Child of the Moon

Silent Kill vs Sightless Combat

"Sasuke, Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "Take this guy out, you can do it!"

"Don't Sakura!" Kakashi ordered. "Don't push them."

"Let me help you."

Tsukiko gasped, clutching her head. "Not you," she shook her head vigorously, chasing that voice back into the depths of her mind, forced to start over with her focusing on her nightmare technique.

Something had been said over where Kakashi was, which had caused the clone to laugh, but Tsukiko had been so wrapped up in dispelling the voice that she had actually taken her attention off of Zabuza.

Which was obviously a mistake that he wasn't going to let go unpunished. She had barely managed to catch the blade, using her chakra to improve her grip, the blade inches from her head, and Zabuza's full strength pushing down on her.

"Tsukiko!"

"You go to help her and I'll kill the bridge builder and that brat," the clone warned, blocking Kakashi.

"Dammit..."

"Tch," Tsukiko employed a careful use of her suggestive power, causing Zabuza to think he saw something coming from his peripheral vision, allowing her to force the blade back, and retreat a little from Zabuza's reach again.

"You alright?"

"I can't advance at all, this is ridiculous!"

"I guess you're fine then."

"Got a plan?"

"I could make a break, to save Naruto and Sasuke... but then Zabuza would kill Tazuna and stop you from helping Tazuna and Sakura or myself."

"Scratch that plan off..."

"If I used shadow clones..."

"He'd just match them with water clones, you need to take him out Kakashi," Tsukiko put her hands into a focusing sign. "No more testing the waters, let's go."

Kakashi reached up to his headband, to reveal his sharingan. Zabuza chuckled but otherwise didn't seem bothered at all.

He believed he had a way to counter the sharingan. He wasn't far wrong, but that didn't mean he could pull it off.

"Sharingan," Zabuza chuckled. "You're no fun, Kakashi, using the same old trick."

"You know what they say about old dogs and tricks," Tsukiko commented, preparing to perform her nightmare technique.

The human mind was naturally resistant to tampering, and forcing it would generally result in breaking it. So she needed to overcome his resistance without him being aware, so he couldn't fight back, and she needed to not be a target.

"Kakashi, I'm gonna need time."

"I'll do what I can."

Zabuza, however, wasn't going to give either of them anytime and charged forward while reaching for a kunai.

"Kakashi!" Tsukiko instinctively blasted Zabuza with a psionic blast, causing him to drop to his knees and clutch his head, while she moved to stop the clone. She jumped, grabbing the clone around the neck, and twisting, causing it to burst into water.

The two of them turned to face the real Zabuza, who staggered to his feet with a furious expression. "Don't just stand there."

"Thanks," he said, moving to reveal his sharingan, turning his attention on Zabuza. "If it's such an old trick, why did you try to stop me?"