Chapter 20: Fireballs, Sad Deaths, and Insanity

Nue's POV

I woke up after a few hours asleep and got out of bed. I walked out of the room, down the hall, and went outside. "It's nighttime. That's strange. I'm supposed to be asleep right now." I said to myself. So, why aren't I still asleep?

I shrugged it off and walked forward, heading towards some trees. I climbed to the top of the tree and sat on a branch. "Nue!" I looked down and saw Kakashi, looking around as he called my name. "Nue, where are you? Answer me!" He called as he looked around.

Should I reveal myself to him? No, bad idea. I'm not even that far from the hideout. If I reveal myself now, he could find the hideout and kill Uncle Zabuza. I decided to stay put and let him wander. After another few minutes for searching, Kakashi gave up and went back to Tazuna's house.

I looked back at the sky and admired the stars. "I miss you, Iri. I wish you were here right now." I whispered. I leaned back against the tree trunk and continued to gaze at the stars. I watched as a leaf gently floated down from the tree.

I held out my hand, letting it land in my palm. The moment it landed in my hand, it burst into a flame. "Whoa!" I quickly pulled my hand back and let the burning leaf flutter to the ground. "What the... huh? How did that happen?" I asked.

I looked at the palm of my hand, then a fireball appeared in it. I gasped, but the flame didn't burn my hand. That's weird. I enclosed my fist, putting the flame out. Okay... that was creepy. Did I do that? I opened my hand and the flame returned.

"Whoa..." I said in amazement. I enclosed my fist again, making the flame disappear again. Okay, forget what I said about this being creepy. This is actually pretty awesome! I practiced this until morning arrived.

"Zabuza, Nue's not in her room. Do you think she went back to Tazuna's?" I looked down when I saw Haku and Zabuza by the entrance of the hideout. "Actually, I'm up here." I called to them. I jumped off the tree and landed beside them.

"What were you doing up there?" Zabuza asked. "Some stuff." I answered with a shrug. "Were you up there all night?" Haku asked. I nodded my head. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep. But I'm okay." I said with a smile.

I decided not to tell them about the whole fireball thing. "Let's go." Zabuza said. I nodded in agreement and we headed off towards the bridge. After a while of running, we finally reached the bridge. "Stay put, Nue." Zabuza ordered me.

I gave a nod as he began to do some hand signs. "Whoa..." I stared in awe when the whole place began to get foggy. "I gotta admit. That's a pretty handy jutsu." I commented. Zabuza responded by ruffling my hair.

"What do you think you're doing over there, kid?" I heard Tazuna shout. I spotted Sakura standing next to him. I don't wanna fight them and I don't wanna fight Zabuza. "Answer me, your brat!" Tazuna shouted. "Nue?" Haku looked at me.

I didn't know what to do, so I looked at the ground. "Nue-chan!" I lifted my head to see Naruto with Sasuke. "Nue-chan, where did you go? Are you all right?" Naruto called. "I'm fine, Naruto." I called back. I turned to Zabuza.

"Is it okay if I go to my team?" I asked. He stared at me for a moment before giving me a nod of approval. I smiled and ran over to Naruto. "Nue-chan, what happened to you? Sasuke told me you ran away." Naruto said.

"I just... needed some time to myself." I said, quietly. "We need to think of a plan to defeat these guys." Sasuke said. "No." I muttered. I held my arms out to my side in a protective way, preventing them from getting past me.

"I won't let you harm them, Sasuke." I said. "What are you talking about? They're the enemy." Sasuke told me. "He's my uncle and I won't let you harm him." I said as I looked him in the eye. "He's your what?!" Naruto said.

"You heard me. And if you think I won't fight you..." I took out my kunai knife. "Then, think again." I said with a serious look on my face. Sasuke glared at me with his onyx eyes as I glared back. I blinked when I saw mirrors appear around us.

"What the..? Hey, what's going on?" Naruto asked. "Forgive me, Nue." I heard a soft voice. It was definitely Haku. What does he mean by that? Forgive him for what? I gasped when I felt a senbon needle hit my neck.

I felt to the ground and struggled to keep my eyes open. "Haku.... why?" I asked before blacking out.

(Some time later)

"Nue-chan! Nue-chan!" Was that Naruto calling me? "Nue-chan, wake up!" He yelled. I don't want to. I feel relaxed right now. "Come on, kid. Wake up. You can't die here." Now it was Kiysohi who was talking. Can't they leave me alone? Can't they see I'm trying to sleep?

Eventually, I had to wake because I felt Kiyoshi's fangs pierce my arm. I grunted a little before opening my eyes. I looked at Naruto as he held a worried expression. "Naruto, you don't have to scream." I said softly. "Nue-chan! You're alive!" Naruto said as he hugged me.

"Ow, you're hugging me too tight." I said. I pushed him away and sat up. "Where's Sasuke?" I asked. Naruto looked at me with sad eyes. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What is it? What's wrong?" I asked. He avoided my eyes and looked the other way.

I followed his gaze and saw Sakura crying on top of Sasuke's chest who was lying on the ground, unmoving. I stood up and walked over to Sasuke's unmoving form. "Sasuke, wake up." I said emotionlessly. He didn't move.

"Fine, stay like that." I said. "How could you say that to him? Sasuke's dead and it's all your fault!" Sakura yelled at me. I stared at her emotionlessly. "He's not dead." I stated before walking away. "Haku?" I called.

I saw some sort of electricity flashing a few feet away from me. I ran there and stopped when I saw the most horrifying thing in my life. Kakashi-sensei had his hand through Haku's chest! "Nooo!!" I shouted.

I ran over to him as Kakashi-sensei was putting his body down on the pavement. "Haku! Haku! Please, stay with me Haku!" I begged as I held him in my arms. He coughed before smiling at me. "I'm sorry, Nue... for knocking you out... I just couldn't.... let you get hurt..." He said in a hoarse whisper.

I sniffed as tears began to fall down my cheeks. "Nue... please... don't cry. It's going to be... all right..." Haku said as he weakly smiled at me. He lifted his hand so it was resting on my cheek. "No, Haku! Just hang in there! I'll save you! You're going to be okay!" I said to him.

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly as more tears fell from my eyes. He shook his head. "Goodbye, Nue... I hope... I get to... see you again... soon..." His hand fell from my cheek and rested near his side.

My eyes widened, then they closed tightly. "Haku!" I screamed. I hugged his body as I began to sob. "Come back! Please come back! It's not fair! You weren't supposed to die!" I said to him. "You were only... trying to protect Zabuza. It's not fair." I said, softly.

"Nue, don't cry. He's in a better place now." I turned my head and saw Zabuza behind me with his hand on my shoulder. I turned around and quickly hugged him. "Zabuza!" I looked past Zabuza and saw Gato and his men. Oh-no.

Zabuza grabbed me and leaped back, away from Haku's corpse. He kept me behind him, protecting me. "You failed me.... again!" Gato yelled at him. I frowned and gritted my teeth as I watched Gato approach Haku's corpse.

He kicked Haku's corpse, causing me to glare at me. "Don't you touch him!" I shouted at him. I tried pushing past Zabzua's arm, but he wouldn't budge. "Nue, calm down." Kiyoshi hissed. Gato sneered.

"Or what? You honestly think a little girl like you can do anything about it?" He said. "Yes." I muttered, darkly. I ran at him with lightning speed, too fast for him to keep up with me, and punched him hard in the gut.

"You little brat!" Gato screamed. I felt my chakra darken. "You're just a kid! You can't kill me! You're nothing but trash, you hear me! You're nothing but-" I cut him off by driving my whole arm through his chest.

"Still think I can't kill you?" I growled. He hacked up a lot of blood in response. "Go to hell." I muttered. I yanked out my arm and let his body hit the pavement. I licked some of the blood off my arm before looking at Gato's men.

All of them had fear written on their faces. "Who's next?" I challenged. "Nue, fall back now." Kakashi-sensei ordered me. "No," I looked at Zabuza. "Zabuza. Stay back... and let me handle the rest." I ordered him as I clenched my fists in anger.

I didn't wait for a response from him as I charged at Gato's men. They did the same as they charged at me. I smirked and began to dodge and block all their attacks. I grabbed one guy's head and smashed his skull into the ground.

I teleported behind another guy and snapped his neck. Eventually, Zabuza had to cut in. I yanked my arm out of one guy's stomach and turned to Zabuza to see him with spears sticking out of his back. My anger boiled as I watched my uncle get stabbed.

I took over and began to fight them all.

In the end, most of them were dead except for a few of them I let live. "Please spare us!" They begged me. I stared emotionlessly at them. "Leave this village and never come back," I looked up at the sky as it began to darken.

"If I see any of you near this village... these people... I'll kill you." I looked back at them, glaring at them. "If I've made myself clear, then leave." I said, coldly. They ran off, scared out of their pants. I looked back at Zabuza. It looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

I quickly caught him before he could fall down. "It's alright, Zabuza. I got you." I said. "Nue... take me over to Haku." Zabuza pleaded. I did as he asked and guide him over to Haku's body. I had a little help from Kakashi since Zabuza was heavy.

"Thank you, Kakashi." Zabuza thanked him. Kakashi gave him a small nod and laid him down next to Haku. "Nue, I want you to promise me something." Zabuza said, weakly. I gave him a nod, telling him to go on as I kneeled down next to him.

"Promise me... no matter what... that you'll... keep fighting." He said. "I swear... I'll keep fighting... for you. No matter how much the pain hurts, I'll keep fighting. I swear." I said and grabbed his hand, letting a few tears fall in the process.

He lifted his hand near my face and wiped a tear away with his thumb. I smiled at him, sadly. "You've definitely changed... but at least... I got to see you... smile." Zabuza said. He turned his head to Haku and weakly smiled at him.

My eyes softened as he died. "Until we meet again... Uncle Zabuza." I said, softly. I rested my head on his chest and began to cry. As I was crying, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder from behind. But I didn't turn around to see who it was.

"It's alright, Nue. Zabuza and Haku will still be watching you. They always will be." Kakashi-sensei said, softly. I stood up and hugged him, sniffling softly. "T-They... had no reason... to die.." I said between sobs.

He rested a hand on my head as I sobbed in his chest. I felt something cold land on my cheek and I lifted my head. It's snowing? I held out my hand and let a snowflake gently land in my palm. I closed my eyes for a second before opening them.

I blinked to see a weird yin yang, wolf-like animal or creature. (Remaining a secret for now)

I blinked again and it was gone.

Who... What was that?

We made graves for Haku and Zabuza. Kakashi help me place Zabuza's sword in the dirt. I cupped my hands together and prayed. I heard the villagers named their bridge The Great Naruto Bridge. I thought it was sweet.

"Rest in peace, Haku. Uncle Zabuza." I said, quietly. I stood up and faced my team. "Are you sure you're okay, Nue-chan?" Naruto asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied. I looked back at the graves. "I know what will cheer you up. Some good ramen! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed.

I smiled at him. "I guess." I said, unsure. "Don't worry, Nue-chan! You'll feel better after you've had some ramen!" Naruto said as he wrapped his arm over my neck. I just shrugged. We began to walk back to the Leaf Village while Sakura began to flirt with Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, you wanna do something together when we get back?" Sakura said. I face palmed. "Ugh. If sssshe keepssss flirting, I'm gonna ssstart biting." Kiyoshi hissed in annoyance. I pulled on my hood over my head and sighed.

'Wonder if Maria's back yet?' I thought. Things should be okay now. Or at least I hope. But of course, I was wrong.

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Rest in peace, Zabuza and Haku. Hello, my children. Don't worry. Chapter 21 is coming soon. Until next time. Vote and Comment. Sayonara!!

Kureiji out~