Chapter 6: Battle At The Bridge

The Next Morning:

"Take good care of Naruto for us." Kakashi said in front of Tazuna, Sasuke, and Sakura.

"Don't worry, we will." Tsunami said as Kagome stood next to her. After Kagome had talked with Inari, Kagome started to feel confident that they'll be able to help Tazuna finish the bridge. They wanted to bring Naruto with them, but he was still tired from training with Sasuke. Kagome decided to stay behind in case anything occurs.

"Are you still too weak to join us, Kagome-chan?" Sakura asked, smugly.

"How big of an idiot are you, Haruno?" Kagome asked.

"Eh?" Sakura asked, stiffened after being called an 'idiot'.

"If Tazuna-san is being targeted, so is his family. They could send someone after them." Kagome said.

"She is right, Haruno." Kakashi said.

"Besides, I have a feeling Naruto-kun will wake up and try to do something reckless." Kagome said, "So don't worry about us."

"Please, protect my family, Kagome-chan." Tazuna said.

"Don't worry, I will, Tazuna-san." Kagome said, smiling softly.


Meanwhile:

Gatō sat on his couch with a phone in his left hand since his other hand was bandaged along with his arm. He was growing impatient about Zabuza's job. He hired him to simply to get rid of the bridge builder. What he didn't expect is that the group of ninjas were able to injure him and he had to wait for him to recover. But the bridge is nearly finished! Why is it that Zabuza is taking so long to recover?!

"What is taking you so long?! You know you have a job to do!" Gatō yelled into the phone.

On the other line, a male figure with spiky dark brown hair and brown eyes frowned and crushed the phone in his hand. He really hated his employer. But he was paying him good money for the death of a bridge builder. He didn't expect to run into a genin group that had a powerful genin who nearly defeated him in battle. He had to admit that she is strong for someone her age. It just made things interesting now.

"Haku, are you ready?" The man asked as he turned towards a boy who looked about fifteen and had brown eyes with long black hair that was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of his hair fell loose framing his face that were bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends.

"Hai, Zabuza-san." Haku said.


Back at Tazuna's house:

Kagome heard Naruto's footsteps coming down the stairs as she helped clean the dishes from breakfast. She knew that he would wake up sooner or later after the group had left with Tazuna to go to the bridge. She also knew that he would not be happy about being left behind as well.

"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WAKE ME UP?!" Naruto exclaimed, appearing on the last step of the stairs. He was still wearing his pajamas and sleep cap on.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun. How did you sleep?" Kagome asked, smiling at Naruto.

"Actually, I slept pretty good." Naruto said, blinking.

"That's good. I was hoping that you would stay here with me." Kagome said.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto-kun, if Tazuna is being targeted, that also means that his family is too." Kagome said.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that." Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"It's okay. How about you get dressed and I'll make you some breakfast?" Kagome asked.

"Sure, sounds great." Naruto said. After that, he went upstairs to change.


Later:

"We're just going to do a perimeter check. We won't take long." Kagome said. She wanted to make sure that Gatō won't send anyone to harm Tazuna's family. But she knew that was an impossible wish. So she and Naruto decided to check if anyone was coming towards Tazuna's house. Afterall, she had promised Tazuna that she would protect his family.

"Alright, be careful." Tsunami said. Kagome nodded.

"We will. Oh, if you hear a knock on the door and if the person knocking doesn't identify him or herself within a few seconds, don't open the door. Even if the person still hasn't identify him or herself, don't open it." Kagome said in a serious tone.

"Why?" Tsunami asked.

"It's a slight possibility that Gatō's henchmen might be at the door. So please do as I say." Kagome said, worried.

"Hai, I will." Tsunami said, nodded.

"We'll be back soon." Kagome said. Then she and Naruto left the dock.


At the bridge:

"What happened here?" Tazuna asked, his eyes widened. All the working men were laid out all over the place, almost as if they were dead. They looked around to see who was the cause of all this. Then a mist began to cover the bridge. Kakashi spotted a figure coming out of the mist in front of them. His eyes widened at the figure.

So Kagome was right. Kakashi thought when he saw the familiar face appeared in front of them. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura surrounded Tazuna to protect him. They each grabbed a kunai from their holster and lowered their stance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi." Zabuza said, smirking underneath his bandages.


Back at Tazuna's House:

"Inari, could you help me down here?" Tsunami asked from downstairs.

"Coming!" Inari said as he headed towards the stairs.

What Tsunami and Inari didn't know was that two of Gatō's henchmen were waiting outside of the house.

Tsunami was getting ready to fold the laundry, she stopped when she heard loud knocks at the door. She remembered Kagome's warning if she heard such knocks. So she waited for the person to identify him or herself. But the person hadn't respond yet. Unexpectedly, the door broke down. She looked towards the opened doorway and saw two men who had odd tattoos and strange clothes with katanas strapped to their waists. Fear instantly spread throughout her body. She knew that these two must have been sent by Gatō to take Inari and her hostage. Kagome and Naruto weren't back from their perimeter check.

Inari was in the bathroom washing his hands for whatever his mom wanted help with. Then he heard a crash down stairs. He quickly left the bathroom and rushed downstairs. When he got there, he saw his mom pinned against the wall with a man who has his hand around her neck.

"MOM!" Inari said, his eyes widened. Tsunami's widened when she saw Inari.

"INARI! GET OUT OF HERE! WARN KAGOME AND NARUTO!" Tsunami yelled.

"Well, look what we have here." The man said, the one with a odd tattoo on his face. He was smirking at Inari who was shivering.

"So what should we do with the brat?" The tattoo man said.

"Gatō said we only need one hostage." The man said with an eye patch over his eye, holding onto Tsunami's neck.

"Let's kill him then!" The tattoo man said as he fully sheathed his sword. Inari took a step back in fear.

"Don't touch my son! I'll do whatever you want! Just don't harm my son!" Tsunami said. Both men looked at her and back at Inari. The tattoo man clicked his tongue and put his sword back in its sheath while the other man released the grip on his mother's neck. Then the two men walked towards Tsunami and grabbed her by the arms and tied her wrists behind her back. After that, the two men 'escorted' her out the door. Inari stared at the opened door. He looked at the ground with shame.

"Mom." Inari said as tears started to form in the corner of his eyes. He clenched his fists in anger and helplessness. He knew that he was a coward. He couldn't even help his mother when she was in trouble. Then he remembered what Kagome had said to him before they returned to the house last night.

Flashback:

"Kagome-chan." Inari said.

"Hai?" Kagome asked.

"Have you ever...been afraid?" Inari asked.

"Hai." Kagome said.

"When?" Inari asked.

"When I saw my comrades get attacked by rogue ninjas. I was afraid of not arriving in time to save them." Kagome said.

"How can you get past your fear?" Inari asked.

"Inari, we will always put our life on the line when it comes to protecting our loved ones. You have to abandon your fears and find the courage within yourself to move forward." Kagome said, "Can you do that?"

"I'll try." Inari said.

Flashback Ends

Inari clenched his fists in determination. He had to get passed his fear in order to move forward. He promised Kagome that he would. With that goal set in mind, Inari ran out the door and went after his mom.

"Let my mom go!" Inari shouted at the two men. The two men turned around and saw Inari glaring at them.

"INARI!" Tsunami shouted when she looked over her shoulder and saw Inari.

"Would you look at that? You came to save your mom, right?" The tattoo man asked with a smirk on his face.

"LET GO OF MY MOM RIGHT NOW!" Inari shouted as he ran towards the two men.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT MY SON!" Tsunami shouted before one the men hit the back of her neck with the hilt of their katana, making her collapsed onto the deck. The two men sheathed their swords and sliced their target.


At the bridge:

"It's nice to see you too, Zabuza." Kakashi said, "I assume that the hunter-nin is your accomplice."

"Correct." Zabuza said, "Where's that genin I fought before? Kagome, was it? She's a worthy opponent."

Kakashi hoped that Kagome and Naruto were alright. He didn't want Kagome to be in another fight with Zabuza. There might be a chance that she'll use those 'eyes' again. The last thing he needed to be worried about was Kagome collapsing from too much chakra use.

"Until she arrives, how about we have a little bit of fun?" Zabuza asked with a dark grin underneath his bandages. When he said that, Zabuza's water clones surround Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna.

"Would you look at that?...he's trembling like a newborn deer. How pitiful." Zabuza said, smirking.

"I'm trembling...with excitement." Sasuke said, smirking. Within seconds, Sasuke turned all the clones in harmless water.

"Impressive. Looks like there is a rival for you, Haku." Zabuza said as another figure appeared from the mist and stood beside Zabuza.

"Hai, Zabuza-san." Haku said.

The tracker-nin! Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura thought at the same time.


At Tazuna's House:

The two men put their katanas back into their sheaths. Their eyes widened when they saw three pieces of a log instead of the boy. They looked to where they left the woman; she was gone!

"Substitution jutsu! Where did they go?!" The tattoo man said. They looked over their shoulders and saw someone dressed in orange placing the woman down and holding the boy.

"Sorry if we came late, Inari." The person in orange said. Inari gasped and looked up at the person who saved him and his mom.

"Naruto-kun!" Inari said with tears of relief.

"Good job, Inari. Thanks to your distraction, I was able to save your mom." Naruto said with a grin.

"It's one of the brats that Tazuna hired! Kill him!" The eye patch man said, taking his katana out.

"Not on my watch." A female voice said. Then a girl holding a fan appeared in front of Naruto and Inari.

"Kagome-chan!" Inari said. Kagome held onto her fan and thrusted a gust of wind from it which wrapped the two men in a swirl and dropped them in the water. The men popped their heads out of the water. Then they saw Kagome jumped onto the water and performed hand signs.

"Hyōton: Kōri kēji-jutsu!" Kagome yelled, slamming her palm into the water. Then the water quickly turned into ice. Trapping the two henchmen in the icy water. Kagome jumped back onto the dock.

"Are you okay, Inari?" Kagome asked.

"Hai, I'm fine." Inari said.

"I'm very proud of you, Inari. You were able to get past your fears and was able to help us to save you and your mom." Kagome said.

"Yeah, you were really brave, Inari." Naruto said as he placed his hand on Inari's head and gave it a small ruffle. The three of them started to laugh for a little bit. Kagome was relieved at the moment. She was glad that they made it in time to save Tsunami and Inari. But now they have bigger fish to fry.

"We gotta go, Naruto-kun." Kagome said.

"Huh, where?" Naruto asked.

"We have to help Kakashi-sensei and the others." Kagome said.

"Right! They're going to need all the help they can get!" Naruto said with determination in his tone of voice.

"Hai." Kagome said with a nod. She walked over to Tsunami and cut the ropes around her wrist. She carefully picked her up and brought her into to the house. She laid her down on the bed and used her miko-ki to lessen the red marks on her wrists.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine, Inari." Kagome said.

"Thank you, Kagome." Inari said. Kagome smiled, reassuring him that everything will be fine.

"We better go, Naruto-kun." Kagome said.

"Hai, can we leave everything to you, Inari?" Naruto asked.

"Hai!" Inari said.

"Alright then, let's go!" Naruto said. Then he and Kagome were on their way to the bridge where a battle had just started.


At the bridge:

"I'll fight him." Sasuke said, narrowing his black eyes at Haku.

"Huh?" Sakura asked, confused.

"I don't like people who hide behind masks." Sasuke said.

"Sasuke-kun, you're so cool!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Don't I have a mask as well?" Kakashi asked, sweatdropped. He felt a little bit insulted by one of his own students. Oh well, he'll dwell on that later.

"He's quite a boy." Haku said, "He dealt with the clones well even if they have one-tenth of the original person's power."

"Fortunately, your student gave us the perfect advantage." Zabuza said, "Haku, go."

"Hai, Zabuza-san." Haku said. Then he headed towards Sasuke and threw senbons at him as he ran towards him. The two began to clash again and again with kunais and senbons.

"Just give us the bridge builder and we won't have to kill you." Haku said.

"Not happening." Sasuke said, smirking.

"You're no match for my speed." Haku said, "Besides, I have two advantages."

"Oh yeah? What are they?" Sasuke challenged. Then his eyes widened when he saw Haku doing rapid hand signs with one hand. He stomped his foot in the water, making water drops pop up. Then the water drops turned into thousandths of needles that surrounded them.

"Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō!" Haku shouted. The needles went straight towards Sasuke. Sasuke had realized that he had fallen into a trap.

Remember the training! Sasuke thought as he closed his eyes and held up his hand, Focus your chakra into your feet!

Haku was surprised when Sasuke appeared behind him. The two clashed weapons once more. Sasuke soon gained an opening and was able to kick Haku in the face, sending him back at Zabuza's feet.

Impossible! No one can be faster than Haku! Zabuza thought, his eyes widened at the outcome.

"You've made a mistake of insulting us ninjas." Kakashi said, "Sasuke and Kagome are one of Konoha's strongest fighters, Haruno and Kagome both have the sharpest minds, and last but not least, Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's number one knuckle head ninja. So don't underestimate us including the strongest member on our team: Kagome Higurashi!"

Sakura stiffened when she heard Kakashi saying that Kagome is the strongest member on their team. There was no way that Kagome was stronger than her! But...Kagome was able to fight on equal ground with Zabuza during their last encounter with him. Sakura couldn't even do anything at that time.

I have to agree with Kakashi-sensei there. She is very strong. Stronger than Sakura no doubt. Actually, she's probably stronger than me and Kakashi-sensei combined. Sasuke thought with a smirk.

"Haku, we'll lose at this rate." Zabuza said as Haku stood back up, "Don't hold back."

"Hai." Haku said. Then a blue aura surrounded Haku. Sasuke soon noticed that the air around him was starting to get colder and colder. Goosebumps started to appear along his skin. Haku brought both of his hands together with his index finger pointed out and crossing. Suddenly, the tall mirrors of ice rise from the water that surrounded Sasuke. Haku walked towards the mirrors and absorbed himself into one of them. His reflection appeared in all of the mirrors that were all around Sasuke. Kakashi rushed towards the dome of ice mirrors to help Sasuke, but then Zabuza appeared in front of him.

"Your fight is with me, Kakashi." Zabuza said. Kakashi cursed.


Inside of the Ice Dome:

"I'll show you what true speed is." Haku said. Then he began throwing senbons in every direction. Unfortunately Sasuke was unable to dodge any of them since they came from different directions. He could feel each one going past one of his limbs or hit near a vital spot. One of the needles knocked his kunai out of his hand. He had to kneel to the ground as his legs started to go numb.

"SASUKE!" Sakura screamed. All of a sudden, Haku was knocked out of his mirror by a unsuspected force. The mirror was in pieces as it fell to the ground. The barrage of needles had stopped. Then they all spotted a giant boomerang spinning in the air, retreating to the person who threw it. The person who caught it was sitting on a giant cat in the air.

"Hope that we didn't miss anything!"

Kakashi smiled at that moment. He recognized that confident voice anywhere. Even though, he wanted the two to stay out of this battle. He also knew that they didn't want to be left out of it either. Then he noticed something strange. Kagome and Naruto were riding a huge cat that had flames on its two tails and its feet. He wondered where they got it. Somehow the cat looked familiar to him.

Kagome jumped off Kirara and dropped into the ice dome. She went over to Sasuke while Kirara and Naruto went over to Tazuna and Sakura. She kneeled down beside Sasuke and saw a few senbons on his legs and arms.

"You got beat up bad huh, Sasuke-kun?" Kagome asked.

"Obviously." Sasuke said, wincing at the pain in his legs. He tried to stand, only to sit on his knees.

"Don't move, you'll only worsen the pain." Kagome said.

"But we have to beat this guy." Sasuke said. Then they heard a dark chuckle. They turned towards the sound and saw Zabuza in front of the mirrors with his back to them. He looked over his shoulder and stared at Kagome.

"You finally came, Kagome. I was starting to get bored." Zabuza said. Kagome narrowed her eyes at Zabuza. She figured that he was using her comrades as 'entertainment' until she arrived.

"You won't be able to defeat me." Haku said, breaking Kagome out of her thoughts. Then the barrage of senbons began once more. Kagome quickly projected a barrier around her and Sasuke. They both watched the barrage of senbons bounce off Kagome's barrier.


Outside of the Ice Dome:

"Kagome! Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran towards the ice dome only to be grabbed by the collar of his jumpsuit. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kirara with her teeth on his collar, which prevented him from chasing after his other two comrades.

"Kirara! Let me go! I have to help them!" Naruto said as he tried to escape her grip, it was in vain. When he saw Kagome's pink barrier inside of the ice dome, he wanted to help them. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do at the time. He hated being left out on the fight. What could he do on the outside of the dome? Wait. Outside? He looked at the mirrors that surrounded Kagome and Sasuke. Wasn't this just like the time when Kagome was imprisoned by Zabuza's water prison? Maybe he could do something on the outside!

"Kirara, I know a way that we can help them!" Naruto said as he looked over his shoulder to glance at Kirara. Kirara tilted her head to the side when she heard about Naruto saying he had a plan. To her point of view, Kagome always did the planning, but Naruto did make a plan once when Kagome was imprisoned by Zabuza's water prison. Wanting to know what his plan is she let go of his collar.

"Okay, here's what I'll do." Naruto began to say.


Kakashi and Zabuza:

"You should worry about yourself before your students, Kakashi." Zabuza said as he attacked Kakashi with his Kubikiribōchō. He could clearly see the slash he put on his chest. He knew that it was just a matter of time before he can no longer fight. Soon enough, Kakashi disappeared in the mist. He'll have to wait until Kakashi will attack again. Then he heard the sound of mirrors breaking in the distance. Then he felt the rise of chakra. But there was something strange about this kind of chakra. It was something that he had never felt before.

Is this Kakashi's chakra? No, it's too powerful. Could it be one of those brats of his? Zabuza thought.

This chakra. In all my years, I have never felt such a powerful one. Is it Naruto? Kakashi thought, No, it's not him. Is it Kagome?

Kakashi had the strangest feeling that the powerful chakra might belong to Kagome. He knew that she had some sort of power that he had never heard of. But the question was what kind of jutsu was she using?


Inside of the Ice Dome:

The barrage of needles seem to have ended, but Kagome didn't release her barrier. Kagome knew that she couldn't keep her barrier up for long. She had about five minutes left at most. She had to think of something quick before the barrier goes down. She saw Haku preparing to throw another barrage of needles. Suddenly, a mirror exploded into pieces. Kagome and Sasuke looked to where the broken mirror was and saw Naruto with a confident grin on his face. Then he ran to the left side of the mirror dome and threw a kunai at it. The kunai hit the mirror and exploded into more pieces.

I see. He's attacking on the outside of the dome to give more of an advantage. Kagome thought as she watched Naruto try to hit the mirrors with the explosive kunai. Unexpectedly, Haku jumped out of one of the mirrors and threw needles at Naruto.

"Naruto, look out!" Kagome yelled at Naruto. But the needles already hit their target.


Outside of the Ice Dome:

Naruto ran towards another mirror to throw his kunai that had an explosive tag wrapped around. Suddenly, he heard Kagome's voice and saw Haku came out of the mirror and threw some needles at him. He blocked his eyes and chest area with his arms. He felt pain on his right wrist and left leg. He put his arm down and saw that he had four needles on his right wrist and three on his left leg. He had to kneel on his right leg because the pain in his left was starting to hurt. With the senbons in one of his leg, he couldn't move much.

"Naruto, look out!" Kagome yelled out to him. He looked up and saw more needles coming his way. Before he could blink, he found himself on the other side of the bridge. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kirara holding onto the collar of his clothes.

"Thanks, Kirara." Naruto said. Kirara gave a low growl which probably meant 'you're welcome'. Kirara placed Naruto on the ground, helping him sit down, and released his collar. She laid down and let Naruto lean against her.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out as she and Tazuna ran over to Naruto. Sakura knelt down and saw the senbon needles on his right wrist and on his left leg. She knew that he must be in a lot of pain. She figured that Haku must have figure out Naruto's strong points. Hearing a wince from Naruto, she watched him carefully remove the senbons from his wrist and leg. After he removed them, he was clutching his right wrist as small streams of blood flowed down. Suddenly, they felt a rise of chakra coming from inside of the ice dome.


Inside of the ice dome:

"That boy has some nerve to attack my brother!" Kagome said with a clenched fist in front of her.

Sasuke could see that Kagome was furious about Haku attacking Naruto. He saw the fury in her eyes and the trembling of anger that surrounded her whole body. From what life had taught him so far is that you should never mess with family especially if they have a sister who has a really bad temper.

I guess I'll have to use this jutsu to even the odds. Kagome thought. Then she began forming different hand signs. Sasuke recognized those hand signs. She was doing a summoning jutsu. But he wondered what kind of ninja animal could possibly win against a ninja who is able to create and manipulate ice?

"Kuchiyose: Kitsune no seishin: Kōrinoseishin!" Kagome yelled as she clapped her hands together. As she unfolded her hands a faded blue light appeared between her palms. She closed her eyes as she pushed the light towards her chest, absorbing into it. Then her body was surrounded in a light blue glow. Sasuke noticed that her black hair turned white and extended into a longer ponytail. Then three long tails, same color as her hair, appeared underneath her kimono shirt. Her nails lengthened and were turned to dark blue. Her ears were pointed. When she opened her eyes, they were in a darker shade of blue and the pupils were in slits like a cat almost.

W-What kind of jutsu is that?! Sasuke thought as he gazed at Kagome's new look. He had to admit that she looked beautiful, but why are there three tails behind her? They do look soft. Sasuke had to hold back his temptation to touch the tails. Now was not the time for that.

Kagome jumped out of the barrier and straight into one of Haku's mirrors that stood above them.

She went into the mirror?! Sasuke thought as his eyes widened when he saw Kagome go into the mirror. But Sasuke wasn't the only one who was shocked at this.

She's able to get into my mirrors? Haku thought.

"Hai, I can." Kagome said, appearing in the mirror in front of Haku. The next thing Haku knew was that Kagome had tried to hit him which ended up breaking the mirror. Then Kagome continued to chase Haku all around in the mirrors, breaking them as they went. The pieces of ice began to fall all around them. Luckily, Sasuke was protected by Kagome's barrier. Then all of the mirrors were shattered and Kagome kicked Haku right in the face when the last mirror shattered. Haku hit the ground and rolled away from Kagome. Her barrier disappeared as she walked towards Haku. She watched Haku beginning to stand up. When he fully stood up, she saw the hunter-nin mask broke in half and slowly came off his face. The sound of the mask dropping onto the ground echoed to those who were near Kagome's battle with Haku. What Kagome didn't know was that Naruto, Sakura, and Tazuna looked shocked at her new appearance.

Is that Kagome-chan? Sakura thought, shocked at the person that stood not too far away from her.

That must be one of her jutsus. Naruto thought as he stared at her new appearance.

Kagome stood in front of Haku who had an emotionless face on. It almost appeared like he had given up on life. She hated that kind of look on people. She couldn't understand why so many people would give up on life when they should just try harder to live. At that moment, her jutsu deactivated. Her long white hair turned back to black, her pointy ears were gone, her nails turned to its normal length, her eyes turned to her natural blue color, and the three white tails disappeared.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" Haku asked.

"What?" Kagome asked, her eyes widened.

"Please, kill me, Kagome-chan." Haku said with a bloody smile.

"Why?" Kagome asked, confused.

"I no longer have a purpose in my life. I have failed Zabuza-san." Haku said as he closed eyes in shame. Angry at his request to kill him, Kagome punched him in the face. Haku staggered for a moment until he stood up straight again, but his head was still down.

"Why do you want to die so badly, Haku?" Kagome asked, angry. Haku stared at his feet.

"Zabuza...he is the only reason why I fight." Haku said, "Before he found me, my father killed my mother and then he tried to kill me because of my kekkei genkai. In the end, I killed him...I was left all alone...no one wanted me...everyone hated me."

Haku smiled sadly as he remembered the times he and Zabuza had shared together from the first time they met, training hours, traveling together, and most of all: standing by his side. He lifted his head up and glance at the individuals that stood in front of him.

"But Zabuza saw me differently. A weapon. Something of use to him. It gave me a purpose to live...he gave me that reason…" Haku said, "For the first time in a long time, I was happy. He made me very happy. That is why I live to fulfill his dreams. I was willing to do anything to make him happy, even if it meant becoming a ninja."

Everyone stared at Haku. They were shocked at this ninja. Kagome couldn't believe that this guy was happy about being used as a weapon. But when someone thinks like that, they'll want to kill themselves when they feel like they aren't of any use to anyone anymore. She clenched her fists in anger. She hated those kind of people.

Naruto shared the same amount of shock as Kagome. He couldn't believe that people like Haku existed. He didn't know why a person would be happy to be used as a weapon. He glanced over at Kagome and saw that she was angry as well.

Haku felt something in air: Zabuza was in danger! He quickly took off in the direction to where Zabuza and Kakashi were battling.


Kakashi and Zabuza:

Zabuza was being restrained by Kakashi's earth style tracker jutsu which was composed of dogs biting onto his arms, legs, hands, feet, shoulders, and his Kubikiribōchō. Kakashi was standing a few feet away from him.

"No more tricks now. It's about time that I introduce you to my own jutsu." Kakashi declared as he brought up his hands and performed different hand signs. Then a blue ring of fire surrounded him. Lightning sparked and was absorbed into his left hand as his right hand held onto his left wrist. A orb of electrifying ki began to form in his hand.

His chakra is so strong! It's visible! Zabuza thought with panic as his eyes widened at the sight. He knew that he wouldn't get out of this alive. Who would think that 'Demon of the Mist' would be killed by none other than 'Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye'?

"You're finished!" Kakashi yelled as he charged towards Zabuza who was still restrained by his summons.

"CHIDORI!"

Then an ice mirror appeared in front of Zabuza, which confused Kakashi for a moment as he collided his fist into it. Kakashi and Zabuza's eyes widened at the sight. It wasn't Zabuza who received his attack.

It was Haku.


Naruto had tried to get up, so Kagome placed his arm over her shoulder. Then they quickly went after Haku with Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna, and Kirara right behind them. When they finally spotted their sensei, they froze at the sight before them. An ice mirror cracked into, Haku's chest pierced by Kakashi, blood splatter, and a shocked Zabuza and Kakashi. Kagome, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura knew what had just happened.

Haku had sacrificed himself for Zabuza.


Sometimes, people do the darkest acts in the name of helping protect their loved ones.

-Dean Ornish


A/N:

Jutsu:

Hyōton: Kōri kēji-jutsu - Ice Release: Ice Cage Jutsu

Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō - Secret Technique: Thousand Water Needles of Death

Kuchiyose: Kitsune no seishin - Summoning: Fox Spirit (Name of Spirit)

Chidori - One Thousand Birds