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Last time:

Kasumi didn't know whether Haku recognized her or not, but if he did, he wasn't showing it. Other than not outright killing her, of course, but that didn't count on his side.

It was entirely possible that Naruto would fall to the same fate.

Struggle

A twist of chakra and Kasumi watched as Sasuke's black eyes morphed into the red and black of the Sharingan. He still only had one-tomoe eyes, but it would be enough.

She hoped it would be enough.

"You can not defeat me." Haku said and, distantly, she wondered if there was a note of regret in his voice. "No matter how hard you try."

"That's what you think!" Naruto retorted. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Gritting her teeth, Kasumi forced herself to her feet, reaching for the solid, implacable will that had led her to survive her blood-stained childhood. Beside her, Sasuke straightened up as well as Naruto spammed clones, the closed off area suddenly a sea of orange.

"Kasumi-chan?" Naruto glanced at her questioningly. While none of the boys lacked in confidence, they had grown used to her calling the stakes, had come to the conclusion that it was better to listen to her than not. It had taken more than a few missions for her to slam that into their thick skulls and she was more than glad she had taken the time to do so.

There had been that time with the squirrels... and then the out-of-control skunks... yes, it had taken some time.

"Attack the mirrors. Each and every one." She said, frantically taking in their situation. "Naruto-san, stay here. Sasuke-san, watch."

Naruto frowned, but moved back so he was standing near them and Sasuke directed a short nod towards her before turning towards the mirrors.

"YOSH! WE'VE GOT THIS!" The clones cried as one and leapt for the mirrors. She thought she might have heard Haku sigh, but if he had, it was quickly covered up by the poofs and clouds of smoke that appeared erratically in position, but all too consistently in timing.

Kasumi watched calmly as Haku systematically and methodically took down every single one of the dozens of clones that Naruto had created, his body flying at incredible speeds. She wasn't fool enough to think that she could track Haku's movements - only Sasuke had a chance of doing that - but if there was a pattern or a plan or anything important...

"Damn." Naruto muttered as the last clone disappeared in a poof of smoke. Sasuke said nothing, but he continued to stare intently at the mirrors.

"Sasuke-san?" She prompted him, trying to work out what they could do if he couldn't follow Haku's movements. The Uchiha had fire jutsu, but she had the feeling it wouldn't work on Haku's mirrors.

No one had ever told her such a thing, it was just a feeling, but she didn't question it.

He glanced at her, a frown pulling at his lips. "A little." He said. "Just a little."

I need more time.

The words went unspoken, but she heard them. Exhaling harshly, Kasumi considered what they could do.

"I told you, it's useless." Haku said.

She ignored him - taunts by the enemy were typically untrue - but Naruto flamed up, fisting his hands. "Shut up!" He shouted. "We'll beat you, you'll see!"

"You can not defeat me." The reflections shifted and Kasumi's eyes widened as she saw Haku reappear in the reflection before them, the senbon held in his hands again.

No, no, no, no. Another barrage would not -

"Sasuke-san, fire. Naruto-san, wind." She snapped out, already going through hand-seals.

They didn't stop to question her.

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!" Sasuke blew the fireball towards the mirrors in front of them just as Naruto slammed his hands together.

Momentarily, Kasumi thanked the stars that they had spent so much time on combination attacks.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Naruto easily sent a large, compressed gust of wind towards the fireball and Kasumi finished her hand-seals.

This was probably going to be useless, but it was a distraction. And Sasuke's Sharingan or not, they needed to avoid another attack like the first one.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Kasumi's technique was a bit different than Naruto's. For one, it required hand-seals. That meant it took longer to cast, true, but it also meant something else.

She could control her jutsu a great deal more than Naruto ever would, and she had spent weeks learning how to do exactly that. One of her primary worries in doing such a large combination attack was that they had never done this before. Sasuke and her, yes. Sasuke and Naruto, yes. Naruto and her, yes.

But never all three of them together.

So much could go wrong; she didn't even have time to think through all the possibilities. Chakra naturally reflected the source it came from and as Kakashi had explained to them earlier, combination attacks worked best if the casters had spent a significant amount of time working together and could, at least, tolerate each other.

Kasumi liked to think that her team was much better than it had been when it came to getting along and cooperation, but she was also aware that Team 10, for one, meshed together much better. Granted, they had been friends since childhood - although Ino sometimes didn't act like it - but the example still applied.

There there was how the single fire jutsu and double wind jutsu would work out. She knew that the ratio of elements in a combination attack was important; if the wind was too strong, it would completely blow out the fire. She hadn't discussed this with her teammates - she had the feeling Naruto wouldn't understand most of the mechanics of it anyways - but she had the feeling that they had been aware nevertheless.

Maybe not entirely consciously, for Naruto's part, but they had known and acted on it. Through practice and repetition, they had learned to regulate the amount they gave off in a combination jutu. Sasuke would pour a little more in his jutsu than normal, perhaps, or she would pull back a little on the amount of chakra she put behind in hers.

This was different.

Kasumi had already been able to see that Sasuke had pumped a larger than usual amount of chakra in his fire jutsu - likely in response to the fact that he, too, knew they would be going through another torture session via senbon if they messed this up - and in response, although he had probably done it instinctively, Naruto had thrown a great deal of chakra behind his jutsu, as well.

So, this time, she kept the chakra she pushed into her jutsu small, just enough that the jutsu came out, but came out as a soft blast of wind, rather than a mighty cyclone. It would be just enough as a booster.

Or so she hoped.

The wind gale that Naruto had created crashed into Sasuke's fireball a mere two feet away from the mirrors and Kasumi's breeze hit not long after, providing, as she had counted on, a decent accelerator, but not overwhelming the fire altogether. Frankly, it went better than her most optimistic wishes.

The massive firestorm that their combined techniques had created smashed against the ice mirrors and became a battle of dominance; fire vs. ice. As Kasumi had expected, the ice mirrors wouldn't melt, but the fire had enough force going for it that it didn't automatically dispel either.

It was a reprieve. A short one, most likely, but she would take it.

"Naruto-san, more clones. We're going to need some cover when the fire burns out." She ordered quietly. "Sasuke-san, keep trying to track him."

Both boys nodded curtly, too used to taking commands from her that their pride could take it. Forming his fingers into the usual seal, Naruto effortlessly created several more dozens of clones. Kasumi and Sasuke didn't bat an eyelid; they were too used to this from the common spars.

"You can't melt this ice with that level of fire." Haku said complacently from behind them. Acting on instinct, all of them whirled around and the clones formed a barrier of orange outfits around the trio, kunai raised.

"That... won't help you." Haku informed them and disappeared. Sasuke muttered a quick curse and Kasumi knew without another word that they were in a great deal of trouble.

A millisecond later, every single one of the clones dispelled, and cuts, sharp and painful, began to appear on their skin.

"UGH!" Naruto, the one who had remained untouched until this point, fell back, his arms no protection as evidenced by the multiple cuts on his face.

"ARGH!" Sasuke closed his eyes against the agony of it, despite himself, she could tell. He cringed back, obviously overwhelmed by the sheer pain of it all.

Kasumi grimaced, cried out softly against the abuse to her poor body, fought against her own instinctive reaction to curl into a ball and close her eyes and simply shut the world out. This was a fight and her teammates still needed her; she couldn't afford to be selfish. It helped that even though, previously, she had succumbed to the mind-numbing torture, she had experienced pain enough times that she had built up a slight immunity to it.

Not much, not enough that she had been able to stand the former attack's unexpected pain and still plan, still think, but enough.

Just enough.

Fumei

"Sasuke-san!" She made her voice sharp, because although she wanted to comfort and shield and protect her teammates - they were so innocent, of battle and blood and evil and humanity - they were ninja, even if only genin, and her equals, and her team, and they couldn't let Haku continue like this. "Eyes open!"

It said something about how far they had come that Sasuke immediately obeyed although his every instinct must have been screaming in denial.

His eyes snapped open, quietly frantic Sharingan eyes swiftly focusing on her. He didn't know what to do. Sasuke Uchiha, genius, #1 rookie, always cool and collected and composed, didn't know what to do.

Kasumi sympathized. She didn't know what to do, either. But, this was her role and damn if she was going to let her boys down after they had come so far. "Focus." She demanded, throwing every ounce of confidence and calm that she had into that single word. She was proud of herself when her voice didn't break even as a painful cut emerged on her upper arm.

For a second, Sasuke looked surprised, but then, a long cut appeared on his leg and it was gone. Jaw locking, he nodded and directed his dojutsu at the mirrors that surrounded them. Ignoring the wounds that showed up on her skin again and again with pure strength of will - one that had been honed during hours and hours of running and running without end - Kasumi glanced at Naruto.

The poor blonde had fallen to the ground, curling into himself, clearly unprepared for the relentless assault. Heart clenching, Kasumi slowly crawled across the few feet that separated them, wincing as her movements shot needles of pain through her entire body.

She had finally gotten close enough to touch him when Sasuke spoke up, a note of jubilation in his voice that had been absent before. "I can see him!" Startled, reluctantly hopeful, Kasumi glanced back to see her dark-haired teammate grinning triumphantly, a kunai in his hand.

As she watched, his eyes focused visibly on something that she couldn't see. A moment later, he moved and managed to block the senbon aimed to slice through his side.

She could all but feel Haku's surprise as he returned to a mirror higher up in a blur. Hope a quiet flame inside her heart - maybe they would survive this - Kasumi took advantage of the interlude and gently touched a finger to Naruto's bleeding wrist.

"Naruto-san." She called gently. Kasumi could hesitantly admit that she was a bit worried about the blonde, she had never seen him look so defeated, but physically, she was aware that he was most likely better off than both herself and Sasuke. He was its container, after all.

Naruto stirred with a groan, looking at her with wide blue eyes. "Kasumi-chan...?" He asked weakly.

"Hush." She told him. "Create a few more clones. Use them to cover yourself while Sasuke-san gets the hang of his Sharingan."

The blonde frowned, looking peeved that his rival was doing all of the manly work, but pushed himself to his knees, making a pained face. Forming his fingers into the tiger seal with noticeable discomfort, he created several clones that instantly spread themselves over the original in a veritable safety blanket.

Satisfied, Kasumi was turning her attention back to the task of figuring out how to get them out of this death trap when Sasuke's shout caught her attention.

"Kasumi!" He yelled, running straight towards them. At the same time, her bloodline, which had been blasting loudly in her mind without pause, to the extent that she had blocked it out for her own sanity, shrieked shrilly, almost painfully.

She didn't need to analyze the situation to know what had Sasuke sounding so uncharacteristically worried.

It was a good thing Sasuke was unusually fast - she blamed her dulled reflexes on shock. He skidded to a halt in front of her and a pale Naruto just in time to deflect a senbon that would have gone straight through her chest if he hadn't stopped it.

Lethal. It would have been a lethal blow.

Kasumi froze. Plain out froze. A second later, her training, her logic, her poise slammed back into her, but only for her to comprehend exactly how stupid she was.

Consciously, or unconsciously, she had figured that since Sasuke had picked up the ability to see through Haku's level of speed, he would be able to take care of him. Or at the very least, keep him occupied. While she had been talking with Naruto, she had totally overlooked Sasuke's interactions with Haku and she had almost paid for it with her life.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. She was so stupid.

"Kasumi-chan?" She didn't know what he saw on her face, but Naruto touched her hand cautiously, cerulean blue eyes clearly concerned. His voice bought her out of her trance, reminded her that she didn't have enough time to focus on how utterly idiotic she had been, because her teammates were still counting on her to get them out of here.

"I'm okay." She assured him automatically. Rising to her feet with some difficulty, she glanced at Sasuke who was standing in front of them, kunai held firmly in hand, face set with determination. He shot her a questioning look.

"I'm okay." Kasumi repeated. "Thank you." She added, a little quieter.

Sasuke, being Sasuke, grunted in response, hard Sharingan eyes continuously sweeping across the mirrors in preparation for the next attack.

"So, you can see through my attacks." Haku commented and Kasumi felt her heart drop at the lurking darkness in their opponent's voice. "The famed Sharingan... yes, it makes sense."

"And you..." He turned to stare directly at Kasumi. She stared back defiantly, carefully masking the nausea that rolled in her stomach at meeting those familiar eyes. "You are the leader. Without you, your teammates would cease fighting."

She knew he was wrong. She was the one who made up the plans, yes, she was the one who coordinated their team and yes, the boys listened to her commands, but if she was out of the equation, they would continue to fight. Sasuke and Naruto were not the types to give up.

But... that Haku thought that... Kasumi bit her lip. This was bad. It meant she was the absolute target and against an opponent of Haku's caliber...

Sasuke tensed, scowling. Next to the kunoichi, gritting his teeth, Naruto got to his feet to face Haku, eyes blazing. "Oi! Haku! Don't touch Kasumi-chan!"

Haku frowned, shook his head. "Becoming a shinobi is hard for me." He admitted sadly. "If possible, I don't want to kill you, any of you." This, of course, was directed at Kasumi and she narrowed her eyes. "Nor want you to kill me. But since you insist on continuing your assault, I can destroy my kind heart with a blade and become a true shinobi. Sustain this fight and I will kill you." He looked directly at Kasumi and it was clear, now, what his objective would be.

Naruto set his jaw, shifting into a defensive position in front of Kasumi with a kunai in his hand as his clones spread out, forming a protective circle around them. "You're not touching Kasumi-chan!" He declared firmly.

Sasuke said nothing, but they sensed his agreement in the way he subtly shifted so he covered their female teammate's other side. The boys exchanged a look and turned to glare death daggers at the mirrors.

Oh, dear. If Kasumi hadn't been trying to stave off her impeding horror, she would have been terribly exasperated. She already had to deal with an overprotective brother; she did not need overprotective teammates. Granted, in this situation, their reaction was, somewhat, reasonable, but she had the suspicious feeling this hovering would extend beyond this mission.

If they made it out, of course.

She took a deep breath and forcibly wrenched her run-away thoughts back on track. Alright, she had Haku out to potentially kill her, he was incredibly fast, and Sasuke was barely able to see him.

The odds weren't in their favor. Or to be more exact, her favor.

"You can't stop me." Haku whispered, but everyone heard him. An instant later, Sasuke cursed under his breath and they were all suddenly being attacked by a hail of senbon.

If Kasumi had thought the attacks from before had been bad, it was nothing compared to what Haku showered them with now. Barely a minute in and she had a senbon sticking out of her ankle, her upper leg, her shoulder, her right hand.

As expected, the boys did their best to shield her, but Sasuke could only do so much and the majority of Naruto's clones had been decimated in the first few seconds. The rest weren't far behind. Naruto, the real one, looked like a porcupine with the amount of senbon sticking out of him.

"Damn." Sasuke gasped, looking like he wanted to collapse but couldn't bring himself to. Kasumi felt the same way, but-

Left! Left, left, left! Left!

"Augh!" Kasumi dove to the right, the ominously glinting senbon missing her neck by an inch at most. Coming up on a roll, she found herself in front of the mirror that contained Haku.

He was frowning at her. "So... you can sense it, too."

She felt her blood freeze. There was no way for this to turn out well. Clenching her teeth, she reached down into herself, unwilling to lose, and found the last vestiges of her courage.

"You're not going to win." Kasumi said softly. And it wasn't a boast or fake bravo, because she knew Naruto and Sasuke well enough to know that even if Haku succeeded in killing her, they wouldn't give up. Far from it.

He locked eyes with her. "We shall see." Was all he said before he disappeared again.

"Get back!" Sasuke shouted at her a moment later and she obeyed without a second thought, throwing herself in a backwards, one-handed handspring, and coming up on her feet as a senbon thudded into the ground where she had been.

Fleetingly, she wondered if this was how the boys felt when she gave them orders, but quickly abandoned that train of though when Naruto cried out in pain, a senbon hitting him hard on the knee. Whirling towards the sound, she found the blonde on the ground, Sasuke standing guard in front of him.

"Idiot." He muttered, but there was more worry in it than anything else.

"I'm sorry." Haku said, appearing truly distressed. "But my chakra is being depleted from my jutsu fast and I must end this."

He paused and looked straight into Kasumi's deep brown eyes. "Wouldn't you agree..." He said gently and she paled, feeling a cold shiver go down her spine. No, no, stop! "... Kasumi Fumei?"

Fumei. Fumei. Fumei.

The name, the surname, her surname echoed endlessly in her mind, smashing effortlessly through carefully constructed barriers and walls that should never have been broken and -

Blood on the ground, blood in the mist, blood on her - her Otou-san's blood, her Okaa-san's blood, so much blood, crimson and bright red and hot and wet against her face, on her clothes, on her skin, inside her mouth, copper and iron...

Stop.

Stop it.

Stop it, stop it, stop it!

Please... stop...!

Kasumi went motionless, eyes blanking over, face pale, defenses shattered into pieces.

Her kunai fell to the ground with a clatter.

Haku vanished in a blur and a senbon found its way to the back of her neck, her side, her heel. Dimly, she heard Naruto and Sasuke's cries, but it was too late.

'Oh.' Kasumi had time to think before the darkness claimed her. 'Oh, that was his plan.'

She fell to the ground and was lost to the abyss.

Next time:

Haku had been kind and sweet and so, so adorable.

Kasumi had liked him at once.

Me: Err... revelations! And now, on to the reviews!

TamashinoSuzume: No worries! We haven't, umm, gotten to her bloodline yet. We will, I promise! Thanks for the review, hun!

iciclefangAJ: Umm... no? Sorry to worry you. She's fine. I think. Thanks for the review!

twistedlittledoll: Oh, thank you! I'm delighted you like Kasumi! Hope you enjoyed this chapter~

Billiania: Aww... thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Bella-swan11: Well... it sorta happened like that? Maybe? Lolz, thanks for the review, hun!

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Guest: Hope you liked this chapter, hun! Thanks for the review!

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