"You're fast," Haku murmured.
Naruto blinked. "You too."
Then they clashed.
Kunai against kunai, steel ringing out as they exchanged blows. Haku was precise, movements smooth, elegant even, but Naruto was something else. He didn't move like a shinobi—he moved like something wilder, unpredictable. His reflexes were unnatural, his body reacting before the attacks even fully formed. It was almost like he knew what was coming.
Haku jumped back, reassessing.
"You're different," they said. "You don't fight like the others."
Naruto didn't answer immediately. He studied Haku the same way a predator studies another in its territory. Not with hostility, not with aggression, but with a detached curiosity.
"You're not trying to kill me," Naruto finally said. "Why?"
Haku hesitated. "Because I don't have to."
Naruto tilted his head. "Then why fight me at all?"
"Because Zabuza-sama ordered it."
Naruto blinked again, as if the answer was strange to him. "You do what you're told?"
"Yes."
"Even if you don't want to?"
Haku paused again. "Yes."
Naruto frowned. "That's stupid."
This time, Haku flinched, barely noticeable, but it was there. A crack in the composure.
"You don't understand," Haku said. "I owe Zabuza-sama everything."
"Why?"
"Because he saved me."
Naruto narrowed his eyes, his grip on his kunai loosening slightly. "Saved you from what?"
Haku hesitated, then suddenly threw a handful of senbon. Naruto moved, dodging without thought, his body twisting unnaturally fast to avoid the deadly needles.
"I don't want to fight you," Haku said, voice quieter now.
"Then don't," Naruto replied easily.
"It's not that simple."
Naruto frowned again. "Why not?"
Haku inhaled deeply. "Because I have a purpose."
Naruto blinked at him. "A purpose?"
Haku nodded. "Yes. Zabuza-sama gave me one. Without him, I'm nothing. If I don't serve him, if I don't protect him, then I have no reason to exist."
Naruto's lips parted slightly, his expression blank.
"You need someone else to tell you why you exist?"
Haku stiffened.
"That's really stupid," Naruto continued. "You're you. You exist because you do. Why do you need someone to tell you that?"
Haku's hands clenched into fists. "You don't understand."
"Yeah, you keep saying that," Naruto mused. "But I think you don't understand."
Haku took a step back, shaken, but quickly recovered. "It doesn't matter. I have to finish this fight."
"You could just not," Naruto offered again.
Haku exhaled sharply. "I have to."
"Why?"
"Because Zabuza-sama—"
"Do you love him?"
Haku faltered. "What?"
"You talk about him like you love him," Naruto said simply. "Is that it? You love him, so you fight for him?"
Haku stared at him, mouth slightly open behind the mask. Then, in a whisper, "I don't know."
Naruto watched him for a moment, then shrugged. "That's sad."
Haku clenched his jaw. "Enough."
Then the air shifted. The mist thickened, and the temperature seemed to drop. Haku's hands moved, seals forming too fast for most to follow.
"I'll end this quickly," they said.
Naruto barely had time to react before the mirrors appeared. A dome of ice, surrounding him completely.
The Demonic Ice Mirrors.
The ice mirrors gleamed with an eerie light, forming a perfect dome around Naruto, trapping him inside. Haku stepped into the reflection, their masked face appearing in every mirror, their body flickering between each surface like a ghost.
"This is my domain," Haku said, voice calm and absolute. "You can't win."
Naruto stood there, staring blankly at his surroundings. Then, he looked down at his hands. He flexed his fingers. His body remained unchanged. No fur, no scales, no talons. But he didn't need any of that.
He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling it. The weight, the solidity, the sheer immovable strength of an Ankylosaurus. Not a predator, but a survivor. A fortress of muscle, hide, and bone.
His body didn't change. But it didn't have to.
Haku moved.
A blur of motion, faster than anything normal eyes could follow. The senbon shot toward Naruto, dozens of them, aimed for his limbs, his vital points, places that would disable him without killing.
They struck—
And bounced off.
Haku's breath hitched.
Naruto opened his eyes. "Oh."
Haku moved again, faster this time. More senbon, more angles, a storm of needles meant to cut down anything in their way.
They all bounced off.
Naruto just stood there, blinking. He looked down at himself. He felt the impacts, the slight pressure, the cool touch of metal before they fell uselessly to the ground.
Haku's form flickered between mirrors, now hesitant.
"…What are you?" they whispered.