A heavy silence draped over the mist-cloaked riverbank as Team 7 stood poised on the wooden boat that glided across the still water. The once-crisp air had grown damp, oppressive, thick with killing intent.
Naruto's fingers hovered near the hilt of his sword. He wasn't sure when he had unsheathed it. His instincts had acted before thought.
Something's coming.
Sasuke scanned the mist, his knuckles white around his kunai. "Where is he…?"
Then came the voice.
Deep. Cold. Merciless.
"Hand over the bridge builder… and I'll make your deaths quick."
A tall figure stepped through the fog, wrapped in bandages, his monstrous sword strapped to his back like a butcher's cleaver.
"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi said quietly, raising his headband. The Sharingan blazed beneath it. "Former Hidden Mist assassin."
Sakura clutched Tazuna's arm and stepped back. "That sword—he's a monster!"
Zabuza smiled beneath his wrappings. "And you're children."
He moved.
Faster than sight.
A blur of motion—and suddenly, Kakashi was there, intercepting the attack with a crash of steel. The boat rocked under the force of their first clash.
Naruto's eyes followed every strike. He's fast… but there's a pattern. The mist distorts distance, but it doesn't bend intent.
Zabuza spun his sword. Kakashi ducked, struck low, and then jumped as the blade nearly severed the boat in two. With a fluid arc, they both leapt onto the riverbank, steel screaming with each clash.
"Protect Tazuna!" Kakashi barked.
"Got it!" Naruto called back.
As soon as Team 7 reached the shore, Zabuza clapped his hands.
"Hidden Mist Technique!"
The fog surged, shrouding vision to just a few feet. The hairs on Naruto's neck stood up. He reached out with his senses—not chakra, but something deeper, a spatial awareness he'd honed during his cultivation.
There.
A tremor in the air.
He moved, pushing space around his feet in a burst of momentum—a short-range spatial dash. The air cracked subtly as he vanished and reappeared in front of Sakura and Tazuna, sword drawn just in time to block Zabuza's descending cleaver.
Clang!
The impact shook the earth.
Naruto gritted his teeth, golden blood trickling from his shoulder. He'd redirected space subtly, slowing the sword's descent. But the raw power still sent him skidding backward.
Sasuke darted beside him. "You okay?"
"Still standing."
Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "You sensed me… impressive."
He surged forward again—blinding speed. Sasuke met him first, his kunai striking sparks against Zabuza's blade. Naruto lunged in, his sword cloaked in flickering Yang Qi, aiming for Zabuza's side.
Zabuza blocked, but Naruto twisted, his blade bending slightly in the air—a spatial trick that made the strike hit from a different angle.
The sword bit into Zabuza's arm. Blood sprayed.
Zabuza stepped back, growling. "So the brat's got tricks…"
But then he formed a sign.
"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!"
Three identical Zabuza clones appeared around them.
Naruto turned his blade, flipping the hilt in his hand.
"You take the left," he told Sasuke.
Sasuke didn't argue.
They charged.
Naruto's blade clashed with the clone's massive sword. The ground cracked beneath their feet. The clone kicked him in the gut—he grunted, flew back, but redirected space mid-air, landing in a crouch instead of crashing.
He panted. My body's not used to using spatial movement like this in combat yet…
He didn't have time to rest. The clone charged again.
Naruto pushed space behind his feet and vanished, reappearing behind the clone, slashing across its back.
Splash!
The clone burst into water.
But the real Zabuza wasn't idle. He trapped Kakashi in a swirling globe of water.
"Water Prison Jutsu!" he snarled, laughing. "Let's see how long the Copy Ninja holds his breath!"
Kakashi was trapped—arms pinned, water rotating.
"Shit!" Naruto cursed.
Zabuza turned toward the genin.
"Now… you die."
He dashed toward them again. The clone he left behind guarded Kakashi.
Naruto stood in front, sword at the ready.
Zabuza struck.
Naruto blocked. But the force was too great.
The cleaver grazed his ribs, slicing through muscle. Blood erupted.
"Naruto!!" Sakura screamed.
He fell to one knee, vision blurring.
"Don't… move…" he rasped, holding his sword upright.
Zabuza raised his blade to finish the job.
But then, Sasuke jumped in.
Kunai in hand, eyes burning.
The blade came down—Sasuke deflected it mid-swing. The shock ran up his arms. He staggered.
Zabuza turned his attention toward the Uchiha. "Brave… but foolish."
He struck again—Sasuke couldn't dodge this one.
But Naruto moved.
One last spatial burst.
He appeared behind Sasuke and raised his sword just in time to block.
The blade dug deep into his shoulder.
Blood gushed.
His body trembled.
Sasuke watched in horror.
"Why…" he whispered. "Why would you…"
Naruto smiled faintly, pain barely concealed. "Because I'm not… losing anyone."
Sasuke's heart pounded.
Something cracked.
Pressure exploded behind his eyes. Heat burned his vision.
I need to protect him. I won't watch someone die for me again!
And then, his vision shifted.
Red.
Spinning.
Sharingan.
A single tomoe appeared in each eye.
Zabuza stepped back. "Oh? The Uchiha's eyes… this is getting interesting."
Sasuke surged forward, every movement precise. He dodged Zabuza's swing, slashed his thigh, then leapt away, breathing hard.
Zabuza growled. "You kids are starting to annoy me."
Naruto coughed blood. His legs wobbled. Still, he stood up, raising his sword one more time.
He pressed his palm to the hilt. Yang Infusion.
The sword glowed faintly, rippling with heat.
He charged.
Naruto and Sasuke attacked in tandem.
One on the left. One on the right.
Blades and kunai struck together.
Zabuza barely managed to block, stepping back with a curse.
But then…
A flash of silver.
A single senbon pierced Zabuza's neck.
Then another. And another.
He staggered, dropping to one knee.
"What…?"
A masked figure emerged from the mist.
Slender. Elegant. Wearing the Hunter-nin mask of the Mist.
"Thank you," the figure said calmly. "We've been tracking him for some time. I'll take his body."
Kakashi, free from the prison now, staggered forward. "Wait… he's not dead."
The figure nodded. "He will be soon. I'll dispose of the corpse."
With smooth movements, Haku lifted Zabuza's body and vanished into the mist.
The battle was over.
But Naruto collapsed moments later.
Tazuna's house, hours later.
The floorboards creaked softly as Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, wiped Naruto's bloodstained brow.
Kakashi lay beside him, his body bandaged, chakra drained.
Sasuke sat silently near the wall, his new Sharingan now dormant.
He stared at Naruto's unmoving form.
He… protected me.
He clenched his fists. "I won't be weak anymore."
Sakura sat beside Naruto, biting her lip so hard it bled.
I froze again. I was useless… again.
But Naruto… even broken and bleeding… had smiled at them.
Moonlight fell softly through the window.
Naruto stirred.
"Still… alive?"
Kakashi chuckled. "Barely."
The two lay side by side on the futons, silence stretching between them.
Outside, the mist began to lift from the Land of Waves.
But something darker loomed on the horizon.
To Be Continued…..