Fragments

-o-

Wanderlust

-o-

Tora carefully peeked out of his hiding place.

He could feel the hunter. The entire forest could feel the hunter.

Its bloodlust seemed to drip from every leaf, every stick, every stone within the forest.

Shaking Tora ran to another hiding space. Normally he enjoyed these escapes, the brief freedom they promised. The game of hide and seek with those funny two-legs.

He almost smirked. Scratching them up, when they finally caught him always amused him.

But today? Today the forest terrified him. He should have stayed home, no matter how unpleasant. It just had to be safer than this.

-o-

Kakashi stared at his students. No, not students, student.

Sakura crept through the forest, eyes twitching wildly in every direction. Her nose held in the wind, searching for the faintest whiff of their target.

Every now and again she stopped and listened to the forest. Staying perfectly still.

Her smile, once again, disturbed him the most. Not even because she had that demented and sadistic one plastered on her face. No, he had learned to deal with that one... and as long as he never let her near any small children, again, they should have no more problems with it.

But this new one... it somehow managed to transform her yet again. Where her other smiles transformed her from old woman, to young girl, to demented psycho, this one turned her into a... well, bloodhound. A bloodhound who enjoyed herself immensely.

"You know?" Whispered Sasuke to Naruto. "I think we might have to stop her from killing and eating the cat."

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke. An evil gleam was in his eyes. "I wouldn't worry about it Sasuke, I'm perfectly sure she knows what to do with it." An angelic smile had slipped onto Naruto's face.

Neither Kakashi and Sasuke bought it.

"Don't tell me, you had a run in with Tora and he didn't like you." Sasuke sighed.

"The cat deserves whatever Sakura has in store for it." Naruto held steadfast.

"Well, we won't get paid if we deliver grilled cat." Kakashi pointed out quite reasonably.

"Meh, I doubt we could even deliver it. I bet Sakura would just eat the evidence." Naruto considered it for a second. "Bones and all."

Kakashi and Sasuke looked at girl, crouched on the ground, her eyes closed, slowly bleeding killing intent into the forest.

They looked at each other and nodded. Sakura would devour the entire cat and not leave any evidence. No doubt about it.

"Naruto, you will stop Sakura from eating the cat." Kakashi decided. "And that's an order, understood?" He overrode Naruto's protests.

"Spoilsport." Muttered the brat.

"Sasuke, you capture Tora and make sure it stays safe."

Sasuke nodded with apparent relieve. "Got it sensei."

At least somebody had some respect for him. The other two never showed any.

Suddenly Sakura opened her eyes and shot away, running through the forest with breakneck speed.

"Follow her!" Kakashi shouted. "Naruto make sure the cat at least survives long enough to hand it over to the client!"

Naruto nodded, as he dashed away. Sasuke and Kakashi were hot on his heels.

Maybe they shouldn't take on D-Rank missions. They were more than competent enough to take C-Ranks... screw that, they could pull of B-Rank assassinations. He wouldn't be surprised if Sakura could do them on her own.

He felt a horrifying spike of killing intent shortly ahead. Hopefully the cat wouldn't die from a heart attack.

He caught a bird as it fell out of the air.

Well, shit. "Sasuke, get the cat out of..."

Sasuke raced past him, the cat pressed to his chest, Sakura hot on his heels.

"It's mine! I caught it! I get to eat it!" The girl screamed, as she hunted her pray.

"Catch!" Kakashi shouted at her and threw the bird.

Sakura's head swirled to him, and locked onto the bird. Her eyes narrowed just long enough for Naruto to jump onto her back, pinning her to the ground.

"Damn it Sakura, get a hold of yourself." The boy shouted into her ear, a hand raised, ready to slap some sense into her.

Sakura blinked and some humanity returned to her eyes.

Which instantly narrowed at Naruto, who straddled her in a rather compromising postion.

"Off. Now." Sakura hissed.

Wow, it always impressed Kakashi just how fast his students could move if properly motivated.

"Is it safe yet?" Sasuke asked, peeking at them from behind a tree. "Luckily Tora's a fighter. Otherwise I think that killing intent would have... well killed him."

Sakura shrugged and stayed silent.

"Drat." Naruto muttered.

Kakashi looked at the cat, who seemed to be slowly calming down, now that the killing intent in the forest had stopped.

Sakura pushed herself up, glaring at the cat. "I'm sure you would have tasted just fine." She muttered, causing the cat to press itself deeper into Sasuke's chest.

Well, it had a pink ribbon, so they had what they came for.

"Ok, let's go back and deliver the target. No need to risk Sakura getting her hands on it." Kakashi said.

Sakura switched her glare from the cat to him and pulled out a bottle.

"I'll have you know, now that I'm not in hunting mode I'm perfectly capable of not eating the cat. Though the big breakfast I had helps."

So, a well fed Sakura is a Sakura that's not going to eat puppies. Good to know.

-o-

Sasuke grinned as Tora practically flew into the arms of a surprised fire Lady.

After his experience with Sakura, the cat had apparently developed a new appreciation for his position.

He glanced at Naruto, who grinned excitedly, though for an entirely different reason. One of his clones had spotted Tazuna, the bridge builder entering the village today. And nobody had yet accepted the C-Rank mission he had paid for.

"Ah, good work you guys." Iruka smiled at them. "And so fast. Every other team had to take twice as long to catch Tora."

Naruto grinned widely at the man. "That's because we are awesome Iruka!" He shouted.

Both Iruka and the Hokage chuckled indulgently.

"Well, I suppose you want a new mission then." The Hokage muttered. He glanced at Sakura, who had a bottle in her hand and nipped at it every now and again.

"Though I'm not sure we have another D-Rank mission suited to your talents." He rubbed his chin in thought.

Sasuke sighed. Allowing Sakura to work with small children had turned out to be a very, very bad idea. Not that the children were in any danger. And they all had thanked the gods that Sakura hadn't made any allusions to eating children. Sasuke knew they had all been worried about it.

But... well, Sakura had her own ideas on what constituted a good learning environment.

Fear and pain featured prominently in them.

"Old man, we are ready for something harder." Naruto said, his grin gone, in favor of a more solemn and serious expression.

Sakura snorted in the background.

"Give us a C-Ranked mission, you have to have one."

The Hokage looked considering at the three of them. "Are you sure you are ready for this responsibility?" He asked Naruto, but he looked at Sakura. Who returned the doubtful look with a glare of her own.

Naruto chuckled nervously. "We can keep her under control." He said, which obviously earned him a growl from Sakura.

He glanced at her and returned his gaze to the Hokage. "If we don't provoke her of course."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure as long as we have an enemy to point her at, there won't be any problems. And if there is nothing to set her off we are fine as well." Naruto explained.

Sakura apparently agreed, as she didn't growl this time.

"I see... hmm well I have a mission... but the client is somewhat... difficult. He might set Sakura off." He looked Naruto in the eyes, as he said it. Kakashi hung back. But judging by the way he had his eye closed and muttered under his breath he seemed to pray for this mission.

Sasuke snuck closer. "Please let us get a mission outside of Konoha, please let us..."

Sasuke snickered. Kakashi wanted to get Sakura out of the village. Wonder why? She had such a shining personality.

He sighed and glared at her.

She grated on them all. Her constant abuse hadn't been easy to take. And if they had to deal with the villagers, their distaste for her had an adverse effect on their distaste for Naruto.

But, she got better. Slowly but surely she got better. Her growls were almost playful now. And she didn't threaten to castrate him anymore if he came close to Ino.

And, on the rare occasions that she let her guard down... he could see his Sakura there, the happy girl, willing to do everything in her power, to make her friends happy.

And for that it was worth fighting. To take the abuse, verbal or otherwise and drag her out of her shell, however painful the process turned out to be.

"We. Can. Keep. Her. Under. Control." Naruto glared at her with every word.

Sakura glared back.

"And. She. Will. Control. Herself. As well. Won't she?"

The glaring match continued for a while, before Sakura gave in and looked away.

"She will." She ground out.

The Hokage and Iruka had watched the exchange with mixed expressions. Iruka with a smile that seemed plastered on. Still in denial probably. Sasuke could understand that.

The Hokage however seemed... impressed by Naruto. And approved of the exchange.

"Very well. Your mission is to protect a bridge builder. He's on his way back to wave and wave currently has a problem with bandits."

And more, going by Naruto's description of the country.

But hey, now that they were on the way...

"Damn, I hoped you would send some real ninja..."

Tazuna stared, as Team seven dog-piled Sakura.

"He's a civilian, he has absolutely no idea what the fucking hell he's talking about. I see absolutely no reason to kill him for that ignorance."

Sakura muttered at the bottom of the pile.

"Just making sure." Kakashi muttered.

"Besides, it would have been useless anyway. I could have killed him from over here without lifting a finger." She chuckled darkly.

"Err..." Tazuna coughed. Apparently the man had realized that this team had some problems.

"Well, we'll protect you Tazuna-san." Naruto brushed himself off. "But please, please refrain from pissing of Sakura. The last one who did it... well, we managed to stop her before she killed the poor girl. Barely."

Naruto cocked his head. "And the other girl was a ninja. You don't have that benefit, so please watch your words."

Tazuna opened his mouth, a derisive sneer on his face. But a look at Naruto made him shut his mouth again. He looked at Sakura, who grinned back toothily.

"I... I see, I'll try to watch my mouth." Tazuna nodded at the blond.

"Thank you. We will do our best to protect you. But if you cooperate it will be so much easier for us."

Tazuna looked at the blond. "You know? When I just entered the room, I thought you guys were... well..." He shifted uncomfortably. "Err..."

"Green, absolutely untested genin, who will fail the second danger rears its head?" Sasuke piped up.

Tazuna chuckled weakly. "Yes." He scratched his head. "But, seeing how serious the boy here is... well, you are trained right?"

All three of them chuckled, Sakura rather darkly. But Sasuke had gotten kinda used to that.

Sad really.

Kakashi muttered something about them not needing training, scary geniuses that they were.

"Thank you Tazuna-san." Naruto said after he regained his composure. "But really, I'm doing my damnest not to show my excitement to go out on a real mission. No matter how well trained you are... the first mission is something special isn't it?"

This time Tazuna chuckled. "Yes, the first time you do something is always special. Be it a bridge or a mission."

"Well, now that that's settled. We will meet tomorrow at the village gate. Get ready, pack for the trip to wave and get some decent sleep." Kakashi said to them, before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"See you guys." Sakura said, before she copied Kakashi perfectly.

"Uhh, I'll be going too then." Tazuna murmured.

Leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone with the Hokage and Iruka.

"Uhh, so... how are things going for you guys?" Iruka asked.

Naruto grinned weakly at him. "Honestly? Better than expected. Sakura is slowly warming up to us. Teamwork is improving..."

Sasuke snorted, for a given value of improving anyway. By now they could trust Sakura to not "accidentally" hit them with a kunai.

Which truth be told was a major improvement.

"And Kakashi is hardly ever late." Naruto scratched his chin. "Actually that's kinda scary..."

Sasuke held his face impassive, as he saw the Hokage keep very firm control over his face. So... Kakashi hadn't bought their story. But at least they hadn't thrown them to Ibiki. Probably keeping them under observation.

They would have to come clean... probably after Wave. After the chunin exams at the latest.

Hopefully they would have coaxed Sakura out of her distrust far enough, to prevent her from running by then.

"I must say Naruto... you have matured considerably." The Hokage said.

Naruto looked at the old man, his expression rather somber, a sad smile on his face.

"If I ever want your position I'll have to mature don't I?" His hands clenched into fists. "And I'll have to make some hard decisions too." He stared the old man in the eyes. "Decisions I'd rather not make, but have to, for the good of the village..."

The Hokage nodded sadly, lost in whatever bad memories Naruto had dragged up.

Naruto on the other hand smiled again. "But I'll do my best anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to be a Hokage and protect everybody I care about." He turned around quickly after that. "Well, I gotta go old man. The bag's not gonna pack itself."

Sasuke could see the faces of both, the Hokage and Naruto.

And neither looked as if they actually believed Naruto could succeed. Both had tears in their eyes.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Well, with that attitude they would of course succeed, no doubt about it at all.

"Hey Naruto?" He said, stopping Naruto. "Personally? I think you can do it." His father pulled it off after all. Why shouldn't Naruto? Last time it had been a fluke, they had thought Madara defeated. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Never doubt that Naruto." He smiled at the blond, who nodded, running a hand over his eyes to wipe away the tears running down his face.

"Thanks Sasuke... I... really thanks." And the fake smile he had worn before, had turned into a real one. "If you help me... I think, I think yeah maybe I'll do at that." He laughed, shaking his head. "Damn, to be cheered up by you of all people..."

He waved as he walked out, still chuckling quietly to himself.

Sasuke sighed. Man, being the optimist of this team turned out to be hard work...

"You have changed since Sakura used that jutsu on you Sasuke..." The Hokage said.

"For the better I hope." Sasuke answered carefully. He would have preferred to have backup here. Being alone...

"Oh, I don't know, Iruka said that you actually skipped your punishment on the last day... would you consider that an improvement?" The Old man looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

So he wanted to play that game. Sasuke couldn't help himself, he sniggered.

Iruka almost choked. And even the Hokage looked more than a little surprised.

"Actually yeah I would. It means I'm more like Naruto, which can only be for the best can't it?" He winked at the old man.

Iruka did choke now. Maybe Sasuke could drive him into a breakdown?

"I mean, obviously I would have to make up for lost time. So many pranking opportunities lost, while I was in my funk..." He shook his head sadly, before he looked at Iruka cheerfully. "Iruka-sensei? Can you teach me some of your pranks? I heard you were quite the prankster in the past."

He leaned towards the Hokage conspiratorially. "I would ask Naruto, but he would just say I'm copying him and laugh at me."

The Hokage laughed out loud. "I don't know what happened to you Sasuke. I don't believe your story for even one second you see. But... for now I'm allowing Kakashi to find out the truth for himself." His laughter died down and he looked quite serious now.

Iruka stared at the Hokage in utter bewilderment, but the old man ignored him.

"Kakashi thinks that whatever happened, it doesn't change your loyalty to Konoha." The Hokage continued. He leaned his head to the side. "Well, maybe Sakura's..."

Sasuke nodded. "At the moment it seems she's only loyal to her alcohol... me and Naruto are working on changing that sir."

The Hokage considered him for a long time. "Most would have denied that they lied to their teacher, you didn't. Why?"

"Because me and Naruto wanted to tell you the truth... but Sakura..." Sasuke shook his head. "If we did, we don't know what she would do. We want to work on her some more. Make sure she stays her."

He took a deep breath. "She has knowledge... it could be invaluable. We need that knowledge if we want to beat Madara."

The Hokage didn't flinch, he had himself under control far too well. But Sasuke could see the shock on his face.

"Give us till after the chunin exams Hokage-sama. Whether we take part there or not. Whether Sakura wants to or not. Afterward we will tell you the truth. But... please, just give us the time."

The Hokage looked at him, as did Iruka, who stared in utter shock at Sasuke, soundlessly working his mouth.

Then the Hokage smiled. "Very well Sasuke Uchiha. I trust you and Naruto. I can't say I trust Sakura, not anymore. But if you think you may be able to... help her... " He stopped.

"Be prepared to fail however. I failed once..." He muttered quietly.

Sasuke nodded. "Orochimaru." He said.

A sad smile stole itself onto the Hokage's face. "Yes, Orochimaru. I won't have a repeat Sasuke. And if that means..."

Sasuke nodded, his face grim. "We won't fail Hokage-sama. Sakura, Sakura went through something horrible... far worse than losing your entire clan. I won't allow her to destroy herself because she can't recover from it."

Slowly the smile on the Hokage's face changed and he nodded. "I believe you Sasuke. And I wish you the best of luck."

Sasuke nodded. And leaned forward. "Besides, I won't lose her to Lee. You know what they say about the quiet girls don't you?" He winked at the old man.

His eyes widened in embarrassed surprise. "I.. uh.. she isn't..."

"Not anymore, just means I have to calm her down again." Sasuke laughed. And Naruto thought the sexy no jutsu was a great pranking tool. Mind-fucking people was so much more entertaining.

"Well, see you after this mission Hokage-sama, Iruka." He waved his goodbye to the two utterly shocked adults and made his way out.

-o-

Iruka looked towards the Hokage. "Err... sir? Do I... need to understand all this? Should I... umm... forget it?"

The Hokage didn't react. He simply stared at the spot Sasuke had occupied a minute ago.

"Hokage-sama? Are you there?" Iruka asked again.

He poked the man slightly.

"Huh? Wha?" The old man finally said, shaking himself slightly.

He looked at Iruka. "Did Sasuke Uchiha... the Sasuke Uchiha really just talk about Sakura as... well..."

Iruka nodded, hesitantly. "I... uh think he did..."

The Hokage stared some more. "Iruka." He said finally. "Iruka I'm afraid..."

Iruka could only nod. "Me too Hokage-sama, me too."

Sasuke had a sex drive... could there be something scarier?

-o-

Sakura grinned as she sat outside the village the next morning.

The trees... so green. The booze so tasty. The birds so cheerful... damn. She hung around Sasuke too much the brat would have loved this as well.

But so what? She hadn't seen healthy nature like this in quite some time. Sure the training grounds were kinda the same. But she hadn't had time to appreciate them properly.

And even when she did have the time, she had other things on her mind.

Well, now she could and would appreciate Mother Nature.

She had bragged to Ino yesterday, who still jumped whenever she spotted Sakura. Might have something to do with Sakura's rather crude and black humor. Sakura could understand it. The girl hadn't known anything but peace after all.

And the sort of humor Sakura employed came from long years of seeing your friends die.

Bah, she shook her head and watched the birds flit through the trees. Why think depressing thoughts?

Ten minutes later she felt very, very bored. Where were the others? She had come only half an hour early. They were supposed to arrive soon...

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted as he ran towards her, a large bento in hand.

She forced her smile down, hard.

But it had become harder and harder to do it. The damn bastard just didn't stop worming his way back into her good graces.

"Gah, fine!" She shouted back and smiled at him. "There you happy now?" She asked, trying to sound angry. Which was easier said than done, with a huge smile on your face, as you eagerly held out a hand for some food.

Sasuke returned her smile with a radiant one of himself. "Perfectly happy actually." He said and handed her the bento.

"Making you happy makes me happy after all." He grinned that stupid grin again.

Gah, how goddamn mushy could you get?

She snagged the box and turned away, gagging. "Stop that, it's disgusting." She muttered.

He just laughed. "Never, it's too amusing, seeing you gag."

Ohh, the bastard! She stuffed some fried rice into her mouth. Ohh so much better than her own cooking. She washed it down with some sake. Her supply had grown a good bit, since she had started working, so she could buy some of the better stuff.

She sighed contently. This, this must be what heaven felt like.

"Hey, Sasuke, Sakura!" Naruto greeted them, a grin on his face as well.

Sakura felt a twitch coming. Too much smiling going on. They must look so stupid to any onlookers.

Sasuke handed Naruto a bento as well.

"Ohh, you have to thank that lady for me, she makes the best bentos ever!" Naruto said between bites, devouring the food.

Sakura sighed. Hopefully Kakashi would arrive soon and get this show on the road. She needed to move. Back home, she had always been on the move, never staying longer than a week at any one place.

Sure, she had paused in the ruins of Konoha quite often, but even then only for a day or two.

Now she had stayed in one place for so long... paranoia started to get its claws into her well and good.

"Hello my cute little students." Kakashi greeted them.

And he could even keep the irony out of his voice. Impressive.

Tazuna followed him, gazing at them doubtfully.

"Are you sure you guys are up for this? I mean having a picnic here?" He pointed at the bentos.

Sakura shrugged. "It's called breakfast. Sasuke knows a lady who can cook pretty damn well." She grinned at him and raised her bottle. "Not that I don't supplement it with something else as well."

Tazuna stared at the bottle in shock and turned to Kakashi. "Is that..."

Kakashi shrugged. "Yes. She can deal with it though."

"But... she's way too young for alco..." He stared in horror as Sakura downed the bottle and pulled another one out.

"Ahhh that hit the spot. Don't worry Tazuna, I could drink you under the table if I wanted to." Teach him to doubt her.

Tazuna gibbered a bit, until Sasuke pulled at his arm and they started their walk to wave.

-o-

Naruto shivered slightly, as he walked ahead of Sakura. They would arrive in wave in another two days. But... if he and Sasuke would arrive in wave... well, he had his doubts.

Sakura growled and snapped at anything and anybody.

Taking away her alcohol had been a stupid idea. Throwing it away had been even worse.

The only thing saving them from her wrath was the fact that she couldn't prove anything. They had been very careful not to leave any hints of their involvement.

Tazuna had joined her, snapping angrily at everybody but Sakura. And the both of them complained loudly about the bastards who took away their stashes, commiserating the evils of sobriety and the even greater evils of people who stole booze.

Kakashi kept as far back as he possibly could and still guard Tazuna. The coward.

"Well..." Sasuke whispered. They only communicated whispering, since loud noises led to drawing attention.

"Well... that wasn't one of our better ideas."

Naruto nodded glumly. Sakura apparently needed the alcohol to function.

While she had some semblance of sanity drunk... she twitched at every sound while sober. Not to mention the constant tremble he could see as far back as he walked.

And he could hear her sob in the night. Damn. Now he felt absolutely horrible about taking her booze away.

"Yeah, we might need to wean her off the stuff." He glanced at her uncomfortably. "Slowly."

"How dare these thieves? How dare they... do they have any idea just how expensive good booze is?" Sakura complained, loudly, to Tazuna.

"Hear, hear. And I had to bring mine from Wave. I could never afford the stuff in Konoha. Hellishly expensive that stuff." He answered.

"Tell me about it! I had to sink most of my mission pay into that booze... you say there is good stuff in Wave?" She looked at him, eyes shining hopefully.

"Well... not good stuff, but cheap stuff." Tazuna shrugged.

"Oh yeah. You guys have that problem with Gato... you realize he's most likely getting the stuff to you to keep you drunk and weak, right?"

Tazuna stared at her startled. "Wha?"

Naruto glanced down at the puddle in the way.

Sasuke had noticed as well.

And while he couldn't be sure Sakura hadn't seen the puddle... he doubted in her current state of heightened paranoia, she could have missed it.

He watched her closely for a second. Her left hand held a kunai and twitched occasionally.

Ooooh shit, if they didn't do something those poor bastards about to reveal themselves were about to be relegated to kunai receptacle.

"Sasuke. We have to stop Sakura... and protect Tazuna." Not that he cared all that much about those guys. But life shouldn't be ended so easily.

Sasuke nodded, tensing up.

The two chunin rose up behind Kakashi and Naruto could feel the man disappear. They couldn't, after all Naruto had reached jonin level skills already. And those two guys were low chunin at best.

They slaughtered the defenseless log... poor log, but its sacrifice would not be in vain. And in charged Naruto and Sasuke.

"One down!" the one on the right shouted.

"Time to kill the others." The left one said.

Sasuke and Naruto reacted lightning fast, far faster than the chunin attacking them, and tackled Sakura to the ground. Tazuna went down as well, avoiding the chain the two guys had hanging between them by a hairs breath.

"Goddamnit! You bastards! Let me kill them! I need to kill something! I haven't killed you yet and you bastards deserve it so much!" Sakura raged and struggled as Sasuke pinned her to the ground.

"Hurry!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto. "I can't keep her down for long." And it showed. Sakura rocked back and forth, positioning her leg for a rather painful kick.

Naruto nodded, he would rather Sasuke didn't have to suffer for the sake of those two fools.

The fools in question stared at them in disbelief.

"What the hell is wrong with you kids?" One of them asked.

"We just saved your..."

"Lemme at em you goddamn pussies!" Sakura interrupted Naruto's answer.

"As I just said." He glared at Sakura. "We just saved your miserable lives. So a bit more gratitude would be nice."

The chunin looked at each other and laughed. " Gratitude? You saving us? Don't make us laugh kid we..."

He trailed of in shock, staring at the army of Narutos surrounding them suddenly.

"They are shadow clones by the way." Naruto shrugged at them. "I wouldn't want to fight them. Really I wouldn't."

"Fight them! Give me a reason to kill you! I need to kill something. If I can't get drunk I want to kill something at least!" Sakura shouted from her position beneath Sasuke, who had somehow managed to deflect her kick.

"Well..." Kakashi appeared beside them. "Looks as if you guys have things well in hand... and good job you two. We need to interrogate them after all."
-o-

The chunin sat in the middle of the group, glaring defiantly at everybody surrounding them.

Sasuke fingered a few cuts Sakura had given him. He had no idea how, she had managed it. But somehow she had, frightening.

Now she glowered just as much as their captives.

"I hate you all, just wanted to let you know." She muttered. Her shakes, which had stopped during the fight, started again.

Sasuke sighed, but maybe they could use her desires for something useful, intimidating their captives into talking for example.

Not that they needed to. After all both Sakura and Naruto knew what they were after and why. But appearances had to be kept. For now at least.

"Now, why don't you tell us what you are after?" Kakashi smiled at the two unfortunate fools.

"We won't talk." One of them muttered.

"Well... if you don't talk you leave me no choice..." Kakashi looked down at them sadly.

"What are you going to do, Leaf? We know Konoha is full of weaklings. As if you would do anything in front of your students." The other snorted.

Kakashi looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Sakura?" He turned to the glowering girl.

She perked up, a slow smile creeping over her face.

"Why don't you demonstrated why the boys stopped you from attacking them... but make sure they survive will you?"

She nodded eagerly.

"Naruto... why don't you go somewhere else with Tazuna." Kakashi said. Wisely.

"Uhh... can I go with him?" Sasuke asked, he really didn't want to see what Sakura would do.

Kakashi looked at him. Sasuke noticed he also glanced at the two nin, who looked decidedly uncomfortable as they watched Sakura close in on them.

"No. You'll have to learn the truth of the world at some point." He sighed.

Ah, so he wanted to play that game.

"Sensei... I watched my brother slaughter our entire clan... do you really think I have to learn 'Truth of the world' anymore?"

He suppressed his snicker as the captives began to sweat. Sakura had pulled out several knifes and started to sort them.

"Well... I suppose. But this is something different. He didn't target you specifically and he didn't torture you." Kakashi shook his head.

Sasuke bristled. Well he faked himself bristling. After all he hadn't actually been tortured. He only knew about it from Sakura and Naruto, who had gone into details on what had happened to him.

"You call being forced to relive the same scene of having your family slaughtered again and again for two days not torture?" He glared at Kakashi.

Kakashi looked over at Sakura. "Compared to this?"

Sasuke looked at Sakura as well.

"Blood, blood, beautiful blood. Red and sweet, and flowing so free." She sang, running a wet stone over one of her blades.

"Ok, you have a point." Ohh see them shake. Well, he hoped they would break before Sakura started. Or that Kakashi would allow him to leave. "But... I don't want to enter torture and interrogation. So why would I want to watch this?"

Kakashi smiled at him and Sasuke suddenly had the distinct feeling that he this had stopped to be about the guys Sakura was preparing herself to dissect. And more about him.

"Because I want you to know what happens to people you send to Ibiki."

Ohh veiled threat. Scary. Or it would be if Sasuke hadn't already talked to the Hokage.

"Oh, I see." He looked at them. "Well... could you please hurry up and either talk fast or die? I would really, really prefer not to watch too much of this. She's..."

"Rip apart the flesh that hides, reveal the bones for all to see."

"Scary." Sasuke shuddered. He hoped fervently she actually sang it to scare them and not because she actually meant it.

The nin stared at her as well, then at him. "You'll stop her. You wouldn't... you..." They glanced at her again. She had finished her preparations and advanced on them. Several knives held in one hand.

"Alright! Alright! We'll talk! Just don't let her near us!" He shouted.

Sasuke sighed in relief and held Sakura back.

"What do you think you are doing?" She asked. Her voice sending shivers down his back. She spoke in a low hiss.

"They are willing to talk. No need to hurt them anymore." He explained.

Sakura shook her head. "I disagree. I want to hurt them. I need to work off some aggression... some aggression I've developed because somebody destroyed all my booze. Now you can either let me have my fun with them... or you can take their place."

"Gato! Gato hired us. We work with Zabuza! He's probably waiting somewhere on the way to wave. Making sure we succeed." The first shouted out, a desperate note to his voice.

"Yeah... Zabuza also has this little guy with him. Things he's better than us just because he has this bloodline limit." The other said, looking pleadingly at Kakashi. "He controls water or something. And he fakes being a hunter nin. Please don't let her get close to us."

"Yeah... I've never felt such killing instinct..."

Huh? Killing instinct, what killing instinct?

Sasuke and Kakashi looked at each other. Then at the men. "What killing instinct? Kakashi asked them.

Sakura glared at him. "Are you telling me you can't feel it?"

Sasuke concentrated and could feel it...

"Oh, so that's the constant pressure. I had kinda wondered." He muttered.

A whimper escaped from the men.

Kakashi chuckled. "You see my cute little genin are kinda scary... scratch that two of them are kinda scary, and the girl is downright terrifying. Did you know she tried to kill one of her comrades for a stupid comment? If we hadn't stopped her..."

"Look, we told you everything we know! Well everything we know about the situation at hand. We have no idea what Gato has planned beyond us. We have no idea what Zabuza's gonna do. Just please, please don't let her get to us."

One of them pleaded. The other nodded along quite emphatically.

"Kakashi... we have what we need don't we?" Sasuke asked, holding Sakura back with a hand on her shoulder. Always ready to remove the hand, if she decided to snap at it.

Sighing Kakashi nodded. "I suppose... and here I hoped to get Sakura some stress relief... now she might have to make do with us."

Sasuke shuddered and looked at the ninja staring at them in horror.

On the one hand, they had tried to kill them. On the other Sakura would do much worse to them.

Then again... if she didn't do it to them, she would do it to her teammates... who admittedly irritated her to the point of breaking by getting rid of her sake...

"By the way, you won't be sharing my tent anymore if you decide to deny her." Kakashi said.

Oh god... oh god... a pissed Sakura, in the same tent... while they were sleeping...

"That's all right Kakashi." Naruto said. A serene smile on his face. He walked over to the unfortunate suckers.

"You guys have alcohol don't you? I'm sure you have some somewhere, right?" He smiled at them, in his most winning manner.

"Yes, in my left pocket. It's not much..." Naruto nodded and pulled out a little flask.

"Here, now leave 'em be." He handed the flask to Sakura, who emptied it almost immediately.

"You bought yourself a night Uzumaki." Sakura stated flatly. "One night, unless you get me some more. This won't last nearly long enough. I can already remem..." She spat out and walked back to her knifes. "Let's go. The faster we arrive in Wave, the faster I'll be drunk again."

Tazuna stared after her. "What's... what's wrong with her?" He asked them.

Kakashi followed her with his eyes as well. "Bad memories. Most ninja have them... though most not that young."

-o-

Sakura watched the bridge standing above her. Soon they would meet Zabuza, and Naruto would try to save the psycho... just like he and Sasuke were trying to save her.

And it looked like they were succeeding. Slowly, true, but surely. After all, even when they stole her sake... all her sake. She still had no idea how they managed that feat. She hadn't killed them on the spot.

Bastards with their plausible deniability. And stupid Kakashi, did he have to point out the consequences for killing her teammates? They clearly deserved it!

Bah, those stupid demon brothers were just lucky Naruto had found some alcohol on them. If he hadn't, well she might not really enjoy torturing people. But she did enjoy working out her frustration on people deserving it.

And guess what? People trying to kill her counted as deserving.

She forced herself to calm down. But the voices of her comrades had come back. Louder again, screaming for revenge, telling her she should have died.

But she wouldn't listen. She could tune them out, even without alcohol. It was just so much more difficult...

Well, the coming fight with Zabuza would at least provide some distraction. And then, they would be in wave and near some sake. Bliss. She had gone for nearly a week without.

She just wished she could use the alcohol stored in her body. But that had been contaminated by her chakra and she could only breath it out now, or let all of it into her bloodstream at once, killing her.

Which obviously wouldn't happen. She had just escaped hell and reached heaven. She wouldn't give it up for a very minor reprieve to a temporary sickness.

They got off the boat, carrying them over the river. Sasuke thanked the guide and Naruto looked around. Tazuna stayed quiet, though his relief could be seen by a socially inept bat.

Kakashi glanced around suspicious. "If anything happens, it will happen here." He said easily, hiding his worry quite well. "Don't worry guys, I'll protect you against Zabuza."

Blank stares for all. "Protect us against Zabuza?" Naruto asked. "Don't you mean protect Zabuza from us?"

Kakashi glared at him. "This isn't a joking matter Naruto. Zabuza is different than those guys. And even with all the training we did, you aren't a match against him."

Sakura tended to disagree. She hadn't ever used one of her more powerful genjutsu. Only one and that at barely any power. She giggled as she imagined Kakashi's reaction to the full demon's howl technique.

Hmm would have to make sure there were no civilians around when she used it. They would either kill themselves, die of heart failure... and she risked that with only the version she showed Kakashi, or fly into a howling rage and attack anything in sight, especially each other.

Ahh, causing utter terror and confusion in one go with such a basic technique. How she loved the basics.

Naruto glanced at a moving bush, but didn't do anything. No real point after all. They both knew what moved there, or at least had a very good guess. And Zabuza couldn't actually touch them if they were prepared.

Naruto gave Sasuke a small sign.

Kakashi nodded approvingly, just before Zabuza's gigantic sword came flying for them.

Sakura grinned, such a nice trophy. She narrowed her eyes and moved slightly to the side and focused chakra in her feet, hands and the rest of her body. She needed to reinforce her entire body for this.

She ducked slightly and leaned back, she stood first in line and so could attempt this first.

She could feel Naruto and Sasuke prepare the same stunt. But, her hand shot out, just as the gigantic blade passed over her and her fingers closed around the handle.

The bulk and the momentum of the sword ripped her around, even as her interference ripped the blade from its own path.

Naruto screamed girlishly as it slammed into the ground right between his legs. Pity it hadn't hit anything interesting.

"Bah, it missed by over..." She glanced quickly and estimated the distance. "One centimeter. What are you screaming about Uzumaki?"

Only a whimper could be heard from the boy.

"Quit your whining. I'm sure you would have recovered." Sakura rolled her eyes. Some people would complain about every little thing.

"Sakura? What did I tell you about killing your teammates?" Kakashi asked.

"Don't?" Sakura returned the question.

"Yes!" Came the reply from three mouths.

"Boring."

"Hehe. Not bad little girl, not bad at all. But how do you want to use that sword?" Zabuza stood in front of them, chuckling.

Sakura glared back at him and pulled on the sword. It came loose easily.

And she flung it on her shoulder. "Like this?" She asked.

Zabuza stared at her in astonishment. As well he should. The control needed to reinforce her muscles, to use this sword could only be described as insane.

She heard Tsunade had this kind of control. But she rather doubted the old woman could do the shit Sakura could. After all Sakura had develop this technique as a means to accelerate her speed beyond anything even the sharingan would be able to follow. At least for a few seconds.

An upside to that turned out to be a general increase in body strength, if she needed it.

"What the hell?" Zabuza asked, as she grabbed his sword with both hands and charged him.

"Come on looser! Show me what you've got!" She shouted, making a beeline directly for Zabuza.

She could feel Naruto create a few clones behind her. She had become used to them again after only a week of training and D-Rank missions.

She could also hear them carry Tazuna away. Good, free reign then.

Zabuza grinned at her and as she actually came at him very, very slowly. Thanks to the heavy sword she could perfectly understand him. But then, she actually didn't want to attack him with the sword.

What she wanted to use that for he already did. He stood still, waiting for her easily countered swing.

"Yaaaaaaahhh" She screamed, letting the blade touch the ground behind her. Zabuza's grin grew even wider, until it almost threatened to split his face.

"Yes, little girl come on!" He shouted at her.

And Sakura let go of the sword, her hands flew into a handseal and she howled.

Her killing intent, increased with chakra traveled on the sound waves, almost effortlessly, slamming into Zabuza, shaking him to the core. He recoiled, panic appearing on his face for a split second.

And without the sword on her back, Sakura's speed increased into the ludicrous. One second she ran towards Zabuza, still over 5 meters away. The next her fist slammed into his face, followed by a knee into his stomach. She pulled out a kunai and rammed it into his head.

And watched in satisfaction as the body dropped into a puddle of water.

"Boooring asshole!" She shouted at the forest.

Zabuza walked into the clearing, clearly shocked at the quick work she made of his clone.

"I... must say I'm impressed. You destroyed that clone... with no effort at all." He chuckled. "Maybe I underestimated you brats?"

Sakura grinned back. "And you know what? I'm the weakest member of this little group."

Zabuza shook with laughter. "You, the weakest? They look a bit shaken for somebody supposedly strong."

-o-

Kakashi stared at Sakura. He hadn't even moved yet. "Sakura come back here!" He shouted.

And how had she done that? Even if he had the sharingan uncovered, he wouldn't have been able to follow her movement.

Ok, this scared him. If she wanted to, she could have killed them all.

Naruto gaped at her as well as Sasuke.

"Fast." He muttered.

"Yes, fast. But alone she won't be able to beat him." Kakashi reminded him. "You guys stand back. That was just a water clone. I'll deal with the real..."

But Naruto and Sasuke didn't listen. Instead they charged as well.

"Damn it! That's too dangerous!" Kakashi shouted after them. At least Naruto had evacuated Tazuna and replaced him with a clone. If he hadn't done that, Kakashi would have been a lot more pissed.

Zabuza stared at the children attack him and laughed. Which was good. If he laughed, then maybe, just maybe Kakashi could reach him...

Sakura attacked again and this time Zabuza reacted faster. Fast enough to actually hit her. He could predict where she would strike. She just didn't have the experience to use whatever technique she used to move... away from the counter-strike, like she did just now... and slam her fist into Zabuza's stomach.

Holy shit. Zabuza curled up around her fist, the breath pushed from his lungs. Sakura didn't stop however. Instead she jumped into a back-flip, delivering a brutal kick into his face, which sent Zabuza flying out onto the water of a nearby lake.

Kakashi had stopped halfway to Sakura. How? How could she move like that? He had activated his sharingan for the exchange and Sakura had managed to move faster than he could follow.

How could she do that? When she shouldn't even be able to see what she was doing.

"Damn, this is disappointing, I hoped the guy would be a challenge, not a pathetic looser like that. You guys can have him." Sakura glared at Zabuza, who just now picked himself up from the water, face bleeding freely.

He glared at her. Every pretense of humor was gone. "You'll pay for that brat!" He growled.

"No she won't." Naruto sighed. "Sadly." He glared at Sakura himself. "But, you'll have to deal with us first."

Sasuke smirked at the man. "And we aren't any easier to deal with than Sakura."

Damn those fools. And damn himself, he should have moved, instead of staring at them slack jawed.

Well, at least they couldn't reach Zabuza on the lake...

They knew waterwalking... of course. Why wouldn't they? Sakura apparently could use high speed combat putting even his chidori to shame.

Even Gai at his fastest couldn't compare... well ok he could. He was probably the only one who actually could defend against her, if she used it against him.

He glanced at Sakura. But it looked as if it took a lot out of her. She panted heavily.

Then again, she used it twice and that spike of horrifying killing intent she used. It had actually scarred Kakashi for a second.

Maybe he should look into learning that technique. Having that second of panic just before he hit them with a chidori... useful. And if he used the technique it would be even more effective, since he had a lot more chakra to use on the technique.

"Shouldn't you run out there and help the boys 'Sensei' "? Sakura asked him grinning wickedly.

He glared at her, before he shook his head. No, this would be an excellent opportunity to observe them. And if the others were just half as good as Sakura, which he didn't doubt for a second, they would at least be able to keep Zabuza from killing them until Kakashi pulled their asses out of the fire.

"I think I'll just watch for now." He said.

Sakura looked at him strangely, before she nodded. "If you think that's for the best."

The boys and Zabuza hadn't actually done anything but stare at each other yet.

"Oh, I think they can take care of themselves. I mean you could easily, why couldn't they." He pretended not to watch her face. Easier said than done of course. But he would like to think he succeeded well enough.

She smiled a little bit, apparently happy with the answer.

He looked at the boys; hopefully they would finally show him what they were capable of. He hadn't managed to coax a show of their talent out of them yet.

-o-

Naruto looked at Zabuza. Well, there went the plan. He should have guessed Sakura wouldn't actually follow it. She had vetoed it right from the start. And if he was honest with himself, he hadn't actually had high hopes for success.

Zabuza just had too much pride. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man glaring angrily at them. Pride that would have to be broken, before they could talk some sense into him.

"Sasuke, show him just what the sharingan can do will you?" He told the other boy.

Who nodded eagerly, an exited grin on his face. "Sure thing Naruto."

He strolled towards Zabuza eyes spinning red.

Honestly, Naruto had no idea what Sasuke could actually do with those eyes. After all, while they did talk a lot. They never actually talked about their respective skill levels.

It just seemed unnecessary.

Zabuza's head rocked back, even though Sasuke still had about half the ground to cover. In fact, Sasuke hadn't moved at all, he simply stood there, looking at Zabuza.

Zabuza laughed. "Brat! I barely even felt that punch!" He grinned. "I'll give you another free shot. This time try to prove the girl right eh?"

Wow, Sasuke had Zabuza believe they were fighting already.

Zabuza doubled over, grunting slightly.

"Better brat." His smile returned full force. "But not nearly enough to beat me."

He punched the air in front of him, again and again. Slowly a frustrated growl could be heard from him.

"Gotta admit though, you are a nimble bastard!" He spat out.

He didn't even notice walking closer and closer to Sasuke, who still hadn't moved from his spot.

Naruto frowned at the fight. Kakashi hadn't been able to pull stuff like this... had the Sasuke back home been able to do it?

If so, why hadn't he used it against Naruto? Naruto was honest enough to admit he would never have figured it out, ever.

Zabuza had finally reached Sasuke, who calmly pulled out a kunai and reared his hand back.

Naruto almost shouted for him to stop. But he trusted the boy and he wouldn't just kill Zabuza. Or at least Naruto hoped he wouldn't.

Zabuza stopped punching the air as suddenly as he had started. Seeing only one part of that fight made predicting the moves an enemy would pull difficult.

Sasuke didn't have that problem of course.

Zabuza turned around, growling something about monkeys and staying still.

The second he broke eye contact, he stiffened and Sasuke moved, nowhere near as fast as Sakura, but Naruto doubted anybody could do that.

"Well, Sakura was right. This is utterly boring." Sasuke said, holding a kunai to Zabuza's throat.

"Hey Naruto, you deal with him. I don't feel like it anymore." He dropped the kunai and shunshined back to Kakashi.

"Really sensei. You should check that bingo book of yours. If that's the quality of the ninja in it... well it might need to be reprinted." He shook his head in disappointment.

Zabuza stood there a hand on his throat, staring at Sasuke wide eyed. "How... you..."

Naruto grinned at the man. He had just been beaten by two genin. Two genin who declared him beneath them.

Sasuke and Sakura had assassinated his ego more effectively than anything Naruto could have done.

He looked at the wreck of a man. His turn now. Time to pick up the pieces their assault left behind.

"Ok, Zabuza. Let's finish this. Just because they lost interest before they finished it doesn't mean I will as well." He grinned at the man.

Zabuza looked back warily. Wiping the blood on his hand away. He looked a right mess.

Naruto wondered where Haku hid himself. He should have done something the second Sasuke had his kunai at Zabuza's throat.

On the other hand, attacking them then would have been extremely suspicious. He got away with it last time because they were all exhausted after a prolonged battle. This time? This time they had walked all over Zabuza, showing no apparent effort.

Kakashi hadn't even entered the fight yet. How could you justify killing Zabuza? You couldn't. So Haku had to wait, and hope.

"Brat, I don't know who you are..." Zabuza growled, but he couldn't hide the fear, oh no he couldn't hide it at all. "But I will kill you!"

And he charged. Naruto yawned. Every little bit would help. His hands came together almost lazily, to form the seals for his favorite jutsu.

And a second before Zabuza slammed into Naruto he found himself surrounded. Surrounded by over 500 shadow clones.

If he had been able to do anything but twitch at this point, he might have been able to actually kill Naruto now. Naruto hadn't bother with moving. He grinned into Zabuza's face.

"Give up now? Or do I have to beat you into submission?" He asked the man.

One of his clones dispelled, in order to send the memory of Kakashi's face to him. The man appeared to be just as flabbergasted as Zabuza.

A small whimper escaped Zabuza. Sure, he could probably kill all these clones. But not without suffering some rather serious damage. And then he would have to deal with Naruto himself. Never mind dealing with the rest of team 7.

"How? How can you?" He stared at Naruto in utter horror, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"Well, I am the Jinchuriku of the nine tails. This? This is easy." Naruto grinned at him. Should he go for broke?

Zabuza recoiled into one of the clones behind him. Oh why the hell not? He had never shattered somebody's mind before.

"And well, my father was the fourth Hokage. So yeah, the talent runs in the family." He shrugged modestly at... the man who had just fainted.

"What? That's it? That's all it takes to make him faint?" Naruto asked the air.

Several senbon slammed into Zabuza's body. And Haku finally showed up. Naruto couldn't hide his smirk at the barely suppressed shudder the boy showed.

"Thank you for knocking him out." He said, voice firm despite the fear he must be feeling. "But, well I couldn't allow you to capture him alive. He knows too many of mists secret..." Four clones had grabbed his arms and legs.

"What's the meaning of this?" He asked, his hands flying into hand seals. Until two more clones gently, but firmly took hold of them as well.

Naruto pulled the mask of his face. "You see, I don't believe you. I have this feeling you aren't a mist ninja. And..." He looked at Haku's all too pretty face, while gesturing for a clone to check over Zabuza. "I think you are faking his death."

Haku's eyes widened in the same panic that had gripped Zabuza only moments before, but he managed to fight it down again.

"I have no idea what you mean, this is a direct violation..."

The clone spoke up. "He's still alive. There's a very weak heartbeat here and he's breathing ever so slightly as well."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he looked at Haku. "You were saying?"

Haku slumped in defeat. "Zabuza-sama, I failed." He muttered. With a quick sign Naruto dispelled his clones, opening the view for the rest of his team. Only the clones holding Haku remained, since Naruto had no doubt he would try to escape if given the slightest chance.

"Ohh, he's pretty." Sakura looked at Haku's face. "Can I keep him Kakashi? I have so many ideas on how to use him." She leered at the boy.

Naruto glared at her. "He's not some sort of toy for you Haruno."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? My, my touchy. You want to keep him for yourself then?"

He felt the rage coming and fought it down harshly. He could see Sakura had felt it as well, as she backed down. He glanced at Kakashi and Sasuke, who looked back worriedly.

Sakura glared at him, like the first time in that forest. "Keep him then." She spat and turned around.

"Sakura! Wait!" Before she could disappear, he had jumped and managed to grab her arm. She whirled around, just as he pulled her close. Kakashi didn't need to hear this. Not yet.

"Don't ever do that again. I felt the Kyuubi rise there." He whispered in her ear.

She stopped moving for her kunai. Instead she pulled back and looked into his eyes. "The kyuubi? So you don't have it under control eh?" She whispered back.

"Of course not. I can keep it in check. I can force it to give me it's power. Hell I can even use all of its power. But if I make a mistake, or if something makes me angry... it can slip out." He hissed back. "Don't make me angry, don't make it any easier than it has to be for it."

Sakura glared, but nodded. "I'll do my best asshole."

She ripped lose and walked over to Kakashi and Sasuke, who had pretended not to listen in. Haku still hung between his clones, apparently defeated.

"Still, even if we aren't handing him over to Sakura, what do we do with him? And Zabuza?" Sasuke asked. More for Kakashi's sake than anything else. He knew perfectly well what Naruto wanted to do.

But Kakashi looked at Haku like Naruto looked at a snake dropped into his bed; extremely wary.

"I honestly have no idea." He looked at Naruto, quite obviously wondering why the blond had reacted like he had. "The easiest thing to do would obviously be to kill them both."

Naruto didn't rise to the bait. He simply shook his head. "We won't do that of course."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "We won't?" He asked, deceptively mild.

Naruto smiled. "No we won't. He could be useful for Konoha."

Sasuke piped up. "Yeah, why would Zabuza have him follow him if he didn't have some talent. Maybe he has a bloodline or something?"

Haku didn't seem to hear them, going by the lack of any reaction whatsoever.

Kakashi pointed at the comatose Zabuza. "What about him? He's a ruthless murderer. He killed his entire graduation class at the genin exams in mist."

He watched their reactions, or better non-reactions.

"Well..." Naruto started. Damn, they couldn't just invite him to live in Konoha...

"Would he be useful to Konoha as well?" Kakashi asked, not unkind, but he didn't hide the hard edge in his voice.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, sadly shaking his head.

"Can I keep him? I promise I'll put him to good use." Sakura said. Though Naruto doubted it mattered to her either way.

Kakashi looked at her flatly. "No." He said as flatly.

"Oh well, I tried." She shrugged. "But if we want Haku we need his master alive." She pointed at the boy. "I'm pretty sure he's like a dog. If his owner dies the dog dies as well."

Naruto suppressed the growl. She didn't mean it as an insult and she was also right. If Zabuza died Haku would die. Or at least try to commit suicide.

"Can't we make this decision somewhere else? Somewhere warm preferably?" Sasuke asked.

And man, this version of Sasuke was the best Sasuke Naruto had ever known.

"Yeah, we don't need to decide what to do right now. We have some time right? I mean Zabuza isn't going to be walking around anytime soon. Right Haku?" He turned to the boy.

Kakashi glanced at the boy and at Naruto, then slowly, ever so slowly to Sakura.

"Say, how do you guys know his name?" He asked, all innocently.

Haku had perked up as well.

Sakura looked at Kakashi, then at Haku. "Well, shit." She said.

Sasuke looked only at Sakura. "Let's go somewhere warm and we'll talk ok?" He asked.

Kakashi sighed and nodded. "It's not as if I could actually stop you guys I suppose."

Haku looked at each of them in turn. "You won't kill Zabuza-sama?" He asked, the tiniest shred of hope entering his voice.

Naruto tried to grin at him, but he just didn't have the confidence to pull it off. Not to mention that he had other worries at the moment. Like Sakura's expression. She seemed to fight down her impulse to run away.

"Well try to find a way for him to survive." He said. And he hoped they would find a way too.

"Well, no promises." Kakashi muttered and looked at Naruto. "Where did you put Tazuna by the way?"

Naruto blinked. He just sent his clone away... and he couldn't just dispel him to find out where he sent it...

"Ooops?" He grinned at the assembled people.

-o-

Here's chapter four, thank to Slamu for Betaing^^