AN: Alas, Naruto is still not for sale, so I cannot buy it... Yes, the chapters are short, but at least I update on a fairly regular basis. Enjoy this chapter!

-demonicnargles

"Speech"

thought / talking in mind

"Demon speech"

Demon thought / talking in mind

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Sasuke spun around. There stood Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist. Kakashi was at Tazuna's house working with Sakura on some training exercise. Naruto was on the other end of the bridge.

I can't lose to him, thought Sasuke. I must survive, so that I can avenge my clan. If I am to beat my brother, I have to be able to beat this guy!

Zabuza formed a seal which Sasuke couldn't identify through the mist, and vanished. Sasuke whirled around. Nothing. He looked behind him. Nothing.

Where is he? I can't let him catch me off guard! I have to be ready!

But no matter where he looked, Sasuke could find no trace of the mist-nin. This was going to be difficult.

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Kyuubi looked at the strange boy. Or is it a girl? The nin just stared back. Neither of them moved. The nin, Haku, tensed his muscles. At any moment, the boy would either spring to attack or to run away. If the boy ran away, that was fine. But if he attacked, then...

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Haku flinched. Everywhere he went, people had the nerve to question his manliness! He would show up and knock people around, and no one ever asked, 'How did you get so strong?', or, 'Where did you learn to do that?' It was always, 'Are you really a man?' 'Are you a boy or a girl?' He hated that! This kid was not getting away. Haku wasn't going to kill the boy, but he would make him suffer for asking such a dumb question.

Kyuubi mentally smiled. The kit had been right. Of course I was right! I'm the human here! I would know! Kyuubi ignored the voices in his head for now. He had distracted the nin with his innocent sounding jab, and now he could attack.

Kyuubi lashed out with a spray of kunai. The nin, though distracted, dodged the projectiles at a speed Kyuubi could barely see. Uh, oh. That can't be good. Kyuubi twisted around just in time to see the nin fling a handful of senbon in his direction from behind. Kyuubi dodged them, but with considerably less grace than the mist-nin had shown. Kyuubi jumped at the nin, who almost lazily moved out of the way and stuck several of the needles into his back. The demon blocked out the pain, and the voice of the annoying human in the back of his mind.

Kyuubi formed a familiar seal, and a dozen clones appeared. Immediately, they ran straight at the gender-impaired nin, each holding kunai in both hands. The nin fired senbon in a circle around himself/herself, dispelling all the clones before they could reach him/her.

Kyuubi, who had not attacked, frowned. This could be harder than I had thought. Again ignoring the voice in his head, which was yelling about something, Kyuubi summoned another dozen clones to the battleground. These clones flung kunai from a range, but Haku dodged them with an eery grace, and quickly dispatched all of them.

Kyuubi realized that this opponent was fast. Apparently, the demon was not near where he needed to be in terms of speed. It was only when the nin charged at him, flinging senbon, that Naruto's voice registered in his mind.

You idiot! Take off your weights!

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Sasuke panted for breath. Every time he thought he had gotten the upper hand, his target would dissolve into water. Just how many water clones could a guy make?

Apparently a lot, thought Sasuke as he snatched kunai out of yet another melting clone. He had to salvage kunai from fallen clones and from the deck of the bridge, as he had run out a while ago. Sasuke had the distinct impression that Zabuza was playing with him.

Sasuke dodged to the side, barely avoiding being chopped in half by that monstrous sword. He stabbed his assailant in the back, and was not surprised when it, too, dissolved into a puddle. Sasuke couldn't keep this up for much longer.

As if he had read Sasuke's mind, Zabuza attacked anew, with four images of himself converging on Sasuke's position, one from every side. Sasuke threw his remaing three kunai at three of the images, and lept into the air, hoping to get out of the range of the swords. One image was struck in the shoulder, and splattered onto the deck. But the other three jumped after him. Sasuke pulled out his only remaining weapon, his Fuma shuriken, and turned around, preparing to block the swords with it.

Instead, another image, perhaps the real Zabuza, appeared behind him and slapped Sasuke across the bridge with the flat of his blade.

Sasuke landed hard and rolled to the small wall at the edge of the bridge. He could n't move his legs, and he couldn't move his arms without excruciating pain shooting through his back. He had no idea where his shuriken had landed. He could only watch as Zabuza walked toward him out of the mist, holding that massive sword on one shoulder.

"I was holding out for your teacher to show up. I was really looking forward to a rematch. I thought our session here would attract his attention. But since it obviously didn't, perhaps your death will succeed where this pointless fight did not." Zabuza raised his sword. Sasuke braced for the end.

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Kyuubi was kicked across the bridge. He had been too surprised by Naruto's comment to react in time. How could I forget about the weights? Of course! I knew I should be faster than this!

Kyuubi dropped his weights onto the ground by undoing the rope that held them on. He had specifically designed his weights so that he could take them all off by untying a single knot. That way, he could take them off in the middle of a fight. Like now.

The weights landed with a loud metallic clanging, chipping bits of the concrete. Kyuubi suddenly realized that those weights had been heavy. He felt like he needed to grip the ground to keep from floating away. Pulling out a kunai, he charged at Haku.

The mist-nin dodged Kyuubi's slash, but only by inches, and without the usual flourish. Kyuubi skimmed across the surface of the bridge, running after his gender-neutral opponent.

Haku stopped an turned around. Now that he was out of the boy's reach, he needed to make a plan. He needed-

Haku's train of thought was interuppted by a fist crushing his mask into his face. Haku fell back several feet. Then he remembered what Zabuza-san had said.

'If your opponent is tough, kill him. Otherwise we'll have to fight him again. Don't be so soft that you endanger our safety.'

Kyuubi saw the boy get up and form a strange seal, one that he did not recongnize. Water from the bridge rose up and froze in long, flat sheets around him. Then he saw Haku jump into one of the mirror-like sheets of ice. Suddenly, every sheet around him showed an image of Haku.

Kyuubi smirked, throwing a kunai into the mirror that Haku had entered. It shattered. But immediately, more water rose up and made another sheet of ice, complete with an image of Haku. Kyuubi saw all of the images raise hands full of senbon. The images threw the needles.

Kyuubi saw needles fly from seemingly every direction. He knew that there could only be one of the nin. And he could occasionally make out a faint blur that must have been the nin. But it was too much to think about at the moment. Kyuubi covered his head as senbon rained down upon him. They kept coming and coming. Kyuubi realized from the chill spreading from the many needles imbedded in him that they were made out of ice. Which the nin probably made from the water around them. And since they were out on the ocean right now...

Kyuubi began to grow tired. He didn't feel exhausted. He felt a peaceful sort of sleepiness. The needles didn't hurt as much. The edges of his vision began to darken. I wonder what's going on, Kyuubi mused. He didn't really care. He just wanted to sleep.

Kyuubi! You're dying! Snap out of it!

Oh. How nice. I guess that-

What!

Kyuubi forced as much of his own chakra into Naruto's body as the body could take for the few minutes he would need it. The sudden release of so much energy made the concrete of the bridge ripple and crack around his feet. Senbon popped out of his skin, and all of his wounds healed without so much as a mark to show their former existence.

The genjutsu over his eyes broke, revealing the bloodshot eyes with slitted pupils and red-orange irises. The whisker marking on his cheeks lengthened and thickened, giving the impression of long claw marks across his face. Fiery, red-orange chakra enveloped his body. The chakra formed a vaguely fox-shaped silhouette around Naruto's body. Over each hand were claws made of chakra.

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Haku could only stare as the blonde boy suddenly healed. He could only stand there as the boy charged, screaming incoherently. He could only fall as the ferocious thing ripped out his throat. And he could only scream silently as the boy began to eat him alive.

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End of chapter. Yeah. That was gruesome. Please review!