"Sakura!" a woman in her early forties, presumably Sakura's mother, entered the hall. Seeing the dejected look on her daughter's face, she sighed sympathetically. "What's wrong?" she asked.

For a moment, Sakura didn't answer, but looked away ashamedly. Finally, the young academy-student could longer take it.

She sulked, "I stopped being friends with Ino."

The Haruno woman raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because…well… I hate living in her shadow!" She wiped away a stray tear. "I want her… to see the real me."

Sakura's mother frowned. "You told her that and she agreed?"

The pink-haired adolescent sighed. "No, not exactly…"

"Hmmm?" The Haruno mother raised her eyebrows, leading the girl into a roomy, gleaming kitchen. The middle-aged woman had peachy-orange hair, tied back into a braid. She unloaded an assortment of groceries into a small fridge.

"I told her I wanted to become rivals. For Sasuke-kun!"

"Sakura… he's just –"

"He's just a boy! I know mom!" Sakura shouted, irritated. She then calmed herself down and forced herself to talk normally. "It's just, well, I wish I hadn't. I love Sasuke-kun – " Sakura's mother scoffed - "but I still wish Ino could've been my friend." Sakura sat on a stool, burying her face in her arms.

"I wish I could go back in time," she muttered childishly.

Sakura's mother laughed. "I know you may be the first kunoichi the Haruno clan has had for quite a while, but you can't expect to be able to do everything."

"I know, I know."

She smiled lovingly at her daughter. "So, Sakura-chan. If you could go back in time, what would you do?"

Sakura frowned, resting her head on her right palm. "I'd… I'd talk to Sasuke-kun earlier! And maybe…" she paused. "Maybe I'd take back my words with Ino."

"Well..." the peach-haired woman smiled. "Everything happens for a reason. If you turned back time, there wouldn't be any meaning to life. Right?"

"Eh? What do you mean?" Sakura chirped.

"Maybe you'll find out someday. Now, help me unload these, will you?"

Sakura exited the washoom, clenching the black scroll tightly in her fist. It would've been so much easier for her to simply reveal her situation to her team, but the three of them would definitely doubt her - after all, time travel had been unheard of until Tsunade's invention.

She had been so eager to save the ones she loved she didn't stop to consider how hard of a task it would be. And as the novelty of time travel and wore off, Sakura was beginning to realise what exactly this mission entailed.

Her, saving Konoha?

What a joke.

Even as a chuunin, the most Sakura had been able to accomplish was being a reputable medic-nin. But as a kunoichi?

She had failed. She had failed to save her friends and just when she could have fixed it all, she was messing it up again. Sakura Haruno was still the same old weak ninja who relied on others.

"It's hopeless." she muttered, hugging her knees once she had entered Tazuna's living room.

"What is?" It was Naruto. He had just finished another massive breakfast and was stretching casually.

"A-ah! Naruto!" Sakura leapt out of her seat and chuckled awkwardly. "Nothing, nothing! I-"

"I'm not an idiot, Sakura-chan." Naruto scoffed. "I saw you! You're acting just like Inari was yesterday. How many times do I need to tell you people that nothing's hopeless? We will beat Zabuza even if it costs my life, believe it!"

"I-"

"Don't give up before you even know the result!" Naruto crossed his arms, grinning down like a bright ray of sunshine towards Sakura. His look was contagious - soon Sakura willed herself to smile too, even though she felt far from smiling at the moment.

"...Thanks, Naruto." Inwardly, she sighed. She couldn't help but feel better with his encouragement, even if her worries lay elsewhere.

"Don't mention it, Sakura-chan!"

As if Naruto had not just scolded Sakura, the pair then exited the room, both engaging in light conversation.

A lone eye, hidden by the shadows, narrowed.

"Right," said Kakashi cheerfully, eyeing his three students. "Naruto, you're to stay here today. Sasuke, Sakura -"

"HEY!" interrupted Naruto, glaring at his superior, "Why am I the only one staying?"

"Because, " retorted the jounin, rolling his eyes at the brat, "We need you to protect our ramen stashes."

"Ooh, I see!"

"..."

"No, you-" Sakura hissed, cutting herself off before she could say idiot. She momentarily fell quiet as she remembered a scene that had happened like this not too long ago, before Naruto... "Nevermind," she muttered, looking away so as to not reveal the flicker of hurt that flashed in her eyes.

"Eh?" Naruto turned to look at his female teammate, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

Kakashi sighed, letting Sakura's awkward actions slide for now. "Naruto, I was only joking. I need you to guard Tazuna and the others. The chance of them being attacked..." he paused, "is not very likely, but we must take necessary precautions."

If Naruto had been happy about protecting Team seven's hidden ramen supply (not that they had any), he was estatic at this more recent task. "Alright! A special task for me! I'll do it to the best of my ablilty, believe it!"

"Right. Anyway, Sasuke, Sakura. You two will be accompanying me to guard Tazuna and the bridge today, as usual." As an afterthought, he muttered, "Something tells me today's going to be a long day..."

Immediately after Team 7's brief 'meeting', Sakura began packing up some supplies into her worn-out pouch. Today was the day she would battle Zabuza and Haku... and this time, for real. She clenched her fists determinedly, staring at the contents of her pouch. A few meters to the right, she noted Naruto was holding a small cup of ramen. He stared at it for a few seconds, his face blank - oddly uncharacteristic for the so-called loudmouth ninja. Sakura frowned. Just how naive had she been four years ago? Each day she noticed more subtle things about her teammates - the way Kakashi would not flip a page of his Icha-Icha book for several hours, obviously in deep thought. The way Naruto's face temporarily lacked any emotion. The way Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut when he thought no one was looking. She felt a stab of pain each time they did this, like their pain was her pain.

"N-Naruto," muttered Sakura. Naruto straightened up, looking at Sakura. A grin quickly spread across his face.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"You like ramen?"

"Of course I do!" proclaimed the blonde, hugging the ramen cup close to his chest like a baby.

"Why?" the kunoichi looked at him in the eye.

"E-eh? Obviously because it tastes good, Sakura-chan!" Naruto seemed confused. He raised an eyebrow.

Sakura stared at the ramen cup Naruto was holding. She recognized the labels on the cup - it was the kind sold in bulk, numerous and cheap. She knew Naruto had not bothered to mention that it was also because ramen was cheaper than fresh produce.

"Cool," she muttered absently in reply, though Naruto had already redirected his thoughts elsewhere.

A young girl dressed in a blue sweater and navy shorts held her mother's comforting hand as she walked through the streets of Konoha. The sun was slowly beginning to set - it's warm orange glow began to lose its touch. The girl looked no older than five or six.

She had been talking nonstop to her mother about the "handsome" boy she had seen in the park the other day.

"He could do those "gootsus", mom! "Gootsus!"

The older woman chuckled. "Don't you mean "jutsus", Sakura-chan?"

"Aah.. yes." The little girl blushed, her lips curving into an innocent smile.

"Well, I'm not surprised. He is an Uchiha, after all."

"Uchiha?"

"Yes, sweetie. Now, why don't you -"

"Mom! Look! Look!" The girl's attention had been stolen by a large, smooth sheet of parchment that had been taped on to a tall metal pole.

The sheet read:

Kononoha Ninja Academy - Now Accepting! in big block letters. A small list of basic requirements as well as a hand-drawn picture of a kunai followed.

"I wanna go!" shouted Sakura, jumping up and down in excitement. "I wanna do some of those cool jutsu!"

"Oh?" the older woman said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's the only reason why you want to go?"

"Well..." the girl grinned. "I would like to see the boy from the U-Uchwa-"

"Uchiha," corrected the mother.

"Uchiha clan again," finished the pinkette-haired girl. "Oh please, mom! Can I go? I promise to be good!"

"Well..." the mother frowned. Clearly, she knew what becoming a kunoichi would entail. "We'll talk about it with your father, okay?"

"Alright!" shouted Sakura, grinning wildly.

Sakura sighed. With no conversation at all as they steadily travelled to the bridge, memories were beginning to reenter her mind. Back then, she had thought of being a kunoichi as a game - something purely learned from books and a nice teacher. Until she had been to the Land of Waves, of course. From there, everything changed.

The trio soon reached the bridge. Very few workers were there, Tazuna himself included. It was obvious that more and more were growing weary and doubtful of the treacherous and impossible task that lay ahead. Even those who stayed were beginning to get hopeless. The lack of enthusiasm did nothing to stop Tazuna's spirit, however. While others paused for a break, he plowed on, hammering a nail, carrying a piece of wood, glancing at his carefully-drawn diagrams.

And then she felt him.

Tiny droplets of moisture were beginning to fill the air. Sakura narrowed her eyes, trying to sense any presence.

Zabuza was coming.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke all tensed and all assumed a fighting stance at the same time. The brief warning was not enough, however, as the atmosphere immediately filled with mist.

"We meet again..."

The trio tensed, all pulling out a kunai.

The lone kunoichi clenched the leathery handles of her kunai tightly. Her heart was pounding so fast it was a wonder her teammates had not heard it yet. She trembled slightly, biting her lip.

Out of nowhere, several Zabuza clones appeared, each with a menacing look on his face. Sakura narrowed her eyes. It wasn't like Zabuza to reveal himself so quickly... which must mean the clones before them were all fake. Sasuke seemed to sense the same thing, for he immediately launched a barrage of weapons towards the clones. They exploded into puddles of water.

Meanwhile, Sakura was already maintaining a defensive stance in front of Tazuna, readying herself for the real Zabuza and Haku. As soon as she had done so, the duo appeared, standing calmly several feet away on the other side of the incompleted bridge.

Immediately, Sasuke lunged for Haku. Sakura noticed a small glint of red - the Sharingan.

He was so young when he activated it... she mused.

Earth to Sakura! There's a battle going on!

"Right," scowled Sakura under her breath, trying to formulate a plan in her mind. The last time this happened, it seemed as if their target was not Tazuna but rather Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto. It would most likely not be too bad if she strayed a little distance away from Tazuna.

Kakashi performed a roundhouse kick which Zabuza stealthily countered with an attack of his own, slashing his heavy sword right at Kakashi's neck. The copy-cat ninja performed the ram seal, dissappearing and reappearing behind the swordsman with a kunai in hand pointed straight his back. Zabuza grinned under his mask, pivoting around and swinging his sword at the white-haired jounin who jumped back just in time.

Sakura frowned. She would have liked to assist Kakashi but she couldn't think of anything - if she missed there would be the danger of hitting Kakashi instead. She instead looked at Sasuke and Haku, who were also having a similar fight. Sasuke and Haku were equally fast - but Sasuke's fire type jutsu and better stamina certainly overpowered Haku and it was giving him a definite advantage. However, Sakura knew this wouldn't last very long as Haku was bound to unleash his bloodline limit sooner or later.

I need to find an opening so I can land a hit on Haku without the chance of hitting Sasuke… she thought, returning her kunai back into her pouch and readying her fists. And if that fails, I can always resort to genjutsu.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" An enormous ball of fire seemed to erupt from the Uchiha's mouth, shooting like a jet towards Haku. The older boy evaded the great ball of fire by leaping to the left, grabbing several senbon from inside his sleeve and casting it in Sasuke's direction with deadly accuracy.

The Uchiha leapt back several feet with a smirk. This guy was fast, he had to admit – but he was faster. He grabbed several shuriken from a separate pouch he kept on his back, preparing to throw them…

"CHA!" From his left, Sakura leapt into the air, her fist glowing with visible blue chakra. Haku dodged in the nick of time, doing a back flip that placed him out of Sakura's reach. Her fist was about to collide with the ground when she suddenly stopped, inches away from smashing the bridge.

I have to control myself… I can't break this bridge, otherwise Tazuna's hard work would have been all for naught!

Sakura performed several handseals, yelling: "Genjutsu: Flower Petal Attack!"

Behind his mask, Haku's eyes widened. "Damn," he cursed, clapping his hands together and attempting to focus his chakra.

Meanwhile, Sasuke landed several blows on the motionless Haku, frowning as he did so.

What was that? he thought, frowning as Haku landed with a thud. He did not get another chance to attack Haku after that, for Haku then groaned and stood up. Before Sakura could do anything further, the masked boy performed a seal Sakura could not recognize, shouting: "Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors!"

"No!" yelled Sakura, dashing towards the Uchiha as fast as she could. She pushed him with all her might, sending him flying a few meters away. The Uchiha grunted, tumbling onto the dusty surface of the unfinished bridge. Catching his breath, he looked up to see Sakura surrounded by mammoth-sized mirrors of towering ice. The raven haired adolescent gaped at the scene unfolding in front of him.

"Sakura…"

"Sasuke!" yelled Sakura from inside the "dome". Her voice reverberated against the sturdy walls of ice. "Whatever you do, don't come in!"

"Hn." muttered Sasuke, taking out the shuriken he had intended to use earlier. They were attatched to long, thin clear strings that were sturdy enough for his plan. He threw them towards the dome of ice, watching in satisfaction as the shurikens slipped through an opening between two mirrors. Then, pulling the strings with the slightest amount of force, the shuriken reappeared from another gap and returned in Sasuke's direction, looping around one of the mirrors. Sasuke caught the other side of the string, shouting: "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

The fire travelled along the string towards the mirror. The flames grew taller with each passing second as it neared its destination. It had to work - it just had to.

The pinkette's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, shivering slightly as the cold air began to set in. She felt a little panicked - she was caught in Haku's bloodline limit and now the tides were turned - everything was in Haku's favor now...

Haku appeared in one of the mirrors, and then the next one, and the next, until he appeared in each mirror. Sakura was surrounded. The kunoichi frowned, experimentally throwing several kunai in each direction.

Haku's reaction was instantaneous. Immediately each of the Haku's began to blur. Each kunai seemed to bounce off thin air, falling limply to the ground. Out of nowhere, senbon began to fly down like raindrops, hitting Sakura on the knee, the shoulder, her back -

The rosette gasped in pain, immediately pulling out the senbon. It was a habit she had produced over the years of training - you never knew when a senbon could be laced with poison. She healed the wounds, watching grimly as they closed up, scarred, and then dissappeared.

"So you have medic ninjutsu abilities..." Haku's voice echoed. Sakura ignored this.

He must be moving around at a speed to fast to see with the naked eye... so that means my genjutsu won't work, since he's too fast for me to maintain eye contact... which means I'll have to resort to something else...

Sakura formed several hand seals, finally seperating and straightening one hand to form a bright blue chakra scalpel. She then sped towards one mirror, attempting to strike the smooth surface. No sooner than she had attempted this did Haku's reflections turn blurry again as he charged through Sakura's way, knocking her off balance. It was all she could to do not cry in pain as she was sent tumbling in the other direction. When she rose again, however, she noticed with minor satisfaction that there was a small gash on Haku's shoulder.

What should I do now... thought Sakura, frowning. I remember Haku's stamina not being very good... maybe if I last long enough, he'll run out of chakra... his bloodline limit surely uses up a lot of it, after all...

Suddenly a shuriken whizzed inside the dome, startling Sakura. Haku sped off into the direction of the shuriken, causing it to rebound back. It exited from another gap between two mirrors. Sakura narrowed her eyes as she caught a glint of a string tied across the mirror. Could that be...?

Might as well take the chance!

Sakura gathered chakra in her fist, sprinting towards the mirror the shuriken had looped around. As expected, Haku appeared in front of her, casting several senbon flying towards her. She cried out as the sharp edges of the senbon pierced through her flesh and sent a searing pain that made her limbs stiffen. She did not stop to inspect her wounds, however - she leaped into the air just as Haku did a roundhouse kick, then smashed a mirror with her chakra-laced fist.

At the same, bright hot flames began to envelop the icy mirror. The impact of Sakura's punch combined with Sasuke's flames created a big crack, shattering the mirror into pieces.

"Cha!" yelled Sakura, grinning at the empty space that stood where the mirror once was. She could see Sasuke several feet away, panting.

"Time to get -" the kunoichi widened her eyes. "Sasuke, behind you!"

Haku had appeared, performing a kick to the lone Uchiha's back that sent him flying into the dome. Sakura caught the boy, wincing as she slid back to accomodate Sasuke.

"Crap - you're not supposed to -" the pinkette failed to complete her sentence. Sasuke stared at her for a second in confusion before spinning back to find that the gap where the mirror had broken was replaced with a new mirror.

"Damn..." mutterred Sasuke. "I -"

"Sasuke, I'm going to say this quickly before Haku attacks again," interrupted Sakura, turning her back on Sasuke so that they were back-to-back. "Haku's using his bloodline limit to allow him to move at a tremendously fast speed. That way, he can attack us faster than we can react. He's beginning to slow down though, I can feel it. The jutsu's taking a big toll on his stamina."

Sasuke nodded, glancing from mirror to mirror in anticipation.

A sudden idea struck Sakura.

"Uch- Sasuke," she muttered.

"Yeah?"

"Try and activate your Sharingan..."

"My shari-" His eyes glinted in understanding. Of course. If I had the Sharingan, this would be much easier... but just how do I activate it, exactly...

Without warning, Sakura made several shadow clones.

Shadow Replication Jutsu? I never knew Sakura was capable of that...

Sakura smirked. "Come on. You have a brother to kill, remember? Can't fail here, now can you..."

Sasuke's onyx eyes widened in surprise, but quickly narrowed in determination. That's right. I can't lose here... I still need to beat you... his eyes turned crimson red. One tomoe appeared in each eye.

Itachi.

Naruto sped along the path that would take him to the bridge. He knew for certain that Zabuza would be there - especially after two of Gato's henchmen had arrived at Tazuna's house. He increased his speed in excitement.

I'm gonna get my chance to defeat Zabuza once and for all!

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza had continued their battle. The jounin frowned under his navy blue mask. He could not keep up with Zabuza's newfound abilities, especially with Tazuna to protect. He was also growing steadily worried for Sasuke and Sakura. The dome still continued to encase the two, and it did not seem to be crumbling anytime soon. Could those two have already - ?

No. He simply couldn't consider it.

Kakashi did a backflip, parrying a kunai sent towards Tazuna's direction.

Sakura and her clones charged towards each mirror, yelling as they approached. Haku sent senbons flying; they hit - and missed - all of the Sakuras but one, who fell in a heap on the ground. Several senbon, which passed through Sakura's clones, hit the ground instead. The real Sakura grunted as she picked herself up with much effort. She knew she had very little stamina, especially with her 12 year old body. She felt like she would collapse anytime soon.

Damn... I failed... if only I could just hit that mirror... I wasted too much chakra earlier on those scalpels...

Sakura fell to the ground with a thud once again.

I think I'm losing consciousness...

Sasuke's eyes widened in realisation. "Genjutsu..." he whispered, observing as the other Sakuras disappeared. He immediately brought his attention to the real Sakura. Thankfully, she still seemed to be breathing. He had to end this quickly, otherwise... he did not want to imagine it. He clenched his fists.

Haku, who had noticed the boy's sudden change in demeanour, grabbed a handful of senbon. Exerting nearly all the chakra he had left, Haku sent waves after waves of senbon at the Uchiha, not pausing once. Sasuke retaliated equally with kunai of his own, managing to block most of the senbon. Many, however, hit his back and sides. Before he could catch his breath, a hard punch sent him slamming against the icy surface of the mirror.

"Sasuke!" It was Naruto, bright orange jumper and all. He seemed to have magically appeared inside the dome of ice, grinning. For a moment, he gaped at the pinkette lying on the ground. "W-what happened to -!"

"There's no time to explain," panted Sasuke, wiping sweat off his brow. His limbs were twitching from the searing pain. "Naruto, just do what you can..."

"Shadow Clone Technique!" yelled Naruto.

"Damn, Naruto, don't -!"

It was too late. Several Narutos approached the reflections of Haku, only to be eliminated by another barrage of senbon from Haku. Sasuke, already worn out, was hit multiple times all over. Naruto winced in pain, gasping as several senbon hit his upper back. He glared at the masked boy.

"That won't stop me!" yelled Naruto, repeating the handseal for the shadow clone jutsu. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Again, Naruto's attack failed. But before Naruto could be hit by any senbon, a dark figure moved in front of him - Sasuke. The Uchiha stood protectively in front of the loudmouth.

"Sasuke.." Naruto stared at Sasuke. "W-why..."

The lone survivor of the Uchiha clan gave a raspy chuckle. "I... don't know..."

Thud. Sasuke had slumped to the ground, unable to withstand any more senbon. Naruto widened his eyes. "Sasuke! Sasuke! You all right?"

"Naruto... don't die..."

"SASUKE!"

There was no answer.

Slightly panicked, Naruto turned to Sakura. "Sakura-chan!" he yelled.

Again, he was greeted with silence.

"Is this the first time you've seen friends die?" said Haku solemnly.

The blonde gaped at his teammates. Shock filled his veins, flashing through his eyes.

"Sakura-chan... Sasuke..." he whispered...

"That is the path of a ninja."

"Shut up..." uttered Naruto, staring at his fallen teammates.

"Sasuke... you... protected me..."

"Sakura-chan..."

Flashbacks of Sakura and Sasuke, who had treated him differently from the villagers who scorned at him, flashed through his mind. Ever since the creation of Team 7, Naruto had forgotten all about his loneliness... and now...

Glowing orange chakra emitted from Naruto. Steam seemed to fill the air, melting the surfaces of the mirrors surrounding the trio. The Kyuubi's chakra began to spiral around Naruto like a brilliant huge firework. Waves of heat emitted from it, warming the bitter cool air that had been brought by Haku's jutsu. Naruto's eyes turned a dazzling red, rivalling that of the Sharingan. His whiskers began to darken, as if dark slabs of charcoal black paint were smeared on his tan cheeks. His nails sharpened into that of claws.

"What terrible chakra..." whispered Haku, tensing in his spot.

Sakura awoke to find herself staring right into the face of a 12 year old Inner-Sakura.

"ACK!" She screamed, tumbling backwards. She rubbed her eyes - and stared at herself. She was back in her 16 year old body.

"I-Inner Sakura...?" whispered Sakura, staring confusedly at the young Sakura across from her.

"Yep, that's me!" said Sakura boisterously, crossing her arms.

"W-where... are we...?" asked the pinkette hesitantly. She was in a vast meadow. Flowers that only bloomed in the springtime surrounded her, mixing in with the various hues of green that filled the ground. It was beautiful.

"In your mind." replied Inner Sakura as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wow," muttered Sakura sarcastically, "Never knew my mind was so... flowery."

Inner Sakura laughed. "Well, I guess that's what you envision your mind to be like, then. Anyway..." the young girl frowned. "You needa get back, Sakura!"

"G-get back?"

"Yeah, you heard me! Sasuke-kun and Naruto needs you in there!"

"Ugh," groaned Sakura, furrowing her eyebrows. "I can't believe I just fell there! I'm just as useless as ever! In fact I don't even know why Tsunade chose me-"

SLAP! Sakura's cheek stung. Inner Sakura had slapped her.

"Y-you just slapped me!" spluttered the kunoichi in mild shock.

"Yeah, because you were starting to pity yourself and it was stupid," scoffed Inner Sakura. "Come on, Sakura! You're a big girl! You kick butt, you just haven't done it yet, but you're about to! And besides, Tsunade chose you because she had faith in you! She knew you were right for the task! So stop sulking and go help Sasuke-kun and Naruto! Sasuke-kun's nearly dead and Naruto's going beserk! His chakra is all orange and his eyes are red and -"

"What!" yelled Sakura, standing up suddenly. "The Kyuubi! Oh no... I have to stop him!" She glanced at Inner Sakura. "...Thanks."

"No problem!"

When Sakura came to, large shards of ice lay on the ground around her and Sasuke. Strangely enough, she could not feel the presence of the Kyuubi.

"Na-" she quickly stopped. Naruto and Haku stood face to face - Haku's mask was gone. They seemed to be... talking?

Sakura laid still for a moment, listening in on Naruto and Haku's conversation.

"He said," muttered Haku, "'Kid, do you want to be needed by someone? Can you give everything to me?' And... and then, when I had said yes... he patted me on the head kindly and lead me to his abode. I felt.. needed. I was so, so happy..."

Haku then began to whisper in a voice so low that Sakura had to send chakra to her ears to hear anything, "I'm sorry, Zabuza-san. I'm sorry I could not become the tool you wished for me to be. I have failed you as your weapon."

"Naruto-kun, please kill me."

Sakura's eyes widened, her green orbs glinting with shock. I don't understand... Haku... why would he say such a thing?

"I refuse to believe that stupid story!" yelled Naruto, backing away from Haku in surpressed anger and shock. "Weapon... you call someone like him an important person?... You're okay with that?"

N-naruto..

"..What's wrong with that? Zabuza had hopes for me. He needed me. And now that I'm no longer of any use to him..."

"No." interrupted Sakura, standing up while she used her hands as support. Her knees began to shake in protest but she ignored it. "That's where you're wrong, Haku."

"Sa-Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto in surprise.

"Zabuza might say you're just his weapon, his tool... but he still needs you. You're all he has. Don't you see? Those years you two have shared together..." Sakura chuckled weakly.

Haku's black eyes met Sakura's determined emerald ones.

"You're right. It seems like I'm not going to die.. just yet."

He performed several hand seals, and vanished.

Naruto, still gaping from Haku's words earlier, took a few seconds to process what had just happened. He shook his head, frowning.

"What the…" he muttered.

Sakura glanced from Sasuke, who was lying motionless on the ground, to the area of the bridge where Kakashi and Zabuza occupied. Kakashi was dashing towards Zabuza, fists lowered near the ground. There was a sort of light enveloping his hand… what was it…?

"Oh!" gasped Sakura, her hand covering her mouth. "The Chidori!"

This caught Naruto's attention. "What?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He glanced from Sakura to Kakashi-sensei – and gasped.

Zabuza was being restrained by several burly dogs, all of which Sakura had seen before while working with Tsunade. It would only be seconds before the impact of Kakashi's lightning fist would impale Zabuza, leaving him with a deadly wound.

"Wait – where's Haku!" yelled Naruto, darting from left to right in an attempt to look for the speedy, lean boy. He was nowhere to be found.

"No way – he wouldn't-"

But Sakura was wrong. In a matter of seconds Haku had darted in front of Zabuza, arms raised in a protective, strong manner. Kakashi, already propelled by the momentum of his movement, rammed his fist into Haku's abdomen.

The kunoichi squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the blood and the pain. Temptation, however, forced her to reopen her eyes.

It was not a pretty sight. It was as if someone had taken a knife and cut out a hole from Haku's stomach, leaving a mess of dark crimson blood.

"Za..bu…za.." Haku breathed. He collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

With the distraction, Zabuza quickly leapt out of the way, regaining his freedom of movement. He didn't even bat an eyelash at the death of his loyal companion.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, swiftly picked up the cadaver of what was once a young, obedient boy, and laid it to rest near the edge of the bridge.

"Naruto, Sakura, stay out of this fight. I want you to take care of his body and Tazuna."

"But-!" yelled Naruto, clenching his fists at the death of someone who had been close to a rival, if not a friend.

Sakura bit her lip. "Let's go, Naruto," she muttered quietly.

The blonde stared at her for several moments. Something in his eyes clearly stated that he would rather die than come quietly, but Sakura was dead serious. She glared at him in return. The genin clenched and unclenched his fists. Finally, Naruto seemed to remember the gravity of the situation and sighed.

"Alright," he muttered, with just as much enthusiasm as a dead fly.

As the duo fought even more viciously, Naruto and Sakura dashed to Tazuna and Haku. The bridge builder, who had been watching upon the events with a frown the whole time, turned his gaze towards the pair of genin.

"You two fought well," he mumbled, gruffly.

Sakura nodded solemnly. Naruto, on the other hand, scoffed. "I was useless," he muttered as he stared at the corpse of Haku.

The pinkette frowned at her teammate, but wisely chose not to comment. Tazuna, who did the same, turned to Sakura.

"Is your teammate alright?" He asked, a note of worry in his voice. At the mention of 'teammate', Sakura glanced at Naruto. Then –

"Oh… Sasuke… trust me, he's stronger in spirit than you think. He'll be alright." The bridgebuilder nodded, now directing his attention towards the ongoing battle between Kakashi and Zabuza.

"It's them…" the old man growled, staring off somewhere into the distance.

"Who?" asked Sakura.

She saw them before he could answer her question – it was Gato and his minions.

"Now what do we have here?" Gato asked. His pitch-black sunglasses were glinting in the rays of sunlight that had begun to peek through the thick clouds. His voice was full of indifference, as if the battle that had unfolded on the bridge was nothing more than child's play.

Then the stout businessman's eyes fell upon Haku's bloody body. "Oh, why look at that. Karma has struck…" He grinned, his wide smile like that of a Cheshire Cat. Gato's wrist twitched from its earlier tribulation. "Well, that's what the rude boy gets for thinking he can harm me."

Several men who had assembled behind Gato chuckled, some nervously, others cruelly.

Zabuza, on the other hand, did not so much as frown at the mention of his slain partner. It was Zabuza's lack of emotion that finally seemed to make something snap in Naruto.

"That's all you can do?" the young orange-clad boy yelled, a hint of a growl present in his voice. "After all Haku did for you?"

"Haku was a tool to me... nothing more. I have no use for a tool that is -"

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled, cutting across the great swordsman as if he were a mere pest. "Haku cared about you! Your dreams were his dreams, and he died being unable to accomplish them! He would've done anything for you!" Naruto clenched his fists, staring resolutely at Zabuza. "You were more than a master to him... you were the family he never had! Do you even know how wonderful it feels to be cared by someone...! "

Sakura stared, eyes wide as she stared at the boy to her right. She could have sworn a tear had slid down his cheek... but any evidence of it was lost as he yelled, "TEME -!"

His yell was cut off by an unmistakeable sob that had erupted within Zabuza. Naruto was just as shocked as Sakura, who couldn't believe she didn't remember any of this the last time she had experienced it.

Gato and his men began howling with laughter. "Look!" yelled Gato, smirking. "The Great Zabuza, a Master Swordsman, crying over a pathetic boy!"

Naruto, who had taken a kunai from his pouch, threw it towards Zabuza and yelled, "Catch!"

Zabuza had caught the kunai in his mouth with surprising agility for a man that had just battled his hardest.

The next few minutes were bloody and painful to watch. Zabuza slashed through man after man in pursuit of Gato, his anger feeding him as he surged through the crowd. It was like a mighty gust of wind blew through thin brittle dominos that toppled over each other.

Zabuza finally reached Gato, who was trembling in fear at that point. Only a second passed in silence as their eyes met - and then Gato fell face flat on the stone ground of the bridge.

THe swordsman chuckled softly, his eyes resting on Haku. "Sorry, Haku... looks like I won't be able to go with you to heaven. Rather... I'll be accompanying this thing " - he kicked Gato - "in hell."

Everyone watched in an eerily peaceful silence as the dying man trudged towards Haku. He finally stumbled an extremely short distance away from the teenaged shinobi, his fatigued body lying in a peaceful position. Zabuza faced Haku, his battered hand finding a tidbit of strength left to brush a stray lock of hair from the young boy's face.

"Ha...ku..." he breathed, shutting his eyelids for the final time.

Sakura stared at the scene that had just unfolded before her. She smiled - a bittersweet smile that did not reach her eyes.

Seems like it took me two times to finally realize how important this was... and how complex a person Naruto is, she mused.

Some distance away, the young Uchiha had woken up. He grumbled groggily as his eyes adjusted to the scene in front of him.

"W-what.. happened...?" he muttered.

"Sasuke!" breathed Sakura, startled by Sasuke's sudden return to the situation at hand. Relief seemed to wash over her. It was finally over... and although she felt like kicking herself for the mistakes she made and the things she could have prevented, she was nonetheless content at last. Fatigue hit her like a wave just then, having been hidden earlier by the adrenaline from being in battle.

Naruto's head turned to see Sasuke, alive and well. "SASUKE!" he yelled, momentarily forgetting the tragic display of events.

"Sakura-chan, come on!" said Naruto. "Sasuke's awake!"

When he received no response, he turned around to find Tazuna supporting an unconcious Sakura.