𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑲.𝑰𝑵𝒁𝑼𝑲𝑨

|I{•------» [16] «------•}I|

Sasuke had recently joined Sakura on her daily trips to the soon-to-be-finished bridge, which delighted her. Kakashi followed suit a few days later when Ruka finally cleared him to join them.

"You're okay with staying here?" Kakashi questioned, his masked face displaying a slight frown as he stood in the doorway of Naruto's temporary bedroom. Ruka glanced at him from where she was reading books at Naruto's bedside. "I can't leave him on his own right now. We'll join you when he wakes up."

With a final sigh, Kakashi prepared to leave the room but paused at the threshold. "You should know how proud I am, Ruka."

Surprise crossed Ruka's face as she set down her book and turned her full attention towards him. "What?" she asked.

"A few years ago, you wouldn't have been happy stepping away from training to help others," Kakashi explained with a small, masked smile. "It just shows me how far you've come."

"I'm still...rusty," Ruka muttered, causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? You've come so far in such a short time, and your healing abilities have accelerated. Tsunade would be so proud of you."

The words slipped out before Kakashi could consider their consequences, and a dark shadow crossed Ruka's face. "Sure," she muttered, turning her head away from him with bitterness in her voice. "It's not like I'm doing it to make her proud."

--

Naruto and Ruka began to stroll quietly towards the almost-finished bridge. Naruto felt a sense of unease around her; usually, he would be talkative, and she would listen, but today there was a dark cloud hanging over her.

"I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head," Ruka's voice sliced through the air, surprising Naruto. She smirked at him, assuring him, "Don't worry, I'm okay."

He opened his mouth to speak but was abruptly interrupted when Ruka skidded to a graceful halt, leaving Naruto to fumble and avoid colliding with her.

"Ruka?" Naruto questioned in utter confusion, sidling up beside her. He noticed her intense gaze focused on a large green bush a few feet away. "An ambush," she said, her eyes hardening.

"What do we do?" Naruto asked.

Ruka cast a final look towards the bridge before turning to him. "Kakashi can hold them off, but..."

--

When they finally reached the bridge, chaos greeted them. Team 7 was more divided than Ruka could have imagined. There was so much happening that she barely had time to process the scene before her.

Kakashi had chosen to engage Zabuza on his own at the far end of the bridge. It was a full-blown battle where the Hidden Mist rogue was desperately trying to redeem himself.

Further down the bridge, Sasuke squared off against a masked male claiming to be part of the Hidden Mist's ANBU. The bridge was enveloped in ice, forming makeshift mirrors that the masked male used to his advantage, dodging attacks and launching counterattacks.

Sasuke slid to a halt beside Ruka, a kunai tightly gripped in his hand as he glared at the masked male, who had emerged from one of the mirrors before them. "Took you guys long enough," he remarked.

Ruka chose to ignore his annoyance as her gaze shifted to Zabuza, who seemed to be gaining the upper hand. "Think you two can handle him?" she asked.

The two rivals exchanged a look, their lips quirking up into smirks. "You bet."

Ruka moved

to cross the bridge towards Zabuza and Kakashi, but before she could reach them, a trio of sharp ice needles came hurtling towards her. She swiftly sidestepped them, causing them to shatter against the mirror behind her.

Her blue eyes shifted to the shattered mirror and then back to the masked male. "You're trying to keep me here?" she questioned, attempting to pass him again. However, he stepped in her path, unwilling to let her assist her teacher.

The masked male waved his hand, conjuring another trio of icy needles as a warning. Ruka cocked her head to the side, amusement etched on her features. "Haven't you heard that fire beats ice?"

"It won't work, Ruka!" Sasuke called out. "Fire jutsus don't work on his ice."

Ruka's lips curled into an amused smirk. "We'll see."

The masked male seemed to take that as his cue to disappear back into the mirror, but he reappeared in another mirror seconds later. Ruka's eyes flickered from mirror to mirror, unfazed when more needles grazed her skin.

The masked ninja let out a loud laugh. "I must admit, I expected a more dramatic attack from you, Princess. But it doesn't matter; your weak fire attack can't melt my ice."

"Who said it was weak?"

In a flash, Ruka whirled around, her hands moving through rapid hand signs too quick for the human eye to follow. Then she opened her mouth and spewed forth a blue flame so hot that her male companions could feel its heat from a few feet away.