15 Chapter 15: Showdown at the Bridge! Uzumaki Naruto Arrives!

"Take care everyone!" Tsunami said to Kakashi and the others.

"Sensei, are you sure it's okay to leave Naruto behind?" Sakura asked.

"It's fine, he needs to rest anyways." Kakashi said, thinking back to the training the two did last night.

"He'll catch up when he wakes."

"Okay!" Sakura said.

"Hmph" Sasuke mumbled.

"Alright, let's go, the bridge is almost finished!" Tazuna said.

The group started walking to the bridge.

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"Is everything ready for the ambush?" Gatou asked.

He was holding a radio and wasn't hearing anything from the other end.

"Oi, are you listening to me?!" Gatou yelled in the radio.

"Quit your whining, everything will be taken care of." Zabuza said into his radio before dropping it and walking away.

"O-oi! Zabuza! Zabuza!!" The radio said.

Zabuza then stepped on the radio, crushing it.

"Let's move Haku."

"Yes Zabuza."

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Gatou stared angrily at the radio in his hand. He then looked over at his two thugs.

"You two know what to do." He said, before turning and walking back into his office. The two thugs grinned as they looked at one another and left the building.

"Tonight will be the anniversary date of that bastard Tazuna's death." Gatou laughed to himself.

"Gather all the men up, I don't want anything left to chance, we'll kill them all if we have to." Gatou instructed to another thug nearby.

The man nodded and began rounding everyone up. Gatou watched the scene as he pulled a cigar out and lit it up. He then placed it in his lips as he inhaled.

"All according to plan." He smirked.

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Naruto woke up with a start and he looked at the time.

"Shit! I overslept!"

He rushed to get changed into his clothes as he ran down the stairs.

"Naruto, you're up!" Tsunami said smiling.

"Can't talk, I'm late!" Naruto blurted out.

"But don't you want something to eat? I'm about to make lunch." Tsunami called out.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine, I'll see you all later!" Naruto yelled as he bolted through the door.

He ran through the woods as quickly as he could. But then he felt like he was forgetting something. So he stopped and paused to think. What was he forgetting he wondered.

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When Kakashi and the others arrived at the bridge, they discovered that it was empty and a light mist was covering the area. Looks like our suspicions were right, Kakashi thought, Zabuza is alive.

"Sasuke, Sakura, get in formation and protect Tazuna. Looks like we have company after all." Kakashi commanded.

"You even brought some of the brats I see, and even one of them is shaking!"

Slowly several water clones of Zabuza appeared around them.

"Sasuke, do it." Kakashi said.

Sasuke moved, and before anyone realized it, all the water clones had been destroyed.

"I'm shaking with excitement!" Sasuke said as he stared at Zabuza and Haku who appeared in the mist.

"Well what do you know, looks like you've got yourself a rival Haku!" Zabuza grinned.

"Indeed it does." Haku replied.

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"Inari! Lunch is almost ready, come down now!" Tsunami called out.

"Okay, but I'm in the bathroom!" Inari yelled back.

Tsunami continued to busy herself when a loud crash sounded behind her. When she turned around, she saw the two thugs that always walked around with Gatou standing behind her.

"Boss wants a hostage, so come with us, and you won't get hurt." One of them said.

Tsunami looked on in horror as they approached her. Inari came out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen.

"Mom? What was that loud crashing sound I hea-" He stopped as he saw two thugs approaching his mom.

"Inari, run away!" Tsunami yelled.

"Mom!" Inari cried out.

"Oh look, it's a kid." One of the thugs said.

"Good, I was just looking for something to cut." The other replied as be pulled out his sword.

Inari panicked and tripped over, falling down onto the ground. He looked desperately at his mom.

"Wait!" Tsunami yelled, causing the two to look at her.

"If you lay a hand on Inari, I'll bite my tongue and commit suicide, you need a hostage right? So please, just let him go."

The thug that wanted to cut Inari clicked his tongue.

"Damn, just when I got excited." He said.

The other also spoke. "You better thank your mother kid, since she's the reason we're letting you go."

The two lifted up Tsunami from the ground and begam walking away.

"I'm sorry mom, but I'm just so scared!" Inari cried out.

He desperately wanted to save his mom but his body kept shaking in fear.

Then he remembered what Naruto told him.

-Flashback-

"Why are you all trying so hard?! Gatou is just going to kill you all. You don't even stand a chance!" Inari yelled.

Naruto looked down for a moment. "Hmm, that's a tough question, I guess it's because I don't want to have any regrets!" Naruto grinned looking at Inari.

-End Flashback-

That's right, Inari thought, I don't want to have any regrets. If I let them just take mom like that, then that will be the biggest regret of my life! He stood up and ran outside to see the two thugs with his mom.

"Hey! Leave my mom alone!" Inari yelled as he ran towards them.

"Heh, that's great. Looks like I do get to cut him afterall." One of the thugs grinned.

"Wait!-" Tsunami began to yell. But she was knocked unconscious by the other thug.

"We should've done this from the start." He grinned.

The two then walked towards Inari's running figure and went to slash at him with their swords. But to their surprise, what they cut had been a log.

"What?" They exclaimed.

Inari blinked in surprise as he saw a familiar figure holding him.

"Sup hero!" Naruto grinned.

Inari stared at Naruto. "Naruto?"

Naruto's smile broadened as he stood up. "That's right!"

Inari was about to say something when Naruto raised his hand to stop him.

"We can talk after I take care of these guys." He grinned.

"You little punk, you think you can handle us?" One of the thugs yelled.

"Yeah, I do." Naruto said smiling.

<Wind Release: Gale Palm Jutsu!>

Naruto weaved his hand signs as he gathered his chakra and sent two blasts of wind straight at the thugs, knocking them away. He then body flickered to one of the thugs and summoned his staff and slammed it on the thugs ribcage, sending him crashing to the ground. He repeated the process with the other thug. All of this happened within seconds. Naruto landed on the ground and put away his staff, before wiping his hands together.

"That takes care of that." He grinned.

"Naruto!" Inari called out.

"How are you here?" he asked.

Naruto grinned as he recounted how he saw a cut ul bored and sword marks in the trees, that were heading towards Tazuna's house. So he figured something was wrong and rushed back as quickly as he could.

Inari stared wide eyed at Naruto as tears gathered in them. Naruto grinned towards Inari.

"Do you have any regrets?" Naruto asked.

Inari shook his head.

"Good, now you go take care of your mom, I've gotta get to the bridge." Naruto said smiling.

Inari nodded his head as the tears streamed down his face.

"Damn it, I promised myself I wasn't going tk cry anymore." Inari said.

Naruto turned around again and gave a thumbs up while grinning.

"There's nothing wrong with crying when you're happy!"

Inari smiled as he cried harder, then he watched as Naruto vanished from his spot with a gust of wind. Good luck Naruto, Inari thought to himself. Then he rushed over to his mom to wake her up. After she woke up, the two cried as they embraced each other. Inari explained all that had happened while she was unconscious, and the two looked in the direction of the bridge. They hoped for everyone's safety over there.

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Zabuza and Haku faced Kakashi and the others.

"Kakashi, I hope you've made your peace with death, because things won't go as they did last time!" Zabuza said as he used the hidden mist jutsu.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he raised his alertness to the maximum.

"Sakura, guard Tazuna, Sasuke, stay alert for that kid in the mask, I'll handle Zabuza." Kakashi instructed.

"Right!" The two nodded their heads as they took position.

Suddenly two needles were sent flying towards Tazuna, but were quickly deflected by Sasuke.

"Why don't you stop hiding and face me, unless you're too scared." Sasuke taunted.

Then, Haku appeared behind Sasuke.

"I don't know whether your bravado is due to your courage or your recklessness." He said before swiping at Sasuke with two needles.

Sasuke ducked down quickly dodging the needles while sticking his leg out and did a leg sweep at Haku. Haku jumped backwards avoiding the leg sweep and the two rushed each other, kunai against needles.

Kakashi and Zabuza faced each other as Haku and Sasuke engaged each other.

"Looks like you're missing someone, where's the blonde haired brat?" Zabuza said.

"That's not your concern Zabuza!" Kakashi replied.

Zabuza knew that between the kid facing Haku and the blonde, the blonde was more dangerous. So he couldn't place all his focus on Kakashi in case of an ambush. But, there was the chance that the brat wasn't here for some reason. Let's test the waters first, Zabuza thought. He hid himself within the mist and created two water clones. He sent one after Kakashi and the other after Tazuna and the other brat.

Kakashi was on edge, he knew Naruto wasn't here, so all he could do was try and bluff and hope Naruto showed up soon. This mist also made it difficult for him to keep track of Sakura and Tazuna while maintaining his guard. Suddenly, Zabuza appeared out of the mist in front of him, sweeping wide with his Kubikiribocho. Kakashi jumped up avoiding the blade and thew two kunais at Zabuza, one of them was deflected while the other pierced Zabuza causing him to transform into water.

Damn, a water clone Kakashi thought. Then he turned and saw another clone rushing towards Tazuna and Sakura. Damn it, please let me make it in time, Kakashi thought as he rushed after the clone.

Zabuza had been watching the entire time, and grinned to himself. Looks like that blonde hair kid isn't here. He slowly vanished back into the mist.

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Haku and Sasuke had crossed blades several times by now, and while Haku couldn't land a fatal blow on Sasuke, Sasuke still recieved several minor cuts.

"You're pretty strong." Haku commented.

"Heh, I'm only getting started." Sasuke boasted.

"Hoh? We'll see about that." Haku replied. Causing Sasuke to frown in displeasure.

Haku vanished in front of Sasuke, causing him to tense up and observe his surroundings. Where is he going to strike? Sasuke thought. He observed his surroundings carefully, trying to find anything off about them. Then, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. There! He thought, and he threw a kunai at the spot, causing Haku to back away as the kunai had pierced his shoulder.

"I see, you're starting to get used to my speed and attack patterns. You truly are strong." Haku said thoughtfully.

Sasuke smirked as he felt he was getting the upper hand in the fight. Just a little bit more and I'll win, he thought. Haku lowered his hands as he stared at Sasuke.

"It's time I end this." He announced.

Sasuke was confused by Haku's words but still maintained his guard in case of traps.

<Secret Art: Crystsl Ice Mirrors>

Haku used a handseal and slowly, several mirrors started forming around the two. Eventually, a dome was created using twenty-one mirrors. Haku stepped towards one and stepped inside. Soon, all the mirrors had an image of Haku on them.

What is this? Sasuke thought.

"This is my hidden jutsu, a technique passed down within my clan. This is also the end for you." Haku said.

Sasuke brought his awareness up to the max in preparation towards any attack. Each image of Haku slowly raised their arm with needles in hand. Then each one through the needle at Sasuke who was in the middle. What? Sasuke thought as he tried to dodge but failed, getting pierced in the shoulder.

"The next one will go into your thigh." Haku announced.

Idiot, if you tell me, I'll be able to dodge it, Sasuke thought as he grit his teeth in pain. But when he tried dodging the attacks again, his thigh was piered by another needle. What's going on? Sasuke thought furiously, I dodged his attack.

"You should give up, there's no way for you to escape this technique." Haku told Sasuke.

Damn it! Sasuke thought.

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Sakura had kept her guard up within the fog, but she couldn't help but be worried about Sasuke and Kakashi. She kept looking all over the place to make sure no one got the drop on her.

"You sure you're friends will be alright without you?" Tazuna asked.

"Of course!" Sakura said with a forced smile. But she knew deep down that she was still worried.

She continued looking around the area, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see through the mist at all. Suddenly, Zabuza appeared right in front of them with his Kubikiribocho raised above his head.

"Stay behind me!" Sakura shouted as she raised her kunai up in a desperate attempt to block Zabuza from Tazuna.

However, Kakashi appeared right being Zabuza and stabbed him in the back with a kunai, making him transform into water. Sakura sighed in relief but panicked again when she saw Zabuza appear behind Kakashi.

"Sensei! Look out!" She screamed.

Kakashi spun on his heal and stabbed the Zabuza behind him, revealing him to be another water clone. Then he heard Sakura scream behind him and when he looked over, he saw another Zabuza raising his Kubikiribocho above his head. No! Kakashi thought as he sprinted in between Sakura and Zabuza, then he stuck his arms out in front as Zabuza slashed down. Sakura screamed as she witnessed Kakashi get slashed by Zabuza.

The Kubikiribocho slammed into the ground after cutting Kakashi. Zabuza clicked his tongue in irritation because he knew that the cut had been shallow. Kakashi then grabbed Tazuna and Sakura and jumped away from Zabuza.

"Are you alright sensei?" Sakura asked trying desperately to hold it together.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a scratch." Kakashi replied.

He steadied his nerves as he breathed out slowly. That was close, he thought, as he remembered the instant when Zabuza slashed at him. If he had been just a little closer to Zabuza, he would have died right there. Kakashi's jonin jacket hung loosely as it had been cut across the middle. Now, what's his next move? Kakashi wondered, he also couldn't help but worry about Sasuke either.

"Well Kakashi, seems you've evaded me this time, but how will you get out of this?!" Zabuza yelled as he appeared behind Tazuna and swung his sword.

Shit! Kakashi thought. However, before he could react a large gust of wind blew, causing everyone to sheild their eyes. Zabuza was launched at high speeds away from the group crashing into the ground.

What was that?! Everyone stared at Zabuza's knocked down figure.

"Whew, made it just in time." A figure announced.

Kakashi's eyes widened as Naruto appeared, wind swirled around him as veins were bulging on his forehead and arms.

"Don't you dare touch any of my precious people!"