The day came when everyone was finally watching over Tazuna again. Morning changed into afternoon and nothing happened all day. They got some work done on the bridge, but a whole bunch of Tazuna's friends had quit, and the task force numbers dwindled down.
Naruto came up with the idea of helping out while they were there, to speed things up. He made a thousand clones and they got to work, bustling around and cheering everyone there up. Hana made sure to help too, but she kept a close watch on the real blond.
--
The next morning, Naruto woke up late.
"Shit! They left without me!"
He ran down the hall, using the bathroom and getting his clothes on. Not even Hana was there like they had planned. He grew frustrated as he ran down the wooden planks, running to find them on the bridge. They left him here, and he was alone. Again.
--
On the bridge, Sasuke and Sakura tensed as a heavy fog surrounded them. They in turn surrounded Tazuna, while Kakashi circled them, watching closely for Zabuza.
"Hello again, Kakashi. Glad to see you still use the same tricks"
Kakashi spun to see Zabuza and a boy standing a few yards back. He took out a kunai and threw it. A second before it hit Zabuza, who hadn't moved, a hand had caught it. Kakashi's eyes went wide and the boy tossed the weapon back to Kakashi lightly.
I didn't even see him move!
"I beat you once, I can beat you again" he boasted. He wanted to buy some time. They needed help, and now. Hana was off somewhere and Naruto was probably still sleeping. Kami help us!"
--
Inari ran out of his house in time to see his mother getting dragged away, unconscious, by two men with swords. He ran as fast as he could, determined to save her. The people turned around and laughed, knocking him aside with a backhand.
"Save yourself, little boy. Or we'll kill you, too."
Inari felt tear coming to his eyes and he raced for her again, hoping he could dodge this time. He had to save her!
Suddenly, just as the bad guys were unsheathing their swords, an orange blur kicked them in the heads. They dropped down to the ground unceremoniously.
"Come on, you get some rope!"
"Naruto!"
--
Back with Sasuke and Sakura, they were getting nervous. Kakashi seemed nervous too, and that made them uncomfortable.
"You see, Haku is my prized possession. He has incredible speed and an even better blood line limit."
The water around Sasuke rose up and formed into ice. Sasuke was trapped in what looked like mirrors.
"Like it?"
Kakashi ran to try to save Sasuke, since he knew that the Uchiha would die unless he helped. But he was stopped by Zabuza.
"If you help him, I'll kill those two."
Kakashi was forced to a halt.
--
Naruto finally left Inari, running as fast as he could for the bridge.
--
Sasuke looked around him as Haku stepped into an ice mirror. His eyes widened when Haku appeared in all of them. He braced himself as a load of senbons buried themselves into his arms. He protected his face, but his arms throbbed with pain as they pierced his skin. "AHHHHHHHHH"
--
Sakura heard the cry and wished she could do something. She almost left Tazuna, but when Zabuza made his move Kakashi was just able to save them all. She stayed right in front of him the entire time.
--
"Uzumaki Naruto, here and ready!"
Naruto burst in, using a whole bunch of smoke bombs to alert the others of his presence. He felt the anger level rise and his anger was boosted as well. He had just come to save them! How dare they be angry at their savior!
--
Hana finished her task and ran as fast as she could, praying she wasn't too late.
--
Naruto rushed into the fray, joining Sasuke inside the icy prison. He couldn't hear what Sasuke was yelling at him, so he decided to go right to the source.
"What's goin' on?" He asked. "What'd I miss?"
Sasuke slapped his forehead with his palm. "DOBE!"
--
Hana sniffed the air and confirmed the worst; she smelt death.
--
Naruto glared at Sasuke. Sasuke glared back, and seconds later cried out in pain again as thousands of needles hit them. They didn't have any time to dodge, and Sasuke fell over. He had jumped in front of Naruto at the last second, getting the most of the pain. His eyes glazed over and Naruto's eyes widened.
Naruto choked out some words. "Why?"
"D-dobe. My body acted on its own."
Naruto felt tears coming to his eyes and Sasuke started to fall over.
"I hated you" Sasuke breathed, and closed his eyes and fell into Naruto's arms.
Naruto caught him, as he had fallen to his knees and was right in Sasuke's path of descent.
--
Kakashi felt a spike of chakra, and then a large dome of red swirled around the dome of ice mirrors. His dread grew tenfold.
--
Zabuza's eyes went wide as well. He had never felt that much chakra. Or rage, for that matter. And that was saying something.
--
Haku felt the pressure of so much chakra start to crack some of the mirrors. Th-that's not possible! They can't crack!
He jumped out of one mirror to a more stable one and saw that the whiskered boy had changed. His whiskers had gotten darker, and he had fangs. And he couldn't miss the cloak of red chakra that covered the boy. It eventually took a shape, and he stared at it in horror.
It was a fox.
--
Naruto felt himself slipping away. Slipping away into the dark. He closed his eyes and then opened them to find him actually falling. He felt no presence of time, and he finally stopped short. He found himself in front of someone on the ground. They were coughing up blood, and the boy was talking.
He was still angry, and he kicked the boy lying there. They groaned and asked him if he had any mercy. They told him he should have just killed him, since he was no longer useful to Zabuza.
Naruto snorted and looked around. He spotted Sasuke in a puddle of water, still unmoving. His eyes narrowed and he waited for the boy to stand up. He took a kunai and started running at him.
"FINE! YOU WANT DEATH SO BADLY! HERE, TAKE IT!"
Naruto ran as fast as he could. Haku made no move to escape.
Seconds before Naruto could do anything, though, the boy's eyes widened and he bowed his head and made a one handed sign. "Forgive me, Naruto. I still have one thing left to do."
Suddenly Haku was gone and Naruto stood there, baffled.
--
Haku appeared right before Zabuza, just before Kakashi could slam a chidori into his heart. Haku died for Zabuza, and the nin-dogs hanging onto the man poofed away. Kakashi ripped his arm out of the poor boy's chest and he fell, a smile on his serene face.
Zabuza turned towards Gato and his men, as the fog had finally cleared and they could see hundreds of armed swordsmen behind the rich man.
--
Naruto picked Sasuke up and carried him over to place him next to Haku. He shed a tear but refused to let them flow in public.
--
Hana finally showed up, landing next to Zabuza, who was currently running after Gato. He had a kunai in his mouth, as his arms were ruined. Hana closed her eyes and lent some of her power to the dying man, giving him the strength to go on, not getting hurt by the swords and spears that were being poked at him sharply.
Finally Gato came to the end of the bridge, and he smiled and turned around to see the damage his men had done.
But his face was a state of shock when he saw the Demon of the Mist running at him, murder in his eyes. He screamed and threw up his arms to protect himself, but it was too late. He was dead.
Had Zabuza not been dying, he would have noticed the white wolf running by his side. He felt oddly at peace, and he struggled to make his way back to Haku's body. He fell over and shortly Kakashi picked him up and laid him next to Haku.
He smiled and turned his head to see the younger male. His right arm slowly rose to clasp with Haku's hand. He closed his eyes just after he saw snow falling. "If there really is a heaven, Haku, I wish I could join you there. But I'll be going somewhere else. It's my last wish…to be with you in heaven."
And with that, he died.
--
Hana finally left Zabuza's side and went over to Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura were watching over his body, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She shoved them out of the way and used her teeth to pull out all of the senbons stuck in his flesh. She finished quickly and started licking his cheek, sending healing chakra into his body each time her wet tongue connected with his body.
Suddenly he took a breath and the two Genin leaned back, startled. Sasuke's eyes opened and he looked around. He vaguely noticed a wet tongue at his cheek, and he felt a pressure on his chest.
"Sakura….can't….breathe"
Sakura had thrown herself onto his chest, sobbing with joy. Her Sasuke was back!
Their reunion was cut short when the hundreds of swordsmen challenged them to a fight to the death.
Naruto stood up and made a thousand clones. Hana herself made two thousand, pouring energy into them so they could grow larger and more menacing. Kakashi, almost out of chakra, smiled and made a few hundred clones, just illusions rather than solid. All of them were in different battle stances, and the hundred people facing the ninja flipped out and leapt off the bridge or ran away.
With all the drama over, the ninja let their clones go, and, turning, saw the whole village behind them. A cheer rose up, and they celebrated.
Sasuke, still feeling poor, slept through it all. Hana watched over both him and Naruto, who slept through it as well.
---
The next morning, closer to afternoon, the Konaha ninjas finally left Water Country.
"Thank you for all your help!"
"Thanks!"
"You're the best!
"WHOOOO!"
Naruto waved and grinned as they walked away. The last thing they heard was, "I'm officially naming this bridge, the Naruto Bridge!"
…Um. Sorry it's so short. Even though I promised longer, it was hard to write battle scenes ; *dies*