uzumaki shira | naruto

Act 6: "Can't we get some rest?"

.

.

The scene stunned everyone.

Kakashi removed his hand out of her abdomen, catching her before she fell. Her breath was slow and shallow and blood kept streaming out of her wound. Naruto seemed to forget how to breathe. No words cane out of his mouth but soon found his voice. "Nee-san!" Rushing to Kakashi's side, he watched as their sensei tried his best to stop the flow of her blood.

Kakashi cursed as he kept trying, he was not going to let another teammate of his die on his watch... or die by his own hands once again. He pulled out a roll of bandages and wrapped it around her wound. Thankfully, his hand didn't go through all the way to the back. With her unexpected usage of chakra chains, his jutsu's effectiveness decreased quite a bit, leaving his hand not even halfway inside. But his self-loathing... just got worse than before.

He was incapable of protecting what was important to him so what was the point of being a strong ninja?

For now, he was glad that Shira was alive and breathing. Kakashi gently handed her to her twin, who grabbed her and had let out a shaky sigh. "Is... Is she going to be okay, Kaka-sensei?" Fear laced his voice and Kakashi couldn't help but berate himself for scaring his student. With a shaky hand, he reassured the blond that his twin would live.

Haku, who snapped out of his shock, shook his head to get his mind back to reality. It was his fault she was wounded in the first place. His fault. If he didn't rush in blindly to protect Zabuza, would Shira not have gotten hurt in his stead? Yes, it was possible but he didn't even think that Shira would get in the way. Maybe he should have expected this, he had known through her stories how she felt towards family and friends.

The feminine boy gazed down at her form, eyes flashing with guilt, and then, his gaze landed on Naruto. He looked so lost and yet, relieved that she didn't die. Haku felt guilt wash over him. He had almost gotten her killed. Haku felt disgusted with himself as he stared down at his hand with an almost invisible scowl adorning his lips.

It was all his fault.

"Naruto-kun..." The blond looked up at him, expecting furious blue orbs boring onto him but instead of that, teary cerulean one's were looking at him. The feminine boy didn't even hide his surprise when no such thing as resentment appeared in them.

"... do you not hate me?" He questioned. When Naruto shook his head, it baffled Haku. "You're a nice person, Haku. Nee-san knows that; that's why she protected you, 'ttebayo!" A smile managed to appear on his lips despite the turmoil raging inside of him..

Haku's eyes softened.

"What's this? Are you two really as fearsome as you are called?" A voice taunted. Heads snapped towards the general direction of the voice and Zabuza and Haku found themselves glaring at Gatou. "What's the meaning of this, Gatou?" The swordsman narrowed his eyes.

The short man chuckled and approached the out of commission Shira and a wide-eyed Naruto. He moved to kick the twins but Haku instantly grabbed the power-hungry man's feet and shoved him back. "Do not touch them." He growled. Gatou flinched from the ground but stood up anyways with an condescending smirk on his face.

"Zabuza-sama, let me- "

"Haku."

The feminine boy stopped and looked at Zabuza, a bit wide-eyed. No longer did his bandage covered half of his face. For now, he sported a murderous glint in his eyes and pointed kubikiribocho towards Gatou, his other arm hanging limply by his side. "Zabuza-sama?"

"That girl... what's her name?" The question surprised almost everyone while Gatou seemed confused. "Sh-Shira-chan..." Haku answered. Naruto pulled the redhead closer to him, wary of what Zabuza wanted with his twin sister. "... heh, make sure to look after those brats, Haku. Leave that bastard to me."