Disclaimer: Naruto is a great manga/anime, but sadly, I don't own it.
"XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" means time skip/character point of view change.
This chapter is a fairly large one, so sorry if you don't like long chapters, I just thought it was necessary for this chapter. I did make it into two parts, but not two chapters though, as it just didn't feel right to do that. I hope you all enjoy it.
Now, on to the story.
Chapter 7: Demons
Kakashi was surprised at how far away Sasuke had gotten, he had thought that he had only gotten a little distance away when he took off after him, but he surprised him with just how fast he really could be when he got furious. It was nothing Kakashi couldn't easily keep up with of course, but it was impressive for a rookie genin indeed.
Kakashi was just about to use a little more effort and catch up to him, but then he sensed Sasuke had stopped and was right up ahead. When he reached him, he was sitting on a log in front of a river, with a look of fury on his face just as strong as when he had left.
He slowly walked over to him and sat down. They sat there for about a minute, just sitting and staring at the stream of water as fish swam by, but then surprisingly, Sasuke broke the silence.
"Why do girls have to be so stupid….." he mumbled angrily.
Kakashi had an amused look on his face, "That's a good question Sasuke…. One I've never been able to answer myself." He said as he chuckled a bit.
"Sakura though…. She's even worse than all the other girls combined, which is saying a damn lot." Sasuke said grinding his teeth together.
"Maybe…." Kakashi said staring at the stream of water, as a fish suddenly jumped up and plunged back in, "But, have you ever stopped to think why she says all those annoying things Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke looked at him confused, "I don't know, I guess because that's what she is, annoying?"
Kakashi chuckled a bit, "No Sasuke, that's not it at all."
"Then what is it?" Sasuke asked a bit agitated.
Kakashi looked at him and sighed, "It's because she wants your attention Sasuke."
But this just confused Sasuke even more, "What do you mean?"
"Is it really that hard to understand? You know she likes you Sasuke, she's obsessed with you, when she got picked to be on your team she almost fainted with joy. She really likes you, so she wants you to notice her, that's why she says all those annoying things, because she wants you to notice her Sasuke. She wants you to like her just like she likes you, yet all you've done is ignore her. That's why she said she loved you today Sasuke, you just kept on ignoring her so it was the only thing she could think of to say to get your acknowledgement. She didn't mean any harm, or to be annoying by saying it Sasuke, you've got to understand that, she's your teammate, and you really hurt her feelings saying what you did. I know she can be annoying, but like I just explained she's only doing it because she likes you." Kakashi said in a serious tone.
Sasuke just stared at the water; he had never really understood it until just now after Kakashi sensei had explained it.
'That was why she was so annoying!' he though, yet it still didn't explain something…..
"I…I think I understand." Sasuke said, "but….. I still don't understand why she's so mean to Naruto, I mean I don't like the guy either, but all she did all week was constantly say bad things to him, and for some reason it really made me mad and aggravated me."
"Sasuke…." Kakashi said taking a deep breath, "The reason she was so mean to Naruto was the same reason she was being so annoying to you. She wants you to notice her, and approve of her, so when she saw you being mean to Naruto before, she took it as a cue that if she was mean to him and hated him too then you might start to like her. That's why she was so mean to him; she just wanted your approval Sasuke." Kakashi said sternly.
Sasuke looked at him with a bit of shock on his face. 'Sakura had only wanted his approval all along? That's why she had been so annoying and mean to Naruto…..?' Sasuke thought with a kind of mad look on his face, not at Sakura though, at himself.
"Wow….. I've really been dumb huh sensei…?" He said a little sadly.
Kakashi just looked at him and grinned, "Don't sweat it Sasuke, when I was your age girls were just as big a mystery to me as they are to you now. Girls are very complicated creatures… That's why their actions might not always seem like they are from good or smart intentions… plus, I sorta kinda had some help in figuring it out." He said smiling.
Sasuke raised his brow at him, "She….. she told you all that didn't she?" Sasuke said crossing his arms.
Kakashi laughed a bit, "Yeah, pretty much." He said grinning, "I asked her why she had been so mean to Naruto after the first day of training, and she basically told me all that."
Sasuke chuckled a bit, "And here I was thinking you were a ladies man…. You're just as clueless as the rest of us."
Kakashi smirked, "You don't have to understand women to be a ladies man Sasuke…. Plus understanding women is something no man can ever hope to achieve." Kakashi said faintly sighing.
"Ha, you've got that right, Naruto has a better shot at becoming hokage then that ever happening." Sasuke said smirking back.
"What'd you say Sasuke!?" a familiar voice said, as suddenly Naruto and Hinata appeared in front of them, Naruto wearing a angry face, and Hinata looking like she was blushing. Kakashi noticed why when he saw Naruto was holding her hand.
"Ah Naruto, I was wondering when you'd get here. I see you've become better friends with someone too I see." Kakashi said smirking a bit.
Hinata instantly knew what he was implying, and instantly became as red as a tomato, which was starting to become her normal look nowadays. Naruto just looked at Kakashi and wondered what he meant, then he finally saw what he staring at, them holding hands.
Instead of looking embarrassed though, Naruto just goofily smiled, "Oh yeah, your right sensei, me and Hinata aren't just friends anymore." He said with a grin.
This almost made Hinata about faint with joy, 'D-Did he really mean that?' She thought to herself.
Kakashi and Sasuke both raised their brows in surprise.
"Really?" Kakashi asked shocked.
"Yeah Kakashi sensei, me and Hinata aren't just friends now….. We're Best Friends! Right Hinata?" Naruto said smiling.
Hinata was disappointed, but didn't let it show on her face, she thought maybe he'd say they were actually girlfriend and boyfriend now, but she knew that was to good to be true, and for now she was happy just being his best friend.
Hinata looked up and smiled, "Right!" she yelled happily, but couldn't help but show a little bit of disappointment.
Kakashi face-palmed, 'He's even more clueless than Sasuke about girls….' He thought sighing, 'I swear, if that girl didn't love him so much he'd probably die alone he's so clueless…..'
Sasuke just huffed and mumbled "Loser." Underneath his breath.
"So are we ready to go…..? We're already running a little late." Naruto asked, eyeing them kind of weirdly because of their reaction to him saying Hinata and him were best friends.
"Yes…. But where is Sakura? Was she still to upset to come?" Kakashi asked concerned.
Naruto's froze as he remembered Hinata attacking Sakura and breaking her jaw, and them leaving her there crying. He knew he couldn't tell his Kakashi sensei that, it would probably make him furious.
"Uhhhhhh… Yeah….. you could say that." Naruto said rubbing the back of his head laughing nervously.
"What do you mean? Kakashi said raising his brow because of how nervous he seemed to have gotten.
"That she was to upset to come sensei….. I think she'll be ok….. I promise that's it!" Naruto said starting to sweat, he looked over at Hinata and saw she looked a little nervous to.
Kakashi eyed them suspiciously, but decided not to ask questions, he didn't expect she would come after Sasuke had said that anyway.
"Alright then, let's get going, we need to hurry, like you said we're running a little late and I really don't feel like dealing with Kurenai's rage…."
"Ha, I don't blame you; she can be pretty evil, especially when she's mad." Naruto said chuckling a bit, as they took off at a faster pace then usual, trying to get there as fast as they could so they didn't have to face Kurenai's wrath.
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Kurenai was tapping her foot impatiently, 'Where are they?' she asked herself as she looked at her watch. 'It's 1:20 p.m., they haven't been late this whole week, which is really weird considering Kakashi has been teaching them. I hope nothing has happened….' Kurenai thought a little bit concerned. They had been meeting in the middle of town all week to switch, so leaving the bridge builder alone for more than 20 minutes was starting to worry her as well.
Kiba and Shikamaru were pacing back and forth about looking rather impatient and annoyed to. This whole week had been a drag for both of them, Kiba had tried talking to Shikamaru and getting to know him better, but he wasn't really much of a good conversationalist. He didn't really seem to have much of an opinion on anything, and would much rather just stare at the clouds then talk.
Kiba had to say he was impressed with Shikamaru's skill as a ninja though, for someone so lazy and unmotivated he really had some fancy moves. He was rather fast, and even though you couldn't tell it from looking at him, he was very very intellectual, and a great strategist. Kurenai sensei had them spar every day after they would switch with Kakashi's group, and he would kick Kiba's butt almost every time. His shadow possession jutsu really worked well for him against Kiba, because most of his attacks were close ranged, plus it didn't help the whole forest was covered in trees which casted a lot of shadows. The few times Kiba would get a hit on him he would always win though, because after that he would just say 'This is to troublesome for me' and walk away and sit down to watch his clouds again. It really made Kiba mad when he did that, but it was typical Shikamaru for you, always half-assing everything, so Kiba just ignored it, and so did Kurenai sensei. There's no telling how strong he could be if he actually tried, it almost scared Kiba to think about it, but it also made him wanna get stronger as well.
Just then to everyone's joy Kakashi and his group finally made it, they all looked a little winded, like they had ran the whole way here as fast as they could.
Kurenai eyed them suspiciously, "Hello Kakashi, it's about time you got here, you know better than to keep me waiting, you better have a good reason." She said sorta annoyed.
Kakashi looked at her with a bit of fear, holding his hands up in defense, "Sorry Kurenai, we just lost track of time, and had a bit of a problem with Sakura and Sasuke, but everything should be fine."
Kurenai still looked a bit agitated, but accepted his excuse, "Alright, that doesn't sound like complete bullshit so I'll accept that." She said as she started smiling. "You really need to lighten up to Kakashi. I thought you were gonna shit your pants there for a second, it's not like I was gonna kill you or anything." She said laughing.
Kakashi looked up at her and surprisingly grinned, "Well you're a scary woman when your mad Kurenai, your students seem to know this pretty well." He said as he pointed at them and they all nodded their heads nervously in agreement.
"Ha, well if they think what they've seen of me so far is scary I can only imagine what they'd think if they saw everything I've done in the past, huh Kakashi?" she said smirking.
Kakashi looked up and gave his trademark smile, "Yes, I'm sure they'd definitely think even more before making you mad." He said as they both started laughing.
Kurenai eventually stopped laughing though, and looked up and noticed something she hadn't before.
"Hey, where is Sakura anyway? I hadn't noticed she wasn't here before." She asked confused.
"Uh, well lets just say the problem we had with her and Sasuke made her rather…. upset. So she decided to stay behind at the training area. I hope it's not too big of a hassle or anything."
"Oh, no it won't be a problem." She said, and then looked up at him and frowned, "I just can't believe you'd leave her there all upset though, but I guess you think I'd be better fit for helping her through it, huh Kakashi?" she said smiling.
"Errr, you could say that." Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head.
"HEY!" Kiba suddenly yelled from behind Kurenai, making them all turn around to look at him.
"Are you guys just gonna sit there all day and talk like lovebirds, or can we finally get going!? I'm tired of waiting!" Kiba said yelled impatiently.
Surprisingly this made both of them blush a little at his remark, but Kakashi quickly composed himself before anyone could notice it behind his mask.
"Ummm yes…. I think we should get going." Kakashi stammered.
"Yeah…. Let's get going guys…." Kurenai said looking a bit nervous. Before she and her group left though, she quickly smiled at Kakashi which he returned before they took off to the training area.
Naruto looked around confused, all though the others hadn't seen it, he saw his sensei blush at Kiba's statement, he couldn't tell if Kakashi did because he had his back to him, and because of his mask he always wore.
'Does Kurenai sensei like him…..? No…. that can't be it, Hinata blushes all the time when she's around me, and she doesn't like me like that….. Unless…' Naruto thought, as he quickly turned to look at Hinata, she saw him staring at her and quickly started blushing, and then he turned back around.
'Nah that can't be it, we're just friends….. At least I don't think she likes me like that….. I can't see why she would, I mean she's beautiful, why would a girl that pretty like me… Wait, I think she's beautiful? When did I ever think like that? I mean I've always thought she was pretty, but beautiful? I've never really thought about her like that till now… Maybe….. maybe I should.' Naruto thought, as he looked down at his feet deep in thought.
"Naruto." He heard a familiar voice call out to him, which instantly brought him out of his deep thought.
"A-Are you ok? Kakashi sensei and Sasuke are already gone to the bridge, I-I saw you were just standing here, so I came to check on you, you seem a little dazed." Hinata asked concerned.
Naruto blushed a little, "Y-Yes, I-I'm fine Hinata" he said stuttering a little, as she caught him off guard.
Hinata looked at him strangely, "Are you sure? You're acting a bit weird."
"Yes… I'm fine Hinata, come on… let's go" he said as he smiled.
"Ok, let's go catch up" she said as she returned his smile, and they took off.
It didn't take them long to catch up, and then they followed behind them until they finally reached the bridge, when they got there they were relieved to see everything was still going smoothly, and that they looked like they were almost done.
The bridge was a fairly simple stone bridge, but what it hoped to accomplish was much bigger of course. The workers were hard at work, with sweat dripping down their faces and their backs. Luckily the wind was blowing a cool breeze, so that made it a little more bearable.
Tazuna looked up from his spot when he saw them come in and smiled.
"Ah, glad you guys could finally join us; I was starting to get worried there for both of us when you guys hadn't shown up at your normal time."
"Yes, well we're here now so I hope you can excuse us for being late, we just had a bit of an issue, but it's been mostly resolved now though." Kakashi said.
"Well I'm glad, the bridge it almost done now and it's all thanks to you guys. This week hasn't been very exciting, but if it wasn't for you guys taking out Gato's assassin's before we got here it all would have been for nothing anyway, so thank you." Tazuna said smiling happily.
"No need to thank us yet, it's not over till the bridge is finished completely." Kakashi said.
"I suppose your right, but I can't see him attacking us now, but it is good to always be cautious in a situation like this. I guess that's what makes you guys ninjas." He said still smiling, "Well I better get back to work, hopefully we can have a party or something tonight when it's all over." He said as he started to walk away to get back to work
"Yes, maybe we shall." Kakashi said as he turned around to face his group.
"Alright then, same plan as always, but try to be on your guard more than usual today. I have a feeling that if they are going to strike it would be now, so no lollygagging, I need you all at your best today, got it?" he said in a serious tone, they all nodded at him in understanding.
"Yeah we got it Kakashi sensei; no way they'll get past us!" Naruto said confidently.
Kakashi smiled, 'He's always full of energy, even after getting totally drained today, him and Sasuke both look completely re-energized and ready to go. They amaze me.' Kakashi thought proudly.
"Well alright then, let's get into positions then." Kakashi said, as they took their normal positions for the day.
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Ten minutes had only passed, and Naruto could already feel that something was different. The salty sea air was usually peaceful to him, but today it was the complete opposite. It gave him a chilled feeling every time he breathed that almost made him shiver, almost like it was choking him. The sea surrounding them was calm, but almost to calm as the water just seemed to sit as still as possible, looking like you could even walk on it, and the quietness of the whole area was scary. Usually he could hear and see people going about their daily lives everyday they had been here, but the streets were empty today, and there was no noise at all, just complete eerie silence. Like everyone knew something bad was going to happen, and stayed inside to hide.
He looked at his teammates and saw they looked a bit spooked as well, and that they must be thinking exactly what he was thinking as well. This wasn't normal at all, they all knew something was up, but none of them knew quite what it was.
Kakashi pulled a kunai knife from his pouch, "Be on your toes." he said whispering.
Everyone heard it though, and pulled a knife out to, they normally wouldn't be able to hear him whispering like that, but at the way things were now, you could hear a pin drop.
They all looked around cautiously, observing every little detail, nothing was moving though, everything seemed fine, but at the same time it didn't. The wind was blowing a chilling breeze that seemed to freeze them solid, none of them could seem to move at that moment. Then suddenly the air filled slowly with mist, slowly getting thicker every second.
Kakashi knew immediately who it was, he couldn't believe it though. 'No, it can't be him, he's dead!' Kakashi thought, as he quickly turned to his teammates.
"Everyone, get into position behind me now!" He yelled, as they all quickly did as he said, and got behind him ready for anything.
"Tazuna, you and your men go into the hiding place just like we planned, and hurry!" Kakashi yelled.
"Right, Come on men lets move!" Tazuna yelled as they all went running to a secret manhole they had built on the bridge, just incase this happened so they wouldn't be in the way.
They frantically looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, when two figures slowly made their way towards them. When they finally appeared within their sight, Kakashi and Sasuke both were shocked.
When Hinata and Naruto saw them they gulped. They didn't know who they were, but they definitely didn't look like good news.
One of them started laughing an evil laugh that could rival even Kurenai sensei. After a few seconds he finally stopped, and looked at them grinning, evil in his eyes. He looked like a demon.
"You look surprised Kakashi; you really think you could have tooken me down so easily huh? They don't call me the demon of the hidden mist village for nothing you know." Zabuza said smirking evilly.
"I-I saw the hunter-nin kill you! How is it your still alive!?" Sasuke asked confused.
Zabuza just looked down at the boy and smiled, "Yes, you did, or so you thought you did little boy."
"What do you mean Zabuza!?" Kakashi said looking at him angrily.
Zabuza just laughed at him, "It's so simple Kakashi, I thought someone as smart as you would have been able to figure it out by now, I guess I was wrong about you." He said as he stopped laughing, "Can't you see, the hunter-nin didn't kill me, she actually saved me. The hunter-nin, or as I call her, Haku, watches over me incase I ever get into a life or death situation. So when she saw I was defeated she just simply made it look like she had killed me so that we could walk away with you all thinking I had died. What a pity to, because now you're the one who is going to die today Kakashi, along with all your little genin brats, and of course the bridge builder." Zabuza said staring at them evilly.
What Kakashi did next surprised Zabuza though, he smiled at him.
"I must say, that was quite clever Zabuza, you had me fooled from the beginning. I see that that same hunter-nin is with you now to." He said laughing, making both Zabuza and Haku angry, "Thing is…. It still won't make a difference." Kakashi said confidently.
Zabuza looked at him furiously, "Over confident as usual, huh Kakashi?"
"No, not over confident, I'm just being realistic." Kakashi said arrogantly, which made Zabuza even angrier, "I destroyed you last time we fought, what makes you think this fight will be any different huh? Just because you brought one of your little helpers this time won't change anything, the result will still be same. Just face it Zabuza, you can't win." Kakashi said confidently, which instantly made his team go from cowering in fear to filling them with confidence.
"Yeah!" Naruto yelled, "Your nothing to us! You might as well run away now while you still have the chance!" Naruto said, which made Hinata and Sasuke even more confident.
Zabuza looked furious at first, but then to their surprise, he started laughing again, very evilly.
Zabuza smirked, "You overconfidence is what will destroy you Kakashi and your little team of genin, Haku isn't just another one of my helpers as you would say, Haku is even stronger than me! You're the one who doesn't stand a chance Kakashi!"
Kakashi was shocked by his words, "You're bluffing!" he yelled gritting his teeth.
Zabuza smiled, "I'm not, but instead of just arguing and telling you, how about we demonstrate, Haku you know what to do."
"Yes, master." She said in a cold voice.
As soon as she said it though, she was gone from view completely. Everyone looked around frantically, but couldn't find her.
"Where did she go!?" Naruto yelled, but then he felt someone grab his arms and hold him back.
"Right here." Haku whispered as she put a kunai knife to his neck.
Kakashi and others looked at her in shock, 'She's so fast, I couldn't keep up with her movements at all! I should have gotten my sharingan out earlier when I had the chance damn it! Then I might have been able to.' Kakashi thought.
Haku then moved like the speed of sound again, and arrived next to Zabuza again. With Naruto in her arms still with a kunai knife to his throat.
"Naruto!" Hinata yelled out. "Let him go right now!"
Zabuza laughed, "We will, but for a price…"
Kakashi looked at him angrily, "What do you want!?" he yelled out.
"Isn't it obvious Kakashi? You see, unlike what we said at first, we don't actually want to kill you at all. We may be demons, but we aren't really all that bad. All we want is the bridge builder, if you step aside and let us kill him then we won't kill you and the boy will be returned unharmed. If you don't though, we will slice his throat open right now, and let you watch him suffer as he dies a painful death, and then we will do the same to each and everyone of you. Do I make myself clear?"
Kakashi looked confused, unsure of what to say or do, he couldn't just let them kill Naruto, but he couldn't let them kill the bridge builder either. If he let them kill Naruto just because of some mission he could never forgive himself though. He had lost too many teammates in his lifetime, and he didn't want to loss another, not today, not ever. He hated to let an innocent man die, but he just couldn't let Naruto die. He was just about to tell them he could have the bridge builder, when suddenly Naruto started laughing.
Zabuza looked at him furiously, "Why are you laughing you little genin brat? Do you want us to kill you!?"
Naruto stopped laughing, and smirked at him, "I'm laughing because you guys are bigger idiots than I thought."
Everyone was confused by his words, when suddenly he poofed out of existence, and several shuriken came straight at Haku as soon as he disappeared. She moved as quickly as she could, but three of them still ended up striking her, hitting her shoulder, upper thigh, and arm.
Naruto finally fell down out of the sky next to Hinata and Sasuke grinning, "You thought you had me didn't you! I disguised myself as a shadow clone as soon as the mist started coming in and have been hiding ever since, and you guys feel right for it! I've said this before and I'll say it again, don't ever underestimate me! Believe it!" he said courageously.
Kakashi, Hinata, and Sasuke couldn't believe it though; they were shocked by Naruto's intelligence. He may not look like it or even act like, but he really was smart, at least when it came to battle strategizing anyway.
"Way to go Naruto!" Hinata finally yelled after getting over her shock.
Naruto just looked back and gave her a thumbs up.
Zabuza was raging with anger though, as Haku pulled the last shuriken out, he yelled out, "Very impressive, for a genin to learn a jutsu like that is very impressive indeed! But now you've angered me! Not only that, but you've walked right into our trap as well, and we didn't have to lift a finger! You had your chance to take the deal and live, but now you've blown it, and now you and your friends will die right in front of your eyes you little brat! Haku you know what to do!" He yelled out furiously.
Haku nodded, "Right." She said as she started making hand signs.
Kakashi with his hitai-ate now raised with his sharingan out, tried to copy her movements, but just couldn't seem to. Then it suddenly hit him, 'She's using a kekkei genkai!' he thought shocked.
Kakashi then knew exactly what Zabuza meant when he said they had walked right into his trap. "Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, you have to get away from each other right now!" he yelled, but it was already too late as Haku finally finished her hand signs.
"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" she yelled as suddenly many mirrors started forming around the three genin, surrounding them in a wall. Haku quickly went over and entered one of the mirrors after it was done before Kakashi could do anything.
Zabuza started laughing, "It's over for them now Kakashi! Haku's secret technique is unbeatable against anyone, even you! Your three little genin don't stand a chance now, you can only hope she gives them a fast and painless death now, instead of slow and painful one, I doubt she will though." Zabuza said smirking with evil in his eyes.
Kakashi looked up at him strangely calmly, "I thought you said not to be overconfident Zabuza, if there's three genin that can beat your precious little Haku it's those three. I believe in them, they will beat Haku, I just know it." He said proudly.
"You really believe that Kakashi? If you do then you're a fool!" Zabuza said angrily.
"The only fool here today is you Zabuza, and since it's just me and you now I think it's time I showed you why!" Kakashi yelled in anger.
"You really think I showed up without a plan Kakashi? This was all part of my plan to begin with! To get me and you alone so I can have the satisfaction of finishing you off myself!"
"Big words from someone who couldn't even land a finger on me last time we fought, lets see what you got then."
"Fine, you will regret those words though." Zabuza said as he started making hand signs.
Suddenly all the fog surrounding the area seemed to thicken even more until Kakashi couldn't even see in front of himself.
"Is this your plan Zabuza? To hide? If you were just going to do that you might as well not have even came." Kakashi said agitated.
"Arrogant as ever Kakashi, now I'll make you pay!" Zabuza yelled through the fog.
Kakashi then felt a knee connect right to his chest and a kunai land right into his shoulder he quickly tried to compose himself and attack, but he was gone again into the fog.
Through the thick fog, we was barely able to make out many shuriken heading his way. Using all his speed he was able to dodge most of them, but one of them did connect with his ankle, causing him to wince in pain as he tried to pull it out.
'How is he doing this?' Kakashi thought, as he finally got the shuriken out. 'I should be able to see where his attacks are coming from, but I can't see anything because of this fog…. Oh no… That's it!' Kakashi thought shocked.
He then heard Zabuza laughing out in the mist, "Finally get it Kakashi? I knew from our last fight I couldn't win in a straight fight against you. Your damn sharingan let's you see everything I do, sometimes before I even do it. I knew I couldn't match that, but then I thought, 'What If he can't see me, if he wouldn't be able to see me, then he can't mimic me.', and then it hit me, if I could get fog this thick to where you couldn't see me, then your sharingan would be useless! Can't you see Kakashi, it's over now, for you and your little genin brats! Your days as the famous Copy Ninja are over!" he yelled, as he kept laughing.
Kakashi then gritted his teeth in frustration, he couldn't see a thing, and Zabuza's laughter was just making him angrier. He had really done his research this time, he was still confident he could beat him, but he needed to think, and fast.
A pair of kunai knives was then sent right at Kakashi, he tried to dodge them, but it was too late. One of them hit his shoulder, and the other his chest. He fell to the ground in pain, as he tried to pull them out.
'This doesn't look good for me…. I just pray the others are holding up better than I am right now…' Kakashi thought concerned about his students.
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A wall of mirrors suddenly formed all around Naruto and the others. They had tried to run when Kakashi sensei had told them to, but as soon as they started moving the mirrors formed all around them, forming a wall that was impenetrable.
The air turned cold very fast, they could see each other's breaths and they all started shivering a little. The fog started thickening as well all around them, so thick that it almost choked them. Naruto tried punching through one of the mirrors, but his punch didn't even leave a scratch, he kept punching and punching but it wouldn't budge at all.
Naruto looked around frustrated, "What the hell is this!?" he yelled.
"I don't know…. but this isn't good… not good at all." Sasuke said with fear in his voice.
Suddenly Haku formed on one of the mirrors, Haku laughed at their scared faces, "You all look like you've just seen death, don't worry I'll make that a reality for you all very soon." She said with an evil smile on her face.
They all looked up at her, shivering with fear, and then she was gone.
They all looked around frantically trying to find her, but then they all felt a large knee to their stomachs almost simultaneously. They all fell to the ground gasping for air, when they finally recovered; they looked up to see Haku in one of the mirrors laughing with one of the evilest grins they'd ever seen.
"Don't you guys see, my speed is way beyond anything you could ever hope to keep up with, and with my crystal ice mirrors you can't even touch me. I could kill you right now, but where's the fun in that? I think I'll just make your death very slow and painful, until you beg for mercy at my feet." She said, as they all looked at her with looks of pure terror on their face.
Naruto couldn't feel his legs, 'Is this it? Is this the end for me?' he thought as he looked over at his teammates.
Sasuke and Hinata were both trembling with fear just like he was as well, except they looked like they had it even worse, especially Sasuke.
Sasuke couldn't breathe, all the air around him was to terrifying to even suck in right now. It was like his whole body had shut down with fear, he couldn't control anything. He…He couldn't stand it, it was killing him from the inside….. this….. this girl….. she wasn't just any girl…she was a demon! He had to get out…. He had to get away from her, he didn't care how, all he knew was he had to get away.
Sasuke then realized what he had to do, he slowly reached into his kunai knife, and he slowly raised it to his neck, his hand shaking with fear. He had to kill himself… he couldn't…. he couldn't take it anymore!
Naruto and Hinata both stared at him with fear, knowing what he was going to do. They wanted to tell him no, to stop, but they couldn't find the words. They just couldn't.
Haku laughed, "What weaklings you truly are, to scared to even breathe. Just look at the poor Uchiha boy, he's petrified, so scared that he's actually going to kill himself. Your fear satisfies me but…. I need more…." She said evilly as she reached into her pockets, bringing out needles.
She then threw one right at Sasuke, and it hit the kunai knife in his hand, right as he was about to slice his throat. She wasn't going to let him die yet, not without a little more enjoyment.
She then threw three more needles right at Sasuke, hitting him in just the spots she was aiming for. Not enough to kill him, but to cause great pain.
Sasuke hit the ground screaming in pain, and he started to cough up blood. Naruto and Hinata both watched in fear, still unable to move.
Haku just laughed again behind Sasuke's screams of agony, "You guys really are pathetic, at least make this fun, if you don't move you'll just die a slow and painful death, but I suppose you guys realize that either way you'll die. What a pity, I thought leaf shinobi were better fighters, but I see now that all you guys are is cowards." She said with a smirk on her face.
Naruto stood there, as he watched Sasuke screaming out in pain. He never liked Sasuke, he actually hated everything about him, but he couldn't just sit here and watch him die. He wasn't what she said he was, he wasn't a coward! Yet here he was standing there just watching him die, and if he didn't do something soon he and Hinata would die to….. No… He wouldn't let that happen! He had to do something, he had to move!
Naruto felt it, he could feel his muscles finally relax, he had to do this, he had to win. Not only for him, but for his friends, he couldn't let them down, not now, not ever!
Haku just stood in the mirror looking impatient, "If you guys aren't going to do anything, then one of you dies!" she said as she hurled her needles straight at Sasuke.
Sasuke braced himself for death, almost accepting it, happy it was coming to save him from this place.
But it never came…..
Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto standing over him, with needles all in his back. He…. he had saved him… but why?
Naruto slowly started pulling the needles out of his back, not showing any pain on his face, and a look of determination on his face, as he turned to look at Haku.
"My…My name is Naruto Uzumaki…. So far I've been acting like a coward, afraid of death… but that's not me. I'm not a coward, I won't just sit here and let you take my life and my friend's lives away! I have a dream, someday I will be hokage! I will accomplish this dream, and to accomplish this goal I know I have to kill bastards like you!" Naruto said furiously.
Hinata and Sasuke both stared at him like he was crazy.
'H-how can he still have so much confidence in himself…. Can't he see it's impossible!' Sasuke thought.
'I-I wish I could have as much courage as he does… I really do.' Hinata thought sadly still unable to move.
Haku looked at him and smiled, "Well, I'm glad to see one of you has a little fight in you, this should make things interesting finally."
Naruto looked at her furious, "Oh yeah! We'll see how interesting you think it is when I kill you!" Naruto said as he made his familiar hand sign.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled as the whole place was suddenly surrounded by Naruto's.
They all then jumped right up, heading straight towards Haku. As soon as they did though, they all poofed and Naruto hit the ground hard face first.
When he looked up he saw Haku standing in the same mirror as before, smirking at him.
"Stupid boy, can't you see an attack like that won't ever work on me, I'm so fast I can take them all out in an instant. It doesn't matter how many shadow clones you make, I'll just destroy them instantly just like I did right then, it's hopeless!" she yelled.
Naruto just looked at her and smiled confidently, "I don't care how many times it takes, I will beat you!" he said as he did his familiar hand sign again, and summoned his clones again ready to fight, they all took off after Haku, but the result was the same. Hinata and Sasuke both watched in horror as each time Naruto would get up and summon his clones again, only to have them all defeated, and him hitting the ground again. They gritted their teeth each time, wishing Naruto would just stay down, but he didn't, he got right back up and kept trying, panting heavily more and more each time he hit the ground in pain. Sasuke and Hinata both wished they were outside in the forest training right now, instead of in this hell, as they watched Naruto getting crushed. Little did they know that in that very forest right now, things weren't much better…..
Part 2: Demons
Kiba was walking bored out of his mind, on their way to the training ground, he knew today was gonna be just like every other day. Shikamaru would either beat him silly, or he'd give up after Kiba nailed one punch on him. Kiba certainly wasn't looking forward to it, but glad it was the last day, and he wouldn't have to deal with this anymore.
As they got closer to the training ground, Kiba felt something strange in the air, like somebody was watching them. Akamaru then sniffed the air, he picked up a faint smell of something odd, they both weren't sure what it was, but it certainly didn't seem good.
"I have an odd feeling about this… stay on your guard boys; I think we are going to have a fight on our hands." Kurenai said as both boys looked at her confused for a moment, but then nodded.
Kiba wasn't confused by her words, just confused that she had sensed it to. She was a very strong jounin though, and had very good skills at spotting out a trap. Plus the forest was almost like home to her, so anything unusual that happened in it she would be able to sense.
Shikamaru also had the feeling they were being watched, and Kurenai's words just confirmed it. 'This is going to be such a drag.' He thought to himself, as they kept walking.
When they finally got there they found Sakura in the middle of the forest, looking very sad, and like she had been crying. The forest was very oddly still, not a single leaf was blowing in the wind, and everything was quiet, like the whole forest was asleep, the only thing they could hear was Sakura's weeps, it was very eerie.
"Stay close to me." Kurenai whispered to them, and they all nodded. They didn't know exactly what was going on, but it certainly didn't feel good.
Kurenai and her group walked up to the weeping kunoichi. Kurenai wanted to be concerned about her and try to help her, but with what was going on at the moment she it was very hard.
"Sakura, are you ok? What happened to your jaw!?" Kurenai asked in a concerned voice noticing the bandages all around her jaw, but still staying alert to her surroundings.
Sakura looked up with red eyes, startled a bit, "Ku…..Kurenai sensei, I-I didn't even see you guys come in…. My jaw…. It…. It got broke today during training." She lied, as she cringed remembering Hinata punching her with as much fury as anyone she had ever seen her whole life. She couldn't tell them that though, not only was it embarrassing, but it was all her fault anyway.
Kurenai looked at her with an understanding look, and nodded. She knew she wasn't telling the complete truth, but she wouldn't pry into things she didn't want to tell her.
"I-I'm sorry you have to see me like this…. A ninja shouldn't be crying like this." She said wiping the last tears from her face.
Kurenai then put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "Don't worry about it Sakura, I know whatever Sasuke had said to you made you really upset. You have to realize that you are still a young genin, not only that, but I was the same way about boys when I was your age too." She said chuckling a little bit.
"R-Really?" Sakura asked surprised.
"Well yes, there was this one boy I always liked when I was about your age too, but he never returned my feelings either… and still doesn't." she looked at the ground with sadness in her eyes, but she quickly recomposed herself and looked at Sakura with a serious face, "After a while I finally learned he never would, and I was just wasting my time trying to get someone to love me the way I loved him. That's why you can't let whatever Sasuke says to you effect you this way, you may think that because he hates you it's the end of the world, but it's not, and I really doubt he truly does. He was just upset, and really you have all the reason to be upset with him too. He has ignored you ever since you met him; all because of his one goal in life, to kill his brother and avenge his clan, a guy like that doesn't deserve your attention Sakura. He only has enough room in his heart for one person at the moment Sakura…... himself. Do you understand what I'm saying Sakura?"
Sakura looked at the ground trying to absorb everything she had said. She loved Sasuke, but she didn't deserve someone that just ignored her, and thought she was annoying. She deserved someone who actually likes her for herself…..
That's when it hit her, she had treated Naruto just the same way Sasuke treated her, except even worse. Not only did she ignore him, but she made fun of him and mocked him. She finally realized just how mean she truly had been to the one boy who actually liked her….. for her. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn't, she had cried too much today, and she just wouldn't allow herself to cry any more, not this time.
She looked up at Kurenai sensei with a sad face, but nodded that she understood what she meant.
"I… I understand now." Sakura said as her sad face turned to a smile. Kurenai smiled back at her proud she had seemed to finally figure it out.
"I'm glad, but that doesn't mean to give up on him completely, although I said I did, I really actually never did…" She said sadly, "Plus Sasuke always has the chance to change, he still just a young boy, maybe one day he will understand just how much he means to you" she said smiling.
"I…I hope so to… Thank you." Sakura said happily smiling, as Kurenai smiled back at her as well.
Little did they know, that out in the woods two figures were watching over them closely.
"Look at them, trying to make the pink haired girl feel better….. It disgusts me." Chili said irritated.
"Yes, but it gives us a good distraction just like we wanted…" Cress said smirking, "I think it's time we went for the kill…."
"Are you sure brother? This move will use almost all of our chakra, and destroy nearly everything?" Chili asked.
"Yes…. I'd rather get this over with then wait, so let's just finish them off now." Cress said, as Chili nodded and they both started forming hand signs.
Kurenai could feel something out in the forest building chakra up, and a lot of it. Although she had been focused on her conversation with Sakura, she had also been
Observing the forest closely, searching for anything that was out of the ordinary, and this chakra spike certainly was. She knew something bad was about to happen, and she knew she had to act quickly.
"Everyone! Grab hold of me! Don't ask questions just do it!" She yelled urgently, as Kiba and Shikamaru quickly did as she said, but Sakura just sat there confused, but then as Kurenai yelled at her again she quickly did as she said. Kurenai just hoped that little lost time didn't cost them.
"Water Fire Style Combination: Two Headed Dragon!" The two elemental brothers yelled from the depths of the forest.
Suddenly the whole forest filled with a large two-headed dragon made of fire and water heading straight their way, destroying everything in its path. It quickly surged through the forest leaving a large open area where the forest had been destroyed, and leaving many trees on fire and some toppled over, as the surviving animals started to take off into the distance, away from the destruction.
Cress and Chili both jumped into the open smiling evilly at their chaos.
"That worked like a charm, there's no way they survived that!" Chili yelled out confidently.
Cress had a neutral look on his face though, He felt strange, like it hadn't killed them for some reason. He knew there was no way they could have dodged that attack, but he had a weird feeling in his chest.
"For some reason I don't think it was enough brother. Somehow I think they survived!" Cress said looking around cautiously.
"What!? What do you mean? We completely annihilated this whole area; there's no way they could have dodged that attack!" Chili yelled.
As soon as he said that though, a barrage of shuriken and kunai knives came swarming their way out of the forest. Cress was able to see them though just in time and dodge them, but his brother had not, as he was hit in the body many times. Bleeding heavily now with at least 20 shuriken and kunai knives in him.
Cress looked up to see him brother on the ground in pain, choking up blood. He tried to get up to go help him, but as soon as he did a kunai knife was sent straight at his brother's forehead, killing him instantly.
Chili hit the ground with a thud, as Cress looked on in horror, as his brother died before his own eyes.
Cress finally felt the strength to look up, when he did he saw the people he thought they had just killed standing there in the open smiling.
"You….. You killed my brother!" Cress yelled in anger.
"Yes, just like how you tried to kill us. Your brother didn't deserve any better treatment from us, just be glad we didn't make him suffer, he died quickly so there wasn't much pain." Kurenai said in a serious tone.
"How… How did you survive! There was no way you could have!"
Kurenai laughed, "You really think we didn't know you were out there hiding? Even my genin students had recognized something was up. If you guys weren't such bad Shinobi's you probably would have gotten us. I just simply grabbed onto everyone as soon as I saw your chakra rising, and did my earth style teleportation technique, and absorbed everyone into the ground. I must say, your attack did impress me though, it must have token quite a lot of chakra to make such a strong attack. I'm sure you're completely worn out now." Kurenai said smirking.
Cress looked at her with anger, but knew she was right; they had almost put all of their chakra into that attack of theirs. It was a high risk, but high reward attack, but if it failed it was almost useless to keep fighting after that. There was no way he could win now, not against a jounin alone, plus her genin brats, but he'd rather die before he ran away, he wouldn't let his brother's death be unavenged.
Kurenai looked at him smiling, "Just give up, you know you can't win. There's no reason to throw your life away!"
Cress had a look of frustration on his face, but it quickly changed to a look of evil. He still had on more trick up his sleeve. He looked around, and saw exactly what he was looking for, the weak little pink-haired kunoichi. He might not be able to kill them all, but he wasn't about to run away, or go to jail. He would rather die, and he would be taking that little pink haired brat with him.
Cress smiled, "You think I'll just hand myself in right after you killed my brother? You're dumber than I thought Kurenai. You underestimate my abilities, and for that I'll make you pay!" He said as he jumped back a little.
"Water Style: Ice Darts Jutsu!" he yelled as ice darts stormed out of his hands and headed straight towards them.
They all jumped out of the way; as fast as they could, little did they know they had done exactly what he wanted. Sakura had jumped to the left with Shikamaru, and Kurenai and Kiba had jumped to the right.
Cress ran at her with as much speed as he could muster, with an evil look on his face.
Kiba saw this and instantly knew what he was going to do, "Run Sakura!" Kiba yelled.
But it was too late; Cress grabbed her by her hair and held her up as he grabbed a long kunai knife from his belt.
"Let go of her right now, or you will die!" Kurenai yelled furiously.
"Hahahaha! You think I care if I live or die? I don't give a shit at all! And if I'm going to die, then I'm taking one of you with me!" he yelled as he slammed his kunai knife right through Sakura's chest, coming out the other side of her back.
"Nooooooo! Sakura!" Kurenai yelled out.
Cress just laughed, "Pitiful ninja like her deserve to die Kurenai, I was just doing her a favor by killing her."
"You… You'll pay for that!" Kurenai said with anger in her eyes. Just as she was about to run at him with all her might and anger and destroy him, Sakura suddenly poofed into a log with the same kunai knife in it.
Kurenai, Kiba, and especially Cress stared in shock.
"A…..A Substitution jutsu!" Cress yelled.
"That's right!" Sakura yelled from the forest as she threw two kunai knives right at him, he was unable to move away in time as the two kunai knives landed both right in his feet. Nailing him to the ground.
"AHHHHHH!" he yelled in pain as he hit the ground.
"Now Shikamaru!" Sakura yelled.
"Right." Shikamaru said stepping up, "Shadow Possession Jutsu." He said almost too casually for the situation they were in. As a shadow protruded from him and headed straight towards Cress, he tried to move, but his feet were pinned to the ground. He screamed in agony as the shadow finally reached him….. it was over.
They all started walking right up to him, all with a smile on their face.
"You…. How did you do that! You're just a weak kunoichi! There's no way you could have tricked me!" he yelled in frustration.
Sakura just smiled, "Like a certain blonde haired boy has always said….. Don't ever…. Underestimate….Me!" She yelled proudly, as all her teammates smiled.
Cress just looked at them with anger in his eyes as blood came out of his mouth.
Then he remembered something that instantly brought a smile to his face.
Kurenai eyed him curiously, "Why are you smiling? Are you happy to die or something! If so I'll be glad to give it to you!" She said madly as she pulled a kunai knife from her pouch.
Cress laughed, "No, it's not that. You see, you may have won this battle, but I doubt your other friends are doing nearly as well as you are right now." He said with an evil grin.
"What!? What do you mean!?" Kiba yelled furiously.
"I mean your friends are probably all dead now you little brat! They are facing two shinobi's whose powers are much greater than even mine and Chili's ever were! I bet you right now all three of your little genin friends are dead, and they are both finishing up Kakashi as we speak! All of this was for nothing!" he said laughing evilly.
They could all feel the anger build from inside them. Their whole attack had just been a distraction from the start! Just so that they wouldn't be able to help their other teammates!
Kurenai had never felt so mad in her life, as she looked at Cress with a look of death all over her face, as she pulled her kunai knife back she shoved it right into the laughing man's heart, then pulled the blood soaked kunai out as his blood spewed everywhere.
They all looked at her with a look of shock on their face, but also understanding. They had all wanted to do the same thing to him anyway.
Kurenai pulled the dying man's shirt up so she could look at him in the eyes, his face covered with his own blood.
"I hope you enjoy death, as much as I enjoyed giving it to you, you motherfucker." She said coldly as she slammed her kunai knife right through his head, killing him instantly, just like his brother.
She pulled her kunai knife, and looked at her team with a serious face, "Come on! We have to get moving before it's too late!" she yelled urgently, as she took off as fast as she could, her team following right behind her, determined to get there as fast as they could, and hopeful that they were all ok.
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Kakashi could hear the screams of his students from inside the wall of mirrors. Every time he heard it made him cringe with anger. For the past 15 minutes he had become Zabuza's prey, running away like a rabbit would a fox every time he would attack.
He had a jutsu he knew could kill Zabuza, and just end it right now, but if he used it he would be almost out of chakra. And if Haku won, or if he could find a way to help his students, he would be almost useless to them without his chakra. He'd rather die then take that chance, so he just kept running, hopeful and praying they could somehow pull it off.
He had many wounds now from where Zabuza had hit him from either shuriken or kunai knives, but none of them were very serious. He had done well to protect his vital organs, and had done his best to dodge every attack as soon as he saw it coming. He tried attacking each time, but Zabuza would just simply disappear again into the mist before he could even lay eyes on him.
He could hear Zabuza laughing through the mist, "What's wrong Kakashi? Are you finally realizing that you can't win, and your precious little genin brats are going to die? What a shame, I thought you'd put up more of a fight, I have to say I'm impressed by your running away skills though. You've done well to survive this long, but you won't be alive much longer, I can guarantee you that!" he said as he threw another barrage of shuriken at him.
Kakashi saw them coming and was able to dodge all of them this time. He was starting to get tired though, and he couldn't keep this up much longer.
'Please let them be ok.' He thought, as he dodged another round of shuriken.
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Naruto was panting heavily, he had been getting hit and failing every time he had tried to attack Haku, each time getting up and trying again only to be knocked down even harder each time. He was determined though; he wouldn't let this demon beat him. He had to somehow give his teammates confidence, he needed their help to win this, and this was the only way he knew how.
Sasuke and Hinata watched him as he kept getting up and trying over and over. Hinata was almost in tears, she couldn't stand to watch him getting pummeled to death, but she just couldn't seem to move. The whole area was suffocating her and Sasuke, it felt like they were dying from the inside out. Yet Naruto just kept getting up, not a bit of fear in his eyes, just pure determination.
"Why won't you stay down you little blonde haired brat! Can't you see it's hopeless!?" Haku yelled as she took off again, destroying all his clones, and knocking him down even harder this time.
Naruto hit the ground hard, as he coughed up blood. He barely had any chakra left. It was a feeling he wasn't use to because he almost never ran out of it because of his large reserves. He had used the shadow clone jutsu at least 20 times now, he only had about 5 left in him, and he had never felt so worn out in his life. He thought about taking his weights off at first, but decided against it, it didn't matter how fast he was, he couldn't hope to match her speed, not how he was right now anyway. But he couldn't give up! He had to keep trying!
Naruto slowly pushed himself up off the ground, his whole body covered in blood.
"I'll never give up! Not while I still have breathe in my body!" he yelled as summoned his clones yet again, as they jumped up after her.
"Fool! Then I'll just have to take that breathe away from you then!" she yelled as she destroyed all his clones again, and this time giving a kick to the real Naruto that she put all her power into. Sure it would at least knock him out, if not kill him.
Naruto hit the ground with a large thud, as he his body made cracks into the pavement, and blood spattered everywhere.
Sasuke and Hinata both looked on in horror, not sure if he was dead or alive.
Hinata finally felt her voice and legs again, "N-Naru…NARUTO!" she yelled as she ran over to him.
Haku smiled, 'So the Hyuga brat finally has enough courage to move now to, guess that'll make things more interesting now that the blonde haired boy is out of the way.' She thought to herself pleased.
Tears were welding up in Hinata's eyes at Naruto's body sitting there covered in blood. Before she could reach him though, he miraculously picked himself up off the ground once again, shocking everyone.
"W-What! That's impossible! Why won't you stay down!" Haku yelled furiously.
Naruto just looked up at her and smiled, "Because…. Because….. I won't lose….. Not to you… I….. I have a dream… to become the greatest hokage…. and nothing will ever stop me from achieving that dream….. Not even you!" Naruto yelled.
Sasuke looked at him with respect for Naruto he had never felt before. He always thought he was just a loser, a wannabe ninja, who just did and said things to get attention. But Naruto was more than that; he had proved it this whole week when he had worked just as hard as he did to climb the tree, and when he actually beat Sasuke at climbing it first. He hadn't really realized it till now though, Naruto was really a true ninja, and Sasuke was just the wannabe ninja all along who was to scared to even move from fear…..
'No….' Sasuke thought, 'I…. I have a goal too….. I'm not just a wannabe ninja who says empty words….. I'm more than that! I will kill my brother one day! I will avenge my clan! I can't let this be the end for me! I have a dream just like Naruto, and I won't let anyone take that away from me! I won't ever be a coward again like I was before when I let my whole clan die before my own eyes! I won't ever let that happen again, Not now, and not ever!' Sasuke thought furiously, as he felt a new wave of confidence rush over him that he had never felt before, as he activated his sharingan, his clan's greatest gift.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, as he jumped up again at Haku, this time not knowing if he'd live or die.
"Naruto! Noooooo!" Hinata yelled, knowing he was on the verge of death.
Haku growled in anger, "Fine! If you wanna feel the sting of death you stupid boy, then I'll be glad to give it to you!" she yelled as she took off again destroying his clones.
Sasuke could see Haku's movements now, just barely, but it was enough, he knew which one was the real Naruto too. He knew he had to do something, the next hit could kill him, and he couldn't and wouldn't let him die.
Haku destroyed all the clones, and only one Naruto was left, she smiled as she realized this was the real Naruto, she appeared right in front of him with an evil grin on her face.
"It's over for you now!" she said as she brought a kunai out of her pouch. "You die now!" she yelled as she shoved the kunai right at him.
Naruto braced himself, knowing this is where it all ended, where he died….. but it never came. When he looked up he saw Sasuke in the air floating over him. Holding Haku's hand, with the kunai inches away from Naruto's face.
"What…..That's Impossible!" Haku yelled as she tried to free herself from Sasuke's grip.
"Naruto, now!" Sasuke yelled.
Naruto instantly knew what he meant, and acted quickly. He grabbed hold of the kunai and pulled himself up into the air above them. Positioning himself just right to land his special move he had been working on right in Haku's face.
Haku tried to move out of the way, but Sasuke's grip was to strong, she did the only thing she could think of hoping it wasn't to late, as Naruto's foot came crashing into her face.
"Uzumaki Barrage!" he yelled as he sent her straight into the ground, crushing her face into the bridge's gravel, leaving her body lifeless.
Naruto jumped up from the ground in celebration, "Yes! That was great Sasuke! We did it!" he yelled, and then suddenly hit the ground from pure exhaustion.
Sasuke and Hinata both laughed happily. The boy had tried so hard just like he always did, and it was because of him they had won, he truly was something.
"We did it….. We really did it Naruto." Sasuke whispered to himself.
Hinata looked at Naruto happily. He had saved them once again, he really was a hero, but then she noticed something that made her puzzled.
"Guys…. Why aren't the mirrors gone?" Hinata asked confused.
Naruto looked around from the ground, and so did Sasuke. She was right; the mirrors were still there just like they were before.
"I…I'm not sure… No…. It can't be… that's impossible!" Sasuke yelled, as familiar laugh started up again in the background.
Haku's lifeless body suddenly turned into water, as she reappeared again on one of the mirrors evilly grinning.
"No….. You're….. You're dead!" Sasuke yelled out.
Haku just laughed, "Did you really think you could take me out that easily? This whole place is like a playground to me. I can easily swap my body at anytime with water, and with all the mist, and the ocean nearby, I can do it so fast you don't even notice it. Can't you see now, you really have no chance against me!" she yelled furiously.
"I must say though, I was impressed by you Uchiha. Your sharingan really is something, and I let my guard down completely, thinking you were still petrified. That mistake won't happen this time, and now I'll kill all of you!" she yelled in anger.
They all looked on in terror, as she pulled multiple needles out of her robe, and started throwing them at them.
Naruto was helpless, as he watched his teammates getting hit by the needles, he could hardly move his head, let alone get up to help. Hinata now had her Bykugan on now, which was helping her dodge them, and Sasuke had his sharingan which was helping him too, but it still wasn't enough, because at the speed she was throwing them she would still end up hitting them every now and then no matter how hard they tried.
Haku eventually stopped after about a minute, Hinata and Sasuke both were panting heavily.
Haku grinned, "I think it's time to stop playing around." She said as she disappeared.
Haku then appeared right in front of Hinata with an evil grin on her face, so fast that it left Hinata no time to react, and with a swift kick to her stomach, knocked her out unconscious.
"Hinata!" Naruto yelled from his seat on the ground, trying to move, but just couldn't.
Haku picked her off the ground by her jacket, "What a precious little girl….. I could kill her right now, but I think I'd rather wait until I'm finished with you two." She said as she jumped back into a mirror smirking, as she dropped Hinata on the ground.
"Y-you demon!" Naruto yelled out coughing up blood in pain.
"I may be a demon, but I'm not doing this just for me, but for someone precious to me. His goal was to kill the bridge builder, but you got in our way. I didn't want to kill you, but now you leave me no choice!" She yelled furiously.
"Why would you serve someone like that? Can't you see all he does is use you for his own gain like a slave!" Naruto yelled out furiously.
"Shut up you insolent brat! You know nothing about how he treats me! He's the only one who's ever cared about me ever since I was a little girl! His dream is my dream, I live for him! And his dream is for you to die, so I will make it come true right now!" she yelled in fury, as she started a new hand sign.
"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death!" she yelled as suddenly needles came out of the sky, heading straight towards Naruto.
Naruto braced himself, for what he knew was his last seconds of his life. He wasn't scared though, almost embracing it, knowing he died a ninja. Yet… the pain never came once again.
Naruto opened his eyes in horror; Sasuke was standing over him, his whole back covered in needles. He was crying… yet… they seemed almost like… like happy tears.
Naruto started to cry as well, confused, "Wh…. Why Sasuke?"
He just looked at him and smiled, "I….. I don't know…. My body just seemed to move….. and because….. because you did the same….. for me."
Naruto stared at him in disbelief, the same boy who was his greatest rival. The boy who he had thought he hated more than anyone in this whole world just this morning had just saved him… it… it just didn't make sense.
"But….. But you had a dream Sasuke… and you threw it all away for me? Why!?" Naruto asked the tears building up.
Sasuke just kept smiling, "Yes… I had a dream, but so do you Naruto…" he said as he started to cough up blood. "Naruto… just promise me… just promise me one thing."
Naruto looked up at him the tears starting to come down even harder.
"Promise me…. You won't die here…. And you'll accomplish your dream. I….. I wasn't able to accomplish mine, but maybe….. just maybe you can for me one day as well as your own…. My brother Itachi… He killed my whole clan…. I promised myself one day I'd kill him… One day I'd redeem my clan…. Promise me… You'll kill him…. For me…." Sasuke said tears rolling down his face.
Naruto looked at him confused, tears rolling down his face as well, but quickly nodded, "Yes, Sasuke….You have my word!"
Sasuke smiled "T-Thank….. You….. Naruto….. You really are… a true ninja…..." Sasuke said as he fell to the ground, as the life in his eyes seemed to fade away.
Naruto stared at his lifeless body in disbelief, he just couldn't believe it… He was…. He was dead.
"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled as he fell on top of him, and started crying uncontrollably.
Haku laughed hysterically from the scene, "What a pity, he had such great potential. To bad he was just too weak to survive, giving his life for a worthless brat like you. It's about the stupidest thing I've ever seen!" Haku said as she continued her laughter.
Naruto froze; he felt something inside of him he had never felt before. It felt evil, yet it also felt right, it was pure rage.
A voice called out to him in his mind he had never heard before, 'Take my power… Use it….. Kill her for what she has done to you…. Show her your true power!' it yelled out to him in a very evil voice.
The power was right there for him to take it. It felt wrong to take it, but right then Naruto just didn't give a damn. He would kill her for what she had done; he wouldn't let any more of friends die today! She would pay.
Naruto reached out and took this power, as he heard a laughing voice in the back of his mind, but he ignored it. He was only focused on one thing….. Killing that demon.
Haku was still laughing, when suddenly red chakra suddenly started surrounding the boy's body all over. His nails grew long, and his eyes changed from blue to a dark and menacing red. His whole face seemed to become more animal like as it filled up with anger, as it was sketched all across his face.
"What is this red chakra!? Where is it coming from!?" She yelled out, "He shouldn't even be able to move! This doesn't make any sense!" she yelled frustrated.
Naruto's muscles started bulging from his body, as his weights he still had on broke off to the ground because of it, as they fell to the ground with a large thud. He looked up at her with death written all over his face.
Haku was shaking all over; his face was the most frightening thing she had ever seen in her whole life, it was the purest anger and rage she had ever seen. She had to compose herself though she told herself; he still couldn't beat her, she couldn't let Zabuza down; there was no way she would let that happen.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Naruto yelled as he took off after her in a speed that left a mark on the ground every time he took a step because of the sheer power.
Haku was barely able to move to the next mirror in time, before he came crashing through, breaking the mirror to pieces as he punched it ferociously.
'That's impossible, You can't break my mirrors! The strength required for that is way beyond anything a genin…... even a jounin couldn't hope to muster up that much power!' she thought, as she barely dodged another one of his attacks, as he busted another mirror.
He came running at her again, but this time she didn't have enough time to move out of the way again, and his fist came straight through the mirror, busting it to pieces and knocking her out of it.
The mirrors faded away, as she slowly got herself up after the devastating blow. Naruto was right on her though, and picked her up by her shirt.
Haku looked at him with fear, his anger and hatred all over his face, "Y-You….. You're a demon!" she yelled out in pure fear.
"No…. the only demon here is you." He said coldly, before bringing his fist back and punching her with so much force it made a hole right through her chest.
He dropped her to the ground in a lifeless heap. He had done it, he had won. Yet….. for some reason he felt even worse then he had before. His horrifying powers suddenly left his body, and he dropped to the ground unconscious, as he heard the same voice he had heard before of the one that had given him these powers, laughing in the back of his mind.
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Kakashi and Zabuza both watched on in shock, as Naruto killed Haku right in front of them, and then dropped to the ground unconscious.
"Haku!" Zabuza yelled.
Kakashi just smirked, "Looks like your Haku wasn't all she was made out to be huh? Now it's over Zabuza!" Kakashi yelled with pride and confidence.
"You… You and all your little genin will pay dearly for killing Haku! Especially the blonde haired Brat! YOU WILL ALL DIE!" He yelled furiously from with his fog.
"No Zabuza, it's over now, I've just been playing around with you this whole time, waiting just incase they needed me, or I needed my chakra against Haku. But now it's over and it's time to finish this!" Kakashi yelled out.
"You're…. You're bluffing Kakashi!" Zabuza yelled in disbelief.
"No…. I'm not Zabuza, now prepare to die." Kakashi said coldly, as he started making hand signs and then he bite his thumb.
"Summoning Jutsu!" he yelled, as he hit his hand on the ground.
"What are you doing!?" Zabuza yelled, but as soon as he did something grabbed onto his legs, as seven others grabbed onto the rest of his body. Zabuza tried to get free, but he just couldn't, whatever it was held him in place firmly, he couldn't go anywhere, and he could feel his fog jutsu starting to clear up.
The fog finally cleared up after about twenty seconds, revealing Zabuza held by Kakashi's dogs.
"What is this Kakashi! Let me go!" Zabuza yelled frantically.
Kakashi just laughed, "Don't you see Zabuza, I had you beat from the beginning. I realized soon into our fight that my eyes wouldn't work, I started to panick, but once I composed myself I knew just the jutsu to solve our little problem. So it actually wasn't you who was toying with me, it was me toying with you all along! Now it's all over, and now you die!" Kakashi yelled angrily.
"You should consider yourself lucky to, your going to be one of the few that actually gets to see one of my one original attacks…. The chidori!" He yelled, as he started to power up his attack.
Zabuza looked at him knowing he was defeated, and that this really was the end. He looked over at Haku's lifeless body on the ground, and felt a pain in himself he had never felt before as he started to cry. He had never gotten to tell her he was sorry, that he loved her, he had never got to make up the mistakes he had caused in her life, and he hated himself for that.
"Chidori: Lightning Blade!" Kakashi yelled as his jutsu had reached full power and he sped off towards Zabuza as fast as he could.
Zabuza looked at him bracing himself for death. He could only think of one thing to say in that moment.
"I'm sorry… Haku." He said right before Kakashi stuck him right in the chest with the chidori, putting a big hole through it, as he feel to the ground, and Kakashi's dogs poofed out of sight.
Kakashi looked over him, "It's over…. It's finally over." He said sighing, as he hit the ground on his knees from exhaustion.
Right then Kurenai and her group had finally made it, and what they saw horrified them.
There was blood everywhere they looked, and a lot of damage to the bridge. There was kunai knives and shuriken everywhere. The worst thing was everyone was on the ground either unconscious or dead, they weren't sure which yet. The only one still up was Kakashi, who was on his knees and had many wounds all over his body.
Kurenai and her group ran up to him as fast as they could. Kakashi looked up and sighed with relief, he was glad they were here, as his team and himself really needed help.
"Kakashi! What happened!?" Kurenai asked in a panicked tone.
"Zabuza….. he wasn't dead….. and he brought help this time. We were able to defeat them though….." Kakashi said in a weak voice, he was very tired.
"Is…. Is anyone hurt!?" Sakura said almost too afraid to ask.
"I….. I don't even really know yet….. The fight had just ended when you arrived."
They then all looked around, Naruto and Hinata both seemed like they were breathing, but both looked like they had been through hell, but what Sakura and the others saw next made them all gasp.
Sasuke was sitting there with his whole back, arms, and legs covered in needles….. and he didn't look like he was breathing…
"Sas….Sasuke…" Sakura said in a fearful voice.
"SASUKE!" She yelled as she ran over to him, hoping and praying he was still alive.
Author's Notes
Phew, what a chapter, this one was just about twice as long as usual. I hate to end it on a cliffhanger like that, but had to end this chapter somewhere, and that seemed like the right place.
So, Is Sasuke really dead, or is he somehow alive? Even I'm not sure yet….. I hope you all enjoyed it though, and of course, please Read and Review. Your opinions mean a lot to me.
I have to say I was happy with all the reviews I got last chapter. It really made me motivated to get this next long chapter out there for you guys. I also really appreciated all the advice and suggestions about my writing I got from you guys, and am going to try to improve in those areas, so thanks again.
Next chapter I'll be finishing up the First Mission Arc as I like to call it, and they all finally get to go home, and of course we find out about Sasuke….. I hope to have it out for you guys soon, so watch out for that.
Until next time, peace.
- Riley