He had lost…
Yes. He, Zabuza Momochi, had lost.
It was a strange feeling, something he hadn't experienced for a very, very long time. In a line of work where losing meant death, he couldn't afford to lose.
Yet he had allowed his emotions to get the better of him, and he had lost in the end.
He stood at the center of the bridge, blood pouring from the slash wound that went from his shoulder all the way to his waist. He coughed out blood as his beloved sword dropped to the ground with a clang.
As a child he had been searching for someone who he could die in the arms of, but it seemed that his wish would not be granted. He would die alone, forgotten, like all his predecessors.
His thoughts were interrupted as slow clapping came from across the bridge. Figures emerged from the mist one by one, dozens of not hundreds of them, yet he couldn't even detect a genin's worth of chakra from the crowd.
"To think the famed silent killer would not even be able to handle a brat, perhaps your fame was misplaced, Zabuza." The leader of the crowd said with an irritatingly arrogant smirk. He was an old man in a black suit, glasses covering his eyes with wild hair. His stature was not that of a fighter, and wrinkled skin showed that he most likely could not even hold himself against a child. An army of thugs was behind him, all holding makeshifts weapons of different kinds including clubs, hammers and some even swords, though not ones of high quality.
The hokage's wife and his children stood between Naruko and the Gatou's gang. Zabuza knew that even one of them was enough to mop it up, and thus didn't take action himself.
He ignored them, and instead looked towards the girl he had lost to. Yes, she was strong, too strong for a genin, yet he knew that she was just a young girl. No matter how confident, no matter how strong and no matter how inhumane she seemed to be, she was still just a little girl, and he had lost to her.
He sighed as he walked over to Haku, staring at his partner's lifeless eyes as he picked his feminine body up from the ground. He could feel the gaze of the girl, Naruko, she called herself, analyzing him as he walked over towards the side of the bridge, blood still pouring out of his wound.
As he arrived, he slowly sat down, supporting himself against the rail ran along the sides of the bridge. This was where he would die in the end, his dream unfulfilled whilst knowing he had lost to a child.
"Are you really satisfied?" He heard Naruko ask. He glanced over, life slowly leaving his eyes as he began to succumb to his wound.
He scoffed, "No, but that wouldn't change anything, now would it? My only wish was to die in the arms of a loved one, yet even that seems impossible…" He replied, his last few words being barely more than a whisper, though the girl seemed to have picked it up regardless.
His eyebrows rose slightly in surprise as he heard the girl chuckle.
"Is my wish so funny to you?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice. Who was she to question what he wanted?
The girl shook her head, "No, not at all… You're really dense, aren't you?"
"What do yo—" He began before he was cut off as the glowing sword in the girl's hands vanished as a white bow took its place, the one she had used to take one of his arms.
"Kurama often says I'm the dense one, but it seems that you're even more stupid than me…" She continued as an arrow materialised in her hand.
Gatou seemed to have noticed too, "What are you all doing, GET HER!" The man yelled as the hundreds of men behind him started to move.
Naruko didn't seem to be affected though, as she continued to nock the arrow. Zabuza gasped in surprise as he literally felt the chakra in the air disappearing—no, it didn't disappear, the chakra in the air was being converted into something else? He was never one for academics, and all his knowledge on Chakra was earned through experience, so he could only comprehend what was happening through what he knew.
The energy in the air was then absorbed into the bow, the gold markings on it beginning to glow as a result. sparks crackled from the arrow as the projectile was enveloped in a white light. The small sparks of electricity gradually turned into lightning that randomly struck the nearby area, though all of them missed him and the girl's team. Her nine tails behind her stiffened as if an electric shock ran through them as the ominous glow in her eyes brightened.
The girl aimed the bow upwards as she began to speak words that sent chills down his spine. Words filled with power, words that signaled victory.
"For I am Light bathed in Darkness…"
[PHOEBUS CATASTROPHE]
The arrow which seemed more like a spear of light flew upwards at a speed surpassing anything he had ever seen. The force from the shot itself was enough to blow away all debris in her surroundings as the crater under her seemed to deepen, though just by a small amount. Gatou's men stopped dead in their tracks as even they, who barely knew anything about chakra, could feel the power that was washing over them. Unlike the usual sound produced by an arrow being shot, this arrow literally went off with a bang that could potentially leave people deaf if they were too close. The Hokage's wife and her children were still in their combat stances, but their eyes were glued to the arrow that was travelling at a speed even he was having trouble tracking. The surrounding clouds dispersed as the arrow pierced right through, disappearing into the sky.
A moment passed, and nothing happened. He could hear some of Gatou's men beginning to open their mouths in ridicule the girl, but Zabuza continued to watch with wide eyes as the lifeless sky lit up. The thugs, including Gatou covered their eyes as the light was too strong for them whilst others kept on watching, as if entranced.
"Is this the light you were searching for, Zabuza?" A distorted voice asked. He snapped his neck to the source, but was surprised to see that it came from the girl, Naruko. His mind wasn't in the right places due to the blood loss, but even he could tell that this was not a little girl talking anymore.
It was a tailed beast.
He didn't answer, but instead raised his head just in time to see a pillar of light descend from the skies on where Gatou and his men were standing. It let out a screeching sound that would most certainly have annoyed him if not for the fact that he was on death's door.
It was bright.
A little too bright, almost like an embrace.
Unconsciously, his left hand lifted itself from the ground and held itself out towards the pillar of light, like he was yearning for it.
It was a strange feeling, a feeling of familiarity and something he hadn't experienced in a very, very long time.
Love.
Not love in a romantic sense, but just very simple love that could have been between any two people. Between friends, between siblings, between father and son, mother and daughter.
But why was this light so relaxing? He had searched far and beyond in hopes to die one day in the arms of a loved one, yet found no answer, but in front of him was the very light that he was searching for!
"The light isn't what you're looking for, look further." Naruko said from besides him, and he listened.
He looked further, to find out why it felt so familiar. He who had never experienced love in any form, was familiar with it? Impossible!
Yet, as he searched, in a small corner of his mind, he found a memory.
It was buried deep in his consciousness, a memory that he wouldn't recall no matter how hard he tried, but it resonated within his mind.