Naruto had just finished his tearful plea to Zabuza about Haku, demanding to know if Zabuza was really as heartless about Haku's sacrifice as he professed to be. For Naruto the issue was deeply connected to his continuing search for acceptance from the people of Konoha.

Naruto still hoped to make friends, and live a happy life. Naruto didn't even realize what emotions and desires were driving him, but for experienced ninja like Kakashi and Zabuza, who were used to seeing underneath the underneath, they knew. They could see.

But doing anything about emotions was usually something that the burnt out ninjas like Zabuza or Kakashi wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. But Zabuza knew he wasn't getting out of this situation alive, one way or another.

On the edge of death, and seeing Haku uselessly sacrifice herself for him, as well as listening to Naruto's pleas, Zabuza's callused ninja heart finally felt for the first time in 20 years. With tears pouring down his face, Zabuza acknowledged Naruto's need for emotional confirmation.

And then Gato showed up with his army, and kicked Haku's body. And a plan developed in Zabuza's mind. A sneaky and almost evil plan. One last act, before he departed this world. Despite having his heart touched by Naruto, this was still the same ninja that killed his entire graduating class, instead of just the one needed to pass.

"Hey, kid." Zabuza calmly stated as he tore up his bandages across his face with his teeth, grinning with his sharpened teeth. "Give me a kunai. I've got a debt to repay to Gato."

And just like that, the dumb, naïve blonde handed over a kunai. Holding the kunai in his teeth, and warily eyeing Kakashi, Zabuza made his move, running at Gato's army.

What Gato, Naruto, and even Kakashi didn't realize, is that Zabuza was an old hand at faking his injuries to make them appear more dire than they were, thus letting him sucker in tough opponents to let down their guard.

And Zabuza's left arm wasn't as crippled as he made it out to be. So Zabuza held on for the perfect moment, slashing through the army of dumb, pathetic bandits that Gato hired. He finally reached the little cockroach, and separated his head from his body.

In that moment when even Kakashi dropped his guard, Zabuza dropped the kunai from his mouth into his left hand and launched it. The sharp ninja tool flew true, and buried itself in Sasuke's neck, just as the young Uchiha was waking up.

Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto all froze in shock. Sasuke's shock only lasted a moment before his blood spurted from his body. He soon lost consciousness and died another couple of seconds later.

Zabuza then finally collapsed. He could feel all his injuries catching up to him.

"Why?" The feral growl came from close by, the red chakra and intense malevolence reappearing in the air. "Why would you do that? The battle was over? Gato betrayed you. We…bonded. You said you cared about Haku. There was no reason to…Why would you do that!" Naruto finished with a shout, tears of rage and helplessness falling from his eyes.

Zabuza scoffed. "It's my final gift, my last lesson to you. I never could teach it to Haku, and it got her killed. Mercy to your enemies on the battlefield, is cruelty to your allies. If Haku had taken the fight seriously and gone for the kill right from the first, she would have ended you all quickly and helped me against Kakashi. We would have killed the bridgemaker, and Gato would have gotten his, if he still dared to betray me."

"Besides, you made me aware of just how much Haku meant to me. If not for that, I would have just died without protest. But you and your friends got my daughter killed. For that, I took away a talented Leaf ninja who was your friend. Retaliation. It's the way the ninja world works kid. And since Haku liked you, I decided to give you this last lesson as a gift. Hopefully you'll take it to heart and survive for a while and remember the both of us."

Zabuza then trailed off as the blood loss became too great. He passed away and didn't even hear the loud cry of rage, or feel it when Naruto started punching his corpse.

Several days later, the bridge was finished. While the townsfolk of Wave celebrated the bridge that would allow them control of their island, and the death of Gato that oppressed them, the ninja that saved them stayed away from the celebration. Sasuke's death was too keenly felt for them to bear being among the celebrating villagers.

Naruto was staring at the graves of Haku and Zabuza, trying to come to terms with what had happened. Sasuke was gone, just like that, because he'd given Zabuza a kunai, and thought he was at least an ally. He'd gotten Sasuke killed. His rival, and hopefully his friend one day. They had finally connected through the tree walking exercises. He'd finally shown a bit of respect to Naruto, and now he was gone.

A hand landed on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked back into the single eye of Kakashi.

"It's not your fault, Naruto. It's mine. I'm your sensei, I'm responsible for you. I shouldn't have let my guard down against Zabuza."

Naruto just grunted in response. Several moments of silence later, Naruto asked the question on his mind. "Is what he said right sensei? Is that really how the ninja world is?"

Kakashi sighed. He had so enjoyed Naruto's exuberance, he hadn't wanted to squash his enthusiasm. But now, it seems he'd made many mistakes in how he taught his first genin team.

"Yes, Naruto. That's generally how it is. Enemies will pull last minute suicide attacks, on the off chance that they can kill just a few more. In the last ninja war there were all kinds of despicable, underhanded ploys used to kill. And not always only by our enemies, either. We too used all kinds of ploys to get an upper hand in battle." Kakashi paused to rub his hand over his face wearily.

"Giving enemies a chance in combat often leads to the deaths of your own allies. It doesn't mean that we can't make enemies into allies, the Senju and Uchiha clans were proof enough of that. But combat and the negotiation room are two separate places. In combat, you can't allow the enemy mercy. I momentarily forgot that, and unfortunately Sasuke paid the price."

Naruto nodded soberly in response. "I need to think about this some more sensei." Naruto soberly said as he moved off into the woods.

"We leave early tomorrow, so stay close, and get some rest tonight." Kakashi called out before Naruto got out of sight. Naruto acknowledged with a wave of his hand over his shoulder.

Kakashi sighed as he saw Naruto disappearing in the trees. How would the blonde knucklehead adapt to this? To the death of a friend? Would he be able to bounce back, or would he lose that fundamental aspect of exuberance and joy in life that had always meant so much to Kakashi, that reminded him of his father?

Only time would tell.

AN: So this was a pretty short idea I had about how Zabuza could have reacted that would have had an even bigger effect on Naruto than just Haku's nindo influencing Naruto. Yeah, Naruto was affected by Zabuza and Haku dying, but let us be realistic here. They were enemies and he only had one encounter with Haku beyond combat. He just didn't have time to grow a strong bond with Haku.

But Sasuke? The guy that he struggled for years to get respect from all through their academy time? The guy that Naruto was finally getting some hint of respect and friendship from? If he died, how would Naruto react?

So I can see several things happening in the future of this fic.

If we're going with realistic, then Kakashi would undergo a review of his actions and behavior. From how he trained his genin, to why he didn't return to Konoha when it was shown that their client lied about the danger of the mission. He would at the least lose the position of sensei of team seven. Since he is too valuable an asset to lose, he might get thrown back into Anbu work.

If we were going unrealistic, the Civilian council would be baying for Naruto's blood, cause he's just eeeevil! Jiraiya would then have to come and spirit his godson out of Konoha in the middle of the night just ahead of the headsman's axe. Then they would go on all kinds of high jinx fueled adventures, while actually training Naruto up. I like to think that the two would eventually end up being kind of like how Harry Potter and Sirius Black were in that one fic "A Black Comedy" by nonjon. Womanizing and highjinx abound, while kicking butt.

Back to a serious fic:

I think Naruto would be resilient enough to bounce back from this trauma. He wouldn't be quite as happy go lucky, and would definitely bury himself in training. He would end up being a bit more ruthless on the battlefield, but he would still have his talk no jutsu, in my opinion. He would only probably use it when battle has yet to be started, or when he has the enemy captured and subdued, instead of the middle of combat from then on.

Sakura could easily go either way here. She could toughen up and start to actually train to commemorate her Sasuke. Or she could realize the danger being a ninja actually is, and decide being a field ninja isn't for her. Maybe go into the medical field with her perfect chakra control.

As far as pairings go, I personally am not really a fan of the Naruto/Sakura pairing. To this point Sakura has been quite violent and abusive about rejecting Naruto.

"But Naruto needs to be rewarded for his devotion for pursuing her for years!"

No. Unrequited feelings don't automatically mean that he "deserves" the girl. That's not how it works. And if we're going with that standard, then Hinata has been mooning over Naruto just as long if not longer, so she deserves the boy to finally notice her. But they don't. Whatever, not important.

So if I were to figure out how Naruto and Sakura got from abusive and unrequited to romance, I'd first separate them as soon as they got back to Konoha. Split up Team 7. Sakura goes to the medics, Naruto goes to a new team, one where a sensei actually works on his weaknesses beyond just telling him to get better chakra control. I'm talking taijutsu, tactics, more jutsu, and of course SEALS!

Then, after a few years, he and Sakura meet again. By that point Naruto has calmed down a bit, gotten rid of the Orange Jumper of Social Doooom, and is looking really yummy to Sakura. Then they start getting to know each other for the first time, really. I don't think either of them truly "saw" the other while in the academy or while on a team together.

So that's how I would handle a Naruto/Sakura pairing if I could. I'm pants at writing out long romance though, hehe.

But what I'd prefer, since I like the Naruto/Hinata pairing, is to still have team 7 split apart. And while Naruto is being depressed and moody at his failure, Hinata sees him and realizes that Naruto also has his down days. He isn't just a fire of neverending warm feelings for her to warm herself on while being too afraid to interact with him.

So she finally picks up her courage, that we all know is hiding deep inside her, and approaches him. She starts training with him, listening to his issues, sharing her own. And they start to get to know each other. They get close, and start making plans to change the way things work, starting with Hinata's family. That's right, they make plans to get rid of the Hyuga seal of slavery.

Which leads to Naruto learning SEALS! (Anyone get the idea that I love the idea of the sealing art? Lol)

And this is how I would jump start Naruto's maturity and have him focused on training hard without having to wait until Akatsuki starts targeting him. Or have the bonehead realize that Hinata likes him without having to wait until Pein destroys Konoha, and Hinata tanks a hit for him, then confesses her feelings while they are still on the battlefield.

Be sure to let me know how wrong either Sakura or Hinata are for Naruto in the comments section, viewers. (I'm mostly joking, but I would be interested in how this plot bunny went over with people)