URGH! THIS WAS SUCH A BITCH TO WRITE!

I'm sorry it took so long, but I was also editing chapters at the same time... which reminds me.

All chapters have now been updated and added to on this story. So like I stated before, its worth going back and seeing what has been added to the story.

The hard part it is over (finally), now I can really get this story moving! And I'm really excited to share Tomoko's journey with you!

P.S the picture for this story is Tomoko! I managed to find a cool anime creator to make a picture. You can also find a picture of Haruo on my profile.

remember to review and send me feedback!

Videokid

xo

It all happened so fast, Haku standing above Tomoko's body, waiting to deliver the killing blow.

"No…" I heard her mutter, Haku whispered something to her, I couldn't quite make out what.

"NO!" She screamed again, and suddenly flashes of green blinded my vision, was that Haku?

"Tomoko!" I called out but she didn't reply. The green light soon began to fade, and Haku was knocked backwards. However, he did land safely back into his mirror.

"Tomoko?" I called again, I heard violent throttling.

'No…'

Not paying attention to my injuries, I dashed to where I could hear her. And what I saw was… strange. Her held up arm had a slight, green glow shining off it. Her blood was splattered all over the concrete, it looked like something out of a horror movie.

"Tomoko!" I cried desperately, running to her aid. Now I had gotten closer, I could now see the amount of damage she obtained. Her stomach looked like a pin cushion, there was so much blood. I'm surprised she was still conscious. The hand that was in the air, began to fall down, as if she no longer had the strength to hold it up. Just as fast, I caught it and held her hand firmly in mine, she was still warm, so that was a good sign.

"S-S-Sasuke…"

I looked down at her as she stared right back, looking incredibly tired. "What's with that face?" she asked simply, "you don't have to worry about me…"

"Of course I do!" I snapped cutting her off. I stared at wounds, feeling panic creep into me, I couldn't help but cry out "oh… oh god its bad! This is really bad!"

I heard her laugh slightly "always the drama queen."

I gave her a baffled look, how the hell was she finding ways to throw an insult. "Shut up! I don't think you realise how serious this looks!"

Once again she chuckled, as well as coughed slightly "just because it looks serious, doesn't mean it actually is."

"Tomoko that doesn't make sense!"

"Either way, what does it matter? What's done is done. Listen to me, you need to keep a clear head" she told me.

I tried to speak, but my words just came out in splutters.

"You can do this! I know I'm the last person you want to hear this from, and I'm probably gonna be kicking myself for admitting this. But you're the strongest person I know, and I know you can beat this guy."

"Stop it!" I cut in "I'm not letting you die!"

She smiled at me sadly "and I'm gonna try my damn hardest not to, but you need to end this now and not worry about me."

"Are you crazy!?" I snapped.

She nodded "yep, barking mad, but you know I'm right…"

"Screw being right!" I shot in harshly. "I kept a promise, and I'm going to keep it."

She looked at me puzzled "what promise?"

I sighed "to Kinosuke, I promised to protect you before we left."

She slowly sat up and stared at me with wide eyes "you… you visited him? Before we left?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Look, as much as I want to explain everything to you, now isn't the best time. Lets make a deal. You try your best to stay alive, and me and you will have a talk, that very long over due."

She stared at me a little while longer, before nodding in agreement "okay… now… help me up!"

"You can't make any sudden movements!" I ordered, trying to stop her.

She huffed "you should take your own advice." Clearly not having a choice, I pulled her up by the hand I was holding. Now standing and panting heavily, she began removing the worst of the needles. This time, she didn't cry out, she didn't shed a tear. She just aimlessly pulled them out one, by one.

Suddenly a scream echoed through my ears… it didn't sound good.

"Was that Sakura?" Tomoko asked.

I didn't reply, 'did something happen? What is Kakashi doing?!'

I noticed Naruto shaking on the floor, and faintly mumbled Sakura's name.

"Naruto get up" Tomoko began, but winced in pain and grabbed her stomach. She clearly wasn't alright, even though she stated she was.

'Damn it, I need to do something?' I told myself.

"I'll do something about this" commanded Naruto as he slowly got up, "lets do this!"

How the hell was this guy still standing!?

"How futile" stated Haku.

Both myself and Tomoko watched in amazement, as Naruto began to radiated large amounts of chakra. But this was also a very stupid move, as he was pushing himself way too hard.

"Naruto stop!" Tomoko yelled, but it was no use. he charged at one of the mirrors, but Haku quickly blocked his path. Naruto did a back flip, and ran in the opposite direction. Haku was hot on his trail and ran along side of him in the mirrors.

"Naruto! Behind you!" I warned. He tried his best to dodge the attack, but he just wasn't fast enough. Needles pierced his chest, and he fell backwards onto his side.

"Naruto!" Tomoko ran quickly to his side to check on him.

"It's impossible to get out of here" Haku reminded us "I can assure you of that."

Ignoring him, I to, ran to Naruto's side and knelt down, Tomoko was trying to get him to sit up.

"Can you stand up Naruto?" she asked him.

With her help, Naruto gingerly sat up.

I sighed heavily, "don't waste your Chakra like that anymore. That's what he wants us to do."

"I know…" Naruto breathed only to collapse in Tomoko's arms.

"Naruto!" she called in a panic, trying to shake him awake. Nothing, so she wrapped her arms protectively around him "now what?!"

Damn it, this isn't looking good at all. I… I need to do something! I stood up again, my eyes are getting used to his movement…

My train of thought was cut off by our enemy, stating he'll end this now and appearing in the mirror in front of us, ready for a strike. He moved to the next mirror, and threw a needle directly at Tomoko. Seeing it as clear as day, I picked up a fallen needle. I stepped in front of my teammate, and blocked all the attacks.

"Sasuke?" I heard her breathe as I finished deflecting the needles. I was growing tired, causing me to kneel down.

"Stand up, idiot!" I yelled directly at Naruto. Tomoko once again tried to shake him awake, and he began to stir.

"Naruto!" she hissed "I can't dodge his attacks and carrying you at the same time!"

Naruto pushed out of her embrace, and sat up on his own "I know, stop being annoying!" he complained. Another rain of needles fell upon us, and again I deflected each one away.

"Tomoko move!" I yelled.

She looked at me baffled for a second, but did as I said, once she realised she was in the way. I Harshly shoved Naruto from a direct hit, but I heard Tomoko cry out from behind me. I turned to see a needle had stabbed her leg. However, she blocked two others with her vambrace.

"Protect Naruto!" she ordered, "I can handle this." My brief distraction caused me to get stabbed in the thigh, even though she said not to worry, her movements were just as sloppy as mine.

Suddenly, Haku disappeared. Frantically, I searched for him all over the place.

"Naruto!" I barked "you better not faint! I can't cover for you any longer!"

Out of no where, Tomoko was flung backwards and landed harshly her back. Haku must have stopped her from escaping again. Gingerly she sat up, but couldn't contain another bloody gag. red splatters coloured the floor, and her chin was drip with crimson.

It was just as I thought, Haku had already dealt the damaged to her internal organs. The more she moved, the more blood she lost. "Naruto! Did you here me!" I called again.

Naruto groaned "I don't need your help…"

I heard a loud thug, turning around I saw him completely passed out.

Tomoko gave me a shaky look, she was beginning to look deathly pale now, with dark circles forming around her eyes.

"Looks like they can't move anymore" Haku stated, making me glare at him. He let out an amused chuckle. Getting increasingly frustrated, I chucked the needle I was holding to his mirror, only for it to bounce off and tumble to the floor.

"Wonderful" he mused. "You move very brilliantly. You move a lot, but I will stop you with the next shot." He threw three needles at me, which I only just managed to dodge. But he followed, flawlessly appearing in one mirror after the other.

"Movement, reflexes, and situation analyzation ability. All that should be worn out!"

I followed every part of his movements, he was now stalking us, like a tiger ready to pounce his prey.

'Calm down' I told myself, feeling my chakra flow up my body, and around my eyes. 'Concentrate! And see through him!'

Like a vision I saw many mirrors with Haku inside, each one predicting where he would be… the last prediction aimed for…

'Tomoko! He's aiming for her! I have to stop him!'

'So tired…' I thought. My vision was blurred, my blood was all over the place, and I was finding it progressively more difficult to breathe. I looked at my hands, at my vambrace, violently shaking with only one thought going through my head.

'I think I'm going to die.'

My body started to feel numb, slowly looking up. I saw my enemy, arm raised high ready to deliver his attack. But it never happened, as I was pulled back to reality by a firm grip around my waist and carried away from the deadly needles.

Sasuke landed firmly back on his feet, I glanced sideways, to see he had also grabbed Naruto, who was hanging limply in his grasp. Sasuke dropped Naruto harshly, but not intentionally, as I believed that the weight was a little too much for him. With me however, he was incredibly delicate, obviously very aware of my injures. He sat me down and held my upper body up by gripping my shoulder. Wearily, I looked up at him, only to gasp.

Red crimson eyes gazed upon me. In his left, was two tomoe marks circling his middle pupil, in his right eye, there was only one. Once again, like with his brother, they captivated me into a trance.

I blinked a couple of times, making sure I was believing what I was seeing. "Sasuke…" I whispered "you did it."

Panting heavily, he started back at me, clearly worried about my condition. "I saw him…" he said exhaling "I saw what he was going to do. It was only for a little bit, but I saw it."

Sasuke looked towards the mirror Haku was in, it was then he could now see his reflection… and his Sharingan eyes. His eyes widened slightly, surprising himself I think.

Haku too also seemed surprised, as he remained silent for some time. Or maybe he was just analysing him, it was hard to tell with that mask over his face.

I noticed Naruto still unconscious, "deal with Haku" I ordered "I'm gonna try to wake Naruto up."

"But!"

"Enough with the buts already!" I yelled "and for once in your life, do as I say!"

He said nothing after that, probably because I rendered him speechless. I crawled over to my teammate, in a lot of agony and grabbed his shoulder. "Naruto!" I snapped, shaking it harshly "Wake up now! Or I swear I'll kill you myself!"

A shot a pain went through my stomach, and I started to feel really dizzy again. I grazed my hand where the wound was, only to bring it back out and see nothing but bloodshed. There was so much, that it was dripping onto the floor, and getting socked up by Naruto's clothes. I was beginning to see double and my breathing was laboured, I had to wake him up.

"Naruto…" I whispered "get up now, I'm not gonna last much longer!"

Then, without warning, I sense Haku going for the attack, straight towards Naruto. In an instant, I moved to block the attack, and clung onto my teammate, sheltering him from the killing blow.

'I'm ready for this.'

Accepting my fate, I awaited Haku to finish me off. Only for it to never happen, where was the needles? What's going on?

I heard heavy breathing behind me, struggling with every breath. Naruto finally began to stir, and flutter his eyes open. "Tomoko?" he breathed "what's going on?"

I scanned to my left, the see Haku laying on the ground not moving. My eyes moved right, to see the very familiar figure standing over us.

"Sasuke?" I gingerly asked.

"Really…" he huffed "You're a burden… all the time… Naruto."

The first thing I saw was red puddles beneath him, then just how still Sasuke was.

'No...'

Naruto began grinning. "You did it Sasuke! You…" but he stopped mid sentence, he now realised something was really wrong.

I could feel tears blurring my vision, as Sasuke turned his head to look at me, his mouth trickling with blood. "What's with that… face.." he heaved, repeated what I said earlier. "You don't have to worry… about me…"

"You…" I began, tears streaming down my face, "You… You IDIOT!"

Naruto jolted in surprise at my outburst, Sasuke stayed the same. "I… told you to just deal with Haku!" I bellowed, "You should have listened to me!"

"You…" Naruto began "protected us? Why!?"

"How should I know?" was all Sasuke replied, which really got to me.

"I excepted what was going to happen to me! I was ready to make the sacrifice!" I exclaimed.

"I… know…" he spoke, cutting me off, "but I wasn't."

"What?" Naruto gasped.

Sasuke bobbed his head down slightly, then gazed at Naruto "I hated… you" he told him.

"Why!?" the other boy pressed, standing up "Why? I understand Tomoko but why did you protect me?"

This caused Sasuke to chortle and smirk.

Naruto clenched his fisted "I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP!" he roared.

"Who knows…" Sasuke said, exhaling shakily, "My Body moved… of its own accord, idiot…"

"SASUKE!" I cried, as I watched him collapse backwards. Thankfully, Naruto caught him, so Sasuke was now laying in his arms.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out. I to, forgetting about my wound, scurried to his side. I could now see the amount of damage done. Three needles were stuck in his chest, were the heart was.

"That man…" he choked, "I didn't want to die until I killed my brother…"

Sasuke then noticed my tears, and lifted his hand to my face. Gently, he swiped a stray one away "Sorry Tomoko… looks like I'm gonna have to postpone our serious talk."

I grabbed his hand and held it in my own "Shut up! Stop talking like that!"

"You…" he said, directly at Naruto "look after her… and… don't die." I felt his grip loosen, and his body go limp.

"Sasuke…?" I asked, my voice wavering. But I got no answer, "Sasuke!?" I cried out, sounding more desperate. I ripped him from Naruto's embrace and brought him into my own. His chest wasn't moving, and the heat from his body was fading…

He was gone… Sasuke… was gone!

By now I was bawling my eyes out. I could no longer contain my anguish, desperately calling his name.

"Sasuke! Please! Wake up!" I whimpered. "Come back, you're my best friend! You have to come back!"

Slowly, I passed Sasuke's dead body back to Naruto, who embraced him like I did.

I could hear Haku slowly get to his feet, "He, was able to jump into a trap, to protect someone important. Even after you told him not to…" He was now standing up straight, recovered from Sasuke's block, "He's a ninja worthy of respect."

I slowly stood up, ignoring the shoots of pain in my stomach. "Is this the first time, you've seen a friend die?" he asked us, "that is the path of a ninja."

"Shut up!"

Haku became silence at my command, and watched me pull my last kunai knife from my hand.

I know this was a foolish mistake, but it has gotten to the point where I no longer cared. "I'LL KILL YOU!" I roared charging at him, I wanted to get my vengeance, for Sasuke… for my friend!

"Tomoko!?" Naruto yelled out in surprise.

I didn't get very far, as Haku shot forward, and stabbed three needles into my stomach so hard, his knuckles brushed the skin.

I became lost for words, as I vomited up blood and leaned against haku's broad chest. Gently, he placed his free hand behind my back to keep my balanced, and leant his head beside my ear.

"This will be a slow death" he told me "I'm sorry, but this is the only way it will be painless."

"TOMOKO!" Naruto screeched "NO! GET OFF OF HER! TOMOKO!"

Gently, Haku lowered me to the ground, like I was a dying lover and turned me to face Naruto, who was shaking violently.

"Naruto…" I puffed "I'm sorry, I got careless…"

"Tomoko…" he whispered shakily, realising there was nothing he could do. I watched as he placed his fallen teammate to the floor, "I hated you too" he told him.

steam from the wet floor swirled around him "and now… I can't keep Tomoko alive."

By now, Haku was back in his mirror. But my attention was on my teammate. An uneasy chill could be felt, something evil was coming… and it was coming from Naruto.

"You will pay…" I heard him hiss. The steam, all of a sudden, became a tornado of bright, blood orange chakra. The mass amount of energy that was radiating off him, was cutting through the concrete of the bridge as if it were fabric.

'Naruto… That's… Naruto!?'

I watch him lift up his head, no longer could I see his sweet, baby blue eyes. They has now been replaced with an angry red, his pupil like a wild cat's. His hair was more stuck out than normal, and his teeth slowly grew into canines.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

My eyes widened in horror, as I watched him body contort more violently, and his chakra got higher in power. The needles that had pierced his body, were slowly being pushed out. Was this really the same knuckle head, that always had a smile on his face? Was this the same boy who never let anything affect him?

Who was this person? And what did they do with Naruto?!

But what terrified me the most, was the form the chakra took above him. A giant head of a fox, staring down at me, baring his large, deadly teeth.

I wasn't sure what happened next, all I saw was Naruto whizz past me, directly at Haku. i would have turned my head to watch… but I was now too weak. Thankfully, I could see the reflections on the mirror. Naruto was relentless on his attack, almost like a wild animal. Haku tried his best offence and threw needles at him, stabbing him in the back. but they had no effect, as he used his chakra to push them out again. Naruto charged towards one of the mirrors, smashing it with his fist.

Everthing became a blur after that, but I think he managed to get a grip of Haku and punched him square in the face, sending him crashing through the mirrors, well away from where we were.

The mirrors cracked, and collapsed around me and Naruto disappeared from sight. All that remained was myself, and the dead body of Sasuke Uchiha.

I tried to move, but it only resulted in me coughing up more blood.

'So this is it?' I asked myself.

I stared up to the sky, remembering everyone close to me…

'Haruo… looks like you won't have to watch over me anymore. Don't be sad, I knew the risks when I excepted to be a ninja in the first place…'

I coughed up some more blood and began laughing, 'Mother, what's it like to be beside Mistuko side?'

"No matter" I whispered, my sight beginning to darken "I'll be able to find out… for… myself."

My eyes fluttered closed, and darkness took me.