Chapter 10:

Naruto woke with a start, his body slick with sweat. At first he was confused. Where was he? Why did everything hurt so much? Then he vaguely remembered making it back home. It was safe to assume that he was… well safe.

He heard something rustle at his side and when he looked he met Sasuke's dark eyes as he stared annoyed at Naruto. Looking on his other side he saw the back of Sakura's pink head, compared to Sasuke she was bundled deep into her bedroll and was soundly asleep.

He could see the sky had just started to brighten as everything except the soft blue of the sky was still veiled in deep dark shadows of the night.

Sasuke made a noncommittal 'hn' and turned away from Naruto, trying to grab the few more minutes of sleep he could before it was back to mastering the tree-climbing technique. The fact that he was the only one in his team that still had trouble performing it was infuriating!

Naruto stared at Sasuke a few seconds before following his lead and within seconds he was back to sleep, his body, apparently, was too exhausted still.

[hr]

Naruto did not wake up again until late into the morning. He could tell it was well within lunch hours, as the sun shone brightly through his and his teammates little bedroom window. It was however not the sun or his own biological clock that woke him as he could hear the front door close downstairs. He followed the footsteps as it made its way upstairs, the wooden old boards creak with each step.

He tensed when the person stopped outside his room. However the knock that followed put him somewhat at ease.

"Naruto, you got time to talk?" Kakashi said as he opened the door, just a crack.

Naruto could only see the masked man's half-lidded eye through the crack as Kakashi studied him.

The nod he gave the man was all Kakashi needed and he entered. He sat down in a squat at the foot of the boy's bed, slouching. Like that they sat staring at each other in silence. Kakashi's lone eye bore into Naruto's own. Time dragged awkwardly by making Naruto more uncomfortable for each second that passed.

Finally after what felt like minutes Kakashi broke the silence.

"So… Naruto, what happened?" Unprepared for the question Naruto only blinked at Kakashi who maintained the one eyed stare.

"He he heh," Naruto began with an uncertain chuckle, his undamaged arm went up to scratch the back of his neck, "nothing happened, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi stared incredulously at the grinning boy. Kakashi was for the first time in many, many years speechless. Was the boy really so stupid? He internally sighed; maybe the C-class mission was too early after all. Naruto was proving not to be ready for it if he thought he could sweep this under the rug.

"Naruto," He sighed disappointed. The boy recoiled at his shift in tone, "do not make me regret passing you."

Maybe he had blinded himself, Naruto and his teammates were not like him, they had not been trained and expected to face danger like he was so early in life, there was no war anymore, after all. Parents did want their kids to have a childhood, after all, something that most who grew up during the war never had. He should have prepared them more for the dangers before he let them out of the village.

"Alright…" Naruto caved and he started to explain, telling Kakashi how his search for the raven haired girl had gotten him lost in the woods and then how he subsequently found the huge treehouse. How he got injured fighting the mask wearing ninja and later escaped.

Kakashi remained silent while he listened and when Naruto finished he rose from his squat.

"Stay in the house and rest, I am very disappointed in your lack of forethought, Naruto," Then he smiled before he continued, "Good job."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion at the odd compliment, why was he congratulated for failing?

Seeing Naruto's confused expression Kakashi's smile softened.

"Not many genin survives their first real fight; I am disappointed but still a good job."

With that said Kakashi left, leaving a still very confused, but happy, Naruto behind. Naruto wasn't really sure what Kakashi meant but, he knew a compliment when he heard one.

[hr]

Haku found himself, again, in the streets of Wave's biggest village, clad in his favourite sleeveless and pink kimono, humming a quiet tune. It was a tiring task to walk through the village market, everyone around him recognized him, and beamed happy and grateful smiles his way; he forced himself to return the greetings.

He did not mind the friendly attention he received, but his instincts screamed at him about how wrong it was.

Zabuza's efforts in his training did not permit him being so easily picked out of a crowd.

Ever since Zabuza killed Gatō he and his master had been treated like heroes. It had its perks, they now had a safe haven on the island and the inhabitants were more than happy to hide them.

But today was not any old day. The break in just the other day had him and Zabuza high-strung. A Konoha genin had successfully invaded and escaped their hideout. Haku had to admit that it scared him a little, he had remembered explicitldly that he had hit the boy with a poisoned senbon needle, a powerful paralytic at that too, but he had not for the life of him found the paralyzed body of the genin within the hideout, nor later in the woods.

What kind of village sent that kind of genin team on a simple C-ranked escort mission? No, there must have been something more too these ninja than it first appeared. Both he and Zabuza was sure they were here for the bounty, Zabuza's bounty. Otherwise, why would Hatake Kakashi, the Copycat, of all people have been sent here of all places if not to collect it? It was of course possible that it was just by pure coincidence but… Zabuza never believed in coincidences.

Which was why Haku was discreetly observing them from afar.

The pink girl was quietly sitting on the bridge rail, looking for the entire world bored out of her mind. Hatake Kakashi was curiously sitting alone at the mouth of the bridge, face buried in a little orange book. Everything seemed to be as it usually was, minus the orange boy. He knew there should have been a third genin too but he seemed strangely absent. It had him again worried as his mind jumped to the worst conclusions.

A few hours later and with his hands full of a basket of vegetables, something an old lady had thrust into his hands, he made his way back to the hideout.

[hr]

Three days passed quickly though incredibly boring for Naruto. The first day had been over and done faster than he liked, his body had still been weak and he had been too tired to do much else than sleep and count wood fibres in the roof. Kakashi had explained it as common symptoms of chakra exhaustion.

The second he was able to move about, again he was surprised over the new and unfamiliar weaknesses he felt in his limbs, something he was slowly getting used too. He missed the constant warmth and energy he had enjoyed while he still carried a tailed beast inside of him. That white person had spoken of knowledge in exchange for it, but he did not feel smarter. Sure he had noticed how everything seemed to simply be… easier. He grasped jutsu concepts so fast that it felt like he had always known how. That weird feeling he always got when he watched and saw jutsu being performed, everything seemed to simply… click into place.

He had received something from the white guy… but what…

By the third day he finally could draw on his chakra without it hurting, much. He was practically, and literarily, climbing the walls; his muscles still sore but entirely restless. It had felt like torture being cooped up in the small building.

But thankfully Kakashi had allowed him to return to the bridge the next day.

He couldn't say it was fun but simply being able to interact with others was making the hours tick by faster than at a snail's pace.

Kakashi had not pressed him any further on his… incident, but he felt his eyes track him wherever he went, it made him slightly nervous. It felt like Kakashi was just waiting for him to do something bad again.

The bridge was only going to take another week or so to finish, which was going to mark the day they finally would return to Konoha.

On the fifth day since the incident he spotted someone he had completely forgotten about: the girl.

He had been sitting on top the crane, minding his own business, watching the workers… work. The fact that he was sitting vertically on the side of the crane had long since lost its novelty, even the workers did not so much as bat an eye in his direction.

There he had sat when he spotted her, watching him! Seeing her made him remember why he had found himself in so much trouble. Feeling a bit abash at the attention she gave him he waved at her, grinning a winning smile.

He saw her startle from her spying with what he believed was a blush and quickly disappeared down the market.

His smile lost a bit of its shine at her reaction.

[hr]

Kakashi's stroll came to a stop, his visible eye quirking upwards at the odd structure. It took tree houses to a whole new level. Seeing it he could not fault Naruto for feeling the urge to explore it, even he felt the subtle pull.

But he wasn't there to explore.

"Hatake Kakashi of the sharingan," a gruff voice spoke up from behind Kakashi, "come to take my head?"

Only a little bit startled, Kakashi turned to face the man.

"Momochi Zabuza, to be honest I did not expect to meet you," he droned, wondering absently how Naruto was still alive, "are you the reason why my little student got hurt?"

"No, if that is all, leave."

"Ah, no. You see, my student got hurt, badly too, and I want answers." Kakashi said in a happy voice and smiled sweetly at Zabuza, who returned the false cheer with a sigh.

"I don't want any trouble from Konoha, the kid trespassed, by some miracle he's still alive. Count your blessings and settle with that." Zabuza responded with finality.

"On one condition."

Zabuza was taken aback by the younger ninja, the pure gall! Worse was he did not know what to do. He could of course always kill him, but then he'd lose his hideout. It was quite comfortable having a safe haven. He did not know if he was willing to give that up…

"Go on…"

"I will overlook all this, if you teach a trick or two to my students!" Kakashi ended on a happy note.

"Wha?!" Zabuza was speechless. Was the man insane? Who was that stupid, to expose inexperienced genin to strangers, and to him of all?

"Thanks to what happened," Kakashi ignored the stunned look that Zabuza gave him," my students have not been able to focus on their training. See it as compensation for lost time.

"And you will leave us alone after this?"

"Won't even mention you."

"Deal."