Sunday, April 21st.

I got the 5 reviews I needed to update, so here it is!

I don't really like this chapter but it needed to be done.

It was hard to write it too...so much writer's block.

But I did it for you guys! Because I love you!

Thanks for the reviews, guys. :D

And thank you all, readers.

Answer to Question of the Week: Konoha is my favorite village. If I had to pick a country it'd probably be fire. Konoha's green and I think would have a nice climate, and is a lovely village, home to our many favorites. And by the way, Shikamaru is also one of my favorite characters. I can't believe I forgot him...

I also noticed my answer to the Question of the Week last week was cut off. I don't know why... Just the last sentence remained...

Disclaimer: Kishimoto hasn't contacted me yet, guys, to give me the copyrights. So no.

Now read on!


Chapter 9: Plan | Rematch

Sakura POV

As I arrived at the clearing, I found Haku seated there, admiring the flowers around us.

And truth be told, this clearing/meadow/place was beautiful.

Ino would have a field day…it's gorgeous here.

"Sakura, hello." Haku said. "Here, take a seat." Haku was sitting a circle of bare earth – because he didn't want to sit on the flowers I presumed.

There was room in front of him, so I took it, trying not to be distracted by the beautiful scenery. There's a reason I'm here.

"You had gotten my letter, right?" I nodded.

"Then I should start by saying that I remember everything." My eyes widened, though I figured as much already. What reason would Haku have to get me to meet him if he didn't already know who I was?

"Itachi sent our –mine and Zabuza-sama's– souls back here to assist you. However, around the others, we pretend not to know you. I presume Zabuza-sama did well."

I was stunned. Zabuza knew?!

I nodded stiffly. I think he did too good of a job, damnit!

"Sorry, he may have gotten a bit carried away." Haku said, laughing embarrassedly. My expression confirmed his suspicions, I guess, so he chuckled a bit.

You know…just saying, but Haku is totally crush-worthy. He's nice, seems to be the sweet & sensitive type, devoted, handsome albeit feminine…what more could a girl want? Did I mention devoted? We may not be interested in him, but this needed to be said.

I almost nodded at my Inner, but resorted to saying, "Yeah," mentally.

"Did I-…He give you any memories aside from your own?" I asked Haku.

"Sort of," he said. "Think of it this way – we basically watched a movie about your guys' lives, before and after our resurrection, to now. Every night, though, I have dreams about what'd happen if you had never left the future. Do have them too?"

"Some," I said, nodding. "I haven't gotten any in a while, though." Usually a couple days a week, but I haven't gotten a single one for 10 days now. I know about the fate of…Neji-san, Shikaku-san, I-Inoichi-san, and some others, but not much past that…(1)

Haku smiled. "Then I think you have something to look forward to." What is he talking about?(2)

"What is it?"

He shook his head, still smiling. "That'd ruin the surprise."

I pouted, but decided to move on. "So why'd you call me here?"

"I wish to form a plan for us to follow for the duration of your stay in Waves." I nodded. Makes sense…can't have us accidently kill each other if it's not necessary, right?

"Okay…what do you have in mind? Oh – and I'd rather you guys live this time, if possible. He said some events cannot be avoided again, namely deaths, but hopefully, you and Zabuza may live this time." I said. Their deaths helped us discover Naruto's ninja way, but I still don't want them to die. They deserve a life to live freely…

"Well, as far as the lives of my master and I go, if Zabuza dies, so do I. If we die, we die, and we can't change that. But…I don't intend to purposely get ourselves killed. How about we leave that up to fate?"

"Agreed."

"Alright, so…." Haku began, and the two of us spent the next hour planning and making a new friend.


"Sakura-chan! Why not sleep with me?" Naruto asked, opening the flap of his futon.

"Because the futons are too small, I don't want to, you snore, and worst of all, you kick in your sleep." I replied evenly, getting under my own convers between Sasuke and Kakashi.

Kakashi was to right, Sasuke was to my left, and to the right of Kakashi was Naruto. We couldn't trust Naruto and Sasuke to sleep together peacefully, and none of the guys wanted Naruto accidently kicking me in his sleep while I was injured before, so next to Kakashi it was.

Naruto pouted at my refusal at first, but said goodnight to all of us, and promptly fell asleep snoring seconds later.

"I still don't understand how he does that," Sasuke commented, looking at his best friend.

"Neither do I," I said.

He smirked at me –stupid heart, slow down!– and I returned it with a grin.

Then, I yawned, and looked over to Kakashi to see him asleep. Maybe. He may be pretending…

I turned back to Sasuke. "Goodnight, Sasuke-kun."

I laid futon.

"Goodnight, Sakura." He replied, turning on his side to sleep.

For a little while, I stared at the ceiling, thinking of the events of that night.

At dinner, I had "learned of" Inari's hatred for Gato and the reason he deems everything hopeless – his father's death.(3)

Today, Haku also told me that he had talked to Naruto before me, and made sure to talk about his devotion to Zabuza – without mentioning Zabuza's name, of course. He also made sure Naruto knew he was male.

So that's why Naruto took so long to just take a leak…(4)

…Yeah…

I also made sure I had a chance to relay our plan to Sai, so he knew what was going on and wasn't totally oblivious.

I yawned. I guess that means "time to sleep, Sakura".

I soon fell into a deep sleep, anticipated the next day.


It was the afternoon of the next day, and I'm relentlessly jumpy. I'm sure the others noticed.

"You okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. "You're so jumpy."

"I'm fine, Naruto." I replied, turning to him. "'You goin' somewhere?"

Naruto was putting on his shoes and zipping up his jacket. "Yeah. I'm going to meet Teme, Teme II, and Kakashi-sensei to train where we learned the tree climbing exercise. (5) I almost made it all the way last time! Wanna come?"

"Around three o'clock in the afternoon, all of you need to be near the forest or even better, in it. We'll find you there."

Haku's words echoed in my head. It was two right now; the boys would be training for at least an hour. "Yeah, let's go!"

I followed him out the door.


For a while, I watched the boys do their best to climb all the way to their respective tree while Kakashi read his porn, and answer Sai's questions about society.

"-and that, Sai, is why politics is so delicate. Does that help you?" I was saying, before Naruto suddenly whooped and hollered, running over to me and picking me up, swirling me around in a circle.

"I did it! I did it, Sakura-chan! I finally made it up the tree! And before Sasuke-teme!" After he put me down, I reciprocated the hug he gave me and congratulated him.

"Congrats, Naruto!" We high-fived.

Then, Sasuke walked over, noticeably irritated. "I finished, too."

Against my better judgment, I hugged him as well, though I parted quickly. He didn't seem to mind the hug –was that a blush? Ooh! – so I continued to congratulate him.

"That's great, Sasuke-kun!" I said smiling.

"Hn." He replied. I sweat-dropped. He's going to be pissed for a while…

Kakashi put his book away, and he and Sai walked up to us. "How about we celebrate with ramen and omusubi, huh? (5) I found a good restaurant that has both."

Sasuke's eyes lit up a bit –though he tried to hide it– and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go." He said.

Naruto jumped up and down. "Fuck yeah! Let's go!" (6)

"Language, Naruto," Kakashi chastised.

Said knucklehead dragged us all the way to a large clearing near the edge of the forest, and would've pulled us all away into town for the restaurant if it wasn't for the kunai nailing itself into a tree nearby.

"Shit!" Kakashi cursed under his breath. Says the guy just chastising Naruto for language.

It's time, I thought, ignoring my Inner's comment.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Hatake and those kids? How about a rematch, huh? One that ends with you dead."

Zabuza stepped into the clearing, and immediately, fog thickened the air. "Careful, guys!" Kakashi shouted.

Zabuza turned towards me. "I may have underestimated you earlier, but be warned – this time I'm prepared and will be watching you."

Then, he turned towards the trees and called someone out. "Haku!"

Haku leaped out of the trees, to the ground near his master. "Take care of the kids, will ya'? I'll leave a clone for the pale one and the pink one, too, maybe, but take care of the others. Pinky's is stronger than she looks, so be wary."

Haku, in his combat attire and mask, nodded.

"Zabuza-sama and I will appear out of the trees, and surround you with the mist. We will engage in a fight – he will fight Kakashi-san, a clone or two will keep Sai-san occupied, while I deal with you, Naruto-kun, and Sasuke-san. As well as a clone of Zabuza's."

After Zabuza made a clone and had it attack Sai, Haku charged us. Immediately, Naruto and Sasuke were on their guard, fending off the other nin.

It was three vs. one, and Haku still appeared to have the upper hand.

"I will trap Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san in the mirror dome as before, and if you wish, you may enter it. I will push their limits so Sasuke-san will awaken his Sharingan, but I don't plan on impaling him with many kunai like before. After his Sharingan awakes, I will allow him and Naruto-kun to defeat me. It doesn't matter if Kurama's chakra awakens in Naruto-kun."

The next moments were spent in a frenzy of ninjutsu and taijutsu against our respective opponents.

Sai at first tried to use his painted beasts to assist him, but they proved to be useless in the mist – melting away after seconds. With no other choice, he used his tanto and taijutsu to fight the Zabuza clone – genjutsu was never his specialty.

Kakashi was locked in a tight battle with the original Zabuza, making sure to keep his fight away from us, as to not get us accidently injured.

I concentrated on my own fight, against Haku and another Zabuza clone with Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke just had his Fuma Shuriken broken into pieces by the Zabuza clone and the small needles of Haku's, which had split the the Shuriken into pieces by somehow needling into its parts and separating them, causing its current status. (7)

Naruto just had many of his clones dissipated by Haku's needles, and I just suffered a hard punch to the jaw by the Zabuza clone. Any minute now…

"Hidden Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" Just in time.

Zabuza's clone pushed me out of the growing circle of mirrors, engaging me privately while leaving my teammates trapped.

Despite the fact that this was all part of a plan, I panicked. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" I shouted, as my view of them disappeared.

"Sakura!" They both echoed. I need to calm down…things will be alright this time. No one will get seriously hurt.

"Pay attention, little girl!" Said my Zabuza clone, kicking me in my stomach. The kick sent me flying and I hit a nearby tree. I coughed up blood. If it wasn't for Haku, I'd think Zabuza didn't remember anything and wasn't on my side at all. He's too good at acting like the bad guy.

"Is that all you got?" The clone taunted.

I shook my head, getting up. "Not even close!" I yelled, running at my opponent.


I was nearing my limit, and the fight seemed to be going on for hours. The whole time, I kept my ears trained to the dome nearby, whilst trying to keep this Zabuza clone from killing me, though I was supposed to be assured that he wouldn't. This guy should win an Oscar…and he's enjoying this way too much.

Several times, Zabuza smirked under his bandages, and grinned. That let me know that he was on my side and that he was enjoying this. A lot.

Suddenly, 3 senbon slipped through the mirrored dome and into a triangle formation near my feet.

To an outsider, it'd be just three regular kunai that slipped through the dome.

To me, it was a message. "When Sasuke has awakened his Sharingan, I will send three kunai to your feet to make an isosceles triangle."(8)

I thought it was a little odd that he was so specific, but now, I looked at the formation of the kunai. Yup. Seems about right.

Knowing Naruto & Sasuke vs. Haku was going to end soon, I snuck a look towards my other teammate and sensei.

Sai was covered in gashes and scrapes, but he appeared to be wrapping the fight up after I saw that he noticed the kunai at my feet, remembering the plan.

Kakashi was still engaged in his fight with the original Zabuza, and he appeared to be winning. I could only hope that he wouldn't kill Zabuza. That'd be bad.

I continued my fight with the clone with renewed energy. It's almost over…

Suddenly, all the mirrors in the dome shattered and dropped to the ground. The boy who summoned them was in the middle, his mask off to the side, broken in half, and he himself was covered in bruises and cuts.

Near him were Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, and Naruto had Kurama's chakra swirling around him. However, the chakra seemed to be returning back into his body, and the features that were enhanced by the chakra –eyes, teeth, whiskers– slowly returned to normal.

The two of them were panting heavily.

"Haku…" Naruto muttered. I forgot…he had just discovered the boy he talked to in the forest was the same one he had just defeated.

I turned back to my clone, pulling out a kunai. The clone winked and as I moved to stab his stomach. At first I was confused. But when he didn't make a move to escape me, and willingly dissipated, I realized what the wink was for. It was a signal that he was letting me win the fight.

He let me win it in a way that would seem like a lucky swipe to outsiders, erasing any suspicion.

Suddenly, I heard chirping, and the pulse of energy.

I turned to my sensei. "Chidori!" He yelled, thrusting his hand into Zabuza's side, using his distracted glance at the fallen Haku to his advantage.

Yelling in pain, Zabuza fell to the ground, and Kakashi stood above him, ready if Zabuza was still able to get up.

Sai finished with his clone as well, and ran over to our sensei, ready to assist him if necessary.

Obviously exhausted and defeated, Zabuza sighed. "You and your kids win, Hatake."

We relaxed, falling to the ground in exhaustion. Minus Kakashi and Sai, that is. Kakashi was still on his guard, and Sai was as well for show.

"Mind pulling Haku's body over here? I can get up, but I can't pick Haku up," Zabuza requested. Kakashi looked at him skeptically, but I went over and picked Haku up.

With Sai's help, we placed him next to Zabuza. The scene was too familiar, and I pushed tears back. They aren't dying this time. Stop crying!

Haku mouthed "thank you" to us.

"I hate to say this," Zabuza started. "But just because we're down doesn't mean you're done with Gato. He was your original threat, right? Gato doesn't give up…I suggest getting rid of him of you want all this to be over. Where's that carpenter guy, anyway?"

Naruto groaned. "Ugh…I forgot all about that Gato guy!"

"Where is he?" Kakashi asked, ignoring Zabuza's last question and Naruto's outburst.

"Right here!" A voice shouted.

All of us turned to the owner.

There was Gato, as well as seemingly all of his hired mercenaries and rouge ninja.

They had us completely surrounded.

Shit.


(1): If you've read the manga since New Year's, you know what I'm talking about. She's saying her dreams haven't progressed much farther than those incidents.
(2):
Chapter 627. Enough said. The manga was on break this week, too, so we were left hanging since that chapter...damn. At least it'll update this coming week.
(3):
When I wrote that sentence, I was getting this memory I had of when I was watching an anime a couple years back. The male, main character was trying to prove to this kid that anything was possible by learning to do a backflip in a week. The kid reminded me greatly of Inari, and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember what the protagonist's name was and what anime he was from. All I remembered was that he was from a shounen, I watched it a couple year's back, he's male, and his hair is not very dark, if dark at all. Then, I remembered that it was Ueki, or Kousuke from Law of Ueki. I was so relieved. That had me stumped for days and it was driving me nuts.
(4):
Remember in the last chapter Sakura mentioned Naruto taking a while to get back from answering nature's call in the woods? Now you know why.
(5):
Teme II = Sai. It's one of Naruto's nicknames for him.
(6):
That was inspired by a Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood English blooper. That was hilarious. Al's voice saying, "Fuck yeah!" as a kid...I died. Here: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Outakes *SPOILERS*
(7):
Remember Sasuke vs. Itachi in Shippuden? Sasuke threw his Fuma shuriken at Itachi, and as Itachi epically jumped through it, Sasuke used the chakra strings he attached to the weapon to split it apart. That's the effect I was thinking of here. Sorry if it was confusing. Just see that scene and imagine that it was from Haku's senbon (plural) splitting it apart rather than chakra strings pulling them apart.
(8):
If you don't know, an isosceles triangle is a triangle with 2 equally-length sides and one that isn't the same length. If none of the sides are the same length, it's scalene, if they all are, they're equilateral. Blame math...and I'm not sure why I had an isosceles triangle rather than not specifying at all or just something else. It is what it is.

I didn't like this chapter much. I just didn't. But it had to be written.

Question of the Week: Which of the American Big Three anime (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece) have you seen and can you rank them in order (if you've seen two or all three)?

BTW, guys. My 50th reviewer will get a one-shot with their choice of pairing as long as I ship it, too (I can't write anything I don't have a shred of belief in) as well as the plot of their choice. DoOver right now as of chapter 25 (I'm updating it RIGHT after this) so that's why I'm bringing it up, since I'm doing it for the 100th reviewer.

Same will apply to my 100th reviewer of ReWind, 150th, etc. Alright?

Love,

Cherry.