"Sasuke! Kari! Naruto! Don't lose to that guy!"

Despite Haku's words to us, losing is definitely not an option here. We didn't want a fight at all. Completing our mission and keep Mister Tazuna safe, that's what we wanted – him and Zabuza, they're the ones insisting on all of this. Oh, how I miss the time where I didn't have a senbon sticking out of my thigh. When I pull it out, I let out a pained grunt and quickly look away when my blood starts pooling out of the small wound.

"Just because I failed once, that doesn't mean I'm giving up!" Naruto announces. "I'll try it again, as many times as it takes!" And once more, before we can warn him otherwise, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

I'm surprised by the increased speed of Naruto's movements; he's trying to adjust them based on how quickly Haku had dispatched them the first time around, but here, the second proves to be no better. Before they all disappear, and before Naruto can come crashing back down to us, Haku appears above us, extending a new barrage of senbon mine and Sasuke's way. With him still kneeling down, looking unfocused, I step in front of him and try deflecting as many of them as I can, the rest skimming past my skin or embedding themselves within it.

I lose my balance, nearly falling over if it weren't for him bracing me from behind, and Naruto finally hits the ground next to us.

"Kari, why'd you do that?" Sasuke asks through gritted teeth.

"Consider it a favour paid back from the other day," I say, my voice shaky. "You're trying to figure it out, right? I'll cover you. And Naruto, c'mon, you can't keep using your Shadow Clones like that," I add, turning the opposite way. "You're just wasting your strength and your chakra."

"I gotta find out how he's doing it!" he insists, glaring at one of the many reflections of Haku. He stands up again. "Alright, one more time!" I sigh. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

They all rush forward, shouting and hollering. Sasuke stands up, quickly but shakily.

"Cover me again!" he says back at me when he rushes ahead.

"Okay!"

And I do, double-fisting my kunai and following him at his side. He kicks up some of the water left on the bridge, high into the air. It confuses me, but I'm doing my best to cover him when something heavy hits me in my gut. It sends me flying backward, and now I'm hitting something else just as solid – Sasuke. Both of us crying out after our collision, we land back onto the bridge, groaning, Naruto following soon after.

"S-Sorry," I rasp, yanking yet another senbon from my shoulder. "He was too fast again."

"I know," Sasuke says. "I saw it, but we just can't keep up with him like this. I have an idea—" and he lowers his voice "—so when I give the word, use that Fire Ninjutsu again where I'm looking. I want to test something."

"O-Okay," I say, my nod slightly stiffened – can I do it a second time without screwing up? This is so much pressure all of a sudden, and I'm having trouble finding enough confidence in myself.

Naruto launches another Shadow Clone barrage, and I prepare the hand signs, waiting for Sasuke to call it. "Now," he says lowly, looking up to the second row of ice mirrors to the west. My two fingers curled up against my lips, I'm able to release my breath through it in the form of a ball of flames, trusting Sasuke's timing despite Haku having just re-entered an ice mirror. But then he exits again, and my Jutsu just barely licks at his heels before he's able to hide again. I'm not surprised that it missed him, just that he really did have a good idea here.

When Haku leaves the mirror again, Sasuke uses his own Fireball Jutsu, and this time, he manages to catch the end of Haku's robe on fire before changing course to escape, and in thwarting Naruto's efforts, he hides himself behind another mirror. I'm quick to brace myself in the direction Naruto is thrown, managing to catch him around his middle, only pushed back a few feet.

"Thanks, Kari," he groans out as I set him upright. I nod, frowning when he finally leaves my grasp.

"I was so close, but I..." He clenches his fists at his side. "I couldn't get to him!"

"Naruto, can you still move?" Sasuke asks him. He nods.

"Of course! Nothing can stop me, believe it!"

I don't dare say it out loud. I'd immediately noticed the second I'd caught him – he's shaking from exhaustion. Using the Shadow Clone Jutsu so much must take so much out of him – out of anyone that uses it – because of the kind of Jutsu it is. And it's not like any of us are primed, full-fledged Shinobi – we haven't built up enough chakra to even be considered that. So, no, I don't say a word. Any kind of discouragement here and we're dead.

It's not like you've ever not believed in him since the moment you met him, anyway, I tell myself.

The mirrors in front of us start to shine again.

"Naruto, run for it!" Sasuke shouts, weaving more signs together.

"Huh?"

"Get out of here and attack from the outside! Kari, you watch his back!" I nod in reply, confused by the extremely sudden switch in the plan. "Hurry!"

"U-Uh, okay!"

"You got it!"

Reaching down my left thigh to my weapon holster as I run close behind Naruto, I pull out another kunai.

"You can't escape!" Haku shouts, and the mirrors glow to their brightest, blinding us and allowing him to knock us back against the bridge's floor. We quickly stand back up and rush in the same direction, me taking this lead to guard Naruto from the front.

"If you think you're keeping us here, you can forget it!" Naruto shouts.

I feel a rush of heat from behind us and know it's from Sasuke's Jutsu. From the corner of my eye I spot Haku moving quickly toward us at the same time the Jutsu makes its way to intercept him, but he manages to maneuver himself away from it in time and reach us. I hold my arm out to stop Naruto and he crashes into it, in the same moment Haku has appeared before us. I grit my teeth, preparing myself for a blow and when it comes, only Naruto is knocked back into the center of the ice dome – I'd only stayed because I'd latched onto Haku's leg like a lifeline.

I quickly wonder in the moment: did he expect this from me, since I'd already done it once before earlier on in the fight? Because he's quick to act, somehow taking my wrists into a single one of his hands after easily prying them from his clothing. I twist my body slightly, enough to raise my leg high above me and bring my foot down onto his shoulder – it's not as hard-hitting as I'd hoped it'd be because of my positioning. Haku gasps slightly, but I catch him straighten his back out to knock my leg away, and with his free hand, despite my struggle to get away from it, he takes a long senbon needle, and sticks it through my thigh.

I cry out through gritted teeth, not having thought it to be this painful! And as if he's satisfied with the result, Haku swings me around and kicks me back to the others.

"Kari!" Naruto and Sasuke both shout.

Looks like he's not above hurting a girl, I think, grimacing when I try to flip over. I don't know if I'm happy about that or not.

"Kari, I'm sorry! I still couldn't get past!" Naruto says, kneeling in front of me, a shaking hand on my shoulder as I'd sat up to pull the senbon out. I can't help the whimper that leaves my throat when I've fully removed it; it'd been at least three inches deep into my muscle.

"I-It's okay," I say, forcing a trembling smile. "That was... really great!"

"I second that!" Sasuke says, dropping a half-bloodied senbon from his own hands. I wince at the spot of blood dampening his left shoulder. "Can you guys do it one more time?"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

"I-I'll try," I say, and with a little help, I'm on my feet again, favouring my uninjured leg and foot to balance on. It's not like I can do anything else but try; I can't actively clean or treat my injury. I only hope that the damage to the muscle isn't so bad. I'd love to stay right where I am, in Naruto's hands where I know I'd be relatively safe. I... I like being able to place all of my trust into my friends. I also like us being alive, so I know staying put isn't not an option.

Sighing deeply and quickly, I tear the last of my bandages from my opposite thigh and tie them tightly above the stab wound, hoping to stem the flow a bit.

"Okay, let's do it."

And we split apart, all running in opposite directions of the other in the hopes that one of us can make it outside to launch the assault.

"No more games," Haku seethes. "This ends now!"

Only just a couple of feet from my targeted exit, I hear two cries of pain echo through the ice mirror dome. I shouldn't have, it'd been instinctive, but I'd looked back over my shoulder to see what exactly had happened, in time to witness a handful more of senbon pierce my back and calves. I freeze, and it isn't by choice – one of the senbon must've hit a nerve or something because I've fallen over, unable to keep on my feet. Hitting the ground harshly, the wind is knocked out of me and I'm left panting, facing the inside of the ice dome.

A shrill scream echoes across the bridge from the outside of our captivity.

"T-That was... Sakura," I manage to say.

"She's in trouble!" Naruto calls out stiffly. My eyes search for him and find him crawling my way. "Don't worry, guys! I'll bust us out of here!" And a moment later, a strange pressure is relieved from my body, and I'm able to move, though only very slightly, Naruto having removed my senbon.

"You have exhausted my patience," Haku hisses. I'm brought into a sitting position, by Sasuke, and my whole body starts pulsing with pain. Naruto stumbles to his feet, gathers his chakra again, and presses his hands together in a hand sign. "It's pointless to struggle."

Maybe, but he still tries. He and Naruto play a short game of tag, where it only ends with Naruto receiving more senbon into his chest.

"It's impossible for you to get out of here. That is absolute."

Sasuke runs over to him, his expression panicked. I'm limping, still favouring my relatively – comparatively – good side to walk on. Watching in case he makes a move, I finally join the two, kneeling next to Naruto.

"Can you stand up, Naruto?!" Sasuke asks.

"Please, just say you're alright," I beg, now shaking.

"Try not to use anymore chakra," he adds. "It's only going to help him now."

"I know, S-Sasuke, I know," Naruto says, lifting his head a bit, only to rest it back down, his eyes hazed over into shutting.

I sniffle. "If you knew, t-then..." Shaking my head, I look to Sasuke. "I-I don't know what to do now," I admit quietly.

"You have to try getting him conscious," he tells me. "The three of us have got to team up!" Sasuke stands back up and turns toward the ice mirrors. "My eyes have adjusted to his movements; I'll watch your backs." I'm nodding, probably more than necessary, and wipe my eyes on the back of my freezing hand.

"Please, be careful," I say, my voice hoarse. In response, he only smirks, and I sigh at him. "You two act too tough for your own good, you know?"

As gently as I can, I start to pull out the senbon from Naruto's chest, moving slowly so as not to startle him into a conscious pain. For the most part, it looks like they've all avoided hitting any vital spots on him, and only stuck him where it clearly hurts the most. Between the cold and my own injuries, I want to pass out, too, so badly. I just want to sleep. I think I slip in and out of consciousness for less than a second, and one of the senbon I tug out comes out too quickly, causing Naruto to wince.

"C'mon, get up, loser!" Sasuke shouts. "We've all got to work together!"

"Naruto, please," I say, finally removing the last needle. I'm startled by the sound of metal on metal and look behind me in time to see Sasuke parrying another onslaught of senbon – he misses two of them. "Naruto, get up!"

His eyes twitch, and a moment later, they open. Cradling his back, I help him into a sitting position as he'd helped me. "I know what we have to do, believe it, guys," he mutters, only semi-awake.

Haku begins attacking again, and while Sasuke guards us from the from, I guard them from the back. I miss several of my own senbon, and they lodge themselves into a shoulder I'd raised in time to protect my face. I'm suddenly thrown off my feet by a solid force – Sasuke – that moves us several feet over and out of the way of at least a dozen senbon.

I go sliding across the frozen ground, the needles still in my body now pushed even deeper than they'd already been. I clench my teeth, breathing heavily through them, and force myself to ignore all of my pain and fatigue – a tall order, but this is a battle. And Makara-sensei... would be ashamed of me... if I gave up after what she'd sacrificed...

"He disappeared!" I hear Sasuke yell. "Where'd he go? How could he just vanish?!" I'm blinking, my eyes starting to blur over. Looking down at my injured thigh, I'm bleeding badly from the wound. "You two better not faint! Naruto, don't you pass out! I can't take care of you any more than I am right now!"

"Well, then don't," Naruto snaps weakly. "I never... asked for... for your help." He falls over, finally fully unconscious.

"Damn it! Kari, you've gotta get up!"

"Y... Yep," I say. I'm seeing triple. I... think I'm crawling. I can't feel my leg.

"Kari," Sasuke says. "Please, get up."

"I'... m sorry... Sasu... ke."

Updated June 5th, 2021 | 2,473 words