Zabuza's Death, Recovery

Kakashi then held Zabuza and laid him beside Haku's body.

Haku's body lay quietly on the bridge's cold stone slabs.

His delicate face was stained with blood and dust, his long black hair stirred by the wind, gently brushing across his tightly shut eyelids.

If not for the horrifying wound through his chest, he would have looked as though he were merely asleep.

Zabuza lay beside Haku and stared at him for a long time.

No one knew what he saw in that face.

The ferocity in his eyes faded into numbness, then into something that had shattered beyond repair.

Then Zabuza slowly closed his eyes.

Kakashi stood nearby and did not say a word from beginning to end.

Naruto stood at a distance, watching the scene.

He did not go over, nor did he say anything.

Just then, Sakura's delighted cry shattered the silence.

"Sasuke?"

Sakura had been keeping vigil by Sasuke's side, one hand holding his while the other kept wiping away her tears.

Just moments ago, she had felt the hand in her palm move.

She abruptly lowered her head and met Sasuke's slowly opening eyes.

Sasuke was awake.

His consciousness was clearly still in a confused state.

His blurry gaze wavered a few times. The first thing he saw was a patch of pink hair, then Sakura's tear-streaked face, and finally the gray, overcast sky above.

Sasuke tried to move, but sharp pain erupted from every Senbon wound on his body at once. He let out a muffled groan, his brow tightening.

"Sasuke, you're awake. Don't move, you're covered in injuries..."

Before Sakura could finish, her body moved faster than her mind.

She threw herself onto him, wrapping both arms tightly around his neck and burying her face in the hollow of his shoulder. Her tears poured out as if a dam had burst.

She held him with all her strength, as though she could drag Sasuke back from death's door.

That hug made every wound on Sasuke's body protest. He grimaced in pain.

"Sakura, let go first. It hurts..."

He forced out the words in a hoarse voice.

In an instant, Sakura cried even louder.

Seeing Sasuke wake up, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The sunlight over the bridge finally pierced through the last layer of mist.

The sea glittered with rippling light, and flocks of seagulls rose from the reefs, circling the bridge piers as they cried.

Along the distant coastline of the Land of Waves, townspeople had already begun gathering toward the bridge, carrying tools and materials, eager to finish the bridge that connected them to hope.

Kakashi slung Zabuza's and Haku's bodies over his shoulders. "I'll find a place to bury them..."

With that, Kakashi vanished in a Body Flicker toward the woods at the end of the bridge.

Naruto withdrew his gaze and walked toward Sasuke and Sakura.

He lowered his head to assess Sasuke's condition. Sakura had carefully removed most of the Senbon from his body, and his wounds had been roughly bandaged to stop the bleeding. Though his face was frighteningly pale, his breathing had become much steadier.

"Can you move?"

Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto, something complicated in his eyes.

He remembered the last thing he had seen before losing consciousness: that terrifying red Chakra erupting from Naruto's body.

And Naruto had been so calm then, as though he had become a different person. The usual restlessness and noise were gone from his eyes, replaced by a composure Sasuke had never seen before.

"Stupid question..."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and used his uninjured arm to brace himself against the ground, trying to stand on his own.

Sakura hurriedly supported his other shoulder, draping his arm over hers.

"Let's go back to Tazuna's house and rest first."

"In your condition, forget fighting. You can barely stand."

Sasuke wanted to argue, but his body truly would not cooperate. In the end, he could only pull a dark face and let Sakura support him as they limped toward Tazuna's house.

Along the way, Sasuke and Sakura kept glancing at Naruto.

Was this really the Naruto they knew?

The old Naruto always walked with a bounce in his step, constantly chattering about nonsense like how he was going to become Hokage. His expressions were always so exaggerated they begged for a punch—either grinning foolishly or shouting at the top of his lungs. If he stayed quiet for more than three minutes, he would get restless all over.

But Naruto, walking ahead of them now, moved at an unhurried pace with his back perfectly straight. His golden hair swayed lightly in rhythm with his steps beneath the sunlight, like a quiet flame.

He did not speak or look back. He merely instinctively detoured around a pothole, then tilted his head slightly to glance behind him and make sure Sasuke was keeping up before continuing onward.

That tiny gesture made Sasuke frown even more deeply.

It was not as if he had never seen Naruto act serious before. In battle, this dead last occasionally displayed a surprising degree of focus.

But that focus was completely different from his present calm.

His seriousness in battle was a burning state, like gunpowder set alight.

But this calm was more like unfathomably deep water, its surface utterly still while something unseen lay hidden beneath.

Sakura's feelings were even more direct.

As she supported Sasuke along the way, she secretly looked at Naruto no fewer than ten times.

Naruto, who had always circled around her and shouted things like "Sakura-chan, I like you!" at the drop of a hat, had not looked directly at her even once since earlier.

It did not seem like he was deliberately ignoring her. It was more as though he was looking at someone he knew but was not close to.

That feeling made Sakura uneasy, though she could not say exactly why.

Naruto offered no explanation. When they looked over again, he merely gave them a faint smile.

Then he turned back around and continued walking.

With neither Gato nor Zabuza standing in their way, Tazuna led the town's workers into the bridge's construction with all their might the next day.

The sounds of hammers striking nails, saws cutting wood, and workers chanting as they carried stone drifted from the town's docks, blending with the sea breeze and crashing waves like a brisk labor song.

Everyone wore smiles they had not seen in a long time. This bridge was something they had defended with their own hands and courage.

Kakashi returned to Tazuna's house that evening.

Deep in the woods, he found a quiet place with its back against a cliff and facing the sea. He dug two graves with his own hands and buried Zabuza and Haku together.

"Naruto, Sakura, I'll leave Tazuna's protection to you two for now..."

After saying that, Kakashi walked to a corner, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began restoring his Chakra.

The multiple clashes with Zabuza, the use of Lightning Blade and the Sharingan, and the exhaustion from battle after battle had pushed Kakashi's Chakra reserves to the limit of what his body could bear.

He had long since covered the Sharingan again with his forehead protector. Saving even a little was worthwhile.

Kakashi assigned Naruto and Sakura the task of protecting Tazuna and overseeing the bridge's construction, having them take turns on watch to ensure no fool took advantage of their weakness.