Chapter 42

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Showdown in Nami no Kuni

*Crack*

The guard never heard a thing, nor did they feel any pain as their neck snapped with a quiet but deep-toned crack. They slumped limp and lifeless into the clones arms before being dragged back into the thick branched bushes that were scattered around the large property. This one's demise raised the death toll to seven. There was no longer anyone left to patrol the perimeter.

With the guards no longer an issue, a small cluster of clones, eleven in total, quickly covered the distance between the treeline and the properties outer wall. They began placing modified explosive tags every fifteen feet, doubling up whenever they reached one of the structures support columns.

These explosive tags were modified variants of the originals, the chakra reservoirs was greatly expanded. The chakra was what created the explosive; more chakra, more explosion. Raven's testing of the tags some months earlier predicted an explosion nearly four times as powerful, and he had nearly 200 of these tags to place.

But before he set off the fireworks he wanted to scout out inside, he didn't know if anyone was being held as a prisoner. And it would be incredibly unfortunate to have any innocents killed in the places demolition.

Raven looked down at the face of the final guard his clones had killed, their face was at peace and showed no signs of pain. With a poof of smoke the man's face was replicated as Raven disguised himself. He turned to a nearby clone, "When the others are back from placing the tags tell them to watch for anyone looking to approach the house, kill any who attempt to. Also kill anyone who tries to leave."

The clone nodded its understanding. "We'll keep you updated every fifteen minutes boss," the clone added just as Raven turned to head for the house. He gave a nod of his own in return.

He simply walked up to a pair of double doors and walked inside, there wouldn't be much sneaking around whilst he was inside, he had to look and act like one of Gatō's mob.

Stepping through the doors brought him into a wide hall with a long corridor going left and right, before him was a wide staircase ascending the second floor. There was little in the way of furniture in the hall and the walls were only given mundane decoration. The floor was hardly the cleanest Raven had ever seen, dried mud and dirt was rather prevalent.

"The sun come up yet?" someone sleepily asked him. Raven turned his head to face them. They were sat in a chair leaned up against the wall, he looked on the brink of dropping off. "No," Raven grunted with a shake of the head to which they groaned at. 'Seems this one has to watch the hall all night.'

He headed down the hallway to the left first of all. Most of the doors on the corridor were already open enough for him to see into the room. Most were barracks and bathrooms with the odd rudimentary kitchen facility thrown in. As with the hallway, the furnishings and furniture was bare and rudimentary.

As it was still the early hours, the kitchens and bathrooms were empty and the barrack rooms crammed with occupied beds. Regardless Raven remained cautious as he slowly meandered around the bottom floor. He found a narrow staircase that descended to what he presumed to be a basement, the stairs looked as if they were used fairly often but he decided to leave it until later. He knew that if Gatō was going to be anywhere it would on the top floor.

He arrived back at the hall he'd first arrived in, the guy in the chair seemed to have lost the battle to stay awake, his head leaned back against the wall snoring softly. There was no one to see him ascend the staircase to the first floor. The staircase ended with another wide hall, it was better decorated than the one downstairs, however.

A plain light brown large rug covered a large portion of the wooden floor and there was more furniture against the walls in the form of a few smallish cupboards. Not as many of the doors on this floor were open but there were enough still open for Raven to realise that this floor was for Gatō's 'officers', his Lieutenants. Their rooms were more spacious and more comfortable. It was the same story for the kitchen and bathroom facilities.

As ordered another clone dispelled, that was the third now and for now there remained no issues, no one had attempted to enter or leave the house as he finished his loop around the first floor. All that remained was the staircase to the second and final floor.

The difference in style was abundantly clear. Instead of basic wooden floorboards, the steps to this flight were made of polished stone that seemed to be cleaned constantly judging from the still present shine the stone gave off. The Bannisters were made from some kind of metal, perhaps bronze and topped with a lacquered wooden railing.

This staircase was also guarded. At the top were two guards, each was a huge hulking mass of muscle, large swords strapped to their belts. It would be impossible for anyone to get up the stairs without being confronted by one of these two behemoths – unless of course you were someone like Uzumaki Tri.

He made sure he was out of sight of them both and anyone else, when done he shunshined behind them in total silence. With chakra silencing his footsteps he began his exploring of the uppermost level.

The first thing to notice was the substantial decrease in the number of doors. Upon closer inspection it was clear to see why, the rooms these doors led to were far larger in size, he also found where the decorating budget went, each room was lavishly outfitted with items that simply screamed 'wealth' regardless of how garish they might have been.

One smaller room had one of its walls covered from floor to ceiling in steel-plated safes. With a grin he unrolled a scroll on the floor, it was the same scroll Fūinjutsu he'd taught to Naruto, it silenced the room entirely.

'Well, I'm was going to blow the place sky high anyway so I may as well rob Gatō blind,' he reasoned as the Fūinjutsu design spread around the room. With the room soundproofed he set about cracking the first safe.

The contents of the safes were as he'd expected, money and important documents filled most but one of the harder to crack ones had a small velvet pouch filled with what looked like uncut diamonds.

With his scroll and relieved valuables sealed away he headed for the final room on the floor, he had a good idea what it was as he had yet to find a bedroom on this floor.

The display of wealth started at the door, thick dark timbers, the likes of which you could only usually get from Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow) far to the north. It was also lacquered and polished to a sheen.

Pushing the door open Raven blanched at what he found within. The sickening levels of opulence made him feel ill. The large room was dominated by a four-poster queen-sized bed draped in curtains of silk and sheets of velvet. Raven found it amusing the bed was so large when Gatō was reputed to be an incredibly short man. A series of pillows adorned the top of the bed, they seemed to shine in the early morning light. Closer inspection found they were inlaid with a series of small semi-precious stones. "What's the point in that?" he whispered to himself in confusion.

Like the door, the floor was lacquered dark wood. One wall had a stone fireplace set within, a small stack of pre-cut logs piled next to it. It was framed by a mantelpiece made from a single piece of white limestone, various small baubles made of gold and silver adorned it.

One corner had a small breakfast table with two chairs, a bowl of fresh fruit on the table. Another corner had a tall mirror stood next to a large wardrobe, on the other side was a bamboo partition to allow for privacy when dressing/ undressing.

As well as making him feel ill, the room also annoyed him because it was currently empty, it was immaculately tided but still empty, Gatō wasn't here.

"I'm still blowing it up," he muttered before stealing the baubles from the mantelpiece, he took them more out of spite than for financial gain.

He had been placing explosive tags in every room since he'd entered the house and he was down to his last two. One he affixed to the mantelpiece, the other for some reason he placed under a pillow on the bed, he didn't know why. That narrow staircase that went downwards on the bottom floor had slipped from his mind as he made his exit via one of the rooms large windows.

"Was he in there, boss?" a clone asked upon his return. Raven shook his head, "No, he's out on the island somewhere and I have a good idea where he'll show up. Let's fall back to a safe distance and light the fireworks."

With a collective nod his clones began dispelling in batches of two or three. By the time he'd retreated to what he thought was a safe distance it was just him left. He turned to face the building in the distance, he formed the Ram hand-seal, "Fūin," he said with conviction as the tags were activated.

Sometime earlier – At the Bridge

There was an overriding sense of a single emotion – Nervous, it aptly described how they all felt. From the Veteran Kakashi to his three green Genin, none were immune to the worry and anxiety today would bring.

Kakashi's final words of advice to his Genin were to stick together and remember their training. Was it a cliché? Yes, but it was surprisingly accurate.

The morning came with a slight breeze that brought a mild chill, there were few clouds to block the recently risen sun but it would be a while before it started to warm up. At least with the sun up they could see now as opposed to the darkness they'd woken to an hour earlier.

Sakura and Kusuri could only wait out the oncoming clash in apprehension, it didn't help that their opponent was one long thought dead until just a few days ago. And while Sakura did have some experience in one on one combat, Kusuri did not. Sure she'd fought in group engagements before while on patrol, but not in as intimate a setting as the one they were about to face.

They'd gotten a hold of Kakashi and Raven last night and gotten every scrap of information they had on Ringo Ameyuri out of them. Despite that, they still felt very short on credible information pertaining to Ringo's fighting style that they could build a strategy around. Perhaps this disease had robbed her of a portion of her fighting power?

Wishful thinking? Well – Yeah, but Sakura would take anything she could right now. She paced back and forth with her hands behind her back, the short black gloves in place over her hands.

Meshikamaru watched a kunai spin on her finger, she needed to distract herself somehow. Meanwhile, Sasuke was leaning back against one of the bridges metal support beams, his arms folded across his chest. Rezano, like Sakura paced back and forth but his hands were by his sides, lightly fingering the chain kunai on his belt, the blades now re-sharpened.

The fog rolled in remarkably quickly, one moment the air was clear, their vision uninhibited, the next it was on top of them rolling in from the sea. "Here we go," Kakashi shouted in warning, all of them slipping into defensive stances.

Meshikamaru would take the first watch guarding Tazuna, as she was the smartest of the three of them she would watch her teammates engage the Hunter Nin firstly and learn what she could before switching in.

Kakashi quickly rolled to his right, a huge blade appearing out of nowhere to cut through the space he had occupied a fraction of a second earlier, a deep, cracking sound reverberated through the misty air as Kubikiribōchō embedded itself in the ground. Getting back to his feet Kakashi tried to counter with the kunai in his hand. Yet somehow Zabuza had the great sword back up to block quicker than seemed possible with such a large weapon.

"Nice to see you back on your feet Zabuza. Shall we pick up where we left off last time? I believe I was about to kill you." The Kiri born Nin laughed, it was a dark, deep laugh, "That's very kind of you Kakashi but I'll have to decline," he replied, their faces were only centimetres apart.

Zabuza tried to head-butt him but Kakashi pulled back quickly enough but it conceded the momentum to Zabuza for the moment as he found himself ducking under the swinging Kubikiribōchō. He tried to lunge forward but Zabuza blocked his kunai with just the narrow, elongated hilt. A knee he was just able to block forced Kakashi out of his quarries range.

"Where are they, Zabuza?" he questioned, "We know you aren't alone." The swordsman tilted his head to the side, that dark laugh returned a moment later, "I must say, Kakashi, I am surprised. Tell me, what do you know of my 'companions'?
"That your Hunter Nin probably isn't a Hunter Nin." 'Really wish they'd both show up and occupy themselves with the others. I'd rather they not overhear what Raven asked me to pass on.'

"Well, you're right about that. Haku ain't no Hunter Nin."
"WHAT!?" Rezano shouted in disbelief. "That's right boy, Haku works for me, and I know all about your little meet ups. Although I'd say she possesses the skill set needed to be a Hunter-Nin," he said going off on a slight tangent. "Anyway, you'll be fighting your new friend, boy. Ain't that right Haku?" he grinned. "Hai, Zabuza-sama," she replied appearing next to him in the mist.

She held in her hand the mask of a Hunter-Nin, Kakashi recognised it as the same one used when Zabuza had been spirited away before them. She dropped the mask and drew a series of senbon from… somewhere, Kakashi had no idea where exactly, they just seemed to appear in-between her fingers.

"Your orders, Zabuza-sama?" she asked in a voice devoid of emotion. "I want you to deal with Kakashi's little Genin and no messing around. I want three corpses when you're finished, understand?"
"I understand, Zabuza-sama." Without another word she shot towards Kakashi's three charges, a stream of senbon already streaking through the air. They were all blocked by a pair of shuriken from Sasuke and a kunai from Meshikamaru. Sasuke rushed forward to clash with her as planned but Rezano stayed rooted to the spot.

"Rezano! The hell are you doing?" Meshikamaru shouted at him as Sasuke threw a pair of shuriken at Haku. Rezano was faced with having to fight his new friend, whom he didn't want to hurt and the need to perform his duties. They conflicted in his mind as Haku dealt with Sasuke's shuriken before they traded the opening Taijutsu exchanges. He had heard Meshikamaru's question but he didn't respond in any way as Sasuke quickly found himself on the back foot against an older, more experienced opponent.

"You picked a hell of a time to freeze up and have a crisis of conscience," Meshikamaru barked in annoyance, "You watch Tazuna, I'll do your job for you." She shot past him, letting loose two shuriken of her own in an effort to get Haku off the offensive.

"Wow, would you look at them go – well, apart from the blonde one, he seems a little timid today," Zabuza taunted. "You seem to have picked up a few more bodies since last time," he quickly added noting the presence of Sakura and Kusuri. Kakashi snorted, "And I'm not the only one, Zabuza. So… Where is she, where's Ringo?"

A brief flicker of surprise passed over the parts of Zabuza's face Kakashi could actually see. Zabuza wore wrappings over his mouth, nose and cheeks, similar to Kakashi.

"Wha? You've ruined my surprise entrance!" a female voice whined from within the mist. Sakura and Kusuri were immediately on edge as a shadow appeared in the fog walking towards them. "I'm rather annoyed really, I wanted it to be a BIG surprise," she loudly exclaimed.

As she became more visible Kakashi's eyes widened, it actually was her. She saw the look on his face, "See, that's the look I was going for!" she said in a cheerier tone pointing one of Kiba's twin blades at him. "You still spoilt it though, it would have been even better if you hadn't known."
"Ame, go deal with Kakashi's friends," he said cutting across her, she could be difficult to get to focus on a task if not given instruction. She scowled at him for a few moments, "Fine," she finally said to Zabuza's silent relief, she was still as unpredictable as she had been years earlier.

Ameyuri turned her glare from Zabuza to the two combat medics in the near-distance. Without warning or any sign she was about to go on the offensive she vanished, a fraction of a second later reappearing much closer to them both. They almost weren't ready when she reached them moments later, one sword held high, the other low.

They knew they couldn't get hit by the blades, even if they didn't receive a cut they'd be electrocuted, the flickers of yellow light were already racing up and down the metal. Those weapons already put them at a distance disadvantage, she also seemed quicker than they were, Raiton, which usually incorporated substantial speed increases into many of its techniques, exacerbated the issue.

Despite having a numbers advantage both were immediately put on the defensive, they couldn't get any offence in at all, they were spending all their time and energy dodging those swords. One swing Sakura barely got her head under, the whistling sound of it cutting through the air sounded far louder in her ears than it actually was.

The constant movement soon saw the three of them vanish into the fog leaving just Kakashi and Zabuza. He'd probably never get a better chance, "Zabuza," he called over warily. "How much do you want Yagura gone?" he asked, the man's eyes immediately narrowing in suspicion. Sure, Zabuza's animosity for the short Kage was well known, but Kakashi's question put him on edge, "Why do you ask? What's it to you?" he questioned in return hefting his sword back onto his shoulder.

"It's not so much me, there's someone on this island who has a proposal for you."
"And who might that be?" he retorted irritably wishing Kakashi would just get to the point. 'Oh boy, how do I answer that with naming names?'

Zabuza would definitely recognise Tri's name, but saying it would compromise his ANBU alias. "Let's just say you know of them and they have a vested interest in getting you back into Mizu no Kuni so you can oppose Yagura." He knew he was being incredibly vague, he just hoped Zabuza would recognise that there was an underlying reason for it, even if he didn't know what exactly.

"You're gonna have to give me a whole lot more than that Kakashi." 'Apparently not,' Kakashi sighed.

"I can't reveal their real identity to you here. Only he himself can do that. But he knew you'd be suspicious so he asked me to tell you that he knows about Haku days ago, and that he knows about the woodcutter's hut you've been recovering in." That last part grabbed his attention, "Go on," he said but Kakashi held his hands up. If this person had known about the hut he simply could have killed him off while he continued to recover.

"Sorry Zabuza, that's all I was told. If you want more you'll have to speak to him yourself, I can't imagine he'll be long he's currently ransacking your current employer's oversized house." The Missing Nin was quiet for a few moments as he dallied on his answer. Re-affirming his grip on his weapon he delivered an ultimatum, "Alright Kakashi. Either your friend gets here or I kill you. My answer will depend on what happens first."

'Oh wonderful, the Sairento Kiringu (Silent Killing) – again,' Kakashi groaned as Zabuza seemed to fade into the white mist.

It was the faintest change, a change so subtle he almost missed it, the air pressure behind Kakashi changed and it was from that alone that he knew to duck. The giant blade of Kubikiribōchō appearing out of thin air cleaving through where Kakashi had just been, it actually shaved the ends of a few strands of Kakashi's silver-grey hair.

By the time Kakashi was able to spin 180° to confront him, he was gone. 'Damn,' he thought, knowing full well not to speak, this technique worked off of sound and Zabuza was a master of it. Even with the Sharingan he struggled to see more than a few feet in front of him.

The Copycat Ninja was hardly the only Konoha Shinobi having a bad time. "Tsch," Sasuke hissed in pain as he pulled a senbon out of his arm, that was the fifth already. He and Meshikamaru hadn't enjoyed a good start, Haku had managed to keep them apart so she switched her full focus between each of them instead of splitting it.

An attempt to punch Haku in the jaw was blocked, she twisted Sasuke's arm which ended up spinning him around, she kicked him away and he stumbled forwards. He hissed in pain again as two senbon struck him either side of the tailbone.

Haku turned her attention to the Nara, stepping back to avoid a kick then blitzing forward to deliver a heavy kick of her own to Meshikamaru's ribs. It was quickly followed up with a punch to the temple that sent her to the floor in a daze whilst Sasuke pulled the offending senbon from his lower back.

Rezano still hadn't moved, his mind in conflict. On one side the desire to support his teammates and fri – well one friend and on the other his lack of desire to fight Haku. He was confused, he couldn't figure out why Haku would follow orders from someone like Zabuza. Until his mind came down from the fence it was currently perched on he could only watch as Sasuke re-entered the fray.

Just as with Meshikamaru, Haku dodged a kick from Sasuke by simply taking a step back before countering with a hard fist that caught him dead centre on the cheek, his head snapping to the side in recoil.

It was followed by a reverse leg sweep that knocked his legs from under him. Then faster than Sasuke could realise Haku chained it with a firm flatfooted kick to the chest that sent him flying back into Meshikamaru, who herself was trying to get back on her feet, they both went down in a heap. Sasuke had been in mid-air when Haku had delivered her second kick.

"I had hoped you'd at least provide me with a challenge," Haku taunted them both as they scrambled to get back on their feet. "Shut up!" Sasuke angrily shouted back. Haku just snorted, "At least you two are trying," she added, turning to look at an unmoved Rezano.

While she said nothing, the primary focus of Meshikamaru's frustration was at the stationary Rezano. His chain kunai would have provided a much-needed ability to keep Haku at a distance which they needed desperately right now, she was faster, stronger and more experienced. It didn't help she was having to work with Sasuke, it'd have been easier to persuade Haku to side with her against Sasuke instead of getting Sasuke to work with her.

They were effectively two individuals fight the same opponent. Sasuke decided to prove that immediately by rushing forward on his own. 'Oh by Kami,' she groaned as she tried to keep up. Haku ducked under Sasuke's punch and replied with a quick knee to the stomach and spinning back kick sent him sliding away. Surprisingly it provides the slimmest of windows to land a hit.

Her fist managed to catch a glancing blow against Haku's jaw, the small feeling of satisfaction it provided she suppressed. She had the slightest hint of momentum to build on but was constricted to Taijutsu which wasn't her strongest suit. Her combat style was primarily built upon her families techniques that allowed her to manipulate her shadow. But this fog was so thick, it blotted out the sun to such an extent that there were no shadows for her to influence.

She heard the telltale sound of flying shuriken behind her and just off to the right so she leant left, two of the metal implements flying past her head moments later, one of them almost nicking the skin on Haku's cheek. Unfortunately it put a small distance between the two Kunoichi as Sasuke threw a second pair of shuriken before his hands began weaving hand-seals.

Haku blocked them both with a pair of well-thrown senbon. Meshikamaru had to keep her distance, she recognised the seals Sasuke's hands were making. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu," he said, a ball of fire growing from his mouth before he fired it at her.

Haku flew through a few seals of her own before unleashing a wintry blast of frigid wind that stole the ambient warmth from the air and the heat from the flames, the ball of fire withered, weakened and dissipated entirely before it could reach her.

Haku did get to enjoy the look of shock on young Sasuke's face, however, especially when he realised there was a stream of senbon heading for him. Haku had released them into her icy wind and that had carried them towards Sasuke.

While the two young Genin had at the very least landed a hit from their minimal offence, Sakura and Kusuri hadn't even managed any offence. Ameyuri had started on the offensive and had yet to be knocked off it.

The ceaseless weaving of unpredictable attack patterns with her two swords had the two young women backing up constantly, they had to concede ground to maintain any semblance of distance and the lightning-imbued weapons were still coming too close for comfort. Neither had yet to see a weakness in Ringo's form to exploit, despite the crazed appearance she never over-extended or compromised the positioning of her feet.

Then Ringo suddenly stopped moving, Sakura and Kusuri dared not counter lest it turn out to be a trap as the missing Nin brought her hands together, the sword blades held parallel. Electricity began arcing between them, the air around them thrummed with building energy and with a menacing grin Ameyuri spoke, "Raiton: Raiga," (Lightning Release: Lighting Fang), the swords aimed at them both.

The intervals between the building electrical current arcing between the swords continued rapidly decreasing until it was happening several times a second, the weapons glowing yellow.

Working on pure instinct Sakura kicked Kusuri out of the way before diving to the ground herself. Not a quarter of a second later the building current discharged all at once. A suddenly blue-white streak of super-hot lightning streaked towards them. In its wake it left a black singed trail where the electrical energy scorched the ground.

It shot past them both, both scrambled to get back on their feet when they notice Ameyuri charging another bolt. Now that she had a moment of guaranteed distance Sakura pulled back her fist and with a great cry drove it into the ground.

She was far from mastering Tsunade's chakra Taijutsu style but she accomplished enough to help them right now, she had been incredibly surprised when Tsunade had offered to teach her the basics of it. The ground before was made from compacted dirt, sand and small stones. The release of chakra from her fist fractured the ground with remarkable speed, great clumps of earth hundreds of kilograms in weight groaned and heaving under the pressure as they were thrown into the air.

The 'wave' of moving earth headed for Ameyuri who had no choice but to jump high into the air to avoid it.

Even if not imbued with Doton chakra, earth was a very effective counter for absorbing or blocking Raiton Ninjutsu. "Well, it appears my meal can fight back after all," she chuckled whilst still in mid-air. "But let's see how good you really are at dodging," she declared lifting her arms above her head, crossing her swords in an X pattern.

"Raiton: Raiaaku," (Lightning Release: Lightning Arc).

Her swords struck one another with a resounding metallic clang, thin streaks of blue lightning sparked from the blades ends. They grew in frequency and ferocity and soon began striking the ground in a circular pattern that quickly expanded to encompass a larger area.

Both combat medics found themselves weaving through the glutton of miniature lightning bolts. Sakura was comfortable in her ability to dodge, training with someone far faster than her in Tri had helped her developed a sub-conscious ability to dodge, not needing to think to move greatly decreased her reaction times.

Kusuri, however, wasn't so lucky, "AHH!," she cried out in pain as a bolt struck her on her the forearm just below her elbow. The bolts entire payload was unloaded through her nervous system, coursing through every part of her body.

By sheer chance, she hadn't been in contact with the ground when she'd been hit, if she had she'd have been completely incapacitated unable to continue whatsoever. It might well have saved her life as the current was unable to pass through her body to reach the ground.

She did hit the ground a split second later, however, and heavily. Both her knees were scuffed by the impact, her left arm fell limply to her side, a nasty looking black mark almost four inches long was burned into her skin. "Are you ok?" a deeply concerned Sakura asked appearing next to her. "Not really," she answered in deep discomfort,

"But on a more positive note, the shock has thrown my pain receptors out of whack so I can't feel anything right now," she joked, "which is nice because for the second or two I could feel it, it was really, really painful."

The fingers on Kusuri's left hand were twitching erratically, she seemed to still have control of her legs and remaining arm but now they were in big trouble. "We're gonna have to think of something and fast," she quietly, but unnecessarily explained, Kusuri already knew. If they didn't think they could defeat Ringo then they were to hold out until Raven arrived. But given she had no idea how much longer it would be until he did, she feared they may both be dead by then.

Kakashi too was struggling, he still hadn't been able to keep track of Zabuza long enough to get a hit in which was proving to be rather frustrating since Zabuza had now managed to give him a shallow cut just above his elbow. He tried to ignore the wet warmth slowly trickling down his forearm, a few drops of blood stained the ground at his feet.

He reached into the pouch over his tailbone and withdrew a half dozen kunai, each with an explosive tag already tied to them. He threw each of them no more than three feet from him in a circle.

"An interesting idea, Kakashi," Zabuza's voice said through the mist, it carried so he couldn't pin down a rough location. "But the question becomes; can you sense me quickly enough to set them off before I get within your little shield?"

The very moment he finished speaking he appeared out of absolutely nowhere directly in front of Kakashi, Kubikiribōchō already swinging, he was also inside Kakashi's ring of explosive tags. In preparation Kakashi already had another kunai in his hand, with it he deflected Zabuza's overhead swing, the sword embedding nearly six inches into the ground. Kakashi threw the kunai which made Zabuza hide behind his weapon for cover while Kakashi jumped clear.

It was after Zabuza re-emerged from behind the wide bladed weapon that he realised something. All of Kakashi's explosive tags – faced inwards. He laughed quietly, "Very clever…" *Boom*

The brief flash of light, followed by a plume of smoke shrouded Zabuza from view, the explosion's blast wave threw off the blanket of fog for a few moments before it came flooding back in.

The fog returning and the smoke clearing happened in tandem, for a split second Kakashi's vision was unimpeded. But all he saw was Kubikiribōchō unmoved, Zabuza was gone. 'He ditched the sword to ensure he got back to a safe distance. I need to keep him from retrieving it.'

Most of the other combatants had heard the explosion but were otherwise too occupied to take any notice.

Haku had decided it was time to finish her opponents to return to Zabuza's side, unlike most she had paid enough attention to know the recent explosion had come from where she believed Zabuza to be, she didn't know whether he was injured or in trouble.

"I think this has dragged on long enough," she said to her two opponents, "My time could be better spent elsewhere." Meshikamaru pulled Sasuke back to his feet, a senbon still buried in his shoulder. Both watched her form a hand-seal neither had ever encountered before, "Makyō Hyōshō," (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals).

All around and above them a series of what looked like mirrors seemed to grow out of nothing, Haku had trapped them both in her deadliest technique, one that made full use of her Kekkai Genkai. The mirrors grew to about 6ft in height and about 3ft wide, there were twenty-one in total, and they formed a dome around them leaving no avenue for escape.

They watched as Haku jumped into one of the mirrors, they were all linked so she appeared in all twenty-one.

"Don't suppose you've any bright ideas?" Sasuke asked, his voice noticeably missing the usual derogatory tones it possessed on the rare occasions he actually spoke to her. "Err, well – judging by the name," she said looking around at all of the mirrors, "I presume these things are made of ice. Try melting one," she suggested.

With a shrug and a gruff grunt as he extracted the senbon lodged in his shoulder, Sasuke repeated his earlier Jutsu, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." The ball of flames quickly struck the mirror in front of him and did absolutely nothing.

"Well. That did jack shit," Meshikamaru remarked, allowing her distaste for swearing to lapse for a moment, "Yep…" Sasuke replied. That's when the senbon once again started flying.

Both dodged and weaved through the endless streams of needle-sharp implements, but with them coming from every direction it was only a matter of time. For every four senbon either blocked or avoided, a fifth would find its target. 'Huh, it's becoming less painful', she wondered as she started to feel sleepy.

'Didn't Zabuza order her to kill us? Why is she only making non-lethal strikes?' she asked herself, every senbon was aimed at non-vital targets, the elbow/ knee joints, the shoulders, the forearms and non-critical nerve bundles.

Sasuke was breathing heavily, steeling himself as he extracted another senbon when Meshikamaru dropped to one knee, before he could react she fell further, a rueful grin on her face. She didn't know if he understood but it was her way of silently apologising for going down as soon as she had.

The Uchiha looked down at his stilled teammate, he considered her an overbearing busybody and while he couldn't stand her highly assertive personality she was dependable and capable, rather unlike another certain 'teammate' of his right now.

He just continued to stare at her, Haku had strangely and rather accommodatingly stopped casting her senbon. It was almost a minute later when he lifted his head to face the multitude of mirrors surrounding him. Haku breathed in a silent gasp, 'What happened to his eyes? It looks like Kakashi's?' she thought in alarm.

Unbeknownst to Sasuke, his eyes had indeed changed, no longer was the iris black and the sclera white, replacing them was a blood red with black dots. His left eye possessing a single tomoe, his right eye with two.

"An Uchiha?" she whispered to herself. With this new information she changed tact, increasing the number of senbon. She didn't know much about the Kekkai Genkai of the Uchiha clan but had heard enough from Zabuza following his first throw down with Kakashi to know she wanted to end this asap.

She couldn't afford to take any chances now lest his newly awakened eyes sus out a way to defeat her.

Kusuri was evidently struggling now, it was only Sakura's presence and frantic guarding actions that prevented Ameyuri from landing the killing blow. Kusuri's arm was still non-functional, she was now having to hold it close to her body with her other hand. That wasn't her only issue either, her movements were slowing and quickly. The lightning had sapped a great portion of her energy.

She wasn't ignorant to her mounting problems, she knew that right now, this was only ending one way, with her inevitable death, leaving Sakura to face her alone. Then she had an idea.

"Sakura, I think I have an idea that'll put her down for good," she said as they got a moments respite, "But I need you to trust me on this."
"I'm all ears, hit me with it."
"No time to explain, I'll tell you when it's time. When I do – Go for the kill, no questions."

"What are you two parroting about?" Ameyuri half asked, half laughed as she flung herself forward once more, her swords swinging. Neither Konoha Kunoichi answered as they began the waiting game, Kusuri needed Ameyuri to make one specific move but she had no way of knowing how long it would be before it was used again.

'I hope she doesn't keep me waiting too long, I'm not sure I can go much further.' Her legs were beginning to feel like they were made of lead. All in all she was feeling rather terrible.

Ameyuri had of course overheard every word but was unconcerned, neither had been able to land a hit on her yet after all. One of them was on her last legs and the pinkette wouldn't be far behind when it became just her. She just needed to separate them long enough the kill off the injured one. A wide horizontal sweep with the sword in her right arm made the pink one jump back, Ameyuri deliberately overextended her swing to make her jump back further than she'd have liked.

As the other was injured she couldn't act on the overextension. And with pinky out of the way for a moment Ameyuri seized her chance and with a grin on her face jumped forward. Thrusting her sword out in front of her, she aimed to skewer Kusuri on it. Kusuri grinned back as she saw her opportunity.

"Sakura, now!" she alerted her before also leaping forward towards Ameyuri. Sakura and Ameyuri both went wide-eyed, both had realised what she intended to do. She'd jumped straight at Ameyuri's blade point, it was unavoidable.

Moments later the weapon, a few flickers of electricity coursing through the metal, the tip slid into her abdomen, the sharpened chakra metal effortlessly cutting through her. Sakura could only look on in horror as the point and ridge of Kiba, stained with blood punctured out of her back, it had missed her spine by millimetres.

Kusuri coughed up a huge glob of blood that spewed all over the front of an utterly dumbfounded Ameyuri's outfit, she was so surprised that she'd ceased lacing her swords with chakra. As someone who'd spent most of her life looking out for herself and only herself she just couldn't comprehend why anyone would willingly kill themselves.

It soon after all began to fall into place, while she was mortally wounded, Kusuri wasn't dead yet. With what was left of her rapidly diminishing chakra she latched onto Ringo's arm with her one good hand with a vice-like grip.

Despite the shock of watching her friend effectively condemn herself to death Sakura had kept a hold of enough of her mental faculties to realise why she'd done it, Kusuri had pinned down Ringo and taken one of her swords out of the equation. Sakura was on the move, her left fist cocked back, the chakra already building, her target was the second sword, with no Raiton chakra going through it she could afford to make contact with little risk.

Instead of moving the sword to defend herself, Ameyuri was too focused on trying to free herself from Kusuri's restraints, "Let go of me you stupid bitch!" she hissed, Kusuri only grinned back, the blood still freely pouring from her mouth. But it was too late, Sakura was upon her. The massive punch cracked off the side of Kiba, the sheer amount of kinetic energy transferred fractured Ameyuri's wrist. The sword shot from her grasp, embedding itself nearly six inches into the ground several feet away.

She let out a howl of pain, now she was defenceless and Kusuri still wouldn't let go. Sakura's eyes met hers, the animosity in those eyes smouldered intensely, Ringo knew she was fucked as Sakura pulled back her right fist and with a loud cry of "AGH!" she drove home.

Her fist connected with her jaw and cheekbone, the release of chakra upped the damage to devastating levels. Ameyuri's jaw shattered, most of the teeth along her left side of her jaw were knocked loose. But that didn't do the most damage, shards of her cheekbone fragmented, and because Sakura was shorter and her punch angled upwards, were sent deeper into her skull at an upwards trajectory.

For Ameyuri, the pain was overwhelming but fleeting, in just a moment it was gone. "Huh," she slurred as her balance began to fail her. The bone fragments had ripped through her brain, the damage was extensive and irreversible. She fell forward, she never tried to break her fall, she couldn't, she had slipped unconscious before she even hit the ground.

Without another sound she died moments later.

Sakura utterly ignored Ringo's corpse, far too concerned for Kusuri. With extreme care she pulled the weapon from her stomach and desperately tried to save her life.

Rezano could only look on, his legs simply refused to unlock despite his desire to help Meshikamaru, to help Sasuke. She hadn't moved since collapsing a few minutes earlier and now it seemed Sasuke was about to join her. His Uchiha teammate was now struggling to stand up straight, his body better resembling that of a hedgehog.

Sasuke himself never actually fell, he was instead blown off his feet after which he lacked the strength to stand again.

Because off in the distance something was set off. Birds, more in tune with their surroundings than most, fled in its wake, the trees shook, a great force bending their trunks in a single direction, leaves and small branches were ripped from them. The ground shook with its passing, accompanied by a deep, reverberating, booming soundtrack.

*BOOM*

It's arrival swept the fog away with one almighty blast and saw the return of the sun. Off in the distance a vast cloud, shaped vaguely like a mushroom, soared skywards. The more eagle-eyed of onlookers would have seen pieces of debris cast hundreds of feet into the air and would eventually land again upwards of two to three miles away. Everyone was blown off their feet.

It took several seconds for Rezano to pick up his wits again and pull himself back to his feet. 'Sasuke!' his mind screamed as he remembered the trouble he was in. His eyes locked onto the still form of the young Uchiha, on the ground, still - just like Meshikamaru.

His heartbeat seemed deafening in his head, his blood felt as if it was heating up. "Give In." That vindictive voice at the back of his mind spoke, quietly, trying to tempt him as anger began to stir in Rezano's heart.

"Make her pay," it spoke, it was sinister and laced with malice. It was trying to persuade him, and Rezano listened, it's deep, foreboding, simple words resonated with him as his anger continued to build. "Pain – Suffering – Death. You can inflict these all upon her. But you must let go. Give in to your fury."

"Yes," Rezano quietly said as his face began to take on a more feral appearance. The whisker birthmarks on his cheeks thickened in appearance and darkened in colour, his naturally spiky hair seemed to grow jagged and sharper. The nails on his fingers and feet grew to resemble claws. His lips grew dark in colour as his incisors elongated to look like fangs as his eyes turned red, the pupil's and iris's changing to narrow black slits.

Haku watched on, baffled by the multitude of physical changes, but in particular those eyes, they stared at her, brimming with hate. Those malicious eyes narrowed, his lips peeled back to reveal four sharp canine fangs and he lowly growled, "Kill."

He kicked off – hard, the ground crumpling underfoot as he shot towards Haku. The sheer speed he moved at startled Haku but she quickly reassured herself that she was safe in her mirrors, nothing had ever damaged one of them.

*Smash*

The now feral Rezano hurled himself at a mirror and subsequently went straight through it, the sound a mix of shattering ice and breaking glass. Hundreds of shards and fragments were strewn across the floor. Rezano hunched protectively over his two downed teammates as his anger continued to rise.

He looked around, Haku was present in every mirror, with a roar he launched himself at a second. Senbon were thrown from every mirror but she struggled to keep up, by the time her senbon reached where Rezano had been, he was long gone. And any that did hit seemed to melt in seconds, the tiny pinprick wound rapidly healing over.

He threw himself with reckless abandon at a second mirror. It was the one directly to Haku's left, she had to move. One of the benefits provided by her mirrors was the ability to move between them extremely quickly. With Rezano committed to the mirror he was about to go through she made her move and slipped out..

A sudden pain in her ankle made her look down, she gasped in shock, Rezano had grabbed her ankle in mid-air with a frightening display of reactionary speed. His grip was crushing as he swung her over his head with a great roar and sent her flying as he crashed through the second mirror.

She hit the ground hard, she slid to a stop several feet later, there was a sharp pain in her chest, she'd felt something break upon impact. Rezano's throwing of her meant she had a few moments before he'd re-emerge, by sheer luck he'd thrown himself into a pile of building materials with an almighty crash. With that chance she hid behind a pile of pre-cut wooden boards.

Rezano jumped back into the middle of Haku's dome of mirrors, she'd stopped supplying chakra to them, thus they had all begun to slowly melt. Rezano looked around for any sign but he couldn't find her, his already heightened anger spiked further as he continued searching for her. Then his eyes locked into someone, it wasn't Haku. With another roar he charged towards them, he was far past the point of distinguishing friend from foe.

Sakura, still focused entirely on Kusuri was utterly unaware of the impending danger. With a clawed hand held aloft Rezano rapidly covered the remaining ground with a huge leap, fully intent of clawing chunks out of Sakura's back.

The pain didn't register.

One moment, Rezano was less than two feet from Sakura. The next, he was sent sailing backwards with such force that he created a crater trail upon impact as he slid along the compacted dirt and sand that formed the terrain. With a deep growl and animalistic reflexes he flipped himself upright, hunched down on all-fours in a quadrupedal stance. Between Sakura and him now stood a masked figure.

Immediately that figure became the target of Rezano's swelling bloodlust. The voice's influence growing in his mind, "Kill Them!" it commanded, Rezano complied.

The ground again giving way underfoot, Rezano hurtled towards this new arrival, the longing to kill was now overpowering. His clawed fingers once more led the way but despite the oncoming threat the masked man didn't move. Meters became feet, feet became inches and with only six inches separating claw from throat they made their move.

At a speed beyond even Rezano's heightened ability to sense he leaned ever so slightly to the right, Rezano's claw sailing past. With his left fist clenched, a small amount of chakra laced into his knuckles, Raven drove it into Rezano's unguarded stomach.

Rezano had never, ever been punched as hard as he had just been. The red mist that had fogged his mind was blown away entirely by the sudden wave of pain as the wind was knocked out of him. With the blinding anger removed, there was nothing to dull the pain as his body wrapped around the ANBU's fist. He passed out as he dropped to the ground.

Raven surveyed the re-thickening mist, despite the enormous explosion he'd set off it was drifting back to cover the battleground. With a shake of the head he temporarily removed his mask and with one hand formed the Tori (Bird) Seal. "Fūton: Daitoppa," (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough). The blast of howling wind he emitted again scattered the thick white mist.

Replacing his mask he was able to get a good view of the battle site, he intended to bring it all to a swift conclusion and ensure no one was seriously injured… That's when he spotted Sakura and Kusuri. With a blitz of speed he shot to their side.

The pool of blood beneath Kusuri was substantial, her face, blank and expressionless had gone chalk white. Raven squatted down and placed his index and middle fingers against the side of her neck, he was searching for a pulse, he waited a few seconds – there wasn't one. With a melancholic sigh he stood and walked around her body, Sakura hadn't even noticed she'd passed away.

"Sakura," he gently said placing his hands on her shoulders, a slight squeeze got her attention. "She's gone, Sakura," he quietly said in her ear. She stiffened at his words, her own bloodstained hand moved to Kusuri's neck with the intent of confirming she didn't have a pulse. Her whole body sagged as she confirmed it for herself.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. But there'll be time to grieve for her later, right now I need you to see to the Genin." She fought back the tears building in her eyes and gave a determined nod. He gave her a very brief hug then was gone. With a deep breath she closed her friend's vacant eyes, stood, looked around and made her way to Rezano. Raven reappearing a moment later to deposit Sasuke and Meshikamaru next to their teammate.

"They're both just unconscious," he informed her before swatting a single senbon aimed at his neck out of the air. He turned his head to see a very nervous Haku nervously backing up, "Don't. Do. That. Again," he warned. Haku gasped as this new arrival simply swatted her senbon away without even looking at it, 'How did he know it was there?' she asked herself in alarm.

Her attention, however, was drawn away elsewhere almost immediately.

Raven's Fūton Jutsu had cleared the fog far enough for Haku to see Kakashi charging towards a restrained Zabuza, multiple Ninken latched onto his body holding him still, Kakashi's hand glowed a luminous blue, the occasional flicker of electricity discharging into the air.

Haku realised the impending threat to Zabuza's life, her body moved instinctively without her needing to think. As fast as her exhausted, battered body would carry her she rushed to block Zabuza's oncoming death. Time seemed to slow down for her as Kakashi's lightning immersed hand drew closer, there was a brief moment she thought she wouldn't get there in time but with a huge sense of relief she realised she would.

It was a strange sensation, being glad to give your life for another's as she slid to a stop in front of Zabuza, Kakashi's eyes going wide as his hand drilled through her chest. The sound of tearing flesh and breaking bone was nauseating as her blood covered the three of them.

"Huh. Doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would," Haku quietly noted with a wry smile on her face. "I'm sorry Zabuza-sama, but it appears we must part ways here," she said to him and before he could say a word in reply she slumping forward and slid off of Kakashi's stilled arm, the impact had destroyed her heart and lungs. Zabuza couldn't quite believe she'd just given her life to save his. "Haku," he whispered despondently.

"Well, I'll be, if you all aren't making my job easier, that's two that I don't have to kill off myself – soon to be three," an all too familiar voice to Zabuza said arrogantly. "Gatō," he deeply growled, "Kakashi, get your summons off me. My priorities have just changed."
"Oh? And just what are you going to do Zabuza? Look at you, you're already one foot in the grave as is. Why not do you and me a favour and finish yourself off."
"Yeah – no. It's time you got put six feet under Gatō."

"And while I agree with your sentiments whole-heartedly Zabuza, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to call dibs," iterated Raven as he appeared next to Haku's body. He knelt down and closed her eyes before standing again.

"And who are you supposed to be, ANBU?"
"I'm the ANBU who's going to reunite you with your friend if you try and interfere. My grievance with this prick predates yours. And considering I'd much rather you survived to see tomorrow, perhaps it'll impress upon you the seriousness of my words." With a suspicion that this was the one Kakashi mentioned he turned his head to look at the Copycat Ninja, Kakashi nodded back confirming his suspicion.

Despite giving the ANBU a fierce glare as his hand wrapped around the hilt of Kubikiribōchō he backed down. "I presume Kakashi told you of what I've to offer?" Kakashi confirmed with another nod. "He spoke truthfully Zabuza, so if you want rid of Yagura then leave Gatō to me, I assure you his death will not be pleasant and as a small token of compensation for your friend you can murder the riff-raff he brought with him."

"Fine," he answered, still unhappy but somewhat placated. Gatō had brought upwards of thirty to forty of his mob with him, their deaths would mollify Zabuza for now and give him a target to vent his anger on.

With a nod of his own Raven slowly began walking towards Gatō. "I've waited a long time for this. I've often wondered if I'd ever get my hands on you, you'd done ever so well at covering the evidence trail but alas it wasn't good enough. And now, here you are, right in front of me." He stopped about ten feet in front of the short man.

He punched his fist into his palm and tilted his head to the side. "Do you remember her name?"

End Chapter