"So my prediction was correct," Kakashi-sensei commented, watching the two ninja in front of him.
"Let's cut the talk and get down to the ass kicking," you glared. You were now standing on Tazuna's side, now that your team was no longer in a formation. "I want pay back for tricking us like that."
"I'll fight him," Sasuke said, never taking his eyes off of the pair.
"Huh?" your group looked to him.
"He pulled that stupid trick on us…I hate conceited guys like that."
"You're so cool Sasuke," Sakura nearly squealed.
'What!? That's basically what I just said! It's only cool if Sasuke says it?'
Only moments after Sasuke's statement, your opponent leapt into action. Zabuza stayed where he was, but the boy named Haku began to spin rapidly on one heel until he, himself, became like a small tornado. He spun towards Sasuke rapidly, with a speed that made you gasp.
The boy stuck an arm out, trying to stab Sasuke with a senbon (tracking needle), but Sasuke was quick and was able to block the weapon with his kunai. The two struggled against one another, each trying to break through the other's defense. Every time one boy would try and make an attack, the other would simply counter.
"Sakura, Nakao, stay with Tazuna and stay close to me. Let Sasuke handle the boy," Kakashi-sensei instructed.
You and Sakura dashed in front of Tazuna, standing shoulder to shoulder, weapons out, your eyes on Sasuke.
"I don't want to kill you, but you won't back off, will you?" the boy said.
"What are you, stupid?" Sasuke smirked.
"As I thought…but you won't be able to keep up with my next attack; and I have two advantages."
'Two advantages?'
"The first is that the ground is covered in water. Second, I have one of your hands occupied."
You watched in shock as Haku performed hand seals with just his left hand. Your eyes shook. 'He can perform jutsus with just one hand! And he can do them so quickly!'
Haku stomped on the ground with his right foot. All the water on the ground flew into the air, separated and turned into needles made out of ice. A second later, the needles slammed towards the ground. Haku jumped out of the way before they hit.
You knew Sasuke was safe because you had seen his every move. He jumped into the air, avoiding the needles, and took out several shuriken. He threw them at Haku; Haku continually jumping backwards to avoid the shuriken. You watched in amazement as Sasuke disappeared, reappearing behind Haku.
"You're pretty slow," Sasuke smirked.
'When did Sasuke get so quick?'
The two lashed out at each other again, but once again, Sasuke blocked Haku's senbon with his kunai. With his unoccupied hand, Sasuke flicked a kunai right at Haku's face. Haku ducked, but Sasuke was ready and kicked Haku in the head, sending him flying back towards Zabuza, hitting the ground as he did so.
"Looks like my speed's better," Sasuke said, staring down Zabuza and Haku.
"Way to go, Sasuke!" you called.
"You really shouldn't underestimate my team just because I have young students," Kakashi-sensei said, looking to Zabuza. "Sasuke is Konoha's top rookie. Sakura has one of the brightest minds. Nakao possesses and controls the Makase Clan kekki genki and Naruto is the most show-offy, hyperactive, number one loudest ninja."
Zabuza remained quiet for a moment before glancing down at Haku. "Haku, at this rate, we'll be driven back."
"I understand," Haku got to his feet slowly. "It's a shame."
You gasped when you could feel Haku gathering his chakra. It was very impressive; impressive enough for you to start to worry about Sasuke. As Sasuke watched the boy carefully, a cold air swept through the area, making you shiver.
'Why did it suddenly get so cold?' your teeth chattered and you could see your breath in the frigid air.
Haku made a handseal with both hands and from behind Sasuke, ice began to grow off of the ground. It built itself up, forming into a giant rectangle slightly taller than yourself. You watched, mouth hanging open as more began to appear, circling the area around Sasuke and then up, capping off the circle, enclosing Sasuke in a dome of ice…whatever they were.
There were gaps that you could see through, and right now, Sasuke was glancing around himself, teeth clenched. Once the ice had finished forming, Haku stepped forward, straight into one of the ice rectangles! He dissolved into it, his image appearing on the surface of the rectangle, watching Sasuke.
You gasped. 'Wh-What are those? Are they mirrors?'
The mirrors flashed a bright, white light and, suddenly, images of Haku appeared on every single mirror. You could feel your spine prickling. Your instincts were going off, telling you to beware of whatever was going to happen next.
"Kuso…" Kakashi-sensei cursed before running towards the mirrors. Before he got there, however, Zabuza slid into his path, blocking him.
"I'm your opponent, remember?" Zabuza challenged Kakashi-sensei. "Against Haku, your boy is finished."
You gasped from behind Kakashi-sensei, where you had been standing this whole time. Kakashi-sensei looked over his shoulder at you. "Stay there! No matter what happens, do not move from that spot!"
You watched Kakashi-sensei helplessly before glancing to the dome of mirrors. 'But…Sasuke…'
"Now, let's begin," Haku's voice seemed to echo off of the mirrors.
Haku's image raised a hand full of senbon, placed between each finger. He threw them, catching Sasuke in the shoulder…but that wasn't the end. Suddenly, senbon were flying from all over, slashing at Sasuke from everywhere. You couldn't even tell where they were all coming from. A needle sunk into Sasuke's hand, causing his kunai to fly out of his hand and it came spinning back towards you and Sakura, landing into the concrete by Sakura's feet.
Your entire body began to shake as Sasuke's screams pierced the air. Your breathing was coming out in gasps. You looked to your teacher. "Kakashi-sensei!"
"Nakao, do not leave that spot; that's an order!" Kakashi-sensei practically shouted at you.
"Don't even think you can save your boy. If you move without warning, I'll kill the three behind you," Zabuza warned.
Kakashi-sensei tensed. Sasuke's screams distracted you again and, desperately, you looked back to the dome of mirrors. All you could see was Sasuke's body, kneeling on the ground, covering his head, and repeating blurs that you assumed were the needles. You swallowed.
"Sakura, stay here with Tazuna."
"What? But Nakao, Kakashi-sensei said not to move from this spot…" Sakura looked over at you.
You stared her directly in the eye, placing your daggers back on your belt, not knowing if you were going to need them. "I'm not going to sit here while my teammate gets cut to ribbons. I have to get him out of there. You need to stay with Tazuna. I'm leaving it up to you protect him."
Before Sakura could protest anymore, you took off running towards the dome. You passed directly by Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza, but Zabuza didn't move to stop you.
"Nakao!" Kakashi-sensei yelled after you.
You pressed on, ignoring him. You had to get to Sasuke, that's all you can think abouut. His screams got louder and louder the closer you got to the domes. You slid to a stop in front of them, standing a foot away from one of the mirrors.
"Sasuke!" you called.
Sasuke peeked out from beneath an arm. You could see blood running down his face and cuts marring his entire body. When he saw you, he panicked. "Nakao, do not come in here!"
"But Sasuke-!"
Sasuke screamed again. You bit at your lips so hard you tasted iron. Grabbing a kunai from the holster around your thigh, you gripped the handle tightly and stabbed at the mirror. The tip hit the surface, but would not penetrate, no matter how many times you thrust the kunai at the mirror, the mirror would act like Plexiglas.
"Dammit!" you yelled, throwing your kunai onto the ground in aggravation.
"Nakao…get…out of here!" Sasuke yelled out to you.
"I'm not going to leave you!" you yelled back, clenching your hands into fists at your sides.
Just then, a hand stuck out of the mirror in front of you. You gasped, taken by surprise and before you knew it, the hand was grasping your wrist. It tugged you forward and you screamed, until you got sucked into the mirror, cutting your scream off completely.
Passing through the ice mirror was not an experience you'd soon forget. Your entire body was so cold it felt like someone was sticking you with needles all over your body. It was the coldest you ever felt and you couldn't breathe, like somebody was cutting off your air supply. And then, as soon as it had started, it stopped.
You tumbled out of the mirror, landing face first onto the cold cement ground. You immediately sat up, on your knees, widely looking around at your surroundings. You were now trapped inside the dome, and it was even colder in here than it had been outside the mirrors; although, you didn't know how that was even possible.
Your eyes fell on Sasuke. Because Haku had pulled you into the mirrors, the barrage of weapons had ceased for a moment. Sasuke was on his knees, bent towards the ground. His shaky arms were slowly letting go of his head. His clothes were ripped, his skin bloody.
"Sasuke!" you breathed, getting to your feet. You quickly ran over to the boy, dropping to your knees beside him. "Sasuke, are you okay?"
"You…idiot. I told you to get out of here!" Sasuke glared at you, sounding furstrated. You glared back. 'Well, I guess he's okay.'
"Gee, I'm sorry. Let me just grab my things so I can waltz out of here and watch you get killed from the other side. Dear god, did Haku hit some brain matter or something!?" you yelled at the Uchiha.
Sasuke opened his mouth to retort when the mirrors let out their blinding flash of light again. As soon as they did, you heard Sasuke take a sharp intake of breath, and you took that as a bad sign. Without warning, something was suddenly shredding at your body.
You screamed, moving to protect your head, much like Sasuke had done. You were getting slashed at from all directions and the pain was relentless. It was like hundreds of little razor blades were cutting you up at once, all over your body. You screamed out, mixing with Sasuke's cries.
"Eat this!" you heard faintly.
Slowly, you tried to peek out beneath your arms while still protecting your face. You could see Sakura outside of the dome. She was in the air and had thrown Sasuke's kunai towards the dome. What she had possibly been aiming at, you had no idea. Suddenly, the needles stopped as a hand flashed out of one of the mirrors, grabbing the kunai by its handle.
You slumped towards the ground, resting your searing arms on the ground, and your forehead on your arms. Your body was racked with pain and you were bleeding from all over your body. Slowly, you glanced up. Haku was only in one mirror, instead of all of them. Actually, he wasn't completely in that mirror. His top half of his body was sticking out of one of the mirrors. His masked face was turned in your direction and the kunai in his hand was trained on you.
Sasuke breathed heavily from beside you, watching Haku. He tried to get to his feet but his legs gave out and he fell back down to the concrete. You pushed yourself up.
'Is this…is this really it? It can't be…'
As you watched Haku, something behind him caught your attention. You watched as a shuriken flew straight towards Haku, hitting him in the mask. Your mouth dropped open as Haku fell out of his mirror, onto the concrete outside of the dome. 'That must be…'
A huge blast of smoke erupted from outside of the dome. 'That must be…What an idiot…'
"The show-offy, hyperactive, number one loudest ninja…" Haku muttered.
"Uzumaki Naruto is here!" Naruto grinned wickedly, revealing himself to everyone on the bridge. "Now that I'm here, everything is going to be just fine."
"What…a freaking idiot," you said, finally managing to push yourself onto your knees, sitting on your legs. You glanced over to Sasuke. He was lying on the ground beside you, his body twitching. Your eyes flooded with worry. "Sasuke, are you okay?"
"Alright, let's do this!" Naruto yelled from outside the dome. He put his fingers together in a handseal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Zabuza's eyes narrowed. He took out several shuriken and flung them straight towards Naruto, who froze, watching the kunais in fear.
"Dodge, Naruto!" Kakashi-sensei yelled out, but Naruto wouldn't be able to anymore.
However, as the shuriken neared Naruto, Haku flung several needles at them, knocking down each one. Everyone on the bridge watched in shock. Sakura regained her bearings first.
"Naruto, what are you doing!?" she yelled.
"What kind of ninja executes a jutsu right in front of the enemy!? The essence of being a ninja lies in deception! The way you barged in here makes you an easy target!" Kakashi-sensei lectured.
"I just came here to help!" Naruto grabbed at his head, flustered.
"Haku, what is the meaning of this?" Zabuza demanded.
"Please, let me fight him on my own," Haku responded, not turning around to look at his partner.
"You're always too soft on the enemy, Haku," Zabuza said after a pregnant pause.
You frowned. 'This is soft? I'm a damn porcupine!'
You glance down at your body. Reaching for several needles sticking vertically out of your skin, you tugged them out. You gave a gasp of pain upon doing so, and threw the needle aside. Blood welled from the holes, staining your clothing.
'Still…it doesn't seem like he's aiming for any vital points…'
You glanced over to Sasuke. He too, was examining his wounds.
"Well it just looks like I'm going to have to beat you first!" Naruto pointed a finger at Haku.
Kakashi-sensei narrowed his eye. Zabuza cleared his throat. "Remember, you try anything and that old man is dead. Why don't we sit and observe the young ones fight, eh?"
"So you really were working for Zabuza. How dare you trick us!" Naruto glared at Haku.
"I am sorry," Haku bowed his head. "But as your sensei said, the true art of a shinobi is deception. Please do not take it personally."
Sasuke moved from beside you, taking a kunai from the pouch around his thigh. He watched Haku for a second before sending the kunai straight at Haku's face. Without any effort, Haku simple titled his head back at the last moment, missing the kunai. Naruto blinked and look over, like he was just now realizing you and Sasuke were trapped in the mirrors.
"I have not forgotten about you," Haku assured. "I would have preferred it if you had just lain there quietly, but I guess I can't expect that. I'll have to finish my match with you first."
You tensed up as Haku walked towards a mirror. You scrambled to your feet, your mind whirling. What were you going to do? It's not like you could even fight him, you didn't even know how his jutsu worked.
"H-Hey!" Naruto raised a fist.
"Naruto, I will fight you later," Haku promised, stepping into one of his mirrors.
While you were standing, Sasuke was still kneeling on the ground. Haku was standing in the mirror in front of the two of you. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Sasuke reach for a weapon. But suddenly, Haku disappeared from the mirror.
"Over here."
Both you and Sasuke gasped. You whirled completely around while Sasuke just looked over his shoulder to find that Haku was now in a mirror behind you.
'H-How? How is he moving from mirror to mirror like that? I don't see anything!'
All of the mirrors began to reveal images of Haku; you knew what was going to happen next. A flash of light blinded you and the pain ensued. You and Sasuke cried out as you were shredded from every angle by needles. You flew backwards, hitting the ground on your back. Sasuke had flown in the opposite direction.
You moaned, rolling over in an attempt to help yourself up. Your arms shook as you tried to push yourself up. Needles were sticking out of your body and blood was running down the side of your face.
'How is he doing this?' you wondered, finally managing to sit up. You cried out upon doing so, realizing that you had pushed in a needle when you had moved. Shakily, you pulled the needle from your body. Tossing it away, you looked up, breathing heavily. 'Is he using clones and having them throw needles all at once? But if he was using clones, what would be the point in the mirrors?'
You glanced over to Sasuke who was on the opposite side of the dome. He was clutching his left shoulder, concentration stitched onto his face. There were several cuts on his face, one particularly bad one bleeding generously on his right cheek. You looked past him to the mirror behind him.
'Those mirrors are definitely the key to his attack…but how am I going to get rid of them? My kunai couldn't even puncture the mirror…But wait…'
You glanced outside of the mirrors at Naruto, who was staring in shock at you and Sasuke. You chewed on your bottom lip. 'But maybe if Sasuke and I attack from the inside, and Naruto attacks from the outside, we can figure out how these mirrors work!'
"Hey, I came in here to save you!"
You whirled around and Sasuke looked forward to find Naruto squatting behind you. Your face paled and your eye began to twitch dangerously.
"Pretty smart move huh?" Naruto grinned, looking past you to Sasuke. He too, was too stunned to even speak.
"You…IDIOT!" you yelled, grabbing at your hair to keep yourself from punching the boy.
"Don't you even think before you act!?" Sasuke asked, getting to his knees.
"Hey, what's your problem!?" Naruto looked from you to Sasuke. "I came in here to save you and this is how you thank me!?"
"Naruto if you had stayed out there…ugh, forget it! I've had it with your mistakes!" Sasuke yelled.
"And I've had it with your attitude!" Naruto countered.
"Both of you, quit it!" you yelled louder than either of them, clutching your head, shaking it rapidly. This wasn't going to get you anywhere.
"That's it; I'm going to destroy these mirrors right now!" Sasuke yelled, getting to his feet.
You hopped to your feet as soon as Sasuke began doing handsigns. You recognized the handsigns immediately; he was going to perform his fireball jutsu.
"Wait, Sasuke!"
Sasuke paused, glancing over at you. You looked him directly in the eye. "Let me use my kekki genki; it'll enhance your fire power."
Naruto glanced up at you cluelessly, still squatting on the ground. Sasuke watched you for a second before nodding once. You took in a breath of air and closed your eyes, whipping out several handsigns.
'Arashi Kamekaze.'
You could feel your kekki genki beginning to work. The water molecules in your body turned into wind and began to seep out of open orifices on your skin. You could feel the current rush around your body. You concentrated, opening your eyes. You could visibly see the wind moving around you. They appeared as white wisps, flowing around you. You gathered up chakra, directing the wind to rush away from your body.
Although neither Sasuke nor Naruto could see your jutsu working, they could feel it. The wind whipped passed them, moving their hair around on their heads. Your wind circled around the dome, keeping a distance between your constant stream of wind and your teammates' bodies.
"Okay, Sasuke, go!" you said quickly, maintaining your wind currents.
Sasuke took in a large breath of air, holding it. He brought his pinched fingers to his lips and blew out. Normally, a fireball would appear, but thanks to your jutsu, Sasuke's fire hit the wind and flared into life. It whipped around the dome, feeding off of your wind, encasing you and your male teammates in a ring of fire. The fire licked up the sides of the mirrors, blocking them from view.
After a moment, Sasuke held out his arm, directing you to cut off your jutsu. You took in a large breath of air and canceled the jutsu. You felt lightheaded and you put a hand to your head. The fire died down slowly.
You and Sasuke gasped. The fire hadn't done anything. Not a single drop of water ran off the mirrors. Naruto got to his feet. "That did do anything at all!"
"Naruto, shut up!" you rounded on him, glaring.
"You'll need a lot more heat than that to melt these mirrors," Haku said, still in all the mirrors. He raised a hand full of needles.
You tensed as the mirrors lit up. A moment later, the shredding feeling plowed into your body. You and your two teammates screamed in unison. The force of the attack knocked all three of you backward, each of you smacking onto the ground side by side. You were between the two boys, Sasuke on your left and Naruto on your right.
Naruto immediately shot up, his cheek bleeding. "Where are the needles coming from!?" He hopped to his feet, glancing at all the mirrors. "We have to find the real one; which one is it?"
"Look as hard as you can but you will never learn the secret," Haku's voice rang through the dome.
"Fine! Then I'll just smash every mirror until I find you! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Naruto, no!" Sasuke shouted, but it was too late.
Naruto's clones jumped towards the mirrors, arms pulled back, ready to punch at the mirrors. You watched, biting down on your lip. If Sasuke's fire couldn't damage the mirrors, there was no way Naruto would be able to break through them. Before any of the clones could even reach the mirrors, they disappeared one by one. You didn't know how; you didn't even see Haku moving, but he must be. The real Naruto fell back towards you and Sasuke, smacking into the ground.
"Naruto!" you looked over at him worriedly.
"I can transport from my mirrors at light speed. In my eyes, you all are moving in slow motion," Haku said.
Your eyebrows crinkled together. Shit. How were you going to beat someone you couldn't touch? How were you going to do beat this special jutsu? You growled. "A kekki genki…"
"What?" Naruto asked, getting to his feet.
"His jutsu is a kekki genki," you said, not taking your eyes off of Haku. "The Sharingan can't even copy this. We have to figure out how to take it down…"
"So what…" Naruto said quietly, gaining yours and Sasuke's attention. His voice got louder as he looked up and glared. "I'm not going to lose here! I've got a dream and no one's gunna take that away from me! I'm gunna be the greatest Hokage!"
"Dreams…" Haku muttered. He paused. "It was never my dream to be a shinobi; it is too painful. I do not want to kill you, but if you keep fighting, I will have no choice. If it means protecting his dreams, I will kill that side of me and become a true shinobi. This bridge will become the battle ground of our dreams. I will fight for my dreams, just like you must fight for yours. Please do not blame me. I fight for someone precious to me. I will face death for him to ensure his dreams. That is my dream, and if I have to become a true shinobi to complete that dream, I will, and I will take your lives."
Your hands clenched at your sides as you glanced at Naruto and Sasuke out of the corners of your eyes. They were watching Haku intently.
"Dreams for the future…I don't know. I'll figure that out as I go."
You looked back to Haku. 'Right now…my dream is to get my teammates out of here safe…'
You glanced over to your male teammates. When had they become this important to you? Important enough to fight beside them with your life? You hadn't realized you had been consciously watching your teammates as you stood between them, until Sasuke looked over to you. Your eyes locked and for a moment, the two of you stared at one another.
"Let's do this…" you said quietly.