Author's Note: Surprise! A second chapter included with today's update!

Chapter Note: The end of Haku and Zabuza with a little bit of flair.

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Kakashi's hand was buried in Haku's chest, blood covering both Kakashi and Zabuza who were in range of the destruction caused by Chidori. She could see the burnt flesh from where she was standing and had to keep her face in a neutral expression through force. This was what he had meant years ago in her cabin while they were both drinking and spilling their guts about past experiences with their teams. His teammate had jumped on this attack… he said he could still feel her blood running down his arm at the time. Now, he'd done it again. On a mission. Only this time, it was a kid following orders. Zabuza was covered in dog bites of varying sizes which had to have been one of Kakashi's attacks but the dogs were nowhere to be seen. He must have been restrained and Haku had decided to sacrifice himself for him. Haku had grabbed Kakashi's arm, holding Kakashi in place as he spoke to Zabuza.

"Zabuza…" the boy mumbled. Zabuza laughed to himself and Kakashi watched in horror as Zabuza prepared to swing his sword through Haku to kill him. Doing the only sensible thing, Kakashi grabbed Haku, still impaled around his wrist, and jumped. Kakashi set Haku down and closed his glassy eyes, the boy was officially gone. Naruto had followed the sounds of the battle and had tried to interfere but Kakashi shouted at him to stay out of it. Avurin flashed next to Kakashi.

"Orders?" Avurin asked, keeping her voice calm. She needed Kakashi's head in the game right now, he was obviously getting caught up in what had happened. Put him back in the position of Captain and drag him back, her mind screamed at her. She heard him grunt as he stood.

"Watch the Genin. Gather them and check for injuries. Get them and Tazuna out of here. I'm handling Zabuza." he spat. Avurin nodded and flashed away. She was getting the kids away from this immediately. This was bordering on S-Rank level if it wasn't already there. The kids didn't need to see anymore of this. She went to Naruto and glared at Sakura.

"I thought I told you to get him out of here." She pinned Sakura with her glare, not caring about the feelings of the kids right now. They needed to handle this carefully.

"I tried but the mist made things difficult. We decided to stay put so you or Kakashi could come get us if the mist didn't let up." Sakura explained. Avurin nodded. The reasoning was logical.

"Fine. However, next time myself or Kakashi gives you an order in the middle of a battle, follow it to the best of your ability. Naruto, where's Sasuke? Is he still near where the mirrors were?" she asked. Naruto's eyes went blank and he stared at the ground. Sakura started demanding answers from Naruto and Avurin's eyes hardened. "He's still alive! I can sense his chakra even though it's weak. Stop your yammering and moping and let's go get him. Kakashi will hold things down here." Avurin stated, grabbing both kids by their hands and nodding to Tazuna. "Please stay with us. There's a high chance I'll need to administer emergency medical aid and I can't let you out of my sight."

They all started running to Sasuke's position, the kids gaining their energy back, almost sweeping Avurin off of her feet as they ran as fast as they could. She didn't want to leave Tazuna behind so she eventually let go of their hands to let them bolt. The knowledge that their teammate was still alive had lit a fire in them and she wasn't going to stop them. Tazuna was panting but he understood the urgency.

"You've seen a lot of war, haven't you?" Tazuna asked as they ran. Avurin looked towards him.

"Yes. You don't earn scars like mine without being on the receiving end of malicious intent. My ability also unlocked due to trauma and desperation. I know how to take orders and give them. Right now is not the time to be tangled up in emotions. Kakashi knows that and I know that. This mission is so far beyond these kids' abilities mentally and physically that this is a serious liability and Kakashi needs the space to pull all of the stops without worrying about them." As she finished, they came upon Sasuke. Avurin assessed the senbon sticking out of him from every angle and already knew there was a complicated mess on his back where he had fallen on the ones that were likely just as consistently stuck in his back. Sakura and Tazuna were gaping at the sight with Sakura on the verge of tears.

"Remember what I said! He's alive! I know it looks horrible but give me room. No time for grieving." Avurin stated as she dropped to her knees, her shaking hands being her only indicator that she was upset as she started digging through her bag. She had packed extra medical supplies before leaving to track Zabuza and Haku and she was never more thankful for being paranoid. Pulling senbon out as quickly as possible and patching the areas with small dabs of ointment and plasters she had splurged too much money on for a quick patch, she took a few minutes to assess his vitals. He was cold but he was breathing and his heart was beating.

"Sakura, Naruto, he's stable. You and Tazuna get to the far end of the bridge and hide. The mist is clearing and I can feel chakra signatures getting close to Kakashi and Zabuza. This time, I expect you to follow this directive because I'm about to break one of my own. Kakashi might yell at me for this one but I have a bad feeling." Avurin stood and nodded to Sakura. "He'll be okay. I'm sorry for being harsh but we need to get you guys out of this situation and bring you home in one piece. Naruto is in shock and I need you guys to keep full awareness until this is over. This is going to be too much for Kakashi at this point and he needs the backup. Tazuna, please forgive me for asking this of you since we're supposed to be guarding you, but please watch after them. They are still kids and this is a difficult situation." She bowed low to Tazuna and straightened up quickly before flashing back to Kakashi's position.

Assessing the situation, Zabuza's arms were hanging limply with kunai buried into both, courtesy of Kakashi. She felt one of the chakra signatures get closer followed by a crowd of more, all giving off an almost suffocating cloud of killing intent. The sharp sound of a cane being clacked against the ground caught everyone's attention. A short, heavyset man with a mustache, brown hair sticking up in every direction with a receding hairline, and glasses was standing between them and the part of the bridge that was still being built. Kakashi only raised an eyebrow, almost looking irritated at being interrupted.

"Did quite a job on you, didn't he, Zabuza? You look like shit. I'm disappointed. There's been a change of plans. You'll die here. You're too expensive. Of course, even these thugs cost something so if you can kill a few of them before you die, I'd appreciate it." The man was smug, obviously the ring leader. This had to be Gato. Avurin's eyes narrowed at the man. He was mocking Zabuza, having his thugs laugh at him. While Zabuza was evil to the bone, there were some underhanded things that civilians had no say in and an honorable ninja fight to the death was one of them. Especially overweight pigs like this one. Zabuza and Kakashi seemed to come to an agreement now that Zabuza was no longer working for Gato. Standing side by side, they stared down the crowd of thugs. She walked up to stand next to Kakashi.

"I know I'm intruding on a super honorable ninja battle that seems to have come to an end and I'm totally ignoring orders, but I want in. Fuck that guy. And fuck you, Zabuza, for burning down my house." She growled as she spoke and Kakashi eyed her warily. Zabuza snorted.

"That cute little cottage of yours was going to fall down at some point. You couldn't just pretend to be a cute little forager all your life. When you become a ninja, you don't get to back out. I could see it in the way you watched us. You just needed the push." He chuckled and she glared at him.

"Fuck you."

"Not today, harlot. Not everyone is like your dog here."

"I'm going to fucking ruin what's left of your life after this is taken care of."

"I'd love to see you try. Your dog could barely handle me."

"It just takes a few words, asshole."

"Now is not the time, Avie." Kakashi interrupted, sounding as exasperated as she expected. She smirked. The smirk dropped off of her face as Gato walked towards Haku's body, kicking his face lightly and rambling about Haku almost breaking his arm. She could see why Haku would do that. She wanted to break the pig's arm. A harsh kick to Haku's body had an inner rage burning in her and from the looks on Kakashi and Zabuza's faces, they could feel it too. This man was dying today. Zabuza could pretend all he wanted that Haku meant nothing to him, but at the end of the day, the killing intent rolling off of him while he watched his former employer kick Haku's dead body didn't lie.

"Give me a kunai." Zabuza's voice shook her out of her anger-hazed thoughts. She looked to him to see he'd taken the bandages off of his face and had a few tears rolling down his cheek. He was human, even if he didn't want to be. She picked up her katana.

"I'll do you one better." His eyes brightened a little and she tossed the katana to him, watching him clench the grip in his teeth before lunging at the thugs. He cut through several thugs and was stabbed several times but his path was clear. He stabbed Gato straight through the chest with the katana, getting stabbed by the thugs multiple times the second he pulled away. He put the fear of Hell in the man before slicing him across the throat, pushing him off the bridge. Zabuza had several pikes and swords sticking out of his back, but he kept his grip on the katana. He turned his gaze back to Haku and the thugs scattered to make a path. He stumbled, finally dropping the katana before collapsing. The thugs didn't move. A gasp from behind them had Avurin looking at Naruto, staring where Zabuza had fallen.

"This is the end for many who travel the path of a warrior, Naruto. Don't look away." Kakashi said, his exhausted voice snapping Naruto out of his daze. As they silently mourned for a moment, another gasp from behind Naruto was heard along with Sakura's doting voice as Sasuke sat up. Avurin's eyes softened. They'd made it.

"Hey! Party's not over!" "Who's going to pay us now that Gato's gone?" "We're not leaving here empty-handed! We're going to raid that village nearby for our pay!" Cheers went up from the crowd of thugs as they started charging in their direction.

"Looks like you'll have to fight each other to the death for your pay. Can't let that guy next to you take your money. And when you win, you'll celebrate by jumping off the bridge." The words were out of her mouth and the hand sign in front of her before she even thought of the consequences. An arrow landed in front of the thugs from the crowd of villagers at their backs, ready to defend their village. She hadn't noticed them. It was too late. Several of the thugs had suddenly turned to each other. There was no hesitation as they started slashing each other down. Sure enough, the last one alive was standing within the next minute and he jumped off the bridge with a cheer. The villagers were murmuring to each other while Naruto and Sasuke stared in shock. Avurin felt her legs get weak and collapsed. A strong pair of arms caught her and laid her down.

"Well, that takes care of it, but that was stupid." Kakashi muttered as he pushed a piece of hair that had fallen into her eyes behind her ear.

"I spent the whole time watching. I needed my piece of the pie." she mumbled back. He chuckled.

"Well now a whole village knows that for some reason they all just killed each other. We'll tell Tazuna to tell them it was a Genjutsu if anyone asks. We'll have to explain it to Naruto and Sasuke though." She nodded, closing her eyes for a moment. That one jutsu had used up all of the chakra she had, but the problem was gone for good. No thug was left alive from today to terrorize the village out of any sense of revenge years down the line.

"I'll be back in a moment, Avie. Let me handle Zabuza. Rest for a minute." she heard, followed by footsteps leaving to go towards Zabuza's body.

"Hey, Avurin, you okay?" Naruto asked. She cracked an eye open and saw him leaning over her along with the other Genin. She smiled.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'll explain later. Just reassure the villagers that it was a Genjutsu and I hadn't realized we had backup when I used the jutsu. They were very brave to show up to help and we appreciate it, but it was our job to protect them. Can you do that for me, Naruto?" she asked. Naruto's smile was almost blinding.

"Of course! I'll go talk to them right now!" He took off and she sighed, looking at the other two Genin. Sasuke had plasters all over him and looked like he was upset about something but she wasn't going to ask. Sakura looked worried but trusted her when she said she was fine.

"You alright, Sasuke? Sorry for the patch job." Avurin chuckled as his face took on a light pink tone. He crossed his arms and looked away.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you." Short and to-the-point.

"What about you, Sakura? Today was rough. Do you want to help me make soba when we get back to Tazuna's? I'm starving and that's my favorite." Sakura clasped her hands together and her eyes practically sparkled.

"Of course! I didn't know that was your favorite! I think tonight we'll eat more fish, bleh, and then we'll make it tomorrow if you're feeling well enough!" Avurin laughed lightly. She didn't know Sakura was sick of all of the fish they had been eating, but it made sense. She felt a cold prick on her face and saw snow falling from the dark sky. Looking towards where Kakashi had gone, she saw Kakashi laying Zabuza down beside Haku. Everyone was silent in his final moments. The sun's rays started peaking through the clouds, creating a beautiful scene. She closed her eyes and sighed.

She'd survived. Now, would she live?