Previously:

'He… He cleaved a man's head off with just a kunai… using only his teeth!' April thought as she stared at the gruesome scene before her with wide eyes, stunned. Naruto bit his lip nervously as he broke out in a cold sweat. No wonder people called him a 'demon'…

"…" Kakashi said as he closed both eyes for a moment, unsurprised. Having crossed blades with him, he knew better than any of them how absurdly strong Zabuza was. For a moment, Zabuza just stood askance next to Gatō's headless corpse. Blood was dripping onto the ground by his feet, running down his arms from the wounds on his back. He looked like some sort of macabre voodoo doll with all of those swords sticking out of him. Zabuza's eyes suddenly shot up from the blood pooling on the ground to glare at all the thugs.

"AHHHH!!!" The men shouted in alarm, reeling back in fear. But Zabuza was done. His body was ready to collapse. He staggered forward as he let the kunai drop from his mouth.

'This is goodbye, Haku… Thank you for everything…' Zabuza thought as he fell forward, crashing into the ground. 'I'm sorry…'

Chapter 29: The Bridge of Heroes

Everyone stared in astonishment at the body of the fallen missing-nin. Naruto closed his eyes and started to turn his head away, unable to watch anymore.

"Don't look away." Kakashi said firmly, watching the difficult scene with a steady gaze, determined to bear witness to the end out of respect for his enemy. "It's the end of a man who lived a difficult life." Naruto noticed April was also doing her best to keep watching.

"… Yeah…" Naruto said, clenching his fists as he turned back, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead this time.

KRANG! KRANG! KRANG!

"Hey! Hey! Hey! You guys really think you have time to be standing around like that!?" One of the thugs sneered rather obnoxiously as he beat the end of the metal pipe he was using as a club against the ground to make sure he had their undivided attention.

"!" Kakashi and the others said as they all turned their attention to the thugs.

"What's… going on?" Sasuke asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position while the girls were distracted. He furrowed his brow when he saw how many enemies they still had left to deal with.

"Damn ninjas… You killed out meal ticket…!!" Another thug shouted.

"You guys are dead!!" Another yelled.

"Now we're gonna pillage this city and take anything of value!!" The one with the pipe sneered.

"Yeah! Yeah!" The others jeered in agreement.

"Damn… This is bad." Kakashi said, furrowing his brow.

"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have a special jutsu to defeat them all!?" Naruto asked urgently.

"I can't… After the Lightning Blade, summoning, and Sharingan, I used too much chakra!" Kakashi answered regretfully, sparing a second to glance back at the others. April had also used up an incredible amount of chakra trying to break Haku's ice mirrors, and Sasuke was still heavily wounded. They were both struggling just to get back on their feet to face these new opponents.

"Let's begin!!!" The man with the pipe yelled as he lead the charge against the exhausted and injured ninjas. The thugs all let out enthusiastic shouts as they eagerly followed him, thinking overwhelming them would be easy now that they were so worn down.

WOOSH. TWANG!

"!!" The thugs gasped, stopping short when a small harpoon suddenly came flying out of nowhere, piercing the ground in front of them.

"!?" The others said as they risked taking their eyes off the thugs to look behind them for its source. Their eyes widened in surprise at what they saw. A huge crowd of armed men from the city had gathered behind them. Standing at the front was none other than Inari. It was him who had fired that warning shot.

"If you come any further onto our island… the citizens of this country will stop you with everything we've got!!" Giichi declared boldly at Inari's side, speaking on behalf of everyone present.

"… Inari… You…" Tazuna said, surprised and deeply touched. Tears began to form in his eyes. He had never been more proud of his grandson.

"Inari!!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

"Man… You've got great timing, kid!" April said with a wry grin.

"Hehe, a hero always shows up at the last second, right?" Inari quoted Naruto with a cheeky grin.

"Alright, I'm going to help out too!!" Naruto said, forming a hand seal. 'Shadow Clone Jutsu!!!' He thought, creating a handful of clones to up their numbers.

"Eh?" The thugs said, surprised.

'I can do that at least… It might fool them…' Kakashi thought, also forming the hand seal for that technique. 'Shadow Clone Jutsu!!! Kakashi Version!!' Using the same amount of chakra as Naruto, the jōnin created almost five times as many clones.

"GAAAAH!!" The thugs exclaimed, alarmed by the rapid increase in enemies.

"So… You want some of this!?" Kakashi asked darkly as he and his clones narrowed their eyes in a dangerous glare.

"No, we don't!!" The thugs yelled as they turned tail and ran, scrambling to get back on their boat and leave as fast as humanly possible. "Let's get out of here!!"

"We did it!!" Inari and the other citizens cheered triumphantly as the villains sailed away, never to be seen again, while Kakashi and Naruto released their jutsu. April smiled brightly, relieved that everything had worked out so well. Everyone had managed to survive! Well, not everyone… Her smile faltered slightly as she watched Kakashi stand up and walk past Haku's corpse, making his way over to Zabuza, who was still lying face first on the ground.

"Looks like its over… Kakashi…" Zabuza commented weakly, just barely still alive.

"Yes…" Kakashi answered calmly.

"Kakashi… I have a request…" Zabuza said, causing Kakashi to pause as he raised his hand to pull his forehead protector back down.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I want… to see his face…" Zabuza said. He wanted to see Haku one last time before he died.

"…" Kakashi furrowed his brow slightly as he finished sliding his forehead protector down to cover his Sharingan. "Sure…" He agreed sympathetically. Kakashi kneeled down and removed all of the blades in Zabuza's back so he could turn him over and carry him to Haku. While he was doing this, something amazing happened.

"Huh?" Naruto said, glancing up at the sky when he felt something cold his nose.

"… It's snowing." April said, also looking up as a light flurry of flakes began to gently float down around them. It was beautiful.

"Snow at this time of year…?" One of the men from the city asked, stunned, as they all stared up at the sky in astonishment. It felt surreal.

'Haku… Are you crying…?' Zabuza wondered, watching the snow fall as Kakashi carried. Kakashi kneeled down and laid him on the ground beside Haku. "Thanks… Kakashi…" Kakashi nodded and moved back to give him some space so he could spend his final moments in peace. Zabuza turned his head to look at Haku's face. With his eyes closed, he almost looked as if he were just asleep. 'You have always been by my side… I'd like to be by your side at the end…' Zabuza thought as he raised a shaking hand to gently touch Haku's face. "If I could… I'd like to… go to the same place… as you…" Zabuza told him, using his final breath, as his eyes closed, and he joined Haku in death. A lone snowflake landed on the corner of one of Haku's closed eyes and melted, flowing down the side of his face like a tear.

"He… was born in a snowy village…" Naruto said sadly, sniffing as tears streamed heavily down his own face. April was having a hard time holding back tears of her own.

"I see…" Kakashi said solemnly. "He was a boy as pure as the snow…" 'You will be able to go… Zabuza…' He thought. 'Together…'

Once everything was over, the citizens quietly gathered up Zabuza and Haku and respectfully carried their bodies away to be prepared for burial. Even if they had started out as enemies, it was ultimately thanks to them that Gatō was dead. As Team 7 watched in silence, April finally felt safe enough to finally let her guard down and allowed herself to relax, collapsing into a sitting position on the ground.

"Eh? A-April!?" Naruto said worriedly, spinning around to check on her.

"Are you all right, April-chan?" Sakura asked, concerned.

"Hey, pull yourself together." Sasuke chided her with a small frown. He was heavily injured, yet he was still standing. At a glance, it appeared her only injuries were bleeding knuckles and sprained wrist.

"Geez, give me a break!!" April retorted with a tired sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, utterly exhausted. "Do you have any idea how much chakra I used up trying to save you guys? I'm totally running on empty here…"

"Ah!! That's right!!" Naruto exclaimed, hitting his hand against his palm as he suddenly remembered how she had been repeatedly hitting Haku's ice mirrors with increasingly strong punches of chakra ever since the beginning of the battle. "Hehe… She managed to break one even though your fire jutsu was completely useless!!" He reminded Sasuke, causing their angsty teammate to flinch a little.

"And after you were taken out, Naruto got so mad that he hit Haku hard enough to send him flying through one of his own mirrors, and the others shattered along with his concentration on the jutsu." April added with a sly smirk. It was Naruto's turn to flinch as his cheeks flushed a little out of embarrassment, chagrined that she would reveal how much he actually cared in front of that jerk.

"…!!" Sasuke said, furrowing his brow as he stared at them in disbelief. 'No way…' He thought, clenching his fist. In other words, even though Haku had died at Kakashi's hand… these two had actually managed to defeat him before that without him…? It was unbelievable. How could those two get that strong after just that one week of training?

"Hmm…" Kakashi said thoughtfully as he kneeled down and gave her a good once-over. There was already some bruising around her wrist, and it was starting to swell, so it was probably broken… but other than that, she should be back to normal after resting for a week or two. Since it looks like April-chan can't move, I guess it's time I returned the favor from the other day, huh?" He said with a wry smile as he scooped her up to give her a piggyback ride back to the house.

"!" April said, fighting furiously to suppress her blush as she clung to his back with her good hand.

"Huh? But aren't you tired from using your Sharingan, Sensei?" Naruto asked. "If you want, I can…" His offer to take over died in his throat when April whipped her head around and shot him a sharp look of warning not to interfere with her happiness. There's no way she was about to let this opportunity to get close to Kakashi-sensei slip through her fingers! Naruto sweat-dropped and quickly backed off. He didn't get what was going on, but her intensity was kind of scary…

"Well, this much should be fine…" Kakashi said with a wry smile, wondering why Naruto suddenly looked so nervous, since he hadn't caught the laser eyes April was making at the boy only a second ago. Although this battle had been much more intense for his students, he hadn't had to use the Sharingan as long this time… So, thankfully, it wasn't taking such an extreme toll on his body this time around. He felt April snuggle closer to him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. She knew he wouldn't have offered if he couldn't handle it, so she was determined to take full advantage and enjoy it while it lasted.

—∞—

2 Weeks Later…

Kakashi watched with the boys as April and Sakura carefully placed some snacks and flowers on the graves of their enemies. With the bridge safely completed and Sasuke and April fully recovered, Team 7 had completed their mission and was ready to return home, so they had decided to visit Haku and Zabuza before leaving together to pay their respects. Well, most of them were being respectful. Naruto just couldn't resist trying to snag a dumpling from one of the offering plates.

"Ouch!" He winced as Sakura slapped his greedy little hand away.

"What are you doing!?" She demanded angrily with a vein throbbing on her forehead. "That's bad karma!!"

"Hehe…" Naruto laughed nervously, blushing slightly upon having been caught.

"If you're hungry, then you can eat these." April said, offering him some of the leftover orange-flavored cookies she had made since there wasn't enough room on the plates for all of them.

"No way!!" Naruto refused vehemently, rearing back away from her as if she had just offered him poison. "I can't trust you anymore!! Your cooking is nothing but lies!! You've been deceiving me this whole time!!" He declared dramatically with righteous fury. "I know you really put vegetables in there!! Inari told me he saw you!!" April deadpanned.

"Tch!" She clicked her tongue in annoyance. Damn… So, he'd finally discovered that she'd been secretly dosing him with hidden veggies this whole time to counteract his unbalanced diet… She was going to have to have a talk with Inari when they got back.

"Eh? There's vegetables in your sweets?" Sakura asked, surprised. "I couldn't tell at all…" Sasuke frowned slightly as he realized he hadn't noticed either. He had also been thoroughly deceived by April's skillful cooking.

"…" Kakashi said as he looked at their disappointed faces. Actually, he had noticed from the beginning thanks to his sharp senses, but she always made sure the flavors blended well together, and he had liked that her cooking was always on the more savory side since he'd never had much of sweet tooth himself. And Sakura should have noticed something was off when April told her she could eat her sweets while on a diet because they were low in sugar and fat but still gave the body a boost of energy after they were eaten.

"Oh, come on… Don't look at me like that!" April told her teammates with a frown, feeling chagrined. She refused to let herself feel guilty since it had been for their own good. Besides, it wasn't just the sweets, she did that with all of her cooking out of habit because her teacher had been a vegan, and she had noticed a long time ago that it gave her more stamina for training when she ate healthier. Naruto should count himself lucky that she was still a devoted omnivore who liked to indulge in some real meat and dairy on occasion. "To be fair, I never actually lied to any of you. I just omitted certain truths that you clearly weren't ready to hear yet… I mean, look at how you just reacted! You guys really think you're adults with that level of complaining over something so small? Naruto, if I had told you what was in them from the start, you never would have even given them a chance." Feeding him was like feeding a fussy toddler. "A Hokage who can't even make himself eat his vegetables would be pretty pathetic, don't you think!?" She scolded her younger friend, causing him to flinch in shock as he realized she was right.

"…" Sasuke and Sakura sweat-dropped while Kakashi smiled wryly. Rather than 'brother and sister', it felt more like they were watching an interaction between 'mother and child'.

"But…" Sakura said, deciding to change the subject. "Kakashi-sensei…"

"Hm?" Kakashi said, glancing at her.

"Were these two correct about ninjas?" She asked, voicing a concern that had been on all of their minds for the past two weeks.

"A shinobi aren't supposed to seek their reason to exist… It's important that they exist as a tool." Kakashi answered calmly, watching as their faces fell. It was a textbook answer. "That idea exists in Konoha, too."

"Is that really what it means to become a true ninja…?" April asked with a frown. That was super depressing. She had always viewed shinobi more as being ideally resilient and emotionally stable soldier-spies—like some super-badass Navy Seals or Marines who could mold chakra—you know, people who were willing to put their lives on the line and sacrifice themselves for their country, but were still viewed as a necessary existence and precious human resource by the people they were fighting to protect… To be told that they were just supposed to be emotionally repressed tools that could be thrown away the moment they weren't needed anymore really… April furrowed her brow, starting to get pissed just thinking about it. That kind of system really blowed! What jerk came up with that idea!? She knew it wasn't the Third, because that old man viewed everyone in the village as family.

"I kind of… don't like that…!!" Naruto said, also pouting in disappointment at their teacher's answer.

"You believe that, too?" Sasuke asked, glancing at Kakashi.

"Well, no… That's why shinobi unconsciously suffer from that idea." Kakashi admitted frankly after some thought. "Each and every ninja has to live while dealing with that issue… Just like Zabuza… and that boy…" They all stared solemnly at the two graves in silence.

'Yeah... It's unreasonable.' April thought with a frown. 'We can't selectively numb emotion. Numb the dark, and you numb the light, too. It's a lot healthier to let yourself feel everything as it comes. Emotions are energy. Repressing emotions blocks our energy, exhausting us or making us sick… Unexpressed emotions never really die. They're just buried alive until they resurface later in uglier ways. Besides, knowing our own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people…' She thought it was better to acknowledge what was really happening and let it out a little at a time instead of letting the pressure build up until the point where it would either crush you to death or erupt in a violent explosion…

"… Ok, I just decided!!" Naruto stated abruptly, getting everyone's attention. "I'm going to be a ninja in my own way!!" April's eye widened slightly for a second, but then she smiled, looking relieved.

"Right!!" She said, clenching her fist as a new wave of determination burned in her eyes. That's right, there's no point in getting all caught up and depressed about stuff that was beyond their control. "Who cares what anyone else says! I'm just gonna keep doing what I can and focus on being the best 'me' possible so that I won't have any regrets!!"

"!" Kakashi said as his eye widened slightly, a bit surprised by their sudden declarations.

"Yeah!!" Naruto said excitedly, glad to hear that they were on the same page. "Let's run straight down the path of our own ninja ways, where we won't have any regrets!!"

"Oh, well said!!" April praised Naruto, giving him a firm pat on the back. "When we get back, I'll treat you to some Ichiraku~!"

"Alright!!!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist in the air. Kakashi smiled as he watched them. Something told him that whatever the future may bring, these two would be just fine.

–∞–

"Thanks to you, we've completed the bridge, but… this is super sad…" Tazuna said as he stood at the gates of the finished bridge with everyone to see them off.

"Thank you for everything." Kakashi told him with a smile.

"Don't worry! We'll come visit you again one day!" Naruto promised with a grin, feeling a little happy that so many people had come.

"Yep!" April agreed with a smile. "After all, there's this great bridge we can use now." She added a bit cheekily.

"You… better…" Inari told them, trembling slightly as he bit his lip, clearly on the verge of tears.

"… Ergh!" Naruto bit his lip as his own eyes started to become a little misty. "Inari… You're sad, right? It's all right to cry!" He told his little friend with a forced grin, shaking from the effort of holding back his tears. "Cry…!" He added a bit more forcefully, earning himself an odd look from Sakura and wry smile from April.

"I'm not going to cry!!" Inari yelled back stubbornly, squeezing his eyes shut as snot started to drip from his nose. "But, Naruto, you can cry too!!"

"Fine…" Naruto said quietly as he abruptly turned away. "Later…"

"Ah!" Inari gasped, reaching out as he flinched in shock. In that instant, both boys let their guard down as their self-control reached its breaking point, and comical trails of thick tears began streaming from their eyes while their noses ran.

"Pft!" April had to clap a hand over her mouth to suppress an amused laugh as she watched. 'They're like twins…' She thought with an affectionate smile.

'Geez… This stubborn guy!' Sakura thought, sweat-dropping, as she eyed the long, nasty string of loose snot dangling out of Naruto's nose warily. He was so dead if the wind blew that thing onto her…

"That boy changed Inari's heart… And Inari changed the people's hearts…" Tazuna said as he and the rest of the citizens watched the ninjas walk away, using the bridge they had built to return to the mainland. "That boy gave us a bridge to 'hope' called 'courage'."

"Bridge, eh…?" Giichi said thoughtfully. "Oh, yeah… We still need to name this bridge."

"Oh, I forgot. But I have a super perfect name for this bridge." Tazuna said.

"Oh!?" The others said, surprised.

"What is it?" Giichi asked curiously.

"How about… 'The Great Naruto Bridge'?" Tazuna proposed with a grin.

"Hehe… That's a good name!" Tsunami said with a smile.

"Yay!! Let's get home fast so I can have April treat me to that ramen she promised while I catch up with Iruka-sensei!!" Naruto said excitedly. "Oh, yeah!! And I have to tell Konohamaru about my legendary feats!!"

"Ah, that reminds me!" April said, hitting the palm of her hand. "I promised Moegi-chan that I would teach her how to make some homemade fruit snacks with gelatin…"

"Gelatin?" Sakura asked, making a face. Wasn't that stuff pure fat?

"Yeah, it's a very misunderstood food. I know it looks and giggles like fat, but gelatin made from bone broth is actually very good for you. Not only is it low in carbs and high in protein, but eating healthy amounts of it can increase your energy, boost your mood, reduce inflammation, promote healing, and aid in digestion and weight loss." April explained upon seeing the skeptical look on her face. "It's also great for your joints, skin, and hair. And you can gain even more health benefits depending on what fruits or vegetables you use to flavor it. It's colorful and fun to eat, so it's a great snack for kids and adults alike."

"Oh, yeah! That was pretty good the last time you made it!" Naruto said. It was kind of cool how she used mold to make them look like shurikens. He had no idea it was so healthy… How did April know all this stuff?

"Wait, did you just say weight loss?" Sakura asked, suddenly perking up. That bit about improving your hair and skin sounded good, too.

"Yep. If you're interested, I can teach you too." April offered. While she was there, maybe she could talk Sakura into forming some healthier eating habits. It worried her whenever she heard the younger girl talk about her not eating because she was on 'diet'. She was only twelve, for crying out loud!

"Okay!" Sakura agreed excitedly. "And then…" She blushed a little as her gaze shifted over to Sasuke. "Sasuke, how about a date when we get back?"

"No thanks." Sasuke answered bluntly, turning her down without the slightest bit of hesitation.

"B-But…" Sakura stuttered as she flinched in shock.

"Hey, hey, how about me!?" Naruto asked her, jumping in to try to catch her on the rebound.

"No!! Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura snapped angrily, giving him a hard whack on the head.

'Nice try, though…' April thought, sweat-dropping, as she watched the two of them continue to squabble with each other. Kakashi smiled wryly and let out a sigh at his students' antics. It was nice to see them so energetic, but… This was going to be a long walk home…

"You sure about that name?" Giichi asked as he and few of the other citizens sweat-dropped.

"Hehe… This name is in hope that this bridge will never crumble… and will one day become a super famous bridge whose name is known throughout the world…" Tazuna explained with a smile. Just like the boy it was named after.