Wish Upon the Night Sky (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 24

Usagi twenty four


>>>>CHAPTER 24<<<<

>>>>When Time Runs Out<<<<

"Well, please take care of Naruto. He's worn himself out. I doubt he'll be able to move for the rest of the day."

"Were off, Tsunami." Tazuna and the ninja headed off to the bridge.

Upon reaching the construction site, the five were confronted with the sight of beaten up workers.

"What happened?!"

Almost as if on cue, a thick mist suddenly surrounded the five. Usagi quickly created four shadow clones, standing them back to back so she could see from every direction.

"This is that hidden mist jutsu!" Sakura said, readying for an attack.

Sasuke suddenly started shaking as Zabuzas voice echoed.

But Sasuke managed to calm himself down. He was strong, and he wouldn’t lose this time.

"It's been a while... I see you've still got those brats with you... And the little boys trembling again..."

Clones of Zabuza soon appeared around the ninja.

"I’m shaking... With excitement!" Sasuke said cockily, the typical smirk spreading across his face.

Kakashi then gave permission for Sasuke to act like the stuck up Uchiha he was.

Two seconds later, all the clones were gone.

"Well! My water clones were no match for you. It seems you've matured quite a bit." Zabuza laughed. "Maybe he's a worthy rival for you, Haku..."

"Indeed." A masked boy stood next to Zabuza.

"Well, looks like I was right." Kakashi sighed. "Our masked friend is on Zabuza’s team."

Sasuke needed to prove himself, and this was the perfect way to do it. "He's mine." Sasuke growled, then spoke up to the masked boy. "That was quite a show you put on before, but were onto you now..."

"Kya~ You're so cool Sasuke!" Sakura squealed.

"Impressive kid." Haku commented. "Even if your water clones only have a tenth of the original strength. It amazes me he was able to do so well."

"Watch out for the redhead." Zabuza warned. Hake nodded, then moved to attack Sasuke.

As Haku and Sasuke fought, Usagi built up her chakra.

"Sakura, Usagi, protect Tazuna! Let Sasuke handle Haku." Kakashi ordered.

Usagis clones got into their formation, while the real Usagi concentrated her chakra in the centre of her clones. She had to admit she was a little upset. Kakashi had chosen Sasuke over her.

As Haku and Sasuke fought, Haku multitasked, throwing senbon at Usagi’s real body.

Haku was smart. He knew if he didn’t get rid of Usagi early, she’d prove to be a problem later on.

Within the second, Usagi caught all four senbon that had been thrown... With her back to them.

As Haku was kicked to the ground by Sasuke, Kakashi spoke up.

"You had that coming for underestimating my team. Sasuke may not look like much, but he's a top rookie from our village. And Sakura here's our sharpest mind. Naruto is none other than our number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja... And Lastly, Usagi... Well, you'll see for yourself soon enough."

"Sounds like a challenge." Zabuza laughed.

Soon, Sasuke was trapped in a cave of mirrors.

As Zabuza and Kakashi began fighting, Usagi continued to build up her chakra.

As kunai flung around, hitting Sasuke, Usagi made her move.

Quickly jumping into the mirror cave, she waved her arms, releasing all the chakra she'd built up so far.

A huge force burst from Usagi, putting a few cracks in some of the mirrors. The only downside of that jutsu was the fifteen second delay in which she could do nothing but be as useless as Sakura.

In those fifteen seconds, Usagi, alongside Sasuke, received a number of small cuts and stabs... As fourteen seconds passed, Naruto showed up.

"Naruto Uzumaki, at your service!"

Naruto’s enhance brought Usagi some time, so now being able to use her jutsus again, she quickly activated the Asura path jutsu, rendering weapon attacks useless.

"Hey! I’m here to rescue you!" Naruto appeared  inside the cave of mirrors.

"You idiot!" Sasuke yelled.

Haku then moved back into his mirrors. Sasuke realized that destroying the mirrors was their only hope, so he quickly formed hand signs.

"Fire style: fireball jutsu!" A huge blaze came from Sasuke. Usagi pulled out her fan, sending a blade of wind at the flame, doubling it in size.

"That's hardly enough to touch my mirrors." Haku said. "Your other attack was impressive." He motioned to some cracked mirrors from Usagi’s first attack.

"Can you do that again?" Sasuke asked. Usagi shook her head. The jutsu shed used was a branch jutsu of the Deva path. It was basically a giant repel, but it required concentrated chakra, meaning it drained quite a bit of chakra, but the power... Well, it could wipe an entire forest down. That goes to show just how powerful Haku’s ice mirrors were.

Another crowd of senbon flew at the three, but Usagi’s armor deflected them all off her.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto launched an army of clones at the mirrors.

As the clone attack failed, and Naruto fell to the floor, Usagi put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. Attacks like that wouldn't work.

"I've had enough..." Naruto growled.

Usagi agreed, deactivating her Asura path jutsu. Before she could access another path, she had to wait a minute.

"I find it difficult to fully embrace the philosophy of shinobi." Haku stated. "I can't help but prefer that you don't force me to kill you. However, if you are going to come at me, I'll kill my own heart and act as a full fledged shinobi. Please try not to reset me, but im willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish my dream... To protect the one I care about most, or die fulfilling that persons dreams. To that end, I will become a full fledged shinobi... And kill you all."

Naruto, Sasuke and Usagi all stood in their fighting stances, weapons in hand.

'32 seconds... Can I make it?' Usagi readied for an attack.

"He's getting weaker!" Sasuke pointed out.

A rush of senbon then hit all three genin. A chilling scream came from Sakura, but they didn't had time to worry about that...

'20 seconds...' Usagi counted down in her head.

Another wave of senbon came, but Sasuke dodged them all perfectly.

He had unlocked the sharingan.

'10 seconds...'

Haku moved to attack Naruto when Usagi had five seconds left.

Not knowing what to do, as the senbon flew at her teammates, she jumped.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke gasped. He had moved to take the attack, but Usagi jumped in front of him.

"Usagi!" Naruto called out as she coughed up blood.

As if that wasn't enough, another wave of senbon hit Sasuke, putting him in the same state as her.

As Sasuke and Naruto began talking, the world around Usagi turned to nothing but a blur. She was about to pass out, but something woke her up.

Naruto’s second chakra let loose.

Usagi, having the ability to see chakra, had noticed straight away that Naruto was different. Instead of having one chakra, he had two, and his second one was... Dark.

Naruto’s wounds healed themselves as he stood up. "I'll kill you!" He growled.

After dodging all of Haku’s attacks, Naruto punched Haku across the face, shattering the ice mirrors and revealing his face.

As Naruto was about to punch Haku again, he paused. He realized who Haku was. "You're the kid I met this morning..."

"Why did you stop?" Haku asked. "I murdered your comrade, and injured the other... Yet you still spare me?"

A punch was thrown, sending Haku to the ground. Haku then went on to tell the story of his kekkei genkai, and how his parents had both died.

Usagi stood up as she made her way to Haku. After listening to his story, she had something she wanted to ask him. Activating the Naraka path, she slowly made her way to Haku, listening to the end of Haku’s story.

"If you had someone who acknowledged you... Cared for you.... Wouldn't that person become the most treasured person in your life? Zabuza-Sensei adopted me, knowing I came from a kekkei genkai bloodline... The very thing that made everyone else hate me, he didn't just overlook it, he cherished it."

Usagi approached the boy.

"I was so happy..." He finished, a tear falling from his eye.

‘He's just like me.' Usagi thought. She approached gently, softly placing a hand around Haku’s throat. The Naraka path grants the ability to interrogate one by summoning the king of hell. Usagi needed to know... And she was willing to push down her fears and speak to get her answer.

"Are you sure you… Want to die for him?" Usagi’s voice was soft, barely audible at all, but Haku heard her voice loud and clear.

"Yes." Haku answered. Usagi released the jutsu. The after affects on the target depend on their answer. If the target lies about their answer, then they'll die instantly, however, if they tell the truth, they'll be exhausted, but still alive.

"Please kill me..." Haku, now lying on the floor, looked towards Usagi and Naruto.

"Is there really no other way?" Naruto asked sadly.

"Yes." Haku answered. As Naruto pulled out a kunai, Haku spoke up again. "I hope you find your dream..."

"Sasuke had a dream too..." Naruto said, looking at Sasuke’s unconscious body. "If we'd met another way, I’m sure we'd have been friends."

"Thank you." Haku smiled softly.... But he soon disappeared as the sound of a thousand birds chirping was heard.

Haku had jumped in front of Kakashi’s chidori.

'What?!' Usagi was shocked. Due to her jutsu, he shouldn't be able to move at all for at least a full day, so just how was he able to move so quickly?

Usagi summoned up the last of her strength and ran over to where Haku had gone, leaning on Naruto for support as she could hardly stand at this point.

The sight before then shocked both genin. Haku had given up his life to protect Zabuza one last time.

A sad smile made its way across Usagi’s face. She and Haku were truly similar. She would have done the exact same thing for her father.

"I really did find a treasure in the gutter." Zabuza laughed, swinging for Kakashi.

However... Kakashi couldn't move, Haku, with what little consciousness he had left, was holding Kakashi to the ground.

That was when Usagi did exactly what Haku did. She took the hit in place of her dad.

'Shit! At this rate, I can't use my rinnegan yet! I need another few seconds... But there's no time!'

Usagi stood directly in front of Zabuza’s sword, only having half activated her rinnegan, the sword cut deep into her side... But it didn't cut her clean in half, so it could have been worse.

Kakashi watched on in horror. "Usagi..." He was almost in disbelief.

"How lucky of you Kakashi..." Zabuza laughed, tossing Usagi’s body to the side.

"Usagi!" He called out, dashing, with a dead Haku in his hands, over to his daughter.

"Dad..." She smiled weakly, blood dripping from her mouth. "You're ok..." Her voice was a whisper. Blood started pooling around her, the red liquid staining her clothes, hair, and the ground.

He rested down Haku, then quickly brought his hands to his daughters wound.

"Please, don't ever do anything like that ever again..." Kakashi said, his voice filled with relief when he realized she wasn't in immediate danger. He didn’t know what he’d do if she were too…

"Focus, Kakashi!" Zabuza charged. Kakashi dodged the attack, sending a kick straight to Zabuza’s stomach instead.

As they continued fighting, Sakura’s pained cried filled the air. She had found out of Sasuke’s death.

Soon, both of Zabuza’s arms were rendered useless. He couldn't use any chakra now.

"Well, he's certainly made a fine mess of you!" A short man appeared on the bridge, a crowd of thugs behind him.

"Gato..." Zabuza growled. "What are you doing here? Why did you bring all of them?"

"There's been a slight change in plans, Zabuza..." Gato, the rude short ass then went on to explain crap no one cares about.

"Forgive me Kakashi..." Zabuza sighed. "Our fights over. I no longer have a reason to assassinate Tazuna, which settles our differences."

Gato then stepped forwards to Hakus lifeless body, which pissed off Usagi. "You broke my arm... I have a little score to settle now." He kicked Haku’s body.

In the blink of an eye, he was sent flying back. Mustering up the small amount of chakra she had left, Usagi punched Gato straight across the face. And damn, did it feel good.

"You bitch!" Gato screamed, holding his throbbing cheek. "Grab her! Keep her hostage!" Two thugs then held either of Usagi’s arms.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kakashi advised.

"Why not?" One the thugs laughed. "What’s a little kid gonna do?"

"Right now, she could easily kill the both of you without trying." Kakashi smiled.

"You're bluffing." A thug scoffed.

"Let go of her." Kakashi warned, his expression dark.

"Or what?" A thug laughed. "Right now, we've got the upper hand." He pulled out his sword, and was about to strike Usagi, but she quickly activated the Naraka oath again, freezing the thugs in their place.

"What the hell is that?!" They gasped at the sight of the king of death. Everyone else looked at them as if saying, what the hell’s wrong with you?

You see, the only people who can see and hear the king of death are Usagi and whoever is put under the jutsu. So, as you can imagine, the two thugs were freaking out at the sight of the giant monster-like, almost god-like in a way, creature that stood before them.

After releasing the jutsu, the two thugs passed out from exhaustion.

"What the hell?" Another thug yelled at the sight.

Usagi quickly ran to her dad’s side, collapsing to the ground beside him. She was exhausted. Kakashi cradled his little girl. It pained him to see her like this.

"Would you lend me your kunai?" Zabuza asked, tears falling from his face. Naruto had knocked some sense into him.

Naruto tossed his kunai, and Zabuza caught it in his mouth.

"Kill them all!" Gato ordered, cowering behind the crowd of thugs.

Zabuza plowed through the thugs, living up to his demon title.

Not even a minute later, Gato was dead.

"Sasuke’s alive!" Sakura called out. Relief flooded over everyone there.

"Hey!" A sudden yell got everyone's attention. "Aren't youse all forgetting something?! You killed our pay check! Now you're gonna die! We'll overrun this city and loot it all! Let's go!"

A sudden arrow stopped the thugs in their tracks. "STOP WHERE YOU ARE! ONE MORE STEP, AND YOU'LL DIE WHERE YOU STAND!!" It was everyone from the town, being lead by little Inari.

Naruto then made some clones, followed by Kakashi, however, his weren't solid clones, but a bluff was enough, seeing as all the thugs hightailed it out of there.

"RUN AWAY!!" The thugs were all gone within the minute.

"Yay!!" The town’s people all cheered for their victory.

"Are you alright, Usagi?" Kakashi held his daughter. She nodded weakly. "Zabuza needs you now, I'm fine dad..."

With an understanding nod, Kakashi made his way to Zabuza, laying him next to Haku.

"If I could... I would want to go... To the same place... On the other side... As you." Zabuza passed on, with snow falling from the sky.

Something tells me that Zabuza will be going where Haku is.

---- ---- ---- ----

Everyone was alright after that... Some were in better condition than others though...

"Now, don't move for the rest of the day." Tsunami bandaged up Usagi. She had exhausted her chakra and lost a lot of blood, so moving wasn't really much of an option.

Usagi nodded as Tsunami left the room, leaving her with Kakashi.

"Who would have though... Jiraiya’s book saved your life." He picked up the book, which was now cut clean in half.

--Let me explain-- When Usagi was hit with Zabuza’s sword, it struck her side, and Usagi has a habit of keeping things hidden in her obi... And it just so happens, a copy of 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' had taken most of the blow for her, meaning the cut was only half as deep as it could have been.

... Yeah. Only downside now, her favourite book had been completely destroyed.

"I always have liked that book." Usagi smiled.

"I'll have to thank Jiraiya when I see him." Kakashi smiled back. "For now, just promise me you won't ever pull a stunt like that again."

"I'll try, but… I make no promises." Usagi said.

Kakashi sighed. "What am I going to do with you..."

"For now, you're gonna leave." Usagi said, sitting up slowly. "I have a book to write."

"Take it easy... Don't overwork yourself, Usagi."

"Kay." Usagi waved as Kakashi left the room.

Usagi smiled as she continued to write her book.

It was nowhere near complete, but it was coming along nicely.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

AN/ Sorry it took so long to update! I wasn’t home for a while so I couldn’t update.

But I have good news to make up for the wait! I’m Almost finished writing part one of this book! I’m up to chapter 43. The chapters after that are all set in the shippuden world (I may add a special chapter beforehand though. I have a few ideas in my head)!!! That’s when the real story begins >:3

As always, thanks very much for reading! I’ll update a lot sooner next time >.<


-C