I do not own Naruto or the Fate series. I am only writing this for fun. If you like it then that's great. Leave a comment or review and let me know what you thing. If you don't like it then leave a suggestion on how I could make it better. Flames help no one in the creative process.
Fate/9th Destiny
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 7: Culmination
The morning sparrows chirped contently as they flew over a clearing in the woods in Nami. Within that clearing were two sleeping individuals. One was Naruto, laying on his back in front of a tree with numerous scars on it, each one higher than the last to reach a respectable height. Off leaning against a tree was Saber, snoozing softly with her head down.
Naruto had in fact been training all night under the watchful eye of his Saber. A stupid thing to do considering how he and Sasuke had already trained themselves into dog tiredness during the day already. However, Naruto had a point to make and he was damned if he wasn’t going to be able to do it.
It began the previous night when Sakura noted Inari was looking at a family portrait which had a portion of it ripped out. Inari didn’t want to talk about it and immediately left, despite his mother’s scolding. Tazuna just tiredly accepting the question and began to explain just how Inari became the cynical child that he was thanks to Gato.
The missing figure from the portrait was Kaiza. He wasn’t Inari’s father, but his stepfather whom Inari met after he had been saved from drowning by the man. He was a well-respected man around Nami, even if he was only a fisherman. He held strong values, believing that if you had a goal then you had best strive for it with everything you had, with your own bare arms if you had to. He believed in it so strongly, he had even swum across raging waters to help close a dam which was overflowing for the sake of protecting his home. He never gave up at anything he did and with that, he had become something of a hero in Nami.
Then Gato came. When it became obvious he was trying to turn Nami into another hub for his illegal smuggling, Kaiza fought him with everything he had. Sadly, Gato just had too many thugs to beat by himself. Gato caught Kaiza trying to sabotage him and then strung him on a post where everyone could see him. Gato proclaimed Kaiza was guilty of terrorism, but everyone knew that was a lie. Then before anyone could protest, Gato’s men executed Kaiza ruthlessly. It served to crush the spirits of the people, especially Inari who stopped believing that a hero could exist when someone with money and power could just crush them.
Naruto decided he didn’t like that. So he was going to prove that heroes still existed out there and promptly went out to train some more. Saber followed to make sure he would be safe and after he trained himself to the point of exhaustion, she decided to catch a slight nap herself. She may not have needed sleep, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like to relax by sleeping. So with the dawn breaking over them, they contentedly snoozed away with the gentle sun keeping them warm.
They soon weren’t alone either.
“Keep an eye on the greenery. Just one brown leaf is unacceptable. Be wary of discoloration, it may hint at a disease spreading through the plantlife and we cannot have that in our remedies.”
“Hai, sensei,” a younger voice confirmed.
Emerging in the clearing were a pair of figures. One was a teenager dressed in a pink yukata with long dark hair holding a basket. One could say the teen was quite an attractive girl and would have a swarm of suitors wherever she went. With the teen though was an older man dressed from head to toe in black robes and had his face concealed with a white mask shaped like a bird’s face with glasses. He walked with a cane, looking more like a gentleman than some kind of creep. He was lecturing the younger teen on the best ways to recognize herbs and medicinal grasses not just for their names and effects, but by how potent they were.
“A bloom means it is past its prime, although buds are acceptable if you do not need the most powerful concoction you can create,” the man continued. “And then there is...oh ho, what is this?”
The man and teen entered the clearing proper and spied Naruto and Saber sleeping. Immediately the teens hand lit up with red light, making a burning sensation. Naruto’s Command Seals did the same, causing him to groan and sit up.
“Owwwww…” he muttered. “Whaz goin on?” Rubbing his eyes, he looked around and spotted the pair who had just entered the clearing. However, his eyes passed over the teenager and instead focused on the strange man with the white mask. Waking up to such a strange and admittedly intimidating sight, Naruto only had one reaction, “WAUGH!”
“Nn?” Saber blinked, shaken from her sleep. Looking over, she spotted the two new arrivals and immediately determined the nature of the man in black, “Enemies!” Standing up, she willed her armor and sword to manifest in a haze of red. “So, come to finish what Rider began?”
Rather than be intimidated or prepare to fight, the man in blank merely raised a hand, “Calm yourself Saber.”
“Eh?” Naruto and Saber blinked. Both had been ready for a fight, but it seemed the man did not wish for one. Suspicious, Saber spoke, “And why should I do that?”
“Because we did not come here to fight today. It is a day of rest,” Caster of Kiri explained. “My Master and I are merely searching out herbs to use for medicine. Nothing more. Be as you were, we are no threat to you and I dare say there is not much I could do without preparation considering your Magic Resistance skill.”
“So you are Caster then,” Saber frowned.
“Indeed,” the man nodded. “We apologize for bothering you. We will pick the herbs we need and be on our way.”
“Hnnn,” Saber frowned, obviously distrusting. She had been raised by a witch all her life so she knew how tricky a magi could be when they wanted to. The truth was simply not something they dealt with unless they had to.
“Oh,” Naruto blinked, rubbing the back of his head. “So...need some help?”
“Master!” Saber cried out.
“That would be lovely,” Caster’s Master smiled.
To Saber’s utter shock and Caster’s amusement, the pair began to sift through the wild grasses at Haku’s instruction on how to pick the proper ones he would need. Neither seemed to be bothered at all by the fact that they were opponents in the Holy Grail War and technically should be trying to kill each other at that moment. Of course in Naruto’s logic since the pretty ‘girl’ and her Servant said they didn’t want to fight then he’d trust them. For Haku, since Caster refused to fight on a Sunday, he had to obey and simply followed the logic. Besides, he preferred not fighting in any case.
“So how did you manage to get your Servant anyway? I had to read a super secret scroll to accidentally summon mine,” asked Naruto, trying to make conversation.
Haku smiled, “I heard of several people trying it and I thought I could too. I liked the thought of a hero appearing to help me make my dreams come true.”
“Yeah, that is cool,” Naruto agreed. “So...what would you wish for if you won? I mean, get the Holy Grail and all that?”
“What would I wish for?” asked Haku. He pondered it for a moment before he smiled, “A world where everyone could have a precious person in their lives.”
“Huh?” Naruto tilted his head, utterly confused.
“It is my belief that when a person is protecting something or someone that is truly precious to them, that is when they will grasp real strength,” Haku explained. “Training can hone the strength you have, but unless you have something precious in your heart, you will not have the true power inherent to you. So my wish is for everyone in the world to have someone that precious to them.”
“Ooh,” Naruto nodded. He was reminded of when Iruka fought to protect him, and seemed to be able to get back up after Mizuki hit him so many times with kunai and shuriken. Then to protect his teacher, Naruto forced himself to use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu so he could beat Mizuki with sheer numbers even if his skills were bad. With that it mind, he easily understood what Haku was talking about, “Yeah, I get what you’re saying.”
Haku smiled back, pleased that Naruto could understand the value of true strength and what it was meant for.
With the two Servants, they kept a strict eye on one another, but also kept their gazes on their Masters. Both heard the conversation and had mixed feelings about it.
“True strength in something precious,” Saber uttered. “Hnnn.”
“Ah, wisdom beyond age,” Caster nodded. “If I knew that, would I have fallen like I did?” Saber cast Caster a suspicious gaze. “Hm, something on my face?”
“You truly do not wish to fight?” she asked.
“On any other day I may consider it. However, today is a Sunday and I do not fight on Sundays,” Caster told her sincerely. “You of all people should know it is the Lord’s day of rest.”
“Ah,” Saber nodded, but did not sound like she cared all that much. So Caster was a religious person. Of course in the Holy Grail War that shouldn’t matter much. If Caster’s Master wished it, Caster would have to burn down churches to get to the enemy. Command Spells were undeniable in that fashion.
“And my Master respects my wishes. He may not understand them but he tries his best to accommodate me,” Caster added.
“He?” Saber cocked an eyebrow. “Ah, so your Master has an androgynous appearance and could be easily mistaken for a female.”
“Yes,” Caster nodded. “Something I don’t think your Master has caught onto yet.”
It truly seemed like Naruto had not noticed that Haku was truly a boy instead of a girl, although with the way he was dressed in a pink yukata with his hair down and rather fair features, it would be easy to make such a mistake. Soon the pair finished Haku’s harvesting and they returned to their Servants. Haku presented the gains to Caster for inspection, which the man in question shifting through them before giving his nod of approval.
“Good work. These will do well for the treatment,” Caster nodded.
“Arigatou Sensei,” Haku smiled, pleased by his praise.
“Sensei?” Naruto blinked.
“Yes,” Haku nodded. “Sensei has been teaching me much about medicine and treatment of illnesses and wounds. His knowledge is quite extensive and I have been learning much. Some of his knowledge is rather advanced.”
“Well, he is a Servant and probably from some very far away place,” Naruto remarked. “I mean Saber-neechan keeps teaching me how I should behave and stuff. She even tries to fix my diet and how I dress.”
“It sounds like she really wants what’s best for you,” Haku chuckled.
“Yeah, I don’t have many people who care about me like that but it’s nice,” Naruto smiled. Iruka and Old Man Hokage were good and all but Saber was really acting the part of an older sister towards Naruto. Sure, she could be pushy and sometimes scold him, but she did it because she truly cared about him. Iruka and the Hokage did too. But with Saber, it just felt different. She wasn’t obligated to either. Even if they were technically Servant and Master, that didn’t mean she had to always listen to him. He could force her with the Command Spells but it just felt like putting a leash on her and he never wanted to treat her like that. He would never have her follow a command she didn’t want to follow.
“Sounds like you found another precious person like I did with Sensei,” Haku smiled vibrantly.
“Yeah!” Naruto grinned.
“Good for you,” Haku nodded. He regretted being placed in combat against someone who was apparently unselfish in their desire for the Holy Grail, but at the least they had something worth fighting for. He could face such an opponent without doubt or regrets. “Anyway, we must be going. Our patient needs these herbs for treatment.”
“Okay! I’ll see you around sometime!” Naruto nodded.
“Hopefully on another Sunday. But I’m sure we will meet again regardless,” Haku nodded as he and Caster turned and walked away from the clearing and the other Master/Servant pair. “Oh, and by the way, I’m a boy.”
“EH?!” Naruto gaped, ‘But, he’s way girlier than Sakura-chan! How can he be a boy?!’
“So, Master. I suppose you just discovered the true gender of your new friend,” Saber smiled in amusement.
“You knew!?”
“I believe we should improve your observational skills,” Saber told him sternly.
XXX
Nami no Kuni - Tazuna’s House
“196...197...198…” Kakashi huffed as he continued doing exercises using only one finger, actually having Tazuna sitting on his back and Sakura sitting on his legs.
“Say,” the bridge builder began, “I’ve been meaning to ask. You knew I lied about how dangerous this mission was going to be so I could get you all to come here. So why did you decide to stay?”
“To know what is right and choose to ignore it is the act of a coward,” Kakashi recited. “A lesson which was passed to us by the previous Hokages. It is our way of life in Konoha. A real Shinobi doesn’t just dance to the tune of whoever pays the piper. You need us for more than just an escort, but couldn’t afford it. So we’re here to do what you need us to do instead of what you can pay for.”
Finishing his sets, Kakashi motioned Sakura and Tazuna to get off of him. Getting up, he clenched his fist and felt the soreness of his muscles and the stiffness of his body to be nearly gone. ‘My body’s nearly healed, but likely that means Zabuza is as well. We’re going to have that confrontation soon…’
XXX
Nami no Kuni - Zabuza’s Hideout
Zabuza sat on the edge of his bed holding an apple in his hand. Around him was Rider, Caster, and Haku as they waited to see the results of the treatment.
“You should be feeling some improvement in your muscle control,” Caster informed Zabuza.
“Improvement?” Zabuza smirked before he promptly crushed the apple with ease. “I feel like I’m back in my prime.”
“That is wonderful Zabuza-sama,” Haku smiled.
“I would advise against anything too strenuous,” Caster frowned. Honestly, his Master’s Master was just incorrigible.
“Hey, my Master says he feels ready so we should head out and finish this job,” Rider remarked.
“Excuse me, but who is the physician here?” Caster asked rhetorically as he glared at everyone in the room. “If you attempt anything too strenuous you may end up causing more damage to yourself and we may have to start over.”
“Provided I can take down Kakashi, that’s fine,” Zabuza snarked. “I can leave the brats and Saber to you lot.” Caster gave out a resigned sigh.
“Master, do you agree with Zabuza’s decision?” Caster looked to Haku.
“Whatever Zabuza-sama decrees, I shall follow,” Haku nodded. Caster sighed again while Rider just chuckled at the sight.
“Very well. It appears that I am outvoted,” Caster sighed before he muttered about suicidal people who didn’t know how to take care of themselves. “Well, tomorrow is Monday so I am free to fight.”
“I’m so glad we can fit into your schedule,” Zabuza rolled his eyes. “We attack tomorrow morning. No screw ups. We complete the mission no matter what!”
“Yes, Zabuza-sama!” Haku obeyed.
“Yes, Master!” grinned Rider.
XXX
Nami no Kuni - Tazuna’s House
Dinner was just about ready, but Sasuke and Naruto were all but ready to drop in exhaustion. They had trained all day and into the night, working on the tree-walking exercise as much as they possibly could. However, against the odds most new Genin wouldn’t be able to do well for some time, the two managed to get enough control to reach the top of the trees that they were training on. Both of them were feeling quite proud of the accomplishment and felt ready to take on anything.
“You two look like something the cat dragged in,” Tazuna laughed.
“Well, we made it to the top of the trees,” Sasuke shrugged as he helped Naruto over to the table.
“Good!” Kakashi smiled. “That means you two can start going on protection detail with Tazuna and Sakura.”
“Well, things are looking good,” Tazuna grinned, feeling very optimistic for once. “Me and the boys are dirty, tired, and sweaty but the bridge is almost done! We’re almost there!”
“Father, you and Naruto are two of a kind,” Tsunami huffed, bringing out the food. “Please don’t work yourselves to death will you?”
“Yes, yes,” the two nodded, but obviously did not listen to the woman’s concerns.
Inari just stared at Naruto, still grinning, working himself to the bone although Gato had so many powerful thugs at his beck and call. Didn’t he care that those thugs would kill him? That they were so much stronger than him? He didn’t stand a chance so why was he still trying? It made him sound just like...Kaiza. So wrapped in his thoughts, Inari hadn’t even noticed that he had begun crying when he noticed the similarity to his stepfather.
“Huh?” Naruto looked to see Inari’s tears. “What’s wrong?”
That was enough to cause Inari to lose. Standing up, he slapped his hands on the table, “Why do you wear yourself out even trying?! No matter how much you train you’ll never match Gato’s thugs! You act cool and talk tough, but strong guys like that are always too much for people weaker than them! They’ll destroy you!”
Naruto huffed, unimpressed by Inari’s rant although everyone else was stunned speechless, “Oh shut it! I’m not gonna lose to thugs like that!”
“GRR! JUST WATCHING YOU TICKS ME OFF!” INari yelled out. “YOU GO RUNNING YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW A THING! THIS ISN’T YOUR TOWN! YOU ALWAYS CLOWN AROUND AND HAVING FUN! YOU DON’T KNOW SUFFERING OR LONELINESS OR WHAT MY LIFE IS LIKE!”
In that moment, perhaps for the first time since they met Naruto, they saw a very dark look come across his face. It wasn’t his usual pouting or grumbling frowns. He looked like he was genuinely upset with what Inari had said to him. It was a look that no one was sure they really liked on the usually happy-go-lucky kid.
“So...you figure it’s noble to star in your little drama and treat everyone like a guest at your personal pity party,” Naruto frowned, causing Inari to flinch. “You’re a big man if all you can do is just sit around and cry, you big baby!”
“Naruto!” Sakura scolded. For once, the blonde just ignored her as he left the room to go take a bath.
“Serves you right, child,” scoffed Saber. “You act like you’re the only one who’s suffering but you don’t know the first thing about Naruto and yet you judge him so quickly.” The blonde stood up. “We know about your stepfather and his sacrifice. You think standing up is foolish? Perhaps, since he sacrificed himself for people like you who sit there and whine about things when they should get up and change them. What a fool.”
“HOW DARE YOU!” Tsunami screamed, running up to Saber, she slapped the other woman across the face. “MY KAIZA WAS A WONDERFUL MAN! HE SAW THAT WE WERE CAPABLE OF BEING GREAT! HE WANTED WHAT WAS BEST FOR US! HE STOOD UP FOR US WHEN HE SAW WHAT GATO WAS DOING! I WON’T LET YOU SPIT ON HIS NAME!” She reared back for another slap when Saber caught her hand.
“If you believe so strongly in what he died for, then live up to it!” Saber hissed. “Be what he believed the people of this land could be! Instead of sitting here and whining, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!” dropping Tsunami’s hand, she left the woman to begin weeping as she stepped outside to cool her head.
Dinner was an obviously subdued affair but it left a number of hurt feelings and hard truths that people had to think about. After dinner, Inari went outside to sit at the docks and think about what Naruto had said to him. He didn’t like it of course, but the way the blonde had accused him of just wallowing in pity and crying instead of trying to do something like his stepfather did had hurt.
“Mind if I join you?” asked Kakashi as he stepped onto the dock to sit beside the boy. After a moment of silence, he sighed, “What Naruto said may have been a little blunt, but he didn’t say it to be mean or spiteful. That’s just the kind of kid he is.” Kakashi looked over to the boy. “We were told about what happened to your dad. Naruto actually grew up without a father too,” That mention caused Inari to blink. “Actually, he didn’t have any parents growing up. He didn’t have any friends for a long time either. His life was just one long painful memory.”
“R-really?” Inari looked up, stunned at the admission. How could someone with that kind of pain smile at all?
“Yup. And in all the time that I’ve known him I have never once seen him cry or use his troubles as an excuse to go sulk or run away from something,” Kakashi nodded. “He just goes on trying, hoping someday someone will notice and give him a kind word or a pat on the back. It’s his dream and he’s willing to risk his life for that.” Kakashi looked down to the water. “I think one day he just got fed up with crying all the time. He knows what it takes to be strong, likely just like your father did. So out of anyone here, he probably knows best what you’re feeling.”
“Huh?” Inari blinked, still confused.
Kakashi smiled at the confused boy, “He can’t really leave you alone now. Not when you’ve gotten under his skin like you have. He sees so much in common between you and him now.”
Inari wasn’t sure what he could say to that. He just couldn’t seem to get how the blonde who seemed like such a goofball could get up and smile. Why wasn’t he as downtrodden as Inari? He suffered way worse than Inari did in some ways. Why could he get up? Why didn’t he just give up?
XXX
The night passed and the day began again. The ninjas were up bright and early, escorting Tazuna to the bridge. Naruto was left to sleep in since he had pushed himself to the brink in order to complete the training so Kakashi decided to let him sleep in. He’d earned it after working himself to the bone like he did. Saber went with the ninjas, as Kakashi confided in her that he expected Zabuza to act soon and that meant Rider would be with him.With that in mind, Saber agreed with leaving Naruto behind since it would keep him out of the action. So with Naruto snoozing away, everyone else set out to get to the job site.
They all arrived at the bridge, expecting to see some of the early risers already there and either starting minor jobs or waiting for Tazuna’s orders. However, the optimistic mood of the group died a swift death when instead of ready workers, they saw the group of men lying on the ground, all grievously wounded and bloody.
“Douji! Ban! Oh Kami!” Tazuna ran to the side of one of his workers. “Speak to me! What happened?!”
The worker who Tazuna ran to coughed, spitting up a glob of blood, “M-monsters…”
Kakashi frowned at the sight, his eye darting to both sides as he tried to see where the attackers might be, ‘Could it be?’ He got his answer when a rolling fog moved in, shrouding everything in sight and making the scenery around the bridge nearly impossible to see. Everything else began to feel like a heavy shroud of death had begun to hand over them.
“They’re coming! Guard formation!” Kakashi snapped, getting Sakura and Sasuke to take Tazuna’s sides while he took the man’s back. Saber of course took the front, manifesting her armor and sword in a flash of red haze. Inwardly, Kakashi’s focus turned hypersensitive as he tried to pick out movement inside the mist.
“T-This is that Kirigakure no Jutsu isn’t it?” asked Sakura. “Does that mean-?”
“Yes,” Kakashi nodded. “Zabuza’s back to finish what he started.”
*Clip-Clop. Clip-Clop. Clip-Clop.*
The group tensed at the noise, turning to the far end of the bridge where they had arrived, hearing the noises of hooves on the bridge itself. Kakashi and Saber’s eyes narrowed, realizing who the noises might belong to. Sure enough, emerging from the mist was Rider on the back of his steed. Even with the mist dulling the colors around them, his crimson armor stood out like blood on white paper.
“Rider,” Saber hissed.
“Indeed, Saber,” Rider grinned back. “I’ve been looking forward to this confrontation. I hope our little ruse did not deceive you for long. I so hate to fight an unprepared opponent unless I have to.”
“Not even for a whole day,” Saber frowned, stepping past the ninjas to face the mounted warrior. “I’m ashamed it worked for even a few hours!”
“Well, shall we finish our duel?” Rider challenged.
“Oh, gladly!” Saber replied, growing excited at the prospect of battle again.
“Rider,” Zabuza’s voice rung out “You take care of Saber. Use your Noble Phantasm if you have to. No loose ends and no holding back!”
“My favorite words,” Rider grinned as his Master had allowed him to cut loose. He had indeed been partnered with a Master who understood him. “Saber, this is the day you die!!!” Rider roared as he snapped the reins of his steed. Saber narrowed her eyes, gripped her sword, and charged for Rider. She aimed for his steed. It was a basic tactic. Take out the horse and then the rider will fall.
Red Hare’s hooves sparked on the metal of the bridge as Rider continued his charge. Coming closer, Saber aimed to time her strike perfectly, but as she was preparing to make her strike, Rider snapped the reins and Rider sped up once again. He was in her range in a heartbeat and Saber had no way of countering him. Rather than striking though, Rider grabbed Saber by the arm, unbalancing her and began dragging her as both Rider and his horse charge for the end of the bridge.
“Move if you do not wish to die by my hand!” Rider snapped, forcing the ninjas and Tazuna to dive to the sides.
Red Hare picked up even more speed, moving like the red blur which the group first saw it as. Upon coming to the downed workers, the group feared that they were going to be trampled by the supernatural horse. To their complete shock though, before Red Hare could touch even one of them, he jumped as if trying to clear them all. Naturally they all assumed Red Hare would clear them only to go off the incomplete end of the bridge. However, Red Hare seemed to almost fly with the jump clearing both the men and the gap between bridge and land with both Rider and Saber along for the ride. The horse landed on the other side with room to spare before taking off in the distance with Rider laughing the whole way.
“Dammit!” Saber cursed as she was trapped in Rider’s grip. “Let me go, you cur!”
“As you wish!” Rider dropped Saber, letting her hit the dirt. As she struggled to stand, he came around summoned his halberd to his hand. “Now Saber, it ends!”
“I agree wholeheartedly!” Saber snarled, lifting her sword up in her hand again.
Back on the bridge, the ninjas were of course momentarily stunned by the sight of the red horse clearing a gap which no horse would be able to clear by any stretch of the mind. It was all the opening Zabuza needed as around the group, the moisture in the air solidified into ten perfect copies of Zabuza, all of them ready to strike.
“Hello again Kakashi,” the ten spoke as one. “Still have the brats tagging along I see. Looks like the boy’s beginning to lose his nerve already,” one of the ten gestured to where Sasuke’s arm was shaking with a kunai clenched in it.
“Is that what you think?” Sasuke smirked. “No. What I’m shaking for is eagerness for a rematch!”
“Hmph! Tough talk kid!” one of the clones scoffed.
“Then why don’t I let him show you?” Kakashi began to grin behind his mask. “Sasuke, go right ahead.”
Sasuke smirked and before everyone’s eyes he moved. Only the high-level fighters like Zabuza and Kakashi could really make out what the Last Uchiha was doing thanks to the high speeds he was moving at. He moved past each clone before it could really react and slashed through them with his kunai before coming back to where he started. It barely took the time to blink before he stopped, but around the group the water clones all collapsed back into their base material with splash. He didn’t take time to bask in the victory though, looking to the far edge of the bridge where he could see movement.
“Well, I guess the Mizu Bunshin isn’t going to cut it anymore with you,” Zabuza praised as he and Haku complete with his mask stepped through the fog. “Seems you brats managed to mature pretty quick for one week, but you’re worth fighting now at least.” he glanced over his shoulder to his companion, “Eh Haku?”
“Indeed,” the masked ninja agreed.
“Looks like I was right,” Kakashi observed the pair. “Seems our masked friend was playing on Zabuza’s team the whole time.”
“He’s got some nerve showing up here after such a dirty trick!” Sakura growled, not liking being tricked like she was. She took great pride in her intelligence and did not appreciate it being mocked by tricks.
“He’s mine,” Sasuke declared bluntly, stepping forward. He eyed Haku with disdain, “You put on a good show before, but you can’t hide behind it now. That aside, I hate tricksters anyway.”
Sakura actually had the gall to almost squee at the sight, “So cool Sasuke-kun!”
Kakashi had to go through great hardship not to groan at the sight of Sakura going into Fangirl mode in the midst of battle. Even worse, everytime Naruto so much as opened his mouth she’d be there to crab or argue with him. Once Sasuke spoke up, she’s nod her head happily like a little puppy eager for a treat. Provided they survived this, he’d have to do some extra work with Sakura to break that habit.
“Quite impressive,” Haku admitted. “Even if the Mizu Binshin only have one-tenth the strength of the original it is still impressive.”
“Maybe,” Zabuza replied. “But we’re still on the offensive. Go, and don’t be afraid to use Caster for this.”
“As you command, Zabuza-sama,” obeyed Haku. She ordered, “Sensei, please aid me.”
“Of course my pupil,” another voice spoke through the fog.
Sasuke and Kakashi frowned, fearing that the two had yet another accomplice. Emerging from the fog behind the pair was yet another man, this one garbed entirely in black and his face covered by a strange mask. In his hand was a cane, but a green light was rising from the tip as if it were fire and it gave everyone who looked at it a bad feeling.
“Guten Tag Attentäter of the Village Hidden in the Leaves,” the man bowed slightly, his cane crossed over his chest. “I will not hold up our festivities so I will be brief. I am Caster of Kiri. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Kakashi’s eye narrowed in deep concern. By pressing Naruto into the details of the Holy Grail War that he had joined, Kakashi had learned about the players involved. Caster was one which he was hoping he would not have to meet. Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, and even Assassin would be predictable to a degree despite their status. Caster though, a legendary figure who likely had lost or forbidden techniques by the handful on their side? Not someone he was willing to face without serious backup. ‘And we don’t have Saber here to cancel his powers either. Damn!’
“Now, we shall begin,” Caster raised his cane again, the strange power at the top flaring with its use.
Haku lunged forward, almost invisible to the eye thanks to his speed and he met with Sasuke, the pair of them clashing against each other in a shower of sparks where their weapons struck. At the same time, sirwls of mist began to collect around Caster and forming into semi-clear bundles of rags which the fog actually helped make easier to see. Tied with ropes or chains, they moaned and groaned which struggling to move.
“Ironic, how useful this land is to my style of magic, but sad that the state of affairs allow it to be as such,” Caster commented. Pointing his cane at the group, he barked, “Hingehen!” Several of the ethereal ropes snapped before they were revealed to be strange shrivelled human-like figures which screamed as they surged across the bridge towards the defenders.”
“AHHHHHHHH!”
(LINE BREAK)
Name no Kuni - Forests
“Dang it! Dang it! Dang it! How could they leave me behind!”
Naruto continued to grumble to himself as he hopped through the trees towards the bridge. He had woken up late and found out from Tsunami that everyone had left him behind. So dressing up in a hurry he set out to catch up and hope that nothing awesome happened while they were separated. He would be pissed if they beat any bad guys and he wasn’t there to help!
“Bweee….”
Naruto stopped at the noise, an instinct he learned since any sound could be a ninja in wait...or Iruka waiting to nab him for skipping class. Coming to a stop on top of a tree branch he looked down to see what it was. After a moment, he managed to find it: a wild boar laying in pain with several gashes cut across its body.
“Ah! Woah piggy!” Naruto cried leaping down from his perch to the wounded animal. “Who the heck did this?”
Looking around, Naruto noticed that it wasn’t just the boar that was hurt. Several of the trees in the area had been hacked up by one or more people with a sword. Naruto may not have been the sharpest tool in the drawer when it came to academics, but he had a sense of knowledge in real world applications that helped him get far when he used it. So far, it was telling him that someone with some serious weapons were running through the woods. Looking at the animal again, he noticed the wounds hadn’t scabbed over or anything which meant they were recent. Also the cuts on the trees still had some moisture in them, likewise meaning the cuts were recent.
“It might be that Zabuza guy!” Naruto hissed. Dashing a few steps forward, he found more trees which were cut, but the cuts were dryer. The colts were older than the ones on the boar and the other trees. “Huh? Why are they going away from the bridge?” Turning back, he looked around to see more cuts on trees past the initial wounded boar. It took him a few moments, wondering what such people were looking for but then he gasped. It was going in the same direction as Tazuna’s house! Someone may have been going for Inari and Tsunami!
Hightailing it towards Tazuna’s house again, Naruto just hoped that he was being paranoid and that nothing was really wrong. Of course, Gato was a slimeball so Naruto should have expected he’d go after Tazuna’s family. The bad guys always did crap like that in the movies!
Coming up to the house, Naruto hid in a tree while he witnessed what looked like two guys with swords coming out of the house after the door had been cut open. Obviously they were going to take Tazuna hostage in order for Gato to force Tazuna to give himself up. Naruto growled at the sight, thugs wanting to hurt a nice lady like Tsunami was just the worst!
Naruto considered a plan to get Tsunami away from them when Inari came running out of the house, “DON’T YOU TOUCH MY MAMA!” He didn’t hesitate or stop as he ran, even when the swordsmen drew their weapons on the boy as he got closer.
“Pretty cool Inari,” Naruto grinned before he raced towards the scene, his hands flying through hand seals. “Kawarimi no Jutsu!”
The two Ronin grinned and slashed at the boy, cutting him into three pieces much to Tsunami’s horror as she screamed. For a split second as the parts hung in the air though, they suddenly poofed into smoke before they were revealed to be Inari’s hat and three pieces of a log.
“What the-?!” Waraji gaped.
“Is that a-?!” Zouri hissed.
A soft thud sounded off behind them and they turned to see Naruto with Inari in his arms, Tsunami stumbling over to wrap her son in her arms, sobbing after seeing him getting cut up into multiple pieces. “Inari...Inari…!”
“H-huh?” Inari blinked, looking up from where his mother was hugging him. “N-Naruto?”
“Good job Inari!” Naruto grinned. “When you charged those guys you gave me the chance to come in and get you and your mom out of trouble!”
The two Ronin growled at getting duped by some cut-rate bodyguard ninja and promptly began charging at the group with murder in their minds, forget the target!
“Naruto, behind you!” Tsunami cried, pointing at the men. She almost didn’t need to warn him when the orange-clad blonde hurled several shuriken at the pair. Of course, both men relied on their training and managed to deflect the weapons with ease.
“Those won’t work on us!” Zouri laughed, ready to kill the blonde boy.
Rather than be intimidated or even frustrated, Naruto just began to grin, “Suckers!”
Neither Ronin had a chance to ask what that meant when both of the men were struck on the back of the heads by high speed kicks. Both men went down like sacks of potatoes, out cold and for all intents and purposes dead to the world. The attackers landed with confident grins, revealing themselves to be clones of Naruto that snickered before they poofed, vanishing. Naruto snickered, but he didn’t really have time to brag. Instead, he and Tsunami went to the house to collect a length of rope before tying up the two Ronin tightly before they could wake up.
“Thank you so much Naruto!” Tsunami gushed, hugging the blonde boy tightly. “Oh when I saw Inari get attacked like that…”
“Heh, heh,” Naruto blushed as Tsunami ended the hug. “It was no problem! Really!”
“H-how’d you know those guys were coming?” asked Inari.
“Ah, those guys were cutting up all sorts of things in the woods. The was a huge trail leading right up to this place. I got worried when I saw it so I came to make sure if you guys were okay,” Naruto explained. His grin grew brighter on the small boy, “Still, I owe you an apology Inari.”
“H-huh?” Inari blinked.
“Yeah,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head. “You’re definitely no baby. A baby would never have charged two guys like that with nothing but his bare hands to protect his mom,” Smiling, he reached out and rubbed Inari’s head. “You’re a pretty strong guy after all!”
Inari blinked, but the gesture suddenly reminded him of his father, of which Naruto acted eerily similar to if not rather more immature. Suddenly thinking of his father again, then being considered strong by anybody, and just the stress of what he had been through, Inari couldn’t stop himself as he began to cry again. He sniffled and choked, trying to wipe his eyes off.
“Inari?” Tsunami came closer to her son to comfort him.
“N-no,” Inari choked. “I...I promised I wouldn’t cry again. N-now you’re going to call me a baby again!”
“What? No way!” Naruto smiled. He knew that sight Inari had. He was happy to be alive and see that his mother was safe again. He wore it himself when he discovered that Iruka was behind him always and never once considered him the Kyuubi. “It’s always okay to cry when you’re happy!”
Inari warbled again and began to cry again, prompting Tsunami to smile and hug her son, seeing a side of him blooming again that she feared lost when Kaiza had died. Her baby boy was blooming again right before her eyes. She smiled with tears in her eyes at Naruto. It turned out he was quite the special little boy after all.
Naruto smiled weakly, slightly envious as Inari hugged his mother before he looked over to the two Ronin, “Listen, if these guys attacked here then probably the bridge is under attack too so I have to go.” He smiled at Inari again, “So you can handle things here right Inari?”
“Y-yeah!” Inari nodded, letting go of his mother to wipe his eyes.
“Okay!” Naruto nodded, running to get to the bridge again. “This hero stuff is always busy! Can’t stay still long!”
“Yeah!”
(LINE BREAK)
Nami no Kuni - Bridge
If there was a word for the battle, frightening chaos would be a good word for it. Haku and Sasuke were clashing with senbon against kunai, their speed dizzying to the average person. However, Caster was still at the back of the battlefield, controlling his summoned wraiths with waves of his cane, sending the wailing spectres at Kakashi and Sakura. Zabuza hadn’t entered the field yet, apparently content to watch and wait for his opening.
Kakashi certainly wasn’t having fun with the battle as the wraiths hounded mostly him as he sent Sakura back to be a last line of defense against the ghosts. He had the bad luck of being bitten by one of the ghosts as they made runs at him. They didn’t tear his flesh, but what they did do was tear what felt like a chunk of his chakra out shaped like the portion of his body they bit. It wasn’t all of the chakra, but just the physical portion which left his chakra slightly off balance and unable to mix it as much as he normally would. It wasn’t enough to make a huge difference, but several more bites and he would begin to lose a lot of chakra really fast.
“The geist in this age are most odd. They react strongly to the brand of magic your people use,” Caster commented. “They hone in on it and are actually able to devour it at the cost of limiting your power. Normally a magi wouldn’t be bothered by such things, but this new brand of magic you call jutsu works on different rules apparently.”
“Spare me the theory,” Zabuza rolled his eyes, hefting his sword. “Just open the way to the old man so I can just get the old man and finish the job.”
“Very well,” Caster nodded before he barked out another command in his native tongue, “Greift der Mensch!” Although Zabuza couldn’t understand it, the wraiths seemed to get it. Swirling, they all swooped towards Kakashi with their mouths open wide and screeching.
“Tsk!” Kakashi frowned. He quickly flipped through several hand seals before inhaling deeply while looking at the converging ghosts. “Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” Kakashi unleashed his breath and blew a giant fireball, several times larger than the one Sasuke had launched during Kakashi’s test. The ghosts were all struck by the fireball. To the shock of everyone there, the wraiths all screeched and writhed as they were all ignited in flames as they flew through the air.
“H-huh!?” Sakura and Tazuna gaped.
“Was zur Hölle?!” Caster gasped, seeing the ghosts burning as they collapsed before dissipating one by one. “How can someone burn ghosts?!”
“Well, it’s thanks to our unusual jutsus,” Kakashi replied, inwardly relieved that his flash of insight paid off. “Didn’t anyone tell you? Chakra is the mix of physical energy of our cells and the spiritual energy in our minds. Your ghosts are spiritual, judging from how they took the physical energy in my body. But jutsus are a mix of the two which logic dictates would at least be partially effective. I just picked an element which could pick up the slack, namely fire!”
“Scheiße!” Caster cursed, but at the same time he wasn’t angry at losing a fight but rather upset with himself for not taking something into account which should have been readily obvious.
Sakura, well, she was feeling overwhelmed. When she had decided she wanted to be a ninja, confronting ghosts wasn’t one of the things she ever imagined seeing herself doing. Her thoughts were more along the lines of going on romantic missions with Sasuke. She always heard that ninjas had a very adventurous lifestyle. However, she thought that she had to wait until she made Chuunin for that. Now, she was facing horrible danger and probably making herself look bad in front of Sasuke who was still going toe to toe with the masked ninja as if nothing else was going on.
The two in question struck at one another again and again, both of them ignoring everything around them to instead focus on their movements since one slip could mean taking a deathblow if it landed in the right spot. After a few more strikes, Haku pinned Sasuke’s hand in a parrying move, the kunai pressing against one another.
“Hm. You are quite good,” Haku praised. “But you won’t keep up for long. Although I doubt you’d be willing to just get up and leave.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Sasuke smirked back, feeling like he was the one with the advantage. In his mind, Haku likely wasn’t used to fighting people who could compete with his speed. So he just had to keep up a while and he could strike the masked ninja down.
“As I thought,” Haku nodded. “However, I’ve already lay the groundwork for two attacks,” Sasuke frowned at the mention of two attacks. He was only holding one senbon and the moment he went to grab another Sasuke could grab a second kunai and just keep the stalemate going. “One is the water which is laying around us courtesy of Zabuza-sama’s Mizu Bunshin. The second is that I have captured your arm so that you only have one hand to defend yourself with.”
Raising his hand up, Haku began positioning it in several gestures. At first Sasuke was unsure what it was, but in a flash of insight, he realized that Haku was making hand seals with only one hand. Something which up until that point Sasuke hadn’t thought possible!
“Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō!” Haku declared before stomping on the ground. The water around the two splashed as if part of a huge rock splashing in a pool. However, the water didn’t come back down and instead wrapped up into dozens if not hundreds of senbon needles. One may have considered water a poor material to make senbon from, but with the shapes water could take, razor sharp points of needles wasn’t too hard.
“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura cried out.
Sasuke grimaced at the sight of so many needles aimed at him and he didn’t doubt that they would be just as deadly as the one in Haku’s hand. To his credit, Sasuke kept his focus and managed to make up a plan to get out. Noticing one little flaw in Haku’s attack, he pulled up a hand seal and began to concentrate on molding his chakra. Haku noticed that Sasuke was up to something and quickly pushed the needles to fly, all of them surging at Sasuke all at once. He then leaped back at the last moment, allowing the needles to crash, splashing back into water.
Sasuke didn’t let the needles strike him, but instead he used the chakra in his feet to leap up into the air. As Haku skidded to a halt, he realized that Sasuke hadn’t been hit by the needles and there was no sign of the Last Uchiha since there was no blood.
Years of training under Zabuza suddenly kicked in as Haku leaped back, letting three shuriken dig into the bridge as he did so. He looked to above, searching for a sign of Sasuke as he continued back up. However, that was when he felt a presence behind him. Glancing over, he saw Sasuke behind him with a kunai in hand.
“Now you’re the one who has to worry about defending himself from my attacks,” Sasuke smirked.
‘So fast!’ Haku thought before Sasuke stabbed at him with his Kunai.
(LINE BREAK)
Hi no Kuni - Shores
The air was saturated with the sounds of destruction as the forests lining the shores of the ocean between Hi and Nami were being systematically torn apart. Blasts of dirt and soil could be seen shooting above the tree line before several of said trees fell, crashing to the ground in showers of dirt, bark, and leaves.
One tree was falling before it promptly exploded as Rider blasted through it at high speeds, his halberd aimed right at Saber.
“HRAAAAAH!” Saber bellowed, slashing wide with her sword. Both weapons clashed in a shower of sparks which diverted Rider as he blurred past on his horse. Still, the shockwave of the steed’s passing forced back, losing her balance for a moment before Rider came around for another blow.
“Why don’t you just surrender, Saber? You might be the Servant of the Sword but even a warrior like yourself cannot match my speed!” mocked Rider.
“Aren’t we feeling arrogant?” smirked Saber as she countered another blow. “Do you want me to surrender as you are afraid you do not have the ability to defeat me?”
Rider sneered and retaliated with an overhead strike to cleave Saber in half, only for the Saber from Konoha to parry with her sword before she spun on her heel to slash his steed on its flank. Rider’s Red Hare stumbled but then recovered quickly. A cut like this would do nothing to hamper him.
Saber scowled. If only if she had a steed of her own. Right now she was mostly stuck on the defensive and Rider was still on his horse. She needed to take out that blasted horse to make sure she could get to Rider. She didn’t want to resort to her Noble Phantasm, at least not this early in their fight.
“You know, ever since I met my Master, I’ve been waiting. Waiting for an opponent worthy of me. So far I’ve dealt with the warriors after my Master for the bounty on his head,” Rider told Saber. “But then I met you, Saber!”
“I’m so glad I get to please you, Rider!” Saber shot back sarcastically as steel clashed against steel. Saber needed to finish this fight quickly. While Kakashi was skilled there were still the amateur Genin under his care and Caster to worry about. Then there was her Master to be worried about as well. He was out of the chaos for the moment, but knowing him he’d be there at the bridge soon enough.
Dodging another charge from Rider, Saber hisses as she felt the heat from a near strike scrape against her shoulder armor. Standing up, she eyed one of the trees which fell nearby and got an idea. Approaching the downed tree, she reared back her leg and kicked the tree. Her natural strength allowed the tree to fly through the air as Rider made another charge.
“Hmph!” Rider snorted as he swing his weapon again, smashing through the tree like tissue. As the two logs fell away, Rider’s eyes widened when through the pulp and dust, Saber came charging from a leap into the air, thrusting her weapon at Rider’s chest. A normal human would have been pierced through the chest. Rider was not the average human and was able to bring back his weapon enough to block the strike although he couldn’t to fight back. The two weapons clashed once again.
The force took Rider clean off the back of his steed, having both Servants crash to the ground as Red Hare kept running.
“Tsk!” Rider grunted, pushing himself up. “I must be getting soft. Twice now you have dismounted me!”
“Oh, if only you knew who you faced,” Saber snickered, readying her sword again. “If you wanted a fight with honor then you will need to face another opponent. Honor has no place in a life of death battle. You must fight in order to win and survive.”
“Oh so true,” Rider agreed, raising his halberd. “Now fight!”
Both Servants charged, crashing their weapons against one another. They didn’t stop with just lashing out with their weapons though. Rider would lash out with kicks and Saber would strike out with punches. The force of their blows created shockwaves and their misses crashed against the soil, tearing up the ground, cratering it, leaving crushed earth in the process.
‘This isn’t getting me anywhere!’ Saber hissed mentally as she tried to keep up with Rider’s punishing blows. She needed something to change the odds or else Rider would slowly get the advantage and overpower her. He still had the strength and endurance to keep up with her and possibly overpower her if the fight went on. She needed something decisive!
A hard swing knocked her back, her boots digging into the ground as she went.
“Oh come now! This can’t be all!” Rider taunted. “Show me more Saber!”
“On your head be it then!” Saber hissed, charging at Rider once again.
Rider grinned, and hefted up his halberd. However, as he did so he hit a latch hidden on the weapon which caused hidden mechanics began to whir inside of it. The arc ornaments of the device abruptly unlocked and moved into a bow shape and flipped around to make a normal bow. The arches then extended to become a bow the size for someone of Rider’s size. A snap dislodged the item, allowing Rider to catch it before loading his halberd like an arrow while a flash of prana brought the string of the bow to the world as he drew back.
“Wh-what?” Saber blinked. What sort of ridiculous-!
“God Force!” Rider bellowed, the tip of his halberd/arrow shining before he unleashed it/
*BUH-WHOOOOOM!*
Unleashing the shot, the world for Saber went white and she was struck with enough force to make her think a god really had struck her. The ground ceased to exist and her body felt weightless. Her armor burned and a crackling noise echoed through her ears.
Saber hit the ground hard, her body shrieking in pain. Her vision blurred, but her training kicked in and she struggled to stand up again only she managed to get up to her knees, using her sword as a crutch. Her right pauldron was destroyed and her torso armor was cracked. What fabric of her outfit there was had been blackened by the intensity of the blast. Her entire right side was still smoking from the attack.
The surrounding territory was much worse. The forest had been cleared. In an inverted triangle, the entire landscape had been erased save for charred earth. Black smoke rose up into the air and rose like an omen to herald the end of the fight. Death was much closer now than it ever was before.
“You…” she hissed, feeling like her blood was literally boiling from the attack. Rider had used his Noble Phantasm and tricked her into charging at him so she would get in close!
Rider’s deep chuckles echoed through the haze her world had become. “Impressive Saber. Your armor must indeed be special so that you didn’t die from taking a blow like that.”
Saber panted and tried to move, but her limbs were weak and blood dripped out from under her helmet from her mouth. Taking a Noble Phantasm directly was never a healthy thing and much like Rider said, it was a damn miracle she survived. As it was, she managed to dodge to the side a few inches after he fired, this why her pauldron was destroyed and the right side of her suit taking more damage than the left side.
“So…” she managed to speak, more blood dripping from her mouth. “You are my opponent. How fitting. The General of Repetition himself. Lu Bu Fengxian”
“Ah, you discerned my name did you?” Rider grinned.
“It is not hard with a weapon as unique as yours,” Saber panted.
Lu Bu was an infamous general who served several lords during the Three Kingdoms period of China. With the war going on in the times, it wasn’t unusual for soldiers to move to new lords after old ones were defeated. However, Lu Bu had personally ended several of his previous lords before moving onto a new one until he felt they had betrayed him in some way. He had betrayed his first lord who gave him the position he held, and then betrayed his next lord who had become emperor. His military career was rife with victory and betrayal which was legendary in itself in a time of Confucian morals. It took one of the three great warlords Cao Cao to bring him down.
His weapon, God Force, wasn’t literally part of his story. It was created by a military advisor who built the weapon specifically for him. He pioneered the idea of a war god being found within Lu Bu and made the weapon to reflect that. Since the Heroic Spirits were influenced by people who believed in their stories, God Force was written into Lu Bu’s existence as a Servant which allowed him to use the multi-purpose weapon.
“So true,” Rider nodded, coming close enough so that Saber could at least make him out through her blurry eyes. His weapon was reconfigured back into halberd form. “Fortunately, you will not be in any position to use that information against me.”
Saber’s eyes narrowed as Rider prepared to thrust his weapon at her weakened torso armor.
(LINE BREAK)
Nami no Kuni - Bridge
Sasuke practically tasted victory as he stabbed at Haku. The masked ninja quickly struck back to try and defend himself, but now he was truly on the defensive instead of merely guiding the fight. Parrying several strikes, Sasuke saw his opening and stabbed at Haku’s face. Once he was down they could focus on the other two and-!
“Screeeeeeeee!”
That was when the misty form of one of Caster’s ghosts passed through Haku before slamming into Sasuke’s chest, sending him skidding backwards across the wet ground. It even had the presence of mind to bite Sasuke’s arm that held the kunai, causing the Genin to cry in pain and drop the weapon while a chunk of his physical energy was torn out of his body.
“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura cried.
“I’m...fine!” Sasuke grunted, getting back up. His arm felt a little numb but the feeling was returning. His chakra was slightly off balance though which meant he’d effectively had less to work with than before. Not good.
“Thank you, Sensei,” Haku whispered. Caster did not say anything as he lowered his cane, ready to strike again.
“You’re getting sloppy Haku,” Zabuza frowned. “Unless you start taking this seriously you’re going to end up getting killed by this kid you were hoping to spare.”
“Understood,” Haku sighed. They were after all Shinobi. To survive they would have to kill anyone who stood in their way or anyone who was a threat to them. So his path set, Haku began making more hand seals, “Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō!”
The water around Sasuke and Haku shuddered and shot into the air once again. This time, it formed into several rectangular panels which created a dome around the pair before it hardened into solid ice which was polished enough to be like a mirror.
“What?!” Kakashi gasped as he saw the technique. “Hyoton?!”
“Ah, so you recognize it do you Kakashi?” Zabuza smirked. “Yes. My little tool can use the Hyoton. Unlike those out in Yuki no Kuni though, Haku doesn’t need there to be already existing ice to use such techniques. He can naturally create it with his chakra alone, a true Kekkei Genkai.”
Kakashi frowned and immediately dashed to get Sasuke out of all the ice mirrors. However, his path was immediately cut off by Zabuza who dashed to meet him with his sword drawn. They both stopped before actually colliding, both knowing that making the first move could leave them open for a deadly counterattack.
“Now now Kakashi. Let the kids kill each other,” Zabuza taunted. “I’m your opponent here, remember?”
Inside of the dome, Haku stepped up to one of his mirrors before he stepped inside of it like it was a door instead of a slab of ice. Once he was completely inside the ice, all of the slabs began reflecting Haku’s image.
“Now let me show you some real speed,” Haku’s voice echoed from all of the mirrors at once. He produced a senbon and moved to position to throw it. Sasuke tensed, preparing for a senbon to come from him from any direction. Haku reared back his arm and threw his weapon. Instead of one weapon coming from a random direction, he was assaulted from all sides by numerous senbon, cutting him up severely and spilling his blood across the ground.
“AUGH!”
“Sasuke!” Kakashi cried, preparing to move.
“Interfere and Caster and I will kill the old man and the girl!” Zabuza snapped. “And trust me, he’s got even nastier tricks than even I do.”
“You wouldn’t even know what hit you should you try to attack my student,” Caster added, the light on his cane flaring ominously.
Sakura gasped as she watched Sasuke getting killed by inches with the high speed attacks. Admittedly, she froze up again at first when it happened but she managed to get her senses back. She knew her skill level wasn’t as high as Sasuke’s but there was still a little that she could do.
“Tazuna-san, I’m going to have to leave you for a moment,” Sakura warned the bridge builder.
“Do what you have to do. I’ll be fine,” Tazuna nodded. He didn’t want any of the kids dying just because of him. If it could get Sasuke out of his fix then he was all for it.
Nodding, Sakura dashed forward several steps before she took out a kunai. She knew she stood no chance if she went inside the dome. Still, Sasuke couldn’t do much if he was bare handed too. So taking aim, Sakura unleashed the kunai with the intent of getting it through the gaps in the ice blocks so Sasuke could get it, “Sasuke! Catch!”
The kunai seemed to be on the right path to helping Sasuke, however Haku likewise took notice of it as well. As the weapon flew closer, the reflection closest to it moved independently of the other reflections and emerged from the ice and easily captured the kunai in his grip, keeping it out of Sasuke’s hands and incidentally giving Haku a sturdier weapon to use.
“Oh no!” Sakura winced. Now the situation was now actually worse than it was before thanks to her.
Haku glanced at the girl, easily deeming her as not a threat. He prepared to go back and deal with Sasuke again when he noticed movement in the corner of his eye. Glancing, he gasped when he saw that it was a shuriken coming at him at high speeds. It was coming too fast and at too odd of an angle for him to deflect or even dodge.
“Haku!” Caster cried out, lifting his cane again.
The gesture was too late for the surprise attack. The shuriken collided with Haku’s face, scarring the once pristine mask and putting the boy off balance where he fell out of his mirror onto the ground. The shuriken continued going, but before it could go over the side of the bridge it exploded into white smoke with a loud poofing noise. Coming out of the smoke was the day-glo orange figure of Konoha’s self-proclaimed prank master.
“Naruto Uzumaki here to save the day!” Naruto cheered. “The hero always arrives at the last minute to save everyone!”
Kakashi sweatdropped at the introduction, ‘What we needed was an ambush! Now he’s just painted a target on himself!’
“Lucky me. Saber’s Master alone and unprotected,” Zabuza smirked, drawing a handful of shuriken before Kakashi could stop him and launching them at Naruto. At the same time Haku launched a handful of senbon.
‘Here it comes!’ Naruto grit his teeth as he drew his weapon. He wouldn’t be able to block them all but he was sure he could block most of them. It would still hurt like crazy though! He prepared to start moving, but to his surprise, the senbon collided with the shuriken and knocked them out of the air.
“Haku, what are you doing?” Zabuza frowned. “Are you forgetting what we need to do to win the Holy Grail?”
“I know,” Haku nodded. “But I will defeat him myself. My way. For the sake of my dream.”
Zabuza snickered, “How charmingly naive of you. Very well. But we can’t let this chance slip through our fingers.”
“Understood,” Haku nodded.
“Eh?” Naruto blinked, but then he saw the glow of Caster’s cane to the side, eventually noticing the man himself. His eyes widened when he saw the man in black, easily recognizing him. He then turned back to stare at Haku who was staring back at Naruto. “H-Haku?”
“Yes,” Haku nodded, grabbing his mask and tossing it aside. His face was cold and stern, just the opposite from his first appearance in the forest. “We meet again Naruto.”
“Whu…!” Naruto gaped, looking back between Caster and Haku. “Wait...why are you helping this guy Haku?! I thought you were a good person! Don’t you know what Gato’s doing to this place? They need the old man and this bridge!”
“I know,” Haku nodded. “But do you not remember what I said? About having something or someone truly precious?”
Naruto frowned.
“Zabuza-sama is my precious person,” Haku smiled. “The one who saved me from the darkness of my life after my own father wanted to kill me just because of my abilities. For him, I would do and become anything to ensure that his ambitions become reality.”
“But he’s-!” Naruto sputtered.
“It is the truth of the world, that one must destroy others in order to make their dreams reality,” Haku replied. “But you will have to excuse me. Sensei, please keep Naruto busy while I deal with his teammate.” He then turned and stepped back into his mirror, filling them all with his reflection again.
“Of course,” Caster nodded. Waving his staff, he manifested more of his ghosts which immediately began flying towards Naruto.
“Woah! Hey!” Naruto cried, yelping as the ghosts attacked him, wrapping around him and glowing with the same energy which Caster’s cane was alive with. Somehow, it allowed the ghosts to be able to wrap around Naruto and pin him down like ropes, pinning his arms and legs. “Grrr! Caster you jerk! Lemme go!”
“I don’t think so,” Caster shook his head. “My student will be along to deal with you shortly, Master of Saber.”
Sasuke grimaced as he watched Naruto get pinned down by Caster. For once, he couldn’t scoff at the dobe for being an idiot. It was just as likely to happen to him if he wasn’t busy with the ice using ninja instead of his Servant. Still, he had to focus or else he was going to die in the dome of ice and the Uchiha Clan would truly be dead and gone!
‘Still, if I’m dealing with ice then the only thing to use is fire!’ Sasuke thought to himself as he activated a jutsu. “Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” He unleashed the stream of flame on the mirrors, attempting to bathe them in the flames and melt them down so he could escape. As he ran out of breath, he cut off the flames and let them pass, but was shocked to discover that the slabs of ice were as pristine as ever. “What?!”
“Weak flames like that won’t melt my ice,” Haku shook his head, preparing for another attack. In another blue, Sasuke was knocked back with more wounds opening up on his body with splatters of blood.
“Look slike your boy isn’t doing so well Kakashi. Maybe you should have let him run while you got the, UGH!” Zabuza began to taunt, but he then immediately doubled over. He leaped back, leaving Kakashi free.
“Zabuza-sama?!” Haku gasped, halting his assaults.
Zabuza landed near Caster, hunched over and gasping. His hand was alight with red from his Command Seals. He could feel his chakra being sucked into them and funneled over to Rider. “Rider must be having a harder time of it than I thought.”
“He is using his Noble Phantasm?” asked Caster.
“Yeah,” Zabuza nodded. “Damn, I didn’t think it would cause such a-!”
*BUH-WHOOOOM!*
All of the combatant’s froze and turned to see what the massive explosion was. On the far side of the waters separating Name and Hi, a wave of yellow energy tore through the land, destroying whole tracts of forest in the process. The sheer power in the blast brought everyone to a halt as they watched it spread from a single point before eventually fading out. Pillars of smoke rose from the area, indicating that some fires were still burning at the edges of the attack.
“What...was that?” Tazuna gasped.
“Nothing good,” Kakashi frowned, fearing that Saber was in trouble. He turned back to face the force they were up against. His first priority was his students and he dashed towards Naruto and Sasuke to free them and keep them alive.
“I think not!” Caster barked, casting his magic once again. Kakashi suddenly felt something grab his leg and he stumbled, landing on the ground. Looking over his shoulder, he saw another of Caster’s wraiths rising from the ground of the bridge, clutching his leg with a screech. More ghosts followed, grabbing Kakashi’s arms and body to keep him pinned.
“That won’t keep him down long!” Zabuza barked. “Finish them Haku!”
“Yes Zabuza-sama!” Haku nodded, drawing more senbon.
Sasuke frowned and Haku began to move once again. His eyes darted about, seeing the senbon moving and he pushed himself to move. Sadly, it wasn’t fast enough as senbon pierced his shoulders, his legs, and stuck into his back. Again and again the needles dug into him or sliced open his flesh, but not one of them managed to land anywhere lethal.
‘Something’s not right,’ Haku thought as he watched Sasuke eye the reflections. ‘I’m moving too fast for most adults to keep up with but he has been able to dodge my strikes, keeping them from hitting vital areas. He’s able to see something.’
Haku knew he had to end the fight quickly before Sasuke managed to figure something out. He had to anticipate where Sasuke was going to be and trick him into going there and make himself a target for the next attack.
‘Stay focused,’ Sasuke told himself, concentrating on Haku’s movements, looking for any sign that one of the reflections was about to move before the others. A sign that the attack was coming. He was concentrating so much that he was ignorant of the sensation of his eyes...changing. The iris turned blood red and had tomoe beginning to spin around his pupils, his right eye sporting two of them while his left eye only had one.
In that next moment, Haku moved...and Sasuke could see it happening. Before his very eyes, Sasuke could see Haku leaping through the different mirrors at high speeds, creating the illusion that he was in fact attacking from every mirror at once. Sasuke instead saw one Haku diving between mirrors and making attacks from different angles. Sasuke stepped around the senbon attacks before Haku came for the direct strike aimed at Sasuke’s heart. The Last Uchiha frowned before he leaped, dodging Haku entirely before he slipped across the floor and Haku leaped back into the protection of his mirrors.
‘He wasn’t fooled! He wasn’t even confused!’ Haku gasped. Turning to examine Sasuke again, he had to gasp when he saw that Sasuke’s eyes had changed to transform into the infamous Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.
Haku felt himself tense, now understanding why Sasuke was able to begin seeing and avoiding the attacks. His Sharingan was activating! It began filling him with doubt, knowing some of the abilities of the Sharingan by watching Kakashi’s fight with Zabuza. Like all ocular Kekkei Genkai it would be dependant on the Uchiha’s ability to see him for it to have any effect on him or his attacks.
‘I’ll have to time this perfectly,’ Haku thought to himself, drawing his next round of senbon.
Once more he darted out of the mirror, Sasuke watching him go. Haku made several of his attacks, Sasuke promptly leaped or diving out of the way thanks to his eyes perceiving his attacks. But with the senbon thrown at him, he had to constantly dodge and move, keeping his vision slightly blurred and focused elsewhere besides on him. He kept Sasuke turning, kept him looking around, kept his attention elsewhere. He was relying so much on his sight to tell him where the attacks were he kept losing track of the attacker.
And then Haku had his back.
‘There!’ Haku thought, casting his senbon again.
*THUNK!*
“GUH!” Sasuke gasped.
“NO!” Kakashi cried out.
“...” Naruto gaped, his struggling halted.
Both could see inside the dome of mirrors and Sasuke had stopped moving, stopped trying to protect himself. The main reason for that was the several senbon which were piercing his neck, blood dribbling down the points. He staggered for a few moments before he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Sasuke…?” Naruto gaped.
“Is this the first time a comrade has died in your sight?” Haku asked, stepping out of the mirrors. “I apologize, but it is the way of things. He died like a shinobi though. If that is any solace to you, I hope it brings comfort.”
Naruto looked up to Haku, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. In that moment, he never hated anything as much as he hated Haku. Not the people who mistreated him, not the shopkeepers who spoke smack about him behind his back, and not even the mothers who told their children not to play with him. He hated Haku more than any of the others who mistreated him previously in his life.
Haku had to die.
“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!”
Naruto’s body seemed to erupt with orange chakra which exuded hate and malice like no human could comprehend. His nails sharpened into claws and his whisker marks became thicker while his eyes turned blood red and slitted. The wraiths clutching his body screamed in pain and were flung off as the hateful chakra grew thicker. The waves rose higher, forming into a large beastial head which looked much like a fox’ with razor teeth.
(LINE BREAK)
Hi no Kuni - Forest
Back with Saber, she watched Rider preparing to strike her down with a single thrust. In that next moment, she suddenly felt a blast of new prana flood into her body. However, it wasn’t the normal flood of prana which she normally received from Naruto. This power was...like a fire running through her body. A fire in her very blood. It energized her, but it was burning her at the very same time.
“HRAAAAAAAAGH!” she bellowed, red power exploding off of her body in a destructive sphere. Rider leaped back, confused at what Saber was doing, a suicide attack? A stall tactic? Saber stood up again as the red power splashed over her body, repairing the damage which had been done to her armor by Rider’s Noble Phantasm.
“What is this?!” Rider demanded with a growl.
“It seems…” Saber panted in exhilaration and pain. “I cannot...stay to play…anymore.”
Saber hefted her sword up which began to collect the power of the red haze which surrounded her. As the power began to sink into the weapon, Saber’s helmet began to glow. It split down the centre before the helmet flashed red and seemed to...merge into her torso armor, creating horns which travelled around her collar and thicker collar armor. Her face was revealed, her hair in its usual messy ponytail as it whipped about from the energy swirling around.
“What is-?!” Rider gasped, but he didn’t get the chance to continue as Saber’s sword began to shine a deeper blood red.
“Clarent…” Saber snarled, looking like she was in pain just as much as she was feeling the adrenaline. “Blood…” The red storm of power swirled even more, making the scenery appear as if a bloody storm. Tensing her arm, Saber unleashed her attack. “ARTHUR!”
One swing unleashed a devastating blast of red power in a stream which burrowed through the land, ripping it up like a beast through flesh rather than simply destroying it like Rider’s previous attack had done. Rider grimaced at the oncoming attack and swiftly began disassembling his weapon again, forming the bow and arrow he needed to make his next attack.
“God-!” he began.
“HRAAAAAAHHHHH!” Saber screamed, pushing even more of her prana, that painfully pleasurable prana into her attack, causing the attack from her sword to increase in size and speed. The extra burst of speed over took Rider in a haze of red.
“GAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Rider bellowed, blasted off of his feet by the oncoming attack and vanishing inside the red haze.
Saber screamed further even as the attack dwindled and when it died she dropped to her knees. Her body trembled from extreme pain from the use of her Noble Phantasm, but fuelling it with that destructive power her Master flooded her with made it pleasurable at the same time, almost orgasmic. It was like her body was being torn in two directions which just made the agony worse and sweeter all at the same time.
“I must have...words with...ngh...Master...about this…” Saber grunted, pulling herself up to her feet. Standing up, her armor flashed before her helmet, the Secret of Pedigree, returned to her head and concealing her identity once again. She wobbled slightly, but worked on getting her balance and her breath back.
“Guuuuh.”
Saber looked to the path of ravaged destruction she cast through the already ruined forest and saw several rocks shift and move before Rider emerged. His armor was a loss, half his face was burned, and blood dripped from numerous wounds made across his body. However, on each of his arms looked like bracers that looked like the head of his halberd but split in half. They were blackened and smoking somewhat heavily, but they were still intact.
“So…” he grunted, spitting out a mouthful of blood. “You are the Knight of Betrayal. How fitting we...fight each other.”
“Unlike you,” Saber hissed, “I do not take pleasure in that title.” Lifting her sword again with some effort, she prepared to finish off Rider once and for all. “Let us finish this!”
“Heh!” Rider snickered. “In any other occasion, I would oblige. However, something is occurring which requires our attention elsewhere.” He pointed over to the bridge where an orange haze was cutting through the mist which Zabuza had put up around it. “As much as I would prefer to fight you, my Master’s safety takes priority.”
“Tsk!” Saber hissed, seeing the ominous sight. Rider would have to wait as he said, her Master took priority! “Very well, but be warned Rider. The moment this crisis is dealt with, if I see you I will kill you!”
Rider grinned before he gave a sharp whistle. A loud neigh echoed from the forest remains and Red Hare came charging towards its master. Rider adjusted himself and as his horse raced past, he grabbed the reins and pulled himself onto the beast, charging towards the bridge and the source of the strange occurrence.
“RIDER!” Saber snarled, running in the same direction, albeit at a much slower speed than the horse.
(LINE BREAK)
Nami no Kuni - Bridge
Kakashi felt horror dawn on him as he saw the Kyuubi’s chakra flare around Naruto. It was one of the few times he could honestly say that he was on the verge of panic. Still, he managed to keep his cool to an extent and remember what he had to do. The only good thing about the fox’s chakra appearing was that it seemed to terrify the wraiths Caster was using and they had let Kakashi go in their panic to get away.
“Naruto!” Kakashi yelled, trying to get his student’s attention. “Naruto, you have to calm down or else the Kyuubi will get free!”
“NO! HE KILLED SASUKE!” Naruto bellowed, his voice warped and full of rage. “I’M GONNA KILL HIM!”
Haku could only gape at the boy who had been so sunny and happy only a short time ago despite it being a battle situation, “Just what on Earth is going on?” he drew more senbon, preparing to attack.
“Haku, no! We have no idea what we’re dealing with!” Caster cried to his Master.
Haku however did not listen and tossed the senbon to try and stop Naruto before he could begin his rampage. Naruto merely snarled and his chakra flared, knocking the senbon out of the air before they could even rip his jumpsuit. Haku didn’t even have time to marvel at it before Naruto leaped at him, his leg muscles cracking the portion of the bridge he was standing on before flying at high speeds at Haku. To his credit, Haku managed to leap into a mirror and then to another to get away, but Naruto merely bellowed and smashed through the slab of ice like it was nothing. Undeterred, Naruto leaped for another of the mirrors, smashing through it as Haku struggled to make it to another mirror.
“This is too much for the boy!” Caster cried. Reaching to his mask, he adjusted it with a twist so that his mouth was visible and he could see through one eye. “Mephistopheles! Do something!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” a voice echoed from Caster’s shadow, announcing the arrival of the black-suited man who seemed connected to Caster. Taking one look at the scene, he whistled, “Well, you boys really stepped into it now. You went and pissed off one of the jinchūriki. Smart move.”
“So Konoha did keep the Kyuubi after the attack,” Zabuza frowned.
“Spare me the data, can you stop him?” demanded Caster.
“Oh sure,” Mephistopheles grinned. “Just be prepared the pay the price. These guys are pretty special in the grand scheme of things.”
“THEN DO IT!” Caster bellowed.
“Heh!” the man in black grin before he dashed forward towards the battle itself. Kakashi saw him approaching and likewise moved to intercept him.
“Make yourself useful and stop that blasted ninja!” Caster demanded of Zabuza. The drained swordsman frowned, but he took the order and charged to fight Kakashi. Zabuza leaped past Mephistopheles and landed in front of Kakashi, taking a swing at him which the one-eyed Jounin ducked to avoid.
“I don’t have time to deal with you Zabuza!” Kakashi frowned, grabbing his hitae-ate and lifting it to reveal his Sharingan eye.
“Tough. You’ll have to,” Zabuza fired back.
Inside the dome of ice, more slabs were destroyed as Haku struggled to keep out of Naruto’s reach, but just as the Kyuubi’s chakra made him monstrously aggressive, it was also boosting his abilities to a ridiculously high degree for someone of his skill level. Haku was running out of room and he needed to concentrate to make more mirrors.
Leaping from one of his last mirrors, Haku felt his arm get grabbed before he was slammed down to the ground with an agonizing slam, causing him to spit up blood. His vision clouded, but he could see Naruto’s face still snarling above him.
‘I’m dead...I’ve failed...’ Haku thought bitterly.
“Why…?”
“Eh?” Haku blinked, his vision clearing. Naruto still looked as beastial as ever but...something was different. His eyes...his eyes were slightly different, blue bleeding back into the red.
“Why do you follow someone like him?” Naruto snarled, struggling with his rage. “He doesn’t give a damn about anything but how he’s going to get paid next! You said true strength comes from protecting someone precious! What’s so precious about him?!”
“Zabuza-sama,” Haku smiled weakly. “When one person in the whole world finds worth in you, takes you in out of the cold, how can they be anything but precious?”
“What?” Naruto growled.
“Special delivery from hell!”
Naruto looked up before Mephistopheles’ first met his chin, knocking him into the air before grabbing his foot and slamming him down into the ground again. Naruto gagged from the pain before the man in black reared back his fist and slammed it down onto his stomach, causing an intense burning sensation to fill his gut, “BRAHHH!”
“Oh, this is quality stuff,” Mephistopheles grinned, his fist glowing, causing something under Naruto’s shirt to begin glowing as well. “Whoever did this seemed to have a clue as to what he was doing. Making deals with angels of death though, that’s a ballsy move.”
“Mephisto-san?” Haku coughed, sitting up.
“Be with you in a minute kiddo,” Mephistopheles waved to Haku. “Just gonna put the brute here to sleep and-!”
*BU-WHOOOM*
For the second time, a blast was heard from the opposite side of the bridge and this time a stream of bloody red power burst through the already destroyed landscape. It didn’t cause anyone to freeze, the ominous power of the Kyuubi’s chakra demanding more of their attention, but Mephistopheles sure took notice of it.
“The general’s gonna feel that one tomorrow,” he snickered before looking back down at Naruto who was still screaming about the burning in his gut. “Normally I’d just kill you kid, but that would just ruin the whole adventure now wouldn’t it? So...Kurama, was it? Why don’t you just take a nap instead?”
A sharp twist of his fist caused the light to flare and Naruto screamed again, but the chakra swirling around him blinked out and his features returned to normal. His work complete, he left Naruto to get up and almost barf from being hit in the stomach like he was.
“What...what did you do?” Naruto heaved, glaring up at Mephistopheles.
“Just told that beast in your gut to calm down,” the man in black shrugged. “He’s one tough cookie I have to admit. The Doktor isn’t going to be in good shape for a while with the amount of juice I had to use for this particular job though.”
“Sensei?” Haku looked back to Caster and paled. The Servant was on his knees, panting heavily and had apparently barfed several times since Mephistopheles activated his spell. The copious amounts of red in the fluid coughed up showed that it was more than just some quick illness.
“Working with the kid’s gut required he twist and purge his own. Faustian Bargains suck that way,” Mephistopheles shrugged. “Good thing he didn’t ask me to get rid of the thing or kill the kid. With how much he’s intertwined in things here it may be more than he could pay.”
“Sensei!” Haku cried, running towards the downed Caster.
“I-I’m fine,” Caster grunted, holding himself up by his cane. “Just...just need some prana and I will be fine.”
“My chakra is yours! Take as much as you need!” Haku insisted, holding his Servant’s arm.
Naruto grimaced, pinned by his own pain and nausea and confusion as to how someone so good like Haku could follow someone like Zabuza. Especially when he had a cool-looking guy like Caster looking out for him.
Meanwhile, the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza had hit full throttle. Kakashi was attempting to use his Sharingan to help him take on Zabuza, but it was failing him. During the course of the conflict, the fog had thickened to the point in which neither he nor Zabuza could see through it. It didn’t matter to Zabuza though, having the Sairento Kiringu technique which allowed him to hunt by sound alone which Kakashi could not. That advantage also allowed Zabuza to strike Kakashi across the chest with his sword, leaving a deep gash which was bleeding freely.
‘I can’t see him, but I know a way to sniff him out!’ Kakashi winced, pulling a scroll out of his flak vest. Unrolling it completely, he dabbed his finger into the blood on his chest and smeared a line across the writing before a hidden mechanism rolled the entire scroll up again. Holding it, he pressed it into the ground and cast a jutsu.
“Here I come Kakashi!” Zabuza’s voice taunted from the mist.
“Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!” Kakashi declared
Zabuza burst from the mist and prepared to strike when the ground around him cracked and burst. From the holes, several dogs of various breeds emerged and clamped down on Zabuza’s body. Two particularly large bulldogs seemed to take a pleasure at tearing into his arms.
“Wh-what?!” Zabuza gasped, half-stunned with the pain of his muscles being torn by animal fangs.
“If your eyes and ears fail you, you can still always follow your nose. It’s even easier when it’s my own blood I have to follow,” Kakashi frowned, standing up again. “Now, I once recall saying I foresaw your death.” Kakashi flexed his hand as sparks of chakra converted into electricity began to course through his hand. “I think that prediction is about to come true.”
“Grrr!” Zabuza growled.
Kakashi prepared his next attack which would end the fight and…
“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura screamed out. “Look out!”
Kakashi’s eye widened when he saw the fog begin to darken before a shape burst into his vision. The mounted form of rider, looking like pure hell, came charging onto the scene with his halberd aimed directly at the dogs keeping Zabuza pinned down. Kakashi quickly made a hand gesture which dismissed all of the dogs in puffs of smoke. Rider in turn reached out with his other hand and picked up Zabuza, racing back to the opposite side of the bridge where the rest of their group was waiting.
“Dammit,” Kakashi cussed. A clanking noise sounded off behind him, prompting him to look back and see Saber approaching with a slight limp in her step. “Good to see you still with us.”
“I’m elated,” Saber grunted. Approaching the battle, she saw Naruto stumbling back from the hunks of ice which were slowly melting on the bridge. “And what is my Master doing here?!”
“He came on his own,” Kakashi replied.
“Blast!” Saber cursed before running to where Naruto was trying to recover. Grabbing him by the back of his jumpsuit, she noticed Sasuke’s body as well. Sighing in resignation and forgetting to scold her Master, she grabbed the both of them with one hand and brought them back over to Kakashi. “My condolences.”
“Later,” Kakashi sighed. “We’re not done yet.”
Zabuza groaned and dropped to his knees, panting. He could barely feel his arms thanks to Kakashi’s summons ripping into his biceps. Some damage was done to his calves, making him think one of the animals had nicked a tendon, compromising his mobility. With Rider sucking down his chakra to recover his wounds, he was as close to dead as he had ever been.
“My apologies,” Rider frowned, dismounting his steed. “Saber managed to strike me with her own Noble Phantasm while I was off guard. She’s been weakened though, but it won’t be as easy to take advantage of that as I thought.”
“No,” Zabuza growled. “Probably not.”
On their own side, Sakura and Tazuna were running to reconvene with Naruto and Kakashi, but Sakura froze when she saw Sasuke down and pierced with so many senbon through the throat. “Sasuke-kun…?”
“...” Naruto grimaced, the crushing grief of seeing his teammate die returning now that his rage was spent.
“Sakura, I know it hurts,” Kakashi reasoned as Sakura struggled not to cry as she kneeled over Sasuke’s body. Likely the one lesson Kakashi really didn’t mind being ignored was the one which stated shinobi had to be heartless. But at the same time there was a time and place for things. “But right now we need you to stay focus. We can mourn when we’re finished here.”
Sakura nodded, fighting oh so hard to not cry but she couldn’t help it. Tazuna watched with sympathy, placing a hand on her shoulder. For the pinkette, it was like her whole world was collapsing. First the rose-coloured vision of being a ninja was broken right before her eyes and the reality of the profession was hammered into her. Then the fact that the boy she was certain would be her one true love being dead just made it all worse for her.
It was a tense moment for the group, but it was quickly broken by the soft snickering of someone new. Looking to the incomplete end of the bridge, many eyes widened when they saw a small mob of swordsmen all blocking the end of the bridge. Standing in front of them all was a short man with glasses and an insufferably smug look on his lips.
“Gato!” Tazuna growled.
“Heh!” the crooked industrialist smirked. “Looks like you’ve got quite a mess here Tazuna. You know, you really should have taken my offer to abandon this silly little project of yours. It would have saved us all some headaches.”
“So the cur shows himself,” Saber frowned. “Dare I ask what you want?”
“Oh, just securing my investment,” Gato smirked. “I really always did hate hiring ninjas from the major villages. There is always someone who kicks up a fuss when I betray and kill them so I don’t have to pay. Hiring Nukenin is so much more convenient since no one gives a damn if you die in some ditch somewhere. Inexpensive and efficient, my favorite words!”
“You asshole!” Naruto growled.
“Heh, like you can do anything about it now,” Gato snorted, unphased by Naruto’s insults. “Now with both sides being worn down, I can kill you all before I make an example of the bridge builder’s family and finally get this place under control!” Raising his arm, he gestured to the swordsmen under his employ. “Gentlemen, take out the trash!”
“HAAAAAAAAA!!” the thuggish Ronin and mercenaries all charged, raising their various implements as they prepared to kill everyone on the bridge.
Haku could see that Zabuza was injured and without his arms he would be unable to defend himself. He couldn’t even try to flee since the wounds on his legs would compromise his movements considerably. He had no choice but to help the man the only way he knew how.
“Mephistopheles-san, I wish to make a bargain,” Haku spoke.
“What?!” Caster cried.
“I’m listening,” Mephistopheles grinned.
“Please heal Zabuza-sama,” Haku ordered, his eyes on the approaching mob. “Take anything of mine that you need as payment.”
“Haku, no!” Caster cried in protest.
“Oh no worries Doktor,” Mephistopheles grinned. “I can’t take a soul for such a minimal task. Instead, the young lad will just have to pay with his flesh.” Grinning he snapped his fingers, causing the sound to echo ominously.
“AHHHHHH!” Haku suddenly screamed as pain lanced through his body. His biceps practically tore themselves open in gouts of blood and torn skin. His calves were punctured as if by an invisible force, spilling more blood and causing a tendon to nearly snap from the sudden wound. Inversely, Zabuza groaned in relief as his wounds closed themselves, only spilled blood showing that they were there a moment ago. As each wound was removed, Zabuza stood up with his sword again.
“Haku,” he whispered. “Thank you.”
“Guh...guh...I am...your tool...Zabuza-sama,” Haku panted, pain wracking his body. “Whatever it takes...to bring you...victory.”
“Caster,” Zabuza spoke to Caster who gently cradled Haku’s body. “Take care of Haku for me.”
“Of course, idiot,” Caster spoke darkly, causing his mischievous servant to laugh. Maybe once this was over, he could probably reprimand his Master for being so foolishly noble.
Zabuza nodded and headed up to the Konoha ninjas, ignoring how Naruto was gaping at what had just happened or while Sakura wept, trying to draw a kunai on the swordsmen. He looked straight to Kakashi with his eyes neutral for once, “It seems my contract has been broken. We’re no longer enemies in that case Kakashi. Are you willing to call a truce?”
“In the face of this, yes,” Kakashi nodded, tensing as he prepared for another fight.
“Bah! I will show these degenerates how to use a sword!” Saber huffed, obviously not considering the group of armed thugs a threat. No ordinary human really could compare to one such as her.
Rider approached, his armor regaining some of its pristine form as Zabuza’s chakra continued to flow into him, “I could beat these fools with a missing arm and no weapon!”
“Then prove it!” Saber challenged.
Gato grinned as the swordsmen all continued their charge. He could already anticipate the punishment he would lay out on the backwater fools on the island and finally make all of them see things his way. Did he like hurting people like this? Well, there was a certain pleasure to it but there were things Gato liked more. He was bringing a lot of potential revenue to the island nation. They should be thanking him! Granted, it would turn the place into a cesspit of crime and corruption but they’d be rich enough to move someplace else so long as they did what he said.
“Oh man, you really are one greedy bastard, aren’t you?”
Gato froze when he felt two hands grip his shoulders from behind. Frowning, he turned to look into the dark eyes of Mephistopheles who now had sharper teeth and the inside of his mouth being pitch black.
“Y-you!” Gato gasped.
“Me,” Mephistopheles nodded. “Now the Doktor made a deal with me on the provision that you break your word to our happy little troupe. Best of all, it won’t cost him a thing since my boss gets a nice piece of property to add to his offices.”
“Wh-what?” Gato trembled, trying to escape but found his feet stuck.
“Yessss!” Mephistopheles hissed in glee. “Do you know what happens to souls who delight in the sin of Avarice like you Gato?”
Around Gato’s feet, a red circle began to etch itself into the ground, the centre marked with a five-pointed star.
“A soul that steals hearth and gold, killing proud fathers in front of their weeping children?”
The circle began to thicken like blood was lining it, but Gato was too busy staring into Mephistopheles’ eyes to notice.
“A soul which leaves people to die where they lay, filling them with regret and pain for their afterlives? Never be set to rest?”
Mephistopheles’ smile vanished, looking more on like he almost pitied what was about to happen to Gato but found more amusement in it and only looked solemn out of professional courtesy. Gato wore a similar look when he fired people he didn’t like from his companies.
The circle lit up with molten light, like steel in liquid form. Smoke like from a smith belched from the circle while the sounds of machinery and gears could be heard above cackles of glee and screams of suffering.
“They go to the Fourth Circle of Hell, my friend! A place where the damned are sheared in gold presses! Buried in molten gold! Pressed for eternity among their peers! I think you’ll fit in quite well down there!”
“No!” Gato tried to run, but a burning sensation reached his legs which made him shriek in pain. Looking down, he saw arms covering in molten gold grabbing him while generic human faces lifted out of bubbling pools of gold, screaming in agony.
“It was just some gold!”
“Let me out! I had to enforce the debts!”
“It’s mine! Mine I tell you!”
“Let me out! I can pay!”
Gato screamed both in terror and pain as the thrashing damned yanked him down into their molten prisons. His suit, hair, everything which he used to identify how he was supposedly better than everyone else was burned away as he sank into the molten gold. His screams intensified as he was forced to swallow the molten gold, letting it sear his insides. Mephistopheles just shook his head, obviously used to seeing the sight many times before he promptly dunked Gato’s head deep into the gold. The circle then began to close and Mephistopheles lifted his arm out, where the gold hardened, but then cracked and fell off, sucked back into the shrinking hole. He actually buffed his nails on his suit as the circle vanished entirely with a belch of smoke. Finished with his hand, he looked to the massive impending fight which seemed to have frozen with everyone staring at him. “What?”
Tazuna managed to come out of it first, snorting, “Just what he deserved.”
“Exactly!” Mephistopheles grinned. “Nothing more, nothing less!”
Naruto snapped himself out of his funk next. It was a pretty freaky thing to see, but in a way undeniably cool too. Not that he’d want to experience it himself. Still, he couldn’t believe what was happening. Now Zabuza was on their side? He looked at Haku. The boy had sacrificed his own arms to heal Zabuza’s. While he had killed Sasuke, nobody evil would’ve done something like willingly let their arms be injured like that to help a comrade.
It made his head spin, but he could think about it later as he looked to the stunned swordsmen, “Yeah! How do you like that? We’ve got more stuff like that on our side too! Just try to get past us and you’ll all get dragged down like Gato did!”
All of Gato’s thugs had seen what Mephistopheles had done. If he could do that, could he do the same for them? They hesitated, but then one of them stood forward with foolish bravery and said, “There’s still more of us than there are of you!”
Rider scoffed, “You really think numbers like yours is a match for us Servants? Right now, you are but ants. Even a hundred ants can be killed with one foot!”
Several of the thugs flinched, but it seemed mob mentality was winning over the majority of them. They honestly thought with their numbers they stood a chance since all of the others looked beaten all to hell. Add the fact that their meal ticket had just died, they were determined to make some kind of profit for themselves even if they had to sack and loot the whole damn island.
As the thugs prepared to attack, loud voices could be heard shouting.
“GO AWAY!”
“WE DON’T WANT YOU HERE!”
“GET OFF OUR ISLAND!”
As the mist finally began to clear, people were seen at the Nami side of the bridge, making for a group easily the size of the swordsmen or even larger. All of them were armed with crossbows, fishing spears, and in some cases homemade weapons. Surprisingly enough, the one leading them all was Inari who was armed with a kid’s crossbow and was wearing a skillet on his head for makeshift armor.
“Everyone…” Tazuna gasped.
“Hey, Inari!” Naruto cheered.
“Heh!” Inari grinned. “The hero comes in at the last minute, right?”
The swordsmen now began losing their nerve as they were faced with a resistance of a whole damn island nation along with a bunch of ninjas and their allies. Were they all samurai then they might have a chance, but the vast majority of them were just mercenary thugs out for a score. What few trained swordsmen there were outcasts who hadn’t finished their training, didn’t know any special techniques, and spent a lot of their time avoiding fights with ninjas.
Their nerve quickly broke. Yelling in fear, they all ran to the gangplank they used to get onto the bridge and loaded up on to the boat. They didn’t wait for all of their fellows to be on before they tried to pull away. It didn’t stop those remaining thugs for leaping of the bridge, landing in the water or hurting themselves by landing on the boat itself. They couldn’t get away from the defenders quickly enough.
“We did it!” Inari cheered. “They’re gone!”
A roar of cheers rose up from the islanders, finally finding their pride as a people and their freedom after so long under Gato’s boot. The feeling of liberation felt like euphoria to the people and the ninjas couldn’t help but feel a little swept up in the celebration.
Saber looked to where their former opponents were standing, but found only an empty space. Caster, Rider, and their Masters were gone. She felt some annoyance at that, but she really should have expected it considering she was dealing with the Caster and General of Repetition who had ninjas for Masters. Of course they would cut out when everyone was distracted. Still, as Servants they were destined for battle. They would find each other again eventually.
“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura’s cry overcame the noise of revelry. Saber feared the girl was going through heartbreak, but looking at the scene everyone was shocked to see Sasuke sitting up weakly with Sakura hugging him tightly.
“Well I’ll be,” Kakashi shook his head. Walking closer, he spotted the senbon in Sasuke’s neck and from what he remembered from his ANBU medical training, the senbon were all avoiding anyplace vital. If he wasn’t mistaking, the senbon were just piercing spots which would induce temporary unconsciousness. “I guess that Haku boy wasn’t as cold as he liked to portray.”
“Ya-ha!” Naruto cheered, although his cheering was somewhat hiding the fact that he was about to cry in relief at seeing his teammate alive after all.
“Oh boy,” Tazuna sighed in relief, scratching his head. “Well, what are we waiting around here for? Let’s get everyone here some medical attention! Then we can celebrate!”
“YEAH!!!”
(LINE BREAK)
Nami no Kuni - Forests
“Just hold on Haku,” Zabuza spoke to his ward. “We’ll get you a bed soon enough and Caster can fix you up.”
“Yes Zabuza-sama,” Haku winced.
The group of four were racing through the woods, heading back to the base Gato had constructed for their operations. Once they got there, they could hide out for a little while, long enough to get Haku patched up again. With Gato dead, his cronies are going to try and loot everything to line their own pockets. Also the Konoha ninjas would make reports once they got back to Konoha and the Hokage would alert real Oinins to their location so staying in Nami wasn’t going to be a wise decision.
Running through several groves, Zabuza halted when he felt the Command Seals on his hand begin to tickle. It was a sharp contrast to the burning sensation he got around Saber, but it didn’t give him a sense of security like it would have were it to happen to Naruto. Coming to a stop, he tensed as he waited for what was going to come next. Neither Caster, Rider, nor Haku asked why they had stopped. They knew what was coming.
They got the answer when a gold light manifested the form of another Servant. This one was a giant of a man, standing head and shoulders above any of the others. His chest was protected bt a polished bronze set of armor which was made to look like muscles. His arms were bare, but his forearms were wrapped in leather gauntlets which left his fingers free. Wrapped around his shoulders was a ragged red cape which hung ominously. He wore a metal plated leather kilt and bronze greaves and sandals on his feet. On his back was a shield that was round and so big it could have protected a man’s entire body just by ducking behind it. In his hand was a simple spear, but one so big it could have been used as a mast for a small boat. His face was hidden away by a bronze and gold helmet of the Greeks with a red mohawk rising from his helmet on a gold base.
“Lancer,” Rider frowned, his body trembling not out of fear but because his body was pinned from even trying to move into an aggressive stance.
“Rider, Caster,” the tall man nodded, his voice booming.
“So, where’s Ao?” Zabuza frowned. “You know you can’t fight us.”
“We won’t have to,” Lancer replied calmly.
Zabuza frowned, but obvious rustling came as several Oinin emerged from the forests. They all wore the blank masks of the Kirigakure Oinin, meaning they were the real deal instead of imposters like Haku. From directly behind Lancer of Kiri was a middle aged man wearing a gray suit and green haori. His hair was blue and done up in a moused style. Another unique characteristic was the eyepatch over his right eye which Zabuza knew housed a stolen Byakugan eye and the talisman-like earrings with the characters for ‘To hear’ written on them.
Zabuza tensed, but he knew he was in no shape to fight even if he had Rider and Caster on his side. Ao was one of the veterans of the Kirigakure Oinins and not someone even he would want to fight. He came with backup and his own Servant Lancer.Just by being there it would limit Caster and Rider’s abilities thanks to that damn prohibition on fighting Servants from the same village.
“Zabuza,” Ao nodded.
“Ao,” Zabuza frowned back. “Here to kill me at long last?”
“No,” Ao shook his head. “Haven’t you heard the news? Yagura’s been overthrown and there’s a new Mizukage. The time of the Bloody Mist is over.”
“What?” Zabuza blinked. “Then who’s the Mizukage now?”
“Mei Terumi,” Ao answered.
“The leader of the rebels eh? Heard of her,” Zabuza nodded. It was hard not to hear about her, one of those rare two people who had two Kekkei Gebkai in the Yoton and Futton. “What does she want with me?”
“She wants you to come back to Kiri,” Ao explained. “With the restructuring, Kiri needs to consolidate its strength so we’re trying to bring the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. That’s where you come in.”
Zabuza frowned at the explanation. Were it anyone else explaining it, he’d consider it a load of bull. But Ao was a noted member of the rebels since according to the stupid paranoia Yagura spouted to the people he had a Kekkei Genkai since he had stolen that eye of his. He may have well been born with it for the scorn it got him.
“I also assume this new Mizukage wants Caster and Rider back in the village?” he asked.
“When she’s not busy flirting with her Saber,” Ao muttered under his breath, but Zabuza’s sharpened hearing managed to catch it and he cracked a grin under his bandages. “Yes. We need all of Kiri’s Servants accounted for if we hope to win the Holy Grail War.”
Zabuza glanced back to the wounded Haku on his back before looking back to Ao, “Fine. You got us. Now get out of my way so we can get Haku someplace so Caster can patch him up.”
“Of course,” Ao nodded with a small grin. “Lead the way.”
Nodding, Zabuza took off and began leaping through the trees for the base again.
(LINE BREAK)
Nami no Kuni - Bridge (Two Weeks Later)
With Gato gone and all of his remaining thugs being run out of town by newly inspired townspeople, work on the bridge went like light speed compared to how slow it was before. In just two short weeks, the bridge was completed and both Hi no Kuni and Nami no Kuni were officially connected and no longer dependant on just shipping. Eventually, their economy would be restored. And with the bridge complete, the Konoha ninjas had finished their mission.
The entire nearby town came out to wish the ninjas goodbye with Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari at the forefront.
“Well, thanks to you our country is free and the bridge is finished,” Tazuna sighed sadly. “But it’s going to be pretty dull without you.”
“We’re just thankful for your hospitality while we stayed here,” Kakashi smiled.
“Heh! No problem Tazuna!” Naruto grinned. “Just say the world and we’ll come back and throw a party or something!”
“You’d better!” Inari warbled, again struggling not to cry at seeing someone he adopted as an older brother leaving.
“Yeah…” Naruto warbled himself, likewise struggling not to cry. “Anyway, Inari, don’t let it get you down! You can cry if you really want to!”
“I-I’m not gonna cry!” Inari shouted. “B-But you can if you want to Naruto-nii!”
“M-Me? No way!” Naruto huffed, turning around. “W-well, time for me to go!”
Once both boys weren’t looking at each other, they both let loose with streams of tears complete with runny noses. Saber chuckled lightly and rubbed the top of Naruto’s head, causing the boy to sputter but his tears just didn’t stop. So with some fond farewells, the group headed out on their long trek back to Konoha.
“That kid,” Tazuna chuckled, watching them go. “I just thought he was a brat, but he managed to touch Inari’s heart and bridge out to everyone else.”
“Speaking of bridges,” commented Gichi. “We have to name this one.”
“I got a name picked out already,” Tazuna grinned. “How about The Great Naruto Bridge?”
“That?” Tazuna’s old friend blinked. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” the man nodded. “By naming it that, I hope that our bridge will last forever and represent hope and strength for everyone in years to come.”
“Ah,” Gichi nodded. “In that case, it fits perfectly.”
"Yeah!” Inari sniffled with a grin.
To Be Continued…
A/N: And the Wave Arc comes to a close. Zabuza and Haku escape only to be brought back to Kiri where the other Servants of Kiri reside. The Holy Grail War has become a continental affair and who knows how chaotic it can get with the Chuunin Exams coming up.
another great chapter!
ReplyDeleteFitting punishment for gato and how did Pheles know Kurama's name?
So Mei has a a Saber...Gawain perhaps?
Would the kiri caster happen to be a certain necromancer
ReplyDeletethey live! and the chunin exams are going to be crazy the sand siblings are definitely going to be masters i predict rider for temari, lancer for kankuro, and berserker for gaara
ReplyDeleteWhat about Liz (From Fate Extra CCC) for Gaara? She was a Berserker a t some point
DeletePersonally I think Temari would have An Archer since they are both long range fighters and Kankuro would get An assassin since they usually use poisons like Kankuro
Delete