"Give it up, Haku!" Sakura called out to him, as Team 7 slowly surrounded him from all sides. "You've already lost, there's no need for you to throw your life away…"
Haku shook his head gently, sending his long silky black hair swaying from side to side.
"…there is no use for a tool that cannot accomplish the purpose it was made for," Haku said dully. "If I cannot be of use to Zabuza-sama, then there is no point in my being alive."
He paused briefly.
"To be honest, I do not think I could ever truly embrace what it means to be a shinobi. I do not wish to kill or even hurt you, but if that is what it takes to make Zabuza-sama's dreams a reality, then I will not hesitate to kill my own heart to quell these feelings of mine, and become a true shinobi."
Naruto gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on the kunai in his hand; it seemed like no amount of talking would ever convince Haku to stand down.
Suddenly, Kakashi's and Zabuza's fight came a little too close to theirs, but that distraction proved to be fatal. It had only taken a single moment of inattention for Haku to seize his opportunity… He flickered forward and swung his arm, attempting to bury his senbon through Naruto's skull and scramble his brains by going through the ear canal…
In Sasuke's eyes, time seemed to slow down to a crawl; the Tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, and suddenly, a second Tomoe appeared to join the first. The way things were going, Naruto, his sort of only friend, would die; that is, unless he did something about it. It was by coming to this realization that Sasuke's eyes suddenly evolved into Two-Tomoe Sharingan, allowing him to capture Haku's movements in greater detail. Enough for him to…
"Sasuke, NO!" Sakura screamed.
Sasuke pushed Naruto out of the way, but in doing so, Haku's needle found its way into his throat, and he went down, blood gurgling from his mouth and the newly made orifice. Enraged, Sakura took a swipe at Haku with her sword, but he simply dodged out of the way and retreated back into the mist, disappearing from view.
Naruto just sat there on his butt, dumbstruck.
"Snap out of it, Naruto!" Sakura yelled at him as she rummaged through her pouch for bandages and disinfectant. "Cover me while I give Sasuke first aid!"
In her first days in the world of the ninja after her reincarnation, the world around her had barely seemed real; it was so full of contradictions, it all felt like some sort of silly dream. During that time, Sakura had jokingly told herself that she would never learn Iryō Ninjutsu; after all, if she were to train as a medic-nin, then wouldn't she be railroading herself into a supporting role?
But after seeing Sasuke, her friend, her comrade, bathing in a pool of his own blood like this…
"Sasuke, why…?" Naruto whispered, finally managing to come to his senses. "I would have been fine, ya know…"
"How was I supposed to know?" Sasuke groaned. "My body just moved on its own, you… loser…!"
Now, to remove the senbon, or to leave it in the wound? Sakura wasn't sure…
"Shh!" Sakura hushed them. "Don't make him speak, Naruto, and he'll be fine. See, the needle just barely missed the carotid artery…"
"Is Sasuke really gonna be okay?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling.
Was this what it truly meant to be a shinobi? An emotionless tool, obeying orders without question until death?
Sakura nodded. Haku truly was a kind boy, after all…
"I won't die," Sasuke wheezed, smiling grimly despite the pain. "I can't die until I've fulfilled my oath…"
---------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Zabuza was having a really hard time dealing with Kakashi. The fog was already thinning into a mist, and it seemed like no matter what he did, his opponent would always be two steps ahead of him. That red eye, that spinning red eye, that seemed to see deep within his soul…
"Water Style: Water Trumpet!"
"Water Style: Water Trumpet!"
Twin streams of water snaked up from below the bridge, before hurling themselves in the shape of a cone at each other… creating nothing but harmless splatters. Once again, Kakashi had perfectly countered Zabuza's Ninjutsu with an identical one of his own.
The Sharingan was truly a wonderful Kekkei Genkai when it came to fighting regular shinobi…
While Kakashi had mastered all five chakra nature transformations through his own training and with a little help from his Dōjutsu, the Sharingan could additionally grant him the ability to perform chakra nature transformations as skilfully as his opponent, albeit temporarily. As long as Kakashi was copying Zabuza, he would be able to transmute his raw chakra into water nature chakra as efficiently as if he had been born with the water affinity instead of the lightning affinity!
Unfortunately, the Sharingan couldn't copy nature transformation-type Kekkei Genkai, since the Sharingan could only copy one nature at a time…
"All you're doing is copying me," Zabuza snarled. "Monkey see, monkey do!"
"All you're doing is copying me," said Kakashi at the same time. "Monkey see, monkey do!"
Zabuza was now extremely unnerved; this went beyond simply copying! Was the Copy Ninja somehow reading his mind? Reading the future!? He began weaving seals rapidly: Tiger, Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Ram, Boar, Ox, Horse, Monkey…
Perhaps Kakashi had overdone his Copy Ninja act, even though Genjutsu wasn't his speciality…
Ordinarily, by using psychological hints, Kakashi would be able to nudge his opponent into 'making' the decision to perform a Jutsu of his choice, as long as he had them under his Sharingan Genjutsu; therefore, making it appear as though he was a mind reader….
However, the problem was that Zabuza was now too riled up; his chakra was getting a little too chaotic to control effectively, and the man really, really wanted to fire off his biggest Ninjutsu, and wash everything away…
It was looking as though Kakashi would have no choice but to copy that. And so, Kakashi began copying Zabuza's seals with unswerving accuracy, but at a much faster pace: Tiger, Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Ram, Boar, Ox, Horse, Monkey, Tiger, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Tiger, Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Bird!
Zabuza's eyes widened in shock as Kakashi's hands blurred, his seal forming speed outstripping his own... and then Kakashi began copying the remaining seals that he hadn't even formed yet! How could he have possibly known that he had been about to perform the—
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu!"
"My apologies, Zabuza," Kakashi said calmly, "but I won't allow you to fire this Jutsu towards the town…"
Zabuza had arrived by boat at the end of the unfinished bridge, meaning that he was currently facing southwards, towards the town. Meanwhile, Kakashi was facing northwards, towards the Land of Fire. If Zabuza had succeeded in completing his Great Waterfall Jutsu before Kakashi, the entire town would have been submerged, and many lives would have been lost in the deluge!
Luckily, Kakashi was better than Zabuza at making hand seals; Kakashi's chakra summoned a vortex of sea water that rose from beneath the bridge and slammed into Zabuza, sending him spiralling off into the water below, in the swirl of the maelstrom's eye.
Unfortunately, the large-scale Jutsu took its toll on the unfinished structure they were all fighting on; cracks began forming themselves everywhere in sight, and the bridge began emitting ominous creaking sounds…
"Team 7!" Kakashi shouted. "Take Tazuna-san to safety! The bridge can't take much more of this!"
Naruto grabbed the injured Sasuke in a princess carry, while Sakura leapt towards Tazuna and unceremoniously tossed him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes; just in time, as the bridge began crumbling to pieces beneath their feet!