Chương 22: Sasuke vs Haku

"Ice Needles!!!!" Haku screamed. Instantly, the mass of water from the beaten water clones rose up in the air, and transformed into ice needles. They swiftly shot down Sasuke.

"Haku seems to want to end this quickly," Zabuza muttered under his breath, amused.

Sakura looked on, afraid for Sasuke and those incoming needles of ice. Naruto just stood there grinning. If Sasuke messed up, he would come in as the hero.

Sasuke's mind went in different directions of how to avoid the incoming needles of death. If those would touch him, he would become impaled and become a liability for the rest of the battle.

He raised his free hand to his face, as if to weave a hand sign. He also dropped his Kunai in preparation for his next attack.

Kakashi was a little shocked by this because Sasuke seems to be attempting a one hand seal Fire Ball jutsu, possibly because he figured something out from Haku with his Sharingan.

Building up chakra to his throat in one burst!!

"BOOOOOMMM!!!!"

Sasuke released his Fire Ball Jutsu and it went against the ice needles and Haku. The crashed needles transformed back to water and more mist. Sasuke then disappeared along with the attack.

Zabuza and Haku were shocked, their eyes widening in surprise.

Sakura heaved a sigh of relief.

Sasuke appeared behind Haku, with a proud grin on his face.

At the sideline, Sakura cheered in admiration.

"You are surprisingly stupid" Sasuke mocked, and rammed his elbow into Haku's neck. Haku stumbled, but didn't lose his balance. He turned to face Sasuke and shot out six senbons, aiming to paralyze both of Sasuke's upper limbs.

However, Sasuke had already predicted the move with his sharingan, so he weaved his one hand seals again and used substitution to change locations with the kunai that he had previously dropped.

Haku, getting annoyed, increased his speed and kicked towards Sasuke.

Because of his sharingan, however, Sasuke was able to match Haku's speed with intensity.

Kakashi felt proud of himself for making a little monster, with his scumbag methods...

While Zabuza looked on, a hidden worried gaze spread all over his face.

Sasuke knocked Haku onto the ground, and moved to stab him on the shoulder with another kunai.

Though, Haku caught Sasuke's wrist and held on to it.

With his free hand, Sasuke threw his second kunai, which barely whizzed past Haku's face, scratching the mask a little.

How did he miss from such a short distance? Who knows...

Haku pulled backwards in an attempt to catch Sasuke and throw him to the ground. Sasuke saw through it and grinned.

"From here on, you'll only defend my attack!!" screamed Sasuke, as he gave Haku a huge kick to the face, sending him towards Zabuza's feet.

Naruto scoffed and then gave a grin, a little happy that they're on the winning side.

Zabuza was furious. That brat, to think that Haku would lose in speed.

"Sasuke-kun, you are so awesome," squealed Sakura, a tint of pink blush forming on her cheeks. Sasuke was bent on one knee, trying to catch his breath. He felt a little bit dizzy, but he managed to steady himself.

"Yo Zabuza," Kakashi called out, in a mocking tone, "Your Ice Type is not a match for my Fire Type!"

Zabuza glared at Kakashi, wondering what the fuck the guy was referring to before turning to Haku, who was already getting back on his feet.

"Haku, do you know what this means?," he asked in a stern voice.

"Yes sir," Haku said in a very deep serious tone.

Kakashi grinned. He knew what was going to happen next. He had seen all this before, except now, he had prepared some scummy countermeasures.

Sasuke looked on, quite surprised how quickly Haku got up.

Haku walked towards Sasuke and clasped his both hands together, weaving hand signs, inserting his index fingers in between his middle fingers and staying still. A huge amount of chakra was emanating from him.

Sasuke stood still, curious and a little tired. He felt the stress of using his sharingan for the first time in a real battle. He shrugged those thoughts away. He was not going to lose to Naruto.

"Crystal Ice Mirrors!!!" Haku screamed and Zabuza chuckled.

Sasuke and the others, except Kakashi, watched in awe as ice mirrors surrounded Haku and Sasuke, forming a dome- shaped ice prison. Haku slipped into one of his ice mirrors, his reflection distributed among the ice mirrors.

Sakura and Naruto looked on, bewildered. They were sure Sasuke couldn't handle all that alone. Sakura glanced at Kakashi-sensei. He was looking so calm, like nothing terrible was about to happen to Sasuke.

Are these mirrors?, Sasuke wondered, trying to shake off the weakness that was spreading rapidly in his body. He still wanted to still be in the fight.

He would find a way to counter this, as long as he still had the sharingan.

Zabuza, getting uneasy about Kakashi's increasing calmness throughout the battle. It was as if he showed no concern for his 'brats' whatsoever.

"Kakashi Hatake," said Zabuza, approaching him with his drawn sword. "You are so confident about this battle, you really underestimate us, don't you?"

"No way," said Kakashi, putting both hands in his pockets, "I just came in prepared, that's all."

Zabuza laughed in his face.

"Since that jutsu has appeared, he's done for."

Kakashi gave a side grin "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"Now then," said Haku, giving a sinister smile from behind his mask, as he clasped his hands together.

"I shall show you my true speed!!!"

Dozens of senbons headed in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke tried to dodge, but his body froze and fell, with dozens of senbons attacking Sasuke's flesh without mercy from the reflections in different directions.

He could see the senbons, but he couldn't move his body fast enough to stop them when the came from all directions! It was as Haku's speed had increased by a dozen times when the ice mirrors appeared, and he's shifting around him nonstop!

He could see Haku's shadow moving from mirror to mirror, but he couldn't adapt to his increased speed!!

Sasuke screamed in pain. He knew that this was the moment Kakashi was talking about and decided to pull the pin on the device he was given.

He then threw it up into the air before ducking down. Whatever Kakashi had planned, he knew that it wouldn't be anything bad… right? Sasuke wondered while becoming a porcupine with the needles stabbing him all over on his back.

BANGGG!!!

The flashbang went off and Haku who was closest to it felt his eyes going blind. Although the blinding effects were reduced due to the mist, HE WAS INSIDE THE ICE MIRRORS! The light was magnified many times over!

[ Blinding Sneak Attack complete! Scumbag Points +20! ]

At the same time, Kakashi gave a signal to Naruto. He didn't know that Haku was facing an enhanced version of the flashbang, but he knew that he succeeded in sneak attacking Haku due to the notification.

And he was going to continue to take Haku down without even making a move!

Naruto swiftly weaved hand signs and screamed..

"MULTI SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!!!!, SPECIAL SUBMACHINE GUN BARRAGE!!!"