Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟐𝟎| Protect

"Just because you're scarred for life doesn't mean you should be scared to live."
— Brian Celio

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DAWNS POV

Sasuke's stare was unnerving.

I tried not to appear aggravated as that would give him the satisfaction of being able to effect me, but I couldn't help it. I didn't know how to act around him after my breakdown, after he had seen me for what I really was: a sad little girl living in the past and unable to enjoy life as she cowered behind her fears. He probably found my inability in being able to keep my emotions in check pathetic, because I know I do.

There was a lot on my mind, which wasn't really much of a surprise considering my tendencies in overthinking everything and anything a lot. I had an inkling of paranoia screwing with my senses that today was the day we'd encounter Zabuza once again, and this time it was a fight to the death. He wanted the stone in his possession and Tazuna dead, and we wanted both the stone and the bridge builder alive. Yet neither of us wanted death itself to occur, and that thought crawled underneath my skin and distracted me from reality. What were the Mist Ninja's true intentions? What did he truly gain out of this battle, or to be more precise, what was he trying to protect?

Either way, I couldn't avoid confrontation. I had to fight, in a way I was glad that Jiro wasn't here. Undoubtedly he would try to get me to flee or use his body as a shield whether we were on good terms or not. We'd put our differences aside for the protection of one another and I could only hope he wouldn't interfere and do something reckless. This was no longer a mission but a personal expedition, there was something missing and I wanted to find out exactly what.

"What the hell happened?" Tazuna exclaimed in distraught, kneeling on the ground in front of the wounded bridge-builders.

It seems like Zabuza had already arrived, and by the looks of it he was getting impatient. But I couldn't help but notice how the severity of the wounds didn't pass by a couple of mere bruises and shock from the initial experience of being ambushed. If Zabuza really wanted to, he would've added a little blood into the mix or even kill them. So why didn't he? Why was he holding back?

"We were... we were..." the bridge-builder stuttered fearfully, unable to finish his sentence off.

The air had begun to submerge with a sheet of mist once again, similar to the first encounter we had with Zabuza. Perhaps he was trying to warn us to back off before things truly get messy, but even that didn't make any remote sense. He was dubbed as the 'demon of the mist' for a reason, hesitance couldn't be risked in the line of a wanted missing-nin. Could his strange behaviour have anything to do with him going AWOL for a couple of years and, for some reason, appearing now? Surely someone like Gato wouldn't stir the interest of the Mist Ninja so that must mean he was forced to do it under difficult circumstances for him to crawl out of his hiding spot.

"Kakashi Sensei..." Sakura wavered. "This is his Hidden Mist Jutsu."

"He's here..." Kakashi announced warningly.

"Long time no see, Kakashi." Zabuza greeted, the thundering of his voice disguising the location of his whereabouts- though his chakra did fluctuate in the air which was enough to give me a subtle hint of his next course of movement.

Zabuza had inundated a sickly sense of helplessness, it'd made my bones shake with adrenaline that wanted to flee from the scene. But as everything changed, so did my instincts. I was fearful of dying, my life was filled with many regrets. Yet death didn't come off as something that was the origin of my initial fear, but rather what I'd face when I'm breathing. Oddly enough, a part of me was convinced that my teammates had my back. That even if I did let my guard down, they'd cover me before I slip. I was absolutely terrified of that concept, if I felt that way it must mean I was doing something wrong. If they felt even an ounce of inclination towards my safety, I must be careful in any small movement I make so I wouldn't give the opportunity to someone else to shield my fall.