Chapter 36

Kakashi heard Naruto and he tried to move his arm but he was too close, the boy wasn't moving all that much so he knew that he had to limit it. He was still two feet away and slightly moved his hand, it wasn't much but he had been aiming for a higher target at any rate. If he had been any closer he couldn't have been able to move his arm plus he cut off the flow of chakra to his arm and hand, but that would only lessen the damage the build up in the jutsu alone was enough to be fatal if he hit a vital spot.

He didn't know why his son was telling him to stop but he trusted that he had a good reason. So with the last second his chidori hit the young boy in his shoulder. He heard the boy cry out in pain as he grabbed Kakashi's wrist, he was surprised how much strength the boy had in his arms.

"I...can't let you kill...him," the boy said to him giving him a small smile. "I'm sorry...Zabuza-sama...I'm no longer...any use to you..."

"Haku," the man behind him simply said as Kakashi looked at the boy who was starting to fall.

This Haku person still kept a grip on his arm even as he was falling down, he had to admit it was impressive how much will power the young boy had. Kakashi was finally able to pull his arm free as he grabbed the boy before he fell into the water. There was a groaning sound as the boy was still alive if only barely.

"Dad!" Naruto ran over to the body of water, he only got to the edge as he didn't know how the adults were standing on the water like they were.

"Naruto," Kakashi said in a tone that demanded an explanation.

Naruto heard that tone all the times he got caught with a prank only now it was more serious. He knew that his father would demand a very good explanation as to why he was told to stop other than Haku getting in the way.

"I...I didn't want him hurt...He's like me I think," Naruto told him and Kakashi's head went back a little at that as he looked down at the bleeding boy.

"Stupid kid," Zabuza said still stuck in Kurenai's genjutsu.

"Don't say that about him!" Naruto yelled out at the man. "Don't you care at all? He lived for you, his only dream was for you he didn't even have a dream of his own. He said that he was alone and you took him in, you trained him. Don't you care for him at all!" Naruto shouted at the man. He couldn't help but think on his own life.

After he had learned that his parents had died and that Kakashi had taken him in. How could this man who had done the same feel nothing at all for the boy? He just didn't understand it, yes he knew that Haku had done just moments ago but isn't that the life of a ninja? You fought your enemies?

But Naruto couldn't hate, not after seeing those eyes. He remembered those eyes from the mirror when he was lonely, before he met Hinata. The boy just seemed too much like him to hate and he couldn't believe that this Zabuza just didn't care, even a little.

"Look at him you bastard!" Naruto yelled out. "He's there bleeding, broken and dying for you! Everything he's done seems to have been for you and never himself! He thinks he's just a tool!"

"Ninja are the tools of war kid," Zabuza said looking at the boy under him, watching the water turn red from the blood.

"Bullshit!" Naruto said. "We're people first damn it! We have feelings, we have hopes and above all we have dreams. You have a dream, he told me that much so does that make you a tool? Is the fact that his only dream in life is for yours make him less human!"

"Shut up!" the killer said closing his eyes. He saw all the times he was with Haku, the day he met the starving and cold little boy that was most likely about to die in a day. He took that boy in and yes he first saw him as a tool for his own uses. As he trained the boy he couldn't help but be proud at the boy, his skills were above anyone he had seen. The boy was truly gifted and adding in that bloodline for ice he could be nearly unstoppable. If only the boy's heart wasn't so soft.

He had spent years training and living with Haku, trying to raise enough money to buy him a security from hunter nins and to kill his Kage again. Over all the years he tried to think of the boy as nothing but a tool to be used. But looking at him now why did he feel this pain in his chest? He had never felt this before so why now and why with Haku? It didn't make any sense for him to feel this way about a tool.

"Kakashi I can't hold him forever," Kurenai said to him.

Kakashi looked at the boy and then at the man, he saw something in those eyes that shouldn't be in the eyes of a killer. Then he cast a look at Naruto and saw the pained look in his son's eyes and beyond him he could just start to make out the still forms on the ground behind him and he felt his own chest tighten at that. This wasn't supposed to happen on this mission, he knew there were dangers but this wasn't supposed to happen. He suddenly remembered the face of Obito, half crushed in rock.

He looked back at Naruto as a silent thing passed between them, "Let him go."

"What!?" Kurenai shouted.

"He's nearly out of chakra and so am I," Kakashi said closing his eye. "Even if he did try something you'd kill him."

He faced Zabuza as their eyes met, "Take your soldier and go, there has been enough blood today."

"My contract is still valid you know," the man warned Kakashi.

"I know and we'll be ready for you." He said back as he picked up Haku.

Kurenai couldn't believe this was happening but Kakashi was the senior ranked jonin. She reluctantly let go of her jutsu and the large man walked free. She watched as he slowly went up to Kakashi, she waited to see if he would make a move on them or not. Zabuza just picked up Haku and without a word a mist shrouded the two of them as they faded away.

"I hope you know what you did," Kurenai said coldly to him.

He didn't say anything as they walked to the shore as he looked at Naruto, 'I hope you know as well Naruto.'

Naruto knelt down next to Hinata, she looked almost peaceful but he felt like his heart was breaking. Back when he was a lonely child with no friends she had been the person to accept him as a friend. And he failed to protect her, he failed and she was dead because he wasn't strong enough. She came in to help him and she died along with Sasuke. She shut his eyes feeling the sting of his tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. He had no idea what he was going to say to Neji, to her father or to Hanabi. He started to pull out the needles to at least clean her up a little. The others watched in silence as Naruto started out and Sakura did the same for Sasuke seeing him doing it. She too felt her heart breaking, Hinata was a friend of hers and she couldn't stop looking at the boy she had a crush on lifeless on the ground.

Naruto pulled out a needle in her neck and suddenly she jerked, her eyes snapped open as she gasped for air. Naruto fell back on his ass with a shout his eyes wide and unbelieving as did everyone else turn to see the Hyuga girl still alive.

"H-Hinata!?" Naruto shouted out.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She said weakly. Her whole body hurt for some reason and she couldn't really move.

"Hinata!" Naruto quickly moved over to her as he started to pull out the last of the needles. He was so happy that she was still alive. He heard another gasp and Sakura's shriek as he looked over his shoulder at the other boy coughing and Sakura helping him out. He smiled under his mask as he picked up Hinata slightly to him.

'I guess he couldn't kill them after all,' He thought happily holding Hinata close to him.

Hinata was slowly becoming aware of the world around her, the last thing she remembered was a fight with the masked boy and lots of pain, Naruto holding her and...She blushed a bit remembering thinking she was dying and nearly telling Naruto her true feelings. She felt a bit better but still her body ached in places. She felt her face pressed up against something and as her eyes focused she saw orange. It was Naruto's shirt.

'Naruto is holding me? He's got his arms wrapped around me!?' she blushed very red as she could almost hear his heart beating in his chest.

"Hinata-chan don't ever scare me like that again, I thought I lost you. You have no idea how much you mean to me," he told her gently. That only caused her blush to get even redder as his words hit her, it was also more than she could take and passed out again only this time with a smile as felt her face against his chest.

"Hinata-chan? Hinata!?" Naruto shook her worried that something was wrong.

It was at this time that Kurenai stepped forward, "It's okay, she's just passed out."

She was so relieved that Hinata was still alive, the little girl was almost like a daughter to her after all this time and she had seen her grow and get stronger. She was also painfully aware of the young girl's feelings for the masked boy holding her and she wondered why Hatake had never told his son that she liked him. She would have to ask him later but right now she was just glad that the two were alright.

"I wonder why that boy didn't kill them?" She wondered softly to herself.

"I'm not sure myself but it seems the boy can't kill his heart," Kakashi said in a pleased tone. He was glad that Naruto's instincts were right in the boy, he hadn't been sure but Naruto always had a way with people.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said as she helped him up.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Uh...looks like we won," Sakura said to him not sure what happened. The last thing she knew in the battle was that strange chakra and the killer intent unlike anything she had ever felt before. Then some things happened and when the mist cleared he and Hinata looked like they had been killed.

"Damn you two are lucky that masked guy didn't kill you two," Kiba said smiling at him.

"Hmn," Sasuke grunted as he tried to get up, Sakura tried to help him but he shrugged her off saying that he was fine.

Sakura frowned as she looked sadly at his back as he walked away but felt Kiba's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't let it bother you Sakura, his pride is just hurt and he's not taking it well." He told her.

When they gathered everything up, Naruto said that he would carry Hinata to the village they were going. Of course Kurenai offered but he flat out refused as he put her on his back and started to carry her along the way. Sakura saw this and she sighed, it looked like Hinata had gotten the boy after all or at least closer than anyone. She just wished that someone could be like that for her. They walked on to the village and along the way Hinata woke up slightly. She was wondering what was going on and why it felt like she was moving. She felt something against her chest and what felt like hands on her legs.

She blushed as that registered in her mind and soon she realised that she was being carried. With the blonde hair she could see she knew it was Naruto, he was carrying her and he was touching her legs. She blushed once more but managed to stay awake, she just let herself enjoy the feeling of Naruto's back. She gave a content sigh as she slowly fell asleep being carried by him.

"Finally, it's good to be back home," Tazuna said looking over his village. Although the other shinobi weren't exactly as thrilled, the place looked like it had once been a prosperous fishing village but now it looked like it had seen better days.

"Man what a dumb," Kiba muttered.

"Watch it punk!" The old man shouted at him, "you should never insult the home of someone when you're a guest it's bad manners. Besides one of the reasons I'm building the bridge is to bring back the beauty and pride of my village."

"Of course," Kurenai said placing a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "You'll have to excuse my student he's not very good at thinking before speaking." She gave Kiba a look and he flinched a bit under it knowing that he might get a talking to about learning to watch his mouth. They were led through the village looking around as they did, people were wearing very worn clothing, the few stands that were still open had very little to sell and people looked hungry and destitute.

"Tazuna-san, is this what that Gato man did to your village?" Sakura asked the older man seeing everything. She felt very bad for the people in this village, she had never seen anything close to this as Konoha was a very prosperous village.

The old man nodded being a bit more serious, "Now you see why we need the bridge so much. This used to be a beautiful town before that man came, what you see around you is the results of his work."

Everyone looked around and the air was just thick with despair, it was like the soul of the entire village had been ripped out. They went through the town and it only seemed to get worse as they walked on, eventually they came to an out of the way area and they saw a home there. They walked up to it as Tazuna walked through the front door.

"Tsunami, I'm home," he called out.

A young woman with long dark blue hair and an earthly beauty about her came into the room, she looked happy and relieved to see the old man, she ran up to him and threw her arms around him hugging him tightly.

"Father, you had be so worried!"

"It's alright Tsunami, I managed to get some protection from Konoha," Tazuna moved aside as the two genin teams came in.

"Oh my, are you all right?" Tsunami asked seeing how they were all banged up from the fight. She couldn't believe that children who looked only a few years older than her own son were put into fights.

"If you have a room we could use to rest up that would be most appreciated," Kurenai asked her.

"Of course this way," she said leading them all through the small home.

On the second floor they were showed a spare room, there wasn't much and it would get a little cramp with all of them sharing it but they were tired and they all needed some rest. Naruto placed Hinata on a small bedroll for her.

"So how are you feeling, Hinata-chan?" He asked her.

"B-better, although I still feel sore all over," she admitted. Thankfully she had some ointments and other stuff with her that she could put on although she might have to ask Kurenai or Sakura for help as it would mean to take her shirt off for someone to get the places on her back and she didn't want Naruto to do it. Well the mental image of him doing that made her blush very badly but she knew she'd faint before it got anywhere anyway.

"So you want me to get you something?" Naruto asked her.

"I-I'm fine thanks," she smiled up at him. Then she noticed the sad look in his eyes and she stopped smiling. One of the things she loved was his eyes they were so blue and so full of life and joy that she didn't like to see sadness in them. His eyes weren't meant to be sad or full of hurt.

"N-Naruto-Kun, what's wrong?"

"It's just that..." he trailed off seeing everyone in the room he really didn't want to get into this with everyone there. It was just kind of embarrassing and he knew that Kiba would never let him live it down if he got all sappy. He wanted to tell her how scared he was when he thought that she was dead and how much she meant to him, she was one of the closest people in his life and the thought of losing her was terrifying.

"Can I tell you later? You know when we're alone?"

'He wants to be alone with me?' she thought as her cheeks started to burn up but quickly nodded.

Kakashi sighed as he put his tired body up against a wall sitting down. Using that eye of his really was taking it out of him. He as starting to feel the drain to his body but at least it wasn't too bad if he had been on his own he was sure that he would have nothing left. But now he had other things to think about, the genin would need some more training and soon. The only problem was that there was no way to train them in anything major, no time for new techniques but by the looks of them there was something they could learn.

"Kurenai," Kakashi said getting her attention, "how far are your students in their chakra training?"

"They're pretty far they can mold it well enough although I haven't started on any elemental or shape training. I got them on chakra building exercises to help them expand their supply of chakra as well as increase their stamina."

Kakashi nodded his head, "Good. I take it they've passed the tree walking?"

She nodded at him.

"Okay then I think we should try water walking, there's a huge supply of that around here plus they might need to be able to fight on the water if we're pulled onto it, plus they need more chakra search control and supply given how good that boy was."

"So you think they'll be back," Kurenai surmised although she wasn't surprised by that. "I mean that wound you gave that boy looked pretty serious."

Kakashi sighed once more thinking about it, "I missed his heart but I think I might have hit his lung, there was a lot of blood loss but the chidori can also seal off some of the wound from the electricity but that's a double edged sword as it burns the inside. The boy was still alive but he'll need some major medical attention, and if he's strong enough he might live through it but it could also be touch and go."

Kurenai had never really seen Kakashi fight before during that battle he went from a seemingly lazy jonin and turned into a ninja that had earned his reputation in the ninja world. Everything that Zabuza threw at them, Kakashi just threw it right back at him. Although she wasn't weak, she knew that those two men were stronger than her and if she had gone up along against Zabuza it wouldn't have been easy to beat him that is if she could have. It was Kakashi's battling that gave her the time to use her genjutsu skills.

It wasn't until that moment that she realized how dangerous it was to be overly specialized in one area, she could manipulate two elements like all jonin had to, but the jutsu list for those were only two or three for each. Kakashi was rumoured to have a thousand and he always brought back them for the village, it was also rumoured that besides the Uchiha, Kakashi had put down more jutsus in the Forbidden Scroll than any other ninja.

And now hearing just how much damage that chidori of his did and seeing it in action she realized that under all the false fronts, Kakashi Hatake was one of the most dangerous men she had ever met. She couldn't really read the man and he was a mystery even though she had known him for years.

"Hey you okay?" Kakashi asked looking up at her with that lazy expression on his face.

Looking at him she couldn't tell just how many masks the man wore in life but she decided that now wasn't the time to think on the mystery that was Kakashi. "Yes just planning out the training."

"Oh okay, well I'm going to take a nap do me a favor and wake me for dinner? Thanks." He said without waiting for an answer and picked out a spot on the ground and just seemed to fall asleep just like that. Kurenai just blinked at him a bit more confused by the man than ever.

-Gato's Hideout-

Zabuza stared down that the form of Haku in that bed, his upper torso was bare as the bandages covered it, he could see the blood stains on it as well. The boy was asleep but looked too pale for his own good. When he got back he ordered the Gato's lackeys to get a doctor. He had just stood there while the doctor worked on the boy, he had already put some new blood into him and closed up the wound as best he could but the doctor told him the wound was serious.

He shoved the doctor out the door almost throwing him as he said that the boy might not live. He sat in a chair looking at the pale face of the boy that he had been with for years.

"You've made me soft kid," he silently said to him. "I didn't used to feel this way about anyone. I was Zabuza the Demon, the man that killed all his friends and comrades part of the elite Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. I'm not supposed to have friends or people close to me. You were just supposed to be a tool for my own ends..."

"Then that loud mouth brat had to go an open his stupid mouth," he muttered thinking back to the blonde haired boy. He made the killer think of all the times he spend with the boy, although he never admitted it he actually liked the boy. His life had always been a lonely one but Haku actually filled a void in his life that he never even noticed before. The sudden thought of Haku gone actually hurt, something that surprised him, he thought he had killed his heart years ago but this boy in the bed had snuck his way in without him noticing.

He sighed as he looked at the senbon needle in his hand he had practically raised the boy and was the closet he had ever been to someone in all his life. On the one hand he hated these feelings he felt weaker for them and he had left the search battlefield instead of fighting to the end. On the other he felt like if the boy died a piece of him would die too. He had passed down everything to the boy, all his knowledge, skills and wisdom. It was strange as in a way it was like the relationship of a father and son but he never could remember what that was like.

He never had a family and he didn't know what it felt like, he had been alone all his life...until he had the boy there then he hadn't been alone. He sat there lost in his own thoughts and memories trying to make sense out of the chaos that was warring inside of him, things had been so easy before this and now everything seemed completely upside down.

Next up Chapter 37: Plans and Preparations