Chapter Six Battle at the Bridge
Naruto lay in his room. He'd pushed himself hard last night and Kakashi had decided that he and Sasuke would go on with Tazuna to the bridge while Sakura stayed with Naruto. Like he'd planned, the two of them would stick together to balance each other out. Naruto with his strength and Sakura with her smarts. The pink haired kunoichi looked at the blonde as he slept there peacefully.
Naruto you've been working so hard, Sakura thought. I hope Sasuke and Kakashi sensei will be okay till we get there. You just rest easy.
Naruto snored, a bit of drool on his face. The sound gave Sakura the urge to clobber him and wake him up. But she refrained from it. After a moment the annoyance passed, she'd give him another half hour maybe and then they'd head to the bridge to back up the others. Knowing Sasuke and Kakashi were the best fighters out of all of them, Sakura was sure they would be fine until Naruto woke up and they got there. Looking at Naruto, Sakura had to admit he was a little cute. His bright blonde hair which he had a black animal themed nightcap on It looked kind of childish but it suited him being the knucklehead he was.
She sat there for a time, and finally, the blue eyes opened. Naruto sat up and stretched.
"Good morning Sakura!" he greeted in a warm matter.
She smiled, her heart skipping a beat at the warm greeting. "Morning Naruto."
In her mind her inner self reminded her Sasuke never greets us like that in the morning. Can't believe we ever liked such a cold guy.
"Hey where is everybody?" Naruto asked.
"Kakashi sensei decided to let you sleep in a little," Sakura told him. "You worked really hard so you earned it. Come on, get dressed. I can heat up some breakfast that was left for you and then we can go to the bridge to join them."
Naruto blushed. Sakura making him breakfast? He must still be dreaming. He pinched himself, nope this was real? Was he winning her over? She walked out of the room and got to heating up the breakfast while he dressed. By the time he emerged Sakura had already heated it up.
Naruto sat down at the table and chowed down. "Wow this is great Sakura!"
"You should really be thanking Tsunami! She made it I just reheated it!" Sakura told him.
"Good look today you two," the woman in question said. "I'll be heading out for some errands with Inari so I will see you when I get back."
Naruto ate his breakfast in a hurry to catch up to Kakashi and Sasuke. Then he and Sakura headed out and leaped into the trees. As they did so though, Naruto made a questioning grunt and stopped, Sakura was right behind him and landed on the same branch.
"What is it Naruto?" she asked.
Looking in the direction he was she saw a dead wild boar, as well as the landscape. Several bamboo trees had been cut down. They leapt down and got a closer look.
"These were cut down by swords," Sakura said.
"Yeah," Naruto said. "And am I right about the direction they're going in? It looks like-"
"Back to Tazuna's!" Sakura finished his sentence. "Inari and Tsunami!"
They doubled back. Arriving just in time for Naruto to prevent a pair of katana wielding thugs from killing Inari and his mother.
"Sorry I cut it to the last minute but like they say heroes tend to arrive at that time," Naruto said.
Inari looked at him in awe, with eyes that seemed to have a flare of renewed hope that had long since died. He cried.
"Naruto! Please make sure my grandpa is alright!" he asked. "I don't want to lose him like I did my father!"
"You bet Inari! I'm gonna protect Tazuna and bring down Gato once and for all!" Naruto said.
Sakura smiled. Still the same reckless Naruto who never gave up or backed down. He'd fight to the very end. She would have to do the same, she would protect her comrades as best she could, even if it was just a little.
"Let's go Sakura!" Naruto turned to her.
"Right! Lead the way Naruto!" she said.
As soon as the words left her mouth for him to lead her, she wondered if she would regret it. She'd have to be a fool to follow him. Ah well, just this once. Maybe. The two of them went back in the direction of the bridge. It was time to face Gato, who'd finally made his move. If he'd gone after Tazuna's family, then the bridge had to be under attack too.
Sasuke, Kakashi Sensei, please be alright till we get there! Sakura thought.
...
On the bridge, Kakashi, Sasuke and Tazuna had arrived and found all his bridge worked unconscious. Then the enemy arrived. The area surrounded in mist that was all too familiar, Zabuza's Hidden Mist Jutsu. Then they were surrounded out of nowhere by four Zabuza's all with their giant swords drawn. Sasuke trembled, which Zabuza thought was fear but Sasuke corrected him.
"I'm trembling with excitement," the last Uchiha said with a smirk.
And in a flash he destroyed all four water clones, moving too fast for the eye to see.
"Well, the brat's improving," Zabuza said.
He stepped into their line of sight through the mist, and he wasn't alone.
"Looks like you've got a rival Haku."
"So it would seem," the masked man said.
Sasuke glared at him, "Who do you think you are hiding behind a mask? Bring it on I'm gonna rip that thing off and then kick your ass!"
Kakashi smiled. "Good saying Sasuke! Tazuna! Get yourself to safety! Sasuke, I'll handle Zabuza, you take the one in the mask! But be careful."
"Right!" Sasuke agreed.
Tazuna retreated further to the beginning of the bridge. He then stopped and looked back. He wouldn't run away, at least too far. He had to place his faith in these ninja. If they fell, he would too. He doubted he would get back to his house in time. Even if he did, the enemy would come for him as soon as they dealt with Kakashi and the kid. He could only wait.
Further up, Sasuke began to battle Haku. He dodged the senbon, then was behind the masked man and kicked him to the ground. That was a surprise to both Haku and Zabuza who'd simply hung back.
"Impossible! No one's faster then Haku!" he exclaimed.
Kakashi chuckled. "You call my genin brats but it looks like he's gonna become stronger then you someday!"
Zabuza growled. "Haku, I think its time to stop playing around."
"Right! Time to reveal my trump card!" Haku agreed. "Crystal Ice Mirrors!"
Suddenly mirrors made of ice surrounded Sasuke, He looked and saw Haku in one mirror, he threw a kunai, but Haku switched to another mirror. He was much faster now!
"Behold my true speed!" Haku said.
In only a second, a senbon flew from each mirror and hit Sasuke who collapsed in pain for a moment. This was bad, his opponent was too fast now and could strike from so many angles. What was he gonna do?
Suddenly a shuriken hit the mirror Haku was in, knocking him out of it.
"What?" Zabuza looked.
Two figures appeared from the mist. A boy with spiky blonde hair and a girl with long pink hair.
"Looks like we got here just in time," Naruto said.
Kakashi smiled. "I couldn't agree more Naruto!
Sasuke smirked. His friends were here. Wait friends?
"What do we do Kakashi Sensei?" Sakura asked.
"We'll need someone to protect Tazuna!" Kakashi said.
"I got something for that!" Naruto said. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
He created a group of about ten clones all of whom ran to where Tazuna was. Now the real fight was about to begin.
Naruto looked at Sasuke who was inside the mirror thingies. He moved forward to try and help him out. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw him sprint in that direction. If he went inside then-
"No Naruto don't!" Sakura shouted.
Her shout caused Naruto to stop just short of the inside.
"If you go in there he'll just be able to attack you both at once!" Sakura told him. "Stay out here he can only attack one of us at a time!"
"You're smart girl!" Haku said.
And he threw a senbon at her. She raised her kunai to block it but wasn't quick enough. The small needle pierced her side. She grunted. It wasn't enough for a serious injury but it caused her pain.
"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed.
"I'm fine, just attack him and try to help Sasuke!" Sakura told him.
Inside the mirrors, Sasuke launched his own attack. "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A fireball appeared in the mirrors, but they didn't melt like Sasuke thought they would since they were made of ice. Naruto began to throw kunai at each mirror, but he didn't have the advantage of surprise like before. Haku was able to dodge them as he focused on Sasuke, while keeping Naruto out of his line of sight. Senbon flew at Sasuke who managed to dodge a few but still got caught in the arm. Naruto grunted and began running around the mirrors, trying to catch up with Haku's image.
Then another senbon caught Sasuke in the neck. He grunted and collapsed.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.
He saw his teammate was stirring faintly. He was alive.
"Now that's dealt with I can focus on you Naruto," Haku said. "Crystal Ice Mirrors, Reform!"
The ice mirrors suddnely began to move, away from Sasuke and now circling Naruto. Sakura gasped. She had to do something. She looked from Naruto to Sasuke. Which one should she help? She'd hung back and watched so far but wasn't sure. Sasuke might need some medical attention, senbon weren't exactly lethal as they'd seen but he'd taken a lot of them. On the other hand, Naruto was now being attacked.
She steeled herself and decided to help Naruto. But how?
Looking at the mirrors, she thought for a moment. Then an idea clicked in her head as she recalled some of the genjutsu she'd memorized from some of the books she'd gotten from Kurenai Sensei before leaving the Leaf Village. She weaved a hand sign.
"Blinding Light Jutsu!"
It was her first time doing the genjutsu, but miraculously it worked. A beam of light suddenly shined from the sky down toward one of Haku's mirrors. It bounced off the mirrors and went on to hit the rest of them. Haku grunted and covered his eyes.
"Now Naruto!" Sakura shouted.
Naruto had covered his own eyes as well but looked around and saw Haku's image in one of the mirrors. He then threw his kunai, hitting the mirror and knocking Haku out of it once again.
Growling in frustration, and realizing his mirrors would no longer be of use.
"Release!"
The mirrors vanished, leaving Naruto with a clear target.
"Decided to fight me like a man huh?" he asked with a smug smile.
Haku didn't reply. Naruto charged with a shout but then Haku vanished. He picked up Naruto's last kunai that he'd thrown and was already behind the blonde.
"I hate to do this but you've left me know other options," Haku said as he closed in.
Naruto turned around, a look of surprise and fear on his face. For Sakura time seemed to stand still as it all happened in an instant. Haku appeared in front of Naruto who raised his fight to attack as Haku lunged, then blood spurted from his mouth. Haku had stabbed him!
Sakura's face was full of terror and she screamed.
A few feet away from Naruto, Sasuke's eyes snaped open. The blonde fell backwards as Sakura ran forward and caught him before he hit the ground.
"Sakura-" Naruto gasped.
"Naruto!" Sakura spoke in a pleading voice as tears ran down her cheeks. "Please! Don't die!"
"Its gonna be okay Sakura," Naruto said still smiling in spite of the grievous wound.
Sasuke pushed himself up and saw the sight.
"Naruto! No!" he yelled as he ran toward them.
He ran over and knelt beside his two teammates.
"Sasu-ke." Naruto choked out.
"Try not to talk loser!" Sasuke told him.
He knew they needed to stop the bleeding if Naruto was to have any chance to survive. But they didn't have any bandages or anything. Then thinking quickly he reached up at his forehead and removed his headband, untying it so that it reached its full length. He then then did the same with Naruto's
"Hey what are you?" Naruto asked, before his eyes started to close.
Sasuke hurriedly tied the ends together around the injury to form a makeshift tourniquet. But by the time he was done, Naruto had lost consciousness.
"Is the first time you've ever had to watch a friend die in front of you?" Haku taunted them.
"Naruto's not dead yet!" Sasuke shouted. "He maybe a loser but he never gives up! And he's getting stronger too!"
"Unless he has some special power that can heal a wound rapidly he'll be dead soon!" Haku replied coldly.
Sakura heard the words, and her mind went back to the day they left the Leaf to come here. She remembered how Naruto's injury had suddenly healed.
"Naruto! Whatever power you have that healed the injury when we were attacked by the Demon Brothers you have to use it now! Please!" she screamed. "I don't want to lose you! Please heal, wake up and help us!"
Sasuke looked back at his down teammate for a moment. Then when he looked back, the man in the mask was gone.
"Blast!" Sasuke exclaimed looking around. "Where'd he go?"
Then it hit him. The bridge builder!
…
When Naruto fell unconscious, his clones protecting Tazuna disappeared. The bridge builder shook as he lost his protection. If either of the enemy ninjas were to come at him.
Suddenly he saw a figure coming. It was the masked man, he held a few senbon in his fingers.
"I dislike killing, but you are our target," Haku said as he prepared to throw his weapons of choice.
"Oh no you don't!" Sasuke shouted as he placed himself in front of Tazuna, glaring at Haku with a set of red eyes that showed a pair of tomoe.
"What? Those eyes!" Haku exclaimed.
"I finally awakened my sharingan!" Sasuke smirked. "Now I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to Naruto!"
Haku reactivated his crystal ice mirrors. He would have to keep an eye out for the pink haired girl and watch out for that flashing genjutsu. But he could hear her crying a short distance away. Saying the blonde boy's name.
"Naruto! Come on! Don't you dare give up!"
Haku threw his senbon at Sasuke, he had to take down this one before the girl could recover and use that genjutsu again. Needles shot at the Uchiha from all sides, but with the power of his new sharingan he could see the needles move before they did and dodged every attack. Fueled by the rage he felt at Naruto's injury, Sasuke fought with all his might.
…
Naruto could hear her voice. Felt her tears on his face, she was calling his name. But everything was black.
"Sakura," Naruto tried to say. "I have to help her and Sasuke! But I don't have any strength left."
"Then take my strength boy." A low growling voice said.
"Who's there?" Naruto found himself suddenly able to speak.
He opened his eyes, everything he'd been in before was gone. The mist, the bridge, his team, the enemy. Though when he looked at his stomach, Naruto saw that it was still bleeding. Now he was in some room with a yellow green light with what looked like an enormous cage on the side. And in the cage was something… terrifying. It had a mouth big enough to swallow Naruto whole, that showed a grinning set of immense fangs, and bright red eyes.
"You!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're the-the… Nine Tailed Fox!"
"Yes. And it seems you are in a bit of a bind. Well I would normally like to eat a twerp like you I'm inside your body. You die, I die. So I think I'll be kind and let you have some of my chakra. It should heal that wound you suffered and help you fight."
Naruto couldn't get up. But he saw bright red chakra coming at him through the cage which had the kanji letter for 'seal' on it.
…
Sakura stayed with Naruto, hoping to stop the bleeding through her tears and begging, as well as her own hands. She kept pressure on the tourniquet Sasuke had made with their headbands. Blood was soaking through, she pressed harder. Hoping to use the immense strength she always used to hit Naruto with to save him for once. As much as he got on her nerves at times, he was still someone precious to her.
"Naruto, hang in there!" she tried. "You are going to become Hokage someday. I believe it! But you can't die until then! Or even after! I want to be by your side! To-
Suddenly an immense warmness touched her skin. Like someone had lit a fire nearby. Then her hand suddenly burned as she tried to stop the bleeding. She shrieked and pulled back, looking at Naruto's unconscious body, which was suddenly surrounded by something red and glowing.
"What?" she exclaimed. "Is that chakra?"
But chakra wasn't normally visible to the eye, except when it was exceptionally strong. But Sakura had never seen red chakra before, from what she'd seen in the tree climbing training, his chakra as well as hers and Sasuke's were all blue. That was normal for chakra of course, was this some sort of special ability of Naruto's, like the healing?
As soon as she finished that thought, she turned her eyes to the stab wound. To her surprise it was already closing, rapidly. Not even a mark was left as it vanished. She turned her attention to Naruto's face. Just as he woke up. But his eyes, they weren't the warm blue eyes she'd become used to seeing. They looked angry, and feral, and they'd changed color a light red. She shivered at the sight, it didn't feel like Naruto was watching her, more like a wild animal. His other features were more feral now too. His teeth had become sharper, and his fingernails longer.
"Naruto?" she asked uncertainly. "What's happened to you?"
He growled as he slowly got up, but not on two feet. On his hands and knees, again like an animal.
"Naruto!" she called again, not liking the way he was acting.
The eyes suddenly widened and he looked at her in surprise.
"Sakura?"
It was his voice alright.
"What's happened to you?" she asked.
Naruto looked at his hands. The red chakra around him dissipated but he remained the same.
"I-I don't know," he said after a moment then looked at her, noticing her burned hands. "Did I do that?"
"Uh, it came from you," Sakura said. "But its nothing. I'll be fine! Come on we got to help Sasuke!"
He nodded with a low growl. They turned in that direction and Naruto was off, moving so much faster then before Sakura couldn't even hope to keep up. He was in the mirrors with Sasuke who'd just gotten a few senbon to the back of the leg in his blind spot.
"What?" Haku exclaimed.
"You're done!" Naruto said. "No one makes Sakura cry!"
Sakura smiled as she rushed in, he may have become a bit monstrous but he was still the same old Naruto.
It was a very short fight. Haku threw his senbon at both Naruto and Sasuke. The Uchiha had difficulty dodging them thanks to his leg injury but Naruto didn't even bother, he let them hit him. Only for him to roar, and the senbon flew out of him, hitting the mirrors and disrupting Haku. The older boy tried to switch to another mirror, but was caught by Naruto and then punched into one of them. The others then shattered. Knowing he was no match for Naruto's suddenly visible full power, Haku stood where he was. Sakura's mouth hung, as did Sasuke's.
Is that Naruto? Sasuke wondered. What sort of power was that?
As Haku rose, Naruto lunged forward to deliver the finishing blow. Then Haku's mask fell off. As Naruto saw his face, he saw it was indeed the 'girl' he and Sakura had met yesterday.
"You've defeated me," Haku said.
Naruto panted, Sakura and Sasuke walked to his side and saw his features had returned to normal.
"Way to go Naruto!" Sakura said.
She was still curious as to what that power was, but also a bit scared of it. Now wasn't the time to ask though. Sasuke was curious as well, whatever that power had been, it had been enough to pulverize the enemy. He felt a bit of envy well up inside him.
"Naruto, what was that power? Do you have a Kekkai Genkai too?
"Keken whatgai?" Naruto asked.
"Kekkai Genkai. Its an inherited ability, just like my Ice jutsu," Haku said. "If so both of you are lucky. You have friends. I didn't have anyone."
They looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.
"In the small village I grew up in, the Kekkai Genkai were greatly feared due to the huge damage they could do in war. My father killed my mother and then tried to kill me when he found out that we possessed one. I killed him and was left alone until Zabuza found me."
Naruto and Sasuke knew what it was like to be alone, with no family. Sakura felt sadness at the tale, as she recalled seeing Naruto and him looking sad, and the starving child here in this land that had asked her for money. So many people out there suffered. She'd been ignorant, and lucky to not suffer any tragedies.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It matters not. You've defeated me. Go on, kill me. I'm no longer any use to Zabuza."
Naruto and Sakura both hesitated, while Sasuke drew one of his remaining kunai knives and slowly stepped forward.
"If that is your wish," Sasuke said.
Naruto and Sakura both looked at him with an open mouth.
"Sasuke! We just defeated him!" Naruto stated.
"And you think he'll just walk away and leave us alone?" Sasuke asked.
Before any of them could argue, Haku gasped as he sensed something. Zabuza needed him. He ran toward his comrade.
"He's running!" Sasuke exclaimed.
They followed him, in time to see him being impaled by Kakashi who had been about to finish off Zabuza for good. Now it was the four of them against Zabuza. Or so they thought.
Behind them a little man appeared. Gato had come with an army of his thugs, deciding to simply kill Zabuza as he felt the Rogue Ninja was too expensive. With that, Zabuza was no longer their enemy, he and Kakashi agreed to fight together to face the thugs. The crimelord then began kicking Haku's corpse, which Naruto shouted at him for. When Zabuza wouldn't defend him Naruto shouted at him instead, reminding him that Haku had dedicated and given his life to Zabuza. The words got through to the Rogue Ninja who actually began to cry at the loss of the person he'd considered only a tool until now. With that, Zabuza lunged at Gato with a kunai knife in his mouth that Naruto gave him. He brought down several of the thugs as he pursued his prey relentlessly. But he was also cut repeatedly and impaled by multiple weapons. In the end though, he pierced Gato's throat with the lent kunai and threw him off the bridge to his death.
With their boss gone, the thugs decided to raid the village. Unfortunately for them, the citizens had finally worked up their courage. Led by Inari they were armed with pitchforks and other weapons. After Naruto and Kakashi both made shadow clones, the thugs turned and ran. It was over. They'd won!
Zabuza and Haku were buried on a hill, and the bridge was soon complete. Naruto and his team headed home.
As they walked, Sakura looked at Naruto.
"Hey Naruto, when we get back would you like to do something together?" she asked.
Naruto gazed at her in surprise. "Me do something with you?"
No doubt he was used to her asking this of Sasuke. But he grinned. "Sure thing Sakura!"
She smiled at him. Sasuke's eyes narrowed but he didn't look back at them.
So what if you lose a fangirl? She was annoying anyway. Sasuke told himself.
Well finally got this chapter done. A bit later then I planned but ah well. I've had a lot of floral deliveries these last couple weeks cause of mother's day so couldn't get the writing I wanted to on Wednesday. Ah well, done now. I'll try and start the next chapter for my other Narusaku story tomorrow and see if I can get it posted by Sunday. Then its advanceshipping week. I think it would probably be a good idea to have a few weeks of editing my stories as well. But we'll see. I had some reviews on both stories say the relationships were progressing too quickly, like in Narusaku next generation someone felt they were acting like they were already married for years. What do you guys think? I'm open to improvement. Say in your reviews or lets talk in a PM.