Chapter 11 - Courage in the Land of Waves!

COURAGE IN THE LAND OF WAVES!

Little Inari had run all over the land of Waves, banged on every door. And time and again, he heard the same thing:

“We don’t want to sacrifice anymore.”

As Inari sat at home, tying his shoes, putting on a helmet, and taking up a crude crossbow, he thought of all his father had told him. Protect it…with both arms…walk a path of life with no regrets…even if you die trying to protect what you care about, you’ll die with a pure soul…

Inari couldn’t comprehend half of that. But now, he was ready to prove he really WAS his father’s son. With his father’s memory fresh in his mind, Inari readied himself to protect his home.

“Inari, wait, you can’t go to the bridge yourself!” Tsunami tried to reason with her son. But Inari would have none of it.

“Can’t. No one will go with me. Besides, I know how to fight…I’m my Daddy’s son!” Inari marched out the hastily-repaired door, crossbow in hand. Tsunami stayed behind, but noticed that, if even for a moment, she saw Kaiza. Inari was indeed his Father’s son, in spirit, if not blood.

--

“Naruto! Where’s Sasuke!” Sakura shouted. Naruto had emerged from the fading mist. “What about Sasuke?!” Sakura shouted, happy to see Naruto alive. If Naruto had made it, then surely Sasuke had…right?

Naruto looked away, frozen to the spot as the thought of his…best friend, as it turned out, lay cold and dead on the concrete behind him.

“I’ll stay with you, so you won’t be disobeying your sensei,” Tazuna said. He let Sakura tow him along, to Sasuke’s body. Sakura’s arms dropped, as did her hope, when she felt Sasuke. The site of him covered in needles in was bad enough, but to touch him…

“He’s…so cold…” Sakura’s voice had begun to tremble. Soon, her body followed. She couldn’t believe it had happened…not to Sasuke.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to hold back because of me. It’s healthy to shed tears sometimes,” Tazuna urged quietly. He suddenly seemed like a kindly old grandfather, rather than the drunken construction worker he had been acting like the entire trip. The sudden change of demeanor was lost on Sakura, who was still fighting the losing battle to hold those tears in.

“I…I always got “A’s” in my tests in school…I memorized every last one of the Shinobi codes of conduct. I used to write them down, so proud of myself. We had a test one day…the big question was ‘what is the twenty-fifth rule of Shinobi conduct?’…just like always, I knew the answer, and I wrote it down…” Sakura finally broke down, tears streaming out of her eyes.

“No matter what happens, true Shinobi must never let their true emotions show through! The only thing that matters is the mission. Carry that in your heart, and never shed a tear!” Sakura leaned on Sasuke’s body and cried her eyes out.

“Mr. Tazuna…please, come with me,” Ryouko suggested lightly, indicating the other end of the bridge with his head. Tazuna nodded and followed him away, leaving Sakura to cry.

--

“Is that how it is for ninja? Just accepting death? It’s seems…unbearable,” Tazuna admitted, still reeling with shock. Death was part of life to these people?

“It is. It’s not supposed to matter whether we live or die. While we live, we don’t exist. When we die, it’s like we never existed…It was a shock to me, too…” Ryouko replied, looking older, and somehow, wiser. “…It doesn’t make things less painful, pretending you don’t feel anything. I should know. And you should know, I have two missions here today…” Ryouko adjusted his headband, his eyes still solemn.

“I swore to protect you…but I also promised to never let my comrades die…Shinobi aren’t heartless…we just pretend to be. But I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a group that cares more than those four.”

Both of them looked back to Sakura crying.

“I wish I could help her…all I can do is give her room, and if she needs it, a shoulder to cry on. Mr. Tazuna…after this is over, if you still need help with the bridge, I’ll stay until it’s done. I’ll do whatever you need.” Ryouko couldn’t stand to watch Sakura cry anymore; she had been one of the first to welcome him to the village, and he couldn’t help but feel a kinship with her in some way.

Tazuna couldn’t believe his ears. “Why would you do that?! After I treated you like crap? And you wouldn’t be paid for it! What motivation do you possibly have?!”

“I don’t want to see your land suffer, simple as that. And yes, you did treat me like crap. But just now, you know, I saw another side of you. A side that actually gave a damn about human life. Even of someone you hardly knew. ”

Tazuna scratched his head. “Well, you’re a strong boy, and with those ninja abilities, you might be of some help…thanks.”

I don’t know whether this kid is dumb, a glutton for punishment, or he has a genuinely good heart…

--

Zabuza ran at Kakashi. Kakashi, almost lackadaisically, used the back of his fist to send Zabuza skittering away.

“Damn it! Why can’t I keep up?!” Zabuza shouted. Kakashi had suddenly managed to grab onto him.

“This is goodbye, demon!” Kakashi used his kunai to pierce both Zabuza’s arms. “No more jutsus for you.”

--

“Well, what a mess he’s made of you!”

Kakashi looked up, seeing a small man tapping his cane.

“Gato? What are you doing here? And why…Why did you bring all of them?!” Zabuza demanded harshly, indicating the nearly hundred samurai behind Gato.

“Change of plans, demon. YOUR plans. I never planned to pay you, as you’ve likely figured out by now. It’s such a pain, hiring a skilled warrior like you, at such a hefty price. Now that you’ve worn yourself AND these ninja down, my thugs can kill you easily! Calling yourself the ‘demon of Kirigakure’! What a load of crap! Baby demon, maybe! I call it ‘false advertising’. The shape you’re in, you’ll be dead in no time!”


Zabuza looked almost sad. “Forgive me, Kakashi. Our fight is over. I no longer have any need to kill Tazuna, so that settles our differences.”

“That reminds me, I have a score to settle!” Gato walked over to were Haku’s body was laid. He began to lay in, kicking it, all the while remembering how Haku had nearly broken his arm.

“What the hell are you doing, you scumbag?!” Naruto shouted. He started to run towards Gato, but Kakashi corralled him.

“Think. We’re heavily outnumbered,” Kakashi reminded Naruto.

“HEY! HE WAS PRACTICALLY YOUR SLAVE!” Naruto had given up on Kakashi, and was now pleading with Zabuza. “DO SOMETHING!”

Zabuza seemed to have lost his will to fight, or even to live.

“Like what?” he replied dismally, “Haku’s dead. Gato used me, and I used Haku. Don’t you get it? It’s how Shinobi are. We’re either users, tools, or both. I didn’t value Haku for himself…only for the power he held. And I’m not sorry for any of it.”

“You…you really mean that? He really cared about you! He was devoted to you! He would have done ANYTHING for you! Are you so heartless that you can’t see what you meant to him? Or all he did for you?! He gave his life for you! To just let him die, get kicked like that…it’s too much…too much…”

Zabuza turned around. Tears were staining the bandages around his face, and stinging the multiple wounds he had all over his body.

“Kid…just shut up. Haku didn’t fight just for me. While he fought you and your friend, he broke his heart over you. I’m glad my last battle was against your team. Because you’re right. Shinobi don’t have to be just tools. When all is said and done, we have feelings, just like normal people. And now…I’ve lost everything…” Zabuza looked down once more. But something inside him had awakened.

“Kid…lend me your kunai, will you?”

Naruto tossed a kunai to Zabuza, who caught it in his teeth. Without another word, he took off toward Gato.

“What the hell are you waiting for?! Kill him!” Gato shouted. His group of thugs rushed in the way, while Gato stood back, satisfied that this was over. But he kept hearing screams. Screams of men dying. But most of all, Gato heard footsteps. And those footsteps were getting closer. And that’s when Gato saw it. He backed up. But his eyes couldn’t be lying to him, this was too real, too scary.

It was Zabuza, and beneath his feet, the shadow of a demon was growing. With numerous swords, knives, and spears sticking out of him, Zabuza was still advancing.

“Why won’t you die?!” Gato cried out, scared for his life.

“Gato! I’m not going to the same place as Haku…I’m going to hell…and I’m taking you with me!” Zabuza snarled in a nearly unearthly howl. Gato stumbled backward, but it was too late. Zabuza swung his head (And subsequently, the kunai) forward, and off went Gato’s head. Satisfied after his last kill, Zabuza let himself fall to the ground.

--

Sakura was still sobbing, and so loudly that she barely heard it.

“Sakura…your arm is heavy…”

When Sakura DID hear it, she didn’t dare believe it. She looked down disbelieving.

“S-Sasuke? SASUKE!” Sakura flung herself at Sasuke, holding him in a fond embrace.

“Sakura, you’re hurting me,” Sasuke grumbled. He was a mess of blood and needles, and no doubt Sakura had aggravated those injuries inadvertently.

“What happened to Naruto? And that damn kid in the mask?” Sasuke wanted to know as he was being hauled to his feet by Sakura.

“Naruto’s fine, and the other guy is dead!” Sakura explained.

“What? Dead? How?”

“I…I don’t know. I mean, I’m not sure. All I know is that he died trying to protect Zabuza. Oh, Sasuke! NARUTO! SASUKE IS ALIVE!” Sakura couldn’t help but shout with glee at the fact that the object of her affection was alive, after being in a temporary state of death. It was only then that the realization hit Sasuke.

He never aimed to kill me…

--

“Well, I’ve been worrying since the fight began, but you made it!” Kakashi chimed in happily.

“Hey, don’t forget about us, you soft-touches!” The angry horde of Gato’s thungs were still brandishing weapons, despite the fact that their leader’s head was somewhere at the bottom of the ocean.

“You just killed our meal ticket, you ninja scum!” screamed another of the thugs. At that, they all charged, yelling various battle cries.

“Kakashi-sensei, isn’t there something we can do? Some technique to get rid of all of them?!” Naruto questioned.

“Funny thing…between the Lightning Blade, the Summoning, and the Illusions, I’ve exhausted my chakra…” Kakashi was still crouching, trying to get his breath back.

Suddenly, an arrow flew across the air and buried itself into the concrete.

“THIS IS OUR LAND! ONE STEP FURTHER, AND YOU’LL DIE WHERE YOU STAND!” It was Inari, and he had an entire army behind him! He looked over at Naruto with a genuine smile. “The hero always arrives in the nick of time, right?”

Naruto couldn’t help but smile widely himself. “You got it! Mind if I jump in? Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!” A hundred Naruto’s came from nowhere. The angry horde of thugs slowed down, but didn’t stop running.

I don’t have enough chakra left for something solid…but an illusion should fool these idiots. Clone Jutsu: Kakashi Style!

Hundreds of Kakashi’s joined the Naruto’s, and the people from the Land of Waves. Suddenly realizing that they had stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire, the group of goons turned tail and ran. The citizens of the Land of Waves cheered; their homeland theirs once more.

--

The fight was over. All that remained was dealing with Haku and Zabuza’s corpses. The only hitch was that Zabuza wasn’t a corpse yet.

“Kakashi…do me a favor? I…want to see his face,” Zabuza requested. Kakashi tugged his headband back over his Sharingan eye. He and Ryouko hefted Zabuza over to Haku’s side. Strangely, it began to snow.

“He said…Haku, I mean…said he was from a village where it snowed a lot,” Naruto remembered suddenly.

Zabuza looked to his companion. Haku was long dead now. “Haku…if I could…I wish I could go to the same place as you…”

“You CAN Zabuza…” Kakashi muttered. But Zabuza’s eyes and ears had heard and seen their last. Wherever he would wind up in the next life, he was headed there now.

--

Looking at the cross constructed for Haku, and the blade that served as Zabuza’s grave marker, Team 7 and Ryouko had begun to ponder their own existence as Shinobi. All except Naruto.

“What are you doing?! Don’t steal offerings, you’ll tick the gods off!” Sakura growled at Naruto, slapping his hand which was aiming for a rice ball that was near the grave.

“Sensei…is it true…that Shinobi are only tools?” Naruto asked quietly, thinking of Haku’s depressing definition of the lifestyle Naruto had chosen.

“It’s crucial that a ninja not exist only for themselves. We’re tools, used to best serve our homeland. That’s as true in Konoha as anywhere else,” Kakashi replied.

“Well, I don’t like it! When I become Hokage, that’s going to change!” Naruto stated firmly.

“Do you really believe that, Kakashi-sensei?” Sasuke queried, casting a dark look at the graves in front of him.

“Welllllll…No. That’s why all Shinobi are unique, and have their own ideals. But that one, the thought that we’re just tools, is constantly bothering us, just under our skin…” Kakashi had to admit that the prospect of being nothing short of a puppet irked him a little.

“In my old arts…we were always told what to do, how to do it…and it all seemed so selfish. Run away from trouble instead of confronting it…” Ryouko had spoken up for the first time in a long while. “…What does running solve? I would rather die in defense of another than preserve my own existence with a heavy conscience, always wondering if I could have stopped that death. I doubt that makes sense, but I’ve always felt that way.” For whatever reason, Ryouko seemed to regret chiming in at all.

--

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Well, it’ll be dull once you’re gone. But come by and visit, alright?” Tazuna answered Kakashi’s thanks.

“You’d better!” a tearful Inari added.

“Hey, Inari, it’s okay, if you gotta cry,” Naruto told him.

“Me? N-no way! YOU can cry if you need to, Naruto.” Inari shot back, tears in his eyes, regardless of his words.

“I don’t cry!” Naruto declared, turning on his heel and walking away. Of course, Naruto started to blubber the second he turned away.

Bonehead… Sakura thought to herself.

Shortly after Team 7 and Ryouko had left, the name of the new bridge was decided:

The Great Naruto Bridge.

--
Back in Konoha…

“Thanks you letting me tag along. And thank you for your help, Kakashi-sensei,” Ryouko muttered.

“You did a fine job, Ryouko. But you still seem like something’s bothering you…Anything wrong?” Kakashi asked kindly.

“Yeah, you can tell us!” Naruto added. Ryouko’s eyes were half-lidded, and the bags under them more pronounced.

“It’s nothing, really. I’ve grappled with it for a long time, I’ll be fine. Right now, I’d better go find out what I’m doing next. Thanks again. And Sasuke…get well soon. Sakura, thanks for bandaging me up. And you, Naruto…we need more Shinobi like you,” Ryouko shuffled away, looking like a lost soul. Probably not far from the truth.

“What’s up with him, Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto tugged on his sensei’s sleeve. Kakashi knew the look all to well.

“That, Naruto, is the look of someone who hasn’t found his place yet. Well, that’s something only he can figure out. In the meantime, you three have a lot of growing to do. But I’m proud of all of you.”

--

A few days later, and several missions later, Team 7 had been given mostly D-ranked missions; a lot less fun than their latest B-ranked in the Land of Waves. Naruto, especially, seemed to have taken something away from that, and acted as if he had something to prove. He had been tearing through missions, though still having some trouble keeping up with Sasuke, something that irked him to no end.

This morning, Naruto was determined to be different. He had woken up, eaten his ramen and milk for breakfast, then had taken off out the door with a boisterous shout:

“WOO-HOO! NO MATTER WHAT TODAY’S MISSION IS, I”LL HAVE THE ENERGY TO KICK BUTT NOW! BELIEVE IT!”

Naruto zipped from his apartment, across town, and to the place Team 7 was meeting for today. It was in an alleyway in town, so Naruto’s words echoed a little as he shouted his greeting to Sakura.

“GOOD MORNING SAKURA!”

After the shout, Naruto’s enthusiasm tapered off. He had met eyes with Sasuke. Both glared for a minute, then turned away from each other. Sakura looked on, dreading today’s mission now. A forced smile straining her face, Sakura thoughts about the situation at hand.

They’ve been like this since we got back from the Land of Waves. Man, it’s soooo embarrassing! Hurry up, Kakashi-sensei!

-Three Hours Pass…-

Kakashi strolled up, late as usual. “Good morning everyone. Sorry I’m late, I got lost on the way here today…”

“YOU’RE SUCH A LIAR, SENSEI!” Sakura shouted, accusing finger directed at Kakashi. Under her breath, Sakura murmured that “as far as ninja deceptions go, that one just plain sucks!”

Naruto pushed his way to Kakashi, and, bubbling over with his trademark enthusiasm, started to talk very fast, and very loud.

“Sensei, sensei, what kind of missions do we have today? We’ve only had boring, easy missions! Give us something that’s a challenge! Something where I can put my skills to use! C’mon, please?!”

It’s good to see Naruto’s learned some restraint… Kakashi thought sarcastically.

Naruto’s thoughts were anything BUT sarcastic, they were downright angry. Even shaking a fist for emphasis, Naruto was going off on a tirade in his head. Glaring at Sasuke, and softening his look slightly towards Sakura, Naruto’s fist began to shake even harder.

Every time we go on a mission, those two wind up saving me, and I wind up looking weak! But not this time! That time is over! Naruto had begun to chuckle out loud, thinking of scenarios where he had saved Sasuke, and where a grateful Sakura rewarded his bravery with a hug or a kiss.

--After The Mission—

Sakura was half-dragging Naruto, who looked exhausted and pretty worn out. While Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi didn’t even have a scratch on them, Naruto looked like he had been through the wringer, then clawed by a cat.

“If you hadn’t overdone it, you wouldn’t be like this,” Sakura admonished Naruto.

“You’re such a nuisance,” Sasuke chimed in. Naruto had miraculously regained some energy.

“That does it, Sasuke!” he snarled, taking steps toward Sasuke to do just that.

“If you start anything, I’m gonna bury you, Naruto!” Sakura declared, and grabbed Naruto, restraining him from getting to her precious Sasuke.

Kakashi sighed, and stepped between them, hoping to defuse the situation and give his assessment of them all in one shot.

“Lately, your teamwork has been non-existent.”

“You tell him, Kakashi-sensei! You’re always messing us up, Sasuke!” Naruto yelled. Sasuke really couldn’t have cared less about what Kakashi said, but Naruto’s yelling had irritated him, and he actually spoke more than usual.

“He was talking to you, pinhead. Instead of yelling and blaming me, why don’t you actually improve, and get BETTER than me…you loser.”

A stare down ensued, with Sakura keeping quiet, although she was thinking This is bad! I don’t know HOW they did it, but they’re no worse terms than before!

Sasuke’s thoughts were going in an entirely different direction. There are people that are challenges to me out there, but I’m stuck doing easy work with that knucklehead… Briefly, Sasuke thought back to his fight with Haku, which, at this point, was the toughest he’d ever had.

“Well, that’s enough for today. I’ve got to hand in my reports on today’s mission,” Kakashi informed his team, then walked away, his face buried in his adult novel.

“I’m going home, then.” Sasuke said dryly, starting to walk away.

“Sasuke, wait up! How about you and I getting together and working on our teamwork?!” Sakura had asked Sasuke out on a date in just about every way possible, and Sasuke hadn’t bitten. Today wouldn’t change that.

“You’re as bad as Naruto,” Sasuke told Sakura. Inner-Sakura was shouldering a huge weight, while Sakura herself tried to remain impassive.

“Why waste your time flirting when you could be practicing?” Sasuke’s words increased the size of the boulder on Inner-Sakura’s shoulders, while Sakura was trying her best not to look TOO hurt.

“Even Naruto’s skills are better than yours.” Sasuke’s assessment made the weight Inner-Sakura was holding even heavier, and nearly unbearable. Sakura bowed her head in defeat, while Sasuke walked away, not caring one way or the other.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment