(Back Inside the Dome)
Sasuke's cry caught Naruto's attention. The Uchiha had several sebon sticking out of his shoulders and thigh, crumpling him to the ground. The ghostly masked girl dashed through her mirrors towards them with a speed that was blinding, outwitting them. Naruto held a kunai in his hands and sped through a defensive weave, deflecting the senbon as they tried to pincushion him and Sasuke.
Sasuke was trying to drag himself over to Naruto, but his injury was keeping him from moving properly. The girl that had quickly and easily put down Sasuke was approaching Naruto with her hands full of senbon, floating over him like some wrathful spirit within her mirror.
Naruto himself sustained a couple of cuts and stab wounds around his body. Sasuke at this point was kneeling on one leg on the ground after being struck with multiple senbon needles around his body and bleeding from his injuries.
"Sasuke! Are you still with me? We're not dying today!" Naruto stated. Sasuke started dragging himself, one handed and one legged in a sort of sideways crouch, moving towards Haku, his expression saying that he wasn't going to lose this way, not without a fight. They were fighting to live.
And he was just standing there as that kunoichi who took them down was calmly cocking her head at him, curious to see what Sasuke was going to do. The reflection of the smooth senbon in his opponent's hands caught Naruto's eye.
"You are not needed for the success of Zabuza-sama's plans," Haku spoke sadly behind her mask, "Please, don't take this personally. I'll make your deaths swift and painless."
"A swift and painless death, that's what you're offering us? You're full of such mercy," Naruto mocked in sarcasm, never taking his eyes off of Haku, though he could hear Sasuke's grunts.
"Dobe…Don't listen to her…We have to-"
Before Sasuke could finish his speech, seven more needles came from behind and impaled Sasuke in the back, arms, and legs all at once. The Uchiha fell to the ground on his chest.
"I'm afraid you won't be finishing your declaration of bravado, Sasuke," Haku remarked as she landed on her feet on the ground in front of one of the mirrors.
"N-Naruto," Sasuke said weakly, opening his eyes, blinking away the pain and weariness he felt. Naruto, while ignoring the pain from his body, pulled out the needles from both his and Sasuke's bodies and tossed them away. Before Naruto could do anything else for Sasuke, the Uchiha's entire body went limp as his eyes closed.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, concerned, "Sasuke! Damn it teme! Wake up!"
"He's dead. Accept it," Haku said, having been watching them quietly the entire time. "Is this the first time you've lost a friend?"
Naruto gave her no verbal retort.
"We are ninja, weapons, nothing more," Haku said.
"Shut up!" Naruto replied.
"There is always the chance that you or your comrades will die in battle," Haku added.
"Won't you shut up?"
"If you cannot realize that, then you are fighting pointlessly," Haku continued.
"It's only pointless if I stand by and do nothing!" Naruto countered. Haku gave no reply but waited for Naruto's next words.
"And besides that, he's not dead," Naruto countered after checking and finding Sasuke's pulse. "He only lost consciousness."
"You question my abilities?" Haku sneered.
Naruto turned and stood up to glare at her and countered, "I question your objectives in all this, considering who your partner is."
"What are you implying?" Haku shot back.
"I'm implying that you had every opportunity to kill Sasuke, but you didn't. Clearly Sasuke was outmatched by you and you could have easily finished him off, but you didn't. None of your senbon needles struck a vital organ or blood vessel. That's because it's not in you to kill anyone. Am I right…Haku?"
"Do not talk to me as if you know me, Naruto-kun," Haku retorted as she backed away into a mirror and 'melted' into it again. The mirror images came back, and before Naruto knew it, dozens of needles came flying at him from all angles.
"This again?" Naruto taunted as he used his wind element to create a complete suit of armor around his body, stopping the needles in their tracks from striking his body before blasting the needles away from him with his wind type armor. Haku was shocked from the sudden yet effective defense to her attack.
"Impossible! How were you able to stop my needles when you weren't capable of doing so before?" Haku asked in disbelief. Naruto smirked, "Like I'd tell you. Without fail, your mirrors have proven to be a bother, and I'm not in the mood to waste precious time and chakra any longer. As it is, I believe I've studied you and your abilities enough. So from here on out, I'll fight you seriously."
Naruto was able to feel Kyuubi's chakra circulating to all his wounds, and already the chakra was at work, healing him as fast as possible. Naruto just had to buy himself a little more time as his wounds closed up.
"Why can't you see that it is useless?" Haku asked.
"I just don't know when to give up! And besides, I didn't come this far to die now! I have dreams to fulfill, and precious people to protect so they can fulfill their dreams too!" Naruto exclaimed.
"I see, so you fight for your dreams, and for the dreams of others. Well, I fight for the dreams of my precious person. I want to see Zabuza-sama's goals and ambitions carried out. I want to be completely useful to him and his plans. I will admit that it's difficult for me to be a shinobi, but for Zabuza-sama, I'll sacrifice everything and become a full-fledged shinobi. To do so, I'll destroy my heart and kill you both," Haku replied, then held up a senbon needle.
"Destroy your heart?" Naruto asked.
"That's right. To be able to kill with no hesitation, one must destroy their heart. To take another's life is the way of the shinobi," Haku said as she noticed Naruto's enraged demeanor.
Naruto looked up at Haku and countered, "I risk my life and do what I must to do to protect the girl I love, my new big sister, my friends, and those who can't protect themselves! If I destroy my heart, accomplishing this will be impossible! I can't protect those precious to me and fight for their dreams if I lose all sense of humanity! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/madarasama125🎉