I had a really bad nightmare, I dreamt that we were on a mission to this neighboring village only to find out our mission was actually harder than what we were told. We met this rogue ninja named Zabuza and a young teenage boy Haku who had tried to kill us with his superb ice style ninjutsu.
So imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes to find myself lying down on the floor surrounded by ice mirrors instead of in my bed, stabbing pain throughout my whole body, and Sasuke in Naruto's arms. Unconscious.
This clearly isn't a dream, I told myself.
"Sasuke!" I cried out and gathered all my strength to get up and run over to him, not noticing the expression on Naruto's face as I knelt down beside him panicking.
Sasuke did not respond and he was limp in Naruto's arms. No, no no, this can't be happening! I was in denial that Sasuke could be dead.
A pulse! I need to find his pulse, I can prove that he's still alive with his pulse!
"Naruto, listen to me, we have to -" I looked up at Naruto wanting to instruct him on what to do when I noticed his expression. It was pure rage but something felt off, he almost looked like... a monster.
It was then that I noticed there was steam rising up from the ground, or was it from Naruto's body? But how?
"N...Naruto?" I called out to him, Naruto didn't look at me or answered me. Instead, he handed Sasuke over to me wordlessly.
"Naruto what are you -" I didn't finish my sentence as the steam around Naruto dissipated and this red coloured chakra appeared.
It rose and coiled around us like how the steam would, except well, it's chakra.
But I'm pretty sure chakra isn't red! Then... what is this?
"I'm going to kill you!!" Naruto roared with a ferocious look on his face. His eyes were glowing red, this whisker like marks on his face grew darker, not to mention his teeth were sharp. He really looked like a monster.
This chakra coming off of Naruto feels so... intimidating and murderous. It isn't Naruto at all! But this boy standing in front of me glaring at Haku is definitely Naruto!
I held Sasuke closer to myself not bothering that the needles on his body were poking me, I was scared of this person who is Naruto but doesn't seem to be Naruto. Would he kill me? I should get Sasuke out of here and find Kakashi sensei.
By this time, the chakra surrounding Naruto had begun to form a shape..... The Nine Tail's shape.
"Oh my god..." The Nine Tails, that's right. I had forgotten about it for a while that Naruto has this monster inside of him. The Nine Tails Fox. So that means this chakra belongs to this monster??
I hugged Sasuke even tighter now, the needles on him were stabbing me too, I'm pretty sure I was already trembling in fear, I need to get away. I'm not sure if Naruto is still targeting Haku, if Naruto isn't controlling his body right now, he could target Sasuke and I as well!
The needles in Naruto's body popped off of him like how hot oil would jump off a pan, and the scratches on his body began to close, basically his wounds were healing. Oh not to mention, Naruto's fingernails grew longer and sharper resembling an animal's claws.
Naruto then got down on all fours like an animal and charged straight towards Haku. Haku threw some senbon needles at him but the needles were deflected before it reached Naruto.
What? Naruto is still running at him, how could he have dodged it?!
Haku disappeared and had reappeared in every mirror and they quickly fired senbon needles at Naruto again. I made sure to use my back to protect Sasuke's body, wincing as some senbon needles stabbed me.
The needles that Haku threw at Naruto hit him but Naruto merely roared and all of the needles popped out of him again, releasing a huge burst of chakra that's even more powerful than my Reppushou jutsu.
Naruto then rushed towards Haku and leaped into the air and punched the mirror he was in, shattering it with ease. Haku was in one of the mirror shards and quickly took the chance to attack Naruto from above while Naruto had his back towards him.
"Naruto, above you!" I called out to him unconsciously, not even sure if Naruto could hear me.
I didn't had to warn him because Naruto jumped out of the way and spun in mid air like a spinning top, landing on the ground smoothly.
Holy....
Haku tried to escape back into his mirror but Naruto was faster, he had grabbed onto Haku's wrist tightly, stopping him from doing so and let out another ferocious roar releasing another huge burst of chakra.
But this one was more stronger than the last that I got blown backwards so hard into one of Haku's ice mirror, shattering it or maybe it was Naruto's chakra that shattered it, and the world went dark once again.
***************
There was this kid who was always alone.
He would come to the playground alone and try to join the other kids but for some reason either their parents or the kids themselves would run away from him. He would end up leaving the playground with a sad, dejected look on his face.
Maybe the others didn't notice, but I did and I can't help but feel sorry for him all the time.
"Hey, Sasuke." I called out to Sasuke softly who was playing in the sandbox, my gaze fixated on Naruto's figure which was getting smaller as he went away.
"Hm?" He replied halfheartedly, he was very focused on his sandcastle.
"Why don't we ask if he want to play with us?" "Who?"
"That kid with the yellow hair." I pointed and Sasuke finally looked up to see who I was pointing to.
"Hm?? Nande?" "He's always alone, I bet he wants to play with someone...."
"I don't want to." "Ehh? Why not? You don't want to be friends with him?"
"Why do I need more friends when I have you and nii-san and Shisui-san?" Sasuke explained matter of factly and continued to build his sandcastle.
I didn't know what to say so I just remained quiet, when I turned to look at Naruto he was already long gone.
That night after dinner, I decided to ask my parents about it.
"Tou-chan, kaa-chan." "Hm, what is it Akiko?" My father asked as he picked me up, carrying me.
"Ano ne, I've noticed that there is this boy who is always alone. Nobody wants to play with him, I feel sad for him, he must be so lonely."
"Boy?" My father was about to say something before I cut him off quickly "And then, when I asked Sasuke if we should ask him to play with us, Sasuke said no because he doesn't need any more friends since he has me and Itachi nii-san and Shisui-san."
"But, I really feel bad for that boy! All the other kids ran away when he wanted to play with them! Doushite?"
I must've had a really sad look on my face because my father placed me down on the floor again and ruffled my hair fondly.
"Does he have yellow spiky hair?" "Yeah he does!"
"People are always afraid of the things they don't know, or in this case someone."
"Eh?" I looked up at him, confused.
"Do you want to be his friend Akiko-chan?" My mother walked over to us and sat down next to me, her hands on my shoulders.
I nodded my head, "Would you still want to be his friend even if he has a monster inside of him?"
"Eh? Monster?" "Yes, would you?"
"What do you mean monster?" "People are afraid of him because he has a monster sealed inside of him since he was born." My father's face turned serious.
"Monster? Sealed? Why?" "A long time ago, just after you were born Akiko. The village was attacked by a huge monster called the Nine Tails, many people have died from that attack. I don't know much details but they sealed that monster inside Naruto." My father tried to explain it in simple terms so that I would understand as I was still young.
"So most of the villagers are scared of him because of the monster, or they hate him because of what that monster did to our village."
"But, he didn't do it! Right?" My parents both shook their heads in response.
How sad. To be hated and feared by people for something you didn't do, that you had no control over.
"I want to be his friend!" My answer did not seem to surprise my parents as they both smiled softly at me, "Even if he has a monster inside of him?"
"Even if he has that! Because, everyone should have a friend! Sasuke has me, and I have Sasuke and, and many other kids. But that boy has no one! So, I want to be his friend! Can I, tou-chan, kaa-chan?"
"Of course you can! Be a good friend to him okay, Akiko?" "Yeah, I will!"
I didn't approach him until a few weeks later.
"Eh??? Sasuke-kun is sick?" Itachi gave me an apologetic look, I was standing outside of their house, waiting for Sasuke-kun to come out so we could play together.
Itachi is Sasuke's older brother. The 2 of them are really close and spend time with each other often. Itachi had black eyes and hair like Sasuke, but he has this long obvious tear-troughs on his face, and instead of spiky hair, his hair is pulled back into a low ponytail. But otherwise, Itachi and Sasuke both look similar.
"Gomen, Akiko-chan. But he got caught under the rain for a bit yesterday while helping me out so he's having a high fever today."
"It's okay, tell him to get well soon so that we can play!!" Itachi chuckled at my response "Sure, I'll tell him that. Bye, Akiko."
"Bye, Itachi nii-san!" I went home feeling slightly disappointed that we couldn't play today.
"Akiko-chan? You're back already?" My mother greeted me when I entered the kitchen.
"Yeah.. Sasuke is sick so we can't play. I don't know who else to play with."
"Hmm." my mother mused for a while as she wiped her hands with a towel before she turned towards me.
"What about that boy you mentioned a few weeks ago? The one that you wanted to become friends with?"
I slammed my hands onto the table excitedly "Oh! I forgot about him!"
My mother just smiled, "You should go find him then." "Can I have some money then?"
We walked to her room and I waited outside as she went to get some money for me, she came out with a few hundred ryo and passed it to me, "This is all you'll get. Don't spend too much okay?"
"Okay, thanks kaa-chan!" I kept it inside my pocket before leaving my house, running towards the park hoping that the boy would be there.
I finally reached the playground and looked around quickly, scanning the whole playground for that boy with the spiky yellow hair.
But he wasn't there. Where else could he be?
Since I had nothing better to do for the day and I had already made up my mind to be friends with him I decided to go on a hunt for him.
I searched everywhere I could think of, and I was about to give up when....
There he is.
He was sitting alone on the deck by the lake, staring into space.
I took a deep breath and walked towards him, patting him on the shoulder gently when I was behind him.
"Hey." I started. "Want to play together?" I gave him my most brightest smile when he turned around to see me.
I watched as his confused face changed into a look of surprise as he digested what I just said.
"Eh?!!! Are you joking?" I shook my head "Come on, the sun is about to set!" I placed my hand out for him to take.
He was going to reach out before he stopped, a guilty look on his face as he looked away, "But why.... I have a monster inside of me... You shouldn't play with me. Or else nobody would want to play with you anymore."
I was quiet. He....I can't even tell how he must've felt all this while. I don't really know what to say except this.
"But I want to." He looked up at me, "Eh? Didn't you-"
"My parents told me what happened, it's not your fault. I don't know what to say to make you feel better so I won't. I'll only say this-"
I reached forward and grabbed his wrist pulling him up "Let's be friends okay?" Without waiting for an answer from him, I ran towards town, dragging him along.
"W-where are we going?" "To town, my mom gave me money. What do you wanna eat? My treat! What about takoyaki? Let's get takoyaki!" I spoke too quickly, not giving him a chance to react as I led us to the takoyaki shop.
After we got our takoyakis, we ate it while sitting on a bench near the playground.
"Mmmm oishiiii!"I gushed happily while eating it.
"You were serious? About being friends with me? But what about that other boy who plays with you?" He finally spoke up.
"Of course I am! Hm? Oh you mean Sasuke? Don't worry about him, he's shy and doesn't like to make new friends. But that's okay, I don't play with him everyday." I grinned at him "I'll take turns playing with the both of you!"
He finally smiled "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"
"Uzumaki Naruto.... nice name you got there! I'm Akiyama Akiko, dattebayo!" I mimicked him.
"Hey! You copied my line!" "Hehe, can't I?" I stuck out my tongue at him, continuing to eat my takoyaki.
"....Arigatou, Akiko." Naruto spoke softly, I turned to him. "For being my friend, I mean it."
I looked at him, taken aback by his words before giving him a big smile.
****************
I opened my eyes slowly.
Huh? What's with all this mist? It's so foggy.... am I outside? I can't see the sky... where am I?
I slowly began to sit up, my head throbbing in pain, my limbs were hurting too. I looked down to see senbon needles poking out of me, and blood was dripping down onto the floor from.... I held a hand up to touch my head and saw blood on it.
My eyes widened as my brain started to process everything.
That's right, I was on a mission with the others and we were fighting that masked boy Haku in this ice dome prison. And then Naruto came to save us, but then Sasuke... Sasuke!!
I quickly turned around to see an unconscious Sasuke next to me, "Sasuke? Sasuke, wake up!" I shook his shoulders for a bit, noticing that he hasn't woken up at all.
I quickly felt his neck for a pulse but I didn't feel one and my heart began to sink.
No... no this can't be!
"Naruto!" I turned around expecting to see Naruto somewhere on the ground with Haku only to realize Sasuke and I were the only ones left in there. One of the mirrors was missing, with shattered ice on the ground.
Did Naruto managed to beat Haku? Would that mean they're outside?
There was a huge gust of wind from the outside but the crystal ice mirrors shielded us from most of it.
They're definitely outside! Just as I told myself that, there was an unmistakable scream.
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!" That was Sakura. Something must've happened!
I quickly got up and ran outside of the crystal ice dome, I could see Naruto running ahead in front of me so I followed him.
"Naruto, hey what happened-" I stopped right next to him, shocked at the scene in front of me.
Kakashi sensei was standing in front of Haku, piercing him with his hand who was standing in front of Zabuza. There was blood splattered everywhere, on the ground, on Kakashi-sensei and even on Zabuza.
"What- what happened...." I asked no one. But there was one thing that I do know, it's that Haku is dead, for sure. There's no way he's still alive after having lost that much blood.
"Good job Haku." Zabuza chuckled to himself softly, "Did you say my future was death? Looks like you're off the mark again, Kakashi."
It was hard to tell if Zabuza was even affected by the scene before him, Kakashi definitely seemed surprised, looks like his plans were foiled by Haku. Zabuza didn't let his chance go to waste, as he quickly gripped his sword and charged towards Kakashi-sensei and Haku, intending to slice them both. "That was a really great find I made! Even in his final moments, he gave me such a perfect opportunity!"
"Kakashi-sensei!!" Sakura shouted again, Kakashi-sensei was struggling to pull his hand out of Haku's body but he couldn't as Haku gripped onto his arm tightly before he died, preventing Kakashi-sensei from doing so.
"Naruto, we have to help -" I started to run towards Kakashi sensei but my legs gave up on me causing me to fall forwards "Ugh!"
"Akiko-chan! What's wrong?" Naruto quickly caught me before I fell to the ground. I shook my head, "I'm fine... my legs are just weak, they still hurt."
Naruto was listening to me half-heartedly, I looked up and noticed how he was fixated on the scene in front of us, he was trembling with anger. Was he angry with how Zabuza didn't seem to care that his partner died?
Just as Zabuza was about to slash Kakashi-sensei and Haku, Kakashi-sensei jumped away together with Haku's body. After landing a distance away, he pulled his bloodied hand out of Haku's chest who was now on the floor. "Heh, you can now move since Haku is dead huh?"
"I won't forgive you!!" Naruto exclaimed, ready to rush out himself.
"Naruto! You just stay there and watch!" Kakashi-sensei ordered, not wanting us to get close. He pulled down on Haku's eyelids, closing his eyes as he looked up with a serious face. "This is my fight!"
"If Kakashi-sensei ordered us to, then we need to stay out of it, Naruto." I told Naruto gently who was still angry, "Naruto!! Akiko!!"
It was Sakura who was calling for us on the opposite side, "Glad to see that the both of you are fine! Where's Sasuke-kun?" she smiled, relieved to see us alive.
Upon hearing it, Naruto and I both looked away, unable to answer her question. I looked down at the ground while biting my lower lip, unsure of how to break the news to Sakura. That the boy she cares for deeply, had died during the fight.
Just thinking about it, how Sasuke didn't respond to me, how I didn't feel a pulse, made me tear up. Sakura wasn't the only one who cared for him, I cared a lot for him too, and much more than Sakura. And he was gone.
Sakura must have saw our expressions as her tone changed, "Naruto, where is Sasuke-kun?"
"Ghh..." "Akiko?!" There was more worry in Sakura's tone now, but I didn't respond as well.
"Kakashi!! You have no time to take your eyes off me!" Zabuza broke us out of our thoughts as he charged towards Kakashi-sensei again. Kakashi-sensei reacted quickly, and kicked him in the face, sending him flying.
I heard the sound of running footsteps, it was Sakura and Tazuna-san who were running over. But I know that they weren't coming over for Naruto and I, Sakura's eyes weren't looking at us, she was looking at something behind us.
She was going to where Sasuke is, to see him for herself. We didn't say a word as they ran by us. Only after they were a distance away did I hear Naruto mutter Sasuke's name.
The fight in front of us kept going on but I wasn't paying any attention to it anymore. All I could focus on was Sakura's wailing. "SASUKE-KUN!!!"
I gripped the edge of my kimono top tightly, not noticing that tears had already left my eyes until I felt something wet fall onto my fists. "Damn it Sakura..." I muttered softly, I was trying so hard to control my emotions, but hearing her cry was enough to undo my efforts.
I began to break down pretty quickly too, "Sasuke, I'm sorry..." I breathed out in between my sobs, all of my memories that I had of Sasuke started to flood my brain. From the time we were kids playing together until recently. That's enough to make anyone cry really badly.
In fact I didn't even look up again until I heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Oh! You're getting your ass kicked. How disappointing.... Zabuza." There was a short man with shaggy brown hair and a pair of small, circular black glasses dressed in a black suit with a yellow shirt and purple tie, his left arm was bandaged and he was holding a walking stick. He had appeared while we weren't noticing, and behind him stood a large number of thugs, they were all eyeing Zabuza.
And right at the front of the group of thugs, was a group of ninja, specifically, the ones who claim to be from the Akiyama clan. And how do I know that?
Because I was glaring right at their leader, I will never forget that guy's face. He is a tall man with short, wavy light blue hair and bangs. If he wasn't a bad guy I would gladly admit that he's good looking too, but you didn't hear that from me. And let's not forget that distinct scar that ran along his face from his left eye down towards his chin.
He looked as despicable as I remembered. I'm guessing he's the one who they call Itsuki. It has to be.
"Gatou, why did you come here?" he narrowed his eyes at the short man called Gatou "And what's with all these men?"
Gatou chuckled and explained to Zabuza about his plan to kill Zabuza right now just so that he wouldn't have to pay Zabuza after completing his job.
"Well, you certainly don't deserve to be called as 'The Demon of the Hidden Mist'. If you ask me, you're just a cute little baby demon!" As if on cue, his group of thugs started to laugh out loud, clearly mocking Zabuza who was injured by Kakashi-sensei. They all laughed except for Itsuki and his men.
"Tch, cowards! I bet you didn't dare to say that to his face when he wasn't injured!" I spat, the men stopped laughing and they all looked towards me now.
"Huh?" Gatou gave a look of disdain, "And who is this brat? Hey kid, you better shut your mouth before I do it for you!"
"Leave that one to me," the man who I was glaring at for so long finally returned my gaze as he spoke up "That one's mine."
"What? But our deal - " "My men will proceed as what's agreed upon, but that girl's an unfinished business of mine." He gave a sideway glance at Gatou, "I'm sure you would understand? Being a businessman yourself."
"Tch, as long as you uphold your end of the deal, do whatever you want Itsuki."
"Itsuki...." I muttered his name to myself, if he's coming for me, I have to be ready. I can be sad over Sasuke later, but not right now, or I'll be next. I winced as I got into my battle stance, the pain from the battle with Haku still hasn't gone away.
"Kakashi, I'm sorry." Zabuza apologized suddenly, the menace that I felt earlier from him is gone. "Our fight ends here, now that I have no more reason to go after Tazuna, I have no reason to fight you."
"Yeah, you're right." Kakashi-sensei then looked behind at me "I know that this is your fight Akiko, but you're in no condition to fight him. As long as I'm here, I'll protect you." That was an order, not a request, and I knew it.
And to be honest, I'm grateful he said that, if I couldn't even handle his lackeys, I'm pretty sure it would end the same way again like that day.
Gatou walked up to Haku's body, "That reminds me... I owe him something." He nudged Haku's face with his foot, "He squeezed my arm until it broke." seeing that there was no response from Haku he kicked his face. "Hey!"
Naruto and I both gasped in shock at his actions, sure Haku may have been the enemy. But he's already dead now, there's no need to disrespect him like that!
"Huh, he's dead." Gatou laughed to himself as he continued to poke Haku's face with his walking stick.
"YOU BASTARD! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!" Naruto ran ahead without a further thought before I could even stop him. Thankfully Kakashi-sensei was fast enough and grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him back. "Stop! Don't act so recklessly!"
"Argh! Hey, say something, he was your comrade, right?" "Shut up kid, Haku is already dead." Zabuza responded coldly, he didn't react too when Haku was disrespected by Gatou like that.
"What? Don't you feel anything at all watching him do that? Weren't you two always together?!"
"As Gatou had used me, I was simply using Haku. I thought I'd already told you, we shinobi are merely tools."
"In this world, there are only those who use and those who are used. What I wanted was Haku's kekkei genkai, not Haku himself. I have no regrets."
I see, so that's what Zabuza thought about Haku, but why do I get the feeling that this was something he said to convince himself?
"Do you... do you really mean that?" "Naruto, stop." Kakashi-sensei placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder to stop him from making any more rash decisions. "There's no need to fight him anymore. Besides..." Naruto shrugged off his hand, shouting again "Shut up! My enemy is still him!" he pointed at Zabuza, panting.
"He.... he really loved you!" he pointed at Haku now. "He loved you that much! Even so, don't you feel anything at all?! Do you really... really not feel anything??" Naruto was pleading for Zabuza to say something who was still quiet.
"If I become as strong as you, will I really become like you?! He threw his life away for you! He didn't even fulfill his own dreams and yet.. to die as a tool!"
"That's... that's... just too sad...." Naruto was crying really hard, everyone else was quiet as we listened to Naruto. I didn't know that Naruto had such strong feelings for Haku, was there something that happened when Naruto was alone?
"Kid..." Zabuza finally spoke, Naruto looked up at him wondering what he would say.
I gasped when I saw Zabuza's face as he looked up to the sky, I could see tears running down his face as well. "You don't need to say anything... anymore..." Zabuza had finally showed his true feelings about Haku.
"Haku was...he wasn't just thinking of me. He was feeling pain inside for you while he fought you guys too... I know, he was too kind."
"I'm glad that we could fight with you at the end." Zabuza began biting at his bandage that was wrapped around the lower half of his face, tearing it and revealing his full face. "It is as you say kid, shinobi are human too. Maybe it's impossible to become an emotionless tool."
"I've lost." Gatou smirked as he signalled for his men to attack, but before they did, Itsuki said something that caught Gatou off guard.
"We'll be taking our leave. I would say that it was nice knowing you lads, but it definitely was not, and I doubt any of you will be leaving this bridge alive."
"Huh?! Itsuki, what is the meaning of-" Gatou demanded. "You honestly didn't think that I would be that big of a fool to stick around? If you're not paying a rogue ninja, then that would mean the same for us as well, right?"
"Well, not to worry, my men has already collected our payment and much more. Seeing how you won't need it after today." Itsuki smirked and before Gatou could say anything else they disappeared.
He just..... stole from Gatou and left?! Itsuki really ain't a dumb ninja...
"ITSUKI!!! HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM ME?!" Gatou was even furious now, he turned back to us and ordered his men. "Kill them! And then we'll deal with Itsuki!" Gatou's men immediately charged forwards.
Zabuza clenched his jaw, "Kid, give me your kunai!" "Huh? Oh!" Naruto pulled out a kunai from his holster and threw it to Zabuza who caught it with his teeth, he wasted no time after that and rushed towards Gatou and his men, killing anyone who stood in his way with just his kunai.
"He really is a demon...." I murmured as I watch more and more men fall to the ground, dead. Even as Zabuza got pierced and stabbed by their weapons, he still did not falter and continued straight towards Gatou.
In the end, Zabuza caught up to Gatou and beheaded him with the kunai. He turned around slowly, looking at Haku, the remaining of Gatou's men made way for him to cross silently, obviously afraid of Zabuza. But Zabuza barely walked a few steps before he collapsed to the ground.
"Did he just... die?" I asked softly as Naruto turned his head, unable to look. "Don't look away, both of you. It's the end for a man who lived fiercely."
"Un..." Naruto and I responded, not looking away this time from the sad scene before us.
"Naruto!! Akiko!!!" Sakura shouted, but she sounded happy. "Sakura?" We both turned to her and I couldn't believe my eyes. I started running over to her before she even told us.
"Sasuke-kun's alright! He's alive!!" She was smiling from ear to ear. And sure enough Sasuke was standing up next to her, he was still in pain but very much alive. He silently held up an arm while looking away after she said that, almost like a greeting.
I wrapped Sasuke in a tight hug, I didn't care if the senbon needles were piercing me too. "Oh!" I almost knocked into Sakura because of how close she was standing next to him, but she probably remembered that she wasn't the only one who cared a lot for him and stepped away.
"Thank god...." I said softly in his ear while sobbing, the tears were flowing out again. "Haku really didnt...." I didn't finish the sentence, pretty sure Sasuke and I had the exact same thought anyways. "......Are you.... crying? For me?" Sasuke asked awkwardly and I immediately released him, wiping away my tears. "No I'm not, it's the needles! They hurt a lot....."
"Hey, hey, hey! You guys are too relaxed!" "Damn ninjas, killing our source of money!" The remaining thugs started to make a scene. "Now that it's come to this, there's no choice but to attack the whole town and take everything valuable!" The thugs gave another shout as they started to charge towards us.
"Shit, Sasuke can't fight, Sakura, we'll have to -" suddenly an arrow landed on the ground right in front of the thugs.
Eh? An arrow? It seemed to have came from...
We looked to find all of the men from the village gathered behind us, armed with weapons with Inari in the front holding a crossbow! "Enemies who come closer to the island, with all the might of all the island's people... will not be allowed to live!" One of the men warned.
"Inari!!!" "Inari, you guys...." Tazuna-san who was beside us looked both proud and touched.
"Hehe, heroes always arrive late to the battle! Right?" Inari had a very proud look on his face.
"I can't believe he got the whole village to come...." Sakura was surprised, "Heh, Naruto's a bad influence." I agreed.
Even so, the thugs still weren't willing to leave. Naruto then created a few shadow clones to scare them even more. Sakura, Sasuke and I shared a look among ourselves and nodded, we created a few shadow clones of ourselves as well.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Now the thugs were definitely more afraid than before, they just needed one final push. Kakashi-sensei came to save the day by creating way more clones than all of us combined.
"GAAAAAHHH!!!!" "So, you want some of this?!" "No we don't!! Let's get out of here!!!!" And with that, the thugs quickly ran off to their boat which was below the bridge to escape.
"We've done it!!!!" The villagers cheered alongside Inari, happy and relieved that they've managed to chase the thugs away and put an end to all of this.
"It's finally over..." I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I can't wait to go back home." Sakura whined, "Me too. I deserve to be lazy for the next few days."
The cheers among the villagers were so loud that nobody noticed Kakashi sensei walk up to Zabuza. I couldn't hear what they said but everyone quieted down when they notice Kakashi sensei carry Zabuza's body over to Haku, laying him down next to him.
It must be his last wish.
"Huh? Snow...." "Snow at this time of the year?" a villager asked.
"Yuki...." I held out a hand and watched as the snow fell onto my hand before melting, "Haku.... could this be his tears?" I asked Sasuke and Sakura who shrugged, "It could be, that is his power right?"
"Yeah... I wonder if he's happy that things have ended well for the villagers. Or that Zabuza who he tried to protect is...." I didn't want to say out the last part, even though Zabuza is definitely going to die, I didn't felt like it was right to say it out.
"Maybe both."
Even though it was too quiet to hear, everyone remained silent as Zabuza spoke his final words to Haku. Just watching it made me feel sad again, outside of Konoha, there are ninjas who have been living very difficult lives. I wonder if I can be as devoted as Haku was to Zabuza. To love someone that much to go to that extent, I can't imagine if I could ever do that.
I clasped my hands together and decided to say a prayer for them. "Kamisama, please let them be together again in their next life." I said to myself softly, Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna-san must've overheard because I could hear them do the same thing.
"And this time, may Haku's dream be fulfilled." It would be too sad if Haku were to be reborn and be stuck in a similar life as his past life. It's the least that a kind boy as him deserves. To be able to live a peaceful and happy life.
My semester finally ended T3T, I thought I would be able to work on my chapters during the weekends, but I always end up playing games to revitalize me from the stressful week that I had. So sorry about that. I'm trying to condense the chapters and dialogue more, well the unnecessary ones that is.
Hope you like it!