Previously:

'It's impossible for chakra to change like this! And such an evil aura…!!' Haku thought in the safety of his mirror, alarmed. The two of them gasped again upon looking closer at his hands as he stood up. 'The cuts on his hand…!! They're healing… What is this boy…!?" Haku wondered.

'I see… That's it!!' April thought, surprised, as she remembered how Naruto's hand had healed abnormally fast after he cut himself to remove some poison from their fight with the chūnins Gatō had sent after them. When she had asked Kakashi about it later, he had told her it was because of the nine-tailed fox inside him. 'This chakra… belongs to the nine-tails!!!' She realized, startled when Naruto glanced over his shoulder at Haku with a beastly glare, and she saw how his face had begun to transform. No way… Was the seal… breaking!?

Chapter 26: An Important Person

"!!" Kakashi gasped when he felt the intense chakra that had suddenly exploded onto the scene. '… Is that Zabuza?' He wondered, furrowing his brow. 'No!! This terrible chakra…' He thought, alarmed when he recognized it, breaking out into a nervous sweat. This was the same feeling he had back then, when the nine-tails attacked the village years ago. '… It can't be…!!'

'What's this chakra… Something's not right…' Zabuza thought, furrowing his brow. 'Kakashi? No, it's too strong to be his!?'

'Naruto…!!! This is bad…' Kakashi thought, getting anxious. 'Could the… seal have been broken!?' He wondered as the crease in his brow deepened. Kakashi took a moment to focus more on the chakra. '… This feeling…! It's all right! It hasn't completely broken!' He realized, somewhat relieved. 'But the seal is weakening, and the nine-tails' chakra is bursting out!!!' He quickly whipped out a scroll and dabbed his thumb with blood from his open wound, smearing it on the scroll as he pulled it open to activate it. 'There's still time if I do it now!!' He thought urgently. "Zabuza… can you hear me?" He asked aloud. "Neither of us has time to waste… This might not suit your style, but let's end the fun..." He spun the scroll around, rolling it back up. "And finish this now!" Kakashi clapped his hands around the closed scroll, forming a seal.

"Hmph… Sounds interesting." Zabuza's voice echoed through the thick mist. "What can you do in this situation? Kakashi, show me!!"

"Wait… This chakra may be the fox's, but that anger in his eyes is definitely Naruto's…' April thought worriedly. Still, it was dangerous to stay there. The fox's qi was terrible… It was so powerful that it made the very air sting, pricking her skin. Every instinct was telling her to get out of there. April didn't want to leave Naruto, but she knew what she had to do. With the way things were going, if she wanted to help Naruto… the best thing she could do was to get out of his way! April furrowed her brow and grabbed Sasuke, making a run for the opening she had made, while Naruto charged at Haku.

'Here he comes!!' Haku thought, getting ready to attack. 'What killer intent!! He's totally different from before!!' Haku swiftly threw his needles, aiming for the attacking boy. Naruto let out a roar, releasing more chakra. The needles appeared to hit an invisible wall and were sent flying away in the opposite direction before they could reach him. 'What!? He deflected them with chakra!!' Haku thought, startled. In that case…! Haku tried diving at him for his next attack, but Naruto punched the ground and pushed, spinning up and out of harm's way just in the nick of time. 'Damn! Gotta get to the next mirror!' Haku thought as Naruto landed, skidding to a stop. "!!" Haku gasped in alarm when he was stopped before this could happen. Somehow Naruto had managed to close the distance between them and grab his wrist. 'No way!!' He exclaimed silently in disbelief, shocked by the boy's speed.

"UWOOOOO!!" Naruto roared fiercely as he released another wave of energy. The pressure was so intense that several of the mirrors began to crack.

"!" Haku gasped as he formed a seal to gather his own chakra before he was completely overwhelmed. 'Damn, I can't push back this ki…!!' Haku winced in pain as Naruto tightened his grip, coming dangerously close to crushing the bone in his wrist. "Ergh…!" Naruto clenched his free hand into a fist. "!!" Haku exclaimed in alarm. He saw it coming but could do nothing against it. Naruto's powerful punch collided with his masked face with so much force that it ripped Haku free from his vice-like grip and sent him crashing all the way through the nearest mirror, demolishing it in one blow. April watched in stunned amazement as Haku slid across the ground outside the mirrors from a safe distance, still holding onto Sasuke. From her perspective, the battle seemed to have ended the instant after she retreated. As Haku slid to a stop, a deep crack began to spread through his mask, and the rest of the ice mirrors shattered and fell to the ground around Naruto in fragments. It was over. His jutsu had been completely and utterly defeated. 'Zabuza-san…' Haku thought as he forced himself back on his feet as Naruto came charging at him finish him off. 'I cannot…' part of his mask fell from his face. 'Defeat this boy….' The other half began to fall as Naruto leaped into the air. 'Zabuza-san…' Haku thought as his true face was fully revealed at last.

THNK.

Naruto froze, stopping with his fist only inches from Haku's face. His fist was trembling from the effort of holding back.

"You… You're from that time…!!" Naruto said through gritted teeth, recognizing Haku as the pretty boy he had met in the forest.

"!!" April was surprised by his words. Did Naruto know this boy…? She was relieved that he appeared to have regained control and returned to his old self, but it was a dangerous time to hesitate. Haku might be exhausted and wounded, but the same could be said for them. April carefully set Sasuke down and drew a kunai, getting ready to back Naruto up if he needed her. Seeing the look on his face, she didn't think he could kill Haku… She didn't want him to have to.

"… Why did you stop?" Haku asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. "I killed your precious friend, yet you can't kill me?" Sweat began to form on Naruto's face as he glanced back at Sasuke's body, and April, who was still alive, but wounded.

"Damn it!!" Naruto yelled in anger and frustration, punching Haku. The force behind it was no longer deadly, but it was enough to send him to the ground. Haku coughed up blood as he struggled to push himself back up.

"What happened to your intensity?" He asked. "You can't kill me with that…"

"!" Naruto said, furrowing his brow.

"There are people who make this mistake, not killing their enemy because of pity… letting them leave with just their lives." Haku continued as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Can you understand… not having a dream… not being needed by anyone… the pain of simply living?" Naruto stared at him.

"…" April watched the two boys solemnly as she furrowed her brow. Haku was preaching to the choir. She had a small taste of that hell after her parents died, but no one understood that kind of pain better than Naruto.

"… What are you trying to say?" Naruto asked warily.

"Zabuza-san has no need for a weak shinobi… You have taken away my reason for existing." Haku answered with a sad smile.

"!!" Naruto gasped as he remembered what Haku had told him before about his dream and having someone precious to protect. "Why… Why for a guy like that… He's a bad guy who takes money from a criminal!!" Naruto shouted. "Is that eyebrowless freak the only important person you have!?"

"…" Haku was silent for a moment. "… I had people who were very dear to me… a long time ago… My parents."

"!" Naruto said, taken aback.

'I see…' April thought sympathetically. 'He also…'

"I was born in a small snowy village in the Land of Water." Haku began to explain. He had a feeling these people might be able to understand him. "I was happy… My parents were very kind people. But…" Haku furrowed his brow. "When I grew up and began to learn the ways of the world… something happened."

"Something? What…?" Naruto asked. April frowned. She was sure it was nothing good.

"… This blood…" Haku said, looking at the blood he had smeared on the back of his hand.

"Blood?" Naruto asked. Haku continued to stare at the blood on his hand. "So… what happened!?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"My father killed my mother. Then, he tried to kill me…" Haku stated calmly. Naruto's and April's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Naruto asked, stunned. His own father…? But weren't fathers supposed to protect their families!?

"The Land of Water had endless civil wars, and those who possess kekkei genkai came to be hated." Haku said.

"Kekkei genkai…!?" Naruto said curiously. What was that?

"A technique limited to inheritance by blood. They're abilities passed down genetically within specific clans." April explained, remembering some information she had come across while studying about this world. "Kekkei genkai abilities that work via the user's eye, like Sensei's Sharingan, are called dōjutsu."

"That's correct. There are also bloodlines, such as mine, with the special ability to mix one type of elemental chakra with another, creating a new one unique to the users." Haku added. "Because of these abilities, clans with kekkei genkai were used as weapons in countless battles. As a result, these clans were blamed for bringing misfortune and war to the land. After these wars, these clans had to hide the truth about their kekkei genkai. For those whose secret was discovered, only death awaited. That young man must have also experienced much hardship… Those with special abilities are often feared." Haku said, glancing at Sasuke.

"!" April said, also glancing at Sasuke. Did that mean… Sasuke also possessed a kekkei genkai? Since when? Her eyes widened slightly in realization as she remembered how much Sasuke had already known about the Sharingan. 'I see…' She thought. 'So, Sasuke also…' But if that was true, then did it mean he and Kakashi-sensei were related somehow? Did the Sharingan have a connection to the Uchiha clan's tragedy…?

"My mother was from one of these bloodlines." Haku continued solemnly. "My father discovered this… when I came to, I realized that I had killed him… my own father…!!" Naruto and April watched him with heavy hearts. They didn't know what to say. Haku may be their enemy, but they didn't think anyone should have to go through something like that. "And at that time… I thought of myself as… No, I had no choice but to think that… and I realized the most painful thing…"

"Most painful thing?" Naruto asked, furrowing his brow slightly.

"That in this world… I am a person who is unwanted." Haku concluded grimly.

"!!" Naruto gasped as April frowned sadly. 'He's the same as me…' Naruto thought.

"You said to me you wanted to become… the best ninja in your village, and have everyone acknowledge you. Now, if someone who acknowledged you from the bottom of their heart appeared… wouldn't that someone become the most important person to you?" Haku asked Naruto. Naruto glanced back at April. That person had already appeared. And he knew now that he had Iruka-sensei, too. April thought of her old JKD instructor, Mr. Lee… the man who had become a second father to her after the death of her parents, when she had to leave behind what was left of her life with them and move to Pasadena to live with her aloof uncle. And now she had Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, and the rest of team seven… "Zabuza-san took me in knowing I was from a family with the kekkei genkai and raised me. This ability that everyone hated… He desired it." Haku said, remembering Zabuza's words from the day he first picked him up off the streets. 'From today on, you blood is mine. Follow me!'

"!" Naruto said, taken aback when tears began to form in Haku's eyes.

"I was so happy!!" Haku said with a wan smile, furrowing his brow as he tried to not to cry. 'I'm sorry, Zabuza-san, I was unable to become the weapon you sought…' He thought sadly. "Naruto-kun… Please…" He said, closing the distance between them.

"!" Naruto said, taking a step back.

"Kill me." Haku said with a forlorn look in his eyes, resigning himself to his fate.

Meanwhile, Kakashi quickly finished performing the hand seals necessary to activate his scroll and slammed it to the ground.

'Ninja summoning, Earth Release: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu!!!' He thought as the words for the summoning spell crawled out of the scroll and dove into the cracks in the ground.

"Hmph. Whatever you do is useless." Zabuza's voice echoed through the impenetrable mist. "You can't figure out where I am. But I know exactly where you are. Kakashi, you are trapped by my jutsu." Zabuza furrowed his brow when he sensed a disturbance in the force. "!!" He said, puzzled, when he heard a low rumbling sound and the ground beneath his feet began to vibrate. "Huh?"

CRRRACK!!

"Gah!!" Zabuza shouted in surprise when a dog's head suddenly broke through the concrete and snapped at his ankle with sharp fangs. Unfortunately, while he was dodging that one, yet another burst through and bit his other ankle, holding him down while the rest of its pack broke through and jumped into the air. "!!!" Zabuza gasped in alarm. The dogs were too fast! They had him completely surrounded now.

"!" Sakura gasped when she heard the commotion, wondering what was going on.

"What's that sound?" Tazuna asked nervously. Those noises sounded disturbingly like the echoes some very vicious growls…

"If I can't follow you with my eyes or ears, then I just have to use my nose." Kakashi said, standing up as the mist cleared slightly. He could see where Zabuza was now, thanks to the ninken. "That's what happens when you have your eyes shut in the mist. This summoning jutsu is specifically for tracking down an opponent. The reason I purposefully let my blood spill twice was for this. Your weapons are soaked with the scent of my blood. These are my cute ninja dogs. Their sense of smell exceeds that of all other dogs. You are the one trapped in my jutsu."

"Ungh…" Zabuza grunted in pain, narrowing his eyes slightly. He called this cute? The giant bulldog biting down on his neck and shoulder was monstrous!

"The mist has cleared." Kakashi stated, tapping the side of his face next to his eye. "Your future is death."