Incidentally, the people of the Land of Waves did end up gathering enough courage to show up to the final battle, but it felt more like moral support than anything else. Without the shinobi ability to walk on water, they couldn't bring the fight to Gatō and his men, who were stuck on the other side of the broken bridge, out of range of their fishing poles, harpoons and pitchforks.
And when the dust finally settled, Zabuza separated Gatō's head from his shoulders; and the rest of Gatō's thugs were routed from the Land of Waves, and sent running back to wherever they had come from.
After all was said and done, Haku and Zabuza disappeared without even saying goodbye, though Sakura was certain that they'd meet again in the future. But they weren't the only ones to pull a vanishing act; the Kubikiribōchō had mysteriously disappeared as well. Zabuza had dropped it somewhere in the sea when Kakashi had hit him with the Great Waterfall Jutsu, so it was bound to be down there somewhere, on the sea floor.
Over the four following weeks, Team Kakashi continued guarding Tazuna and the bridge builders, as was stipulated in their contract. During this time, Sakura tried her best to find the Executioner's Blade, but she had little luck; her large breasts acted as flotation devices, making it difficult for her to dive effectively. In the end, Sakura had to give up the search; in all likelihood, Zabuza had summoned the sword back to him with its summoning contract.
And at last, at the end of those four weeks, the bridge builders finished their task, meaning that it was finally time to go back home to the Hidden Leaf Village. Sakura hoped that they would still make it in time for the Chūnin exams— she had no idea how long it would have taken Tazuna to complete the bridge without Kakashi destroying part of it, so it was all up in the air…
"Well, no thanks to you, our bridge has finally been completed," Tazuna began saying as he accompanied Team Kakashi to the bridge, one final time. "But, argh— how should I put this… It's been fun. It'll be less lively without you guys around…"
"Kakashi-sensei could always bring the bridge down again, and then we could watch you build it back up again," Sakura suggested, before quickly adding, "I'm just joking, Kakashi-sensei, please don't look at me with those eyes!"
And so, after making their tearful goodbyes, Team Kakashi set foot on the newly completed bridge, and they finally departed from the Land of Waves.
"Where d'you think Haku and Zabuza have gone, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as they crossed the bridge. "Back to the Land of Water?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"They're hunted over there; they won't be going back until they're sure that their coup will succeed."
Sakura was drawing a total blank as to who the Mizukage were. There was Clam guy… who else was there, again? Number five was the amazing babe, Terumī Mei…
Ding! Quest generated. Steal Mei's breasts. Reward: ???
"No way!" Sakura hissed to the system. "By the time she shows up in the story, she'll be an ally! An ally! I can't just go around attacking allies like that!"
There are no penalties for non-completion of quests.
"Wait, don't tell me…" Sakura mumbled, before whispering, "Senju Tsunade. Pakura. Samui. …Hyūga Hinata…? Yamanaka Ino."
Ding! Quest generated: Steal Tsunade's breasts. Reward: ???
Ding! Quest generated: Steal Samui's breasts. Reward: ???
"Nothing for Pakura, Hinata or Ino?" Sakura asked for confirmation.
Pakura is dead, and Edo Tensei bodies contain no breast chakra; Hyūga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino are not large enough yet to be worth a special reward.
"Just checking," Sakura whispered. "I wasn't going to turn my blade against comrades from the Leaf; least of all any of the Konoha 11. I mean, Konoha 12."
Now that Sakura was satisfied with her survivability, she wasn't going to be draining old ladies any more. It wasn't worth it, since the ratio between the stolen chakra quality and breast growth was too low. Moreover, it was too risky. The Third Hokage was just as big a perv as Jiraiya; both of them could easily peep in the women's baths with the Telescope Jutsu or the Transparent Escape Jutsu and catch her in the act.
"Everything all right, Sakura?" Kakashi turned around to ask; she was lagging behind the rest of the group.
"Oh, I was just wondering about a few things," Sakura responded, as she searched for something to ask about. "Er… for example, what Haku had said about what it means to be shinobi…"
The Hidden Leaf had been founded on the principle that children shouldn't be sent out to battle. During the Warring States era, before the era of the shinobi villages, children as young as five would be sent to the battlefield. The switch to the village system had been supposed to be a step in the right direction; and yet, nothing had changed in the end, whether it was in the Hidden Leaf or anywhere else.
To this day, children were still fighting adults' battles for them, whether it was in missions, war, or even mock wars like the Chūnin exams. Children inherited the adults' generational hatred and pain, and in return for this most gracious gift, they got to be treated as tools, to be wielded and pointed at the enemies of the state…
"Well, Sakura," said Kakashi thoughtfully, "becoming an emotionless tool is indeed the ideal most shinobi should strive for; self-sacrificing for the good of the many."
"Sensei," said Sakura in dismay. "You can't really believe that, can you?"
Kakashi shook his head slightly.
"Each ninja has their own path; not everyone is able to kill their own emotions. No matter how much power we gain, we're all still human at the end of the day."
"In that case," Naruto declared. "I'll make my own ninja way! A brand-new one no one's ever seen before!"
"And I'll make mine a reality as well!" Sakura chimed in. "Who needs to fight to the death, anyway?"
A vision of a large-breasted woman from the Manyuu Hikenchō anime danced in Sakura's imagination.
"Won't you stop fighting, on account of my breasts?" the woman said, flashing and shaking her breasts in order to stop a noblewoman from beating up a poor child.
'That's too embarrassing,' Inner Sakura shuddered. 'I'd die of shame before doing that… can you imagine showing up to the fourth shinobi world war, and just flashing Uchiha Madara while he's kicking the five Kage's collective butts?'
Kakashi smiled faintly under his mask; all three of his students were growing up in their own way. Whether it was in body, mind, or even horizontally…
"All right, I've decided," said Kakashi, raising his voice. "Let's pick up the pace, Team Seven. We need to make it back to the village by the first of July!"
"The first of July?" Naruto asked curiously. "What's happening on the first of July?"
"Something fun," said Kakashi mysteriously.
"Hang on, today's the 28th of June," Sakura pointed out, a drop of sweat running down her huge forehead. "And it took us, like, forever to get here."
Kakashi simply winked with his uncovered eye and smiled enigmatically under his mask.
Sakura gulped nervously.