Enjoy. :] And if you find any mistakes, no matter how small, please tell me. (Although I think I got them all... but just in case!) :]

I don't own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This fanfiction is purely for entertainment purposes, and no profit is being made from it.

Death, Mourning and Being a Tool

'Why… why can't I hit him?' Zabuza thought, panting as he glared through the mist-less air at Kakashi, who had just leaped out of the way of his attack. His left arm had been rendered useless by two kunai that the masked man had stabbed him in the shoulder with. Zabuza swore and rushed at him again, but Kakashi easily countered him with two blows to the face.

Zabuza glared furiously at the man, cursing, then swinging at him once more, Kakashi simply stepping back out of the way. He rose his sword again and attempted to bring it down on top of the sensei, who vanished, appearing behind him with a hand on his throat.

"You can't win in the state you are in." Kakashi said.

"What did you say?" Zabuza growled.

"You don't understand the true meaning of being strong."

The mist ninja was silent.

Ami felt numb with the shock of what she was witnessing.

Someone on their team was dead.

She ran towards Tazuna, Sakura and her fallen teammate, screaming the boy's name in horror. "Sasuke!"

The girl stopped and stared at the beaten body of the boy, Sakura bawling on top of him, clutching his clothes in her fists, violent sobs racking her body.

Ami fell to her knees, unable to take it in.

Tears filled her eyes as she tried to take the pulse of his freezing neck.

"This isn't happening…" she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "It's not… How could you die…?"

Tears dripped from her face onto his as Sakura released a miserable wail, the boy's name buried somewhere in the grief.

Tazuna bowed his head. "So this is the life of a ninja… it's too cruel…"

'I only just met him…' the brunette thought, feeling herself beginning to shake. 'I was just starting to get along better with him… It was gradual, but it was there… and now… he's dead…' She squinted at her teammate's tired, ashen face, trying to blink away the tears to get a decent look at him.

'It's no good.' A small voice in her head said quietly. 'Nothing you can do will help him now. He's gone.'

"SASUKE!"

Kakashi spun two kunai on his fingers, then grabbed them, points turned on Zabuza.

"Farewell, demon!"

Zabuza's eyes widened and he swung his sword round towards Kakashi's unguarded side.

The sensei's eyes widened and he stabbed the arm holding the sword instead to slash the muscles inside, then propelled himself away by pushing off against Zabuza's arm as the Missing-Nin's sword went flying off, skidding to a halt at the side of the bridge.

"Now you can't use your arms." Kakashi said, "You can't form any seals anymore."

Kakashi, Zabuza, and Naruto turned their heads at the sound of a stick tapping.

A tiny man in a business suit holding a cane stood before them, a huge mob of clearly rogue ninja behind him. He had sunglasses and sandy hair, and a cast wrapped around his left hand.

"Looks like you got beaten pretty badly." he sneered. "I'm disappointed Zabuza."

"Gatou… why did you come here?" Zabuza asked roughly, "And why do you have those subordinates?"

Ami lifted her head. 'Gatou…? He's Gatou?'

The small man snickered. "We had a little change in plans. I'm sorry Zabuza, but you're going to die here."

The Missing-Nin's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"

"If I rent official ninja, it would cost a lot of money, so I rented an exiled ninja like you. If you ninja had just killed each other, it would have saved me trouble and money. Really, and you call yourself the Demon of the Hidden Mist? You're just a cute devil if you ask me."

The throng behind him laughed.

'Why are there so many of them?' Naruto thought, shocked at the amount of ninja the small man had with him.

"Gatou?" Ami repeated, red eyes staring the man down. "Did you say 'Gatou'?"

"Ami, stay where you are!" Kakashi ordered.

She wasn't listening.

"The Gatou that hired Zabuza?"

The businessman glared at her. "What do you want with me, you brat?" he said nastily.

"Are you Gatou?"

"Who the hell is she?" Gatou growled to one of the ninja behind him. "She's pissing me off. Kill her."

"Gotcha." the ninja, a dark-skinned man with tattoos and a bandanna, sporting several scars on his face said gruffly, unsheathing the short sword he wore on his back.

"Ami, run!" Kakashi shouted, but the girl didn't seem to hear him.

Her eyes narrowed and she shot straight at the man, roaring like some sort of deranged animal.

"UCHIHA SASUKE WAS IMPORTANT TO ME! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

The girl leaped at the ninja who was coming for her, wrapping her legs around his shoulders and swinging around his throat so that she was hanging down his back, then squeezed her knees together, snapping his neck. The huge man dropped lifelessly to the ground.

'Ami just killed someone!' Naruto thought, horrified.

"SHIT!" Gatou yelled, "Get her!"

Kakashi rushed after Ami and grabbed the Konno by the arm, trying to stop her.

"AMI! STOP NOW!" he yelled.

"LET ME GO!" she shrieked, grabbing the man's hand and tightening her grip until she was cutting his skin with her nails. "OR I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKING ARM OFF!" Her clawing hand began to glow with Chakra and Kakashi instantly released her as though he had been burned, suddenly remembering something about the Konno clan that he had read in Ami's files.

"SHIT! AMI, NO!"

"AMI!" Naruto shouted, "STOP! YOU'LL DIE!"

The girl was rushing straight for Gatou when she was snatched and hoisted into the air by her collar by another ninja, this time a man in a dark, woollen hat and coat with a long sword hanging in a sheath from his waist. She shrieked furiously and grabbed the rogue's hands, pumping Chakra into them, then slapped her hands together, but before she could complete the technique, the ninja holding her was kicked in the face by her sensei. Kakashi seized the Konno from behind and threw her out of the crowd of ninja. The man Ami had touched collapsed on the ground and puked violently, clutching his stomach in agony.

She hit the ground with a thud and went to get up again, but the silver-haired man dashed back out of the mass of rogues and clutched the girl, pinning her arms behind her back and pushing her to the ground.

"LET GO!" she howled, thrashing violently, "LET GO! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! IT'S HIS FAULT! IT'S HIS FAULT!" She began to bawl. "SASUKE'S DEAD BECAUSE OF HIM!"

"AMI!" Kakashi yelled, "Look at yourself!"

The girl fell silent as she realised her own state. She was on the ground, her sensei having to hold her down with his knee in her back, whilst she was screaming, wailing, and going absolutely berserk.

"I'm sorry…" she whimpered. "but…" she turned her face as well as she could, trying to look at her sensei, tears running down her dirty, red face. "He killed Sasuke...!"

"I know." Kakashi said, "But you need to calm down."

Ami couldn't look at her teacher any more. Overwhelmed with misery, she placed her head back down onto the concrete of the bridge and sobbed into it.

"…Kakashi, I'm sorry, but the battle ends here." Zabuza said quietly. "Since I don't have a reason to kill Tazuna, I have no reason to fight you."

"Yeah, you're right." Kakashi said tiredly, as Gatou, seemingly feeling more in control with Ami restrained, began to walk towards Haku's body in front of them, cane tapping all the way.

"Oh yes, I owe this guy a favor…" he said evilly, "For gripping my hand until it broke!" He gave the boy's face a hard kick. "Tch…This guy's already dead…" the businessman said, prodding the boy's face with his walking stick.

"BASTARD!" Naruto roared, the veins bulging in his temples as he ran at the man. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

He was stopped by Kakashi, who grabbed him by the back of his orange jacket, holding back the flailing boy.

"Stop! Don't move so carelessly!"

"Why don't you say something, too!" the blond demanded, screaming at Zabuza, who had remained emotionless in reaction to Gatou having kicked Haku. "He was on your side, right?"

"Shut up, kid." the bandaged man growled. "Haku is already dead."

"You really don't feel anything about what he did? You were with him a long time, right?" Naruto demanded.

"Like how Gatou used me, I was also just using Haku." the man replied cruelly. "I've said this before. We ninja are just tools. I wanted his abilities, not him. I have no regrets."

Kakashi moved off of Ami and after a second or so, she slowly got to her knees.

"…Do you really mean that?" Naruto asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Stop, Naruto." Kakashi said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We don't have to fight him anymore. Besides-"

The boy threw his hand off angrily.

"Shut up! He's still my enemy!"

Zabuza scowled at the child, who was panting in rage.

Whilst inside the mirrors with Haku, Sasuke and Naruto had discovered that in actuality, the boy had never wanted to become a ninja, and had only done so after being orphaned when his parents died and taken in by Zabuza because of his bloodline, as he wanted to be useful and help him.

He had thrown away his own dreams, making it his sole purpose in life to fulfil Zabuza's, happy to act as his tool, simply because he knew it made him wanted by someone, somewhere in the world.

He had lived a sad life, but he was content, happy even, just to be by Zabuza's side, assisting him and living as a weapon.

"He… he really loved you!" Naruto shouted, jabbing his finger in the dead Haku's direction, his voice beginning to crack as he tried to keep himself from crying. "He really, really loved you! And you really don't think anything of him at all? Do you really… really not think anything of him? When a person becomes as strong as you, do they start to think like that…? He sacrificed his life for you!"

Zabuza was silent, facing away from the sobbing child.

Ami was already weeping for Sasuke, so when Naruto's bawling further tugged at her heartstrings, she just let them flow, mourning almost silently, aside from the occasional rattle of a breath.

"He couldn't even see his own dream…" the boy said, his voice shaking, tears and mucus running down his face, "Dying as a tool… is just… just… too painful."

"Kid…" Zabuza said, finally speaking.

Naruto looked up at the man, and his mouth fell open at what he saw.

"Don't say any more…" Zabuza begged, tears streaming down his bandaged face. "Haku… not only did he hurt his heart to fight for me, but he hurt his heart for you guys. I know, he was too kind. I'm glad we were able to fight you as our final opponents."

Naruto stared at the mist ninja, tears still streaming down his shocked face.

Zabuza bit the bandages covering his mouth and ripped them open.

"Oh yes… kid, it was just like you said. Ninja are human, too. They might not be able to become a tool without emotions." He smiled sadly. "I lost..." The smile faded. "Kid, give me your kunai."

Naruto stared at him a moment in shock, then pulled out the weapon and tossed it to the man. "'kay."

Zabuza caught it in his teeth, then took on a demonic expression as he raced towards Gatou, who ran, terrified, back into the gang behind him, yelling for them to kill him. Zabuza raced into the horde, his unusable arms flailing behind him, slashing his way through the crowd with nothing but Naruto's knife in his mouth, killing rogue ninja left, right and centre, slicing their sides, stomachs and chests. He staggered slightly when a harpoon was stuck in his back, but never took his eyes off of Gatou, who was doing his best to run on his short, butty legs. Once the businessman reached the edge of the bridge, however, there was nowhere left to go.

Zabuza sprang from the crowd, and right before the Missing-Nin reached him, the stunted tradesperson saw Zabuza for what he really was at that moment, with weapons stuck in his back, covered in blood from head to toe, a blade in his mouth, heading straight for him, drenched with the menacing impulse to kill.

A demon.

Gatou gave a guttural cry as the kunai was plunged into his chest and he tasted his own blood filling his mouth.

Zabuza grinned viciously before several spears and swords were stuck into his back and he staggered as he released the kunai stuck in the financier's breast.

"If you want to join your friend that badly, go by yourself!" the businessman wheezed.

"Unfortunately, I don't intend to go to the same place as Haku." the man replied darkly, walking towards Gatou, his arms swinging back and forth.

"What did you say? Don't act so tough! There's no way you're getting out of this alive!"

"Bastard, you're going to hell with me." the Missing-Nin said, a look of sadistic pleasure on his crazed, bloodied face as he moved towards Gatou, who was becoming more and more terrified by the second. "It's no big deal, though. The Demon of Kirigakure can become a real demon if he goes to hell! Look forward to it! You'll see if I really am a cute devil in hell!"

He ripped the kunai from the bleeding man's chest, then slashed his stomach twice with it, pushing him further and further to the edge of the bridge with each slice. The merchant clutched his breast and stomach as his glasses fell from his head, and Zabuza slid on them as he cut the man's back and side open, then threw him off the bridge and into the water below with a final stab to the heart.

A shocked silence followed.

Zabuza turned an eye towards the other rogue ninja, who cowered in fear and stepped back, making a path for him to pass through.

The Missing-Nin dropped the kunai from his mouth, and stumbled, gasping, towards the Konohagakure ninja and his passed on subordinate.

"Haku…" he wheezed, his vision blurring before he dropped to his hands and knees, panting. He looked up at the boy's body, wearing a bereft expression. "It's time to say goodbye, Haku… Thank you for everything. I'm sorry…"

He collapsed to the ground, and the ninja Gatou hired stared at the fallen man.

Naruto and Ami averted their eyes.

"Don't look away." Kakashi said. "It's the end of a man who lived desperately."

The two Genin beside him looked back up in unison, turning their faces to look at the man lying face-down on the ground.

Ami flicked her head round at the sound of a voice, so quickly that her neck cracked at the motion.

"Sasuke… kun…?" Sakura was staring at the boy in shock and awe.

The tired, battered boy blinked slowly.

Tazuna's mouth fell open in amazement.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" Sakura bawled, hugging the boy with relief.

"Sakura, that hurts." he grunted.

Tazuna wiped his eyes, smiling at the pair on the ground.

The boy sat up, then clutched himself in pain.

"No! Don't move!" the rosette told him.

"Where's Naruto…? And Ami...? And what happened to that masked guy…?"

"Naruto is safe. So is Ami. And that masked boy… died."

Sasuke's head snapped up. "He died? Did Naruto kill him?"

"No." Sakura said, shaking her head as she looked sadly towards Haku. "I don't know the details, but it seems he protected Zabuza, and…"

Sasuke turned his head to look at the boy, frowning.

"I believed in you, Sasuke-kun!" the pink-haired girl cried happily, "You must have dodged the attacks to avoid serious damage!"

'No... it wasn't me...' Sasuke thought, looking at Haku's corpse with narrowed eyes. 'He must have done it on purpose from the beginning…'

Ami couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Sasuke…" she mumbled.

Naruto flinched at the sound of the name.

"...I'm sorry." he said, feeling himself wanting to cry again, "I couldn't-"

The girl tapped him lightly on the shoulder, not looking at him, fixated on something behind him as she pointed at it with a shaking finger.

"No… Sasuke."

Naruto looked in the direction she was pointing.

Sakura stood up and waved at them, calling out to the pair. "Naruto! Ami!"

Beside her, Sasuke was slowly getting to his feet.

"Sasuke-kun is okay! He's alive!"

"What?" Naruto said, spinning around.

The raven rose a hand in greeting as he stared at the ground.

"Sasuke…" Ami said, feeling herself starting to cry again when the tears on her cheeks had barely begun to dry. "I thought you were dead…"

"Disappointed, Nami?" Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow.

'Just like he did with Zabuza.' she thought. 'Haku gave him a death-like appearance, but didn't kill him.' She felt the salty drops sliding down her face. 'Thank you, Haku… Thank you!'

Naruto felt a draft when she ran past him, straight for the boy, who would've moved away had he not been so stiff.

She went to hug him, but upon realising how much pain he would be in if she did that, told him to stay still as she began carefully removing the needles, one by one.

The raven hissed in pain as the senbon slipped from his skin, but felt relief after each one was removed, the sensation of the thin, metal shafts disappearing from his skin.

'Do not push the needle even the tiniest bit.' Ami thought, repeating in her head what her grandmother had taught her: 'Do not move the needle inside the flesh as it will damage veins, capillaries and possibly organs. Slide it out carefully at the angle it went in at…'

Naruto turned to look at Haku, smiling, tears of joy brimming in his eyes. 'I see, so he…'

Senbon after senbon was passed to Sakura who was still beaming at the boy's revival.

"What happened?" the brunette girl asked quietly. "What was that horrible Chakra?"

"Chakra?" the boy repeated, just as confused as her. "What Chakra?"

"Nevermind, I don't even care anymore." she said, smiling as she wiped her eyes. "You're alive, that's good enough for me."

'Good enough for me, too.' Sasuke thought, before wincing at the feel of a needle sliding from his thigh.

"I've done your legs and back." the girl said, "I'm going to start your arms now. Okay?"

"Hn… Ow!"

"Ah, sorry! It's because I'm crying…"

"Well stop then!" Sasuke chastised. "I'm alive, so there's nothing to be sad about."

"I'm crying because I'm happy, stupid!" was the hot-headed retort, "And I couldn't keep my promise and help you, so of course I'm going to be sad and annoyed about that!"

"Ami… just shut up. I'm fine."

The girl blinked in astonishment as she seemed to realise something.

"What?" Sasuke grunted.

"Oh… nothing." she said, wiping her eyes then setting back to work. 'He's never said my name before… can't believe I only just noticed. All I ever got before was 'Nami', 'Nami', 'Nami'… well, that and 'Hn' of course…' 'She glanced at the boy's scratched face curiously as he glared off in another direction at nothing in particular. 'I say I hate him but I guess I don't really…' She shuddered as she remembered the sound of the rogue ninja she attacked's neck snapping. 'I completely lost it when I thought he'd died… I actually killed someone… and almost with that as well…'

Kakashi was watching the scene before him, the sight of the raven boy standing lifting the weight from his shoulders. 'So Sasuke is safe too… I'm glad.' He thought thankfully.

"Oi, oi, oi! You guys are feeling too safe." one of the rogues yelled, banging his staff off the ground.

The Konoha ninja turned to look at them.

"Damn ninja, you killed our source of revenue!"

"Now we have to attack the town and steal all the valuables." the first bandit said, grinning stupidly.

The others behind him roared in agreement.

"This is bad…" Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have a technique that can beat them all at once?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No, I used up too much Chakra."

"LET'S GO!" one of the men yelled, pointing forwards with his spear.

The whole group charged towards the town, then halted when an arrow shot towards them, embedding itself in the ground before them.

The Konoha ninja spun round and were met with the sight of the whole village's citizens, all armed with anything they could find, be it axes, pitchforks, pickaxes, oars, spades, or whatever else, and facing the outlaws hired by Gatou with set faces, clearly ready to fight. Inari stood at the very front, armed with a crossbow and wearing a colander on top of his head.

"Anyone who gets any closer to this island will die facing the force of this island!" shouted a bridge worker with a pick, that the girls and Tazuna recognized as Giichi.

The villagers raised their weapons and roared in agreement.

"Inari!" Naruto yelled happily.

"Heroes are supposed to come late." the young boy chuckled, and judging by the expression on Naruto's face, Ami guessed that this was some sort of private joke between the two.

"Inari… All of you…" Tazuna beamed, tears of joy brimming in his eyes.

The rogues didn't look anywhere near as confident now as they had a moment ago.

"Alright, I'm going to help too!" Naruto yelled as he made a sign. "Kage-Bunshin no jutsu!" In a bang of smoke, he had multiplied himself by five.

'I guess I can use about the same amount of Chakra as him and use it as a bluff.' Kakashi thought, also making a sign. "Kage-Bunshin no jutsu." In a bang of smoke, about a hundred Kakashi clones stood on the bridge, all with Sharingan showing. "Kakashi version!"

The men hired by Gatou were now running from the scene on the bridge, crying out in fear of the larger mob of people.

"Shall we begin?" the Kakashi clones all asked in unison as the rogue ninja began climbing into the boat they had come on, some falling into the water when they were pushed out of the way of others, either on the bridge or on the rope ladder leading down to the boat.

Inari cheered delightedly, punching the air in triumph, his voice almost drowned out with the roars of victory that exploded behind him.

Stepping away from the jubilant celebrations, Kakashi made his way over to the near-dead Demon of the Mist.

"Looks like it's over." the man lying on the ground groaned.

"Yeah."

"Kakashi, I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"I… I want to see his face."

The silver-haired sensei lowered his hitai-ate back over his left eye, the gave the man a regardful gaze. "Sure."

After carefully pulling the weapons from Zabuza's body, Kakashi picked him up behind the knees and shoulders, his limp arms dangling below, and carried him towards Haku. White flakes began to fall from the sky.

"It's snow…" Ami said, catching one of the silver pieces in her palm and watching it melt on the tanned skin of her hand.

"In this season?" a man said.

'Haku… are you crying?' Zabuza wondered.

Kakashi reached the boy and gently set the dying man down beside him.

"Thanks, Kakashi."

The silver-haired man stepped back beside Naruto as Zabuza turned his head towards Haku.

"We've been together all this time… So I'll die next to you…" he said, wheezing his words weakly. "If possible…" he gasped, moving a ripped arm painfully to cup the boy's face. "I want to go to the same place you're going to…"

The cloud parted slightly, allowing several shafts of light to filter down from the sky, shining down on the two Mist village ninja.

A single snowflake landed on Haku's eyelid and melted, looking just like a tear.

Naruto sniffled and the others looked over at him.

"He… he was born in a village where a lot of snow fell." the boy snivelled.

"Is that a fact?" Kakashi said quietly. "He was just as pure a white."

The sunlight spread further as the gaps in the heavens widened.

"You can go there, Zabuza." Kakashi said quietly. "Together."

"I was wondering, Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura said, as she placed a ring of flowers around the wooden cross of the grave they had made for Haku, the sash from his clothing also tied around it.

Beside it was Zabuza's grave, also with a cross and ring of flowers, but his huge sword stuck in the ground behind it instead.

The sun was setting over the hill, painting the sky with orange, pink and yellow hues.

"Hmm?"

"Does a ninja really have to be the way they said a ninja should be?"

"Ninja are not supposed to seek their reason to exist." the masked man replied. "It's important that they exist as a tool. That goes for Konoha, too."

"Does becoming a real ninja really mean that?" Naruto asked, clearly unimpressed. "I… kind of… don't like that."

"Do you think so, too?" Sasuke asked the sensei.

"Well... no." the man replied truthfully, "That's why ninja unconsciously suffer from that idea. Like Zabuza and that boy."

'Kakashi-sensei doesn't view himself as a tool?' Ami thought, genuinely shocked at this information. Perhaps it had been naïve, but she had expected a Jounin to follow rules and principles exactly and be in complete control of their feelings at all times. 'That's...'

"Alright!" Naruto yelled suddenly.

The others looked at him.

"I'm going to follow my own 'way of the ninja'! I'm going to run straight down the path where I'm not going to regret anything!"

The Konno couldn't bring herself to grin at her loud friend's proclamation. 'Naruto... I'm happy for you... but I don't know if I can view myself that way...' She hid her face from the boy by looking in the other direction, pretending to survey the view below the cliff.

Kakashi smiled under his mask at the boy, unaware of Ami's lack of acceptance.

'How typical of Naruto.' the sensei thought fondly.

"We've completed the bridge thanks to you, but we're going to miss you." Tazuna said glumly.

"Take care." Tsunami said kindly.

"Thank you for everything." Kakashi said.

"Now, now, Tazuna-ojiichan!" Naruto grinned. "We'll visit you again some day!"

"You promise?" Inari asked, his voice and body shaking slightly as he tried not to cry. Tazuna placed a comforting hand on his head.

"Inari… You're going to get lonely, aren't you?" Naruto asked, his lower lip quivering as he spoke. "It's okay to cry, you know. Cry…"

"I'm not going to cry! But you can cry too, Naruto-niichan!"

"Is that so…?" Naruto choked, snot beginning to dribble from his nose as his face twisted in an effort to hide his tears, Inari just as bad.

The two tried to stare each other down for several seconds, until Naruto broke eye contact, spinning around to turn away from the villagers and Inari.

"See ya!" he wailed, bursting into tears, nose running down his face as soon as he was facing away, the younger boy doing exactly the same.

'You stubborn guy…' Sakura thought.

Ami bowed to Inari and his family. "Good luck with trade."

"Thank you." Tsunami smiled.

"That boy changed Inari's heart, and Inari changed the hearts of the villagers." Tazuna said to the others as they watched the ninja leave. "That boy created a bridge, known as courage, which led to hope."

"A bridge, huh?" a man said, "Oh yeah… we still have to name this bridge too."

"I forgot, but I have the perfect name for this bridge." Tazuna said.

"Oh, what is it?"

"How about, 'The Great Naruto Bridge'?"

Tsunami laughed heartily. "That's a good name."

"What? Are you really sure about that name?" another man asked.

Tazuna laughed. "I called it that because I hope it will never crumble. And one day, I hope the bridge will be famous and known worldwide."

Inari wiped his eyes and gazed after the group of ninja, amongst them the loud, orange-clad one, yelling his mouth off.

His hero.

"All right! Once I get home, I'm going to have Iruka-sensei treat me to ramen to celebrate the completion of this mission!" Naruto yelled proudly. "Also, also, I'm going to have Konohamaru listen to my tale of bravery!"

Sakura spoke up. "Then I'll… Hey, Sasuke-kun, do you want to go on a date once we return to the village?"

"No, I decline." the boy replied in a blunt, monotonous voice.

"No way…" Sakura whined, dropping behind.

"Hey, hey, I will!" Naruto said eagerly.

"Be quiet, Naruto!" the pink-haired girl snapped.

"What are you going to do when we get back, Ami?" Kakashi asked pleasantly, single eye crinkling as he smiled underneath his mask.

She found herself instantly thinking; 'be nicer to Sasuke' but there was no way she would say that aloud, so she smiled. "Dunno... Relax a bit, I guess."

Ami looked round as she felt a hand on her head, but upon seeing Sakura, who was busy yelling at Naruto and pinching his cheeks, and considering Sasuke and Kakashi were walking beside her, both with their hands shoved in their pockets, deemed it her imagination.