Naruko dropped to her knees and coughed hard. Specks of blood accompanied by spit splattered onto the floor, painting red polka dots onto the grey concrete. Her back, shoulders, legs and arms were riddled with senbon. She supposed that it helped plenty that they were cold since it was numbing the pain, but then again, it was numbing and she was slowly losing control of her muscles.
Ruby fared only slightly better. The amount of senbon that had been stuck into her was significantly lesser than Naruko since Haku didn't perceive her as a threat as well as the fact that Haku mainly aimed for Naruko, with Ruby getting in the way of some of his attacks.
The little redhead's hand pressed against the floor of the bridge before it curled up tightly into a fist. She really hated how she had lost control of the battle just because of some shitty Kekkei Genkai. The anger that she had felt earlier on came back when she recalled how she had been toyed with inside of Haku's domain. Earlier on, she had faired rather well, avoiding most of the senbon Haku had sent her way. But in the end she couldn't dodge them all, coming from all sides while micromanaging her elder sister. Getting tagged every so often had eventually caused her mobility to drop until she could no longer move.
It really pissed her off how none of her attacks had worked on the mirrors. Either they just bounced right off or the Katon Jutsu were expelled by the intensely low temperature. Rasengan was out of the question since every single time she spawned a clone to help her create it, it would just be taken out of the equation by senbon.
She wasn't alone though as Haku, too, was feeling the wear of keeping so many mirrors up at the same time. It was draining his chakra severely, to the point where if he didn't finish this soon then he'd be passing out from chakra exhaustion.
"Calm down." She breathed out in a harsh exhale, trying to release all her pent up anger with it. Clenching her eyes shut, the girl whispered to herself. "Don't let the anger get to you. Don't let the anger get to you." She chanted it over and over again to herself like a mantra.
Haku watched on as Naruko struggled to stand, her apparent sister standing slouched next to her. He wanted to knock them—specifically Naruko—out quickly and return to Zabuza-sama's side, whether his body protested or not. He raised his hands once more and the mirrors followed suit.
"This is the end for you. You have my sincerest apologies for performing this on you, but death will be swift. Sensatsu Suishō (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)." Haku's arm twitched and a hail of ice shards surged out of the many mirrors to pierce their targets.
Naruko weakly raised her hands to block the needles, but they came in an unstoppable barrage from the all sides, and certainly in numbers far too many to block with just one hand. She didn't want to give up, but what could she do? Nothing. Try as she might, her muscles wouldn't respond to her brain. They just could move any more. There wasn't anything she could do but kneel there and die.
Fuck. What an embarrassing death. It really made her blood boil. As much as she absolutely detested to admit it, this was probably it for her. The end of her. Dying without even getting to kiss her Haru-nii on the lips passionately, let alone bring him back home. Not achieving her goals to become the Hokage, to proudly show him her journey as from a little girl into a woman.
Oh, such was life. The cruel mistress couldn't give her a break.
Closing her eyes, she awaited the senbon's arrival.
"Ara, you little fucker." Naruko's eyes snapped wide open when she heard her sister curse. It was rather strange hearing vulgarities from someone who seemed to never ever speak it. The heat of the battle must've gotten to her as well as the threat of death. Ruby's needled body dashed forwards and slid in front of the storm of icy needles, opening her arms wide in order to prevent any from hitting the girl behind her.
Naruko held her breath and watched in shock. And time seemed to freeze as they slammed into her and embedded deeply into her flesh.
The tense silence was broken when she tilted her head over her shoulder to look at her little sister. On her face she wore a proud, if not wavering, smirk. Despite the wave of death that had hit Ruby's, she laughed yet again—this time, slightly more grimly—at Naruko's face but they came out as short, troubled gasps instead of their usual due to her severely punctured lungs.
"You ain't killing my little love guru. Ever." Then she keeled over to the side and met the floor face-first, slamming into it without anything to brace her fall. Ruby managed turn her senbon riddled neck, to Naruko's face with care in her slowly shutting eyes.
"Ugh… Told you, stupid… A big sister always protects her little sister." Her words trailed off and her eyes slowly shut.
Haku's eyes grew wide behind his mask. He hadn't anticipated the elder female to move so quickly, especially how weak she seemed prior to his attack. It also worried him greatly since he had not accounted for her stepping out in front of Naruko, which meant that she had a chance of her vitals being pierced on accident.
He had wanted to cry out a warning, but it had been too late. He shut his eyes behind his mask and prayed that she had died immediately after her last words.
It was admirable, seeing her protect the girl she called her little sister, despite them arguing earlier on. The look in the little girl's eyes as her surrogate big sister took the shower of senbon to the chest, arms, legs, and neck, was absolute horror and shock. Haku had to stem the guilt rising in his chest, knowing that the two were in the same situation as he and his master.
To Naruko, everything was quiet. All she could concentrate on was the woman who shielded her with her own body, sacrificing herself to save her.
"Hi…Ruby-nee? Don't play with me, Ruby-nee…" The girl chuckled weakly as if Ruby was playing a prank on her. She wasn't dead. She was just faking it, just pulling her leg. Any second now, she would get up, with her big grin and laugh at her for believing that she had died.
But Ruby continued to lie down, eyes closed and face devoid of any emotion.
Naruko's breathing got faster and faster until she began hyperventilating. "Get up… Ruby-nee. Wake up! Wake up!" She begged.
The body didn't move, not even twitch. Ruby was dead. The woman who she had bonded with over a timespan of less than a week, the one whom which she had created a complex friendship with, was dead because of Naruko. Dead because she couldn't protect her.
Dead because of…
Slowly, her head moved and she stared into one of the many mirrors that surrounded her. She stared at the masked boy who was gazing at Ruby's unmoving body and she stopped hyperventilating.
Haku…
Purple eyes twitched violently and a tinge of red broke out onto her usually cheerful eyes. Soon, the colour of fury swamped Naruko's eyes, completely replacing the gentle lavender with crimson. Her circular pupil turned slitted, properties of the Kyuubi surfacing.
Rage, fury, anger, hatred. The negative emotions broiled beneath the surface of her skin, wanting to burst out to consume her big sister's killer.
"You killed my nee-chan… Ruby-nee is dead because of you."
Ablanket, smothering and heavy clouded the area much like the Kirigakure no Jutsu, and it brought a masked Haku out of his mirror and to the ground. Gripping his thin and feminine neck, Haku began choking hard on the power that radiated off of Naruko, orange and red glowing from her body. The Killing Intent was simply too strong for him to handle and paralysed his body in fear.
The psychological effect of being threatened to such an extent had translated into a physical effect, weighing him down because of his mind. In terms of reality, there was nothing actually preventing him from standing back up and fighting back, but his mind couldn't comprehend that. And even if it could, it probably wouldn't have worked any ways.
Mind was always stronger than body, and weak minds wouldn't be able to fight back against the Killing Intent of a Jinchuuriki.
It was more than he had ever felt and probably would feel in his entire lifetime. It was at least a hundred—no, a thousand times stronger than his master's own!
"YES!" The Kyuubi's dark laughter rang with glee, grinning even wider than before at the prospect of his host tearing Haku apart. "Use your rage! Your anger! Tear him apart! Let them know what it's like to fear you!"