Here's chapter 9. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for all of the reviews and I'm sorry that I don't answer the questions some people have been asking since I started this story, but I don't want to spoil anything. I really appreciate the reviews, as they motivate me to write the next chapter. If there is any question you want to ask, you can do it via PM. Also, I think that a couple little spoilers won't harm anyone, so here they are:

1) I plan on sticking to the canon story as much as I can with my own twists, as I've been doing

2) Sasuke won't leave the village. I liked him before he left, so that is how he's staying. He will also open up to everyone in due time

"Normal speech"

"Thoughts"

"Inner Sakura"

"Kyuubi"

Disclaimer: I don't own I did, I wouldn't be writing FanFictions

Naruto rushed through the tree branches, hoping he would end up where he was just some time ago. He tried to remember where it was, but whenever he did, images of his horrifying childhood came up along with some tears. When a lady treated him nice on his seventh birthday only to trick him into trusting her so she could lead him to an alley where a mob of angry villagers were waiting eagerly to rip his insides out. Being called a demon, monster and other sorts of things whenever he did so much as walking on the streets.

He then felt thankful to Kyuubi for bringing his parents back. After they revived, some of the villagers started to treat him like a human being, others ignored him, others were just hypocrites who apologized to him but deep down they still held a pointless grudge against him and there were the ones who simply didn't care his father was the Yondaime and still treated him as a scapegoat for every disgrace that occurred to them.

The blonde knew his mother wanted to take care of those who still viewed him as a demon, but he had told her to wait until he came back so they could both prank them. What they would do was a mother-son secret that not even Minato or Sakura knew about.

He finally reached the clearing and just as he landed, he sensed a presence not too far behind him thanks to Kyuubi's gift. It was proving to be useful having enhanced senses. He recognized the smell of the person following him. Strawberries. He only knew someone who used strawberry shampoo and it was his girlfriend.

Sakura didn't even give him time to turn around as she lunged on him and hugged him with all of her might.

"Naruto-kun, don't ever rush out like that again! Do you know how worried I was?" she said

Naruto turned around in her arms and returned the embrace "I'm sorry about that, but that kid really ticked me off. I was getting over everything that ever happened to me but he had to go and say that" said Naruto hugging her closer as if she would fade if he loosened his hold

"But there are people who care about you now" she said "I know I do. Your parents, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Hokage-sama and even Sasuke"

"I know that, but it's my past that keeps popping up in my mind. Being all alone, crying myself to sleep, death threats" the blonde said

"You won't be alone anymore, Naruto-kun. I will make sure of that because…" she said and then pulled their foreheads together looking into his deep cerulean eyes "Because I love you" and she locked their lips together. He immediately started kissing her back as his hands roamed freely across her back. She grabbed a fistful of his blonde locks with one hand as the other caressed his tanned cheek. She felt his tongue trying to get into her mouth and she let it in, fighting for dominance with her own tongue. This was the most passionate kiss the young couple had shared yet and both of them loved every second of it while exploring every corner of each other's mouth.

Eventually, their lungs decided they needed air, so they had to part but not without leaving a thin string of saliva keeping them together. Both had flushed faces and it looked like it would take a while before they came down from cloud nine. Naruto was the first one and smiled warmly at the beauty in front of him.

"I love you too, my cherry blossom" he said. She blushed at the nickname he had picked up for her

"That's not fair" she said with a cute pout that gave Naruto butterflies in his stomach "You have a nickname for me but I don't have one for you"

He only laughed while sitting down against a tree bringing her down to sit on his lap. She didn't offer any kind of resistance; she just snuggled against his chest and buried her head on his neck.

Naruto kissed the top of her head before answering "You can think of something some other time. Let's just rest here for the night" he felt her nod against his chest before kissing her head again "Goodnight, hime"

"Goodnight, my love" she replied before dozing off.

While Sakura went off to follow Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke found out that the boy's name happened to be Inari. Tazuna told them about Inari's father figure, Kaiza, who had done so much for this country and especially that family. When he died, everyone lost hope as their hero had fallen.

"Tazuna-san, there is something I need to discuss with you" said Kakashi after everyone had left to bed. He knew Sakura and Naruto were ok, the latter had sent a clone to inform him that they would spend the night in the woods, so he didn't worry about them.

"What is it?" asked the old bridge builder, aware of the serious tone Kakashi was using

"I take it you remember Zabuza" said Kakashi

"It's not every day that you meet someone who wants to kill you" said Tazuna chuckling "But, where are you going with this? He's dead, isn't he?"

"That's actually the problem" said Kakashi. Tazuna's eyes grew as the realization was starting to dawn upon him

"You can't mean he's still alive!" he exclaimed "I mean, we saw how he was killed!"

"I didn't think anything about it at the time, but the weapons used on him were senbon" explained Kakashi "They're not used to kill, but they can put the body in a death-like state if they hit certain parts of the body. We have come to the conclusion that the hunter nin works with Zabuza"

Tazuna was stunned by the revelation. He had thought that they had gotten rid of the Kiri shinobi, but now he knew he would come back to finish his job once and for all.

"It takes some days to fully recover from that, though, so we have time to get ready" said the masked man "I have already started to train my students and I'm sure they will be able to help in the coming fight"

"I hope you're right about that or else this country is doomed" said the builder, not looking as excited as he looked earlier

The next morning, the young couple was sleeping peacefully, still on the same position as the night before, and they didn't notice a girl who didn't look that much older than them coming to pick some herbs that grew on the clearing.

After a while, Naruto started to stir and it was then that he noticed a smell that didn't belong to either him or Sakura. When he opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful girl with raven hair and slim features wearing a pink kimono. She was smiling as she picked herbs and then store them into a basket.

"Don't be fooled by the looks, kit. He's the hunter nin that saved Zabuza" said Kyuubi confusing Naruto

"What do you mean by he?" asked Naruto "Isn't it she?"

"Not really. He doesn't smell like a female" replied Kyuubi "Try to ask him why he is here. I'm sure we will be able to find some answers"

Naruto carefully picked up Sakura and laid her against the tree softly not to wake her up before walking over to the female-looking boy.

"What are those herbs for?" he asked while walking up to him

"These are medical herbs. My precious person was hurt in an attack and he needs these to recover" said the boy "I take it she is your precious person?"

"So he wants to heal Zabuza" "Yeah, she is the most precious out of all, but I have more, though" said the blonde "I will make sure that nothing bad ever happens to her or the people I care about"

"So I see you have almost the same goals as me" he said "My goal is to make my father figure happy and always follow him"

"I think we never introduced ourselves" said Naruto with a hand behind his head "My name is Naruto"

"I'm Haku" he answered smiling before suddenly standing up "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I have to deliver these herbs"

"It's okay" said Naruto and just as Haku was leaving the clearing, he shouted "Tell Zabuza we're waiting for him!"

Haku visibly flinched before walking away.

Naruto walked back to his pink haired angel and gently shook her "Sakura-chan, time to wake up"

She started to squirm and stir before she opened her eyes and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and noticed it was morning already.

"Thank you for waking me up, Naruto-kun" she said while standing up

"I think we should get going or we'll miss breakfast" said Naruto "Race you there!"

"No fair! I just woke up" shouted Sakura before running

Kakashi and Sasuke were already sitting at the table waiting for their breakfast, which Tsunami was cooking. Tazuna had left to the bridge come minutes before to check how it was coming along. Everyone was minding their own business before the door opened and a laughing Sakura and Naruto came in.

"Nice of you to join us" mocked Kakashi

Both teens blushed before sitting down on the table

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei" both of them said simultaneously

Naruto turned serious before looking at Kakashi "Sensei, I met the hunter nin earlier today"

"I didn't notice" said Sakura

"I woke up earlier than you and I didn't want to disturb your sleep, so I didn't wake you up" replied the blonde

"What was he doing there?" asked Kakashi

"He was picking some medical herbs. He said they were for his precious person and I put two and two together, so it means they're for Zabuza" explained Naruto

"How do you know he was the same person as the hunter nin we saw?" asked Sasuke

"He had the same smell and voice" answered Naruto "He also flinched when I mentioned Zabuza"

"Why didn't you attack him then?" shouted Sasuke

"Because I won't attack anyone out of nowhere!" shouted back Naruto. Sasuke looked like he wanted to say something, but refrained from doing so because of the look Kakashi gave him

"Just like his father" thought Kakashi "Well, then I guess we better step up our training"

"It can wait until you're done with breakfast, though" said Tsunami giving them a plate each

It had been a week since they started their training and results could already be seen. The three genin were doing fine in their Nature Manipulation training, Sakura being the most advanced due to her near perfect chakra control. Kakashi had told Naruto about a way to speed up his training while using his favorite jutsu, the Kage bunshin. Naruto had been extremely happy to know that his clones could be used that way for his training and that allowed him to learn a decent amount of jutsus that Kakashi taught him. He used at least a hundred clones at the time and once made progress, the clone dispelled itself.

Sasuke had asked Naruto to teach him his signature move and Naruto agreed to teach both Sasuke and Sakura, but they were only able to do three and one respectively due to their low chakra capacity, so Kakashi promised to work on expanding them when they got back to Konoha. Sasuke and Sakura had also learned some jutsus of their own elements and worked on perfecting them. Kakashi was proud at their progress.

After some days, everyone woke up early and left to the bridge along with Tazuna, as a break from training, but they left Naruto behind because he slept in. Naruto woke up around noon due to a scream that came from downstairs. He created a clone and sent it downstairs while the real him jumped out from the window and went to the front door.

When the clone arrived at the scene, he found two men carrying swords over their shoulders surrounding Tsunami.

"Do whatever you want with me but don't lay a finger on my son!" shouted Tsunami

Inari had tears freely flowing from his eyes. He picked up a bat and threatened them. It was that moment that Naruto decided to make himself known. The clone jumped in front of Tsunami with a kunai drawn and got into a stance. The thugs just laughed.

"Do you really think a kid will beat us?" mocked one of them. Naruto smirked

"I would watch out if I were you" said the clone before kicking one of the man's legs faster than anyone could see. The man fell and it wasn't long before the other one fell too. Inari and Tsunami couldn't believe their eyes. There were two Narutos standing next to the knocked out men.

"H-how are th-there two of you?" asked Tsunami

"This is a jutsu" said the real Naruto before dispelling his clone

Inari was trying his best not to cry, but he was failing miserably. Naruto noticed

"You have to be brave for your mom" he said with a hand on top of Inari's head

"N-Naruto-nii-san…" said Inari before wiping his eyes

"I got to go" said Naruto "I have a feeling that my team needs me"

Naruto rushed as fast as his legs could take him towards the bridge. He had a feeling something was going to happen, so he wanted to get there ASAP to make sure his Sakura-chan was ok.

"Kit, I think Zabuza has decided to come back" said Kyuubi "I can sense more humidity coming from the area where the bridge is located, so that means he already made his appearance"

"I hope I make it in time" thought Naruto

Some minutes earlier, the other members of Team 7 were watching as the builders worked to finish the bridge that would grant them economic benefits. The younger members of the team were bored, wishing they spent that day training, but they had the feeling something interesting would happen. Boy, were they right.

Mist suddenly started to cover the entire bridge and thuds could be heard. They belonged to the bodies of the workers, who had senbon on their necks, knocked out. Tazuna managed to make it to where the ninjas were just in time before he got struck with one. They got into position, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

Zabuza walked into their line of view, along with the hunter nin they now knew as Haku.

"Haku, you take care of the brats" said Zabuza "I got something to settle with Kakashi"

"Hai, Zabuza-sama" said Haku

"Sakura, you guard Tazuna-san. Sasuke, you get Haku" said Kakashi before taking out a kunai

"Hai" said both teens

Sasuke rushed at the masked shinobi, making hand seals incredibly fast. Haku just stood there, waiting for Sasuke to make the first move.

"Katon: Housenka no jutsu" shouted Sasuke before a large number of small fireballs flew from his mouth towards Haku, who simply disappeared. Sasuke was stunned at the speed. He didn't know his opponent could be so fast and it would cost him.

"Sasuke, behind you!" shouted Sakura to her teammate. When he noticed, it was too late. Haku kicked him on the back and sent his body flying to the other side of the bridge. Sasuke stood up soon after falling, refusing to lose after a single kick.

He dashed towards Haku, kunai drawn, and attempted to stab him, but Haku grabbed his wrist before the blade connected with his skin.

"You can't make any jutsus like this" said Sasuke smirking

Haku smirked back behind his mask. He had him "Who says I can't?"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw Haku doing some one-handed hand seals.

"Hyouton: Sensatsu suisho" said Haku. Water rose from the puddle where they were standing. Their shape changed into needles and they froze. The Uchiha let go of the masked shinobi and jumped back. The needles flew towards him and he tried to do the hand seals for his Goukakyuu, but the needles were too fast. They impaled themselves on his body, but he refused to acknowledge the sting of pain he felt through his body.

Back with Kakashi, he wasn't faring any better. Both he and Zabuza had some wounds, but they couldn't get distracted or the other one would use up the opportunity to their advantage.

"Looks like Haku is going to finish with your student soon" Zabuza smirked

"Damn it Naruto, where are you" thought Kakashi "Don't get so cocky, Zabuza. Sasuke is just warming up"

"Yeah, right" mocked Zabuza "Then why does he have so many wounds while Haku has none?"

Kakashi just continued the fight.

Sakura was getting worried about her teammate. It looked like he was struggling to keep up, yet he wouldn't admit it. She also was worried about her boyfriend. What was taking him so long?

"C'mon, Naruto-kun, you have to get here fast! Sasuke needs your help!" thought Sakura

Haku did a series of hand seals before mirrors surrounded Sasuke. Haku appeared on one of them and looked at Sasuke.

"How do you like my ice mirrors?" asked Haku "Don't even bother trying your fire jutsus. This is made from my Kekkei Genkai, so it won't work"

Sasuke ignored him as he rushed to the mirror where Haku was. He punched as hard as he could, but it was no use. It didn't even crack and Haku had disappeared from it. He kept trying multiple times, combining his fire techniques along with brute force, but nothing seemed to work.

He was pissed off and frustrated. Nothing he did seemed to work. Haku decided it was time to hit back, so he started to move between the mirrors and throw senbon to Sasuke. Some of them managed to hit, but he blocked and dodged some. Sasuke felt something on his eyes. Like they had changed, yet he didn't know what happened. He could see the next wave of senbon Haku threw and it was then that he noticed what had changed. He had unlocked his Sharingan. He smirked. He could now follow Haku's needles. But what he hadn't expected was that Haku would change his tactics. He felt a fist connect to his cheek and he flew onto a mirror. It was too fast, even for his newly awakened Sharingan.

Out of nowhere, a black and yellow blur rushed next to Sakura and she smiled, recognizing it. The blur continued until it reached the mirrors and the one he connected with, shattered. When it stopped, the blur turned out to be Naruto. The mirror that had just shattered reformed itself, locking Naruto inside along with Sasuke.

"Thought you would need some help, teme" said Naruto helping Sasuke up to his feet

"Just in time, dobe" smirked Sasuke

Haku was amazed at the sheer strength Naruto displayed. He couldn't believe this was the same teen he had met some time ago. He also couldn't believe someone so young was so strong. It was the first time someone had actually destroyed one of his mirrors. He took a large number of senbon with both of his hands and threw them to Naruto.

Sasuke noticed and pushed Naruto out of the way, receiving the hit himself. Naruto was shocked to see that Sasuke took the hit for him. It looked like Sasuke would be unable to continue to fight.

"Dobe, if I don't make it, I want you to promise me that you will kill my brother" said Sasuke

"Don't worry about him, kit, it's not enough to kill someone and his heartbeat is still strong. He won't die" said Kyuubi "But tell him you will do it. It will help your friendship with him if you do"

"I will, teme, but don't worry. I will take care of Haku and I will take you back to a hospital" said Naruto

"Don't worry about me, dobe. It's too late for me" said Sasuke as he fell down unconscious

Naruto moved his body to the side, as Haku watched. Haku knew Sasuke would live, as he didn't like killing people, but he wasn't aware Naruto also did.

"Kyuubi, can I use you chakra?" asked Naruto

"Sure, kit. But don't cripple him. Remember the plan your sensei came up with" said Kyuubi

Haku nearly pissed his pants when red chakra started to swirl around Naruto as his features became more animalistic. His nails grew like claws, his teeth became as sharp as razors, his eyes turned red with slits and his whiskers, normally three thin lines on each side of his face, deepened giving him a more feral look. The chakra was so powerful, it reached Kakashi's and Zabuza's fight, temporarily stopping it.

Kakashi and Sakura didn't worry about it, as they knew about the relationship between Kyuubi and Naruto, but Tazuna, Haku and Zabuza were scared. They had never felt anything so strong in all their lives and Tazuna, being a civilian, nearly fainted.

Naruto let out a loud howl and shattered all the mirrors with the vibrations that came from it. Haku barely managed to jump out before he too was killed along with his mirrors. He wasn't fast enough to dodge a punch that hit him on his cheek, breaking his mask. His face could now be seen.

"Did you miss me, Haku?" asked Naruto

"I could ask you the same thing, Naruto-san" said Haku spitting some blood from the hit. Naruto was careful not to put so much chakra as to break his jaw.

Naruto didn't say anything; he just gave him a punch on the gut that left poor Haku with no air. The boy fell to the floor, unconscious.

On Kakashi's and Zabuza's fight, Kakashi decided to mock Zabuza.

"Looks like Naruto is going to finish with Haku soon" Kakashi smirked

Just before Zabuza replied, a voice was heard from the other side of the bridge

"Zabuza, I'm disappointed. I thought you could take care of this, but you proved me wrong" said a short man in a suit with long hair and sunglasses, behind who were at least a hundred men all with different kinds of weapons "I don't have any further need for you. Kill him"

"Kakashi, since my employer technically fired me, you're no longer my enemy" said Zabuza

"Fair enough" said Kakashi without lowering his guard "Truce?"

"Yeah" said a smirking Zabuza "Just leave the short bastard to me"

The thugs Gato brought with him wasted no time in surrounding them, ready to go for the kill.

Naruto had taken Sasuke and Haku back to where Sakura was and laid them on the floor. Both Naruto and Sakura were really cautious to remove the impaled senbon from Sasuke's body, as not to accidentally hurt him. Haku was slowly regaining consciousness and took in his surroundings. He was lying on the floor next to the bridge builder he was sent to kill. He looked towards where his father figure had been fighting and did it just in time to see Kakashi and Zabuza nod to each other before disappearing on blurs, while bodies fell to the floor.

"We're almost done, Naruto-kun" said Sakura

Naruto only nodded and noticed that Haku had already awakened "Seems like sensei and Zabuza are working together now"

"Those are Gato's thugs" said Haku just above a whisper, but it was enough to be heard by Naruto

"Gato, huh?" said Naruto "I bet he won't see another day, then"

As the last bodies fell, Kakashi stopped to catch his breath while Zabuza lifted Gato off the ground with one hand by his neck

"I think I've had enough of you" said Zabuza glaring at the cowering man "But it wouldn't be any fun to just strangle you. How do you wish to die?"

Gato looked like he had pissed his pants. He was at Zabuza's mercy, not that he would have any on him, though.

"I'll pay you whatever you want" said Gato between gasps, trying desperately to survive "Just say an amount and I'll give it to you!"

"Why should I trust you?" asked Zabuza smirking through his bandages before throwing the businessman like he was a toy. The man crawled backwards in fear until he reached the end of the bridge. He would have fallen if not for Zabuza, who now had a kunai. He pulled him up and while he was in midair, he stabbed Gato on his heart, ending his life. The body of the tyrant fell on the bridge's border before Zabuza kicked it and the corpse fell to the water. That was the end of Gato.

Zabuza started to walk back to where Haku was; intending on leaving now that he had nothing to do, but Kakashi had something else in mind.

"Zabuza" said the cyclops, getting the other man's attention "I take it you have nowhere to go to?"

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Zabuza, not getting where Kakashi was going with this

"Would you like to come back to Konoha with us?" asked Kakashi shocking both Haku and Zabuza. He and his team had discussed this one day during their training and had already gotten the Hokage's authorization through Pakkun, who Kakashi sent.

"Like a nuke-nin would be accepted on your village" said Zabuza "I mean I would accept, but I know your Hokage wouldn't be so forgiving on who tried to kill a client"

"Actually, you're wrong there" said Kakashi with his typical eye smile "Hokage-sama already accepted. So, what do you say? Do you come with us, or not?"

Zabuza turned to Haku asking for his opinion on the matter but knew that in the end, it would be no use as Haku went wherever he did. With a sigh, he made his decision.

"Fine, we're going with you" said Zabuza "I think it's time to settle down somewhere"

Tazuna, who had seen the one who had oppressed his people for so long being killed, was finally relieved to see that his country would prosper. Before he could thank them, the ground started to shake as a large group of people, lead by a small kid they recognized as Inari, ran towards them all with makeshift weapons. They looked shocked when they saw the large amount of dead bodies, having expected that it would be them who would deal with the threat. They were relieved, nonetheless, to see that they were free at last.

The people went towards the mess the shinobi had made in their fight, and started to clean it up.

"Why don't we head back?" asked Tazuna, who was now next to Inari "I think a nice lunch would be good after the fight"

"Yeah! That sounds good" said Naruto, immediately cheering up. Sakura nodded and the others agreed, too. Kakashi picked Sasuke's unconscious body up while Zabuza picked Haku's beaten one, and they started to make their way towards Tazuna's house.

Some days later, Team 7 along with Zabuza and Haku stood at the end of the recently finished bridge accompanied by most of the people of Wave on their side with Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami at the front.

"Thank you for everything" said Tazuna "I promise I will send the money to cover the A-rank mission once we're able to do so"

"I'm sure Hokage-sama would like to hear that" said Kakashi

"Naruto-nii-san…" said Inari struggling to hold his tears. Naruto found himself with the same problem

"It's ok to cry if you want to…" said Naruto

"But I don't really want to cry" said Inari. His face said the opposite, though "Do you?"

"No, I'm fine" answered the blonde

"Hey, Kakashi" said Zabuza "Shouldn't we get going?"

"Yeah" replied Kakashi casually "Let's go, guys"

The people there shouted their thanks to their saviors along with good byes.

Once they had left, Tazuna realized they had yet to name the bridge

"Let's call it The Great Naruto Bridge, in honor of the one who changed us for the better!" shouted Tazuna as everyone cheered, approving of the name.

R&R!