Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, and neither are his friends and enemies. If they were, you would know.
Haku's mind was racing. Though Zabuza was awake, the older ninja wouldn't be able to move freely for another six hours or so. With an impending attack from Konoha ninja, the ever-loyal ward had armed himself to the teeth with senbon. When he heard the screams, he had raced out into the fray.
What he saw defied anything he would have expected. Gato's men were scattered about, moaning and bleeding from severe injuries, and the genin he had gone out of his way to help just the day before kneeled in the center of it, speaking with the pink-haired female from their team while another shinobi lay unconscious in the muck.
The third member of the Konoha squad was spread across the girl's back before Haku could close in fully. The mist ninja was scared, admittedly. While the enemies he faced were children, if they escaped, then the dreaded Kakashiwould undoubtedly come to their aid. With Zabuza in the state he was in, Haku could not allow such a thing to happen. So, with a heavy heart, he made to break off the escape of the kunoichi with a flurry of needles.
The blonde ninja hadn't moved anything other than his head and mouth in Haku's direction until that point, but with the pink-haired girl in danger, he swiftly leapt to deflect the projectiles with a single knife before tackling the unsuspecting black-haired boy.
Haku, despite his mask, couldn't help but see Naruto's eyes through his mask. He wouldn't have been surprised to see anger, terror, or even hatred, but the affection caught him off-guard. Through the frantic wrestle for control in the mud that followed the Uzumaki's leap, Haku couldn't shake a feeling of unease from his body. He could, however, shake Naruto's body off and step back to start a few attacks of his own.
Naruto's cobalt eyes widened as Haku drew back from him. Needles flew from pale hands with deadly speed, forcing him to evade in a series of fluid motions. Several of them hacked away at his clothes and grazed his arms and legs. The damage was minimal, however, and a few seconds marked the end of Haku's barrage.
Noticing that his attacks had little effect, Zabuza's loyal companion formed a handsign that caused his opponent to stop clear in his tracks. In a matter of moments, Haku's Kekkai Genkai would envelope the genin's body and leave him to the mist shinobi's mercy.
Naruto Uzumaki wouldn't have it. Before the ice even had time to form completely, the jinchuuriki shouted something that effectively broke his adversary's concentration.
"I don't want to fight you!"
Haku's semi-formed mirrors shattered, but he soon began to form new ones, disturbed but not convinced of the blonde's words.
"Then why would you follow me here? Was it not your intention to kill Zabuza while he was still helpless, little ninja?" came the soft reply from behind the mask.
The orange-clad boy shook his head at this, his hands trembling as the mirrors began to block out his view of the sky.
"I fight for someone precious. Do you fight me for that girl? That boy? The builder?" Haku continued his inquiry, moving his image from one mirror to the next to avoid being hit. It wasn't necessary. Naruto hadn't moved to attack since the questioning had begun.
Made curious by Naruto's lack of response, Haku grabbed a new pile of his needles and asked, very quietly,"-what is it that you would fight me for, right now?"
Naruto stared at the masked boy now hovering above him, obviously at war with whatever words he was going to say. Both of them were tense, almost sure that the other would attack in the stillness that followed. After what seemed an age(and was, perhaps, to a microscopic organism), Naruto's mind had finally bee made up.
"I am fighting you for you." he finally declared, causing the form above him to shift uneasily. After a brief interlude, Naruto pitched his verbal curveball with one single word, "Haku."
Seven senbon fell into the mud next to Naruto's feet. Naruto blinked, and Haku was once again the mirrors, hidden from plain sight by many a reflection.
"Why do you know my name?" one mirror demanded firmly.
"How have you been watching me?" another fearfully whispered. The reflections continued to ask things of a similar nature until there was a cacophony of voices, all the same. The started closing in on him from the mirrors, like a writhing green mass. Why? How? When?
Naruto backed up from the mass of Haku, only to hit another mirror that grabbed him painfully in the center. Hands soon clutched him all over, to the point that moving could kill.
"You will tell me, little ninja." the voice was singular, now, coming from behind. Naruto kept as calm a face as possible, masking any terror that may have begun to rise inside of him. He would tell Haku the truth.
"I know, because I-," Naruto's mouth suddenly shut. The hands gripping him clenched painfully, but he couldn't seem to open the damned thing that was quite grateful to do so on other occasions. Inside the recesses of his mind, the venomous laughter that the Uzumaki now recognized as his demonic tenant echoed. Needless to say, the boy was outraged.
Naruto's body writhed with the passionate effort to speak, causing the hands restraining him to break his skin, drawing blood. The more he tried to move his lips, the more intense his thrashing became. Soon, he could feel his bones breaking in the fingered restraints. Resisting the invisible force that kept him from talking soon caused a movement so drastic that he felt his neck snap.
The agony shot through him like nail-encrusted bullets for a few seconds before going numb. Distantly, he felt the hands surrounding his face and head draw back, gently lowering him back into the muddy ground. Naruto was confused, and quite predictably, angry. These emotions wouldn't hold on after about four minutes of torture, however. The world grew dark around him, and the freefall began.
If Naruto had the choice between standing naked before a demon and not standing naked before a demon, he would probably have bee weirded out by the fact anyone had asked at all. It certainly wasn't something he aspired to, but for the moment, he needed answers. After all, he could only remember his emotion and identity right then through sheer strength of will.
"Kyuubi!" he shouted at the eyes behind the bars, shoving his mortal terror of the beast aside.
"What the hell is going on? How am I here? Why couldn't I say anything?!"
Behind the bars, the mass of demonic energy grinned at his boisterous host. The effect was instantaneous, and all color that may have been on Naruto's subconscious face flew away.
"A lesser god would know to find out for himself." the beast drawled before breathing out through the bars.
Naruto woke up out of a daze behind a rock in front of Gato's bungalow, very agitated and confused. The respawn had left him without any closure, and though he soon forgot nearly everything, Kyuubi's words remained.
"A lesser god would know to find out for himself."
Author's note: Hate respawns? I kinda do, but t was needed to play the point out.