As Sasuke and Haku lock blades, Sasuke hears Kakashi sensei tell Madoka that they need to protect Tazuna.
"I don't want to have to kill you," says Haku. "But you are not going to surrender, are you?"
"No!" Sasuke says, forcing out her reply. She can fight, but talking to her opponent is what makes her nervous.
"I thought not," says Haku. "Good thing I have already prepared two attacks."
Two attacks? Sasuke tries not to look disbelieving.
"Firstly, the water on the ground," says Haku, referring to the water from Zabuza's clones. "Secondly, I have a hand free, and you won't be able to defend yourself from my attacks!"
What?
Haku starts making lightning fast hand-signs with her free hand. "Water Style: One Thousand Needles!" Immediately sharp needles start flying towards Sasuke from all directions.
Sasuke remembers her training and channels her chakra into her feet, sending herself rocketing up into the air. As she flies through the air, Sasuke sends a barrage of shuriken at Haku. Haku leaps back to avoid the shuriken and Sasuke lands behind her opponent and whispers in her ear, "You're not very fast. Now you have to defend yourself from me."
Haku starts to turn, but Sasuke launches a spinning attack with her kunai, aiming straight at Haku's head. Haku blocks the kunai with her wrist. Sasuke launches the kunai out of her hand, straight at Haku. Haku dodges out of the way, dropping to the ground to avoid Sasuke's follow-up kick. Sasuke adjusts her aim and kicks Haku in the face, sending her flying.
"That's one hell of a girl," says Zabuza, who is still standing around watching Sasuke and Haku. "Where did you find her?"
"She is the second daughter of the Uchiha Clan Head," says Kakashi, a hint of pride in his voice. "She may not have Sharingan, but she is an exceptional kunoichi."
Zabuza starts laughing. Then he says sharply, "Haku, stop fooling around and get serious!"
"Yes, Zabuza sensei." Haku makes an odd hand seal. The air suddenly grows very cold. A dome made of rectangular sheets of ice forms around Sasuke. "Crystal Ice Mirrors!" Haku announces her jutsu as it forms. Haku steps into one of the ice mirrors, and an instant later all the mirrors reflect Haku's image.
Sasuke feels a chill of fear run down her spine. Or maybe she's just cold. It is un Uchiha-like to feel fear.
Kakashi sensei curses and runs to help Sasuke. Zabuza leaps in between them and says, "Don't forget that I am your opponent. Let the girls play together. While my girl kills yours, I will kill you."
"Let me show you what real speed is," says Haku's disembodied voice. An instant later, thousands of needles attack Sasuke from all directions, cutting into her arms, legs, face and body.
Sasuke screams, unable to hold it in.
"SASUKE!" Kakashi sensei shouts, a note of fear in his voice.
"Move and those two behind you are dead," Zabuza tells Kakashi sensei darkly.
"Well that's a bit violent!" says a voice from up in the air.
They all look up, even the reflections of Haku. Sasuke takes advantage of the distraction to retrieve her dropped kunai before looking up herself. When she sees what everyone is staring at, Sasuke's jaw drops open. Floating several meters above them is Naruto, in all his blonde, orange and grinning glory, with his arms crossed and a glint in his eye that makes Sasuke fear for Haku and Zabuza.
"What the hell, Haku!" says Zabuza frantically. "You didn't tell me one of them could FLY!"
"I did not know," says Haku calmly.
"Aw, leave her alone," says Naruto. "I only figured it out a few minutes ago."
"Good work, Naruto," says Kakashi sensei proudly. "I knew you could do it!"
Naruto is positively beaming, but Kakashi sensei looks positively terrified.
"Now go help Sasuke get out of that jutsu!" Kakashi sensei orders.
"Right!" Naruto salutes.
Zabuza throws a barrage of shuriken at Naruto, but Haku deflects them with a handful of senbon. "What the hell, Haku!?" Zabuza does not sound impressed.
"I want this one as well," says Haku.
"Fine, he's all yours," agrees Zabuza.
Sasuke notices that Haku had to step out of the mirrors to throw the senbon and that there is a crack in Haku's mask. Sasuke wonders why Haku stopped Zabuza's attack and why she seems so eager to fight Naruto. Sasuke is completely at Haku's mercy so long as she is inside the Crystal Ice Mirrors. The cuts Haku has already given Sasuke are shallow, but they sting and smart. Haku will cut her to ribbons, inch by inch, unless Sasuke can get out. With Naruto helping from the outside, Sasuke will be able to get out.
"Hey Sasuke, how do we break these mirrors?" asks Naruto, from right next to Sasuke.
"You idiot!" Sasuke snaps. "You should have stayed outside! Now we're BOTH stuck in here!"
"Oops." Naruto scratches the back of his head in embarrassment.
Haku climbs back into the Ice Mirrors, rapidly implanting her image onto all the mirrors.
"What is this jutsu?" demands Naruto.
Sasuke ignores him, realizing that their only way out now is to destroy the mirrors. Since the mirrors are made of ice, it makes sense to try to melt them. Sasuke starts making handsigns. Then, while Naruto is still trying to figure out what is going on, Sasuke releases her jutsu; "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A raging inferno blazes out of Sasuke's mouth, enveloping the ice mirrors in front of her. However it has no effect.
"Aw, it didn't even make a dent!" whines Naruto. "And you were so cool, too!"
"GRRR!" Sasuke is so frustrated she can only growl at Naruto like an angry kitty-cat.
"That level of fire jutsu will not even scratch my mirrors," boasts Haku in a monotone, before unleashing another wave of senbon attacks.
"Which one of you is the real one?" demands Naruto.
"Your eyes will never see the truth!" brags Haku.
They would if I had sharingan, thinks Sasuke. If only.
"I'm gonna try hitting all the mirrors at once to find the real one," says Naruto, pulling out a scroll and unrolling it. "Fuuinjutsu: Wrath of Joe!"
The f### kind of name is that? Sasuke wonders.
In instant later, a bright pillar of lightning shoots out of the scroll, hitting the mirrors at the top of the dome and travelling into the other mirrors. Haku leaves the mirrors, but exits on the outside where they cannot reach her. As soon as the lightning dies away, Haku steps back into her mirrors.
"A valiant effort," says Haku. "But you will never beat my technique. I can teleport from mirror to mirror so fast you will not even see me move." She attacks again, covering Naruto and Sasuke with little cuts.
"Impressive that someone so young could master such a technique," says Kakashi sensei. "It's a kekkei genkai, isn't it?"
Zabuza just giggles in a very creepy way.
"Kekkei genkai?" says Naruto, sounding confused. "Isn't that a hereditary trait or something? The Uzumaki clan has two kekkei genkai, but they are only inheritable by girls."
"You know what else is a kekkei genkai?" asks Kakashi sensei. "THIS!" He pushes up his headband, revealing a spinning sharingan eye. "But even this sharingan, the eye that can see through all jutsu, can't copy or break another kekkei genkai!"
"So the Copy Ninja finally reveals his not-so-secret weapon!" laughs Zabuza. "This ought to be interesting!"
"Okay, that's it!" Naruto stomps his foot. "Two things: Why does Kakashi sensei, who is not an Uchiha, have a sharingan; but Sasuke, who IS an Uchiha, does not?"
"This eye was a gift from a friend," explains Kakashi sensei. "A gift with which I must protect my comrades!"
What Uchiha in their right mind would give away a sharingan? Sasuke wonders.
"That makes no sense, but okay," says Naruto, crossing his arms and nodding his head.
"Stupid boy!" says Zabuza. "Don't you realize that you are going to die?"
"No!" Naruto refuses. "I have a dream to fulfill. I am not going to die until I reach my goal and become Hokage!"
Sasuke remembers that her dad sometimes says he would like to be Hokage.
"I would prefer not to have to kill you," says Haku. "I would prefer not to have to kill anyone. I have dream just like you do. I hoped I could become a shinobi without ever having to kill another person. But true shinobi kill."
"Well you're a kunoichi," says Naruto. "No one minds if kunoichi don't kill anyone. I wanna be Hokage, you wanna never kill anyone, Sasuke wants a kitten: we all have our hopes and dreams. So why don't we all fulfill them and stop worrying about stupid things like the details."
"Are you a complete idiot?" demands Haku. "Do you even truly understand what death is?"
"Not really," says Naruto. "But I know it sucks. Joe's told me all about it."
Haku is silent for a moment, then she says, "I wish to be a true shinobi, to become someone who can fight without any reservations. To do that I must become a killer and bathe my hands in blood. To become a shinobi I must kill you."