A Bridge That Connects Us All: Part Five

Haku stood back up again, dusting off the dirt across his chest. He was surprised by Azula's unexpected assault, but that was a mistake that won't happen again.

"His kindness prevents Haku from killing them; such utter weakness," Zabuza scoffed. Haku had been like that since he first taken him when he was a child. It was unfortunate that Haku never seemed to grow out of it at all.

However, now wasn't the time to focus on that; Zabuza had a job to finish. He quickly reappeared from the fog behind Naruto and raised the Executioner's Blade to land the killing blow.

A sudden, sharp pain struck against torso, causing Zabuza to unintentionally groan. Naruto was quickly alerted by his presence and quickly jumped away.

Zabuza clutched his stomach and saw the blood soaked in his hands. His wound had opened up again from Naruto's rasengan days prior.

"Damn brat," Zabuza clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Naruto instantly took advantage of this minute opportunity and threw more streams of fire at Zabuza. Zabuza hastily rolled out of the way as the flames singed his clothes black.

Naruto suddenly appeared before with a kunai in hand. He swiped across Zabuza's head. Miss. Naruto twirled in hand and slashed downward, however, he only managed to cut through Zabuza's clothes instead.

Zabuza, with incredible speed and accurate timing, managed to land a gut-wrenching punch at Naruto, throwing him onto the ground.

'Damn it, he's just too strong,' Naruto rested on one knee, clutching his stomach tightly in pain. He gazed back up at Zabuza with a frustrated look.

"Tired already?" Zabuza asked in mockery.

Naruto remained silent. He was in too much pain to speak at the moment.

'I have to use the Rasengan again,' Naruto thought to himself. It was the only way that he had a chance to beat Zabuza. He would risk destroying his arm, but it was his only shot.

"Don't think that little trick of yours will work on me again," Zabuza snapped Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Damn it, he knew," Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration.

Suddenly, a large puddle of water surrounded the young blonde, entrapping him in an a spherical prison. Soon, he was trapped with nowhere to go and nowhere to breathe.

'No!' He shouted in his mind.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Azula breathed heavily as she blocked a torrent of water with blue flames. Haku was much quicker than she had expected with incredible bending to go along with it. Their battle had been intense, but Haku wasn't even a bit fazed at all.

'Just who was this guy?' Azula thought to herself.

In a moment's notice, streams of water wrapped around Azula's legs and suddenly froze into ice, trapping her in place.

"When did he-!"

"Azula, watch out!" Suki quickly stood in front of her as a needle came straight for them. A sharp clang echoed out as Suki swiped her fan to block it.

Azula was furious. Not only had she been caught off guard, but she was also saved by Suki. The ice that trapped her in place shattered as the flames of rage burned brightly.

"We need to be careful; this guy's really tough," Suki said, still keeping a vigilant eye at Haku.

"Tch, I don't need your help," guided by her flames, Azula quickly sprinted towards Haku.

"Azula, wait!"

Azula ignored Suki, directing her anger at Haku with fire instead. She wouldn't lose this time; not to some random waterbender. Not with her pride on the line.

The battle of elements resumed as Haku and Azula clashed against each other. Ice and fire collided, exploding into thick steam. In the midst of it all, Haku and Azula drew themselves into a battle of martial arts.

Unfortunately, experience proved too much for the firebending prodigy. All of her strikes were redirected, and she was knocked to the ground.

"You really are quite the dancer, aren't you?" Azula drew her messy hair back.

"You're too slow," Haku answered.

A frown made its way to her lips as she stood back up. She shouldn't let her anger get the best of her, but it was easier said than done. Yet, the way this masked man calmly stood there ticked her off. As if this guy wasn't taking this seriously.

Azula charged at Haku again as blue flames wrapped around her fists. She tried her best to reach him, but her fists were just a hairbreadths away from landing anywhere near Haku.

Unknown to Azula, Haku had pulled out a needle from under his sleeve, and he quickly jabbed it into Azula's arm.

"Ahhh!" Azula let out a shrill scream as she felt something sharp dug into her flesh. She gripped her shoulders as she retreated back to a safe distance.

It hurts. It really hurts.

Haku appeared before Azula in the midst of her daze, ready to lay down the final blow. Azula's golden eyes widened with fear as she looked up to see a shadow of a needle.

Was she going to die here?

As time slowed to a standstill, a golden fan made its say in front of her, blocking the needle from ever reaching her face. Haku immediately retreated back, dodging a kick from Suki.

"What did I tell you, you idiot!" Suki shouted at her. "Why didn't you listen? You could have died!"

"I...I seem to have underestimated him," she answered.

"Big time," Suki said. "We either fight together, or we both die; and I don't to lose my life because of your ego, Azula."

Azula clenched her teeth. She didn't want to admit it, but she was clearly outmatched here. Her golden eyes looked towards Suki. Just once. She was going to rely on the Kyoshi warrior just once.

The firebending prodigy clicked her tongue. She then gazed over at the needle that was lodged deep in her arm. Breathing in deeply, Azula slowly gripped the needle.

It was only a little pain. She can do this.

"URGGGNNN!" Azula groaned loudly as she yanked the needle out, tossing it on the ground. Her chest heaved. It hurts way more than she had expected.

"Fine," Azula said, knowing that she couldn't beat Haku alone. "He's clearly stronger than the both of us."

Meanwhile, Zabuza watched their battle from the sideline while he kept Naruto trapped in the water prison. He was getting annoyed by Haku's reluctance to kill them.

"Oi, Haku," he furrowed his brows. "End the fight already."

"Yes, Zabuza," Haku nodded his head.

Haku suddenly raised his hands out, then, a massive stream of water quickly encircled Azula and Suki. The water formed an ice dome of mirrors, hovering above the ground.

"What the...." Suki murmured to herself.

She had a bad feeling about this.

* * * * *

Iroh and Rock Lee had finally arrived at the Shin Khan Fu region. They had traveled all day along the Shuilong River. Soon, the duo spotted a wooden house near the river.

As they approached closer, they saw bandits walking out of the house, dragging Tsunami and Inari with them.

"We have to help them," Rock Lee said.

Iroh nodded.

The two of them jumped out from the bushes and ambushed the bandits. Gato's goons were quickly overwhelmed and fell in no time. Iroh went over to Tsunami and her son and cut them free from their ropes.

"Are you alright there, young lady?" Iroh asked with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," Tsunami nodded. "Thank you for saving my son and I."

"I couldn't stand by and watch a crime scene take place," Iroh smiled at her.

"P-please help my granddad and my friends; they might be in danger!" Inari yelled out in panic.

"What happened to them?" Rock Lee asked.

"Gato's men are here! They might be attacked by them!" Inari answered. "You have to help them!"

Iroh and Rock Lee looked at each other. Gato was here, alright.

"Don't worry, kid," Rock Lee gave him a reassured thumbs up. "We'll definitely save your friends."

Back at the bridge, Tenten was panicking. Her friends are in trouble while she stayed behind to guard Tazuna. She needed to help them and fast.

She suddenly heard a faint rustling behind her, and she quickly turned around.

"Tazuna, get behind me," her voice turned stern as she gripped the staff tightly in vigilance.

The rustling grew louder, and she could see two silhouettes drew closer. An old man and a teen boy.

"Who are you guys?" She asked coldly.