"Kakashi, you count," I said, stretching. The forest was eerily silent, almost as if the woods knew that there was about to be some major damage inflicted to it's old trees. The birds were silent, all either gone or watching as Zabuza held his sword aloft, Haku clutching her ice senbon easily. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, Sharingan exposed, but began the countdown.
"Watch as much as you can, you two. I don't think you'll be able to pick up much, but try to focus on Naruto. On three. One… Two… Three!" The Copy Nin jumped, Shunshining into the trees. I smiled as Haku summoned her demonic ice mirrors, ready to begin her senbon assault. I disagreed, my hands forming a fire technique.
"Akuma bijutsu: Fenikkusu no ikari!" I shouted, slamming my clenched fist into the ground. A crater erupted around my hand, flames generating and gathering at the edges. One moment, the flames seemed about to die. The next, they rose in an inferno, surrounding me in a tornado of fire. The fire expanded in a circle, pushing Haku out of her ice and shattering her mirrors, evaporating the moisture in the air, preventing her mirrors, as well as Zabuza's mist, from making a second appearance.
I killed the flames, trying not to burn the forest to a crisp. The fire obey, each ember fizzling out as I cut off my chakra. Turning to Sakura and Sasuke, I gave them some advice.
"Get as far as you can without losing the view. Don't get yourselves hurt because you want to see how strong we are," I said, watching as Sakura nearly fell out of the tree. The two genin nodded and retreated further into the trees, leaving the four of us in the clearing. "Who's next?"
I was answered by Kakashi's foot, flying towards my head. Instead of dodging it, I grabbed his leg easily, stopping him midair. He sweat dropped and I smirked before tossing him, lightly, to the other side of the clearing. He did a flip and landed in a crouch, trying to trap me in a genjutsu. In response, I activated demon eyes, ducking as Kubikiri Houcho approached my head. Now in a crouch, I swung my leg out and spun, tripping the bandaged ninja.
"Haven't had to avoid that blade in a while. Speaking of blades that missed, have you seen Kisame's Samehada? Freaky," I said, dodging each of Zabuza's attacks. I stood up straight, looking at the ninja. "Are we going to do a kenjutsu duel, because I learned from the samurai after I met you. I was going to train with Kisame too, but his sword liked my chakra too much…"
"Are you going to draw Kamisora or just evade everything?" Zabuza growled, a little breathless. I smiled, remembering that I hadn't told anyone outside of Tenten's father of my new blade.
"The katana on my back is not Kamisora. I understand why you thought that, the hilts are mostly the same. The only real difference on the hilt is the tassel. The blade," I smiled, "is much more impressive."
I put a hand on the hilt, sliding the blade out in a slash of movement. The steel glinted in the sunshine, the gold and red etchings shifting in the light.
"This katana is named Mizuchi. This is a clan weapon, designed to be used only by the current head," I said, running a hand down the face of the blade. "According to my clan records, it changes it's form to match the needs of it's owner. Mizuchi matches Kamisora's length and weight, making it easier for me to wield. On top of that, I can add my wind chakra to Mizuchi, making it that much deadlier."
"So you're a clan head now? At eleven?"
"I'm twelve, and yes," I said, holding my katana aloft. "My father was the last in a long line of ninjas." I talked as I dodged and slashed, occasionally ducking away from a taijutsu move from Kakashi. After a while, Zabuza stumbled. I darted forward and paralyzed his arms with the Jyuuken I learned in the previous timeline. Zabuza dropped Kubikiri Houcho, his muscles failing.
"That's cheating," he accused. Glancing at Kakashi, he nodded. "Toss me a kunai, will you?"
Not doubting his skill, Kakashi withdrew a standard kunai and tossed it in his direction. Just to make the Mist ninja angry, I threw out a chakra thread and pulled the kunai to me, twirling it in my hand.
"Looking for this?" I said, holding the kunai before tossing it back. The ninja glared at me before catching the kunai in his mouth. I closed my eyes for half a second, Hiraishining to the sword, now abandoned behind Zabuza. I took a step towards my former teacher and struck the back of his head, knocking him out. "I think we're done. Unless you want to go taijutsu?" I asked Kakashi, who shook his head quickly.
"Now you're just showing off. You've beat Gai with that style, I'm not going to stand a chance," he said. I shrugged and focused chakra to my hands, ready to wake Zabuza up and give him his arms back.
"Zabuza was out faster than I expected. Do you think he was going easy on me? He didn't even try for a Mizu Bunshin this time," I said, kneeling over the missing-nin.
"Probably," Kakashi conceded. "You didn't need to use that technique on Haku. You just wanted to show off."
"Your point?"
"My point is that if you face someone stronger than us, you're going to waste your chakra in the first ten minutes."
"I know when it's okay to show off. Besides, I can go into Sage mode if I'm up against someone really strong," I defended. Zabuza opened his eyes and grimaced.
"I really hate that technique," he groaned, sitting up. "When did you put the seal down?"
"When I gave Kubikiri Houcho back the first time," I answered, smirking before following my Hiraishin to Haku. Healing the kunoichi, I remembered the previous timeline, in which she was the one waking me up.
"That was a good technique," she said, cracking her neck. I grimaced; Zabuza was rubbing off on her. "It broke my mirrors."
"Sorry about that, I probably should've used a weaker jutsu."
"How long have I been out?"
"Not too long. After I took Zabuza down, Kakashi and I stopped. I just finished healing Zabuza; before you ask, all I did was hit some tenketsu and paralyze his arms. No permanent damage." Haku nodded and stood. We walked side by side back to Kakashi and Zabuza, now joined by Sasuke and Sakura.
"How much of that did you actually see?" I asked the two genin. Expecting Sakura to answer, I was surprised when Sasuke replied first.
"Not too much, only when you were talking. What was that fire technique that you used against Haku? I didn't recognize it," Sasuke said, looking at me with an expression I couldn't place, a mix between curiosity and excitement; two emotions rarely, if ever, seen on the Uchiha's face.
"I'd be surprised if you had recognized it. It's a demonic technique called Phoenix's Rage. It's one of the jutsu that I can't physically teach you."
"Why not?"
"Because you don't have demonic chakra or a bloodline that allows you to bypass that. Haku uses a demonic art when she creates her ice mirrors, something she can accomplish through her bloodline."
"Then why can you do it?" Sakura whined. I winced, remembering that they didn't know about the seal on my stomach. Haku put a hand on my shoulder.
"There is a reason as to why Naruto is so strong," Haku stopped talking when I shook my head.
"It's my responsibility to say it. Besides, I'm proud of it. You two know about what happened twelve years ago when my father faced Kyuubi. He didn't die killing it, like the younger generation believes. He died sealing it."
"Sealing it into what?" Sakura asked pointedly. I undid my flak jacket and pushed my shirt away, showing my stomach. I pushed chakra to my skin and the black seal emerged.
"Into me. I was born right before the attack, my chakra coils weren't fully developed. My father took me to the battlefield and sealed half of Kyuubi's chakra into me to protect the village. The rest of the village was saved but my father died as per the deal."
"What deal?" Sasuke asked curiously. I looked at him, hopeful that he wouldn't panic and run to Orochi-teme.
"He made a deal with Shinigami, his body and soul for the sealing of the Kyuubi. That is what makes this seal so inescapable for the Kyuubi. I literally have a demon coexisting in my mind, our consciousnesses separate but able to communicate." At my words, Sakura paled. I saw her lips form the word 'communicate' and her eyes widened. "It isn't what you think, Sakura. Kyuubi is not influencing me. I added to the original seal to make sure of that," I said, pointing to my addition.
"Kyuubi has absolutely no control over my actions. If he doesn't like what I'm doing, all he can do is growl and pace my mind. Even then, I can temporarily cut the connection between our minds," I explained. Sakura calmed down a little and I suddenly remembered that her father was killed in Kyuubi's rampage.
Damn, the fox growled at himself. Can you tell her I said sorry, kit? Stupid Madara… If I ever see that masked bastard I'm going to-
Why don't you apologize? I said, an idea forming in my mind. Kyuubi didn't respond, only perked his ears up. Control your chakra, I warned.
"Sakura, you know I have a summoning contract and I feel extremely unfair as you are the only one present to not know which one. On top of that, I want you to meet someone," I said, trying to figure out what to say. "Turn around," I ordered. The kunoichi looked angry for a moment before Kakashi nodded at her sternly. She scoffed but turned around. My hands went through the seals and I muttered, "Kuchiyose no jutsu."
A puff of smoke and Kyuubi, a little larger than a large mortal fox, appeared. I chuckled as I saw him biting his paw in an attempt to control his chakra. I placed a hand on him and felt a surge of chakra pour into my system. I stored the chakra in a seal I had specially designed for demonic chakra, the seal hidden under my Hitai-ate. Watching Kyuubi's chakra get under control, I moved my hand so that I was simply scratching behind his ears.
At the sight of nine tails, Sasuke backed up into a tree. He had seen me summon demon foxes before but I had usually capped it off at four or five tails. The infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune was apparently a different story for the Uchiha.
"Tails," I hissed. Kyuubi nodded and closed his eyes in concentration. He became just a little smaller, the nine tails merging into one as he assumed his mortal fox form. He hated this form but took it whenever the occasion called for it. "Take a look, Sakura."
The kunoichi turned around and looked down, seeing the fox. Keeping his mouth shut, Kyuubi behaved admirably when he was picked up by the now cooing Haruno.
"Aww, he's so cute," she exclaimed, hugging the fox. I winced out of sympathy for my friend.
"He's one of my oldest friends. I've known this fox since the day I was born," I hinted. Moments passed and Sakura continued to squeeze the life out of a demon lord. Finally realizing what I had said, she dropped the fox and stumbled back, landing on her butt, stammering. Kyuubi dropped his head sadly. "He wanted to apologize. I thought it wouldn't be the same, coming from me," I explained. Kyuubi nodded, unable to speak while in this form. "He can't talk while he is in this form, he isn't in it often enough to learn with different vocal chords. I thought it'd be best if you saw him as with just one tail first."
"F-first?" she stammered, pointing at the fox. Kyuubi sighed, shrinking himself just a little more before jumping onto my shoulder, just like Koyuki.
"First," I confirmed. "I'm the holder of the demon fox summoning contract, the contract of which Kyuu is the boss summons. If I encounter a powerful enemy, I might need to summon Kyuu. If that happens, I need to make sure you will be okay to fight alongside him."
"Fight alongside that thing! Do you know what-"
"I do know, Sakura," I said quietly. "I lost my father that day, just like you did. No matter what you lose, I will always have lost more," I said, thinking about the last battle, the fall of Konoha. Kakashi bowed his head, remembering the same.
"I know, it's just that-" Sakura's voice drifted off as she stared at Kyuubi, her tone softening.
"Kyuubi," I said, allowing the change. He nodded once, stretching before he jumped off of my shoulder and growing on the way to the ground. His paws touching the dirt, his tail split into nine.
"Vixen," he said, looking at Sakura gently. "I know that I cannot say anything to make you trust me after what I did. I want you to know that I mean you no harm and that, twelve years ago, I did not attack by choice."
"A man tricked Kyuubi using his dojutsu," I said quietly. "A man that many now believe to be dead."
"Who?" Haku asked, curious.
"Uchiha Madara, co founder of Konoha," I growled at the name. "If my spy network is right, he's gathering followers so he can hunt down jinchuuriki. That is one of the things I was doing that year, warning every jinchuuriki I could. That is one of the reasons as to why Iwa hates me, the Tsuchikage discovered that I was trying to help their jinchuuriki, something they consider taboo."
"Taking down two dozen of his ninjas is another reason," Zabuza said, chuckling. I glared at him weakly.
"I didn't kill a single one of his ninjas. All of them were only unconscious when I left. If any died, it was because their higher ups ordered their execution for failing to kill me."
"What's a jinchuuriki?" Sakura asked, unfamiliar with the term. Sasuke nodded in the background.
"Jinchuuriki, the power of human sacrifice. Jinchuuriki is the name that the older generations use to label people like me, the hosts of any one of nine tailed beasts. The more tails, the more power. In theory, if I and any other jinchuuriki had a battle, I'd always be the victor because Kyuubi has a greater number of tails. However, most of a jinchuuriki's power lies in emotions, something most tailed beasts, or bijuu, disregard. Until I humanized Kyuu, he was a bloodthirsty demon with an intense hatred for humanity, especially towards me."
"Why? Naruto might be stupid but he isn't that bad," Sakura said, her voice quiet.
"He was my jailer," Kyuubi shrugged. "You spend that many years stuck inside a kit, you start to go insane."
"No, you started to protect me," I corrected. He grinned and sat down, rolling in the grass. "The great Kyuubi no Kitsune, fearless and merciless leader of the Demonic Foxes, rolling around in the grass. Sakura was right, you are cute," I smirked at the fox. He growled, sitting up and growing up he looked straight into my eyes, exactly level.
"You seem to think I wouldn't attack you."
"And you seem to think that I wouldn't-" I stopped talking, placing a hand on his shoulder, sucking up more of his chakra. I stored the chakra while he growled under my hand. "Bring you down to size."
"Sometimes, I really hate you, kit."
"Um… we're still here," Zabuza pointed out. I blinked, looking up at the gathered ninjas.
"Right. Why are you still here? Zabuza you can either stay and watch or go back to Tsunami's and tell them I kicked your ass. Haku, I'm going to summon Koyuki so you two can practice ice techniques. Kakashi, take Sasuke and teaching him your lightening techniques. If you start him on Chidori, I will hurt you; let him work his way up until he activates his Sharingan. Sakura, you will be training with myself and Kazura, one of my summons. I don't know too many earth jutsu but he specializes in them."
"Sounds like a plan," Kakashi nodded before nodding to Sasuke and running into the forest searching for another clearing.
"I'll stay," Zabuza shrugged.
"Okay. Kuchiyose no jutsu!" I shouted, slamming my palm onto the grass. A puff of smoke parted to reveal two foxes, Kazura and Koyuki. "Koyuki, you are going to help Haku with her ice technique again," I directed. The dark vixen nodded her head and grinned to Haku before leaving for the water.
"What am I doing, Naruto-sama?" Kazura asked, trying not to be disrespectful in front of Kyuubi, his lord and master.
"You will be helping Sakura with her earth jutsu. Teach her the seals to two jutsu and get a start on those. Sakura, when you finish that I will start teaching you medical ninjutsu. Kyuubi, you can enjoy some time out. Try not to step on anyone," I said. Sakura chuckled before Kyuubi shuddered and grew till he was easily fifteen feet tall. He glanced around himself, noting where everyone was, before walking away.
"Are you sure it's safe to let him walk around?"
"He's okay. I still have the connection to his mind. I can see his every thought and emotion; if he gets violent I can find him and suck him back into the seal with one touch," I said, smiling. Sakura seemed to calm down and walked with Kazura to the other side of the clearing. "Give me Kubikiri Houcho, I'll take to Hiraishin seal off," I said, offering my hand. Taking the sword I deactivated the seal with a quick pulse of chakra. I was about to give the blade back when I noticed a long scratch along the blade. "Who did that?"
"You did, just now. You didn't notice?"
"I guess not. I was a little busy not adding too much chakra to Mizuchi," I said.
"Well, you added enough chakra to cut steel," Zabuza said, chuckling as he reached for his sword. I shook my hand and ran my hand across the edge, cutting my hand open. "What are you-"
"Fixing your sword. It grows off of blood," I said, swiping my hand across the scratch. It filled itself, the blade growing half and inch longer. I handed the sword back to Zabuza, my hand already closing the wound. "Kyuu's chakra is like sake. It's okay the first few shots. Any more and you're in trouble."
Zabuza laughed at my analogy and took his sword back, securing it to his back. I watched as Sakura struggled to create her first rock wall, progressing from creating a pile of rubble to a wall six feet tall. Standing beside the solid wall, she fell to her knee, breathing deeply, and I smiled. I walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Good job. You learned this a lot faster than I did," I said truthfully. She nodded tiredly. " What a second," I said, pushing her back down. "I'm going to show you a technique that I created. I'll teach you how to do this but I don't think you should try it until you build up your chakra reserves."
One hand above her bellybutton and another on her forehead, to steady her, I carefully separated my chakra from Kyuubi's, taking a small portion of my own and sliding it in Sakura's chakra coils. She felt the exchange and flinched before her body recognized the chakra and accepted it, allowing it to replenish her reserves. I sat back when I was finished, letting Kyuubi send me more chakra than usual. My skin began to glow a faint red before it faded, the chakra being converted into usable energy. Sakura watched as her bruises and cuts faded away, as my skin shone red.
"What did you just do?"
"Chakra exchange. I separated my chakra from Kyuubi's and transplanted it into your chakra coils. The exchange nearly doubles the chakra, generating energy from the chakra I sent to you as soon as it enters your body, replacing what was lost and using the leftover chakra to heal any injuries you had. In theory, this technique shouldn't be possible, it eats away at the user's own energy, but I'll be fine. That's what the red glow with my skin was. Whenever I use that technique, Kyuu sends me more chakra to replenish my stores. My body converts it to usable energy and it gets sent back into my own coils. The reason I don't want you using this technique yet is because you aren't a jinchuuriki; you don't have enough chakra to perform this technique without either falling into a coma from chakra exhaustion or dying."
"So you gave me chakra?"
"Pretty much. Try not to talk about it to anyone outside of Team Seven, I'm going to talk to Hiruzen and get it classified as a kinjutsu."
"A forbidden jutsu? Why?"
"You need to understand something, Sakura. In a shinobi village such as Konoha, forbidden does not mean illegal. The label 'kinjutsu' is a warning to anyone that tries to use them. Kage Bunshin no jutsu, one of my favorite techniques, is a kinjutsu because of the potential harm to the user."
"What harm?"
"Death by chakra exhaustion. That applies to chakra exchange as well. If someone overuses it without the chakra to back it up, they could easily hurt themselves as well as the people around them. For example, if I hadn't separated Kyuubi's chakra from my own before transplanting it into you, your body would have attacked the demonic chakra."
"Would that have been bad?"
"That would have been very bad," I pressed. Sakura nodded, trying to look like she understood. "I changed my mind, I'm going to start on medical ninjutsu now."
"So do I still need to be here?" Kazura asked me. I shook my head and he said his goodbyes before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Where do we start, shishou?" Sakura asked, excited. I held up my hands, trying to protect myself.
"First, don't call me master. If anything, I'm a sensei," I said, scratching the back of my head nervously. Sakura nodded quickly. "Okay, second. What do you know about tenketsu?"
"They are the points in our body where chakra gathers."
"That is all they tell you in the Academy. Tenketsu are pressure points in the body that have the ability to release and mold chakra. There are 361 tenketsu in the body, all connected by the chakra network and regulated by the eight chakra gates," I began.
Sakura and I sat on the grass for most of the afternoon as I talked about how the body works. When Haku and Koyuki came back from training, Haku sat with Sakura, learning about medical ninjutsu.
I was talking about chakra exhaustion, when Sasuke and Kakashi trudged out of the forest, exhausted. I smiled at them.
"Great timing, I was just talking about chakra exhaustion. Can you two come over here?" I called, waving the two over. Kakashi sat next to me, Sasuke in between Sakura and myself.
"So we've been out there, doing really training, while you three have been over here chatting? That's wonderful," Sasuke muttered sarcastically.
"Thank you for being the first victim- I mean, patient- Sasuke!" I beamed, chuckling when he glared at me. "Haku, I showed you how to help chakra exhaustion last time I saw you. Will you show Sakura how to take care of it?"
"Okay. Sasuke, I need you to lie down," Haku said calmly. He grumbled but stretched out on the grass. Haku put a hand on his forehead and two fingers hovered over his heart. Haku closed her eyes in concentration and her fingers lit up with green energy. Opening her eyes, Haku lightly tapped the tenketsu close to his heart. Sasuke twitched but sat up slowly, feeling the touch of green energy spread quickly through his body warmly. He looked up at Haku, impressed.
"Thanks," he said, flexing his right hand.
"Good job, Haku. Sasuke, take it easy for a while. That technique is designed for short term only so rest up and get some food. Okay, Sakura your turn."
"Hai," she said, ordering Kakashi to lie down. He sweat dropped, but obeyed. Sakura mimicked Haku's pose, one hand on the jounin's forehead and two fingers held above his heart. She narrowed her eyes at her fingers and they lit up with green energy obediently. Watching the genin, I smiled, remembering her similar expression of concentration as she worked over Kankuro after his battle with Sasori.
She touched Kakashi's tenketsu and he lay still, knowing what to expect. The masked jounin smiled before sitting up slowly and nodding to Sakura.
"Perfect, Sakura. You have a lot of potential," I praised. Sakura beamed and looked at Kakashi who nodded.
"Good job, Sakura-chan," Haku said, smiling. "It took me a few tries the first time but you got it on the first. Naruto-kun is right, you have a lot of potential."
"Thank you, Haku-chan!" Sakura cheered. She had almost turned to Sasuke before remembering our conversation.
~Flashback~
"Why do you die if you open all eight gates?"
"The eight gates all have names, either hinting to their location or describing side effects. The eighth gate is named the Gate of Death. As the user opens more and more gates, they gain more power and can easier access the chakra stored naturally in their bodies, but at a huge risk."
"Risk?"
"Yes. The first gate, the gate of opening, allows the body to use muscles to their full potential. In truth, we don't use 80% of our muscular power to keep them from degeneration or disintegration. The fourth gate, the gate of pain, increases speed and power to the point where you can easily tear your muscles apart. The seventh gate, the gate of wonder, shreds muscle fibers. If anything or anyone touches the user after the gate closes, it causes extreme pain. The final gate, the gate of death, releases all of the body's energy. It converts every fiber of your being into pure strength. The eighth gate can give you powers stronger than any Kage, but the destruction done to your body will kill you as soon as it wears off."
"There's no chance to heal them?"
"None. Every attempt at doing so failed, always resulting in death for the opener of the gates." I paused, remembering another attempt that failed each time. Shaking my head, I changed the subject.
"Hey, Sakura, why do you like Sasuke so much? You spend every spare minute of your time trying to make him yours', and he won't look at you twice. Why? Is this a competition with Ino or do you think there is a chance that he'll eventually notice you?"
Sakura sat for a moment, looking confused. I was about to go back to anatomy when she answered with a question.
"Have you ever felt that, no matter how much someone ignores you, there is still some ulterior motive? That they do care, they just don't know it yet?"
"Of course. I used to feel that way about you."
"So what stopped you?" Sakura asked, almost begging.
"I realized it was a crush. I got over you and finally noticed Hina-chan standing in front of me," I answered. I saw her downcast face and I sighed. "I'm not saying that I want you to get over Sasuke. I'm not saying that you need to."
"Then what are you saying?" Sakura asked. Looking at her face, I realized she seemed almost close to tears.
"I'm saying you should try something else. The only reason he keeps blowing you off right now is because of your attitude. If Sasuke hates fan girls, don't be his fan girl. Let him hate Ino-pig," I added, purely for Sakura's benefit. She smiled almost sadly. "Don't go out of your way for him. If he won't notice when you're there, he'll have to notice when you aren't."
"What, playing hard to get?" Sakura said, chuckling.
"Sakura, if there is anything I know about Sasuke it is that he can't resist a challenge. There are only two possible explanations as to why he can't stand fan girls."
"What?"
"The first is that he's gay," I said, backing away when Sakura withdrew a handful of shuriken. I hit a tree and laughed nervously. "Moving on… The second is that wants something to work for. I've lived with him for a while; if he doesn't have to fight for something, he doesn't want it. He won't chase unless he thinks you're worth catching."
"So I'm supposed to act like I don't care what he thinks?"
"Exactly."
"And if that doesn't work?"
"Sakura, if that doesn't work he is gay. I'm not trying to be funny or insulting or whatever, you're a great kunoichi. Remember? Former obsession talking," I said, pointing to myself.
"But you got over it," she said sadly. I rolled my eyes.
"I found my soul mate. She waited for me. You might have to wait for yours'. I'm sorry if you didn't notice this, but us guys are really oblivious or stupid. Usually some combination thereof," I joked. Sakura smiled and gave me a quick hug.
"So… Gate of Death kills you?" she asked, returning us to the lesson.
"Who knew?" I laughed as Koyuki and Haku appeared from the trees.
~End Flashback~
After getting her compliments from Haku, Kakashi, and myself, Sakura turned back to me, ignoring Sasuke. Kakashi glanced between them but didn't comment.
"All right, I think that's enough for today. Haku, I need to talk to you," I said, standing. Everyone stood with me and started walking back to Tazuna's house, talking about the day's training.
"What is it, sensei?" she chuckled, smirking teasingly.
"I need you to go to Gatou. I need you to lie to him," I said, hating my words as Haku paled.
"But-"
"Haku, I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think I needed to. I've had spies in Wave for some time now. If you don't tell Gatou what you need to, there will be an attack at the construction site within a week. Even then, we can only delay it while we train," I said, trying to come up with a good cover for how I knew about the attack. It must have worked; Haku swallowed then nodded.
"What should I say?"
"I need you to tell him that Zabuza needs to recover. Say that Tazuna is being guarded by three genin and Sharingan Kakashi. Zabuza underestimated the genin and you needed to intervene. You took him down with senbon to the neck under the guise of a Mist hunter-nin. We believed your story and you took Zabuza away and began to heal him before you went to report."
"You don't want me to tell him about you?"
"No. Don't tell him about me, Sakura, or Sasuke. Just say three genin," I instructed. Haku nodded slowly.
"What if he asks for more details on the fight?"
"Rule number one of the missing-nin: know your clients. Gatou is good at intimidation and bad at planning ahead. Tell him you will beat us next time we meet. That'll be enough for him."
"Okay. I'll get going. Make sure they save some food for me," Haku said, kissing me on the cheek before flickering out of existence.