Chapter 74 Fighting for the One You Love

In the thick fog created by Zabuza's signature ninjutsu, Kakashi released his perception, trying to capture any subtle sound to determine the swordsman's location.

"Are you okay, Sakura?"

A cold snort came from the fog behind him.

"I'm fine. Beat him up, Sensei."

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle.

He wasn't sure what he expected her to say, but who could resist such wise advice?

He straightened his body, reached into his ninja tool bag, took out a string of shurikens, and then plunged into the fog.

Kakashi admitted that Zabuza was a cunning guy, but Kakashi was no ordinary person either.

He thought he was the most cunning, and he would not let an outdated "Seven Ninja Swordsmen" snatch his title.

But as soon as he took a step, there was an echo in the air, a wave of chakra that, even after all these years, still made his stomach flutter. It was the ancient power of the Nine-Tailed Demonic Fox, Kakashi had felt it twelve years ago, but the vibration it made in the air was unmistakable - nothing could be so strong, so intense.

His stomach twisted and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet up his throat.

Naruto.

Kakashi temporarily forgot his goal and instinctively ran towards the chakra explosion, ready to abandon Zabuza to help his student and leave the fate of the bridge to fate.

But when that energy fully erupted, he forced himself to suppress the urge to rush towards Naruto.

He still remembered that night clearly, as if it happened yesterday instead of more than a decade ago; the whipping of chakra dyed the night sky blood red, and the anger oppressed the air like the pressure of the deep sea. The hatred in the air was so sharp and thick that it was suffocating.

There was no doubt that this power belonged to the fox, but unlike what Kakashi remembered, his memory was perfect. All the edges were smoothed, it flowed rather than raged, and the emotion that resonated in the air was angry and strong, but it was not hatred.

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox in Kakashi's memory was filled with only hatred.

The force was just as great, but it was contained, controlled in some way, rather than the unstoppable torrent it would have been when the seal was stretched or broken.

Whatever this was, whatever Kyuubi chakra Naruto had released, he was controlling it.

Kakashi turned his attention back to the battle at hand and untied one of his favorite scrolls from his belt.

He hadn't planned on using his trump card so early, but if the situation was that dire, he would need to advance his plans.

He tucked the scroll into the folds of his vest for quicker access and formed a series of hand seals.

"Art fire escape ho fireball!"

The blue flames burst out and spread out, casting flickering shadows in the mist created by the Mist Hidden Jutsu. The projected shadows spun and jumped like children at play, dancing to a silent lullaby that was half ninjutsu, half genjutsu.

Kakashi watched through the flames and mist, searching for the distinctive shadow.

A deep laugh echoed around him.

"Very clever, Hatake." Zabuza scoffed, his voice echoing under the cover of flames and mist. "If I remember correctly, that was the special skill of the reconnaissance unit of the Hidden Cloud Village. Don't you have a ninjutsu of your own?"

"Not much, really." Kakashi answered happily, deliberately raising his voice, and dodged to the side when Zabuza appeared from behind him and swung his sword.

Kakashi used Zabuza's momentum to roll sideways, brushing his fingers through the tangled wires and spreading the pre-arranged shuriken web like a deadly spider web.

It wrapped around Zabuza's non-dominant arm and tightened suddenly, leaving deep cuts from wrist to upper arm.

Zabuza roared, pulling the beheading sword out of the furrow he had cut in the ground.

But Kakashi untied the wire before Zabuza could fully break free, retracted some of the blood-stained shurikens, and jumped into the mist to hide. So much smell was enough.

Kakashi's ninja dog had tracked targets with even less scent.

---

What an anticlimactic ending, Bai thought to himself. He really was a monster.

The blond boy kept his promise.

Sadly, Bai didn't.

Zabuza is dying now because he, Haku, is too weak. Useless. Pointless.

A clawed hand gripped Shiro's neck, its sharp nails only centimeters away from piercing his veins and ending his life.

Haku no longer cared; he was already dead, dead to Zabuza and, as was customary, dead to himself as well.

So he closed his eyes and waited for the blond, amber-eyed monster to rip out his throat.

But he didn't.

It took Bai a long time to open his eyes, and he didn't even dare to breathe. But when he felt something on his neck move, he still blinked involuntarily.

The eyes that came into view were blue now, the same light ocean blue that Shiro had seen before the boy's transformation.

This was no monster, this was human; the amber glow still lurked at the edges of his irises, but was overpowered by the pure, powerful cobalt blue.

"Why?" the boy asked curiously.

"What?" Bai asked intermittently.

His tongue was bleeding from the bite, but he managed to utter the word.

"You want me to kill you now." the genin accused. "Why?"

Shiro scoffed at the question. "I am of no use to Zabuza-sama. A broken tool should be discarded," he said hoarsely.

The boy's arm muscles tensed reflexively at this statement, confusion and anger appearing on his young face.

For a moment, Shiro was sure he would do just that, would kill him for his answer, but the boy's reaction was puzzling.

He let go.

The blond genin loosened his grip and stepped back, looking down at him.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," the boy said bluntly, his tone ruthless and firm.

Shiro burst into laughter, which then turned into a choked cough.

He turned around, tilted his head to one side, and spat black blood onto the stone beside him.

"What do you know?"

"I don't know about tools or no tools." The boy growled, "But that guy named Zabuza is very important to you, isn't he?"

Bai was stunned.

He didn't ask how the boy knew that, because there was no way he could know - it was something that even Zabuza himself wasn't fully aware of, something that Haku had kept hidden his entire life so that his attachment wouldn't be seen as weakness.

But there was no point in hiding it now, he thought, especially when the blond boy obviously knew, though he had no idea why.

"So what?" he asked.

"If he's important to you, what does it matter if he's useful or not? If you love someone, you protect him. It's as simple as that. That tool and monster bullshit you're talking about sounds like an excuse."

Bai opened his eyes wide and looked at the blond boy who turned and left. He tried to sit up, but he choked and coughed because of the blood in his throat.

He broke at least four ribs, but he endured the pain because he couldn't let the boy go like this, leaving those words like a sting in his heart.

"What? Where are you going?" Bai struggled to sit up, coughing painfully.

"Fuck you," the boy said coldly without even turning his head. "I have more important things to do than your twisted sense of honor. You have it, too, you know."

As soon as he finished speaking, the boy disappeared from the spot and returned to his friends, leaving Shiro alone sitting on the broken rocks, dizzy from the last three words.

"you also have."

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