A Little Kindness

Battle on the Bridge 3

   Zabuza tried his best to fend off the attack, but as the continuous scratches and bite marks that kept appearing were any indication, he wasnt having much luck. The dogs were quick, that was obvious. They would attack and retreat so fast that he couldn't get a good chance to deal any significant damage to them. It seemed like every time he managed to get rid of one, another would replace it. 'So this is his strategy huh, do unto me what I was trying to do to him. He's trying to wear me down, and make me use up my chakra so I'll let the mist die down.' Zabuza thought to himself, as he blocked one of the dogs with his sword. 'Kakashi must be getting desperate if he would use up a big chunk of his chakra on seven summonings at once.'

   Sasuke looked like a porcupine. That's the best way to describe it. He had nearly 30 of Haku's needles sticking out of various places in his body. Make that thirty three as Haku just threw more into him. As Sasuke did his best to try and deflect them. But Haku was just appearing and then disappearing so fast he couldn't even keep up with his sharingan. But he didn't need it much anymore. As he turned and threw the last few shuriken he had right on target, deflected the ice needles Haku had just sent at him. Leaving the ice user shocked. "How did you know I was here, you can't track or predict me with your sharingan." Haku said as he disappeared and appeared on Sasuke's other side. But was once again shocked as Sasuke just ducked out of the way.

   Haku barely had time to leap back into his mirror, as Sasuke threw one of his needles back at him. And was once again in shock as Sasuke threw a kunai into the mirror he was about to travel to. But even that paled in comparison, to the shock Haku felt when Sasuke looked right at him with a smirk, and confident onyx eyes. He didn't have his sharingan activated anymore. Haku tried several times to hit the Uchiha with his needles, but every time he avoided them. "How!!" Haku screamed out in frustration from being seemingly outwitted.

   "You're right my sharingan can't predict your moves, but I don't need it to predict you. Humans are creatures of habit. We fall into routines that make us feel comfortable and safe. You are no exception. This entire time, you've been the exact same path to attack me with. I didn't need my sharingan to tell me where you would go, I just needed to know where you've been. So I let you hit me with your needles. So I could pick up on your pattern, and your path. You probably dont even realize it, but you're still using the same path. And that's predictable." Sasuke said as he kept dodging Haku's every attack. Even while he was talking, he never missed a dodge. Then at the end, he threw his last kunai with such force, it cracked the mirror that Haku had just appeared in. And it was thrown with such precision, it struck the same spot as the previous kunai on Haku's mask. Completely shattering it, and revealing his face to Sasuke.

   "I see" Haku said as he now stared eye to eye at Sasuke. "Well if that's the case, then I'll have to stop being predictable then." Haku said as he vanished into one of his mirrors. Only to reappear a moment later in every single mirror. And without missing a beat every single Haku threw a handful of senbon at Sasuke. Who was powerless to do anything, as it was impossible for him to dodge all of them. Instead he elected to cover his face and neck with his arms, as the barrage of needles descended upon him. Sasuke screamed in agony as he felt the needles pierce every part of his body that wasnt protected. Looking through his arms, he saw the Haku's loading up another barrage of needles. As his eyesight started to blur from the pain. Only to become focused once again as the second barrage of needles pelted his body. He would have screamed in pain again, if not from the blood that he coughed up when he tried. Sasuke then knew that one of his lungs had been pierced, and knew he wouldn't last much longer. But still he refused to fall, as he stared Haku, and probably his death, in the face. As Haku loaded up another barrage.

   But the final barrage of needles never came. Right as Haku was about to let them fly, Sasuke heard the very distinct yell of a certain blonde-haired knuckleheaded ninja. 'Just in time Dobe' Sasuke thought to himself as he finally allowed himself to pass out.

   "Kyubi's Wrath!" Naruto yelled out in his Kyubi chakra cloak. As all of the chakra from his cloak made it's way to his fist. Shrouding it in dark red chakra, right as he smashed it into one of the mirrors that made up the dome. As it and about eight of the adjacent mirrors, all shattered into a million pieces. As the real Haku went tumbling out and away from the ice prison. And without him in it to supply it chakra, it started to disappear. The first thing Naruto noticed as the prison was falling apart, was a severely beaten and bloody Uchiha fell to the ground unmoving.

   Naruto was speechless as he saw his best friend in such a state. He couldn't believe that what he was seeing was real. He wasn't fast enough. And now Sasuke was.... he couldn't even bring himself to say it. He should have gotten there sooner, it was his fault. These were a few of his thoughts as Naruto looked at his fallen comrade, as a few tears fell from his eyes. And as if a switch had been flipped, Naruto let out a primal roar full of anger, hatred, pain, and anguish. Then his chakra cloak returned, but with a big difference. It was blinking and glowing with a golden hue, as Naruto took off after Haku.

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   The above clip is from the 5 part mini arc called power. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly advice you to watch it, as it is actually pretty good. This is also what Naruto's new cloak looks like.

   I also want to thank everyone so much for over 3k views. That's incredible! I never thought I'd ever get that many. So thank you to every person that has read, commented, or voted for this story. It means so much to me. Also let me know what you think of the story so far, and also what you think of the fight so far. Make sure to tune in next time for the big finale.

Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu - Summoning: Earth style: Fanged Pursuit Technique.

Kyubi's Wrath - this is Naruto's most powerful jutsu at the moment. Naruto shrouds his fist in Kurama's chakra. Increasing it's power tremendously.