13 What Direction?

--- On The Bridge ---

Tazuna arrived on the bridge as he was guarded by Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. Upon their arrival, they noticed there was already a thick, heavy mist covering the surrounding area.

"Both Zabuza and Haku have already arrived," said Naruto silently.

"How do you know that?" asked Sasuke. After all, if Kakashi, a Jonin, could not sense their enemies in this thick mist, how can a Genin.

"I can sense their heat signatures," replied Naruto quietly.

"That's pretty amazing," commented Kakashi. "Your affinity to fire must be really high if you can do that."

"It's as high as the Second Hokage's affinity if not higher," said Naruto proudly.

"I though you had a high affinity to lightning," muttered Kakashi.

"Yes, lightning too. Although it's not as high as my fire affinity, it's not that far off," said Naruto, cocentrating on the two enemy's heat signature. "I can sense my opponent's bioelectricity that runs in their body, however, the range is smaller than sensing their heat signature."

"That already makes you a strong sensor, though not in the normal sense," said Kakashi.

The group continued walking until they stood a few meters away from their enemy.

Naruto quickly did some hand seals and unleashed a gust of wind, blowing away the mist that was covering the area.

"I really hate wind users," muttered Zabuza as he released a thick layer of Killing Intent.

Naruto and Kakashi appeared to be immune to the Killing Intent as Sasuke and Sakura were sweating hard. Tazuna was already panting heavily on the ground as his knees had already given out.

Naruto then quickly produced four clones and erected his barrier, protecting Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna.

"Zabuza, Gatõ plans to betray you and have you killed off regardless should you succeed in killing Tazuna," said Naruto. "How about you join Konoha? We could use someone as strong as the two of you."

"Naruto, you can't just offer asylum to a Rogue Ninja," said Kakashi.

"Why not?" asked Naruto.

"What makes you think I want to join the Leaf?" askes Zabuza.

"Aren't you tired of always being on the run and scrounging around just to live, Zabuza?" asked Naruto. "Kakashi, both of these guys are super strong and you know why. They'll be of great help."

"I'll still fight you," said Zabuza. "I still habe a reputation to uphold, kid. Should Gatõ appear to finish me off, I'll consider joining the Leaf."

"That's fine by me!" said Naruto.

Haku immediately started going through hand seals and muttered: "Demonic Ice Mirrors!"

Naruto was immediately covered by ice mirrors that connected with each other and looked like an ice dome. Haku entered one of the mirrors and became nothing more than a reflection.

"Haku, you can't win against me in your current level," said Naruto, staring at Haku's reflection. "I know all about your Demonic Ice Mirrors."

"Stop bluffing," said Haku. "There's no way you can know about my mirrors."

"Information gathering is half of a Ninja's job, Haku," said Naruto, smirking. "Did you really think I was simply training over the past week?"

"That's not going to stop me from killing you," said Haku as every single mirror suddenly had Haku's reflection in it.

Naruto noticed that each Haku was holding metal needles in each hand and was about to attack.

Naruto suddenly shifted his weight as he quickly dodged a few metal needles that was about to hit him. He already knew from his spying on Haku that Haku's speed would be far greater than normal when he was inside his mirrors, but not by this much.

"You're the first person to dodge my attacks when trapped inside my mirrors," said Haku, looking at Naruto with a surprised expression.

Haku continued her relentless assault on Naruto, launching a multitude of metal needles at Naruto, while he was dodging every single one of them without even needing to use his Sharingan.

"HOW ARE YOU DODGING MY ATTACKS?!" roared Haku in frustration.

"You've never faced someone like me before, have you?" asked Naruto, his smirk growing wider. "I'll tell you if you can beat me."

Seconds trickled into minutes as Naruto continued to dodge the continues assault of the metal needles.

'This is a good way to train one's reflexes and concentration,' thought Naruto.

As this exchange went on, Naruto noticed Haku's speed slowing down. "This jutsu of yours is up too much chakra and you're already running low. How about we stop here?"

"SHUT UP!" roared Haku as he charged as fast as she could at Naruto.

Considering that Haku's chakra was already running low, his speed had dropped considerably compared to when the fight had first started. As Haku closed in, Naruto immediately extended a hand and grabbed Haku's wrist. He followed through with landing a solid punch on Haku's face, sending him crashing on one of the mirrors. Unable to the impact of the crash, the Ice Mirror shattered into pieces and Haku was sent flying away.

Having defeated his opponent, Naruto casually started walking towards where Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting off. Naruto secretly activated his Sharingan and watched the fight between the two Jonin level Ninjas.

Kakashi quickly did a few hand seals and said, "Chidori!" A large amount of Lightning Nature chakra gathered in Kakashi's hand and it produced a sound effect of a multitude of chirping birds.

'One Thousand Birds,' thought Naruto. 'Such a fitting name.'

Naruto glanced over to where Zabuza was standing and noticed him bleeding from both his hands.

"Kakashi, wait," said Naruto suddenly. "We have company."

"The brat managed to defeat Haku is no ordinary Genin," said Zabuza, watching Naruto walking up towards their battle. "He must be at least Jonin level to beat Haku without getting hurt."

"Look at that, the Demon Zabuza defeated by a some punks," said a voice coldly.

The group turned around and saw a man walking towards them with a large group of thugs behind him from the far side of the bridge.

"What are you doing here, Gatõ?" asked Zabuza distasteful.

"I'm here to finish you off, Zabuza," said Gatõ arrogantly. "You're simply way too expensive to hire."

"We are no longer enemies," said Zabuza to Kakashi before turning to Naruto. "You were right, kid."

Zabuza picked up his sword as he faced against Gatõ.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu," said Naruto as 50 clones appeared with puffs of smoke.

"Kid, how can you pull of so many Shadow Clones?" asked Zabuza in shock.

"I'm a chakra powerhouse," replied Naruto, chuckling. "I'll clear up the thugs. Have your way with Gatõ. I hate backstabbers.

Naruto's clones all rushed towards Gatõ's thugs and seconds later were all lying on the ground, unconscious. Zabuza rushed at a trembling Gatõ and brought his massive sword down, cutting Gatõ in half horizontally.

Naruto called off his clones as he lazily looked at everyone. His 4 clones that had erected the barrier around his teammates and Tazuna brought it down and everyone came together.

"So what now?" asked Zabuza.

"The offer still stands about the two of you joining our village," said Naruto. "We will leave as soon as Tazuna finishes the bridge."

"I don't know if the Hokage is going to agree, Naruto," said Kakashi.

"I'll take care of the Hokage," said Naruto with an evil smirk, causing a shiver to run through Kakashi's spine.

Zabuza pondered heavily about Naruto's proposal. He truly was tired of this life and if he went to the Leaf, at the very least he could at least sleep well at night and wouldn't be on the run.

"I'll go with you, I truly am tired of this life," said Zabuza.

--- A Few Days Later ---

With Naruto helping Tazuna with his Shadow Clones, the bridge was completed sooner than expected and the Country of Waves had started to recover. Naruto quickly became friends with Haku as both had suffered a lot during their childhood; Naruto for being a Jinchuriki and Haku for his bloodline.

Everyone had been recovering very well from their fight against each other. Naruto received pointers on his swordsmanship from Zabuza and both agreed to spar with each other occasionally.

When Team 7 alongside Zabuza and Haku were about to leave, everyone from the town had gathered up by the bridge to say goodbye to the Ninjas who ended Gatõ's tyranny; their heroes.

The bridge was named after Naruto - The Great Naruto Bridge - by Tsunami as she felt immense appreciation towards him for convincing Inari - the young boy Naruto had scolded - to fight for what he wants.

--- Hokage's Office One Day Later ---

Since the team was made up of only Ninja's only, their return Journey to Konoha was much faster. They were standing in front of the Hokage as Kakashi was giving a report of their successful mission. The Hokage looked up at the Rogue Ninja standing in front of him as he rubbed his temples.

"Naruto-kun, why do you like giving me more paperwork?" asked the Hokage.

"Come on, old man, I told you how to defeat the darn paperwork," said Naruto with a sigh. "Let them join the leaf."

Remembering how much easier his life had become with the usage of Shadow Clones, the Hokage quickly threw two headbands to Zabuza and Haku, causing everyone to be momentarily stunned.

"Sigh ... Zabuza, since you are a Rogue Ninja, you'll work on a probationary period," said the Hokage with a sigh. "As for you, Haku, you can join the next team of Genins when they graduate from the Academy."

"Actually, gramps, Haku has a very good knowledge of medical plants and poison," said Naruto, smiling. "He's also got Kage level chakra control making him very suitable to become a medic."

"How about it, Haku?" asked the Hokage, turning back to Haku. "Do you want to become a combat medic?"

"I would love to, Lord Hokage," said Haku politely.

"Everyone is dismissed," said the Hokage, creating 4 Shadow Clones to start doing his paperwork. "Naruro, how about Ramen?"

"Your treat, gramps," said Naruto as he took out a package. "By the way, I got you something. Take good care of it. It's limited edition."

The Hokage looked at Naruto who winked at him. The Hokage's eyes flashed as he immediately understood what the package was and quickly put it away, giggling.

--- Later That Day Hokage's Office ---

After having Ramen with the Hokage, Naruto went to his office with him and asked him to send away his Anbus for some privacy. He also put up a silencing barrier for added security.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" asked the Hokage.

"Old man, where do you think this village is heading?" asked Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" asked the Hokage, in a serious tone.

"I'm talking about the direction of this village," replied Naruto.

"What brought this question, Naruto-kun?" asked the Hokage.

"Multiple things," replied Naruto, scratching his ear. "The quality of the Academy's curriculum and the changes that took place in my mission guarding Tazuna. It got bumped up to A-Rank from a C-Rank. That's a major increase. Stuff like this are bound to happen from time to time and we have very limited control over that. But what we do have control over is the quality of our Ninja's curriculum."

"What do you suggest, then?" asked the Hokage, stroking his beard.

"Before I make any suggestions, I want to share what I've witnessed," said Naruto, frowning. "There are definitely some Ninja's who are very talented and they are the ones who end up becoming Jonin level or above. But what about the rest? All those other Ninjas who are stuck being a Genin or a Chunin? When war hits, they're that first ones who get cut off. I've been observing everyone in the village in the last couple of years and the level of Konoha's Ninja's have been in decline. The village has become stagnant. The level of highly talented Ninjas is always limited. I don't know how we can continue claiming to be the strongest of the Elememtal Nations. So I will ask this again; what is the direction Konoha is heading towards?"