The Legend of Konoha's Shooting Star

Crumbling Sharingan

'Here we go...' April thought as she shifted her weight and launched herself forward for the first strike. "URRYAAAH!!" she yelled, stepping forward with her left leg into a spinning back fist, pushing the chakra concentrated in her arm down into her fist as she struck, squeezing it out the second her hand came into contact with the ice.

BOOM—CRACK!

"!!" Haku gasped when she actually managed to chip the ice. It may not look like much damage had been done from an outside perspective, but the fact that April had managed to make a mark at all proved just how dangerous she had become. He quickly formed a seal and released more chakra to fix the crack. He couldn't let her break them yet!

'Damn...!!' April cursed mentally, furrowing her brow, as she shifted gears to try again, building up more chakra.

"Sasuke-kun!!! Naruto!! April-chan!! Don't lose to that guy!!" Sakura cheered.

"Don't egg them on, Sakura," Kakashi said seriously.

"Huh?"

"Even if they could somehow defeat that technique, they cannot beat that boy," he stated grimly.

"!" Sakura gasped. "What do you mean?"

"Heh...heheh..." Zabuza chuckled darkly.

"They don't yet have the mental strength to destroy their hearts... and kill another person," Kakashi explained with a frown. Those three were still too inexperienced for that. "That young man knows the true pain of being a shinobi."

"That's right," Zabuza agreed. "A true shinobi can't be created in a peaceful village like yours, because you can't experience the most important thing. The experience of killing."

"Then, what can we do, Sensei!!?" Sakura asked urgently.

"..." Kakashi held Zabuza's gaze. "Sorry, but... I'm going to end this quickly," he said seriously as he raised his hand and placed it on his forehead protector, preparing to uncover his left eye.

"Sharingan!!" Sakura gasped excitedly. That's right, they still had that!

"Heheh... Sharingan again? Is that the only thing you can do?" Zabuza asked mockingly. Kakashi remained silent as they continued to stare each other down. Zabuza reached behind him as he suddenly shot forward, pulling out a curved kunai.

"!" Kakashi quickly raised his right hand in front of him as Zabuza thrust the kunai at the left side of his face, clearly aiming for the Sharingan eye.

STAB!

"You asked if it's all I can do, but you are afraid of the Sharingan... Zabuza..." Kakashi stated, glaring at the missing-nin as blood dripped from the hand he had used to stop the attack, running down the blade of the kunai Zabuza had stabbed him with.

"Hehe... A shinobi's master technique... is not something that should be showed to an opponent over and over," Zabuza said, returning his glare.

"You should feel honored. You're the only person to see it twice," Kakashi retorted. "And there won't be a third time."

"Heh... Even if you defeat me, you can't win against Haku..." Zabuza told him.

'Kakashi-sensei can't win...? Is the masked boy that strong?' Sakura wondered, suddenly filled with a sense of unease.

"Ever since he was a little kid, I've taught him all kinds of fighting skills. Even in the face of the greatest adversity, he has succeeded. With no heart or fear of death, he became a fighting machine known as a shinobi. On top of that his jutsus surpass even mine, and he has the terrifying ability of a kekkei genkai. I gained a high-quality tool for myself," Zabuza gloated, withdrawing his kunai. "Unlike the scrap that follow you around."