Yes, I believe that Haku's a girl, but that is not what me story's about. Of course, as I wrote this, I had this…desire to call Haku a girl… but I didn't. (I had to go back and correct some 'she's' that should've been 'he's'.)

And I know that Naruto's fox isn't a kekkei genkai… but … it worked in the sentence… Okay?

This is sorta not a Sakura/Naruto fic, but she did watch him die, so…

O-O I was so stupid and did a MAJOR typo at the end. Sorry... I fixed it.


Contact with the Enemy
Sakura sighed.

She hated lying to her friends; she hated keeping secrets from both Naruto and Sasuke, who had no doubt figured out that what Kakashi-sensei said had been a lie. And, on top of that, she had no idea how to stop the 'battle on the bridge' that was soon to come.

Overall, her day wasn't going very well.

-

Tazuna was annoyed.

This was the third… no fourth person to quit because of the dangers of building this bridge and Gato's threat. If they kept this up, it would soon be him and the kunoichi left to build the bridge.

Suddenly, said kunoichi got up and walked over, careful not to disturb any of the other workers' jobs.

"I could help." She said simply, "I need something else to think of right now."

About the incident at Lunch? Or something different? "Sure, how well do you know tools?"

"I'm okay with them."

-

Sasuke and Naruto stumbled into the house that night.

They were supporting each other out of what seemed like necessity, and it also seemed that Naruto was going to be the first one to collapse, Sasuke soon after. But they made it to the table and started to eat as if their exhaustion would be fixed magically by the food on the table. Sakura was watching this with a hint of amusement, so Kakashi decided that this wasn't going to hurt the boys later on… well, more than a stomachache.

It soon turned into a full-blown eating competition, and as soon as Tsunami ran out of cooked food, they raced each other up to the bedrooms.

-

Naruto wasn't there in the morning.

"He… might've gone out for some training." Sakura said when the question came up, "I'll go look for him."

"But… breakfast?" Tsunami asked, but she was already out the door.

"She'll get some later." Kakashi said, reading his book to get his thoughts off of Sakura and… everything.

-

Naruto had never really told her about Haku in the forest, so… it came as a really big surprise when Sakura found someone else's chakra signature along with Naruto's in an area of forest a couple meters away from the training ground.

But as soon as she sensed the chakra signature, she suspected it Haku's.

Wow, I just wanted to not be so… indifferent about Naruto this time, and I run into Haku

The chakra signature seemed to be coming towards her, but she wasn't sure… If it isn't Haku, just one chance that was never there, and I can stop worrying about it.

-

Sakura noticed first that there was someone walking down the path, and her or his voice.

"Oh, and, I'm a boy."

Naruto's shock was almost solid, she could feel it radiating from the ramen-loving boy.

Okay, so that is Haku…now I just have to convince him that fighting us will…

Only then did she realize how unplanned this plan was.

But I have to chance it, then

She went a couple of meters back up the road, and waited, cursing herself for not thinking this through. This was probably not going to end well.

Oh well, but this has to be quick, I still have to get Naruto.

-

Haku stopped right beside the pink-haired kunoichi, not even bothering to look at her.

"You were waiting for me?" He said, more a statement than a question.

The girl stepped in front of him, meeting Haku's eyes.

"Gato's going to betray you." She said, startling him.

How does this girl even know that I work for Gato?

He just continued to walk, pushing past the kunoichi… until she jumped in front of him and cracked the ground.Maybe she does have something to offer me… I'll listen.

"Gato, your employer, is going to betray you and kill you even if you manage to take us down… he's going to send a whole group of ninja after you and kill you because you're taking too much money for this job." She said bluntly, and if all of Haku's attention wasn't on the kunoichi before, it sure was now.

"What?" He asked, putting down the herbs and turning towards the girl fully.

"Listen… my name's Haruno Sakura, and I know you're working with Zabuza, Haku, right?" The girl—Sakura asked, but she seemed to know anyway. He nodded, processing her words fully. They must know that Zabuza's still alive.

Almost as if Sakura had read his mind, she stated, "We, me and my team, know that Zabuza's alive, and that you're going to attack again on the bridge. Don't. What could killing Tazuna accomplish for you, except a battle that you might not survive though? And an even harder battle against Gato afterward?"

"We need the money, now, if you excuse me—" There was no way that these Kohona-nin could win against both him and Zabuza, even if they lost the advantage of surprise.

"Listen! Both Sasuke and Naruto have… kekkei genkai of sorts. They're really, really powerful with their respective kekkei genkai. You can't beat them." It was her trump card, Haku knew it, but a good trump card.

"What… kind of kekkei genkai? Of sorts?" He asked, once again forgetting his desire to leave.

"It's just… powerful. Naruto's is so powerful he's hated by most of our village for it. Sasuke's is the last of its kind… well, sort of, and he's on the second level or something. They are too powerful, and Kakashi-sensei is stronger than what you saw last time. Even I would be hard to beat if you do manage to take out Naruto and Sasuke, which I doubt."

Haku considered this. Her strength was formidable… but, was it enough to beat him? And did her friends really have a kekkei genkai? But… they had obviously found out about his plans, but how? And Gato, he did expect Gato to turn on them. But how did she find out about this?

"Okay, what do you want?" He sighed, slightly annoyed at himself for underestimating his opponents.

"I want you to leave with this," She tossed a bag to Haku, and he swiftly caught it, "After… after you kill Gato and fight us."

"Why?"

"Fighting us will draw Gato out into the open, right? But you have to make it convincing, and I'll see what I can say to Naruto and Sasuke about this… but I have more money where that came from, and you can still get paid for you're troubles by taking out Gato. Not only that, but this place," She waved her arms in the vague direction of the town, "will probably support you for killing Gato, even if it's just supplies and such… stuff you'll undoubtedly need in the long run."

"Hmm." Haku paused, hearing Naruto start to get up and walk towards them. "I guess you'll see tomorrow, then." He said, picking up his herbs, and disappeared.

-

That went well. That went extremely well.

Sakura was currently heading back with Naruto, she had persuaded him to come back with her for breakfast, and then go train. Sasuke was probably already there, so she tried to detour the area, but Naruto stopped her.

"Isn't Sasuke-teme already training?" He asked, starting to run forward, then turned and said, "I'll see you guys for lunch." Then he ran off in the direction of Sasuke, leaving behind Sakura.

---

Naruto and Sasuke mastered tree climbing, so… lets just see if my ever-standing luck holds up with Kakashi-sensei too.

It was the next morning, and the 'battle on the bridge' was drawing closer. But if it would also be 'the slaughter on the bridge' was hard to determine. Sakura hadn't told Kakashi-sensei of her plans yet, and she was afraid that he'd reject them and attack anyway. But her fear was groundless, because as she brought it up he just stared at her, and finally said,

"Let me get this straight. You made contact with the enemy, gave him my money, promised him more, and still didn't get a promise out of him?"

"I got a half-promise. The same as—to an extent—you. I trust you as much as I trust them." She replied, and she did. Kakashi-sensei was very… iffy on her trust because she didn't know if he'd tell the Sandaime yet.

He sighed, "I guess, but if they attack me and I feel that they didn't keep the promise, you can't stop me from attacking them."

---

Whee! Another Chapter done! Will Zabuza and Haku attack them with the intent to kill? Next up in this slow-moving arc—not ark—is the last one: Battle on the Bridge!

I wouldn't deny my readers a fight, would I? Or not?

MD