Chapter 21: Pawns of the Dead

Shinji stared off at his opponent with long extent and anticipation. To think, he was about to fight the legendary Zabuza Momochi, the very same who died a year ago! Shinji was a little bit intimidated by this discovery, but stood his ground. This could be a form of Genjutsu, or the fears of the village truly have come true…He prepared to fight for his life, but he was also the first to break the silence.

"I heard you were dead." He said firmly. "It's a little surprising to see you standing before me."

"Haven't you heard, kid?" Zabuza replied, with a wicked bloodlust in his eyes. "Demons don't die…We're immortal…"

"If you're not going to take this seriously," Shinji replied, "then how about I just kill you again? The markings on your sword say you should've been." He in fact remarked the writing on his sword, which said "Here lies Zabuza Momochi."

"You're one to talk." He guffawed. "You shouldn't play Ninja with the likes of me…You could get hurt…or worse…killed…"

"That didn't stop you from fighting Kakashi's Genin squad." He retorted. "I've heard a lot about you from him. After all, he is my brother."

"A crying shame that is…" Zabuza stated, catching his attention. "…I heard he had many people dear to him. I heard they were also dead. It'd be a shame to add someone that close to his morgue."

"I'm astonished you would know what shame is." Shinji scoffed. "You were wanted for killing several innocents and killed many students during the Chunin exam without the slightest regret."

"What kind of demon would I be if I don't add to my power?"

"You are a cold, heartless monster, my foe." Shinji glared. "I think it would be an honor if I were to put you back in your place so Kakashi's mark would not be defiled."

"If that's the way you want it…" Zabuza snickered. "…Then I'd be happy to toy with you for awhile…"

"Very well." Shinji nodded off, and proceeded to take his first move by drawing a kunai from his pocket, twirling it and gripping it in his hand. Then, he just as quickly rushed over and prepared to slash him. Zabuza closed his eyes and swung his sword effortlessly. Shinji leapt, expecting the sword and from above, gripped three shuriken within his hand. Then, he threw them down to him, and he used his sword to shield himself. He twirled his sword and prepared to chop him, but Shinji leapt off the tree beside Zabuza before it could hit him.

Zabuza, glancing the lake nearby formed a hand sign to perform "Water Style: Water Wall!" to form a tidal wave in the water and shoot a geyser up. Shinji looked up as the jet was about to move towards him. Shinji leapt back as the water hit the ground, but gasped when the water flew back up to him. He crossed his hands in front of himself to shield the attack. Interestingly, this was done quite successfully.

Shinji landed back on the ground and thrust another kunai in Zabuza's direction. This one hit him, but as he grunted, he also disappeared into a puddle of water.

"A water clone?" He thought. "He's thinking ahead…I may have to resort to that if this keeps up…"

On that note, the sword spiraled in his direction yet again, but this time, Shinji caught it in his hands and threw it back into the direction it came from. Zabuza leapt up and caught the sword and prepared to slice him yet again. Shinji leapt back, just as the sword hit the ground, making a small fissure. Shinji leapt back into the air and prepared to land back down.

"That's a pretty powerful weapon you've got there, dead man." Shinji grunted. "But how do you like this?!"

As he landed, he thrust his fist into the ground, and it pounded the ground into itself, thrusting the rest of the ground up and throwing large rocks to the sky. Zabuza leapt up and was astonished to see this feat of strength.

"That kid's pretty strong…" Zabuza thought. "But how? No human is that strong…"

As the rocks onto back into the ground, Shinji and Zabuza landed outside of the crater left in its wake. They didn't continue, so they must have more questions for one another.

"That's some impressive strength, kid." Zabuza applauded. "You wouldn't have learned it from that Sannin, Tsunade, now did you?"

Shinji grinned before saying, "In a way, yes. I did."

XXXXX

Naruto, aside Sonic, Blaze and Espio stood down looking over at the sight that appeared in front of them from a puddle of water that was originally a spot of dead grass. Haku was standing there and he stared coldly at Naruto. Why was he upset when Naruto experienced the same story as him? More importantly, why was he even here? He died before Zabuza back then!

"It's been awhile, Naruto." He spoke. "I wanted to see you again."

Naruto just stared back, very frightened, since he was talking to someone who was supposed to be dead. He couldn't stand to even look, but was as if motionless, since he did anyway.

"Naruto," Sonic whispered, "You know that girl?"

"Yea." He replied. "This is Haku, who was with Zabuza back then. And get this, Haku's actually a guy!"

"What?!" Sonic gasped. "He's even prettier than Sakura!"

"That's what I said!"

"You two!" Blaze scolded. "Focus!" They stared back Haku, and finally took the opportunity to question him about these recent turn of events.

"Why are you here?" Naruto said first. "I was there for last year's battle to the death."

"You also know I was the unfortunate loser." Haku replied. "Yet here I stand."

"Why are you terrorizing these good people?" Blaze interrogated. "You died to save them, remember?"

Haku looked up and was partially silent. Then he said, "Yes, I do remember." He then glared back at the group before him. "But you don't know the full story..." This made everyone except Naruto raise their eyebrows. Naruto looked down in shame. "What did happen, in that case?"

"You see…" Haku said, emotionlessly, "I was killed…by Kakashi Hatake."

"What?!?" Sonic harked. "What do you mean?!"

"Zabuza was in danger…so I threw myself in front to protect him…That was the last I remember…seeing his face of my Master's Assassin…"

"That doesn't explain why you and your Master are harming the economy of the Hidden Mist Village." Sonic pointed back.

"It was an order…" He said.

This caught Naruto's attention. "By who?"

"I'm not going to tell you." He replied. "Instead, I'm going to carry out my next task…" Then he drew out his needles between his fingers and prepared to fight. "…to kill you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto gasped in fear, but prepared to fight anyway. Sonic, Blaze and Espio prepared for battle as well. "You're gonna have to get through us all, first!" Sonic said with enthusiasm.

"Interference will get you hurt…" Haku said. "But if you insist…" He then leapt back and threw his weapons. Sonic and Naruto leapt away, while Blaze warped with fire and Espio turned invisible. They all appeared in the spot behind them, and looked back at him. He was now standing in a tree in the woods. "…Then I'll be your undertaker!"

Sonic was the first to shoot out. He leapt onto a tree and proceeded to jump across others in a Triangle fashion. He then leapt up to Haku and prepared to kick him. He dashed away and appeared right behind him, delivering a kick of his own. Sonic fell over, but retaliated off the ground and leapt onto the tree, leaping back and curling into a ball. Haku blocked this and pushed the Sonic-ball away.

Blaze leapt onto a single tree branch and looked out at Haku. She held her hand out with her fingers clenched, and then before Haku could blink, she snapped them. This caused the branch to crackle before exploding into a small engulfment of flames. Haku leapt off before he could be burned and attempted to throw needles at her. She snapped her fingers again, and this time, she dashed off in a spark of fire. Haku tried to locate her, but heard another snap before his branch platform exploded again. He leapt away and held his hand out to the puddle he appeared from.

The water levitated from its spot and appeared in Haku's hands, spinning in his palm. He closed his eyes and stood in place. He heard the snap, leapt from the branch and threw the water in that direction. In a straight shot, Blaze was hit by the water ball and fell from the branch. She was veiled in the tree leaves, using her fire to conceal herself. She rebounded from the ground and concentrated fire into her hands. She thrust her palm out, but Haku dodged and covered his hands with water. The traded blows of arm thrusts, which were blocked again and again, until Haku pressed his palm to her forehead and Blaze pressed hers to his chest. They fell back, and shook off their injuries.

Haku blinked when he heard another noise from behind him. A kunai was coming in his direction, which he quickly rolled to avoid. Haku then took another listen to find its source. "If I was able to locate the Cat girl, what makes you think you're any different?" The kunai was shot, and Haku shot two needles: One to cancel the kunai, and the other to pierce its owner. However, it stuck to a tree. Suddenly a voice came from the opposing direction, "Because I too am skilled in the Ninja way." Espio appeared from the trees in that spot and took a pose, one leg up and both arms in air.

"Dynamic Entry!" He pounced down to Haku to kick him, but he blocked it with his arms. He was still forced back by the technique, though. Espio landed and Sonic appeared aside him.

"What else are you learning from the Village?" Sonic queried.

"Allow me to demonstrate." Espio said, returning to invisibility.

Haku recovered by sliding his feet across the ground. Then, Espio appeared from the shadows and threw his fingers together. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He made five copies of himself and threw out to Haku, each one drawing a kunai. Haku leapt back, only to be caught behind by a clone, kicking him in the back, another one kicking him up, and another leaping up and drawing his Kunai in both hands. He brought it down as if to stab him, but in a very awkward place…

"Thousand Years of Death!"

Everyone stared in shock, astonishment and disdain, as he stabbed Haku in his rear. This irritated Haku quite a bit.

"Sheesh…" Sonic groaned. "No wonder Chapter Seven didn't get any reviews…"

Haku glared at him, and a whip of water came from the puddle and smacked Espio and the kunai away. At that, the shadow clones were gone. He landed back on his feet, and stood out at Naruto, who stood and glared at him, drawing shuriken from his fingers and throwing them out at Haku. Haku leapt before they could hit him, and threw needles at him, which hit right on the mark.

"POOF!" The shadow clone disappeared and Five Narutos appeared behind Haku. They each hit him with a punch and a kick.

"1, 2, 3, 4," Each one hit him hard, knocking him further into the air. Then one leapt out above him and somersaulted with his leg thrust forward.

"5!" Then he kicked him down to the ground. "Naruto Uzumaki Barrage!"

Haku hit the ground with hard force and coughed out all the air he could from his lungs. The Naruto clones prepared to hit him with another punch while Haku just lay there, smiling. Sonic looked at him, and saw his hand was twitching. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't simple muscle spasms. Sonic ran out to Naruto and knocked him out of the way, knocking out his shadow clones in the process, before Naruto could have been hit by a spear of ice from the puddle.

"You gotta be more careful, man!" Sonic said. They looked back at Haku, who was tall on his feet now, and a long trail of water spiraling around him.

"You've gotten stronger, Naruto…" He said, still emotionless. "This will be more entertaining than last year…" Then, he put the mask he wore earlier back on, and brought his hands together to form signals with them. Suddenly, the trail split into several balls of water that still orbited around Haku. Another seal, and they scattered. They moved in behind Naruto and Sonic, and in front of Blaze and Espio, who were on his other side. One more signal, and it would become clear. Naruto gasped as he realized what this would mean.

"Water Style: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

Then the balls of water grew solid and began to spread. They formed into large rectangles and froze up into solid ice. They were so big that they were barricaded in, save for small wall gaps, and Blaze and Espio couldn't get in, nor could Sonic and Naruto get out. Blaze threw a ball of fire at it, only for it to dissipate as it touched the wall. She growled at the thought that his Chakra must be infused into it.

"What's goin' on, here?" Sonic rhetorically asked.

"I fought him in this before." Naruto growled. "We're in for a real ride, Sonic."

"This is just like old times." Haku chuckled, as he was levitating in front of them. He moved behind himself in the direction of a mirror, and then melded into it. Haku was inside of the mirror and poised himself for attack. Naruto and Sonic prepared for a defensive as they were about to receive their onslaught.

XXXXX

"I have heard that Tsunade's strength is greater than any other." Zabuza chuckled. "I also heard that she developed it from her unique and incredible medical techniques. Tell me, how did you learn such an interesting feat?"

Shinji smirked and justly replied with, "Well, since I'll be sending you back to your grave with it, I'll tell you." He then pointed his finger up to the air. "I'm sure you remember Kakashi's Lightning Blade Attack. You were almost killed by it, I heard." He smirked again as his finger began sparking with electricity. It started as small sparks, but became a strong electrical current. "I know you, like all Ninja, have studied the tactic of Chakra Control. By concentrating your Chakra into a specific spot, you can perform amazing feats like walk up a tree or on water."

"I don't need a recap, kid." He scorned. "I went to school, too, you know."

"But that's how this begins." He laughed. "Kakashi and I developed Lightning-type Chakra from our father and were able to learn the Lightning Blade to that extent. However, I wasn't very good at it and wanted to improve myself. So, I tried experimenting with my skill." He clenched his fist and the electricity stopped.

"Go on."

"I have always Idolized Lady Tsunade in my childhood. I even developed a crush on her at one point." He blushed. "I was always amazed by her skills as a Medical Ninja and even more awed when she turned it into strength. Such comes down to her famous Flying Hammer Kick." He closed his eyes and suddenly the sparks began to trickle from his left leg. They grew even further as electricity sparkled from it. "I continuously persevered myself to combine these techniques so I could stand a chance in battle as well."

"Whatever." Zabuza scoffed. "How do you think its going to stop me?"

"You haven't noticed yet?" Shinji scoffed. He lifted his finger up and invoked "Current!" Suddenly, the large crater he made before began coursing with electricity, while Zabuza, still standing within it, was caught in the surge before he could notice. He groaned as his body quickly went numb, and knelt down, sword still in hand. Shinji leapt into the air and prepared to lower his leg down on Zabuza like a battleaxe.

"I call it Cyclone Kick!" As he reached the ground, a loud explosion was heard.

XXXXX

Sonic and Naruto stared down at the mirror that Haku melded himself into. The stare-down had gone for at least a minute as Sonic and Naruto were boxed in by the numerous mirrors. The only noise that was heard was the sound of Naruto gulping. Haku finally broke the procrastination by drawing three needles between his fingers and shooting them out at his opponents, who didn't hesitate to leap out of the way. The needles sped on until it phased through the ice, surprising Naruto and Sonic. That wasn't as surprising as another image of Haku appearing on the mirror, holding the needles that came through. Naruto looked back, and Haku was still in that mirror as well. In fact, four images of him were among the dome. Sonic assumed this must be the "Water Clone Jutsu" that Kisame had used before.

"This just went from bad to worse, buddy." Sonic grunted. Naruto gulped in response.

"Now it is my turn," Haku coped, "to give back what you gave me." On that, all the mirror images held needles within their fingers. The two gasped when they knew all too well what was coming next. Almost instantly, they tossed their needles at the two. They leapt as fast they could to dodge, but the needles were as fast as they were. They could only manage to dodge a few, but those that hit were plain to see as they stuck out of their bodies while blood spurted from them on contact. Naruto and Sonic grunted in pain.

"This isn't good." Espio urged from the outside. "We have to help them."

"How can we?" Blaze worried, "The only way through the walls are too narrow for us to enter!" She tried to burn through it again by clawing at it with her fiery fingers, knowing it to be futile. "And the kid must have his Chakra fused into the ice. I can't burn it!"

"This is really bad…" Espio grunted.

"I agree." Haku said insidiously, catching the two's attention as he phased onto the mirror to look straight at them as well. "You're only making it worse for yourself, you know." Then he pulled out more needles from his fingers, and more clones appeared aside him and did the same.

Blaze looked inside and saw that Sonic and Naruto were still fighting for their lives as they were becoming living pincushions.

"You can battle inside and out." Espio shuddered. "This is unreal."

"You have no idea." He replied before throwing more needles at the two.

Back inside, Naruto retaliated by throwing kunai at the mirrors, not alone, but with the assistance of his Shadow Clones. The mirrors were too strong to break from a simple kunai toss, so the knives simply bounced off. "I don't know why I thought that would work…" He obviously chided.

Sonic managed to cleave several needles off himself through Spin Dash, which he still used to attempt to shatter the ice through sheer force. As he rolled onto the mirrors at light speed, he drilled onto them with the dash, hoping the dash to be strong enough to eventually shatter them. He repeated this as he jumped from mirror to mirror, hoping enough collective spins would eventually break the ice. However, just as he was about to drill onto another, a leg phased through the mirror and violently kicked him off, breaking his concentration and his Spin Dash.

Naruto and his clones brought out their right arms, palm up, and summoned more clones aside them to form energy into their palms. The concentrated Chakra formed spiraling balls, and the clones that formed them disappeared. The ones that held them leapt out to the mirrors Haku was within and charged out a "Rasengan" onto the mirrors, but just before it could hit, Haku walked aside to another mirror. Naruto grinned and somersaulted off the mirror and onto another where Haku phased into. This caught him off guard and Haku was pelted in the stomach by a powerful Rasengan, damaging him enough to break the mirror. This was the same case for the other clones.

Naruto leapt off and landed aside Sonic. "All right!" He said. "Way to go, Naruto!" Naruto chuckled in thanks, as Blaze and Espio rushed in to assist. "Are you all right?" Blaze asked. Naruto nodded, and held his hands behind his head. "Ah, it was no problem. Believe it!"

"This was quite a predicament." Espio sighed. "We'd better go report back to Shinji."

"We can't do that, yet." Sonic replied, looking at the remaining mirrors still standing. The Jutsu was still in effect and Haku still had to be defeated. "We're not quite out of the woods."

"Nor will you ever be." The voice stated as more water balls levitated to the spots Blaze and Espio entered and formed more mirrors. Haku's image appeared yet again, only this time; it was in a single mirror.

"I'm done toying with you, Naruto." He snapped. "I'm going to destroy you now." On that note, the mirrors began to melt and alter in shape. They formed into cylindrical shapes pointing at the group, but the front sides began to slim into points; Very sharp and distinct points. Haku phased from above the icicles and stood in midair above a unique new ability that Naruto didn't know he could do.

"Water Style: Acupuncture of Death!"

"This is unfortunate." Espio gulped.

"There is one way out." Naruto said, reaching into his pocket. Sonic was quite surprised when he saw Naruto pull the green Chaos Emerald from it. Naruto held the Emerald into the air and began coursing his Chakra into his hand. Haku, despite wearing his mask, seemed to show a look of confusion. Naruto charged his energy into the Emerald and shouted out to strengthen his energy. They were all quite surprised, while Sonic was rather worried.

"Chaos Control!"

A wide display of energy was waving and spiraling around Naruto. It looked a lot like the Red Chakra within his body. It spread out in a wide range around himself, Sonic, Blaze and Espio, but as it shrunk, it didn't envelop the group, but instead, Naruto began to shriek in pain.

"Naruto!" Sonic called out, horrified at the result.

XXXXX

"This…is unreal…" Shinji slowly said as he was lying on the ground, paralyzed from his massive use of Chakra. He could only stare up at Zabuza, who astonishingly did not have a scratch, bruise or burn on him. "My technique hit right on the mark…But you're still standing…?"

"You can't touch me, kid." Zabuza sinisterly giggled. "You can't kill a demon."

Shinji could only grunt in pain as Zabuza proceeded to lift his sword and drop it down on him like the guillotine that it was. "Say good night, kid."

However, as he prepared to hammer it down on him, several snakes jetted up from the ground and coiled themselves around Zabuza, hissing in his face in the process. "What?!" He gasped. "What's going on here?"

From midair, in front of the incapacitated Shinji, arrived Anko, who brought her fingers to her face, blowing "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" onto the snakes, setting them on fire, and Zabuza along with them. They continued to burn like a bonfire until the snakes were nothing more than the skin they shed just before the attack. However, the fire ceased, revealing a burnt crispy wooden stump. "Dammit." Anko cursed. "He got away." She walked over to Shinji, tapped her fingers onto his chest and invoked "Release." Shinji was instantly able to stand up after that. He proceeded to brush the dirt off his sleeves, and then he turned to Anko.

"You were right." He said. "My strongest electrical attack wasn't able to kill him."

"Well, now we know for sure that he's behind these ghost sightings." Anko confirmed.

"C'mon." Shinji crossed. "We'd better head back to Tazuna's house. I'm sure the rest of our backup crew brought everyone else there by now."

XXXXX

Naruto was down on his knees as the pain the fox felt was too much for him to handle. His eyes were squinted shut, his teeth were clenched and he couldn't move, knowing it would hurt to do so. Sonic, Blaze and Espio were huddled around him, trying to comfort him, but failing miserably.

"Crap!" Sonic freaked out. "I should never have let you off without practice! I'm a horrible teacher and I'm so sorry!"

"Don't… worry… about it…" Naruto grunted, still hurting. "No one could have… prepared for… this…"

"Are you done entertaining me?" Haku mocked, finally readying to lower his stockade onto the group. "Then let's get on with this." Haku raised his hand as if preparing a Military Hand Signal. Just as he was about to give the command, he saw a quick, bright flash within the trees. It was bright enough to break his focus for a little while. He prepared to lower his arm yet again, only this time, something caught him off guard for a longer set time.

Before he knew it, sprouts grew up from the ground, turning into vines that continued to move along its current and envelop Haku. He gasped a little as the vines tangled him and connected together to form a giant beanstalk. From its top, a bud sprouted and grew itself to curl into Haku's face. A vine leaf grew from the bud's side to remove Haku's mask, revealing his confused face. It bloomed into a beautiful flower that spat pollen into his face. He didn't see it coming and could only cough for five seconds before slowly falling into a deep slumber.

Haku slept within the puddle of his own Ninjutsu water as Sonic, Blaze, Espio and Kurenai looked down onto him. Naruto was asleep in Kurenai's arms, his pain knocking him out cold.

"That Genjutsu of yours sure comes in handy." Sonic nodded.

"We'd better head to the bridge builder's house." Kurenai confirmed, getting a nod from everyone else in reply. They all ran off, leaving Haku to suffer his mental trap.

XXXXX

"Man, are you guys slow." Shikamaru mocked, as he stood in front of Choji and Ino stood upon the tied-up restaurant chefs, who were knocked out cold by their own utensils, as signified by the massive bumps on their heads. "Asuma got here after we took care of these guys."

"Well, we didn't have it quite so easy, you know." Blaze scoffed.

"Well," Shinji spoke, "it's best we discuss the truth in this whole matter." He turned his head to Anko, who spoke with: "This is Orochimaru's doing." Everyone, save for Asuma, Kurenai and Shinji, widened their eyes at this.

"There are several kinds of Ninjutsu in the world." She explained. "It's his goal to experiment in order to uncover them all. Among them, he found a dark technique that is forbidden in the Ninja World:"

"The Reanimation Summoning Jutsu." Everyone gasped. "This technique is capable of reviving the dead. Be it loved ones or enemies, he can bring them back… though it requires sacrifices…"

"The people who were killed in the process of these ghost sightings," Shinji continued, "were used as said sacrifices. This part is just a guess, but I'd have to assume there's a specific reason that they're attacking during the festival."

"What reason is that?" Tazuna asked, tipsy out of fear and intoxication.

"They must want to kill Naruto on Orochimaru's behalf."

"Why Naruto?" Ino asked. "What's so special about him that everyone's out to get him?"

"That is uncertain," Shinji lied, "but one thing is for sure, we must handle this situation so that this village can live in peace again."

"If Orochimaru didn't want anyone to let on about the truth," Shikamaru chided, glancing the chefs, "he should've picked some better cronies."

"Well he didn't do a good enough job of keeping secrets." Choji mocked. "Makes you wonder why he's a Sannin."

"Sonic." Blaze asked, luring him over to ask in private. "Why did you try to teach Naruto Chaos Control?"

"Because his power is able to defeat Metal Sonic." He replied. "If he learns to control that power, he'll actually be able to stand a decent chance."

"But you should have known he wouldn't be ready to take on such a great power in the face of death." She scolded. "I know you want to protect him, but you're not thinking this through."

"You want to help Silver restore his future, don't you?" He shot back, making her look aside in a compassionate way. "Wouldn't you do the same thing for him?"

"It's best we assess the situation tomorrow, once we've all gotten a little shut-eye." Shinji confirmed.

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto, who was sound asleep, still recovering from his brutal flaw. "Look at him sleep while there's so much at stake here." He thought, then moaned. "What a drag."