Chapter 11

The single shuriken multiplies into hundreds of shuriken which meet the ice needles half way. Haku forms a sheet of ice in front of him to defend himself from the remaining dozens of shuriken still flying at him.

Beside Sasuke, standing there in all his glory was Izuna Uchiha with his three tomoe sharingan spinning lazily in their sockets.

He stood there contemplating what to do with Haru. Zabuza is going to slay all of Gato's men, and for that Haru had to sacrifice himself for Zabuza to live even though Zabuza also dies after the fight.

In the end he decides to kill Haru. He watches as the ice shield Haru formed slowly disappears. Haru looks at Sasuke, then at Izuna, then back at Sasuke.

Haku:'Clone? When did he have time to make a clone without me noticing?'

Seeing Haru looking between him and Sasuke, his eye twitched before he spoke.

Izuna:"I'm not a clone. Seeing as how Kakashi will soon need help, let's end this quickly."

He forms hand seals before performing a jutsu that was very well known among the older generation of shinobi.

"Fire release: Great Fire Annihilation"

A literal sea of flames is expelled from his mouth towards the stunned Haru. The was no way to escape as we were trapped in his ice dome which the flames were quickly melting.

Haru:"What is this!!??"

The ice wouldn't melt fast enough for hm to dodge. The best he could do was block it. Haru formed sheets of ice, way thicker than previous one around his body.

When the steam cleared, what could be seen was a very burned and panting Haku. The ice dome which was around them was now nonexistent.

Zabuza looks towards their fight with wide eyes seeing as nobody has ever managed to melt haku's ice before.

Zabuza:'Fire that can melt Haku's ice? What does konoha teach these genin? That boy wasn't there before...how did he get into the dome?'

While Zabuza was questioning himself, Kakashi was in a similar state but with different thoughts.

Kakashi:'Ah...so they sent him. Hopefully he can deal with Haku quickly'

Back to Haku's fight, Haku could be seen panting heavily as he stares at Izuna who stares back calmly.

Izuna:"Just one jutsu and you're worn out. And here I thought I'd get to have fun."

As Izuna mocked him, Haku mind ran wild with different thoughts.

Haku:'Who is this guy? He looks no younger than the other kids, but the difference in strength is too wide. Maybe he's his brother?'

Unfortunately for Haku, he'll never get his answer as Izuna's voice pierced the air once again.

"Amaterasu"

Haku:'Wha-'

He wasn't allowed to finish that thought as the flames completely consume him. Izuna shakes his head in disappointment as his eyes form the Mangekyo pattern.

'Looks like he's not as strong as I thought.'

After a few seconds, the flame dissipates leaving nothing remaining of Haku not even ashes.

Zabuza stares at Izuna in shock. Sasuke who had been watching silently also stared in shock. Naruto would have shared his shock if he was conscious as he had passed out a while ago.

Sasuke:'The gap is too wide!!!'

Zabuza:'Seriously, who is this kid!? There's no way he's a genin.'

Izuna looks at Sasuke before throwing a med kit towards him which he catches.

Izuna:"Patch yourself up. When we get back to konoha, we'll need to brush up on your skills."

He then walks towards the other fight. Meanwhile Sasuke cursed himself for being weak while also being happy to finally get to train with Izuna.

Izuna walks towards the area where Zabuza and Kakashi are clashing.

Zabuza:"Kid, I'll kill you for what you did to Haku."

He spoke in a dangerous tone. Izuna just ignores him.

Izuna:"Kakashi, do you need help handling him?"

Kakashi remembering what Yamato said about his skills, nodded. With two of them they could easily beat Zabuza.

As they were about to resume their clash, clapping could be heard.

*Clap*

*Clap*

*Clap*

They turned their heads to see what looked like an army.

Kakashi:"Who are they?"

Kakashi asked hearing Zabuza growling beside him.

Zabuza:"Gato, what are you doing here?"

Zabuza spoke making Kakashi's eyes widen. A voice came from behind the mob as they all moved to reveal a small, fat man at the back of the crowd.

Gato:"I am here to finish this off, since you are obviously too weak to do so."

Zabuza:"What the hell are you saying?"

Zabuza was beyond angry at this point. Gato smiled smugly as he spoke.

Gato:"You may consider our contract, null and void."

What he said heightens Zabuza's anger. Zabuza growls before turning to Kakashi.

Zabuza:"Kakashi, we are no longer enemies, I would like to call a truce for now."

Kakashi nodded and Izuna sighed. Zabuza then turns to Izuna.

Zabuza:"Kid, give me a kunai."

Izuna sighed once again before tossing him a kunai, which he caught in his mouth. Already knowing what's going to happen, Izuna spoke up.

Izuna:"Do whatever you want. It just makes my job easier."

Zabuza:"Cocky brat."

That was all he said before he pushed off towards Gato's men. Naruto, who was now conscious and Sasuke who was fully patched up watched as Zabuza butchers Gato and his men.

Some of the thugs tried turning back to run away. What they saw caused them to stumble back. Standing behind them covering their way of escape were the people from the land of waves, battle ready.

Izuna just walked away with his hands in his pockets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fight was over with Zabuza's corpse in the midst of the corpses of Gato and his men. Kakashi took the time to talk to Izuna.

Kakashi:"So they sent you. Where are your teammates?"

Izuna: "They called off active duty for a while"

Kakashi looked surprised before he spoke in mild concern.

Kakashi:"What happened to them?"

Izuna:"They had their first kill and they couldn't stomach it."

Kakashi had a look of understanding, before it turned curious. Izuna saw this and responded before he could ask his question.

Izuna:"Before you ask, I also had my first kill. I got over it quicker than them."

Kakashi nods before turning to Sakura and Tazuna, who Izuna had barely noticed at all.

Kakashi:"Tazuna, how long will it take for you to rebuild the bridge."

Seeing as how the bridge was slightly damaged from the fight, he felt the need to ask.

Tazuna:"It'll take about two weeks."

Sakura spoke up for the first time since Izuna got here.

Sakura:"Sasuke-kun, I'm so glad you're okay."

Izuna's eye twitched as a vein bulged on his forehead before speaking as calmly as possible. Even then, the irritation in his voice was clear.

Izuna:"I'm. not. Sasuke."

Both Tazuna and Sakura looked surprised until they notice the different clothing.

Sakura:"Izuna?"

Sasuke then walks up to us standing beside me. Tazuna looks between the two of them clearly surprised.

Tazuna:"Are you two twins?"

They both ignore him. Seeing that naruto isn't with Sasuke, Izuna had an inkling on what happened but wanted to confirm it.

Izuna:"Where's naruto?"

Sasuke:"He's mourning his friend."

Izuna nods as they separate from the rest before donning a serious look on his face.

Izuna:"Then we are going to deal with our current problem"

Sasuke:"Which is?"

Izuna:"You're stagnating. Self training can only take you so far."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to refute his statement but didn't, as he himself could feel the truth in those words.

Izuna:"We're going to fix that."

Sasuke could fully suppress the shiver that he felt when he heard those words. In the end he sighed in acceptance, knowing how brutal Izuna's training style was.