Sasuke's twin sister, But Neji's first love

Haku's Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors

Inside the Crystal Ice Mirrors

The dome of mirrors shimmered around us, enclosing Sasuke and me in a cage of reflections. Haku stood in every surface, his image multiplying infinitely, his masked face unreadable.

"Stay close to me, Ryuko," Sasuke said, his voice low but firm.

"I'm not going anywhere," I replied, gripping a kunai tightly.

A blur of movement.

Senbon needles rained from every direction.

We leapt, rolled, blocked—but still, too many needles slipped past. One grazed my arm, another sank into my thigh. Sasuke grunted behind me, his shoulder pierced.

We were fast—but not fast enough.

"You won't leave this place," Haku's voice echoed from every mirror. "I won't let you."

We moved in sync, trying to break through the mirrors, but every strike was useless. Haku moved like a ghost—there one second, gone the next. We couldn't tell where he'd attack from, no matter how hard we tried.

Another round of senbon needles flew. I screamed as several pierced my side, and Sasuke collapsed to his knees with needles embedded in his back.

Blood soaked into the ice beneath us.

"Hah... damn it..." Sasuke gasped. "We can't win like this..."

I dropped beside him, shaking. I could barely move. I was cold—so cold—and not just from the ice.

"We can't... give up," I muttered, tears in my eyes. "We're Uchihas. We don't die like this..."

But my limbs wouldn't listen.

Haku stepped slowly toward us from one of the mirrors.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "You're both strong. But I can't let you live."

Then everything went white.

We collapsed—both of us—surrounded by needles, bleeding and broken.

But something burned inside us.

Not rage... not hate... something deeper.

A need to protect.

Each other.

Flash.
The pulse of chakra surged through our bodies.

My heart jolted—and suddenly, my eyes burned.

I gasped and sat up sharply. Sasuke groaned beside me, lifting his head. His eyes met mine—and we both stared in stunned silence.

Red.

Black tomoe.

Sharingan.

"Sasuke..." I whispered. "Your eyes..."

"Yours too," he breathed.

I turned back to the mirrors—and for the first time, I could see Haku. Not his reflection. Not an illusion. The real Haku—moving from one mirror to another in a flicker of light.

"I see him," I said, my voice steadier now.

"Me too," Sasuke nodded. "Let's end this."

We leapt to our feet in perfect sync.

When the senbon came again, we dodged them all.

Spinning, flipping, weaving between the deadly needles, we rushed toward the real Haku and landed solid strikes, shattering one of the mirrors.

"You awakened it..." Haku said from within the remaining mirrors. "Both of you."

"You should be scared," I said coldly. "Because now, we can see everything."