They continued clashing against each other, sparks flying each time their blades met. As he saw a diagonal slash from Zabuza, Naruto misjudged the timing of his dodge, Zabuza landing a clean cut on his shoulder. The favor was returned when they collided once more, Naruto angling and pushing his Seigi no Ken off against Kubikiribōchō, managing to land a cut on Zabuza's cheek.
Eventually, Naruto started to slow down, the heavy blows from Zabuza making his arms go more and more numb with each swing. Swinging his sword in overhead in a wide arc, Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō met Naruto's Sword of Justice with a loud clang and explosion of sparks.
Angling his sword again then pushing against Kubikiribōchō once more, Naruto threw Zabuza off balance slightly as he swung towards him but met air as Zabuza ducked under his swing. Spinning around Zabuza swung horizontally to bisect Naruto, but hit his sword instead, sending the blonde flying a short distance from the power of his swing.
Smirking a bit, Zabuza changed his stance as Naruto staggered to his feet, setting up an unstable guard with his Sword of Justice. Setting his feet diagonally shoulder length apart, his right foot outstretched and Kubikiribōchō held in a reverse grip perpendicular to his body behind him, Zabuza performed a move he hasn't used since his time as a part of Kiri's military force.
"Kubikiribōchō: Reisuiwari!"
Naruto barely saw him move as Zabuza appeared behind him, sending him flying from the monstrous power of his attack. Hitting the water and skipping a few feet, he managed to regain his balance and right himself in the air, his eyes widened as he saw the aftereffect of Zabuza's attack; a scar in the water ran from where Zabuza stood to where he was before his attack, at least 7-9ft long, a foot wide and 2ft deep.
Naruto stood up shakily, his stamina beginning to run out. He was covered in cuts, the largest one on being on the back of his right shoulder from misreading the timing of one of his dodges. Compared to him, Zabuza had only superficial cuts, his most major one being on a small cut on his check from getting knocked off balance earlier.
Shooting a quick glance to the side, Naruto could tell his teammate's and sensei's self control were quickly slipping from the glares they were directing at Zabuza. He needed to finish this quickly before they interrupted them. Slipping into a stance similar to Zabuza's before. He got a raised eyebrow from the taller man.
"Looks like you're intending on finishing this huh? Fine brat, I'll humor you." He said, getting into the same stance as before.
"We end things in this final attack alright Zabuza-san? I win, you let us go. You win, you can kill me but let please let my team and Tazuna-san go." Naruto said, staring straight at Zabuza, his eyes hard and narrowed.
"You really think you should be bargaining in your position? I'll think about it, but you have zero chance of winning brat." Zabuza replied, tightening his grip on his sword as he narrowed and focused his eyes on Naruto.
Silence reigned over the lake, as no one dared to take a breath during the tense moment. Finally, as if they were waiting for it, a leaf dropped onto the lake, and the two charged each other.
"Kubikiribōchō: Reisuiwari!"
"Seigi no Ken: Kaiten surasshu"
Faster then their eyes could follow, excluding Anko, the final strikes of Naruto and Zabuza ended. The water between them ripped 3ft across, 5ft deep, and 12ft long; slowly began to fill back in, causing turbulent waves to form.
Naruto's eyes widened as he coughed up blood as a cut appeared from his left shoulder going diagonally downwards, ending near his hip. Dropping his Basutāsōdo, it disappeared in a large wisp of black smoke before hitting the water. His world started to go black as he saw Anko sprinting towards him, he managed to mutter one word before losing consciousness. "How...?"
Zabuza stood firm, before he coughed up some blood, staining the bandages over his mouth. If he turned around, they all would see that he had a horizontal gash across his body. The deepest cut was on his right bicep which was cut halfway to the bone, which ran across his chest to the other bicep. Smirking to himself, he heaved Kubikiribōchō onto his shoulder with his left hand before he started to sway. Though, before he could fall, a masked figure in a kimono appeared next to him and leaned him onto their shoulder. Without waiting for a response from any of them, he vanished in a swirl of mist.
After Anko brought Naruto back to the shore of the lake, she was met with a teary eyed Yakumo and Satsuki who asked if he was alright. To everyone's relief, the cut he received was wasn't life threatening, the deepest part being near his shoulder was halfway towards cutting the bone, which Anko took care of quickly.
As Anko carried unconscious Naruto she took around if the clones were disappears , when she turned around and she was shocked that the shadow clones didn't disappeared, the girls were scared as they know that if the user of the clones that was in unconscious state they will disappear, but, they saw them they didn't really disappeared. A clone was walkig towards her, as the clone stand in front of her, he asked " Sensei what is your orders?" Anko looked at Tazuna and he said " my house, its only few meters away." The duo nodded and Anko announced " Okay team, let's go". When she finished, she turned around and saw a clone talking to his fellow clones and they roared as they were still in the heat, after that they left.
(Scene change - Unknown place)
The masked figure that had Zabuza held close gently put him down as they started tending to his injuries. After a few seconds, Zabuza snapped his eyes open, locking his gaze on the person treating him.
"Ugh... Haku, that you?" He asked, slightly disorientated from the blood loss.
"Yes Zabuza-sama, it's me. I'm sorry that I let you get this injured. I should've stopped that shinobi when I had the chance." Haku solemnly said in a feminine tone, removing the mask on their face to reveal a beautiful yet sad face. She expected to get yelled at for failing to protect him, but she got yelled at for a completely different reason.
"Are you an idiot? That was a one on one duel between that brat and me. If you had interfered, I would've cut you down for tarnishing my name as a swordsman. I don't have much left, but that brat reminded me that I still do have my reputation as a swordsman." He said in a stern tone, as he started checking over his injuries, being actually surprised at the damage that he sustained.
"Damn, that brat wasn't half bad. If I had been a little slower I would've lost my arm. Guess he wasn't bluffing when he said he was different from the other brats." He was broken out of his assessment by Haku who reminded him to be careful.
"Zabuza-sama, please don't strain yourself. Next time, I'll take care of that boy. You focus on recovering your strength, Gato said that in the case that we failed to eliminate the target, we'll gather and eliminate them within the coming week or two." Haku said, but once again was surprised by her master's words.
"You don't get it do you Haku, that brat is mine and mine alone. You take care of his sensei and those other brats, but me and him have a duel to finish next time. We'll give them until the day that sleazeball decides to attack to recover." After hearing her master's orders, Haku nodded and returned to tending his wounds as Zabuza thought back to duel.
"That kid... He's good, he's really good. The only reason it turned out like this was because he's inexperienced and I'm rusty. Heh, he's gonna be a monster in the future..." Ohh Zabuza, he is really already a monster, you cannot see his real 'power'. Your guess was right all along.
After their brush with death, the group finally made it to Tazuna's house. As they approached the house, a relatively young woman with dark hair stepped out of the house and as soon as she turned her head and saw the group, namely Tazuna, she started to tear up before running and giving the man a hug.
"Father! You're alright! I was so worried, you said it would only take 2 days to come back! Why did it take you 3! Are you hurt anywhere?" The woman asked, frantically checking if Tazuna was injured anywhere. She received a chuckle in return as he hugged his daughter back.
"I'm fine, I'm fine Tsunami! I was attacked, but these brave ninja protected me and also the blonde here protected me with his own army, looked outisde my dear." Tazuna reassured his daughter, as she turned and introduced herself and thanked them for protecting her father.
"I'm Tsunami, thank you so much for protecting my father. Without him, the last hope for the Wave would be lost." Tsunami said solemnly, knowing that his daughter would venture into more depressing memories, Tazuna opted to break the now saddened mood. Then Tsunami opened the door and saw 300 people whose stand before her, she was awed at this view, she cannot help but blush when she saw the abs on the clones' chest. When she was staring their chest and muscles, she hears a voice " Umm, Miss are you the client's daughter?" She look at her left and saw a clone that was talking to her, she answered " Yes, I am his daughter, who are you?" The clone form a small smile this earn a blush from Tsunami, the clone replied " I am just a clone madam, our real boss was over there" he pointing his finger on Anko whose carry Naruto on her back. Tsunami smiled and said " Thank you for protecting my father", The clone nodded and replied " It is our job to protect the weak and defend for those who cannot fight back". Tsunami was touched at his statement, while the girls, were smiled because no matter how much he endured, he always remain humble. The four women saw most of the men were parading there strenght and wanting to be a center of the attention to become famous and wanted to become so called 'gods' from themselves, for Naruto, well he was a real man, he denied for being a strong yet he said that he was just a trash, and he even mentioned that there was a people who always help him in dangerous times, he has no pride for himself. He was proud for the people who helped him in his darkest days..
"Now Tsunami, just don't stand there! We have guests to our home, let's try and make them feel welcomed ok!" Tazuna said with a bright smile on his face that was returned by his daughter.
Tsunami nodded and the clone spoke " Umm Madam, it is okay if you guys were having dinner or lunch because we have our own." He showed his backpack that was full of different food, there was a cup of ramen, raw chicken, carrots, potatoes, and big bottle of water. Tsunami widened her eyes and asked " And what about your utensils? Or how can you coocked them?" The clone smiled, he turned around then he pointed out through his thumb that shows they have a bedroll, a shovel, an axe, a small pot, and different kinds of utensils. Tsunami was shocked about the fine equipments they have, she worriedly asked " It's impossible, how can you carry for so much heavily equipment? Did your muscles got hurt-" she was cut off as the clone raised his hand and said " Do not worry miss, this is our part of daily routine, because in ancient times where there is no chakra only physical and mental strenght are the important roles on those days. It is was build to increase our strenght, stamina, endurance and move as a unit". Tsunami was amazed at the clone's statement, they bowed at each other and before she closed the door she reminded to the one "Your men will be rest at our backyard, back at the house please remain undetected, I will give you some water to drink". After that, she closed the door and the clone orderd his men to settle the camp and call for a day.
As Tsunami finished talking to the clone she turned around and saw Team 12 was resting at the table, she said to her father "You're right father, everyone please make yourselves comfortable. It's small house, we have enough room for all of you to stay and the people outside they can rest at the backyard, so please don't be shy and make yourselves comfortable." Tsunami said with a smile as she led the group into the house.
As trio standing up from their seats, they spotted a child with spiky black hair and eyes. Seeing them standing, the child gave them a slightly angry look before Tsunami called out to him.
"Inari, say hello to these people. They are ninja who protected Grandpa." Tsunami said with a gently and motherly tone, as she smiled at her son. Though Inari ignored them as he headed up to his room.
Seeing the reaction of the kid raised alarms in Anko's head, a kid his age shouldn't be looking like that, something big must've happened with him. Quickly glancing around, she also noted that there weren't many pictures of Tsunami with someone who looked like her husband. Mentally, she made a note to herself about that.
"Well, looks like the situation is more drastic then we thought. Kid must've had his dad either leave them or got killed by Gato's men." She assessed, as Tsunami apologized for her son's behavior, getting an understanding nod from the Konoha ninja, seeing as the situation in Nami no Kuni must've been harsh.