Previously:

"… Becoming a true shinobi is difficult for me." Haku said solemnly. "If possible, I don't want to have to kill you. Nor do I want you to have to kill me. But if you come at me… I can destroy my kind heart with a blade and become a true shinobi. This bridge is the place where we will fight… to connect to our dreams. Me, for my dream. And you, for your dreams. Please don't hate me. I want to protect someone precious to me. To work for that person. To fight for that person. To make that person's dreams come true. That is my dream. For that, I can become a true shinobi. I can kill you." He finished with grave determination. Naruto and Sasuke smiled, looking pleased with their opponent's resolve.

"… Me, too. My personal death doesn't scare me, but if you try going after those boys for real… I'll kill you." April stated seriously as she raised her fists, taking up an offensive stance.

Chapter 24: Crumbling Sharingan

'Here we go…' April thought as she shifted her weight and launched herself forward for the first strike. "URRYAAAH!!" She yelled, stepping forward with her left leg into a spinning back fist, pushing the chakra concentrated in her arm down into her fist as she struck, squeezing it out the second her hand came into contact with the ice.

BOOM—CRACK!

"!!" Haku gasped she actually managed to chip the ice. It may not look like much damage had been done from an outside perspective, but the fact that April had managed to make a mark at all proved just how dangerous she had become. He quickly formed a seal and released more chakra to fix the crack. He couldn't let her break them yet!

'Damn…!!' April cursed mentally, furrowing her brow, as she shifted gears to try again, building up more chakra.

"Sasuke-kun!!! Naruto!! April-chan!! Don't lose to that guy!!" Sakura cheered.

"Don't egg them on, Sakura." Kakashi said seriously.

"Huh?"

"Even if they could somehow defeat that technique, they cannot beat that boy." He stated grimly.

"!" Sakura gasped. "What do you mean?"

"Heh…heheh…" Zabuza chuckled darkly.

"They don't yet have the mental strength to destroy their hearts… and kill another person." Kakashi explained with a frown. Those three were still too inexperienced for that. "That young man knows the true pain of being a shinobi."

"That's right." Zabuza agreed. "A true shinobi can't be created in a peaceful village like yours, because you can't experience the most important thing. The experience of killing."

"Then, what can we do, Sensei!!?" Sakura asked urgently.

"…" Kakashi held Zabuza's gaze. "Sorry, but… I'm going to end this quickly." He said seriously as he raised his hand and placed it on his forehead protector, preparing to uncover his left eye.

"Sharingan!!" Sakura gasped excitedly. That's right, they still had that!

"Heheh… Sharingan again? Is that the only thing you cam do?" Zabuza asked mockingly. Kakashi remained silent as they continued to stare each other down. Zabuza reached behind him as he suddenly shot forward, pulling out a curved kunai.

"!" Kakashi quickly raised his right hand in front of him as Zabuza thrust the kunai at the left side of his face, clearly aiming for the Sharingan eye.

STAB!

"You asked if it's all I can do, but you are afraid of the Sharingan… Zabuza…" Kakashi stated, glaring at the missing-nin as blood dripped from the hand he had used to stop the attack, running down the blade of the kunai Zabuza had stabbed him with.

"Hehe… A shinobi's master technique… is not something that should be showed to an opponent over and over." Zabuza said, returning his glare.

"You should feel honored. You're the only person to see it twice." Kakashi retorted. "And there won't be a third time."

"Heh… Even if you defeat me, you can't win against Haku…" Zabuza told him.

'Kakashi-sensei can't win…? Is the masked boy that strong?' Sakura wondered, suddenly filled with a sense of unease.

"Ever since he was a little kid, I've taught him all kinds of fighting skills. Even in the face of the greatest adversity, he has succeeded. With no heart or fear of death, he became a fighting machine known as a shinobi. On top of that his jutsus surpass even mine, and he has the terrifying ability of a kekkei genkai. I gained a high-quality tool for myself." Zabuza gloated, withdrawing his kunai. "Unlike the scrap that follow you around."

"There's nothing as boring as a man's bragging… Let's get this started!!!" Kakashi said fiercely, uncovering his Sharingan.

"Hold on for a second." Zabuza said calmly with a smirk. "I'll use your own words and brag about one more thing. The last time you said this to me. Hehe… I've been waiting a while for the chance to use this line… 'I'll tell you this. The same jutsu won't work on me twice.' Wasn't it?"

"!" The crease in Kakashi's brow deepened.

"I have already… seen through the trivial system of that eye." Zabuza boasted. "In the previous fight, I wasn't just getting beat like an idiot. I had Haku hiding in the shadows, examining every aspect. Haku is also bright. By seeing a technique once, he can usually come up with some with a way to defeat it."

"!" Kakashi said, frowning. It sounded like Haku was like their April in that respect… Their ongoing fight was going to be a race against two highly analytical minds to see who could devise the most effective counter first…

'Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Concealment Jutsu.' Zabuza thought as he quickly formed a seal and disappeared into the mist. Kakashi furrowed his brow.

"Damn!! Hey, Sasuke, all we're doing is running around!!" Naruto said, frustrated. While April was busy jumping around the outside of the formation of mirrors like a flea on a dog's back trying to bust them out, the two of them couldn't even dodge Haku's attacks properly!

"Be quiet and get up!! I can't watch over you, too!!" Sasuke snapped at him. "We are going to be hit, just try to avoid a serious wound. There must be a limit to his chakra… He is already slowly…" Haku began to raise his hand, holding another needle. 'Here it comes!!' Sasuke thought, moving to dodge, but it was useless. Before he could move more than a millimeter, the needle was already piercing his knee.

"!" April grit her teeth as she continued to attack the ice mirrors. Blood was beginning to stain the wraps on her hands, but she didn't stop. She couldn't. Despite the added distraction of having to deal with Naruto and Sasuke, Haku was still healing the mirrors almost as fast as she could damage them. 'Come on… Please, let this work!!' She thought as she increased her speed, becoming a blur, as she changed her pattern of movement slightly.

"Sakura!! Protect Tazuna-san!!" Kakashi ordered as the mist began to thicken.

"!" Sakura started for a moment, but she clenched her fist, steeling her nerves. 'Yeah… I have to believe in Sasuke-kun. And worry about my own job!' She thought.

'What's this super thick mist?' Tazuna wondered, glancing around. 'You can't see anything!!'

"The enemy is serious!! Stay near me, Tazuna-san!!" Sakura said urgently as she moved closer to him, taking up a defensive stance to protect him.

"Ok, Sakura." Tazuna said, furrowing his brow.

'This mist is too thick… Zabuza shouldn't be able to see anything either…' Kakashi thought, wondering what he was up to. "!" His Sharingan detected a faint shift in the mist. "Gu!!" He grunted as he quickly tightened his grip on his kunai and instantly deflected the swarm of shurikens Zabuza had just thrown at him. That was too close for comfort…

"Impressive that you blocked those… Sharingan Kakashi…" Zabuza leered, appearing right behind him.

"!" Kakashi gasped and spun around to face him.

"But… the next time you see me will be the end of everything."

'His eyes are closed!!' Kakashi thought as his own widened slightly in surprise.

"You overrated your Sharingan too much…" Zabuza said with a smirk as he faded back into the mist.

"What…" Kakashi said, furrowing his brow, as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face.

"You acted as if you knew everything…" Zabuza's voice echoed through the mist. "… But your prediction that I would die was wrong. Kakashi… you can neither read my mind nor see the future… The Sharingan… is simply a trick that makes your opponent think that you can. It's basically an eye technique involving hypnotism and an attention for detail. By using those two abilities together, you can progress from copying the body, to copying the mind, to copying the jutsu. This is the dance that makes it seem like you can see the future. First, with that keen eye, you copy my movements and shake my mind. Once I am confused, you are able to figure out what I'll say and become me. And then… Once my worry and confusion reaches it's peak, you attach a clever trick. Through hypnotic genjutsu, you suggest what seal I perform. And then you simply copy that." Kakashi wasn't that surprised to hear his technique so thoroughly and correctly dissected as he might have been a week ago. After watching that fight, April had already approached him out of curiosity with the same theory. "So the answer is simple." Zabuza continued. "First, with this mist, I make that keen eye of yours useless."

"Gu!!" Kakashi grunted as he just barely managed to block another attack. 'Damn!! Not being able to see slows down my reactions.' He thought as he was pushed back, sliding to a stop.

"Hehe… And if I keep my eyes closed, I remove the chance of being hypnotized…" Zabuza added.

"But why? Then you can't see a thing, either." Kakashi pointed out.

"Have you forgotten…?" Zabuza asked.

"What?" Kakashi asked. He could hear the smirk in Zabuza's voice.

"I am a master of silent killing." Zabuza reminded him. "I can locate a target with just sound." Kakashi's eyes widened.

'Damn it…' He thought. 'I'm worried about Sasuke, Naruto, and April too. It's been a long time since I've been in a battle under such dangerous conditions.' Kakashi took a deep breath. 'Relax…' He told himself. 'Think… Where will he strike?' "!" Kakashi gasped alarm as he whipped his head around. 'Oh no!!'

Zabuza silently appeared behind Tazuna and Sakura. He gripped the hilt of his sword and charged.

"Huh?" Sakura gasped, startled.

"!!" Tazuna exclaimed in fear, gasping when Kakashi suddenly threw himself protectively in between them and Zabuza.

"Too late!!" Zabuza growled as he swung his sword, aiming to cut right through the copy ninja.

"KYAAA!!" Sakura screamed.