Chapter 9 - The Demon and the Innocent Soul
Submitted May 14, 2008 Updated June 27, 2008 Status Incomplete | This fic follows the manga storyline, with my own ideas for filler arcs. It also includes one of my OC's. Enjoy, and please leave comments. If you comment on mine, I'll comment on yours and recommend you in return.
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Anime/Manga » Naruto series » Characters & Fanart |
Chapter 9 - The Demon and the Innocent Soul
Chapter 9 - The Demon and the Innocent Soul
THE DEMON AND THE INNOCENT SOUL
A familiar mist drifted across the bridge. Immediately, sweat broke out on Tazuna’s face. Even Kakashi seemed nervous. Just sensing that caused the genin to grip their kunai harder.
“It’s been a while, Kakashi. I see you’re still dragging along those pack of brats…And look, the little raven-haired one is trembling!” Zabuza’s voice seemed to come from every direction. That did little to ease the nervous tension in the air.
“I’m not trembling…I’m shaking with excitement!” Sasuke shot back, swagger in his voice.
Even as Sasuke spoke, water clones landed all around the group. Kakashi told Sasuke to ‘Go ahead.’ In seconds, the water clones all splashed to the ground. That left Ryouko, Sakura, and Tazuna wide-eyed.
What the hell did he do? I couldn’t even follow it! Ryouko was really glad he was working WITH Sasuke, and not against him.
“He’s good…Haku, you might have a rival!”
“So it would seem…” Haku replied, sounding intense and curious at the same time.
“Looks like I’m right. Our masked friend is working for Zabuza,” Kakashi said matter-of-factly. No one seemed surprised. “Stop hiding behind that mask, like a circus performer!”
“This one’s mine!” Sasuke declared. “You, the freak with the mask! Are you some sort of clown?! You’re a joke, now that the playing field is even!”
“You’re so cool Sasuke!” Sakura cheered happily.
Didn’t I just say that? Ugh…she takes everything Sasuke says at face value.
“We’re still on the offensive, Haku, go!” Zabuza demanded.
“Right!” Haku replied to Zabuza’s command. He began to spin towards Sasuke. Sasuke tagged him with a solid right hand, ending the spin cycle.
--
Swish!
“What the hell?!” Tsunami turned to see two samurai she knew as Gato’s thugs break into her house.
“So, you’re old man Tazuna’s daughter, huh? You’re coming with us!” Zouri demanded.
-
Inari was in the bathroom, getting cleaned up, when he heard his mother scream. Inari raced down the hall and burst into the kitchen.
“Inari, no! Run!” Tsunami shouted.
“Should we take him, too?” Waraji asked Zouri.
“We only need one hostage.” Zouri responded.
“I guess I can kill him, then! I’ve been wanting to cut something all morning!” Waraji drew his sword. Inari was paralyzed by fear. Even as the words of Kaiza drifted through his head, about protecting what’s important, all Inari knew was that he was scared, about to die, and couldn’t save his mother.
“Wait!” Tsunami barked out the single word sharply. “Don’t you DARE touch my son! If you do, I’ll bite my own tongue off and drown in my blood! THEN what will you do for a live hostage?!”
Zouri and Waraji exchanged glances, debating as to whether she was serious or not. They couldn’t take the chance. Both sheathed their swords.
“You got lucky, kid, your mom saved you,” Zouri commented as he and Waraji tied Tsunami up. They forced her to walk, leaving Inari alone. He began to sob, thinking of all that had happened. He thought of Kaiza’s words, and then Kakashi’s, and finally Naruto’s. ‘You baby!’ caused Inari to stop crying. For the first time, he put his own life on the backburner. With his fists clenched, he ran outside.
“MOMMY!” he shouted, before running blindly toward the two Samurai! The two samurai grinned at each other, and drew their swords. It wasn’t every day they got someone so willing to die. Their blades flashed down, and cut Inari in two. But Inari was gone- a log?! Turning quickly, the two samurai saw that their hostage was also gone, replaced by a log.
“The hero always shows up at the last minute!” Naruto put down Inari and Tsunami, his wide grinning spreading as he said, “Good job, Inari! When you charged them, that gave me the opening I needed to save you and your Mom!”
The two samurai charged, amused that their mission had been interrupted by something that look so unthreatening. They were forced to draw quickly, as Naruto threw two shuriken at them. The telltale sound of steel hitting steel cut through the.
“Ha! You’ll have to do better than that!” Zouri taunted, still charging. Neither he nor Waraji noticed the two shadow clones running up behind them.
“How’s this?!” the two Naruto’s shouted in unison. They jumped the samurai from behind, and soon left them beaten to within an inch of their lives. Soon, the samurai were tied tightly up with rope, and Naruto was smiling about a job well done.
“But Naruto, how did you know?!” Inari was really curious about this part.
Naruto rubbed his nose and sneezed. “I guess someone’s talking about me! Anyway, I saw a bunch of cuts in the forest. And when I saw a diced-up boar, and where the cuts led, I came straight back here!” Naruto stopped talking for a moment, then opened his mouth again and said “Listen, I’m sorry I called you a baby. You’re not a baby; you’re a big, strong boy, okay?”
Inari turned away from Naruto. He was trying really hard to hide the fact that he was crying.
“Hey, c’mon, what’s wrong?” Naruto didn’t know, at first, why the boy was crying.
“You’re going to laugh at me, and call me a baby ‘cause I’m crying!” Inari told Naruto, rubbing his eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay, you’re crying ‘cause you’re happy! There’s nothing wrong with that! Now, I’m going to go help my team, the rest here is up to you, okay?” With that, Naruto zipped away to catch up with his team. He still had a mission to do, and Naruto’s nindo didn’t allow him to sit back and let someone else handle the fighting.
Haku and Sasuke tangled, Sasuke’s kunai and Haku’s senbon clanging together and creating sparks. Finally, the two were locked in a stalemate.
“You’re not going to quit, are you?” Haku asked as though discussing the weather.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Sasuke shot back. Both combatants were now shaking with the effort of maintaining their strength.
“I thought not. But you won’t be able to match me for long. First of all, we’re surrounded by water, which lays the groundwork for an attack. Second, one of your hands is tied up blocking by senbon, which only leaves you one hand to defend yourself with…” Haku started to make handsigns with one hand, something that wasn’t lost on Sasuke, or even Kakashi, who had never seen such a thing.
“Water Style: The Thousand Stinging Needles of Death!” Haku chanted. He stamped his feet; as he did so, the water surrounding him and Sasuke flew into the air. The water hardened and elongated, forming sharp needles. They all turned in the air to face Sasuke.
Damn! Okay, focus the chakra to my feet, and…jump!
The needles crashed into the bridge, denting the hard concrete. But Sasuke was gone! He had leapt straight up, over the senbon attack. From the air, he threw three shuriken. Haku backflipped away from each one, while wondering where this was coming from.
“You’re not so fast,” Sasuke whispered from behind Haku, “Now YOU have to worry about MY attack!”
A fierce kunai vs senbon battle ensued, but Sasuke was the aggressor this time. He kept Haku moving, and narrowly missed him several times as his kunai cut the air near Haku’s head.
He’s fast! Haku thought to himself. Seconds later, a vicious kick to the face from Sasuke struck home on Haku’s chin, propelling the fake hunter-nin back to Zabuza’s side, quite a few meters away.
“You’re fast,” Sasuke admitted, “But I’m faster.”
“You had that coming for underestimating these kids…and name-calling. He might not look like much, but Uchiha Sasuke is the top genin from Konohagakure. And Sakura here is our sharpest mind. (Sakura blushed and giggled, while Inner-Sakura added an enthusiastic “Hell Yeah!”) And the older boy, Kaguya Ryouko, tied for second in our graduating class. And lastly, the number one knucklehead, maverick, comedy-ninja showstopper, Uzumaki Naruto!” Kakashi rattled off the praises of his team and Ryouko. They had all proven their mettle in battle, and not one of them didn’t deserve the hitai-ate they were wearing. Kakashi didn’t expect Zabuza to be chuckling, but that’s exactly what the ‘demon’ was doing.
“Haku, you realize that if you keep holding back, you’re going to be killed by the very person you were trying to spare, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do…” Haku said solemnly. It was becoming increasingly evident that Haku wasn’t a nasty person; it was who he was hanging out with that shaped him. But that thought exited everyoen’s minds quickly.
Why is the air so cold all of a sudden? Sasuke thought to himself, not dropping his guard. He was so focused on Haku that he didn’t notice the water all around him flowing into the air and hardening.
“Hidden Water Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!”
All around Sasuke, mirrors made of ice cropped up. He was boxed in by the dome shape the mirrors collectively formed. What happened next was even more amazing. Haku walked up to one of the mirrors. He just kept walking- right INTO the mirror! But even more amazing was the fact that Haku’s image suddenly spread to all the mirrors. Even Kakashi hadn’t seen an attack like this before. And he was right to be worried. As soon as he heard commotion in the dome, he took off toward it. But Zabuza leapt in the way.
“Let’s let our kids play, Kakashi! You- catch!” Zabuza threw three kunai quicker than Kakashi could stop him. They were headed straight for Sakura and Tazuna!
Ryouko leapt into action. He wasn’t skilled enough to knock the weapons down one by one, and he didn’t want to throw the kunai in his hand, in case Zabuza made a run at him. That left one option: Getting in the way. Ryouko thrust his forearm out. One kunai hit the metal plate on the back of his glove; the next bounced off his pouch of throwing needles. But the third sank into his forearm, slicing through the top of it before sticking in, wedging itself against the bone.
Sakura had her hands up, and she saw the kunai, but now it was still. Just inches away from her face, the kunai fell to the ground, save for one that floated in front of her. Until she realized that Ryouko was attached to it. With a grunt, he pulled it out and dropped it to the ground.
“You have more guts than common-sense, kid!” Zabuza managed around a laugh. Ryouko wasn’t laughing.
“You show up to a fight bandaged up like a mummy and you’re criticizing me for not having common-sense? You’re not the only one to swing a sword, you loud-mouthed mist reject,’ Ryouko pointed out blandly. Come on, Kakashi-sensei, he’s distracted! Ryouko’s plan had been to draw Zabuza’s ire, giving Kakashi an opening. But no dice, apparently, as Zabuza didn’t break his concentration on Kakashi, save for tossing a dry “Looks like YOU could use these bandages, you little punk! Release!”
Damn, he caught my genjutsu too quick! If it had set in, Kakashi-sensei could have just cut him up…
--
What’s he planning to do with those mirrors? Sasuke wondered. He knew this was a jutsu, but it was baffling.
“Let me show you REAL speed,” Haku’s voice intoned. Seconds later, Senbon flew from every direction. Sasuke’s kunai was lost as he dropped it in surprise, then covered up as the dangerous needles began threading the air.
--
Sakura turned to face Tazuna. “Pardon me, Mr. Tazuna, I’ve got to leave you for a minute!” Sakura leapt as high as she could, and threw a kunai. “Sasuke!”
Sasuke reached up to catch the kunai, but Haku stepped out from one of the mirrors and caught it, much to the surprise of Sakura and Sasuke. But a split-second later, Haku went flying as a throwing star hit his mask.
“Uzumaki Naruto, at your service! Here am I, ready to save the day! You know how it is- heroes always shot up at the last minute!” Naruto shouted.
That exasperating little idiot! What we needed was an ambush! He’s just put a huge target on himself!
As if reading Kakashi’s thoughts, Zabuza threw shuriken at Naruto, who wasn’t paying any attention. By the time he noticed, he couldn’t do anything about the shuriken. The metal stars of death would have struck him, no doubt, had it not been for the senbon striking them down.
“What the hell are you doing, Haku?!” Zabuza snarled.
“Please, Zabuza, leave the boy to me. I want to handle him myself,” Haku replied respectfully.
“You’re so naïve, Haku…” Zabuza replied, but faced Kakashi again.
--
Inside the prison of mirrors, Sasuke was trying to figure out the mechanics of this jutsu.
That guy is naïve? Yeah, right. I’m cut all to hell by those needles. But they’re all superficial cuts…more like he’s playing with me than trying to kill me. What’s more, I can’t read his technique. Is he using clones in the mirrors? I can’t even see the attacks! Looks like all I can do is focus on this guy’s attacks, and count on Naruto to free me from the outside.
“YO, SASUKE! I’M HERE TO RESCUE YOU!” Naruto shouted in Sasuke’s face from a meter away, tops.
“You idiot! We could have attacked him from both sides! You don’t use any stealth or caution, and you think you’re a ninja?!” Sasuke shouted. Our best chance was to have me attack from the inside, while he attacked from the outside. And what does this idiot do? He surprises ME instead of the enemy!
“Excuse me! You’re welcome for the save! I went through hell to help you!” Naruto shot back.
At that point, Haku stepped back into the mirror and resumed his attack, this time hitting both Naruto AND Sasuke. This led Sasuke to form a desperate plan- escape by destroying the mirrors.
“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” Sasuke yelled, inhaling air, and then blowing out a huge amount of fire through his slightly-open fist. But to Sasuke’s exasperation, the ice didn’t melt.
“Your fire attacks can’t hurt me. You can’t catch me,” Haku informed Sasuke from all angles.
“Oh, yeah?! Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Naruto answered, creating the flesh and blood doubles of himself. He was going to bash all the mirrors until he hit the REAL Haku. All the Naruto’s jumped, but in a split second, they were all destroyed, leaving the real Naruto in pain, and wondering just what the heck had happened.
“Don’t bother. I’m using the art of teleportation. All I need to perform the jutsu are these mirrors.”
Upon hearing this, it hit Kakashi. “Of course…but to master such an attack at such a young age…”
“ ‘Such an attack?’” Sakura questioned.
“A kekkai-genkai, one that can be passed down from one generation to the next. My Sharingan can’t copy or break it.”
--
“No, it can’t end like this! I’ve still got my dreams to fufill!” Naruto said while cringing with pain.
Dreams? Haku’s mind went back to another time. When he was a street rat in his home town. When Zabuza found him.
“Look at you, you’re pathetic. You’ll be dead by the side of the road, like a rat!” Zabuza told the young Haku. But Haku smiled.
“We have the same eyes. I can see my expression in them,” Haku responded.
“I find it difficult to abide by the complete Shinobi way,” Haku piped up out of the blue. “I would prefer NOT to have to kill both of you. But this bridge is where our dreams intersect. A nexus from which only one set of dreams can emerge. If this is the case, then I will kill you to preserve my own dreams. To protect the one I care about most, and see his dreams fulfilled…THAT is my dream. To achieve that, I will kill you both, and become a true Shinobi!”
“Sasuke! Naruto! Don’t lose to that guy!” Sakura shouted.
“Sakura, stop encouraging them! Even if we knew how to break the boy’s kekkai-genkai, Naruto and Sasuke have no chance of defeating him.” Kakashi’s face went grim. “They haven’t learned to turn their hearts to ice, and to take another’s life. That other boy, however, has lived with the mental anguish that would sculpt him into an ideal Shinobi.”
Zabuza voiced his agreement. “You grow up in a time of peace, in a village of weakness! You could never understand what it means to truly fight for your own life as Haku does.”
“What do we do, sensei?!” Sakura wanted to know.
“You take a look at Ryouko’s wounds…Zabuza, you’ll pardon me if I finish this quickly…” Kakashi reached for his headband.
“The Sharingan, huh? It lacks finesse.” Zabuza hand slashed up with a kunai. Kakashi had to let go of his headband and catch the blade with his hand.
“You can talk about my lack of finesse, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re afraid of the Sharingan, and of me,” Kakashi replied. His hand had been turned into a mess of blood. “You should be honored, you’re the first to see the Sharingan twice. But you won’t live to see it a third time!”
“Ha! Even if you DO manage to beat me, you’ll never kill Haku. Since he was a toddler, I’ve honed his skills. Unlike your pack of brats, I forged a quality weapon in Haku. A weapon of matchless quality and skill. And-”
“Is there anything more dull than listening to someone else brag?” Kakahsi asked, his headband raised, and his Sharingan eye ready to go to work.
“If you’ll wait one more second, I’d like to return a phrase you used on me in our last fight; I’ve been dying to get a chance to use it: The same spell won’t work on me twice! Having a chance to see the Sharingan work, I could analyze it and understand it. More accurately, as we fought, Haku was nearby. Someone as intelligent as him could understand the Sharingan after seeing it only once…”
Meanwhile, inside the dome of mirrors, Sasuke took notice of Haku’s attacks.
“Even he has a limit to his chakra! Naruto, get up, I can’t watch him and you at the same time! This guy’s attacks have been getting weaker. We’ve just got to suck up our injuries and keep going! Here he comes!”
A familiar mist drifted across the bridge. Immediately, sweat broke out on Tazuna’s face. Even Kakashi seemed nervous. Just sensing that caused the genin to grip their kunai harder.
“It’s been a while, Kakashi. I see you’re still dragging along those pack of brats…And look, the little raven-haired one is trembling!” Zabuza’s voice seemed to come from every direction. That did little to ease the nervous tension in the air.
“I’m not trembling…I’m shaking with excitement!” Sasuke shot back, swagger in his voice.
Even as Sasuke spoke, water clones landed all around the group. Kakashi told Sasuke to ‘Go ahead.’ In seconds, the water clones all splashed to the ground. That left Ryouko, Sakura, and Tazuna wide-eyed.
What the hell did he do? I couldn’t even follow it! Ryouko was really glad he was working WITH Sasuke, and not against him.
“He’s good…Haku, you might have a rival!”
“So it would seem…” Haku replied, sounding intense and curious at the same time.
“Looks like I’m right. Our masked friend is working for Zabuza,” Kakashi said matter-of-factly. No one seemed surprised. “Stop hiding behind that mask, like a circus performer!”
“This one’s mine!” Sasuke declared. “You, the freak with the mask! Are you some sort of clown?! You’re a joke, now that the playing field is even!”
“You’re so cool Sasuke!” Sakura cheered happily.
Didn’t I just say that? Ugh…she takes everything Sasuke says at face value.
“We’re still on the offensive, Haku, go!” Zabuza demanded.
“Right!” Haku replied to Zabuza’s command. He began to spin towards Sasuke. Sasuke tagged him with a solid right hand, ending the spin cycle.
--
Swish!
“What the hell?!” Tsunami turned to see two samurai she knew as Gato’s thugs break into her house.
“So, you’re old man Tazuna’s daughter, huh? You’re coming with us!” Zouri demanded.
-
Inari was in the bathroom, getting cleaned up, when he heard his mother scream. Inari raced down the hall and burst into the kitchen.
“Inari, no! Run!” Tsunami shouted.
“Should we take him, too?” Waraji asked Zouri.
“We only need one hostage.” Zouri responded.
“I guess I can kill him, then! I’ve been wanting to cut something all morning!” Waraji drew his sword. Inari was paralyzed by fear. Even as the words of Kaiza drifted through his head, about protecting what’s important, all Inari knew was that he was scared, about to die, and couldn’t save his mother.
“Wait!” Tsunami barked out the single word sharply. “Don’t you DARE touch my son! If you do, I’ll bite my own tongue off and drown in my blood! THEN what will you do for a live hostage?!”
Zouri and Waraji exchanged glances, debating as to whether she was serious or not. They couldn’t take the chance. Both sheathed their swords.
“You got lucky, kid, your mom saved you,” Zouri commented as he and Waraji tied Tsunami up. They forced her to walk, leaving Inari alone. He began to sob, thinking of all that had happened. He thought of Kaiza’s words, and then Kakashi’s, and finally Naruto’s. ‘You baby!’ caused Inari to stop crying. For the first time, he put his own life on the backburner. With his fists clenched, he ran outside.
“MOMMY!” he shouted, before running blindly toward the two Samurai! The two samurai grinned at each other, and drew their swords. It wasn’t every day they got someone so willing to die. Their blades flashed down, and cut Inari in two. But Inari was gone- a log?! Turning quickly, the two samurai saw that their hostage was also gone, replaced by a log.
“The hero always shows up at the last minute!” Naruto put down Inari and Tsunami, his wide grinning spreading as he said, “Good job, Inari! When you charged them, that gave me the opening I needed to save you and your Mom!”
The two samurai charged, amused that their mission had been interrupted by something that look so unthreatening. They were forced to draw quickly, as Naruto threw two shuriken at them. The telltale sound of steel hitting steel cut through the.
“Ha! You’ll have to do better than that!” Zouri taunted, still charging. Neither he nor Waraji noticed the two shadow clones running up behind them.
“How’s this?!” the two Naruto’s shouted in unison. They jumped the samurai from behind, and soon left them beaten to within an inch of their lives. Soon, the samurai were tied tightly up with rope, and Naruto was smiling about a job well done.
“But Naruto, how did you know?!” Inari was really curious about this part.
Naruto rubbed his nose and sneezed. “I guess someone’s talking about me! Anyway, I saw a bunch of cuts in the forest. And when I saw a diced-up boar, and where the cuts led, I came straight back here!” Naruto stopped talking for a moment, then opened his mouth again and said “Listen, I’m sorry I called you a baby. You’re not a baby; you’re a big, strong boy, okay?”
Inari turned away from Naruto. He was trying really hard to hide the fact that he was crying.
“Hey, c’mon, what’s wrong?” Naruto didn’t know, at first, why the boy was crying.
“You’re going to laugh at me, and call me a baby ‘cause I’m crying!” Inari told Naruto, rubbing his eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay, you’re crying ‘cause you’re happy! There’s nothing wrong with that! Now, I’m going to go help my team, the rest here is up to you, okay?” With that, Naruto zipped away to catch up with his team. He still had a mission to do, and Naruto’s nindo didn’t allow him to sit back and let someone else handle the fighting.
Haku and Sasuke tangled, Sasuke’s kunai and Haku’s senbon clanging together and creating sparks. Finally, the two were locked in a stalemate.
“You’re not going to quit, are you?” Haku asked as though discussing the weather.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Sasuke shot back. Both combatants were now shaking with the effort of maintaining their strength.
“I thought not. But you won’t be able to match me for long. First of all, we’re surrounded by water, which lays the groundwork for an attack. Second, one of your hands is tied up blocking by senbon, which only leaves you one hand to defend yourself with…” Haku started to make handsigns with one hand, something that wasn’t lost on Sasuke, or even Kakashi, who had never seen such a thing.
“Water Style: The Thousand Stinging Needles of Death!” Haku chanted. He stamped his feet; as he did so, the water surrounding him and Sasuke flew into the air. The water hardened and elongated, forming sharp needles. They all turned in the air to face Sasuke.
Damn! Okay, focus the chakra to my feet, and…jump!
The needles crashed into the bridge, denting the hard concrete. But Sasuke was gone! He had leapt straight up, over the senbon attack. From the air, he threw three shuriken. Haku backflipped away from each one, while wondering where this was coming from.
“You’re not so fast,” Sasuke whispered from behind Haku, “Now YOU have to worry about MY attack!”
A fierce kunai vs senbon battle ensued, but Sasuke was the aggressor this time. He kept Haku moving, and narrowly missed him several times as his kunai cut the air near Haku’s head.
He’s fast! Haku thought to himself. Seconds later, a vicious kick to the face from Sasuke struck home on Haku’s chin, propelling the fake hunter-nin back to Zabuza’s side, quite a few meters away.
“You’re fast,” Sasuke admitted, “But I’m faster.”
“You had that coming for underestimating these kids…and name-calling. He might not look like much, but Uchiha Sasuke is the top genin from Konohagakure. And Sakura here is our sharpest mind. (Sakura blushed and giggled, while Inner-Sakura added an enthusiastic “Hell Yeah!”) And the older boy, Kaguya Ryouko, tied for second in our graduating class. And lastly, the number one knucklehead, maverick, comedy-ninja showstopper, Uzumaki Naruto!” Kakashi rattled off the praises of his team and Ryouko. They had all proven their mettle in battle, and not one of them didn’t deserve the hitai-ate they were wearing. Kakashi didn’t expect Zabuza to be chuckling, but that’s exactly what the ‘demon’ was doing.
“Haku, you realize that if you keep holding back, you’re going to be killed by the very person you were trying to spare, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do…” Haku said solemnly. It was becoming increasingly evident that Haku wasn’t a nasty person; it was who he was hanging out with that shaped him. But that thought exited everyoen’s minds quickly.
Why is the air so cold all of a sudden? Sasuke thought to himself, not dropping his guard. He was so focused on Haku that he didn’t notice the water all around him flowing into the air and hardening.
“Hidden Water Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!”
All around Sasuke, mirrors made of ice cropped up. He was boxed in by the dome shape the mirrors collectively formed. What happened next was even more amazing. Haku walked up to one of the mirrors. He just kept walking- right INTO the mirror! But even more amazing was the fact that Haku’s image suddenly spread to all the mirrors. Even Kakashi hadn’t seen an attack like this before. And he was right to be worried. As soon as he heard commotion in the dome, he took off toward it. But Zabuza leapt in the way.
“Let’s let our kids play, Kakashi! You- catch!” Zabuza threw three kunai quicker than Kakashi could stop him. They were headed straight for Sakura and Tazuna!
Ryouko leapt into action. He wasn’t skilled enough to knock the weapons down one by one, and he didn’t want to throw the kunai in his hand, in case Zabuza made a run at him. That left one option: Getting in the way. Ryouko thrust his forearm out. One kunai hit the metal plate on the back of his glove; the next bounced off his pouch of throwing needles. But the third sank into his forearm, slicing through the top of it before sticking in, wedging itself against the bone.
Sakura had her hands up, and she saw the kunai, but now it was still. Just inches away from her face, the kunai fell to the ground, save for one that floated in front of her. Until she realized that Ryouko was attached to it. With a grunt, he pulled it out and dropped it to the ground.
“You have more guts than common-sense, kid!” Zabuza managed around a laugh. Ryouko wasn’t laughing.
“You show up to a fight bandaged up like a mummy and you’re criticizing me for not having common-sense? You’re not the only one to swing a sword, you loud-mouthed mist reject,’ Ryouko pointed out blandly. Come on, Kakashi-sensei, he’s distracted! Ryouko’s plan had been to draw Zabuza’s ire, giving Kakashi an opening. But no dice, apparently, as Zabuza didn’t break his concentration on Kakashi, save for tossing a dry “Looks like YOU could use these bandages, you little punk! Release!”
Damn, he caught my genjutsu too quick! If it had set in, Kakashi-sensei could have just cut him up…
--
What’s he planning to do with those mirrors? Sasuke wondered. He knew this was a jutsu, but it was baffling.
“Let me show you REAL speed,” Haku’s voice intoned. Seconds later, Senbon flew from every direction. Sasuke’s kunai was lost as he dropped it in surprise, then covered up as the dangerous needles began threading the air.
--
Sakura turned to face Tazuna. “Pardon me, Mr. Tazuna, I’ve got to leave you for a minute!” Sakura leapt as high as she could, and threw a kunai. “Sasuke!”
Sasuke reached up to catch the kunai, but Haku stepped out from one of the mirrors and caught it, much to the surprise of Sakura and Sasuke. But a split-second later, Haku went flying as a throwing star hit his mask.
“Uzumaki Naruto, at your service! Here am I, ready to save the day! You know how it is- heroes always shot up at the last minute!” Naruto shouted.
That exasperating little idiot! What we needed was an ambush! He’s just put a huge target on himself!
As if reading Kakashi’s thoughts, Zabuza threw shuriken at Naruto, who wasn’t paying any attention. By the time he noticed, he couldn’t do anything about the shuriken. The metal stars of death would have struck him, no doubt, had it not been for the senbon striking them down.
“What the hell are you doing, Haku?!” Zabuza snarled.
“Please, Zabuza, leave the boy to me. I want to handle him myself,” Haku replied respectfully.
“You’re so naïve, Haku…” Zabuza replied, but faced Kakashi again.
--
Inside the prison of mirrors, Sasuke was trying to figure out the mechanics of this jutsu.
That guy is naïve? Yeah, right. I’m cut all to hell by those needles. But they’re all superficial cuts…more like he’s playing with me than trying to kill me. What’s more, I can’t read his technique. Is he using clones in the mirrors? I can’t even see the attacks! Looks like all I can do is focus on this guy’s attacks, and count on Naruto to free me from the outside.
“YO, SASUKE! I’M HERE TO RESCUE YOU!” Naruto shouted in Sasuke’s face from a meter away, tops.
“You idiot! We could have attacked him from both sides! You don’t use any stealth or caution, and you think you’re a ninja?!” Sasuke shouted. Our best chance was to have me attack from the inside, while he attacked from the outside. And what does this idiot do? He surprises ME instead of the enemy!
“Excuse me! You’re welcome for the save! I went through hell to help you!” Naruto shot back.
At that point, Haku stepped back into the mirror and resumed his attack, this time hitting both Naruto AND Sasuke. This led Sasuke to form a desperate plan- escape by destroying the mirrors.
“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” Sasuke yelled, inhaling air, and then blowing out a huge amount of fire through his slightly-open fist. But to Sasuke’s exasperation, the ice didn’t melt.
“Your fire attacks can’t hurt me. You can’t catch me,” Haku informed Sasuke from all angles.
“Oh, yeah?! Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Naruto answered, creating the flesh and blood doubles of himself. He was going to bash all the mirrors until he hit the REAL Haku. All the Naruto’s jumped, but in a split second, they were all destroyed, leaving the real Naruto in pain, and wondering just what the heck had happened.
“Don’t bother. I’m using the art of teleportation. All I need to perform the jutsu are these mirrors.”
Upon hearing this, it hit Kakashi. “Of course…but to master such an attack at such a young age…”
“ ‘Such an attack?’” Sakura questioned.
“A kekkai-genkai, one that can be passed down from one generation to the next. My Sharingan can’t copy or break it.”
--
“No, it can’t end like this! I’ve still got my dreams to fufill!” Naruto said while cringing with pain.
Dreams? Haku’s mind went back to another time. When he was a street rat in his home town. When Zabuza found him.
“Look at you, you’re pathetic. You’ll be dead by the side of the road, like a rat!” Zabuza told the young Haku. But Haku smiled.
“We have the same eyes. I can see my expression in them,” Haku responded.
“I find it difficult to abide by the complete Shinobi way,” Haku piped up out of the blue. “I would prefer NOT to have to kill both of you. But this bridge is where our dreams intersect. A nexus from which only one set of dreams can emerge. If this is the case, then I will kill you to preserve my own dreams. To protect the one I care about most, and see his dreams fulfilled…THAT is my dream. To achieve that, I will kill you both, and become a true Shinobi!”
“Sasuke! Naruto! Don’t lose to that guy!” Sakura shouted.
“Sakura, stop encouraging them! Even if we knew how to break the boy’s kekkai-genkai, Naruto and Sasuke have no chance of defeating him.” Kakashi’s face went grim. “They haven’t learned to turn their hearts to ice, and to take another’s life. That other boy, however, has lived with the mental anguish that would sculpt him into an ideal Shinobi.”
Zabuza voiced his agreement. “You grow up in a time of peace, in a village of weakness! You could never understand what it means to truly fight for your own life as Haku does.”
“What do we do, sensei?!” Sakura wanted to know.
“You take a look at Ryouko’s wounds…Zabuza, you’ll pardon me if I finish this quickly…” Kakashi reached for his headband.
“The Sharingan, huh? It lacks finesse.” Zabuza hand slashed up with a kunai. Kakashi had to let go of his headband and catch the blade with his hand.
“You can talk about my lack of finesse, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re afraid of the Sharingan, and of me,” Kakashi replied. His hand had been turned into a mess of blood. “You should be honored, you’re the first to see the Sharingan twice. But you won’t live to see it a third time!”
“Ha! Even if you DO manage to beat me, you’ll never kill Haku. Since he was a toddler, I’ve honed his skills. Unlike your pack of brats, I forged a quality weapon in Haku. A weapon of matchless quality and skill. And-”
“Is there anything more dull than listening to someone else brag?” Kakahsi asked, his headband raised, and his Sharingan eye ready to go to work.
“If you’ll wait one more second, I’d like to return a phrase you used on me in our last fight; I’ve been dying to get a chance to use it: The same spell won’t work on me twice! Having a chance to see the Sharingan work, I could analyze it and understand it. More accurately, as we fought, Haku was nearby. Someone as intelligent as him could understand the Sharingan after seeing it only once…”
Meanwhile, inside the dome of mirrors, Sasuke took notice of Haku’s attacks.
“Even he has a limit to his chakra! Naruto, get up, I can’t watch him and you at the same time! This guy’s attacks have been getting weaker. We’ve just got to suck up our injuries and keep going! Here he comes!”
DA~MN!!