Land Of Waves Arc (12) : Parting Words.

Team Seven looked on in absolute shock and horror as Zabuza cleaned his blade after slicing off Kakashi's head.

His eyes were reddened and looked maddened with grief yet he calmly cleaned his blade by flicking away the blood on it before turning towards the trio of Team Seven.

Zabuza had used the threat of going towards Team Seven to finish them off to fake losing an arm by using the water clone and transformation jutsu.

He then finished off Kakashi when he was at his weakest since he had let his guard down to protect Team Seven.

The ANBU and Maruboshi's face fell as he witnessed Zabuza's ruthlessness but the jonin and chunin around them were only bolstered further.

With one less enemy to fight, Zabuza turned around and looked at Team Seven who stood frozen, rooted to their spots.

Tears showed up in Naruto and Sakura's eyes, while Sasuke's hands trembled as a terrible memory surfaced in his mind.

Suddenly, a reddish aura began to rise from Naruto's body as his eyes changed colours from a fluorescent blue to a deep shade of crimson. He grew long fangs as his nails sharpened.

Before Sasuke and Sakura could recognise what was happening, Naruto was already flying towards Zabuza who quickly blocked Naruto's advance with his blade.

Except, Naruto's claws caused sparks to appear as they clashed with Zabuza's blade.

Zabuza was startled by the weight behind Naruto's rapid attacks but he quickly kicked Naruto's stomach to push him and create a little distance between them.

"I've seen people like you before…fought one even…" Zabuza muttered, "Who'd have thought Konoha would let their jinchuriki roam so freely out of their village."

Zabuza sped towards Naruto, who looked like he'd lost his mind as he *growled* like an animal before jumping in Zabuza's direction.

Sasuke watched in amazement as his one tomoe sharingan barely caught onto Zabuza's and Naruto's movements. They clashed several times in a single second, with Zabuza using his sword and Naruto his nails.

"It was you three that killed my partner. Don't think I'm going to let you go so easily." Zabuza hailed and increased the ferocity with which he was attacking Naruto.

Zabuza performed a wide slash which Naruto jumped over, after which Naruto performed the shadow clone jutsu to create two more copies of himself who pincered Zabuza. But Zabuza escaped by creating a water clone to escape it by pushing him out of their range. Except Naruto's clones' mission wasn't Zabuza in the first place.

Naruto used his clones as a distraction to aim directly for his weapon which he stole right out of Zabuza's grasp with a sharp animalistic tug. But it seemed like Zabuza had planned for exactly that to happen, since as soon as Naruto held the sword Zabuza regained the offensive by stepping close to Naruto with a kunai.

"You really think the only way I have to attack you is with my blade?" Zabuza taunted before stabbing Naruto's guts with the Kunai.

To Zabuza's shock, however, Naruto made some distance between them and pulled out the kunai with his free hand. The wound the kunai should've generated vanished within seconds as if it was never there.

Left with nothing but a few kunai and shuriken Zabuza became open to enemy strikes which one ANBU member fully used.

"Wood Release: Seed of the Spike Tree!"

A wooden kunai flew at Zabuza at a blinding speed which he tried to defend against by turning around but he was too late. The kunai pierced his chest before rapidly mutating to form a small tree of spikes that grew from inside his body and rooted him to the spot by lifting him up on a thorn branch.

Zabuza looked at himself in his last breaths, blood leaking out of the various places his body was impaled. His gaze then fell on Haku who was long gone as he finally let go and died.

The other Kumo and Kiri shinobi instantly became surprised by the mysterious ANBU member who could use wood release and doubled their efforts to take him down but Maruboshi got in their way.

"Leaf Ninja Art! Yanagi!" Maruboshi chanted as his blade moved like a leaf, reflecting the bright afternoon sunlight off of it, creating a glimmer in the eyes of the Kumo and Kiri shinobi who glanced at it.

Before any of them realised it, they were trapped in Maruboshi's genjutsu and with the heightened speed of his Body Flicker jutsu and the help of the other ANBU members, they reaped the lives of three chunin and two Jonin.

The fight after that was easy since the remaining Kumo and Kiri shinobi were both outnumbered and low on chakra.

Finishing the fight, Maruboshi immediately rushed towards Kakashi whose body was being looked after by the ANBU member who could use Wood Release.

Team Seven had already arrived by Kakashi's body and Naruto had calmed down, exiting his enraged state.

That was when Tachibana arrived at the bridge.

He looked at Kakashi's lifeless body from a distance as an unwilling expression took on his face. But at the same time, he had a different thought.

'But Maruboshi survived…'

'Maybe I can change something?'

'No, I'm too weak to change anything actively.'

'The only way I can even think about changing fate is by growing stronger to fool it to some extent without suffering extreme consequences.'

Naruto couldn't look at the dead Kakashi anymore and burst out crying like a child as Tachibana comforted him by simply staying by his side.

With nothing he could do, Maruboshi left Kakashi's side and reached the Kumo and Kiri shinobi. Trying to see if there was any information on them that he could report back to the Hokage.

Tachibana who was wondering why Maruboshi hadn't died when he'd seen him heavily wounded in his vision got his answer at that moment.

Maruboshi calmly bent down to check the body of a Kiri shinobi but as soon as he came close to checking his pockets, the shinobi's eyes opened and his hand which was holding a kunai stabbed right into Maruboshi's chest.

The ANBU who were instantly sent on alert, sliced through the man's chest with their tanto or kunai, but that was when they realised why the man hadn't died the first time around even though his flak jacket was scarred.

He was of the Hozuki clan, he used the Hydrification Technique to turn his body into water as soon as the swords made contact with it before jumping off the bride and vanishing into the tumultuous sea below.

The ANBU rushed after him and found him trying to make a hand seal but when nothing happened because of it, the shinobi ran away by merging with the sea.

'No way!'

Tachibana's heart skipped a beat as he rushed towards Maruboshi.

Maruboshi clutched his chest and lay on the floor as Tachibana looked at him with lightly tear-filled eyes.

"Haha~ Tachibana-kun, I guess you were right." Maruboshi calmly spoke as he did his best to keep his lungs from drowning in his own blood.

"I told you that you'd die…but you just wouldn't listen to me!" Tachibana shouted in a whisper since he was trying hard to control his expressions and maintain a smile.

"Perhaps, but I have no regrets…maybe one, I don't get to see you become the greatest shinobi ever!"

"You old fool stop talking! You'll only die faster!"

"Haha~ *cough* *cough* Don't worry about it. I only have one last thing to teach you about."

"Hm~m?"

"The will of fire that I've used to protect the village for so long. I want you to carry it on. I hope you *cough* protect Konoha and let it become the shining tree it once was."

Tachibana's eyes widened.

"So you knew about it?" Tachibana asked reading between the lines.

"Of course. I've seen it change through my own eyes."

"I'll do my best.", Tachibana said not promising anything. He wasn't even a proper genin yet. Thinking of transforming an entire village for the current him could only be described as a dream.

"Then that's enough. *cough* *cough* *cough*" Maruboshi nodded before he said his last words, "As long as you do your best. Fate will do the rest."

Tachibana held Maruboshi's hand as he closed his eyes and finally breathed his last.

Tachibana didn't know how long he'd been contemplating his decisions by Maruboshi's side. 

But it was only after Naruto came over to fetch him that he rose and allowed the ANBU members to take away Maruboshi's body to store in a scroll.

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A/N : o7