Welcome to the next chapter, sorry about this being delayed but I've had some health issues and other stuff that's really been delaying me (I may or may not of gotten in to Attack on Titan), but it's all good now so things should get back to normal.

Enjoy :).

"Speaking".

"Thoughts"

"Jutsu"

The Hunter Ninja re-appeared in a forest clearing with the lifeless body of Zabuza below her, still with the large needles embedded through his neck; she raised herself up to scan the area around to make sure there were no witnesses.

Once satisfied they were alone, she knelt back down and carefully removed the needles from out of Zabuza's neck; his eyes opened and he looked around hastily before setting his eyes on the Hunter Ninja while he sat up, "It'll feel numb for a while but it'll fade eventually, you're lucky I intervened when I did or you'd be dead by now" she spoke not taking her eyes off the man in front of her.

Zabuza scoffed, "Guess I underestimated those Genin with Kakashi" he said looking around them, "Well there won't be a second time that they get the better of me…" he tried to stand but his body gave out, as he went over he was caught in the arms of the Hunter.

"Your body still hasn't fully healed from your battle; you need to rest first Zabuza" she scolded the man who glared at her.

"Don't try and treat me like a kid Haku!" he snapped at her though the reaction was hidden behind the mask she wore; he regretted that outburst as he felt a pang of pain in his chest and his bandages became coated in blood as he tried to cough up some blood, "Damnit!" he remarked hating to admit that Haku was right.

"That last attack has caused some serious damage to not only you body and limbs but almost certainly your internal organs, I have to treat you!" Haku scolded again as she put his arm over her shoulder to carry him to their hideout.

He started to chuckle confusing her, "I'm surprised you didn't take the opportunity to go after that Kochi…" he said glancing down at her, but her mask stayed focused ahead though it didn't stop her from thinking.

"I'll get him soon, but then wasn't the right time" she muttered as they moved "He needs to suffer just like they did to my clan and then… he'll pay for everything he has done" she added remembering the boy she'd been studying, remembering all his moves, techniques and methods of attacks so that when it was time, she could kill him with ease not that it would trouble her anyway.

"Will he be okay?" he heard a voice speak out near him.

"He'll be fine he just needs rest" another voice spoke this one more feminine but one he didn't recognise.

"What happened to him anyway, he just dropped?"

"It was likely his Sharingan, when it's used by a non-Uchiha it can seriously drain your chakra".

"He was using it for some time too, hopefully the damage isn't too bad".

Then there was silence for a little while till a voice he immediately recognised spoke up, "Y'know, we could look what's under his mask while he's out".

"NARUTO!"

"Can you guys keep in down" Kakashi mumbled opening his eye to see his team standing around him with Chris holding back a angry looking Sakura while Naruto nursed a bump on his head that Sakura must of quickly gotten off before Chris could stop her while Sasuke just watched them with an irritated expression.

Though upon Kakashi speaking all of them turned round to him seeing that he was finally awake, "Kakashi Sensei? How are you feeling?" Sakura said quickly kneeling next to him while the others got closer.

He sat up slightly realising he was on a bed with thin sheet over him, but he still wore his gear, "I'm feeling better, where are we anyway?" he asked looking around not recognising the wooden room they were in.

As if waiting for the que, in walked a woman with long blue hair wearing a short sleeved pink shirt with red end sleeves and collar with a long blue skirt with dark eyes, "Oh I see your finally awake; Kakashi isn't it, I'm Tsunami" she gave a kind smile, Kakashi recognised her voice as the one he didn't recognise earlier.

"We're at Tsunami's house, she's letting us stay here while we're on the mission" Sasuke answered leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

"Your student is correct, I'm Tazuna's daughter so you are more than welcome to stay here while you're helping him out" she gave her kind smile again, "Your students brought you here yesterday, you've been out cold most of the day so I'm guessing you must be hungry, if you feel up to I've got some food on the table out here" she added before leaving the room.

Almost immediately their collective stomachs rumbled getting a raised eyebrow from Kakashi, "While I'm touched that you all seemed to not want to leave my side while I was out, especially you Sasuke" he said making the boy grumble and turn away, "You should all go eat, I'll come join you in a moment" he continued with an eye smile.

His team nodded and went to exit the small room leaving Kakashi alone to gather his thoughts, something had been bothering him; it was to do with the Hunter that took out Zabuza, he kept playing the attack over and over again in his mind but something just felt odd to him, the hunter was pretty small so likely didn't have the muscle mass to carry Zabuza's body back to the Mist village for one and secondly, they used Senbon needles to take him out and based on damage compared to other thrown weapons such as Kunai and Shuriken, the needles were one of the least likely to kill weapons even on a weakened opponent.

He glanced over to his right where two wooden crutches were rested, he still felt a bit weak, so decided that at least for now he should let his body recover on its own, he reached over and grabbed the items to help him up the placed them under his arms while he leant against the wall. Slowly he exited the room, the clinking of the crutches following him, looking up he saw his team as well as Tsunami and Tazuna sat at a table each with a small portion of food in front of them, there was also a boy sitting with them wearing a yellow shirt and green suspenders, though he did not recognise him, he couldn't be older than 8 or 9.

They all turned round to him with a smile, "Kakashi, I'm glad you're feeling better" Tazuna said getting up to pull a seat out for the Jonin, "I was worried my stupid actions may have cost you your life" he uttered indicating for Kakashi to sit in the chair.

He nodded and sat down, "It's quite fine Tazuna, I'm just glad you all made it here safe" Kakashi eye smiled setting the crutches to rest against the table next to him as a plate of food was placed in front of him, nothing special just some rice with a small cooked fish but it did smell very good.

"I'm sorry it's not a lot, with Gato it's hard to get by…" Tsunami began but Kakashi abruptly cut her off.

"No, it's quite fine, really you shouldn't have in the first place but thank you" he said keeping his unique smile present as Tsunami returned her own, before returning to her own seat as they all began to eat Kakashi's thoughts still plagued him, the feeling in his gut just wouldn't go away as he pushed his food around with his chopsticks while feeling the eyes of his students upon him which slightly amused him, "Can I help you?" he asked with amusement in his voice looking up at his students which all save for one were looking at him in their own amusing ways.

Though once they were spotted they all immediately snapped their eyes back to their food like it was the most fascinating thing in the world to them; Kakashi took his time to look around at everyone seeing that his team had mostly recovered from any injures they sustained from the battle though there were still a few bruises present, "Tell me, how long was I out for again?" he asked.

"We brought you here yesterday and you've been out most of today Sensei" Sakura said indicating to the nearby where he saw it was dark outside.

"Ah I see" was all he responded with, "Longer than I thought, must have really exerted myself with that fight, must have a bit of memory loss too, likely from the exertion" he thought casting his eye back down to his food and decided to take quick bites when no one was looking which provided him some amusement as three of his students desperately tried to catch him with his mask down but he was too quick for them, though he did notice that of all the idle conversation that happened, his one blind student never spoke a word and was hardly eating.

"It's pointless trying to fight him…" a quiet voice spoke up, they all turned their gaze round to the small boy who'd been sitting quietly until now next to his mother, "Gato's too strong, and will just kill you all…" he added tightening his grip on his chopsticks.

"Inari! Stop with that talk right now!" Tsunami scolded at the boy, but he just faced away from her refusing to listen.

"IT'S TRUE THOUGH!" he snapped, "DAD COULDN'T DO ANYTHING AND HE WAS THE STRONGEST OF US ALL AND THEY….they…" he couldn't continue, the mere sight of seeing these Ninja that were ready to fight just like his father was before brought the memory's back and once they returned he couldn't hold in his emotions; as the tears began to flow he charged out of the room confusing everyone as they heard a door slam shut in the home.

"Where did that come from?" Naruto asked looking at the direction Inari ran as Tsunami went to go after him but was stopped by Tazuna.

"Give him some time, he needs to collect his thoughts" he said looking to her with a caring look, she nodded and sat back down know her father was right and smothering her son wouldn't help much right now.

"The poor kid… he's my grandson…" Tazuna muttered getting the rests attention, they remembered the other day when Tazuna told them in detail the punishment of fighting against Gato in the way he disposed of not only the workers but poor Inari's Step-Father who was publicly executed in brutal fashion; after this revelation not a single word more was spoken, the only sounds was that of them eating.

After finishing, Tsunami took their plates away and almost immediately Chris stood and left the building exiting out into the darkness muttering something about being on the roof, Kakashi watched him go then turned back round to his team with a cocked eyebrow looking for an explanation to the boys odd antics, "He's did that last night too after we set you in your room, he stays on the roof at night and has hardly talked since you collapsed Kakashi Sensei" Sakura answered looking down while the other two and Tazuna nodded in agreement.

"I'm not sure what's up with the kid" Tazuna spoke up, "The most we've gotten out of him is mumbling about 'it being his fault', not sure what though" he added before standing up, "Listen Kakashi, maybe you can get something out of him. When you get tired you can use the room you woke up in as yours till you leave" he said giving a small smile before departing.

Kakashi sighed standing up again while using the two crutches, he knew exactly what was wrong with Chris as he could not only guess why they were on this mission in the first place but this wasn't the first time he'd encountered this, "I'll be back in a bit, you lot go to bed for now; we'll begin training in the morning" he said before hobbling towards the door but turned around briefly looking at his students, "Well, we'll begin when I'm able to get up I should say" he chuckled before leaving the house.

Kakashi let out a sigh as he looked around not seeing his student so guessed he must already be on the roof; he did note however the location of Tsunami's house which overlooked the water with a small wooden pier attached to it.

Slowly making his way up the wall to the roof the white jacket of his student struck through the darkness as he reached the top; he was sat down, his knees brought to his chest and his arms wrapped around them with his head tilted to the night sky something clearly on his mind. He approached the boy knowing he wouldn't spook him as he was sure he'd sensed him for some time.

"Can I help you Kakashi Sensei?" Chris asked not looking around confirming Kakashi's guess that he'd already sensed him.

"Oh nothing really, just thought I'd take an evening stroll on the roof" he joked in response to try and lighten up the atmosphere but he knew it was pointless, he'd dealt with this once before and knew just what to do.

Kakashi walked over and sighed as he sat down next to his student resting his crutches beside him, "I guess we need to have a talk…" he muttered looking up to the stars, "You've probably figured out that I know full well that this C-rank turned A-rank is from your father".

Silence took over, Chris wasn't sure what to respond with or if a response was even wanted but he felt as if he should say something, anything just to break this uncomfortable silence between them but the only words he could formulate were, "It's all my fault…".

Kakashi glanced down to his student who was now facing down, "This mission had to happen because I'm too weak, because I'm nothing like those who came before me and now we're on a A-rank mission where because of me, my teammates could likely die; we almost did yesterday and it's all my fault" he mumbled but Kakashi heard all of it, in fact he'd heard almost the exact same thing before.

"It's not your fault" he responded but the boy didn't move as he simply thought Kakashi must be trying to lie to him, "This is the life of a Shinobi, this 'is' your life now, as it is Naruto's, Sasuke's and Sakura's life now, sure maybe if you had been stronger we may not of gotten this mission but the chances could be a weaker team or more unprepared team would have gotten this mission instead and they would have been killed" this made the blind boy face up to him.

"And if that's not enough of a reason how about this, if we didn't get this mission, who knows how much longer the Land of Waves would stay under Gato's control; thanks to this mission, we're getting a chance to save these people from him, so in essence, you being weaker has given the people here a chance" he eye smiled.

Chris gained a small smile on his lips but it faded soon after, "Okay maybe your right, but it doesn't change the fact that if you hadn't been here, we'd be dead and now you're injured…" he trailed off again, "I don't want to be all negative but it's true".

"Not exactly, sure I may have finished Zabuza off but I was trapped inside that Water Prison Jutsu for quite some time, in fact I was in there for most of the battle and without you guys working as a team I never would have gotten free" he responded with a tiny chuckle, "Listen, this mission is a dangerous one and there is every chance someone might not come back, but as a Shinobi every mission has these stakes but it's how you act that determines the outcome, and if you stay like this, blaming yourself; Then you will lose someone important to you, don't make the same mistake I did and learn it the hard way".

Chris was silent again for some time but a small smile again graced his lips but he kept it this time, "Okay… you're right Kakashi Sensei" he said facing up to the stars again understanding that it may be his actions that got them here, but he couldn't give up and let his team down because of it.

"If you ever get lost again, just remember..." he began getting Chris to turn to him, "Your sisters first C-rank was way worse than this" he chuckled rubbing the back of his head as he thought back to it, "It's also the reason I knew what to say to you" he thought.

Chris had a confused expression replace his smile, "I really need to ask Soruki just what happened on that mission" he noted in his head before facing the stars again letting silence go back over.

"I should head back inside to rest up" Kakashi said getting up again and replacing his crutches under his arms, "Don't stay up to late, we will begin training tomorrow morning" he added before turning to walk away.

"Wait, Kakashi Sensei" Chris spoke up before he left getting the man to turn back to him, "There's something I need to tell you about the Hunter Ninja from yesterday" this got Kakashi's attention as the Hunter did seem very focused on Chris the other day.

"That woman, her chakra felt… almost familiar to me, like I should have met her before but I never have" he revealed shocking Kakashi, "I don't know how to describe it but it felt weird, like my body's telling me one thing but my mind the other…" he trailed off.

Kakashi took time to think about this, "It's impossible for a Kochi to mistake someone's chakra for another's so Chris has to know that person or at least…" he trailed off in his mind as the thought came to him, for a Kochi to sense someone's chakra as familiar there is only two possible explanations, one they had met them before which as Chris had confirmed he'd never met a Hunter Ninja before or the second option; that was the option that worried him, that the person was of the same blood as Chris, in short they were another Kochi.

In a small hut, buried deep within the forest. Zabuza was laying on a bed, his eyes closed with his arms by his side and his chest wrapped heavily in bandages with red soaking through, resting beside his bed was his large Executioners Blade. Entering into the room was Haku carrying a tray with a bowl and a few fresh bandages and cloths.

She sat by the bed and removed the bandages with a sigh seeing the blood had soaked through again, after taking them off she dipped the cloth into the liquid inside of the bowl and cleaned the torso of Zabuza making sure she got all the blood off and cleaned the wounds it came from, this wasn't the first time she'd had to take care of Zabuza and was sure it wouldn't be the last; glancing up his body she looked at his face wincing slightly in his sleep reacting to the sting of the medical product she was using on his wounds.

After cleaning it all up she re-wrapped his torso in bandages and took the rest of the items out of the room though as she did there was a heavy knock on the door. Haku knew who it was, the little bastard Gato, come to check up on his investment.

She walked to the door and threw it open and sure enough the little man was standing there with his 'bodyguards' who Haku never took seriously and was sure that any fighter worth their credit would realise these two were nothing but looks and that unless you were an untrained civilian they would hardly pose you a threat.

"Ahh, is my dear Zabuza home" Gato said his sickly smile going across his lips, the one Haku hated, one that whenever she saw it wanted to drive one of her Senbon needles down his throat "I need to discuss business matters with him" he continued.

Haku said nothing and just stared at the man from behind her mask, she knew he's be coming by and didn't want him knowing her face anytime soon so she just kept her glare, one hand placed ready on her Senbon needle pouch to kill all three of them in a swift motion when Zabuza decided to wake up, "Let him in Haku!" his voiced echoed out from his room.

Haku grimaced and walked away from the door with Gato with his men following behind her, she hated that Gato at least knew she was female as currently feeling his eyes on her ass was an annoying prospect that if it wasn't for Zabuza she would kill the squirmy man then and there.

Finally entering Zabuza's room she walked to the other side of the bed he was rested upon his head turned to the door to glare at Gato as he entered with Zori and Waraji both of them placing their hands on their blades hilt ready to protect Gato though from the sweat going down the side of their heads they knew they were screwed in a fight even if the man was weakened.

"The hell do you want now Gato" Zabuza hissed looking to the ceiling not really caring about what the man had to say but knew it would annoying him no matter what he said.

"Well I came here to simply ask where is the head of the bridge builder I requested, all I see is you looking pitiful on your bed as if you've been beaten" he asked with an eyebrow cocked but his sickening smile on his lips knowing full well what had happened and currently Zabuza wasn't in any particular position to do anything about it.

"I underestimated them is all, but when I'm healed up, you'll get the guys head" Zabuza mumbled in response not bothering to even face Gato, knowing that if he had to even look at the repulsive little mans face he'd kill him.

Gato laughed "You sound just like a little boy who's getting detention my dear Zabuza" he mocked noticing the man still payed him no attention. He walked over to the side of Zabuza "Now understand this, if you screw up again Zabuza it'll be…" but he didn't get to say anything as he gripped at Zabuza's arm in a tight fashion he found a Senbon needle lodged deep into his arm making it go numb and limp as he looked up in horror to see Haku standing over him.

"Don't ever touch him!" she scolded grabbing the needle embedded into his arm and pulling it so Gato's face got closer to her mask, "If you ever try that again I'll gut you alive you understand me!" she exclaimed well aware of the two bodyguards in the room now drawn weapons and waiting for Gato's orders.

"Calm down Haku" Zabuza said looking over to see Gato's terrified expression and guessed the pathetic illegal business dealer must have shit himself slightly amusing Zabuza that he knew just how cowardly the man was, "I think he's learned his lesson" he mocked in response to Gato.

Haku forcefully pulled the needle out the shoved Gato back towards Zori and Waraji who gritted their teeth and readied to charge her when Gato put his hand out, "No! It's fine, leave it" he ordered and both men stood down putting their blades away, "I trust you will keep you side of the deal Zabuza… let go" he said taking one last glance at the man before exiting.

"Quick moves Haku" Zabuza mused turning his head to look out a window of the battered hut where it was dark outside, "You can take your mask off, he's too afraid to come back anytime soon".

Haku looked to Zabuza and nodded, she reached up and pulled the mask from her face; along with her black hair that framed her face she had pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes that looked to Zabuza but most notable was the Hidden Mist headband she wore, "I hate that man so much, I wish you'd let me kill him already" she hissed looking to the door he left from.

"Patience Haku, we need to get paid first. Once we get that, he's all yours" Zabuza said following her gaze but then look up to her noticing the burning hatred in her eyes, one he knew all to well as it was the same look he'd have in his eyes but for Haku it seemed different, as if there wasn't just hatred for Gato but for something else as well but then he remembered just what Haku had been striving for all the years he'd know the girl but recently, she'd been getting more violent and angry which had aroused Zabuza's suspicion.

"You've been acting more violent recently" he commented, not as a question more an observation which in truth it was; people could very well say he was being blunt with his questioning but that is how Zabuza had always been, there was not use in skirting around a questioned it was better to just ask it.

Haku turned to him with that look in her eyes, "And?" she snapped at him which was a shock but he ignored it paying attention more on her posture, that of someone ready to kill at a moments notice, just like how he would be.

"Nothing, it's just something I thought I'd bring up" he responded rolling back over deciding that right now it wasn't worth trying to get anything out of her as it would be a hopeless task that he was to tired to deal with, "Thanks for changing my bandages, now go get some rest, I'll need you to do some scouting tomorrow on the positions of the Bridge Builder and his escort so you need to be at your best" he said.

"Yes, Master Zabuza" was all the response he got before she left the room leaving Zabuza to sleep.

"Good morning students" Kakashi smiled looking over his students standing in front of him; they were in a forested area not far from Tsunami's home but where the morning sun could still shine through the trees, "Today's training will be a bit different from our usual back at the village, I want all of you to practise upon your chakra control".

"Chakra control?" Naruto asked cocking his head slightly, "Isn't that the thing Chris does?" he asked scratching his head.

"In essence, yes" Kakashi answered, "It more relates to controlling your flow of Chakra so in the Kochi clan's case, they use it regularly to sense the world around them. Today however you'll be learning a much easier use of chakra control" he continued walking towards a tree and to the surprise of three of his students began to walk up it for quite a while before walking along a high branch and stopping upside down.

"This is the most basic use of chakra control, by focusing my chakra into my feet I'm able to freely walk vertically and upside down, this works on virtually every surface providing you have the head room" he said with an eye smile before reaching around and pulling four kunai's out and throwing them at the feet of his students, "Now you will attempt to copy what I've just done, use these kunai to mark how high you get, your goal in to reach the top" he said walking back down to the ground.

"So, we've just got to focus our chakra into out feet?" Sakura asked tilting her head to the side thinking it sounded extremely simple.

"Well you have to focus it and keep it there for the duration of your journey up" Kakashi answered stepping to the side, "Now if that's everything, begin when you're ready". Grabbing the kunai off the ground all four charged for the trees in front of them taking a different one each, Sasuke felt confident going in and immediately started up the tree feeling sure he would reach the top but about a quarter way up he lost his footing quickly scraping a mark along the tree trunk before he fell landing on his feet.

He heard a crash next to him, looking over he saw Naruto landing on his backside also falling from his charge up, glancing he noticed that Naruto's slash in the tree was at a very close height to his own one making him grit his teeth; this was when he noticed his other two members were missing, looking round he saw Kakashi facing up to the tree tops, "Well done Chris and Sakura, just the outcome I was expecting" he said.

Sasuke snapped his head around and upwards seeing both Sakura and Chris smiling down at them in their tree's the kunai's dug deep at the top, this angered Sasuke knowing that those two had beaten him and not only that, he was currently on the same level of Naruto.

"Whoa!" the blond exclaimed, seeing the two, "How did you guys manage that?" he asked looking at his own attempt.

"I'm not to sure to be honest, it just felt super easy to keep the chakra focused in my feet, if anything I was hardly even trying to do it" Sakura shouted down sitting down on a branch near the top, dangling her legs over the side.

"That's to be expected" Kakashi spoke up getting their attention, "Girls naturally have better chakra control then boys, it's the reason most medical ninja turn out to be female, it's easier for them to perfect" he revealed.

"So, you're saying Chris is a girl" Sasuke commented to his own amusement finding a kunai landing near to his feet.

"Shut up Uchiha!" Chris snapped, "I'll have you know, I learned how to do this when I was young, didn't Kakashi explain in on the way here, I've essentially gotten a head start to most basic chakra control especially considering my sensory ability requires a decent skill in chakra control" he shouted down clutching his fists together; Sasuke just rolled his eyes and turned away preparing to start he attempt again as the other two made their way down.

"Naruto and Sasuke, you two will just have to keep practising until you get it" Kakashi said before turning to his other two students, "Chris and Sakura, well done on passing the training. I want to advance you all together so for now just do whatever you want until the others have caught up" he said before turning back to the others.

"Wait Chris!" Naruto called out while running up to Chris, behind him Sasuke was beginning his second attempt up the tree, "Can you give me any tips?" he whispered to his friend who put on a thoughtful expression.

"Okay" he smiled before leaning in a whispering something in Naruto's ear.

Sakura watched this before walking over to where Sasuke had just fallen down again, "Hey Sasuke, do you want any tips for…" but she was cut off by the boy glaring at her.

"I don't need any help with this! I'll do it on my own!" he snapped before charging up the tree again only to eventually fall back down this time landing on his ass. Sakura looked downcast and walked away noticing Naruto beaming as he ran away from Chris shouting his thanks, she could instantly figure out that it must have been very helpfully advice from the boys reaction alone.

Chris and Sakura began making their way back to the house, their own plans in their mind of what they will do; when Kakashi began to make his way back as well, "You two keep practising, I need to go do some tasks but I'll be back later to check on you" he said but neither boy was paying attention focusing more on climbing the trees though before facing away, Kakashi did notice Naruto was getting slightly higher than Sasuke.

As they arrived back at the house, Chris walked off again past the house to a small area between the trees and water but out of sight from the others while Kakashi went inside and Sakura slowly followed inside as well. Closing the door behind her she saw Kakashi take a seat at the table and rested his crutches beside him then pulling out a small book from his pouch but this wasn't one of his usual dirty books; this one was different.

Sakura decided to have a walk around the house so after removing her sandals at the door she did just that; she couldn't lie, she did enjoy the feeling of the cold wood on her bare feet, it felt oddly soothing to her and he didn't mind that thought she wasn't sure why she needed soothing in the first place.

Even though they'd been at the house a few days, this was the first time she had explored it, most of her time she had been sitting next to her Sensei, terrified he wouldn't wake up but now was as good a time as any to get familiar with the household they were staying at.

Walking in one of the corridors she noticed there were a surprising number of rooms though none of them were extremely large; walking to the end of the corridor she was in, she walked up a staircase where there was another corridor but at the end it exited onto a small balcony that wrapped around the house.

She walked along the wrapped around balcony taking in the view, it wasn't the most gorgeous view in the world, but it was a nice one. Looking off a ways, she could barely spot Chris in the distance though she couldn't work out what he was doing but her best guess was some sort of training; that was when she remembered the day they left the village, Chris's jacket had been all cut up and she never got around to asking him just what had happened.

Thinking back to what Kakashi had told them, all members of his clan are made to train extremely hard, couldn't that damage simply be a part of that training or was it something else; trying to think back she wasn't sure if the cut was even bleeding let alone deep, for all she knew he may have just caught it on a nail and ripped a hole in it by mistake, but something just wasn't sitting right with her.

Making her way back inside she walked down the stairs and back to the main room to see Kakashi still looking in the book, unable to resist she slowly crept over till she was behind her Sensei. Peering over his shoulder she saw the pages contained photos of people with a quantity of money listed next to their frame and what looked to be a description below that. Each page held a different person.

"It's called the Bingo book" Kakashi said not looking around, "Come sit done, it'll probably be helpful for you to at least see it" he continued pulling the chair next to him out to which Sakura sat in, he then rested the book down and began flipping thought the pages slowly.

"As I said, this is the Bingo book. Inside, it details all the most dangerous known Shinobi in our world weather they are still aligned to their village or gone rogue" he began flipping over the page again, "Essentially it's a bounty board; if you kill a shinobi in this book you have to take the body to a bounty office and you'll be payed the listed price for that person" he explained.

Sakura nodded her head in understanding, "So why exactly are you looking through it now?" she asked.

"I'm trying to find Zabuza in here, I want to refresh my memory about him to make sure I have all the facts right… You see, I'm not entirely sure he's dead…" Kakashi said shocking Sakura.

"What do you mean, we saw the Hunter take him out right?!" She asked terrified.

Kakashi nodded, "We saw them take him down and I even checked his pulse but something just felt off about that Hunter to me" he glancing his eye at the pinkette seeing she was visibly shook at the thought of the monstrous Zabuza still alive somewhere, "Don't worry, it's just a feeling. Besides, next time I'll know what I'm in for and I'll do my best to prepare you, even if I'm wrong it's better to be safe than sorry" he said calming her a little.

As they re-focused on the book, Kakashi turned the page to show a person that caught her interest, "Wait!" she said sitting up slightly higher to get a better look at the person, "Is that who I think it is?" she asked checking the name over.

"Indeed, it is" Kakashi said looking over the page himself, "That is Chris's father, Hyorei Kochi".

Sakura couldn't help herself but look over every detail of the man's page with a keen eye.

Name: Hyorei Kochi

Age: 50

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Hidden Leaf Village/Kochi Clan (Leader)

Known Nicknames: The Unnamed Sanin, The Man with no Weakness.

Threat Level: Unknown

Chakra Nature: Unknown

Bounty: Unknown

Assessment: DO NOT ENGAGE! This man is one of the most dangerous Shinobi to ever exist and should never be engaged in combat. If encountered run as far and fast as you can; if unable to escape, surrender and give him whatever he is after you for; if you cannot surrender, pray your death will be quick and should he remove his eye coverings, beg that he will show mercy and just kill you.

Sakura read this repeatedly trying to get her head around it, just who this man who was the father of her own teammate was, "Kakashi Sensei, why does he not have a bounty or a threat level? He seems to be the only one without them?" she asked but felt she already knew the answer.

"Well him not having a bounty is to deter and protect anyone going after him" he answered not looking away from the page, "As trying to fight him, is essentially a death sentence; though his last battle was a long time ago" he said.

"What do you mean Kakashi Sensei?" she asked.

"Well the mans 50, he's not in his prime anymore. The last time he had to fight was during the Nine tails attack and even then, he was hardly in the battle; this book is based off his battles in the last great Ninja war so he's unlikely to be as good as he was back then but, I'm sure even now no one wants to fight him" he answered thinking back.

"Is that why his nickname is 'The Unnamed Sanin'?" She asked next very keen to learn as much as she could about him.

"Well yes in a way, his strength is on par with them in normal circumstances but it's more to do with that he, like the legendary Sanin was trained by Lord Third but simply wasn't there when they were named by Hanzo of the Salamander" he added glancing to his student who looked in awe, "This is the reason why Chris pushes himself so hard, this is the legacy he has to live up to".

Kakashi took her silence as understanding and moved past the page and soon he came to the man he was looking for, "Here he is".

Name: Zabuza Momochi

Age: 26

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Rogue/Mercenary Ninja, Former Mist ANBU, Former Seven Ninja Swordsman

Known Nicknames: Demon of the Mist

Threat Level: A-Rank

Chakra Nature: Water

Bounty: 18,000,000

Assessment: Advise caution when facing Zabuza, he is a man who can switch between being a silent assassin or a face to face combatant; his use of the Hidden Mist Jutsu and Silent Killing technique are his most devastating of attacks and the most likely ones to be used against any combatant.

Kakashi read this over a few times to make sure he memorised everything the book had listed about Zabuza for use just in case the man was still around before closing the book and putting it in to his pouch again before randomly biting his left thumb so blood came out, "Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura exclaimed confused at his actions, but he didn't respond.

He smeared some blood on his right hand and then slammed it onto the table, "Summoning Jutsu!" he exclaimed making a puff of smoke appear surrounding his hand and when it cleared there was a miniature brown pug with a Hidden Leaf forehead protector on his head in a similar fashion to Sakura.

"Hey Kakashi, what do you need?" the pug said in a low gruff sounding voice as he looked at the masked man the glancing at the shocked looking pink girl next to him, "That's the girl that was spying on you and Naruto the other day isn't it?" he asked.

Sakura couldn't blink, a pug had just appeared out of nowhere and was now talking as if it were the most normal thing in the world, "It is, don't worry she's just my student. Now Pakkun I need to deliver a message to the Leaf Village as quick as you can for me alright?" he asked holding out a different scroll this time.

"Sure thing, anyone in particular?" he asked taking the scroll into his mouth.

"Preferably the Hokage himself or someone close to him, it's very important" Kakashi said with a serious look, Pakkun nodded and took off as fast as his little legs would carry him; Kakashi looked over to his student who had remained in shock, her eyes as wide as plates watching the direction Pakkun had left.

"He's a summoning, pretty much all of them can talk" Kakashi answered standing up and taking up his crutches again, "I'll let you process that, I need to step outside for a bit" he added before leaving the still shook Sakura at the table.

Meanwhile, outside Chris had a scroll spread out in front of him with he himself on his knees with his hands placed on his legs seemingly in concentration; he slowly brought his hands up and bit his left thumb then smeared with right palm with the blood than, weaved Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram then put his right palm onto the scroll, "Summoning Jutsu!" he exclaimed.

There was a flash then all Chris felt was himself going backwards, in fact he was flying backwards which came to an abrupt stop with him smashing into a tree and going back to the ground in a slump, "Ow…" he muttered rising up and clutching at his back, "This just isn't getting any easier" he muttered standing to his full height but immediately falling over forwards.

Panting he rose to his hands a knee's realising just how exhausted he was after than attempt, "I'm no where near getting this down" he muttered falling back to sit down and rest against the tree he crashed into a moment ago; he brought his hand up to his chest and felt around to see if anything was damaged, his chest only hurt a bit but nothing felt wrong he was mostly likely just winded.

A little away from him, a young boy was watching from behind a tree oblivious that the boy likely knew he was there but didn't mind or care to confront him about it, "So how's his training going, Inari?" a voice spoke from behind him, Inari snapped around and looked up to Kakashi balanced on his crutches behind him, "You've been watching him for some time so you must have been taking notes right?" the man joked looking down at him.

Inari jumped back in shock upon realising who it was and opened his mouth to say something but now words would come out, "Relax, I didn't mean to scare you" Kakashi eye smiled at the boy who relaxed slightly, "How long have you been watching him?" he asked next purely out of curiosity.

Inari looked down at his feet and fiddled his hands together, "O-only a little while… just when he came back from the forest with the rest of you" he stumbled out clearly feeling intimidated by the much bigger man although he was stuck on crutches, "I-I was just curious as to what he w-was doing is all!" he snapped.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" he muttered and smiled under his mask, "Well it does look odd what he's doing doesn't it?" he added nodding his head to where the boy was slowly getting to his feet again seeming to of caught his breath now, "He's trying to learn the Summoning Jutsu but from what I can see he's a long way away from understanding it".

Kakashi looked back down to Inari who looked downcast just like he looked last night before he snapped at everyone and sure enough his next words confirmed that, "It won't matter y'know, no one was stronger than my Dad, but he's gone now…. None of you stand a chance against Gato…" he muttered.

Kakashi sighed while trying to think of his next words knowing he'd have to pick carefully, "What was he like, your Dad I mean" he asked making Inari look up to him.

"He was really strong and kind, he was my hero because protected everyone… I remember one time when one of our water gates broke in a storm and if we didn't seal it up it would've flooded most of our village and once, he knew this he wasted no time diving into the raging water… I have no idea how he did it he closed the gate even though the water was the worst I'd ever seen, everyone said that anyone else should have been pulled away by the current but not my Dad, he swam right through it" Inari remembered still in awe whenever he thought about it.

"Your Dad sounds like quite the man" Kakashi commented taking the story in.

"Yeah" Inari smiled for the first time, "He wasn't always my Dad but he married my Mom and became my Dad but he I'd always looked up to him before and when he did I was so happy" he continued now beaming at the memories but it faded as reality caught up to him and that man that he held so beloved was gone forever.

Silence stayed over them for quite some time as they both just watched Chris practise until Kakashi broke it, "Your father reminds me a lot of someone I used to know" he said getting Inari's attention.

"Who?" the boy asked.

"He was my Captain for a while when I served in a special unit called the ANBU Black Ops back at the Leaf Village, just like your Father he was strong but kind and tried to protect everyone he could, he even saved someone very important to me when I almost lost her…" he trailed off thinking back but shaking his head to continue, "He too would risk his life just to protect his home and everyone he cared about no matter what he had to fight to do it; he really was a hero…" he trailed off again tilting his head down.

"He died, didn't he?" Inari asked knowing all to well the look of loss.

"Yeah he did, a long time ago but he did it to protect someone he cared about so deeply" he answered looking over to Chris again with a smile under his mask, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that your fathers death is a horrible thing but he wouldn't want you to give up because of it, his sacrifice allowed you to live and one day inherit what he left behind, you just have to build to courage to do it" he eye smiled at the boy.

Inari let a tiny smile go across his lips, maybe Kakashi did have a point, his father never told him directly that he would follow in his footsteps so to speak but everyday they worked together, he taught him how to swim, catch fish, tie a strong knot and was even beginning to teach him how to build basic things, such things may be small in comparison to what the shinobi around him could do but for their little fishing village such things were vitally important to thrive and to help others.

"M-maybe you're right…" he muttered thinking about all he had been taught.

"It hurts to lose someone you care about, trust me I know the feeling all to well… but it's how you take that loss that matters, will you sit there and wallow in self-pity or will you stand up and make sure their sacrifice meant something, it's your choice Inari, just make sure it's the right one" Kakashi said turning to walk away with the help of his crutches leaving Inari to think.

"Wait" Inari asked looking around to Kakashi who half turned his head to face the boy, "Who was your Captain? You never said" he asked.

Kakashi chuckled and looked over to Chris again, "My ANBU Captain… well he really was one of a kind taught me many things, most of them helpful though some things…" he trailed off thinking to his favourite book series he was addicted to, "Somethings may not have been in hindsight… but as for his name, maybe I'll tell you… at some point" he chuckled before walking off again and leaving Inari to his thoughts as he went back to watching Chris.

In the forest, Naruto and Sasuke were still at it only making minor progress from earlier but there was a noticeable difference between the height Naruto was reaching and the height Sasuke was with Naruto reaching a higher point on his tree.

Naruto gritted his teeth and twisted his foot into the dirt then launched himself forwards feeling his chakra gather in his feet, as his first foot touched the base of the tree he closed his eyes and let his thoughts wonder to the happiest thought he could muster.

Of course, he imagined sitting at Ichiraku Ramen with a giant bowl of pork ramen being placed in front of him, he picked up his chop sticks and essentially dived into the thing eating and drinking the broth with a giant smile on his face, "You're really enjoying yourself there aren't you?" a teasing voice said, looking up in his own imagination he saw long flowing blond hair in a ponytail, a bright smiling face with bright blue eyes looking down at him.

"INO!" Naruto exclaimed opening his eyes in shock slipping off the tree and barley managing to scratch the trunk with his kunai before plummeting back to the ground landing hard on his back with an exclamation of pain and all the wind being knocked out of him, "Dammit, not again…" he grumbled rising back up to a sitting position, "Why does she keep appearing and shocking me!".

Sasuke had watched Naruto's recent attempt with interest having himself noticed that Naruto was getting higher than him but wanted to know why but also the reason as to why he was shouting some 'Ino' persons name every now and again, "What are you doing idiot?" he commented walking over to the blonde who was rubbing the back of his head.

Naruto looked up with a glare as the Uchiha standing over him, "I'm trying to climb the tree obviously" he snapped back not really wanting to answer the obvious questions Sasuke had lined up for him.

"What did Chris tell you?" he asked knowing with that his tactic of just charging up wasn't working as fast as he liked so knowing the secret to it would hasten the process and if Naruto of all people was using it to some effect he should have it perfect in a few minutes at most, "It's clearly giving you an advantage".

Naruto let a sly smile out, "What, are you struggling to perform this Sasuke, that's unlike you to fail at something riiiight" he teased seeing Sasuke getting mad; that look made Naruto's day, he finally had one up on Sasuke, now was finally his chance to get one over him but the decision he now had was to humble or humiliate Sasuke, tell him the secret or keep it hidden and let him struggle, "Hmm, maybe I should tell you…" he commented pretending he had a thoughtful expression.

Sasuke hated this to no end, having to admit he needed Naruto's help for something was possibly a worse fate than death for him and currently Naruto held all the cards but then he remembered something he may possibly have over the blond, "Who's Ino?" he asked making Naruto drop his smug expression and go to one of worry, "What if I found out who it was and told her about you screaming her name for no reason while you trained" he added his own smug expression going over his face knowing he turned the tables.

Naruto grumbled knowing Sasuke had turned the tables on him ruining his enjoyment, "Ugh fine, Chris told me the secret is to essentially think happy thoughts" he muttered out but looking at Sasuke deadpanned expression he wasn't believing him, "What!? He said that thinking calmer happier thoughts helps you to control the flow of chakra until it can become more natural for you to do" he snapped crossing his arms.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and sighed, he didn't at all believe what Naruto said but he was so fed up of falling on his ass that he decided it was worth a shot; walking back over to his tree he closed his eyes and tried to think of a happy thought as it were, thought things that made him happy weren't exactly peaceful though he was eventually able to decide on something as he opened his eyes.

Charging for the tree, as his foot touched the base he closed his eyes much like how Naruto did and began making his way up with his chosen thought in his mind and he immediately noticed a difference in his chakra control finding it a lot easier to get it into his feet and scale the tree, he didn't make it to the top but made it a lot higher before he lost focus and went back down to the ground, looking up he saw that he'd made up the distance with Naruto and now neither of them were far from the top.

Looking to each other they both smirked initiating a silent agreement to a competition to reach the top first.

It took a while longer before both boys were perched atop their selected trees, below them several cutting into the trunk to show their progress up the trees. Both boys were panting hard as they looked off to the setting sun with a sense of pride in their hearts, "F-Finally made it to the top…" Naruto panted out.

He got an agreeing grunt from Sasuke, "S-So dumb that happy thoughts was the solution though…" he commented not breaking his gaze hating that such a stupid thing lead to helping him get past this obstacle, "By the way, I'm curious… who was that Ino person and why are you shouting their name?" he asked after hearing the name shouted out so many time it had made him curious.

Naruto blushed slightly but then realised what Sasuke had just said, "W-Wait, you don't know who Ino is?" he asked with a shocked expression.

"No? Should I?" was the response.

"Ino Yamanaka! She's been in out class since day one!?" he exclaimed but saw Sasuke had not reaction to that, "Long blonde hair, blue eyes, wears a lot of purple!" he continued but Sasuke didn't react, "Used to have a big crush on you, would follow you everywhere like Sakura does now!?" this time got some kind of reaction.

"That sounds kind of familiar… kind of…" he muttered looking off into the distance again, "But why were you shouting her name every now and again?" he asked looking back over to the shocked and confused Naruto.

He blushed again crossing his arms knowing he couldn't escape this questioning and was frankly to tired to do so, "My happy thought was eating ramen but she kept randomly appearing in my thoughts and it always shocked me okay!" he snapped out looking away to the sunset again not caring for Sasuke's reaction, "We eat meals together sometimes but it still shocked me when she appeared!".

Sasuke found this slightly amusing as he could figure out why this kept happening but he couldn't be bothered to explain these things to the very immature Naruto who would probably shout and complain about it or something along those lines; instead Sasuke stood up on his branch and looked over to the grumpy Naruto, "Come on then, let's head back already" he said jumping down from the tree soon followed by Naruto.

As Sasuke landed he immediately felt his legs give out and he had to fall against a tree to keep himself from falling over but Naruto wasn't so lucky, as he landed his legs as expected gave out and he fell over completely, Sasuke grimaced as he made his way over to the downed blond and offered his hand to help him up, "Don't think to much about it, but we're both too exhausted to move on our own so we'll need to support each other back alright" he mumbled barley loud enough for Naruto to hear.

Naruto glared but knew Sasuke was right so took his outstretched hand and they put one arm round the others shoulders and supported each other through the forest only stumbling slightly as they went.

As night settled over the Land of Waves, Haku walked into Zabuza's room where he was asleep again though she wasn't sure if he fell asleep willingly or had passed out but what she did know was that he needed more medical help from her, she sat next to his bed and open small medical box they kept, looking inside she sighed seeing that most of their supply was exhausted and there wasn't enough to help Zabuza right now.

Looking out the window she knew now was a good time to go out as most of the village would be asleep or about to be asleep so she could go herb picking without interruption from anyone, not that she had much of a choice to go out regardless of the time as Zabuza needed medicinal plants and herbs to get better quickly.

She stood and exited the room and returned to her own tiny one, setting the medical box to one side she quickly changed from her shinobi gear in to more casual clothes to look more like a basic gatherer of which in essence she was, even adding a straw hat to complete the look so that hopefully no one would bother her if someone just so happened to still be around though it was unlikely but on the safe side she did also removed her forehead protector where she wore some bandages underneath which hid her forehead but did still pull the straw hat forward to hide it a bit.

Grabbing a basket, she took one look into Zabuza's room who was still out of it before leaving into the darkness of the outside to look for medical plants and herbs.

She immediately set out for an area she knew to hold quite a few of what she needed; as she walked through the woods she felt the chill of night brush against the back of her neck which was slightly exposed though she didn't react to it, Haku was used to the cold so such things never got even a shiver out of her.

But a small smile did surprisingly cross her lips at the feeling, she never knew why she did smile but she always did, maybe it was just a unique feeling that it amused her somewhat but that didn't seem right though; maybe it was just pleasing to know that she could still feel things around her and she wasn't entirely heartless.

Guided only by the moonlight and her own wits, she soon reached the area. It was an hill in a clearing, directly above it you could see the stars so clearly and even the moon looked brighter here; on the ground Haku could already spot a few coloured plants that she needed and began to pick them as gently as she could.

Once picking a few she moved up the hill to where there were more herbs to be picked; kneeling down to get a better view, she had mostly let her guard down focusing more on the colour and sizes of her picking to ensure she got the right ones she needed as the wrong ones could be a lethal mistake.

"Oh sorry, I didn't know anyone else was out here" a young voice trailed off, instinctively Haku readied a hidden Senbon in her right hand as she turned to face this mysterious person who'd snuck up on her.

They were easy to spot thanks to the bright blond hair they sporting sticking out through the darkness, the bright orange shorts as well didn't help to hide him either though his chest melted well into the darkness being all black aside from two strips down his arms yet again in a bright orange; Haku's eyes snapped wider in realisation as she looked to boy up and down again seeing it was the same boy who was with the other Leaf Shinobi fighting Zabuza the other day, "Who are you?" she asked keen to learn his name and anything else she could.

She quickly realised she'd been a little to harsh with her tone, the look on his face said it all, the brow furrowing as his eyes glared at her while crossing his arms, "I'm Naruto, there's no need to be rude lady" he snapped in response, Haku didn't blame him for the attitude, to him she was some girl who for no reason snapped asking his name.

Thankfully her needle was well hidden in the darkness as she stood up slightly and put on a kind smile with a more relaxed posture, "I'm sorry about my attitude, you just startled me is all, these woods can be dangerous at night so when you suddenly appeared I was defensive" she said sweetly and saw the boy immediately relax.

Haku knew that this boy could get her some vital information, but he wouldn't give her anything though interrogation but maybe by planning the kind and friendly girl she could at least get something out of him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you Lady…" Naruto began rubbing the back of his head sheepishly while his face turned a little red.

"Haku…" she said to him with her kind smile he looked at her with a head tilt and a cocked eyebrow much like a puppy would do when confused, "My name… It's Haku… You told me your name so it's only fair I do so in return" she cleared up and saw him make an 'Oh' face in realisation which made her inwardly chuckle.

"Say Haku? What are you doing out here this late?" Naruto asked looking around at the empty area seeing nothing of relevance to give him an answer, like a shrine she could be visiting or something along those lines.

Haku smiled, "If you look to the floor you'll see why" she answered; he did as she said but still had a lost expression, "For a Shinobi you don't notice a lot, this area has a good amount of medicinal herbs and plants, I'm collecting a few to help my friend who's really sick right now, thanks to Gato we can't get any medicine delivered so I have to make my own for him".

The 'Oh' face returned but it quickly went to confused, "How did you know I was a Ninja?" he asked looking directly at her.

Haku realised her slip up but could easily recover, "Oh well there have been a few whispers around about Shinobi being in the village and looking at what you're wearing only made it obvious to me, you don't exactly look like a fisherman" she answered without a beat, it wasn't the first time she'd had to lie and make up stories and now was no different.

"Now can I ask you a question?" Haku said and Naruto nodded in confirmation, "Why are you out here this late, especially here of all places, there's nothing out here?" she asked sounding as innocent as possible so he wouldn't pick up a thing.

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well you see… I kinda had a bit of an argument with someone and ran away to cool off a bit" he said chuckled out with a small pink tinge to his cheeks.

"An argument? What was it about?" Haku asked keeping her innocent look with a small head tilt, she had to keep her look of feel kind and friendly or risk the boy catching on that something was wrong so she had to skirt around her major questions until he was more comfortable around her much to her annoyance.

"Well there's this kid you see, Inari. Well we're staying at him and his mothers' home for a time and at dinner, he kind of snapped of at us all, saying that we didn't understand what it's like to lose a father and feel all alone. I can understand his attitude, you see his father was killed by Gato when he originally took over, so I get it and maybe I shouldn't have snapped at him…" he trailed off.

"But?" Haku asked ending the sentence for him with her own question.

"But… well I snapped back at him, telling him that I-I never even got to know my parents, I've been alone practically my whole life; he should be happy he at least got to have memories of his father instead of the nothing I know…" he trailed again looking downwards.

"He's all alone in the world? Maybe that's something I can exploit…" Haku thought keeping the kind smile on her lips and stepping towards him; part of her felt bad doing this, exploiting this poor kid who was trusting her so far but on the other hand they were Shinobi and this was the life they lead and she couldn't change that but also, this boy could help her to get the revenge she'd wanted for so very long if she played her cards right.

"You're all alone? Is there no one precious to you, that you can cling to for support?" She asked continuing the impression of being a kind woman who was simply making conversation with the boy who was sad.

Naruto shook his head as if snapping from thought and look up as her with a big foxy grin which confused her as he was so down a mere moment ago, "There are people, in fact they've helped me keep going, while they aren't always around they always help me improve" he smiled at her.

"Oh, and who are these people?" she asked, getting more interested in this than she probably should be.

"Well it wouldn't hurt to tell you" Naruto chuckled seeing now harm in it, "There's my Sensei's who've taught me a bunch, my newest friend back at the village and there's my best friend and his older sister who've looked after me since I met them" he said putting his hands behind his head and looking up to the starts above them.

Haku noted the lack of names and guessed that maybe he was still a bit cautious about using names for now "These people are important and precious to you?" Haku asked stepping slightly closer getting interested on what he was talking about.

"Definitely, especially my best friend because he was my first friend and stayed that no matter what, normally people are told to avoid me but not him, he stuck by me no matter what other people said even when they treated him terribly, even when he knew…" he trailed off not finishing the sentence as he knew how much a secret it was.

"This best friend sounds very precious to you and it seems he sees you in the same way, a very precious person that is" Haku smiled, a genuine one this time, she too understood feeling alone most of your life as she had been once she lost her parents at a young age; until she met Zabuza and he became a precious person to her.

"Yeah he's pretty important, helped me a bunch with some basic things as well like teaching me to write" he chuckled on rubbing his nose, "I guess he probably thinks the same of me too to go out of his way to teach me and…" he trailed off remembering the night Chris saved him from the fuma shuriken "…and saving my life" he smiled.

Haku looked down at her basket to see she'd picked up plenty of plants and herbs for Zabuza, she stealthily put her Senbon away knowing that this Naruto wouldn't do her any harm even if he was an enemy; Haku never liked taking people out for no reason and so far this boy hadn't done her any wrong and seemed very innocent seeing herself in him.

"It's been nice talking to you Naruto" Haku said with her genuine smile, "I should be going as my friend needs this medicine soon but it'd be nice to speak to you another time" she added giving a little bow before walking off into the forest.

"See you around Haku, say hi to your friend for me" Naruto shouted after her with a smile on his face thought unbeknownst who she actually was, he was happy that she had been friendly and spoke to him.

But something felt very off to him, it was the reason he didn't say any of their names, he wasn't sure what but something about Haku was odd but he couldn't place it; deciding that it might just be his tiredness getting to him he started heading back to Tsunami's house to get some rest for the night.

The next morning Team seven were again line up in front of Kakashi who was now only using one crutch to support himself showing the signs he was getting better quickly but still had a way to go; currently they were standing on the beach to a large body of water just a little way from the house, "We'll be continuing on with your chakra control training today with something a bit more complex" Kakashi said indicating over the body of water.

"Chris since I've seen you perform this technique would you kindly demonstrate" Kakashi added looking to the blind boy who nodded then walked over to the shore and slowly stepped one foot on the water and then another before he was completely walking across the water and eventually stopped a few metres out.

Two of the three students looked shocked at what he had just done as he turned back to face them while Sasuke just looked annoyed, "How are you managing that?" Naruto asked first.

"Well it's kinda like the tree climbing from yesterday, by focusing the Chakra into my feet I can walk across the water as if it was any regular surface" Chris answered rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"That's not all there is to it" Kakashi spoke up, "You see unlike the tree being a solid and mostly flat object, the water continuously moves so you must use your chakra in a continuously flowing motion in order to keep on top of it" he added looking out to Chris who was looking sheepish still.

"Yeah, it's a lot more difficult to do than it looks, it took me a very long time before I got even close to a few seconds of balance before falling in" he chuckled nervously feeling a bit ashamed of the time it took him.

"Your goal isn't to perfect this technique, in fact it should take you weeks to perfect but the training it will give you is the helpful part" Kakashi said looking to his students, "Start whenever you're ready meanwhile me and Chris will be going over something else" he said looking over the water to Chris who had cocked his head to one side in a confused manor.

"Kakashi Sensei?" Sakura piped up making him look back to her, "All this training we're doing is far more than we did in the village, is this because of your suspicion that you told me about?" she asked, Sakura hadn't told anyone about Kakashi telling her that Zabuza might be alive mostly as it was something she was hoping to avoid but now she did want an answer and this also got the others attention who turned to Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed knowing they all did deserve a proper answer, "The truth is, I believe the Zabuza is still alive and that the Hunter who took him might very well be working along side him" he answered truthfully looking between them all but deciding that he should leave out the part where he suspected the Hunter to be a Kochi.

"W-why do you think he's still alive?" Sasuke asked, this getting his attention for once.

"Well you see, the Hunter used Senbon needles on Zabuza which are designed to incapacitate people rather than kill them plus they also aimed for the neck in which contains points that can make a person seem dead if hit perfectly" he answered, "And that Hunter was too small to go after Zabuza alone, they are unlikely to have the strength to drag him all the way back to the Mist and would be even more difficult if he was alive and struggling".

"So why hasn't he come after us now?" Naruto asked.

"Well he was badly injured in our fight anyway so he's likely recovering from that but we are also laying low so he's going to need to find where we are in this land but most likely he could be very well waiting for us to come to him" Kakashi said looking across the foggy water to where the half constructed bridge was in the distance.

"All he's gotta do is keep and eye on there as that's the only reason why we are here with Tazuna, to make sure the bridge is built" he added before looking back to his students, "But not to worry, this training is to prepare you to go against him next time if that does happen but this time I'll be prepared so you likely wont have to" he eye smiled hoping he had reassured them and indicated for them to begin.

They did so silently as Kakashi walked over to Chris who'd been pretty quiet for a while simply 'watching' them talk or a better term would probably be listening to them getting all the answers he needed, "So Chris, I want to go though some training with you" he said getting the boys attention who faced him.

"I saw you yesterday practising the Summoning Jutsu but not succeeding in it yet" Kakashi said making Chris sweatdrop, "I'm going to be honest with you, I think you're taking on to much at once, trying to perfect to many Jutsu's quickly so you're struggling to get any of them to be of any use" he said truthfully.

"So while the others are practicing this for a bit, I want to practise one of those Jutsu's with you to get it more developed and I think you can guess which one we're going to be practising" he said with an eye smile though Chris wouldn't know he did it.

"Are you sure Kakashi Sensei?" he asked, "I've tried these for years and have hardly come close to perfecting them, and if you're trying to help me in the one I think you are that's incredibly difficult" he said getting concerned.

Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, if you start taking your time and stop stressing out so much I'm sure you can start making progress especially if I'm helping you get there" he smiled, "You don't have to be like your sister you know, just be you".

Chris didn't say anything back, not because he didn't want to, but he wasn't sure what to say in response to Kakashi, "Well if that's all sorted, come with me. We should have some distance for your practising just in case" the Jonin said walked off along the water with Chris following after him heading for a rockier area hidden from the others view.

Sasuke watched them go off feeling an anger inside him; "The Kochi is getting special training from Kakashi Sensei…" he muttered in his head as the water splashed up near him as Naruto fell over in to the water again, "Why do I get stuck with training he's expecting us not to figure out while he goes and trains the Kochi up!".

"Sasuke, aren't you gonna even attempt this?" Naruto asked rising up from the water, "Or are you too scared as you can't swim" he laughed making the Uchiha grumble and glare as he couldn't think of anything to respond to the boy.

"Just shut up idiot!" Sasuke snapped as his best response, his usual one yes but the best one he had at the moment. Instead of staying around he marched off in the direction Chris and Kakashi went only staying on the land though.

Naruto watched the broody Uchiha storm off, "Yesterday he talks to me more than he ever did then today he's back to moody mode" the blond grumbled in his head crossing his arms, turning he looked to see Sakura mostly ignoring what had been happening and instead focusing on the task at hand by starting in shallower water.

Naruto chuckled to himself realising that her method was probably smarter than his one of diving straight into it and hoping for the best, it would've also kept his close dry while now they clung to him rather uncomfortably.

He noticed she had also removed her sandals, another smart idea from her so he did the same, practically copying her and wondered if she had begun to notice yet but she did seem very interested in the training, "Are you copying me Naruto?" there was the answer he was looking for though he couldn't tell if she was annoyed or curious about it.

"Well… kinda…" he trailed off rubbing the back of his head sheepishly not particularly wanting her to hit him again like she always did which was becoming very annoying to him, "You just seem to have some better methods of practising this so I thought I'd borrow some of those ideas" he chuckled awkwardly.

She looked at him a moment with a small scowl on her face and he prepared himself to be screamed at and them presumably punched him out of whatever frustrations she had, "That's fair…" she muttered, releasing her look and turning back to the water where she tried to step onto it but her bare foot just went straight to the bottom.

As she cursed under her breath Naruto looked at her confused, "D-Did she just brush it off… that's never happened…" he thought as his mouth went slightly agape while still looking at her, "Are you okay Sakura?" he asked.

She looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow, looking completely confused by the question, "Yeah? Why are you asking?" she asked looking very lost.

"Well I though you would've screamed at me or something for just talking to you? You normally do for whatever reasons" he remarked crossing his arms and facing away but looking at her from the corner of his eye still worried she may suddenly snap and hit him with all her monster strength, but nothing happened.

Instead she was just looking at him, it was becoming creepy to him as she wasn't even blinking as if she was in extremely deep thought or had become possessed as she had become so still, "I-I… It's just that since coming out here…" she tried to begin but seemed at a loss for words, unsure as to what she wanted to say.

However, this did get all of Naruto's attention; Sakura had never been awkward around him or at the very least at a loss for words, so this was entirely new territory for him but her downcast look did have him kind of worried, "S-Sakura? Is everything okay?" he asked carefully while keeping his distance.

"I was useless okay…" she mumbled out barley loud enough for him to hear but he faintly picked it up, "When we had to fight Zabuza, I did literally nothing and just watched the three of you guys save us all… and now that Kakashi Sensei has told us that he could still be alive… I don't want to be a burden again" she added reeling back into herself.

Naruto was shocked to say the least, "Is Sakura… talking to me about her problems, she does know it's me right and not Sasuke or anyone else?" he looked around not sure exactly what to do in this matter but one question did pop into his head, "But that doesn't really answer why you didn't snap at me like you usually do?".

He realised from he look that it was a very stupid question and somehow that emotional moment had flown out the window as Sakura stared into his soul with anger in her eyes, "Ah… there is it…" the blond muttered in his head preparing for the worst.

"HERE I AM CONFIDING IN YOU AND YOU GO ON ABOUT HOW COME I HAVEN'T HIT YOU YET YOU IDIOT!" Sakura exclaimed clenching her fists wanting to hit Naruto into next week, but a single thought stopped her, and it made her instantly calm down, "But you are right in a way… you should have an answer…" she mumbled.

Naruto peaked an eye open to see Sakura had retreated yet again so now he was completely lost, "I guess I just don't want to as…" she continued to mutter not really sure what she was saying anymore but Naruto listened to every single word, "It's not exactly fair if I'm hitting you or getting angry at you for being an idiot when your still stronger than me…"

"Wha…." He began but she cut him of already knowing an explanation was necessary.

"Naruto, you didn't skip a beat fighting Zabuza, you got all of us out of that situation and were probably the bravest of us all… while I just coward away behind all of you pretending I could protect Tazuna if I needed to but…" She didn't finish as it was obvious, even to Naruto what she meant, "I'm not cut out for this and I'm just being a colossal bitch for no reason".

Naruto was at a complete loss for words, Sakura was admitting to him that she was weaker and she hated it; not only that admitting that she was practically useless but that he was braver "S-Sakura…" he muttered not sure what else to say as he looked at the downcast girl who had gripped her right arm with her left hand awkwardly, "I see…".

There was silence for while as they revelation sunk when Naruto suddenly had a big smile go across his lips confusing and irritating Sakura, "Well maybe we can work on this together" he beamed out making Sakura lose her irritation and keep the confusion, "You see you're really smart Sakura so between the two of us you'll probably get to figuring it out first but maybe I can contribute a bit towards it, y'know the two heads better than one thing" he chuckled out.

"Maybe you don't have to be a big fighter like the rest of us but as I said you're super smart so you tend to figure things out long before any of us do most of the time anyway; so you could be like the brains of our group, not every member of the team has to be a combatant" he added with his foxy grin while remembering back to one of the lessons they learned long ago about team compositions.

Sakura looked at him for a moment before chuckling herself, "Y-Yeah maybe you're right there, I don't necessarily have to be a fighter" she said first keeping a smile on her face "And yeah let's work together on this, it's the least I could do right for all the times I've hit you right" she added before stepping towards the water becoming a smiling Naruto to follow.

"I've had a few ideas so far…" she began.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had been making his way along the shore following the route Chris and Kakashi had gone on the water and was currently watching them from atop a small cliff where they stood in the middle of a rocky area and was listening in on them.

"So lets practise the Water Dragon Jutsu" Kakashi immediately came out with making Chris look slightly awkward, "I know you struggle with it and is currently your most dangerous Jutsu mostly to yourself however…" he trailed off with a small chuckle, "But if we can get you to use it more effectively it would be very helpful even if Zabuza isn't still around".

"Kakashi Sensei, as I said I've still not come even close its been…" Chris tried to retort.

"…Years. Yes I know but that means you've got to be closer than you were those years ago and even then the Water Dragon Jutsu is a B-Rank Jutsu so someone of you age is incredibly unlikely to perfect it…" he said then noticed Chris open his mouth to say something so he quickly raised his hand, "And I know Soruki had it perfected at a much younger age and your brother did as well but you're not them and you don't have to be".

"By trying to be like them you're stressing yourself out too much and it's affecting your training having so much pressure put on to your shoulders by yourself of all things, so now we are going to practise one on one with no shoes to fill" he continued.

"Okay, perform the Jutsu for me, I want to see how you perform it first" Kakashi said; Chris nodded and began weaving the signs he'd practised so very often but never seemed to work for him; placing his hands into the Ox sign he took a breath and started cycling though the motions quite slowly until he eventually reached the final Bird sign.

"Water Style: Water Dragon…" he began to exclaim.

"STOP!" Kakashi exclaimed seeing the water ripple below them and a small part of it begin to rise before suddenly melting away back into the water as Chris broke the sign and stood back up realising Kakashi must have noticed something before him, "Your Dragon Jutsu was unstable, had you completed it, it would have exploded again though I'm not sure how much force would be behind it, best to avoid it"

"Also, you're too slow with your hand signs, you need to keep them in a regular flowing motion to keep the chakra in a stable way to help form the attack" he added walking closer to Chris, "You start strong with the first few but slow down and speed up and intervals which disrupts the flow and thus…" he indicated to when the serpent had started to form before it was cancelled.

"It's just difficult Kakashi Sensei, when I'm weaving the signs I lose focus on what I'm doing with the 44 different signs so I have to slow down to make sure I remember each one in what order" Chris explained rubbing his hands through his hair partially in frustration.

Kakashi sighed, "You just don't have any confidence in your abilities; you don't trust yourself to do each of them as they are meant to be done but I'm willing to bet that you've practiced this so much they've become second nature to you, so you need to stop just thinking about it and just act upon it" he said.

Chris chuckled slightly confusing the Jonin, "You know, that's what Soruki said to me just before I left; that when I found the right way I'd stop thinking and just act" he chuckled out making Kakashi let out a smile laugh as well.

"Well you sister has some very good advice there; your instincts are probably a Kochi's best weapon considering you don't really have access to one of your main senses" he indicated to the bandages adorning the boys face, "Speaking of which… I'm curious have you ever taken those off?".

"Well I've taken them off a few times of course but I assume you mean… opened my eyes…" he muttered the last part almost as if it were a secret he shouldn't share, "No I haven't… I've wanted to many times but…"

"You're worried about what might happen" Kakashi finished for the boy, "I don't blame you; if I'm honest I'd probably be the same, spending your whole life seeing nothing but darkness and feeling the world around you from you senses, to open your eyes to the world for the first time would be a terrifying experience" he mused.

"Exactly, I don't know what I'll see or how I will react, and then even if I enjoyed it I couldn't see for long as I'd have to put my bandages back on…" he agreed with a mutter turning his head up to the sky, "You seem to know quite a lot about Kochi Kakashi Sensei?"

The man eye smiled and rubbed the back of his head, "Most of my Shinobi career I spent around members of your clan including your older siblings, so it was only natural for me to pick up a few things" he chuckled out.

"What the hell is this?" Sasuke snapped from his perch getting their attention before jumping down onto a rock, "I thought you would be doing some training not sitting around having a conversation about how stupid his clan is!" he snapped glaring at Chris who presumably was glaring right back.

"Why you…"

"Ah Sasuke there you are, took longer than I expected for you to interrupt" Kakashi eye smiled at the Uchiha who was being careful of the water but still looked confused, "It was obvious you'd get jealous if I was giving Chris private lessons and would try to follow to keep tabs on what was happening" he continued.

"But now the real training can begin" he added looking to the two boys.

"Wha…" both said totally lost.

"You see, when we fought the Demon Brothers, I witnessed you two fighting pretty cohesively for a brief moment as if you could read each other's actions without saying a word and I believe you two could be one hell of a deadly duo if you actually worked together" he said a smile under his mask breaking out.

Sasuke just hissed and turned away while Chris still looked confused, "So you want us… a Kochi who struggles with his clan Jutsu and a Broody Uchiha to work together" he said knowing he was getting another glare from Sasuke but he just ignored it, "But what about my Water Dragon Jutsu?".

"Oh don't worry, we will have you get that sorted in due time but for now, I'll be training the both of you in tag team manoeuvres with some solo fighting techniques as well" he said looking serious, "And one more thing… this… isn't… optional…"

Both Chris and Sasuke grimaced but neither spoke a word as both could tell that arguing with Kakashi at this moment was a big mistake so for now, both had to relent and throw away pride for the time being to complete this training, so with a huff they both looked to Kakashi and nodded in acceptance.

"Good, let us begin".

Haku hummed a tune as she ground up something inside a bowl into a paste; it was a tune she learned at a young age, when she still had parents, her mother would hum it to her to lull her to sleep or just to calm her down. It brought a smile to her lips and the memory of it as she put the now fully pasted bowl to one side and grabbed a few bandage wrappings.

"What is that tune you're humming?" a gruff voice muttered behind her; Haku snapped around to see Zabuza standing in the doorway having to lean on the doorframe to support himself as he still had the injures he'd suffered from his fight with Kakashi.

"M-Master Zabuza!? You should be resting!" she exclaimed moving over to help him, but he pushed her away as she got close.

"I can walk myself Haku!" he snapped, "What was the tune you were humming?" he asked again looking right into her eyes.

"I-I don't know…" she muttered averting her gaze and walking back to where she'd been working and picked the bandages and paste back up, "It's just a tune I remember from my parents, it's nothing special really, just something I… remembered…" she added in a quiet tone as if ashamed.

Zabuza hummed in response; he himself wasn't sure what to respond with, he never had been good with emotion things, so he settled in to just watching her as and awkward silence took over. In truth he was simply curious as to what the humming was as it had been slightly getting on his nerves but now, they were in an awkward situation.

"How did you remember?" he asked not sure what else to say to her, but the silence remained annoying Zabuza further.

"I'm not sure; my apologies if it's annoying you…" she muttered; in reality she didn't know exactly why she remembered it but had a hunch as after speaking with Naruto it was as if something triggered something inside her, as if his attitude reminded her of her home, and the memory's she thought were lost, "I'll stop Master Zabuza".

"It was that boy wasn't it?" he asked shocking her; she had told him about her meeting with Naruto, and had said that she was using him to get information or as much as she could without revealing her identity which in truth she partly was but part of her just wanted to learn more about him, "You started being more quiet since you returned from talking with him, and this isn't the first time you've been humming" he added.

"I'm no fool Haku, I know who you are. You've obviously talked more to him than just getting information, you're getting attached to him" Zabuza said though Haku wasn't sure if he was scolding her or just simply commenting about it, "I don't really care if you do get attached or not, but does it change your feeling about what you want to do to the Kochi".

This line snapped Haku back to reality, as she reached up and touched her bandaged head, she'd realised that for a while she'd practically forgotten about her purpose, her goal in the world and just been distracted by the happy memories from her past that Naruto reminded her of by now the terrible ones one coming back, the ones that caused her the most pain and made her want revenge, "NO! It doesn't, it never will!" she snapped out not realising she was snapping at Zabuza of all people.

"I will kill the boy and the rest of his clan, I promised I will!" she added gripping tight onto the table in front on her, "I need to kill them all…" she hissed getting stuck in her own head as her memories came crashing down onto her.

"HAKU!" Zabuza exclaimed snapping her back to him, it wasn't the first time he'd seen her go into such a trance like that and doubted it would be the last time; he wasn't sure if this was always boiling behind her kind attitude and was simply tricking herself and everyone around that it didn't exist or she had a level of split personality though Zabuza never really thought to much about it.

He understood what emotional scarring she had been through as a child and could understand how it made her react at the mere mention of her sworn enemy; he too had suffered similar pain, it was the reason they worked together so well, but unlike Haku, he could hide his emotions far better and never let his real emotions show no matter what happened.

"I'm sorry Master Zabuza…" she began to say but he could still hear the malice in her voice.

"Go for a walk Haku, I can treat my own wounds" he scolded as if she was a misbehaving child and the way she looked up at him added to this idea.

She stormed past him and out the door leaving Zabuza standing in the room, letting out a sigh he walked over to the bandages and began applying the paste to the wrapping before putting them on his wounds.

Meanwhile, Haku stormed through the forest with no particular destination in mind but she didn't really care, all she had her mind on was the fact that she'd almost forgotten her promise she'd made so long ago, that she would kill all of the Kochi clan no matter who they were. She knew the truth about them, everything had been told to her by her parents before they died.

"Oh hey Haku" a familiar voice beamed out, turning around she saw the all to familiar Naruto standing there was a foxy grin on his face; looking around Haku realised it was dark but wasn't sure if it had been when she left, she also wasn't sure how long she'd been walking but it must have been a while.

Looking back to the boy, he'd tilted his head to one side confused as to what she was doing, "Oh hello Naruto, why are you out here at this time again?" she asked as calmly and as kindly as she could without arousing any suspicion from him.

"I just went for a walk, couldn't sleep" he chuckled rubbing the back of his head, "How about you? You seem really freaked out?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Haku had to think fast, she couldn't tell him the real reason as to why but she had to think of something, "I just got a bit spooked by something while out on a walk, must have been a animal or something" she though up hastily adding her kind smile at the end.

"Oh right" Naruto chuckled, "I get that I suppose at night every little noise becomes really creepy" he added with his foxy grin returning.

At the sight of this Haku gave a genuine kind smile, "This kid… how does he do it…" she thought in her head realising that in a small chat he'd calmed her down just by talking with her and acting himself, "Have you been okay Naruto?" She asked wanting to keep the conversation going as long as she could, in the back of her mind she knew she wasn't forgetting about her duty but now chatting with the kid could help clear her head now they she made sure to not forget.

"I've been okay, our Sensei's been training us again today" he smiled with a little chuckle.

"Oh? And what has he been teaching you?" she responded playing the innocent civilian role to make sure there was ease between them.

"Well he started to teach us how to walk on water but dragged my best friend away for some special training and the other guy on our team followed after because he was jealous or something but it did allow me to train alone together with the girl on our team and I think we kinda got along well which was very weird" he chuckled remembering the days events.

Haku listened to every word and still noted how he didn't use names though she did know who Kakashi was, "Looks like their Sensei Kakashi is training up the black haired kid, makes sense he did seem pretty strong. Obviously the Kochi got jealous and followed so he could also be getting stronger, I should try and spy in on their training sessions but it'll be very difficult; their Sensei Kakashi Hatake seems to have a sixth sense for when he's being watched, only reason he didn't notice I was watching before was he was to busy fighting Zabuza but now he might catch me and mess the whole plan up" she thought quickly in her head while keeping her smile.

"I see, so you must be getting so much stronger right?" she asked in her kind voice now trying to get information out of him, Haku did like the boy but she knew her duty to herself and Zabuza so the mission came first, she could still talk to him casually once getting some important information off of him.

"Well kinda, our Sensei keeps going on about needing Chakra control if we have any hope of advancing in out Shinobi career but it's extremely difficult to master" he said scratching at his cheek embarrassed.

Haku chuckled at his expression, "I've got enough for today, he didn't do much so there's no need to probe to far also I don't really feel like it today" she though before looking at the boy, "Say Naruto, would you mind if we sat and talked for a bit?".

Naruto looked at her confused for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "Sure why not, you're a nice person Haku" he said following her over to a tree where the sat against the trunk looking up at the stars, "Wow…" Naruto muttered with a smile on his face.

Haku smiled at his reaction, he seemed so innocent and amazed by anything she wasn't sure how to treat him most of the time but this amused her, not in a cruel way but in a intrigued way, this boy was really a one of a kind person, "You seem to trust very easily Naruto" she mused looking at the stars as well.

He shrugged again, "I guess I am but most people take one look at me and think I'm a problem so when someone is kind to me I guess I feel like they are easier to trust" he commented not looking away from the night sky.

"I see…" Haku trailed off not sure what to say to that but thought it would be best to move on, "Tell me then, this best friend of yours" she asked casually making him look at her with a confused expression.

"Why?" he asked in a slightly sceptical voice.

Haku thought quickly, "Sorry I know how that must of sounded, but as you said you were alone most of your life, I'm just curious about this person who was the first to seemingly accept you is all" she smiled her sweet smile, "Though don't feel you have to share".

"I don't mind" he laughed out, "It just seemed a little out of nowhere" he added before looking back at the stars again, "I guess I should start at the beginning…"

With all the training Team 7 were doing, time flew and before they knew it had been a week since they left on this mission and with Kakashi fully healed and walking on his own without assistance from the crutches, the Genin and Tazuna were preparing to head for the bridge to continue it's construction but as a group.

In the time they had been there, they had ventured out to the bridge with Tazuna under the guard of at least two of the four Genin to make minor additions or fixes to the bridge without arousing too much suspicion from Gato's men which had been very successful as they hadn't been spotted yet but today they were preparing for the first attempt at a large construction effort on the bridge with many of the surviving builders meeting them at the bridge now finally happy to help with the knowledge they will be guarded by a team of Shinobi.

The training they had been doing was pretty intense but was influenced by the decision that Zabuza was alive and had an ally in the Hunter Ninja who 'captured' him; this decision came about with the idea of a Win-Win scenario, either Zabuza was alive and had backup so they would be prepared to face him or he was in fact dead but they had all become stronger for later battles they would surely have to fight.

Kakashi clipped down one of his scroll pouches on his flak jacket before looking over his three Genin, the training he had put them through was intense but he was confident it would pay off in the end, they had all decided the rules of engagement; Kakashi would be fighting with Zabuza alone as a week of training wouldn't get his Genin even close to being on par with the man in a straight fight so the Genin would instead deal with the Hunter Ninja should she be there.

There was a concern in the back of his mind that he had talked to his students about and that was his request for reinforcements; he hadn't heard a word back from the village so he wasn't sure if backup was on the way or not but more importantly he didn't know what the team would be though he could guess that it wouldn't be a high ranked Jonin or Chunin team as the Leaf were spread thin so if anyone was on the way, it was likely a Genin team. That's if a team was available.

Kakashi checked to clock on the wall noting that it was time for them to leave and meet the other builders working for Tazuna on the bridge; he looked over to the Bridge Builder, he'd been pretty quiet as of late, as if he was settling in to what they were doing, Gato was sure to notice the work today and there would certainly be a response from the man and likely Tazuna was worried that there would be a repeat of what happened months ago when Gato's reign began.

But Kakashi was confident that wouldn't happen, he was planning after today to gather some information on Gato's location in the Land of Waves so he could pay the man a visit and make sure he would no longer be a problem; even if they didn't defeat the rest of his mercenary's, without their employer and main source of income they would just leave and those that didn't he was sure Team 7 could finish the rest of them off.

"Are you all ready?" Kakashi said in a serious tone looking over his three students who nodded at him without a word, he was very confident in the abilities of each of them but he couldn't help but be worried; he was a master at being unreadable but there were many thoughts going though his head the highest of which was that if at the end of all this he'd still have all four of his students, "All four…" he muttered snapping around at them counting the number of Genin.

He was so distracted by what today would bring that he completely missed he'd only been looking at three of his students, Sasuke, Sakura and Chris, "Where is Naruto?" he said looking around all three looked at him (or faced him) then looked around themselves seeming to also notice the missing blonde of their group having been so concerned themselves they hadn't even noticed him missing.

"I thought…" Chris muttered realising he couldn't sense him anywhere being too caught up in his own head about the upcoming likely battle they would endure and was worried about what would happen.

"He was here last night, wasn't he?" Sakura said concerned, she too was too caught up in todays events and was worried that one of her comrades could be killed and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it and now one of them was missing.

Sasuke looked around briefly and scoffed in annoyance, while he didn't care much about Naruto himself he had accepted the reality that they'd all need to work together if they hoped to make it out alive and he'd swallowed so much of his pride to accept this that he wasn't going to just accept Naruto disappearing.

Sasuke charged out of the house and gritted his teeth looking around, "NARUTO!" he exclaimed hunting for any sign of the blond, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!" he shouted again as the others stepped out and began calling out for him themselves.

This went on for a few minutes before Kakashi let out a sigh, "We need to go to the bridge" he said loud enough to get all his students' attention.

"But Kakashi Sensei…" Chris tried to begin but the man cut him off.

"We don't have a choice; we're late to meet up at the bridge already, if we delay for too long then Gato will notice the builders gathering and no one will be able to protect them" he said walking over and putting a hand onto Chris's shoulder, "I'm sure he's fine you know how tough Naruto is; once today's over I promise we'll go looking for him but right now the mission needs to come first".

Chris reluctantly nodded while Sasuke hissed behind them as Kakashi turned back to Tazuna and his family, "Tsunami, please keep an eye out for Naruto if he comes by here tell him where we've gone but what ever you do, don't go out searching for him" he said.

"We will look out for him" she said putting an arm around her son an pulling him close, "Please be safe all of you" she added gripping the arm of Tazuna who smiled at her taking her hand in his larger ones.

"Don't worry Tsunami, I've seen these guys fight before they can handle whatever is thrown at them; and your old man still has some fight in him" he smiled before looking down at Inari placing his hand on the boys shoulder, "You look after your mother okay" he said with a big smile.

After taking one last look at them he stepped away and walked up to Kakashi who nodded, then together they all made their way for the bridge while Tsunami and Inari went back inside the house all of them unaware of the trouble about to unfold.

Deep in the forest, the missing blond was peacefully asleep, blissfully unaware of the time of that he was in fact missing.

The reason for him being out there was a few nights ago when he met Haku again, they had sat down together and talked about what had been going on with them and the thing that always seemed to intrigue Haku, the people that were precious to him; Naruto didn't mind this though he was careful not to use any names or talk about any specific events, even though he felt as if he'd achieved a friendship with her, something in the pit of his stomach felt off to him.

After that night, they decided together to keep talking; she hadn't exactly said why she wanted to talk to him but he wasn't complaining, to him Haku was nice and currently Chris was always occupied with training with Kakashi and so was the rest of his team for that matter so he needed someone to talk to though he couldn't share everything but what he could talk about was nice.

She would occasionally tell him about herself too, he'd learned that she'd lost her parents a long time ago just like he had but she at least knew who they were though just like him, she had been alone for a long time until she met her friend who she hadn't named much like he did but according to her, this friend was very important to her as he was the one who gave her a chance but she didn't say what the chance was for.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and felt blinded by the sun shining right into them so he turned slightly to get it out, he leaned up on his arm and rubbed his eyes, "Where am I…" he muttered looking around then it hit him, this was the place him and Haku would usually meet but he didn't remember falling asleep here.

He sat up and tried to remember the night before; he remembered talking a bit to Haku and that he was exited to tell her that they were going to being work on the bridge the next day or today as it was now, she didn't seem as happy as she should of seemed but she still put her kind smile on her face and put a hand on his shoulder thought he wasn't sure why but after that it was all a blur, he wasn't sure if that was when he fell asleep or if more happened.

As he thought about this something else dawned on him so he glanced back up; now Naruto wasn't an expert at using the sun to tell the time but he knew a tiny bit, just enough to tell him that in the position it was now was well past the time they were meant to leave for the bridge.

"Oh crap!" he exclaimed shooting up and running for the direction of the bridge, he buckled slightly but was able to power though it, guessing that his sleep hadn't entirely worn off yet.

The rest of Team 7 and Tazuna had reached the start of the bridge but there was no one around but there was evidence of at least someone having been present; there were a few tools and bags scattered about the place but not a sign of the workers, "Where are they?" Tazuna muttered picking up a cast away hammer on the ground.

"Chris? Picking up anything nearby?" Kakashi asked looking over to the boy.

"Nothing, it's just us around here, but I can't sense the entirety of the bridge so they might be further along it" he answered sensing around them but couldn't help the feeling of the hairs standing up on the back of his neck.

Kakashi nodded and they all walked onto the bridge; the bridge was very large and shrouded in mist which had their attention as this was Zabuza's preferred method of attack which caused them to stop just before entering, "Everyone, keep you wits about you, Tazuna stay between us everyone else keep a tight formation" Kakashi ordered.

They entered the mist they realised just how thick it was, they could barley see each other when they were barley a few feet apart, but they just continued moving forward in the hopes the mist would thin out.

The disturbing silence was getting to all of them, they only heard the occasional stepping of feet but they could only hope it was their comrades they hoped were still beside them; the only one who wasn't as shook was Chris as he could sense all of them beside him but he was still worried, he knew how fast the enemy could be and could be on top of them at any moment.

The mist began to slightly lift but it was still hard to see through but it was enough to make out the end of the bridge and what was sprawled out there, "Kakashi Sensei; I can sense several people at the end of the bridge, they're alive but I think they're unconscious" Chris said getting all their attention.

Kakashi turned back around so he was facing the way they came "Everyone form up behind me" he ordered and they did as asked, "Well then, where are you!" he called out into the mist scanning it for any movement stepping back with his team so they could get as clear a view as they could in the mist.

"Kakashi Sensei? What happening?" Sakura asked from the back next to Tazuna.

"We're in the trap, the builders back there were put there so we'd come all the way to the end of the bridge, now we're trapped here with a large drop behind us and the enemy somewhere in front of us" he answered, "Chris anything at all?".

Chris focused he hadn't noticed anyone else yet but he guessed that on their way in they enemy must have stayed out of his sensor range until they reached the end; confirming this theory was the mist now being heavily chakra infused masking anything inside but the training they had been doing prepared him for this.

He put his hands together and channelled all his reserve chakra to give him and extra boost, "Found them; two targets, one on the left side, 25 metres, elevated position; the second is on the right side, 20 metres using the mist as cover but they are in the open" he said picking up their chakra, "Left one's signature is Zabuza's while the right one matches the Hunter from few days ago".

Kakashi nodded "Sakura, you and Tazuna will head to the back to the bridge and check on the workers, Chris and Sasuke remain here, we'll deal with our two opponents" he ordered; Sakura nodded and ran off followed by Tazuna over to the builders to begin checking on them.

"Zabuza! Will you come out already we know you're there" Kakashi called out, there was silence for a few moments until a laugh echoed out, an all to familiar laugh.

"I should have known you'd prepare for this…" the mist cleared until the figure of Zabuza was seen standing on some scaffolding at the side of the bridge; he now wore a sleeveless black shirt and matching bottoms but everything else had remained the same though his sword was still on his back for now, "Hello again Kakashi" he sneered out.

"I knew you were still alive Zabuza, didn't think you'd die that easily but this time you won't escape as we'll be taking out your Hunter friend as well" Kakashi responded getting an eyebrow raise from Zabuza.

Before any other words were spoken, and single Senbon needle flew out from the mist heading straight for Chris's head but he was ready pulling his head back just in time so it skimmed past him and off into the distance; the mist cleared and standing there was the Hunter Ninja from before still donning her red wavy mask hiding her identity.

"Who are you then?" Sasuke spoke up looking into the holes of her mask but got no response but he did notice they were looking directly at Chris, "Do you know her? She's looking exclusively at you" he muttered moving closer to Chris.

"Not a clue, but I'm getting the feeling she knows me" he muttered back turning his body slightly to face the Hunter more, all the while his mind racing as the feeling of familiarity about this person returned.

Kakashi glanced over to the Hunter Ninja noticing she was in fact focusing solely on Chris which brought back his theory that she could be a Kochi but with her mask on her couldn't be sure, "Chris, Sasuke, be careful with her, something about her isn't adding up" he said seeing their heads nod while not turning away from the Hunter.

Zabuza let out another laugh getting Kakashi's attention again, "Well then Kakashi, should we begin" he said raising his right hand with two fingers point up and without a word the mist became heavier and surrounded them all.

Kakashi, Sasuke and Chris retreated closer together scanning their surroundings, the mist cleared slightly only to reveal them to be surrounded on all side by Zabuza's, which would be a terrifying thing to happen to those who were unprepared; Chris and Sasuke turned to each other and nodded, Sasuke began weaving signs as fast as he could while Chris reached into his pouch.

Kakashi smirked knowing what they were doing, after all he'd been preparing them for this, "Well Zabuza, this is your strategy…" he chuckled noticing none of the Zabuza's reacted, "Bold of you to assume we'd fall for any of your tricks twice!".

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu" Sasuke said leaning his head back and breathing out a giant ball of fire into the area above them just barely missing them but was enough to momentarily blind the Zabuza's around who had to cover their eyes for a few seconds with a bright light appearing out of the darkness of the mist.

But in in the few seconds they had to cover their eyes Chris had prepared shuriken's in between his fingers which he launched in every direction hitting all the Zabuza's exploding them into water as the fire died down and once it was gone, there were no clones around them.

Zabuza's laugh echoed out again as the mist partly cleared to show the man dead ahead of them about 10 metres away with the Hunter stood right next to him; in his hand he held one of the shuriken Chris had thrown which he'd managed to catch, "Impressive indeed, you've definitely been training for this so at least this wont be too easy" he said dropping the shuriken to the ground letting a clatter echo out.

Reaching back, he unclipped then pulled out his Executioners blade as the Hunter next to him readied three Senbon needles between her fingers. Kakashi and his two Genin pulled out a kunai each and readied them waiting to see who would make the first move.

"The two Genin are all yours Haku, I want Kakashi to my own" Zabuza muttered quietly to her and got a nod in reply as she stepped away from him slightly, so the two fights didn't clash into each other.

"It looks like they want to separate us, you two know what to do" Kakashi muttered pushing up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan; Chris and Sasuke nodded in their own reply stepping away to stand opposite the supposed Hunter ready for her first move.

Further back Sakura was standing in front of Tazuna and the injured builders, a few moments ago they saw the fire from Sasuke but nothing since then but she knew to trust her team mates, "Listen, you lot, those ninja out there can handle this but it'd be easier if they didn't have to worry about you as well, look around for a way to escape from the back of here" Tazuna said getting a nod from the builders who began looking around the end of the bridge for an escape.

Tazuna put a hand on to Sakura's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile which she returned, "Don't worry, my teams got this" she said but was fairly sure it was more for her own benefit.

Back with the rest, Kakashi was staring directly at Zabuza and he did the same while Chris and Sasuke were doing the same with the Hunter.

"Let's begin" Zabuza smirked charging.

And that's the end of Part 2.

Again, my apologies for the late upload, the next chapter I'm not expecting it to be that long so I might be able to get Part 3 out this month (Hopefully).

Thank you for all the reviews they have been extremely helpful and even a few of the recommendations made I've implemented into the story.

It's been brought to my attention that there have been a few spelling mistakes in the story, I will try to iron these out as best I can but if there are words that are regularly being misspelled do let me know and I'll fix them right away :).

That's all I got for now, let me know what you think positive or negative all is welcome, and I'll see you in Part 3.