Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Atelier Uzumaki ❯ Chapter 11

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: Omega X

There were times that Sakura loved normalcy. It was, after all, her anchor gripping her to reality. Being a ninja was a hard life, with constant training (not that she did), worrying about her femininity (blood and make-up don't mix… even though she had yet to kill, really), and worrying about Sasuke-kun being taken away by some other female (which, if anyone who knew the truth, it was impossible, unless she swings that way).

It was simple really. Kakashi was always hours late, Sasuke-kun was always cute, and Naruto was pretty much annoying. Therefore, when she tried waking the boy up one early morning, she knew it was normal for him to make it hard for her.

“Naruto…” Sakura growled, shaking the blonde boy. “Wake up! Kakashi-sensei is calling us!”

Usually, he'd moan about getting more sleep. It was quite normal, really. He had made it known he was a heavy sleeper, and to make it worse, he had spent last night in heavy training.

Today was a bit different. Yes, he'll moan about getting more sleep… but with an added word, he would shake her foundations, and make her question her reality.

“Five more minutes, Gwendolyn-chan…” he muttered sleepily.

“WAH!” Sakura jumped back. One thought appearing to her head: Who the heck was Gwendolyn-chan? No one in their class was named that way… the name was too… foreign. Too long. Too odd.

“Oi, Sakura! Woke him up yet?” Kakashi called from outside the room. Sakura rushed suddenly outside, closed the door behind her, and looked at her teammate-slash-crush and teacher.

“Sensei… do you know anyone named Gwendolyn?” she asked.

Kakashi and Saki looked at each other for a moment, confused.

“No, Sakura. Why?” Kakashi asked.

“Naruto moaned her name out.”

“Oh?” Kakashi stole a look at Saki, and smiled behind his mask when he saw her reaction. Her fists closed immediately, her eyes twitched while they were closed, and there was a slight killing intent leaked out. It was well hidden, but for a veteran ninja like him, it was easy to read.

Some type of jealousy eh? He playfully added more fuel to the fire.

“Must be a local girl then…” Kakashi stated. “Heh… didn't know Naruto was such a Casanova.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Sakura declared, deadpanned. Saki agreed somewhat. Naruto was anything but a playboy.

“Is that jealousy, Sakura?” Kakashi seemed to smirk.

“No!” Sakura fumed.

“Don't worry, Sakura,” Kakashi's visible eye smiled. “I'm sure one day you'll have some boy whisper your name when he's asleep.”

Sakura looked like she was about to deck Kakashi… and the jounin thought was about to. Instead, she growled, and stomped away, leaving Kakashi to scratch the back part of his head, and Saki who still seemed undecided on what to do.

“So… do you wanna wake up our number-one surprising ninja up?” the jounin asked.

“No…” Saki muttered somewhat coldly, and followed after Sakura, his two arms on her pockets, bringing out the full Sasuke-character out.

Kakashi's hand went for his vest pocket, and brought out an orange book. He giggled. He reminded himself to write to a certain Toad Sage about this… it was Icha-Icha material.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

“Cha… hahaha!” Mercedes tried to cover her laughter, but failed. In her mini-form, she just floated around the room slightly. She looked towards Gwendolyn, “Aww, ain't that cute? You getting sweet with your Alchemist?”

Gwendolyn blushed slightly, but took it with stride. “As my partner, if he asks… I'll oblige. But knowing him… it'll take years before the idea hits him. He has a very… odd view about the opposite sex.”

“Oh?” Mercedes raised an inquiring eyebrow. “How so?”

“You know ninja techniques, yes?” at this, Mercedes nodded. “Well, Naruto, for some reason, thought of using a henge, which is a transformation technique, to turn him to a naked girl.”

“Hohoho!”

“Yeah… normally, it's not so odd. Thirteen year old boy, hormones starting out with puberty… but he has this crush on that pink-haired gorilla…”

Mercedes snorted, and began laughing again. “First time I heard you actually insulting someone!”

“She's by far the worst example on being feminine,” Gwendolyn replied. “I'm trying to give him more… worthy… receiver of his affection. Anyway, he has a crush on her… and from what I've seen… it's purely non-sexual.”

“Oh?”

“Okay… maybe he might have some sexual thoughts, especially when his Jade Shift Clones were just leering at his teammates when they trained, but most of the time, he treats it like its something platonic.”

Mercedes smiled a bit. “Gwendolyn… you know what I think? I think he cannot think of that Sakura girl in a sexual way because there are more attractive women around him.”

She then pointed at herself, and towards the Wind Mana.

“Are you saying we're desensitizing him?” Gwendolyn looked thoughtful for a moment. “Makes sense, in a way. He did see that Uchiha girl naked once.”

Mercedes raised an eyebrow once more. “How did that go?”

“She burnt his apartment down,” Gwendolyn smiled somewhat.

“Huh… a bit extreme, isn't it?” the Wood Mana declared.

“She's an Uchiha. Extreme is kinda normal for them,” Gwendolyn shrugged.

“Ah…” Mercedes then sat at the edge of the small bed, looking at Naruto's sleeping form. “Will he be okay…? I mean… Uchihas are a bit of bad news for Alchemists.”

“Honestly… I'm nervous about that Uchiha too. Granted, she's young… but everyone was young at one time,” Gwendolyn sighed. “On a good note… she's the last remaining Uchiha… she along with her older brother.”

“Huh? What happened?”

“Older brother killed the whole clan,” Gwendolyn shrugged.

“Wow… just wow…” the Wood Mana sighed once more. She then stole a look at the sleeping blonde. “Shouldn't we waken him?”

“I say let him sleep,” the Wind Mana smiled somewhat, running her hands through his hair. “He trained even harder last night… that tree climbing endurance run along with your training regime with Riblam.”

“Well, you have seniority, forming a pact before me… but…” Mercedes smiled, “… if you wanna wake him up, I got something in mind.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

“WHPHM!!” Naruto woke up with a start, feeling someone trying to suffocate him through the mouth, slithering some sort of flexible chord along his oral area. He couldn't move, as there was something pinning him there. He opened his eyes, wondering who his attacker was, and after being temporarily blinded by the sun, all he saw was a woman's face, her chocolate brown eyes looking back at him with mischief.

Naruto immediately backed away, pushing Mercedes off him.

“What the… what the hell!?” Naruto blushed, curling to a small ball, staring at his Mana who had been on top of him. “What was that!?”

“What? It was a kiss,” Mercedes replied naturally, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I know it was a kiss!” Naruto half-shouted, and then began to poke his two index fingers together, not unlike how Hinata would act. “That was… my… first…”

“Yup! Aren't you happy?” Mercedes grinned. “Your first kiss with a beautiful woman like me. With tongue too!”

“… with what!!?”

“Tongue,” she replied, naturally again.

“Bu… but… I mean… wha… I… ah…” and Naruto just sat there, mumbling.

“Heh… wasn't even his partner for a week, and I got to shut him down,” Mercedes declared rather proudly.

“Oh yes… how skillful of you to shut up a thirteen year old by stealing his first kiss, and not to mention, Frenching him with that said kiss,” Gwendolyn rolled her eyes. “Yes. You are the pride of Mana… of females, everywhere!”

Mercedes had the decency to blush.

“You…” Naruto looked towards the Wind Mana, “… did you put her up to this?”

“No,” Gwendolyn replied honestly. “She said she had a trick to wake you up… didn't know what it was until she did it.”

“Bu… but my first kiss!” Naruto complained. He groaned. “It was supposed to be with Sakura-chan!”

Gwendolyn sighed silently. “Naruto… this may sound cruel, but it was just a kiss. It didn't mean anything.”

“It could… if you want,” Mercedes piqued, winking somewhat exaggeratedly towards Naruto, who flushed red.

“Don't even start,” the Wind Mana growled towards her. “Well… for all intents and purposes, she did wake you up. You have to join your team.”

“They left without me?” Naruto frowned, and stood up. He looked for his pants and shoes, and began to dress. “They training?”

“No, Naruto. It seems that its guard duty for now,” the Wind Mana replied.

“Oh…” Naruto finished off with his trench coat, leaving it unbuttoned. “Bridge eh? Alright… let's go!”

Jumping out of the window, Naruto moved swiftly, putting chakra on his legs to speed his process, and entered the woodland area near Tazuna's residence. Around him, unseen by normal eyes, two glowing Manas followed him.

Jumping far and high, Naruto built up enough momentum to just blow his way towards the bridge when Gwendolyn and Mercedes seemed to take a pause.

“Naruto… wait!” the Wind Mana declared.

Naruto tripped on a branch, surprised at the sudden order, but thankfully recovered when one of his feet touched the tree. Sticking in the branch, he looked towards his Mana partners with a confused face.

“What is it?” he asked.

“The wind is picking up something…” Gwendolyn declared, looking back at the direction towards Tazuna's house.

“The trees are whispering too,” Mercedes frowned. “It seems there are two morons walking towards the house we were in, slashing everything with their swords. They even killed a poor pig.”

“The winds do not like these men,” Gwendolyn declared, her ears and wings twitching slightly. “They have something… untoward… in mind.”

Naruto smirked.

“Hehe… then let's do something more `untowards' to them.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Inari felt sick. Just a few moments ago, two men had come in, kicking down the door, demanding that see Tsunami. The boy knew them… they were Gatou's personal bodyguards. In shock, he was slow on the uptake, angering the men. In their anger, they grabbed the boy, and put a blade to his throat.

The boy froze. He didn't know what to do. He just kept still, hoping they wouldn't kill him. When his mom arrived, she had begged them to leave him alone. She told them she'd go with them, all they had to do was leave Inari alone.

The boy shivered. His stomach turned inside out when he remembered what he felt when his mom sacrificed herself for him.

Relief.

The disgusted when he realized it.

The blonde idiot's words hit him. He called Inari an overbearing drama queen. He hinted slightly that he was a sniveling coward.

He was right.

Anger rose from him. Righteous or hated anger, the boy didn't know. All he knew was the hate stemmed from himself. It took a few moments for him to realize the hate was not directed towards anyone except one person: himself.

He grabbed a kitchen knife. He ran towards the door. He shouted, at the very top of his voice, the bravest, the stupidest, and most intense thing the boy his age had ever said.

“LET GO OF MY MOM!”

The two samurai-wannabes looked towards the boy glaring at them, a knife in his hand.

“Look at that… someone grew a spine!” one of the men declared.

“Heh… it seems the brat wants to play,” the second one laughed. He unsheathed his sword.

“Wait a moment!” Tsunami recoiled. “You said you'd leave my son alone! If you don't, I'll bite my tongue and kill my-”

She didn't finish as the man who was holding her captive knocked her out with a quick punch behind her neck. Watching her crumble down to unconsciousness, the man let her go, and gave a smile to his partner.

“Well, go for it, man,” he declared.

“Heh…” and the second man pointed his sword towards the kid. “You're shaking brat.”

Inari swallowed. It was true. The knife on his hand moved erratically. He tried to control it.

“Regretting standing up to me?” the man sneered. “You should be. Be the bawling little coward you are. You'll live longer. Unless you want to follow that dead hero of yours. I heard he was like your father or something… hah… what a stupid man.”

“Don't talk about him like THAT!” Inari screamed and charged at him.

“What an idiot!” the man laughed as he raised his sword. One strike… that was all it was going to take, and the kid'll be sliced in half.

The wind suddenly rushed towards him. The man spotted something bright come up to him. It was too fast to dodge. It hit him in the head directly, so powerful it launched him in the air and dropped him to the ground in a unflattering heap.

“Wha…!?” Inari stopped in his charge. The man who held Tsunami hostage too looked confused, and with his confusion, was open to the second bolt shot, hitting him from behind. He too flew and fell towards the ground, unmoving.

“Sheesh… cowards,” Naruto declared suddenly, his face appearing from one of the branches of the trees in the woodland near the area.

“Y-you!” Inari pointed at him, surprised.

“Yup,” Naruto grinned, “me.”

As he slid from the tree, Inari noticed that Naruto's clothes weren't the normal kind. It seemed to flip in colors, arranging themselves to where he stood. As he landed on the roots of the tree, his clothes turned from dark green to dirty brown. He then walked towards him.

“Whoa…” Inari blinked, watching his clothes change from a mirage of colors, from brown settling to leaf green. On his right hand and shoulders was a big bow gun with a red jewel at the tip.

“You know what kid? I think I'm starting to like you,” Naruto stated, his clothes and bow gun vanishing from sight, replacing them with his regular dark orange clothing. “You may be some overdramatic drama queen, but defending your mom against better armed and skilled creeps is alright in my book.”

“Naruto-san…!” Inari's eyes began to form tears. “I… I was about to let them take mom… I didn't fight earlier…”

Naruto blinked, then smirked. “So what? In the end, you went and charged in to get her back. Seriously, Inari, you over think things. It's not what you might have done… its what you were going and willing to do. Simple.”

Inari looked at the blonde, crying a bit more freely. After a few moments, he nodded in understanding.

“Good. Get your mom somewhere safe,” Naruto stated. “Goons attacking you guys now… your granddad might be in trouble. Gotta go!”

Disappearing once more in the wooden area, Inari gently woke up his mother. Then, he decided that he would help the blonde ninja and his friends. After all, he was the one that gave the boy the true meaning of courage.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

In the unfinished bridge, trouble did start brewing. When Tazuna, along with Kakashi and the two genins of Team Seven arrived, they noticed that it was foggy, and the workers were all unconscious.

The Devil of the Mist, plus his apprentice finally arrived.

Saki had been told by Kakashi to take care of the apprentice. With the training they had done in days, she was pretty confident about going toe to toe with the masked figure. Even Zabuza seemed impressed at her speed.

“Seems your student has equaled Haku in terms of speed,” Zabuza looked at Kakashi.

“My students are very talented,” the joinin replied truthfully.

“While that's true… he cannot hope to defeat Haku.”

“My student already is proving to be good at deceiving even an experienced ninja like you,” Kakashi grinned under his mask. Saki had seemingly fooled even the great Devil of the Mist about her sex, and as a bonus, gave Kakashi a rather confusing barb to the man.

“Now you're overestimating him,” Zabuza growled slightly.

“If you only knew the truth,” Kakashi declared, uncovering his Sharingan eye.

Zabuza didn't even flinch as he saw the pinwheel eye spinning menacingly at his direction. He closed his eyes, his hands forming a seal.

“I will borrow your words, Copy Cat,” Zabuza declared as the mist suddenly thickened, covering him. “Your tricks won't work twice on me.”

With that, he vanished from sight, leaving Kakashi alone to look around to see where he would strike.

“Sakura… stay on guard,” Kakashi ordered. “Protect Tazuna.”

“Y-yes… Kakashi-sensei…” Sakura shivered slightly, took out her kunai, and went on a guarded position in front of their client. She hoped her Sasuke-kun was safe.

On a few paces away, Saki growled as she tried to dodge ice needles coming down on him. Whoever this masked figure was, the skill was definitely there. Zabuza had commented on how her speed matched Haku's… but this Haku had more than speed. The fact the masked nin could do jutsus using half-seals was disconcerting enough, now, she watched in horror, the Haku had some sort of bloodline as well.

Appearing out of thin air, mirrors made of ice surrounded her, trapping her along with the masked figure, who then steps into a mirror. All the surrounding figures formed Haku's image, and Saki, for some reason, felt the expenditure of large amounts of chakra.

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she could see a blur. It was slight, but very fast movement, and then another, and another. Before she could try and focus on the minute movements, she screamed as she felt sharp pins penetrating her skin.

Needles, she saw, catching her shoulder slightly. She reacted automatically… grabbing her kunai out, and automatically trying to block more barrages of needles. But it came too quick, and they came in at large numbers. Before she knew it, needles began to stick out in various parts of her body.

She began to move, dodge, roll, anything to get her away from the needle volley. She had no idea what kind of jutsu or what effect this Haku's bloodline was, but it was clear it was suicide to stay inside the ice dome. Scrambling out towards one of slits in between the mirrors, she was about to exit when Haku suddenly appeared in front of her, and unleashed a kick to her midsection.

Saki dodged it easily, but was forced back in the center.

Not letting me go, eh? Saki growled, and again, dodging another barrage. Damn it… and where the heck is this Haku aiming at?

Saki dodged another needle volley, deflecting some with her kunai, realizing that her enemy was aiming to just disable her. She didn't know whether to feel confused, insulted, or glad for that. Instead, she formed a Tiger Seal and began to flow through the sequence in forming her jutsu.

“Katon: GÅkakyu no Jutsu!!”

Fire steadily formed from her mouth as she blew it towards the mirrors, hoping to at least damage it. Nothing. The mirror didn't even produce `sweat'.

“That kind of ninjutsu isn't strong enough to break my mirrors,” Haku declared neutrally.

No, really? Saki thought sarcastically. Damn it… I know Haku's the one causing the blurs, moving at great speeds. If I could only follow the damn movements…!

Once more, she barely dodged a dozen needles coming to her gut.

While Saki was trying not to become a porcupine, Kakashi was trying not to become a head shorter, literally. His Sharingan was no help in this situation, still being an eye, but it didn't really render him helpless. Copy Cat Kakashi, genius even without the transplanted eye, formulated a plan that would get him and his students out alive, but odds were against him.

Saki was fighting off that kid who apparently had a bloodline limit using elemental fusion, creating ice. And from the groans coming in from the dome of ice, that wasn't just it. He could help, of course, but that would leave Sakura alone. Making shadow clones would be another alternative, but in turn, Zabuza would use water clones, and they are cheaper, chakra-wise, giving the Devil of the Mist the advantage.

“I'm impressed, Copy Cat,” Zabuza's voice seemed to sneer from the mist.

“Does that mean I didn't impress you before?” Kakashi replied with a slight smile. “I guess I should step up my game, eh?”

“Hmph… joke all you want, it'll all be over soon.”

Kakashi was about to comment on Zabuza lacking on a sense of humor, when a sudden chakra spike emitted from to mist. The energy signature was pretty much recognizable. There was only one person who was trained in the ninja arts who just bleeds chakra off.

“Not if I can help it!!” Naruto suddenly appeared, landing at the area where Sakura was: in between the ice dome, and where Kakashi was fighting. It was also the clearest area, being minimally affected by the mist. “The great ninja Alchemist, Naruto Uzumaki, appears!”

He posed. Sakura could only blink, her eyebrow twitching slightly.

“Idiot. Showoff…” she muttered, though she had her smile out.

“Kinda late, aren't you, Naruto?” Kakashi called.

“Well, a hero always arrives late, right?” the blonde grinned. “Whatcha need, Kakashi-sensei?”

“Tactical support would be nice,” the jounin replied.

“Don't worry. One of mine's under the bridge. He'll be providing cover for you and Sakura.”

Kakashi blinked, then smiled somewhat. He tried to search for it, and after a little probing, realized what Naruto said was true. He could feel a very weak pulse of energy under the bridge. Naruto had thought ahead.

“Go help Sasuke,” Kakashi stated towards the blonde.

“Gotcha,” Naruto smirked, and dashed towards the ice dome. Zabuza wouldn't allow it though, and sent a flurry of shurikens towards the boy. Kakashi wanted to shout a warning, Haku himself, now interested in the blonde's presence, was about to throw senbon to intercept, but something odd happened.

The shurikens coming towards Naruto stopped in mid-air, and suddenly returned to Zabuza's position. The man's eyes widened before moving out of the way, his own weapons imbedding where he was earlier.

“Try again, ya eyebrow-less freak!” Naruto took his tongue out insultingly towards the mist, and dashed towards the dome.

Zabuza could only reply dryly, “Cheeky kid.”

“He's our number one surprising ninja, Uzumaki Naruto,” Kakashi stated with a slight smile. “You're unlucky, Zabuza. Unlucky you had to face us.”

“Oh?”

“There is Sakura, the top kunoichi in class… the Rookie of the Year, the prodigy and last of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke… and finally, our very own Alchemist Ninja, Naruto,” Kakashi smirked as he felt a hold on him, and disappeared from his spot, appearing right behind Zabuza.

The Devil of the Mist ducked automatically as Kakashi slashed at his back with his kunai, his mind exploding with explicative words, wondering what just happened.

“What…!?” Zabuza growled as he disappeared through the mist again. He had to dodge once more when Kakashi appeared on his left side, extending a leg for a kick. The Devil blocked it, but was still a bit unbalanced that he didn't regain momentum.

Kakashi smirked. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but with his Sharingan, he could register his location, and instantaneously plan his attack. He knew under the bridge, Naruto Prime was working his fingers off, and he was a bit rusty with his placements, but it was working. It was throwing Zabuza off balance, forcing him from offense to defense, and as the ultimate insult, made the Devil's favorite jutsu, the Mist technique, practically useless.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

One Naruto clone was sticking upside down, his feet on the base of the underside of the bridge. It was somewhat unnerving, but he couldn't afford to keep his eyes off the fight between Zabuza and his sensei. The Devil moved very fast, and he needed to have his fingers nice and nimble to get Kakashi out of the way in case Zabuza retaliated.

He didn't pay attention to the other side of the battle. He didn't feel a need to, being to busy watching out for Sakura and Kakashi. Plus, it was Naruto Prime there fighting with the psycho-girl. What could go wrong?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

“You… idiot!” Saki seethed as she felt the need to hit Naruto on his head. This was what Kakashi wanted as their tactical support? The moron just walked in the ice dome as if he was strolling in the park at a relaxing mid-afternoon.

“What?” Naruto looked confused. “I'm here to help, you know!”

“Oh, then that makes everything alright, now, doesn't it?” Saki growled sarcastically as she looked around her. Haku had stopped attacking for some reason, opting to just watch them.

Naruto had announced his presence loudly, as he would. Saki knew enough about the blonde to know Naruto and quiet aren't exactly in the same chemistry. She expected his arrival to be thus. She also expected Kakashi to send Naruto to help her… she needed help, in all honesty. She expected Naruto was at least smart enough to at least try and attack from the outside… she had seen how his brain work, either on pranks or on desperate and trying times.

She should have expected him to muck up, anyway.

Instead of trying to attack the mirrors from outside… he came in. After Saki had dodged the nth barrage coming at her, she stumbled on the ground, off-balanced, and staring at blue clear eyes.

She was pissed.

“You could have attacked outside, you idiot!” Saki wanted to shout, she really did. Naruto… that moron! Idiot! And why is that damned masked-nin just staring at them?

“Sheesh, if that's how you're gonna react, don't ask me to save you,” Naruto mumbled, and walked towards the mirrors. Haku's image disappeared, and the masked-nin appeared where Naruto was about to make his exit.

“I cannot allow you to leave,” Haku declared solemnly. “I'm sorry, but you have to stay here.”

Naruto just stared at the masked figure silently for a few seconds. He then grinned.

“Gotcha!” he declared, and from his left hand shot a torrent of cards. Haku blinked, and if it wasn't for experience, Naruto would have gotten the masked-nin trapped. Instead, Haku's image returned to the mirrors, the cards scattering in the air.

“Damn it! So fast!” the blonde muttered, and retreated towards the center where Saki was waiting for him. The Uchiha stared at him. Naruto looked annoyed. “What? It almost worked, alright. I didn't expect that masked-nin to be fast!”

“Heh… for a minute, I thought you were as stupid as I thought you were,” Saki replied.

“Hmph… says the psycho,” Naruto mumbled. “So… what's with the ice bits? And I didn't know anyone who could travel that fast.”

A volley of senbon needles came from all directions, all aimed towards the two genins. Naruto brought up a patched wall of cards surrounding them, catching most of the attack, while Saki just deflected the remnants that were able to pass through the spaces in between the cards. Naruto's defense was large, but because of his limited cards in hand, it wasn't completely tight.

“I think the mirrors are some sort of portal,” Saki muttered as another volley was sent. A few more needles were getting in between the holes in Naruto's card defense. “It allows that masked-nin to travel from one place to another almost at an instant.”

“Crap,” the blonde muttered as he dodged an incoming needle. “This guy's shots are becoming better!”

“Tell me something I don't know!”

Naruto then willed his cards to relocate, mixing and shifting, patching up holes where they were, only to create new ones in other areas.

“That should make the bastard work harder,” Naruto muttered. He looked behind him, to his teammate. “Got a plan, psycho?”

“Don't call me psycho, idiot,” Saki growled as she deflected more wayward needles. “My eyes are adjusting to the movement… though it would help if you could slow her down.”

“I can try and expand my cards outwards, try to make them stick to him,” the blonde muttered. “Problem is, those are our defenses… and I doubt if my cards still stick to him when he enters one of those damn mirrors.”

“How about those fire bombs you have?” Saki asked, remembering Naruto's fight with Zabuza on their first encounter. “You can use those to melt those mirrors.”

“Uh… nope, sorry, I'm empty,” Naruto groaned, remembering he had used his last remaining bombs to free Mercedes.

“So we're completely boned?” Saki sighed. “Damn it… and I thought you were useful.”

“Are you two married couples done arguing?” Haku's voice suddenly came around them.

Saki froze up, turning to a nasty shade of red.

“I'm going to kill you…” she declared, her grin and eyes becoming murderous. “I'll burn your corpse to ash. I will feed you to the fishes, well-done.”

“Sheesh… psycho,” Naruto whispered, his eyes going around. He could see blurs as well, but that was the only thing he could see. He was hoping his classmate was having more luck in spotting their enemy.

Oddly, Saki was having more luck. The little barb about her and Naruto seemed to hit a very sensitive nerve, making her pull all her concentration on one thing… the utter destruction of the masked-nin. Unknown to her, or to anyone for the matter, that was all it took for her eyes to finally unlock its potential.

It wasn't only her face that turned red. Her eyes too.

I can see it! Saki thought. The movements of Haku. I can really see it!

Time seemed to slow down for her, her head and eyes following the blur as if it was traveling at normal speed. Forming seals, she shouted towards his partner, “Clear the way! I'm going to burn this guy down! Katon!”

“Whoa, whoa! Don't burn the cards!” Naruto declared, recognizing the word (he had run away from it after all), and recalled the cards away, clearing the way for her technique.

“GÅkakyu no Jutsu!”

A steady stream of fire came out of her mouth. Haku thought that the raven-haired genin was futilely trying to melt the mirrors again, but was surprised when the ball of fire was coming straight at…

“Gotcha!” Saki grinned.

Haku swerved, unbalanced having trying to attack, only to dodge the fireball in mid-air. Luckily, there was a mirror waiting to be used as an escape, and only a part of the masked-nin's pants caught the attack.

“Whoa, nice one,” Naruto declared, and willed his cards to come alive once more in case Haku retaliated.

Haku was wondering for a moment if what just happened was just luck, when Saki just grinned at one of the mirrors. The red pinwheel eye had then become obvious. The masked-nin knew the odds on their favor had significantly risen.

The raven-haired genin was waiting for Haku to pop out. Zabuza's apprentice knew that. This time, the fire attack wouldn't miss. The Sharingan was powerful, Haku knew that, but the user had just awakened it. The genin was inexperienced. Plus… she had a weakness.

The blonde.

Haku sped out of the mirror, and Saki immediately pressed on her attack. Instead of going for an attack like earlier, though, the masked nin just transferred to the nearest mirror, dodging the fire attack completely, leaving the Uchiha open.

“Crap!” Saki declared as she saw Haku suddenly counter-attacking her. Naruto needed no other warning. Forcing all his cards to erect a perfectly whole wall in front of his teammate, deflecting the barrage of needles completely.

Unfortunately… it left him open.

“What the…!” Saki muttered as she saw a wall of cards covering her front completely. Her eyes spotted movement, and realized what Haku was now aiming for.

Naruto found himself pushed aside. His first reaction was anger, seeing his teammate looking down at him, but found himself abated when he saw needles in her neck.

She went on her knees. Her vision began to fade. Her red eyes turned back to black, looking solemn. Looking dead. Her mouth opened, and spoke three words.

“You damn… idiot…”

To Be Continued

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Author's Notes:

Finally, updated. Hope you like it people… NGE has been on my mind for sometime, so it took me a while not to write Shinji instead of Naruto. lol. Anyways, end of the Wave Country arc comes next chapter.

Later peoples.