Now with most if not all threats to Tazuna and his family neutralized, though Sakura still didn't lower her guard just in case, construction on the bridge progressed until it was complete at long last without much more trouble.
So it meant it was time to go home back to the Leaf Village "My sis is gonna be there in the village waiting for me right" Nawaki asked, he'd finally opened up after a few days to Sakura unsurprisingly.
Jade orbs swiveled in Kakashi's direction a pleading glint in their depths, asking him not to make her be the one to tell him that it was possible Tsunade wasn't going to be in Leaf when they returned "We don't know Nawaki-kun" Kakashi relented.
The reaction was immediate as Nawaki slumped his shoulders and practically oozed depression "Look on the bright side at least you'll be safe in the village until she's found and brought back" Naruto blurted.
With a new-found sense of maturity because he'd learned that Nawaki was extremely sensitive to things, "True and you won't be alone either" Karin assured, she was the second person to gain the preteen's trust.
A small smile, shy and hesitant curled his lips upward "Do you think Hokage-sama will let me stay with you and Karin-chan, Sakura-chan" Nawaki inquired, following Sakura up the stairs now that they were done with breakfast to pack and head back home.
"Possible but Lord Hokage might also decide to place you elsewhere to" Sakura said, hating how she had to dash his hopes when he looked at her with his earnest hazel eyes, it reminded her of Yukai when she and Karin had left Kumo.
Suddenly it became hard to swallow as her throat tightened, she almost started hyperventilating to if not for Haku who saw the panic in her eyes "Sakura breathe your okay" Haku placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
Helping her calm down "Are you okay Sakura" Sasuke poked his head into the guest room having heard the command from Haku, who was nothing like he'd ever imagined a subordinate of Zabuza Momochi to be.
"Yeah it was a little panic attack is all I get them often" Sakura waved off his concern as she got a handle over her emotions again, telling the truth, Sasuke eyed her for a moment longer then shrugged and left them to finish packing himself.
Unfortunately neither Haku or Karin were ascertained "Really you two I'm okay now" Sakura held up her hands knowing they were just worried but they didn't need to make a huge deal out of her small attack.
Haku turned first to grab the rest of his meager belongings "We're going to talk about that once we're on the road back to Leaf, we need to do all we can to avoid triggers that cause you to have panic attacks regardless of how small or big it was" Karin declared.
"There's nothing to talk about Karin-chan, I got overwhelmed for a minute when I thought of how everyone back in Kumo was doing, how the last time we saw Yukai he was begging us not to leave" Sakura huffed.
Karin's eyes flashed with her own regret "Noted, I wonder how he's doing since we never got a return letter when we told those guys we were off on a mission out of the village" Karin mused, hoping none of them were angry.
Because she didn't want to lose her connection to her first real home "I'm sure you'll find out when we get back and you two are able to write to them again" Kakashi commented from the doorway, ready before everyone else for once.
Green eyes sparkled at him in response "On that note we should get going, it's been a month and I really want to see my parents and brother, even Shisui who annoys the hell out of everyone" Sasuke grunted.
Eight minutes later the enlarged group set forth across the bridge "What do you think about naming this bridge the Great Seven/Thirteen Bridge, through the good and bad times is what it will stand for" Tazuna mused aloud.
Deciding his bridge needed a name "More than appropriate Father because for all the good things in life one must get through the bad things first" Tsunami nodded, quite liking the bridge name, considering all those kids had done for them.
"Yeah Gramps its a really good one, how about this for the shipping company your now owner over mom Tidal Wave Shipping" Inari chimed in cheekily, Tsunami smiled indulgently at her son before turning forward to watch the shinobi leave until they couldn't be seen anymore.
A day and a half later both Teams Seven and Thirteen plus two extras were home "Lord Hokage's been waiting for you, so this is the boy then that was Zabuza's apprentice and of course Tsunade's brother who can only be confirmed by Hokage-sama at the moment" an anbu showed up.
The minute they were signed in at the gates, Haku tensed and Sakura squeezed his wrist reassuringly "Yes that's me, my name is Haku Yuki and Zabuza took me on as his apprentice due to my bloodline limit, I can wield ice release" Haku informed.
Stepping forward glad that someone was at his back even if it had taken him almost three weeks to open up and trust her and her sister, the others to now that he was thinking about it "Hatake you didn't mention he was a kekkeigenkai user" the anbu commented.
Voice flat but everyone could tell the anbu wasn't happy to find out that piece of information "I have my reasons, just before he died Zabuza asked that I make sure Haku was well taken care of and that means not letting him be used for his rare bloodline limit" Kakashi stated.
Haku stared at the ground, unable to meet anyone's gaze as he thought about his former master who even in his last moments had thought of him "Lucky you boy, you don't get to get dragged to T&I or be thrown in a cell until we decide what we want to do with you" the anbu announced.
Moving aside and letting the two teams plus extras carry on their way to the center of the village "Why does having a kekkeigenkai give me immunity to possible execution" Haku furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Because here those with rare bloodlines are quite favored, most likely nothing will happen to you beyond having your every move watched for a month or so until you can be truly trusted" Kakashi explained.
Glad that he'd made the right decision in not saying anything about Haku's kekkeigenkai via messages that could have been intercepted, Haku looked to Sakura but the pinkette shrugged indicating she hadn't known about that herself.
Which made him remember that while Sakura was born in Leaf, she'd spent over seven years not remembering this was her birth village and four years in another shinobi village but fifteen minutes later they were crowding into the Hokage's Office.
"Wow you really are old now huh" Nawaki exclaimed after seeing Hiruzen for the first time, and it hit him finally that he really was alive but it had been thirty some years that he'd died before waking up on the ground surrounded by bandits and subsequently rescued by a rogue.
Hiruzen chuckled "Unfortunately Tsunade does not know you are alive Nawaki-kun but I have Jiraiya looking for her so just be patient, though there is a pressing matter of where to put you" Hiruzen admitted.
Pondering that last bit aloud, Nawaki shot a hopeful look at Sakura and Karin who'd been quiet since they'd entered the office "Why don't you let Nawaki choose where wants to be Old Man Hokage" Naruto chimed in not liking the silence or tension.
"Do you have someone you wish to stay with Nawaki-kun" the Hokage asked, hoping that it wasn't with those two girls who weren't easily swayed from their decisions of course in the next moment that hope was dashed.
As Nawaki looked right at Sakura "If you don't mind, Karin-chan and Sakura-chan have offered me a room in the house their going to move into so I'll stay with them until Sis is found and brought back" Nawaki said.
Crossing his arms over his chest, resolute in his decision "And what of you Haku-kun, I know your in unfamiliar surroundings" Hiruzen glanced to the first ice release user he'd seen in his entire life.
But like Nawaki, Haku had already made his choice, it was to stay with Sakura and Karin as well "Before I dismiss you, I'd like to be debriefed on your mission" the Third turned towards Kakashi who handed over his mission report.
Prompting the others to do the same only from their points of view giving it more perspective "Everything should be in order Hokage-sama" Kakashi stated, just glad to be back where he didn't have to work nearly as hard.
The Hokage nodded "Good work Team Seven, Team Thirteen here's your mission pay, take a few days off and Haku-kun just know you'll be watched for awhile that's it your dismissed" Hiruzen informed, handing over what the teams were owed for their accidental A ranked mission.
Before shooing them all from his office "Come on Haku, Nawaki, the apartments this way and then we'll get started on moving into the house" Karin announced, tugging the two along behind her by their wrists to the complex she lived in.
Sakura pacing along easily at her side "Hey wait up" Naruto sped after the quartet since he also lived at the apartment complex the kunoichi of Team Thirteen did, they slowed briefly for him and he caught up half a minute later.
Even though they were a floor above him it was still nice to walk with them "This is even smaller than all the places I lived in with Zabuza as we traveled around Mizu no Kuni" Haku grimaced when he sat down on the couch in the tiny living room.
"Part of the reason we're moving out, the other part is my old house has a large backyard where I can actually grow things, though we'll have to seek Choji out to let him know we're back and that I'm going to start working in the greenhouse again" Sakura explained.
Making a hand sign and in a poof of smoke there were six clones of herself that were given the instructions to pack her belongings "Choji, is he one of your friends, do you think I can meet him to please" Nawaki requested.
Blinking his hazel eyes at her hopefully "Sure Nawaki, just don't insult him when you see him, he's a bit on the heftier side and is really self conscious about it, but what he hates more than anything is being called fat and has a temper" Karin warned.
Not just for Nawaki's sake but Haku's to as she made her own clones, two less than what Sakura could create unfortunately though she was working on it "Do you have any other friends we should know about" Haku questioned.
As the girls worked right alongside their clones to pack up the apartment "Ino and Shikamaru, the others you already know about" Sakura said, diving into the tiny closet and grabbing everything that was in there.
Only to seal it in a scroll then stow the scroll with several others in a yellow backpack, different than the beige one she'd used for the mission, then since it was almost lunch time set her pack down and started cooking the afternoon meal with ingredients that hadn't spoiled.
It was the unfortunate consequence of being gone an entire month, food rotting, that also meant they would have to go shopping as well, just as they were sitting down to eat, someone knocked and Sakura went to answer it.
"Shisui-san what brings you here" Sakura arched a fuschia brow at the most obnoxious Uchiha she'd ever met, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in surprise "What" Sakura looked around worriedly.
Before he shook his head shaking off his shock "You said my name, actual first name not my last name and also what the heck did you do to Sasuke-chan, he's changed" Shisui blurted, wanting to ask what had changed but not wanting Sakura to reject him again so he didn't cross that line.
Sakura was a lot more observant than that though "Ah about Sasuke, he was being rude, so I made him take a good hard look at himself, the rest was on him and I know you want to ask so ask Shisui-san" Sakura waved her hand.
"Nah I don't need to, what happened before was my fault, constantly hovering but I am glad you seem to be doing better and that's all I need to know Sakura-chan" Shisui shrugged, ruffled her hair and body flickered in the next second.
Leaving her to shut the door and eat lunch undisturbed "Right off to find Choji" Karin said once the rest of the food had been sealed away along with the rest of the dishes after they were properly washed and four minutes later.
After handing over the keys to the apartment and paying what they owed, her in the lead and senses honed in on Choji's chakra the four of them trekked across the village to the greenhouse that Sakura tended for the Akimichi Clan.
Choji wasn't alone, his Father was with him, as such Choza was the first to spot them and nudge his son then point, Choji turned "Sakura, Karin your back" Choji greeted, speed walking towards his friends only to stop seeing that they weren't alone.
There were two males one his age the other older stood behind Karin who was peering at him curiously "Yeah, just got in a couple hours ago, Choji, these two are Haku and Nawaki, Hokage-sama confirmed that he wasn't an impostor and I have a gift for you" Sakura smiled.
"Really you brought me back a gift Sakura and it's very nice to meet you Haku, Nawaki" Choji grinned excitedly while waving at Haku and Nawaki who were rather quiet, he supposed they would need to get use to things so didn't push for anymore than that.
Karin nodded with Sakura in answer to his question indicating both girls had gotten him something "For you Choji" Karin held out a brown package wrapped with twine that Choji quickly untied.
To unveil a huge bowl for ramen or anything else he wanted to use it for "And from me" Sakura reminded through the awe clouding his mind, "Cool aren't they, I carved them out of a diamond I found" Sakura giggled.
When Choji almost dropped the diamond chopsticks she'd carved for him "So that's what you were using that huge thing for" Haku commented, having wondered and for a moment he thought the girl had simply taken something for herself since it was her right.
But that wasn't the case now "That's real diamond" Choji choked out, feeling a little faint, this was a potentially expensive gift, yet Sakura hadn't paid a yen for it, in fact she'd hand carved them herself.
"Of course it is Choji and welcome back girls, I assume you wish to continue working in the greenhouse yes, good, but make sure you take an actual break first for however many days you were given off" Choza chuckled.
Patting Sakura and Karin on the head, having known they'd be a great friend for Choji and he was glad that he hadn't been wrong in the slightest "Okay I'll show up two days from now at the usual time" Sakura declared.
Bowing politely for him then she turned on her heel, leading the way out of the greenhouse, back across the village and to her old house "Your parents were civilians weren't they Sakura-chan" Nawaki asked.
Sakura smiled indulgently at him "And merchants who sold goods all over wherever they could now want to see the available rooms Nawaki, Haku" Sakura clapped her hands not really wanting to talk about her past yet.
Nawaki nodded his head excitedly, a couple minutes later he was settling his meager belongings that everyone had pitched in and helped him get in the room, a weeks worth of clothes in the closet, a spare pair of sandals and the few kunai he had which was basically all he had.
Haku was pretty much in the same boat "How is it that you can afford this house anyway, your orphans just like I am" Haku questioned when they convened in the living room while clones got to work on unpacking things.
"My parents had a vault Haku, plus as I'm sure you'll find out, I'll just tell you, I'm a control freak over our funds, I micro-manage everything down to the last detail, you'll find it annoying possibly but I ask that you trust me because I know what I'm doing" Sakura admitted.
Karin snickered "Anyway I'm pretty sure that Hokage-sama, once your considered trustworthy will give you a stipend until then if you need anything just ask Sakura and we should also go shopping for Nawaki to while we're at it" Karin said.
And so while their clones continued unpacking the four of them traipsed out of the house and down to the market "Guess it's a good thing I collected in on the payment Gato owed Zabuza, otherwise I'd be out of luck" Haku sighed.
Finding himself alone for a moment as they wandered into a store that sold clothes, the girls and Nawaki no where to be seen because the younger boy needed all the help he could get, clothes weren't the only thing they bought.
Toiletries, blankets, pillows and whatever else they needed, along with groceries before they finally made the walk back to the house after shopping for a couple of hours "Did we really need all that though" Nawaki sulked.
Completely sore now "You may think that way now, that all of that is unnecessary but trust me, you'll realize that you did really need all of that a couple weeks from now" Sakura assured as she and Karin put away the foodstuffs.
Which left them to put away their new belongings in their bedrooms and shared bathroom "Hey may I ask what you got all of that material for Sakura" Karin inquired, when the pinkette started prepping things for dinner.
"When I was buying it, it suddenly hit me that I'm more like my parents than I thought so I'm going to revive their business of selling and trading goods by making things with my own two hands and I want you to be my partner Karin-chan" Sakura explained.
Peering over her shoulder to look at the girl she'd claimed as her sister "Count me in, oh but what are you going to name the Company though" Karin tapped her lip, thinking of the limitless things that Sakura could use to name the new company.
It was a question Sakura hadn't yet thought of herself "I hadn't thought that far ahead yet how about the Fragrant Blossom Trading Company, you can make perfumes or for the shinobi variety poison sprays" Sakura suggested.
Deciding on a name almost instantly "Has anyone ever told you that you two are terrifying" Haku commented from the kitchen doorway, basically admitting without words that he'd been eavesdropping on their conversation.
Nawaki to as he poked his head out from behind Haku sporting a sheepish expression on his face "Once or twice, I think it was Darui-san" Karin giggled, remembering Darui's face that time when they'd showed him the weapons they had bought.
Glad that they didn't seem to be mad Nawaki shuffled fully into the kitchen "Is that someone you knew back in Kumogakure" Nawaki asked, curious about everything to their amusement as Sakura nodded in answer.
"Mhm, he was one of the ones who stumbled across us when we were eight while we were picking herbs, along with Cee-sensei and Raikage-sama of course" Sakura declared, resuming her work on prepping for dinner.
Until the meal was ready to be eaten "By the way how exactly are you going to get the company started up, I mean we have no merchandise" Karin frowned later on when the question kept nagging at her as she helped do the dishes once they were doing eating.
Sakura blinked at her "Patience Imouto, it's all about being patient, plus I have to look up all the merchants my parents did business with and see which ones will benefit us before making a deal with them so on and so forth" Sakura said.
"Your doing all this for our sake's aren't you Sakura, Karin" Haku guessed after putting away the last of the dishes once they were dry, not having thought the girls would be this selfless but here they were proving him wrong.
Jade orbs flashed his way "Not completely Haku, by doing this I'll have a connection to the parents I lost, I need it for sanity sake really, but if we're successful, living here won't be as hard on you two, like it was for us when we started living in Cloud" Sakura admitted.
With that and his curiosity sated, Sakura padded out the backdoor to the backyard and started practically tearing out every weed that she could get her hands on so that she wasn't lazy and because she really wanted to have space to grow her personal plants.
A couple hours later Sakura was back inside, dirt covering every inch of bare skin but with a satisfied smile on her face as she went to take a bath and scrub away the filth of the day before dressing in her sleep clothes and going to bed for the night.
Two days later after catching up with both Ino and Shikamaru to give them their souvenirs and writing letters to those back in Cloud, Sakura and Karin headed for the Tower to get some D ranks "Are you sure, there are some C ranks that you can do in the village you know" Hiruzen frowned.
Having been given permission to offer C ranks to the girls by their unofficial Jonin "No offense Hokage-sama but every time we've gone on a C rank mission our lives have been in danger" Karin explained.
"But you've only been on one C rank mission as far as I'm aware" the Hokage furrowed his brow in confusion, while glancing at the list of missions Team Thirteen had undertaken since he'd allowed them to be on a team.
Though calling that mission a C rank was a bit of a stretch so technically they hadn't been on a C rank "Our sensei back in Kumo, that's what we were doing so far from Cloud, it was a C rank mission to gather herbs for the hospital in Cha no Kuni" Sakura said.
It made Hiruzen realize how lucky they'd been in finding Sakura that day "I see, tell you what, do this in the village C rank mission today, to see how you like it when they should present no danger and I'll let you in on a secret, deal" Hiruzen compromised.
Karin and Sakura shared a confused look with one another but Sakura was also suspicious to considering the last time the Hokage had made a deal he hadn't honored it until someone they still didn't know who had intervened on their behalf.
As much as she wanted to refuse however, her damnable curiosity wouldn't let her so after taking the scroll she and Karin were off to babysit some nobles kid nephew for a couple of hours "Kids that bratty should be illegal" Karin groaned.
When their mission had ended and the boy had been taken away by his uncle "Aw come on Karin-chan he wasn't any worse than Inari, and besides I thought he was kind of adorable after awhile" Sakura snickered.
Earning an eye roll from Karin "So how did the mission go girls" the Hokage inquired once the duo had trudged back into the office to debrief him on their C rank mission and he was pleased to hear that nothing had happened.
Beyond the boy being a bratty entitled noble towards them "Good, good then I assume you won't be to aggrieved when your assigned more C ranks, and as for the secret, Sakura-chan I did some research and it appears you have a living uncle in Tetsu no Kuni" Hiruzen announced.
Sakura froze and stared at him with wide eyes "What does that mean for me Hokage-sama" she asked after hiding all trace of emotion on her face, in her eyes and voice for fear of crying or screaming she wasn't sure which one would happen first.
"Nothing terrible Sakura-chan, your still a shinobi of this village, but he has requested a meeting between the two of you as such in two weeks time you'll be going to Tetsu no Kuni" the Hokage explained carefully.
Leading up to a potentially disastrous subject "Why are we waiting two weeks to go when we could go now" Karin frowned, naturally including herself because she was Sakura's adopted sister regardless of that hardly being acknowledged.
Hiruzen toked on his pipe for a moment "Because that's when Haku's evaluation period will end to which he'll be immediately assigned to your squad, while Nawaki is assigned to Team Seven" Hiruzen said carefully.
Thankfully it didn't look like Sakura or Karin minded having Haku on their team as long as they were together that was all that mattered really "And escorting you will be your unofficial Jonin who wishes to finally meet you in person" Hiruzen finished quickly.
Utter silence "I thought we didn't have a jonin….wait a minute is that how we got assigned to that mission with Team Seven and why we're suddenly being offered C ranks" Sakura realized, mind as sharp as ever.
"Correct, fear not Sakura, Karin, he is not the kind of person to take interest in something then decide it's not worth his time, in fact he has been watching every single one of your training sessions and is quite pleased with the progress you've shown" Hiruzen assured.
Not wanting them to think that someone unknown to them was about to come into their lives and mess up their strict schedule "Right anyway Sakura's going to be late if we don't hurry and we still have training to" Karin reminded.
Grabbing their mission pay from the desk then ushering Sakura out of the office and down the streets to the greenhouse "Who do you think is our unofficial sensei" Karin questioned once they were safely inside and Sakura was tending the plants.
Even cultivating them now that they had reached peak potency and growth "I have my suspicions and it makes me wonder why he took such an interest in us" Sakura mused aloud, flashing back to that day when they'd been reassigned to a team together.
Karin sulked a little "But I also can't be to sure so I'm not going to say just yet" Sakura finished after a moment, prompting more pouting from Karin that Sakura ignored expertly while she worked her two hours.
Found where Choza had left the pay that she was owed and together hurried back to the house for lunch with Haku and Nawaki "Did you hear the Hokage's going to assign me on Naruto and Sasuke's team" Nawaki was a regular ole chatterbox.
As they sat down to eat the afternoon meal Haku had prepared "Mhm, and in two weeks time Haku will be on our team" Karin smiled kindly at the straw blonde haired preteen, just glad that things were working out so far.
"Are you going back out" Haku asked once the kitchen was cleaned up and the girls had grabbed their weapons again, intent clear they were going to go train as Sakura nodded "Mind if I join you, I'd like to practice my jutsu" Haku requested.
Sakura shook her head indicating she didn't mind so what ended up happening was both Haku and Nawaki joining her and Karin on their training grounds to get some exercise in "Eh can you really lift that Sakura-chan" Nawaki questioned.
Upon seeing Sakura's boomerang that she could indeed lift with only a single arm might he add, before she threw it at her shadow clones that she'd made ahead of time and promptly wiped them all out of existence.
His eyes about bulged out of his head in response "Was that chakra enhanced strength or just your normal muscles" Haku asked, a bit terrified when Sakura caught her weapon on its way back to her with a single arm.
Green orbs focused on him "Little bit of both, see that's how I've been training my muscles, I used chakra enhanced strength initially and over the months I have slowly lessened the amount of chakra I used so that I'm not only relying on chakra to wield my boomerang" Sakura answered.
"Care to test your boomerang against my ice" Haku offered with a hint of challenge in his voice, while creating his crystal ice mirrors, Sakura not one to let such an offer go without trying, raised her weapon again and channeled chakra into it at the same time.
Just as she threw it she pressed the trigger to release the blades hidden inside and watched as her boomerang flew through the air but to her disappointment Haku's ice mirror was to strong to break by normal means.
As the boomerang hit the wall of ice and clattered uselessly to the ground "Bet I could at least crack it if I punched it though" Sakura shrugged after collecting her weapon and making more clones with the instructions to run around this time.
Four hours later once she and Karin had exhausted themselves of chakra it was time to go back to the house "Did you really have to practically use up all of your chakra" Haku scolded not liking how reckless his future teammates were.
"There's a reason for it, to increase our chakra reserves, we could have meditated sure but then it wouldn't have been nearly as effective" Karin said when she was all sprawled out in her favorite chair.
Sakura however headed straight for the kitchen despite being tired "You two are crazy, good luck Haku when your allowed to go on missions with them and such" Nawaki chimed in, though that didn't mean he wasn't fond of the two kunoichi who'd been their absolute kindest to him so far.
From the kitchen Sakura hollered something back at him "Just you wait Nawaki, you'll find it not as easy as you think being on Team Seven, I don't hate Kakashi-sensei but he can aggravate the most patient of people with his antics" the pinkette warned.
Nawaki flushed in embarrassment then settled down on the couch with Haku to wait until dinner was ready to be eaten and like the past two days once the kitchen was cleaned up Sakura headed outside to the garden and tended it before showering and going to bed for the night.