Sasuke gripped the Shuriken and took a stance as he looked at Zabuza as Naruto chuckled to himself. Sasuke opened the Shuriken until each of the four blades were extended and he smirked. "Demon Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows..."

Zabuza's clone lowered his arm from his hilt and it rested at his side as he looked at the Uchiha boy.

"A Shuriken won't work on me."

Sasuke leapt high into the air and used the momentum of his entire body as he twisted and through the Shuriken at the clone with a shout.

The clone's eyes widened as the weapon curved around him, missing him entirely as it went instead at the real Zabuza.

"I see." Zabuza muttered to himself as he watched the weapon coming at him while maintaining the Water Prison. "This time it's aiming at my real body... but..." He reached out his free arm and grippe the Shuriken, stopping it mid-air. "It's not so easy as that!"

He looked up quickly, realizing that a second Shuriken was coming directly at him, aimed in the center of his torso.

"A Shuriken hiding in the Shuriken's shadow! This is... The Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!"

Sakura stared at the weapon with her hands clasped together. "A second Shuriken in his blind spot!"

Zabuza jumped and lifted his legs out of range of the Shuriken while the Water Prison remained intact and the Shuriken passed underneath of him easily.

"But... still too naïve."

Sakura's mouth gaped open and her eyes widened. "He dodged it!"

The corners of Sasuke's mouth curved in a smirk as the dodged Shuriken skimmed the top of the water and continued behind Zabuza. In an instant, the Shuriken vanished in a puff of smoke and transformed into Naruto as Tazuna, Kakashi, and Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.

Zabuza turned to looked behind at the blond, his own eyes widened as Naruto smirked and threw a Kunai at the assassin.

"Here it is!"

Just before the Kunai could strike his arm, Zabuza pulled out his hand from the Water Prison as the Kunai grazed his cheek. He turned to Naruto, glaring menacingly as blood came from his wound. Spinning the Shuriken he had caught before, he rushed at Naruto to strike him dead.

"You little brat!"

Now free, Kakashi stopped the Shuriken's blade with the back of his fist, dripping wet from the Water Prison.

Naruto fell into the water with a heavy splash and Kakashi looked up slowly at the assassin with a dark glare.

Zabuza's eyes widened as the Sharingan eye locked onto his and Sakura leaned forward, smiling.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Naruto surfaced and took a large breath of air and looked up at his teacher.

"Naruto..." Kakashi glanced toward the blond. "Your strategy was outstanding. You've grown up... both of you."

Naruto chuckled as he floated up and down, grinning broadly. "The purpose of the Shadow Clones was not to take down Zabuza, but to hide my transformation into the Demon Wind Shuriken! Then a clone threw the real me, who had transformed, towards Sasuke! When Sasuke got me, he must have realized right away who I was. Then, he took out his own Shuriken..."

"...And that's the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" Naruto chuckled as he explained. "Hidden in the shadow of the real Shuriken, I aimed for Zabuza. Of course, I didn't think I would actually defeat Zabuza! But I thought I'd destroy the Water Prison. And as a bonus, I defeated his water clone, too. It was a huge success!"

Sasuke made a face and exhaled quietly. "That was a fluke..."

"It was a fluke, huh?!" Tazuna shot the Uchiha a look.

"Still," Sakura looked between Sasuke and Naruto. "They performed outstandingly in tandem...even in this desperate situation. Despite the fact that those two always fight like cats and dogs."

"Hmph!" Zabuza watched Kakashi and glanced around. "I got distracted and broke my Water Prison..."

"That's not it." Kakashi maintained his hard look and his eyes stayed on Zabuza. "You didn't break the Jutsu... They forced you to break it."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed at Kakashi and Kakashi kept his hand in place to hold back the Shuriken.

"I'll tell you now, the same Jutsu won't work on me twice." Kakashi narrowed his own eyes. "So... what will you do?"

Sasuke glanced around the area and then over to Sakura. "Sakura. Stay alert."

She nodded and they moved closer together to stand in front of Tazuna protectively.

Zabuza smirked slightly and shifted the Shuriken into its resting mode with all four blades as one and pressed them harder into Kakashi's hand as more blood dripped down. Kakashi struggled to hold back the weapon as it drew nearer to his face, then he pushed back hard enough and sent the Shuriken flying away into the mist.

The two leapt back from the other and Zabuza began to form hand signs mid-air. Kakashi's Sharingan eye widened and he copied the signs easily.

Sasuke's own eyes widened slightly as he watched Kakashi. "The Sharingan!"

The two Jonin landed on the water's surface and Zabuza continued the series of hand signs, Kakashi copying them exactly and in time with him.

"Ushi, saru, u. Ne, inoshihi, tori, ushi. Uma tori, ne, tora. Inu, tora, mi, ushi, hitsuji. Mi, inoshishi, hitsuji, ne..." Zabuza's chanting as he formed each sign was copied by Kakashi, resounding as one as it echoed eerily around them. "Jin, saru, tori, tatsu. Tori, ushi, uma, hitsuji. Ne, ushi, saru, tori. Jin, ne, inoshihi. Tora, mi, ne, saru. U, inoshishi, tatsu, hitsuji."

As they continued to chant, the water between them bubbled and foamed.

"—Ne, ushi, saru, tori. Jin, ne, inoshishi. Tori!" A final sign and the water between them came to life and took the shape of two rival dragons. "Water Style! Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The dragons looped around one another, rising higher until they lunged at one another, crashing into each other, causing a massive splash and a large wave to surge onto the shore at Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke. The dragons continued to fight as the water surged and sprayed around, soaking everything.

"He copied that chant in seconds..." Sasuke kept his eyes on Kakashi. "And so perfectly!"

Sakura helped Tazuna back onto his feet where the swell had knocked him over and she gaped at the fighting dragons. "W-What is this?"

As the dragons battled, Zabuza swung his sword down at Kakashi, who blocked it with a Kunai knife, both of them struggling to gain an advantage over the other.

"Strange..." Zabuza furrowed his brows as he pressed more weight into his blade. "What is going on...?"

As Kakashi pushed back, Zabuza gritted his teeth. "The Sharingan is the ability to memorize and copy the enemy's Jutsu... But... the Jutsu were set in motion at the same time!" He narrowed his eyes. "By any chance, is this guy...?"

A masked figure watched the fighting at a distance from a high branch, his long robes flowing in the wind, unnoticed by anyone below.

"This guy!" Zabuza clenched his jaw and leaned deeper into his strike, then he and Kakashi leapt apart simultaneously.

Once they landed on the water, Zabuza began to run in a circle on its surface as Kakashi continued to copy his every movement. Now at the other's original spot,they stopped and gave the other a hard look.

Zabuza raised his arms again to form a hand sign, only for Kakashi's arms to lift as well. With their right hand, they formed a singular sign, and the left raised above their head. Zabuza's eyes widened at Kakashi.

"The same identical movement!" Tazuna blinked in astonishment. "Furthermore, at exactly the same time!"

"What's going on Sasuke?" Sakura looked up at him, who wore a serious expression.

"This guy..." Zabuza thought to himself again and a scowl formed. "My movements! He's perfectly..." Lowering his left arm slowly, Kakashi did the same.

"Reading them." Kakashi finished the assassin's thought out loud with a quiet chuckle.

"What?" Zabuza stood still and a bead of sweat formed on his brow. "He's reading my mind?!" Slowly he shifted to form another sign. "Blast him! He's..."

"—Giving me that barren, evil eye... right?" Kakashi formed the same sign and finished his thoughts again.

"Heh!" Zabuza chuckled, shifting to another sign. "You're just copying... you're just a pale imitation. You—"

"—Won't be able to beat me!"

Zabuza's eyes went wide and he quickly formed a series of signs with a glare. "I'll shut that copycat monkey-mouth permanently!"

A shadowy figure appeared behind Kakashi and the assassin narrowed his eyes at the figure as it formed. "What's that?!"