Naruto's entrance caused everyone to turn towards him.

Kakashi's eyes were cold steel and she wanted to run to him. Zabuza took the opportunity to make water clones, jumping back behind a broken Haku, who had a cauterized hole burned through his side from Chidori.

Without blinking Kakashi destroyed every single one.

"Naruto! What are you doing here!?"

Naruto didn't, or rather couldn't answer, staring in disbelief at Sakura.

Tazuna had lifted her so she was partially resting in his arms, a look of guilt splashed across his face along with spots of blood. Sasuke kept his eyes on Zabuza, shaking, never looking away.

Haruhi jumped town, tunnel vision aimed right towards Sakura.

Zabuza's cornered eyes followed her small form and Kakashi stiffened, before jumping in his line of sight eyes leveling Zabuza with a fierce glare. Haku trembled trying to pick himself up.

"I've failed you..." Haku whispered, mouth twisting with the harsh burns on his once beautiful face.

Haruhi didn't notice any of that.

She ran to Sakura's side and balked at how pale she was. In an action that sparked memories, Haruhi laid her hands on Sakura's cheeks. But unlike last time, where Sakura stirred, this time her eyes didn't flutter open.

A long gash was on her back, and senbon were stuck in various parts of her body.

Haruhi couldn't tell if she was breathing.

"She jumped in front of me. My back was turned and she took the blow." Sasuke said, voice light with disbelief.

She paused from her search to find a pulse. Naruto had come over and stood limply next to Sasuke, eyes wide.

All the energy he had jumped into battle with drained from him like the color from Sakura's face.

"It's not your fault. Naruto, stand guard with Sasuke and wait for Kakashi's signal." She searched for a pulse, forcing calm into her every movement as not to scare the boys further.

She heard Kakashi clash with Zabuza and dogs snarling. Tazuna spoke but it was almost like he was under water. The deep wounds on Sakura's back clearly indicated a sword had cut her. Blood was splattered around the bridge and congealed on the icy stone.

She couldn't find a pulse.

But Haku couldn't have killed her, maybe he did that trick? But her heart stuttered as she realized there were no needles in her neck like there was in Zabuza's.

"Haruhi-sensei?" Naruto asked, in a voice way to small to be his.

Her world tilted.

This couldn't be happening. She needed to distract them. Haku had gotten up and summoned enough strength to cast an ice jutsu that make a wall between them and Kakashi.

"Sasuke, go help Kakashi. There's nothing you can do here. Naruto, make some clones and go help too." The boy was effected even more than Naruto, visibly upset. But not visibly injured.

Naruto smashed through the ice barriers with his shadow clones, surrounding Haku and Zabuza. Haku made more ice shields and for a few long minutes, was trapped with Naruto.

But she didn't notice any of that.

Sakura wasn't in a death trance and Haruhi couldn't find a pulse. She was sitting right on her chest and there was no movement.

"She was a brave girl..." Tazuna said thickly.

"Is!" Haruhi snapped. Because there was no way Sakura was dead. A ringing in ears that sounded vaguely like a pack of barking dogs was all she could hear.

"...But then you came, and I could see Sasuke look up to you. And you got him to laugh a few times. Something I've been trying to do since the academy!...So I tried to be like you..."

Not possible. Sakura had her whole life ahead of her, and she would become so so much more than Haruhi.

Haruhi started rocking back and forth. Her hand snaked up and twisted so hard and fast she pulled strands of hair out from the roots.

-"What do I do, Haruhi-sensei? How do I make this better?"

"It...It is worth it to me."

"I'm glad it was." Haruhi choked out.

She got up from Sakura's chest.

"Huh? Haruhi-sensei, What are you saying!?" A Naruto clone asked.

"Eyes on the battle!" She snapped throatily. Sasuke had launched another fireball at Haku who didn't move. Zabuza blocked it in the nick of time but Sasuke was attacking with a rage she had never seen before.

They would die soon and then Gato would come. Kakashi was injured, left arm useless. Sasuke was using up all of his energy and there was no guarantee Naruto would be able to bail them out.

They would never know the truth. Kakashi was bleeding heavily and they would be overrun by the bandits without Zabuza.

"Tazuna watch Sakura's body."

"Wha-!"

Haruhi ran.

She ducked around Naruto's feet, ignoring Naruto's shout of protest. She pumped chakra to her legs and slid across the wet bridge. Sasuke had Haku on his knees and Zabuza was being held in place by various dogs. Sasuke leveled his kunai and Kakashi raised his arm-

"STOP!"

"..."

Suddenly all eyes were on her. She felt so small with Kakashi's gaze boring into her, but she knew he was almost out of chakra and she didn't want Sasuke's first kill to be like this.

She needed to stall for time, distract everybody until Gato arrived. She swallowed past the huge lump in her throat and wiped her palms on her pants.

This was so wrong.

Children killing each other.

"Is this worth it?" She directed her gaze past Kakashi and straight to Zabuza. Sakura's pale face flash across her mind.

"Why would you work for Gato? You know how he is. You know what he's like. Now you are heavily injured, likely to die. Was it worth it? Gato doesn't care about you, you know he's just using you! Stop right now and while you won't get paid, you'll escape with your lives. If you don't..." Haruhi stopped, swallowing hard.

The stunned silence on the bridge, was, surprisingly broken by laughter.

"My my, you are a sharp one." Haku commented, fingering an ice shard with a charred hand.

"We are tools. We are meant to be used." Zabuza rasped.

Kakashi wasn't having it.

He signaled his dogs and held his kunai at Zabuza's throat, eyes sharp as a blade. Sasuke did the same with Haku kicking the shard out of his burnt hand.

"Tell us Gato's whereabouts, and we might allow you to live." Kakashi growled.

She heard Zabuza grit his teeth. Kakashi dug his kunai in a bit more, and a splatter of blood mixed with the water on the bridge.

"I'm warning you..."

He dug in a bit more, and this time a spurt. He drew back and raised his arm.

"Stop! I'll tell you! Let Zabuza go!"

Kakashi's arm stopped an inch away from his throat and Zabuza glared in shock at Haku's crumpled form. Haku coughed shakily into his hand, before smiling bitterly.

"Why, why Haku!" Naruto suddenly screamed. She hadn't even noticed him. "After all that talk about precious people and you go and, and-" Naruto couldn't finish.

"I am Zabuza's tool, Naruto. I do what I can to serve him."

Zabuza violently wretched himself from Kakashi's grip, jumping back and kicking Sasuke away from Haku. He panted heaving, arms hanging limply from his sides. He threw his head back and laughed bitterly.

"Don't you get it, boy? Shinobi are weapons to be used of and then disposed of."

"Like Sakura!?" Sasuke spat, bristling.

"She was more of a threat than you ever were. Smarter." Zabuza taunted. Kakashi grabbed the back of his collar before he could charge to his death. Haku stood hunched at Zabuza's side, awaiting orders.

Tazuna's cry of shock had them all whipping around.

Sakura was sitting up, clutching her chest in confusion. She was beaten, bloody, and worse for wear-but alive.

"How-" Haruhi choked.

Oh! There was more than one pressure point in the human body, and there was still a needle sticking out of her chest! That must have stopped her heart briefly! Of course he could aim for other areas than the neck!

A wobbly grin crossed Haruhi's face as her eyes blurred.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bawled, gently wrapping her up in a hug. Sasuke's knees wobbled and he collapsed next to them.

"Why are you here, really?" Kakashi demanded, confused at their motives now that Sakura was alive. Zabuza hefted his sword with his one good arm.

"To kill the bridge builder!"

In one smooth movement, Kakashi scooped her up and jumped in front of a startled Sakura. He gave her to Tazuna and pulled out another Kunai.

"Haku...you failed me." Zabuza rasped.

Haku coughed up blood, bowing his head, he swayed on his feet.

"I am sorry. The way of shinobi is very difficult to me." He whispered

She jumped down onto Naruto's shoulder and threw her arms around Sakura's face, sniffling desperately. Sakura pulled the needles out of her chest in a stupor, watching the, slide out from her clothing, coated in red. She looked fascinated, like she couldn't really believe or comprehend what she was seeing. Sasuke took them and threw them over the side.

"Haku, it doesn't have to be like this! I know you aren't bad and you aren't just a tool! Don't do this." Naruto pleaded.

Haku split from Zabuza's side and ran behind them. Naruto and Sasuke went into a defensive formation, Sasuke facing Haku and Naruto and Kakashi pining Zabuza. A tense silence as they squared off, Tazuna helping Sakura to her feet while she pulled out a kunai from her bag.

"This will not end well for you." Kakashi said firmly. They had the upper hand.

And then Haku dropped like a stone.

Roars of laughter and shouts were heard as a mob of brutish men with hundreds of weapons crested the bridge. They yelled and shouted jeers at the downed Haku, who couldn't move in time to dodge the chained iron ball that cracked him blank in the back of the head. Hey lay flat on his back, not moving. The mob quieted and parted.

A long shadow threw itself over the bridge.

"Gato. What are you doing here." Zabuza growled.

The man chuckled slowly, his laughs turning to guffaws as they slowly got louder and louder. It was picked up by his loons and soon the whole bridge echoed with harsh cackles that bounced off the still construction equipment, echoing.

He launched into a speech, and Zabuza's fist clenched around his sword at the betrayal.

Gato abruptly stopped and kicked Haku in the face.

She saw his slack jaw leak blood. Internal bleeding, probably from the chidori to his side. The third degree burns twisted his nose and mouth grotesquely, pus and blood oozing from the other severe burns coated the bridge around him.

Haruhi turned to the side and threw up.

Gato laughed again, kicking the still Haku in the chest.

She was gonna fucking kill him! Naruto's choked cry of rage and the killing intent that swept from behind assured her Gato was a dead man walking.

"Heh. Too bad he wasn't alive to feel it." Gato sneered.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Naruto dashed forward, intent on landing a solid punch to Gato's face before the days end. The giant mob raised their weapons but before Naruto could get himself impaled Kakashi grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him into a bear hug. Haruhi couldn't blame him. She was shaking in rage and disgust, Haku's mutilated face flashing across her vision.

"Well what about you Zabuza! You gonna let him do that!" Naruto shrieked.

"Be quiet, you fool. Haku's dead what does it matter."

"What!? You mean you could just stand there and watch him get treated like a dog! You and Haku were together for years doesn't that mean anything?"

"You don't understand the way of Shinobi." He said coldly. "I merely used him just as Gato used me."

"Huh?"

"Now, it's over. His usefulness is at an end. The loss of his strength and skill, yes that means something to me, But the boy? Nothing."

"Who are you trying to convince?" Haruhi whispered, causing Sasuke and Sakura to look at her.

"If you mean that, then you're an even bigger rat than I thought." Naruto spat.

Kakashi grabbed his shoulder trying again to keep him from getting killed from his mouth.

"Okay that enough. He's not the enemy, not right now." Kakashi said tiredly. Naruto growled and swung Kakashi's arm off of him.

"Shut up! As far as I'm concerned, he's enemy number one!" Naruto yelled, pointing his finger at him.

Naruto stood panting, breath coming out in noisy gasped as his shoulders moved up and down.

"Why you...you ungrateful!...after everything he did for you, Haku lived for you! You were the most important thing in the world to him! And he meant nothing to you, nothing at all?" Naruto's voice shook, incredulous and heartbroken.

"While he was sacrificing everything for you, you never felt anything at all for him? A-and if I become stronger, does that mean...I'll become as cold hearted as you are?! He threw his life away and for what? For you and your dream?"

Tears gathered in Naruto's eyes and she had to bite her hand to keep from crying out loud. His voice trembled as he spoke.

"You never let him have a dream of his own. But he didn't care, and you just toss him aside like he was nothing. A broken tool... man that's so wrong, so wrong!"

"..."

"...You talk too much." Zabuza rasped.

Slowly, wet spots appeared on the ground in front of Zabuza. He tilted his head back towards the sky.

"Your words cut deep, deeper than any blade. While he fought you, his heart was breaking in two. " Zabuza paused.

"You see, Haku was always too soft and too kind. It's why he spared your teammate. He felt pain and sorrow and now curse him I feel them too."

"..."

"Well? Cat got your tongue. Are you so surprised to find I'm human as well? Even shinobi are human, no matter how hard we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail."

Haruhi wiped her face frantically, unable to keep up with the tear drops. She opened her bleary eyes to see Zabuza catch a kunai in his mouth. The muscles in his back tensed and he dashed forward. Gato screamed and ran back into the mob, the thugs closing around him.

"Ha. What's one man-URK!"

Zabuza sliced through the thugs throat and Haruhi turned herself into Tazuna's forearm, unable to watch. Bile rose in her throat at the sound of the mobs dying screams. She wiped her face and forced herself to look up.

This was the consequence of living in this world. This violence. All this was just a reminder of why she shouldn't, couldn't be here.

And the fact she would finally see the bitch Gato die sealed the deal.

She peeked up in time to see Gato go over the edge of the bridge, blood flying from his slit throat. The mob buzzed like angry bees before being silenced with a single glare from Zabuza. They parted as he staggered forward, where he fell to his knees besides Haku. Haruhi couldn't help but feel she was intruding on something precious.

When Zabuza stilled, Sasuke let out a breath of relief.

"Hey, what about our money?"

"I came here to get paid-"

"-Gato's dead."

"-Raid the village!"

The mob turned toward them. They were all that was standing between them and the village now. Kakashi was exhausted and heavily injured, Sasuke's sharingan leaked his chakra, Sakura was injured too, and Naruto couldn't do it all by himself. The mob started jogging then broke into a sprint, running around the bodies.

"Stop right there!"

A giant army of villagers had arrived. Inari was carrying a chipped red bull horn, and his mother stood next to him armed with a frying pan. People were carrying shovels, rakes, gardening hoes and everything else you could think of. But the most potent thing was the look of fierce determination on their faces. The bridge workers had gotten up, and were carrying their construction equipment, ready to defend their hard work.

"If you want the village, you're are gonna have to go through us!"

A roar unlike anything else, louder than the mob echoed across the water as the villagers charged forward. The thugs screamed and scattered, some jumping overboard. The ones who tried to fight were quickly overrun. Kakashi and Sasuke jumped to the side, carrying them all with. He cast a protective jutsu around Zabuza and Haku.

A moment of stunned silence cloaked the bridge.

"We won." Murmured the man who had left Tazuna. The one Haruhi had called a coward, but was one of the first to charge forward, two-by-four in hand.

A rumble crossed the bridge, then a murmur, until it built up into cheers of triumph.

Laughter rang across the bridge and surrounded them, people threw their hands up in the air and rejoiced. Tazuna handed her to Sakura and ran to hug his family.

Tsunami clutched her son in her arms, unable to do anything but kiss his face and cry. Tazuna was the happiest she had ever seen him, alternating from hugging his family and celebrating with the man who returned and with the other workers.

The little boy from the village had stuck the candy wrappers to his face with mud, and the shopkeeper with the shriveled carrots was dancing and jumping through puddles. The prostitute was crying, thick makeup smeared by her tears of joy. Her chipped metal mirror, the one she had used to clobber a thug over the head, slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the bridge.

As if by some higher power, the mist cleared, letting sunlight to stream in and reflect on the puddles, light bouncing everywhere.

And then there was them.

Team seven stood on the side of the bridge.

Haruhi's heart was full, fuller than it had ever been. With pain and happiness, but a wearness that went down to her bones.

Sasuke's sharingan was wavering as he committed everything to memory, Sakura stood with tears dripping from her emerald eyes, and Naruto was grinning in a bittersweet sort of way.

There was a new depth to his eyes that hadn't been there before.

Haruhi jumped onto Kakashi's arm.

"Haruhi..."

"We should get their bodies, and give them a proper burial." She whispered.

He eyed her softly, nodding his agreement to her. They weaved through the celebrating people, coming to the two bodies laid side-by-side, Zabuza's hand fallen from Haku's face. But the longer she looked, she realized something was off.

A faint rise and fall of his sides revealed something to her.

Haku was alive.

Did I just pretend to kill two characters in one chapter and then bring them both back to life? Yes. Yes I did. Question of the chapter: was the climax of the battle emotionally satisfying?