Chapter 14

Last Time:

He turned his head slightly to see the hunter nin chocking him with a large, well woven rope.

Now:

Naruto's hands quickly reached to the rope and he dug his fingers into the closing space between it and his throat. 'At least I'll be able to somewhat breath.' Naruto thought as he pulled at the rope. Haku had a hell of a grip, Naruto had to at least give him that much. Naruto watched as Zabuza rose to his feet and glared at him. "Damn, you pack a mean punch, brat." Zabuza said. He then punched Naruto in the gut hard, making Naruto groan in pain. Zabuza nodded at Haku and Haku began tightening the rope around Naruto's neck.

"Who sent you!" Zabuza demanded at Naruto. Naruto chocked out "Y.. Your fashion consultant!" Naruto spat out, making Zabuza punch him in the face. Naruto's brow split open as he stared at Zabuza defiantly. Zabuza then followed with a hook to Naruto's stomach, making him fall. He nodded to Haku again, Haku's grip tightening the rope. 'Shit! Shit! Damn it, everything is getting blurry..' Naruto thought as he tried to breath, his face red from the lack of oxygen.

"How many men are on your team!" Zabuza demanded, making Haku look at him questioningly. "Zabuza-sama, he's the only one who we found." Haku said. "Look at him Haku. He's obviously a professional; look at the way he's dressed. Black and incognito, beret obviously points to an organization, he has all of the equipment a professional would need. No professional in their right mind would go into a mission this dangerous alone." Zabuza rationalized. Haku nodded at Zabuza's explanation as Naruto tried to wheeze out a response.

Zabuza nodded at Haku and Haku loosened the grip on Naruto's neck, making him stumble and gasp for breath. "I'll ask once again, how many men are on your team!?" Zabuza demanded. "Just your mother!" Naruto replied, making Zabuza kick him in the stomach. "Well, this one is useless. Kill him." Zabuza told Haku. Haku nodded and made a spike out of ice. "I don't like killing Naruto-san." Haku started as he approached the downed boy. "But to be an effective weapon for Zabuza-sama, I will kill my feelings and become a true shinobi."

Before Haku could stab Naruto, a loud noise resounded through the catacombs. Haku yelled as a sharp pain flared in his shoulder. Haku gripped his shoulder, but before he coul react, Naruto sent an upper kick to Haku's head, making the androgynous shinobi fall to the floor. "What the hell!" Zabuza demanded, but was forced to take cover as a flurry of kunai came at him. 'What's going on?' Naruto thought as he raised his head to see his three clones mounting an all out long-range attack.

Naruto took the opportunity to get up and run into the nearest catacomb tunnel. As he ran, he failed to pay attention to his surroundings and was once again clothes lined by Zabuza. Naruto hopped to his feet and got into a fighting stance as the swordsmen took his own. ' Lets see, based from our fight, his main strengths are kenjutsu and water ninjutsu. The hall is long enough for him to unsheathe his sword, but not long enough for him to be able to use it effectively. Any ware jutsus are out of the question since there is no available water source and it would probably flood the tunnels.'

Naruto was shaken from his thoughts as he ducked under a punch from Zabuza and countered with a kick to Zabuza's ribs, making him grunt in pain. Before Zabuza could react, Naruto sent a kick to his face, making his brow split. "Come on, is the big bad demon scared?" Naruto taunted, making Zabuza growl in rage. Zabuza got up and threw a series of jabs and punches at Naruto, only for them to be side stepped or swatted away. Zabuza tried to kick Naruto in the face, only for his foot to be caught by the blonde.

As Naruto caught the foot, he immediately sent a kick to Zabuza's knee, making the swordsman yell in pain. Naruto tried to send another kick, only for the swordsmen to spin in mid air and kick him away. Naruto slowly got up, only to be slammed back onto the ground as Zabuza grabbed him by his neck and slammed him against the floor. "You aren't going to make a fool out of me, brat!" Zabuza yelled as he stomped on the back of Naruto's neck. Before Naruto could react, a figure tackled Zabuza off him.

"Go, get out of here boss!" Naruto heard his clone yell. He wiped the blood from his nose and ran full speed towards the exit, making sure to avoid any guard that may have been able to take him down on the way. As he got to the rear entrance, he saw his other two clones standing there. "What the hell happened to you boss?" they asked him. "I got my ass kicked." Naruto replied, then turned to them. "Did you guys tag all of the main support beams in the house and catacombs?" Naruto asked and all of the clones nodded in response.

Naruto took this as a go ahead and formed his hands into the detonation hand seals. "Boom." Naruto muttered.

~ In the Catacombs ~

Various support beams had been tagged with arrows. As soon as Naruto activated his hand seal, the seal engraved into each of the arrowheads began to sizzle. Before anyone could react, an explosion shook the Catacombs and the main support beams, making the land around the main mansion into one big sinkhole. But it didn't end there. As soon as the main beams of the catacombs fell, the arrows tagging the main support beams of the main household were triggered.

Naruto watched as the once proud mansion crumbled to pieces. 'Damn, that was definitely one of my tougher operations.' Naruto mused as he let out a sigh of relief. He turned and was about to leave when a loud voice resounded through the clearing. "I'm not through with you yet, brat!" Naruto groaned and turned to see Zabuza charging at him, blade drawn and in hand. Naruto took out a kunai and charged at Zabuza. Zabuza threw a large slash at Naruto's face, only for Naruto to duck under it and to stab his kunai into Zabuza's already injured knee.

Before Zabuza had time to register the sudden surge of pain, Naruto followed up with an uppercut to Zabuza's jaw and then slammed his elbow into Zabuza's face, breaking his nose. Naruto withdrew his katana and charged at Zabuza, blade positioned to stab Zabuza's heart. Seconds before Naruto stabbed Zabuza's heart, a giant ice mirror appeared in front of him. Naruto could only stare as his blade pierced Haku's heart and ended the young shinobi's life.

Naruto grabbed Haku's still body and jumped away as Zabuza slashed at him with his sword. "What the hell is your problem! Your comrade just died and the first thing you try to do is slash his body in half and dishonor his sacrifice!" Naruto growled at Zabuza. "Haku was nothing but a weapon for me to use as I see fit." Zabuza coldly stated as he steadied his body weight on his good foot and began charging at Naruto. Before Zabuza could get close, he was pierced in the shoulder by an arrow, making him drop his giant sword. Then another arrow pierced his leg, making him fall to the floor.

"You're wrong." Naruto stated as he approached the downed Zabuza, bow in hand. "Haku was a person, just like you and me. He had feelings, dreams, aspirations, and goals! And you know what they were! They were all to help you achieve your dreams!" Naruto said coldly, making Zabuza wince at the harsh words. "I thought people like Gato were scum, doing and taking what they wanted when they wanted." Naruto began. "But it's people like you that are the real scum. Sacrificing others for your own gain and not even batting an eyelash when they die in front of you."

Naruto turned and walked away. "Wait, where are you going, brat! Come back, our battle isn't over!" Zabuza yelled at him. "Its over." Naruto muttered as the arrows in Zabuza's shoulder and leg began fizzing. With that, Zabuza's life was ended in a large-scale explosion. Naruto winced as he made his way back to Tazuna's house, the ringing sound in his head and his damaged face making it hard for him to walk straight.

~ The Next Day – Naruto's Room ~

Naruto was having a good a pretty good morning. He woke up in a soft bed, the floor was warm, and his split brow and bruised face were already healed thanks to his healing factor. He made his way downstairs, only to see Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari all gathered around the kitchen table. "Well, what happened!?" Tazuna asked Naruto. "You got a pen?" Naruto asked Tazuna. "Damn it, quit trying to change the subject on me brat!" Tazuna demanded, only to shut his mouth as Naruto dropped the deeds to Gato's business and a transfer of ownership before the drunken bridge builder.

"Gato is dead, and his base of operations has been destroyed." Naruto stated, making Inari stare at him with wide eyes. "Y..You're lying!" Inari stuttered out. "I told you, no man is invincible, especially not one who hides behind money." Naruto said to him with a grin, making Inari break out into tears. Tsunami wrapped her son into a comforting hug and held him close as her father signed the transfer of ownership over to himself. "But why are you doing this, brat? You could have just over thrown Gato and take his place." Tazuna asked suspiciously.

"I hold no interest in ruling over people. It is not my place. I would rather ensure that they have the ability to choose their own place in life." Naruto replied as he finished his tea and got up. "Well, we got work don't we?" Naruto asked Tazuna. "The hell with that! As soon as the villagers hear of what happened to gato, there's going to be a festival to celebrate the fall of the tyrant! Tazuna replied happily with a bottle of sake in hand. "Today we celebrate, tomorrow we go back to work with hangovers!" he exclaimed happily, making Naruto sweat drop.

~ Time Skip – 3 Days ~

Naruto smiled as he looked at the finished bridge. After towns' people had heard of Gato's fate, a giant festival had been held to celebrate it. There was food, drink, games, and music all around. Everything had been fine until Tazuna announced that Naruto had been the one to take down Gato. After word spread, everyone wanted to meet the hero, which led to him having to sit through various handshakes and greetings with the towns people. The celebration had dragged into the early morning before everyone had finally fallen asleep.

The next day and the day after that had been nothing but hard work, but there was a sense of accomplishment to it. With Gato gone, a lot of people volunteered for the bridge and they had managed to get it done in two days. Which brings us to where we are today. Naruto stood in full uniform minus his facemask besides Tazuna as the old drunk gave his speech about Wave prospering thanks to the bridge and the newly acquired "Wave Shipping Inc.". However, the next part of Tazuna's speech caught his attention.

"And now, in the honor of the hero who helped overthrow Gato, we the people of Wave have nominated that this recently finished bridge be named "The great Naruto Bridge!"" Tazuna exclaimed, making the entire crowd cheer and Naruto feel self-conscious at the feeling of having the spotlight suddenly put on him. As the crowd cheered loudly got their hero and their newfound freedom, Naruto couldn't help but smile. 'I'm going to have to leave soon if I want to make it to the bunker in Kumo soon. Naruto thought as he looked at the celebrating town people.