Chapter 11 Part 2
Events on the bridge were moving fast.
When Zabuza attacked Akashi, everything was swallowed by thick fog — even the fighters themselves could barely track what was happening outside their own duels. The jonin battle was ferocious. Destructive. The pillars shuddered under the impact of massive techniques. The roadbed warped and groaned.
"This time's different, Akashi!" Zabuza declared, bringing the Beheader down on her opponent. The gray-haired woman dodged — the blade shattered planks, opening yet another hole in the bridge.
"How vicious..." Akashi lamented. She literally dissolved into the air — reappeared behind Momochi, kunai aimed at her throat.
Clang of metal. Sparks.
"You're on MY field, bitch!" The last Bloody Mist snorted. "Your monkey tricks won't work here!"
A backhanded slash. The long blade sliced through fog — but Akashi was already out of reach.
"I see you've recovered from our last talk," she noted, perched on the flat of the Beheader. She slid along it — struck again.
"Tch..." Zabuza bent backward, letting the attack pass over her. Hand planted on the ground — she countered with a kick. "Same to you, Little Monkey."
"Ara... That hurt," Akashi complained, rubbing her bruised chest. The kick had connected — hurled her back a couple meters.
From the outside, their fight might've looked lazy — almost like they were more interested in polite conversation. Wrong. Each was methodically probing the other's defenses — conserving strength. Revealing nothing. Neither Zabuza nor Akashi had any illusions: one mistake meant defeat. A single drop of chakra could turn the whole fight. And neither had fully recovered from the last battle. False death took a heavy toll — biological processes slowed to a crawl. Deep coma. One foot in the grave — literally. Full recovery needed more than a week. But Zabuza had attacked early — afraid Akashi would heal faster. She still felt stiff — moved cautiously. And she had no desire to fall under that damned Sharingan — so she spent precious focus maintaining the mist, draining herself further.
For her part, Akashi stayed semi-defensive. Couldn't risk going all-out — knew she was fighting on Zabuza's turf. The silent-killing master was a fish in water here. Hatake was no sensor — couldn't pick out enemy chakra from the fog her enemy had created. So she relied on her other senses — barely using her eyes. And the Sharingan was out: useless in near-zero visibility, and she hadn't fully recovered from chakra exhaustion. Sure — Kaoru-kun's medicines had helped immensely. Without them, she'd be in way worse shape. But she still felt a slight unsteadiness — a malaise. So she avoided big techniques — couldn't afford to try blasting away the mist with a huge chakra burst.
In their situation... practically a stalemate. So each conserved strength — waited for the other to slip. Ready to exploit that one fatal mistake.
"Hurts? Keh! Worry about your pups, Akashi." Zabuza's voice echoed everywhere. "Haku's probably finished off those brats and the old fart by now. Only reason I'm here is to fight YOU!"
"Mmaa... Don't think you're right, Za-chan." Akashi let her tone go playful. "My kids are way stronger than they look. More than capable of handling themselves. But — you know? If you're here for me... why hesitate? Could it be — you're faltering?.."
"Fine... LAST WORDS!!!" The fog roared. Senses screaming, Akashi felt the attack — FIVE attacks, from different angles.
"Ara... This is getting dangerous," the jonin thought, dodging water bullets and three water clones. Wood cracked — a blade burst from the floor, grazing the skin beneath her right eye.
Paper seals hissed... EXPLOSION!!
"Grrez!.. Just die already, you damn she-ape!" Zabuza snarled, leaping from a hole in the bridge — picking splinters out of her cheek mid-jump.
"That was genuinely dangerous," the smoking Akashi — thrown by her own blast — shook her head. Thoughts flowing slow. Almost lazy. "Gotta do something soon — or I'm dead. Zabuza's got the terrain. The attacker's position. Can't catch her in genjutsu... Battle of attrition... What a pain."
***
Fifty meters toward the shore.
Sasuko hissed through clenched teeth as two thin needles grazed her forearm. That bastard Haku was driving her insane. Too fast. Too slippery to smash with one big hit.
"Stand down." The distorted voice came from behind her. She spun — thrust her kunai. Metal clanged — a long thick needle locked against her faceted blade in a shoving match. "You're keeping up — for now. But the advantage isn't yours. I'd rather not kill you."
"'Advantage'? What're you talking about?" A mocking smile crept across Sasuko's face. "You're the one who should surrender."
She twisted — broke the lock — lunged at the fake hunter-nin. Threw a spread of iron stars, forcing Haku to dodge exactly where she wanted. He was fast — but not untouchable. And the young Uchiha proved it: the next clash caught him off-balance. He paid with a deep scratch across his mask.
"Tch-ha..." The nukenin's accomplice clicked his tongue, meeting her roundhouse with his own — using the momentum to launch himself away, vanishing from sight.
"Couple bruises coming my way," the youth noted, slightly stung, summing up the exchange.
"Hiding?!" The Uchiha girl's voice chased him. "Where's all that bravado?"
"You're just making this harder," Haku lamented, toneless, running a finger along the cut on his mask. This Uchiha's turning into a real problem. "Only delaying the inevitable. You can't win. This mist — the water all around us — these are my biggest advantages over you."
Sasuko scowled. She did NOT like how this fight was going. The damn mist was wrecking her — she could barely react fast enough to the hunter-nin's attacks. He moved through the white haze like he was born in it.
"Irritating bastard," she seethed, straining every sense to catch the next attack.
"Try dodging this. Sensatsu Suisho!"
"FOCUS!" Sasuko commanded herself. Wound to the breaking point — she caught a crystalline crackle at the edge of her hearing. Her skin screamed mortal danger. She launched herself upward — the only semi-safe direction. The moment her feet left the ground, thin needles of white ice rained down on the spot where she'd stood.
Hand seals blurring.
"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" Uchiha exhaled — spitting dozens of small fireballs. She twisted mid-air, spinning — bombarding the area. One of the explosions lit up the fog just right — illuminated a dark silhouette.
"THERE you are!" Uchiha exulted.
"Damn it — that... What?!" Haku couldn't finish the thought — sensed someone land behind him.
"TAKE THIS!!!" Uchiha screamed, grinding her teeth against the pain. The enemy's technique had clipped her — wounded her left leg. Didn't stop her from slamming that same leg into his face.
"Ghah!.." Zabuza's partner gasped, hurled backward. He skidded across the ground — pushed off with one hand mid-slide — back on his feet. Swayed. Shook his head, dazed.
"If this keeps up... could I lose?" The thought flickered — just a moment of hesitation. "No. I can't let that happen. No more holding back... NOW."
"I really didn't want this — but you've forced my hand." Haku's voice went cold. Hands folded in a seal — he unleashed it. The air turned freezing. "Hijutsu: Demonic Mirrors!"
Sasuko's eyes flew wide. The air around her trembled — the fog went matte white — and with a soft crackle, solidified into ice.
"What... IS this jutsu?!"
Haku appeared RIGHT in front of her! No time to think — she attacked — drove her kunai into the hard surface of an ice mirror. Didn't even scratch it.
"It's over." His voice came from everywhere. Every mirror surrounding her — Haku in each one. "Your stubbornness brought you here..." Every Haku raised a hand — needle glinting between his fingers. "Don't blame me."
He swung. Uchiha's eyes went wide — shock and pain: three needles were suddenly sticking out of her weapon hand!
***
Sakurai stared into the fog. Tense. Anxious. The situation was hell: he couldn't do a thing. Akashi had ordered him to protect Tazuna — and he obeyed, his heart heavy as lead. Somewhere out there — in that white haze — Sasuko and Akashi are fighting for their lives. And I'm HERE. Guarding the client. The client trembling behind my back. Sakurai ground his teeth — if only I could help!..
But he couldn't. Tazuna needed protection. If he died — none of this meant anything. All their efforts — wasted. Useless. The mission would fail — disgrace them as shinobi, cast a shadow over Konoha's reputation. And what would happen to these people after their defeat? Not that Sakurai was obsessed with the Village's honor — but everything else filled him with near dread.
So all he could do was follow Akashi's order — and pray with everything he had that Sasuko-chan could beat her enemy.
Nothing more.
***
"Damn it!.. DAMN IT!!! DAMN IT!!!" — pounding through Sasuko's skull.
"Futile. Just surrender." Her enemy's voice — almost gentle — as he swung his hand. A dozen needles — steel and ice — flew at the Uchiha heiress. She saw them. Calculated the trajectories. But she couldn't dodge. Not all of them. She bit her cheek till it bled — held back a scream. Pain tore through her thigh. Her right forearm. Like a ragdoll, she stumbled — trying to stay upright. Her black eyes reddened — revealing the pride of the Uchiha clan to the world. The Sharingan. Incomplete. Unfinished. Immature. But Sharingan. The desperate struggle — right on the edge — had woken the dormant genes inside her. Now she could SEE the attacks. But seeing wasn't enough. Too exhausted. Too slow. Her body couldn't keep up. All she could really do was minimize the damage.
"Won't lose! WON'T LOSE!!! I CAN'T LOSE!" Sasuko swore, raging. "Not now! Not before I... Not before I reach Her! While She's still alive! I CANNOT LOSE!"
She tossed her head — stubborn — tried to straighten up. Red eyes blazing, catching every movement of her hated enemy.
A sigh.
"The legendary eyes of the Uchiha. Those demonic eyes — truly fearsome." Haku spoke quietly from the mirror. Admitting it to himself — he was hesitating. He hated killing. Despised it. Loathed it. Could've ended this long ago — but couldn't force himself to land the killing blow. "Time to end this. This technique costs too much — can't keep it up much longer."
A wave of the hand. New attack.
"DODGE!" Sasuko commanded her body — her swimming, fading Sharingan catching the projectile. "Dodge! Dodge! Do..."
She dropped — the needle passed overhead. She'd dodged. But it didn't matter anymore. Collapsing to her knees — Sasuko's body didn't move.
The girl had lost consciousness.