erode

Chapter Ten: Twenty-One Hours & Five Days

"Ah, but that genin of yours. He's trembling." Zabuza points out, eyeing Sasuke with a predator's eye. Sakura's heart seizes a bit. Every facade has a speck of truth after all, and she still cares for the Uchiha. None of the us may die here. Sakura promises herself. Even though she knows that she will sacrifice herself in a heartbeat, it is simply a thought. Not her word. Not her spoken word, anyway. Sasuke grins from his position next to Kakashi.

"I am trembling... from excitement." Sasuke retorts, his voice serious. Sakura personally thinks it a ridiculous line, and a waste of breath. No one would believe the one-liner, but Zabuza plays along with it anyways.

"Oh? Then you wouldn't mind battling with my apprentice while I fight your sensei. Haku," Zabuza intones, and his accomplice flickers towards Sasuke, stopping just a few feet away. "Of course, we won't have to fight if you just give us the bridge builder." Zabuza taunts, his eyes on Tazuna. Sakura tenses, her glare deepening as she lifts the kunai in her hand higher.

"Sorry, but no," Kakashi refuses, "Sasuke, occupy Haku for the moment." The mist immediately thickens as Kakashi denies the offer, and Haku and Sasuke immediately get wrapped up in their own fight. Sakura herself wraps the area around Tazuna and her with layers of genjutsu. The innermost layer causes her figuren to grow slightly sensitive as Sakura calls upon her memory of the final rites. The difference is how she amps up the feeling of being struck with angry lightning, multiplying it until she no longer can. The effect is so strong that Sakura can almost taste the ozone on her tongue. This genjutsu is subtle, but simple. If Zabuza realizes it's there, then he can easily disperse it.

Instead, A howl of agony comes a second later along with a pop and a splash. Sakura's eyes snap to Zabuza as the man winces, the memory from his clone returning. Sakura hadn't even felt the water clone dismantle the outer layers. She shivers. The missing-nin has cast his eyes on Sakura now, narrowing them menacingly.

"So the useless little flower has thorns now does she?" Zabuza remarks sarcastically. He takes a step forward before disappearing from Sakura's sight. Her heart rate amps up, sea wind howling in her ears she faintly hears the clash of blades. She blinks, seeing Kakashi pushing away Zabuza's broadsword with a single kunai.

"Now, now, Zabuza. Why don't we keep this as a fight against adults," Kakashi says with a saccharine undertone as he grits his teeth. Sakura would be annoyed if the comment wasn't something that saves her life. Zabuza grins, his demonish qualities glinting in his pitch-black eyes.

"Alright then, Kakashi. Between men." Zabuza's voice is purposefully demeaning, but Sakura refuses to rise to the bait. She has to protect Tazuna. He cannot keep his promise to her if he dies. And the bridge will be built, no matter what Gatō wants. Kakashi and Zabuza quickly disappear into the mist. Swiftly obscured from Sakura's sight. Sakura edges down the bridge, nudging Sakura to move backwards with her. They eventually make it off the bridge and to a tree nearby. The trunk would cover Tazuna's back for the most part, and Sakura instructs Tazuna to keep close to it for that purpose. Sakura cannot see any of the battle due to the mist, so she does not even attempt to. She does not have superior eyesight, nor does she know any jutsu to clear a kiri-nin's mist. So she glances at Tazuna, an order on the tip of her tongue.

"Don't interrupt me unless we're both about to be attacked alright?" Sakura demands quickly, already forming hands in a full tora handsign. Tazuna frantically nods. Sakura closes her eyes, and the world plunges into gray and white. Things are shaded in however much chakra they have. White for live, active chakra and black for something with no chakra. The bridge is made out of wood, so the little chakra it still possesses allows for Sakura to easily discern between it and the battling shinobi. Most importantly, her team. Sasuke and Zabuza's accomplice, Haku, are hazed out on her sensory map, however, almost as if they are covered by a wall of ice. Luckily, Sakura has no difficulties spotting Kakashi and Zabuza. She leaves the genjutsu work around herself and the bridge builder to her echo.