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I crown thee, King of Fanfiction.

That part with Shino and Hinata was so sweet.

i cant wait for the next chapter! u r an amazing author of fanfiction!

awesome chapter!!!!!!!!!!! but, kinda sad at the end. . .

Title: For the Love of My Friends
Chapter 22:Dead Man's Lake
Rating: Mature

The endless barrage of 'whys' ended when Ino felt the pain in her mind slowly disappear. A calm spread through her. She opened her eyes to see waves of endless blue energy surrounding her, supporting her seemingly weightless body.
The energy had no general shape, but Ino could make out shapes in the curves and rolls of it. She was reminded painfully of Shikamaru and his obsession with clouds.

She blinked and the energy began to fade away. In the hazy blue remains of the energy, she could see her surroundings more sharply as it dispersed.

She floated down, surprised to feel solid ground underneath her bare feet. She looked down, seeing dirt, rocks, and a few tuffs of muddy grass. Ino took a couple steps forward, sure that she'd find a weakness in the ground that would signify it as not real.

Really, she did not know what she was thinking. Ino, when she could find no weaknesses, stomped her foot. The ground didn't crumble beneath her. Realizing she must have looked silly, Ino chuckled quietly to herself.

I would like to thank the ground for not crumbling beneath my greatness and my superior artistic brilliance.. she giggled quietly, the stress of the day finally getting to her. Ino knocked her head lightly with her knuckles. Sorry, no one's home.

Her defenses lowered themselves, only to come flying back up when a voice interrupted her monologue.

"You're ignoring your teacher? That's a whole new level of stupidity, even for a blond." Her eyes locked on a familiar looking figure. A figure that gave her nightmares whenever she thought about him. He stood casually, his arm out to the side, the only thing supporting a water prison. A gray haired Konoha jonin crouched slightly in the prison, being tall for it's small space.

The missing nin laughed, seeming genuinely amused. "What a guy.." he murmured. Then louder, he said, "Come at me then!" Almost crying with relief when his eyes weren't focused on her, she looked at the four that he was half glaring, half smirking at.

Her heart almost shattered. No no no.. I can't.. please, not again!

A dark haired youth and a girl with hair the color of the sakura in the spring stood frozen, fighting the fight or flight battle within their own minds. Ino knew them. She knew that they wanted to help out their teacher, but were afraid of their opponent. Tall, strong, and muscular, Zabuza towered above them, both in height and in strength.

The older man that they were protecting hastily took several steps back until he tripped over a root, landing on his rear. He stared with terrified eyes at the menace before them.

Only one of the four was confident. "You got two legs and a heartbeat, what's stopping you!" Naruto yelled, stomping his foot much like Ino had several minutes before. She immediately ran in front of him, memories of her nightmares of the other blond's limp body spurring her forward.

"Naruto! Don't be an idiot! You'll get yourself-" she made a movement to grab his shoulders, only to go right through him. For the second that Naruto and her were one, she could feel not only her presence in his mind, but also another powerful, yet tempered down presence. It made her shiver, even when she collapsed to her hands and knees to the ground.

Am I.. a ghost? she stared at her hands. Now that her full attention was on them, she realized that they were faintly transparent. She remembered her aunt's seal spell.

"It's what I use to make more sense of my visions." Maemi said quietly. "It takes the vision, deletes all the scenes formed from your subconscious mind, opens up your mind, and lets you see what the vision truly is. An image of the future. It only reacts to a Seer. If Ino sits in the middle-" Maemi pointed to the middle of the seal spell, which was completely bare of any markings,"- and nothing happens, she is not a Seer. But if something does happen.."

Something did happen, she realized, a little too late. Feeling despair and pain, she clasped her hands together, hoping that at least one god was sympathetic to her cause.

Please, anyone.. don't make me see this.. please don't let this happen again!



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Naruto paused. He was sure that something was wrong, horribly wrong. And his gut instincts were usually right. He frowned. The fact that he had found Haku's position hadn't cheered him up any, nor the fact that Kakashi had wore Zabuza down faster then he had the last time. No, his spirits were totally shot. Not that he'd allow it to show on his face.
It had nothing to do with the Kyuubi. Naruto had loosened the seals on his hand shortly after Sasuke gave him his opinion on self sustaining energies, increasing the rate at which his demonic tenant regained his youki. Naruto could faintly feel him in the back of his mind, but when he tried to contact him, all he got were barks and snarls. Kyuubi needed more youki in order to regain his ability to talk mind to mind with Naruto. Naruto could sense the demon's frustration, but wasn't at all put down by the fact that he had to wait a little longer to talk to his constant companion. He was too happy about the fact that he was even alive.

It had nothing to do with his captured sensei. From his spot on the shore, Naruto could see that Kakashi was already unraveling the coils of chakra of Zabuza's jutsu from the inside out with his sharingan. It was only a matter of time before he was free.

No, it had everything to do with the person behind him. He had expected to see Sakura scared, after all, she was a girl and the force of Zabuza's chakra on her own was foreign and probably frightening. He knew Tazuna was scared, could practically smell it. The bridge builder was a normally passive man. He was merely caught in the cross fire in Gatou's regime.

But what disappointed him.. no, knocked him flat on his a** and made him gasp for air, was Sasuke's reaction.

Naruto wasn't being fair, of course. He remembered a Sasuke who cheered them up during the Chuunin Exam by saying he thought it was going to be pretty fun, even after he was easily beaten by the taijutsu specialist, Rock Lee. A Sasuke who risked his life by getting them through the second exam. A Sasuke who continued to fight even though his emotions would activate a curse seal that would slowly corrupt his mind. A Sasuke who realized that the only way to kill his brother was to gain more power, thus courageously and stupidly threw his body at Orochimaru. A Sasuke who realized that beating his brother wasn't good enough anymore, so sought out his once best friend, pretended to be made that the dobe had defeated his brother before him, and had impaled himself on his friend's rasengan, in his own screwed up way of paying for his sins and apologizing to his friend.

He's just a kid! Only you were dumb enough to run up to an opponent without caring what his skill level was at that age. he scolded himself.

Zabuza pulled him out of his thoughts, answering his last taunt. "Now there's an idea.." Ten Zabuza clones rose up from the lake. The closet one took a menacing step toward the group on the shore. Naruto's eyes darkened slightly when Sakura pulled him back. The clone reached the shore, then started to fall apart. He took a step back.

"Heh, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninjas," the clone said coldly, "but you know what? A real ninja is someone who had survived numerous brushes with death."

"Take Tazuna-san and run away! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he holds me in this prison, he can't move. The water clone can't go very far from his real body. Just run away now!" Kakashi paused just long enough to order. Naruto scowled, pulling his arm out of Sakura's grasp.

"Naruto!" Sasuke snapped. "You heard what he said!" Something snapped inside of Naruto. His whole body stiffened. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes met Sasuke's.

"What's wrong.. scaredy cat?" he said in a deadly voice. Sasuke recoiled, hurt but mostly angry and annoyed.

"What did you say.. dobe?" Sasuke said in a similar tone. Naruto turned his back on him. The cold shoulder was not unfamiliar. Before they were placed on the same team, Naruto had completely brushed him off when he saw him. But the situation and what he could sense coming from Naruto was much different than the time before. Before, he had looked sad and tired, like he was piling more burden than he could handle. But now, he was frustrated and annoyed. Sasuke had a feeling it was his fault, although he did not know why.

"Do you both have arched feet?" Naruto asked unexpectedly. Sakura was about to ask why when he cut her off. "'Cause if you do, you can walk on water real easy with just a simple trick. Concentrate chakra only in your heel and the ball of your foot and you can walk without too much trouble. Just try to not use your toes too much." He looked back at them, quietly surveying Sasuke then Sakura. "You know.. just in case."

"You guys should not be referred to as ninjas.." the clone said, drawing Naruto's attention back forward. The clone disappeared, then reappeared right in front of Naruto. Pure reflex had Naruto ducking underneath the kick.

Pushing off against the ground, he slammed his fist into the clone's jaw. It exploded into water.

"Heh.. just a brat." Zabuza muttered. Kakashi looked up. "Lets see how long he lasts.."

Naruto turned back around. "Water clones are just like shadow clones. A hard tap will make them disappear. But water clones can take a little bit more of a beating when around water." He then left his team and Tazuna on the shore, momentarily surprising Zabuza when he didn't sink underneath the water.

Naruto directed his attention to the real Zabuza. "You and I.. we have different meanings of what it takes to be a true ninja." he slid into a taijutsu stance. "I'm not saying you're wrong.. but I like mine a hellva lot better."

Laughing, Zabuza asked, "Then what is your idea of a true ninja then? Coming from a kid who hasn't been in the ninja world long enough to see half of what I've have see."

Naruto had to smile, knowing that he had. "Three basic principles. To be a true ninja, you don't follow any orders that offend your morals. To be a true ninja, you put the lives of your friend over a mission. To be true ninja, you never back down without a fight." he sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "I have lived by these principles. I know a ninja is a tool, but before it's a tool, he or she is human. I know a ninja must kill. Some people must be killed in order to keep the balance between powers. I am not naive enough to believe I can live without killing someone, but I will not kill an innocent. And even though it would be a damn shame if my village was looked down upon if I retreated from a mission because it put my friends lives in compromise, I much rather have their lives than a successful mission. Even if they ended up hating me. Which wouldn't make much a difference anyway.." he whispered the last sentence to himself. Naruto shook himself out of his melancholy moment.

A frown momentarily appeared on Zabuza's face. He's just like Haku.. It's going to be hard to kill him.

"You happen to have one of my friends there." Naruto said. Zabuza regained his smirk, although it seemed a little bit more forced.

"And what are you going to do about that?"

Naruto cracked his knuckles, grinning at the demon of the mist. "I'm gonna kick your a**." He then created several hand seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Four Narutos for every Zabuza clone appeared, running towards their own target. They attacked their own Zabuza clone, making sure that they could not interfere. Seven clones were immediately destroyed, five Narutos and two Zabuzas. Three Narutos ran straight through the middle.

The real Zabuza tensed, ready to use his one available arm to do as much damage as possible. But the three in the middle didn't seem too interested in him.

Two of them stopped, turned and put their hands over each others. The third who had lagged behind suddenly started to sprint. He jumped, landing on their hands, then was thrown into the air.

He twisted and curved in the air, turning east when he reached the highest he could go. He immediately began making hand seals. Naruto took a deep breath of air, feeling heat gather in his chest.

"Katon Karyuu Endan!" A dragon made of the hottest of flame issued from his mouth. It roared and sped off after its target.

That's an impressive technique.. Zabuza felt a vein throb in his forehead. Now what would have been more impressive is if he had aimed it in the right direction. He was mystified and annoyed at Naruto. After making such a powerful speech, the brat should have at least had the decency to be more accurate. He was about to tell Kakashi so when he saw a dark flash in the trees in front of the dragon. His eyes widened, realizing who it was. Haku! That brat figured out where he was hiding! Haku sped off, away from the battle field, a very hungry dragon on his heels.

Sasuke followed the dragon with his eyes, feeling inferior. Now that's what it's supposed to look like.. He reluctantly realized if he wanted to make his technique any better, he'd have to train with Naruto. Still sore about Naruto's 'scaredy cat' comment, he seethed. Dammit..

"I can't just stand here and do nothing.." his mumbling caught Sakura's attention away from the battle. She watched as Sasuke dropped to his knees and started to dig through his sack for something.

Naruto landed gracefully on the water, coughing a little. The attack scorched the inside of his throat. Gah.. gotta work on my control.. But Haku should be able to outrun that. He had suppress his chakra, making a weaker dragon than he normally would. He didn't want Haku to die, after all.

Almost all of his clones were gone, but there were only three water clones left. The remainder of Narutos clones retreated to Naruto's side. There were four Zabuzas and seven Naruto's left on the field. The three water clones jumped in front of the real Zabuza and Kakashi.

The six shadow clones spread out, anticipating more water clones. The real Naruto charged at Zabuza. Just as Naruto had thought, more clones formed out of the water. His clones came to his defense, dropping like flies.

Naruto dodged kicks and punches thrown his way. He couldn't get in enough time to make more clones. Soon he was surrounded, using the best taijutsu he could muster up to defend himself.

"s**t.." he hissed, back flipping out of the way. He felt a clone slid up behind him, but didn't have a hold on the water to push away from him. The clone made a movement to grab him, but dissolved into water when something large and metal sliced through him. Naruto turned surprised eyes to the shore.

Sasuke stood there, in the same position he had thrown the shuriken. He had three more in his hand. They were large, like the type novice genin used, shaped like wind mills. Naruto recognized them, having once changed himself into a similar shape to free Kakashi so long ago. He had to smile. I knew you weren't a chicken s**t, Sasuke..

Sasuke walked out onto the water, discarding his shoes. It was so hard to channel chakra through rubber. His feet sunk in an inch on the first step, but the farther he got in, the easier it became. Channeling chakra to one's foot was difficult, but even more so when channeling it to the entire foot. Naruto's trick accomplished the job so much easier.

He flipped one of the shuriken in his hand, then flicked his wrist, opening it up.

"We are ninjas, whether you like it or not." he said to Zabuza. "We may fear you, but like Naruto said," he raised the shuriken up in front of his face, "there's no way in hell we're going to back down."

He threw the shuriken at him, the four bladed weapon going a little faster than Zabuza would have expected of a genin. He caught it though, chuckling until it died in his throat. There was a shuriken hiding in the first's shadow. Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!

His hands were full, what should he do? Smirking, he jumped. The shuriken fell uselessly into the water with a faint noise.

While Zabuza's attention was focused on someone else, Naruto made quick work of the remaining clones, using more advanced taijutsu than he realized would have been suspicious coming from the 'dead last', hoping against hope that no one had noticed him. Luckily enough, no one did. He moved silently towards Zabuza, who just jumped over the second shuriken and mentally kicked himself. If I had just gone with the original plan, this battle would have already been over! Me and my stupid pride..

Water clones rose up again, and began to attack Sasuke. He defended as best as he could, using up much chakra along the way. Soon, the clones stood between him and the shore, blocking his one way out. His back was to Zabuza.

"You should have listened to your betters, kid.." Zabuza muttered, flipping the shuriken he caught open. Naruto saw his movements. He didn't need to be a psychic to know what was going to happen next.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi yelled, as the shuriken left Zabuza's hand. Sasuke turned around, his eyes widening at the sight of his own weapon flying back at him.

Shunshin no Jutsu! Naruto thought desperately, the seals automatically forming. He disappeared and appeared in the path of the shuriken.

"Naruto, no!" Sasuke yelled, but it was too late. A strangled gasp escaped Naruto's throat. His upper body felt too heavy to lift suddenly. He nearly fell over, just barely able to keep his balance.

Naruto yanked the shuriken out of his stomach, a little bit of blood and muscle coming out with it. Blood trickled down his chin, even as he grinned at Zabuza.

"Told ya.. you eyebrow less freak." he whispered. "I even put my.. precious people's lives.. over my own." Naruto's grip on his chakra faltered and he sunk beneath the surface of the lake.


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The jar slipped from her limp fingers, shattering and spraying shards of glass and ingredients to an antidote all over the ground. Hinata paused, her hands shaking. Something was horribly wrong, she just knew it.
From the moment she had watched Naruto leaving Konoha to that moment, she had been living in a constant tense state, waiting for the second shoe to drop.
Hinata went through the motions of cleaning up her mess, her mind focused on Naruto. She didn't noticed the glass that pricked her fingers and made them bleed.

Oh, Naruto-kun... she thought. Not being able to take it anymore, she abandoned the mess and ran out of her room. Hinata kept running, nearly tripping over a surprised Hanabi on her way out of the house. Even after the man let her out of the gate, she still ran.

Hinata paused at the Hokage monument when the stitch in her side became unbearable, her eyes lingering on the Fourth's frozen face. He had been a source of strength and courage for the village, but she herself could not find strength in image. To her, it looked like the Fourth was looking coldly down at the village. Coldly down at her, although the sculptor probably had meant to capture him in a regal light. But it still seemed like he was glaring at them, and Hinata already had too many people in the flesh glaring at her. She ran again, her destination unknown.

Hinata supposed that was probably why she found so much strength in Naruto. He looked like the Fourth, but he wasn't even close to the stone figure in the mountainside. He cursed, he fought, he screamed. Naruto was so human compared to the Fourth, although she supposed she wasn't being fair to their previous Hokage, the warrior he was. But she did not know him, thus could find no comfort.

Naruto.. he was the opposite of everything that should have been comforting to her. He was flighty, impatient, easily annoyed, and illogical. He often made people angry with him and he loved attention. Even those who were his distant friends found themselves thrown in the chaos that the blond always brewed in his boredom.

Hinata found herself in front of his apartment building, realizing much later that it had been her true destination all along. I knew it.. she thought, walking up the stairs. I knew I shouldn't have let him out of my arms. A thought that made her blush momentarily, an image of a chibi Hinata clinging onto Naruto's legs appearing in her mind's eye. She reached around her neck, pulling out a necklace. It had two items on it. A delicately crafted trinket of silver and white and a rusty house key. They were the opposite of one another, but they were the most precious things to her. Her mother's necklace and her crush's key.

She unlocked the door, remembering the few minutes she had been held by Naruto. Of course, he had just smiled and shaken it off, but it had been one of her most precious memories. Hinata closed the door behind her.

She had been in his apartment a few times before, just to water his plants. But now she was there.. why?

Did she really believe if she closed her eyes and prayed, he'd appear from around the corner? That he'd be surprised, then say hello and ask if she was hungry?

Oh, I'm so pathetic.. Even so, she still got comfort from his home, inanimate though it was and completely void of hugging power. It smelled.. like him. The faint smell of wildness and forest and ramen. Her hands trailed over the wall, tracing over a small crack that looked suspiciously like a kunai hole.

Naruto-kun.. Why do I feel like something horrible has happened to you? She looked out the window.

The only good thing about Naruto's apartment, as cramped as it was, was the view. One window looked straight into another person's apartment, but the other one looked out over the village. Closing her eyes, she could imagine Naruto sitting in front of that window, staring out over the village, a serious look on his normally cheerful face.

Hinata looked, feeling comfort knowing that Naruto had once done the same thing, and gasped. From the window, she could see the Hokage monument. But at the angle the Fourth's head was perched, he no longer looked as cold as Hinata thought he did. The light from the sun softened his features, lessened the tense look he had on his face. The different angle didn't make him smile, rather, it made him look like the Hokage did when he looked over the village children, his children. Not quite a smile, but a warm gaze.

The Fourth was looking over his children.

Hinata clasped her hands together. Please.. she silently begged of the Fourth, seeing strength in him that she did not see before. Please watch over your child, Uzumaki Naruto. Please make sure he returns to us safe.. that he returns to me unharmed.


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Limp, Sasuke stared blankly at the water as it slowly stained red. Visions of his family's brutal death flashed through his mind. Cold, hard fury rose up in side of him, a fury that was matched only by his fury over his clan's massacre.
In his mind's eye, Naruto grinned at him, taunting him until Sasuke would come outside to learn a jutsu. Naruto stood in front of a hospital window, moonlight making him look inhumanly pale, sharing his pain with Sasuke. Naruto frowning childishly when he tried to figure out which section he should put his 'x' in. Naruto looking blank, but his eyes flaming with anger and disappointment, calling him a scaredy cat.

He had failed once again. Another one of the people closest to him died. And all he did was stand around, acting like a coward.

"You.." he whispered, his voice slowly gaining volume. "You.. ******** b*****d!" Seething, Sasuke met Zabuza's eyes. Red tinted his vision and his dark eyes flashed a similar color twice before blazing red. A comma like mark etched itself into each of his eyes.

"I will kill you.." Sasuke hissed, unaware that he had activated his family's blood limit for the second time. He ran at Zabuza, only slightly aware that the clones' attacks were suddenly clearer and he could dodge them faster.

He didn't care when a cut opened up in his cheek when one of them swiped at him. He didn't care that he was almost out of chakra and it was suicidal to go any farther. He cared about his team mate. He wanted revenge.

Zabuza was just another Itachi.

Kakashi tried again. "What are you doing! Run away!" he yelled. He couldn't stand the thought of losing another student. "This fight was over the moment I was caught! Our duty is to protect Tazuna-san! Did you forget that!"

Sasuke was close, and still coming closer. "Kiss my a**." the Uchiha hissed, pulling out a kunai. "He was my friend!" He bellowed the last word, dodging Zabuza's swipe. The demon of the mist caught Sasuke's leg when he attempted to hit him.

Sasuke twisted, swinging his body upward. He slammed the kunai into Zabuza's right shoulder, unconsciously realizing that the only one who could beat Zabuza was Kakashi himself. Unfortunately, Zabuza didn't drop the prison. He let go of Sasuke's leg and grabbed his neck instead. He squeezed just hard enough to make Sasuke gasp and know he had the strength in one hand to break his neck if he so chose.

"Your brat of a team mate was in the way." Zabuza said, shaking Sasuke slightly. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke and his budding sharingan glared down at him. "It's nothing personal, just business. I'll let you and your pretty girlfriend go if you leave Tazuna and Kakashi to me. Do we have a deal?"

Sasuke spat in his face. "Go ******** yourself." He didn't bother correcting Zabuza about Sakura. Frowning, the mist nin tightened his grip on Sasuke's neck. He could no longer breathe.

Sakura stepped forward, knowing now was the time to stop acting like a wall flower and join in the dance. Tazuna grabbed her shoulder. "Don't! He'll kill you too!" She brought her hand over his, reminding him that she was no ordinary girl with the strength of her fingers. She pryed his hand off of her shoulder, glancing back at him over her shoulder.

Tazuna felt chills run down his spine at that look. He remembered that she was no grandchild of his, nor a kid of the town that he could pass judgment to. She was a shinobi. And it showed in her eyes.

"Please hide, Tazuna-san." Sakura said tonelessly. It hurt, she realized. It hurt so much. I wish.. I wish I could have told you how much I appreciate you Naruto.. This.. this is the very least I can do..

She stepped out on the water, finding easier than Sasuke had to walk. She, after all, had better chakra control than most people her age. Sakura formed seals with her hands, ignoring her teacher's yell to not take another step. She even ignored Sasuke's gasped shout that she should leave. You protected Sasuke, without second thoughts.. I cannot even hope to be half as good as you are.. but I sure as hell can try. I'll make you proud of me, Naruto!

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Sakura shouted. Four copies of her ran towards Zabuza.
Hm.. my hands are full. he couldn't make any water clones to quickly finish her off, and didn't want to let go of either Sasuke or Kakashi. I guess I'll kick her away or something. He wasn't too concerned with Sakura. Generally, female ninjas tended to be weaker in all aspects of ninjas arts, excluding genjutsu and healing. He was busy trying to figure out a way he could kill Sasuke without giving him a chance to attack, nor letting go of Kakashi when he put his foot through Sakura's first bunshin. The weak illusion disappeared. He waved Sasuke through the second clone. He was wondering whether or not Haku was okay by the time he had demolished the third clone, but his attention was drawn back to the battle when the fourth clone wasn't Sakura, but instead a rotten log that had been floating in the lake a few moments ago.

Kawarimi no Jutsu? Sakura appeared in front of him, in the air. She's too close! he realized. He couldn't kick her, or block her attack with Sasuke. Sakura twisted and kicked out, her foot connecting with the kunai that Sasuke had stuck in him before. It slid in deeper, scraping against bone.

Finally he reacted, teeth gnashing together in pain. He cursed at her, dropping Sasuke and reaching for his sword that was strapped to his back. Both hands holding the heavy sword, he swung at Sakura, only to miss when Sasuke tackled her into the water.

They resurfaced, coughing up a mixture of water and blood. Zabuza swung again, forgetting in his pain all about Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't hold his sudden freedom as lightly. He kicked Zabuza's side, feeling satisfaction when he felt one or two of the mist nin's ribs crack. Zabuza regained his footing on the water, barely keeping a grip on his sword. He pulled out the kunai in his shoulder with a wince, turning dark eyes to Kakashi.

"Never underestimate my students." Kakashi said blandly. Sakura and Sasuke climbed back onto of the water, feeling slight stirrings of pride. "Go to Tazuna." This time, they listened. They stayed on the water, but stood very close to the shore, just in case Kakashi needed them.

Well, this went to hell in a hand basket real fast. Zabuza thought, I just have to distract them a little longer, at least until I can make a diversion and escape. He never planned on beating Kakashi in one battle. Where was the fun in that?

He remembered Sasuke's fury at the blond brat's death. If Kakashi was anything like his students..

"Hmph. I never thought ninjas could be so dumb.. especially like that brat." he pretended to muse, eyes careful to watch Kakashi's reaction. "With that attitude, a ninja was bound to come along and put him out of his misery." Kakashi tensed, his eyes turning cold.

"He lived by the principles that should be respected and revered all throughout the ninja community. I will not tolerate you saying anything negative about him." Somehow, he wasn't just talking about Naruto anymore. He made several hands seals, then pointed his right hand down.

What's he doing? was the collective thought of the rest of them. The chirping sounds of many birds met their ears, electrical energy buzzing around Kakashi's hand. He held his wrist steady with his other hand.

"You have no right at all."

A loud screeching roar tore everyone's attention away from the chidori, bringing it instead to the brush where the sound originated. A masked ninja darted out of the bushes and landed on the water. Sasuke recognized the scent of burnt trees, proceeding Naruto's fire dragon.

It's still here? Sasuke thought, in complete surprise. Naruto's kage bunshins disappeared, why didn't the dragon?

The masked boy turned around, creating many ice and water walls that the dragon busted through in an attempt to reach him. Finally, with a tired screech, the dragon fizzed out of existence, barely three inches away from his target. The boy sighed in relief.

"Haku." Zabuza said, secretly pleased that the boy was alright. The boy straightened.

"My apologies, Zabuza-san." Haku said in his quiet voice. He observed the color of the lake and the group going against his mentor. He knew the one who unleashed the attack on him was probably dead. Kakashi looked at the pair of them grimly.

"A partner? He had a partner!" Sakura hissed.

"Who did you think Naruto sent the dragon after?" asked Sasuke in a slightly exasperated voice. In a fell swoop, she realized that Naruto was gone. Truly gone. He wasn't going to pop his head up, grin, and ask her out on a date for the millionth time. He wasn't going to turn to Sasuke after she rejected him and childishly scowl and yell at him, as if Sasuke was the reason she said no. No longer was he going to surprise her with his intellect, then do something incredibly stupid the next second.

"Naruto.." Sakura whispered. "You.. damn fool." Sasuke looked over, feeling slightly guilty. He was so sure that she was just going to wave off Naruto's death. He thought she was shallow, thus would not even feel half of the pain he felt at the death of another one of the people closest to him.

He awkwardly patted her shoulder, not knowing how to comfort her. For him, comfort came in the fact that Naruto's killer was going to die. But Sakura wasn't like him. The only thing he knew that would make her happy was to bring Naruto back.


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He knew it was the weight of his clothes and his ninja apparel that weighted him down, but he could not summon up the strength the lift his arm to yank them off. Instead, he kept on sinking until his back hit the sandy bottom of the lake.

Huh, this lake isn't so deep.. he thought, surprisingly calm. He could see the light from the sun through the clouds of red that kept coming from his body. I'm.. bleeding. Naruto was completely detached as he watched the wound in his stomach struggling against the water in attempts to heal.
He was unnaturally calm. He laughed mentally at the bizarreness of it. He'd spazz and get all hyped up over normal stuff, but the second his life was in danger, he would be calm.

Maybe he was calm because he knew he could last longer underwater than average humans, even most shinobi because he had learned how to burn off chakra into a substitute for oxygen.

Maybe it was because he was losing too much blood and it was affecting his thought processes.

Either way, Naruto found himself not caring. It was so calm there, at the bottom of the lake. A few fish, here and there, nolarge predatroy onesin sight. He found himself entertained by the play of colors and light ten or twenty feet above him.

In the back of his mind, he knew he should move, get out of the water so he could properly heal himself, but as the minutes ticked past, he found that his body wouldn't respond to his calls.

Am I going to drown? he mused. That really blows.. Snarls and growls appeared unwelcomed in his mind. It appeared the Kyuubi didn't want him to die.

I know. It's a b***h, huh? He forced himself into a crouching position, the water heavy on his weakened body. Then his legs gave out and his knees gently impacted with the sandy bottom.

The snarls turned into one high pitched whine. Naruto flinched instinctively. He had never thought Kyuubi would make such a desperate sound. Youki suddenly spiked within him, giving him a slight adrenaline high. Naruto felt more awake.

The demon struggled to speak. Fool.. of a brat... Get off.. your lazy a**.

And just where the hell have you been! Here I am, bleeding to death... he muttered incoherently to himself. Naruto felt more of his spirit coming back to him. He pulled off his vest, his kunai pouch, and his shuriken holster. The fox's youki spurred his heart into making more blood. Naruto's dizziness started to disappear.

I'm a being of fire. We're in water. Do the math. Kyuubi growled. He opened up his own version of the eight gates, making more and more energy flow through Naruto.Get the hell out of here, kitling. You've friends to save.

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Haku appeared next to Kakashi, grabbing the arm that had the chidori, thus beginning a tug of war between the powerful assassination technique. Zabuza turned to the two remaining genins. They glared back, fury, fear, and anticipation all rolled in one.
The demon of the mist felt little satisfaction when they still took a step back. His shoulder ached, as did his ego. Two genins had managed to injure him. Genins! Two little brats who thought they knew everything about anything. If they had been as knowledgeable as they thought they were, then they would have known that Naruto was merely an obstacle in his way. Zabuza wasn't trying to rile them up. He was looking after his own interests, which was, for the time being, following that sniveling coward of a man, Gatou, until the b*****d paid up.

Now they were obstacles in his way. Zabuza rather not kill them, as he was many things, but not a person who enjoyed killing little kids. He had warned them to stay out of their way. Hell, even their teacher told them to butt out. Now Zabuza had to kill them.

He briefly shouldered his sword, trying to roll the ache out of his shoulder, then ran at them.

They tensed, raising up arms. He knew that they had no chance against them, his eyes dark with annoyance at what he had to do for money.

Then the fish attacked.

At least, he thought it was the damn fish. Small compared to him, but big compared to normal fish, several dark blurs tackled him, knocking him away from Sakura and Sasuke. They clung to his arms and legs, trying to render him immobile. Three latched themselves to the arm that held the sword.

He realized that they were not fish, as they had legs and arms, and were steadily pushing him away from the shore. They had wild but wet blond hair, torn up black shirts, and bloodied up green shorts. Zabuza, having seem this jutsu before, was shocked.

How did that damn brat survive? He was under for ten minutes!

One last 'fish' rose to the surface of the lake. A vest, a holster, and a pouch hung limply from his left arm.He was bleeding heavily and looked tired, dark circles underneath his blue eyes. Or what had been blue eyes, but was now red.

N..Naruto? Tears rose to Sakura's eyes. Thank kami! She had to restrain herself to keep from hugging him to death. Sasuke had a similar reaction, although he was a little more sour about it.

Idiot probably pretended to die just so he'd look cool. I'll kick his a** next time we spar for making me worry. Immediately, he reworded his thoughts. No, he didn't worry me. He, uh, distracted me. Yeah, I'll kick his a** for distracting me. Damn blond should know to let his superiors fight.

Kakashi lost control of the chidori. It completely disappeared, it's chakra gone, leaving Kakashi feeling completely drained. Damn.. I shouldn't have used the eye so much. He watched Haku warily as the ice wielder walked away.

"I was not ordered to kill you." the boy said simply. Kakashi didn't know whether to feel annoyed or relieved. It was decided for him when he saw that Naruto had resurfaced, looking a little torn up but alive. Relief surged through him, exhaustion on its heels. He really needed somewhere to lie down.

Sasuke frowned, his sharingan telling him something that the others didn't notice. Naruto had two chakras in his body, a red one and a blue one. The red one was less dispersed than the blue one, seeming to travel along something other than Naruto's inner coil system. The red energy was mostly around Naruto's middle, but was slowly spreading out, like Naruto had gotten a boost in chakra.

Sasuke had never seen anyone with more chakra hidden in their body than Naruto.

Naruto stretched, letting Zabuza see his stomach stitching back together. The demon of the mist locked eyes with the demon of the leaf. Naruto cocked his head slightly, his red eyes fading back into a more comforting blue. He took several steps forward, until he was only a few feet away from Zabuza.

The poor mist nin was so shocked that he didn't even think about fighting for his freedom.

That kind of regeneration! he thought, awe struck. Who really is the threat of the four leaf nins? Kakashi or this kid?

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment. Then they opened, his eyes conveying more seriousness than the blond could ever muster in his voice. "You're being used, Zabuza. You're being treated like a tool. And though you may argue that ninjas are tools, the fact of the matter is that missing nins cost too much in the black market." he leaned closer, making sure his voice was low enough so that only Zabuza could hear him. "Do you really think that Gatou, the tight b*****d he is, is really gonna pay you? Do you really think in a month or two, you'll still be alive if you keep on working for him? He'll kill you, or at least hire someone to do it for him. He's not gonna roll out the money you want."

Naruto's eyes darkened. "And although you may act like you could care less about your life expectancy, think about Haku. Stop working for that communist b*****d."

Dammit, he knew the brat was right. But he needed the money. He was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to steal it. And who knew? The son of a b***h might actually go through with his deal.

"Stay out of my business, kid." Zabuza said gruffly, disengaging himself from the clingy Naruto clones. "Haku!" the boy was immediately at the mist nin's side. "We're leaving." Haku nodded silently.

With a blood thirsty grin, the fanged smiled hidden behind the bandages but the unholy gleam in his eyes still quite visible, he said, "We'll meet again, little leaf ninjas. Kirigakure no Jutsu!" It was only a partial blanket of mist and fog that assaulted their senses, dispersing once Zabuza and Haku had disappeared.

With a tired smile, Kakashi walked to the shore. When he caught up to Naruto, he slung an arm over the blond's shoulders. "So.." he said, addressing them all. "How do you think your first experience with a real ninja went?"

"Like s**t." Naruto said flatly. Sasuke had to agree. They all made it to solid ground, the Uchiha pausing just long enough to scoop up his sandals. Tazuna grinned at them.

"That was excellent!" the old man said excitedly. The ninjas merely huffed. It wasn't for entertainment, they had been fighting for their lives.

"Zabuza was just gathering information." Kakashi told his team warily. "That wasn't even a real fight."

"Hell, I knew that." Sakura muttered, picking up her sack from where she had left it.

"Hey hey!" Tazuna said, trying to raise their spirits. "I happen to recognize this lake! We're ten minutes away from my humble adobe! This is Dead Man's Lake." He leaned forward with a grin. "It's infested with alligators."

Sasuke and Sakura immediately looked back. A alligator was on the surface of the lake, sunning itself, proving Tazuna's words to be right.

"Damn Naruto.. You're pretty lucky." Sasuke muttered, curious as to why none of the huge reptiles took a chunk out of Naruto.

"Luck.. is just one of my many skills" Naruto said humorously. He then collapsed into a heap on the ground. Kakashi bent down, checking his pulse.

"He's fine. Just used a little too much chakra." Kakashi yawned, then fell faint on the ground. Sakura's eye twitched as she observed the unconscious forms of her team mate and teacher, secretly envious.

"Oh, hell no.." she muttered, unaware that Sasuke had heard her.

"Oh, hell yes." Sasuke corrected, grabbing one of Kakashi's arms and hauling him up. "You take Naruto."

"And I'll lead you to my home! Plenty of futons! Follow me!" Tazuna said cheerfully. Sighing, Sakura and Sasuke dragged Naruto and Kakashi after him, Tazuna's loud voice the only thing that they could focus on. It had been one hellva day.

why wont anyone else review? gonk

that was awesome!!!!! i loved it! heart cant wait for the next chapter!

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Gai's team? Woah boy.