The Chakra faded from view and Naruto growled low, crouched on all fours. He looked up suddenly at Haku, who quickly held up Senbon as the boy rushed at him.

"He's coming!"

Haku narrowed his eyes behind his mask."He looks nothing like he used to!" Haku threw the Senbon and leapt into another mirror. His eyes widened when the Senbon were knocked away by an invisible force."His Chakra repelled my attack!"

Naruto stopped running and growled as each of the mirrors reflected Haku's image.

"Then..."

Each Haku launched Senbon at the boy and stuck into his body. He dropped to his knees for a moment and then let out a loud growl as another wave of red-orange Chakra burst from his body and ejected the needles. Haku's duplicates vanished and, before he could escape, Naruto rushed at the mirror and shattered it with a single strike.

"This should do it!"Haku emerged from a mirror shard with a single Senbon clenched in his hands and took aim at Naruto's vital spot. As he jumped down to drive the weapon into the boy, the blond leapt easily out of the way as Haku crashed to the ground.

Haku recovered and reeled back as Naruto's red eyes glared at him."Why?!" He moved to enter another mirror quickly and was stopped as Naruto gripped his arm tightly."No! It can't be!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he let out another half-scream, half-growl as Chakra bubbled around him.

Kakashi's eyes widened as the intense pressure in the air increased. "Could... Naruto's seal have been broken...?!" He narrowed his eyes and gazed into the mist. "No... this feeling... It's true that the seal is weakened and the Chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox is escaping, but..." Kakashi reached into a pouch on the front of his flak jacket and retrieved a scroll. "Fortunately, the seal is not completely broken! I still have some time!"

He tossed the scroll into the air, pricking the tip of his thumb as he caught the scroll and opened it, smearing his blood over the seals.

"Do you hear me, Zabuza?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes and glanced around. "We're both busy people. I know it's against your style, but I think it's about time we stopped playing around."

Kakashi twirled the scroll with a flourish, to his sides and around himself. Then, he tossed the scroll into the air and it rolled closed. He caught it and formed a hand sign.

"Why don't we settle this once and for all with the next move?"

"Interesting." Zabuza's voice came from the mist. "What could you possibly do in this situation? Go ahead, Kakashi. Show me."

Naruto gripped Haku's arm tighter as the Chakra swelled and radiated from him, cracking the mirrors.

"No good..." Haku held up a one-handed sign, unable to wrench his arm free from the boy's grasp. "I can't hold his Chakra down!"

Naruto clenched his fist with a growl, drawing it back. Then, he pulled Haku in closer as he punched his face hard, sending him flying and shattering through a mirror. He fell hard again the bridge, rolling for several meters until he came to a stop.

Naruto panted heavily, most of the Chakra emanating from him now dissipated. The mirrors continued to crack and fall to the ground around him.

Haku stood slowly to watch his mirrors break, his own mask cracking and beginning to fall in pieces at his feet.

Naruto let out another loud half-growl, half-scream, and rushed at the masked boy.

"Zabuza..." Haku faced Naruto, unmoving from his path. "I can't defeat this boy. Zabuza... I'm..."

Naruto leapt up, preparing another strike as the last of the mask fell to the ground.

Naruto stopped, his fist only centimeters from his opponents' exposed face. The animal rage from before was gone and replaced with a wide-eyed surprise as he trembled slightly.

"You're..." Naruto started slowly as he blinked. "From that time..."

"Why stop?" Haku asked, and the blond's eyes widened further.

"Even though I killed your friend... you can't kill me?"

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke's body, littered with Senbon, and re-clenched his jaw and glared at the older boy. He continued to trembled as the anger mounted, and then landed a strike to Haku's jaw.

"Damn it!"

Haku fell to the ground from the strike, slowly lifting himself up to cough blood. Naruto panted and unclenched his fists with a mix of emotions flashing in his eyes.

"What happened to the strength from a moment ago?" Haku wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up at Naruto. "You can't defeat me with this level of strength." He glanced over to Sasuke. "Wasn't he important to you?"

Naruto gritted his teeth and he remained quiet.

"Many people misunderstand." Haku stood and met Naruto's eyes. "They pity and don't finish off the enemy that they ought to kill. They instead let them survive. To me, that isn't compassion or anything else."

Haku paused. "Do you understand? How it feels to not be needed by anyone? To live day-to-day without a dream. The pain of it all..."

"What are you saying?" Naruto relaxed slightly and he lowered his arms to his sides.

"Zabuza has no use for a weak Shinobi." Haku smiled faintly with his eyes only hollow. "You took away my reason for existing."

"Why...?" Naruto furrowed his brows and balled his hands into fists. "Why do you have to serve a guy like that?! He gets money from thugs to do horrible things! Is that person the only person special to you?"

"A long time ago, I had other people who were important to me..." Haku spoke quietly. "They were... my parents."

"I was born in the Land of Water, in a small village heavy with snow. My parents worked on a small farm. We were very poor, but my parents seemed satisfied with it. I was happy then... they were loving parents. But..."

"When I was old enough to understand things..." Haku continued softly. "Something happened."

"Something...? What happened?"

Haku lifted his hand slowly to wipe his mouth again, staring at the blood here. "My blood..."

"Blood...?" Naruto blinked. "Go on, already! Tell me what happened!"

Haku's eyes rose to the boy's, still empty. "My father... he killed my mother. Then, he tried to kill me."

Naruto's eyes widened and his face paled slightly. "H-Huh?!"

"After the experience of the ceaseless civil war, people with Kekkei Genkai were hated and feared in the Land of Water." Haku explained quietly.

"Kekkei Genkai?"

"It's special powers or Jutsu passed on through certain clans, from parent to child, or from grandparent to grandchild. Because of their special powers, members of those clans were exploited for all sorts of battles. As a result, all Kekkei Genkai began to be feared as harbingers of disaster and death."

Haku paused. "After the war was over, they decided to hide their special powers. If anyone learned their secret, only death could be expected. I'm sure that boy went through suffering as well." He looked behind Naruto at Sasuke, and Naruto followed his gaze. "The greater your power, the more you are feared."

"My mother... she had the Kekkei Genkai."

Naruto turned back to Haku.

"She kept it secret from my father. She hoped that, for a while... No... she must have believed that they could have a simple life forever." Haku shook his head slowly and closed his eyes, remembering one of his final memories of his mother.

A young child with long hair sat crouched in front of a puddle of melting snow with his hands out. An orb of water was suspended between them and shifted into various shapes as he grinned in wonder. His mother approached with a basket and dropped it, her own eyes widening.

"Look, mom! Look what I can do!" The boy beamed and stood, holding the water carefully in the space between his open hands. "Isn't it beautiful?! Isn't it fantastic?!"

His mother grabbed his arm suddenly and wrenched him away from the puddle, the water orb falling onto the layer of frost on the ground.

"No! Not you, too!" She shook the boy roughly by his arms and her eyes spilled over, shaking him more violently as she cried harder. "Why?! Why him, too?!"

"Mommy, that hurts!" He cried, and she slapped him hard against the face. Within an instant, the a faint red handprint was already visible.

"S-Sorry..." His mother froze in place, sobbing with her shoulders shaking as she flung her arms around the boy.. "I'm so sorry, Haku... I'm so sorry!"

"However..." Haku continued. "My father had seen what happened and discovered our secret..."

A man glared as he stepped over his wife's bloody, mangled corpse and approached his son, who fled until he was trapped against the wall. The boy sobbed heavily and pressed his back to the wall as he stared up at his father, and three other men behind him in the doorway, all armed with clubs and farming tools.

His father raised the club above his head with tears streaming out of his unfeeling eyes, and then began to bring the weapon down in a quick blow to the trembling child's head.

The boy screamed and a burst of energy surged from within, creating giant ice spikes that shot out in defense. They skewered each of the men and erupted through the walls of the home. Haku stumbled through the snow as it fell in large, heavy flakes until he collapsed in the snow and cried.

"When I came to... I realized I had killed my own father. And, in that moment, what I thought of myself was that... no... it's what I had to think." Haku glanced at the ground again. "And then knew that it was the most painful thing."

"The most... painful thing?" Naruto asked, almost inaudibly.

"That I... that my existence didn't matter to anyone else in the world."

Naruto stared at him with his eyes rounded. "Same with me!"

"You told me that... You'll become the best Ninja in the village and make everyone respect you. If someone comes along and accepts you for who you are, then no one could be more important to you than that person." A long pause lingered between them before Haku spoke, a slight smile forming on his lips. "Even though he knew I was from a clan with the Kekkei Genkai, Zabuza took me in. My power that everyone hated... he wanted it. He needed it."

Zabuza stopped walking and chuckled as he looked down at the orphan in disdain. "Pathetic brat." He stepped closer to the child, and then knelt in front of him, resting his arm against his knee. "Brats like you aren't needed by anyone and then they die without ever knowing any freedom or dreams..."

Haku smiled broadly with his eyes crinkling shut, and Zabuza's eyes widened slightly.

"Hm?"

"You have the same eyes as I do, Niisan.." Haku giggled to himself as he smiled, and Zabuza stared at the boy with wide eyes.

"...Brat." Zabuza said again. "Do you want... to be needed by someone? Are you willing to give everything for me?"

The child stared up at him for a long time in silence before he finally nodded.

"From now on, your power belongs to me."

The boy nodded once more and stood, walking toward the assassin. Zabuza reached out to rest a hand on the child's head and ruffled his unruly hair before putting his arm around the boy's shoulders.

"Come with me now."

Haku's eyes watered at the memory and he met Naruto's eyes. "I was so happy then..."

"Haku, bad news." Zabuza looked over at the boy as they stood atop a tall hill and looked down at the snow-covered city below. "I have to leave the Land of Water as of tonight. However, I'll return to this land someday. I will rule over this land. To do that... what I need isn't consolation, encouragement, or empty words. What I really need is..."

"I already know." Haku looked up at his mentor and smiled. "You have nothing to fear. I will be your weapon, Zabuza. Keep me by you as your tool that heeds your every word."

"What a good boy." Zabuza turned to look back down at the city as the boy smiled at the praise.

"I apologize, Zabuza." Haku muttered under his breath. "I wasn't good enough to be the tool you were looking for."

He slowly approached Naruto, who took several steps back in confusion.

"Naruto." Haku stopped just out of arm's reach and looked downward. "I want you... to kill me."

Kakashi formed a series of hand signs with his eyes closed and the scroll securely between his thumbs. His eyes opened with his brows furrowed as he pressed the scroll to the ground and dropped to one

"Ninja Art- Summoning. Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu."

Calligraphy shot out from the scroll in multiple directions and vanished in the mist as an eerie silence settled around Kakashi.

"Whatever you're trying to do won't work." Zabuza chuckled still concealed by the mist. "You have absolutely no idea where I am now. However... I know exactly where you are and what you're about, Kakashi. You are completely in my hands now."

Zabuza's eyes widened as a rumbling grew louder around him and the ground shook. Suddenly, the ground broke open around him and a large Ninja Hound leapt out and snapped at his feet. He dodged easily but another Hound latched onto his other leg. More canines jumped at him with a growl and clamped onto the assassin.

"W-What's all that noise?!" Tazuna squinted into the fog as the growling echoed.

"What's going on out there?" Sakura looked with him, and lowered her Kunai as she listened.

Kakashi stood and looked in front of him as the mist thinned slightly. "If you can't use your eyes or ears, simply use your nose. That's what happens when you're closing your eyes in the midst of the fog. This is a Summoning Jutsu specialized for pursuit."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed at Kakashi and he let out a low grunt as the dogs bit down harder to ensure that he was trapped.

"I deliberately shed my own blood to stop your attacks both times for this purpose." Kakashi placed a hand into his pocket and took a step forward toward the assassin. "Your weapons have a thick scent of my blood on them now. Those are my adorable Ninja Hounds, and their sense of smell is without equal. You're the one who was playing into my hands."

Kakashi touched his temple and kept his gaze on Zabuza. "The fog has already begun to lift already. And your future is... death."

"I've had enough of your bluffs!" Zabuza scowled.

"Don't act tough! There's nothing you can do in this situation. Your death is certain." Kakashi paused and held the assassin's gaze without blinking. "Zabuza. You were too full of yourself. You're too ambitious for your own good."

Kakashi paused again, looking away for a moment before he continued.

"You assassinated the Mizukage, but failed to pull off the coup. You left the service with few men under you, and became a Rogue Ninja. Soon after, your name reached our Hidden Leaf Village. You needed to raised funds to strike back, and you needed to hide from the Tracking Unity's pursuit and retaliation... Isn't that the reason why you hired yourself out to scum like Gato?"

Zabuza remained silent, only glaring at his opponent.

"Do you really believe I've managed to survive with just my Sharingan?" Kakashi glanced upward as the sunlight began to streak through the thinning mist and he turned his attention back to Zabuza. "Here's something I didn't copy... a Jutsu of my own..."

He formed a hand sign and lowered his voice. "To enlighten you..." He formed three signs— Ox, Rabbit, Monkey— and a faint circle of blue Chakra formed around him on the ground. Lightning erupted from his hand and struck the circle, crackling and surging in a bright blue wave of electricity. "Lightning Blade!"

"What the...?!" Zabuza's eyes widened at the technique "His hand is visibly overflowing with Chakra!"

"You are too dangerous." Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Tazuna, the man you are trying to assassinate is the symbol of courage in this land. The bridge is he building is the hope of this land. And your ambitions will sacrifice countless lives. That isn't how a Shinobi is supposed to behave."

Zabuza chuckled and smirked. "Who cares? I have always fought for my own ideals. And that will never change!"

Kakashi furrowed his brows and the electricity gathered in his hand sparked, growing unstable as he stared with contempt at the assassin.

"I'll say it again..."

"Huh?" Zabuza titled his head slightly.

"Give up. Your future is death."

"Please kill me." Haku repeated.

Naruto's eyes widened as his breath caught in his throat and he trembled.

"...What are you hesitating for?" Haku asked quietly.

Naruto clenched his jaw and fists, shutting his eyes tightly as he shook his head and stepped back from the boy. "No! What you said... is ridiculous!" Naruto stepped several meters back and looked at Haku. "You're a weapon?! Just a tool for him?! How can you even call him someone that's special to you?! Are you really okay with that?!"

"...Is that wrong?" Haku's eyes remain fixed on the ground.

"H-Huh?" Naruto blinked and loosened his fists.

"Tell me, Naruto... what is wrong with that?"

"Well... uh..." Naruto's eyes lowered momentarily. "It's not..."

"Zabuza counts on me, even if I'm worthless. He made me feel needed." Haku trailed off and his eyes moistened. "But now, I've lost my usefulness that affirmed my existence. Zabuza no longer needs me."

Naruto's expression fell and an ache formed in his chest, unable to speak and only remained silent.

"That's why I'm now appealing to you." Haku's lids lowered and his half-opened eyes spilled over with slow tears rolling down his cheeks. "Please, make it quick."