"Gaara," a voice came out of the shadows, and for one hopeful second he thought maybe Naruto had come back to return the headbands and decide not to go to Konoha after all. Instead, the person who had spoken was none other than the Fourth Kazekage—Gaara's father. Turning from his usual view of the Sand Village on the roof, Gaara faced his father with crossed arms.
He was never quite sure where he stood with Rasa now that he'd gotten Shukaku under control. For the longest time, Rasa had sent assassins after him to try and eliminate him for accidentally unleashing the One-Tails. The thought of Yashamaru was still like a physical ache, made more bearable but not lessened. After all of the bloody history between them, it was odd that he and his father were able to talk casually like this.
"What is it, Father?" Gaara asked, respectful but wary. He couldn't stop himself from hating the man a little, even though he knew hate wouldn't lead to anything good. Naruto's strength from their first and final battle flashed through his mind, and he could still remember every word they'd spoken together that night.
Sometimes we have to fight to end fighting, you know? But fighting like ours, between people who understand the same pain, it leads to us understanding each other. That's why fighting to end fighting, and hating to end hate is the only time we should do those things. That, and whenever we need to fight or hate to save our loved ones. Any other time… I mean, it's just fuckin' stupid!
Naruto had laughed after he'd said it, looking up at the sky and grinning wide. The blonde haired jinchuuriki shone brighter than anyone Gaara had ever met, and he accepted without judgement until he knew every side of the story. Unless it came to someone hurting the people he loved, of course. Meeting someone like that, who truly believed peace was attainable through bonds, had changed Gaara's whole world. Now he was close not only to Naruto, but also to his brother and sister, who had somehow cared about him even in his darkest moments.
The only person he couldn't reconcile with was his father, because neither of them could bring themselves to trust the other. Rasa was too dedicated to the village and scared that Gaara would destroy it, and Gaara still held a deep-rooted fear that Rasa could turn Temari and Kankuro against him too.
From the shadows Rasa stood in to the patch of moonlight Gaara was bathed in, the two surveyed each other evenly. Gaara thought Rasa looked tired, and the thought shook him, because he'd always thought his father was invincible, even against the One-Tails. He was the first to drop his gaze.
"Do you like this village?" Rasa asked so suddenly that Gaara wondered for a second if he'd imagined it. His eyes flicked up and met his father's, and he thought of how much Naruto hated Konoha. Yet the blonde had looked out over the Sand Village with wistful eyes and said to Gaara:
Love your village. If it's you, I'm sure it'll love you back.
"I do," Gaara answered cautiously, not lying. His first years had been inexplicably hard, but now that people were used to him it was easier. In the Sand Village, strength was respected, and Gaara had a lot of that.
"What would you do to help it?" Rasa asked, his stern face unreadable. Gaara opened his mouth to say anything, then thought of Naruto's smiles, Temari's exasperated eye rolls, and Kankuro's easy winks.
"…Almost anything," Gaara murmured into the swirling wind, because trading one thing you loved for another wasn't a trade at all. The wind picked up then, suddenly roaring through the lonely streets and blocking out all sound. It carried with it an abundance of sand, which made scratching sounds against house walls and pinging sounds against thin glass windows. Gaara turned his head slightly as he caught movement, and his eyes widened a little as he saw a leaf swirling through the middle of the gale. Where could that have come from?
"—Konoha?" Rasa finished, and Gaara's eyes went from the leaf to his father. It took him a moment to process what had come before Rasa's last word, and when he did he felt something inside of him grow taut.
"What?" Gaara whispered.
The time to destroy the four Konoha shinobi and the bridge builder had come. Haku had known it would come to this—he and Zabuza did things like this on an almost monthly basis—but it never seemed to get any easier. This time felt especially hard because the people he had to kill were kids only a few years younger than himself. Kids with their entire lives ahead of them, full of potential and a desire to live. Although Haku's kekkai genkai was freezing cold, he could never quite make his soul so.
"Haku," Zabuza said gruffly, but his hand when it laid on top of Haku's head was gentle. "You're too soft. You don't want to kill those kids, do you?"
"I…"
When there's no other choice, I'll do what they need me to do.
The words of the boy who had a dream like jagged pieces of a beautiful, broken picture fluttered through Haku's mind. He looked down at the senbon needles he held, which could be used for either killing or healing.
"Don't say it," Zabuza growled, and Haku looked up to see Zabuza glaring stubbornly out at the bridge they were about to attack. Dark, sharp eyes that most people saw as demon's eyes were tracking the bridge's workers with ruthless purpose, ready to start putting an end to them. Muscles rippled with a catlike grace as Zabuza shifted to get a better view, and the headband Zabuza wore to show off the fact that he'd was from one of the world's most dangerous villages glinted dangerously in the morning light. To anyone else, Zabuza must really look like a demon. But all Haku saw was a lonely man who wanted to move on from a past that kept chasing him.
"We need the money," Zabuza pointed out, as if he needed to convince Haku.
"I'll do whatever you say, no matter the reason. I am only a tool for your purposes, Zabuza. If you need me to kill for you, I'll do it without hesitation."
"That's not what I'm saying," Zabuza snapped, his deep voice rough and low as he brought his hands up in the mist summoning jutsu. "What I'm saying is that we need the money, so we have to kill the bridge builder. The rest of their lives are up to your discretion, just as long as they don't get in my way."
Haku's intake of breath was so small that no one else would've noticed, but Zabuza did—the twitch in his mask revealed that he was smirking a little. Haku had never once asked Zabuza to be kind to him or spare him from any horror, and Zabuza often did treat him as if he were only a tool. However, there were still a few precious moments like these, where Zabuza showed a consideration Haku couldn't believe he deserved.
"Thank you," Haku murmured under his breath as the mist began to grow heavy. Zabuza finally spared him a glance.
"When we have enough money, we won't have to do this anymore," Zabuza muttered as he began doing the hand signs to summon water clones. "I can't have you breaking later on because I forced you to kill. I'm doing this because a broken tool is useless to me."
Haku hid his grateful smile under his mask as he slipped it on and prepared to fight.
Sasuke woke up late after training more than half the night. It was pure luck, really, because a couple of low class ninjas tried to attack Tazuna's family thinking the entire squad was gone, and Sasuke was able to stop them. The bratty kid he'd protected finally seemed to realize it was time to do something other than stand around, and he scampered off to round up some friends after Sasuke had snapped at him. Protect your loved hadn't, and now he had none left, so the only way he could get stronger was to pit himself against an idiot as a rival.
The thought that he'd probably end up fighting some tough ninjas soon was like a blessing now, because the tiny blonde's face kept flashing through his mind and the word rival kept ringing through his head. He was already stronger than he had been yesterday, all because he'd decided he needed to be at least as strong as his trainer within the next few months. He wasn't even sure how strong his trainer was, but next time they met he'd find out and then find a way to surpass him.
With that in mind, he made his way to the bridge as quickly as he could, forgoing stealth for speed. Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi had headed there this morning with Tazuna, and if this morning's events were any indication, Zabuza would probably be making his move soon. Sure enough, when Sasuke finally made it to the bridge, the sight he came upon was nothing short of horror.
Kakashi stood by Zabuza, the two locked in a tense standstill as they watched the goings-on of a fight between Sakura and the Mist shinobi that had 'killed' Zabuza. Sai stood in front of Tazuna, his hands a whir of motion as he painted on a huge canvas, sweat running down his face. Every so often, he'd let an ink monster loose, but it had no effect on the strange, icy prison the Mist shinobi had trapped Sakura in. Everyone was trapped and the battle was completely in favour of the two Hidden Mist ninjas. It wasn't ideal, but now that Sasuke had shown up they had a chance to turn the tide to their favour.
Trying to ignore Sakura's pained cries as she was struck again and again with senbons she couldn't dodge, Sasuke studied the ice prison. It looked simple enough to get into—there were large cracks in the icy panels someone could sneak through—but trying to get out while the masked boy was controlling the entire battlefield was probably impossible. Sakura was trying her best, but she couldn't even dodge half of the needles, which were coming at an impossible pace towards her from every direction.
Sasuke was surprised to feel his heart contract in fury at her plight; he was a lot angrier than he'd expected to be. But Sakura had turned out to be a shockingly beneficial ally in their last fight, so seeing someone treat her as if she were nothing was really pissing him off. Sai evidently felt the same way; he was cursing under his breath as he continued to sketch something massive. Kakashi seemed to decide that he'd finally had enough, and he turned to Zabuza, revealing his Sharingan. The two squared off, then began their fight, moving away into the mist.
Now that there were no eyes on the clear part of the battlefield, Sasuke could sneak in. He crept up to Sai, dodging an ink monster with a glare as Sai sensed another presence. When he realized it was Sasuke, Sai muttered a hasty apology and concentrated on finishing what he was doing. Sasuke glanced at the massive painting, and was grudgingly impressed. It was a massive dragon with talons as long as his head and massive feet that could easily dwarf a human.
"What are you planning?" Sasuke asked, wincing as a senbon struck Sakura particularly deep. Instead of screaming out, she gritted her teeth and held up two kunai, still trying to block as much as she could.
"We need to smash her out of that place," Sai said as a bead of sweat rolled down his nose and dripped onto the canvas. "There's nothing she can do in there—I doubt any ninja could if they were trapped alone. Luckily, she has us."
Blue eyes flashed before Sasuke's face, and a question. Do you have any important people?
"Listen, I have an idea," Sasuke said quietly, grabbing Sai's arm and pulling him close to utter it into Sai's ear. Even though Sasuke had been stealthy, the Mist ninja had been paying attention to the entire battlefield and had by now noticed Sasuke's presence. He wasn't sure if it was arrogance or exertion that was causing the boy to overlook him, but he'd take it either way. He just needed to enact the plan without the Mist ninja figuring out what it was.
After he'd finished explaining his plan, Sai gave him a strange look.
"It's a brilliant idea, but where did you learn—"
"Later. Will you help me or not?"
Sai glanced at Sakura and his face hardened. Sasuke remembered the conversation he'd walked into and wondered if Sai was beginning to think of Sakura as a friend.
"Of course. I just hope she'll be strong enough to do her part."
"She will," Sasuke vowed. "She's already proven that she's much stronger than anyone gives her credit for."
Sakura wondered if this was how she was going to die. It wasn't like she'd rushed in without thinking; she'd assessed the risk, decided that Sai's ink monsters could protect against multiple enemies and get Tazuna away quick if it came to that, then decided to take on the younger ninja. After seeing the young shinobi's medical skills with the senbon, Sakura hadn't underestimated him either. She had just been planning to play it smart and cautious to give Kakashi time to defeat Zabuza. The problem was that she hadn't anticipated a chilling kekkai genkai that made all strategy obsolete.
Now, as she stood in the middle of the ice prison and took needle after painful needle, she was worried. But also sort of grateful. Medical things had always interested her, so she'd studied them even beyond what was required for school. She doubted Sasuke and Sai knew the pressure points and where a needle could be thrown to pierce a soft, delicate organ, but she did. That's why she allowed senbon to sink into her legs, arms, and shoulders, but she used her kunai to deflect the ones near her neck, back, and body trunk. At least this way, there was a tiny chance that Kakashi could finish his battle then save her. Even if there wasn't, at least she could buy time for Sai to get away.
All this ran through her head as her body slowly weakened, and she ended up on her knees to make herself a smaller target. She could feel the edges of her consciousness giving up, and in the corner of her eye she could see black coming on. No, wait… that wasn't the darkness of passing out. It was an ink butterfly. Needles flew again and she dodged towards the butterfly, making it look as natural as possible. She grabbed it, in the process taking a pretty severe hit to the stomach, but at least the stomach's organs weren't as vital short term.
The butterfly exploded in a mess of ink, but in the middle was a tiny sealed scroll that the ink didn't touch. Disguising it as a shifting of her kunai, Sakura opened it and glimpsed what was written inside. Her eyes widened briefly as she calculated how what was written could be possible. Actually, theoretically, it made a lot of sense. The only problem was that she'd have to get it on the first try without ever having practised first. She thought back to her lessons with Kakashi on the tree climbing, then crushed the scroll in her hand so the Mist ninja wouldn't see it. Alright, she'd do her best.
Her legs burned in pain as she forced herself to her feet, panting. The hit she'd taken to the stomach was bad enough that there was now blood dribbling from her lips, but she had to make one final push. For Sasuke. For Sai. For her team. The thought that they'd be next made her hold up her kunai once more, even though it was a painful struggle.
"You know you're finished," the Mist boy said quietly, sounding almost regretful. "Why do you stand up again?"
"Because…" Sakura growled, as the sound of ripping paper and a massive roar filled the air. She heard a slight gasp as the boy saw the massive beast Sai had created hurtling towards them at top speed. "…I believe in my friends."
"There's no way that'll work!" the boy yelled, leaping out of a mirror to stop the oncoming dragon from getting too close. Sakura didn't think it would work either. Luckily, the dragon was only a distraction.
"You boys better be right about this," Sakura panted under breath, dropping the kunai to the ground with a clatter as she focused all her chakra into her right fist. It didn't feel much different, but the scroll had said her strength would be way magnified. She studied the mirror Sasuke had said he'd be running for on the other side, then bolted towards it, using every last ounce of her strength. It was this or nothing—she wouldn't have the strength to make another go.
The Mist boy was so busy cutting the dragon to ribbons that he didn't notice Sakura until the last possible second.
"You…!" he gasped out, then threw three senbon impossibly fast. Sakura could see that these were aimed with a careful precision he hadn't used before; they were all going to hit vital organs if she got close enough to the mirrors. There was no time to worry about it; she drew her fist back and then smashed it forward with a battle cry as she heard Sasuke's yell on the other side. Her fist struck, Sasuke's fist struck, the senbon struck, and the crystal mirror in front of her shattered.
The sound of shattering glass filled the air as Sakura stumbled out into Sasuke's arms. They shared a triumphant smile, before Sasuke's smile completely disappeared and his face paled.
"Sakura, you…"
"Fight," she whispered, blood trickling from her side, chest, and neck. Everything was starting to look strangely out of proportion, and this time the blackness that was edging in wasn't an ink monster. The senbon had completely hit their mark, even as Sakura's fist had hit hers. "Complete the mission."
Sasuke's breath sped up and Sakura could distantly hear Sai yelling something, but it didn't matter anymore. She grabbed Sasuke's hand in one of her bloody ones and fixed him with an intense gaze.
"Protect our team," she said, then the blackness reached up and seized her consciousness, dragging her down into it.
