Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! All belongs to Masashi Kishimoto!
Chapter 25 DREAMS…!
Clad in orange their number one numb skull ninja bounced around excited "YEAH! HERO'S HERE! MY ENTRANCE WAS PERFECTLY DONE! I'M SO AWESOME!"
Kakashi face palmed "Exasperating little-! What we needed was an ambush instead; she paints herself as the new target!"
"NARUKO!" Sakura practically breathed her praise for the bundle of sunshine. "Show off…" Sasuke rolled his eyes. Haku stared quietly, the mask hiding a solemn expression.
Finally getting sick of the show Zabuza sent shuriken straight at the back of the still bouncing blond. "NARUKO YOU IDIOT PAY ATTENTION!" her master yelled.
Fully turned and confused Naruko spotted the weapons coming right at her. But before they could come within a meter of her, they were intercepted. All weapons clattered to the ground at the blonds' feet.
"Haku… what do you think you're doing?" he glared. "Zabuza sir, please let me fight this girl… my own way" he still didn't look up. Zabuza studied the boy "…. So you want me to give her to you? Eh, Haku? How charmingly naïve of you… fine…" Haku bowed his head in gratitude. Meanwhile Sasuke sat in his prison thinking of a plan; Naruko had already concocted something of her own.
"If Naruko could attack from the outside, and I attack from the inside we just might be able to-!" his train of thought was interrupted by a smiling blond crouched in front of him "Hey! Sasuke! Don't worry, I'm here to save you!" Finally frustrated with her blundering the Uchiha took hold of both pigtails atop her head, yanking painfully "You Ditz! No Stealth, No Caution! And you call yourself a ninja?! Now that you've gotten yourself trapped in here with me! Do what you want! I don't care!" "OW! OW! Sasuke that hurts! I was only trying to help!"
Kakashi watched their childish antics feeling rather embarrassed himself "Well… Leave it the ditz, once she starts 'helping' things go from bad to worse!"
Haku melded back into his mirror. Sasuke reached the pouch on his leg "So that one is his real body…!" as if he read his thoughts; he disappeared only to reappear behind the confused duo. "Over here…" "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" unbeknownst to her, her teammate was already putting his own plan into fruition.
Fire style! Fire ball jutsu!
"There made up of ice! So they should just melt!"
Fires surround both of the teens inside their prison, "Oh! Way to go Sasuke! Didn't even dent the thing, now we're stuck surrounded by fire! Very nice! Here let me try something!" Her hands made a familiar hand sign.
Art of the Doppel ganger!
"NO YOU DITZ!" knowing her, the plan was to attack all the mirrors until the she got the real one. As fast as they were in the air, they were faster put on the ground. Each of them poofing away in their own clouds of smoke, leaving the original on the ground groaning in pain. "Welcome back-" "SHUT UP SASUKE!"
"The technique I'm using is part of the Art of teleportation, and the only tool I need to perform it, is the mirrors that hold my image. I move so quickly the both of you may as well as be standing still!" his voice echoed off the walls of his mirrors. Another barrage of attacks caught the both of them.
"Hn, So that kid has a Kekkei Genkai… a genetic trait passed down from generations in a clan…" Zabuza's smirk confirmed Kakashi's theory.
Tired and exhausted the cut over blond slumped into herself "I'm tired…" "Will you quit?" Haku questioned. His judging irritated her "No way! I have a dream to fulfill!" he stared down at the girl he grew so fond of, thinking of the time back in the woods.
"I… find it difficult, to fully embrace the shinobi way. I can't help but prefer that you… not force me to kill you." His attention was mostly directed at the beat up Uzumaki. "However if you are going to come at me… I shall harden my own heart, and act as a true shinobi would!" Naruko held back an animalistic growl in the pit of her chest.
"I… have my own dreams… as you have yours… please do try not to resent me but I'm willing to do whatever it takes… to protect the one I care most about, to become his weapon, to be useful… doing so is my dream" Naruko got an odd feeling of familiarity with his sentence, but only pushed the thought to the back of her head.
"To that end, I will become the blade, and kill you!"
Both Sasuke and Naruko smiled at the challenge.
"NARUKO! SASUKE! DON'T LOSE TO A GUY LIKE THAT!" Sakura was still the simple observer off to the side, hoping her friends would be okay.
Kakashi tugged at the head band that covered his left eye. "You'll forgive me if I put an end to this…!" Zabuza laughed at the threat "Going to use the Sharingan eye? What a vulgar maneuver. So obvious! So lacking in finesse!" he charged at him kunai in hand. Surprised by the sudden attack Kakashi retaliated by using his hand as a shield, the blade only going so deep.
"You can sneer all you want about the Sharingan eye and of me. But that doesn't change the fact you are scared of both me and the Sharingan. So… Let's get started!"
Sasuke pushed his blond teammate to the side when a single Senbon whizzed in the air. "Aw man! Sasuke we have to do something! We're getting beaten up pretty bad!" her whining really wasn't helping their situation. "Shut up! And get on your feet! I can't watch him and look after you too!" His sentence hurt Naruko "THAN STOP TRYING TO SAVE ME!" He looked back at her expressionless "we're both wounded, but we have to suck it up and go on. He's attacks have been getting weaker."
Haku watched with an itching irritation, the way these two fought and protected one another was making him feel a little… jealous.
Sasuke saw he was about to attack, this time aimed at him. As fast as he could he moved sideways to avoid the attack, but Haku was just too fast for him and his wounded state. The Senbon impaled itself right above his left knee cap. A painful gasp escaped his mouth but he still stood strong, unwilling to give in. "Crap! Sasuke you okay?!" He could've laughed at the irony of the situation. She hated him, but was worried at the same time… if it was him, he wouldn't care.
"My eyes are starting to adjust the environment"
"My next assault will take you down!" Haku withdrew two Senbon's. The next attack would surely put the black haired boy out of commission. He lunged. In turn Sasuke quickly grabbed the blond by the waist, pulling her out of the way of the attack. They skidded to a stop, the impact of the toss ripped Naruko from his grip. She landed closer to the enemy than he did. Somewhere between getting the air squeezed out of her and having her head knocked roughly on the ground unconscious.
"He wasn't fooled! He wasn't even confused! Impossible!" Haku took a closer look at his advisory. Blood colored eyes glared at him; two black comas surrounded his pupil. The look in his eye was one that sent something of a freight through him. "The Sharingan eye!?" "I see now… you are also of a Kekkei Genkai bloodline… then I cannot allow this battle to go on, my own Kekkei Genkai forces me to expand a great deal of my own chakra. I'm certain the longer this drags on the more of an advantage you will have over me."
He narrowed in on his next target, who still lay on the ground unmoving. "Please forgive me…" "No! NARUKO!" Seeing the attack Sasuke leaped after him. "Have to get there before him!"
A sudden jolt awoke the female Kunoichi. She looked on behind her to see a Haku on all hands and knees recovering from a blow. "Sheesh… no matter how many times I tell you not to get in the way, you never listen…" "Sasuke! You did it! You're-" the praise died in her throat. Tears gathered at the edges of her eyes at the sight of her friend stabbed and coughing up blood. The long Senbon needles protruding out from every side of him.
"Get that expression off your face… You ditz!" his words were forced and painful even to her. "W-Why?" was the only word that came to mind. "Why? You ask me why? You obvious ditz!" "You know, I use to hate you… now…"
Tears spilled over her eyes, "Why… why did you…?! Why me?! I TOLD YOU TO STOP TRYING TO SAVE ME!" her voice cracked from the pent emotion. "Idiot, stop saying… How should I know? My body moved on it's on…" he stumbled backwards, landing in her lap. "I swore I wouldn't die, until I've killed him… thought the oath would save me..." a red faced sniffling Naruko locked eyes with his. "Don't even think… about dying…" a forced grin broke out across her face. "I never think!" the weak joke brought a genuine smile to his face. Dread filled her entire being at the lifeless look in his eyes "Sasuke…."
"He struck one blow at me… and without any shirking… sacrificed himself for you! He was a shinobi worthy of the utmost respect… who in order to protect someone he cared about, threw himself headlong into what he knew full well was a trap" the tears had stopped and she was quiet. "Is this a first time you've watched a comrade die? Such is a ninja's path-"
"Shut up!" she had no idea why he was trying to comfort her, after he had done… he didn't deserve to talk to her.
"I'll never forgive you for this!" the air around her was thick and red. Her eyes red, pupil's stretched into vertical lines. Shifting and swirling, ever moving on its own as if it were alive.
"I will kill you!"