Ignis Bellator

By Mexicano27

Chapter 9: Someone Precious

Inari heard a loud crash from downstairs as he washed his hands. What was that? Had his mother fallen down? He hurried down and ran for the kitchen. He slid open the door and saw his mother thrown onto the ground, as two men with swords stood over her.

"Mama!" he cried out. Gato's men had come here and taken his mother. What was he supposed to do?

"What do you want, brat?" snarled one of the men. He was the larger of the two, and was shirtless and wore an eyepatch.

"Inari, run!" screamed his mother. "Get out of here!"

"Should we take him with us?" asked the shirtless man.

"We only need one hostage," said the smaller one. "We can just get rid of him."

"Well, too bad for him," said the first man, baring his teeth in a fearsome grin. He grabbed the hilt of his sword. Inari felt his blood run cold. They were going to kill him?

"Don't touch him!" screamed Inari's mother. "If you lay a single finger on him, I'll kill myself! Then where will you get a hostage?"

The large man sheathed his sword with a disappointed grunt, and the smaller one let out a chuckle. They went for his mother, and began tying her up with a strand of rope. She didn't resist, and the larger man kept on whispering vulgarities into her ear while the smaller one smirked.

I'm sorry… thought Inari, crying. I'm not strong enough to help… I really am just a weak little crybaby!

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up in shock, only to see Sakura standing above him. She knew what was happening in the kitchen; she pressed a finger to her lips, signaling Inari to not let her presence be known. She had a hard look in her eyes, as if she were about to fight. But she couldn't fight! She was injured, and even in the best of circumstances, those men would break her like a twig! Inari dumbly nodded his head at her signal, though. Maybe she had a plan. She had to know better than to just run in there.

Sakura nodded her head back at him, and released his shoulder. Leaving him where he was standing, she then reached into her weapons pouch, which she had brought with her. Instead of pulling out handfuls of kunais and shurikens as he had hoped she would, she only pulled out a single kunai. She balanced it on the palm of her hand, then grabbed it by the handle and moved into the doorway. Inari had a perfect view of what she was doing, and figured that she was crazy and going to get herself killed. But she wasn't really like Naruto, was she? She would think things through before just rushing headfirst into a dangerous situation, right? He certainly hoped so.

Sakura threw the kunai with great accuracy. It flew through the air, and sliced the rope binding Tsunami. She looked astonished as it fell to the floor, and it took the two men about to take her away a second to react.

"What the hell?" said the large man; the smaller one wielded his sword and turned to the doorway. They both saw Sakura at the same time, and Tsunami took that opportunity to jump on top of the smaller man, trying to take his sword.

Sakura then grabbed another kunai and ran at the man with the eyepatch before he could help his comrade. Inari couldn't help but think that Sakura was coming up with what to do next as she went along. Maybe she really hadn't had a plan…

The man saw her too early, though. He backhanded the kunoichi just as she reached him. She fell with a cry, and her kunai skittered across the floor. Tsunami was still wrestling with the other samurai; she appeared to have suddenly achieved an inhuman strength. The large man walked over to Sakura, who was struggling to climb to her feet, and grabbed her across the waist, lifting her up so that her face was level with his.

"It looks like I get to kill someone after all!" he said in what, sickeningly, was genuine happiness. He laughed as Sakura struggled against his grip, and squeezed her tighter. She furiously punched at his face, clawing wildly. Her efforts only seemed to amuse him further; it didn't even look like she was having any effect on her.

Sakura suddenly stopped punching blindly at whatever she could reach, and started concentrating on something in between each punch. She would punch, pull her fist back, concentrate on something, and then punch again. His grin slipped slightly, replaced by a look of puzzlement. What on earth was she doing?

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Sakura remembered one particular day back at the Ninja Academy with stunning clarity. She had been sitting in the front row; she remembered because Sasuke was only a couple of seats down, and she had kept on trying to get his attention whenever Iruka wasn't looking. She had gotten annoyed when Sasuke completely ignored her, and had resigned herself to listening to Iruka.

"… So you see class, even people without massive chakra reserves can achieve amazing things, when they have excellent chakra control."

What? What was amazing? Would it impress Sasuke? Even if she had to sit up all night working on chakra control, then she'd do it. Anything for Sasuke!

"Like what, Sensei?" she asked Iruka from her seat. "What amazing things can people do when they have excellent chakra control?"

"Well, take the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade, for example," said Iruka. "She wasn't known for having an incredible amount of chakra, but she made up for that by having great control over what chakra she had."

"What could she do?"

"Well, by building up and releasing her chakra with precise timing, she could effectively achieve super strength, and be able to destroy walls and boulders just by punching them. Eventually, after repeated use, it became instinctive for her, and she could do this without any effort on her part. A person with much higher chakra reserves could potentially blow up walls and other obstacles with powerful jutsus, but they would be wasting much more chakra and waste more time by forming hand signs. Tsunade bypassed all of this, which is what really sets her apart."

"Wow!" exclaimed Sakura, amazed. "Where is Tsunade now?"

"Well… nobody knows," said Iruka, looking uncomfortable. "She left the Leaf Village a while ago with an assistant to follow her around, and disappeared. She took her abilities with her, too. Nobody really knows how to recreate her amazing powers."

"Oh…" Sakura was disappointed. So much for impressing Sasuke…

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At that moment, in that thug's arms, Sakura didn't care much about impressing anybody. Sasuke and Tsunade could both go to hell, as far as she was concerned. Now, all she was trying to do was save her own life.

Build up your chakra, she thought, preparing to punch the man. She concentrated all of her chakra into her fist. She then punched him again. Release it all… now! Her fist collided with the man's face and bounced off. It was no use. He was grinning as he squeezed her tighter and tighter. It was now difficult to breathe. She could feel her strength leaving her, and her vision was going dark. She felt an impulse to think about something else, anything else, but she refused to give in and let her life flash before her eyes. If she did, then it really would be over.

One more time… she thought sluggishly. Just… one more… goddamn… time… She pulled her fist back once more. She concentrated with all of her being into focusing all of her chakra into her fist, knowing that she would die if she failed. She swung at the man's face as hard as she could. Release it… NOW!

Her fist connected with his face; something felt wet. The man let out a strangled cry and released her. She fell to the floor, dazed. Had it worked? She did her best to scramble up; when that man got up again, he would probably just try and cut her in half with his sword.

Her vision cleared, and she saw the shirtless man lying on the ground, spread eagle and not moving. She shambled over to him and took a closer look at him; when she saw his face, she felt like throwing up. It looked like his entire face had caved in. Blood and bone fragments were everywhere, and some gray brain matter was splattered all over. The smell of fresh blood was nauseating, and her stomach heaved. She had succeeded in recreating Tsunade's legendary ability, and wished that she hadn't. The result was too disgusting.

She suddenly remembered that Tsunami was fighting for her life, too. And she wasn't faring too well. She was lying on the ground, her face a bloody mess, as the man wearing a jacket stood over her, sword raised. He had a long claw mark across his face and one of his eyes had gone puffy.

"Forget it, then, bitch," he snarled. "I'll just kill you and take your kid instead!" He raised his sword, preparing to bring it down on Tsunami; the woman was still struggling to get up. Sakura could barely remember moving; the next thing she knew, she had rammed her shoulder into the samurai, throwing him off balance. He fell to the floor with a yell and dropped his sword.

Sakura jumped onto him, cursing and punching at everything she could reach. She hadn't realized that his sword was within his reach, though. He twisted underneath her and grabbed it, then swung it wildly at her. It was heading straight for her neck and was unavoidable; if she ducked, then it would cleave off the top of her skull. Without thinking, she again concentrated her chakra in her hand, remembering Kakashi's warning, along with the wound she had given herself on her arm. The speed in which she gathered up the necessary chakra astonished her, but there was only time to act, not ponder over strange things.

Her hand glowed green with chakra, and she thrust it into the samurai's stomach. She had deliberately intended the chakra to have an evil purpose, but as far as she knew, the chance was fifty-fifty that it would actually hurt the man.

The sword never reached her. Instead all she heard was a shriek of agony coming from the man underneath her, as her hand tore into anything in its path, plunging into warm flesh and organs and ripping them apart. The sword in his hand fell to the floor with a clatter, and his hand hung limply in the air, fingers twitching. Blood was pouring out of his mouth as he whimpered, looking up at the ceiling. Before long, his eyes got a glazed look to them, and he stopped moving.

Sakura's hand felt warm; she realized with revulsion that it was still inside of the samurai's stomach. She pulled it out, shutting her eyes and turning her face to look in another direction. It was simply too disgusting to look at, knowing that she had killed two people with it. Moving unsteadily, she climbed off the dead body, then leaned over and vomited.

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"It's been a while, Kakashi…" murmured Zabuza's voice from the mist. "And I see you've got those brats tagging along, as usual. Well, time to end this nonsense…"

A group of water clones materialized from out of the mist, circling the ninja. They were about to strike; Kakashi quickly drew two kunais and mowed them all down in a rapid sweeping motion. He didn't need Hinata's Byakugan to tell him the obvious: the more clones there were, the weaker each one would be. Zabuza had to distribute his chakra among them evenly, and he wouldn't risk exhausting himself so early in the fight.

Naruto and Hinata looked astonished at the speed in which Kakashi had dispatched the clones. They had no idea that they probably could have done the same thing, but Kakashi had no time to explain that to them.

"Well, it looks like my water clones were no match for you!" said Zabuza in mock admiration. "It looks like he'll be a worthy opponent, eh Haku?"

"Indeed he does," answered Haku. It was the shinobi hunter from before, just as Kakashi had predicted. Now, he had shed his guise of being out to hunt Zabuza, and was openly in league with the rogue ninja.

"Looks like I was right," he said out loud.

Hinata was looking at Zabuza in terror; no matter what Kakashi had said, the idea of actually having to fight him was frightening. She had seen everything he had been able to do in their previous battle. And if he had a friend with him, how would Kakashi's Sharingan handle it? She wasn't very familiar with the bloodline limit, she just knew a few basic facts.

Naruto, however, was looking at the shinobi hunter furiously, as if the ninja had personally stabbed him in the back. It looked like he was about to just run at him and take him on, regardless of the fact that Zabuza was in the way and the shinobi hunter was ANBU-trained. Fortunately, he remained at Tazuna's side, though he still looked like he was ready to break and run at them at any moment.

It looks like I'm a bit understaffed here… thought Kakashi. Worst case scenario, that Haku kid is powerful enough to kill me. And I still have to deal with Zabuza. It would be best if Naruto and Hinata took Haku on together, but that would leave no one to defend Tazuna, and it would be too risky to just leave him and hope for the best…

Kakashi knew all about taking chances. It was something that he did almost every mission. Taking stupid chances, however, was an entirely different matter.

"That Haku girl is mine," snarled Naruto, a kunai held tightly in his fist. "You might have fooled us before, but now we know what you can do!" he yelled at the ninja.

Zabuza smiled underneath his mask. "Why don't you shut him up, Haku?"

"Of course." Haku disappeared in a whirlwind. Naruto, however, actually seemed to have anticipated this. The shinobi hunter spun like a top towards them, creating a tornado of wind as he did so. No doubt, it was meant to throw off any planned attack and deflect any thrown objects. As soon as the ninja reappeared in front of him, ready to strike, Naruto lunged first. He struck the shinobi hunter in the face, just as the ninja ran straight into his fist, which augmented the damage delivered. Haku reeled from the blow, dropping the needle in his hand and stumbling backwards for a few steps before he could compose himself.

Incredible, thought Kakashi. He really has gotten better from the training. I never would have thought him capable of timing his attacks so well.

Naruto charged at the shinobi hunter again, delivering another punch to Haku's face before he could react. It was amazing; Naruto had actually pushed a ninja of much greater ability off balance, and was pressing his advantage for all it was worth. All of the training in the world couldn't make someone do that instinctively, just as Naruto was doing now. Hinata, using her Byakugan, jumped into the fray without even asking for Kakashi's permission.

Normally, that would be great teamwork, but now no one was left to protect Tazuna as Kakashi fought Zabuza.

"Hinata, wait!" Kakashi called to her, but it was too late. Haku had recovered, and had grabbed hold of both of the Genin's forearms. He spun on his feet, and tossed them in opposite directions, with Naruto landing on one side of the bridge and Hinata on the other. But more importantly, Haku was now standing in between them and Kakashi, preventing them from returning to Tazuna's side. They were at the mercy of Zabuza now; he could step in and kill them if he wanted to.

However, he seemed to decide that Kakashi was the most important target. He was right. All he would have to do was to kill the Jonin, then take out the bridge builder. Besides, Haku looked powerful enough to take on two Genin by himself. Naruto and Hinata got back up and attacked the shinobi hunter once more. Kakashi stood next to the bridge builder, ready to defend him.

If only I had brought Sakura…

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"You can keep up with me," said Haku. "That's impressive. But you won't be able to keep it up for long, either of you."

Naruto parried a swiping blow from the ninja, just as Hinata tried to strike Haku from the flank. Haku jumped back to avoid the attack, simultaneously throwing the senbon in her hand at Naruto. He dodged, and it hit him in the shoulder. It penetrated surprisingly deep, but it was too small to cause any great amount of damage. He grimaced and pulled it out, blood dripping off the end.

Hinata didn't lose her balance because her attack had missed. She followed through, charging Haku again. Naruto noticed for the first time the veins around her eyes. Why were they bulging like that? Was it her bloodline limit? Bloodline limit or no, Haku kicked her feet out from under her as she got close enough to her. Before she could hit the ground, the shinobi hunter grabbed her by the collar and yanked her towards her. Her knee jutted out and crashed into Hinata's face. Hinata cried out, and Haku flung her aside like a broken toy. She disappeared in another one of her whirlwinds, appearing next to Naruto.

He tried punching her again, but the same trick didn't work twice. She ducked under his fist and plunged a needle into his ribcage. Naruto tried to quickly hit her in the side of the head with his elbow, while he still had his momentum, but she grabbed his arm and twisted it.

He cried out in pain, but he managed to wriggle his arm back into its right place and he grabbed her forearm before she could throw him like she had done to Hinata. He still had a kunai in his other hand, and her only needle was now stuck inside his ribs. The shinobi hunter had foolishly left herself open, and he was going to make her regret it.

He swung his kunai at her head, determined to kill her before the fight continued much longer. Kakashi needed help, and if he had to kill this bitch to get him that help, then he would do it. She moved faster than his eyes could follow, and ripped her needle back out of his body. He felt an intense pain, but his kunai was still heading straight for her head, carried by momentum. She parried it with the bloody needle, and Naruto was left trying to catch his breath.

"Just as I thought," said Haku. "You can't keep up for long. On top of that, your friend is down, and you're cornered. This fight is over."

"Cornered…?" panted Naruto.

She suddenly began forming seals with one of her hands, the one that he had grabbed the forearm of. Her fingers were still free, something he hadn't bothered to worry about. How was she forming seals with only one hand?!

Water was splashed all over the bridge. Haku stopped in mid-seal, then stomped her foot. The water rose into the air seemingly of its own accord, trapping Naruto and Haku inside of a sphere.

Cornered… thought Naruto wildly. Haku formed one more hand sign, and the water formed into thousands of needles made of ice. What kind of jutsu is this?!

The needles stopped hanging in midair and shot at him from all directions. His grip on Haku's forearm slackened, and she took that opportunity to jump away from harm. Those needles would cut him to ribbons unless he moved, and quick.

With mere seconds to react, Naruto concentrated all of his chakra into the soles of his feet and jumped straight up into the air, above the sphere of hurtling needles. He had barely made it. The ice needles all hit the ground, concentrating on the spot he had been standing only a moment ago. Kakashi had been right: these kinds of skills would save his life.

Acting on pure reflex, he reached into his weapons pouch and pulled out a handful of shurikens. Haku was still jumping backwards. If she had even noticed that Naruto had survived, she made no sign.

Let's see if I can lead her off… thought Naruto with a grin. He hurled his shurikens at the shinobi hunter with a perfectly coordinated trajectory. Haku was able to jump even farther back to avoid three of them, but the fourth and the fifth caught her in the shoulder and the thigh. He landed on the ground, ready to continue the fight.

Haku stumbled from the shuriken attack, almost completely falling over. With what sounded like a snarl, she tore the shurikens out of her flesh, and tossed them aside. That's when Hinata rejoined the fight. She caught Haku by surprise, attacking the shinobi hunter from behind while she was still focused on Naruto.

Hinata's nose was bloody, but she otherwise appeared to have recovered from her previous beating. She was standing in a fighting stance Naruto had never seen before. Her bloodline limit, whatever it was, was still activated. She hit the shinobi hunter in the back of the neck, blue chakra visible for a second as she made contact. Haku cried out in surprise (and presumably pain), almost tipping over. However, the ninja saved herself, spinning on her feet so that she was now facing Hinata. Hinata kept up the assault, repeatedly striking Haku in various points all across her body. The shinobi hunter could do seemingly little to stop it; each blow she received looked like it sent her into shock, and another one would land on another point of her body before she could react or block.

Naruto grinned to himself: he had never seen a girl-on-girl fight before. And he didn't know that Hinata could actually fight so well. Not well enough to beat him or anything, but she was still pretty good.

"Haku!" Zabuza suddenly shouted. "Enough of your crap! If you go on trying to spare them, you're just gonna get yourself killed! Get rid of them!"

Haku collapsed from Hinata's barrage, but she nonetheless seemed to have heard Zabuza. She leaped up into the air, jumping above and away from Hinata. Naruto rushed over to his friend, ready to finish the fight. What was Zabuza talking about? Haku was about to get herself killed!

"Such a pity," Haku murmured from where she stood. "Now you two will have to deal with my Crystal Ice Mirrors…" Haku seemed to regret the prospect. Was it because she was losing?

Whatever those Diamond Mirrors or whatever she calls them are, me and Hinata can handle it, Naruto thought confidently. Combined, we could probably take on Zabuza if we wanted to!

Suddenly, the water behind him and Hinata began rising up into the air again, this time with greater speed. The two Genin barely had time to turn around before a mirror, made completely out of ice, had formed behind them. In no time at all, the mirrors had formed all over, forming a sphere and trapping them all within.

"What the hell…" Naruto said in shock.

"You two are powerful, that I cannot deny," Haku said. She took a step back so that she bumped into the mirror behind her. But she didn't bump into it. She stepped into it, the mirror absorbing her like it was a sponge. Instantly, her image appeared in every single one of the ice mirrors. She stared down at them from all angles.

Which one is the real one?! Naruto thought desperately. All of the Haku reflections pulled out a handful of needles, and raised them to their opposite shoulder in preparation to throw them.

"I underestimated you before," they all said in unison. "But now, the fight really is over."

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Sakura sat in a corner of the room, trembling. Inari was sitting next to her, looking at her with what might have been horror or amazement. Tsunami was moving about the house aimlessly, making half-hearted attempts at cleaning up the blood and gore littering the floor and blabbering "thank you's" to Sakura at almost every opportunity. From what she gathered, one of the men she had killed was the one who had executed Kaiza, but she wasn't sure. Inari had been there to see it, he would know. But he wasn't talking, just looking at her.

Sakura looked at her hands in some wild mix between horror and disgust. They were scrubbed clean now, with all sorts of soaps and cleaning agents. She had cleaned her hands in a frenzy, not just eager, but desperate, to get every speck of blood off of them. It had helped… for a little while. Now she couldn't get her mind off the fact that she was a killer, a murderer. And she hadn't killed them in a sterile, painless way, one she might have had a chance to get over. She had crushed a man's face and torn apart the stomach of another… with her bare hands.

In her mind's eye, she could still see the man underneath her, struggling to breathe, the life slipping away from him. The way his eyes suddenly became glassy, wide open but seeing nothing, was a vision that would likely haunt her dreams.

Inari suddenly reached out and touched her shoulder, and she slowly turned to look at him. There was a concerned look on the boy's face. He didn't look at her like she was a freak or a killer, but like she was a normal person.

"If you're really upset about killing those guys, you shouldn't be," Inari said. "They weren't worth worrying about. They were just the bad guys, after all."

Part of Sakura found what he said reassuring. The other part thought that he was too young to know what he was talking about. But she realized that Inari would know what he was talking about. He had lost his father hadn't he? He was the one who had to live under Gato and his rule, not her. If anyone knew who really deserved to live and die in this situation, it would probably be him.

"Th-Thank you, Inari," Sakura said. But she couldn't help but think that if the good guys went around killing all the bad guys, then the dividing line between good and evil wouldn't be so clear anymore.

What would Naruto have done in her situation? He probably would have just beaten up the men or something, not killed them. She sighed out loud. He was such a good person…

"Naruto," she suddenly said out loud, making Inari look up at her curiously. If those two men had come here, then that probably meant that Tazuna would be under attack. Team 7 was in danger.

"Sakura?" Inari asked curiously. She looked down at him.

"Naruto, and the rest of my team, they're out there, probably fighting," she told him. "I need to go help."

Inari looked down sadly. "He was right…" he muttered sadly.

"Right about what?" asked Sakura, confused. She couldn't remember a time when Naruto had been right about anything.

"I'm just a baby. I couldn't even make myself stand up when those guys came to take my mom away. And you came and, and…" He broke down and began sobbing. "You ninjas really are the heroes," he managed to say.

"It's okay…" said Sakura. "You don't need to cry." How was a person supposed to handle this? Calming down Inari would be Tsunami's job, not her's. She decided to try anyway, knowing full well that she couldn't simply leave him there. She patted him on the head. "You're not weak, Inari. You're not a baby, either. You just were freaked out, that's all. I think that you could be strong someday if you really wanted to."

Inari wiped his eyes and looked up at her again. "D-Do you r-really think so?" he asked, sniffling. She smiled down at him.

"I know you will," she assured him. "I think even Naruto would agree."

He looked down at his feet. "Thanks…"

"Do you think you can hold the fort here while I'm gone?" she asked him. He looked back up at her and nodded, managing a small smile. Sakura patted him on the head again, and got up to leave. She felt uneasy about leaving just like that; what if more of Gato's men showed up? Reluctantly, she pushed those worries to the back of her mind and hurried off towards the bridge.

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"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto cried out for what felt like the hundredth time. A dozen of his shadow clones appeared, and they all leaped towards the mirrors, trying to destroy them. And for what seemed like the hundredth time, they were all taken out in a puff of smoke in the blink of an eye as the shinobi hunter destroyed them.

Naruto had been stabbed with needles all over his body, repeatedly knocked down whenever he tried to punch and break a mirror. Hinata wasn't doing much better.

"The jutsu I'm using is part of the art of teleportation," said Haku and her reflections. "I move so quickly, the two of you might as well be standing still."

Hinata was using her bloodline limit. She knew exactly which mirror the real Haku was in. She had proved it before, directing Naruto to concentrate on one of the mirrors. However, it made no difference. Haku destroyed all of the shadow clones each time without seeming to exert any effort, and would also strike Hinata, as if to teach her a lesson.

She now had stab wounds all over her body, and many bloody needles lay at her feet. For that matter, there were bloody needles all over the ground by now. It seemed to be a miracle that neither of them had died from blood loss. What the hell were they going to do?

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Kakashi looked on helplessly as his two Genin were being worn down inside Haku's sphere of mirrors. Zabuza stood between him and the kids, practically daring Kakashi to abandon the bridge builder. Not even his Sharingan could help now. Haku had some sort of bloodline limit, just like Hinata. And whatever that bloodline limit was, his Sharingan couldn't hope to penetrate or mimic it. If he were actually in there, then it would be a different story. But as it was…

Kakashi could see most of the action from where he was standing, though he couldn't hear if they were saying anything. He was too far away. He caught a glimpse of Haku stepping out of his mirror. That was all he was usually able to see before Haku took off at light speed and shot the Genin full of needles. But this time was different.

Hinata saw, or knew the entire time, where the real Haku was. Her hand moved fast, ripping a kunai out of her weapons pouch and hurling it at the ninja before he could fully leave the confines of his mirror. Haku, unfortunately, was better than that. He snatched the kunai out of the air, hanging halfway out of his ice mirror.

And he missed the shuriken thrown at him from the opposite direction. Who had thrown it? Naruto? In that instant, Haku's bloodline limit and all of his skill as a ninja combined wouldn't make any difference. He would either die or it would miss, it was that simple.

The shuriken missed him by an unfathomably small distance; in one sense, it didn't miss him at all, as it sliced up his mask, cutting a gash into it. The surprise threw him off balance, and he toppled out of his ice mirror. It was a tough break for him, too: Naruto performed his Shadow Clone Jutsu at that precise moment, in what was likely intended to be another vain attempt at smashing the mirrors. Haku fell to the ground, and over a dozen Narutos jumped onto him, punching and kicking and just plain beating the life out of the shinobi hunter.

Kakashi looked over to the other side of the bridge, realizing that only one other person could have thrown that shuriken. Sure enough, there stood Sakura, hands on her hips and a wide grin on her face.

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Press the attack, press the attack, press the attack, Naruto thought over and over to himself as he pummeled Haku mercilessly. He had stab wounds all over him that made it hard to keep up such a relentless assault, but it only made his resolve to finish the fight even stronger. Who knew when he would get another chance like this? When he was in no condition to even perform his Shadow Clone Jutsu?

Haku was able to fight back, but only barely. Every time she destroyed one of his clones, he just made another one. However, she seemed to not have run out of tricks just yet.

"Enough!" she shouted. She quickly performed a series of one-handed seals, creating another batch of ice needles. This time, though, they went outward like a bomb, not inward and focused on a single target. There must have been hundreds, thousands of needles, flying in all directions. All of his shadow clones were destroyed, and he felt uncountable pricks all along his body as the needles penetrated his skin. He was thrown backwards, and landed on his back. Even as he was climbing to his feet, Haku jumped back into one of her mirrors, and to safety.

Dammit! he thought savagely. Hinata had hurried over to him, making sure that he was okay. She had several ice needles sticking out of her thigh, giving her a limp, but she didn't seem to mind so much. It was only when she had made sure that Naruto was alright that she even noticed them, whereupon she pulled them out individually.

"Naruto," she panted. "Sakura's here! She's the one who threw that shuriken!"

Naruto looked around, as if he were expecting Sakura to be standing inside the sphere of ice mirrors. He realized that that was stupid. She would be outside somewhere, or else he would have seen her jump in (that would have been suicidal, and Sakura generally thought things out instead of running into dangerous situations).

"Well, Sakura might have helped us once, but I don't think she can do it again," Naruto said, groaning as he stood up to his full height. "What do you say Hinata? Ready to go again?"

"If you're here with me… I'll do anything, Naruto," Hinata said. Her voice sounded somber, yet determined.

"Right!" exclaimed Naruto "Because we can do anything! Believe it!" Hinata's eyes met his as he said it. There was a look in them that he had never seen before. It was sort of a happy, peaceful look. He couldn't remember anyone else looking at him like that before, and it confused him. What kind of look was that? He never had time to ponder what emotion Hinata must have been feeling, for Haku's needle attack began once more, putting him in a world of pain.

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The distraction Sakura provided was all the opportunity Kakashi needed. As soon as Zabuza turned his head to see what had happened to Haku, he pulled up his headband to and revealed his Sharingan eye. Zabuza turned back to look at Kakashi and laughed.

"The Sharingan again?" he scoffed. "It seems that the only way you can fight me is by copying everything I do."

"You should feel privileged, Zabuza. No one has ever lived to see my Sharingan twice."

"And you won't have to live to use it again. Now die!" He charged Kakashi, pulling out a kunai as he did so. He lunged at Kakashi in an attempt to stab him, but he was blocked by his opponent's hand. The kunai stabbed through Kakashi's right hand, and blood splattered onto the ground. But other than that, Kakashi was perfectly fine. He didn't even act as if he had been hurt at all.

"Before this day is through, you'll be dead, Zabuza," stated Kakashi coldly.

"Even if you're right, you won't be able to beat Haku," sneered Zabuza. "Ever since he was a boy, I've beaten fighting skill into him. His abilities are beyond imagination. He has no regard for his life or for those of others, he's just a killing machine! His skills have surpassed even my own, and he carries a powerful bloodline limit in his veins. He is unrivaled. Your pathetic Genin can't hope to beat him."

"Is there anything more boring," said Kakashi, wrenching his hand away from the kunai, "than listening to someone else brag?" Blood dripped out of the wound, adding to the small puddle on the ground as well as falling on Zabuza.

"You won't be able to fool me with your Sharingan again," said Zabuza, tucking his bloody kunai away and stepping back. "Having seen it in action, I now have a thorough understanding of its workings. There was actually more to our previous battle than you had let on. Haku had observed our entire battle from beginning to end. For him, to see a jutsu is to analyze it and understand it. He only has to see a jutsu once to fully measure its capabilities and develop a counter to it. And so…" Zabuza began forming hand seals for the Mist Jutsu.

Here we go again… thought Kakashi as the mist thickened and surrounded him. However, the mist continued to get thicker. Something was wrong. Then he realized what it was: the mist was far too thick for even Zabuza to see through it. Then what purpose…?

A handful of shuriken hurtled towards him from within the mist. He pulled out his own kunai knife and quickly deflected them, causing them to fall and clatter all over the stone ground.

"You repelled them nicely," said Zabuza from behind him. The mist had cleared slightly, allowing Kakashi's ability to see enhanced. "But expecting anything less than that from the legendary Copy Ninja would be foolish, wouldn't it?"

Kakashi whirled around to face the ninja. It took a second for him to register the fact that Zabuza's eyes were closed. Why?

"You've overestimated the value of your Sharingan, Kakashi…" he said vaguely, even as the mist thickened once again to enshroud him. He continued talking, invisible from within the mist. "You can neither read my mind nor predict the future, as you would have led me to believe. It was all an elaborate hoax, a trick. I've learned that the Sharingan can not only copy any jutsu, but it can hypnotize the opponent, trapping him in a genjutsu. Then on the lake, you fooled me into thinking that you could read my thoughts by completing them for me. You created the illusion of a mirror image of myself standing behind you, to further confuse and disorient me. All you do is analyze my movements and copy them, using the rapidity of the turnaround to induce panic and insecurity. Once you're certain you understand my inner turmoil, you calculate what to say to bend my mind to your will. Then you lay your trap. You use genjutsu to fool me into using a certain jutsu and how to use it. Then, you mimic it!

"Knowing all of this, it was relatively simple for me to come up with a foolproof counter to your tricks. First, I create a mist to hinder your sight." Out of the mist, a blow struck at Kakashi. He managed to block it with his arm, but doing so was difficult. It was impossible to see very far. He leaped backwards and away from where the attack had come from, even as Zabuza continued. "And by closing my own eyes, you can't hypnotize me when I get into close enough proximity to strike you."

"But if I can't use my eyes, then neither can you!" pointed out Kakashi, ready to block any blows that could come from the mist.

"I can't," agreed Zabuza. "But I don't need them. I excel in the art of silent killing. I need only sound to know where to strike." With that, Zabuza stopped talking, but no blows rained down on Kakashi's head.

It's been a long time since I've had such a tough opponent, he thought. I need to calm down and stay smart. Now, where will he attack next? Then it hit him: the bridge builder!

He rushed to where he had left Tazuna standing, moving as fast as his feet could carry him. He had to get there in time! He got there just as Zabuza had appeared behind them. He had pulled his sword off his back, and was about to strike with it. Kakashi jumped in the way, but he wasn't fast enough...

"Too late!" cried Zabuza triumphantly, as he swung the giant sword in a sweeping motion.

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Naruto was on his stomach, needles sticking out of almost every part of his body. Hinata was next to him, on her knees. Even as he tried to climb up again, pain flashed and burned in every part of his body. It was unbearable, and taking the needles out wouldn't help. At this point, he had practically resigned himself to the fact that he was going to lose and die here. Practically, but not quite. Groaning in pain, he stood up again, prepared to go down kicking and screaming. But he couldn't lose. He wouldn't lose. Because…

"Listen up, you bitch!" Naruto yelled, pointing at one of Haku's reflections. Whether it was the real one or just an image, he hadn't the faintest idea. "You might think you've got us cornered, got us beat, but you're wrong! You're dead wrong! Sooner or later, we're gonna break out of this ice prison and beat the shit out of you!" Even in his threats, he couldn't help but include Hinata. By now, she had wound up saving his life from Haku's needles more than once, and he had returned the favor a few times, too.

"You wanna know why?!" he asked rhetorically. "Because I'm gonna be Hokage one day! And she's… she's gonna be the best kunoichi in the Hidden Leaf Village! We won't lose here to a small timer and a low life like you!"

"You have your dreams," sad Haku and her reflections. "And I have mine. They collided… and here we see the result."

"You're talking about this fight like it's over, bitch!" Naruto yelled furiously. "But it's not! And it won't be until you're nothing but a stain on the ground!"

"I take offense to that."

"Like I give shit! You say you have dreams?! What kind of dreams would someone like you have, huh?!"

"My dream is my master's dream," responded Haku. "I am a weapon at his side. It is my purpose in life to see his dream achieved."

"Well, you're not gonna be alive to see that dream," said Naruto, pulling out a kunai. The weirdest part was, he meant it. For some strange reason, he felt like he could actually still win. Why was that? He looked over at Hinata, who was next to him and struggling to stand up straight. Did he still think he was about to die, even as he felt so confident? Whatever the reason, he looked at his friend as if to burn her image into his memory, as if he would never be able to see her again.

She was bleeding and grabbing her stomach, a grimace on her face. A needle was sticking in one end of her thigh and out the other, having penetrated the entire limb. Her cheeks were cut from various close encounters with the ice needles, and her eyes looked strange with pupils, along with the veins around them bulging in whatever way her bloodline limit worked.

Despite all of this, despite everything, he thought she was beautiful. He had never thought of her like that. "Cuter than Sakura" was the most he had ever granted her. But now, he looked at her and was filled with the strangest emotion he had ever felt. What was it? It felt like the way he did about his close friends, but… stronger. He saw her wounds, and he wished he could make them go away. He heard her groan, and he wished he could take her pain away. He saw the ice mirrors surrounding them, and he wished he could hold her close to him and protect her, and not let anything bad happen to her again.

He looked at her, and he suddenly had a feeling he knew where all his confidence was coming from.

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Haku looked down at the Genin from the safety of his ice mirror. They were wounded and exhausted. And so was he. His ribs still ached and his arms felt sore, thanks to the beating he had received from Naruto and his shadow clones. Even worse, some of his chakra points had been pressed and disrupted when the girl had unleashed a barrage of taijutsu against him. Both of those times, he had been lucky to wind up escaping, narrowly avoiding a premature defeat.

By now, his chakra was almost completely gone. The two Genin were far better than he gave them credit for. The third one, who had disappeared into the mist at one point or another, had merely gotten lucky. But the two in here… No one else had ever lasted so long in his ice mirrors. They had pushed him to his limit like no one had ever done before; he'd met Jonin who went down with less fuss than these two were doing.

But now, he had to end it. If he didn't, the ice mirrors would collapse completely, freeing them. And that would mean more than just the fact that they would no longer be imprisoned. It would mean that he would be at their mercy. And judging by Naruto's comments, his chances weren't too good.

It was too bad that things had to be this way. But Zabuza's will mattered to Haku above all, even more than his own life. If Zabuza had ordered him to die for some purpose or another, he would have gladly done it. His life was worthless without purpose, so why not?

Sighing outwardly from exhaustion and inwardly from grief, he pulled out a handful of needles and prepared to deliver the final blows. He leaped from his mirror, and descended upon the Genin closest to him. The girl.

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Hinata went down with a scream of pain, tumbling to the ground. It happened so fast that Naruto barely knew what had happened by the time Haku returned to the safety of one of the mirrors, no doubt to prepare for another strike.

He ran to Hinata's side, and immediately felt sick when he saw her. Needles were now sticking out of her neck, probing all the way through. Blood was trickling out of her mouth, and her breathing came out in ragged gasps. Her bloodline limit had deactivated, and her eyes returned to their normal state.

Without even thinking, he wrapped his arms around her frail body, hugging her. His chest was pushing up against her's, and he could feel her heart beat. It seemed to beat in synchrony with his own.

"Hinata," he said to her, looking her in the eyes. "Hinata, are you alright? You're okay, right?" Why did he feel so scared?

"Naruto…" she whispered. Her gaze locked with his. "I think… I'm done…"

"What are you talking about?" he asked desperately. "We're just getting started! We have to kick this girl's ass, remember?" His words lacked the enthusiasm and confidence they had held before.

"You'll have to do it without me…" she whispered. "If you're the last person I get to see… then I'm glad," she murmured weakly. Her heartbeat fell out of sync with his own. It was slowing down.

"Hinata, you're not done!" he said, terrified. "You're not! We still have to go home remember?" His words sounded hollow, as if they carried no meaning behind them. They did; he was just so scared, scared for his friend… "We'll be the best ninjas there, right? I'll be Hokage, and you'll be the Hyuga heiress. Believe… it…"

Hinata managed the tiniest of smiles at his words. She reached up and touched his cheek with her fingers. It tickled as they brushed against his skin.

"Naruto… I…" Her eyes fluttered and closed, her ragged breathing coming to an end. Her hand fell away before he could grasp it, landing to the ground in a pool of her own blood. Her heart had stopped beating. His own heart was now beating alone.

He felt hot tears sting his eyes. Try as he might, they fell and landed on Hinata's jacket, no matter how hard he tried to blink them back. But even then, his grief was being swallowed by another emotion, one that ran far stronger within him. It was a rage like he had never felt before in his entire life. He had gotten angry and thrown temper tantrums before, but that looked like joy compared to this feeling. It was of such incredible intensity that he felt it in every fiber of his being, clouding his mind.

He barely even knew who he was anymore. It seemed like information that he was incapable of remembering. He could focus on nothing else but on one simple goal; if he died doing it, he didn't care. Death didn't even seem to exist to him at the moment, just a tormented existence. If he fell, then the only regret he would have about it would be that he had failed in achieving his purpose.

"I'm going to kill you!" he roared at Haku and her reflections.

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Quote of the Day:

"You will be confronted with questions every day that test your morals. Think carefully and, for your sake, do the right thing, not the easy thing."

- Dennis Kozlowski, then CEO of Tyco, now convicted of billion-dollar fraud, conspiring to avoid sales taxes, and accused by shareholders of massive wasting of corporate money