A/N: Very short chapter, I know. But the next two or so chapters are going to be filler that leads up to the Chunin Exams. Hope you enjoy!

XXX

Haku slowly awoke from one of the best rests she ever had. Actually when one thought about it, she hadn't really got to sleep for most of the week she was taking care of Zabuza. She found herself in a comfy bed in a dim lit furnished room, the lack of light being a result of the closed curtains.

Her brown eyes darted to the sides of her bed, looking for her supplies. She also noticed that she wasn't in the same attire that she was in during the bridge assault. Someone put her in a regular black t-shirt with her pants removed to just her gray panties. Feeling extremely vulnerable, she prepared to leap out of the covers and sneak her way out of the house, planning to kill anyone who posed a threat to her.

As she pulled the covers from off of her body she felt a presence that instantly became accompanied by a voice, "Nice to see you're awake." The voice came off as a calm and laid-back purr.

Haku's head snapped to her left to see Kakashi leaned against the bedroom wall. His only visible eye was narrowed dangerously. The muscles in the girls arms tensed up defensively, showing that she was ready to lash out if necessary. She felt like an animal that'd been cornered by a predator.

Kakashi held up a hand, "I'm not going to harm you," his eye narrowed dangerously, "Unless you give me reason to."

At least she felt a little better knowing that.

"Why did you bring me here? And where is Zabuza-san?" Haku asked the instant the thoughts came to mind.

Hatake's eye closed, wondering which question to answer first. After taking a moment to think he said, "I brought you here because I have a few questions for you." Kakashi approached the Ice Shinobi and take a knee right next to her. The fact that he still held a calm yet malicious glare told Haku that if she answered this question wrong she may die. "Why is Sasuke still alive?" He asked.

The tool's gaze couldn't meet Kakashi's, staying lowered to the bed sheets. "I've never enjoyed killing anyone. Or even causing pain. Even though I was under Zabuza-san's orders I was hoping to bend them this one time and hopefully spare them. It was just unfortunate that they were tough enough to stay conscious."

Kakashi nodded, pleased with what he was told. The hostile gaze in his eye went away. "I assumed that. But why spare them when you've certainly killed others before?"

This time her eyes met Kakashi's. "Because, I could relate to them." Kakashi's raised eyebrow prompted her to continue, "Your team. Unlike the other men that I've killed, your team had precious people in their lives. So do I. I just figured that if I were to sway from Zabuza-san's command, it may as well be for a good cause."

The silver-haired jonin was flabbergasted to say the least. Was this girl really Zabuza's student? She seemed to be so kind hearted and gentle, traits that would obviously disgust someone like Zabuza. The silver-haired Jonin didn't want to believe it, but it seemed he was left with no choice. Kakashi pinched his brow in frustration. As he stood to his feet Haku stopped him,

"Wait, you...you didn't tell me what became of Master Zabuza." Haku hurriedly said, a sign of her nervousness.

Kakashi's shoulders dropped. Normally he would have no problem smacking someone in the face with the truth, but in her case, it didn't sit well with him. "Gato betrayed the two of you. He planned on killing you both right from the start. Zabuza…died while taking Gato with him."

Haku's expression was blank for a moment. The corners of her mouth twitched before her eyes watered up. She quickly closed her eyes in an attempt to closet her emotions. There was a small sniffle as she spoke, "He died with honor yes?"

The Jonin nodded, "He took out Gato and as many of his men as he could before going down. I'd say that there was some honor in that somewhere." Before he walked out the door he turned to her, "My team and Tazuna's family are in the house when you feel that you're ready to come out." He closed the door behind him. The sound of sniffling could be heard as he continued down the hallway.

As the Jonin walked into the kitchen he found his team, Tazuna, and Inari sitting at the dining room table while Tsunami was making breakfast. Trunks, Naruto, and Sakura were talking while Sasuke brooded like he normally did. Sasuke and Trunks arms and legs were wrapped tight in bandages.

The second Sakura saw Kakashi she asked, "How is she Kakashi-sensei?"

"She'll be fine. She's just...pulling herself together." The Jonin said as he sat down in the kitchen seat. His eyes traveled to Trunks, who grew nervous as if he knew where this would lead. "Let's all go outside. We need to talk." Trunks gulped.

Team 7 sat around in a circle in the forest. "Alright Trunks," Kakashi started, "tell us what the hell that was yesterday."

All eyes shot at him. The pressure was making the demi-saiyan begin to sweat. How was he supposed to explain to his teammates about a super saiyan without telling them he's half alien?

"Um," He started awkwardly, "what you saw was a super saiyan."

It was safe to say that there were blank expressions all around.

Of course Naruto was the first to ask, "The hell is that?" The rest of the teams silence confirmed similar thoughts.

Taking a breath, Trunks continued, "Basically, it's a form I can take that'll give me heightened strength, speed, and a boost in power."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in both confusion and jealousy. Just what did the Uchiha miss when he was unconscious? And this imbecile really had another form he could take to get stronger? His fists balled tight.

Kakashi rubbed his chin, "Yeah, I think I got that part myself, but what's a saiyan?" He said the last word like it was foreign to him. Which it was.

The Demi-saiyan's eye twitched. Now this was going to be difficult. "Um, a saiyan was what my father was. They were a group of... pirates, basically. Only saiyans were, um, gifted with the capability of becoming a super saiyan."

Kakashi once again rubbed his chin, "So it's basically a bloodline limit. But how does one unlock or achieve this ability?"

Trunks head lowered, "Several ways. It can be substantial amounts of stress, a need, anger...a loss."

Kakashi had a feeling where Trunks was headed with this, having listened in on the demi-saiyans conversation with Inari.

Sakura's eyes grew soft, "H...How did you become one?" Judging by the way Trunks dragged out the last few words, she had a feeling her question was answered. It was only confirmed by the twitching in the corners of Trunks mouth.

Kakashi's eyes softened as well, knowing all too well what it was like to lose people who meant so much in one's life.

Naruto was confused. He may have let the whole super saiyan explanation and origin fly right over his head but he had no clue as to why his team seemed so crestfallen.

The Jonin sighed, knowing that that was enough revelation for the day. Kakashi knew that Trunks was keeping something from them. Eventually all of his secrets would come to light, "Let's go back inside. We can see if Tsunami's finished cooking."

Breakfast was relatively quiet, which was very ironic seeing as the atmosphere was lively and celebratory yesterday night. Team 7 were still thinking back on the information they were given while Tazuna's family were just following along with the silence.

A slight creaking in the floorboards brought everyone's attention to the doorway. Haku stood nervously glancing to each individual at the table.

"Ah, goodmorning! Take a seat, there's enough food for you too!" Tazuna said joyfully, feeling grateful that he wasn't gonna die today. Tsunami gave her an assuring smile to let her know it was okay.

As Haku took a seat next to Sakura and across from Sasuke, Naruto couldn't take his eyes off of her. 'She's even cuter than Sakura!' He thought with a red face.

Sasuke's face grew red in both embarrassment and anger, embarrassment that he got his ass handed to him by this woman, and anger that he had to eat with her, the day after!

Trunks found the situation awkward as well. He wasn't too fond of sitting at a table with someone he almost blasted yesterday afternoon. He brought a cup of water up to his lips and sipped at it, attempting to draw his attention elsewhere.

"So," Sakura started, hoping to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. In all honesty, she was threatened by Haku's appearance. Mostly because she knew that the other girl was better looking, "Now that your master is...you know, what are you gonna do now?"

Haku sat silently for a moment, "I don't know. I have nowhere to go."

Everyone felt kind of bad.

Okay, maybe a lot of bad. And for good reason. Haku wasn't evil, and she wasn't even a bad person. She was just a kid, like them, who followed the orders of someone who did truly evil things.

Kakashi decided to speak up, "Well, if you want you can stay here with my team while Tazuna finishes the bridge. After the bridge is complete then, we can move on from there." The man wasn't sure if he wanted to offer her the chance to come to Konoha, but he knew that Tazuna wouldn't mind her staying at the house with them.

The ice-nin seemed to be considering the offer, before she nodded, "That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much."

Tazuna and Tsunami smiled before the old man let out a jolly, "Perfect! It'll be great to have ya around!" Tazuna wiped his hands clean before standing up from his seat, "Now, we've got a lot of work to do. Let's get this bridge taken care of!"

XXX

The following weeks went by relatively fast. Team 7 assisted the construction workers with the building of the bridge, boosting progress speed by 10 fold. Haku's presence was something that they were growing accustomed to, she was actually rather sweet and would lend a hand in whatever way she knew how to. During the team's training sessions she gave Trunks tips on how to spot Kakashi, making the Demi-saiyan exponentially better at tracking the jonin in their little game.

It was now three weeks later, and the entire village of Wave was gathered to see Team 7 and Haku off on the now completed bridge that linked Wave to the mainland.

"See you around Inari!" Naruto said as he fistbumped the younger boy.

"It's been fun kid!" Trunks said as he rustled Inari's hair.

The younger boy's eyes grew wetter as he spoke, a tremble underlying his tone, "Yeah, it's been great. I'm...I'm gonna miss you guys."

Naruto's mouth quivered as he spoke, his eyes growing just as wet as Inari's, "You know… it's okay to cry when you're happy."

Inari's mouth began quivering as well, "What are you talking about? I told you I wasn't gonna cry anymore, didn't I?"

"That's great dude." He quickly turned around, "Well, see ya' around!" Naruto said as he and Trunks turned to walk with their team, the demi-saiyan giving one final wave to the villagers who were shouting good-bye and other wishes of luck and farewells.

Sakura took one glance at Inari and another glance at Naruto (both boys faces being reduced to tears and runny noses), before deadpanning, 'Give me a break.'

As he watched them leave Tazuna couldn't keep the smile from his face as he looked at the boys that had become such positive role models for his grandson.

"Those boys," The bridge builder said, earning the attention of everyone around him.

"Those boys truly did save us. Not only did they free us from Gato, but they changed Inari's heart. And in doing so created a bridge that spelled hope for a dying country." Finished Tazuna with a smile.

"Speaking of bridges we still need to name this one." Said Tsunami.

"Heh, how about 'The Great Tazuna Bridge?'." Said Tazuna, making Tsunami roll her eyes while the other villagers laughed.

"How about 'The Great Naruto and Trunks Bridge', a bridge named after the heroes of Wave." Said Tsunami.

"That's too long." Someone within the crowd pointed out.

"And it sounds lame." Someone else pointed out.

A light bulb went off over Inari's head, "Ooh, I have an idea, how about 'The Bridge of Hope'?"

Tazuna rubbed his chin in thought, "It has a nice ring to it!" The builder turned to the crowd behind him, "All for the 'The Bridge of Hope' say 'I'!"

"I!" The crowd shouted in unison.

XXX

Team 7 found their way to a cliff that overlooked the Wave village. An orange sunset sky made the view a beauty to look at. This proved to be a landmark that served as Zabuza's memorial and burial ground. The Demon of the Mist's sword sticking from the ground served as his tombstone. The teens and Kakashi stood back as Haku silently paid her respects for her former master.

Three fingers pressed to Haku's lips before she pressed them to Zabuza's blade, and then to the spot of Zabuza's burial. Her eyes closed in a silent prayer, 'Farewell...father.' She stood up, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Have you decided what you want to do?" Kakashi asked, "I've offered you the choice at returning to the village with us, but you haven't given me a definitive answer."

Haku turned to face Team 7, "I know. And I've decided against it."

The Uzumaki was flabbergasted, "But why? You could easily make a life for yourself inside the village."

"Perhaps, but during my time under Zabuza-san's tutelage I cannot deny the atrocities that I've helped him commit. For that I will travel in search of ways to redeem myself."

Kakashi nodded, finding the explanation reasonable, and very respectable. Naruto still looked as if he wasn't convinced of her excuse, but frowned and nodded anyways.

Haku approached Trunks, Sasuke, and Naruto. She turned Sasuke and bowed, "I know that it may be difficult, but I must ask that you forgive me for almost killing you."

The Uchiha gave an angry sigh, "Sure, whatever." He grumbled.

That was enough for Haku.

She then turned to Trunks and Naruto before bowing to both of them, "After all this time, I haven't gotten to thank you both."

The two friends gave puzzled looks to one another before Naruto gave her a raised eyebrow, "Thank us for what?"

She turned to Trunks, "You for not killing me," she turned to Naruto, "and you for convincing him not to kill me." She said with a warm smile that made the two boys blush.

"Yeah sure it's no problem." They said in semi-unison, Naruto speaking slightly faster while Trunks was normal pace with a bashful tone.

Haku giggled before she turned her back on Team 7, "Farewell. I'm sure our paths will cross again."

The group waved their good-bye's to Haku.

As the girl walked her seperate way, Kakashi laid his hands on Naruto and Sasuke's shoulders. "Well team, it's time we get moving. It'll be a long walk back to the village." The Jonin turned on his heel and walked, his Genin following close behind him.

In all honesty, they were getting homesick anyways.

XXX

After a three day journey Team 7 managed to finally make it back through the village of the leafs front gates. The Jonin decided to squeeze a little physical training in there by making the teens sprint over 10 miles to speed up travel time.

"Yo Trunks, wanna grab a snack at Ichiraku's later?" Naruto asked as the group walked through the open gates.

Sakura passed an angry glare at the blonde. She was actually planning on asking Trunks to spend the rest of the day with her but the baka beat her to it.

Kakashi noticed this and smiled. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Trunks waved him off, "Naw, it's cool. I think I'm gonna-"

A shinobi shunshined in front of the Genin and Kakashi. The fact that the man appeared to be distressed baffled the team. What could he want? They just got back.

When the man saw Trunks he seemed a tad bit relieved, "Trunks Briefs, thank God. You're mother...she's awake!"

XXX

A/N: And that's where we end this filler chapter. Like I said before, this was gonna be a shorter chapter. I may have a couple of these short chaps to fill in the gaps to the Chunin Exams. Now, Bulma is waking up from her almost two month long coma. How will she react to this new world? Find out on the next chapter of Mirai Shinobi!