Chapter 10: Battlefield of Dreams

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Haku quickly turned around and again the two of them clashed their weapons together. But Haku was only holding one weapon while Sasuke had two. As he blocked a blow from Sasuke aimed at his throat, he saw Sasuke's other hand throw its kunai at his face. Haku had only enough time to dodge, and that gave Sasuke what he had been looking for. With a yell, Sasuke landed a solid kick on Haku's masked face, sending him crashing backwards at Zabuza's feet. Haku lost in speed?!

"Looks like I have the advantage in speed." Sasuke called out to his opponent.

"That's what you get for calling my team brats and underestimating them again." Kakashi said to Zabuza. "Sasuke is Konoha's number one rookie. Hinata will one day inherit the Hyuuga Clan. And Naruto is the number one hyperactive ninja of our village."

Zabuza just looked at them and chuckled to himself. "Haku, do you understand?" He said to Haku as he stood up. "At this rate, we'll lose." Get serious and kill them.

"Yes." That was the only acknowledgement Haku gave. Unpleasant chakra leaked from him like smoke from a fire. He looked at Sasuke. "Sorry." Surrounding Sasuke and Haku, a ring of ice formed. It grew and shaped itself into great rectangular sheets of ice.

"Hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou!" The sheets of ice formed a circular dome over the two boys, separating the two boys.

What is that jutsu? Even Kakashi, owner of a thousand jutsu, had never seen anything like this. Everyone watched in shocked disbelief as the boy actually stepped into one of the mirrors. Sasuke found himself surrounded by reflections from every one of the mirrors staring back at him, all faceless.

"Damn it." Kakashi cursed at their unpredicted predicament, and ran to back Sasuke up. But before he could sprint half the distance, Zabuza suddenly blocked his way, covering the distance between them in an instant.

"Your opponent is me." Zabuza told him. "Against that jutsu, that's boy's finished."

"Now, can we begin?" Haku's voice echoed with the cage of mirrors at Sasuke. "I'll show you my real speed." Suddenly, a needle hit Sasuke's arm. Before he could grimace, another hit him from behind. And another hit him from the left, the right. Needles hit him from every angle almost simultaneously.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi shouted helplessly as Sasuke's scream of pain echoed. He could do nothing with Zabuza in his way.

"If you try to get by me," Zabuza taunted him. "I'll kill those two." Standing by Tazuna, Hinata realized that the she was the only one in a position to do anything.

"I'm sorry, Tazuna-san." Hinata apologized quickly. "But I have to leave your side for a moment." Tazuna looked at her and nodded, giving her his consent. Hinata charged forward. Just then, she saw someone enter her range of vision. She knew what to do. Leaping high, she threw a kunai at the back of one of the reflections. The boy took notice and his torso emerged from within the mirror, like some nightmare monster that mothers told their children about. Casually, he snatched the knife in midair and looked at it. But at the same time, a shuriken from the opposite direction struck the boy in the face. The force of blow made him stumble out the mirror completely and fall on the ground. A great cut marred the white mask. A cloud of smoke erupted next to him with a bang. As it cleared, a figure was gradually revealed.

Looks like he woke up…

Number one hyperactive ninja…

That idiot…show-off… Naruto-kun…

"Uzumaki Naruto has finally arrived!" Naruto declared loudly with a smirk. If attention was what he wanted, he got it. Everyone turned his or her eyes on him now. Naruto continued boasting. "Now that I'm here, everything's going to be just fine. The main character of a story always shows up in these kinds of situations and instantly kicks the villain's ass!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto the same way as when Naruto challenged him face to face during survival training. That idiot. What kind of entrance is that for a ninja? Zabuza didn't look even the slightest bit amused and before anyone could stop him, threw a handful of shuriken at Naruto. The masked boy followed his master's actions and threw a handful of his own needles at Naruto. But to everyone's surprise, the needles intercepted every one of the shuriken.

Zabuza glared at Haku, whose masked face revealed nothing. "Haku, what is the meaning of this?" Haku didn't flinch the slightest under the murderous glare.

"Zabuza-san, please let me fight them my way." Haku sounded humble and respectful, but his voice was firm and adamant. There seemed to be a power struggle between the master and the student for a second but in the end, Zabuza backed down.

"So you don't want me to interfere? You're as soft as always." Zabuza chided him. Soft? Inside the cage of mirrors, Sasuke pondered Zabuza's words. The boy had been attacking him with needles non-stop, but not one of them struck a vital part of his body. Why is he trying not to kill me? More importantly, he couldn't figure out the boy's bizarre jutsu. He knew the boy was attacking him through the mirrors but he didn't know how. How did he merge into the mirrors and suddenly attack him from every direction? Oh well, with me attacking from the inside and Naruto on the outside…

"Hey, I came inside just to save you."

Standing outside the dome of ice, Kakashi listened as Sasuke for once lost his self-control and started shouting in Naruto's face.

"You idiot! If you're a ninja then try using your head!"

"What did you say?!" Naruto shouted back, unfazed, unapologetic and rather indignant. "I came in here to save you and this is the thanks I get?!"

"Why did you have to come inside the mirrors…!" Sasuke could tell that Naruto just didn't get it and just gave up explaining. "Damn it! I don't even care anymore! You're just an idiot!"

Well, that's Naruto for you. He came to help and yet ended up making things worse. Kakashi sighed. Meanwhile, Haku stepped back into one of the mirror, his body eerily fusing into the ice until he was nothing more than a reflection to Naruto and Sasuke.

All right, he's over there. Sasuke readied himself to attack the reflection in front of him when it disappeared in a flash. A voice called out from behind. "Over here." Sasuke turned around and looked. He moved! He still didn't know what purpose the mirrors served, but he knew what he had to do.

"Katon…" If those mirror are just made of ice… "Goukakyou no Jutsu!" Fire spat out from Sasuke's mouth and engulfed the small, confined area that he was trapped in. It covered over the surface of the mirror, obscuring them from view. To his surprise, the flames died down only to reveal the mirrors as intact as before, with the living reflection of the masked boy silently staring back at him.

"That didn't work at all!" Naruto screamed at Sasuke petulantly.

"This ice can't be melted by that level of fire." He stated calmly to the bewildered boys. Without warning, the both of them felt as if something struck them. They flew back several feet and landed on their backs. But the masked figure didn't even look like he moved. Such was his speed. "Trying to track me with your eyes is impossible. I'll never be caught."

Haku's reflection stared down at them from every mirror. But Naruto wasn't so easily deterred. He stubbornly stood his ground. "Kage Buushin no Jutsu!"

"Don't!" Sasuke try to warn him, but Naruto didn't listen. All the clones leapt into action, pouncing unto the mirrored reflections. I'll get the real one even if I have to crush them all! All of them had their fists ready to deliver a mighty punch.

Haku didn't give them the chance.

From Sasuke's perspective, one second the clones were leaping at their targets with fists raised and screaming loudly. The next second, all of them popped simultaneously like balloons while the real Naruto fell to the ground bleeding. There wasn't even a blur of movement.

"This jutsu lets me move almost instantaneously through these mirrors." Haku explained to them. There was only one reflection now, directly in front of them. "From my perspective, it looks like you two are standing still."

I knew it. "For that kid to have a jutsu like that…" Kakashi said while facing Zabuza. "He has a kekkei genkai!"

A kekkei genkai? The same as my byakugan?! Hinata was startled by the revelation.

"So what?!" Naruto growled defiantly at Haku, awkwardly picking himself off the ground after he had been sent crashing down with a thud. "I refuse to die here. I still have a dream to fulfill. The dream to become the Hokage and make the villagers recognize me!"

Dream? Haku hesitated, lost in thought. "For me, being a shinobi is hard. If it was possible, I would not have to kill you, nor would you have to kill me. But if you keep on fighting me, I'll kill the compassion in my heart with a blade and become a shinobi."

Haku's voice became hard as he continued to speak. "This bridge is a battlefield of dreams. I will fight for my dream. You will fight for yours. Please don't hate me." He apologized in advance, knowing the lives he would have to cut short today, and accepting that burden on his soul. "I want to protect someone important to me. I want to fight for him, to make his dreams come true. That is my dream."

The voice grew harder still, becoming a death sentence. "For that dream, I can make myself a ninja. I will kill you." He brandished his long needles in front of him as a challenge.

And the two of them, with determined eyes and humorless grins, answered it.

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"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-san! Do your best!" Hinata tried to be optimistic about her teammates. With their current situation, Hinata felt that cheering was the only thing she and Kakashi-sensei could do.

"Stop it, Hinata." Kakashi ordered her. "Don't goad them."

"Sensei?" She asked, confused.

"Even if they somehow defeat that jutsu, they can't beat that boy." He told her quietly.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked again. In front of them, Zabuza chuckled at her ignorance.

"They don't have the strength yet to kill their hearts and kill another person." He explained bluntly to her. "That boy knows the pain of being a shinobi."

"That's right." Zabuza spoke up. "A real ninja can't be raised in a village as peaceful as yours. You miss out on the most important experience for a ninja, killing another person."

I have to help them, fast. "Sorry Zabuza, but I'm going to end our fight in an instant, right now." Kakashi pulled off the part of his mask that hid his sharingan from view. Yet Zabuza made no move to stop him.

"The sharingan again, eh?" Zabuza remarked. "Shinobi aren't supposed to show their ultimate technique to the same enemy twice. Cheapens the value."

"Don't worry, there won't be a third time."

"You're right, there won't." Zabuza replied, twisting the meaning of the words. He glanced at the two of them in his way. "Heh, sharingan. Byakugan. Doesn't matter. You said it yourself, didn't you Kakashi? 'The same jutsu won't work on me twice'." His hands formed a single seal.

"Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu." As Zabuza spoke those words, his body faded into the mist. Realizing the danger, Kakashi jumped back and landed in front of Hinata and Tazuna. If he meant what he said, I can't rely on him attacking Hinata first again. That means they're both potential first targets. And I can't rely on the bunshin tactic again either.

"Hinata!" He asked her briskly. "Where is he?"

"He's jumped off the bridge, sensei. The left side." Hinata's eyes saw through the mist, easily finding their enemy. But she could not understand why Zabuza was moving away until she saw the water churning around him as he landed. Those handseals…"Sensei! He's using a water jutsu! I think it's the same one he used before!"

A water dragon?! Since I can't see it the way that Hinata can, I can't counter that jutsu the way I did last time. "Hinata, tell me how the dragon moves." Kakashi ordered her. "And get ready to run." It's a convenient way to attack us all at once from a distance with no risk. I need to at least know from what direction it'll attack from.

The sound of water clashing continued from their left side. "Sensei, he's sending it directly over us." Hinata reported. Kakashi frowned. And overhead attack with that much force would probably shatter even the concrete bridge. It could hit all three of them while flushing out anybody possibly hiding underneath the ground.

"Run, now!" Kakashi shouted. The three of them ran back across the bridge for all they were worth. Hinata saw the water dragon descend upon them from behind.

"It's coming!" She warned them. "Right behind us!" But the expected clash of water on concrete never happened. Instead, the dragon changed course and pursued them directly. Kakashi quickly stopped and turned around. Right behind us?

"Doton: Doryuuheki!" Kakashi opened his mouth and spat out a trail of mud on the ground. The mud twitched like a living thing and rapidly formed a giant wall in front of him. As that happened, he pondered why Zabuza hadn't just sent the dragon from underneath them instead of attacking in a way that could be easily blocked. He wouldn't have done it unless he had something to gain… "Hinata! Tazuna-san! Stop!" Kakashi shouted back frantically. Using chakra from his legs, Kakashi jumped toward them with a speed that no ordinary human being could have. Please, let me make it in time.

Just as he thought, Zabuza appeared in front of Hinata and Tazuna, his eyes smiling victoriously, his arms always raised for a swing that would decapitate both of them. He appeared in front of them before Hinata even had a chance to gasp. Kakashi saw the beginning of the swing as clearly as black on white with his sharingan eye. Yes, I'll make it…

The sound of the water dragon crashing against the wall of stone drowned out all other noise. And then it subsided, leaving a ghastly silence. Kakashi stood in front of Tazuna and Hinata, clutching his chest. In front of him was Zabuza, with his sword dripping blood, Kakashi's blood.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Hinata shouted out. She and Tazuna stared in horror.

"You were too slow to guard yourself." Zabuza taunted Kakashi, who looked like he was struggling to keep himself upright. "Did your need to help those brat students of yours clog up your mind even worse than the mist clogs your sharingan?"

Kakashi was in no shape to give Zabuza a proper response up his ass.

"End our fight in an instant? Oh no, we can't have that." Zabuza continued. "It's more fun this way. There's no need to cloud your judgment by worrying about those kids. Haku's probably killed them off already. And you'll be joining them soon. You can apologize to them for being too weak to help them in the next world." Zabuza laughed and slowly faded into the mist again. His mocking laughter became an echo, and then nothing.

"Hinata, what's going on in those mirrors?" Kakashi asked her when he was finally able to speak normally.

"I understand, sensei. Give me a minute." Hinata focused on the area where her two teammates were, her vision actively cutting through the mist as she concentration and her range of vision increased. And then her heart stopped. "Kakashi-sensei…Naruto-kun, he's down!"

"What?!" Kakashi shouted at her in alarm.

"I-I can't tell if…I can't tell." Hinata didn't have the strength to finish that statement. "But Sasuke-san's still fighting. He…oh, no…"

"What happened!? Hinata!" Kakashi demanded. But Hinata seemed frozen in place, unable to answer him. "Damn it!"

"See?" Zabuza's voice came from the mist. "Didn't I tell you those two were good as dead already?" Kakashi growled.

"And didn't I tell you I would end this fight in an instant?" Kakashi angrily replied. He opened a small pouch on his vest and a small scroll popped out. With a flourish, he unsealed it and swiped the contents with the blood from his wound. Then, the scroll sealed itself up again and Kakashi trapped it between his thumbs and this hands as he formed seals. "Ninpou Kuchiyose: Doton – Tsuiga no Jutsu!"

Kakashi slammed his hands down on the ground. Words literally crawled from the scroll like snakes and pierced into the ground.

"Whatever you do, it's useless." Zabuza said to him from an unknown location in the mist, his eyes closed against the sharingan's genjutsu powers. "Only the girl actually knows where I am, and I don't think she's listening right now."

"Wrong."

The only warning that Zabuza had was the sound of concrete crumbling beneath him. But by then it was already too late as seven dogs of varying size held him immobile with their jaws. The largest one wore a spiked collar and was bigger than he was. Kakashi quickly turned to Hinata.

"Hinata! Snap out of it!" Kakashi shouted at her. "Just go and help them. Don't worry about Zabuza, I can take care of it now. Go!" Without a word, Hinata bolted from him. Now, he turned his attention back on the thinning mist.

"The only reason I let you wound me was so this could happen." Kakashi called out to the immobilized Zabuza, who was still hidden from view. "Say hello to my cute nin-dogs. Their sense of smell is so powerful that they had no trouble tracking you by the blood on your sword."

The mist thinned and the two men could see each other clearly once more. This time, Zabuza was the one who was silent.

"You thought wrong." Kakashi told him. "My dogs, your ears, Hinata's eyes. We each had a way of seeing through the mist. Now, your future is death."

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She just ran.

Hinata cared about nothing but the scene unfolding in front of her eyes, and saw nothing else. The ruined and broken wall that Kakashi had made appeared quickly in front of her. She scaled it without a thought, as if it wasn't there.

To her, the entire world consisted of Naruto's crumpled form on the ground, struck by needles, while Sasuke stood in front of him bleeding. She watched, as Naruto awake and got up, miraculously not dead. Then the faint taste of good feelings died in her mouth as Sasuke was the one who fell before her eyes. She willed her legs to run faster but it didn't seem to work no matter what she wanted to happen. And then the masked boy got up as well.

That boy, I…

Hinata could see the boy rising as he stood over Naruto. By some random chance, his back was turned to her. Hinata didn't believe it by was random chance.

As Naruto shed his tears while Sasuke died, Hinata's focus shifted to the boy behind it all. He was the reason why Zabuza escaped the first time. He was the reason why Gatou could hold this country hostage. He was the reason why her team…

I'm…

She saw nothing as the mist parted and the house of mirrors made of ice was so close that it would have been visible even to normal eyes. She felt nothing as the chakra in the air exploded as Naruto's seal bent under the pressure of his grief and anger.

"I'm going to kill you!" An enraged Naruto charged forward at Haku, running on all fours. And yet, Haku was unaware of another danger behind him as he braced himself to receive Naruto's blow. Hinata was absolutely aware of the narrow space between two of the mirrors that Haku was standing in front of. It was just wide enough for an arm to slip in and reach him.

A blast of red chakra touched the mirrors and the mirrors wilted. Ice turned to water, and water turned to steam. Steam blew loudly outwards from the house of mirrors as if a play had reached some great climax. And perhaps it had, as Hinata struck.

A tremendous irony had just occurred, but none of the three, so caught up in the moment, realized it.

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To be Continued