//------------------------------// // Land Of Waves V. Battle on the Bridge // Story: Sunset Shimmer: Kunoichi // by RIPoste //------------------------------// “Never expected to see you here so soon again, Zabuza.” Kakashi-sensei said casually, as though the earlier conflict never happened, dispelling the tense atmosphere with a single sentence. Actually, scratch that, I was still nervous as heck and could you blame me? Our adversaries were Zabuza Momochi, a shinobi who could match Kakashi-sensei in wiles and tactics, and a hunter-nin boy who could hit two vital points on the neck from fifty yards away. Like hell I was going to be calm and casual about walking into a fight with them. Not to mention that there was something about the boy that just puts me off. It was weird. “And I see that I was also right about your accomplice.” Sensei continued as he looked at the Hunter-nin. I couldn’t see his expression from here, but from the tone of his voice alone felt as though he were a little annoyed. Probably at the fact that he got tricked. I could imagine that it was something that rarely happens to him on the field. “Hahaha,” Zabuza chuckled. “Looks like you have pissed him off, Haku.” “That can’t be helped, Zabuza-sama.” Haku replied. “Though it is regrettable.” “So, you wanna take him? Or shall I?” I asked Sasuke, glancing at him. “Unless you want to do it together.” “I will.” Sasuke snorted, “I hate guys like him the most, tricking us with that stupid act.” Well, that was kind of his job… But I didn’t say it out aloud. Instead, I nodded and looked at Sensei, “I’ll provide support from beside Tazuna then?” “Yeah, you do that.” Sensei replied, eye never leaving the two missing nins. I immediately took position beside Tazuna, running over what available techniques i had which could be applicable now. Then, without warning, it started. No words were exchanged as Sasuke and Haku leapt at one another with chakra empowered lunges. They met each other in a burst of speed, senbon and kunai swinging so quickly that I had to channel chakra into my eyes to be able to keep up with the melee. Haku was fast, but Sasuke matched him blow for blow. For a moment they seemed evenly matched, even in strength as they finally locked weapons against one another after exchanging a flurry of attacks. “You’re strong,” I heard him say to Sasuke, though I had to strain to hear what they said. “But I’m afraid that if you don’t stand down. I’m going to have to kill you.” Why did that sound so weird coming from him? “Don’t be foolish.” Sasuke retorted confidently. “We’ll see,” Haku said, raising his hand, and it blurred into a series of motion. One handed handseals?! Were the first thoughts that came to me. Those were practically unheard of. Handseals were done by both hands for a reason, which was a prominent factor why many ninjas saw fit to retire after losing one of their limbs. Still, the fact that he was doing it meant that it was possible… I did not had much to time to dwell on the thought as Haku tapped on the water left behind by the water clones with his feet, his technique making a trio of ice spikes rise from the ground, threatening to impale Sasuke. Breaking the weaponlock, Sasuke did the obvious thing, he leapt away from certain doom, only to find Haku hot on his heels. It would have been a good idea to run, but if you knew Sasuke, then running was the last thing you expect him to do. As such, when he turned upon Haku mid-jump, the surprised masked boy only barely brought his hands up to block a kick, which Sasuke quickly followed up with a downward chop which sent him into the ground. To his credit, Haku managed to right himself in time, landing on all fours to break his fall but had no time to recover as Sasuke fell onto him from above like a vengeful spirit. Haku was on the defensive now and from my fights with Sasuke, I know enough that once you gave him the initiative, there was almost no winning it back. Yes, much as I’d hate to admit it, the top of the class was just that good. Sasuke rained a flurry of strikes onto the other boy, chipping away at him rapidly, and not giving him the chance to regroup. Then I saw Zabuza tensed. I drew my senbon as he leapt, hands forming handseals as he dashed forward, the mist around him thickening as he charged. Faster than I could follow, Kakashi sensei met him, Hitai-ate already pulled up and Sharingan eye revealed, his own kunai clashing with Zabuza’s. The two shinobis locked weapons for a second and then, they were lost for my sight as the mist obscured the two scenes of combat from my sight. “Tazuna-san, stick close to me.” I said to the old man behind me even as I sent a surge of magic about me, revealing the various life signatures in the area. One was standing still, with the other slowly circling it, while the other one was dancing about erratically. I frowned, wasn’t there supposed to be a fourth? Was there a kind of ninjutsu that could eliminate one’s own life signature? If there was, then that would render my spell completely ineffective. That could not be good. No, not good at all. I realised as the lifesign that was moving about came to a sudden stop, pulsing just a mite weaker than it was. Not good. Especially if they do possess a technique that could eliminate their own life signature, there was no way that I could notice if they were heading towards me. Not to mention with all this mist in the way, it would make detection all the more difficult. Guess I had to do it. I just hope I had enough chakra. “Tazuna-san, you might want to get down.” I brought my hands together. Horse. Dog. Bird. I felt the chakra gather in my stomach and flow up to my mouth, my cheeks swelling up with the highly pressured air. I felt the familiar fatigue from using more than half my chakra setting in, but ignored it. I just hope that the amount I was putting in was enough. Wind Release: Breakthrough! I still had not gotten it down properly on the control portion of the equation yet. But considering that all I needed was merely to blow away this offending mist, control was pretty much the last thing that I needed right now. I opened my mouth, releasing a powerful gust of wind which pushed back the thickening mist, clearing it from the area from before me. Unlike what I had originally hoped for, the mist was not immediately dispersed from my technique, especially considering how much chakra Zabuza had placed into his jutsu compared to me into mine, but it was enough. Zabuza wore a surprised look on his face as his mist was pushed back, revealing him to Kakashi-sensei who immediately leapt at him, stabbing out with his kunai as he did so. The nuke-nin reacted a lot slower than I would have thought he normally did, and that small opening cost him dearly, forcing him to go onto the defensive and into a situation where he could not put the Kubikiribocho that he was so proficient in to use. Not exactly a position you want to be in, especially when your opponent was Kakashi-sensei. Still, my attention was soon turned to the other combat that was currently occurring. My eyes widened in wonder as I took in the dome of crystal-like mirrors that occupied the part of bridge just beyond sensei and Zabuza’s melee. No, not crystal, I realised. Ice. Definitely the Haku boy’s work and from where I was standing, it was impossible for me to see what was going on inside. The life signature within was definitely Sasuke’s, because if he was dead, perish the thought, Haku would already be out here helping. Still, I could not help but bite my lip in worry. “You can go, y’know?” Tazuna smiled at me reassuringly when I turned to look at him. “I’ll be fine.” I was half tempted to accept his offer, but I shook my head. “Sorry, Tazuna-san, but our job is to protect you.” I looked forward, ignoring the look that Tazuna gave me, “Unless I can ensure that, I won’t leave this place. Besides,” I smiled, though whether that was to reassure him or myself I could not say, “Sasuke’ll be fine.” He better be. Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza had split up already, and I was half tempted to shout out to sensei for permission to help Sasuke, but I bit back the temptation. In a fight between Jounin, every opening, no matter how small, counts. A distraction right now might just even the playing field between him and Zabuza, and that was not a hint that I was willing to take. It was for that exact same reason why Zabuza dare not draw his Kubikiribocho right now. Unslinging would take too much time, and present too much of an opening than he could afford to make. “Kyoku-chan!” Wait. What? What the hell was he doing here? I turned as Naruto touched down beside me. “What’re you doing here?” I demanded, “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting Inari and Tsunami?” “Yup! Gatou sent men after them.” At my worried look, he hastily added, “But I got them good, and they blabbed about some attack on the bridge right now, so I rushed over here as fast as I could!” “Leaving them alone? Are you crazy?” I advanced on him. He better have left some clones back there or I’ll... “Woah.” Naruto held his hands up, “don’t worry! I left some of my shadow clones back there.” he said and I relaxed immediately. “They’re safe.” Good. Seriously, couldn’t he have reported that first? Way to almost give me a heart attack. “So what’s going on?” I looked at him, a couple of scenarios running through my mind and chose one. “Make a couple more shadow clones to guard Tazuna, and go help Sasuke.” Hopefully he did not need it, but one couldn’t help but be sure. Naruto grinned, perhaps a little too brightly at the fact that he was going to be helping Sasuke. “Right!” He jumped to the side, putting Kakashi-sensei between himself and Zabuza as he ran to help out our teammate. “And you?” Tazuna asked. “You got Naruto’s shadow clones now.” I said simply as I pulled out a brace of senbon, putting them between my fingers. “You’re safe.” Our team composition was simple. Naruto was our frontliner and crowd control, Sasuke our hardest hitter and ninjutsu specialist, and me, a midrange fighter that doubles as a support. While our fighting style complements each other, in truth, I was the only one who could probably fight alongside Kakashi-sensei against an opponent of his caliber and not get in the way. Not to brag or anything, but I was pretty much the only one among our entire team who could fight safely behind him. It was a coward’s way of fighting, but it works and sensei knows it. Considering how he had been keeping Zabuza away from me all this while.  Snapping my hands forward, I sent a flurry of senbons hurtling at Zabuza. He noticed them, swinging his kunai up to deflect a couple of them while dodging the rest, all while still keeping his eyes on Kakashi-sensei. From where I stood, I could swear that he snorted, as though mocking my efforts to help my sensei. I raised my hand, and a green aura formed itself around each of the six senbons before launching themselves at him again. He was smirking slightly before then, but he was definitely not smirking when he realised that he had let his guard down against me too early, and he was most definitely not smirking when Kakashi-sensei was on him. I had to give him credit though, being able to keep up with my telekinetically propelled senbons harassing him and fending off Kakashi-sensei’s attacks to the point where I could begin to feel the strain of using my magic. He was a great ninja, that was for sure, but the cold hard truth was that no amount of jutsus nor techniques could save you when you just did not have the time to use them. And Kakashi-sensei’s taijutsu was noticeably better than his. Chipping away at him little by little with his kunai. A small stab here, a shallow cut there, the wounds on Zabuza slowly accumulated, and it showed in his movements, especially, when my senbons darting about him begin to score hits of their own on him, sinking into his flesh. The paralyzing mixture that I applied onto them probably helped too. I did not know how long it took, but soon it began to show, the multiple bleeding wounds and the paralyzing drug finally taking its toll on him. He knew it too, and attempted to put some distance between himself and Kakashi, either so he could beat a swift retreat or so he could finally pull out his Kubikiribocho. Regardless, Kakashi-sensei did not give him that chance, and harassed him accordingly every step of the way. I did my part too, my senbons darting around the two combatants, harassing the nuke-nin alongside my sensei. Still, even with our combined efforts, Zabuza proved himself a tough opponent to bring down. So that was when I took a gamble, solidifying a telekinetic grip on one of Zabuza’s legs. I had thought that a ninja of his caliber would have noticed the green aura surrounding one of his legs. I suppose that he was so preoccupied with the threat before him that he was not paying attention to anything else. It was almost disappointing, but I would admit that I did take a bit of pleasure from when I literally pulled on his leg, causing him to stumble. His surprised expression was kind of priceless. Not one to miss his opportunity, Kakashi capitalised on his opponent’s weakness. A quick stab, and one of Zabuza’s arms hung limply. A vicious slice later, and the nuke-nin slumped to the ground, one of his legs rendered useless by the deep gash that now ran through it. “It’s over Zabuza.” Kakashi-sensei said as he walked over to his adversary. An outsider might call his slow gait gloating, but one need only look closely at him to notice how tense his legs were, rather to dart in any direction at the moment’s notice. Even when Zabuza was seemingly helpless before him, sensei had yet to let his guard down. I emulated his example, my senbons floating into place around Zabuza, ready to dive into him at the moment’s notice. Zabuza eyed my suspended senbons for a bit, before looking at Kakashi-sensei. “Over? Don’t make me laugh.” “Don’t be foolish.” Kakashi-sensei continued, “your underestimation of my team had cost you greatly, and you are hardly in a state to continue fighting.” He glanced at me briefly, “Paralyzing poison right, Kyoku-chan? One from the Yamanaka’s brand?” “Yes sensei.” I replied, slightly annoyed that he decided to reveal one of my assets in front of an enemy. “Interesting technique your brat has.” Zabuza replied. “Reminds me of Haku, in a certain way.” “Thanks for the compliment.” Kakashi-sensei interjected before I could retort. “It wasn’t.” Zabuza rasped. “Haku is a tool for me to use, just like she is one for you.” He looked at me. “Shinobis are tools for those above us, isn’t that right, Kakashi?” “Wrong.” Kakashi-sensei said with such certainty that it dispelled the growing anger within me. “My genins are my teammates, my students, not my tools. And I will protect them.” Huh, that was actually kind of cool… Not that I'll ever say it to his face... “Heh.” Zabuza snorted. “Foolish.” “Now, Zabuza,” Kakashi-sensei said, pointing his kunai at the nuke-nin. “I’ll only say it one more time. Surrender.” Silence. Kakashi raised his kunai and slashed. He drew blood, but not Zabuza’s blood. I gaped openly as a person, who could only be Haku without a mask, appeared between Kakashi and Zabuza in a burst of speed that was faster than I would have thought possible, one of his arms bleeding from sensei’s attack. More out of instinct than anything else, my hand closed, and my senbons flung themselves at Zabuza’s neck. He was too weak to dodge, so it fell to Haku to protect him. In a blur of motion, he lashed out with his own senbon, deflecting dozens of mine in a flurry of blows. Deflecting all but one. “ZABUZA-SAMA!” As that heart-wrenching cry left his lips, Haku held onto the older ninja who looked dumbly at the twenty-centimeter needle protruding from his neck dumbly. His gaze travelled up to me, before his body slumped forward lifelessly. “Zabuza-sama!” Haku cried as he cradled his superior, gently lowering him to the ground. Kakashi-sensei took the time to move between me and him. I appreciate the thoughtfulness, I did kill Zabuza, after all, and considering how distraught the boy was, there was a great chance that he would come after me for revenge. “Haku!” Came… Naruto’s voice? I looked up to see Naruto and Sasuke approaching, riddled in dozens of cuts. I heaved a sigh of relief when I managed to determine that they were mostly shallow non-lethal. What the hell happened though? When Sasuke was fighting Haku, he had been dominating the other boy, but once the mist set in, what kind of technique was that dome of ice mirrors such that Haku was able to overpower not only him, but also Naruto? No time to dwell on such thoughts, as Haku finally stood up, drawing all of our attention. Now that I had a good look at him, he looked more like a girl than boy, though that fact did nothing to hide the grief and anger in his eyes. He looked at us, about to speak. Except that a sudden horn blowing interrupted everything which he was about to say. All of us looked in its direction, and saw a ship docking itself at the side of the bridge, its passengers, a motley crew of thugs wielding a variety of weapons. Mercenaries, probably. I did a quick head count. A hundred, maybe more. Then from within them, came a short man wearing a suit, his rather expensive looking cane tapping on the ground as he walked.  Weasel. That was my first impression of him, that man had an air about him, one of self-importance, almost as bad as the nobles I had to deal with back home, if not worse. He probably did not even need that cane, considering that he was hardly limping. This was a man who dressed to show the world how important he felt he was, and I disliked him greatly. Guess we found the mastermind. “Well, well, well.” Gatou mused as he walked forward, flanked by a couple of his mercenaries. “I came here to see how well that Zabuza had done today and what do I find?” His voice cracked with amusement as he chortled. “He’s dead! Ha! What a joke!” “What did you say?” Haku said frostily, turning to look at Gatou. “Oh yes,” Gatou sniffed disdainfully. “And you, his little lackey. I haven’t forgotten how you almost broke my arm that one time.” Huh, bad working relationship much? “Well,” He pointed at Haku with his cane, “I suppose now’s a good time to repay that little slight.” He smiled gleefully, “but don’t get me wrong, this had always been part of the plan.” Haku’s eyes widened in surprise, and Gatou, seeing his expression, chuckled delightfully. “Don’t worry about it, it’s just how business is done. You see, hiring a ninja from a village is really expensive, that’s why I tend to prefer nuke-nins like you scum.” He sneered, “After which I’d have you all battle each other to the brink of death before I kill them off with numbers. Doesn’t even cost me a penny, good plan, don’t you think?” I raised an eyebrow at that. Seriously? Did he just do a full villain exposition and monologue? Was this guy dumb, or was he just dumb? “The only problem,” he continued, blissfully unaware of how dangerously quiet Haku was, “was Zabuza. But I see that I needn’t have worried. Devil in the Mist? HA! In the end he’s just a stupid little baby de-” At that moment, I understood something, why Haku’s words earlier had felt weird. He had spoken of killing but had not a single shred of killing intent behind those words, nor his actions. I understood this clearly when I felt his killing intent suddenly spiking now. An intent to kill born of pure rage, indignation and contempt. I had expected him to do something, I was even looking for it, but even then, it happened so fast that I missed it entirely. All I know was that one moment, Gatou was speaking. And the next, he was pierced by Kubikiribocho like a pig on a spit, the massive blade stabbing into ground, propping him up. Gatou looked down at the massive blade piercing his body, made to say something, but slumped over lifeless, his last words dying in his mouth. “Don’t you dare,” Body still bent in the throwing position, Haku growled, his features contorted into a terrifying glare, “slander Zabuza-sama!” “What happened?” Naruto asked, but no one answered, considering how shocked we all were by the speed of what had happened in the past few minutes. “What the heck, kid!” One of the mercenaries yelled. “That was our meal ticket!” That set off another one. “Damn ninjas! You killed him!” And another one. “Pillage the city!” “Take everything of value!” “Sensei,” I said, turning to Kakashi-sensei. “Orders?” “If they attack, kill them.” Sensei replied. The mob worked themselves into a frenzy, getting ready to charge. That was when an arrow buried itself in front of them. What the hell? I turned, and right behind me, I could see a mob of the villagers brandishing all sorts of weapons. Some have crossbows, some have spears and many more were toting makeshift weapons like spears, rakes and even a couple rolling pins. At their forefront, was none other than Inari, flanked by a couple of Narutos like some sort of royal guard.  “Come any closer to our Island,” He yelled as he reloaded his crossbow, “and the citizens of this country will stop you with everything we got!” The crowd behind him roared their approval of his speech. The mercenary army howled their defiance and charged. Mayhem ensued. To be honest, this was the first large scale battle I had ever fought, and boy was I glad for all that training against Naruto. First rule of a large scale battle, once you were surrounded, you’re dead. I darted left and right, never staying in a place for two long, slinging senbons into people’s faces, slashing my kunai wherever one of them got too close and even fought back to back with Haku for a certain period of time. It was nerve-wracking, I half-expected him to stab me in the back during the entire period, and I was glad when we had to split up when a mob of mercenaries charged us. Off to the sides, Naruto and Sasuke were helping to hold back the flanks all by themselves. Naruto overwhelming dozens of thugs with his clones while Sasuke leapt around, slinging shurikens and spitting fire to keep his opponents back. Then there was Kakashi-sensei, a force of nature onto himself, overwhelming dozens of mercenaries with one powerful jutsu after another. At one time, he summoned forth a great tornado, sending multiple thugs flying off into the river, at another time, a great river dragon rose from the waters from the side of the village, smashing itself into the mercenary lines, sweeping them off the bridge by the dozens. It was hectic, bloody and messy. And then, it was over. I slumped onto the railings of the bridge, breathing heavily. My magic was almost dry and my chakra was running dangerously low. Regardless, I still kept an eye out at Haku, who was cradling Zabuza’s body off to the side. I was soon joined by Naruto, and then Sasuke. They both looked tired, a little happy, but I could see that they had a little haunted look in their eyes, Naruto more so than Sasuke. It was probably their first time killing someone. I should probably tell Kakashi-sensei later. They’d need counseling. “Well, my little genins. I’m glad to see that you are all safe.” We looked up into his eye, I’d like to say that I was a little comforted by the look of concern within it. “Glad to see you too.” I rasped, my throat was dry. “Will he be causing us any trouble?” I asked, indicating Haku with a jerk of my head. “What? No way!” Naruto yelled. “Haku-san won’t fight us!” Haku-san? Since when was Naruto so chummy with that boy? “Says you, you're not the one that killed Zabuza.” "Hard to say," Kakashi-sensei said, shaking his head as he did so. "His bloodlust is spent, as far as I'm concerned. But grief makes people do things we would never imagine." “I see.” Burying my face in my knees as I hugged my thighs to my chest.  We won the battle, but for some reason, I never expected it to be so... tasteless.