Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 33: Sharp Needles
They both saw the image of Haku appear on the ice panel right in front of them.
"There!" Several shuriken were already in Sasuke's hand.
Both genin were about to attack when, all of a sudden, they heard something behind them.
Another Haku threw several steel needles at them, forcing them to move away from each other.
"A clone?...no…what kind of technique is this?" Naruto wondered how this worked.
"They are not clones." Sasuke answered. But he didn't seem to know much more than that.
More images of Haku started to appear on all of the ice panels, covering their entire view.
'It's like…mirrors…' That meant that only one of them could attack while the rest were merely a distraction.
'If I were able to sense his aura, this fight would be over very quickly, but I need to finish my Core Formation Stage for that.'
Even knowing that only one of them was real didn't help much when the needles started raining on them. They appeared to be coming from all directions as Haku was able to move extremely fast from one mirror to the next.
Not even two minutes after the start of the fight, Naruto's body had been pierced a dozen times.
Sasuke was in much worse shape than him since he had already been doing this before Naruto arrived.
"Trying to follow my position with your eyes is impossible. This technique allows me to use the mirror's reflection to transport myself. From my point of view, you two are moving in slow motion." Haku explained.
"Oi, can't you use that technique from your clan? I'm sure it would come in handy now." Naruto said.
"The Sharingan… I have not awakened it yet…" Sasuke said with exasperation.
"That's too bad." Naruto glanced at Sasuke. The black-haired boy was having trouble breathing and was barely standing up.
"Give me some cover then." He said before rushing to one of the mirrors.
It didn't matter which one he broke. Haku probably needed them all intact to keep using his technique. A single mirror missing would be enough to prevent the reflections from covering the whole dome.
"Too slow!" Haku was already in the mirror that Naruto was planning on attacking. He aimed some of his senbons and released them.
Some of them were intercepted by Sasuke's shuriken while Naruto had to block the rest by using his left arm as a shield.
His right fist went directly to the middle of the mirror while Haku was more than ready to stop it.
But then, Naruto's right arm disappeared from that position and reappeared a few inches lower.
This took Haku by surprise and he could not move in time before he received a good hit in the stomach.
"Urgg…" Haku reacted by pushing Naruto away from him.
"What?!" Both Sasuke and the masked ninja were surprised to discover that a large amount of blood was pouring from his belly.
"What did you do there?" Sasuke asked.
"It's a move called Illusionary Fist. This masked guy is not the only one who can do tricks with light." Even though the technique is called as such, there is nothing preventing you from using a weapon.
Naruto had disguised his real right arm, where he was wielding a kunai, with a fake one that just looked like it was punching.
Haku groaned in pain as he removed the bloody kunai from his body and applied pressure on the wound with one hand.
"If I aimed it right, he is not going to last too long. But we better finish him off." Naruto advised.
"Finish him off…" Sasuke muttered. He had never killed anyone, but he understood that in this situation they didn't have much of a choice. Their opponent was stronger than them. If they also were to show him mercy, it could be a fatal mistake.
"Finish me off?! Ahh!" Haku snapped. His prior calm attitude had disappeared, and he now appeared to be truly angry.
"Master Zabuza was right… I should never have shown mercy to my enemies!"
Naruto felt a large amount of bloodlust.
"This is bad… you may wanna leave now, Sasuke."
"What are you talking ab-" Before Sasuke could finish, his instinct made him react to an attack.
More needles were sent at him, but now they felt a lot faster, and they were all aimed at his neck and face.
Two needles buried in his left shoulder, causing him tremendous pain and making him lose his balance.
Naruto was dealing with the same. He was not fast enough to block everything that Haku was throwing at them. Even with his current wound, the masked ninja was moving even faster than before, and his attacks had become much more dangerous.
'If this continues… we are actually going to die…' Naruto considered his options. And he didn't like any of them.
'I'm going to need a bit of help on this one…'
His consciousness was pulled inward and into his Mind Palace.
When he regained his sight, he was back in that familiar sewer.
"I knew you would be back eventually." The demon fox snarled at him.
Naruto walked towards the cage, not slowing down even when he was only a couple of feet away.
"I need something from you," Naruto said in a calm tone.
A gigantic paw with sharp nails appeared from the cage like a lightning bolt and grabbed onto Naruto.
"You should not have gotten so close, boy… I am going to crush you now!" The demon fox threatened him.
"Unless you release that seal…"
Naruto started to laugh.
"What's so funny?!" The Kyubi shouted.
"You are either taking me for a fool, or… you are a fool yourself, Demon…" Naruto said with a grin.
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