"Just because I screwed up the first time doesn't mean I'm going to quit!" Naruto announced, moving his fingers into handsigns. "Shadow replication!"
"Stop!" Sasuke tried, but it was too late.
You watched as Naruto's clones, once again, jumped towards the mirrors and they, once again, got knocked down one by one. While you were watching, a sudden breeze hit you and suddenly, needles were ripping at your body.
You cried out, dropping to your knees, grasping at your shoulder. Several needles had lodged themselves there. Sasuke called out as well, falling onto his back beside you. You quickly glanced over. "Sasuke!"
As he struggled to his knees, Naruto dropped down to the ground on your left. He immediately shot back up, undeterred. "Shadow replication!"
This time, Sasuke did not try to stop Naruto. Instead, as the Narutos leapt forward in attack, Sasuke ran forward, kicking some water into the air. You watched Sasuke, confused.
"Can't you see that this is futile?" Haku's voice rang out.
As the Naruto clones began to disappear, you watched the water that Sasuke had kicked into the air. You gasped as you saw it cut apart, completely disappearing before it could hit the ground. Realization struck you.
'Sasuke is starting to see Haku's movements! That's why he kicked water in the air, to be sure it was Haku moving about!'
You turned to look at Sasuke, but just as you did so, something rammed into you, tearing at your chest. You cried out, flying backwards and slamming onto the ground on your back. Naruto landed to your left seconds later, Sasuke on your right.
Sasuke and Naruto immediately got to their feet, and you followed. You grasped the needles in your shoulders and with a yank that made you wince, you tugged them from your skin.
"One more time, shadow replication!" Naruto called.
From beside you, Sasuke began a series of handsigns, then blew a fireball towards the Naruto clones. It hit a mirror and disappeared, but Sasuke's resolve didn't dampen. As Narutos began to disappear, Sasuke tried again, shooting a fireball out towards the dwindling crowd of clones. Seconds later, Naruto flew back to you, hitting the ground and rolling.
"Naruto!" you called, kneeling beside the boy. Grabbing him by the shoulders, you helped him into a sitting position. Grabbing Naruto by the arm, you then pulled him to his feet.
Naruto looked to the image of Haku in the mirror ahead of you and let out an aggravated sigh. "Ugh, so close!"
You looked to Haku as well. It took a moment for you to notice that the bottom of his left pant leg was singed. You sucked in a breath of excitement.
"Naruto, can you still move?" Sasuke asked, turning to the blonde.
"Of course!"
You glanced over to Naruto, chewing on your bottom lip. 'He can't keep this up much longer. I can already tell that he's exhausted and the shadow replication technique uses a large amount of chakra.'
You turned to Sasuke, determined to be of some use. You felt like you weren't doing anything. "What do you want me to do?"
Sasuke turned to look at you. "I want you and Naruto to try to get outside. We need someone to attack from outside the mirrors."
You nodded, accepting the mission. Naruto nodded as well. You saw the mirrors flash and Sasuke began his handsigns. "Go!"
You and Naruto took off in opposite directions. You ran as hard as you could, keeping your attention trained on a particular gap in the mirrors. You heard Naruto cry out and you squeezed your eyes shut, trying to run harder. You felt several needles hit you in the side.
You cried out, instinctually putting a hand to the side. You swallowed hard, looking back to the gap in the mirrors. Your face hardened with resolve. 'I'm not going to lose here!'
You tried running again. The gap was getting closer and closer. You were almost out! Something connected with your chest. You cried out as you flew back to the center of the dome beside Sasuke and Naruto.
"Dammit!" you cringed, getting to your knees. Sasuke was kneeling on the ground, Naruto lying face down.
Before the three of you could discuss any other plans, you noticed the mirrors light up again. Your eyes flashed. That was enough of that. Your fingers rushed through handsigns, your hands a blur. You jumped to your feet.
"Stay close to me!" you yelled to the boys.
Whipping out handsigns in record time, you activated your kekki genki. As soon as the needles came, you exerted a large amount of chakra at once. Your wind flew from your body, spreading out around your teammates. Unfortunately, you were only able to protect your front while flowing your wind around their bodies.
As the needles honed in on your teammates, your wind pushed them back, sending the needles flying harmlessly to the ground. It only took seconds, however, when something barreled into your back. You screamed out as something stabbed you only inches from your kidney and you fell face first onto the pavement.
As you smacked into the ground, your jutsu ended, leaving Sasuke and Naruto defenseless. Instead of a whole barrage of needles however, Haku just knocked into each boy once, knocking them back down. Naruto immediately shot up, looking back at you. You groaned, your body twitching in pain.
"Nakao, are you okay?" Naruto asked, concerned.
You moaned, trying to push yourself up. "Y-Yes…"
You could feel your shirt begin to stick to your back from the blood leaking out of the fresh wound. You shakily pushed yourself onto your knees, wiping at your mouth with the back of your hand. You had busted your bottom lip open when you had hit the ground and you could feel the blood beginning to run down your chin.
"Dammit!" Naruto yelled out, getting to his feet.
Sasuke glanced back at you as you got to your feet. He looked to Naruto. "I need you to try to get out again."
"Okay," Naruto nodded confidently.
You glanced to Naruto. "I can try to cover you, but I don't know how much time I can buy you. I can stop the needles from hitting but if he physically knocks into me, my wind isn't going to help. Without being able to see him I don't know where to reinforce my chakra. If he knocks me down, you're on your own.
Naruto nodded. "Got it."
As Naruto took off running, you plowed through handsigns again. You immediately directed your wind to surround him, like a circular shield. However, Sasuke hadn't informed you he'd be running too and you gasped as he raced away from you and towards the mirrors.
Needles flew towards him. One pierced him in the leg, stopping his movement, then a handful of needles came his way, plowing into the upper half of his body.
Naruto stopped, looking over to his teammate. "Sasuke!"
You immediately looked back to him. You couldn't waste time like this. "Naruto, keep running!"
But as the words left your mouth, something hit you in the side. You cried out as you flew to the side, hitting the ground next to Sasuke. Haku had attacked you, shoving a needle into your side manually. Your hands grasped for the wound, feeling blood seep between your fingers. Naruto hit the ground near you seconds later.
As you struggled to your knees, Sakura's scream pierced the air. You gasped, whipping your head towards the mirrors. You clenched your teeth together. 'Dammit, what is going on? What is Kakashi-sensei doing?'
"Sakura…" you glanced over as Naruto muttered her name. He was lying on his front, looking far too weak to get up. His body was scratched and bleeding, just like you and Sasuke. You gasped seconds later, however, when Naruto rose to his feet. "I'm going to do something about this…let's go."
Naruto sprinted forward, but Haku appeared in the mirror ahead of him. Naruto back flipped, running the opposite way, but Haku followed.
"Naruto, behind you!" Sasuke shouted, but before Naruto could turn around, he was assaulted with needles. He flew onto his back.
"Naruto!" you turned a glare on Haku. 'Dammit!'
"It is impossible to get out of here, I assure you of that," Haku said.
Ignoring him, you and Sasuke ran towards your teammate. Sasuke kneeled down beside the boy while you stayed standing, eyes training on Haku's image.
"Don't waste your chakra like that anymore, that's what he wants us to do," Sasuke told Naruto.
"I…know…" Naruto mumbled, trying to push himself up, but his arms gave out on him and his eyes flickered closed. You cried his name as he fell back to the earth.
You gritted your teeth, looking back to Haku. The mirrors flashed. You acted, activating your kekki genki. You spread the wind around your two male teammates. Haku's needles were deflected again, falling to the ground like raindrops.
Something stabbed you in the back and you fell forward. You cried out as Sasuke looked over to you, eyes wide.
"Nakao, stop!" Sasuke tried to tell you.
"N-No…if I can do something…I'm going to do it," you said weakly, getting to your knees, but you faltered.
Even though it was only for a second, Haku took advantage of your momentary weakness. He sent his needles towards you, faster than you'd be able to act. Sasuke picked up a needle from the ground, sliding in front of you. You watched in amazement as you succeeded in getting to your knees, as Sasuke deflected each and every needle with the one he had picked up.
"Get up, idiot!" Sasuke yelled over to Naruto as the assault of needles ended. He fell to one knee.
"I know! Stop being so annoying," Naruto countered, finally sitting up.
The mirrors flashed. Sasuke hopped to his feet, blocking the needles with his. You stayed on your knees but activated your jutsu. The wind spread out around Naruto, encasing him in a dome. The needles that were sent at you were deflected, but they never seemed to end. Sasuke was panting some feet away from you as he tried to dodge and block the needles.
You could feel sweat forming at your hairline. You had already used your kekki genki several times in the past…well…however long you had been in these mirrors. It felt like an eternity. And the longer you held the jutsu, the more affect it had.
Your kekki genki worked by turning the water molecules in your body into air molecules. This wasn't counting the water in your bloodstream however. Keitaro had informed you of just how far your kekki genki could go and it was possible to turn every single water molecule in your body to air, no matter where the water may be. However, this was extremely dangerous and could kill you in an instant. Only extremely advanced members of your clan could do this.
They of course, could not teach you. Your clan was originally from Sunagakure, the Land of Wind. Your parents had migrated to Konoha when you were three to escape the atrocities of your clan's ways. As far as you knew now, there weren't many members of your clan left. Although you couldn't remember exactly how you learned this, you had found out your clan had suffered a massacre. It was sort of like common knowledge to you. You had probably heard Keitaro say it. You never cared enough to think about it anyway.
But as you held the jutsu over you and Naruto, you could feel your body begin to protest. You were exhausting the molecules in your body. If you didn't stay hydrated, the water molecules in your body would dissipate. The good news was, you'd pass out from dehydration before you could die from overuse of your jutsu. That was, unless you decided to use one last, large burst of chakra. You would be able to access the rest of your molecules in a suicide move.
The down pour of needles finally ended and you canceled the jutsu, falling forwards. Your arms managed to catch the ground, keeping you from hitting it. You breathed heavily, as though you had been running a mile.
"Th-thanks, Nakao," you heard Naruto breathe from beside you. He was still so exhausted. You couldn't even answer him.
You glanced up, looking to Haku in the mirror ahead of you, until suddenly, he vanished. You gasped, goose bumps rising on your skin. Sasuke, on his feet, was wildly looking around himself. "Where did he go!? Naruto, you better not faint on us!"
You got to your feet, slowly glancing around yourself too. You wiped at your chin, flaking off some dried blood.
"I don't need your help…" you heard Naruto mutter before he fell onto his back, eyes closed.
You and Sasuke turned to look at him. You bit down on your bottom lip, reopening your not-yet-healed busted lip. Blood gushed from the wound.
"Looks like that boy has reached his limits," Haku's voice rang throughout the dome.
You and Sasuke glanced up. Haku was in the very top mirror that topped off the dome. Sasuke gritted his teeth, sailing the needle in his hand at the mirror. It bounced off harmlessly and dropped to the ground.
"You move very brilliantly, but you are no match for me," Haku said, holding up a hand full of needles.
He sent them at Sasuke, who managed to dodge. The needles hit the mirror behind Sasuke instead. Haku began to flash from mirror to mirror, making you dizzy. Sasuke's eyes were trying to follow, but his senses were beginning to dull. Finally, Haku picked a mirror. The movement he made was subtle, but you were able to see it.
Just as Haku sent his needles at Sasuke, you ran through handsigns. Your wind flowed from your body and wrapped around Sasuke, protecting him from Haku's attack. You held it for several seconds, already feeling the strain, until something stabbed you in your side. Unfortunately, you had already been stabbed in that side. You cried out and the wind around Sasuke dissipated.
You collapsed to your knees, feeling like you didn't want to move. Your side was searing screaming in pain. You could feel blood soaking through the fabric of your shirt. You slumped forward, resting your forearms against the cold ground. You were exhausted.
"She's reached her limit," Haku commented. To you, his voice was mocking you.
"Sasuke…I'm…sorry," you muttered weakly, falling onto your side, breathing heavily.
Sasuke gritted his teeth together, turning his head back to Haku, glaring. Your fingers twitched, scraping at the concrete ground. 'Naruto's unconscious and I'm useless…I can't let this happen. Sasuke won't be able to protect us forever…'
You were trying to get to your feet, struggling. Just the effort of pushing yourself up was exhausting. Haku raised his hand full of needles, his masked gaze set on you. You watched helplessly as Haku released the needles.
You waited for them to hit, but they never did. Sasuke slithered and arm around your waist and Naruto's. He jumped into the air, landing several feet backwards. The needles implanted themselves into the ground where you had been seconds prior. Sasuke set you and Naruto down gently. Naruto still lay, unconscious. You groaned but glanced up.
"Sasuke…" you gasped. "Sasuke! Your eyes!"
Sasuke smirked. His eyes shone red. His right eye had two black commas circling where the pupil should be, and the left eye had one. You watched in amazement. 'Sharingan.'
"I see. So you, too, possess a kekki genki," Haku observed.
Haku began to flash from mirror to mirror once more, testing Sasuke. His eyes followed every movement. Haku, without stopping then threw a handful of needles straight for Sasuke, but he jumped backwards, several feet away from you and Naruto.
'His Sharingan will begin to predict Haku's movements…' you realized with some sense of relief, glancing back to Haku.
Haku was now standing in one mirror, completely still. He was thinking. Probably trying to decide what to do about Sasuke's Sharingan. It was while doing this that you noticed Haku's head move. It was only a slight movement, but you caught it, and tensed when it was Haku's head, glancing at you and Naruto.
Your blood chilled and unease settled into your stomach. Realization struck you. He wouldn't be able to get to Sasuke, so he was going to kill you and Naruto first. You gulped, your chakra was too tapped out to activate your kekki genki. There was only one thing to do. You had to protect Naruto. It was your turn to help.
Everything happened in a blur. Your ears started to hum and all you could hear was your heart beating rapidly. You slid over to Naruto. You knew you had to protect every part of Naruto, for Haku would be able to just move around you should you only stand in front of the boy. You fell over him, blocking his body with yours. You felt a breeze and squeezed your eyes shut.
You waited, but the pain never came. Was your death so quick it had been painless? Your hearing returned. It was mostly quiet, but a dripping sound was reaching your ears. That was odd…maybe you weren't dead.
You slowly peeled open your eyes. The area in front of you was empty, so you turned around, moving off of Naruto. You gasped in surprise to find Sasuke standing in front of you. You blinked, glancing past his legs to see Haku face down on the cement. You turned back to Sasuke, about to ask if he had killed Haku, but you stopped.
You slowly noticed what the dripping noise was that you had heard. A puddle of red blood was beginning to form under Sasuke, and it was then that you noticed Sasuke was slouched forward, an arm grasping at his abdomen.
"Really…you two…are such a burden…" Sasuke said.
"Sasuke…" you started, but paused as Sasuke turned his head to look at you.
You gasped. Blood was running from Sasuke's mouth. Your felt your heart stop. You glanced back to Sasuke's abdomen as his arm dropped to his side. You would have cried out, if you hadn't have lost your voice. Blood soaked his shirt as his wound bled freely.
"You're…such an idiot," Sasuke mumbled.
Your body shook before you looked back up to his face. You suddenly felt helpless, useless, guilty. Your voice cracked as you yelled. "You're the idiot! Why did you jump in the way like that! I had it covered!"
Sasuke slowly looked forward again, a smirk on his face. "I don't know…"
"Hey, Naruto, maybe you should get away from Sasuke…"
"Nakao," Naruto turned his head to you in aggravated surprise. "You're one of them too!?"
You hissed as though the comment burned. "Never!"
Your eyes widened as you found yourself in a lip lock with Mr. Heartthrob. The room went incredibly quiet, all eyes on you. You both quickly pulled away; you screaming and repeatedly rubbing the back of your hand of your lips and Sasuke covering his lips with his, though doing his in a quiet, more dignified manner.
'Sasuke cooties!'
"Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Makase Nakao."
"What!?"
"Hey! Hey get back here! Get me down!" you yelled, flailing your arms.
"What are you doing?"
Your eye twitched. "Oh you know, I tie myself up like this when I want to get away. What do you think I'm doing!? Stupid Kakashi-sensei got me with my back turned!"
"If Nakao doesn't give him her lunch, I'll give him mine. If she fails, we're failing too."
"Lucky. And Sasuke?"
"What about him?"
"I mean, how is he being on your team? He thinks he's so much better than everyone else. Do you absolutely hate his guts?"
"What? No. I don't hate Sasuke; but if he got stabbed in the neck I'd probably laugh."
"Sasuke, you dick!"
"Don't be such a baby."
"Sasuke, chillax dude! I got your back."
"What do you mean you don't know where she is?" Sasuke asked.
"Why would I know where she is? She must have snuck out after me."
"We need to go find her."
"I…um…I can't get up…"
"You're such an idiot."
A tear began to pool in your right eye. You clenched your hands into fists and bowed your head, yelling. "You idiot! I didn't ask you to do that!"
"My body just…moved."
You glanced up to find that Sasuke was beginning to sway on his feet. He tipped backwards, falling towards the cement. You gasped, running and catching your teammate before he hit the ground. You caught him so that his head was cradled in your right arm, his body resting against your knees.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke didn't seem to see you. His gaze was unfocused. "I never did…get to kill…Itachi."
You could feel a lump form in your throat. Tears began to start in the corner of your eyes. When you spoke, your voice whispered unevenly, trying to keep yourself from crying. "It wasn't supposed to be like this…"
Sasuke slowly moved his gaze to you. You could see his onyx-colored eyes fading. "What was that stupid thing we used to do as kids?"
A tear ran down your cheek as you whispered. "You remember?"
"Of course I remember…idiot," Sasuke smirked but then his eyes squeezed shut momentarily, showing he was in pain.
Another tear. Slowly, you raised your left hand, extending your thumb and your pinkie outward. "Friends…" you crossed your fingers. "I promise."
Sasuke smirked and his eyes began to close.
"Sasuke, wait Sasuke!" you pleaded, clutching him tightly.
"You…don't…die…" Sasuke gave you one last look before his eyelids slid over his eyes.
You watched Sasuke, mouth slightly hanging open. You could feel tears dropping from your eyes, onto your lips. You could taste the salt. You let out a whimper.
"Sasuke!" you shook the boy desperately. "Sasuke knock it off!"
But the boy didn't move. You whimpered again, before letting out an audible cry. You hugged Sasuke to your body, digging your head into his shoulder. Beneath the faint scent of blood, you could smell early morning forest. He had always smelled like that. Your shoulders racked with sobs and you held your teammate.
"He jumped in the way to protect someone important to him. He is a ninja truly worthy of respect."
You moved your head away from Sasuke's shoulder, hiccupping. Your face was stained with tears, your hair sticking to your cheeks. Haku was facing you, his masked face watching.
"Is this the first time you've seen a friend die in battle? That is the path of a ninja."
Several more tears ran down your face as you gazed at Haku. Your lips trembled, so you shut them. Your chin began to tremble instead. You glanced back to Sasuke. His face, scratched and bloody, brought fresh, warm tears to your eyes.
"You…don't…die."
You glanced up again so quickly that tears flew from your face. Your violet-shaded eyes turned a deeper purple as you glared at Haku. Anger rushed into you. A bitter feeling that soaked into your very being; making your entire body feel warm. Your nerves were humming, your hearing zoning in and out.
You clutched the fabric of Sasuke's shirt in your hands. Your voice shook. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"