Titano Man: Hello everyone and welcome back to Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts. This chapter will mark the end to the Battle on the Big Bridge. Who will live? Who will die? Read on to find out!

Terra: Oh, and don't forget that other announcement TM!

Titano Man: Oh right! If you have been following me as an author then you would know by now that the poll I've had up for the last few months has recently ended and the votes have been tallied. And with sixty percent of the total vote Super Smash Brothers Unlimited (Story Mode) took the crown. So I'll upload the first chapter once I have it finished and up to my usual standard. So with that said let's roll the disclaimer!

Haku: Titano Man XIII does not own Kingdom Hearts (Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios), Disney, the Final Fantasy series (Also Square Enix), or any of the following anime and/or video games: Naruto (Masashi Kishimoto), Bleach (Tite Kubo), Rosario+Vampire (Akihisa Ikeda), Soul Eater (Atsushi Okubo), Avatar the Last Airbender (Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko), Pokémon (Nintendo), 8-bit Theater Chaos (Comics- Brian Clevinger Videos- Psyniac), BlazBlue (Arc Systems Works), The Legend of Spyro Series (Activision), the Sonic franchise (Sega), the SoulCalibur franchise (Bandai Namco Games), the Devil May Cry franchise (Capcom), Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (Sony Computer Entertainment), Panzer Dragoon: Orta (Sega), and the Legend of Zelda series (Also Nintendo) or their associated characters as well as anything else that he decides to add to this story. But all the original characters in this story are his property.

Titano Man: On with the show!

Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 20: Battle on the Big Bridge part 4: The Assassin of Ice

Last Time!

The Jōnin and the rogue ninja held each other's gaze for several moments before they both vanished in a blur of speed, likely so they could have their duel without interruption.

Sasuke glared at Haku as his body trembled.

"Scared...?" the masked ninja asked curiously when he noticed the boy's trembling body.

"On the contrary... I'm trembling from excitement!" he said with a smirk as he pulled out a kunai.

"A cocky one, aren't you? Let's see if that cockiness will help you survive this battle." the masked ninja said as he pulled out several senbon needles and held them between his fingers.

The Uchiha smirked confidently and dashed at Haku.

"Sasuke, you idiot! Don't run off on your own!" Kaya shouted trying to stop the boy.

"Howdy!" Deadpool said cheerfully as he fell towards the girl with his katanas poised to slice her into ribbons.

"Whoa!" she cried out as she blocked the attack with her own blade.

The merc let out a flurry of sword strikes with his blade which Kaya was able to successfully block and evade.

She jumped back to catch her breath.

'Damnit, I got distracted! If I let my guard down around this guy for even a moment then I'm as good as dead!' she thought as she gritted her teeth and glared at the masked man.

"Are you alright Kaya?" Terra asked as she stood next to the swordswoman.

"I'm fine. I just need to keep focused is all." Kaya said as she rolled her shoulders and got into her battle stance. "Terra, I'm gonna need you to be a doll and keep that idiot Sasuke from getting himself killed." she asked politely.

"Are you sure that you'll be fine without my help?" the Mage asked with concern.

"Don't worry, with Toph, Kurenai, and her Genin helping me, we'll take care of this guy no problem!" she said confidently.

"Alright, but be careful." the green-haired girl said with a nod and ran off after the Uchiha.

"Hinata, you go with her and provide support. We don't know how strong that masked ninja is." Kurenai ordered as she pulled out a kunai and got into a defensive position.

"H-hai sensei." the young Hyūga heiress said with a nod and ran after Terra.

On with the story!

The scene opens to show a nearby forest, Naruto could be seen hopping across the branches of the trees in a mad dash towards the bridge.

"I can't believe everyone let me sleep in like that! I really hope I'm not too late!" the blond boy said as he picked up speed.

Sasuke, Hinata, and Terra stood next to each other, staring down their masked opponent who only stood a good five feet from them. The boy was standing in front of both girls, holding his kunai in a defensive grip.

Neither party uttered a single word, making the silence between them grow tenser by the second. The sound of clashing blades in the distance didn't help in the matter.

Finally the young Uchiha dared to break the silence.

"I don't know why you two decided to follow me, but I don't need your help." although he was not facing them, Hinata and Terra knew that he was addressing the both of them.

"Sasuke... We don't know how strong this person is. There's no guarantee that you can handle this fight on your own." Terra argued as she looked to the boy.

"Hn... I'm not some weakling that needs protecting." the raven-haired boy said with a scowl.

"W-we're not s-saying that Sasuke... W-we just don't want you to get hurt is all." Hinata argued softly.

The boy scoffed. "Whatever. I don't care what you two do, just stay out of my way." he said before putting his focus back onto the mask ninja in front of him.

"You should listen to your friends there. Only the foolish and the brave die young on the battlefield." Haku said as he stared at the trio.

"Hn, they're not my friends. Just people I'm working with." said the Last Loyal Uchiha.

The Fake Hunter Ninja simply shook his head.

"Who do you think you are anyway?" Sasuke asked in a scathing tone.

Haku slightly tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

"You wear that mask and pretend to be protecting your village, and yet that was just an act to get your partner out of trouble. You give real hunter ninja a bad name. So I'm going to teach you a lesson." he said as he tensed his body and readied himself for combat.

"Go ahead and try." said the masked ninja.

Sensing the mounting tension, Terra called forth her weapon. In a small flash of light he saber, a blade called the Enhancer, appeared in her hand.

Hinata shifted into her family's Jūken stance and began to mentally prepare herself for the coming fight.

There was absolute silence for close to thirty seconds before Haku made the first move.

He spun around at blinding speeds, forming a small tornado made of cutting winds around him and spun towards Sasuke.

The young Uchiha smirked in anticipation.

The fake hunter ninja stopped spinning and sent his right fist sailing towards the Genin with a senbon needle in hand, the momentum from his cyclone boosted spinning to be move faster than either Hinata or Terra could see.

Luckily Sasuke was able to move fast enough to intercept his opponent's attack with his own kunai.

'He was able to keep up with my speed.' Haku thought as he tried to overpower the boy in front of him.

'Looks like that extra training did help.' Sasuke thought with a smirk. He put more force behind his kunai, attempting to gain a foothold on the masked ninja.

Haku decided to switch with his left hand to see if he would score a hit on the raven-haired boy, but said boy was able to block that attack as well.

The masked boy alternated between left and right several times, but was blocked by the Uchiha.

"We only want the bridge builder, not you. If you back down, I won't have to kill you." the Fake Hunter Ninja said calmly, trying to use reason to appeal to his opponent.

"Save it!" Sasuke said with a smirk.

"You're making a mistake. You won't be able to keep up with my speed. I've gained two key advantages. " Haku said in a serious tone, not at all boastful.

"Yeah? What are they?" the Uchiha asked, not believing his opponent's words.

"Well first, we're surrounded by water. And second, I've occupied one of your hands. So that means that you only have one free hand to defend yourself with." the masked ninja said as he lifted up his left hand and went through a series of one-handed seals.

'What?! Using one hand?!' Sasuke thought in shock.

Haku landed on the last seal and called out his technique. "Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō!" he stomped his foot onto the floor and the water that comprised the mist around them began to condense and form into thousands of long, thin needles made of water.

The needles completely surrounded the group with the only possible method of escape being the gap in the attack directly above them.

Terra and Hinata looked at the innumerable number of water needles that surrounded them in disbelief. They highly doubted that they would be fast enough to dodge all of these needles. They looked to their male comrade only to see that he had his eyes closed with a look of concentration on his face.

The Mage frowned with some worry. "Hinata, stay close to me. I don't want you getting hit by these needles." she said as she turned her head slightly to the side to look at the pale-eyed Hyūga Heiress.

The younger girl looked at the spellcaster and nodded meekly, trusting the older girl to find a way out of this situation.

Everything was still for only a brief few second before the needles blurred towards the trio faster than the eye could see.

Haku jumped backwards to avoid being hit by his own attack.

When the dust cleared he saw that Sasuke was gone and that both Hinata and Terra were being protected by some strange transparent barrier that was seemingly erected by the later. He was only able to see the barrier when he saw some of the water needles reflect off of it.

'She was able to use that barrier to block my jutsu. I'll need to be careful with that green-haired girl.' he thought as he eyed the Mage. He then looked up to see that Sasuke had managed to dodge his attack by jumping high into the air. 'Not only that, but that boy was able to dodge my Sensatsu Suishō.' he then jumped back when he saw the Uchiha throw both of his kunai at him.

The sharp projectiles missed and hit the spot where Haku stood.

In an impressive burst of speed, the Genin appeared in front of the Fake Hunter Ninja, shocking the boy, and sent him flying with a spin-kick to the sternum.

The masked boy tumbled across the ground until he stopped lying face down several feet away from the trio.

Sasuke smirked smugly.

"What was that about surrendering earlier?" the raven-haired boy asked in a mocking tone.

"Sasuke!" Terra called out as she and Hinata ran up to him.

"D-did you beat him?" the young kunoichi asked meekly.

"I hope not. It would have been a huge disappointment otherwise." the boy said with a frown as he eyed his downed opponent.

Just then Haku crawled back onto his feet.

The Uchiha smirked in satisfaction. "Looks like you still got plenty of fight left in you." he said as he pulled out a couple of kunai and slipped into his clan's Interceptor stance.

But before either boy could re-engage in their bout, the emerald-haired spellcaster stepped between them.

"Wait! You said that you don't want to fight us. If you stop now, then I'm sure we could come to an agreement!" she said pleadingly as she looked at the boy's expressionless mask.

"It's true that I do not wish to fight you if I could..." the boy said, causing the Mage to smile slightly. "But I do not wish to be useless to master Zabuza." her smile faded.

"Then... There's no talking our way through this, is there?" Terra said with a soft, disappointed sigh.

"I'm sorry, but if it means that I must kill you all in order to be of service to Zabuza, then I will." the Fake Hunter Ninja said as his body was enveloped in an aura of chakra. "Please forgive me." he said as he formed a single hand-seal and created several senbon needles made of ice.

He then entered a battle stance that focused on speed. (Think Larxene's stance from KHII Final Mix... Ugh... Sorry, bad flashback.)

Play Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix OST- Thirteenth Reflection

With an face of grim determination, Terra called drew her saber and prepared for a tough fight.

Seeing that they had no choice but to fight, Hinata activated her Byakugan and slipped into her Jūken stance, which had been slightly modified to be more fluid and allow for greater use of her natural flexibility.

Sasuke simply smirked in anticipation.

"I'll show you true speed." Haku stated right before he dashed at the trio.

The masked boy threw a straight punch at the emerald-haired spellcaster, intending to drive his needles into her heart.

The girl easily blocked his attack, causing him to recoil and seemingly create an opening to exploit. But before she could start her assault, Haku vanished in a blur of speed.

The Fake Hunter Ninja appeared next to her and hit her with a speedy combo. The attacks themselves didn't do much damage, but due to the sheer number of hits, Terra lost quite a bit of stamina.

The masked boy finished his combo with a strong kick, which sent his opponent flying, and jumped back to avoid a swing from Sasuke's fist.

The Uchiha kept up his assault, being sure not to let his opponent catch a break.

Haku was able to match him blow for blow, blocking and evading each blow that sailed his way.

The raven-haired boy was able to score a lucky punch on his opponent's masked face, causing him to stumble. Seeing the opportunity, he let out a combo onto the masked boy.

Midway through Sasuke's combo, the Fake Hunter Ninja vanished in a blur, making the Genin overextended his punch, and appeared right behind him.

One fast, but brutal combo later and Sasuke was sent skidding across the ground.

With a look of nervous determination on her face, Hinata dashed towards Haku and tried to hit him with her Jūken.

He was able to evade most of the assault, though the Hyūga Heiress was able to score a few hits on him, successfully sealing a few minor tenketsu.

But before the masked boy could retaliate, he was blindsided by Terra hitting him with a fireball, leaving him open for the Mage to land a few hits on him.

She landed several three-hit combos on her opponent before he vanished once more in a blur.

This time she expected him to appeared in her blind spot and quickly spun around in time to successfully block his attack, making him recoil and leaving him open.

This time Sasuke came in and hit the masked boy with a swift combo.

Haku was sent skidding back when the Uchiha finished his combo with a Gōkakyū No Jutsu, doing a great deal of damage.

The masked boy grunted at the pain he felt from his burns and studied his opponents.

'They're starting to figure out my attack pattern. Looks like I'll have to use some of my other moves.' he thought as his hands went through the necessary seals needed for one of his jutsu.

Terra, Sasuke, and Hinata tensed, preparing for whatever jutsu their opponent had up his sleeve.

"Hyōton: Hyōrō no jutsu!" he said as he pushed his chakra through the air.

Before Sasuke, Hinata, or Terra could do anything, most appeared around them and quickly solidified, trapping them in blocks of ice.

They didn't stay in the ice for long, for Haku hit each of them with several fast combos, freeing them from their prisons and sending them flying back.

The Fake Hunter Ninja then dashed toward them in a blur.

Terra was able to recover in time to dodge his combo.

She then hit him in the back with a short combo, causing him to flinch.

He then jumped away from the three in order to get some distance.

The masked boy stared at the group silently before he got back into his fighting stance.

For the next minute and a half, Sasuke, Hinata, and Terra whittled away at Haku's health while the ice user would alternate between combos, occasionally freezing them into blocks of ice, sending several giant shurikens made of ice at them across the ground, and sending a barrage of water needles at them. When his health retched the halfway point, he started using more powerful attacks to try and defeat his opponents. He attempted to impale them with giant ice spikes that he summoned out of the ground, fire homing ice missiles at them, and send a series of ice needles that popped up from the ground and chased after them.

The Fake Hunter Ninja jumped away from his opponents and did a short series of hand-seals. "Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!" he called out right as the mist around him condensed to form two exact duplicates of him.

The three vanished briefly and reappeared surrounding Terra and the Genin.

The masked boy and his clones blitzed the trio by dashing at them at high speeds.

Sasuke was able to dodge out of the way but Hinata and Terra weren't so lucky. They were struck by the boy and his clones, receiving extensive damage for their troubles.

The ice user repeated the attack, this time catching Sasuke and causing him some damage.

He carried on this battle strategy for several minutes, often stopping to fire ice missiles, or throw giant ice shurikens between rush downs.

This continued until Terra was able to recover quickly enough between attacks to retaliate.

"Reflect!" she called out, setting up a transparent barrier made of hexagonal panels around herself, Sasuke, and Hinata right as their opponent dashed at them once more with his clones.

The masked boy and his clones struck the barrier and it exploded outward, destroying his water clones and causing him damage.

"Guh, I didn't expect that..." The Fake Hunter Nin said as he fell onto one knee.

"Is that all you got?" Sasuke asked smugly as he looked at the androgynous ninja.

"I didn't want it to come to this, but you've left me no choice!" Haku said as he stood up and did a series of hand-seals.

'What's he planning to do this time?' the Uchiha thought suspiciously.

"Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōsho!" he called out as twenty one mirrors made of ice formed around the trio.

'What in the-?!' the raven-haired Genin thought in shock as he looked at the mirrors around him.

Haku then walked up to a mirror and literally melted into it. His image being portrayed on the other side of it. The rest of the mirrors then showed the same image of Haku, making it very difficult to tell which one he was really hiding in.

"This is my most powerful technique. None of you will be able to escape." he said as the mirrors gleamed menacingly. His voice seemingly came from everywhere at once.

Meanwhile on another part of the bridge, Sakura watched in worry as her sensei fought with Zabuza.

Next to her, Trabia stood by stoically, prepared to fight should anything come her way.

Tazuna stood behind the two, watching nervously as the people that swore to protect him fought for their lives.

"This is getting intense..." the old bridge builder said as he wiped his brow.

"Everyone's fighting so hard and giving it their all... And all I'm doing is standing around." Sakura said with a frown as she looked down at her hands.

"Sakura... You're not just standing around. You're helping me protect Tazuna." Trabia said in a reassuring tone.

"You and I both know that you're strong enough to protect Tazuna on you own." the young rosette said as she looked at the Gardevoir.

The Embrace Pokémon frowned a little. That was true enough. If things got bad then she could simply teleport herself and Tazuna away from the battle.

"Kaya was right. I won't be of any help or get any stronger by just standing around like this." the young kunoichi said with a shake of her head.

The Pokémon scanned the girl with her pinkish-red eyes for a few moments before responding. "Yes, you are weak. But that is because you are young and still new to all of this. Give it time. You will find your place sooner or later." the Gardevoir said in a soft, soothing tone.

"I hope so..." the girl said as she watch Kakashi and Zabuza separate from a clash once more. She then noticed something strange not too far away. "Huh, what's that?" she asked loudly enough that Kakashi was able to hear it.

For some reason, the fog was not as thick where they were than where the other we're having there battles. (Convenient.)

The Copy Ninja dared to look at what caught his student's attention only to have his eyes widen in shock. 'What is that?! I've never seen anything like it before!' he thought worriedly.

The Demon if the Hidden Mist noticed what his foe was staring at and chuckled maliciously. "Looks like they got caught in Haku's ultimate technique. Take a good look Kakashi, because that's the last you'll ever see of those brats!" the rogue ninja said with a smirk under his bandages.

'Oh no, Sasuke!' Sakura thought worriedly as she looked at the mirrors. Without any other thought, she took a kunai out of the holster strapped to her leg and made a mad dash towards the dome of ice mirrors.

"Sakura, where are you going?!" Trabia asked in shock.

"I have to do something! Please understand!" was all the girl said as she ran off.

"Be safe..." the Gardevoir said with a worried frown as she watched the young kunoichi vanish into the fog.

Terra landed on her back with a heavy thud. All visible skin was covered in cuts, some of which were bleeding. Her clothing was even ripped up in some places, especially her leggings, which had a few holes and tears in them.

Hinata was next to her, lying on her side, and Sasuke was on the other side of her, kneeling.

When Haku had summoned the ice mirrors, he showed a massive boost in speed by coming at them from seemingly everywhere at once, causing the trio great damage.

The Mage propped herself up onto her elbows, glaring at the mirror in front of her through her right eye. She had her left eye closed in order to keep out the blood that was seeping from the cut over it.

'He's so fast...' she thought as she forced herself back onto her feet. 'And I can't even break those mirrors!' Earlier she had attempted to melt the ice mirrors with a Fire spell, only for it to have no effect. And when she tried to break them with her saber, she was beaten back by the masked boy's speedy barrage.

Hinata and Sasuke followed after her, though they took slightly longer to get back onto their feet.

"Why won't the three of you just stay down?" Haku asked as he watched the trio struggle to stay upright.

"Because..." Terra started as she attempted to wipe the blood away from her eye. "There are people who are counting on us. For us to bring freedom to Nami no Kuni. This bridge is the only hope the people of this country have left. We will protect it, no matter the cost!" she said resolutely as she finally stood tall. She raised her right hand into the air and cast a Cure spell over herself, Sasuke, and Hinata.

The spell took effect and restored some of the trio's vitality, allowing them to fight for just a little bit longer.

The Fake Hunter Ninja let out an inaudible sigh, frustrated that his opponents refused to back down. Despite that though, he couldn't help but feel some respect for them as well for their determination.

The masked boy brandished his senbon needles and got ready to launch another assault.

The Mage and two Genin got back to back with each other and prepared for another assault.

"Sasuke!" a familiar female voice cried out worriedly.

The trio dared to look at where the voice came from beyond the mirrors.

To their shock, Sakura was running towards the dome with a kunai in hand.

"Sakura?!" the Uchiha said in shock, genuinely surprised to see his pink-haired teammate upcoming to his aid.

"Let him go you masked bastard!" the girl cried out fiercely as she made to drive her weapon into the back of one of the mirrors, intending to shatter it.

But it was all in vain for Haku grabbed her wrist just as her hand came down. He was sticking halfway out of the mirror that Sakura was about to stab.

The young rosette's eyes widened in shock when she saw that her attempt had been stopped.

'I really should have thought this through...' she thought nervously.

'You think?!' Inner Sakura said with her arms crossed over her chest.

The young kunoichi then tried to punch him with her free hand, but he caught that as well.

The masked boy then grabbed the kunai out of Sakura's hand and pushed her back.

"Don't do anything foolish." he said as he looked down at the girl.

"I-I'm not going to give up!" the female Genin said with determination as she got into the basic academy stance.

"I see..." The Fake Hunter Ninja said with a sigh.

He suddenly vanished from the mirror and appeared behind the rosette.

The girl gasped in shock and spun around to face her opponent. Unfortunately she couldn't react fast enough to properly counteract his combo.

With a kick to the chest, Sakura was sent flying into the dome. She would have hit the floor too if Sasuke didn't catch her at the last second.

"Sasuke!" the young kunoichi cried out when she realized that her crush had caught her.

"What the hell were you thinking you idiot?!" then Uchiha asked with a scowl on his face. He put her down and she stood on her own.

"I just wanted to help!" she said meekly.

"Well next time help by staying out of the way." the Rookie of the Year stated coldly, making his teammate flinch.

"Is that how you treat your teammates?" Haku asked with a shake of his head as he made his way back to the dome. He was about to step back into the ice mirror when he was suddenly blindsided by a shuriken sticking him across the face, causing his head to get knocked to the side and a noticeable gash to form on his mask.

Slightly disoriented by the hit, the Fake Hunter Ninja stumbled back from the dome as he held his face with his hand. Before he could even question where the attack came from, a cloud of white smoke appeared a little off to the side of the dome.

After several moments the smoke cloud dissipated, revealing none other than...

"Have no fear, Naruto Uzumaki is here! Hehe, kept you waiting, didn't I?" the blond asked as a confident grin stretched across his face.

There were several moments of silence as everyone stared at the orange-clad boy.

'He's such a show off!' Sasuke with blank looks on his face. (Hello, kettle? The pot call. He says you're black!)

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out in relief when she say her blond teammate.

'N-Naruto's here...' Hinata thought joyfully.

'Maybe having him here will make this fight go easier.' Terra thought as she looked at the boy Kakashi had once called Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja.

A little ways away, Kakashi and Zabuza were distracted by Naruto's sudden appearance.

"Tch, this brat again!" Zabuza spat in irritation as he looked at the scene.

'That little idiot! If he had stayed hidden, then he would have been more effective?!' Kakashi thought as he grit his teeth. 'This isn't good... Sakura got herself captured in that boy's jutsu and Naruto won't be able to use stealth to take that boy out.' he narrowed his eyes in thought, trying to think of a way to help his students.

"Don't even think about it Kakashi. If you go to help your little brats, then I'll be free to kill the bridge builder." Zabuza said threateningly.

The Jōnin grit his teeth, seeing that he was stuck.

Haku tensed. 'That boy... I was hoping I wouldn't have to face him...' he thought woefully as he stared at the blond from behind his mask, remembering his earlier encounter with the orange-clad Genin.

"So, you're here to help your comrades." the masked boy stated calmly.

"That's right! And I'm going to kick your butt too!" the blond shouted confidently as he pointed at the Fake Hunter Ninja.

"Naruto, why are you so late anyway?" Sakura demanded with a scowl. Why didn't her knucklehead of a teammate show up to help sooner.

"Well I was on my way here earlier, but when I noticed that a couple of Gatō's thugs were heading to Tazuna's house, I had to head back to stop them from hurting Tsunami and Inari." the orange-clad Genin said as he looked at the rosette and scratched the back of his head.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Haku dashed towards Naruto.

"Naruto, look out!" Terra warned when she saw the masked boy dashed towards the blond.

The Knucklehead Ninja looked back towards the Fake Hunter Ninja and reacted quickly enough to dodge the punch the assassin sent his way.

But while he was able to dodge the initial punch, he failed to react in time to the kick his opponent sent at him.

The kick connected, sending the blond flying into the dome of ice mirrors to join his comrades.

Unlike with Sakura, Naruto crashed face first into the ground.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Terra asked in concern as she helped the boy to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm good." the blond said as he shook his head.

Haku then slipped into one of the mirrors and his image appeared on its surface once more.

"Hey, that was a cheap trick!" the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja shouted angrily as he pointed at one of the images of Haku.

"A ninja shouldn't get distracted on the battlefield. That guarantees death." the masked boy replied simply.

"He has a point. You wouldn't be stuck in here if you didn't keep running your mouth." Sasuke stated condescendingly as he looked at his blond teammate.

"Shut up Sasuke, like you could have done any better!" the orange-clad Genin said in an irritated tone.

"Yes, I would have." the onyx-eyed boy said with a smirk.

"Why you...!" the blond growled as he glared at his teammate.

"Enough both of you!" Terra said in a loud, stern tone, making both boys stop their bickering and look at her. "There's no changing what's happened. All we can do now is focus on beating this guy and getting out of this dome, understood?" she asked as she looked at the two, her tone suggesting that she didn't want to hear any nonsense from them.

"R-right!" Naruto said with a nod. 'Wow, Terra can be pretty scary when she wants to be.' he thought with a nervous gulp, not wanting to see what she could do when the normally kind and gentle girl was angry. (Oh you haven't seen anything yet, trust me.)

"Hn, fine." the Uchiha said with a small huff as he put his focus back into the fight. He looked at the mirrors around him and growled. "That's it, I'm destroying these mirrors!" he said as he did the hand-seals for his signature jutsu.

"What jutsu are you using?!" Naruto asked as he looked at his teammate.

"These mirrors are made of ice! And what destroys ice? Figure it out! Gōkakyū no jutsu!" he shouted before he breathed out a massive ball of flame.

"Sasuke wait!" Terra shouted warningly as the fire engulfed the mirrors around them, nearly burning them in the process.

Sasuke kept up the attack for several more seconds before he cut the chakra flow and ended the jutsu. He smirked in satisfaction at his perceived victory before he let out a gasp of shock when the fire dissipated to reveal that the ice mirrors came out completely intact. His jutsu had no effect.

"I-it didn't work!" Sakura said in shock.

"THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING AT ALL!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"I tried to tell you! Fire has no effect on these mirrors! And not only that, this dome is too small to use a flame that big. You nearly burned all of us!" the emerald-haired spellcaster said as she looked at the younger boy.

"She's right. You'll need much more heat than that to melt this ice." Haku said as he stared down the small party.

The young Uchiha growled in frustration.

The masked boy then brandished several senbon and all of the mirrors flashed brightly, nearly blinding everyone.

The next thing the Mage and the Genin knew, their bodies were being wracked with pain.

"Where are these needle attacks coming from?! Are they clones?" Naruto asked after he hit the ground. He stood up and looked at each mirror. "We've got to find the real one! Which one is it?" he asked as he searched for the real Fake Hunter Ninja.

"Look as hard as you like. You will never learn the secret." Zabuza's young accomplice stated calmly.

"Oh yeah?" the blond asked challengingly as he prepared to use his signature technique. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" he cried out as he was enveloped in smoke.

"No don't!" Sasuke shouted warningly.

A small horde of Naruto clones then rushed out towards each mirror in an attempt to smash the mirrors.

But before any of the blonds could reach the mirrors, they were all dispelled and the real Naruto was sent crashing into the ground.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out in concern as she and Hinata went to check on the blond knucklehead.

"A-are you alright Naruto?" the Hyūga heiress asked worriedly.

The boy grunted as he lifted his head off the ground and glared at the masked boy with one eye.

"These mirrors don't just reflect my image, they allow me to move at high speeds and launch multiple attacks before you can even blink. To my eyes, you're all moving in slow motion." explained the masked boy.

Kakashi, who had overheard the explanation, gasped in shock upon the realization that the masked boy's jutsu was part of his Kekkei Genkai, which were caused by specific mutations within the genetic code of someone's DNA that caused special abilities such as the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, the Hyūga clan's Byakugan, and Haku's ice attacks. These kind of mutations were most typically found within clans.

When the Jōnin finished his explanation everyone came to the grim realization that Kekkei Genkai jutsu could not be copied by the Sharingan. As such, the white-haired man had no countermeasures against anyone Haku's ice based jutsu.

Naruto let out a grunt. "I couldn't break through!" he said as shadows were cast over his eyes by his headband. "So what! He's not gonna stop me!" he spat, making the Fake Hunter Ninja gasp. "I'm not giving up and I'm not going to lose here! 'Cause I have a dream, and no one's going to take it away from me!" the blond said as he looked up, a fierce look in his eyes. "Someday I'll be respected in my village, that's my dream! To be the greatest Hokage!" he shouted resolutely.

'Dreams...' That struck a chord with Haku, making him remember the day he had first met Zabuza. He had been alone and hungry in the middle of winter when the then Jōnin of Kirigakure no Sato walked up to him. He remembered commenting that their eyes were the same back then. That had been the turning point in his life. A day he will forever cherish and remember.

"It was not my desire to be a shinobi. It's painful! I don't want to kill any of you. But if you advance... I will have no choice." he said remorsefully. "Then I will have to kill the kindness and light in my heart... And fully embrace the shinobi way." a dark, smoke-like energy began to waft off of the mirrors and fill the air with a heavy feeling. "There will be no mercy, no turning back! This bridge will be the battlefield where our dreams will collide." the dark energy began to grow thicker. "Now I must fight for my dream, just as you fight for yours. Please do not blame me. I fight for someone who is precious to me. I live for him... And I would face death for him... So that his dream may become a reality." the ice wielder said as he looked at Zabuza through the corner of his eye. "That is my dream! And for the sake of that dream, if I must, I will cast away my humanity and act as a true shinobi, and take your lives!" he said resolutely as the darkness that had been flowing off of him had now tinted the ice mirror a purplish color and made several giant ice spikes appear all around the outside of the dome, further trapping the group.

Naruto and Sasuke smirked in anticipation while Hinata, Sakura, and Terra tensed themselves.

Just then, the image of Haku disappeared from the surface of the mirrors and several copies of him came out of the mirrors on all sides, surrounding the group.

'What, clones?! I didn't even see him use any hand signs!' Sasuke thought in shock.

The clones got into their stance and dashed at the group at blinding speed.

They plowed through the group several times and caused significant damage.

Before his opponents had the chance to fully recover, he sent several giant snowflake shapes shuriken flying across the ground. The shurikens ricocheted off of the mirrors and back towards the group whenever it hit one.

The spellcaster and the Genin were barely able to avoid this new onslaught. The Fake Hunter Ninja was much faster than before and his attacks did more significant damage.

The ice wielder continued the assault, often switching between joint attacks with his clones, to sending multiple ice shuriken gliding across the ground, and firing massive ice missiles from his mirrors at his enemies. He would sometimes appear in the middle of the small arena and send a series of ice spikes up from the ground that chased after their targets.

This carried on for close to a minute until Terra was able to create a brief opening with a perfectly timed reflect spell as the masked boy came rushing at him with several clones, causing the him to recoil from the force of hitting the shield and his clones to shatter, reviewing that they were made of ice.

Reacting quickly, the Mage put her hands together in front of her and focused her mana. "Fira!" she cried out as she sent a fireball the size of a beachball at Haku.

The spell connected with a small explosion, causing massive damage and making the masked boy flinch, leaving him further open towards damage.

Hinata, who was the closest to the Fake Hunter Ninja, saw her chance and hit him with a brief flurry of strikes, ending the combo with a double palm thrust on his back.

After the combo, the masked boy vanished in a blur of speed and reappeared with several more ice clones lined up on one side of the arena.

Haku then launched another flurry of joint attacks, this time firing numerous projectiles while attacking with his clones.

Terra, Hinata, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were barely able to fight back since hey we're forced to constantly avoid the attack or take heavy damage. Occasionally one of them would either not react in time and sustain heavy damage, forcing Terra to risk her own well being in order to heal them, or were able to pinpoint the real Haku from among his clones and gradually do some damage on him. Unfortunately he would vanish whenever they would land a solid combo on him.

This carried on until the masked boy was down to his last bar of health and he prepared to rush down his opponents with four other clones surrounding them.

The Fake Hunter Ninja made his move and within a fraction of a second, Terra was able to react fast enough to set up a Reflect spell big enough to protect herself, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata.

Haku and his clones impacted the barrier, having been moving too fast to stop in time. The barrier exploded outwards sending all of the damage from his attack back at it and multiplying that damage by five times due to both him and his four clones attacking at once.

The masked boy cried out in pain as the damage was dealt.

End Theme

Haku was sent skidding back until he crashed into one of his ice mirrors.

He fell to one knee and panted tiredly. He was at the end of his rope. These people didn't know when to give up.

'I won't let them beat me here!' the ice wielder thought as he forced himself to stand up despite his tiredness. He then proceeded to meld into the mirror behind him.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto shouted as he ran at the masked boy in an attempt to grab his opponent before the merger was complete.

Unfortunately the blond did not make it in time and the Fake Hunter Ninja appeared on the rest of the mirrors.

Between the span of a single heartbeat, Haku attacked the party countless times faster than the eye could ever hope to track.

"Damn it! He's using that trick from earlier!" the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja cursed as he got up onto his knees. "Well two can play at that game! Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" he shouted as he created a small battalion of clones to try and destroy the mirrors once more.

Like the previous attempt however, Haku easily dispelled all of the clones and sent the orange-clad Genin crashing back into the ground.

During the attack Sasuke had noticed something strange. A small glob of water that had been knocked into the air during the attack was moving and breaking apart in certain directions. As if it was being pushed around by an unseen force. And just like that, realization dawned on him.

Everyone else was then attacked as well.

'I can see the trails he leaves behind. I can follow his moves!' the young Uchiha thought, as he got back up.

"Alright, one more time! Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted in determination.

"Naruto wait!" Sakura Called out warningly as the boy created more clones and charged once more.

Acting quickly, Sasuke kicked some water up into the air.

"Don't you see that it's useless?!" Haku asked, beginning to grow annoyed with their persistence.

The masked boy then launched his attack, moving at high speeds to attack his opponents, unknowingly pushing around the water that the young Uchiha had kicked into the air.

The party was then struck by dozens of high speed swipes, leaving numerous shallow cuts across their clothing and skin.

They hit the ground with heavy thuds.

After several brief moments, Sasuke picked himself up and looked at the mirrors. 'I can see his speed. But that doesn't mean I can match it.' he thought as he grit his teeth. He recalled what he was able to see before he got knocked off his feet. 'The water... It got repelled!' he looked around. 'What if I used something else? Not water, but... Yeah, that'll do.' he thought confidently as an idea formed in his head.

"Guys, I have an idea, listen up." the onyx-eyed boy said soft that only his comrades could hear him.

Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Terra huddled up with the young Uchiha so they could hear his plan.

'I know you need me Zabuza. I'll finish them off quickly!' Haku thought as he sensed Zabuza using some of his more powerful techniques.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto called out as he summoned a battalion of clones, shocking the masked boy out of his thoughts.

'He just won't give up!' the ice wielder thought with a frustrated frown behind his mask. He prepped himself to launch another assault on the group.

With frame perfect accuracy, Sasuke did the necessary hand-seals for his Gōkakyū no jutsu and sent a ball of fire at the space where he believed the masked boy would go just as soon as he left the mirror.

As soon as they saw where their raven-haired comrade was aiming, Terra sent several consecutive Fira spells in that direction while both Hinata and Sakura sent several kunai tagged with explosive notes attached to them in the same direction as well.

'What?!' Haku thought in shock when he saw the additional attacks heading straight towards him.

Within a fraction of a second he redirected his trajectory so he could avoid the attacks. He entered another mirror and used that as a launching point to resume his assault.

'It shouldn't be taking this long to defeat them!' the ice wielder thought in frustration as he swiped at each clone he passed and threw senbon at whatever ones he missed.

During the assault Sasuke was able to spot a single blank mirror and immediately sent another Gōkakyū no jutsu in that direction.

Time seemed to slow as the masked boy quickly entered and leapt out of the blank mirror and flew towards the last remaining Naruto just as the fireball approached him.

Noticing it, the ice wielder was able to maneuver himself enough that it was only able to nick the hem of his pants.

The last clone dispelled and Naruto was sent crashing onto the ground.

The young Uchiha couldn't help but smirk at the small amount of progress. He was starting to get the timing down.

Haku stared down at the raven-haired boy. 'He read my movements. But that's not possible!' he thought in shock.

Sasuke realized that their opponent was starting to slow down, with that knowledge he told everyone to escape the dome while he covered them.

They carried out the order only for the raven-haired Genin to get a senbon in his shoulder after sending a fireball at the masked boy and the others getting knocked back into the center of the dome before any of them could escape.

They soon made a second attempt to escape, this time with Sasuke running out as well. With the Fake Hunter Ninja's diminishing energy, he figured that he would not be able to stop all of them from escaping.

He unfortunately was proven wrong when the party was skewered by several senbon needles piercing them in their legs and in non vital places.

It was clear that his intention was only to keep them from getting out.

After several moments of trying to catch their breaths Naruto offered to give the others a chance to get out by acting as a distraction.

The distraction worked up until the ice wielder was able to immobilize the blond with more senbon needles.

Seeing that the boy was down, Terra, Sakura, and Hinata went over to him to see if he was alright.

Wanting to end the battle immediately, the Fake Hunter Ninja sent another wave of needles at the group.

With impressive speed, Sasuke was able to grab one of the metal needles off the ground and used it to deflect all of the needles.

"Get up Naruto! We need to work together!" the young Uchiha said as he looked down at the barely conscious boy.

"G-give me a minute..." the blond muttered tiredly as he tried, and failed, to stand up.

'N-Naruto can't keep fighting like this.' Hinata thought as she looked at her crush and role model in worry. 'If this keeps up then he might... NO! I won't let that happen!' she thought resolutely, determined to protect the only person who gave her the will to keep fighting every day.

The Hyūga heiress moved in front of the boy and took up a protective posture.

'I won't let your dream die here Naruto! Seeing you succeed... That's my dream too!' she thought as she activated her Byakugan.

Terra looked at the two Genin standing protectively over their comrades and grit her teeth worriedly. They won't be able to last much longer. The Mage had used up all of her potions and ethers a while ago and she was running low on mana. She probably only had enough for one or two more strong spells.

So with that thought she moved to stand next to the two Genin, saber in hand.

Growing tired of this farce, Haku appeared in all of the mirrors and launched a hail of senbon needles at the group.

"Look out!" Sakura cried from behind the trio.

Sasuke, Terra, and Hinata blocked the onslaught with what they had. Terra, her saber, Hinata, with her Jūken, and Sasuke with the needle in hand. They blacked most of the attack, though some needles slipped through and hit them.

They spent the next minute and a half dodging and blocking as many needles as they could, though they were still hit by several needles that slipped through.

Unfortunately Naruto had succumbed to exhaustion and passed out and Sakura was rendered incapacitated due her slow reflexes getting her hit by multiple needles.

"Enough of this!" Haku said in frustration as he threw another wave of senbon at his opponents.

The emerald-haired spellcaster and the two remaining Genin tried to block the assault, but unfortunately Terra and Hinata had both gotten hit in their calves, causing them to flinch and leave them wide open. Dozens of needles impaled their soft flesh, causing pain to burn across their nerves as the Hyūga Heiress fell to her knees and the Mage collapsed onto the ground.

Neither were completely unaware of the fact that Sasuke was the only one who was still standing.

The Fake Hunter Ninja was confused as to why the raven-haired boy was able to keep tracking and deflecting his needles.

He had witnessed Genin grab both Naruto and Sakura and leap out of the way just before a set of senbon hit the spot where they previously were.

The boy now stood next to where Hinata and Terra were, which was a little ways away from where he was previously, and set his two weakened teammates down.

Despite her weakened condition, Hinata stood back up and prepared to continue fighting, determined to protect her most precious person.

The answer to the ice wielder's question soon came when the Uchiha lifted his face up to stare at him, his once onyx eyes had now changed.

His eyes were now blood red with small comma shaped markings surrounding the pupil. There were two commas slowly swirling about in his right iris while his left iris only had one comma in it.

The boy had finally awakened his family's Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan.

Sakura, who had managed to stay conscious at this point, stared at her raven-haired teammate in awe. 'Sasuke's eyes are different now. They look like Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan!' she thought as hope began to bud I her chest. Maybe they just might make it out of this alive.

"Impossible!" the masked boy said in shock. He was clearly shocked. To activate a Kekkei Genkai in the midst of an intense battle was a feat. He knew that he had to end the battle right away, otherwise his opponent would use his new ability to secure a victory. He then noticed that Sakura had managed to move both herself, Naruto, and Terra a couple of feet away from Sasuke and Hinata so they would not get in the way of their two able-bodied comrades.'If I can't attack directly, then i'll just take out his comrades.' he thought as he eyed the three weakened fighters.

Haku leapt out of the mirror he was in and made a beeline for the downed Genin and Mage.

'No!' the young Uchiha thought in shock when he saw there the masked boy was aiming. 'I have to stop him!' he thought as he dashed towards his comrades in order to intercept the attack.

Hinata was only able to pick up the attack thanks to her Byakugan, otherwise she would have completely missed it. She let out a gasp when she realized where the ice wielder was aiming. 'Naruto!' she cried out in her mind as she looked at her downed role model. Her body moved on autopilot, thoughts of protecting her most precious person no matter the cost filling her mind. The next thing the pale-eyed girl knew, she was standing in front of the blond boy as she was being skewered by dozens of needles.

Sakura was dazed.

One second her teammate was standing a few feet away from her, and the next, he was standing in front of her.

She then saw the masked boy laying on the ground not too far away from them.

"Sasuke, you beat him!" the rosette cried excitedly. Now they could get out and help the others.

The newly made Sharingan wielder grunted. "Sakura, Naruto... You two idiots are always getting into the way... It never fails." he said through clenched teeth.

"Sasuke?" with worry evident in her tone, the young kunoichi looked up at her male teammate and gasped in shock. He had scores upon scores of throwing needles impaled into his flesh, he looked more like a human pincushion than anything else.

There was a small splotch of blood staining the ground at his feet. The girl didn't want to know where it came from.

With a grunt, the raven-haired boy turned his head enough to see his teammate's horrified expression. "What's with that face? I've had... worse than this!" he said with another grunt of pain.

Play Naruto OST- Sadness and Sorrow

"Wh... W-why did you jump in the way like that Sasuke?" the girl asked softly, emerald eyes wide in disbelief.

"I don't really know myself... My body just sort of moved on its own..." the young Uchiha said with a shake of his head. For some reason, he began to recall the last few months he had spent with his team. The good times, the bad, and everything in between. All of it brought out a weak chuckle. "I hated the both of you at first. I felt that I didn't need either of you around..."

"T-then why?! You didn't have to do that Sasuke! We would have been fine!" Sakura said desperately. She was hurt to learn that Sasuke had actually hated her when the team first formed, but that wasn't her primary concern at the moment.

The boy let out another weak chuckle. "You're so... annoying, Sakura..." he said as he finally succumbed to his injuries and collapsed.

"Sasuke!" the rosette cried out fearfully as she moved to catch her crush before he hit the ground.

As she held him in her arms, he stared off up into the sky, his gaze clearly not focusing on anything in front of him.

"Maybe... he's still out there...?" the Wielder of the Sharingan muttered as he continued to stare off into space. He continued before his female teammate could ask anything. "My brother... I swore to myself... That I would live, and become strong enough... To kill him. To make him pay for what he did." he coughed up some blood, several drops hitting Sakura in the face.

"S-Sasuke...?" the girl whimpered softly as tears began to pool in her eyes.

"Sakura... I know that you had your heart set out for me, but promise me... Find something to strive for... and grow stronger, alright? And tell that idiot, Naruto, to never let his dream die. Even though he's a total loser... I think he can actually make something of himself." he said with a small smile as he looked at his... friend.

"A-alright Sasuke, I-i'll tell him... And... And I promise that I'll get stronger. Just you wait, I'll be the strongest kunoichi there ever was! Stronger than even Tsunade of the Sannin!" the rosette said with sincere conviction despite her wavering voice.

Sasuke smiled. "Thanks..." he muttered before his eyes closed and his body went slack.

"Sasuke? Sasuke?! No... No, nononononono! Sasuke! Stay with me, please! Don't die! SASUKE!" she wailed out in sorrow as she held the boy she cared the most for in her arms.

She quickly check breathing, a pulse, any sign that her raven-haired teammate was still alive.

But the girl found none...

Sobs wracked Sakura's small frame as she buried her face into Sasuke's chest, agonized at the thought of the boy she had loved for years being gone for good.

Naruto slowly regained consciousness. Everything was blurry and out of focus, but his vision was able to clear itself after a couple of seconds.

The first thing he noticed was someone standing over him with their back facing his direction.

The second thing he noticed was Haku laying on the ground a couple of feet away.

At first the blond thought that the person standing over him was either Sasuke or Terra, but one look told him otherwise.

Standing over him, arms stretched out protectively and standing on shaking legs, was Hinata.

The boy gasped at the sight, alerting the pale-eyed girl to the fact that he was now conscious.

"Hinata?" the Knucklehead Ninja asked with confusion lacing his voice.

The Hyūga Heiress turned her head to the side enough to look at her role model and gave him a relieved smile.

"Y-you're alright, N-Naruto..." she stuttered out through shaky breathes. She figured that one of the needles had punctured one of her lungs given how much it hurt to breath properly.

"Did you beat that guy?" the orange-clad Genin asked as he looked back towards the downed form of Haku.

"Are you h-hurt, Naruto?" the girl asked, ignoring the boy's question.

"I'm fine. What about yo-" he cut himself off midway through his question when he finally noticed that the girl in front of him had dozens of needles sticking out of her body.

"I-I'm glad... t-that you're okay. I-I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something h-happened to you..." she said with a smile.

"Did you take an attack for me?" Naruto asked in shock as he looked at Hinata.

The girl nodded in affirmation before she let out a grunt of pain.

"Why...? Why would you do that?! I never asked to be saved!" the blond said with a growl, confused and angry that the Hyūga Heiress would do something like that, and for him of all people! The one person everyone would rather see dead.

"It's because you mean the world to me Naruto. I've always admired... your strength... and wanted to be like you." she said as she gave him what looked to be a loving stare, not that he knew that.

"Then why...?" he asked softly.

"I don't know... M-my only thought was to protect you, t-to make sure that you can still fulfill your dream. S-so my body just m-moved on its own..." she said as she tried to keep herself standing.

Before the blond could comment, he heard Sasuke's name being called out. He looked over in time to see Sakura catch the Uchiha in her arms before he hit the ground.

"Sasuke!" he cried out in worry as he tried to run over to his teammates.

But before he could move to see if his friends were alright, he saw Hinata buckle and begin to fall.

Acting quickly, he moved to catch the girl before she hit the ground.

'Naruto's... holding me!' Despite the situation, she felt a soft blush appear on her cheeks.

"Hinata? Are you okay?" the boy asked worriedly as he looked down at the girl in his arms.

The Hyūga Heiress giggled softly, feeling somewhat happy about the concern her crush was showing her. "Naruto... F-for the longest time... I wanted t-to thank you. F-for so long, I've w-watched and admired you... E-every time life pushed you down and g-gave you a hard time, y-you would a-always get back up with a s-smile on your face. S-seeing your strength gave me the courage to f-face life one d-day at a time." she said with a small smile on her face, her breathing growing more labored throughout. "I... c-coveted that strength, I suppose... I-I wanted to be-" she coughed up some blood. "To be s-strong like you... To e-earn your respect and f-feel like I'm not a failure for once." the pale-eyed girl said as she looked into her role model's bright blue eyes.

Naruto was at an absolute loss for words. There was someone who actually held that much admiration and respect for him? He had never considered the thought.

The blond tried to think of something, anything, to say to her. All he could muster in the end was a soft 'why me?'.

Hinata only smiled. "W-when I was younger... You s-saved me from a bunch of mean kids. E-ever since then I've wanted to s-stand at your side as someone you v-viewed as an equal." she placed a shaky hand on the boy's cheek. "Naruto... Promise me that you'll live for the both of us. B-because you fulfilling your dream... Is my dream too... I-l know you can do it. Because i-it's not in your nature to give up. T-that's not the Naruto I admire... the Naruto... I... love..." she said sincerely as a tear streaked down her cheek.

Naruto's brain ground to a complete halt. 'Hinata... Loves me...?' he thought with wide eyes, too shell shocked by the confession to say anything.

"T-thank you... Naruto..." she muttered softly as she lost feeling in her arm and her hand fell away from the blond's face, prompting him to let out a gasp.

The boy looked the Hyūga Heiress in the eyes, where he saw an unknown emotion shining in them. Was that love? He was not sure.

But before he could say anything about it, her eyes slowly drooped shut and her body became slack in his grip.

"H-Hinata..." the orange-clad Genin muttered as he gently shook the girl in an attempt to awaken her.

There was no response...

No movement...

Nothing...

Hinata Hyūga was dead.

Eyes burning with tears, Naruto pulled the girl to his chest, holding her close.

For the first time he saw the indigo-haired girl for who she really was. Not some blushing weirdo, but as a kind hearted girl who was strong, capable, and willing to fight for her beliefs.

The blond could hear Sakura a little ways away, wailing in sorrow and frequently calling out Sasuke's name. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to face the fact that his friend and rival what's likely dead as well. It would just be too painful to bare.

Haku sat up and looked at the scene that had transpired.

"They found..." he remembered how the two took his attack and sent him flying back until he crashed into one of his mirrors. "They both found a strength they didn't realized they found. Why? Because of the certain people that were precious to them." he said as he began to stand up. "To save those people, they rushed in knowing it was a trap." he stood up in a slightly hunched posture. "They were true ninja, worthy of honor." he turned his head to the side. "Is this the first time you seen your friends die in battle?" he looked back to the remaining three. "This is part of what it means to be a shinobi." the masked boy said as he began to sink back into the mirror behind him.

End Theme

"Shut up...!" Naruto spat softly, not bothering to look at the Fake Hunter Ninja. He gently set Hinata onto the ground. "I'm sorry Hinata. I should have noticed your strength sooner." he said as he squeezed her tighter, regretting that he had not noticed the girl sooner. Maybe if he had, then he would have made an irreplaceable friend of her.

Steam began to form around him, hissing loudly.

"N-Naruto?" Sakura asked in confusion as she lifted her face from Sasuke's chest to see what was going on.

The steam began to grow stronger. "You'll pay for this!" the blond growled angrily right before a maelstrom of violent red chakra exploded from him.

"What?!" Haku asked in shock.

'What kind of chakra is that?!' the rosette thought fearfully as she felt the oppressive power of the strange red chakra.

Naruto began to go through a minor change. His hair became wilder, his nails grew and sharpened into claws, the whisker marks on his face thickened and darkened considerably, giving him a savage appearance. But the most frightening change to him were his eyes. They were no longer his trademarked bright blue eyes, but a terrifying bloody red color with slit pupils.

"I'm going to kill you!" the orange-clad Genin growled out demonically, causing a shiver of fright to go down the spines of all those present.

Play Naruto OST- Need to be Strong

The red chakra grew more violent.

'What is this chakra?!' Haku thought as his eyes widened behind his mask. 'Chakra cannot be seen, yet it's clearly visible! It's something ghastly! I can feel the wrath, the bloodlust. Like evil itself!' he thought as he tried to process what he was seeing.

The chakra continued to swirl about until it formed a giant head that resembled a demonic looking fox above the boy.

The numerous needles sticking out of his body were suddenly pushed out and all of the countless cuts across his body healed at a rapid rate.

'His body's healing, and changing! This boy... What is he?!' the masked boy thought with mounting dread as he watched the boy stand up.

Naruto turned his head and sent a murderous glare at Haku, causing the ice wielder to flinch.

The energy grew more and more violent, until it dissipated just as suddenly as it appeared.

The Knucklehead Ninja turned around fully and crouched down until he was on all fours.

Several tense moments passed before the blond charged at the masked boy, running on all fours like an animal.

End Theme

'How could everything go so wrong?' Terra thought as she tried to regain some of her strength. 'Both Hinata and Sasuke... I couldn't do anything to help them. And now...' she thought as she grit her teeth. 'Damn it! What should I do?!' she thought as she clenched her hands into fists.

Let power out!

The spellcaster gasped at the appearance of her other self. 'What, no! That's too dangerous!' she thought fearfully.

The voice's reply was blunt and to the point.

Then mask boy and sword man kill everyone.

Images of everyone lying motionless at the feet of Zabuza and his masked accomplice flashed through her mind, filling her with dread.

'No!' the Mage thought fearfully.

Then let power out! Or Terra scared?

Her other self sounded annoyed.

'Yes, I am. What if I lose control again? I don't want to hurt anyone.' the emerald-haired girl replied softly.

Losing friends better?

'I'm not saying that! It's just... Too risky. I haven't fully master all of my power and if I stay in that form for too long then I might lose control of myself.' she thought worriedly.

The voice seemed to let out a sigh.

Terra is Esperkin. Terra train in magic since young age. Terra can handle power.

'You're right. I've been using magic of as long as I can remember. But do you really think it would really help?' she asked uncertainly.

She felt the voice give a nod.

Terra strongest there is.

Terra closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

'Alright. I'll do it, but only for sixty seconds. That's it! I don't want to risk being in that form for any longer!' she thought seriously.

She felt the voice give a smile and let out a pleased purr.

Power need only half that time.

The Esperkin took a deep breath and began to focus.

She quickly found her inner power and took hold of it.

'Please don't go too crazy!' she thought pleadingly.

No promises!

'That's the best I'm going to get out of you, am I?' she thought with a sigh.

Yep!

Her other self was being a little too excited about this...

The Mage began to pull on the power within her but before she could unleash it she was knock out her concentration by a strong surge of energy.

'What?!' she thought as she looked up to see what that surge of energy was.

What she saw was Naruto with a vortex of foul red chakra swirling around him.

'Wh... What is this power?! It feels so evil...' Terra thought as he body trembled fearfully. 'This kind of power was inside of Naruto?!' she thought in disbelief.

Bad power! Bad power! Kill it, kill it, kill it, KILL IT!

The emerald-haired spellcaster knew the situation was bad if even her other self was afraid of this power.

'What do I do? What do I do?! I can't move! I can barely breath! I can't take it!' the girl thought in panic as she began to hyperventilate.

Images of an endless sea of carnage and destruction were flashing through her mind. Countless corpses were littered on the ground all mangled and rent asunder, blood pooling wherever there wasn't a corpse. The sky was blackened by the smoke that emanated from the wild infernos all around. The area reeked of blood, death, and fire. But the most terrifying thing about the vision was the image of a gigantic demon fox that was bigger than any creature that she had ever seen before. Its nine, long, billowing tails thrashed wildly behind it, creating gale force winds with each wag. But the one thing that terrified her the most were its blood red eyes. Eyes filled with nothing but bloodlust and rage. The sight was worse than even her most terrifying nightmares.

Even Terra's other self was panicking.

Use power! Use power! HURRY!

'R-right!' the girl thought as she scrambled to grab ahold of her inner power again and let it loose.

Despite her panic, she was able to grab ahold of her inner power and pull it out. The last thing that went through her mind before she let the power of her Esper blood envelope her was that she hoped that this would be enough to protect everyone.

Haku was in a tight spot.

He was doing everything he could to stop the now demonically powered Naruto.

When the blond had shattered one of his ice mirrors with a single punch, the masked boy knew that he had to do something to stop him.

But his senbon literally had no effect on the orange-clad Genin since he would force the ones that hit him out of his body and heal himself instantly.

Even the ice-wielder's various jutsu had little effect since the boy would just power through them.

The Fake Hunter Ninja had to resort to mostly dodging the blond's wild charges. He did a fairly good job of it until Naruto was able to grab hold of his arm.

The Knucklehead Ninja was now building up power so he could unleash a devastating punch on Haku.

But before the blond could launch his attack, he was distracted by a sudden pulse of power upcoming from close nearby.

He looked over to see Terra up on her feet with her head bowed down and electricity arcing off her power.

'Terra?' the boy thought in confusion as he looked at the older girl.

Wondering what his opponent was looking at, Haku turned his gaze to where the blond was looking and saw the Mage exuding a great deal of power.

'What, she has more power within her too?! But this feels different, more wild, and nowhere near as foul as this boy's chakra. Just what are these people?!' the masked boy thought fearfully as the older girl's power washed over him.

Sakura had been spending the last minute watching her teammate's rampage with a mixture of awe and fear. She was awed by the fact that it was Naruto who actually had the Fake Hunter Ninja on the ropes. Naruto! The boy who ended up being the dead last of their class in the academy was beating someone who was supposedly stronger than their sensei. Maybe he wasn't as hopeless as she first thought. But what terrified her about the situation was the power her blond friend was using to beat the ice wielder. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

But things got more intense when Terra stood up and began exuding a lot of power.

The force of this power was pressing down heavily on her, making it very difficult to take full breaths.

'What's going on now?!' she thought as she trembled from the oppressive energy in the air.

The power the green-haired spellcaster was letting out was growing stronger and stronger by the moment and like with Naruto, the needles sticking out of her body were being forced out and some of her minor injuries were healing, though there were still plenty that were apparent on her.

The Mage crossed her arms in front of her and when the power reached its apex, she threw her arms out and was enveloped in a flash of bright light.

The bright light receded to show the being that now stood in Terra Branford's place.

The girl had gone through a transformation. The first thing they had noticed was that she was now completely naked, save for her pink diamond necklace, showing just how well developed she is for her age. Her hair was no longer tied into a ponytail or was its trademark emerald-green color, it now was long, wild and reached down to her rear. Her entire body and hair were now a vivid lavender color while her face was a paler shade, almost white. She had yellow claws on her hands and feet, and she had bright red lips and red linings around her eyes, giving her a more savage yet elegant appearance. Her lips were pulled back into a snarl, exposing a pair of sharpened canines. All in all, the girl looked very intimidating, despite her seemingly frail physique.

She raised her head and snapped open her eyes. They were savage like an angry predator's and they literally glowed with great power.

The now transformed girl then let out a loud, inhuman roar-like scream, letting out a powerful shockwave that stretched across the entire bridge.

Sakura could not take the pressure of the shockwave passed out.

'What is she?!' Haku thought fearfully, eyes wide behind his mask.

'Is that Terra?' Naruto thought in shock, completely unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Before either of them could react, they both had Terra's fists hitting them in the face.

There was a momentary delay before both boys were sent flying through the air and through one of Haku's ice mirrors with enough force to not only completely shatter it, but to send them several feet away from the dome as well.

With his concentration broken, the masked boy could no longer sustain his ice mirrors and they all shattered.

Naruto sat up with a grunt. 'Damn, I had no idea Terra could hit so hard.' he thought as he put a hand on his right cheek, which was burning from the punch, both figuratively and literally.

The punch was strong enough to even make him lose hold of the strange power he was using before.

He then saw a shadow be cast over him, prompting him to look up. He froze at the sight of the transformed Terra looking down at him with wide, predatory eyes, as if sizing him up before the kill. Shadows covered her face and all he could see were her glowing eyes.

He didn't think it was possible for a sweet and kind girl like her to ever make that expression.

And that terrified him.

After what felt like an eternity, the girl looked away and walked passed him, as if she deemed him not a threat, or not worthy enough to kill.

Terra took slow, stalking steps as she made her way towards Haku, who at this point had gotten back up to his feet and stared directly at her.

She could easily feel the fear coming off of the masked individual. But among the fear she felt both resignation and... shame? She didn't care. She just wanted to slaughter this masked fool and remove all threats to the people she loved.

'Master Zabuza... I failed. I couldn't beat them.' Haku thought as the left side of his mask fell off his face, revealing one of his sorrowful brown eyes. 'There is no more use for a broken tool like me...' he thought as he resigned himself to his fate right as the right side of his mask fell to the ground, revealing his face to the world.

Naruto gasped when he saw the ice wielder's face.

Before the blond could say anything to stop the Mage, she vanished in a blur of speed.

The Esperkin appeared in front of the assassin and buried her fist into his stomach.

Haku folded into the punch and coughed out a mixture of blood and saliva.

While he was still bent over, she removed her fist and raised her right leg into the air before hitting the back of his head with a powerful axe kick, making him slam his face into the hard concrete of the bridge.

But she didn't stop there, while her prey was still down she grabbed him by the back of his shirt with her left hand and held him up in the air. She then started punching him in the gut several times with her right hand, further knocking the air out of him. She then finished by pulling her arm back, opening her fist, baring her razor sharp claws, and launching the ice user into the air, tearing open the front of his top in the process. Her claws were tipped with magical energy to deal some extra damage.

Haku flew several feet into the air before the Esperkin caught up with him and swiped at him with her claws, sending him flying in another direction.

She chased him while in midair and swiped at him again, which sent him in another direction.

She did it again, and again, and again.

She repeated the attack several times, each time moving faster and faster until she was blurring around him as she knocked the boy about like a volleyball.

She hit him one last time with another uppercut swipe, sending the Fake Hunter Ninja higher into the air. When he reached the apex of his climb, this time the girl appeared above him and hit him in the face with another powerful axe kick, sending him rocketing back into the ground.

Haku impacted the bridge with a thunderous crash, kicking up a giant cloud of dust.

While the spellcaster was still in midair she held her hands together in front of her and began charging up a powerful spell.

When the spell finished charging she launched a giant fireball towards the place Haku landed.

The Meltdown spell hit the bridge with a large explosion, causing a lot of smoke to block Terra's view of her target.

She landed on the ground and waited for the column of smoke to dissipate.

Naruto was at a complete loss for words. He had just witness Terra give Haku a brutal beating and launch a freaking giant fireball at him! He hoped that the boy was okay, he wanted to confirm that he was the person he had met in the forest the other day.

After what felt like ages, the smoke finally dissipated to reveal Haku laying in a small crater and looking pretty messed up.

The blond feared the worst until he saw the boy attempt to sit up, only to fail and fall back onto his back.

Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja breathed a sigh of relief until he saw Terra make her way over to the boy, claws bared and ready to tear into flesh.

Seeing the direness of the situation, the orange-clad Genin rushed over there to stop the spellcaster from killing the ice user.

Pain was an understatement for what Haku felt at the moment, more like intense searing agony. Yeah... That would work.

His clothing was in tatters and every part of exposed skin was covered in gashes from Terra's claws and burns from that last attack. The only odd thing about his current appearance was that there were wrapped tightly around his chest.

He was in so much pain that he could barely move at all.

Through shaky breaths, the Fake Hunter Ninja opened one brown eye to see what was going on.

To his dismay, the Esperkin was standing over him.

Terra stared down at the weak and broken form below her with a small amount of satisfaction. While she would normally not feel this way after brutally beating someone to near death, she couldn't help but feel that she had given this androgynous person their just deserts for all of the pain they caused.

The transformed Mage frowned a little, being in this form tended to suppress things like sympathy, mercy, and inhibitions. It was one of the drawbacks for not fully mastering this form.

She put her focus back on the person at her feet and felt her anger bubble back to the surface. She still wanted to make this one pay before moving on to their accomplices.

The spellcaster gave a hard stomp onto Haku's chest, causing him to let out a moan of pain. She put more of her weight onto his chest, increasing the pressure on his ribs.

The ice user hissed in pain, tears leaking out of his eyes and cascading down his cheeks.

As the Esperkin pressed down more onto the Fake Hunter Ninja's chest, she felt that that it was somewhat softer and squishier than it would have been.

Haku lifted his, or rather her, right hand and weakly grabbed onto Terra's ankle in a vain attempt to get the transformed girl's foot off of her chest.

The Mage's eyes narrowed and she kicked the assassin's hand off of her foot, allowing the androgynous girl to breath properly again.

But just as the Fake Hunter Ninja thought that she would be left alone now, she was proven wrong when the Esperkin wrapped her left hand around her throat and started squeezing as she straddled her stomach.

Terra continued to squeeze down on the ice user's throat, slowly strangling the life out of her.

Haku grabbed at the girl's wrist and tried to pull her off, but to no avail. Her choked gasps were the only sounds she could make.

'I'm so sorry master Zabuza... This girl, no, this demon is too much for me... I will never be able to help you fulfill your dream...' the androgynous girl thought sorrowfully as tears pooled in her dark brown eyes.

Soon enough, Haku's mind began to grow fuzzy as it became harder and harder for her to stay awake. Her vision soon began to become blurry and her body starts to feel numb. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the demon above her lifting its right hand above its head and coating it in energy.

Terra was fully prepared to drive her claws into the ice user's skull, and she was literally seconds away from doing it, but something stopped her just as she started to bring her hand down.

She turned her head and saw that Naruto was using all of his strength to stop her from landing the killing blow.

"Don't do it Terra!" he said as he strained to hold the Esperkin back. "You already beat him, so there's not point in killing him! Snap out of it!" he said through clenched teeth.

As the blond continued to strain against the spellcaster's supernatural strength, she removed her left hand from Haku's throat and used it to grab the boy's left wrist.

Surprised by the action, the Genin stopped trying to pull her back.

She used this distraction to rip her hand out of the boy's grip and then throw him over her head and several feet away.

She looked back towards Haku and moved herself back into her previous position, this time placing her left hand next to the assassin's head.

The girl raised her right hand back in the air and coated it in energy.

But before she could move to kill the androgynous girl beneath her, someone else stopped her.

"Terra, don't!" a familiar voice called out to her urgently.

The Esperkin froze and looked up to see Aeros, Ignis, and Kokoro standing not too far from her. The redhead was standing at the front with the Dark Knight and the Dhampir looking tense behind him. She even saw Aeros holding his keyblade in a ready position, likely as a precaution.

She also noticed that Naruto had recovered and was now standing behind the three, looking very anxious.

The three of them looked as though they had been a very fierce battle, if the damage on them was anything to go by.

For the first time, the Mage noticed that she was the center of attention. Everyone who had been fighting on the bridge was looking at her with varying degrees of emotions. From fearful and tense, to even curious.

"Terra, I know you're still there. You still have some control. Think about what you're about to do!" the redhead said pleadingly.

"Terra..." Kokoro started softly. "Remember who you are. This isn't you. You're not a mindless monster." she pleaded gently, trying to remind her friend that she still had her humanity.

The Esperkin seemed to falter. A conflicted look appeared on her face as she looked down at the girl beneath her.

Here was a person who was willing to doom an entire country to great suffering all for monetary gain. She served under a cruel and heartless man who did not care for the lives of others. And worst of all, this person was a murderer.

Sasuke's and Hinata's blood was on this girl's hands.

She needed to pay for her crimes!

"Terra..." Aeros called out in a strong, but soft tone. "I don't blame you for wanting to kill that person. He works for Zabuza and they're both willing to let this country rot for money. And killing them would probably do some good. No one would blame you for making that choice. But, that's just it. It's your choice. You can kill that kid, and maybe prevent more pain in the future. Or you can spare their life, and see where that road takes you." he then shook his head and dispelled his Keyblade. "But I have faith that you will make the choice that's right to you. So whatever your decision may be, I won't stop you." he said as he looked at the Esperkin ignoring the astonished looks Ignis, Kokoro, and Naruto threw him.

Terra didn't once look up at him, but he knew she heard him. It was all up to her know.

"Are you sure about this Aeros? You know how hard it is for Terra to control herself while she's in this state." the Dhampir said worriedly as she looked at her friend.

"Yeah, she hasn't had enough time to train in that form." the redhead whispered towards his brown-haired friend.

"I know it's a risk, but we have to trust her to have enough control over herself to make this decision." the brunet said in a calm tone, though inwardly he was very nervous. He hoped that he didn't make a bad decision.

Terra kept staring at Haku, debating about whether or not to carry out the execution.

Should she kill this girl, and prevent more pain and death in the future...?

Or spare her life?

Kill...?

Spare...?

After several more moments of debating with herself, the Mage finally came to a decision.

She pulled her hand back and the energy enveloping her hand glowed brightly.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Terra, no!" he cried out desperately.

Before anyone had a chance to react, the girl brought down her hand.

End of chapter 20

Author's notes

Titano Man: And that's a wrap! I know, I'm evil. I know I said that this would be the end of the battle on the bridge, and technically it is. Next chapter will be the Heartless boss and the end of this story arc. And I plan on getting the next chapter out before New Years. Maybe on Christmas? We'll see. I planned to write more, but I knew that it would be too much to read, and this chapter's already pushed passed my max quota. And it wasn't easy getting this all done either. There were times where I was a little stuck on certain parts. It was especially difficult making the battle against Haku more exciting. I think I did fairly well in that regard. I had to use the various Vexen battles from Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and KHII Final Mix for his moves and the Larxene data battle for his fighting style. Ugh! Sorry, another bad flashback. I'm a little worried about how I did with Sasuke's and Hinata's death scenes. I had to take into account who they were talking too and adjust accordingly, especially since I initially didn't plan on having Sakura involve herself. So there's a chance that they might not be as good as I wanted them to be.

Zabuza: Hey, what was the point of going back and making Haku a girl when you stated all throughout the chapter that she was a boy?

Titano Man: Easy! It was for shock value! Haven't you heard of misdirection? And you know what the best part is?

Kakashi: And what's that?

Titano Man: This twist is completely inconsequential!

Zabuza and Kakashi: Huh?

Titano Man: It doesn't matter if I make Hake a boy or a girl in this story since it literally has no effect on the overall plot!

Kakashi: So you only did it because you wanted to?

Titano Man: Yep!

Kurenai: So this wasn't those on a whim things?

Titano Man: Nope, I planned it. Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. Please leave your thoughts about this chapter in a review. You can even just say i'm doing a great job or something. I'm not perfect, and neither is this story. But it always lifts my spirits seeing positive comments and constructive criticism. So please be honest with me, I want to talk with all of you about things I can do, because not everything is set in stone, and your input could shape this story into something great. So with that, I bid thee all adieu.

Zabuza: See you next time.