"Why do we have to spare Haku and Zabuza?"
Naruto asked that while they were flying.
Sakura shot back, "If things followed canon, what would happen to them?"
"They'd die."
"And then?"
"…And much later Kabuto would Edo Tensei them and make them work again?" Naruto's eyes lit up. "So you're trying to weaken Kabuto ahead of time?"
"They're worth more alive than dead. Besides, I want to see if there's a way for me to grow stronger through Haku."
"How so?"
"Ice Release is made from Water and Wind. I already have Water. Having Haku around gives me a reference point for developing new jutsu later—kind of like how Souls-like builds are recombinations of existing styles."
"New jutsu, huh… interesting."
…
"Sakura, I want your real reason."
Kakashi stared at her.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura deliberately let her voice carry a little sadness, "that masked boy… I ran into him once before."
She lifted Naruto's canon encounter and made it her own.
"What?" Kakashi looked startled. "What did he say to you?"
Sakura shook her head. "He didn't try to manipulate me. He just told me about his past. He has a bloodline limit, his family was killed, he drifted helplessly… and when he was at his loneliest, he met Zabuza."
"He's already taken Zabuza as his only family. He'll obey him in everything. But Zabuza only sees him as a tool."
Zabuza snorted. "Hmph. Ninjas are tools by nature. You're naïve."
"Shut up!"
Sakura's voice trembled just enough to be convincing. Naruto, eavesdropping, mentally gave her a professional rating.
She turned to Zabuza, resentment spilling over. "He likes you that much. Even after Sasuke tied him up, he still tried desperately to save you. And you? You don't care about him at all! He wants to grow strong like you, and this is how you treat him?!"
Zabuza froze. Then he turned to look at Haku—who was still pinned down under Sasuke's boot like a battered animal.
Sakura's voice cracked into a sob. "That boy… doesn't even have a dream of his own… and he ends up like this. Th-this is just… too cruel…"
By the end she was openly crying. Kakashi and Zabuza were both shaken.
Naruto was shaken too.
She stole canon Naruto's entire speech… wait, does this count as girls helping girls? Haku's basically a boygirl, right? he muttered internally.
"Kid…" Zabuza stared at Haku, voice hoarse. "Don't… say any more…"
Haku met Zabuza's eyes and gave a faint, bitter smile.
"I'm sorry, Zabuza-san. I couldn't fulfill your wish."
Sasuke awkwardly lifted his foot. For a second he genuinely felt like he was the villain.
"Anyway…" Sakura wiped her tears slowly. "If you execute Zabuza right now, that boy will definitely follow him to death… yes, follow him."
"He doesn't deserve to die."
Kakashi went silent for a long time. Finally he let out a deep sigh.
"Alright. We'll take Zabuza and the boy back to Konoha. But I'm saying this upfront— I can't guarantee we won't run into real Hunter-nin on the way."
He nodded at Sasuke to knock Haku out, then chopped Zabuza himself until he couldn't move.
"Boss, one more thing." Naruto finally spoke up. "Gato still hasn't shown his face. Did he just run?"
Naruto had already sent clones scouring the area. Nothing. Gato had evaporated off the map.
They hadn't even seen him once.
"Damn," Naruto gritted his teeth. Letting that guy roam free was a nightmare.
If they cleared the Chunin Exams arc first, half the shinobi world might get "chingu-fied."
"Naruto, stop thinking about hunting Gato down," Kakashi said suddenly.
"We're all injured. We still need to protect Tazuna while he builds the bridge and secure Zabuza and Haku. We don't have enough manpower."
"Who says we don't have enough manpower?"
A sudden blast of sound erupted around Kakashi. White smoke billowed up, and several figures appeared inside it.
"Kakashi, my eternal rival—long time no see!"
The tall silhouette in the center stepped out of the smoke, all glossy black hair, crisp uniform, piercing eyes, a deep commanding voice, carved muscles, and eyebrows like they were chiseled with a knife…
Konoha support—Might Guy, Guy-sensei, Taijutsu Specialist, Six Paths Madara-certified, Kakashi's eternal rival—arrived with the Taijutsu Squad!
"Guy-sensei, can you not be so dramatic every time?" Tenten walked out behind him, deadpan.
"Oh!! Guy-sensei, I can feel my youth burning!" Lee shouted, blazing. "Where's the enemy?! Is it that yellow guy over there?" He pointed at Naruto, who hadn't fully shut off his Nine-Tails aura yet.
In this state, Naruto really did look kind of villainous.
Naruto laughed instantly. "Yep, I'm the enemy. Come at me!"
Neji facepalmed. "He's wearing a Konoha headband. Calm down, Lee… honestly."
Before Neji could finish, Lee had already launched toward Naruto like a cannonball.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
He dropped low to sweep Naruto's legs out.
It mirrored canon perfectly—except in canon Naruto charged Lee first and got folded.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. He fully reined in Kurama's chakra, snapped out a hand, caught Lee's powerful leg, and flung him the other way. The impact shook Naruto's arm from the force alone.
"Your power and speed are there. But your angle's too direct," Naruto said calmly.
He used the recoil to flip backward, summoned a shadow clone in a flash to reset his center of gravity, and then threw his own real body like a javelin straight at Lee.
One spear-thrust, dragon-style!
Lee's eyelid twitched. He whipped out a heavy roundhouse kick—
But Naruto summoned another clone mid-air, shifted his orientation, and Lee's kick only smashed the clone. The burst of smoke blocked Lee's view for a blink.
"It's over."
When the smoke cleared, Naruto's kunai was pressed to Lee's throat.
Lee couldn't move.
"Know why you lost? Not because you used taijutsu and I used ninjutsu. It's because you were too hasty."
"Even if you missed my headband, once you're in close you have to watch all angles and listen for everything."
"Against a shadow-clone user like me, you should guard every blind spot. The moment I commit to a blind-spot attack, that's your best window for a defensive counter."
Silence fell over the forest.
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