Aimi Uzumaki

chapter 32

~third person POV~

"Ha! Now that I'm here, everything will be all right." Naruto declared with his goofy grin.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

"You know how in stories, the hero usually shows up at the last minute and then kicks butt? Well, that's what I'm going to do right now! Believe it!" He exclaimed and Aimi sighed softly before shaking her head. "All right! You're history! Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto was about to make the signs, but Zabuza threw shurikens right at him.

"No! Naruto! Move!" Kakashi ordered, but the blonde doesn't move out of the way. Aimi reached into her weapons pouch to grab some kunai to redirect the shurikens, but Haku threw his senbon needles to stop them. All of their eyes widened as they watched the shurikens and senbon clattered on the ground.

"They didn't get him." Sakura said in surprise.

"The weapons cancelled each other out. Amazing. Now, that's what I call lucky, I think." Tazuna said.

"What are you doing, Naruto? Are you crazy?" Sakura yelled at him.

"This is a battle, not a talent show! Don't let your opponent see your jutsu." Kakashi scolded. "The shinobi's art is deception. Always keep the enemy guessing. Even when executing a single jutsu, one must distract their opponent's attention, catch them off balance and outmaneuver them. You just turned yourself into a human target when you enter a battle like that."

"I'm sorry! I was just trying to rescue everybody!" Naruto began freaking out and Aimi sighed before facepalming.

"But there's another mystery here." Kakashi directed his attention to Haku with a suspicious look in his eye.

"Haku, what are you doing?" Zabuza asked sternly.

"Zabuza, this boy, let me fight him my own way. Please." Haku asked calmly.

"Bring it on!" Naruto yelled.

"Hm. So you want me to leave this to you. Is that it, Haku? As usual, you're too soft."

"Forgive me."

"Aimi?" Sakura asked as the redhead slowly stepped forward, looking at Sasuke inside the ice dome, sore from all the needles skinning every inch of his pale skin.

"I'm warning you!" Naruto pointed at Haku. "One way or another, I'm going to rip off that mask and take you apart!"

Aimi looked at Kakashi who seemed about ready to do something, but Zabuza stepped in front of him.

"Don't even think about it. You know the score, Kakashi. If you go after Haku, I go after the bridge builder." He threatened and Kakashi grunted. "Relax, Kakashi. Sit back and enjoy the show. Let's see how they do, one on one."

"That mask and your bogus story! You were with Zabuza all along!" Naruto exclaimed while pointing an accusing finger. "You think you can get away with a stunt like that?"

"I'm sorry." Haku said calmly to Naruto, surprising him. "But as your sensei said, deceiving your opponent, catching them off guard, that is the art of the shinobi. Please don't take it personally."

As Haku jabbers on, Sasuke grabbed his kunai, ready to attack as he is off guard. He threw it directly for his head, but Haku skillfully dodged it by leaning slightly back. Naruto directed his attention to the direction from which the kunai came from to see Sasuke inside.

"I haven't forgotten about you. Not for an instant." Haku continued to look straight at Naruto and Sasuke grunted. "Some warriors accept defeat gracefully. They know when they are beaten. Others do not. So be it. Let us finish our battle then. To the death!"

'Not if I can help it.' Aimi thought, biting her thumb enough to draw blood before doing the hand signs. 'Summoning Jutsu!'

A poof of smoke appeared and a black fox with icy blue eyes appeared. He looked at her in acknowledgement as she knelt down.

"Katsuro, protect Sakura and the bridge builder." She whispered. "Do not let yourself be seen."

When Aimi stood back up, the black fox was nowhere in sight.

"Wha-- Hey! Where are you going?" Naruto's question made the redhead look in their direction.

"It's all right, Naruto. We'll have our fight next." Haku told him before being absorbed by the ice mirror and appearing in front of Sasuke.

The Uchiha thought he knew where the real Haku was and put his hand on his pouch, but Haku transported behind him in an instant. Haku appeared in every single ice mirror with senbon in his hands. The needles he threw simultaneously created a shower of needles which Sasuke couldn't escape from. When they finally stopped cutting his clothes and body, he fell on his back to the floor.

"Sasuke(-kun)!" His teammates yelled in worry.

"Sasuke, Naruto, think!" Kakashi ordered. "You need to attack from the outside and from the inside at the same time!"

'That would work, but this is Naruto we're talking about.' Aimi thought as she sensed Naruto's chakra getting closer to Sasuke's.

Naruto entered the dome sneakily, surprising Sasuke.

"Hey! I snuck in here to save you! Pretty cool move, huh, Sasuke?" Naruto asked and Aimi facepalmed.

"Naruto, you sneak up on your enemy, not your ally." Kakashi said as Aimi sighed, shaking her head.

"Unh. You're a complete loser! You're a shinobi. Think carefully before you move."

"What the heck's your problem? You should thank me for coming in here to help you!"

"Enough!" Both boys were surprised as a fist came down on both of their heads. They looked up to see Aimi. "We're in a battle, not back at the village, so stop acting like children."

Kakashi hung his head in defeat as he saw the redhead in the ice dome.