I do not own Naruto, but I wished I did.

With Naruto and Shino…

Naruto rushed to help Shino as he faltered. Shino was breathing heavily and his muscles were sore. His mind was working in over time. The hunter nin used his mirrors to dodge Shino's bugs, making them essentially useless.

It didn't help that his charka was running low and he was getting dizzy. His body didn't react in time in order to see the punch heading straight for his face. He waited for the impact, before opening his eyes. When did he close them?

"Leave him alone. You're my opponent now." The hunter nin didn't speak. Naruto kicked the nin back as he charge at him. The hunter nin threw kunai at the still following Shino.

Distracted, Naruto moved to help him dodge them. The hunter nin took this chance to slip back into the mirrors. He quickly began changing mirrors as Naruto began smashing the ones he kept transferring to.

Striking the mirror the hunter nin was at, Naruto struck the one next to it at the same time. The hunter nin cursed softly as he fell out of the mirrors. Naruto stabbed a kunai into the hunter nins kimono, forcing him to rip his sleeve as he pulled away.

The hunter nin adjusted his white mask as he moved against Naruto's body. The hunter nins long black hair flowed in the wind as they stared down each other. Shino crawled his way out of the mirrors, in order to get out their way.

"Good luck Uzumaki-san."

With Asuma and Zabuza…

Asuma was having his own problems just like his students were. Except his problem, was buff, mean, and definitely a fighting machine. Zabuza wasn't going easy on him either since he was defeated in their last battle.

Zabuza and Asuma were trading attacks like crazy, but either of them were even thinking of slowing down. There was too much on the line.

"Wind Release: Great breakthrough!"

Asuma cupped his hands around his mouth as he pushed his hands an outward motion. Zabuza used his sword to push back against the wind, but his body was still a crossed the water.

"Is that the best you got?" Zabuza called ripping off his bandages.

"You still talk too much." Asuma commented.

With Naruto…

"Would you please stop throwing needles at me? It's getting really tiring." The hunter nin sweat dropped.

Naruto made a grab for the hunter nin again when he slipped back into his mirrors.

"I'm afraid this battle has gone on enough. This has to end."

"Oh come on. We were just getting to the good part." Throwing two kunai, the hunter nin easily dodged, but felt his eyes widened as his mask was spilt In half. 'But how did he…"

"Oh. Every time we clashed, I kept breaking a piece of your mask off. I'm kind of surprised you never noticed till now."

The hunter nin made no attempt to cover his face as it was revealed. Naruto's cocky face was wiped off his face when the hunter nin was revealed to be none than Haku.

"Wow, I didn't see that coming."

With Asuma and Zabuza…

Asuma bit his lip as he tried keeping his mind focused solely on his fight. He couldn't help but notice as Shikamaru moved to keep behind in order to protect Tazuna while Naruto had began to engage with the hunter nin.

Wait, when did Naruto arrive on the scene? His distraction gave Zabuza the opportunity to charge at him as Asuma looked away for a second. Asuma blocked the blade with one hand as he came his attention on Shikamaru.

Eyes widening, Asuma rushed over to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru! Move Tazuna now!"

Tazuna and Shikamaru ducked under Zabuza's big sword as Asuma kicked Zabuza back onto the lake. The two of them engaged again a taijutsu fight, as Shikamaru moved to protect and clam down Tazuna again.

"Come on Zabuza. Let's talk this out." Zabuza ignored him and opting to attacking him again. The others looked up in awe as they watched the two go at it. Naruto and the hunter nin weren't fighting at moment, but they were still tense. Shino stood off at a distance, wrapping his bandages quickly.

With Naruto and Haku…

"That is indeed a troubling story Haku, but I can't let you complete your mission." Haku nodded.

Shino watched them get into their battle positions. "Maybe we could've been friends in a different life time Naruto-san." Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, in a different life time maybe."

"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

Mirrors starting forming around Naruto in a twenty-one formation. Naruto groaned as he found himself surrounded. Haku appeared in all the mirrors at once, wearing an emotionless mask. Naruto tried punching through the nearest mirror, but to his great surprise, it wasn't affected in the slightest.

"That trick won't work twice with me."

"That was unfortunate." Naruto rubbed his palm gently, as he stared at the multiple Hakus.

Haku began throwing kunai at Naruto as tried his best to dodge them. On a few occasions, Naruto was able to pull a limb out of a mirror, but it would turn out to be a water clone, and not the real Haku. This began to irritate Naruto.

Five Minutes Later…

The battle, if one could call it that was rather one sided. Naruto saw no way how he could be on the offensive, when Haku partially had been defensive and offensive against him the whole time! The only thing that worked against him was…nothing.

'That surely helped a lot', though Naruto.

However, he did begin to notice something about Haku's movements. They were getting slower and sloppier. That must mean he's running out of charka. Which was a bad-good thing depending on you look at it. If he's low on charka, then that gives me an opportunity to attack, but that might make him desperate as well.

Suddenly, an idea struck Naruto. 'There's no way this can fail…hopefully'.

Forming his hands in a cross, he shouted out "Shadow clone Justu!" Dozens of Naruto's appeared in the area. They began to crush all the mirrors around them, forcing Haku to create more, and keep moving in case of them got to close.

"Enough. Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death jutsu!" '

All of the Naruto's watched gather water from the crushed mirrors. They were momentarily stunned as they transformed into one thousand long needles. None of the clones was able to get away as hit them at vital area at high speed. Haku of course was safe being in his mirrors, so he didn't have to worry getting caught in the cross-fire.

Smoke was soon covering the area as all the clones were popped. When the smoke finally cleared, Haku narrowed his eyes at seeing nothing. The needles had got rid of the clones, but there was one question still left.

Where was Naruto?

"Crystal Release: Twin Tornados."

Haku felt a stinging pain in his shoulder before he realized that his mirror had been crushed. Then it dawned on him. The clones and the smoke! Haku gave a little smile as he opened his eyes. When did he close them. There was a hole in his shoulder, no bigger than his fist, but it stung like crap.

"You used the clones as a distraction. Then used the smoke to keep my attention on the ground, making me think you were still among them. Even when the smoke cleared, I didn't think about looking up."

Silence.

"A plan so simple. I shouldn't seen it coming, but that's probably why you used it. So simple, I wouldn't thought about that."

"To be honest, I just didn't want to hit by those needles." Haku and Naruto shared a laugh at that.

Both boys were panting as they laid on the ground together. Asuma and Zabuza were still going at it, but as far as they were concerned, they were done. That last technique had taken a lot out of both of them. Haku could barely lift his head, let alone fight.

They watched as the remaining mirrors changed to water as Haku ran out of charka

"So. I think that means I won." Haku smirked tiredly.

"I just let you win."

"Uh-uh!"

With Asuma and Zabuza…

"I can't believe Haku lost to that little shrimp." Zabuza shook his head.

Asuma was bleeding in a few places, but Zabuza wasn't fresh either. His shoulder was cut pretty badly. His body was growing tired, but this was the most fun he had in a long time. There was no way he could give up so quickly.

He watched as Asuma charged at him head on. Forming head seals, he began to back up as Asuma sent another strong gust of wind to him. Using his sword to protect him from most of the damage, we was still pushed back.

"Water release: Water gun jutsu!" A torrent of water burst out of Zabuza's mouth catching Asuma by surprise.

Using his hands to block most of the water, Asuma still ended up looking like a drown rat. His mood darken as his cigarette got soggy as well. Taking out his trench knives, he began charging them with wind energy.

Seeing his chance, Zabuza charged pushing Asuma back. Asuma used one arm to block, and the other to slash against Zabuza's stomach. It connected and made a bloody gash, but Zabuza only smiled.

"You're going to have to do better if you think that's going to make me stay down." Zabuza began applying pressure as Asuma flipped backwards.

Asuma went in closer a few times, nicking Zabuza in his thigh and legs. They were smaller and less clean than the first gash, but they were still in vital places. Asuma began rolling around on the water, dodging both Zabuza's sword and his jutsu. He launched a kick managing to catch Zabuza in the chin.

Zabuza only grabbed his leg and tossed to the side like a bag of potatoes. Asuma grunted as water flooded his nose and ears. Standing on shaking legs, Asuma coughed up water.

"Maybe I'll smoke one less pack when I get back home." He suggested. Zabuza only laughed in amusement.

"That's if you beat me."

They began charging at each other, when another person entered the area.

"Zabuza!"

Both men stopped charging at each other, and Asuma did a back flip for good measure, as they turned to face the newcomer.

With Naruto and Haku…

Naruto and Haku were leaning against each other as they watched Asuma fight Zabuza. On occasion one of them would make a comment, but for the most part, they were resting. Who knew when they had to fight again?

"Zabuza!"

Damn.

The two teens watched a short fat man walk over to their respective sensei. Either one missed all the thugs behind them. One of his arms were in a cast, and Naruto figured the man was either very clumsy or he pissed someone off. He was leaning toward the latter. Zabuza leaned on his sword, breathily heavily.

"Gato! What's the meaning of this? Can't you see I'm busy at the moment." Haku and Naruto sweat dropped.

Despite the both of them being a considerable distance away, Naruto and Haku could hear the adults clear as day.

"Listen about our deal, Zabuza. I need the money right now, so I've got to cut a few people loose. You and that little brat, being one of them. I hope you don't mind." For added measure, Gato spat in Haku's direction as he walked behind his thugs once again.

"Look at you hiding behind your little thugs Gato. Do you really think you can beat me?" Gato snorted.

"Don't listen to him! He's wounded and exhausted. Kill him!" The thugs hesitated for a second, before charging at Zabuza.

Glancing at Asuma, Zabuza glanced at him holding up one finger as if to say, "one moment please." Asuma held up his hand, stepping back. The others watched Zabuza stumble towards the thugs with his sword raised high. He sliced through the first wave of thugs easily. The second wave of thugs faltered slightly but didn't do much damage anyways. The thugs who did manage to do something stuck something, anything in Zabuza's body in hopes of killing him.

Boy were they out of luck. By the time the last thug had either fled or been killed, Gato was left alone. He was babbling something, but Zabuza wasn't having any of it. Still, Gato tried his best to appease and bargain with Zabuza, but as he raised his sword above his head….he screamed.

All of people turned their heads at the sight of Zabuza's one-man slaughter. He was panting heavily, and blood was dripping heavily down his arms and backs. Stumbling, Naruto helped Haku over to Zabuza.

"Naruto! They are still our enemies!"

"Haku's my friend sensei. Like any other friend, I'm gonna help him."

Thirty seconds later…

"Zabuza-sama! I'll fix you up, like before and you'll win the next battle." Zabuza shook his head.

"No Haku, you and I both know that's not going to work. I've lost too much blood already. To think I was starting to have fun too."

Zabuza gently wiped off Haku's tears as Naruto stared at the other direction. "Smoker guy. Take…care…of Haku…for me…"

Everyone had a moment of silence as they head another commotion to the far left. Naruto looked over his shoulder as a bunch of villagers and Inari walked over the bridge. Shikamaru carried Shino over to Tazuna, who had walked over to Inari.

"You're a little late Inari."

A week later…

Everyone was resting around Tazuna's house as the sun was settling down. The next day, was the day Team 8 was leaving Wave. Naruto had been consoling Haku over Zabuza's death for the past week, but the boy was heartbroken.

For the past week, Asuma had been resting and smoking as he watched the bridge get complete. Two days after Zabuza's death, Naruto and Haku had buried Zabuza not too far from the bridge. Haku had left his sword on his gravestone.

"Naruto-san? Do you think Zabuza-sama is safe where ever he is?" Naruto nodded, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What are you going to do now Haku?" Haku shrugged his shoulders.

"I think I might stay here for a while. Zabuza-sama wouldn't approve of me moping around about his death."

"I see what you're saying. I think you'll be fine, Haku."

"You'll be fine as well, Naruto-san. I'm sure of it."

End Chapter. Review if you have the time. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and alerts. Ja ne!