond stranger, everything. The man probably had naught an ounce of hate in him. And just from looking into those eyes, blue enough to put the sky to shame, he agreed, tears spilling over silently. He smiled wider than he ever had, even as strong arms wrapped around him.

He was going to have a brother, and a home. Konoha would be his home, with Zabuza and an aniki.