Disclaimer: I do not own anything about the Naruto series
People talking: "Hi"
People thinking: 'Hi'
Summon or Kyuubi talking: "Hi"
Jutsu: Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu
Haku had arrived at Nami no Kuni three days before. She had told the good news to her master, Zabuza-sama, who seemed very happy when he heard it.
After fifteen days of searching all of Fire Country she had managed to find Hoshigaki Kisame, who was wearing a black cloak with red clouds. He was accompanied by another man who was shorter than him.
He had black hair and black eyes. He was also wearing the same cloak. She told the Mist Swordsman the whole situation. Both men seemed surprise, the unknown one even more.
Kisame told her that he would take up the issue with his boss but she could be certain that he would be at the bridge the day they would attack.
She had taken another week to come back to Nami no Kuni. She stopped at a few places to buy some medicines to help with her master's wound.
Now she was at the forest near the town, searching for herbs so that she could make that last medication for her master so that he would be ready to battle at the end of the week.
She was wearing a pink kimono, trying to make herself seem like a civilian gathering herbs for a medicinal tea, for her sick grandfather.
But there was one thing she couldn't hide, and that was the cut she had received by the fuuton powered kunai thrown by the Jinchuuriki boy. It wasn't a big deal that it had to be bandaged but a skilled shinobi could note that it was made by fuuton chakra.
All was going fine until she found a boy wearing black clothes lying against a tree, looking as though he was resting. When she got a little closer she had the surprise of her life.
The boy was the Jinchuuriki! The one who gave the wound to her face and had cut her mask. She was deciding what she would do now.
She could end everything now; it was just the matter of taking advantage of her opponent's weakness and making the final battle easier. Just a quick twist to his neck and it would all be over.
She calmly approached the boy so that she didn't wake him up. She sat in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders.
Even if he was the opponent, she couldn't do that. As Zabuza always said to her, she couldn't kill her heart. So she gently shook the boy and asked if he was ok.
Naruto was currently against a tree. He had trained a lot all the night to master the Shunshin no Jutsu and the training had taken its toll on him.
He felt someone gently shaking him, trying to make him wake up. He regained consciousness but his entire body seemed to be in pain.
He thought to himself 'Man, is this what people feel when they have chakra exhaustion? Wait, the pain is fading. It's probably the Kyuubi accelerating my healing. Well, sometimes it's good to be a jinchuuriki!'
After making sure his body was not going to hurt when he made a movement, he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were still not used to the light so they were slowly adjusting.
As the image was getting clearer he thought he was still dreaming. A beautiful teenage girl, probably a bit older than him, was smiling at him, asking if he was alright.
He blushed a bit because of their closeness and replied to her. "Yeah I'm fine, thanks. What's your name?"
She smiled at him again and replied. "My name is Haku and yours?"
Oh, that smile! He could definitely live seeing that smile. Trying to shake this thought away from his mind he replied with his own smirk. "It's Naruto."
She returned his smirk with one of her smiles and stood up. "So, are you… a ninja?"
The blond nodded. "Yeah, I am from Konohagakure. My Hitai-ate gave me away didn't it?"
She nodded, still with the constant smile on her face. "Were you training? You could get a cold sleeping in the forest."
The blond was surprised with her concern for him but he made a negative gesture. "Yes I was training and probably passed out from the tiredness. But you don't need to worry about me. Other than that, what are you doing here? It is pretty far from the town."
Haku was processing the information on her mind. 'So Kakashi put all his students to train so that they could fight too.' She saw that the blond was waiting for an answer and showed him her basket filled with herbs.
"I was searching for herbs so that I could make a medicinal tea to my sick grandfather."
The Jinchuuriki was touched by this and offered. "Do you want some help?"
She smiled again at him. "If it isn't a bother"
And the two went together searching for the herbs.
Back at Tazuna's house, Kakashi was preoccupied with his genin. Naruto had left last night to train and hadn't come back yet.
He knew that the blond probably trained till exhaustion set in but at this time precautions were everything.
He turned to Sasuke and said. "Sasuke, please go to the forest and bring back Naruto." The Uchiha nodded and left the house going to find the Jinchuuriki.
Naruto and Haku were now having a picnic. They together had gathered the amount of herbs needed and were now resting from all the work.
Haku took the opportunity to talk more with the blond. She smiled at him and said. "Why do you train so much?"
The blond had a sadden look on his face and replied. "I train so that I can be strong enough to not depend on anyone."
The Mist Kunoichi was interested by this. She said. "When a person has something precious to protect, that's when they can become truly strong."
He pondered a bit about that. The only ones that he could consider precious to him were the Hokage and Sasuke. The rest of Team seven was coming in at a close second.
But he had his own ideals too. "But first you need the strength to protect yourself so that you can protect someone. Isn't that right, hunter-nin?"
Haku was shocked. How has he discovered it? She tried to act confused. "I don't know what you are talking about, Naruto-san."
The genin grinned at her. "Come on, the cut on your face was a dead giveaway. It is too perfect to be caused by a normal weapon so that means it was caused by chakra, especially fuuton chakra. The only one who knows it is me, and I only used it against that hunter-nin. It is just a matter of putting things together."
Naruto paused to see her surprised face and continued. "Also, when you said you were gathering herbs it confirmed my assumption. I know that Zabuza's wound was really serious and it probably needs medicinal ointment to accelerate the healing. These ointments are done with the herbs we picked."
Haku stood up and prepared herself for a fight. The enemy knew about her and he could attack her at any moment now.
But the blond relaxed and told. "I know you don't want to fight now. I don't want to either. Let's just enjoy this afternoon as friends."
She relaxed a bit but not entirely. The blond could be lying after all. But she sat beside him. They were both eating calmly again.
They started to talk about their lives trying their best not reveal anything important. After some time together, Haku knew that it was time for her to leave. Zabuza was waiting for her.
She gathered all her things and said." I have to leave, Naruto-san. I'm sorry to have to fight you, but I will do anything Zabuza-sama wants me to do. By the way, I'm a boy."
Naruto smirked at this. "I know that you are a girl. You can't hide that from me, my nose can pick a high amount of pheromones that only woman release. You know, in other times, we could have been good friends"
She was surprised that he knew her true gender but also happy that he considered them friends. She came closer to him and decided to give him a present for the company.
He tensed when she got close, thinking she was going to do something dangerous, but her actions surprised him. She gave a peck to each of his cheeks and left.
But her last words were left on his mind. "You are going to be really strong, Naruto-kun."
It was in that moment that Sasuke arrived. He saw the whole kiss on the cheek thing and his 'brother' blushing like a tomato.
He smirked to him and said. "It's time to go, lover boy. We were preoccupied with you. By the way, who was she?"
Naruto still blushing, with his left hand on his kissed cheek, replied. "It's none of your business, Teme."
The Uchiha smirked again and the two of them walked in the direction of the bridge builder' house.
The next day, Team Seven had prepared everything to go to the battle. It had been a month since their last battle and Zabuza could now attack at any day.
Also the bridge was going to be completed in few days, which meant the Mist Nukenin was going to attack soon. That was the reason that Sakura and Sasuke were picking all the weapons they needed.
Unfortunately Naruto was still sleeping, resting from their last training session. Again the blond had trained all night, but this time he had come back, saying that he had finally mastered it.
Sasuke was worried about him. They were all ready to go and he still hadn't woken up. He turned to his sensei and said. "Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to do about Naruto?"
The jounin replied. "He got too tired yesterday. Let him rest a bit more. I'm sure we can take things over till he wake up. Now, Sakura, go call Yuugao"
The pink haired genin nodded and went upstairs to call the older kunoichi. Kakashi turned again to the last Uchiha and said.
"Sasuke, ask Tsunami if she can notify Naruto, when he wakes up, that we already went to the bridge and he is to go there immediately."
Sasuke nodded and went to the kitchen to do what he was asked. The jounin went outside waiting for his other comrades.
He was thinking about his last student. 'Naruto, wake up soon. You will be a decisive factor in this battle.'
When Naruto woke up the house was in complete silence. He quickly thought to himself. 'Man, I got to learn to wake up early! They left me here.'
He quickly put his light blue outfit but, without the sword sheath on his back. 'I'm really going to miss that ninja-to. A battle against a swordsman without having a sword for my own is practically discarding close combat.'
He adjusted his kunai pouch on his left leg and put his Hitai-ate on his forehead. When he was ready to leave his room he heard a shout coming from downstairs.
He recognized it as being Tsunami's voice. The genin quietly made his way to the kitchen and saw that there were two thugs outside the house.
One was holding Tsunami while the other was talking with Inari. It seemed that Inari was crying but still trying to help his mother.
Naruto walked to the outside and hide behind a wall. He waited for the right moment to act.
And that was when both of the thugs were surprised by Inari's assault at them, saying that he would save his mother and would be like the ninjas that were protecting his grandfather.
The Jinchuuriki grabbed one of his kunai and with a burst of speed slashed the throat of the one that was holding Tsunami, taking precaution so that not a single drop of blood fell on the woman. He kicked the man's body on the river.
The other thug saw a blond ninja appearing from nowhere and killing his partner in mere seconds. He was completely scared. They had a simple mission, it was just to take the bridge builder's daughter as hostage, taking advantage of the fact that the ninjas were fighting at the bridge.
But that blond kid changed all his plans. They didn't have the number advantage anymore and he had killed Waraji without any remorse.
Naruto picked Tsunami up in his arms and jumped next to Inari. He put the woman on the floor and asked with a caring voice.
"Are you two alright?" Both Tsunami and Inari were still shocked about all the action but they made a positive gesture.
The genin slowly stood up while saying. "Do you see now that we have to always keep fighting no matter what happens? You did a very brave thing and saved your mom. Now, Inari, please take your mother and go to a safe place."
The child nodded to him and saw his savior one last time. The sensei had told him the genin's story and how he didn't let the bad things get to him.
He was an example of how one person should act. Inari had decided to change his ways from that moment and now he realized what was true.
He said a quick thanks to the older boy who nodded to him. He grabbed his mother's hands and the two of them went away.
Zouri watched as they left. But he could do nothing to stop them. He saw the shinobi raise his head and he finally saw his eyes.
They were cold blue eyes, with the pupils slitted. The blond was releasing a powerful killing intent and he couldn't even move from his spot.
His eyes weren't that of a human that he was sure of. He was trying to run away, walking back but he stopped when he was at the edge of the land. He couldn't walk anymore because the river was behind him.
Seeing that he had no chance at life, he managed to fight his fear enough to ask. "Wha-What a-are you?"
Naruto glared again at the thug while he picked another kunai form his pouch. He hated this kind of bandit, who did anything for money even going after innocents.
In his hate, he powered the kunai with fuuton chakra, enough that the kunai almost blighted with chakra. He gave one last glance at the man's face before answering the question and throwing the kunai.
The kunai had so much strength and chakra that it passed through the thug's head, killing him instantly. He didn't even have time to close his eyes. The momentum of the impact made the body fall into the river.
The last phrase the man heard before dying was Naruto's answer which was given with an emotionless tone.
"I am your executioner."
When Team Seven and Yuugao arrived at the bridge they saw that all the workers were lying on the floor, defeated and filled with wounds over their bodies.
Sakura approached one of them and asked what happened. All the man could say was that the person responsible for this was a monster.
They walked more until they were halfway on the bridge. There a thick mist started to surge and cover the whole area.
Yuugao nodded at Kakashi waiting for orders. He was her senpai and was the leader of this mission, she would obey his orders.
The genin's picked a kunai to protect themselves. Their sensei said. "So you finally appeared Zabuza."
The Mist nukenin could be heard in all direction. "Did you think I had given up? I see you brought reinforcements. But will this be enough?"
All the mist cleared revealing that they were surrounded by dozens of Zabuza's Bunshin. Kakashi saw the eagerness that his student tried to hold back and said.
"You can go, Sasuke." The instant he said that Sasuke disappeared and in seconds all the clones were slashed and turned back to water. The Uchiha returned to his original post.
They now could see everyone who was in their front. There was Zabuza, whose only difference from the other battle was that now he had a black t-shirt, probably covering his wound.
There was also the Hunter-nin, who was wearing the same outfit and mask he used, the mark of the cut made by Naruto was also visible.
But the last one was who really surprised Kakashi. He was a tall man with blue skin. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds.
Zabuza turned to his apprentice. "It seems you have a rival in speed, Haku. But wait! Where is the blond brat?"
The silver haired jounin decided to taunt the Mist Ninja. "Do you really fear him to the point you had to call reinforcements? I see you now Hoshigaki Kisame."
Kisame grinned to the Konoha Shinobi's. "So you recognized me, Sharingan Kakashi."
While Yuugao feared this encounter, knowing who Kisame was, Sasuke and Sakura were confused. The pink haired kunoichi asked her sensei.
"Who is he, sensei? Naruto is the one who has information on other famous shinobi."
Kakashi nodded. Naruto always knew about other village's shinobi. "This is Hoshigaki Kisame, S-Rank nukenin, accused of murdering the daimyo and trying to destroy other countries."
Both of the genin gulped. An S-Rank enemy? They had no chance to survive against him! What would they do now?
The Uchiha was also thinking about his power. 'S-Rank? This means that he is the same rank as Itachi! How powerful is he?'
Kakashi gave the orders. First he turned to Sakura. "Sakura, you stay with Tazuna and pay attention to the battles." Sakura went back slowly stopping in front of the bridge builder.
The jounin then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, you are going to fight against the fake Hunter-nin." The Uchiha nodded and waited for the sign to start.
He then turned to Yuugao. "Yuugao, can you hold back Kisame till I finish my fight with Zabuza?"
Yuugao had a nervous look on her face. She was strong, but not enough to beat an S-Rank shinobi. She replied to her senpai. "I will try."
Kakashi nodded and concentrated on Zabuza. "Great, now everybody go!" And with that they went to fight their adversaries.
The first one to engage in fighting was Sasuke and Haku. The others seemed to wait a little to see how their fight was going.
Sasuke and Haku traded slashes with kunai's and senbon needles. They only stopped when they were each blocking the others weapons, changing into a strength contest.
But the Hunter-nin surprised them all when she said. "I'm at advantage here." Sasuke thought his opponent was crazy and asked what those advantages were.
The hunter-nin smiled behind her mask. "Look, I will show you" She started to do one-handed seals and she stopped on the half tiger one.
Everyone but Zabuza was surprised. Kakashi murmured to himself. "Making seals with just one hand? I had never saw something like that."
The water dispelled by the Mizu Bunshin was now raising and standing around Sasuke, slowly turning into senbons. Haku pronounced her jutsu.
"Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou." The needles started to move towards the Uchiha who remembered what he had learned from all his training and shunshined out of where he was, making the senbons pierce nothing.
He then proceeded to combat Haku in a taijutsu confront. From all the blows they traded one thing was clear, Sasuke was faster.
The Uchiha got behind his opponent and said in a sarcastic tone. "I'm at advantage here" and then kicked her in the stomach, sending her near Zabuza.
The Mist nukenin was shocked that his apprentice had lost in speed and the White Fang's son took that moment to brag about his team.
"You shouldn't underestimate my team. Sasuke is the number one rookie of Konoha, Sakura is the brightest of the village and Naruto is the most surprising shinobi in the village."
The genin's were smiling. Their sensei had praised them. But Zabuza started to laugh. "It seems we have to fight serious Haku."
Haku then appeared behind the Uchiha, did more hand seals and proclaimed her jutsu.
"Makyou Hyoushou"
Several ice mirrors surrounded the Uchiha and after the Hunter-nin entered one of them, each of the mirrors reflected Haku's image.
Kakashi tried to help his students but Zabuza intercepted him saying that he was his opponent. Yuugao used that moment to take her ninja-to and attack Kisame.
The silver haired jounin traded some blows with Zabuza as Yuugao confronted Kisame in a kenjutsu fight. But all of them stopped when they heard Sasuke's shout.
Inside the mirrors, Haku was showing how proficient her jutsu was. She had thrown many senbons at him from all directions in great speed which pierced his skin making him bleed and shout from pain.
His sensei tried to help but Zabuza said that if he went to help the Uchiha, he would kill both Sakura and Tazuna. He also started the Kirigakure no Jutsu.
Sakura decided to help Sasuke and asked Tazuna to follow her. They walked a bit till Sakura was in position to throw one kunai at the mirror.
But for her surprise, Haku had left partially the mirror and grabbed the kunai with her hands when she prepared to throw it back, using the mist to cover her actions a voice sowed through all the bridge.
"Fuuton: Daitoppa"
Then a gust of wind with great force dispersed the mist and made everyone force chakra to their feet so that they were not sent out of the bridge.
But Haku, who had half of her body out of the mirror, was hit full force and sent out of the mirror, reaching near the end of the bridge.
All of the jounins were impressed with the strength of the wind jutsu. They had to put a lot of chakra just to stay in the floor.
Kisame was the first to pronounce. "So the brat finally came." Zabuza glared at the Jinchuuriki because their last battle was still vivid in his mind.
Naruto approached Kakashi and asked. "Sorry, I'm late. I had to deal with some problems at Tazuna's house but it is all fine now. So what do I do?"
Kakashi smiled at his student. He was really the most surprising shinobi of the village. "I'm quite sure you know who he is." He pointed at Kisame.
Naruto followed the direction his sensei showed and found the blue man. "Hoshigaki Kisame!"
Sakura was muttering to herself. "I was told he was the one who knew other shinobi."
The jounin proceeded. "I am going to fight Zabuza and Yuugao is fighting Kisame. You have to help Sasuke fight the Hunter-nin."
Naruto nodded. 'I will have to fight Haku! Man, I really didn't want to do that!' He was preparing himself to the fight when he saw that the Kirigakure no Jutsu was already on.
He ran to the direction of the mirrors but was stopped by Kisame. The blond genin was surprised. "How are you here? I saw you were fighting Yuugao."
Kisame released a feral grin. "You are not the only one who knows a Bunshin jutsu, brat. Plus, I came here especially to fight you. If you manage to defeat me, you can go help your friend."
The Jinchuuriki grabbed a kunai prepared himself for an attack. He had no choice but to destroy this Bunshin quickly and help Sasuke.
But Kisame was an S-Rank, even if the Bunshin didn't have one hundred percent of his total strength it would still be difficult to beat.
He thought to himself the best course of action. 'Taijutsu is out because of his sword and skills in kenjutsu. Genjutsu is also out because I know that he will repel it easily without the Kyuubi Chakra powering it.
That leaves me with ninjutsu. Well I can't use water or fires ninjutsu because I know he is a Suiton specialist and could easily win over any Katon and overpower my Suiton.
I have just my wind Jutsu's and the Kage Bunshin! Wait, there is also that jutsu and I already know the perfect tactic to use it against him.
Well, it seems Itachi-sensei saves me even when he doesn't know about it.'
He grinned to himself. He certainly could not beat the true Hoshigaki Kisame but he could beat this Bunshin. He took a long breath and guarded his kunai.
The Mist Nukenin took Samehada from his back and gave Naruto a feral grin. "You can have the first attack, brat"
The blond genin put the emotionless expression on his face and clapped his hand together to perform the jutsu.
"Fuuton: Reppushou" A violent gust was sent at Kisame, who put the Samehada in front of himself to defend from the attack. When Kisame looked again at his opponent, he saw that the brat had disappeared in the mist.
Kisame was impressed. 'So the brat can hide in the mist too, huh. That wind jutsu had a lot of chakra compressed in it. If it wasn't for Samehada it could had really hurt me.'
The swordsman said. "You are quite interesting, brat. You even have the same emotionless face as him; Itachi-san has trained you well."
Naruto was surprised at that. How did he know about Itachi-sensei and his training? But he needed to focus on the battle.
Still hidden in the mist, he made the cross seal and created dozens of Kage Bunshin and stayed a bit far from the fight. The Bunshins went to attack Kisame.
The clones surrounded him and tried to hit him with punches and kicks. Kisame recognized some of these moves.
This looks like some of Itachi-san taijutsu katas. Does the brat know the Uchiha style? No, it's something different.He started to attack with Samehada and cut through the clones.
Every blow that the Kage Bunshin tried was either blocked or dodged, and Kisame was quickly dispersing them all. But when he was almost finishing them, he felt something grab him in the back.
Kisame looked to his back and saw one of bunshins had braced himself in his back. He grinned again. This brat is good, he used the others clones to distract me so one of them could use the Shunshin to get me in the back.
"Pretty ingenious, brat, I recognize. But this isn't going to be sufficient enough to beat me." He raised his hand and grabbed the Bunshin by his clothes. He was going to throw the Bunshin away from his back but stopped when the Bunshin talked to him.
"Who said I'm just a normal Kage Bunshin?" Kisame was surprised at that. What did the brat means with that?
But all his questions were answered when the Bunshin glowed and exploded, destroying the Mizu Bunshin and the clones that were still there.
Naruto smirked. 'I knew this jutsu was going to be useful.'
Start of the Flashback
Naruto had come home exhausted from all the missions they had done that day. Those D-Rank mission were really a pain in the ass.
He saw that Sasuke had gone to take a bath so he decided to go to his room. He had gone up the stairs and was passing the main rooms and entering in his.
His room was the old Itachi's room. Both he and Sasuke had agreed that he could use the nukenin room to himself.
He had changed some things in the rooms to adapt himself, but had never removed all of Itachi's things. He jumped in the bed with so much strength that the momentum made him fall from it.
But while he was laid in the floor he saw one interesting thing in the bed. It had one storage seals under it. He had never found it till now because it was pretty hidden under the bed where the darkness helped in the camouflage.
Naruto had known the basic of the fuuinjutsu, so he applied some chakra to the seals to release it. When he did that, one book has appeared in his hands.
Curious about what it was, he seated in his bed and opened it. It was Itachi's old journal. It had many commentaries over Jutsu's and mission he did.
He flipped through it and decided to read carefully later. But one of the pages called his attention. The title was "Experiments with the Kage Bunshin".
"In my curiosity with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, I decided to upgrade it so that it could provide even more advantages in battle.
After many failed tentative, I had got some success. If you could power the clone with more chakra, it can detonate later with a command, creating a big explosion.
This could greatly surprise enemy who thinks it is a normal Kage Bunshin in a hand-to-hand combat. But the chakra needed to this technique is even greater than the Kage Bunshin, so I cannot use this much.
Because of that this is probably an A-Rank technique. I named this jutsu the Bunshin Daibakuha."
Naruto smiled to himself and decided this could be useful in the future. He read again the mechanism of the jutsu and decided to train this jutsu later.
End of the Flashback
'Because we came to Nami no Kuni, I still did not read a lot of Itachi-sensei notes. But I have to think of that later. Now, I have to help Sasuke!' He started to run in the direction of the dome of ice mirrors.
After the Jinchuuriki had left, the true Kisame appeared carrying an unconscious Yuugao in his shoulder. He turned to his side and talked.
"The brat is pretty good. He got me by surprise when he used one of yours jutsu, Itachi-san."
From the mist, Itachi Uchiha surged, wearing the same cloak as Kisame and with his Sharingan active. He had a tiny smile in his face.
"It seems that he had developed a lot since I last saw him. Being able to think a strategy like that in the middle of the battle and manage to make it successful is pretty incredible." 'It also seems that he discovered where I hid my journals. Let's see how much he can improve with its help.'
Kisame nodded and looked at the kunoichi on his shoulder. "Also, thanks for helping me knocking out this jounin. It would have taken a lot of effort for me to knock her out without killing her."
The older Uchiha nodded. "Now, we have to complete the second part of our orders from Leader-sama. Are you ready?"
Kisame grinned again." Sure. Let's go!"
And both of them disappeared in the mist.
"We are not ready yet to the seal the power of the Kyuubi. And we need the Jinchuuriki alive for the sealing. So this is what you will do. I want you to go to Nami no Kuni with Itachi and pretend to help your ex-comrade."
"There, I want you to fight against the Jinchuuriki, to test his level so that we have more information to our database. But don't fight against him seriously so that you don't reveal your skills. Also I don't want you to hurt any Konoha shinobi. If you have to fight one, just knock him out, you can ask Itachi to help in this."
"After you have spared against the Jinchuuriki, I want you to help the Konoha Shinobi in killing Zabuza. If needed, Itachi can help you. I don't want him alive knowing this much about our organization. If you can, also kill his apprentice, but it won't matter if you don't."
"Then, take Zabuza's body with you. If the Konoha ninjas ask something about it, tell them that it is the payment for you helping them in killing the Swordsman. I'm sure that Kakuzu will be delighted when you give him the body of an A-Rank nukenin."
"But only ask Itachi's help when you are sure no one can see him. If Konoha discover that Itachi is participating in our organization, they will try to search for information about us, and I don't want that. Now, go!"
Sakura was paying constant attention at her surroundings. She was the one to handle the protection of Tazuna while the others were fighting.
She was relieved when Naruto had come. She would never say that in his face but she knew he was the strongest of them.
Sasuke was in the same skill level as him, but Naruto was a better tactician. He could think of plan in the heat of the battle and fully utilizes his Jutsu's.
When the two of them were together, they were almost unstoppable. Their teamwork was one of the best she had seen before. But she felt she was a bit left out.
And because of that she decided that when this battle was over, she would ask Naruto to put her too in their combinations attack. She would train to not be the dead weight of the team!
She came out of her thought when she heard that someone was coming in her direction. She was nervous but she grabbed tightly her kunai on her front and prepared for the fight.
Because of the very thick mist, she could not see anybody, even her sensei who was the nearest of her team to her.
From the mist came the tall man who she learned that was Hoshigaki Kisame. In his shoulder was the jounin that came for reinforcements, Yuugao, unconscious.
She was very scared and started to tremble. She could do nothing to stop this man if he wanted to kill the bridge builder. But Kisame seemed to notice her fear and said.
"You don't need to be afraid, pinky, I'm just going to give you this packet" and with that he took Yuugao from his shoulder and put her body in front of both Tazuna and Sakura.
Sakura looked at Tazuna for confirmation and both of them went to pick up Yuugao, checking for any injuries. Surprisingly there were none. She looked again at the Nukenin who had a feral expression.
"Don't worry, she is just knocked out. Now that I had completed my deliveries, I have a mission to finish."
And she watched as he disappeared back in the mist.
Sasuke and Haku were fighting inside the mirror dome. The Uchiha after some time had started to actually see the needles coming at him and had managed to evade them.
Haku, seeing that her attacks were becoming inefficient, started to raise the speed of her senbons. But even then her opponent seemed to saw through all of them and none of them hit.
When she tried to saw a reason for her failures she saw that his eyes had changed. They were not black anymore but red with one black tome in the left and two in the right eye.
'He unlocked the Sharingan! This can be a problem. And my chakra is ending from maintaining these ice mirrors.'She decided to give her all now.
Sasuke was smirking. Now that he could see her attacks, none of them were hitting him anymore, and he managed to discover the secret behind her technique.
'She leaves the mirror to attack me, either throwing senbons or slashing using it. Then she goes back in the mirror where I can't hit her. This means I have to attack her when she is trying to attack me.' The Uchiha saw her leaving the mirror and prepared himself for the counter attack.
They traded blows in close combat, each of them using weapons. But they stopped when a giant fireball fired from outside hit the mirrors.
Haku said to Sasuke. "So he finally came to help you. It is useless, just as you tried. Fire Jutsu's at this level can't melt them."
But from the same direction the fire technique was fired, Naruto quickly entered the dome using the Shunshin no jutsu to approach Haku.
That maneuver catch her in surprise and she could not avoid the punch from Naruto, which hit her in the face with enough strength to shatters her mask and sent her in one of the mirrors.
Sasuke smirked at Naruto. "I saw when you arrived, but why did you took so long to came here? And how did you managed to hit her?"
Naruto turned to Sasuke, to answer his questions, but saw the different eyes he had. "Sasuke, you finally unlocked the Sharingan!"
The Uchiha smiled. "So that's why I was able to see through her techniques. But answer my questions, Naruto!"
The blond genin explained. "The reason for my delay was because I had some obstacles in my way. And I saw when you tried to melt the mirrors with the Gokakyu and knew it was going to be useless. But I waited for her to fight close combat with you and used it as distraction, so that I could use the Shunshin and got her with low guard."
Sasuke nodded in understatement and informed his teammate of the situation. "She can transport herself through the mirrors and attack us when she is out. Her speed is great but I can prevent it with my Sharingan."
Haku knew that she was in disadvantage. So she decided to attack again while she still could maintain the mirrors, throwing many senbons at them. Sasuke evaded them all but Naruto didn't and was hit directly.
The Jinchuuriki stood up again and complained to Sasuke. "While you have the Sharingan, I don't, so I can't evade all the needles like you."
The Uchiha smirked and replied. "I can see that the mirrors don't have the same amount of chakra as before because she doesn't have much chakra left, so I think that our combination number two can destroy them."
The Jinchuuriki stood up and nodded. "Let's try." They stood side by side and started to make the hand seals needed for the techniques.
Haku was becoming scared. 'A combination attack? If they manage that I'm not sure my mirrors will resist. I have to try and stop that!'But it was too late; they had already finished the technique.
Naruto said "Fuuton: Daitoppa" while Sasuke said "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu". The fireball combined with the blast of wind making a fire vortex. Together they said the name of the powerful combination technique.
"Kaen Goufu no Jutsu"
They watched as their powerful flames melted all the mirrors, making Haku leave them before being consumed by the flames.
Naruto and Sasuke smirked at their work. This was their most powerful combination till now and one of the first ones they created.
They also saw that Haku's mask, which had shattered under Naruto's punch, had finally come off. She had a flabbergasted look on her face.
Sasuke identified her. It was the same girl who had kissed Naruto before! He turned and pointed at him with an expression of disbelief in his face. "Now I see why you didn't want to tell me who she was. You were going out with the enemy".
Naruto blushed a bit but replied. "Not now, Sasuke! Can you immobilize her with one of your genjutsu?"
Sasuke nodded and did some hand seals. While all of that was happening, Haku was staring at her two opponents. They were the first ones to ever shatter her mirrors!
And a technique so strong like that! She was now without chakra to attack and could only defend herself. Her mask had also fallen.
But when she stood up, she felt a burning sensation coming from her feet. She was sure she had avoided the flames from the last attack. She looked down and saw that her body was being consumed by black flames.
At first she panicked trying to put them out, but she realized that they couldn't have hit her with ninjutsu without her seeing so that only meant one thing. Genjutsu! She used the last of her chakra to cancel the illusion.
But when she canceled it she saw that Naruto was in front of her doing hand seals. She heard he say "Too late" and the he performed his jutsu.
"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu"
The water that came from her melted mirrors had surrounded her and captured her. She looked up and saw the Naruto, with one hand securing the water prison, and Sasuke with his hand still on the ram seal. She asked him how they did that.
Naruto explained. "You were so distracted that you didn't saw Sasuke doing his genjutsu, the Magen: Kuroi Nensho no Jutsu. The time you took to realize it was a genjutsu and get out of it was the time I needed to approach you and perform the Suiton jutsu. I know you are out of chakra so you can't leave the prison."
Haku was shocked. They had tricked her and ultimately defeated her. She had failed her master. Sasuke approached the Jinchuuriki and asked.
"What are we going to do now?" Naruto replied. "The mist is clearing. I can't leave because of the Water prison so you go and help Sakura. I'm sure Sensei and Yuugao are fine."
Sasuke nodded and with his Sharingan still active made his way into the clearing mist. Naruto stood there in the same position with Haku, who turned towards him and said something that deeply confused him.
"Naruto-kun, kill me."
Sorry for the waiting, guys!
I traveled a lot in these last weeks, so I couldn't write it sooner. Also, because it was a battle scene I had to put a lot of thought in it.
Next chapter is the end of the fight and its aftermath.
I'm also glad to tell you that I have a beta reader now, Element-Chaos. Thanks for your work, Jared!
I hope you guys like this chapter. Have a nice weekend and Carnival!
Dictionary:
Teme – Bastard
Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou – Secret Technique: Death by a Thousand Flying Water Needles
Makyou Hyoushou – Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors
Fuuton: Reppushou – Wind Release: Gale Wind Palm
Bunshin Daibakuha – Shadow Clone Explosion
Kaen Goufu no Jutsu – Fire Typhoon Technique
Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu – Water Release: Water Prison Technique
Magen: Kuroi Nensho no Jutsu – Demonic Illusion: Black Combustion Technique