The Final Battle on the Bridge

The bridge stood in the rain.

It was unfinished. The deck ended in midair, like a promise left half-spoken. Rebar protruded from the concrete. Soaked by the rain. The smells of iron and water mingled together.

Zabuza stood in the middle of the bridge.

He was waiting for Gato.

Behind him, Haku lay on the ground. Motionless. Dead. Ice needles were scattered everywhere. Some had already melted. Some were still embedded in the bridge. The mask had shattered into two pieces. One half lay beside Haku's face. The other had been blown to the edge of the bridge by the wind.

Zabuza did not look back at him. He could not. If he did, he would not be able to remain standing.

"Zabuza, Haku is dead."

Gato's voice came from the end of the bridge. He was not alone. Dozens of mercenaries stood behind him. Swords. Shuriken. All kinds of weapons. Gato stood at the front, short and fat, yet smiling with ease.

"Tools can be replaced. You should understand that too. A shinobi who has even lost his tools is already worthless to me."

Zabuza did not move. His arms hung at his sides. Ruined. His meridians. Everything below his shoulders was ruined. But he could still stand. Two legs. One life. And... his mouth.

"Gato."

Zabuza's voice came from behind his bandages. It was colder than the mist.

"You said Haku was a tool?"

Gato laughed. "What else? What did you think you were to him?"

Zabuza did not answer.

He bent down. No, not his waist. His entire body bent down. His knees. With difficulty... but he knelt. Using his mouth, he picked up a kunai from the ground.

The handle was clamped between his teeth, the blade facing outward. Saliva dripped down the handle. Yet his hands. Both his hands. Hung limp and motionless. Only his mouth could move.

He stood again.

Steady. Like a mountain being pulled from the mud. Rain pounded against him. His bandages were soaked through. But his eyes, the eyes visible through the gaps in the bandages, were not looking.

They were killing!

"I am the Demon of the Hidden Mist. That is exactly why I cannot let merchants like you look down on me."

He charged in.

He crashed into the crowd with his body. The kunai was in his mouth. The first strike hit a neck. Tore through it. The kunai passed through a throat. Blood burst forth. A red flower bloomed in the rain!

The second strike, the third, the fourth.

It was killing intent. Pure killing intent. He had no hands, but his feet and mouth were enough. Kick. Ram. Clamp the kunai in his teeth. Turn. Wherever the kunai swept, something broke. With every blow, something was severed. People.

The mercenaries screamed. They were afraid. They had never seen anyone fight like this. A beast. No. A demon.

The rain turned red!

By the time Kakashi arrived, Zabuza had already killed more than a dozen people.

He stood at the bridge entrance, his Sharingan open. Yet he did not move. He knew this was one man's matter. His final task.

Naruto rushed to the bridge and stopped. He stopped himself.

"His... his hands are gone!!"

Naruto looked at Zabuza. The kunai in his mouth. Blood. Rain. And Zabuza's expressionless face. He had no spare chakra left. Only killing intent.

"He... he's doing all this for that bad guy, Haku..."

Naruto's voice changed. It was not that he did not understand. He did not want to.

Ringo stood beside him, watching Zabuza. Watching a man complete something. His final task.

"No."

Naruto turned his head. "What?"

"He's doing it for Haku. Haku wanted him to live. So he has to finish what Haku could not. He has to live on."

Naruto froze. His lips moved, but no words came out. Thoughts churned in his head. His forehead protector was wet. From the rain... or something else.

"For... Haku?"

"Just as Haku fought for him, Zabuza is fighting for Haku now."

Naruto did not ask again. He was feeling it. Every time Zabuza killed someone, Naruto's gaze changed slightly. It grew heavier.

Gato tried to run.

Zabuza would not let him. He pushed through the crowd. Three shuriken were lodged in his body. He no longer felt pain. Pain and killing intent had become impossible to distinguish. He rushed before Gato. The kunai fell from his mouth. He did not need it anymore.

He bit down on Gato's throat!

With his teeth. He sank them in. "This... is for Haku."

Gato fell. At his throat, Zabuza had bitten his own chakra into him. His will. The will to die. Burned into another man's throat.

Zabuza fell as well.

He had done what he needed to do. His body said, "Enough."

He lay on the ground as rain struck his face. Some of his bandages had come loose. His lips moved slightly. He was cold.

"I'm afraid... it's cold."

Afraid it would be cold over there.

Kakashi walked over and crouched beside him. His Sharingan closed. It was no longer needed. This man was no longer an enemy.

"Kakashi."

"Yeah..."

"If we can go... to the same place... that would be nice."

The rain continued to fall. Zabuza did not move again.

Naruto stood there, rooted in place. His eyes were red. Tears. Soundless tears fell from his eyes and mixed with the rain. They would not stop.

"I don't want to... I don't want to forgive him, but..."

But his tears would not listen. They acknowledged it. Acknowledged that this man was also... human.

Sasuke turned away. He said nothing.

...But his Sharingan closed. He did not want to watch. He did not want to see that part of himself too. The part that could go to any lengths for one person. That part was too close.

Ringo's system lit up.

It was dim, like in Chapter 11. Yet different. In Chapter 11, there had been confusion. The battlefield has begun. This time, it was a choice.

[Detected: Death Drop: Gold · Hidden Mist Assassination Technique Fragment: Source: Momochi Zabuza: Pick up?]

Ringo's finger paused over the panel. Gold. A man had died, leaving behind something of his. His existence. The final thing he could leave in this world.

He pressed "Yes."

It was to remember. This man was named Zabuza. The Demon of the Hidden Mist, abandoned by the Hidden Mist Village. Picked up by someone named Haku. Remembered by Team 7.

The card flew into the card slot. Gold. Yet it was not gold like Wind Cutter's. It was warm. Like Haku's Ice Release Fragment. Warm. These two people did not deserve to be forgotten.

Ringo closed the card slot. Not the system. He put the two cards, Haku's Ice Release and Zabuza's assassination technique, together. He did not merge them. Not yet. First, remember.

Tazuna stood at the entrance to the bridge, looking at Team 7.

"The bridge is almost finished." He paused. "We've prepared a name. Naruto Bridge."

Naruto looked up. Tears still hung on his face, but he smiled. His eyes were red, his mouth relaxed. He smiled. I will be remembered.

"Naruto Bridge, huh? That... doesn't sound bad."

Sasuke said nothing.

...But the corner of his mouth twitched. He approved.

Ringo stood in the rain and looked at the bridge. It was unfinished. Yet it already had a name. A bridge was there to remember that a group of people had fought here. Lived. Died. Been remembered.

Kakashi closed his book and put it into his ninja tool pouch. This time, he truly closed it.

"Let's go back, Team 7."

Naruto carried Sasuke on his back. Ringo walked at the rear. The rain stopped. The mist dispersed. Sunlight leaked through the clouds, just a single ray. It shone upon the bridge deck. Upon the name that had not yet been carved, but already existed.

Kakashi walked ahead without turning back, but he said one thing.

"I'll report to the Third Hokage. This is the story of two people."

Ringo looked at Kakashi's back, then lowered his eyes to the card slot. Two golden cards. Ice Release. Hidden Mist Assassination Technique. What two people fated to die had left behind... was testimony.

"Don't merge them yet," he said.

First, remember.

Konoha was already in sight.