"Sasuke! Naruto! Don't lost to a guy like that!" Sakura called out through the thick mist.

"Stop it, Sakura!" Kakashi glanced at her and scolded quietly. "Don't goad him."

"W-What?" She turned to her teacher and blinked.

"Even if there was a chance that we could break that technique, they won't be able to defeat that boy." Kakashi explained only loud enough for her to hear with a serious expression.

Sakura's paled slightly. "W-What do you mean?"

Zabuza began to chuckle, first to himself, and then louder as his shoulders moved with his laughter.

"They don't have the mentality to suppress or kill their feelings... and kill another person." Kakashi glared at Zabuza, who said nothing except chuckled to himself.

Sakura's eyes grew wide.

"That boy really knows the agony of being a Shinobi. He's different than Naruto and Sasuke." Kakashi glanced over to the mirrors.

"Exactly." Zabuza smirked beneath his bandages and his eyes rose to look at his rival. "No real Shinobi will come out of a peace-addicted village like yours. Because they're not able to learn the most important experience of killing!"

"Then..." Sakura gulped. "What are we going to do, Sensei?!"

"If I go over to Naruto and Sasuke, Tazuna will be in danger. Kakashi looked around the bridge in thought. "Even if I try Shadow Clones, he'll come to stop me with his Water Clones. I'd just be wasting Chakra. That just leaves..." His hand rose slowly to his headband and he gripped it.

"I'm sorry, but..." Kakashi spoke aloud and met Zabuza's eyes. "I'm going to have to finish this quickly."

"Sharingan?!" Sakura stared at her teacher.

"The Sharingan again?" Zabuza chuckled. "You're such an unimaginative guy."

Zabuza reached behind to grab a Kunaiand rushed at Kakashi, whose eyes widened slightly as the weapon was thrust at him.

"Sensei!" Sakura yelled as the Kunai made contact.

"You might call me an unimaginative guy..." Kakashi glared as his right hand dripped blood onto the ground as the Kunai was stuck in his palm, having blocked the strike from injuring his eye. "But even you are afraid of the Sharingan after all, Zabuza!"

Zabuza chuckled and smirked. "The secret technique of a Shinobi isn't something you should show your opponent so many times."

"Be appreciative." Kakashi kept his eyes on the assassin. "You're the only one who has had the chance to see it twice... and there will be no third time."

Zabuza laughed under his breath. "Even if you were able to defeat me, you still can't defeat Haku."

"What?" Sakura shuddered slightly and looked at the ice mirrors. "Even Kakashi-sensei wouldn't win? Is that boy really that strong?"

"Since he was a kid, I've been painstakingly teaching him the battle techniques of Ninja..." Zabuza smirked and met Kakashi's eye. "All of my techniques. On top of that... he has been polishing his own skills as well. As a result, he has— no matter how unbelievably difficult the situation— been extremely successful."

Zabuza glanced toward Haku's mirrors momentarily. "He has no heart and has abandoned the notion of life. He is purely a fighting machine known as a Shinobi. Not only that, but his Jutsu surpasses mine! The terrifying ability of his Kekkei Genkai... in other words... I acquired a sophisticated tool; unlike that scrap you're carrying around."

Zabuza pulled the knife from Kakashi's hand and another spurt of blood splattered onto the ground.

Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "I'm not one to be afraid just because I failed once! I'll do it as many times as it takes!" He formed a hand sign and narrowed his eyes. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. "Stop it!"

Again, clones emerged from a puff of smoke and launched themselves at the masked figure in each of the mirrors. And again, Haku leapt from mirror-to-mirror in an instant and struck the clones, dissipating them. Haku threw another barrage of Senbon at Sasuke from all angles, who screamed out once again in pain.

Naruto fell to the ground as the attack ended and Sasuke knelt and huffed as he caught his breath.

Naruto sat up with a groan and furrowed his brows. "W-What the heck is it?!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and stared at the mirror directly in front of him. "It was just slight, but..." He stood slowly and looked around. "I could see the trails of his movements..."

"One more try..." Naruto stood up beside Sasuke and glanced at his teammate before forming the hand sign once more. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

As the clones leapt at the mirrors, Sasuke kicked a puddle into the air.

"Don't you understand that it's useless?" Haku's voice echoed as he watched Naruto coming at him again.

Haku attacked once again in the blink of an eye and Naruto and Sasuke fell to the ground again, crying out in pain as they lay on their backs.

"Just because I can see the trail..." Sasuke sat upright slowly and gritted his teeth through the pain. "Doesn't mean that I can keep up with his speed." He looked upwards in thought. "The water... is being repelled." He eyed the nearest image of the masked boy suspiciously. "But... what if that wasn't water?"

Sasuke let out a slow breath, closing his eyes for a moment and then opened them. "All right... this next one is going to be my one shot!"

"Just because a bunch of scrap got together doesn't mean that they can defeat Haku." Zabuza chuckled. "He is... the best tool!"

There's nothing more boring than a stranger bragging." Kakashi said dully. "It's about time now... I make my move."

Kakashi uncovered his left eye with a hard glare to reveal his Sharingan.

"Now wait..." Zabuza remained in place. "As long as we're talking..." He returned his Kunai to his pouch and his arm rested at his side. "Let me brag about another thing..."

"Hm?" Kakashi watched him carefully.

"In the battle before, I didn't just let you defeat me like a fool." Zabuza explained. "Haku was hiding in the corner and was observing the battle. Haku is quite smart. With his ability to analyze, he is able to plan a counterattack after observing a technique only once." He paused. "I've been anxious to copy your line. 'I'll tell you now, but the same Jutsu won't work on me twice.'"

"Hidden Mist Jutsu..." Zabuza formed the hand sign and the mist thickened around them. It engulfed Zabuza entirely until he vanished from sight.

"This is..." Kakashi looked around the mist, unable to see the others.

"What is this...?" Tazuna muttered and turned his head to only see the heavy white fog. "This really thick fog? Visibility is close to zero..."

"Sensei..." Sakura muttered under her breath into the fog.

"Sakura! Stay with Tazuna!" Kakashi ordered into the mist.

"That's right..." Sakura furrowed her brows and clenched her fist. "I just have to trust Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei right now... while I do whatever I can!"

Sakura moved closer to Tazuna and he squinted through the fog as she drew nearer.

"Oh! Sakura!" The old man nodded as she stood in front of him with a Kunai prepared.

"Mr. Tazuna, no matter what, don't move away from me."

"Yeah... I so know it!" He let out a short breath as he looked around anxiously.

"I know... Zabuza..." Haku stared down at the two boys. "I'll finish them off soon enough..."

Naruto ran at the nearest mirror with a shout and his fist raised. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"You just don't learn, do you?!" Haku gripped another set of Senbon and moved to attack the horde of clones.

Sasuke quickly formed a series of hand signs and blew a large fireball directly into the path of Haku, whose eyes widened slightly beneath the mask as he turned to look at the approaching flames.

"What?! That Fire-Style Jutsu?!" Haku dodged the fire and leapt into a mirror for safety, then continued to teleport around the dome to dispel the clones. "It takes... too long!"

Sasuke clenched his jaw and watched as each of the clones vanished in smoke, then pressed his thumb and forefinger together to form an "O" and release a large breath through its center. A larger burst of fire shot out, singing Haku's robes as he dodged it.

Naruto collapsed hard on the ground, rolling several meters until he came to a stop. Sasuke breathed heavily and furrowed his brows as Naruto lifted himself off the ground with fresh cuts and blood oozing.

Sasuke smirked slightly as he caught his breath. "This is good. Bit by bit... I'm figuring out his timing." His eyes fell on the mirror before him and his smirk grew as he saw the charred fabric of Haku's robes.

Kakashi looked directly above him with his eyes wide. "I know it's called Hidden Mist, but the fog is way too thick... even Zabuza himself shouldn't be able to see anything..." He turned suddenly to look over his shoulder and retrieve a Kunai as the sound of Shuriken approached. He knocked each one away easily and kept a careful watch of the mist.

"Good job on dodging them... It's just what I would expect of Kakashi of the Sharingan..."

Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza's voice came from behind him. Kakashiturned to see the Assassin there with a hand sign already formed and his eyesshut. "He's... closing his eyes!"

"The next time you see me, that'll be the end of it all..." Zabuza paused with his eyes still closed in concentration. "You overrate the Sharingan too much."

"What...?" Kakashi watched as Zabuza disappeared from view again.

"You spoke as if you saw through everything, but... your foresight was wrong after all... Kakashi." Zabuza chuckled from the fog. "You can't read my mind or my future... The Sharingan is merely a diversion that makes you falsely believe that! Those who have the Sharingan... they possess both perceptive and hypnotic eyes... using these two powers and bringing out Jutsu one after the other... you were only acting as if you can read the future!"

"First, with the perceptive eyes, you copied my movement right away." Zabuza continued. "This is the image reflection method. You first got me in a ruffle with it... and once you made you that I'm flustered, you nail the 'heart's voice.' It's just an imitation after all." He paused. "You judged the right timing when my frustration was reaching its height. You set a clever trap. You used the Genjutsu with your hypnotic eye and made me weave the signs first... this is the Jutsu imitation method... Then that makes it easier."

First, vanish into thick fog to make your preceptive eyes useless..." Zabuza's voice seemed to to come from different directions all around the silver-haired Jonin.

"H-Huh?" Kakashi raised his Kunai to block an unseen attack, only to be knocked back several meters. He slid to a stop and glared into the fog. "Ðamn! The guard is falling back!"

"I will close my eyes as well!" Zabuza chuckled. "Thus shutting off your ability to use your hypnotic eye in a close-combat fight."

"Why?" Kakashi tightened his grip on his Kunai and straightened. "That also means you lose your ability to see."

"Did you forget...?" Zabuza paused and his voice trailed off eerily. "That I am a master of Silent Killing, a technique to find a target just by sound."

Kakashi's eyes widened.

Sasuke and Naruto stood side-by-side as they glared at the image of Haku in front of them, clenching their jaws in frustration.

"He read my movement..." Haku glanced down at his clothes. "No way could he do that."

"Darn!" Naruto clenched his fist. "We were so close!"

"Naruto, can you still move?" Sasuke looked at his teammate.

"Of course!" Naruto clenched both fists and looked back at him. "I'm totally fine!"

"He's pretty much spent..." Sasuke stared at the blond in silence and looked over his injuries. "And it's no surprise. The Shadow Clone Jutsu uses a lot of Chakra. But, thanks to him... I found our way out." Sasuke turned his attention back to the mirrors and smirked. "And a way to break through!"

"Hah! Impossible..." Haku thought to himself and his eyes fell back to the Genin. "It was just a coincidence."

The ice mirrors glowed brightly and blinded them. Sasuke quickly formed hand signs and glanced at Naruto. "Naruto, run!"

"What?" Naruto looked at him and blinked.

"Run out and attack from the outside!" Sasuke commanded.

Naruto broke into a grin. "All right!" He started to run beyond the mirrors and Haku turned his head to look at him.

"I won't let you!"

The mirrors illuminated once more and Naruto was thrown back by an invisible force. He stood and again ran. "I'm not going to lose!"

Haku leapt from the mirror toward Naruto as Sasuke followed his movement.

"There!" Sasuke formed the "O" again and raised it to his lips. "Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!"

The ball of fire rushed at Haku mid-air, aimed at the spot Sasuke knew the boy would be. Haku moved slightly to avoid the blast, turning to look at the Uchiha now in surprise. He recovered quickly and threw a Senbon at his rival.

Haku landed in front of Naruto as he reached the edge of the dome, bringing his foot up to strike Naruto hard in the gut and send him flying back into the center. He returned to his mirror as Sasuke cried out in pain and clutched his shoulder where the Senbon had lodged itself and Naruto crashed onto the ground.

Naruto took large gasps as air as he tried to recover, standing slowly as he cursed under his breath. "Darn!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and pulled the Senbon free of his flesh, blood dripping the wound. "T-That was good just now!"

"What?" Naruto turned to him.

Sasuke stood and dropped the needle to the ground. "We're doing it one more time!"

Naruto blinked and then nodded, furrowing his brows. "All right!"

"It's likely that there is a limit to that guy's Chakra, too!" Sasuke stared at Haku and furrowed his brows. "To prove that, he's little by little..."

Naruto shouted and ran again to lure Haku as Sasuke ran in the opposite direction.

"This won't go as you've planned." Haku said and leapt from his mirror and looked at Sasuke, throwing Senbon. "First, I'll get you!"

The needles stuck into Sasuke, sticking out of his torso and limbs. He screamed and fell to his knees.

"Sasuke!" Naruto stopped running and turned to look at him. A volley of Senbon pierced Naruto from behind. His screamed echoed through the mist, reaching the ears of Kakashi and Sakura, who looked in the direction of his cry.

"Damn!" Kakashi craned his head in the direction of the screaming and then looked back around him. "It's been a while since I've fought in such bad conditions. And then there's Naruto and Sasuke to worry about..." He glared into the fog and then closed his eyes, taking in controlled breaths. "Be calm... think... What will he do next?"

His eyes burst open and he turned behind him. "Oh no!"

Sakura stood in front of Tazuna with her Kunai readied as she listened and looked around carefully. Zabuza emerged silently from the mist behind them.

Their eyes widened and they turned to look behind to see Zabuza rush at the old man with bloodlust in his eyes as he reached for his sword. Kakashi appeared between the assassin and his prey with his arms out protectively.

"Too late!" Zabuza raised the blade over his head and swung down with all his might. Blood splattered all around, and Sakura screamed in horror.