Emotional Silence 12- Final Assault

*Sasuke's POV*

"Karin! Don't die on me! Wake up!" She doesn't stir.

"One down. Time to finish this." The guy goes after Naruto again. I want to stay where I am, to try to wake up my sister, but my body reacts again, running into the path of the attack, to protect Naruto. I wince as the needles hit me.

"Now get that lame expression off your face, you screw up."

"Why?" Why, he asks me why? If my body hadn't moved on its own, I would have let him die. Maybe, somehow, now he's my friend? This hurts almost as much as the last time I almost died. Maybe fate caught up with me today.

"I…used to hate you…you know."

"Why, why did you? Why me? You should have just minded your own business!"

"How…should I know…? My body just…moved on its own…fool…!" I fall back but don't hit the ground. He must have caught me. "I…swore I wouldn't die…until I killed him…my older brother…thought that vow would save me…but…but don't you dare die…" Nee-chan, I'm coming. I close my eyes and lose consciousness.

*Sakura's POV*

What's going on in there? First Sasuke was yelling at Karin to wake up and now there's this huge chakra coming from there. I can hear the guy talking.

"He struck at me and without any sign of shirking, left his sister's side, and sacrificed himself to save you. They were both Shinobi worthy of the utmost respect, for sacrificing themselves like that, knowing full well that it was a trap. Is this the first time a comrade of yours has died? Such is the path of a Shinobi."

"Shut up." Sasuke…dead? Karin too? That's impossible! The strange chakra increases and blows the mirrors away. I can barely see it through this fog. But I can hear. It sounds like glass shattering. "You're the kid I met…yesterday." The immense chakra lessens.

"Why did you stop? I murdered your comrades, your beloved friend and his sister. And you still spare me?" That's strange. That strange chakra, was that Naruto? It sounds like the boy is talking to Naruto, but I can't make out what he's saying. It sounds like dogs are barking and growling at the same time that concrete is breaking.

"What are we hearing?" I can't see anything. The fog lessens slightly and I can see shapes. And now it sounds like a thousand birds are chirping around the bridge! The two people that I can see look like they're just standing there. One of them moves.

"Which one is Kakashi-sensei?" The mist clears and we can see them clearly.

"Isn't that the boy in the mask?" He stepped in the way of Kakashi-sensei's attack, to protect Zabuza!

"Kakashi-sensei!" I can see Naruto too! He's alive! Maybe that guy was bluffing about killing them. "Naruto! You're alive!!" Maybe, just maybe. "What about Sasuke and Karin? Naruto! Where are they?" He looks away. That means…no!

"I'll stay with you, so you won't be disobeying your Sensei's orders." Tazuna takes my hand and we run past Naruto, who's shuddering. Is it that bad? I stop and drop to my knees. I touch Sasuke's face, it's cold.

"He's so cold; this isn't an illusion is it?" I look up and see Karin in the same state, unmoving and dead. This is impossible! How could that one guy manage to kill them both?

"Don't hold back for my sake. There are times when it's alright to shed some good honest tears."

"I…always got perfect scores on all my tests in school. I memorized each and every one of the one hundred rules of conduct for ninja and Shinobi. I used to write them out with pride. We had a test one day and the question was…What is the twenty-fifth rule of Shinobi conduct? Just like always, I wrote it down. No matter what happens, a true Shinobi must never…ever show their emotions! Th-the mission is the only priority. Carry that in your heart and never...never shed a tear." I'm crying uncontrollably now and I put my head on Sasuke's chest. "Sasuke!"

*Karin's POV*

Am I, still alive? After all that, am I still alive? That's Sakura's voice. What happened? Is she crying? I open my eyes and look over. Sasuke! When I was gone that kid must have…!

"Sakura, he's not…?" She looks up.

"You're alive!" I nod and pull the needles out of my neck. I won't be able to heal him, but if it's not too late, I can pull the needles out and hopefully the vital spots that would kill weren't pierced.

I get up carefully and stumble to Sasuke's side. It's a good thing I've trained my body to tolerate pain on the battle field, but once I run out of chakra to keep this technique up, this will probably hurt like hell. If there's even the slightest chance that I can save him, I'll take it. I start with the needles in his neck.

"Will you be able to…?"

"I don't know. We'll just have to see." She's crying on top of him. If he wakes up, that's going to hurt.

*Sasuke's POV*

Is that…Sakura? No, unless I'm not dead. Maybe it wasn't my time after all. I open my eyes and the first thing I notice is that Sakura is on top of me, crying.

"Sakura…your arm's heavy." She looks at me, and then I notice Karin. There's a slight tug on my leg and a sudden sharp pain, like getting hit with those needles again. Karin looks up and smiles, she's still covered in needles. Sakura hugs me.

"Sasuke!"

"Sakura! You're probably hurting him!"

"Sakura, you are hurting me."

"Oh, sorry." She backs up and I start to get up.

"Sasuke! Don't try to move! I haven't gotten all of those needles out and you could get seriously hurt!"

"I'm alright. How's Naruto? And…that little creep with the mask…what happened to him."

"Naruto's fine! And the boy in the mask is dead." That's a surprise.

"Dead?"

"Did Naruto?"

"No, I'm not sure. I couldn't see very well…but the boy died trying to protect Zabuza. I...was afraid…I thought…! You're both amazing! You survived a deathblow!"

"No."

"Not us…him. He never intended…"

"Naruto!! It's Sasuke and Karin! They're alright!" I finally manage to stand up and lift my hand when Naruto turns. Karin manages to get up as well and smiles at Naruto. I haven't seen her smile at anyone but me since that day…has she finally gotten over her thing against friendship? We lean on each other and manage to stay upright.

There's a group of people in front of our group and they seem pretty pissed. The villagers come up behind us to defend their home. It's about time they got some courage. Naruto and Kakashi use doppelgangers to scare off the attackers and it starts snowing. It's almost summer, that's strange. "Ow!" Karin pulled a needle out of my arm.

"That hurt!" She grins evilly and pulls another needle out. Oh, if I could move properly, she would have to run for her sanity. She's taking advantage of this, my lack of mobility.