Chapter 1, Part 1: A miraculous twist of fate
"Come back here, you…!"
His shout reverberated within her mind like shattering of glass piercing the silence of a small, enclosed room.
All her life, she thought she knew him. He was that lazy, irresponsible prankster who wasted everyone's time; the gullible, emotionally unintelligent idiot who was way too dense for his age.
But now, everything which unfolded before her was completely destroying everything she thought she understood about Naruto Uzumaki. He was always so dumb, so stupid; that's why she never paid attention to anything he said.
Sakura looked down at the body lying before her. His complexion was so pale, tiny cuts all over his face due to the impact of his mask shattering. Blood, presumably from the wound on his shoulder, had caked the tips of the hair which framed his face, some of it splattering across the front of his turquoise kimono. And unexpectedly, a huge chunk of ice had formed at the exact spot which had been hit by the Chidori.
She had to concentrate. But even as she worked, she couldn't ignore the conversation between the her teammate and that criminal. She had already treated Sasuke's injuries, and now Kakashi-sensei had told her to perform first aid on Haku...if he was alive. She was panicking. Technically, she knew what she was supposed to do, but every single piece of equipment she was holding right now, the bandages, the medicine, the injuries, they all suddenly felt so foreign to her.
"Can't you see? We shinobi are tools. I used Haku, just like how Gato used me...Bringing him along will be a hindrance to my ambitions, so I will be discarding him, just like how Gato intended to dispose of me."
"How dare you!" Naruto's voice screamed back.
The air surrounding the him felt unnaturally cold. Crouching down, Sakura started to examine the boy. No one could help him except for her, so she must do the job.
"You were together for so long...!"
Gently, she pressed the flat section of her fingers against the right side of his neck.
Her eyes widened.
"Yes, the loss of skill is inconvenient, but the boy means nothing to me."
Sakura squeezed out the antiseptic from the tube, evenly applying it to the boy's injured skin like butter across bread.
"Stop lying! Stop lying to yourself, you bastard!"
Naruto...Why would he listen to you? He's been like this for years...
"I am not. You are the delusional one," the criminal's voice was starting to become more and more distant.
Suddenly, she heard running footsteps. They were loud, uneven, uncoordinated, uncontrolled; just like the runner.
"Stop, Naruto!" she suddenly heard Kakashi-sensei's voice followed by the halting of footsteps. "Do not get us into unnecessary fights!"
"I don't care! I'm gonna to give him the wake-up call of his life and no one's gonna stop me!"
Stop wasting your time, Naruto...!
Sakura ripped out a length of bandage measuring precisely two and a half metres long.
"Brat. I give up trying to explain anything to you. You are too naive, still stuck in your own world. In time, you will realise that what I say is true."
She wrapped the bandage around his shoulder five rounds, ensuring that she did not dislodge the ice during the process. The ice had seemed to greatly reduce blood loss, but his left arm was still in terrible shape. "He liked you…He really, really liked you…!"
"Doesn't he mean anything to you...anything at all?"
"When people become strong…Do they all become like you...?"
Sakura used the fastener to hold the bandage in place. She mustn't let this distract her. If she made even a single mistake, she would dramatically worsen his condition.
"Haku lived for you!"
"Everything he did, all those people he killed...it was all for you...and then he threw everything away...for you...like it was worthless…"
"He didn't even fulfil his own dreams yet..he never had his own…"
"And then...he just…"
He was always screaming his head off, or getting into arguments with Sasuke, or talking back to Kakashi-sensei, or trying to pester her into eating lunch with him.
For the first time, she heard it in his voice.
"Is that all you see…"
"A broken tool?"
She stuck her index finger beneath the bandage. Too tight, and blood circulation to the arm would be cut off and possibly speed up a gangrene infection. Too loose, and the blood loss would be too rapid.
Sakura took out another bandage of a similar length. She would now have to stabilise the ice to ensure it did not move around, or it might injure the surrounding internal organs.
"Kid…Don't say anything...anymore"
"When he was fighting you...He wasn't just thinking of me…He was thinking of you too…"
"He was too kind, too soft...as always..."
Sakura wrapped his shoulder with the bandage again, finishing by fastening it tight. Once again, she stuck her finger underneath the uppermost bandage.
"It's just like you said, punk. We shinobi are human too. Maybe... It's impossible to truly become emotionless tools."
"Or perhaps I just failed to reach that ideal…"
Naruto...
"He was...always by my side…"
"...You win."
And when Sakura looked down again, she found that the bandages she was holding were a little moist, soaked by tears which were not her own.
Naruto wiped away the beads of water which had condensed onto the window pane. Standing shoulder to shoulder, Naruto and Sakura tiptoed, glimpsing into the tiny wooden hut. The odour of iron and foliage mixed together, creating a disgusting stench which leaked out of the structure. Kakashi had forced the both of them to wait outside as the local village doctor treated Sasuke's and Haku's wounds, for he did not want either of them to disturb the process. The Leaf-nin and the former Mist-nin had to stand about an arm's length apart from each other, for the room was a little small.
They watched closely as the doctor tended to the two casualties. The boys were lying down on separate beds, a rolled up cloth placed on each of their foreheads. She had chosen to treat Sasuke's wounds first, for it would only take about two or three minutes, thus allowing her to fully concentrate on the other patient after that. The doctor worked quickly. She used a brown cloth to clean up Sasuke's wounds after pulling out the remaining senbon, cleaning away the debris and excess dried blood. Then, she applied a seaweed green paste to his damaged skin, which Sakura immediately recognised as a herbal antiseptic before covering it with bandages and plasters.
As the healer turned to address Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura pressed their ears against the glass. Her voice, although a little muffled, was still clear enough to be understood.
"The kid is very lucky," she quietly said. "When I first saw all those cuts and puncture wounds, I thought that one of his vital points was bound to be hit. He will be fine with a days rest."
The doctor's face darkened as she studied Haku's condition. "I'm not so sure about this child, though."
"Why is there ice in his shoulder?" she asked the former Mist-nin.
"It's probably his kekkei genkai. The kid can create ice from water at will. His body probably reacted instinctively and generated it to defend him from a Lightning Release attack," he replied calmly, feeling a strange sensation in his chest. Just because he did have feelings didn't mean he had to show them.
Adeptly, she examined the child and started treating his injuries.
"The bleeding has been greatly reduced by the bandages and the ice which seems to be melting at an abnormally slow rate," she explained. "I will provide an antibacterial medicine to help him fight against a possible gangrene infection. The frostbite hasn't caused any permanent damage yet, but if he doesn't get the proper treatment it will worsen and he will lose his arm."
"Unfortunately, we aren't adequately equipped to properly treat his condition, but if you can rush him to the Konoha Hospital within two or three days, he should be fine. Avoid disturbing the ice as far as possible, for it might damage the surrounding internal organs. You must leave quickly."
"Zabuza," Kakashi slowly started. "If you refrain from harming the citizens of Konoha and give us something valuable in exchange, I'm sure the Hokage will accept this...arrangement. Also, you'll probably need to disguise yourself before we leave. "
The Leaf-nin tightly gripped the back of his book, wondering if he had made the right choice. Obviously, under normal circumstances, allowing an S-class criminal into the village was the last thing any sane person would do, and would warrant heavy punishment from the Council under the charge of treason. Also, the fact that Kiri and Konoha's relationship was lukewarm at best meant that both may become embroiled in a major conflict if Zabuza's entry into the village became public knowledge.
"I see," Zabuza replied after a moment of contemplation. "I have data on a member of the Akatsuki, the current status of Kirigakure, and someone who can... control Tailed Beasts and their jinchuuriki. There are many details; I will elaborate once we reach your village."
Kakashi sighed. The Hokage would definitely need to know about this.
"We should get going soon."