You guys better be ok without me…' he thought as he lost consciousness.
Haku stood calmly, with his legs stuck in a spider web. He was waiting for his opponent to strike. He was listening for any movement, any kind of indication where his opponent might be. His years of training under Zabuza had given him a keen ability to listen and to fight without his eyes. His keen ears picked up the sound of a bow string snapping and he moved his upper body just in time to dodge a golden arrow aimed directly for his heart.
"Hohhh, not bad, but how about this one?" He heard Kidomaru say. "Destructive power 75% accuracy 100%". He whispered, Haku prepared himself and went through a few hand seals. Kidomaru let the arrow fly. Haku finished his hand seals just in time for an ice mirror to appear and block the arrow.
'Tch' Kidomaru thought 'He's craftier than I thought. No matter, he shouldn't be able to move much, let's see how he does against this.' He bit his finger and went through some hand seals.
"Kuchiyose." He called out and slammed his hand on the tree he was standing on. Hundreds of large black spiders, as large as Haku's head appeared and began rushing towards Haku, attaching their webs to the trees and sweeping down towards him. Haku began throwing senbon needles at each spider, piercing them through their abdomen, killing them in one hit. They started to jump at him more rapidly as he continued to throw senbon until eventually they became too close and started to envelop him in their webs. Just as they started to encase him, Haku went through some hand signs. 'I'm going to have to use that... ' Haku thought. The spiders around him began to cool down, the very air got cold. Kidomaru watched with a shocked expression as the spiders all began to turn white until Haku burst from the center, shattering all the spiders and their webs to pieces.
"Tensō Jūrin (Subjugation of the heavens)" Haku called out, exhaling a small amount of frost. Kidomaru watched as the trees and the plants nearby started to get a small layer of frost around them. He sent more spiders towards Haku only for them to freeze before they even got close to him and die.
"What the?" Kidomaru said looking at the boy. He noticed his eyes were glossy, and his hair had become white, what was up with this kid?
"This is a special ability of my clan. I do not like using this as I cannot control the frost around me." Haku stated. "Your abilities will no longer be effective against me."
Kidomaru chuckled and created another golden arrow from his mouth and readied it in his bow.
"Destructive power 100%, speed 100%, accuracy 100%" He called out, aiming it at Haku through the trees. He let the arrow fly and it snaked around the trees, heading straight towards Haku. Just as it began to get nearer it started to slow down as it became colder before it crashed into the ground next to Haku harmlessly.
"As I said, your abilities are no longer useful against me." He repeated. Kidomaru smirked again, this was proving to be more fun than he thought. He went through another series of handsigns and slammed his hand against the tree.
"Kuchiyose" he called out as a giant black spider emerged in a puff of smoke. "Use the special thread." He said to the spider. It nodded as if it understood and crawled up into the canopy of trees.
Haku was watching around him and listening when a large canvas of spider web came crashing down onto him from above. He stood still, his ice field should protect him. To his surprise, the web did not freeze and landed perfectly around him, trapping him where he stood.
"Surprised?" He heard Kidomaru say. "This is a special thread created by my spider. It has a thermal resistance, your ice field is impressive, but there is no getting away now." He said smiling even though he knew Haku could not see him. He pulled a thread that he had attached nearby. Haku watched helplessly as several golden spikes starting flying at him from every direction. He focused his chakra, the air around started to get colder. The water in the air started to turn solid until a solid dome of ice had encased him. All of the golden spikes bounced off of the ice harmlessly. Haku caused the ice to explode outwards, sending shards of ice and web flying outwardly. Kidomaru just moved his head as one of the spikes flew past him and embedded itself into the tree behind him. Several sharp shards embedded themselves into the spider's underbelly and it shrieked in pain as it got struck. Haku ran through some more hand seals. A giant dragon like figure made of ice appeared around him.
"Hyoton: hyoryudan no jutsu (Ice style: ice dragon bullet)" Haku called out as the ice dragon sped toward the giant spider and collided with the creature. Ice began to form around the spider until it was completely encased in ice. It fell the ground with a large crash.
'That was close…' Kidomaru thought with some sweat rolling down his face. He quickly dispelled his summon and the spider disappeared from inside the block of ice. This kid was fast and he was good. His ice style was truly strong. Kidomaru began to feel cold, like the air had turned to winter. He began to shiver.
"Makyo Hyosho (demonic mirroring ice crystals" Kidomaru heard from behind him as he turned around to see an ice mirror where the previous shard had been. He quickly jumped back and avoided a swipe from Haku's senbon. He jumped back into the clearing and looked around in shock. There were dozens of the same ice mirrors. Haku's reflection could be seen in all of them.
"When did you…?" Kidomaru said.
"When I sent the ice shards flying. The spread was not random. Please do not trouble us any further or I will kill you." All the images of Haku began brandishing his senbon.
Kidomaru stopped for a moment, he looked around and began chuckling, which turned to full blown laughter.
"You really think this is enough to kill me?" He said. Haku frowned and then started his assault. He started jumping from mirror to mirror, throwing senbons at Kidomaru, aiming for non-vital areas. He let himself get hit, over and over by Haku's attack. Everytime he left a mirror, Kidomaru would send a spider web into the mirror, preventing Haku from re-entering them. Eventually there was only one mirror left without a spider web. Haku jumped from that mirror, he needed to end this fight. He aimed the senbon for a vital point on the neck, but not to cause death, only to incapacitate. The senbon struck their mark and Haku stood there, holding onto the senbon.
"I am sorry. But this fight is over." He said. Kidomaru had a wicked smile on this face as the body dissolved into a golden sticky substance, trapping Haku in its place.
Kidomaru smirked from his hiding place on top of a tree. His bow and arrow nocked and ready.
"Destructive power 150%, accuracy 100%, speed 150%." He said as he let his arrow fly. It was attached by a thread, going into his mouth. The arrow flew through one of the ice mirrors and Haku could only watch as it came closer to him. He quickly went through some one handed seals and an ice mirror appeared in front of him. The arrow struck the mirror, piercing straight through it and crashing right through Haku's side, landing into the sticky substance, obliterating it.
"Tch, you really are a stubborn one." Kidomaru said as he created a new arrow from his mouth. Haku dropped down onto one knee, clutching his side. It was bleeding heavily, he slowly went through some more hand seals and created a mirror in front of him.
"That will not save you this time." Kidomaru said. "Destructive power 200%, accuracy 100%, speed 200%" he said. He let the arrow loose. It tore through the trees, faster than anyone could see. It was about to collide with the mirror. Just as it was about to hit Kidomaru smirked and channelled his chakra through the thread. The arrow started to move and bent around the mirror. Haku had a look of surprise on his face as the arrow came around the ice and embedded itself into his shoulder. He cried out in pain as it pierced right through and pinned him to the ground.
"Heh, heh, gotcha." Kidomaru said, looking down at the mirror. Even though he couldn't see behind the mirror he knew he had hit his mark. He was quietly celebrating his victory when he felt something odd. He looked down and saw ice rushing up the thread to his mouth. Before he could react, the ice made contact with his body. He tried to detach the thread, but it was too late, it had entered his mouth. He could slowly feel the ice envelope him from inside his mouth.
"What?! What's happening!" He cried out as he became colder and colder. Haku let the ice mirror fall, revealing only his shoulder had been pierced. "Im-impos-" Kidomaru started to say before his mouth froze. He clawed at his face as the ice kept spreading, to the rest of his body. In a matter of moments, his whole body had frozen over completely. Where Kidomaru once stood, now was a crystal clear white ice statue. The statue began to tip over and it fell several stories to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Haku laid down in a slump, his long hair sprawled all over the place. He laid there for what seemed like an eternity, his mind starting filling with memories of his past. Him, spending time with his mother in the snow. Him showing his mother for the first time, turning water into ice with just his chakra. His mother scolding him for doing that. Their father coming home and killing his mother in cold blood and then trying to kill him. He hadn't meant to kill the man, his instincts just took over. He remembered when Zabuza had found him, telling him that he was his tool, his weapon. He let a tear fall out of his eye at the thought of Zabuza, the man who had raised him since he was very young, the man who was his partner for all this time. He remembered the fight he had with the Kiri ninja, placing the giant sword on his grave. He remembered shaking Naruto's hand as they all went the same way.
Haku's vision started to fade. He didn't want to die here, there was so much he needed to do still. He still had people counting on him. He forced himself to get up, pushing himself up slowly. His body protesting at his every move. He managed to crawl over to a tree and sit himself up next to it. He shakily went through some hand seals, his hand started to radiate cold. He touched it to his shoulder and winced as the wound began to freeze over. This ice shouldn't melt as long as he kept some chakra in it. He did the same for the gash on his side. The blood stopped pouring out and his wounds felt sore, but it should hold for a while. He laid his head back against the tree and let his eyes close. 'I hope… I have done enough… Naruto-san... ' he thought as his consciousness faded.
Kabuto was standing in a dark room, lit only by the faint glow of several monitors. He was going over some recent reports on a clipboard. He stood over a bed, a pale figure lay underneath a thin sheet, his head covered in a bandage with a seal in the center.
"I have a job for you." Kabuto said to the figure. "It would seem your comrades are failing their mission. This will likely be your final mission given your condition. However, it is Orochimaru-sama's will."
The figure spoke, "If it is Orochimaru-sama's will then I will perform it without fail. I may not be able to be his vessel any longer, but I will do my best to assist him."
Kabuto smirked, what a good little pawn. "You will go and help the other four in retrieving Sasuke Uchiha."
"Is he to be Orochimaru-sama's new vessel?" he asked.
Kabuto remained silent for a moment. "If he resists… convince him to come along but do not kill him." Kabuto turned and left the room as the figure slowly started to sit up. Kabuto closed the door behind him and silently walked through the halls until he came to Orochimaru's chambers. He knocked on the door and entered the room. Orochimaru was sitting upright in his bed, reading a scroll.
"What is it Kabuto?" He asked.
"The four elites we sent to retrieve Sasuke are failing. As you requested, I have just woken up Kimimaro to send after them." Kabuto replied.
"Very good then. If he is in charge, I will have my prize soon." He said with a smirk on his face.
"Orochimaru-sama, if I may… why Sasuke? There is a whole village out here full of Uchiha, most of them with better fighting capabilities than him."
"Ku, ku, ku, his blood is special. He isn't just any Uchiha. He is a direct descendent of a very special one… him and his brother both. Alas, it is far too late for me to go after him though. He has become stronger than me…" He said with a look of disgust on his face as he looked over to a mummified hand sitting on his mantle, a ring around its pinky finger. "And their father is in Konoha. Getting in there will be difficult without an army, especially with that old crone Danzo in charge. A lone fledgling Uchiha accompanied by a bunch of brats is a much easier task."
"Why not go yourself? Or send me instead of risking Kimimaro's life?" Kabuto asked.
"I have more important matters to attend to right now and you have your experiments. If Kimimaro should fail, I will have to take another vessel, there is plenty of time to cultivate Sasuke-kun." The snake sannin smiled.
"As you wish, Orochimaru-sama" Kabuto replied before bowing and exiting the room.