The Will of Fire: Kindling the Flame

by Star of the West

Narumi Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Saburo Haruno have just graduated from the academy. They have now taken the first step on the path that will lead them into the adventure of a lifetime. The journey of team seven and their comrades has begun.

6. Battle on the Bridge

Sasuke stood quietly outside the house with Saburo and Tazuna while Kakashi-sensei stood in the doorway speaking to Tsunami-san. "...well then, please take care of Narumi." Turning, he joined them outside and closed the door behind them. Saburo stretched and eyed Kakashi-sensei curiously. "Are you sure she's gonna be okay? I mean, she wouldn't wake up at all, no matter what I did." Kakashi-sensei nodded once. "It'll be fine. She's pushed her body to the very limit. I don't think she'll be able to move today." Tazuna shrugged on his work pack and turned to head out. "Ok then, let's go!"

Sasuke huffed, and turned to follow the old man out to his bridge. He wasn't surprised Narumi was still out of it. The dobe had trained far beyond what she should have yesterday. He was surprised that she hadn't collapsed beforehand. The bridge wasn't far away, and it didn't take too long for them to get there. They were walking out to the end of the bridge where the construction was going on when they found the workers. They were all dead, sprawled out with their tools still loosely grasped in their hands, their blood quickly cooling beneath them.

Tazuna cried out in horror, and started backwards. "Wha-what is this!" Sasuke tensed, senses going into a hyper alert state. The light morning mist around them suddenly thickened, turning the world into a swirling field of white. Kakashi-sensei called out a sharp warning. "Sasuke! Saburo! Let's go!" Sasuke instantly turned so that his back was to Saburo and Kakashi, facing outwards as his eyes searched for the enemy.

As he scanned for the enemy, he drew a kunai from his holster, it's handle familiar and comforting in his grip. Behind him he could hear a slight clinking as Saburo went for his own holster, and he could see Kakashi reaching silently for his weapon pouch out of the corner of his eye. Tazuna seemed frozen with terror, and was sweating bullets, and Sasuke could not sense even a trace of the enemy who had slaughtered the workers. But the mist told him that Zabuza and his mysterious accomplice were back.

Behind Sasuke, Saburo's voice sounded, steely and on edge. "Kakashi-sensei, this is his Kirigakure no Jutsu, right?" Sasuke shivered, a light trembling racing through his body. He scowled, grasping his kunai tighter, waiting. He would not hesitate, and he would not fail. Not this time. Zabuza's gravelly voice suddenly sounded through the mist. "I see you're still with the brats, Hatake...oh look at that. The dark haired one's shaking again. Poor kid." His voice sounded cruelly amused as it crooned mockingly at him.

Sasuke suddenly found that he and his team were surrounded by crouched figures with giant swords slung over their shoulders. His eyes narrowed, and he smirked at the figure in front of him. "I'm not shaking out of fear!" The man in front of him scoffed, obviously not viewing him as a threat. Behind him, Kakashi-sensei spoke, and Sasuke could hear the smile in his voice. "Go for it, Sasuke-kun." With a quick spike of chakra, Sasuke darted around the group, slashing at the surrounding enemy, and dispersing the mizu bunshin in an instant before whirling easily back into his spot. "You can't fool my eyes!"

From a short distance away, Zabuza's voice sounded. "Hmm...he saw through my mizu bunshin. The brat has grown. Looks like you've got competition, Haku." A much lighter voice that Sasuke associated instantly with the oinin imposter answered calmly. "Yes it does." Sasuke took a half step forward, Saburo and Kakashi-sensei moving to stand behind him as Tazuna dropped back. Kakashi-sensei's voice was laid back, and relaxed. "It seems my thinking was right on the mark. That masked one, he's obviously Zabuza's comrade, standing right next to him and all." Saburo growled, and thrust a finger at the older boy accusingly. "He should stop hiding under that mask and face us!"

Sasuke dropped his head a bit and glared up at the two enemies in front of them. Something seemed too familiar about the masked boy for his comfort. "I'll fight him. Tricking us with that stupid act...I hate bastards like that!" Saburo brightened and his voice was impressed. "Yeah! Go Sasuke!" Haku tilted his head, the blank mask turned in Sasuke's direction. "An impressive young man. Even though the mizu bunshin only have a tenth of your strength Zabuza-san..." Zabuza sounded no less confident than before. "But we have gained the first advantage. Go!" Haku vanished in a swirl of water with a clipped acknowledgment. "Yes."

The next thing Sasuke knew, Haku was advancing towards him in a minature tornado, his body whirling at incredible speed as he crossed the bridge. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke smirked, and raised his kunai, eyes fixed on his opponent. The masked boy suddenly lashed out with a senbon, arm flying towards him. Sasuke slid one foot back, changing his stance and dodging out of the way as Haku swung his weapon through the space he'd just occupied. With a wrench of his body, the Uchiha turned to strike at the masked boy. Haku matched his actions, and his senbon met Sasuke's kunai solidly, clashing in a screech of metal against metal. As Sasuke strained against the other boy, he heard Kakashi off to the side of him. "Saburo! Take up a position in front of Tazuna-san and don't leave my side. We'll let Sasuke handle him." Saburo's voice was sharp and nervous. "Yeah!"

Sasuke locked his eyes on the blank mask in front of him, sensing that he had the older boys complete attention. The two of them spun around and around each other, their movements small but powerful as the struck again and again, each seeking an opening, and blocking all of the others strikes. After a moment they locked weapons again, arms straining as they pushed against each other. The other boy's voice was cool and firm. "I don't want to have to kill you. But you won't stand down, will you?" Sasuke smirked at him. Stand down? After all the training he'd done? The dobe would never let him live it down. Besides, he had the Uchiha pride to uphold. "Don't be foolish." Haku's voice went grave. "I see...but you won't be able to keep up with my speed the next time. Plus, I've already gained two advantages." Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Two advantages?"

Haku lifted one hand into a basic sign in front of his mask. "The first is the water on the ground. The second is that I have occupied one of your arms. You will now only be able to run from my attacks." Suddenly, his free hand flashed through a series of one handed seals so fast that it blurred. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he bared his teeth in agitation. 'What? One handed seals?' The next thing he knew, the water lying on the bridge around him surged up and reformed into a cloud of senbon made of ice, all hovering around them, ready to strike.

Sasuke felt adrenaline surge into his veins. He saw Saburo's brows snap down, and heard his teammate call his name in alarm, though he didn't move from his spot. Sasuke ignored him, lifting his free hand into a sign, letting his eyes slide closed, though his attention remained on his enemy. 'Remember the training. Concentrate my chakra into my legs.' As the water around him formed into needles and surged forward, Haku disengaged and flew backwards.

Sasuke, however, had already used his chakra to enhance his legs and spring high into the air. As he began to reach the apex of his leap, he pulled shuriken from his holster and launched them at Haku, keeping his opponent dodging backwards across the bridge. While Haku was busy dodging, he returned to the ground, and launched himself into a run, appearing behind the older boy as he rose from his crouch, smirking triumphantly as he repeated the nuke-nin's words back to him. "From now on, you will only be able to run from my attacks."

With a savage twist of his body, he struck at Haku with his Kunai. Haku threw himself to the side, turning to meet the blade of the kunai with his senbon. Sasuke had been counting on that reaction, and with a flick of his wrist, he sent the kunai flying towards the mask. Haku managed to duck underneath it, the long locks of hair that framed his face fluttering as he dropped beneath the weapon. As he did, Sasuke cursed silently, his eyes narrowing as he kicked out at the mask that was now within his range.

The attacks were made in such quick succession that Haku was unable to dodge the kick, and Sasuke felt a savage satisfaction as his foot connected solidly with the infuriating mask. Haku's head snapped backwards painfully as his body flew backwards towards Zabuza. With a grunt, the teenager wrenched his body into a backwards flip, and managed to land in a crouch, skidding backwards a bit as he did.

Sasuke smirked, turning his body a bit, eyes not leaving his enemy. "Looks like I have the advantage in speed." Kakashi-sensei's voice rang out from behind him. On the surface of things, he sounded as apathetic as ever, but Sasuke could hear a tinge of pride in his voice. "I can't have you underestimating my team by calling them brats. Sasuke is the number one rookie of Konohagakure. Saburo is the brightest in the village. And the other one is the number one hyper-active knuckle headed kunoichi in the village."

Sasuke's smirk grew a touch. His teammates might get on his nerves, but he was glad that they weren't being looked down on. Then he twitched as Zabuza chuckled, apparently amused. "Haku, do you realize? At this rate we'll be driven back." Haku suddenly straightened, water rising and twisting around him. "You're right. We can't have that." Sasuke frowned, ducking his head slightly, as a sudden chill washed over him. He eyed the other boy apprehensively, sinking a little deeper into his stance.

Haku folded his hands into a strange sign, and suddenly the water around Sasuke rose again, twisting around him and Haku. Sasuke started, and found himself surrounded in a cage of ice mirrors that surrounded him on all sides, and arced into a complete dome above his head. Haku's voice was very cold when he spoke. "Makyo Hyousho." Sasuke looked around wildly, and then Haku vanished. Each of the mirrors now reflected Haku. He was surrounded. Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm.

Outside the mirrors, he heard Kakashi-sensei curse violently. But Sasuke's attention was focused solely, frantically, on the mirrors surrounding him. Haku's voice echoed around him in a multi-voice chorus, coming from every mirror. "Well then, let's begin. I'll show you my true speed." Sasuke's eyes flashed from mirror to mirror, alarm ringing through his mind, his muscles tensing as he looked around. "What...what are these mirrors?"

A sharp pain suddenly sprang up in Sasuke's shoulder as a senbon sliced through his sleeve. A tiny dribble of blood dripped down his arm, and he flinched slightly at the sudden sting. Before he could wonder what had happened, he found himself caught up in a hurricane of senbon that flew from all directions. They sliced across his skin, tearing through his clothes and flesh. Sasuke threw up his arms to shield his face, a pained cry ripping from his throat. Outside the mirrors, he heard Kakashi-sensei call out his name in alarm. A detached part of his mind noted that Zabuza would keep sensei occupied. Saburo also had Tazuna to look after. Even if he were to abandon his post, he probably wouldn't be of much use in this situation. There would be no help coming. Gritting his teeth, he did his best to muffle another scream as his kunai was knocked from his hand.

As Sasuke dropped to his knees, he heard Saburo cry out. Cracking one eye open, he peered out between the mirrors, and saw the other boy let a kunai fly towards the mirrors. There was a sudden lull in the constant barrage of gleaming needles and pain. As he watched, one of the Hakus leaned out of his mirror, returning to the three-dimensional world as he caught the kunai. His opponent appeared to examine the weapon for a moment, and then the mask turned to meet Sasuke's gaze. Sasuke glared at him as best he could, before his body slid to the ground. For an instant, he was caught between anger at his own weakness, and intense relief that he could not feel needles tearing through his skin at the moment.

Gritting his teeth, he levered himself up a bit onto his arms, desperate to keep his eyes on his opponent. Sasuke spared a moment to thank the kami that Saburo had thought to attempt a ranged bad it hadn't worked. Haku just sat there for a moment. Then he flipped the kunai in his hand, obviously intending to use it on Sasuke. Then, to Sasuke's surprise, a shuriken suddenly flew at Haku's head in a whoosh of air. Haku didn't notice until it was too late to dodge. But the direction was all wrong for either Saburo or Kakashi-sensei...

Haku's head snapped back and to the side as the shuriken caught him across the mask, scarring the porcelain across the face between the eyes. His body jerked violently in the same direction as his head as he fell out of the mirror, torn from his perch as the force of the kunai whipped him around. As he left the mirror, the other Hakus also vanished. Sasuke turned his dazed eyes in the direction the shuriken had come from, closing one eye against the blood dripping down his face. As it dawned on him who must have attacked Haku while he was vulnerable, a smile curled across his face. His voice was strained as he mumbled under his breath. "That idiot...show off..." Narumi appeared out of the mist, arms crossed, eyes blazing, and a feral grin stretched across her face. "Uzumaki Narumi has officially arrived!"

Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm as Zabuza launched a volley of shuriken at his blonde teammate. Haku swiftly joined in with a rain of senbon. Narumi whipped out a kunai, whipping it up as she tracked the oncoming weapons. And then something very strange happened. The senbon Haku had thrown struck Zabuza's shuriken, knocking them away. Sasuke started, pushing himself to his knees in shock. It was almost as if Haku were...protecting Narumi. Narumi herself was staring in wide-eyed confusion at the masked boy.

From his current position in the cage of ice mirrors, Sasuke could only see the side of Haku's mask, and a glimpse of Zabuza's back, but Zabuza's voice did not sound pleased. "Haku, what is this?" The masked boy dropped his face a bit, but his voice was even when he answered. "Zabuza-san...these kids...please let me fight them my way." There was a moments silence, and then Zabuza replied in tone that was both resigned and amused. "So you don't want me to interfere, Haku? You're soft as always."

Sasuke had caught his breath during the lull, and rose carefully into a crouch, gritting his teeth as he held up an arm to examine the cuts covering his arm. 'Soft? Zabuza's right. He's attacking with senbon, which are precision weapons, but he's not even attempting to aim them at high damage areas. Is he toying with me?' Dropping his arm, he took a quick look around at his surroundings. 'But what's this jutsu? Having clones in the mirrors all throwing senbon... No, it's too fast for that. I can't even see where they're coming from. And if it's just a bunshin jutsu, then why incorporate the mirrors? No, these mirrors serve some sort of purpose in this attack.' Gritting his teeth, Sasuke glared between the mirrors at Haku, who had stood and half turned to keep both Sasuke and Narumi in his view.

The masked ninja was speaking to Narumi, who had loudly scolded him for his deception. "I'm sorry, but even your teacher would tell you that it is the duty of a shinobi to deceive. It is nothing personal." Sasuke's brows drew together, and he scowled. 'You don't have time to chit-chat like that!' Drawing a kunai from his holster, he flung it at his opponent as swiftly as he could. Haku evaded it by simply leaning backwards a bit. He didn't even turn to look at Sasuke. The Uchiha heir choked, eyes widening slightly. Narumi started, and turned to look at him. Sasuke ignored her gaze as the nuke-nin addressed him, still without turning. "I didn't forget about you. I would have liked for you to just lie there quietly, but I suppose that is too much to expect."

The masked shinobi paced slowly back towards the mirrors. "Very well, I will finish you off first." Sasuke didn't take his eyes of the advancing enemy, but off to the side of his field of vision, he saw Narumi take a step forward, scowling at the nuke-nin. "O-oi!" Haku stopped for an instant just beyond the surface of his mirror. "Narumi-chan, I'll be with you in just a moment." And then he was absorbed into the ice mirror, and many reflections of him once again hemmed Sasuke in. Sasuke started, body tensing as his head snapped from side to side, desperately trying to determine which image concealed the true opponent.

Another barrage of senbon rained down on him, and he could only hunch his shoulders and cry out in protest as they sliced by him. Outside the mirrors he heard Narumi's voice cry out in alarm. "Sasuke!" When the attack ceased, Sasuke straightened a bit, clamping a hand to one particularly deep slice on his shoulder as he eyed the mirror across from him defiantly, his mind working furiously as he attempted to find a weakness in the jutsu. 'Why can't I even track the trajectory of the weapons? It's like they're coming from everywhere!' Grudgingly he admitted to himself that his best bet would be to attack from the inside while Narumi attacked the mirrors from the outside.

Sasuke suddenly started as Narumi darted into the space encircled by the mirrors to crouch at his side. Jerking his head around, he stared at her in incredulous dismay. She had a wide grin spread across her face, and her hand hovered at her holster. "Hey Sasuke-teme! You alright? I came to help you out!" Sasuke choked, and then glared ferociously at her. "Dobe! If you're a kunoichi then use your head! Why, in the name of the kami, did you come inside the mirrors?" Narumi yelped indignantly, frowning at him. "Oi! What the heck, teme? I'm tryin' to help you out!" Shoving down a flood of irrational relief that he was no longer alone in the cage of the mirrors, he set his jaw and growled callously at her. "I don't need anyone's help, least of all yours!"

Before Sasuke could voice any further frustration, or order her to escape, the Hakus each lifted three senbon. Sasuke started in alarm, glancing back and forth between Narumi and the masked boy in the mirrors around them. 'I can't let him resume that senbon attack, especially with Narumi in here. I'll just have to destroy the mirrors.' Narumi started up into a fighting stance, frowning at the mirrors. "Bring it on, Ice-boy!" Sasuke ignored her, shoving himself up and folding his hands into the sign for the signature jutsu that his family used. 'If these mirrors are made of ice, then I'll just melt them!'

Without a second thought, he blew out an enormous ball of fire. As the jutsu roared into life, it left an intense warmth and the taste of ashes on his lips, a string of chakra carried on his breath through his pinched fingers before it blossomed into flame. But when the flames died away, the ice mirrors weren't even damaged. Narumi started and swore. "Kuso! It didn't work at all!" Haku didn't even twitch, his voice calm. "You can't melt this ice with that level of fire." Sasuke glared ferociously. "Shimatta!"

Haku's throwing arm tensed as he moved to strike. Sasuke's eyes widened. And then he was caught once more in a barrage of senbon, droplets of his blood flying as he staggered backwards and fell to one knee. Only this time Narumi was beside him. A handful of cuts of varying depths had laid her tanned skin open, and dribbles of blood trickled from them. But it didn't seem to bother the girl too much. She surged back to her feet, glaring at the mirrors around them as a thin trickle of blood dripped down her face and across her whisker marks. "Where's the real one?"

Each of the Hakus in the mirrors cocked their heads in unison, their stances remaining relaxed. "Trying to follow with your eyes is impossible. You will never be able to catch me." Narumi scowled angrily at the other boy, growling as she brought her hands together in a cross shaped sign that was unique to her favorite jutsu. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Sasuke's eyes went to her instantly, flaring with alarm as he realized what she was about to do. "Don't-!"

Before he could complete his sentence, there was a Narumi rushing towards each of the mirrors, fist drawn back as she prepared to attack. "Then I'll just destroy all of the mirrors, and see which one of you is real!" In an instant, before Sasuke's eyes, all the clones dispersed in a blast of the white smoke, and Narumi cried out, blood flying as new cuts opened and she came crashing back down to the ground beside him. The inflection of Haku's voice never wavered as he spoke. "This jutsu uses the mirrors reflection to transport me. From my point of view, you seem to be moving slow motion." Narumi slowly climbed back into a crouch, breathe uneven as she wiped blood out of her eyes.

Sasuke shifted a bit towards Narumi, glaring at the mirrors around them, hissing angrily under his breath. "A Kekkei Genkai!" Narumi glanced over at him, blue eyes uncertain. "You mean...?" Sasuke nodded once. "A blood lineage. A jutsu passed down through your genes, unique to your bloodline. Like the sharingan. They're nearly undefeatable." Narumi dropped her head for a moment, eyes shadowed. Then she growled angrily. "Kuso!" Sasuke's eyes slid over to her in surprise as she spoke. "So what! I can't die here. I have a dream to fulfill!"

Sasuke eyed her for a moment, uncertain as to what to say. Haku considered the girl for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was troubled. "Becoming a true shinobi is difficult for me. If possible I don't want to have to kill you. Nor do I want to have to kill me. However, if you come at me, I can destroy my heart, and become a true shinobi. So then, let the three of us fight. Me for my dream, and you for yours. I have to protect my precious person. To do that, I can become a shinobi. I can kill you." Sasuke eyed the mask for a moment, and then smirked, confidence bubbling up in his chest. Finally, he was being taken seriously.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that same feral grin spreading across Narumi's face. Saburo's shout suddenly broke the tense atmosphere. "Sasuke! Narumi! Don't you dare lose to this guy!" The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched a bit higher. It seemed his team was in agreement. Obviously he could not embarrass himself by losing to Haku, Kekkei Genkai or not.

Narumi spat some blood off to the side, and glared ferociously at the mirrors around them. "Just because I messed up the first time doesn't mean I'm going to quit! I'll keep coming at you as many times as it takes!" Folding her hands together, she created another batch of kage bunshin. Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. Surely she wasn't going to try that again? He cried out in alarm, eyes going to Narumi. "Stop it!" But he was already too late. The Narumis charged the mirrors as recklessly as before.

The myriad of Hakus raised their hands in unison, and sent yet another volley of senbon flying towards them. However, with the blonde at his back, Sasuke was able to focus his attention on a more manageable field of attacks, and was able to block most of them with his kunai. However, a few got past his guard, slicing through his skin before flying past him. One of the stray senbon buried itself in the back of his teammates thigh, and she yelped, going to one knee. He heard shifting cloth, and saw her reach back and yank the long needle from her leg, throwing it away from her, and glaring at the mirrors in front of her.

This time, Sasuke saw something. His eyes widened as he stared up at the crowd of kage bunshin intently. He could barely see a dark blur flashing from mirror to mirror, streaking by the bunshin very closely. As he tried to follow the movements of the blur, it seemed as if the bunshin slowed down, till they were drifting languidly through the air towards the mirrors. Suddenly, Haku seemed to be suspended in the air in front of him, and senbon were all around him, flashing by and tearing through him again. Sasuke flinched, his eyes clenching shut instinctively, and he lost track of the blur.

When the rain of senbon ceased, he immediately reopened his eyes and glared up at the mirrors. Narumi crashed back to the ground beside him with a frustrated yelp, but he ignored her, focused on the nuke-nin reflected in front of him. Narumi sat up next to him with a sharp breath, her voice confused. "What the hell..." Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth as he focused on what he'd seen before. 'It was faint...but I saw a trace of his movement!' Standing, he gazed hard at the mirror, an idea forming in his mind.

Narumi rose to her feet beside him, one fist held in front of her, her teeth bared in frustration. "One more time!" Sasuke sucked in a breath and half turned to her, knowing what the only possible result of another assault would be. But this time he didn't stop her. As the kage bunshin came into being and all of the blondes launched themselves at the mirrors, Sasuke ran forward and kicked some water from a puddle high into the air, keeping his eyes focused on it as it rose upwards.

Haku didn't seem to notice, focused as he was on the multiple yelling figures of Narumi. "You still don't understand that it's futile?" Narumi suddenly cried out in pain, the bunshin dispersing and her true body curling in on itself as she was sliced by senbon. Sasuke had a moment to see some of the water vanishing, knocked out of its natural path by that same dark blur, before he too was caught up in a painful attack. He was thrown hard to his back, and grunted as he struck the hard cement of the bridge. Narumi landed hard beside him with another yelp.

Sasuke took a shuddering breath, and rolled quickly to his feet. 'Just because I saw a trace of him doesn't mean that I can actually see him move.' Reviewing what he'd seen before, he tilted his head down. 'But...I could tell where he'd been by watching the water. It was repelled by him.' Sasuke glanced between the mirrors on either side of him, thinking hard. Then he looked back to the mirror directly in front of him. 'Okay, the next time he attacks. That's when I'll make my move!'

Haku tilted his head a bit, as if listening to something, and Sasuke realized that he could no longer see between the mirrors. The mist had thickened so much that it was a dense white wall on which the mirrors seemed to be set. Visibility remained fairly good within the mirrors, but it was still thick enough that even Narumi's bright hair and clothing seemed slightly faded and washed out. The kunoichi did not seem to notice the change, her entire focus centered on the nuke-nin. With a fierce cry, she summoned more kage bunshin, and the whole lot of them sprang towards the mirrors again.

Sasuke started running through hand seals as Haku growled. "What a stubborn girl!" Sasuke kept his eyes relaxed, his focus encompassing the entire area within the mirrors as he waited for the flicker of movement that would tell him where to aim. When it came, Sasuke launched his katon without hesitation towards it. The flicker of movement altered course slightly, then continued, bouncing from mirror to mirror incredibly quickly. The bunshin dispersed one by one in front of Sasuke's eyes, and he bared his teeth, trembling as he watched the few remaining figures drifting closer to the mirrors even as their number dwindled.

The last remaining figure, the original Narumi, was nearly to the mirror she'd attacked. Sasuke took a deep breath and launched another katon off to the side of her as the blur of movement that was Haku flashed towards her. The blur altered course again, and then Narumi was crying out as her clones dispersed and she was falling back towards the ground. She impacted very hard this time, her body bouncing once, and rolling to a stop, leaving smears of dark red on the concrete as she went. Sasuke had to dodge her as she crashed past him, and turned towards her uncertainly. This was not good. She was taking so much damage!

As she struggled back to her feet, he narrowed his eyes, and turned back to the boy in the mirror. Eyes intent, he flicked his gaze over Haku from top to toe. His breathing was getting heavier as he exerted more chakra in this fight, but a fiercely exultant smile crossed Sasuke's face as he caught sight of Haku's singed ankle. 'Good. Although it's gradual, I'm getting the timing down!' As Narumi moved up to stand beside him, she growled in helpless frustration. "Kuso! And we were so close!"

Sasuke looked over at her calculatingly. "Narumi. Can you still move alright?" Her head whipped around, and she scowled at him, though she looked a bit unsteady. "Of course I can! I'm perfectly fine!" Sasuke stared hard at her, speculating. 'She's exhausted, but I guess that's no wonder. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu uses a lot of chakra. But because of that, I found a way to defeat this bastard.' Turning his face back to the mirrors, he locked his gaze on the scarred porcelain mask, and smirked.

As Haku began another attack, Sasuke's brows snapped down, and he began flashing through a series of hand seals as quickly as he could manage. Turning to Narumi, he snapped at her. "Narumi, run!" The blonde stared at him as if he'd lost his mind, eyes wide. "Get out of here and attack from the outside. Narumi straightened a bit, obviously uncertain about something, but Sasuke just glared at her irately. She nodded once, grinning slightly. "Got it!" With a quick movement, she dashed towards the nearest gap between the mirrors. Haku's voice was sharp and scornful as she shot towards the opening. "Will you be able to?" Sasuke held his breath. His trap was set. Now if only the nuke-nin would take the bait...

The mirrors flashed as Haku attacked, and Narumi was thrown back. She landed on her back, but rolled almost instantly, gritting her teeth stubbornly and resuming her sprint towards the same gap. "I'm not gonna lose!" Sasuke suddenly caught sight of Haku flying from one of the mirrors towards Narumi. With a quick breath, he sent a katon flying at the other boy. To his shock, Haku merely rolled and sent a senbon flying towards him, before landing in front of Narumi and backhanding her across the face, snapping her head to the side as she flew backwards towards the center of the enclosure. She landed hard with a choking gasp just as the senbon sliced deeply into Sasuke's shoulder.

Narumi groaned, her chest heaving. "That hurt!" When she didn't get back to her feet, Sasuke moved to stand beside her, and snapped irately over his shoulder. "Be quiet and get up, Dobe! I can't look out for you, too!" Narumi growled in annoyance, rolling onto her stomach and shoving herself to her feet. "Kuso!" Sasuke glanced at her, his voice uneven as he heaved for breath. "That was good." She glanced over at him, mouth slightly open in surprise. "Eh?" He shifted, eyes on their opponent. "Let's do it again." There was a moments silence, and then Narumi nodded once, face set. "Right."

Sasuke stared levelly at the icy mirrors. 'He has to run out of chakra at some point. He's already slowing.' Narumi yelled, and charged across the open space towards the gap. Sasuke turned, and ran in the other direction from her, his feet pounding steadily against the slick, blood spattered concrete. Haku's voice rang out coolly. "I won't let it happen the way you expect. First I will stop you!" A senbon suddenly struck just below Sasuke's right kneecap, going straight through his leg and lodging there.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, white-hot agony surging through him as he gritted his teeth and swallowed back a scream. So far, Haku had only aimed to cut them, and he'd begun to wonder if the masked boy intended to bleed them dry. This senbon had been aimed to drive through his leg. With a pained cry, he threw up his arms defensively. Two more senbon drove through his arms just below his elbows, blood leaking from the wounds to stain the white cloth of his arm warmers red, and a third drove through the upper thigh of his left leg.

Narumi instantly stopped, turning back towards him with a concerned yell. "Sasuke!" As she turned towards him, four senbon sank into her back. Her eyes clenched shut and she screamed in pain, stumbling back towards him. Frankly, he was just glad that her spine hadn't been hit. As she moved, a fifth senbon drove through her right shoulder, it's tip erupting in bloody glory from her skin as it completely pierced her arm and lodged there, and a seventh struck her left calf. She managed to make it back to him, before she collapsed forward with a choked gasp.

Sasuke dropped heavily to one knee beside Narumi, who was laying on her belly, her back, shoulders, and the backs of her legs embedded with enough senbon to make her look like something out of a horror shop. Sasuke's eyes were wide, and his breathing was harsh and uneven as he fought against the pain. Narumi was gritting her teeth, obviously putting off moving as long as possible. Then Sasuke heard Saburo yell out in what sounded like fear. The Uchiha started, his head coming up. Narumi stumbled to her feet, causing an increase in blood flow from her wounds as she searched wildly for Saburo through the spaces between mirrors.

Sasuke followed her gaze worriedly. 'That was Saburo's voice! What happened? What is Kakashi-sensei doing?' Turning, he glanced over at Narumi, who was breathing heavily, even as she tried to peer through the mist visible between the mirrors, which had thickened to an almost opaque wall at some point. He eyed her in concern for a minute. 'This is bad. I've got to do something.' Shaking his head, the boy looked away from Narumi determinedly. He couldn't afford to lose focus. He couldn't afford to worry about his teammates. If they weren't strong enough to look out for themselves, that was their business. He had an enemy to defeat.

Narumi suddenly stumbled. Sasuke's eyes flew back to her as she braced her hands on her knees, heaving for breath and glaring at a section of mirrors ahead of her. "I'll do something about this!" Sasuke's eyes widened in confused shock, and worry. With the amount of chakra she'd expended, and the blood she'd lost, the pain of her wounds ought to have knocked her out cold. But with a shuddering gasp, the blonde straightened, eyes determined. "Let's go!" Haku's voice was scornful. "How futile."

Narumi's chakra exploded out around her for a moment as she summoned it to her legs. With a cry, she raced towards one gap. Haku appeared in front of her, and she leaped backwards, arching her body into a flip, and twisting as she landed to race towards another gap. haku matched her, one reflection of him running alongside her in the mirrors. Glancing between Narumi and the mirrors, Sasuke's mind raced. 'My eyes are getting used to it...if I can just use that somehow...' Suddenly he caught a flicker of movement. "Narumi, behind you!" Her eyes widened and she whipped around, just in time to catch four senbon directly in her chest. She choked and swallowed down a scream, stumbling backwards and falling. With a twist of her body, she managed to land on her side so as not to further damage herself by accidentally driving the senbon further in.

Sasuke cried out instinctively in horror. "Narumi!" His muscles tensed, and he went over to her, dropping to one knee. Haku spoke to them, and his voice was cool and matter of fact. "It is impossible to get out of here, I can assure you of that." Sasuke ignored him, eyes focused on his partner. "Can you stand?" She grunted once in assent, reaching down to yank the senbon in her calf out, and pushing herself slowly to her hands and knees. The ground beneath her was dotted with dark blood, and yet more was dripping from her body and down her arms. Sasuke surveyed her with a furrowed brow, his voice scolding. "Don't waste your chakra like that anymore. It's what he wants!" She glared at the mirrors around them, voice quiet. "I know. I know that!" But Sasuke could see she was struggling.

Sasuke ignored the pained figure of his teammate, glaring up at his enemy, and standing. Haku cocked his head for a moment before addressing Sasuke. "I will end this now." With a flick of his wrist he sent a hail of kunai at the two of them. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he snatched up a fallen senbon, knocking the others out of the air. Haku tensed. Sasuke snarled at Narumi. "Get up, Usuratonkachi!" She glared back at him and stood with a growl. As Haku sent another wave of senbon towards them, Sasuke dodged frantically, knocking the senbon away as quickly as he could. Narumi managed fairly well, and he was able to focus on the fight.

Haku's voice hardened. "You...move well. Too well..." With a quick movement, he lifted a senbon in each hand, and vanished. Sasuke's head snapped up, and his eyes widened as his glare intensified. 'He's coming! Calm down, concentrate...and see through it!' With a sudden jolt, he realized that the attack was focused on the small area around him and Narumi. With a shout, he channeled his chakra into his legs, and upped his speed. Snatching Narumi around her waist, he lifted her up and dove out of the area of attack.

As the two of them crashed to the ground, Sasuke skidded further than Narumi, thanking Kami that he hadn't rolled and done more damage to himself with the senbon already lodged in his body. Narumi groaned as they hit the ground, slowly levering herself up onto one arm, her eyes dazed. Sasuke rose to his feet, and looked up, fixing his eyes on his enemy. Haku eyed him quietly, and when he spoke his voice was grave. "I commend you. You are somehow reading my movements. However, that's dangerous. I can't allow it to continue beyond this point."

Haku watched him dispassionately as Sasuke's legs trembled and gave out. He crashed to his knees with a pained grunt, his body shaking in exhaustion. The masked boy's voice remained even as he continued, his face tilting down to look at him as Sasuke cursed his weakness. "It seems you can no longer move. This is the end!" Haku threw a volley of senbon. They arced across the space between the two of them almost gracefully, flashing a dull silver even in the thick fog. The Uchiha instinctively closed his eyes against the impact. He heard the senbon strike, the slender lengths of sharpened metal sinking into flesh. But...he felt no pain. A soft, shuddering intake of breath caused him to crack his eyelids.

Sasuke's eyes shot wide open. His vision was filled with a field of orange set with a swirling red and black emblem. He blinked, uncertain, and looked up. A golden braid. Outstretched arms, pierced with senbon below both elbows. An orange and blue jacket with a white collar hanging limply, torn and blood-stained, pinned to a slender back with multiple senbon. Orange capris, equally torn and blood stained, streams of blood trickling out from the cuffs over the ankles they bared. Narumi. His dobe of a teammate. Haku was laying on the ground in front of her, just outside his mirror, and the kunoichis breathing was odd.

She turned just a bit, so he could barely see the curve of her cheek. "Geez, teme... For such an arrogant bastard, you sure are helpless." Sasuke blinked, caught between shock and irritation. "Dobe! You..." Then his eyes widened and he froze. Senbon stood out all around the kunoichi's neck, embedded in the flesh in a sick parody of a collar. With a sudden racking cough, blood surged from her mouth and splattered across the ground. She turned her face a little further to look at him, blood trickling thickly down her chin, and while the blue eye that he could see was amused, her voice was strained and faint. "What's...what's with that face, teme?"

Sasuke stared up at her, his body beginning to tremble, and his voice caught between helplessness and horror. "...why?" Something was thundering loudly in his ears, and at the same time everything seemed far too quiet. A tiny voice whispered in his mind. 'You saved me.' Narumi turned her head away. "How should I know?" She chuckled hoarsely. "I...I hated you...arrogant bastard..." Sasuke stared up at her, eyes wide and confused, desperation rushing through him. "But...but then...why...? Why me?" There was no response, and suddenly Sasuke was angry. Scowling, and ignoring the blurring of his vision and the watery warmth gathering in his eyes, he shouted at her. "I never asked for your help!"

Narumi shrugged her shoulders once, wavering on her feet. "Well...you're...my teammate aren't ya...Sasuke-teme?" Then suddenly she was falling backwards. Sasuke started, and jumped forward to catch her. Seven senbon now rose from her chest, the black cloth of her shirt glistening wetly around them, but too dark to show the redness of the liquid that soaked it. Sasuke looked away, focusing on the blood streaked, whisker-marked face beneath him. Narumi's eyes were vague, and didn't seem to focus correctly on his face. "...kuso...I...I wanted to...be hokage...wanted to...protect...Konoha..." Sasuke stared down at her, at a loss as to what to say. Inwardly he was screaming, desperately wondering where Kakashi-sensei was. Why wasn't the damn jounin here when they needed him?

Narumi heaved in a ragged breath, and gritted her teeth. "...don't...die...teme..." Sasuke jolted and stared as her face relaxed, and her body went limp in his arms. His eyes widened and he glared ferociously down at her, rage burning through him. "Oi...Dobe!" He shook her slightly, but she didn't move. The wetness that had been gathering in his eyes slipped down his cheeks as he stared down at her unmoving form, his body unable to move. Chakra rushed to his eyes without warning, and the world suddenly jumped into a sharp clarity that made Sasuke feel as if he'd been blind his whole life. As he gazed down at the blondes face, taking in every detail, he knew without a shadow of a doubt, that this would be seared into his memory for the rest of his life. Preserved forever in perfect detail.

Haku's voice came to him, distant, and slightly shaky. "She managed to land a blow on me...and died to protect you without even flinching. To protect a precious person, even knowing it would mean her death, she jumped in without hesitation. She was truly a kunoichi deserving of respect." Sasuke was vaguely aware that Haku was rising to his feet in front of him, but he didn't take his eyes from Narumi's body. He still felt as if this wasn't real. 'This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't come to help me...You can't be dead, Dobe! You wouldn't die on me right? I...I can't lose anyone else...you can't do this to me, dammit!" Haku's voice was even, and didn't waver again as he faded back into his mirrors. "Is this the first time someone has died to protect you? This is the way of the shinobi."

Sasuke's world was suddenly washed with red, the angry color coating everything and tinting Narumi's hair to the shade of fire. Sasuke's voice came out low, and dangerous as heat filled his veins. "Shut up." Still focused on Narumi, he lowered her gently to the ground. 'I hated you too...' Leaning forward and slowly lifting his eyes to Haku, he heard the roaring in his ears rise to a deafening crescendo as rage on level with his hatred for Itachi filled him, and he snarled at the masked boy. "You're gonna pay! I'm gonna kill you!"

Haku started a little, and Sasuke felt his chakra spike. "Sharingan! It's incomplete but..." The nuke-nin paused for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was uneasy. "I see...you are also from an advanced bloodline." Sasuke stood, ignoring the other boys words. At that moment, he hated Haku just as much as he hated Itachi. The masked nin had taken someone else from him. He had failed to protect someone yet again.

Haku launched more senbon at him, but secluded as he was in this sharp, red world, Sasuke deflected them easily, lunging for the masked boy who he could now easily perceive flying back and forth between the mirrors at speed so great that it far surpassed the capabilities of the normal human eye. When Haku darted out of his mirrors and tried to attack Sasuke directly, he dodged easily, swaying out of the line of attack. As he pivoted his body, he turned the dodge into an attack, twisting to slam the back of his fist into Haku's mask before the other shinobi could slip away into the mirrors. Haku's body spun awkwardly in place, and he grunted in surprise.

With a hiss, Sasuke launched a wave of shuriken and kunai at the mirrors, and this time they struck, cracking the mirrors. Haku had just regained his balance and turned to dart away when Sasuke moved swiftly towards him, catching his wrist in a vice-like grip. Haku murmured in pain, but Sasuke ignored him. Cocking his arm back, he threw the whole force of his body into a punch that connected solidly with the mask. Haku flew backwards, his wrist tearing out of Sasuke's grip, and he plowed through an ice mirror. This time, he traveled straight through it, shattering the thing into a collapsing pile of shards as he left the enclosed area.

As Haku left the mirrors vicinity, they cracked, and then shattered, fragments raining down. Sasuke glared after the other boy, eyes focused on where he'd plowed painfully across the surface of the bridge, kicking up sawdust and powdered concrete to blend with the thick mist surrounding them and obscure him from Sasuke's view. When the dust settled, and the nuke-nin came back into view, he was on his feet. And his mask was cracking, pieces of it falling away as it gave out.

Sasuke shot towards him with a growl. This time. This time his enemy would not escape him. This time he would die! As the mask crumbled away, the face that was revealed stopped Sasuke in his tracks, though the site of it only further fueled his rage. This was the boy he'd found with Narumi that morning in the forest. The boy he'd seen her speaking with, with that wide, friendly grin on her face. Blood was trickling down his chin, and his eyes were blank, but it was definitely him. Narumi had been blushing when Sasuke had walked up to her after he'd left. Blushing and muttering under her breath.

Sasuke growled, eyes intent on the figure in front of him, vibrating with anger. "You...you're from that time!" The other boy stared expressionlessly back at him. "Why did you stop...?" Sasuke scowled up at him, barely a foot away, and the other boys eyebrows drew down very slightly. "I killed your precious friend, yet you can't kill me?" His tone was slightly scornful and reproving. Instinctively, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at Narumi's still body, and growled in frustration. He wanted to avenge her death. He wanted to destroy something, to vent his anger. And yet, when he looked at this boys face, all he could see was Narumi's friendly smile, and the bright blush that had painted her cheeks.

Sasuke shook his head furiously and hissed in frustrated agony. "Dammit!" He roared and punched the other boy across the face with all his strength. Haku's body twisted awkwardly to the side, thrown hard to the ground by the force of the strike. After a moment, he levered himself up, gagging, and spitting up a bit of blood. Sasuke watched him, and remembered the horrible racking cough Narumi had given that had brought up so much blood. But even with that image in his mind, the red had begun to drain out of his world. Though his abnormal visual acuity remained, the world seemed...lifeless. Pale and drained, without his fury to paint it into something vivid and real. He thought he might be sick.

Haku's voice was rough as he stood. "What happened to your intensity? You can't kill me like this..." Sasuke stared at him, unable to speak. Narumi's voice rang in his head, the words she'd spoken to him when he'd asked her about the mysterious boy he'd seen her with sounding in his ears. "I don't know who he is...but he taught me something important. I think we could be friends." Haku glared at him, wiping the blood off his chin with the back of his hand. "There are shinobi who make this mistake, not killing their enemy because of pity. But that...is cruel. Can you understand, little Uchiha? Not having a goal. Not being needed by anyone. The pain of simply existing?"

Sasuke snarled, desperately trying to recapture his desire to kill this person. "What are you trying to say?" Haku smiled gently, his face peaceful and calm. "Zabuza-san has no need for weak shinobi. You have taken away my reason for existing." Sasuke stiffened, and snarled angrily at the teen. "Why for a guy like that! He's a nuke-nin, a traitor and a criminal! Why is that scum so important to you? When someone like Narumi was so convinced you were a good guy...!" Haku's eyes were vacant, and he stared at Sasuke for a long moment.

"I had people who were dear to me, long ago. My parents. They were very kind people. But my mother and I carried the Kekkei Genkai. Our country hated and feared those who carried Kekkei Genkai, and so we had to hide it, even from my father. But we were discovered. And then my father killed my mother, and tried to kill me. Before I realized what I'd done, I'd killed my own father with my Kekkei Genkai that he feared so much." Sasuke stared at the other boy, eyes wide. It was a smaller scale, but it sounded much like the massacre of his own family. Only Sasuke had been unable to achieve his vengeance. Haku's eyes wandered slowly over to Narumi's unmoving form. "That girl must also have experienced much hardship, and faced much hatred. Such is always the way with Jinchuriki." Sasuke frowned, confused. 'What the hell is a Jinchuriki?'

Haku looked down. "It was after I killed my father that I realized. I am a person is unwanted in this world. That...was the most painful thing of all." Haku looked up, his eyes hardening slightly. "Then I met Zabuza-san, and he took me in. The blood within me which everyone else hated...he said it would be useful to him." Haku smiled slightly. "I was so happy. From that time on, I have given everything I have to become a useful weapon to Zabuza-san." A shadow suddenly passed over Haku's face, and his voice became flat and dead.

"Uchiha-san, please kill me." Sasuke froze, face twisting. His thirst for blood had completely dissipated, and he had no wish to aid his enemy in an attempt at suicide. Haku frowned a bit. "Why are you still hesitating?" Sasuke glared at him. "I don't understand! Just for the sake of becoming strong? You killed Narumi just for that? And now, after taking away her life, you're just going to throw away your own? That's practically spitting on her sacrifice! How could you do that?" Haku's eyes softened as he glanced at Narumi's body again. "I'm sorry you will have to dirty your hands, Uchiha-san. But this truly is the only way. And besides, would it not be more disgraceful if you were to throw away the life she died to protect?"

Sasuke opened his mouth, uncertain what it was he wanted to say, and frustrated. Turning, he looked back over his shoulder, letting his eyes linger on the corpse behind him. "She...Narumi also had a dream..." Haku nodded once as Sasuke turned his gaze back to him. "I know." Sasuke gritted his teeth. Looking at Haku, he knew now that he could find it in him to complete his mission. He could kill this person in front of him if he had to. But he also knew that he would not enjoy it. Haku looked at him for a long moment, and must have seen something of his revelation in his face. He smiled slightly, and dropped his head. "Thank you, Uchiha-san." Sasuke reached for his holster. If he was going to do this, he might as well make it as quick and clean as possible.

With a quick flick of his arm, he sent the kunai hurtling across the space between them. At the last second, Haku's eyes widened, his head snapping up, and he knocked the kunai away. Sasuke instantly dropped back into a battle stance, surprised and wary of Haku's sudden reversal of attitude. Haku's dark eyes cut away into the fog to their left, and suddenly they were intense. "Sorry Uchiha-san, looks like I can't die yet." Just as before, the nuke-nin began flashing through hand signs. Sasuke's eyes widened as he recognized the jutsu as the one he'd just broken out of at the cost of Narumi's life.

Before he could take any action, Haku vanished, his body blurring away too fast for Sasuke to follow without the sharingan.

Sasuke looked around wildly, setting his jaw as he tried to find the other boy. Suddenly, an enormous shockwave blasted past him, whipping at his hair and clothes as he instinctively threw up his arm to shield his eyes. The mist around him had begun to thin, and the shockwave thinned it further yet. When Sasuke lowered his arm, he could see much farther. Through the mist, he could see three dark figures. 'Over there!' Fishing another Kunai from his holster, he held it tightly and ran towards the group. As his view of them cleared, he stopped in his tracks, eyes widening. 'Wha...what the hell?'

Haku stood between Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei. Kakashi-sensei's fist was thrust through his chest, a crackling, twisting ball of blue-white lightening fading from his hand. An ice mirror was shattering behind Haku as he lost his grip on the Jutsu, and Zabuza and Kakashi were both staring silently at the boy covered in his own blood. There was a moment of stillness, broken by a racking, wet cough from Haku, as blood sprayed from his lips. Glaring defiantly at Kakashi, he reached up and grabbed the Jounin's wrist, holding his hand buried in his chest. "Zabuza...san..."

Sasuke stared in horror as the older nuke-nin lifted his eyes back to Kakashi, his voice only slighter rougher than before as he addressed Kakashi. "My future is death? You're wrong again Hatake." Haku said nothing, blood pumping rhythmically from his body, gushing around Kakashi-sensei's hand with a sickening rhythm only to fall into the ever growing puddle of viscous red under the boys geta. Sasuke was no iryou-nin, but all shinobi recognized arterial bleeding. Kakashi-sensei must have damaged an artery, and Haku's heart was now steadily pumping his blood out of his body. Without a fully trained iryou-nin present to treat him, Haku's death was assured.

Sasuke trembled, staring at the boy he had so recently wanted to kill. The boy who was so similar to himself in some ways. "What...What's the meaning of this?" His voice shook as he spoke, and he doubted anyone heard him. Distantly, he thought that Haku must have done the same thing as Narumi. Jumping in thoughtlessly to protect someone else. 'Idiots...' He felt numb as he looked at the older boy glaring fiercely at his Sensei, death in his eyes and a triumphant smirk on his lips. Zabuza chuckled. "Splendid, Haku."

Sasuke sucked in a lungful of air that seemed painfully cold, and watched as Kakashi-sensei lifted his gaze from the teenager whose chest his arm was currently embedded in, to the boys master. Zabuza reached for the handle of the giant sword strapped to his back, and drew it with a roar. Saburo was standing defensively in front of Tazuna, just beyond the three man group, and the rosy-haired boy cried out in alarm. "Watch out!" Kakashi-sensei's eyes widened, but he couldn't pull away because of the grip Haku had on his wrist. "I sure did pick up something nice, huh Hatake?" Sasuke stared, his sharingan activating as he did, bringing the world into an incredibly sharp focus, allowing him to see everything, from the last fold of Kakashi's clothes, to the individual drops of blood splattered across the side of Haku's face. 'Is he going to cut through his own comrade to get to Kakashi-sense?'

As Zabuza attacked, Kakashi-sensei leaned forward, wrapped an arm gently around Haku, and leapt away, carrying the dying teen with him. Zabuza's blade swept harmlessly through the space where they'd been, as Kakshi-sensei somersaulted backwards through the air to land in a crouch a few yards away, Haku's body limp in his arms. Zabuza chuckled, eyes narrowing. "I see. Haku must be dead if you were able to dodge that." Sasuke's brows snapped down into a glower, and he bared his teeth. "You bastard!" Before he could move, Kakashi-sensei snapped out an order at him. "Sasuke! Stay there and don't interfere!" His voice was angry as he lifted his eyes from Haku's body to Zabuza. "This is my battle!" Sasuke's body trembled with the need to attack something, to vent his frustration, grief, and anger, but he obeyed his orders.

Kakashi-sensei gently laid Haku's body on the bridge, and passed his hand over his face. Part of Sasuke's mind realized he must have closed Haku's eyes. The other boy really was dead then. Sasuke suddenly felt almost sick with a violent relief that he hadn't had to close Narumi's eyes. It would have been so final. So wrong. Shaking his head, he shoved that relief, and the thoughts that brought it on, to the very back of his mind. He couldn't think of Narumi right now. Couldn't think of a blonde braid and a stupid grin spattered with blood and pierced with senbon. Not now, with the real enemy in front of him and looking to kill the rest of his team, starting with his Sensei.

Suddenly, Sasuke startled as Saburo called out to him. The green-eyed boy was waving, and his voice was relieved. "Sasuke! You're okay!" Sasuke hunched his shoulders guiltily as he stared at the other boy from beneath his long bangs. 'Saburo...what will he say?' The other boy seemed not to notice his reaction. "Where's Narumi?" Sasuke swallowed hard, and looked away from him, fists tightening. Against his will, a perfect image of Narumi's still body rose before his eyes. Saburo's voice suddenly tightened, though he tried to keep it level. "Sasuke...where's Narumi? She's with you, isn't she?" Sasuke tightened his jaw, grinding his teeth together, and clenching his eyes closed, desperately trying to shut out the imprinted image of his blonde teammate. He heard Saburo suck in a breath, but the other boy said nothing else. Sasuke knew he must have realized what Sasuke had done. What he'd allowed to happen. Kakashi-sensei murmured his name, but Sasuke didn't turn his head back or open his eyes.

Zabuza's voice suddenly rang out, sharp and out of place. "Hatake! You don't have time to turn your attention away from me!" Sasuke heard the enemy move across the bridge towards Kakashi-sensei. Heard Kakashi grunt as something struck flesh hard. For a moment he thought that Zabuza had landed a hit, but then he heard Zabuza choke out a pained sound, and the ringing sound of his over-sized blade clattering down to the stones of the bridge. Beyond the noises of the fight, he heard Tazuna's voice. "I'll go too. That way you won't have to disobey your sensei's orders." Saburo's voice was soft and worried. "Yeah. Thanks." Sasuke slitted his eyes open a bit, just in time to see Saburo run past him holding Tazuna's wrist, his face filled with dread and focused on the area of the bridge still hidden by mist. "Narumi..."

---

Saburo plunged into the mist ahead of him, legs pumping as he ran, his grip tightening on Tazuna's wrist. It wasn't long before a still form came into view. His mind blank, Saburo ran towards it, and soon found himself standing over Narumi's body. Senbon stood out of her body all over her chest, arms, legs, and around her neck. Her braid was splayed limply next to her head, just missing a puddle of blood, it's bright golden color out of place in this washed out scene. A line of blood was drying on her chin, and her eyes were closed. She wasn't breathing. Saburo's breath caught, and he stared down at her in horror. Beside him, Tazuna sucked in a horrified breath, and Saburo sensed him turning his face away. But Saburo couldn't look away. Couldn't tear his eyes from the girl in front of him. His idiot teammate.

Trembling, he knelt beside her, reaching out to brush his fingertips across her face, sliding the pads of his fingers across the whisker marks on her cheeks, and gently wiping away the blood on her chin. Narumi was always smiling at him, always so happy to see him. She always blushed whenever they touched. He'd always found it annoying and embarrassing. But now, she wasn't blushing. Her face was unchanged, and she didn't smile. Her skin was cool to the touch, and it didn't radiate warmth as it should.

Blankly, he stared down at her, his voice even. "She's cold. This isn't...a genjutsu huh?" Tazuna shifted behind him, his voice grave. "The poor girl. To die so young...you don't have to hold back because of me, young man. It's alright to grieve." Distantly, Saburo heard him, but he couldn't bring himself to think much about Tazuna right now. He pulled his hand back for a moment, staring down at the slender girl in front of him. How could she be dead? Narumi might have been an idiot, but she was strong. He already knew she was better in a fight than he was. How could she die here? His stomach twisted, though his gaze remained steady and calm. Whatever else she was, she was his teammate. He should have been here to help her. To protect her. How could this have happened? Sasuke was with her, wasn't he? Surely Sasuke would have protected her? No matter how long he thought about it, he couldn't understand it. He couldn't accept that she was dead. It all seemed so unreal. The distant, bookish part of his mind informed him that he was in shock. He didn't much care at the moment.

Leaning forward, he fingered one of the senbon protruding from her arm. He frowned, doing his best to force back the thickness in his throat that was choking him, and the watery heat in his eyes that was blurring his vision. He couldn't leave her like this. He wouldn't. Gently, he pulled out the senbon, throwing it away towards the side of the bridge, and noting that the small wound closed almost immediately. Determinedly, he began to slowly extract the others, delicately making sure not to do any more damage to her body as he spoke to Tazuna, amazed at the calmness of his own voice.

"I...always got perfect scores on the tests given in the Academy. I memorized all the ideals of shinobi life. Over one hundred of them. I was always so proud when I knew the answer." Taking a shuddering breath, he threw aside another senbon as it slid free of Narumi's flesh with a wet, meaty sound. He'd pulled out nearly all the senbon in her chest now. "The 25th clause of the shinobi code is this. A shinobi must not show...any emotion in any situation. A shinobi must put his mission first, and have a heart that will not allow him to cry." Wet trails of warmth began to slide down Saburo's cheeks as he extracted the senbon buried in his comrades neck. He scrubbed the back of one hand across his eyes as he worked, cursing himself for showing weakness. For not being able to help when his teammates needed him. He'd removed most of the senbon when he finally lost it. Scooping Narumi's limp form into his arms, he held her against his chest and rocked, eyes staring blindly out into the mist. 'Sasuke...Kakashi-sensei...somebody help me...Narumi...she...' But no one came, and Saburo was left alone with a civilian, and the body of his teammate. His chest tightened, and his body shook, and suddenly a cry of stunned horror and grief ripped its way out of his throat. Burying his face in the shoulder of the bloodstained orange jacket, he wailed.

---

Behind him, Sasuke heard Saburo cry out. Clenching his teeth, he tightened his grip on the handle of his kunai until his hand squeaked against the wrapping. Kakashi-sensei was fighting Zabuza in front of him, but instead of focusing on the impending death of the man who had brought all this about, all the Uchiha could think of was how he was ever going to face Kakashi-sensei and Saburo when this was all over. How could he ever explain that his pride, his arrogance, led to the death of the teammate he was supposed to fight alongside.

Suddenly a cruel chuckle broke through his thoughts. It took him a moment to understand why. It wasn't Zabuza. An oily, gleeful voice yanked his attention to the end of the bridge just beyond Kakashi-sensei's battle with Zabuza. "Oh, looks like you got beaten pretty badly." A short, paunchy man with a receding hairline, a business suit, and a cane was standing there smirking arrogantly at the shinobi in front of him. Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza both cut their eyes towards him as he continued to speak. "I'm disappointed in you, Zabuza." Sasuke's eyes widened. This must be the civilian who had employed Zabuza and Haku to kill Tazuna. Gatou. Behind him was a large group of thugs. Low-level mercenaries who would be no trouble even to genin on their own. However, a large group of them facing down severely injured shinobi...that was another story.

Zabuza growled irately at the man. His arms had both been disable by Kakashi-sensei, and hung limply at his sides. It was clear he was at a disadvantage, but the nuke-nin remained as defiant and scornful as ever. "Gatou...why are you here? And what's with the subordinates." Gatou's smirk grew a bit. "We had a little change in plans. I'm sorry Zabuza, but you're going to die here." Zabuza's voice sounded slightly surprised. "What was that?" Sasuke watched with wide eyes as the nuke-nins employer casually betrayed him. "If I were to hire village shinobi to assassinate the old man, it would be expensive, so I hired a nuke-nin such as yourself. But then, you still cost money. I was hoping you shinobi would just kill each other off and save me the trouble and money of dealing with you. But you couldn't even manage to take one of them down, and even lost your own subordinate. And you call yourself the demon of Kirigakure? If you ask me, you're nothing but a cute little devil."

Towards the end of his speech, Gatou's voice had become mocking, and the men behind him roared with laughter, jeering at the wounded and exhausted shinobi. Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza were both silent, an aura of deadly tension nearly visible around them. Sasuke stared at the new group blankly, his mind unable to fully take in the implications of this new development. Zabuza suddenly spoke, his words directed to Kakashi-sensei, though his gaze remained fixed on the laughing pack of mercenaries. "Hatake, I'm sorry, but our battle ends here. Since I no longer have a reason to kill Tazuna, I have also lost my reason to fight you." Sasuke watched as Kakashi sensei shifted in his crouch so that he was side by side with Zabuza, staring down the mercenaries and their master. His voice was calm and serious when he replied to the nuke-nin. "Yeah, you're right."

As the two of them spoke to each other, Gatou strolled forward, his walking stick clicking rhythmically against the bridge as he paced forward to stand over Haku's corpse. "Oh yes, I owe this one a favor." His voice was calm and apathetic, but the expression on his face was cruel. "For gripping my hand until it broke." Sasuke blinked. So that was why the man wore a cast on one arm. He felt a sense of dim satisfaction that Haku had had the sense to strike out against this disgusting being. That lasted up until Gatou savagely slammed the butt of his walking stick into the side of Hakus head, grinding it against his cheek. Sasuke surged forward instinctively, growling deep in his throat as more chakra rushed to his eyes to fuel his sharingan into combat readiness. Gatou's voice was gleeful as he shoved at the dead teens face. "He's already dead, huh?" Sasuke roared. "Damn it, stop!"

Before he could charge the man, Kakashi-sensei swung out an arm, thumping Sasuke's chest hard with the back of his hand. "Sasuke! Don't let your anger cause you to act foolishly!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, and whipped his head around to glare at Zabuza. "Why don't you say something? He died for you!" Zabuza growled at him. "Shut up brat. Haku's already dead." Sasuke hissed. "So what? You're just gonna let that guy get away with this?" Zabuza didn't look at him. "Haku was merely a tool that I used for his abilities. I've merely lost my tool. I have no regrets." Sasuke snarled. "What di dyou say?" Kakashi-sensei's large hand clamped onto Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke, leave it! He's not our enemy anymore!" Sasuke knocked his teachers hand away, eyes locked on Zabuza, and in his mind, he saw a figure beside him. The elder brother he had once loved so dearly. The elder brother who had slaughtered their entire clan in a single night only to test his abilities. "He died for you! How can you not feel anything? How can you not care! He gave up everything for you, and you only call him a tool? Do all people who become strong think like that?"

Heaving in a shuddering breath, Sasuke glared up at the broad back in front of him.

Zabuza's voice was choked when he replied to him. "Brat. Haku...I wasn't the only one he protected you know. I know. I've always know he was too kind." Sighing, Zabuza shifted, and suddenly the bandages wrapped around his face fell away. "I'm glad. I'm glad that our final opponents were honorable shinobi." Glancing back over his shoulder, he chuckled, but somehow the sound wasn't as grating as it had been before. "Hatake, I guess you're right. Throwing away emotions didn't make me any stronger. I still lost Haku. I guess I lose, huh?" Turning away, the nuke-nin set his shoulders, and his voice became firm. "Brat. Give me your kunai." Sasuke looked away, and nodded once. "Un." With a flick of his wrist, he sent the kunai flipping slowly through the air towards the man who had been the enemy of his team.

Zabuza caught it in his teeth, and shot across the bridge towards Gatou, who was standing with his mouth gaping open as he stared at the nuke-nin. Turning, Gatou lumbered back to his men with the limping, awkward, shuffling run of an old, overweight civilian, screaming as he went. "Kill those guys!" One of the men stepped forward, his voice arrogant as he smirked at the oncoming figure. "Do you really think you can take down so many of us on your-" He never even finished his sentence. Zabuza was past him in an instant, slashing at him and the men around him with quick turns of his head, whipping his body around as his arms flopped uselessly at his sides. Leaping into the air, dodging through the crowd, and killing as he went, Zabuza deftly avoid most of the blades being slung in his direction by the rank amateurs Gatou had surrounded himself with.

Zabuza took out a great number of the mercenaries as he made his way through the crowd after Gatou, but one finally managed to ram a spear into his back. Zabuza stumbled once with a pained noise halfway between gurgle and grunt. Then he shook himself, and ignored the spear embedded in his back, continuing after his prey with relentless eyes. One more man managed to bury a spear in Zabuza's back, and then he was breaking through the last of the mercenaries, and lunging after Gatou. With a savage twist of his head, he buried his kunai in Gatou's chest. Gatou hacked up blood, and Sasuke swore he Zabuza smirk, before the nuke-nin was blocked from view by the mercenaries running up behind him to bury their weapons in his back. He was still standing when they pulled back, though his back was covered in the protruding shafts and handles of far too many weapons.

Gatou pressed a hand to his wound, snapping at Zabuza. "If you want to go to where your friend is that badly, go by yourself!" Zabuza's voice was sharp and vindictive as he turned his head to fix his eyes on Gatou. "Unfortunately, I won't be joining Haku. Where he's gone, I cannot follow." Turning, he limped towards the small man in his suit. Gatou stuttered in fear. "Wha-what? Don't act so tough!" Zabuza leaned over Gatou, backing him towardss the edge of the unfinished bridge, his grin predatory and entirely too toothy. "No, my friend, it's the other place we're going to! You and me both. I can't think of a more fitting destination for the demon of Kirigakure, can you? Oh yes, I should fit right in! You on the other hand Gatou! Well, I fear you're in for a very long and painful eternity!"

Leaning forward, Zabuza locked his jaw around the kunai buried in Gatou's body, ripped it from his chest, and slashed it across his throat, spraying the small mans blood into the air as he stumbled back over the edge of the bridge with a scream to plummet into the water below. There was a long moment of silence, and Sasuke stared with his mouth slightly open. This was the shinobi that he and Narumi had faced on their own? Suddenly he had a much greater appreciation for Kakashi-sensei's repeated orders to run. Suddenly the crowd of mercenaries parted, whimpering in fear as Zabuza turned towards them. With a groan, Zabuza dropped the bloody kunai, and stumbled towards Haku's body. He was only halfway there when he fell to his knees, his breathing wet and uneven. He muttered something under his breath, his eyes fixed on the unmoving body of his young companion. Then he collapsed forward heavily, and didn't stir again.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and looked away, swallowing hard, his eyes still pulsing with chakra, memorizing everything he laid eyes on, engraving it into his memory. But he didn't want to have this scene replaying behind his eyelids. This damn bridge was cursed. Kakashi-sensei suddenly spoke, his voice firm, eyes fixed on Zabuza's body, the tomoe in his sharingan eye whirling slowly. "Don't look away. This is the end of a shinobi who lived fiercely and desperately." Sasuke sucked in a breath through his teeth, and looked back to the two bodies laying amidst the mercenary crowd . "Yes, Sensei."

---

Saburo's tears were still silently running down his face and soaking into the orange jacket he'd pressed it to. A damp spot was steadily growing there. His crying had lost some of it's intensity, and he'd stopped rocking, but he still felt empty and sick. Clenching his fists in the orange cloth beneath his hands, he murmured helplessly against his teammates shoulder. "Narumi...come on, this isn't funny. Narumi!" Suddenly the body in his arms shifted, and a strained voice mumbled at him. "Saburo-kun, I can't breathe!" Saburo's head shot up, and he stared disbelievingly at the kunoichi. Narumi had lifted her head and was blinking slowly at him, her face still too pale and smeared with blood, but her blue eyes bright as ever. "Narumi!" The girl blinked at him dazedly, looking almost half-asleep. There was a moment of stillness, where Saburo didn't dare move, for fear he'd find himself suddenly holding a corpse again. Then he sucked in a breath, shot to his feet, arms still locked around Narumi, and whirled her in a circle, laughing hysterically even as he scolded her. "Don't you ever do that again! I swear, you ever scare me like that again and I'll kill you myself, you dobe! You idiot girl!"

Narumi yelped, and mumbled, slapping a hand against his bare shoulder and blushing a bit. "Saburo-kun! Stop it!" Behind him, he could hear Tazuna sniffling, but Saburo couldn't stop himself from laughing with relief. Narumi was alive. Narumi was alive and everything was going to be alright! After a moment he stopped spinning. Narumi almost immediately started trying to wriggle free of his grip and stand on her own. Saburo glared down at her. "Idiot, stop! You shouldn't be moving!" Narumi squinted up at him, unrepentant. "Where's Sasuke-teme...? And what happened with the masked boy?" Saburo half turned back towards where he could now see Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei. The mist was lifting slowly. "Sasuke is fine. And the masked guy...he's dead." Narumi's head shot up to stare at Saburo with wide eyes. "Dead? Did Sasuke kill him?" Saburo shook his head. "No. He protected Zabuza, and was killed in the process." Narumi stared down the bridge towards the bodies of Zabuza and Haku.

After a minute, she wriggled out of Saburo's grip, and gingerly stood on her own feet. Saburo watched her anxiously "Oi! Be careful, you're lucky you didn't really die!" Narumi merely stared at Haku's body for a minute, before straightening. Saburo turned towards Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke, heaving in a deep breath, and shouting, waving one hand while he clamped the other over Narumi's shoulder to keep her steady. "Sasuke!" The Uchiha half turned to glance over his shoulder in their direction, and Saburo beamed. "Narumi's alright! She's alive!" Sasuke whipped around to stare at them, his mouth dropping open in surprise.

Saburo glanced at Narumi, and she rubbed the back of her head with embarrassment, not looking at either of the boys. Sasuke glanced back and forth between Narumi and Haku's body with a look of astonished relief on his face. Saburo felt like whooping. Everything would be alright now. They were all alive, Gatou was dead, and they would be fine!

---

Sasuke was still staring at Narumi when Kakashi-sensei murmured quietly beside him. "I see, so Narumi's safe too. Thank goodness." Before Sasuke could say anything, one of the mercenaries banged his weapon against the bridge, his voice annoyed. "Hey! You damned ninja killed our paycheck!" Sasuke's head whipped around at the same time as his sensei's and they both stared down the bridge at the remaining thugs. As the thugs became increasingly rowdy, Sasuke cut his eyes between his two teammates standing further back down the bridge, and the new enemy in front of them. Saburo appeared to be trying to restrain Narumi, who seemed like she was trying to charge down the bridge and jump into battle. Kakash-sensei's voice was hard. "This is bad." Sasuke whipped his eyes around to lock with Kakashi's. "Kakashi-sensei, don't you have some sort of jutsu that can beat these guys all at once?" Kakashi shook his head once, eyes fixed on the rowdy mob at the end of the bridge. "No. I've used up too much chakra." As the mob charged them, Sasuke tensed, dropping into a battle stance. And as he did, a bolt flashed overhead, and landed with a ringing sound in front of the oncoming mercenaries, halting them in their tracks. Sasuke and his team whipped around to look back down the bridge.

Inari stood at the head of a large crowd of villages, all armed with makeshift weapons such as pitchforks and fishing spears. Inari himself held the crossbow that had launched the bolt. One of the men standing beside him shouted down the bridge threateningly at the mercenaries, his face hard, and his arms bulging with the formidable muscles of a lifetime of hard labor. "Anyone who gets any closer to our island, will have to deal with us!" The villagers roared their agreement, shaking their spears, picks, axes, and other weapons at the mercenaries. Narumi cheered, and grinned back down the bridge. "Inari!" Inari grinned. "Heroes are supposed to come late, right Onee-chan?" Sasuke smirked.

Narumi suddenly turned back towards the mercenaries, and grinned at Sasuke as she lifted her hands into a cross shaped hand sign. "Kage bunshin!" Suddenly five Narumis sprang to stand beside Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, grinning cheekily at the two of them, despite the wounds and blood they bore. Kakashi-sensei spoke before Sasuke could say anything. "Narumi, you've taken heavy wounds! Get back and let us handle this!" One of them rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "You don't have to worry about that, Sensei. Boss isn't here." Sasuke blinked as the clone pointed back down the bridge to where Saburo had hooked his arms underneath Narumi's, and planted his feet, holding his much aggrieved looking teammate off the ground to prevent her escape.

Kakashi sighed, and Sasuke shook his head. "Well then, I suppose I ought to do something as well." Making a hand sign, he murmured under his breath. "Kage bunshin, Kakashi style!" Suddenly, a wall of blood-stained, irritated looking Kakashi-sensei's formed a wall between Sasuke, the Narumis, the original Kakashi, and the Mercenaries. A rumbling chorus of frighteningly smooth voices rang out together. "Shall we begin?" The mercenaries broke and ran for the boats that had brought them to the bridge. The villagers cheered wildly, and once the mercenaries were gone, Narumi and Kakashi-sensei both dispelled the clones they'd made. Sasuke turned and walked back to his teammates, eyes fixed on Narumi. She grinned up at him as he approached. "Oi, Sasuke-teme!" Her eyes widened, and she stared hard at him. "Your eyes..." Saburo shifted to peer into his face, and Sasuke snorted at them in an attempt to look annoyed, and cover up his embarrassment as he consciously stopped the flow of chakra to his eyes, allowing his sharingan to fade. "Dobe." Turning to face back towards Kakashi-sensei, he took up the position on the opposite side of her from Saburo, brushing her shoulder with his as he did, subtly making sure she was real. The contact relaxed him, and his stomach finally unclenched.

Kakashi-sensei was carrying Zabuza's body down the bridge when Sasuke looked for him. He set the nuke-nin's body beside Haku, and then walked back towards the three of them, his hitae-ate once again covering his sharingan eye. Sasuke heard a sniffle, and looked over in surprise. Narumi was scrubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hand. Looking over her head at Saburo, he saw that the other boy didn't seem to have any idea what to do either. Silently, they turned back to the approaching figure of their sensei, shifting a little closer to their kunoichi teammate in a silent offer of support. Kakashi-sensei stopped in front of the three of them, his eyes traveling over them. "Let's go home."

---

Sasuke watched as Saburo stood up from in front of the two graves they'd dug at the top of the cliff overlooking the ocean from the mainland. "Kakashi-sensei? Are shinobi really just tools, like Zabuza said?" Kakashi-sensei shrugged, eye thoughtful. "Well, that is what we're supposed to be. That idea exists even in Konoha." Narumi scuffed her foot across the ground, frowning slightly. "I really...don't like that idea. I don't want to be like that." Sasuke watched her for a moment as she walked forward to stand in front of the graves. The sun was setting right in front of them, and it's fierce light reflected off her hair, turning it to a fiery red-gold that was almost to bright to look at. "Yosh! I've decided! I'm going to follow my own nindo! I'll run straight down the path where I won't have to regret anything!" Sasuke's eyes widened, and then he cocked his head thoughtfully. 'The path where you won't have to regret anything...huh?'

---

A/N: Hello all. I hope you liked the chapter.

To start with, I had Haku 'kill' Narumi instead of Sasuke for a couple of very good reasons. First, since I made him more affectionate towards Narumi, he didn't want to hurt her, and he thought it would be better to give her minor physical injuries and some pain than to force her to watch the 'death' of a teammate. Also, Haku knew she valued her precious people, but he saw Sasuke as arrogant and prideful. Concerned primarily with his own goals (accurate assessment at the moment, actually). So he decided to teach Sasuke a lesson about valuing his teammates, and it apparently worked pretty well. And the reason Sasuke's revenge instinct (and you know he has it!) didn't go all out on Haku and have Sasuke killing him, was because it was Haku. Sasuke saw him as someone Narumi felt friendly towards. He is very angry because he sees Haku as a manipulative enemy who betrayed Narumi's trust. But he can't kill Haku because he feels it would be a further betrayal of Narumi's memory. Add to that that once he knows Haku's story, he sees something of himself in Haku, which only makes him feel doubly guilty.

Also, because Narumi died for Sasuke, that will help get rid of this idea that anything is justified if it gives him power to kill Itachi. Saburo's reaction to Narumi's 'death' was the most difficult to write. The idea is that he, being a gallant, kind natured guy, felt like he had failed to protect Narumi when he discovered she was dead. He doesn't like her romantically, but her death is still a devastating blow, and he doesn't know how to handle it. It makes him Much more protective towards Narumi, and changes his attitude towards her a bit. Also, it puts a crack in his blind hero-worship of Sasuke, because even though he'd never say it aloud, in his eyes Sasuke also failed to protect Narumi. It's not a condemnation on Saburo's part, but he feels that Narumi should have been safe with Sasuke, and she wasn't. It makes Sasuke more human to him, and also allows him to doubt Sasuke a bit, though he does still admire him.

Yeah, so that's it. If you guys have any questions or suggestions, please leave a review! They warm my heart, and are always much appreciated!