Chapter 10

Naruto weaved hand seals to perform the jutsu best suited for dealing with Hidden Mist ninja. He didn’t even need to see the senbon needles being thrown behind him to know his opponent would be using them. With a single tori hand seal Naruto’s wind chakra covering his back separated from his body to solidify into a four bladed fan that whirled at over a hundred miles per hour.

He-he. Naruto laughed. The blades are thin enough to not force me to use much chakra to make them. But their keen edge and fast rotation provides the perfect defense against throwing needles, especially with wind chakra’s cutting effect. And senbon needles can’t hold much chakra. While one can transfer their chakra to an object to enhance its preexisting properties, the smaller an object the less chakra it can hold. So the senbon needles aren’t that well fortified since they’re so thin.

“What the-?!” the feminine voice called out from beneath the mask.

Naruto turned around to see the fan spinning as fast as a tornado behind him as a grayish white blur that both deflected and sliced every projectile. The thin, metal needles were repelled backwards after being slashed in half by the blades being thrown by the floating arms coated with the same solid, blue chakra.

The hands fitted with light green arm warmers ran out of senbon needles to throw. The alien chakra that protected both the mask and the arms also surrounded the senbon needles thrown at Naruto. However, now that they had been cut in half the chakra protecting the metal utensils was dissipating. It meant it was a waste of chakra of the Hidden Mist ninja to enhance their senbon needles. But that was not the worst of it.

“Ahhh!” the shinobi screamed from behind the mask that floated in front of Naruto.

The wind blowing from the fan’s spinning blew the white mist away. The blast drove the white fog further down the bridge until Naruto was no longer surrounded by it. While the mist still covered him on three sides, the fact that the white fog was no longer behind him was highly disadvantageous to the Hidden Mist ninja. Without the mist to his back, the shinobi’s green clothed arms levitated awkwardly without the curtain of white behind them. Not only did Naruto have a way of escape but the enemy shinobi couldn’t properly reform his body.

The reason that Hidden Mist shinobi keep their mist-turned body close together in clouds is that it’s harder to instantly reform one’s appearance unless the particles of fog aren’t close together. Naruto remembered. The more thinly spread the fog is the more time it will take to solidify one’s body and if one part of their mist body is separate and they try to reform themselves, they could damage themselves by being half-formed.

He began remembering about the ways to counter Hidden Mist shinobi from one of the many books Jiraiya gave him.

When using the Mist Evaporation jutsu the nervous system of the shinobi is still active so they can feel pain. He had memorized. The problem is the sheer physical force won’t deal much damage hitting fog so taijutsu isn’t a proper counter. Even fire and lightning jutsu that can burn or evaporate the mist can be avoided because, as mist, their body is so light they can avoid those attacks. The Evaporation technique is so powerful because it provides such great defensive use to avoid attacks and to ambush unsuspecting targets. That’s why the mist must be spread thin to offset these two advantages.

“M-My body…” the feminine voice came. “I didn’t expect that from someone with such low chakra quantity…”

“You sure didn’t,” Naruto said, brimming with pride as he couldn’t contain his smile. “Because this failure you see before you will soon become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf.”

He observed the mask more closely to find that the strange chakra was reflective and not quite as blue as water chakra was. It was a more cool, light shade than deep blue. Naruto could see a vague reflection in the chakra, it was so mirror-like.

That chakra layer is strange. He thought. It’s not water chakra as it’s too solid but definitely not earth. I know that between transition from one emotion to another the chakra natures can fight for dominance for one another, making it hard to tell which emotion will win out. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with this ninja. It’s almost like…

Naruto’s eyes widened at the prospect.

No, it couldn’t be! He thought. I thought that clan was rare! I–

He then realized there would be no reason for the Hidden Mist Village to not utilize their most rare and unique soldiers in combat.

I didn’t read about Ice chakra. He remembered. Did I? So rare is the Ice chakra, even in the Land of Water where it originates, that I didn’t seriously consider brushing up on it! Darn it…I can’t be a Kage level shinobi if I’m so uninformed.

“You sound so certain of your ascension to Kage,” she said. “I…envy that confidence. But…a leader of a ninja village is something reserved for only the most elite shinobi. You think you can reach that level?”

After another hand seal Naruto returned the fan to raw chakra that protected his back.

“More,” he said. “I’ll surpass that level. And become the greatest ninja the Leaf has ever known. Kage or not.”

With two tori hand seals, one ushi and one tatsu, almost his entire chakra layer separated from his body in gusts of wind. The only portion he kept flowing around him was his feet and hands. It spread throughout the mist around him and he made sure a good portion of his wind chakra blew toward the masked face in front of him.

This would normally be rather easy for his opponent to counter as it left Naruto completely unguarded. Not only that but if the Hidden Mist ninja could potentially capture his chakra within their mist body and prevent it from returning to him it would prevent Naruto from guarding himself. However, Naruto put an end to that possibility with his final tatsu hand seal.

“Capture Whirlwind Sphere no Jutsu!” Naruto shouted.

Some of the wind chakra he had released into the mist began solidifying. Naruto watched as much of the chakra he had dispersed took on a transparent and hollow circular appearance. Four spheres larger than a human head materialized within the mist, capturing much of it in the process.

The transparent spheres levitated in the air, their inside completely obscured by the thick pockets of mist within. After the mist was properly captured inside the clear spheres the inside full of white fog began circulating. A whirlwind was kicked up inside the hollow orbs as tornadoes of white rapidly churned.

“Yahhhh!” the shinobi screamed in pain from behind her face mask. “M-Make it st–stop!”

With the user still able to feel pain through their mist bodies, the Capture Whirlwind Sphere inflicts bodily damage while also preventing them from escaping or solidifying their organic body. Naruto remembered. Most shinobi are able to create at least eight of these but with my diminutive chakra quantity I can’t create much more than five. I read about in a book of ninjutsu specializing in countering rare techniques. The purpose is not to necessarily kill your opponent but to incite enough pain they cannot further attack.

“St-Stop-!” the ninja cried. “I-I can’t-!”

But her screams were muffled as the clear sphere surrounded their masked face. She could still be heard but once the wind inside whipped up a tornado within there was no voice to be heard. With a tori hand seal Naruto ceased the rotation of his wind chakra inside. To his surprise there was little damage to the layer of solid blue chakra covering their face as it only had a few scratches. Their white mask was completely undamaged.

“Give up,” Naruto said. “There’s nothing more you can do. I…I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

“I’m afraid I have the same inhibition,” she said after raising her voice. “I also do not like to hurt others…”

Naruto felt like he heard something behind him.

“However…” she said. “I’m also afraid that…I must fulfill the dream of…someone dear to me.”

He turned to see the floating arms coated in ice chakra speeding towards him. However, with a single tori seal, Naruto whipped up the whirlwind within each hollow sphere again. A muffled scream could be heard before the arms stopped in midair before falling to the ground. Once the floating arms landed against the pavement of the bridge, Naruto allowed the whirlwind to dissipate.

Churning the mist like that is a direct attack on the user’s nervous system. Naruto remembered reading. It can do irreversible damage to one’s body even if they reform. It essentially paralyzes the user of the Mist Evaporation technique.

“Th-That-” the woman said. “Was smart. Keeping the wind chakra around your hands and feet to enhance the speed at which you react and perform hand seals. I wish I was that smart.”

“Yeah,” Naruto said as he stared at the arms. “I noticed flaws in your strategy. You exposed your face to me when you could have hid it in the mist. I know that the closest you get to me the better you can see me but…”

He sighed.

“The biggest flaw in your strategy was not throwing senbon needles from different angles,” he said. “From what I read about the Hidden Mist shinobi is that they launch projectiles from two places at once with different arms. You should have used one arm to attack from my back and the other to attack from my side. It wouldn’t have been so easy for me to counter then.”

“You sound pretty smart,” she said. “But you…sound so underconfident. Why are you telling me this? Giving your opponent instructions?”

Naruto narrowed his eyes, considering this was a decision to distract him.

“Because…” he said. “If I don’t show off how much I know…people will just assume I’m worthless. That I’m a clown that knows nothing.”

“Pretty bad decision to give your opponent combat advice,” she said. “I get enough of that from Zabuza already. He says I’m careless.”

Something about what this girl was saying sounded so…familiar. If Naruto could make an inference it sounded like a person who desperately felt unsure of themselves. And yet they sought recognition through others noticing their accomplishments.

They sound so much like…He thought. Like me.

“So…” she said. “Are you going to kill me? End my life?”

“Wh-What?” Naruto asked.

“I see,” she said. “You are like me. You have a soft heart. A heart is contrary to the way of shinobi. You were probably raised to kill, to be turned into a weapon. That is your purpose, despite you wishing to be of value despite it. So, tell me…do you also have someone you care for? And…is it what you fight for?”

“I-I-” Naruto said. “I-”

As she asked that, the only thing Naruto could think of was the demon held inside him saying he would be a merciless killer. The vision the demon showed him still haunted his mind. The streets ran red with blood and Naruto was grinning, happy at the endless corpses of those whose life he had taken. The more he remembered it, the more he was disgusted at taking a life.

But the one who cannot kill for their village shall never become a Kage. A voice within him said.

Naruto froze, paralyzed with fear. He could feel the presence of the monster rising within him, the anxiety inducing, suffocating sensation burdening him. Naruto felt as if he might collapse as the glowing eyes once again appeared in his mind.

Do you really think the Leaf Village will forgive the one who spares an opponent on the battlefield? He said. Naruto…you will be marked as a traitor to the Hidden Leaf.

Naruto quivered where he stood, beads of sweat pouring from his face.

Spare her and you shall never be forgiven by the Hidden Leaf Village. The demon stated. What little chance the village is willing to afford you shall be decimated. They see it as your privilege that you should live. They will not allow you that privilege again if you refuse to serve their interests.

I thought you said you were looking out for me. Naruto said. That you didn’t want me to be a killer for the Hidden Leaf. Why are you trying to convince me to do such a thing now?

I am not trying to convince you to do anything. The demon said. I am only trying to tell you reality.

Leave me alone. Naruto said. Get out of my head!

Ignore me if you wish! The demon shouted back at him. But the Leaf will not take kindly to those who spare their enemy’s soldiers! Kage of any village is fraught with trying decisions of all kinds…with decisions that spill the blood of innocents foundational to their leadership.

And how would you know? Naruto asked. Were you once an influencer to the Hokage?

Very funny you should mention that…The demon said.

No. Naruto said. I refuse to believe that the leader of the Hidden Leaf was influenced by someone as vile a being as you.

Well there is one thing I can assure you of. The demon whispered. Your Village, like all, prioritize the mission over those who carry it out. They will condemn anyone who goes against it. Just ask your sensei.

Naruto turned to the white mask held within the hollow sphere, unable to escape the feeling of mutual connection.

She…He thought. Sounded so sad. So unsure of herself in the world. You want me to kill someone so desperate for a chance to be recognized?

I am not saying you should do anything. The demon said. Only that you have two options. Become the merciless shinobi your village demands you to be or…give into your weak heart. The choice is yours, Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto shifted awkwardly, afraid of what to do. His entire reason for becoming such a powerful ninja for his age was precisely because he wanted the village to recognize his strength. But something about this person…Naruto couldn’t quite put it into words but it was almost as if…as if…

She recognizes me. He realized. For once I am acknowledged. And…I guess that was…all I really wanted…

With a tori hand seal Naruto released the spheres surrounding him. The mist flowed freely back into the air since it was no longer held captive. As he returned his layer of wind chakra around him, Naruto was once again surrounded by the sea of white mist. He could not gain a visual of anything beyond the vast white. The arms floated back in place against the backdrop of mist before they disappeared out of his line of sight as he hung his head.

What are you doing? The demon asked. This shinobi will kill you.

Naruto couldn’t respond. He was not sure why. It could be that he thought the Hidden Mist shinobi would not kill Naruto as an act of penance for sparing her.

Or there’s no point in me returning to the Hidden Leaf if I cannot kill my opponents. He thought. I’ll be ostracized again.

Tears stung his eyes, shutting them as tight as possible.

I didn’t mind…He thought. Dying on the battlefield…as a hero. I would be recognized by the Leaf in death but…but…

He began sniveling and couldn’t stop sobbing.

I just didn’t want to die the lonely freak who accomplished nothing. Naruto thought.

Just as he winced in preparation to take the blow, he felt a hand placed gently on his shoulder. Naruto turned around to find a person about his height wearing a green robe and white mask touching him. Their ice chakra no longer protected their body. Surprised, Naruto turned around to find them take their other graceful and pale hand to their mask and to reveal the most beautiful face he’d ever seen.

Her face literally looked almost as white as snow. Her ivory skin was complemented by shiny onyx hair and lips as red as blood. Her black eyes were like dark mirrors that showed a calm, almost stoic hint of sorrow. Her expression, while holding no smile, was as gentle as a kitten’s and was calming just to gaze upon.

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“I see you are disgusted by the way of shinobi as well,” she said. “I thought I was the only one.”

“Is that right?” Naruto asked.

“I despise killing,” she said. “Blood…the lifeless eyes of a fresh corpse…it feels so unnatural. The wrongness of it…Zabuza always said my heart was fragile. That my hesitance of taking life was…was a detriment to my skill as a shinobi.”

Naruto began wiping his tears as he stared at the face of the beautiful woman. As Naruto was transfixed by her beauty he noticed that she looked about as old as him. There didn’t seem to be much difference in their age. Naruto expected the enemy ninja to be far older but was naturally disarmed by her age.

“I’ve just seen so much carnage…” she said. “From my comrades, family…even the death of my enemies…freshly drawn blood sickens me more than any putrid smell.”

But her words were distant to Naruto as he was fully absorbed by her beauty.

“Wow…” Naruto said. “You’re prettier than Sakura.”

“I am a boy,” he replied.

The Leaf ninja gritted his teeth and averted his eyes in embarrassment.

“I-I’m-” he said. “I-I just-”

“No,” he said. “I-I honestly blame myself. My face…it-it just mistakes me for a girl.”

“So…?” Naruto asked. “What’s your name? Except your last name…it must be Yuki.”

“How-how-?” he asked.

“The ice chakra gives it away,” he said. “I read it’s a kekkei genkai that only exists within that clan. The Yuki clan, from what I know, have that rare chakra nature that isn’t produced by emotion like other chakra is. The Yuki clan was bred for that specific purpose.”

The young man looked like he was about to start sobbing, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Yes,” he said. “I-I am…I am Haku. And-and…you’re right. I was bred to carry the ice chakra endemic to the Yuki…much like you of the Hidden Leaf breed Sharingan users.”

“Breed…?” Naruto asked. “I mean…I know that the Uchiha liked to keep the Sharingan alive but…but…I didn’t-?”

“Didn’t think that kekkai genkai were specifically bred to be kept as tools of war?” Haku asked. “They would die out if not for selective procreation. I…I am a product of ninja eugenics…I’d say you were too but…I don’t know why they would allow a ninja who has such little chakra to exist.”

“I’m a bit of an exception,” he replied. “I was born with the lowest chakra output of anyone in my class. Believe it or not…it’s the reason I’m ranked so high.”

Naruto felt like giving a confident, blustering grin like usual but couldn’t in front of Haku. It felt so fake compared to the other boy’s genuinely calm and sorrowful expression. He could only sport a faint smirk.

“I trained harder than anyone else at chakra moulding,” Naruto said. “I can do more with my chakra than most jonin, even if there’s hardly any of it to use. If I can manage to become Hokage, no one will look down on me no matter how little talent I have. Once I become a strong enough ninja to gain the title of Hokage, the Hidden Leaf Village will be forced to acknowledge I’m amazing in the face of everything else.”

“Oh,” Haku said. “I see. You don’t have anyone special to you. You merely fight to be a great and accomplished warrior. Someone who gains glory to bolster their ego.”

Naruto felt personally attacked at his statement. He had never thought about it that way. And no one had ever called him out in that regard. Most people either rolled their eyes at Naruto’s declaration of becoming Hokage or laughed. It only caused him to wish to become the leader of the Hidden Leaf all the more, just to prove them wrong.

He’s making me sound so selfish. He thought. But am I? Is it selfish to just want to be acknowledged…to want to be proven useful?

“You don’t have anyone special in your life that you give your life for,” he said. “You merely fight for some supposed attempt to redeem yourself for how useless other people see you. I’m not surprised…a shinobi who fought with more conviction would have not spared me.”

“I don’t fight for anyone special…?” Naruto asked. “No conviction?”

“Those who fight to prove themselves and gain honor are so empty,” Haku said. “It offers no one anything.”

“Offers no one anything?” Naruto asked.

“Don’t you have someone special in your life that you would be willing to do anything for?” Haku asked. “Someone who’d give you meaning to motivate you to do anything for them? It’s why I kill despite my hatred of it. Someone who has such a fragile heart to turn their back in the face of an opponent rather than kill them…I’d be surprised if you didn’t.”

Naruto looked down at the pavement at his feet, seriously mulling over the words Haku spoke to him.

Have anyone special to me? He thought. Kakashi-sensei…no, he’s not. He’s too distant and is my sensei. Someone as strong and important a ninja as him wouldn’t look at me with favor. Sakura…no matter how much I try to get her to like me she just hates me moreso for it. Iruka hated me from the start…seemed to have it worse than anyone else. Sasuke just makes me look like a chump…I guess there’s Jiraiya…he’s the coolest person in the world. He makes me feel like I’m special and worthy of friendship. But…I see him only a few times a year. I wish he would stick around more. And then there’s Hinata…she…she treats me like I deserve to be alive. She…she’s so nice to me…not only looking out for me…but always acting like she needs me. But…Hinata’s too afraid of what her family will think if she gets too close to me.

“I…” Naruto said. “I guess nobody.”

“No one?” Haku said. “But…you allowed me to live and allowed me to kill you. How could one with such a compassionate heart have no one close to them?”

“Because…” he said. “Because…the village hates me. They wish to see me dead or…or pretend I don’t exist. I wish…I wish…someone would just see how far I’ve come…and see the effort I’ve put into being a ninja. I want…I want so badly just to be told…”

Tears were welling up in Naruto’s eyes again, the outermost surface of his chakra condensing into liquid.

“Told I’m worthy of living,” he said. “So I could finally have friends.”

“I see,” Haku said. “You don’t fight because you have no one special in your life…you fight so that you could gain someone special in your life.”

As Naruto began wiping the tears from his eyes.

“R-Really?” he asked.

“Yes,” Haku said. “The same reason you spared is the same reason you have done everything to become the greatest ninja. All you want is…a friend.”

He felt unable to control himself, the tears flowing down his cheeks in a torrent.

“So why did you decide to spare me?” Naruto asked.

“As I said,” Haku stated. “I recognize you as someone who was forced to become a shinobi despite wishing to never enter this disgusting profession. Kill for hire…”

Haku closed his eyes for a brief moment before tears could be seen filling his eyes.

“I’ve killed so many youths your age,” he said. “Killed so many older and better than me…my heart was breaking every time. But you…”

He gave a pleasant smile.

“You were the first that allowed me to kill you simply because you hated taking another life just that much,” he said. “How could you have no friends?”

“I-I-” Naruto stammered, afraid to reveal what Kakashi told him. “I–I have…a monster inside me. Something…something that can kill…despite me not wanting it to.”

“A jinchuriki?” Haku asked.

“A what?” Naruto asked.

He smiled.

“Now it all makes sense,” he said. “Someone that your entire village is afraid of…yet would never harm a fly. I…I was like that too.”

“Really?” he asked. “You know what it’s like to be hated by everyone?”

“Of course,” he said. “Naruto…did you know the Yuki clan is despised by almost the entirety of the Land of Water?”

“What?!” Naruto asked. “Why? Most kekkai genkai users are prided by the land they originate in! It’s why Sharingan and Byakugan users are beloved by the Hidden Leaf!”

“I’m afraid not in the Land of Water,” Haku said. “We’re not called the Bloody Mist for nothing. You see, after years of civil war between the citizens of the Land of Water, two factions were split between us. Those who would continue to breed Yuki clan members and those who decided to kill them. The Village Hidden in the Mist practiced ninja eugenics to pass on the ice chakra the Yuki are famously known for. But the citizens of the Land of Water were sick of how the Yuki were as shock troops to bully the citizens into doing their bidding. The ice nature chakra…so powerful was it that the Hidden Mist Village could single handedly slaughter any armed rebellion against them. That was why my clan was genocided…not by the government of my country but by its citizens.”

“What’s so special about it?” Naruto asked. “It’s rare chakra but why kill everyone of the Yuki for it?”

“Because ice chakra is the most well-rounded chakra nature in existence,” Haku answered. “Its speed is four, has a durability of five, a strength of three, a malleability of five and a nutrition factor of five. A higher total of value than any of the regular chakra natures.”

“Wow,” Naruto said. “It-it…sure is powerful. But…did…did your village try and kill you?”

“My own father did,” Haku said.

“Your father?” Naruto asked.

“Of course,” he said. “He was one of the many citizens who advocated for the infanticide of any children born from Yuki clan members. The Yuki clan members that weren’t killed or didn’t want to stay as shinobi fled to be amongst the common people. My mother was one of those who hid her ice chakra from others. When my father realized he had married a Yuki clan member and bore another ice chakra user he killed my mother in a mob. He tried to do the same to me but I killed him in self-defense.”

“That’s horrible,” Naruto said.

“Yes,” Haku said, smiling. It was the most dissonant smile he had ever seen. His face looked so calm and placid despite recounting his gruesome childhood. “It was beyond imagination…I roamed the streets looking for food before Zabuza found me. He took me in and cared for me rather than throwing me back onto the street.”

“So your…” Naruto said. “The same as me. Hated and feared…for existed. Unwanted.”

“Yes,” Haku said. “It broke me…that no one thought I was worth living. Aside from Zabuza.”

“Really?” Naruto asked. “Someone…someone that cruel and bloodthirsty…took in an orphan?”

“Yes,” he said. “The best part, however, was the sense of purpose he gave me. When my parents were killed I felt worthless, abandoned by the world. No one loved me and no one could help me. Except Zabuza…he rescued me…rescued me from that miserable experience of being nothing and having no value. I am his weapon, the sword of revolution he used to revolt against the fourth Misukage’s reign of bloody terror.”

“You helped overthrow Yagura Karatachi?” Naruto asked.

“I did,” Haku said. “I was one of the key shinobi in assassinating the Mizukage’s chosen ninja he used to guard himself within the Hidden Mist Village. Zabuza said because of me…that the Land of Water returned to a peaceful state. For the first time in years…the Bloody Mist has known peace.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes, glaring.

“Then…” he said. “Zabuza doesn’t truly love or care about you.”

Haku looked shocked at Naruto’s words, his serenity breaking for a moment.

“You’re just Zabuza’s tool!” Naruto cried. “His tool of war he used to destroy his enemies! Nothing but a weapon in his hand!”

Haku shook his head as Naruto’s chakra reddened while becoming more intense, like a flame.

“Zabuza took you in because you’re a user of ice chakra!” Naruto stated. “No other reason!”

“Y-Yes,” Haku said, pain in his voice. “He did but…”

“But nothing!” Naruto said. “Zabuza never showed you any real compassion! He just wanted to make a tool out of you! As soon as you become useless to him he’ll abandon you!”

Haku looked at Naruto with pain in his eyes.

“No,” he said. “You’re wrong. Zabuza…Zabuza…”

“Then ask yourself,” Naruto said. “Would Zabuza really have taken you off the streets and raised you if you had not been an ice chakra user? Tell me the truth. Tell yourself the truth!”

“The truth…” Haku said, trying hard to hold back tears. “Is that I care nothing for myself.”

Haku placed the white mask back in front of his face. Naruto began thinking it was to hide both his tears and the dark reality the Leaf ninja exposed to Haku. He couldn’t take realizing that fact and now didn’t want to show that he understood that Naruto was right.

“And no one else does,” he said. “No one cares. With my family dead and my existence futile, Zabuza is the only one I truly care for. Just as you fight for the sake of your acknowledgement…I do mine. And I shall do anything to make his dream of making a peaceful Land of Water a reality.”

“But whether you find purpose in it or not,” Naruto said. “You are still a tool of a mass-murderer and violent revolutionary! How does it feel being a tool, killing for the sheer sake your master will give you some vain acknowledgement?”

“You can ask yourself that same question,” Haku said. “You were willing to kill Zabuza just for the sake of being a hero to the Hidden Leaf. The man I love and who’s dream I swore to make reality. If I did not have the soft heart that Zabuza chastised me for…I would have no problem killing you. Your actions are just as violent as Zabuza’s.”

“What?” Naruto asked.

“You are no different than me,” Haku said. “You’re just the Hidden Leaf Village’s tool while I am Zabuza’s. While I fight for the one I hold dear, you do the same just to gain people dear to you. But why do that when there are people like me?”

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked.

“I acknowledge you,” Haku said. “And because I do…I acknowledge you as a friend.”

“Really?” Naruto asked as even more tears flowed down his face. “You do? But we’re enemies.”

“Yes,” Haku said. “But we only are enemies because the people we hold dear to us force us to be. If we had met outside the field of battle…I would have no reason to kill you. And because I can tell you are of a similar, soft spirit to me…I know we would be friends.”

Naruto felt like his body was breaking. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t see, he couldn’t even feel. It was so foreign to him to feel this. It was rare for people to take pride in him or like him and it was always because of his accomplishments. Learning a new jutsu, defeating his comrades in a sparring match or getting a question right when no one else could because Naruto had studied more.

He had always had to earn and strive to finally be acknowledged by someone. Every day, Naruto woke up with the knowledge that if he wanted anyone to like him he would have to be of great value. His value as a person would garner the friends he desperately desired, like a man in a desert craving water.

There were times in Naruto’s life when he felt so alone it was almost like he was being deprived of food. It was at moments like this that Naruto felt like he wanted to die and would have liked to, just to end the pain. The entirety of his life had been building himself to be somebody that his village would rely on and could not help but love.

And all that time felt worthless. Haku just said that he not only acknowledged him but did so as a friend. As enemies they’d both been obligated to kill were now admitting they loved each other enough to be friends. And precisely because he defied what the Hidden Leaf wanted him to do. It hurt Naruto to realize.

H-How? Naruto thought as he couldn’t help but start sniveling, his chakra becoming liquid from sorrow. How could it have been so easy to make friends? Just…just by being nice? I-I would have stuck my-my neck out for ANYBODY! Anybody I was sure would reciprocate and fill this hole in my heart. Why?! Why did it have to be now?! Why on the battlefield?! And why was it so easy on the battlefield when so hard in the Hidden Leaf?!

“So,” Haku said. “What do you say?”

“I say…” Naruto said. “I say…I say that if you acknowledge me…just for being kind…that that’s all I wanted. And don’t need anything else.”

He wiped his face of the tears.

“So long as you remain my friend, Haku,” Naruto said.

“Is that right?” Haku asked.

“I just don’t want to be a tool,” he said. “I hate the idea of anyone using me for what I know is evil. I don’t want to be Gato’s tool…I don’t want to be a tool of the Hidden Leaf. In my quest for acknowledgment…I became the tool of both. I refuse to allow the Hidden Leaf to manipulate me anymore with the offer of friendship.”

“I-” Haku said. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I do,” Naruto said. “Thank you for-”

And just like that Haku vanished. Naruto was confused for a moment as he was no longer looking at the boy standing in front of him. Instead, looming over him was Momochi Zabuza, wielding the Executioner’s Blade. Naruto stared wide eyed up at the Hidden Mist shinobi. He glared down at the younger ninja as the red chakra surrounding his blade flowed back around his body.

“You like my Replacement Jutsu?” Zabuza asked. “Brat?”

“B-But-?” Naruto asked as he stumbled back. “H-How-?”

Zabuza pointed to the bandages covering the lower half of his face before Naruto gasped in recognition.

The Replacement Jutsu! Naruto said. Only the most elite shinobi can properly use it! A shinobi places their chakra on certain objects, usually clothing or headgear, that another wears. After placing their chakra on it they do the same to a piece of clothing they wear on the same portion of their body. And so long as they have even a little bit of chakra on them they use that invisible link to trade places with the wearer of the other chakra coated object. It doesn’t even require hand seals. Usually it can’t be used more than once before the chakra is consumed and the chakra link connecting them must be replenished. The article of clothing that is used will often break after the Replacement Jutsu is enacted. But wait…

“If you’re here…?” Naruto asked. “Then where is Haku?”

The girl flashed before Kakashi’s eyes. She was suspended within the Millenium Hanging Cage where Zabuza had once hung. Her eyes that he could see through the mask…they were as innocent as her’s. The mask broke upon appearing before Kakashi.

Rin? Kakashi thought.

His straightened fingers enhanced by lightning chakra passed as easily through her chest as a blade through wet clay. Her beautiful black eyes went wide with surprise and pain as blood spat out of her mouth. The blood splattered across Kakashi’s face, just like with Rin.

“Ob-Obito…” Kakashi couldn’t help but say.

He could feel the girl’s body go limp as his arm pierced her body. As it ran through her Kakashi could not help but feel sick to his stomach. After impaling her his eyes were stained with tears while his chakra quickly became water.

“I’m sorry…” Kakashi said. “Obito…I couldn’t save her.”

He looked on at the girl with utter shock, too afraid to scream. Kakashi shut his eyes hard, tears stinging them all the more as he did so. He quickly withdrew his arm from the girl he had just impaled.

“No,” Kakashi said. “No, no, no!”

With a hand seal he released the Millenium Hanging Cage that suspended the impaled woman. The cage bars dissipated back into lightning chakra before returning to him and surrounding Kakashi’s body. As the newly gathered chakra began to spark violently against his newly liquefied chakra, the girl fell toward the ground. He caught her in his arms as he cradled her close to him.

“Rin…” Kakashi said. “You…you can’t die. Not again.”

He began channeling chakra from around his body into the girl’s body. Both water and lightning chakra had a high nutrition factor so both would do fine at replenishing the girl’s lost health. However, it was not happening fast enough for Kakashi so he desperately pumped more into it. A spark of hope lit inside him as he saw the open wound within her began to grow over with flesh.

As he lost more and more of his chakra layer he could only imagine Obito standing behind him. The young boy staring behind him like a phantom and glaring with near killing intent was frightening beyond words for Kakashi. Kakashi was afraid to turn his back, terrified that Obito would be standing there, waiting for him to restore Rin back to health.

I thought I told you to protect Rin. He could hear Obito say as he held the girl. Why, Kakashi? Why was she not important enough to you to save her?

Kakashi was pumping a massive amount of chakra into her body, feeling warmth return as well as the open wound quickly regenerating.

She loved you. Obito whispered into his ear. I would do anything for Rin but she chose you instead…a man who was more committed to the way of shinobi than anyone else.

Kakashi could sense Obito’s glare drilling into his back.

Why? He asked. Why would she choose a man who wouldn’t give a second thought to her life when she could have chosen me? Someone who would give his life for her?

Kakashi’s arms were shaking in fear, the words were so terror-inducing.

One who abandons the mission is a shnook. Obito whispered. But one who takes no care for their comrades is worse than a shnook. So…what does that make you Kakashi?

As Kakashi looked down at Rin’s body, his tears began to wet not only his own eyes but hers as well.

“It makes me a monster,” Kakashi answered. “And a traitor.”