Naruto sat up with a yawn and stretched. It had been roughly a week and a half since their encounter with Zabuza, and he'd be back any time now. Because of that they had changed their routine two days ago: instead of training together all the day, one team would always be with Tazuna, one would stay with his family, and the last one would train in a place that was halfway between the two ready to help either one if need be.

Today it was team Kakashi turn to guard Tazuna and team Kurenai turn to train. That left Naruto and his teammates and sensei at home with Tsunami and Inari. He liked it because it meant that he could oversleep. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto slowly made his way downstairs and into the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"Naruto, Kurenai has just sent a message. Kakashi and his team are under attack and need support. I, Shikamaru and Ino are going to help; you stay here and guard Tsunami and Inari."

Before the boy could say anything or even raise his head to look at his sensei, he and his teammates were already gone. Naruto blinked, letting Asuma's words sink in. After a couple of seconds of utter silence, he scratched his head, shrugged, and sat down to eat breakfast.

Tsunami stared. Inari glared fiercely, shaking in anger. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

Naruto looked at him with his head tilted to the side, "Breakfast?"

The dark haired boy seemed ready to jump on him and Naruto had no idea why.

He still couldn't understand the way some people thought.

Deciding that he could try to figure the boy out later, Naruto finished to eat and went back upstairs to take off his pajamas and get some clothes.

Both the other genins and jounin senseis had looked at him strangely when he had changed into it before going to sleep, but he had paid them no mind.

Naruto stifled another yawn and was putting on his orange jacket when there was a crash downstairs.

He was really starting to think that he shouldn't have got up this morning.

As he came into the kitchen, what he saw was Inari leaning on a wall crying, and two... thugs... with swords holding Tsunami, who was yelling them to leave her son alone.

Naruto felt a pang of irritation, he liked Tsunami, she had that aura around her that he associated to all those women who had children, she was always kind to him in a motherly way, and those two simply looked too smug and arrogant for their own good. They reminded him of those thieves that attacked his mother and sister years ago. Taking a deep breath he tried to solve the situation diplomatically.

"I suppose you two are Gato's...employees. I'd really appreciate if you could let Tsunami-san go and leave peacefully, so that no one gets hurt."

Zouri pulled Tsunami towards himself and wrapped his left arm around her waist pressing his body against her back, "Don't make me laugh kid, who do you think you are, hm?"

The dark haired woman paled as she felt him subtly rubbing his crotch against her butt, fearing what she knew he and his comrade would do to her if they managed to bring her to one of Gato's places.

Naruto noticed the gesture too, and that, together with the tears he saw forming in Tsunami's eyes, made his expression darken.

"I asked that kindly, but judging from your behavior, you seem to be what my mother calls 'a lost cause'. As such I'm afraid I'll have to use force." Naruto said seriously.

"Oh, really? Well, then it's a pity your mommy isn't here herself, I definitely wouldn't have mind teaching her a lesson too." Waraji mocked while the other mercenary chuckled.

"I see." Naruto said, and for some reason his cold tone sent a chill down everybody's spine, "After that you can't really despise me if I won't show you any mercy."

As soon as he finished talking both of Gato's men were sent flying ten feet away with their noses broken.

Naruto, who stood in the place they occupied previously, looked at Tsunami and asked her if she was ok.

At her nod Naruto turned back to face the two mercenaries, but not before giving the woman a simple instruction.

"Tsunami-san, take Inari and go inside your house. Also, I'd recommend not to allow him to look outside, nor to do so yourself, until I call you."

She didn't know what it was, but something in his voice made her do what he said without a question.

Naruto waited until she and her son were inside their house, not minding that Gato's men stood back up in the meanwhile.

Once the two he protected were no more in the open, however, he took off his goggles and stared at the two mercenaries in the eyes. Zouri, his sword drawn, was yelling at him angrily, "You little bastard, now I'll..."

His voice died out as he began trembling so much that his sword fell on the ground while he himself fell on his knees. Breathing had become harder. Sweat formed all over his body. He tried to grab his sword from the ground but his hands were simply trembling too much. Waraji, who had fallen on his butt, was in a similar condition.

But whereas his comrade was pathetically and desperately trying to get a hold of his weapon, he was completely paralyzed. And, unlike his comrade, he was staring back at the one responsible. He was staring back at two glowing red slitted eyes in which he could see his own death. Naruto slowly walked towards them, his face void of any emotion.

When he finally reached the two he stopped and stood in between them. Zouri was still trying to grab his sword while whimpering, while Waraji had pissed his pants and looked quite green.

"Yomi kasai."

Red and black flames sprouted out of nowhere around the two mercenaries, engulfing and turning them into ashes before they could realize it.

Around an hour before Naruto woke up, Tazuna went to work on his bridge with team seven to guard him.

Sasuke was eager to fight again after having mastered the tree climbing. To say the truth he had been more than a little pissed when Kakashi had told them that they wouldn't have learned anything else, saying that there wasn't enough time for them to master other skills well enough to use them on the battlefield.

Sakura was stealing glances at Sasuke, but thoughts of the dark boy were clouded by those of another boy.

So, yeah, Naruto had the most amazing eyes she had ever seen, and without those monstrous goggles she had been able to see that he wasn't bad looking...he was handsome... But Sasuke was, well, he is Sasuke! He's cool, the strongest genin of the leaf, he's smart, and there was no doubt in Sakura's mind that once he awakens his Sharingan, the Uchiha's eyes would be just incredible.

'Right, there's simply no comparison between them, Naruto could be the adopted son of a sannin and good looking, but he's just a child. He talks about sponges all the time; how can he be so immature?'

Kakashi stifled a sigh while observing his charges. Sakura was once again lost in her world, and Sasuke, even if he wasn't distracted like on the way to Wave when they encountered the demon brothers, just wasn't focused as much as he should be. Shino seemed the only one who was always on full alert. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the bridge, but once there they immediately knew that something wasn't right.

An unnaturally thick fog was covering the entire area, hiding everything in an impenetrable white shroud.

The moisture in the cold air, however, wasn't responsible for the shiver that went down the genin's and Tazuna's spines as much as the feeble groans and whimpers coming from ahead, from the end of the bridge, where the other workers were supposed to be. Kakashi didn't waste a second; he had a bad feeling about this.

"Shino..."

"My bugs are already on their way, sensei."

Their whispers were interrupted by a loud voice coming from the mist.

"Ah, so we meet again, Hatake. I don't see your friend though, where is he? I wanted to apologize for not recognizing the son of your old third Hokage, I could even have been paid really well for his head too..."

The silver haired jounin didn't answer, he was too worried assessing the situation and he didn't need to be a genius to realize it wasn't a good one.

Zabuza was in front of them with a confident grin, somehow visible even if covered by his bandages. At his side stood the same boy that saved him the last time, still with the fake hunter-nin mask on.

On the railings of the bridge the demon brothers, one on their left and the other on their right, were glaring at them while fingering their metal claws.

And as if they weren't enough to pose a serious and deadly threat, which in Kakashi's opinion they were, another Mist missing-nin came forward from the fog behind Zabuza. He had long dark green hair, a backpack covered by his cloak, two strangely shaped swords in his hands, and a face that he recognized as that of Kurosuke Raiga from the bingo book.

Kakashi swore, another former elite swordsman of Kiri. What the fuck was the Mizukage doing to have all his stronger ninjas betray him?

Well, apart from ordering the elimination of every single bloodline limit in his country, taxing thrice as much as anyone else, executing some people without trial, cutting the payment of his ninja force, ...

Ok, so the Mizukage had a target on his forehead inscribed with 'I'm a bastard, kill me and you'll be a hero'. Still, why did little poor old Kakashi have to fight with all these missing-nin? It wasn't fair!

The copy-nin just hoped Kurenai and Asuma would come quickly, he and his team were not going to make it otherwise.

"You know what, Sharingan Kakashi?" Zabuza said, "I'm feeling generous, so if you and your cute little brats step aside and give me the old man I may let you live."

"What? Screw you, Zabuza, you said there would have been funerals, and I'm going to make them one. If you don't like it, then I can just as well make one for you too, so I can talk about our time in the Mist's ranks on your grave!"

The leaf jounin didn't know if feeling relief from the fact that his enemies were arguing among themselves, or being worried about having to face a psychopath that killed his whole graduation class and a psychopath that apparently wanted to kill and make funerals for everybody.

While the two ex-swordsman of Kiri were arguing about their killing habits, a mass of kikai bugs reached the clearing where Kurenai was having her team doing some light training. The three jounin senseis had agreed that none of their genins were to tire or hurt themselves now, since they expected an attack at any moment.

So, because it was somewhat expected, when they saw Shino's bugs coming, team Kurenai immediately knew what was going on and didn't waste a second in speeding towards the bridge to help their comrades.

The bugs, however, knowing their opponents were harder and more numerous then expected, continued on their way to Tazuna's house.

After all, their master had enough insects to fight even without them, and relying the message to Asuma wasn't going to take too much time.

On the unfinished bridge, things weren't going so well. Sasuke had eagerly engaged the other boy on Zabuza's side, and, although they seemed evenly matched, the humorous glint in the demon of the Mist's eyes told Kakashi volumes on how much the fake hunter-nin was currently holding back.

His other charges weren't faring better: Shino was desperately trying to keep the demon brothers at distance to avoid being caught in one of their short ranged lethal attack, and luckily his bugs were proving to succeed in this, if with some difficulties.

Sakura, however, was beside Tazuna, her assignment that of taking down any threat that managed to pass through her teammates. Kakashi really hoped there wouldn't be any before at least Kurenai arrived; the pink haired girl wouldn't survive.

Thankfully, Raiga was mad enough with Zabuza to have simply declared that he won't fight until the latter formally apologized and let him kill all he wanted. While the second condition was no problem, Zabuza refused to say sorry for now.

Kakashi found it ridiculous but wasn't going to complain anytime soon. 'It's the first time I've met such morons that let their petty issues endanger their mission. Thank God they're my enemies.'

His musings were cut short by a swing of Zabuza's zanbatou, which missed his head for a couple of inches.

His Sharingan eye had seen it at the last second (or more precisely, two seconds before the last one), but in the thick mist created by the Kirigakure no jutsu, his acquired doujutsu wasn't helping as much as it could have. Not to mention, he was having problems keeping an eye on his students, too.

This time the sword cut the Yondaime's student's jacket wide open. The one-eyed jounin berated himself, he should know better than letting his mind wander during a fight. He tried to counterattack and regain some ground, but when his kunai effectively managed to hit Zabuza's shoulder fair and square he was surprised.

He didn't expect the swordsman to be so slow. He had hoped for a cut, not for his kunai to embed itself in his shoulder deeply. It was as if the ex-Kiri-nin's reflexes had slowed down, much like when in a genjutsu...

Kakashi stole a glance behind and felt a small smile grow on his face when Kurenai nodded back at him.

The red eyed kunoichi was standing back near Tazuna, who was still guarded by Sakura, and thanks to his Sharingan Kakashi could see that she was throwing low and middle level genjutsu at all their fighting opponents. It wasn't to defeat them as much as it was to create openings for him and the genins to take them down.

And speaking about the kiddies, Kakashi was somewhat relieved to see Hinata and Chouji helping a tired Shino, who was clearly having a hard time two on one. He felt a tinge of worry, however, at the sight of a strange formation of what appeared to be glass or ice, from where he could faintly hear two voices of Sasuke and Kiba.

"You stupid dog, why the hell did you come inside when we could have made a coordinated attack?"

"Well, forgive me if I came to rescue your sorry ass, pretty boy. Who the hell do you think you are, Uchiha? Have you taken a good look at yourself? 'Cuz from where I'm standing it looks like he wiped the floor with you!"

Haku observed calmly while the two boys were throwing insults at each other. Really, doing this kind of scene during a fight, they were so childish...

Out of the corner of his eyes the ice user noticed a souring Raiga grumbling to himself or his backpack, and sweatdropped. Ninja these days seemed the jokes of the elemental countries.

Shaking his head he grabbed a handful of senbons and prepared himself. In a heartbeat, Haku was flying through his mirrors, raining needles upon the two leaf genins who were opposing his master.

Raiga wasn't happy. He wasn't fighting. He wasn't burying anyone. He was just sulking, throwing the occasional longingly glace at the shinobi and their clashing techniques. Hwanted to join them, but...

"I don't care, until Zabuza apologizes, I'm not lifting a finger. Besides, I don't see anyone worthy of one of our funerals, don't you think Ranmaru?"

"I don't care as long as you're happy. But what was the point of coming here, then, Raiga?"

"If only that damn bastard apologized. It's all his fault."

The swordsman fell silent and resumed his observing of the fights going on. Hatake and 'the bastard' were evenly matched, even if every now and then the latter's movements seemed to falter, thus leaving an opening.

The stupid duo, or whatever the hell the metal clawed minions names were, were in a similar predicament against the three leaf kids.

All in all, the masked boy who displayed an elemental bloodline limit was the only one whose fight had a clear winner despite the other two boys and their puppy's attempts at resisting.

"Raiga, I see someone coming. Other Konoha shinobi."

Sure enough, soon another leaf jounin and two genins joined the battle. That however was the last straw for Zabuza, and forgetting his pride for a second in his anger, he shouted at his inactive ally,

"Other nuisances? That's it! Raiga, you dirty shitstain, I apologize. Now move your fucking ass and take those fuckers out!" Ignoring the less that sorry or friendly apology's tone, Raiga took his swords and launched himself at the newcomers.

Asuma had barely the time to instruct Ino and Shikamaru to help Sakura defend Tazuna and try to drag the bridge builder out of there when a green haired man with two oddly shaped blades attacked him.

Judging by the lightning that hit the spot where the swords touched the ground, his opponent was a Raiton user.

What a lucky day to have a wind affinity.

Asuma dodged another swing of his opponent and took out his trench knives. He charged his wind natured chakra through them, making them much more sharp and deadly.

Things were going downhill. No matter how much Kiba wanted to deny it, neither him nor Sasuke were a match for Zabuza's accomplice, and his ice mirrors were unbelievably hard. He and Akamaru had tried and failed to break them with their combined attack, and even the fireballs of the young Uchiha failed to do anything.

Kiba cursed. If only he'd known a powerful jutsu he would have destroyed that masked bastard and put those senbons of his where the sun doesn't shine. Sasuke himself was having similar thoughts, with the difference that he didn't even acknowledged Kiba's attempts in his equation.

"It seems that this is the end. Prepare yourselves," Haku spoke softly, readying his needles.

He was about to let loose his final attack when a new figure appeared into his dome. He stopped for a second to study the newcomer, and recognized the orange clad boy he had met in the forest. The vibe he was getting from him, however, was completely different, and far more dangerous.

Kiba looked up in surprise when he saw Naruto, not just because he came out of nowhere, nor because Akamaru had retreated in his jacket with a whimper, but because he wasn't smiling.

It was strange, but Kiba suddenly realized that Naruto always had a smile on his face, and even when he wasn't he somehow gave the impression he was cheerful and relaxed nonetheless. This was the very first time he saw him irritated, and his instinct were telling him to run as far as he could and then keep on running.

Sasuke on the other hand didn't have instincts as keen as an Inuzuka, was tired and pissed and being beaten like a practice dummy, so he spoke without noticing any of it.

"You moron! What the fuck are you doing inside here? Can't you see that you had to stay outside an-" Sasuke fell to the floor unconscious with one needle in his neck, courtesy of... Naruto.

"Shut the fuck up; I'm in no mood to deal with a whining brat."

It was at this time that both Kiba and Haku noticed that he wasn't wearing his goggles, but had them hanging around his neck.

"Haku, would you please just surrender? I've had an horrible morning..."

Haku made eye contact with Naruto and felt a shiver run down his spine at his red-slitted eyes. He shook his head to clear it and grabbed his needles. Zabuza had given him a mission and he'll do it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do it. I must stop you."

With those few words Haku once again began jumping from one mirror to the other while firing the senbons at his opponent. Naruto was faster and had better reflex and agility than he thought. He dodged almost all of them, only letting a few strike him. Haku was impressed with his skills, but all he had to do was repeat the process, launching needle after needle, until in the end even Naruto couldn't keep up any more.

Haku looked at the orange clad boy in front of him breathing heavily and took the final needle to strike in his neck, when suddenly a sound like hundreds and hundreds of birds floated through the air. It came from where Zabuza was fighting the copy-nin Kakashi.

Haku could feel that the Konoha nin was gathering a huge amount of lightning chakra, while his master's levels were dangerously low.

'No, Zabuza-sama!'

Haku began to make the handsigns to create another mirror and help the demon of the Mist, when Naruto took advantage of his distraction to punch him across the face just as he was leaving through the mirror.

Haku lost his balance and tripped, sliding across the ground halfway between the dome and his master.

"Zabuza-sama, NO!" the ice user yelled, staring at the life leaving his master's eyes after being impaled by the lightning attack.

He was frozen in place until he heard someone clapping. Gato, the vermin himself, had a smirk on his face and was ranting about how he wouldn't have paid them and was going to kill Zabuza anyway.

"But I see that his little minion is still alive... that won't do now, will it?" The businessman ended with a smirk, while his thugs grinned, unsheathing their swords.

Haku stared at Zabuza's corpse. He had failed. He had failed and now Zabuza was dead. He was useless, a useless tool. He deserved death.

But there was one thing that he had to do before that. He had to avenge his master's honor. Gato had used them, and would have stabbed Zabuza in the back, and for that he had to die.

Having decided on his course of actions, Haku took up the demon of the Mist's sword and charged Gato's army head on. Thugs simply weren't comparable with a ninja, they had numbers and Haku knew that in the end he would die either from exhaustion, at the leaf-nins' hands, or at the people of Wave's, but it didn't matter.

The ice user jumped back avoiding a katana that passed mere inches from his face and tried to regain his breath.

No matter how many he killed, it seemed almost as if for every mercenary who died two more took his place.

Tightening his grip on the zanbatou, Haku readied himself for another assault when an arrow landed between him and Gato's army.

Turning his head, he saw the people of the village lead by the bridge builder's family. They were armed and ready to slay Gato and his mercenary as well as Haku himself. After all he was Zabuza's tool and Zabuza did try to kill Tazuna.

So Haku was basically cornered by two mobs who wanted to kill him.

Oh right, there were also the leaf-nins. And someone was approaching him from behind. Glancing over his shoulder Haku paled. It wasn't possible. A third mob. But this one he had already met. He had already killed.

They were armed villagers, much like the People of Wave, but it was who lead them that caused Haku's heart to skip a beat and his brain to shut down. His father. He still had Haku's mother's, his own wife's blood on his hands.

He was crying, but in Kiri there was one belief and one law that reigned over all the other: bloodline limits had to be eliminated. As his father raised his weapon Haku screamed. Then all became darkness.

Shizune was humming quietly while making order among various medicines. Life was great. Her relationship with Minato was going great and slowly growing into something serious. Tsunade seemed to have come to terms with her past and was now head of the hospital. Naruto, her adopted and sometimes embarrassing little brother, was now a genin and a good one at that. Yeah, life was great.

Just then her peaceful day was rocked by someone destroying the door and shouting loudly a "Hello, Shizune!".

The dark haired medic almost made the bottles she was reorganizing. She threw a glare at the younger kunoichi who grinned back at her.

Despite the age difference, she and Anko had known each other and been friends since the purple head had graduated and had been taken by Orochimaru as an apprentice.

It was when Tsunade still was in contact with the village and both she and Jiraiya had teased their old teammate about the fact that their own students were much older.

In particular, Minato would have taken his genin team that same year. At the time Anko had graduated early, her being eight years old, and Orochimaru chose to take her, and only her, under his wing.

Even if Shizune had never seen her much during the years, those few times the two had developed a sisterly relationship, and with how few friends Anko had after Orochimaru's betrayal, that bond had become quite tight despite their not seeing each other.

That however didn't mean Shizune didn't get annoyed with the snake mistress's antics every once in a while, especially if she snuck up behind her, shouting in her ears to scare her. She already had Naruto do that.

The medic-nin shuddered at the thought of how similar the two were when it came to playfully prank people, although Anko's jokes tended to be a bit cruder and potentially lethal. Shaking her head, Shizune decided to know what her friend had in mind this time.

"Anko, how many times have I asked you to stop doing that? Never mind, just tell me what's up."

The other kunoichi pouted a little and huffed. "You're no fun, really. And here I even spent some of my precious time to come and say hi and bring you some of that poison you asked me last week."

Shizune smiled at her childish behavior and took the phial with the poison. As soon as she had it, however, she almost dropped it when Anko, looking outside a window with a smirk blurted out her question.

"So, what's this about you and Hokage-sama going to fill our village with little blond monsters?"

"WHAT? NO! I mean we didn't... we just...he-I-"

Anko raised an eyebrow at her, an amused glint in her eyes, "What's this? Maybe the 'Yellow Flash' is a nickname with multiple meanings?"

"ANKO!"

The fishnet clad kunoichi burst out laughing at the older woman indignant expression before waving her hands, "Just kidding, just kidding. Seriously Shizune, now I understand why Tsunade-sama said you're so fun to tease."

"Tsunade said that, hm? -Sigh- This is Naruto's fault... he's rubbed off her in the worst possible way, I almost liked her better when she gambled and got drunk on a daily basis."

Anko looked pensive, "Naruto? Ah right, the little brat Tsunade adopted. I've heard he got the second place in the academy, and that he's a prankster as well as a troublemaker at heart. Sounds like an interesting kid."

Shizune nodded, inwardly praying that her friend didn't decide to teach her little brother how to turn his pranks into deadly traps.

While when he was younger he'd rather sleep all day, as he became older he spent more and more time looking for something to do. As of today he'd done four things: missions, playing, reading and pranking. Stealing didn't count, it was just as natural as walking or breathing for him.

However, even if he always listened to whatever Tsunade told him, and complied to any request she herself made to him, he also had a talent to cause trouble without crossing whatever limits they put on him and his actions. Anko's influence was the last thing he needed, so Shizune decided to change the subject,

"So, how's it going working with Ibiki? Anything interesting?"

"Oh, you'll never guess what me and that old scar face are going to do!" Anko answered with a big grin that somehow reminded the older kunoichi of a little girl that received a new doll. The fact that she knew that Anko decapitated and sectioned hers when she was a child only added to how unnerving such an expression could be.

"Your little blonde boy-toy included us as possible proctors for the next chuunin exam. Ibiki said that if we're chosen he'll do the first part, and then I'll play with the tough ones."

Looking at her, Shizune knew that such cheerfulness meant those genins would be scarred for life. It wasn't that Anko was a bad person; she simply liked to mess with people's heads. And had absolutely no moderation, none at all. Tsunade's apprentice was about to reply when someone came into the room.

"Hey Shizune, just the person I need. Do you know if th-" Rin came to an abrupt halt as soon as she saw who the dark haired medic was talking with.

What followed was a minute or so of silence in which both Anko and Rin tried their best to not make eye conctact while Shizune was looking back and forth between the two.

"Well, I have to go. Tell me if you need anything else, bye." Anko said, then hurried out of the room still avoiding looking at Rin.

After the snake mistress left the two medic nins remained in silence from another minute, Shizune staring at Rin, who seemed to find the wall really interesting. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and decided to just ask.

"Er... What was that about, Rin?" No answer.

"Is it because of Kurenai? I know she's your friend and all, but..."

"No." Rin sighed, "It's quite the contrary, actually."

Shizune frowned, "What do you mean?"

Rin squirmed under the elder kunoichi's stare and mumbled her explanation, "It's not because of Kurenai and Anko's...quarrels..." she trailed off, then took a deep breath and added, "The truth is that they're like that to each other because of me."

Shizune blinked. 'There must be something I'm missing, how could Rin have caused those two to basically hate each other? I know Kurenai has been her friend since like ever, but Anko? The only reason she even knew who Rin was is because-'

The dark haired kunoichi's thoughts came to an abrupt alt as her eyes widened in realization. But it was insane, did at least Kurenai knew everything or simply acted on Rin's behalf even when she herself didn't say anything?

"Uhm...well, since you're busy tidying here I'll ask someone else. See you later." And with that, Minato's old student fled from the room.

Naruto watched with a neutral and detached expression as Haku fell unconscious with a scream. His mirrors, once their creator could maintain them no longer, followed soon after.

Kiba, who was panting heavily, looked from him to the fake hunter-nin in disbelief. He didn't understand how that was freaking possible.

One moment he and Sasuke were trying their damn hardest to find a way to survive that ice mirror jutsu, then Naruto comes out of nowhere, states that he's in a bad mood, makes eye contact with Zabuza's accomplice, and that same nin who was wiping the floor with him and Sasuke screams before falling unconscious on the ground! Just like that! How the fuck did he do that? Kiba was about to voice his thoughts when Akamaru started to whine.

It seemed the pup had absolutely no intention to go near Naruto as long as he was in a bad mood.

Following his partner's advice, as well as his own instincts, Kiba stayed silent. Naruto however must have felt his wonder, because he spoke up, "You should respect Kurenai, even if she isn't an expert with flashy jutsus you have no idea how lethal illusionary techniques can be."

Kiba nodded and made a mental note to do absolutely anything Kurenai said without complain. If he thinks that he had told her that he wasn't interested in genjutsu because it was useless compared to ninjutsu... He'll have to apologize. Profusely.

Naruto gave him a last glance before turning and walking away to see the other fights. He saw his two teammates, Ino and Shikamaru, standing with Sakura beside Tazuna, probably to defend him from sneak attacks and wandering kunai or shuriken. All in all they were unscratched.

Not far from them Kurenai was protecting the remaining three exhausted genin, Shino, Chouji and Hinata, who had taken out the demon brothers.

Naruto wondered if they knew that the genjutsu mistress had helped them casting random illusions on the two nuke-nin, just like she was doing to Zabuza, Raiga, and even Haku, before the orange haired boy took him out.

Naruto felt his mood going up a bit at the thought that the kunoichi was effectively taking part in all the fights without moving from her position. Let the other think she isn't a threat, he knew better than trusting the appearances.

Really a pity that she was with Asuma, he liked a skilled woman, althought Kurenai was a bit too formal and composed for his tastes.

Speaking of Asuma, he was kneeling near the railing of the bridge, where a deep gash had split the concrete.

Probably a wind technique, if the trench knives with chakra sensitive blades he was holding were anything to go by. It looked like his sensei's enemy had lost the ground under his feet and feel in the ocean beneath.

Looking for his last comrade, Naruto found Kakashi about to give Zabuza the killing blow. The Demon of the Mist was pinned down by what looked like dog summons, and the copy nin had just finished to charge lightning chakra to his hand. Naruto raised an eyebrow, 'That looks kinda cool, I wonder if I can it with fire...'

The silver haired Konoha jounin stared down at his opponent with a grave expression. "You shouldn't have come here, Zabuza, this is the end!"

A sudden clapping at those words, however, prevented Kakashi to carry them out. The fog that once covered the unfinished bridge was dissipating, and all the ninjas plus Tazuna could make out the figure of a short man in a business robe, as well as the numerous mercenaries behind him.

"Gato... What are..." Zabuza spoke trying to control his panting, "...you doing here?"

"So the cute little devil had his ass handled to him, hn? How disappointing... But that's not a problem, you were going to die anyway." Gato sneered at him, "That's right, I never intended to pay yo-"

"HEY, LITTLE SHITSTAIN!"

Naruto's yell startled everyone on the bridge, not only because the jounins were the only ones who noticed someone else had come to the bridge, but because of how detached his next words sounded.

"You're the one who sent those two mercenary to kidnap Tsunami-san, right?"

If the business man was worried about that plan possibly failing he didn't show it. Evidently he didn't think that the boy, who walked towards him untill he was standing beside Kakashi and Zabuza, was a threat. One of his man, however, seemed to have a short temper.

"What did you filthy ninjas do to Waraji and Zouri?" Naruto glanced at him for a second before refocusing his gaze on Gato.

"I'll take that as a yes. Those two are dead, they were misbehaving and didn't show any respect towards Tsunami-san and her wishes. They badmouthed my mother too..."

Kakashi could have sworn that Naruto's red eyes flashed. He had the distinct impression that someone was going to do something extremely stupid too. His instinct proved correct soon enough, when the same man from before unsheated his sword and yelled at the orange clad boy...

"You, little motherfuc-"

...only to be silenced by a kunai who went straight through his head and embedded itself in the head of the guy standing behind him up to the hilt. If the sheer force with which Naruto threw his kunai wasn't enough to describe how pissed he felt, the killing intent sure did.

Asuma and Kurenai knew that such an intent wasn't something a twelve year old genin should be able to do, what they were felling was more akin to an ANBU's or an experienced jounin's. How a cheerful kid like Naruto could produce such an effect was... unsettling.

Kakashi and Zabuza however knew better. They had had more experience, Kakashi having fought in the war when he was younger, and Zauza being raised in a country like the bloody Mist, so they were able to detect something the other two jounin missed: He was trying to restrain himself, badly.

"Not. A. Word. On. My. Mother."

Kakashi actually prayed that Gato had enough sense as to drop the matter. The copy-nin didn't know how Naruto could produce a killing intent comparable and maybe superior to his own while trying to suppress it, but he knew that even a thought against Tsunade-sama right now was equivalent to activate an explosion tag glued on your head. Luckily, or unluckily depending on the point of view, Zabuza decided to give a piece of his mind too.

"Enough of this. Kakashi, we aren't enemies, I have no more reason to fight you. I have, however, to have a talk with my old employer..."

The leaf jounin nodded and stood back for a second while the former member of the seven swordsman began to tear apart Gato's men with his zanbato. Soon after he began to help him covering his back killing the mercenaries with well placed kunais and shurikens.

Kurenai was standing with the genins and Tazuna, who were looking with a half worried, half sick, half hopeful expression at the slaughter in front of them.

Asuma was still near the railing. He would have gone to help but he was exhausted and his reflexes and balance were still a bit off after Raiga's attacks. The leaf nin, however, stood up and walked up to Naruto, who was watching the gruesome show with a neutral face, although, if one were to look closely, they'd notice that his bad mood seemed to get better.

When Zabuza reached Gato and cut his head neatly in particular, Naruto gave a brief grin.

The mercenaries weren't happy with their 'meal ticket's' death, but the timely arrival of the people of Wave was enough to scare them away. Zabuza himself seemed worried: Raiga was nowhere to be seen, the demon brothers laid dead on the bridge, Haku was on the ground either dead or uncounscious, and he was wounded, tired, and needed medical attention. If they attacked him now he wouldn't be able to get away.

His thoughts were interrupted when the orange eyesore of a genin who arrived not to long ago made him sat down and started treating his wounds. He idly remembered Haku saying he had a suspicion about this particular boy being trained as medic-nin. And speaking of his young student...

"Say boy, how's Haku?"

"He had a pretty big shock, but I don't think to have damaged his mind too badly. He'll be fine, just like you. By the way, thanks for killing Gato, you helped Wave and freed the world of a little worm with a mouth bigger than his brain."

"Hmph, I simply made my own interests, bastard wasn't going to pay me."

Naruto didn't answer to that. He finished bandaging Zabuza's arm then moved back to his teammates and sensei.

The demon of the Mist, under the watchful gaze of Kakashi, shrugged and followed the Konoha ninjas back to the village, his eyes fixed on Haku's unconscious body.