Chapter 4: It's Okay

Sakura is heaving. There are bruises and wounds are all over her body. Sasuke is standing between her and a tanned man with a giant blade. The man is chuckling. "Give up and die," said the man with a rugged voice.

Sakura stood up. She looked him in the eye with a look that was as though a fire was burning in her eyes, "I refuse, I can't give up, because I must fight for my comrades."

Sakura took out a kunai. Sasuke reached his hand down and held the one that was holding the kunai. "You've done enough, leave him to me."

Her gaze didn't waver. There was silence. "Sakura! Are you listening to me?!"

Then she dashed. Sasuke ran after her. She did not hear him yelling after her. She kept running. Quickly to the man who held his blade up with a grimace.

Sakura woke up, startled. She looks around. The five of them were on a small boat drifting along a bay. Tazuna and Kakashi were in a deep conversation. Sakura gave a sigh of relief, "it was just a dream."

"What was your dream about?", a voice asked.

Sakura turned her head, Sasuke was looking at her. His eyes seemed to be full of concern. Sakura fidgets nervously, "nothing in particular."

"Obviously, it's not nothing. Was it a nightmare?"

"Not really, it was strange though, it felt so real."

"Do you need to talk about it?"

"No, I'll be fine, thank you."

"Hmph, whatever you say," Sasuke said coldly.

Sakura shrugs her shoulders nervously. She looks around, a thick fog is surrounding their small boat. "We can barely see anything," Sakura whispers to herself.

The fog seems to be making her anxious. "We're almost there," Sasuke said to her.

Sakura nods her head, "I hope so."

"What was your dream about?" he asks again.

"It was scary, but it's okay, nothing serious," she responds.

"That's not what I'm asking. If you leave it alone it'll eat away at you."

"It's okay really,"

"Hmph, whatever not my problem."

Her eyes seem to be downcast and withdrawn from his conversation. Sasuke looks away at the fog. Sakura turns her attention to Kakashi. He says, "it seems like my team is in over its head. Gato seems to be powerful in your village. It'll take more training to defeat him. We may be facing a jounin next," he turns to Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto with a stern look, "Sakura can you wake up Naruto?"

Sakura gently shakes Naruto. He startles himself, drool is leaking out of his mouth. "W-what?!"

"Sensei wants to talk to us," she says with a smile.

"O-oh, kay."

They give Kakashi their sole attention. They seem to be on edge. "It seems that Gato has taken over the Land of the Waves. Next time he will send a jounin. When that happens stay out of the battle."

"Hpmh, I'm not weak."

"Sasuke, you indeed have potential, but against a jounin you don't have a chance of winning."

"Hpmh."

"Ugh, well just stay out of it."

Sakura nods her head, but then she shakes it, "but what if something happens to you?"

"If something happens, take Tazuna and run."

"Okay," she responds with a quiet voice.

The boat passes under a bridge. There is silence until Naruto points and bellows, "whoa, it's huge!"

The boatman shushes Naruto, "it's a secret that you're here! Quiet!"

Naruto covers his mouth. Sakura giggles. Sasuke doesn't do anything, he remains stoic.

They pass through a gate on the water. They drift to the shore in silence. They walk along the shore line through the village. Then they make it to a forest. Naruto tries to walk in front of Sasuke. They size each other up. Both are walking quickly, they are almost running. Sakura giggles at the two of them. She laughs when Naruto throws a kunai into the forest. He almost pins a white rabbit. Most think nothing of it, except for Kakashi. Who questions why a rabbit is white in the middle of the summer in a sunny place. "It's a little concerning," he says to himself quietly.

"What is that?" Sakura asks him.

Kakashi stops and looks around. He shifts his position into an agile stance. "I sense a strong chakra coming this way."

Sakura takes out her kunai and steadies herself into a defensive stance. She moves closer to Tazuna. Sasuke follows her lead, and so does Naruto. "That is the right move Sakura," Kakashi tells her in a low voice.

Then there it is, a sound that scrapes against the eardrums. It sounds like a rapid windmill. It is moving toward them. Getting closer and closer. Then it strikes. Sakura moves and stops the huge sword that is spinning, it was about to hit Tazuna, it clashes against her kunai. It strikes her arm before she sends it flying to a tree with a smooth kick. She lands beside Tazuna. She shifts to a defensive stance again.

"The girl is not bad," a rugged voice says.

A fog moves in, it covers their view of a river and forest. A shadow appears standing on the sword. His eyes are glowering. Sakura feels a shiver go up her spine. It makes her body tingle. "I'm getting bad vibes from this guy," Sakura whispers.

The shadow clears revealing a tanned man.

"That's cause he's a jounin. Zabuza the Shadow Demon."

"Nice to hear my name from Copy-cat Kakashi, the man who has copied over a thousand jutsu," his rugged voice says.

Sasuke stares at Kakashi. "What does he mean by Copy-cat?"

"Just some title people have given me."

Sakura shifts nervously, "something really doesn't feel right."

"He may be hiding many jutsu, Sakura," Kakashi says in a low voice, "no matter how you feel stay out of this."

Sakura then gasps, her eyes widen, "it's the man from my dream!"

Sasuke looks at her confused. Zabuza vanishes in the fog. Kakashi leans forward, "keep your guard up, no matter what protect Tazuna. If anything happens run!"

The fog thickens. Sakura's heart beats rapidly. Sasuke feels his breathing get uneasy. This tension… I can't breathe, Sasuke thinks as he feels his body numb.

His body shakes, Is this the tension between two jounin?

He tastes iron in the back of his throat. He swallows harshly. His heartbeat is ragged. He drops his kunai. Sakura hears it drop. She picks up his kunai and puts it back in Sasuke's hand. She holds his hand. Her's is also shaking. Sasuke feels her warmth despite her hand trembling. He calms down, his numbness melts at her touch. She flashes him a smile. They look into each other's eyes. He feels his body relax. "Sasuke," Kakashi says with a clear strong voice, "I promise nothing will happen to you. I will protect you with my life."

"Me too!" Sakura exclaims with a smile.

Sasuke smiles at her and kisses her on the cheek. "Thank you sweetie."

"Where's my kiss?"

"That'd be too weird Kakashi."

A chuckle is heard. "Must be nice to be so relaxed. Especially before you die."

Sakura gets back into a defensive position. The fog thickens. They cannot see anything. They only hear a rugged voice. "Heart, liver, stomach, spleen, which one shall I aim for?"

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke grip their kunai tightly.

"Heart, liver, stomach, spleen, lung, which one will kill you?"

Then he appears in between the three genin. His sword is pressing against Tazuna's back. A heartbeat is heard it is beating loudly. Breath is unsteady. A bead of sweat drips down Tazuna's forehead. Then it happens, in an instant Zabuza moves his sword. It is stopped by Kakashi's kunai. Zabuza moves his sword and it slices Kakashi in half. His body turns into a puddle of water. "I-Impossible…" Zabuza says in a low voice.

Kakashi appears behind Zabuza, a kunai is pressing against the back of Zabuza's neck. Kakashi's eye is uncovered revealing a blood red eye. Then Zabuza chuckles, "this'll be fun."

Sasuke glances at Kakashi and sees the blood red eye. His face drops, impossible! That… it couldn't be!

Zabuza swiftly swings his mighty sword and cuts Kakashi again. A puddle of water drops to the ground. Zabuza flings his sword toward Tazuna. It is blocked by Kakashi who grabs the sword and swings it with a swift, fast swing. It hits Zabuza who splits in half. Then a puddle of water forms where his body lay. "Tch, a water clone," Kakashi says to himself.

Kakashi lifts the huge sword. He readies it for he felt a strong chakra presence moving closer. It was coming closer, closer, quickly. Then it struck. Zabuza kicks the sword out of Kakashi's hands. It flew to the river and fell in the water. Kakashi in a flash was at the river. He landed on the water. Sakura could not believe her eyes. He is standing on top of the water. He is kicked by Zabuza who landed firmly on the water. He too is standing on top of it. Kakashi lands, he then propels himself forward and lands a punch. Then Zabuza reacts quickly and also landed a punch. Then Kakashi does a windmill kick and sent Zabuza flying. Zabuza lands on the side of a tree. He pushed himself off and flew forward, he lands a windmill kick, Kakashi copies him, both are sent flying. Both land in the water. Both get back up. That is when Kakashi starts to copy Zabuza's moves who made a hand signal to summon a water dragon. Kakashi copies him. Both summoned massive dragons of water. They attack the other. It is a fierce battle between dragons. Kakashi's was destroyed. Zabuza makes a hand signal and locks Kakashi in a water prison. The demon chuckles, "that was fun. Now time to take care of the old man."

Zabuza makes a water clone. It approaches while bellowing a laugh. "Kiddies this will be over before you blink."

He vanishes and reappears beside Sakura. He grabs her neck and lifts her high in the air. She is squirming. He is chuckling, "ladies first."

Sakura then swings her body and lands a kick on Zabuza's face. She does not send him flying, instead she pushes him down to the ground. She bounces off of his face to jump back to Tazuna's side. Zabuza laughs loudly, "not bad girlie. I like you."

"Sakura, run! You don't stand a chance!" Kakashi exclaims.

She then looks at Tazuna, then back to Zabuza who is bearing a wicked grimace. He is looking at her with a truly terrifying gleam. She then looks at Naruto and Sasuke who are glaring at the demon. Then she looks at Kakashi and flashes him a smile. Then she flashes Zabuza a weak smile. "Sensei I don't think he'll let us escape alive. We don't have a choice. Besides, you were the one who once said to us, while we were finding that one lost puppy, you told us to never abandon a comrade if I do I'm scum, worse than scum."

"Sakura…" Kakashi said quietly.

Sakura grips her kunai tightly. She looks at Zabuza with eyes of fire and spirit. Then she looks to Sasuke and Naruto and nods. They nod back. Then she dashes to Zabuza. She tries to land a windmill kick, he blocks it and punches her in the face.

"Sakura!" Sasuke and Naruto yell.

"I'm okay, I won't back down."

She swings her body and lands a kick on Zabuza's face. Zabuza does not move, he grins sends Sakura flying to a tree. She grunts in pain. "Oops, did I break a rib girlie?"

Sakura looks at him and slowly gets up. She is cradling her side. She then stands up straight and dashes to him. He makes a hand sign and it draws his sword from the river. He slices Sakura's side. She grunts in pain and cradles it. She attacks again and is sent flying again. She attacks again and is cut deep across her stomach.

Sakura is heaving. There are bruises and wounds are all over her body. Sasuke stands between her and the tanned man with a giant blade. The man is chuckling. "Give up and die," said the man with a rugged voice.

Sakura stood up. She looked him in the eye with a look that was as though a fire was burning in her eyes, "I refuse, I can't give up, because I must fight for my comrades."

Sakura grips her kunai tightly. Sasuke reaches his hand down and holds the one that was holding the kunai. "You've done enough, leave him to me."

Her gaze didn't waver. There was silence. "Sakura! Are you listening to me?!"

Then she dashes. Sasuke ran after her. She did not hear him yelling after her. She kept running. Quickly to the man who held his blade up with a grimace. Sasuke grabs her shoulder and pulls her into his arms. "Please I'm begging you. It's okay you've done enough, leave him to me," he whispers in her ear.

Sakura then closes her eyes. She collapses in his grasp. She falls unconscious. He places her up against a tree and kisses her cheek. Then he gets up and takes out a kunai. He glares at Zabuza. His glare does not waver.

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't been posting as much I had school. I'm a university student. I wrote a lot for one chapter. Let me know what you think, or if there's any constructive criticism.