Chapter 15
The first thing Sakura did was test the waters. She sent out clone after clone, getting a feel for each ninja's fighting capacity. Kakashi and Zabuza, due to their recent skirmishes, were probably the weakest links but she would have to keep a keen eye on the ANBU, uncharted territory that they are.
She was careful with her chakra, imbuing just enough for her clones to withstand a knock or three but nothing more.
Under the vague hope that her country-men wanted to take her in alive, she targeted Zabuza first.
Sakura sent in another clone, armed with a crudely drawn explosive seal. And sent in one more, as an afterthought. To distract.
She watched as three powerful shinobi disappeared. So did she.
Zabuza reappeared next to the treeline.
From what Sakura remembered, Zabuza was a solid fighter. He was well-rounded as all Jonin were wont to do but his strength obviously lay in mid-range attacks with Kubikiribōchō's length helping to block and attack from a relatively safe distance. The most dangerous article on Zabuza's person would undoubtedly be his giant broadsword.
So let's make him drop it.
Sakura didn't waste time dispensing pleasantries and promptly launched into an attack. She focused on his sword arm, bearing down on the opening caused by swinging the weighty weapon. It took four swings for Zabuza to drop the sword and engage her fully in hand-to-hand combat.
They fell into a steady pattern of dodging and blocking. Sakura waited until he familiarized himself with her arm movements.
Then she switched to her legs.
He barely dodged the first kick. The second left a medium-sized crater where his foot rested. The third grazed his forearm and the fourth—
Well.
"You're a monster." Zabuza breathed, backed up against a tree.
Sakura could feel her lips twitch.
"If you leave now, you can catch up with Haku near the village."
Zabuza glanced at the foot between his legs, almost daring it to inch higher.
"And miss all the fun?"
"What, this?" She gestured behind her, where her clones were playing a deadly round of Tag with the other shinobi. "You're not missing much."
Sakura played it cool as an explosion went off in the background.
"I'm sure." He replied dryly.
For all the trouble he put her through, Kakashi does deserve an ass-kicking…
"I was the one who framed you." She caught herself saying.
Wait, what the fuck am I saying!
"I know."
This caught her off-guard.
Sakura stepped backwards, remembering to put a healthy amount of space between them.
Zabuza rolled his eyes, casually leaning against the tree.
"Are you here for revenge then?" She asked, cautiously.
"Bah." He waved a hand in her direction. "Your spineless schemes do not concern me."
Annoyance twinged in the back of her mind. Sakura tilted her head curiously. "Then what does?"
"An unfinished duel."
She blinked.
A fight.
He came back looking for a fight?
She opened her mouth to reply, to laugh, to mock him. Anything. Her brain just about short-circuited.
"The food's crap." He grouched, "Might as well get a good fight out of this shithole."
He's joking, right?
"There's atleast one team of ANBU here." Sakura warned.
"Last time I checked, they're not here for me." He looked at her pointedly.
She shook her head, feeling laughter bubble up her throat.
"And I went through the trouble of healing you." She mumbled halfheartedly.
He eyed her strangely. "Keep an eye on the kid for me." He said.
"Sorry," She replied. "He's your kid, you do it."
Zabuza scoffed. He disappeared without another word.
She turned back to see Zabuza carry on fighting as though he'd never been interrupted.
Sakura hopped onto the nearest sturdy-looking tree and circled closer to the battle taking place.
Kage-bunshin-no-Kakashi looked sufficiently occupied, stuck between the rock that is Zabuza and the hard place that Sakura strongly suspects is a ROOT ninja.
Good, She sniffed, he deserves it.
It's amazing really, Sakura thought appreciatively, how much damage his clone can take.
With her captor sufficiently occupied, Sakura's thoughts turned inwards. If she left now, she could hide out in River country for a bit before making her way to Tobari no Sato. The black market there was second only to Konoha's very own shinobi library in terms of information. She was bound to find some leads there and conceivably, be able to plan her next step.
Sakura spared a thought for the boys.
She quickly discarded her concerns. They were with Hatake Kakashi. They'll be fine.
She sent Zabuza one last glance then turned to leave.
"SAKURA!"
Sakura flinched, almost falling off her perch.
While she was sure the foliage kept her hidden, Kakashi's face was turned in the general direction of her location. She shifted closer.
Kakashi was stuck in a deadlock, a kunai fastened against the ANBU's tantō and his spine hooked against Zabuza's Sword.
Blood dripped down his side, staining the grass underneath the trio. His two-toned eyes looked straight at her.
And perhaps the most distressing detail about Kakashi, Sakura realized with dawning horror, was that he was not a clone.
Sakura felt her heart rate spike almost acutely.
Breathe.
Kakashi asked her a wordless question.
A question that genuinely warmed her core. A question that Sakura would answer affirmatively in a heartbeat, a thousand times over. In any scenario, for any Kakashi, the answer was always a resounding yes.
Black ink bled into her skin, lines drawing themselves out from her forehead and down her neck. Sakura disappeared between the flaps of a hummingbird's wings.
With a flick of her wrist, the ANBU took flight; wind whistling as they passed between one tree and the next. She caught hold of Kakashi's shoulder for leverage, jumping up and driving a knee into Zabuza's temple. He tumbled away from them. His sword followed, forcibly wrenched out of Kakashi's gut by the sheer force of her assault.
Sakura caught Kakashi as he fell, propelling an abundant amount of chakra into his wounds. In short order, blood vessels reconnected, organs healed and muscles stitched themselves back together. By the time he hit the floor, not even a scar was left to remind him of his injuries.
A soundless gasp of relief left Kakashi's lips. It was all he had time to do.
They blinked out of existence.
Zabuza propped himself up against his sword, bewildered, out of breath and utterly alone.
"I want a rematch!" He bellowed.
His only acknowledgement was a singular, feeble echo.
Kakashi spat out more leaves, gagging at the taste. The trees passed in a blur, shades of green crossing their vision. He resigned himself to picking twigs out of his hair for the foreseeable future.
"Where are they?" She asked curtly.
"The bridge." He answered instantly. "South-side."
Kakashi watched in somber fascination as her facial marks faded out. She glanced down at him, a smile tugging the edge of her mouth. He crinkled his eyes in reply.
She hiked him higher into her arms.
"You know," he started pragmatically, "I do resent the position I'm in."
"Unfortunate." She drawled and then remained mum on the topic.
Kakashi sighed.
He couldn't sulk for long. The tang of salt coated the air, stinging his nose into awareness. They were closing in on the sea.
A few moments later, they emerged from the tree-line. Sakura changed directions and started moving along the coast. They were picking up speed, Kakashi noted. They were also, he remarked apprehensively, picking up quite a bit of wood chips.
While he couldn't glance down to confirm his thoughts, Kakashi assumed the branches were bearing the brunt of a fair amount of chakra. Minute pin-pricks along his back lent weight to his suspicions.
"They'll be fine." Kakashi spoke up. Bark exploded into confetti beneath them. Sakura's face remained impassive.
"Root—", Kakashi sighed, "—will want to take them in alive."
"Danzo is using my presence here to covertly recruit the boys." She responded.
Kakashi blinked. "Yes."
"And the Hokage will turn a blind eye to this?"
"Well, no."
Sakura raised an eyebrow in question.
"That's why I'm here. To prevent that."
She scoffed derisively at his words. "Ah yes. Your clone, with less than twenty percent of your strength, will fight off an entire team of ANBU to protect two morons who can't differentiate between mortal peril and their own left toe."
Kakashi laughed, but Sakura couldn't help but fret. She'd experienced a reality where Kakashi was gravely injured and Sasuke almost died. It was her first brush with the sheer impermanence of her mortality. And now she's returned, stronger, more efficient and undoubtedly making things worse.
They leapt away from the trees and onto the top of an arch marking the entrance to the bridge.
There, just like in her past, the civilian builders were knocked out left and right. Some were alarmingly still and heavily splattered with blood; others were moaning in pain, in various stages of semi-consciousness.
It was only on the far end of the bridge, where the pavement tapered off into nothing, that most of the action was taking place. A mass of Orange crawled along the free edge of the bridge, hanging onto any inch of free space.
Sakura sharpened her eyes with a touch of chakra.
"There." She intoned. "They're protecting some civilians. I can't see any ROOT but I spotted Sasuke."
Kakashi nodded once, looking relieved at having his feet under him.
"Your clone?"
"Dissipated as of two minutes ago."
Sakura's jaw clenched. She glanced at Kakashi's face, he was unreadable.
"Kakashi."
He hummed in question.
"If you ever use them as bait again, I will tear you apart with my bare hands."
Kakashi's lone eye widened at the accusation. It was all the answer she needed.
She used a Body Flicker Jutsu and materialized in the middle of the crowd.
"Sakura-neechan!" A chorus of questions followed. She put a hand out and ruffled the hair on top of the nearest clone.
She scanned the sea of Orange and pinpointed Sasuke. He nodded at her in greeting, seemingly unsurprised to see her.
Three ROOT ninja emerged from the shadows on the other side of the Orange mass. Sakura made eye-contact with all three.
"I surrender."
Here, Take my word-vomit.
Have I mentioned that women carrying men make me go absolutely feral? Because it does.
It's up to you to decide how much of Kakashi's plan was premeditated and how much was sheer happenstance.
Every time I think about building a bridge between Kakashi and Sakura, my brain goes: Okay but what if we just. Didn't?
Tell me what y'all think?
Spirit seer, thank you so much for all the tips and encouragements.
JintoLin, I'm feeling very called out right now. My inspiration for this story WAS a protective figure for the boys. You read me like a book!
Till next time, my fellow readers!