Namikaze Naruto- The Unpredictable Shinobi

Chapter 15: Zabuza and Haku

The art of lying, Naruto had mastered it long ago. She even prevented a coup de tat with some lies and truths. Not that she took the advantage of her skill in a wrong way, but for her survival? Maybe...

Tazuna's daughter Tsunami opened the door for them. Though she was widowed twice, she was kind and sweet and Naruto hit off well with her. Naruto had been taking care of Kakashi using only little of her medical Ninjutsu, since suspicions couldn't be afforded in case, he had recovered much earlier than he thought. She deduced that Kakashi would wake up within 2 days. All through this, she contemplated about Zabuza and the Oinin (hunter ninja). He was definitely an accomplice of Zabuza. But why did he kill him? Weapon of kill- senbon. A mere needle to a neck isn't what hunter shinobi use. Piercing certain points can induce a death like state in the victim without truly killing him. Also, when Oinin capture Nukenin, they burn the body immediately so that the secrets of the body are burnt along and an enemy can't get hold of them.

A day had passed. She left Kakashi with a couple of clones with enough chakra to heal him and help Tsunami in household work. She had only one day to act on her conclusions. She gathered herbs and medicine for Kakashi in the nearby woods, and sensed the chakra of the fake Oinin. Of course, the young actor had to come here to collect herbs to heal Zabuza. She followed him to their hideout. She sneaked in to find a barely conscious Zabuza defended by the nin identified as Haku from a midget of a civilian called Gato and his mercenary bodyguards. Finding Gato's behaviour suspicious, she spied on him and found some interesting things. She hadn't been surprised with her findings as Gato was traitorous and greedy.

She met Haku and Zabuza and gained their trust by healing Zabuza. When they questioned her motives, she replied that she disliked Gato and that Gato was going to betray them as Zabuza's price was too high for a greedy cheater. They were sceptical at that. "How can I believe you? And even if you are true, I can't go against my honour and betray my client beforehand. "Zabuza's words amused Naruto. "I have a plan that won't let you betray him without him betraying first. I hope you co-operate with me."

Few hours later, one of Gato's men approached the boss. "Boss, Zabuza seems to have attacked the bridge builder and his guards." Gato smirked and gathered more than 100 men, simple shinobi wannabes. They went to find Zabuza and Haku standing over the battered bodies of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna and Kakashi. "Well, well, well, now that a thorn is removed, one more is to be removed. Sorry Zabuza, but you are simply too costly for a job that could be done by my boys here. Kill them both, boys!" Gato ordered. 

A blonde figure approached Zabuza from the shadows. "Do you believe me now?" Naruto asked him. "This is more than enough proof. The dead bodies on the ground were dispelled, revealing them to be clones. Zabuza began the slaughter with Haku, while Naruto stepped back, respecting his wishes to avenge his betrayal. A random swordsman, more skilled than others ran at him to stab him in the back while he was busy with ten others. Haku was too occupied to save him. Seeing Zabuza in danger, Naruto intervened an killed the man approaching him, and few others in the process. Zabuza saw this and turned around to kill Gato, not before extracting the information about his accounts.

Naruto was shaken after comprehending her first kill, yet, she tried to hide it and approached Zabuza. "Now you know where his accounts are, you can take the money you want and give the rest to the citizens of Nami no Kuni." Zabuza could see the internal struggle Naruto was trying to hide. "It's your first kill, isn't it?" He asked bluntly. She simply nodded, not trusting her voice. Apparently, taking a life with her hands was more troubling than the sight of a slaughter. After all, she had worse bruises when she was younger. The blows were only killing the case of the enemy, while she had suffered bruises of torture. The sight of blood on her hands and that she caused them shook her. Zabuza talked her out of it in his own way, and told her to let it all out She cried and puked in the bushes nearby.

She tried not to disguise herself as anything other than her male form, to try and be accepted in her village, and it did not help much due to the verbal and physical assaults of the villagers, especially around her birthdays. Those days were followed by nightmares, leaving her only rarely, and new nightmares were added after each birthday. She questioned herself as the monster the villagers claimed her to be, bringing back painful memories. Zabuza snapped her out of it, "It is difficult to accept oneself after a kill. But know it was necessary. As long as you have the feeling of regret, and do not give yourself in to the sadistic pleasure of killing, you are human. But know that a shinobi has at least a dozen kills by default in his lifetime." He said as Haku soothed her. Zabuza continued, "Sometimes, we must, if we do not have a choice. We kill to save. Ironic. You are not a monster, but a kind child with a good heart, just like Haku here."

Naruto relaxed. "Arigatou, Zabuza nii-san." Zabuza sputtered at that, while Haku chuckled. "Drop the formalities." "Hai, Haku nii-san." Naruto gave an innocent smile that did not fool them. "How can you tell I am a boy?" Haku asked. "You are, aren't you? You behave as one." Haku nodded amused, "I am, though the facial features confuse many." They laughed at that. "I just wanted to add that I am an orphan just like Haku." They understood the hidden meaning. Naruto didn't trust anyone easily, and appointing relations to others signifies that they mean a lot to her and she trust them more than others.

"Before I take your leave, please give some of the money to the citizens here after you take your share, and announce Gato's death 2-3 days." Naruto requested. "But why?" Haku asked. "I need to take care of somethings with my team, but nothing too serious. Can you please do this favour?" Naruto replied. Zabuza chuckled, "This isn't any favour. Just a delay in work. Save the favour for another time." Naruto smiled and left.

It was another tiring day. She went back and saw her clones that were healing Kakashi almost out of chakra. They were soon dispelled, and their fatigue was also added to the original. She changed the wet cloth on Kakashi's forehead. His fever seemed to have dropped. She felt her eyes drooping, but fought to stay awake. She thought she heard something but found nothing. Her eyes closed and she felt she was falling forward...

Kakashi woke up with a slight groan. He peeked to see a very sleepy Naruto. She was about to fall down when he sat up and caught her. Naruto smiled at him from his lap, "You're awake, Kakashi Nii-san." She whispered without thinking and fell asleep and snored softly. Kakashi chuckled at her snores, before his eyes widened at the how she addressed him. He smiled at her with affection and tuck her in a sleeping bag a foot away from his futon (bed), and slept again.