Sasuke's Struggle

(whoosh!) Naruto appeared at the door where he left the marking.

He saw Inari running towards the two swordsmen who wanted to draw their swords out.

("No way, I'd let that happen") Naruto thought as he instantly appeared behind Tsunami and rescued her to safety.

The swords sliced towards the after-image which got cut in three pieces as it fell down turning into tree logs.

"The substitution jutsu…?!"

"The woman…. Hmm?" The two men looked around themselves.

…

"Sorry I was late…" Naruto apologised as he dropped Tsunami and Inari, gently on the floor.

"Heroes usually appears on the scene late, so…."

"Big bro, Naruto…." Inari was happy upon being rescued.

"Inari, you did well!" Naruto said.

"Big bro…. How did you know that these two were here?" Inari asked as he was surprised.

Naruto was in a pinch, the last time this happened, he was just about to head towards the battle, but saw the sword marks all over the forest heading towards the house. But now he had nothing to prove.

"Well, I forgot my weapons pouch in your house, and since the battle was about to begin, I came back to grab it, I saw that the door was open and nobody was in the house, then I went out and I saw you and your mom in trouble…." Naruto tried to sound natural.

"I see" Inari responded

"Well…..if it ain't the no good Ninja that Tazuna hired....."

"Let's do it" The both swordsmen started running towards thr trio.

"Here they come!" Inari warned.

"Hmph!" Naruto sneered as he disappeared right before their eyes.

(Whoosh!) Naruto appeared behind the running duo as he gave a roundhouse kick towards the temple region of one man who slammed into the other as a bonus as they knocked their heads, turning unconscious and flew a few metres before they landed in the water beside the path that was built on stilts.

"w-woW….big bro Naruto, you defeated them with one kick"

"hehehe, it's done" Naruto laughed as he pointed his fist towards Inari.

"hahahahha" The duo started laughing,

"Anyway…. Sorry about yesterday, Inari"

"Huh"

"I called you, a crybaby you know…. seeing you run bravely towards your mom…. Just forget that I ever said it"

"You're strong, Inari!"

Inari started crying.

"damn it, you are going to call me a crybaby again, aren't you?" Inari asked with tears running out.

"It's okay to cry when you are happy" Naruto smiled.

"Now then, I can leave everything to you, right?"

"Yeah" Inari nodded

"Man, It's tough being a hero….." Naruto commented as he turned the other way

(poof!)

"That was a a clone? .....Big bro Naruto you are too cool!" Inari was stunned as Naruto's clone disappeared.

…

…

….

Back on the bridge,

Haku began fighting Sasuke once again, with much greater speed, only to be defeated yet again….

meanwhile, Naruto became happy as he confirmed that the jutsu worked perfectly and that his clone rescued both Inari and Tsunami.

Zabuza's expression was not good as he stared at Haku

"At this rate, you'll be defeated by your intended victim…"

"yes" Haku said as he emitted a chilly aura causing the surrounding temperature to decrease rapidly.

"What is that?…..Is this cold air?" Sasuke asked as he was puzzled.

(crk!)

(crk!)

(crk!)

Sounds of glass shattering came from behind Sasuke, only to see huge ice walls forming behind him as it continued to spread forth in a circular manner.

<Hidden jutsu - Crystal Ice Mirrors>

Haku announced as the jutsu completed.

("What is that jutsu?") Kakashi thought hoping that Sasuke would still be able to survive.

Haku then walked over to an ice mirror and stepped right into it.

Sticking himself into the ice mirror like he was a mirror image formed by it.

"Are these mirrors" Sasuke asked as he saw Haku Simultaneously starting to appear in all the nearby mirrors.

"Damn it!" Kakashi said as he started running towards the mirror, only to be blocked by Zabuza.

"I'm your opponent aren't I...…?" ....."Since that Jutsu has appeared…. He's done for." Zabuza said with absolute confidence in Haku.

Even though Zabuza said those words, he still looked towards Naruto who was calmly observing everything. Zabuza could not help but be wary of Naruto ever since the time he was sent flying with a punch. But what made him feel uncomfortable now was that Naruto had yet to make a move.

…

"Now then…. I'll start" "I shall show you my true speed!..." Haku said as he began to attack Sasuke with needles.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi screamed feeling powerless to do anything as he was being blocked by Zabuza.

Kakashi also turned back to Naruto, only to see him watching the fight. Between the two in the crystal mirror quietly as though he had expected something. In truth Naruto wanted to interfere, but he also wanted to give a chance to Sasuke who had said he would take them on by himself.

"Sasuke-kun" Sakura called out unable to watch Sasuke being stabbed by the uncountable needles that were flying in the air.

Sasuke tried resisting by using his chakra to increase his movement speed, but he was still outdone by Haku.

Sakura did not want to watch Sasuke get hurt, as she jumped into the air after taking out a kunai and sent it towards the space in front of Sasuke. But before it could reach It was caught by Haku.

Sasuke took advantage of this small pause in the battle.

<Sharingan>

Both his eyes opened up with red pupils as he seemed to regain his confidence while also brimming with fighting spirit. But no one noticed the small change that took place in his eyes, His eyes now had two commas instead of the single one that he had initially.

("Looks like the sparring matches weren't useless") Naruto thought back to how Sasuke had faced him when Naruto did not wear weights, as Naruto's speed completely exceeded Haku who was battling Sasuke now.

Haku turned towards Sasuke after catching the kunai, shocked upon looking at his eyes

"You also possess a bloodline limit?" Haku asked while trying to observe Sasuke,

"And its not just a single comma but two, which means you had awakened yours quite a while ago?"

"Hmph! Are you scared?" Sasuke asked gaining even more confidence

"Scared…..?…No… its just that the jutsu I'm using right now is based on my bloodline limit." Haku said indifferently.

"I knew it!…. That jutsu" Kakashi said as he looked towards Sasuke's battle.

"Yes, Haku does possess a bloodline limit, but you are no slouch either Kakashi….."

"Who is that kid fighting with Haku inside?" Zabuza asked curiously.

"Sasuke is the member of the most excellent clan in Konoha….."

"That can't be…." Zabuza said with a sense of disbelief.

"Yes….His name is Uchiha Sasuke…..He bears within his body….the famous bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan!"

"He is the sole remaining survivor of that tragic clan?!" Zabuza asked with a dumfounded expression.

"No wonder…." "But that's the same as Haku….."

"Nobody has ever beaten the secret jutsu of Haku's...Not one person from the past….."

Meanwhile within the crystal mirror Haku said

"Once again, If I can, I don't want to kill you… Neither do I want to get killed…. But if you are to come after me, then I shall kill my feelings and completely become a killing machine…"

He looked outside as he continued "This bridge is the battleground that connects each of us to our dreams….." "I, for the sake of my dream. And you, for the sake of your dreams."

"So please don't hold it against me….."

"I only want to protect the person dear to me….."

"I work for the sake of that person, I fight for that person, and I want to make that person's dream a reality…"

"That's my dream..." "For the sake of that dream, I will completely become a shinobi (author's note - a completely emotionless killing machine)…. And kill you!"

…

Kakashi knew it was no longer wiser to continue being in a standstill with Zabuza so he decided to finish it faster…..

<Sharingan> He opened his protector to reveal his left eye.

Zabuza knew the situation just became more disadvantageous for him as he looked towards Naruto once again.

("Looks like this kid wont be making a move anytime soon…..") Zabuza concluded as he turned towards Kakashi.

"Even if you are able to defeat me, you can't defeat Haku…"

"Kakashi-sensei cannot win?" Sakura thought as she looked at Naruto as if asking for help.

Naruto looked at Sakura as he thought of her changes compared to how she was back in his world

("was she this useless?") Naruto thought as he shifted his gaze towards Zabuza once again.

<ninja art - Hidden Mist Jutsu!> Zabuza announced while retaining the position he had to be in for the jutsu to work.

Naruto did not interfere in Kakashi's battle either as he had his plans to see how fate played out.

The fog became extremely thick to which even Kakashi started wondering how Zabuza was seeing through the fog. But all this was a part of Zabuza's plan to make Kakshi's sharingan useless.

"I have closed my eyes!" Zabuza directed his voice to Kakashi through the mist as he continued to speak

"By using the mist and closing my eyes I have effectively cancelled the abilities of your perceptive eyes and hypnotic eyes…"

"But, you will also lose your vision" Kakashi pointed out.

"Did you forget?…. That I am a genius at silent killing, a technique to find a target just by sound….."

…

…

…

Back in the crystal mirrors

"Here I go" Haku announced as all the mirrors lit up at the same time,

Sasuke watched carefully as he was finally able to see clearly how Haku had moved between the mirrors.

"There" Sasuke calculated as he started running to a spot where Haku would appear by using chakra dash, but missed Haku by about a tenth of an inch.

Haku reached the mirror as he contemplated ("The boy is already able to see me and react fast, I have to finish this with my next attack…..")

Haku then jumped off once again, and sent needles after Sasuke,

But this time Sasuke suddenly fell to the floor, due to having drained his chakra by using chakra dash and his sharingan simultaneously. The new 2 comma sharingan had taken a toll on his body, far more than what he could handle, and the accumulation from all the attacks from the needles that was stuck on his body already had him going through a huge amount of pain.

Haku jumped out of a mirror as he stared at Sasuke's body

"Looks like his body gave up" he commented as he turned towards Naruto.

Naruto knew that this was Sasuke's limit and arrived beside Sasuke in between the crystal mirrors to retrieve his unconscious body.

"Wait!" Haku said, trying to stop Naruto.

"I'll come back" Naruto replied not intent on running away as he instantly arrived beside Sakura and place Sasuke gently on the ground.

"Take care of him" Naruto said to Sakura , then re-entered the crystal mirrors.

Haku was surprised seeing Naruto eagerly return.

….

….

….

Meanwhile Kakashi was stranded in the mist hoping to fare well in the fight against Zabuza

"Darn it, It has been a while since I've last fought in such bad conditions " He commented as the fog grew denser and denser.

Zabuza noticed Naruto drop off Sasuke with his senses and decided to go in that direction knowing that he would probably find Tazuna,

"Be calm… Think….What will he come after?" Kakashi thought.

"Oh no….." it suddenly clicked Kakashi's mind as he dashed to the direction where the group was….

Zabuza raised his blade up and decided to swing it down on Sakura who was protecting Tazuna and Sasuke, while Kakashi appeared just before the blade could touch Sakura as it made it s way into Kakashi's body, leaving a huge bloody gash on the front of Kakashi's body.

"You were late entering to guard Kakashi" Zabuza commented.

"Your whole-hearted intent to help those kids has gone to your head, and it seems to have clouded your sharingan with an even heavier fog"

Zabuza said with a slight sense of regret and continued….

"Even though you have these impressive eyes, your ability to read your enemy's movements is getting cloudy."

"Amuse me more, Kakashi….. I want to repay my debt in an amusing way…"

Kakashi couldn't help but smile,

"The great Zabuza momochi acting like a kid just because he was defeated with one punch from one of my students…." Kakashi mocked Zabuza.

Zabuza got angry as he backed up disappearing in the mist once again.

Kakashi regained his composure as he said.

"We're both busy people….. I know it's against your style, but I think it's about time we stopped playing around." Kakashi said as he took out a scroll from his vest, bit his finger and drew blood over the scroll.

He closed it again and formed a seal

"Why don't we settle this once and for all with the next move?"

"Interesting" "What can you possibly do in this situation?"

"Kakashi go ahead and show me"…"But I warn you… whatever you do won't work!"

"You have absolutely no idea where I am right now. Whereas I know where you are…"

"You are completely in my hands now...…." Zabuza smirked as he stood at the incomplete edge of the bridge.

….

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….

….

meanwhile Haku was facing Naruto in the crystal mirrors dome.