Wolf: What's up everyone? Welcome to the twentieth chapter of ShadowSnake. In this chapter, Naruto and Sasuke team up to fight Haku. As always, thanks to everyone who Followed, Favorited, and Reviewed.

Apologies for the late update, I have no reason or excuse to give. Just know that from now on, the story will now follow a update schedule. Thank you and...

Now, onto the story!

Chapter 20: Battle of the Wave

Land of Waves Bridge

Tension fills the air. An aura of death fills strikes the group as a heavy mist rolls in and settles around them. Kakashi and Zabuza hold their gaze while Haku looks at the genin through his mask. "Sasuke, hold the hunter-nin back. Sakura, stand back and protect Tazuna." The genin listen to their orders and pull out their weapon.. Sakura pulls out a kunai and Sasuke unsheathes his katana.

Sasuke rushes towards Haku and swings his katana downward. Haku jumps out of the way and brings Sasuke away from his sensei and teammate. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza rush and clash, kunai to sword.

Sasuke follows Haku and throws his shuriken at him. Haku throws senbon needles that hit the shuriken and drop the projectiles to the ground. 'Right, he has deadly accuracy.' Sasuke then sheaths his sword and weaves through some hand signs, "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu" He watches he he see Haku form a simple hand sign.

Haku stares at Sasuke and calls out, "Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death"

The two jutsu collide and form a hot mist in the area. Sasuke then activates his Sharingan. He brings his sword in front of him and waits. Haku throws more senbon at Sasuke. Sasuke uses his sheathed sword and blocks the senbon. "Flash Cut" Sasuke then unsheathes his katana and slashes at Haku. Haku then jumps back, dodging the slash. Sasuke resheathes his sword and stares down at Haku. Through the mist Haku weaves through some hand seals.

"Jutsu complete. Demonic Ice Mirrors" Haku smirks as he stands outside of the dome of ice mirrors.

Sasuke looks around and sees that mirrors surround him in every direction. He looks at the mirror in front of him and sees Haku walk into it, causing the rest of the mirrors to show a reflection of the masked boy.

Zabuza and Kakashi

Zabuza had been watching Haku as had been fighting Kakashi's student. Zabuza then chuckles to himself, "Looks like Haku will finish this in a matter of minutes." Zabuza then tightens his grip on his sword, "And it looks like your other student is worthless." he added, while pointing to Sakura. Sakura was standing in front of Tazuna, shakily holding a kunai. Shaking due to overwhelming feeling of KI on the bridge. "Admit defeat, Kakashi. And I'll promise to make your deaths quick and painless."

Kakashi glares at Zabuza, "I will not abandon my team. And I won't let you get away with your sins." Kakashi then lifts his hitai-ate and reveals his Sharingan. Zabuza then chuckles darkly, sending a slight chill down Kakashi's spine.

"You think your Sharingan will work on me again? Shame on you, Kakashi." Zabuza then rest his sword on his shoulder. "That trick won't work on me twice. Prepare to die, Kakashi"

Haku and Sasuke

"Damn it." Sasuke kneels on the ground, panting in exhaustion. None of his fire jutsu had worked on the ice mirrors. And his body has small cuts on it from being struck by Haku's senbon. 'He's fast. I'm having a hard time keeping up.' Sasuke looks up and sees Haku preparing to launch another barrage of senbon. He stands up and tries to dodge the incoming senbon. He maneuvers his body around and evades some of the senbon. But the others in the barrage strike him, causing more cuts to form and more senbon to be stuck to his skin.

Sasuke once again falls to his knees, grunting in pain. 'Dammit.' He then looks up and sees Haku weaving through hand seals. He sees each individual seal and tries to prepare to block the attack. He stands up and weaves through his own seals.

"Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death"

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu"

The two jutsu collide and create another hot mist to form. Creating more time for Sasuke to think of a plan until Naruto comes by. 'How'd this guy get so strong?' Sasuke then unsheathes his katana and uses his Sharingan to prepare to block any incoming strike. Through the mist, Sasuke see an incoming object and quickly steps to the side, dodging the strike from Haku. He continues this routine of dodging until one Haku's strikes until one slashes through his left arm guard.

Sasuke looks to his left arm and sees his gravity seal. 'My gravity seal. Snake, thanks for showing us how to deactivate it.' Sasuke then forms a seal with one hand, "Kai"

The gravity seal deactivates and Sasuke feels lighter than before. He looks up and sees Haku rush him again. This time Sasuke side-steps and brings his katana down to slash at Haku. Haku sees Sasuke step out of the way and bring his katana down. Haku steps out of the way and goes back into the mirrors. Sasuke sheathes his katana and waits for Haku to make his move. Haku pulls out more senbon and launches a barrage of senbon at Sasuke. Sasuke sees the bigger barrage of senbon and crosses his arms over his chest and to take the hits of the senbon. The barrage ends and Sasuke is left with senbon sticking out of his body. Sasuke falls to his knees, arms at his sides, as he grunts in pain. Haku pulls out another and aims at Sasuke's chest.

'Sasuke-san, time to say goodbye.' thought Haku as he gets ready to throw the senbon. Right before Haku can throw the senbon, a small explosion sounds getting the attention of all the combatants, Tazuna, and Sakura.

The smoke from the explosion dissipates and reveals Naruto. Naruto looks around and sees Sasuke on his knees surrounded by a dome of ice mirrors.

'You took your time, dobe.' thought Sasuke as he tries to stand up. Sasuke get on one leg and looks to where Naruto had appeared.

Kakashi looks and sees Naruto, "Naruto?!"

"Sorry, I overslept." jokes Naruto as he joins Sasuke in the dome of Ice Mirrors. He lands and sees Sasuke now standing, with senbon sticking out of his body, "Damn, trying to be a porcupine, teme?" joked Naruto.

"Fuck you, dobe." grunts out Sasuke.

"So, this is the guy you're having trouble with? Didn't you remove your gravity seals?" asked Naruto.

"What do you think, dobe? Of course, I removed them."

Naruto then looks at the Ice Mirrors and sees all the reflections of Haku. "Which one's real?"

"They all are."

Haku looks at the two shinobi and launches another barrage of senbon at Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto takes his katana and manages to deflect some of the senbon before they can hit him. Sasuke, using his Sharingan, blocks the ones heading for his chest but is still hit by some senbon.

Naruto grunts in pain as he feels some senbon stick to his back and arms. 'Damn, this guy is strong.'

Haku then rushes out of his current mirror and rushes to the next one, trying to hit Naruto and Sasuke along the way. However with their gravity seals deactivated, Haku was finding it hard to be able to strike Naruto and Sasuke. With their speed enhanced, Naruto and Sasuke were dodging the strikes and trying slash at Haku as he comes towards them. The trio keep up the same routine as either side tries to gain the upper hand.

Kakashi and Zabuza

The two jonin-level shinobi are currently mid-clash as they stare each down. Both shinobi not giving the other time to move.

"I was wondering where the other child was. It doesn't matter if he's here though, Haku will still beat the both of them." adds Zabuza as he begins to push his sword down onto Kakashi.

"I wouldn't underestimate my genin, Zabuza. Those two have been trained by an ANBU Black Ops Soldier. They won't go down too easy." responds Kakashi, "Now, time for you to die."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Haku

Naruto and Sasuke are panting in exhaustion while Haku is in the mirror also feeling quite drained.

'That's it. Time to end this.' Haku then weaves through more seals.

"Ice Release: Ice Spires"

Ice spires begin to form as Naruto and Sasuke try to avoid the spires and Haku's strikes. An ice spire forms below Naruto ready to pierce his leg. Sasuke, noticing the spire below Naruto, pushes off of one of the Ice Mirrors and gets closer to Naruto.

'Damn it Naruto' thought Sasuke as he pushes Naruto out of the Ice Spire's direction. The Ice Spire then pierces Sasuke's thigh. He then screams in pain as he falls to one knees, holding his wound as Naruto rolls out of the way. Haku looks at the wounded shinobi and feels no pity for the 'stupid ninja.' Haku then raises his hand and launches another barrage of senbon at Sasuke and Naruto.

Seeing Naruto still on the ground and not up yet, Sasuke ignores the pain and hurries over to Naruto, blocking him from the senbon barrage. Sasuke takes the barrage without blocking any of the senbon. He then stands over Naruto as Naruto opens his eyes and sees Sasuke standing over him. Naruto then looks closer and see Sasuke with senbon all over his body, while his body is devoid of any.

"Damn it Sasuke! Why did you have to do that?" shouts Naruto.

"Sh-Shut up dobe." replies Sasuke, as blood begins to drip from his wounds. "I don't know what happened. I-It was like my body just moved on its own."

"You didn't have to protect me, teme." replies Naruto as tears begin to prick at his eyes.

"Like I said, my body just moved on its own." finished Sasuke as he begins to fall forward. Naruto catches Sasuke and lies him down. He looks at Sasuke and sees all the blood that he is losing. His eyes widen as he sees Sasuke's body go limp. Naruto then closes his eyes, as his own body begins to shake.

'I'm sorry Naruto-san. But I have orders to follow. I hope you can forgive me.' Before Haku could throw the last senbon in her hand, she sensed something different about Naruto. Naruto was glaring at him, with his razor-sharp teeth bared, eyes crimson, whiskers darkened, and his hair wild. Red chakra begins to ooze out of his system, bubbling as it begins to cover him, 'Wh-What?'

Naruto glares at Haku as he stands over Sasuke's body, three limbs over Sasuke while his other is in the air above Sasuke's face. Naruto releases a low growl before letting out a spine-chilling roar, red chakra exploding from his body.

Wolf: And there's Chapter 20 of ShadowSnake. So sorry for the long wait, the next chapters will not take as long to come out. I will try to keep a steady schedule for this story and my other stories.

And thanks to everyone who has Followed, Favorited, and Reviewed. You guys help keep this story alive. I will see you guys in the next update.

This is Wolf, signing off.