Chapter 23: Confusion
"This must be the same technique we took from that pair" Nodding, Naruto commented.
"Sensei!"
'Now he'll give his speech and then-' Noticing how Kakashi disappeared through the thick fog, Naruto swallowed saliva and concentrated as hard as he could while thinking, but before he could finish analyzing the situation, suddenly a figure appeared in front of him, and without even having time to react, a strong punch to the stomach made him open his eyes wide as all the air in his lungs was violently expelled and he fell to his knees without any strength whatsoever.
"That's for daring to step on my sword-Ugh!" Retracting his knee, Zabuza commented, but before he even finished his words, suddenly a kunai pierced his back.
Ignoring as Zabuza turned to water, Kakashi approached the kneeling Naruto and quickly asked "Are you okay!?"
"cough cough cough cough" With a violent cough as his gaze trembled and his saliva dripped, Naruto gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet, then nodded towards Kakashi and grunted "I-I've been better."
"Don't get sloppy again, Zabuza far surpasses that duo you faced" Nodding as he turns towards the mist, Kakashi glanced sideways at the liquid on the ground and thought 'I gave him an opening when picking Naruto up but he didn't fall... this will be tricky'
"Naruto."
"Y-yes?" Still having difficulty breathing and being in horrible pain, Naruto asked.
"I need you to protect that sword with everything you have, don't let Zabuza take it."
"I will" Gritting his teeth, Naruto brought his left hand to his arm and pulling up his sleeves he quickly removed the weight and dropped it, then quickly followed with the other.
Thud
Thud
Crossing his fingers, Naruto instantly formed hundreds of clones around him and they formed a defensive circle around the team but instead of looking at the forest around them, they stared straight towards the group with kunais in their hands, only to have two clones then approach Naruto and begin to remove the weights from his legs.
"Sasuke."
"Please."
Nodding, Naruto sent two clones towards Sasuke and they helped him remove the weights, to then look at the focused Kakashi and continue "I'll get information out."
"Go ahead."
Forming another dozen clones, Naruto nodded towards them and watched as they split up and ran off in all directions into the surrounding forest.
After several seconds of deathly silence, Naruto opened his eyes a little wider and shouted "By water, a dragon shaped technique!"
Appearing next to Sasuke, Kakashi quickly formed several seals with his hand and crouched down with his palms on the ground while shouting "Earth Element: Earth Wall Style!"
Rumble Rumble
With a loud noise as a thick wall of earth rose in front of them, Kakashi shouted "Don't lose focus!"
Boom Crash
With a loud noise as the earthen wall shook and made water splash everywhere, Kakashi didn't take his hands off the earth and kept supplying chakra towards the wall.
"Naive!" Appearing next to Kakashi, Zabuza waved the kunai in his hand and sliced his neck while shouting.
Puff
But unlike the blood he expected, the body simply disappeared in a cloud of smoke and suddenly one of Naruto's clones turned and swung a kunai swiftly towards his neck, causing Zabuza to turn into water and the clone to disappear.
"I'm the naive one?" Dispelling his transformation, the clone transformed into Kakashi and casually commented.
"I expected nothing less from you, Kakashi" With a voice that seemed to come from all directions, Zabuza continued with a sudden shout "But this is as far as you go!"
Appearing with momentum from the water that spread from the clone's elimination, Zabuza grabbed Kakashi's head, and with a powerful and swift movement, twisted his neck, leaving him with a view to his back.
Puff
"Same here" Swooping down from the forest with abnormal speed, Kakashi quickly arrived behind Zabuza, and with a perfect swing, kicked him hard in the head.
Thump Pa Thud Rumble
This time without disappearing, Zabuza was violently propelled into the wall and destroying half of it in the process and then falling heavily to the ground as chunks of dirt fell on top of him.
"That was a very funny game, Zabuza" Approaching the man on the ground, Kakashi moved him with his foot and watched the blood pouring from his forehead as he groaned in a daze and tried to get up with extreme difficulty "I'll tell you again because I really find it was stupid. A swordsman should never drop his sword, let alone throw it."
"B-bastard..." With blood covering his right eye, Zabuza gritted his teeth with out and muttered with difficulty "I swear I'll kill you-"
Thud
But before he could finish his words, suddenly two metal needles embedded themselves in his neck and made him finally collapse heavily on the ground with his eyes wide open in shock.
Quickly turning his gaze to his left, Kakashi stared at the masked figure and frowned while muttering "That mask..."
Laughing, the masked person commented happily "He really has died."
Bending down, Kakashi touched Zabuza's neck and felt his pulse "That's right, he's dead."
"Thank you very much" Bowing slightly, the masked person continued "I was looking for an opportunity to kill him"
"That mask... if I'm not mistaken you must be a renegade hunter from the village of the secret village of the mist"
"You are very well informed" Nodding, the person continued "Yes, I am a member of the ninja unit that hunts down the exiles"
"You'll have to take the body, won't you?"
"If it's not too much trouble"
"Go ahead" Shaking his head, Kakashi stood up.
"Kakashi-sensei" Stepping out of formation, Naruto approached Kakashi as his frown deepens "May I take control of the situation for a moment?"
Raising his eyebrows while staring at Naruto, Kakashi was silent for a moment and nodded.
"You..." Turning his gaze towards the masked figure, Naruto's eyebrows trembled and asked "What's your name?"
Since this person appeared, Naruto couldn't help but be frustrated by another gap in his memory, having right now for one of the biggest confusions he's had since he's had these memories.
While he knows exactly who he is and practically everything about that person, as well as many of his memories, he fails to remember anything despite the fact that he clearly should remember everything.
He doesn't remember his face, he doesn't remember his name, he doesn't even remember his abilities, but even so, his mind says he does know everything and for some reason, a conflicting emotion welled up inside him as the rare feeling that this person is not only important to his life, but that he also wants to prevent his death, flooded his thoughts.
'But why does this person die?' Being more clouded than ever, Naruto clenched his fists and waited for the answer.
"You can call me Haku" Remaining silent for a moment, Haku replied.
"Haku... Haku... Haku... Haku... okay" Repeating his name over and over again but not receiving the information he is looking for in his mind, Naruto finally shook his head and approached Zabuza, then took his kunai and under everyone's stunned gaze, stabbed deep into his leg.
Splash
"What are you doing!?" Rushing quickly towards Naruto, Haku roared angrily.
"One more step and it'll be the last thing you do" Appearing behind Haku, Kakashi put a knife to his neck and looked towards Naruto continued seriously "Explain yourself."
"The technique we stole from those assassins" Leaving the knife on his leg, Naruto stood up and ignored the blood that splattered on his face "When he started the fight with Zabuza, a thick fog covered everything and made it easy for him to fight"
"Go on."
"But when Zabuza was defeated, the fog magically began to dissipate and this person appeared out of nowhere supposedly killing him and now wanting to take the corpse" Looking at the faint fog around him, Naruto continued "But to confirm my doubts, I stabbed the supposed corpse waiting for a reaction... something he already gave us"
"That's an interesting analysis" Turning his gaze to Haku, Kakashi asked calmly "Something to say?"
"..."
"Haku..." Approaching Haku, Naruto stood in front of him and slowly stretched out his hand, only to remove his mask and notice how worry tinged his face as he bit his lips hard "Zabuza's with you, isn't he?"
"..."
"I don't need an answer, that's obvious" Shaking his head, Naruto turned his gaze to the man on the ground and was silent for a moment, then looked back at Haku and looked deep into his eyes "I'd like to end you right now... but I really can't... my heart won't let me."
"..."
"Although Zabuza is a heartless bastard, but you... you're not" Shaking his head, Naruto turned and walked back to Zabuza, then turned and looked up at Haku "I know you hear me, Zabuza... I want you to see this well, see well the face of the person who went into the jaws of death to save your pitiful life."
"..."
"Fuck, I really feel so angry and confused" Scratching his hair as his hands trembled from the sudden anger, Naruto scratched his hair in annoyance and inhaled deeply.
"..."
"What do you feel when you see this!?" Gritting his teeth as the turbulent emotions easily overpowered him, Naruto continued "Is the damn money worth that much to you to risk this!!? Is it worth risking the life of a person who cherishes you to such an extent that he's willing to risk his short life for you!?"
"..."
"It is necessary for you to see him dead to come to your senses!? Do you need to see him dead to realize what really matters!?" Breathing heavily, Naruto continued to roar "We Shinobi are humans too, we have dreams and desires too, we're not damn tools to kill and then discard them when they're no good!"
"..."
Looking up, Naruto watched Haku's reddened eyes as the fear was obvious on his face and remained silent for a moment, then shook his head and inhaled deeply and stretched his hand towards his forehead protector "I won't do this again... you are no longer a ninja, you are no longer Zabuza a renegade let alone a recognized assassin!"
Getting up, Naruto grabbed Zabuza by the neck and dragged him slowly towards Haku, then stood in front of him and stretched his free hand towards his protector in front "Haku and Zabuza, the ninja deserters from the hidden village of the mist, today you are dead."
"So get out" Throwing Zabuza at Haku's feet, Naruto growled "Take him and get the hell out of this country. Take another identity, start a new life and live like good people."
Opening his eyes a little wider with a trembling look, Haku's lips trembled and he finally spoke "Y-you... won't kill us?"
"I don't want to be the one to destroy your happiness, I wouldn't bear to live with that burden" Snorting angrily, Naruto took his backpack and opened it, then took out the two bags of money he stole from the other assassins and threw it towards Haku's arms "Take this, consider it as payment because I'll keep your things."
Opening and closing his mouth in disbelief and confusion as he looks at the money in his hands, Haku watched as the kunai on his neck slowly receded and turned his gaze towards Naruto, then bowed deeply and stammered with obvious happiness in his voice "Th-thank you very much!"
"Don't thank me" Shaking his head, Naruto pointed towards Haku and continued "If I ever hear their names again, I will hunt them down and rip their heads off myself, I swear on everything I hold sacred"
"I promise" Nodding, Haku gently picked up Zabuza's body and carried him, then stared at Naruto and smiled with tears streaming down his face "May I know your name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto" Thinking for a few seconds, Naruto replied.
"I will remember your grace for the rest of my life" With genuine appreciation his gaze, Haku turned his gaze towards Tazuna and bowed his head slightly "I'm sorry for all the inconvenience"
"Don't be sorry, be better" Turning to his group as he handed the sword to Haku, Naruto snorted.
"I..."
"Just beat it" Crossing his arms, Kakashi spoke coldly.
"Y-yes" Walking quickly into the forest, Haku's silhouette finally disappeared into the trees heading towards an unknown destination.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm waiting for a convincing explanation"
=================
Some may be confused by what Naruto did, but then it will be explained more about what happened and there will be a conclusion. You know, character development.
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