Disclaimer: I own nothing...Not DBZ or Naruto.

Last time: Gohan squares off with Haku and manages to hold his own until Haku activates his Kekkei Genkai. The tables are turned and Gohan is forced onto the defensive. He tries to transform in order to stop Haku, but something goes horribly wrong and Goku's son is knocked out.

This time: The battle continues.

Haku dropped from his mirror like a ghost, landing without making a sound, as a shinobi should. He slowly withdrew a senbon from one of his pouches and approached Gohan, who was still out cold from the strange reaction during his attempt to transform into a Super Saiyan.

'This boy…' Haku thought as he approached the incapacitated warrior, 'This boy is a threat to Zabuza-san's plans. Therefore, he must be eliminated.'

"I'm sorry," the quiet hunter-nin said out loud, though he was sure that the other warrior couldn't hear him, "You fought well and courageously, but I must eliminate you." The slim weapon in his hand raised for the sky, the sun, exposed once more due to the mist being blown away, glinted off of the needle.

His hand dropped.

The sound of whirling shuriken cut the finishing blow short and the hunter was forced to jump back or get killed. Two blurs entered his vision, one angling for Gohan, the other coming to a stop right in front of him, the blur materializing into Uchiha Sasuke.

The raven-haired Uchiha smirked and let loose with a vicious roundhouse that was much faster than Haku could've expected. The blow landed squarely in Haku's face and the boy felt the concussion rip through the mask and slam into his skull. He flew back, but managed to get his feet under him and skid to a halt.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai, whirling it on his finger as he brought it up and snapped it into a reverse grip.

"Get him out of here Dobe!" Sasuke shouted over his shoulder, "I can't hold this guy off forever!"

Naruto glared at the other genin as he slung one of Gohan's arms over his shoulder and heaved the boy up. "Shut up Sasuke! I'm going already!" Holding tight to the unconscious teen, the blond jumped for the gap between the mirror that had been fractured by Gohan's impacting body and the one next to it.

'No!' Haku shouted inwardly, 'He must not be allowed to escape!' The hunter prepared to move and Sasuke, catching the movement out of the corner of his eye, snapped all his attention back on Haku, tensing in preparation for a potential attack.

Instead of the anticipated full on attack, the masked shinobi jumped up and away. Sasuke thought it was a stupid thing to do. That was, until the hunter-nin hit one of those weird mirrors and melded into it. A split second later and the Uchiha was surrounded on all sides by reflections of the other shinobi. A cry of pain sounded from behind him. He looked and saw Naruto flying back into the dome of mirrors, slamming into the senbon-littered ground with a heavy 'thud'. Gohan, jarred from the blonde's grasp by the whatever-it-was that blew Naruto back in, landed a short distance away.

"What the…?"

Sasuke's curse was cut short and the last of the Uchiha felt something slam into him from behind, as hard as a charging rhino, and the genin flew forward, landing on his stomach and going into a skid. He managed to stop himself and stood up, wincing as he bled from a few superficial wounds, caused by senbon on the ground stabbing into him as he'd passed by.

He raised the kunai he'd somehow managed to get a grip on and waited, hoping to find what'd hit him and pay it back. Something told him it was this pretty boy in the mirrors.

"Ow! What the hell was that?" Naruto asked as he picked himself up, rubbing his head from where it had cracked against the concrete of the bridge on landing. "Sasuke-bastard, what hit me?"

For once the Uchiha gave him a straight answer without any comments on his stupidity in it, "This guy in the mirrors. Somehow he hit us both in the span of a few seconds."

Haku was surprised by the black-haired kid, Sasuke's, comment. Not many people could figure out that it was him in the mirrors. Even some of the jounin he'd killed with this technique took awhile to catch on and they'd had many times this boy's experience.

'He is a talented shinobi,' Haku observed. 'It appears I may have to watch myself around him or this could be tough.'

Naruto stepped up beside his teammate, drawing a kunai as he did. "So, Sasuke-bastard, just how are we getting out of here?"

The other genin reached into his kunai pouch, drawing out some wire. He tied a length around the ring of the kunai and drew out as much slack as he'd thought he'd need. The Uchiha had an idea of how to get out of this mess, and to do it he would need Naruto's unusually high stamina.

"Naruto," he murmured, trying to keep his voice low and not move his lips so this guy wouldn't be able to read them. "I'm gonna try melting the mirror that Gohan hit. Keep this guy distracted as long as you can."

Naruto nodded, grinning in determination. "Okay! You can count on me!"

"On three. Ready?" Naruto nodded. "Okay. One…Two…THREE!"

Haku was caught semi-off guard when the raven-haired kid turned around and hurled a kunai at the fractured mirror. He was forced to concentrate on the other genin though, because he was trying to make a getaway.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Ten copies of Naruto headed off in every direction, making a break for the gaps between the mirrors. Haku dropped from his hiding place and zipped around the dome faster than any eye could hope to track. To the hunter-nin, it appeared that the clones were moving in slow motion and he could hit a vital spot on each one before they had time to react, or even sense he was there.

Sasuke ignored the popping noises of exploding Kage Bunshins behind him, throwing his kunai at the fractured mirror, the weapon trailing a slivery strand of near-invisible wire as it lodged in one of the cracks in the ice. The avenger raised the end of the wire to his lips and made a sequence of hand seals, inhaling deeply as he did.

'Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!'

He let his breath out with a rush and a river of fire shot down the wire and slammed full-on into the weakened mirror. The fire from the technique shot into every crevice in the ice and for a second, there was a spider web of fire on the surface. Then there was a sound like a gunshot and the mirror shattered.

"Let's go Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, hoping his companion would be able to grab Gohan because the Uchiha was too far away.

Naruto ran for the passed out saiyan and scooped him up into a fireman's carry, sprinting for the hole Sasuke had made, using chakra to reduce the friction between his feet and the ground, allowing him to go faster.

Both boys made it to the exit, and Sasuke had even gotten one foot on the outside, then both were grabbed roughly by their shirt collars and heaved back inside. Once again, both genin thudded to the ground. Sasuke struggled to pick himself up and caught sight of his enemy, real and in the flesh, not some reflection, standing in front of them. Both of the genin watched, horrified, as the gap that they'd made in the dome resealed itself.

'Dammit!' Sasuke thought angrily. 'We're never gonna get out of here at this rate!'

"Damn you!" Naruto shouted, showing off his amazing stamina by vaulting back to his feet. He leveled a defiant finger at the masked hunter. "I'll kill you!" He ran straight at Haku, drawing back for a haymaker, ignoring Sasuke's yells to stop.

Haku watched with mild amusement as the blond approached. When Naruto leapt into the air to add momentum to his strike, the hunter-nin made his move. His arm flashed faster than the eye could see and Naruto yelped as a senbon needle embedded itself in his shoulder, making the blond lose focus. Haku caught him as he came down and whirled around, using Naruto's own momentum against him. He let go of the genin and sent him crashing into Sasuke, who had just managed to get back to his feet. Both cried out as they collided and, before the pair had hit the ground, Haku had slipped back into his mirrors.

"That was a clever idea," the masked kid said as his reflection popped up in all the mirrors. "Using the fire to deliver a shock to a weakened mirror was truly a brilliant plan. However, I will tell you the same thing I told your friend. You cannot escape. I do not wish to kill you, but if you continue to push me, you will die."

Sasuke glared at the masked kid before charging him with a savage yell. Haku merely sidestepped and shot a leg out, tripping Sasuke and causing the Uchiha to crash to the ground.

"I told you that it is futile," he stated coldly as he merged back into one of his mirrors. The raven-haired genin bit back a curse as he found himself surrounded by reflections once again. Every single Haku held up needles. The arms flashed and Sasuke began to dodge once again, trying not to get hit by streaks of light.

Kakashi grunted as he backpedaled. Zabuza's humongous meat cleaver smashed into the ground and kicked up debris. When the bandaged jounin pulled his weapon out of the ground, there was a vicious gouge in the hard pavement of the bridge deck.

'This is bad,' Kakashi thought to himself grimly. 'I'm starting to get tired. I can last maybe an hour more and that's it.' It was true. The Konoha jounin could feel fatigue digging at the barest edges of his consciousness even as he thought that. If he couldn't end this battle soon, Hatake and everyone he was fighting to protect would be killed.

A cry of pain made him look away, towards the ice dome that held Naruto, Sasuke and Gohan. What he saw made his blood turn to ice water. Sasuke was slumped in the middle of the jutsu, his shoulders and back riddled with senbon needles.

Zabuza noticed the other shinobi's gaze. He chuckled darkly when he saw the results of his tool's handiwork. "Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked. "Haku is a true shinobi. He'll kill anyone without hesitation." He looked over at the Copy-nin with amused eyes. "Too bad for you, Kakashi. All of your brats are gonna die, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Yeah?" Kakashi retorted with a confidence he did not feel. This battle wasn't going his way and both of the jounin knew it. Hatake would need to do something drastic if he wanted to win this fight. "Then you don't know my team." He looked the Demon of the Mist with a hidden smirk. "First there's Sasuke. Tell me, do you know his surname?"

"Why the hell would I care about a snot-nosed brat's last name?"

"I'll tell you why. His name is Uchiha Sasuke!"

Zabuza's eyes went wide. So. The rumors about a kid surviving the massacre of his clan were true after all! Konohagakure had done a lot to hide the fact that one of their most prestigious clans had been wiped from existence by one of the clan's own. "So you're telling me that that kid could awaken the Sharingan?"

The silver-haired shinobi nodded. "Yep! And since your little hunter-nin is pushing him into a corner, it's getting more and more likely that his Kekkei Genkai will show itself!"

"You're lying Kakashi!"

The other shinobi shrugged. "Maybe. But even if it doesn't, and Sasuke is somehow killed, there's still Naruto to deal with."

Zabuza's derisive snort cut the scarecrow off. "Really. That kid's nothing but a dead-last."

"No. You're wrong. He may not be the smartest of shinobi; that honor goes to Sakura, but Naruto will never ever give up. And Sakura, well, she may not be the strongest member of the team, but she'll whip up a strategy to kick your ass!"

Now Zabuza burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha! Come off it Kakashi! You're telling me that any one of these genins could kill me?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying."

"You're bluffing."

Kakashi shrugged again. "Perhaps, but there's still Gohan. If any one of us fail, that kid won't. I don't know just how strong he is, but you know better than I do that he can fight."

Zabuza's eyes went wide as he remembered the vicious beating he'd received at the young Super Saiyan's hands. A hand went to his left side, where the broken ribs still hadn't healed properly and were still tender.

Hatake grinned; the only outward sign of it was his mask warping. "See? But you don't need to worry about them."

"Why?"

Kakashi's grin turned into a grim glare. "Because I'm about to kill you." With that, the two jounin picked up their weapons and charged headlong into battle, becoming nothing but blurs bouncing off each other with a shower of sparks and the crisp 'clangs' of steel meeting steel.

Naruto struggled to get back on his feet.

'Dammit! It can't end like this!' the blond thought desperately as he finally managed to stand.

"Sasuke!"

The Uchiha turned at the blonde's call. "Naruto! We gotta get out of here! Give me a hand will you?!" The other genin nodded, determination shining in his eyes. The two rivals regarded each other, then, at some unspoken signal, sprinted for the edges of the dome. They hoped that Haku wouldn't be able to take both of them on.

Unfortunately for them, the hunter-nin was more than capable of keeping up with them. Naruto yelled as something struck him in the Achilles Tendon, making his ankle go numb. Sasuke faltered for a split-second, but recovered and continued his charge at the ring of mirrors. Sadly, the moment of hesitation was more than enough and Haku's foot, invisible to the unaided eye, slammed into his gut, making him cough blood and crash onto his back.

Naruto grunted as he pulled the needle out of his heel. "Son of a bitch!" He yelled, his frustration finally getting to his head. He pointed defiantly at one of the reflections. "You're not keeping me here, you bastard!" He made a hand-seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" There was a burst of smoke and a group of blond-haired copies sprinted in every conceivable direction. One of them stepped in a puddle, probably left over from one of the Zabuza clones from earlier in the battle.

Haku blasted from his mirrors, striking down clone after clone.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the water droplets kicked up from the clone's step get shredded in several different directions.

'No way!' The arrogant Uchiha smirked. He had it now. The basis behind this guy's attacks. He would leap from mirror to mirror and attack faster than the eye could see, but it was only a one shot pass. He had to reenter a mirror if he wanted to do it again. 'I've got it now, plus he's slowing down. I can feel it! I have to hand it to the dobe, he's given me the way to get out of here!' Sasuke looked at Gohan's limp form with reluctant eyes. 'And I guess we wouldn't be at this point if he hadn't beaten the crap out of this jerk.'

Naruto cried out as the masked hunter rebuffed him again. He growled as his frustration levels continued to rise. He was starting to run low on chakra. Before long, he would pass out and then Sasuke-bastard would be all on his own.

"Naruto!" The blond looked over his shoulder at Sasuke, who was crouching on the ground. There was a light in his dark eyes that told the loud genin that he had a plan. "Can you do that again?"

The orange-clad genin smirked. "Keh. Who do you take me for! Of course I can do it!" He made the seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" For a second time, the air was filled with leaping Shadow Clones as they tried to find a way out.

Sasuke ran forward and dropped into a slide, going right through a puddle and throwing water droplets in every direction. He began to make hand seals even before he stopped sliding, looking for the movement he knew was coming.

A droplet burst apart. Then another and another.

"There! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke exhaled, shooting a fireball at the bursting droplets. It was more of a desperation move on his part, but somehow, he managed to singe the hem of Haku's pants.

Haku merged with the mirror and looked down at his burnt clothing. 'He hit me.' It was just an observation, but there was surprise and puzzlement in the hunter's mental voice. Despite all of Zabuza-san's teachings that emotions were a thing to be suppressed and ignored, Haku wasn't able to keep the surprise from radiating through him. 'No one has ever managed to hit me while trapped in my Kekkei Genkai.' He continued to watch the Uchiha as he looked around, trying to find the real Haku. 'This one is dangerous. I must eliminate him as quickly as possible.'

Sasuke glared down at Naruto as the weary kid tried to drag himself upright again. "Come on, loser!" the dark-haired genin barked harshly. He knew that the best way to get Naruto back in the game would be to piss him off. "Get on you feet! We've got to team up!"

The loudmouth's reply was interrupted by his heavy breathing, "Shut…up…Sa…suke…I…know!" That simple remark sapped the last of his strength and Naruto keeled over backwards, giving into the exhaustion that seeped into his bone marrow.

"Naruto? Naruto! Dammit, of all the times…" Sasuke's rant was cut short by a barrage of senbon from the mirrors. He did a pretty good job of evading the attack, but when one managed to stick him, it ruined his concentration and he got hit again, the senbon lodging in his legs, arms and back.

Kakashi wasn't faring any better than Sasuke was. Sure, he wasn't being turned into a living pincushion, but one strike from that damn sword of Zabuza's and he'd be cut in half. A plan on how to defeat the missing-nin had fully formed in his head, but the masked shinobi just couldn't figure out how he was going to pull it off.

Zabuza landed, skidding from the latest clash of kunai against zanbatou. The Mist-nin really had to give Kakashi a few points. The guy was good. Not many people could fight off a sword as big as his with just a couple of kunai. But still, this battle was dragging on for far too long. Tiredness was already beginning to wear at Zabuza and his attacks weren't as fast or precise as they had been in the past.

'Kakashi's not my real target anyway,' he thought. His hard gray eyes fell on the old bridge-builder, who was watching the duel inside Haku's ice mirrors with a tense look. 'This is perfect. He's not paying attention and neither is his guard.' The pink kunoichi, who had been so highly praised by her mentor, wasn't watching him as she should have been. It was a mistake that was about to cost them dearly.

Kakashi's mismatched eyes narrowed as Zabuza disappeared.

'Huh? Now where'd that little son of a bitch run off to?' he wondered. Then it hit him. "Tazuna!"

Sakura screamed when Zabuza appeared right in front of her, getting ready to slice both her and Tazuna in half with one swing. Kakashi-sensei poofed in and took the hit, blood spraying everywhere and the kunoichi screamed again, her yell echoing across the bridge.

Sasuke stopped dead at hearing his other teammate's screams.

'What's going on over there?' He wondered. 'Where's Kakashi?'

Haku had noticed the other boy's gaze. "It is over," he said plainly. The Uchiha gave him a glare that was as cold as the air inside this icy house of mirrors. "Zabuza-san has succeeded in his mission. Your teammates are dead and you will soon be as well."

"Like hell!" Sasuke spat out, venom permeating his voice. He still had things to do in this world! He was not about to die yet! "I'll take you down first!"

"How?" Haku asked, raising a valid point. "You cannot track my movements, even if you did get lucky with a fireball." He held up another handful of senbon. The masked shinobi was abruptly reflected in every mirror. "Now it's time for you to die. I'm sorry that it has to end like this." The boy's arm rose to strike.

Haku let fly with his senbon and the air was filled with slender needles. One of those was sure to hit a pressure point and kill the defiant genin in the blink of an eye. After that was take care of, Haku would take his time and finish off the strange warrior and Naruto, the blond who continued to surprise everyone.

"I…will not…let it end…HERE!" To Haku's very great surprise and chagrin, Sasuke reached down and seized one of the senbon buried itself in his arm and yanked it out. Clinking filled the air as Uchiha's arm moved faster than Haku would've ever thought possible, deflecting each and every senbon, no matter which direction it came from.

The hunter-nin watched his prey in suspense as Sasuke managed to get his ragged breathing under control, his eyes shadowed by his bangs. Even the normally emotionless Haku gasped when Sasuke looked up and glared at him with angry red eyes.

Sharingan eyes.

The Uchiha knew immediately that he'd done it. He'd unlocked the Kekkei Genkai of his clan! His eyes felt warm, and every illusion of Haku had disappeared, leaving him with the real hunter and also the ability to track every senbon needle flying at him. It was faint, but each of the needles had a slight double of itself, just ahead of the weapon's current path. Sasuke had taken a gamble and blocked the first needle based on where the projection was. When the first block had been successful, the raven-haired avenger had wasted no time in doing the same with the other needles.

He smirked, once again the arrogant genius. "Now. Where were we?"

'So, he has a Kekkei Genkai as well. To unlock it during battle is a very rare thing indeed.' Haku had to admit that he was impressed with this genin from Konoha. 'I will have to end this now before my chakra can decrease anymore.' The boy held up more senbon, fazing from mirror to mirror, Sasuke's immature Sharingan tracking him the entire time. 'He has turned the tables. I can no longer kill him the way things stand now.' Haku's gaze shifted to the limp forms of Gohan and Naruto. 'So I'll attack his friends!'

Sasuke's red eyes widened when he saw Haku's eye slits on his mask shift past him and focus on Naruto and Gohan. Those same Sharingan eyes saw Haku leap from the mirror, speeding towards the two fallen fighters.

'Dammit, no!' that one thought pounded through the Uchiha's head as he forced chakra into his feet and moved as fast as he could, trying desperately to intercept the hunter before he could kill the two fallen warriors.

Time slowed for Sasuke. In perfect clarity, he saw the arm with the senbon raise into the striking position, the wan sunlight, obscured by overcast clouds, glinting off the tip of the needles. The thin silvery weapons flew, the sleeve that encased Haku's arm rippling slowly in Sasuke's enhanced vision.

Then he was there.

Pain flooded him as the twin senbon struck him in the chest. His strength was draining rapidly, but the determined genin still managed to grab Haku and spin him around, letting him go and sending the hunter crashing into his own justu.

The masked hunter stood easily, only bruised from the hit. "Truly impressive," he commented, the respect in his voice real. "You found the strength to protect the people precious to you and were able to stop me from killing them." Haku watched as Sasuke coughed violently, blood bursting from his mouth to splatter on the bridge's deck, now used and abused from the battle that had taken place and Gohan's transformation. "Sadly, you were not able to evade me, despite the power granted to you by the Sharingan." Even as he spoke, Sasuke swayed on his feet, his crimson eyes fading back to their usual obsidian hue.

That was when Naruto awoke. The first thing his eyes fell on was Sasuke, wobbling like a drunk man, numerous senbon needles sticking from the shirt that so proudly bore the fan-like crest of the Uchiha clan. "Sasuke?" Naruto had to wonder. Since when did Sasuke-bastard defend him like this? Something was really wrong here; Naruto could feel it deep inside.

"Heh. You're such an idiot," Sasuke wheezed out, the world beginning to grow dark. Death was creeping into the edges of his vision and soon he would completely fade away. He looked over his shoulder, a weak attempt at a smirk on his face. His eyes, though, ruined the effect. They held a light of sadness and warmth in them, as if Sasuke was happy he'd done what he did, but at the same time regretting it.

"Sasuke!"

"Keh…You…should see…your…face." Naruto was shaking all over. The voice of his greatest rival sounded so weak and open, as if he knew his time was near.

"WHY!?" Naruto shouted, closing his eyes as he shouted his question. "I never asked for this!"

"I don't know why I did it…My…body…just…M…moved." No longer could the last of the Uchiha hold himself upright and he tipped backwards. Sasuke braced himself for the pain that would accompany him hitting the ground, as the senbon in his back would be driven deeper into him.

The pain never came. Instead, hands reached up to grab him and slowed his fall. Naruto lowered his friend to the ground, even going out of his way to find a position that wouldn't drive the needles in deeper. Sasuke looked horrible. What little color his pale skin held was fading fast and there were bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep in days. Twin streaks of blood ran from each corner of his mouth and flecked his chin as well. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as his rival's own began to flutter, like he couldn't keep them open anymore.

"He's…still…out there." Naruto forced himself to look Sasuke in the eye as the Uchiha breathed out his last words. "My brother…He's the one…I…have…to…k-k-kill." The last word was said in a rush of escaping air and Sasuke's eyes closed, not opening again. The loud blond found that the world looked oddly blurry.

Haku watched the whole scene unfold before him. He wanted to spare the life of this blond genin, but knew that Zabuza-san would never allow it. All three of them had to die. Though, perhaps he would be able to convince his mentor to spare the life of the kunoichi. It was the least Haku could do for the memories these three were about to become.

"He was a brave shinobi, and he died protecting the ones who meant the most to him. Such a death…It's the greatest a shinobi can ask for."

"Shut up." Naruto murmured, grief and mourning heavy in his voice. It seemed odd for such a happy person to have such a tone. "Sasuke…" Now he was addressing the body. "I swear to you right now that I'll kill your brother in your memory." A new emotion washed over him like a breaking tsunami. Rage. It flooded every inch of him, warming him, waking him up like nothing could and bringing with it a renewed sense of power. "But first…" He glared at Haku and the masked shinobi took a step back in fear. Naruto's one visible eye, the other hidden by shadow and his bangs, was as a bloody red as the Sharingan, the pupil slitted like a cat's. "I have to kill this BASTARD!!"

Power blasted up around the grieving genin, ripping furrows in the concrete as two rings of bright red chakra began swirling around the blond.

'Not good! What is this!?' Haku thought, experiencing fear for the first time since becoming Zabuza-san's apprentice. The chakra burst off the ground, becoming a spiral that arced high into the air. 'Chakra cannot be seen, but yet…I can see it!' The hunter-nin's hidden eyes widened when the senbon that riddled Naruto's body were abruptly pushed clear as the wounds healed themselves. 'Just what is he!?"

Haku continued to watch in horrified fascination as, for the second time that day, a frightening transformation took place right before him. Naruto's hair fluffed and became wild, Haku just barely able to pick up a resemblance to ears of a cat or fox. The whisker marks thickened, darkening to become like real whiskers. The genin's canine teeth elongated and sharpened, turning into fearsome fangs.

Kakashi and Zabuza stopped their battle when a cruel and oppressive force pounded them over and over. Zabuza looked at the ice mirror dome that his tool should've been killing Kakashi's brats in.

'What is this feeling?' The Swordsman wondered. 'It's foul, like some kind of demon.'

Kakashi was stopped cold and a chill passed over him. The battle with Zabuza had taken a turn in Kakashi's favor. He'd managed to give himself an opening by getting wounded. Sure he had a vicious and painful gash that ran from one shoulder to the opposite hip, but he'd turned it around by sending his ninken after the blood that still clung to Zabuza's meat cleaver. Now Zabuza was short the use of one arm and once again the two jounin were on semi-even ground again.

'Is Zabuza creating this or is it Gohan again?' Kakashi wondered briefly, before a pulse in the power laid its true nature bare for him. 'No! I know this chakra!' He whirled, and saw something that truly scared him. A red whirlwind was raging inside the ice dome and it seemed to only get more intense. "The Kyuubi!"

This was bad. If the Kyuubi no Yoko got out now, everyone and everything for miles around would be wiped out by a vicious and blood-thirsty fox!

"Kyuubi?" Zabuza repeated, not knowing what the hell Hatake was talking about. But that was before the memories of horrors past surfaced. When he spoke again, there was a definite note of panic in the brutal jounin's voice. "You don't mean…?"

Kakashi nodded, forgetting his duel with the other in light of his latest development. "Yeah. Kyuubi no Yoko. The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The greatest menace to ever befall Konohagakure!"

"But I thought that your Yondaime sealed it away!"

"He did, but it looks like that seal is weakening."

Haku shuddered in horror from the sheer amount of hatred and killing intent in this chakra. He watched as the chakra storm began to subside, but not before the spiral twisted itself into the form of a snarling fox head. The head flew away, then everything went still, but the hatred and blood lust lingered like a wet sheet. Naruto was crouching in the middle of his icy funhouse, growling and snarling like some kind of animal, his red eyes, clouded by fury, were looking at each mirror in turn, trying to find the real hunter-nin.

'I have to kill him!' Haku thought quickly, drawing a handful of senbon. 'Before he kills me!' Something about the movement that Haku made in reaching for his senbon pouches drew Naruto's full attention onto him. The masked shinobi had barely enough time to wonder how Naruto had managed to find him before the enraged and super powered genin charged the mirror right in front of him, coincidentally the one Haku was occupying. "No!" Haku didn't hesitate, ejecting himself straight out the back of his mirror. His quick action saved his life as Naruto's fist shattered the hard ice as if it was nothing more than a single pane of glass, sending ice fragments flying like a shower of shattered diamonds.

The ice user had no time to wonder how impossible it was that his mirrors had been defeated so easily, nor could he evade when Naruto fazed into existence before him, livid, vengeful eyes and demonic features inches from Haku's blank mask, his right arm cocked back for a strike. The shinobi had to time to counter. He was this creature's plaything, and the incensed blond knew it.

The world went white as Naruto's fist crashed into Haku's face with all the gentleness of a stampeding bull elephant. Haku went flying away, corkscrewing in the air. By habit he'd tried to roll with the punch, but it hadn't helped and Naruto had still had the strength and the momentum to knock him flying. The flying nin crashed hard to the cement bridge deck, skidding and making a furrow of debris that hid everything except his masked face.

Both of the jounin were ignorant of the epic battle unfolding on the other side of the bridge. Kakashi had been about to go after Naruto to stop him when Zabuza had attacked, taking advantage of Kakashi's distraction. Now Zabuza had recalled his mist, though it seemed to be localized to just the two of them. Hatake knew that it was probably because he was trying to give Haku all the advantage he could to use against Naruto.

'Great. Now I can't see him. Well, might as well use a different method.' Kakashi thought casually as he reached up to the wound across his chest that was still bleeding a little, though the flow of blood had been slowed as the wound began to clot. He swiped a thumb across the wound, wincing a little as his ravaged nerves in the area protested against the sudden stimulation. A scroll dropped from one of the pouches on his flack vest and the jounin unrolled the scroll with the grace of one of those ribbon dancers, passing his blood-covered thumb across the kanji scribbled across the page.

Kakashi tossed the scroll into the air, the roll of parchment snapping shut with a crisp rustling noise and his gloved hands began flying through a set of seals that would end this little skirmish. Let's see if Zabuza could slice his way of this!

"Kuchiyose! Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!"

Kanji for summoning poured out of the scroll and into the ground, a twisting web of hairline fractures racing off into the mist. Kakashi smiled grimly beneath his mask. His ninken had yet to fail at tracking a target. Zabuza was about to get a present. The scarecrow could hardly wait to see how the Demon of the Mist was going to handle this one!

Zabuza hefted his sword onto his shoulders with his good arm. Kakashi was going to die. That Sharingan of his was limited by this mist and because the jounin himself wasn't an Uchiha, which, in turn, meant that the effectiveness and duration the dojutsu could be used was further reduced. The jounin estimated that Kakashi had a little more than five minutes of use left in him at the most. After that, he would pass out from chakra exhaustion and then Zabuza would be able to kill the Konoha-nin at his leisure.

"Now Kakashi," the missing-nin said to himself, "time to die!" Before he could take any action though, a cracking noise split the air and Zabuza looked down in time to see a massive black bulldog wearing a Konoha hirai-ate and a vest with some kind of symbol that looked like a face on it, lunged from the ground and bit into his right shoulder. Close to seven or eight more of the pooches, ranging from a tiny pug puppy to another massive dog, appeared from the ground and all sank their fangs into him.

Kakashi grinned as he stood from his kneeling position and pulled his headband back into its usual position. Now. Now was the time to end it all.

Haku struggled to his feet, swaying as drunkenly as Sasuke had done before. His mask, which had held up surprisingly well from the vicious right cross Naruto had given him, cracked with the sound of ice breaking and began to slide in pieces off of his face.

Naruto was looking at one of his clawed hands with curiosity in his red eyes, as if he was trying to determine which position would be the best way to kill Haku with. The hand clenched into a fist and the demonic eyes locked onto the boy with the crumbling mask once again. The Konoha genin let out a primal roar and charged wildly for Haku.

The ice-nin himself watched with the calm that takes over when one knows that their death is at hand. He wasn't afraid to die. He'd failed Zabuza-san and now he was about to be punished for it. He was but a broken tool now, nothing more than a thing to be thrown away and forgotten about.

Naruto leapt into the air, clearly going to add the momentum of his fall to the punch and put his fist through Haku's head.

The last piece of the hunter-nin's mask fell away and clattered to the ground.

"Why did you stop?" Haku asked, staring at Naruto's fist without fear, even though it was mere inches from his face. It was close enough for the cold shinobi to feel the heat, close enough to smell the scent of trees and flowers on it. And blood as well. The blood of his friend as he'd held the dying boy in his arms. "Why do you not kill me?"

Naruto's face, back to normal, complete with the blue eyes and six scar-like marks, was alight with surprise and wonder. Haku was able to read the questions flitting across it as if Naruto was asking them aloud.

I know him!

Why is he here?

Isn't he with Zabuza!?

I almost killed him!

Haku smiled gently. "Aren't you going to kill me?" he asked gently. Naruto's fist lowered and the boy straightened, wonder still painfully obvious in his sky-blue eyes.

"What…What're you doing here!?"

Back inside the circle of ice mirrors, Gohan began to stir. The half saiyan pushed himself upright with a groan, but collapsed almost immediately because his arms felt like overcooked spaghetti and his body felt like it weighed as much as an armored truck. His eyes opened and he looked around as much as he could from his lying down position.

The ring of mirrors around him was still intact with the exception of one, straight across from him. There was a gap from where the mirror used to be, but the mirror itself was shattered, the tiny fragments of it glittering on the ground, as if someone had just dumped a bucketful of diamonds at the foot of the gap.

'What happened here?' Gohan wondered to himself as he tried to once again push himself up. This time he managed to get to his knees.

Then he saw the body.

Sasuke was lying just a few feet away from him, his face deathly pale and there was no sign of a rise and fall in the genin's chest.

'No! Can't be!' Gohan thought desperately as he crawled over to the limp form, trying to fell out the other boy's ki. There was no sign of it. Curiously though, there still seemed to be the barest hint of color in his cheeks that hadn't been there when Naruto had last seen the Uchiha, but Gohan didn't know that.

'Sasuke, please don't be dead!' The Super Saiyan pleaded silently as he reached a trembling hand out to touch Sasuke's still one. To his surprise, there was the faintest hint of heat to the kid's skin. Was it just some residual heat that had yet to fade, or was it possible that Sasuke was still alive, no matter how remote the possibility. This kind of thing wasn't Gohan's forte by any means. Still, he did know basic first aid, so he could at least see if it was possible that the Uchiha had yet to pass to the next world.

Really hoping that the kid wouldn't wake up in the middle of this, because it would be really hard to explain, and something told Gohan that Sasuke was more like Vegeta when it came to things of this nature, the young saiyan crawled over to the death-like boy and placed an ear to his chest, careful to avoid the senbon needle protruding from it.

Gohan's eyes dropped closed. The softest 'thump-thump' of a heartbeat reached the warrior's ears and he reared back in shock. He was still alive! So why didn't that guy with the mask kill him? He'd certainly done his best to kill Gohan, even forcing the boy to take it up to the next level!

Speaking of which…

Gohan shouldered his way out of his gi top and let it fall around his waist like his dad did sometimes. One eyebrow raised in puzzlement as he looked at his torso. There was no sign of the whatever-it-was that had made his ki backlash with enough force to throw him across the area and knock him out. So what had it been? Gohan didn't know. He would have to ask someone who did later. Maybe Kakashi would know. Now, to see where everyone had run off.

The Super Saiyan heaved himself to his feet, clutching an aching shoulder, most likely from his collision with the ice mirror, and staggered towards the hole in the jutsu.

Well, I think that's a good place to stop. Sorry that what happens here is pretty much canon. Trust me, I didn't like writing it anymore than you liked reading it, but it had to be done, so don't yell at me. I couldn't think of another way to bring out Kyuubi's power, as I warned in the last chapter. ANYWAY, expect the Wave Arc to end and Gohan finally getting on his way to Konoha and whatever adventures await him there. Still trying to work out if I'm gonna put Gohan in the Chuunin Exams or if I'm gonna have him only show up to duke it out with Orochimaru. Sorta looking to go with the latter, but I've got a little ways to go before I hit that point. Closer to the present, I can say this for sure! Gohan will meet Team Gai! And NO! he will NOT become the Great Saiyaman! I hate that part of DBZ. Besides, Gohan isn't at that age anyway. Oh, one more thing, sorry for the late update. I caught the bug that's been going around campus as of late and I've been a little under the weather, so needless to say, I didn't feel much like writing. Well, enough with my rambling. Glossary time!

Glossary

Kuchiyose! Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Summoning! Earth Style: Tracking Fang Skill/Technique): A jutsu specific to Kakashi (so far. I haven't seen anyone else use it). He uses a scroll to give his ninken something to follow then unleashes them on the target. Once caught, the victim is immobilized and open to a bigger jutsu like Chidori or Rasengan.

Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique/Skill): A technique that sends fire down some type of guide (typically wire). In the manga it's little more than a trickle, but the anime version is rather large, and it's the version I envision here.

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique/Skill): Sasuke's trademark jutsu and considered a right of passage in the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha were noted for their use of fire jutsu and this one is just one in their arsenal. The user expels a large fireball from the mouth, incinerating the target. First used on Kakashi, who couldn't believe Sasuke could do it. Didn't help Sasuke much though. .