How To Save A Life

Normal Monologue

Thoughts

Jutsu

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Previously--

"Sakura!" he whispered.

She's the only one left…and if he wants to kill her…he'll have to GO THROUGH ME!!!"

And without a single ounce of common sense, he pounced.

How To Save A Life--

A Few Minutes Before--

Kakashi and Zabuza clashed again, with the same result - nothing. The Konaha sensei flipped backwards and skidded to a stop, his kunai clenched tightly in his bleeding hand. Zabuza re-shouldered his blade with a grunt, ignoring the hole in his upper right arm. The Mist shinobi growled under his breath and his eyes flicked all over his surroundings, searching for something to use to take out the annoying pest before him.

"Running out of ideas?" Kakashi taunted, his breathing labored. Zabuza scowled. Suddenly, winds started rushing past the two, tearing at their strength and pushing them backwards. Zabuza's eyes widened; the intense concentration of power within the gusts was staggering, he'd never felt anything like it.

Kakashi was just as shocked but also terrified. He felt detached from his body as he recalled who's chakra this felt like…chakra he hadn't felt in more then 12 years.

Has he released the demon? Did he even know he contained it?

If he had let the bijuu out, if he let him take control of his body and actions, Kakashi knew very well that this was bad, really very bad. If the boy did happen to become the demon to a certain level, all recognition of friends and foes would be gone…he would attack anything that breathes. And if things got to that point, then his job would be…to take out his student.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, it dissipated in a hurricane, returning to wherever it had come from in the thick mist. For a moment, all was silent as the land held its breath, waiting for something to happen. But all was as it was before, nothing to hear but rushing water under the bridge and nothing to see but fog that hung as thick as soup.

Kakashi turned back to his opponent, feeling slightly relived that the demon's power was gone again. He figured after that burst, Zabuza's little helper was no longer going to be a threat to the bridge builder, leaving him to focus all his attention on the Mist murderer before him.

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me. And you can believe that you won't be a problem to Tazuna any more." Kakashi commented with a smile, his heart filling with confidence. Zabuza grimaced; he hated to admit it, but the Konaha ninja was right. Things weren't looking to good for him at the moment…best to get the job done…

"Sorry, but I'm not going down without a finish first." Zabuza sneered. With a string of almost invisible seals, he created a water clone that stood at his side, ready for action. "Go." he muttered. The clone dashed into the mist, disappearing before Kakashi could even think. The grey-haired shinobi made a move to go after him but the real Zabuza flashed in front of him, lashing out with his sword.

"Going somewhere?" the man hissed. Kakashi exhaled loudly and jumped away, barely dodging the blow. Looks like his gennin were on their own.

Sakura and Tazuna--

It happened too fast for them to comprehend. Everything was quiet one moment and the next, rushing winds almost throwing them off the bridge. Certainly not something you'd expect.

"What…was that?" Tazuna asked as he pushed himself off the guard rail he was grasping for his life. Sakura peeled her body off the ground and brushed pebbles off her clothes.

"Probably one of the boys playing with some high-powered jutsu." she sighed. Tazuna frowned.

"You act like this is every day stuff." he commented. Sakura shrugged.

"I have a very interesting team, to put it mildly." the pinkette replied. Tazuna nodded but glanced around anyway, as if he might be able to see another burst coming.

Suddenly, something pushed Sakura from behind…hard. She tumbled to the ground and crashed into the ground.

"Sakura!" the bridge builder exclaimed but then his voice was cut off. The pinkette looked up and saw Zabuza was holding the old man by the neck and lifting him off the ground. The girl panicked and leapt up, digging her hand into her star pouch. She grasped a few of the shuriken and flicked them through the air. The metal flyers embedded themselves in the man's arms and he growled, releasing the man from his hold.

He turned on the teen and snarled.

"You're going to pay for that, you little witch." he said dangerously. He lashed out at the shinobi with his blade, but she slid away, missing the sword by a long shot. But he was quick, faster then anyone she had seen before. He jabbed her in the side with his elbow, causing her to fall to the ground, crashing into the guard rail. She cried out in pain as agony exploded from the top of her head, red washing out her vision.

She felt rather then saw Zabuza begin to approach her, ready to take her out. Sakura tried to move but when she raised her head, her head swam with black spots.

Then, in a yellow flash and a war cry, Naruto was suddenly there, lashing out with his fist at the Mist shinobi. His face was dark and stormy, no hint of kindness or even the blank boredom that so usually decorated his expression.

His hand connected harshly; Zabuza's face lit up with surprise and then, burst into a torrent of water, the liquid literally blowing up and out with the force it was hit with. Rain fell heavily from the sky for a few quick seconds and then was gone the next moment later. Sakura blinked rapidly, trying to get the stars out of her sight of vision. Suddenly, a hand was carefully, pushing her up into a sitting position, leaning her body against the guard rail behind her.

"You ok?" Naruto asked, identifying him as the pair of caretaker's hands assisting her. Sakura nodded weakly, her neck crying out with the movements. With a groan, she lifted her hand to the base of her collarbone and in a flare of green, the throbbing pain began to recede in healing. "And you Tazuna?"

The old man must've nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for that save their young man. Sakura, how's your head? You took a nasty blow there." the bridge builder questioned. Sakura smiled.

"I'm good, just a few minutes of this and I'll be good as new, you'll see." she assured. The old man relaxed visibly and smiled softly.

"Great. Now, we should probably find Kakashi…"

Naruto tensed and his eyes saddened for a moment.

"Are you sure he's alive?" the blonde asked. Sakura and Tazuna shared a look of confusion.

"Well, why wouldn't he be?" Sakura replied, though her tone wasn't exactly confident. Naruto grimaced.

"How could he have created that water clone if Kakashi was with him? I mean, I guess he could be going fine, we don't know for sure…I'm just saying, it doesn't look that great." he answered. The kunochi nodded gravely as she got her team mate's point, but she still had a feeling Kakashi was still with them, somewhere in the mist.

"What happened to that other boy, the one with the mask? And Sasuke?" Tazuna inquired. Sakura looked at the blonde in the same fashion, wondering the same thing. Naruto but his lip and averted his eyes, staring at the ground in silence. Immediately, Sakura began to worry; thought the teen was known for his random acts of quiet, this wasn't a time he'd refuse to speak…

"Naruto…don't tell me…" Sakura whispered, her heart nearly stopping in mid-beat in her chest. Naruto closed his eyes and let out a long, slow breath.

"He…took a blow…for me." the blonde responded finally, his voice low. The pinkette gasped, even though she suspected it before hand, it still hurt just as much. She fought back the wave of sorrow and depression she felt and took in a shuddering breath.

"Can…can you take me to him?" she asked softly. Naruto nodded in answer, his face unreadable. He turned and made a single hand sign. In an instant, two perfect replicas of Naruto were standing beside him. The blonde turned his attention to the bridge builder again, who had his head in his hand in disbelief and loss.

"My clones will stay here with you - don't worry, they won't fail. And if something does happen to them, I'll know." Naruto assured, getting a slight nod in response. The blonde held out his hand for his fallen comrade and she took it gratefully, knowing well that she wouldn't have been able to stand on her own.

And she didn't let go as Naruto led her through the thick mist to where her long-time crush lay, cold and unmoving.

Sasuke--

The pain was excruciating in every way, every part of his body throbbing in anguish with each heart beat. He wished he could make it stop, wished that it would just end, instead of taunting him like this. He wasn't dead, yet not alive either. Hung in the space of unconsciousness, probably stuck in a coma on the outside world. Everything was black and covered with shadows, if that was even possible…and all the while, he felt like he was being smothered, smothered by the claws of death.

Outside--

When Sakura saw the body of Sasuke Uchiha lying limp on the hard cement, she couldn't speak, couldn't move. She just stared at the boy that had been the center of her focus for the past 7 years and fell to her knees, ignoring the sharp jab of the impact.

Tears welled up in her eyes and before she knew it, streams of them were crawling down her face and small sobs were wracking from her chest. She covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her sorrow from the teen behind her but it was no use; her cries was obvious to the blonde next to her.

For a moment, as he watched the pinkette fall apart at the sight of their team mate's lifeless form, he felt a pang of jealousy blossom through his chest. But he pushed it away - there was no time, or reason for feelings like that.

Naruto's eyes wandered from the raven-haired teen to the needles scattered around them, the blood on the ends already dried, though not much time had passed. His brow furrowed as he stared at the senbon; he couldn't quite remember when Haku had attacked him. But he should have been able to dodge them, or at least take the hits himself. All that stood out boldly was the bubbling, sudden rage that had boiled up from the pit of his stomach right as he was picking himself off the ground.

It had been random and certainly not his, a power that was like his chakra, but intensified 10 fold, which was really saying something. He had only remembered feeling it a few times: on the road with Itachi, when his training too intense and that one time when Sasuke had cut Sakura and he had healed it…

Naruto smirked and jumped over the pinkette and the Uchiha, landing on the opposite side. He whipped around and knelt down, cracking his knuckles as he prepared to try the inevitable. Sakura glanced up, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She frowned in confusion as Naruto closed his eyes and put his hand on his heart. He then furrowed his brow deep and screwed up his eyes, obviously concentrating on something pretty hard.

Naruto focused in on that moment of sympathy and want to help he felt when he saw the injure Sakura had acquired. And then, he multiplied it, thinking about healing ten more people, or a hundred more, knowing it would take more then a little power to bring a person back to life then just fixing a scratch.

Sakura gasped when Naruto's hand started to glow red, faint at first, but then becoming a bright crimson beacon. Naruto smirked and placed his hand on Sasuke's chest, right over his heart. Sakura sniffed and wiped away the moisture away from her eyes. For a second, nothing seemed to happen, but slowly, color started to return to the Uchiha's skin and Naruto felt his pulse increase. He didn't remove his hand until he saw the boy's chest rise and fall with a lungful of air.

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the Uchiha grow to health again by the second, the blonde seemingly bringing him back to life with chakra, though it didn't feel like it was his own. When Sasuke's chest started to rise with air, Sakura smiled and she felt tears well up in the corners of her eyes, though she pushed them away.

"Naruto…you…saved him." Sakura whispered, not trusting her voice to go any louder. Naruto smirked and leaned back, his breathing slightly labored with exhaustion. Though the power was incredible and made him feel invincible, it took its toll pretty quickly, which bothered him greatly. Itachi had taught him to use his power in small amounts but to expand it, making it powerful but spacious, with breathing room. But the tactics were no good for this - he would have to find another way to channel it to its full potential.

Naruto suddenly felt a pull in the pit of his stomach and a twinge in his head, turning his still heightened senses to somewhere on his left, a feeling of fear and anxiety, of victory and anger, of commitment and decisiveness. And then, he saw.

He saw Kakashi, thankfully alive, rushing toward Zabuza with a crackling ball of energy in his hand. The Mist shinobi was trapped, clung to the ground with a dozen dogs embedding their teeth into his skin, anchoring him in place and rendering him unable to move.

And then he spotted Haku, moving pretty fast for someone who was injured, towards the two. His face held fear, yet determination. Naruto looked ahead of the boy's trajectory and with wide eyes, realized what he was trying to do.

He was going to intercept Kakashi's jutsu and save Zabuza…with the cost of his life.

Without a thought, he pushed off his position on the ground, and bolted, leaving behind a very confused Sakura. Naruto noticed the mist start to get lighter, lifting as Zabuza's energy was sapped by the dogs biting him.

Naruto came into range of the three people and at that moment, Haku was skidding in front of his master, invisible to everyone except to Naruto because of his speed. So when Kakashi stretched out his hand to attack, Naruto did something Itachi would've said was insane.

He rammed into his sensei and sent him sprawling to the ground.

~Well, yea I'm a day late, been thinking about somethings, getting over some things…let's just say a lot has changed. So, I;m sorry for the delay, but I hope you like the chapter! Love you guys!!

Kyuubi-Kitsune

Next Chapter: Heart Attack

Suddenly, Haku was buried by a dog-pile of gang members.