Episode 12 - Battle on the Bridge! Zabuza Returns!!

Zabuza's bedroom, and Haku makes himself even more girly, letting down his hair and putting on a lovely frock to go pick leaves while a a bird lands on her shoulder, Disney-esque. While out, she spies Naruto all passed out, still not able to climb that damn tree. We are briefly teased with a very short series when Haku reaches out to him. At the Tazuna house, Sakura staggers downstairs for her morning tea, in a manner shockingly similar to mine own. Squad Seven and Tazuna's family talk about Naruto staying out all night, with Sakura and Sasuke both extremely dismissive (and Sakura is blase' about him being dead, which? Cold, girl). Kakashi says he may not look like it, and he doesn't, but Naruto's actually a full-fledged ninja and he'll be okay. Naturally, the next scene is Haku still crouched over Naruto's unconscious form, hand at his throat. He wakes Naruto up, and they chat for a bit. Haku slyly stokes Naruto's ego by asking if he's a ninja, and that he looks strong enough to him. Naruto says got something to prove, so he's got to get even stronger, and not just for himself, for somebody.

We get a flashback to when Haku was a tiny boy who looked like a girl, instead of a teenage boy who looks like a girl. It's cold and snowy, a very ninja Dickensian vibe. Haku backhands a dog trying to feed her puppies, continuing the show's sudden emphasis on cruely to animals. The flashback ends right when Haku sees Zabuza for the first time, and he tells Naruto that only way to get stronger is to do it for somebody else, and Naruto is hip. He also drops the, "By the way, I'm a guy" bombshell, and Naruto makes the exact same face we all did when we found out. "That can't be! He's cuter than Sakura." Hee. Sasuke passes Haku in the forest, which sets off Sasuke's ninja sense. Kakashi and Sakura go looking for them both, to find that Naruto's finally mastered climbing that darn tree. He even ninja punks them, which backfires because Naruto. Sasuke catches him and Sakura swoons. Kakashi's impressed, since for them this really is progress. Elsewhere, Inari mopes and Zabuza crushes an apple to prove he's healthy.

Naruto and Sasuke finally decide they've had enough fun with trees, and make their way back to Tazuna's house. He says the bridge is almost complete, and asks why they stuck around even though Tazuna played them. Kakashi says that it was the right thing to do, and that it was how the Hokage rolled, which I think means the fourth one. Little Inari calls BS on it, and he can probably be forgiven since he saw his dad martyred in the center of town. No matter how awesome the ninja, Inari thinks they ain't nuthin' but nuthin' against Gato's crew (and he hasn't even seen Zabuza). His rant finally hits the magic "You don't know anything about pain" button on Naruto, who gets on him for being a drama queen before stalking out. Inari's depressed on the dock, when Kakashi comes out for a friendly big brother-type chat, in what's a really nice moment for me. He points out the similarities 'tween the kid and Naruto, particularly parental loss, but that Naruto never ever lets himself feel defeated, and Inari's had a lot that Our Hero hasn't. It seems to hit home with Inari. Really nice scene.

Kakashi and Squad Seven leave Naruto passed out at home while they head over to the bridge, and at the same time Gato's on Zabuza's case for finishing off Tazuna and company. He erupts out of the bedroom when he wakes, desperate to catch up with Kakashi, and whilst tree-hopping notices a boar that's been cut up right well. Gato's enforcers, the hip-hop ronin, prowl around outside Tazuna's house with only Tsunami and Inari home. Mist Jutsu surrounds the people on the bridge, who've found all the workers unconscious. Zabuza's voice mocks Kakashi and the kids, particularly Sasuke's shaking. Sasuke: "I'm trembling with... excitement." The Mist Ninja's taken aback by such a badass line from Sasuke, as am I, and at Kakashi's nod ends the lives of a half-dozen of Zabuza's water clones. With Sasuke being able to tell which ones are Water Clones, the real Zabuza and Haku step forward to end things.

Next episode: Inari vs. the Hip Hop Ronin! Sasuke vs. Haku!