A/N: Heads up! This is going to be a long one (eat the rich!) 😉
Kohana tried her best to take slow, deliberate breaths to calm her mind, but her heart kept doing otherwise. It wouldn't stop beating so rapidly; it was starting to hurt her chest.
"Sasuke!"
Who pushed her away? Was it Sasuke? If that was the case, then he had time to save himself!
"Kohana, what happened!" Sakura demandeda from where she stood guard for Tazuna. Kohana finally stood on her feet and looked between Sakura and the dome of ice. "I don't know!" she yelled back, "but I'm going to get Sasuke out of that dome!" The redhead made a run for the structure, but before she could, a figure whizzed past and slammed against the side of her head. When Kohana came to, Zabuza was standing over her with his sword raised high over his head.
Kakashi's voice calling her name made the space around them ring, but Kohana quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to escape the sword.
"Crap! That was close!" Kohana exclaimed from behind Zabuza's clone. The clone roared when he turned back around, preparing another swing. This time, Kohana was prepared. She focused chakra onto her feet and jumped high enough to dodge the sword, but low enough so that she could grasp the clone's hair and plunge her kunai into his temple. The clone revealed its true aquatic form and turned into a mere puddle on the bridge floor.
Sakura cheered from a distance away while Kohana dropped to the ground, but there was no time to rest; she needed to reach Sasuke immediately.
"Aaaaagh!" Kohana stopped dead in her tracks. That had been Sasuke's voice.
Kohana cursed. "If I don't hurry, then Sasuke will—"
A cloud of smoke exploded from the other side of the dome.
"Uzumaki Naruto has finally arrived!"
At this point, Kohana was just about ready to pass out. "This idiot!" She was relieved that her brother was here to save the day, she supposed, but not like this!
Kohana swiftly ran around the dome to see Haku deflecting a volley of shuriken that Zabuza had thrown at Naruto. Figures he'd be target practice if he announced himself like that!
"So you want me to keep my hands off him, eh, Haku? How soft..." Zabuza remarked, but Kohana wasn't about to let Haku respond.
Kohana transferred chakra to her feet, making sure to put just enough at her heels to help propel herself into the air. She spun vertically, all the while keeping a steady increase of chakra on her right leg.
"Forgot about me, Haku-san?" she announced as her leg descended upon Haku, who tried to deflect it with his arms crossed over his head, but that wasn't enough to deter Kohana's attack. The chakra had allowed her to push her kick even further. As a result, Haku was forced to retreat upon receiving damage to his mask.
He rolled forward under Kohana and grabbed hold of her left leg. Before Kohana could respond, she was slammed against the ground, and only barely missed the needles that came her way when she rolled to the side.
"As a matter of fact, I did not forget," said Haku, as he waited for Kohana to stand. What she saw made her stop completely.
A fourth of the mask had broken off and revealed a part of Haku's eye. Kohana watched in horror as blood dripped down from a cut on Haku's eyebrow. Horror was colder than mist, thick and heavy in her throat. For a moment, Kohana's vision swam and all she could be aware of was the incessant ringing in her ears. Haku swiped at the gaping wound with an ointment to stop the bleeding.
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The Red Maelstrom
Fanfiction[Formerly Crimson Thread] There are very few things in life that Fuyu Kohana could confidently say she truly cares about. Orphaned and ostracized, she was born with nothing to lose, and everything to gain. However, as she embarks on a journey with h...
