CHAPTER 13:
CLASH ON THE BIG BRIDGE
A week after the battle with Zabuza, it was decided that Naruto would be guarding Tsunami and Inari, while he sent Shadow Clones with Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna. Kakashi had taught the two an interesting fact: wind jutsu combined with a fire jutsu would enhance the fire jutsu. He had, on a hunch, taught Naruto a wind jutsu, Fuuton: Daitoppa, or Great Breakthrough. Naruto had taken to it easily, and Kakashi reckoned that Naruto was probably a wind user, primarily. And his clones could use that very jutsu.
Naruto had sulked at having to babysit Inari and Tsunami, but he understood the reasoning: as much as Inari pissed him off, he didn't want to let Gato get him or Tsunami in his clutches. And once he had been given a verbal bitchslap by Sakura, followed by a more calm explanation by Kakashi, Inari was at least trying to be less of a drama queen. Sakura had apologised to Tsunami and Tazuna, who had taken it in their strides. As much as they loved Inari, they had been at a loss at how to deal with his attitude.
Sakura, once they got to the bridge, realised that they were in trouble. The mist was thick, the construction equipment around was broken, and workers were scattered like ninepins. And soon, Zabuza and Haku made their appearance, along with Water Clones of the infamous swordsman. The clones were swiftly dispatched by Sasuke.
Sakura felt her heart sinking at the thought of having to fight Haku. Zabuza was a demon in human form, a man who revelled in blood and slaughter. He deserved death manifold times over. But Haku…she was sure (and funnily enough, so too was Kakashi) that the effeminate boy didn't like to kill. Her forehead, where he had kissed her, itched slightly.
"Don't hide your face, Haku," Sakura called out. "You're going to kill us, then have the decency to look us in the eye when we do it."
Haku stiffened, before he reached up and removed his Hunter mask. "So, it really was him," Sasuke muttered. "I should have killed him when we had the chance."
"Sasuke," Kakashi said quietly. "If you have to fight Haku, don't hold back. He's probably at chunin level at the very least. And be careful: he admitted he has a bloodline limit."
Meanwhile, Sakura tried to steady herself. Haku was an enemy ninja. He had to be stopped. That was all that mattered. His eyes met hers, and she looked away. Ironically, she found it easier to stare into the merciless orbs of Zabuza.
"I'm onto your tricks now, girl. I must admit, your nifty little jutsu took me by surprise," Zabuza said. "But your new jutsu will die this day, along with you, and the bridge-builder."
"I'm not going to die easily," Sakura bit out angrily. "My jutsu will live beyond this day."
"Well, if nothing else, you have fire in your spirit," Zabuza said. "I'll give you that, girl. You all do. But when water meets flames, the flames go out(1)."
Suddenly, the Naruto clone closest to them blinked. "Hey, guys, a couple of ronin just tried to kidnap Tsunami and Inari. The Boss has just beaten the crap out of them," he said. Naruto had learned of the memory transfer effect of the Shadow Clones, and was using it to send messages.
Zabuza and Haku shot each other looks. Kakashi remarked, "So, not going according to plan, huh?"
"Not to our plan," Zabuza growled. "That asshole midget must've decided to take them hostage. Our concern is merely killing the old man, along with anyone stupid enough to be guarding or helping him. Speaking of which…Haku. Attack."
"Yes," Haku said with a brief nod, before he disappeared in a blur. Sasuke intercepted the effeminate teenager's attack, kunai meeting senbon.
As Sasuke and Haku clashed, Kakashi said, "Sakura, Naruto, guard Tazuna. Let Sasuke deal with Haku."
Zabuza frowned when he realised that there were at least half a dozen clones of Naruto. "Shadow Clones? That's a bloody jounin-level technique, and that brat can make them easily?!"
"Indeed," Kakashi said.
Sakura, meanwhile, watched as Sasuke and Haku fought. Haku, however, revealed that he had laid the groundwork for a number of attacks, in the form of water puddles along the bridge. When holding Sasuke's kunai at bay, Haku's free hand went through a blur of handsigns. "Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou!"
In the split-second that it took for the water on the bridge and to form into deadly needles, Sakura mentally translated that as Secret Art: Thousand Needles of Death. But wouldn't it count as Suiton or Water Release? Or perhaps this was a jutsu Haku developed himself. Of course, most of her was screaming at Sasuke to evade the needles. Which thankfully, he did, in the nick of time, though Naruto's clones weren't so lucky, dispelling in puffs of smoke. He then rained shuriken at Haku, before engaging him in an impressive taijutsu battle, sending Haku sprawling back at Zabuza's feet. Sakura was once again in awe of Sasuke's taijutsu.
As Haku wiped some blood from his mouth, Zabuza sighed. "Haku, your tendency to show mercy is becoming annoying. You know that if you don't step it up, he'll kill you?"
Haku nodded, and seemed to gather himself. "My apologies in advance," he said to the Konoha ninja, before he made another series of handsigns. "Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou."
Demonic Ice Mirrors, Sakura thought. Hyouton or Ice Release was apparently very rare. Perhaps this was the bloodline limit Haku had spoken of.
Around Sasuke, the water froze into a series of slabs of ice, each a perfect mirror. And as he stood gaping at this spectacle, Haku seemed to step into one of the mirrors. Even from her position, Sakura gasped as images of Haku appeared on every mirror.
Kakashi raced forward, intending to help Sasuke, only for Zabuza to intercept him. "I'm your foe, Kakashi! Let the children play!"
Suddenly, within the dome of mirrors, Haku became a blur of motion. Sasuke reeled as a blizzard of senbon erupted from the mirrors. "Sasuke!" Kakashi and Sakura chorused.
"Try to help him," Zabuza said, "and I kill the girl and the old man."
Damn it, Sakura thought, before she said, quietly, "Mr Tazuna, give me a moment." With all the speed and strength she could muster, she darted into a better position, before throwing a kunai as hard as she could to Sasuke. "Catch!" she yelled.
The kunai, however, ended up in Haku's hand, who had emerged partially from one of the mirrors. "Thank you," he said politely.
Suddenly, a shuriken whirled out of nowhere, and hit Haku in the face, sending him sprawling out of the mirrors. Naruto, the real deal, had arrived. Zabuza hurled shuriken at the bragging genin, only for Haku to intercept them. Haku, who was nursing a wound to his face from the shuriken, said he intended to fight them both.
Naruto entered the dome of mirrors, much to Sasuke's frustration…until Naruto pointed out they could combine their jutsus. A strong fire jutsu, with a wind jutsu…it might be their best bet. The two genin proceeded with attempting to melt the mirrors.
Sakura saw the surprise on Haku's face when some of the mirrors actually melted. But with a gesture, they reformed. And the assault continued anew, to Sakura's increasing horror.
Kakashi glared at Zabuza, who laughed. "Fire your genin may have, but they do not have the strength to turn their heart to ice and take a life."
Kakashi responded by pulling his headband up to reveal his Sharingan. "Maybe, but I do."
"True enough. But even if you kill me, Kakashi, you can't stop Haku. His training has been brutal, he has become a living weapon with no regard for his own life…and his bloodline limit is something even I cannot beat. Of course, the same cannot be said about your Sharingan." With a series of handseals, Zabuza once more began gathering the mist he had used in their last encounter. "I could feel those damn eyes pounding at my head in retrospect, ready to cast genjutsu. But I'm used to fighting blind. Are you?"
As the mist thickened, blocking her view of Sasuke, Naruto, and Haku, and hiding Zabuza, Sakura squeezed Tazuna's hand gently. "Get ready," she hissed quietly.
He nodded. Yesterday morning, they had practised with the Groundhog Decapitation technique as an emergency escape plan, with her just barely able to do the technique with one-handed seals. As a silent signal to hold his breath while underground, she would squeeze his hand as hard as she could without injuring him.
"Sakura, protect Tazuna!" Kakashi called, even as his form was obscured by the mist.
Seconds later, they heard Kakashi and Zabuza clashing briefly. Then, silence. A silence as thick as the mist around them.
Suddenly, Sakura's instincts screamed at her, and, squeezing Tazuna's hand hard, she used the Groundhog Decapitation technique. As they sank into the concrete together, Tazuna emitting a startled yelp, she was gratified to see Zabuza, in mid-swing with his sword, looking at her in surprise. The last thing she saw, though, was Kakashi intercepting the blade…
Haku looked at his victims. He mused that the amount of senbon sticking out of them made them resemble hedgehogs. Naruto was panting in agony, while Sasuke was struggling to stay on his feet.
A shame he had to do this to them. He was trying to make them weak enough so he could administer the finishing blow, not necessarily a lethal one, but something to make sure they wouldn't be in the way of Zabuza and Haku when they killed Tazuna.
Haku frowned, though, inwardly. Naruto's clone had mentioned two ronin (probably Gato's) attacking Tazuna's family. That wasn't part of the plan, and Gato gave Haku a bad feeling.
Haku heard the concrete shift and move just outside the dome, and then, a horrified gasp from Sakura and Tazuna when they saw the conditions of Sakura's comrades. "You sadistic bastard!" Sakura screamed angrily.
That comment actually hurt. Haku formed an image on the outward side of the mirror facing Sakura. She looked angry. Understandably so. "Your friends are rather tenacious," Haku said. "You should be proud of them."
"And I'm supposed to like what you're doing to them?" Sakura snarled. "Release them, now!"
"I'm sorry, Sakura, but I cannot do that."
Sakura's hands blurred through a series of handsigns. "IT WASN'T A REQUEST! HIKARITON: KOUSEN!" she screamed. She then pointed her index finger at the mirror.
Haku's instincts screamed at him to get out of the way, and he noted, as he fled to the top mirror, that Sasuke had dropped to the ground. Haku watched in surprise and awe as a beam of light lanced out from Sakura's finger, and began eating into it. Within a few seconds, the light beam pierced through the mirror, and it shattered. With a berserker scream, Sakura, somehow sustaining the beam, moved it horizontally, destroying more mirrors in the process.
"Even the strongest ice melts under the light of a summer day!" Sakura screamed.
Then, the beam stopped. And Haku noted that Sakura was panting, looking exhausted. Haku reformed his ice mirrors, but he was beginning to run out of chakra. However, it seemed that Sakura had come dangerously close to chakra exhaustion.
Appearing before her once more, Haku said, "Your chakra levels are on the wane. A brave attempt, but foolish to exhaust your chakra on a single attack. Please do not try anything else, Sakura."
"Damn you," hissed Sasuke, from within the ice mirrors. And when Haku brought his attention back to him, he realised that something had changed. With a start, he realised Sasuke now had Sharingan. His irises were blood-red. His left eye had one tomoe, and the right two tomoe. So he was an Uchiha after all.
"So you too have a bloodline limit," Haku observed, masking his surprise. Inwardly, though, he was worried. He was still expending chakra to keep the mirrors up, and even with an immature Sharingan, Sasuke would prove to be a threat.
I need to end this. Let's hope that he values the life of Naruto enough to react, Haku thought, before he made his move, targeting the prone blonde boy. And as he had hoped, Sasuke moved to protect him. Haku hit the right parts. Not enough to send him into a false-death state instantly, but enough to make him, and any who watched, think Sasuke was dying.
Unfortunately, Haku miscalculated. He thought this would demoralise the enemy, or else provoke an easily-stoppable rage. Then again, how was he to know about Naruto's secret?
Sakura watched what happened in absolute horror. Sasuke saving Naruto, Naruto rousing himself from his injuries and blood loss to see Sasuke impaled by a ridiculous amount of senbon. And then, Sasuke collapsing, Naruto supporting him.
Then, Sasuke uttered his last words. "I swore that I wouldn't perish…until I made Itachi pay for his crimes. I thought that vow would keep me going…but…don't you dare die…"
As he slumped, Sakura stared in horror, tears glistening in her eyes. Naruto cradled Sasuke's body. And she could do little about it. Her Hikariton: Kousen attack had taken a lot out of her. Another attack might put her into a dangerous state of chakra exhaustion.
And then, that damned dog of Zabuza's spoke. He looked sad as well, even as he re-entered the mirror. "A fine warrior, one who moved without hesitation to attack me, and save you, even knowing it was a trap. He deserves the utmost respect." Looking at Naruto, and at Sakura, he said, "This is the first time a comrade of yours has perished, isn't it? But the path of a shinobi is littered with blood and bodies…"
"Shut up." Sakura heard the strangled, hoarse voice of Naruto emerge from the boy. And almost instantly, she had a very bad feeling about it. It wasn't just grief and anger in those two words. And she was getting this strange sensation, a sensation as if wrath and darkness and malevolence was becoming so palpable…it was Killing Intent with capital letters.
"No forgiveness," Naruto growled in a bestial, distorted tone. And Sakura, when she saw Naruto's face, felt a thrill of terror. The whisker marks on his face had darkened. Chakra the colour of flames purled around him. And his eyes had become blood red, and with slit pupils.
"DIE!" Naruto snarled at Haku.
And it was at this moment that Sakura realised that things had gotten a whole lot worse. In fact, a small part of her actually felt sorry for Haku. The rest of her mind was screaming in fear.
The Kyuubi! she screamed in her head. It's breaking free! We're all going to die!
CHAPTER 13 ANNOTATIONS NO JUTSU!:
So, the first part of the bridge battle. And despite Team 7 showing off some new moves, things are ending up like in canon, so far.
Oh, and Naruto has left a bunch of Shadow Clones back at Tsunami and Inari's house, to make sure Gato doesn't try again.
A new Hikariton technique makes its debut. Hikariton: Kousen, or Light Release: Beam. Think a laser, or at least a focused beam of sunlight. It's incredibly draining on Sakura, though, as it requires a shitload of chakra plus a shitload of chakra control. I originally intended for this technique to make its debut during the fight against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, before I realised it might make a good weapon against Haku's ice mirrors. Okay, it doesn't actually help that much in the story, but at least Sakura's doing something constructive to try and help Sasuke and Naruto in this version of events.
BTW, I've finally learned (on my own cognisance) which David Bowie song is parodied in episode 4 of Naruto: The Abridged Comedy Fandub Spoof Series Show: it's actually a song that was a joint effort between Bowie and Queen, Under Pressure.
Review-answering time! s.f: Well, I could only find one fic with the pairing through the standard search function (that is, inputting a Sakura/Haku pairing). I never said that there weren't others, only that this seemed to be a rare pairing. My actual words were "There is literally one fanfic on this website with this as a marked pairing (though there may be more without such a marked pairing)".
KasonSama: Sakura might possibly be learning medical jutsu, but her drive in this story is different to canon. And Sakura and Haku's romance will be a slow burn: in fact, it probably won't turn into a romance until the end of this fic (I've decided to end this fic at the point where the time-skip occurs, or, for the anime fans, where Naruto becomes Naruto Shippuden).
And no, I haven't read any of this person's work, save for one fic. Naruto fanfic is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I don't seek out much of it compared to, say, Harry Potter fanfic. I usually go by the favourites lists of my favourite authors. I have read part of Kill Your Heroes by that author before. It just didn't grab my attention, despite the quality of the writing.
1. A quote from the first episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Namely, Isaac McDougal taunting Roy Mustang after saturating him with water from pipes.