"S-Sorry, um... Zabu-Zabu-nii-" and only then did Naruto realize what he was saying. Zabu-nii? Was he fucking retarded? He ducked his head low, trying to hide the growing blush on his face.

Zabuza started speaking before his mind let him think.

"You know, you'd be really great with a sword."

--------------------

Zabuza stilled when the words left his mouth. Naruto had looked up at him curiously, tilting his head to the side cutely. Kind of like a cat. He almost chuckled at the thought of this demon in disguise with cute little white ears and a small, fluffy tail. Ahh, what a joke!

But, he was snapped out of his odd thoughts when Naruto started speaking. "What are you implying?"

"That you make use of yourself," Zabuza said again without thinking. He mentally slapped himself. Naruto blinked owlishly again.

"Are in implying that I learn how to use a sword?" Naruto asked, tone quieter. Zabuza forced himself to stay silent, but, Naruto knew he was right.

"But who would I learn from? Who would teach me?"

"I would?"

It sounded more like a question than an answer, but Naruto didn't notice. Zabuza cringed at his tone of voice and mentally berated himself for offering to.

Naruto stilled. "You... would?"

"Yes?" His tone was even worse than before.

Naruto almost doubled over. Tears pricked his eyes but he didn't let them fall. "B-B-Bu-But... why w-would you ever want to teach someone like me?"

The little boy sounded so lost that it reminded Zabuza of himself. When he was younger after the survival test. It was hard enough to not already glomp the boy, but the face of a sad kitty was fresh in his mind and his resolve (as weak as it was) hardened.

"Of course. When I'm done with you, you'll be the best kenjutsu user in the world!"

And, he was sure that Naruto's eyes sparkled so brightly, that they out-shined the sun.

--

Satsuki gripped onto Menma tightly, sobbing into his coat and screaming in frustration. In one hand, she held a familiar black hitai-ate to her chest. Menma rubbed her back soothingly, shushing her whispering words of comfort. Naruko stared at the sword blankly, unable to comprehend why he would run away after insults from some stupid child?

Kakashi walked down the stairs. Everybody turned to look at him, but their minds were still lingering on Naruto.

Naruto...

Satsuki's body was wracked with another sob. She screamed and cried as Kakashi made his way over to her and chopped her in the neck. She fell limp in Menma's arms, before being handed over to the silver-haired jonin who put her to bed.

--

Naruto stared at the blank mask. There was nothing on it, it was just blank. No eye holes, no mouth hole.

Zabuza snapped his fingers in front of Naruto's face to gain his attention. Naruto's gaze moved upwards to his position, blinking at him curiously.

"That, is a chakra mask."

"Eh?"

Zabuza sighed. "When you place it on your face, it will drain you from your chakra and read the chakra in itself. Then, it will shape itself to look like an ANBU mask, depending on your chakra signature. I had it modified so that this one henges you and creates a false chakra signature. Understand?"

"No."

"Just put the fucking mask on already."

Naruto blinked, before gently placing the white mask on his face. It stuck to his face. Naruto blinked.

"Is it working?"

"It'll take about an hour, baka."

And so, for the next hour, Naruto went around bumping into things since he couldn't see.

--

After what seemed like forever, Naruto felt a tug on his face. It was slight, but enough to know that the mask was ready.

Reaching up to grab it, it fell into his hands. Flipping it around, he blinked at the beautiful mask in front of him.

It was shaped like a fox. Its ears had two nicks in them each. There was a black line representing a scar running from the top of the mask's left eye to the bottom of its right cheek. Each cheek had three red whisker marks marring them, the eyes being much like the Kyuubi's as to how red marks connected them to the ears. Its mouth was placed in a snarl, and it gave off a menacing aura.

He placed it on his face again, feeling a sense of belonging and attachment towards it. He felt nothing but decided to walk up to the mirror to see what he looked like with the henge.

His eyes widened at the sight.

In his place stood a man strikingly resembling his father, which almost made him sneer. Shooting up from 5"6 to 6"0, his hair had turned a light blonde colour. His ear-tails had grown long and the rest of his bangs had shortened so that they just reached beneath his eyes. His hair had become more clumpy and unruly, and when he touched it, it felt kind of like wheat (a contrast to the normal soft-to-the-touch messy hair he usually wore). It had shortened at the back, now flat against his neck instead of brushing his shoulders.

He hummed, noticing how his voice had become more scratchy and deep. He pushed his mask up to flatten down his hair and whistled at the sight. Electric-blue eyes stared back at him, rimmed with neon yellow. His whisker-marks had been kept, but they were now blacker and more defined than they were before. On his right side, from the base of his neck to the top of his cheek was a thick pink scar that looked like it should have been fatal. Other than that, though, the thirteen-year-old was quite handsome.

He took off his mask, slightly disappointed that he returned to normal. It seemed like he only henge-d when the mask was on his head. Sighing, he clipped it to his kunai-holster and went over to Zabuza who had been out buying training swords.

He had a lot to learn.

1 Week later: To finish the bridge

Naruto stared at Satsuki, tearing up behind his mask. She looked so dead. So cold.

He jumped back, dodging an attack from his old sword. She was so heartless, each swing at him taking out her frustration. But, he had placed a chakra seal on her. She couldn't use any ninjutsu until it came off.

Naruto caught the sword, yanking it from her hands. It pulsated at his touch, resonating with his chakra and sparking with electricity. Satsuki started getting angrier.

"G-Give it back you monster!"

Naruto ignored the extremely painful stab into his heart, his blood forming tears that dripped from his eyes.

"Make me, Satsu-chan."

She snarled harshly, tears falling from her red eyes. Naruto activated his Sharingan behind his mask.

"I'm sorry, onee-san," he whispered. But, nobody heard.

Satsuki jumped at him, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks at him. He kept up with little trouble, but he eventually got fed up with his sister's weak attacks. With one quick swing, his sister was convulsing with lightning.

Suddenly a new presence arrived. He moved slightly to the side to dodge a kunai, followed by dozens more. Menma pulled his hands up to fly into a few quick hand-signs, the chakra surrounding him flickering and spasming. Naruto slammed his hands on the ground, a pillar of lightning shooting from the ground.

So this mask also disguises my Mokuton, huh? This makes it easier for me. He thought, shooting more from the ground. They wrapped around his now three attackers (Sai started stepping in) and threw them in different directions. They pulled up the grass on impact, cracks sounding through the air. He whimpered, his heart clenching painfully. This was necessary.

Sai was the first to stand. He unsealed a scroll from his arm, but before he could pull out a brush, a whip of water threw him a few feet away. He stumbled to regain balance, before throwing a kunai at the masked Naruto.

Naruto noticed the tag on it instantly. He ducked under it, jumping away once it landed. He guessed it was part of their plan, though, since he fell right into Menma. The smaller boy kicked him in the back, making him stumble forward. He tsked, before exploding in a ball of fire. Menma was engulfed in it.

"MENMA-"

Blackness.

--

Kakashi decided to take his rage out on Zabuza.

As in, Naruto's depression, Naruto's disappearance, Minato (& Co.)'s arrival and being stuck with said arrivals, and having Naruto been impaled on Zabuza's over-sized flat metal stick on repeat. He snarled angrily at the thought, Sharingan flaring wildly and giving him a demonic look. Zabuza shivered at the sight.

And so, they engaged in Taijutsu, Kakashi pushing his frustration into his attacks. Zabuza could barely keep up, only being able to sloppily dodge and block with his already black and blue arms.

Kakashi kneed him in the stomach, grabbing the man's hands and jerking them forward. Zabuza winced lightly, shutting his eyes tightly and grinding his teeth behind his mask.  Kakashi smirked, letting go of one of Zabuza's hands and swinging it into his face. Zabuza fell backwards out of his grasp, gasping for air.

Kakashi smirked, flying through handsigns and full out grinning in satisfaction when his palm sparked with lightning. After a few seconds, the lightning exploded up his arm, revealing the Chidori.

Zabuza jumped up and out of the way when a flash of grey came out at him.

--

Naruto released the jutsu, only now realizing what he had done. He blinked at the body of his biological sibling. He stared at the blood.

Half of Menma's face was mauled and melted, falling off of his skin and spraying blood everywhere. His left arm was mangled and charred as if it would fall away into ashes at any second, and he was covered in painful looking burns.

Cliffie! ^^ Will Menma die? I hope not. But, who knows? Maybe he will.

This is also really really short but whatever. I'll be doing next chapter soon, lol.

Peace!