Sakura Blooms (#1 Sakura Trilogy)

Sakura Blooms: [Chapter 28]

Kakashi stared, eyes wide in disbelief at the boy that had taken the lethal hit for the criminal. Zabuza laughed loudly, "Well done, Haku! I knew you would be useful to me when I picked you off the streets!"

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Imagine Genta, killing himself so you could live.

Sakura was silent as she dislodged herself from Sasuke, and watched as Haku, who had been talking to Naruto quickly teleported to where her sensei and Zabuza were.

He's willing to cut through Haku to get Kakashi?

:::

The short, fat man stepped on Haku's body, mocking him, causing Naruto to shout, "Don't touch Haku with your dirty, filthy—"

"Kid, he's dead," Zabuza said, having agreed to Kakashi that he wouldn't have to fight him anymore. "Haku is dead, so it doesn't matter."

"How?" Naruto asked, his eyes tearing up when he thought of the boy not much older than him. "He had a terrible past—his own father tried to kill him and nearly succeeded, and then almost dies again because he doesn't have a home. Then, he was taken in by you, who gave him the wrong idea of being a tool for you and sacrificing himself! Don't you have a heart? He practically lived for you, and you—you just threw him away!" The blonde shamelessly sobbed. "Is this what happens...when you're too strong? Do you lose your sense of humanity? Because, if so, I don't want—"

"Kid," Zabuza muttered, silent tears streaming down his face, "Not. Another. Word."

Naruto stood there, shocked. Gatō laughed, along with the hired help. "There are only two types of people in this world: the strong, and the weak! And you, Zabuza, after fighting, are weak! Now, I can have some of my men take you down!" He gestured for the men behind him to move forward.

Zabuza growled, then calmed after he looked at Haku. "Hey...lend me a kunai, would you?" Naruto nodded quietly, pulling out a kunai and tossing it to him.

The assassin moved forward suddenly, cutting through at least fifty men to get to Gatō. They all tried to stop him, stabbing him with spears and impaling him with swords, but Zabuza succeeded in reaching the drug dealer. The severed head flew through the air as the Demon of the Mist hissed, "If I'm going to hell, you're going with me!"

Naruto grimaced as it landed near him, then turned away. He felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice say, "Naruto, don't look away. This is the life of a shinobi." The blonde nodded, and watched as Zabuza fell. He would never forget that moment.

:::

Sasuke suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of pain. His muscles ached, his bones groaned when he tried to move, and there was a heavy weight on his neck. Whatever it was, it was quivering and shaking, and also spilling water on him. When he opened his eyes, he immediately deactivated his Sharingan and saw pink. Hair tickled his face as he tried to breathe in, and say...

"Hn."

Abruptly, his lungs were greeted by air when the weight was lifted, and the silent cries were ceased. "Sasuke?"

He attempted to open his eyes once again, but they only came half-lidded. The voice calling his name was full of worry, and it reminded him of the Uchiha Matriarch. "Okaa-san?"