AN: To the reviewers who asked: let the bromance happen. As Chester See used to sing: "nothing really gay about it" (not that there's anything wrong with being gay).

Naruto grunted as he countered Haku's unrelenting assault. He was far from being as fast as his friend but one category he was leagues better at than the brunette was endurance. It was the reason why he was even up and fighting, despite his headache, his bleary gaze and his wound up nerves. Weathering Haku's strikes, no matter how painful the process, netted him an opening every once in a while.

Thanks to the older teen, Naruto's kenpo had become tighter. His motions were infinitely sharper, carried more power, wasted much less energy and generated lesser tells, in spite of his tiredness. With a steady increase in regularity, Naruto had started to occasionally return a punch that rattled Haku's lithe frame.

The blond hunched under a hook, firing a strike at Haku's exposed elbow. The brunette slapped the hand away and armed a kick. Naruto immediately locked the space between them, preventing Haku from hitting him. He pushed on his back foot and feinted a straight. Haku swayed back before launching a palm that crushed Naruto's nose. Blood spurted from the blond's ruined face but he endured the pain with a smirk. He stomped his front foot and twisted his waist entirely, bringing his back leg in an arcing rear kick that undid Haku's bun.

The two boys froze.

"Even," offered Haku.

Naruto nodded happily, flinging blood everywhere on his person. "You need to go faster now!" he exclaimed excitedly, his speech made pasty and slurred by his injury.

"Sure. Let me see your nose. It's a mess."

The pair sat down on the open veranda that girdled their temporary house, Haku fishing in a pouch had had on him a few herbs and some wadding.

"Breath and get ready."

Naruto inhaled greedily and looked at Haku. With a jolt of his hand, the brunette straightened the blond's nose. Naruto's cheeks ballooned to comical proportions and the boy slammed a fist against the wooden walkway but not a sound escaped him.

"It's done."

Naruto spat a wad of blood, cleaned his nose by forcefully blowing it and nodded his thanks at Haku.

"Go and freshen up. I'm going to cook."

"You need help?"

"No, Naruto, I'll be alright."

"Okay." Naruto waved at the older teen and ran towards the pond. "See ya in a bit."

Haku smiled and breathed out, letting the adrenaline of the fight bleed out of his system. He honestly liked training with the blond. Bearing witness to Naruto's constant progress not only put some things in perspective, it pushed Haku to better himself. He knew he had slacked off with his conditioning and he had been satisfied with his hyoton; not anymore. He was happy to grow stronger. Now that he had one more person to protect, he needed better skills.

Haku stymied the nagging mind worm that kept whispering that Naruto was not okay. The blond had not had a full night in almost ten days now, waking up drenched in sickly sweat and features twisted in pallid agony. Haku did not know what to say to him. The blond had sacrificed another, desperate for freedom. Zabuza aimed to do the same, for money. Haku himself knew, in his flesh, that he would kill anyone in order to protect Zabuza. Zabuza and Naruto, he amended silently.

Yet, he knew as well that it did not make it right. Naruto would have to determine on his own if his newfound freedom was worth the sin he had committed. At least, thought Haku, all their training kept Naruto distracted.

After returning to Zabuza, the trio had been led by Ichuzii to an old, dilapidated house on the outskirts of Donmachi. Their accommodations were less than luxurious but the place had a rather large garden and a pond, shielded from outside view by a tall wall. It allowed Naruto and Haku to shift into second gear in their training, per the blond's insistence.

Over their three days stay, Haku furthered the chakra control of his younger friend by teaching him the three Hokou - the "steps" - that Naruto still lacked, namely how to walk on a treacherous surface, how to walk silently, how to walk quickly. The exercises allowed the blond to discover much about the way chakra worked and what moulding chakra entailed.

Other practical skills were not forgotten. The older brunette not only reforged the blond's martial arts through exhausting bouts of sparring, he also corrected Naruto's knives-throwing skill with relentless firing drills.

The pair did not let up the theoretical work either. Naruto discovered that Haku, once again, had been right. With better reading skills, the blond easily took to books. Haku then taught him how to look for and extract useful information from a text, as the first step to expand his skills by himself. When Naruto had insisted he would only learn what Haku had to teach him, the brunette retorted that he simply did not know everything. Wouldn't it be a shame, then, for Naruto to limit himself?

The younger blond had eventually accepted the logic behind the words, even though the prospect of learning without Haku seemed both daunting and certainly less fun. Haku answered that whatever Naruto learned, he could then teach him. The idea had enthused the blond, who was now searching for something that Haku had not mastered.

"How is he progressing?"

Haku bowed slightly to the tall nuke-nin, who had silently posted himself on the veranda.

"Zabuza-sama. I believe Naruto-kun is quite the prodigy."

The man scoffed. "A prodigy, huh. How so?"

"He has quite the sharp mind, I only have to be careful and word my instruction in a manner he understands. Once I do, he is capable of fast progress with minimal input."

"That's hardly worth the title. And if he is, how come he was so fucking useless when we attacked Hatake?"

Haku smiled, ever so slightly. "If I recall correctly, he was the one who devised the plan to free Hatake from your prison. Under stress and on the spot, too."

"He couldn't have done it without his teammates."

"If I may be so bold, that is what a team is for, Zabuza-sama."

The tall man snorted at the teen's cheek. "Right. But still, he should have been better, technically."

"From what he had told me during our travels, Konohagakure simply never bothered. For some reason, Naruto was never trained properly, neither in the Academy nor by Hatake."

Zabuza frowned, immediately on guard. It did not add up. Assuming he chose to believe Haku's evaluation, which he did, why waste a young boy with potential? Hatake, he could understand: A-ranked nutcases were not good teachers. He had been a cruel taskmaster to Haku but not a good teacher. Focusing his thoughts back on Naruto, Zabuza mulled over the puzzle. Had his instructors simply judged a fish per his ability to climb a tree? It was a possibility but a slim one. Shinobi academies were specifically organized so that no talent could escape the net. No matter how warped their method to do so, training institutions were aimed at maximizing talents. A twist of his guts was telling him that there was something more to Naruto; he just did not know what yet.

The man suddenly regretted not killing Hatake. He had judged his mission to be over and personal feelings had no place in business. Above all, he did not wish to push an A-rank shinobi into a corner and attacking Hatake and his remaining genin would have done just that. Desperation plays were always extremely dangerous. Also, killing such a high-profile shinobi like Hatake would have sent the dogs of Konohagakure on their trail. Now, however, Zabuza was wondering what kind of stray he had picked up.

Hence the magic box scheme, though he wondered if the contingency would be enough.

"Okay. That is all?"

Haku shook his head. "No. As I was saying, Naruto has a sharp mind but that is not where his talent lies. His proprioception is off the charts."

"Words that make sense, Haku."

"He… his kinesthesia is incredibly developed. Every second we spend fighting, he is becoming better, picking apart my kenpo and developing his own."

"Couldn't you attribute that to the fact he is just reading you?"

"No. If he were simply reading me - which is already impressive, his own martial arts would not change. He would just target my openings." Haku shook his head, a bemused grin on his lips. "But Naruto is straight-up adding to and refining his own style as he deconstructs mine. More and more, he creates his opportunities."

"Okay." Zabuza considered Haku's explanation. It was scary, he mused silently. "Good j-"

"That's not all."

"Fuckin' hell," grumbled the nuke-nin, "what more is there?"

"I think he might be a sensor. In some capacity."

"Why do you think that?"

"He… has a peculiar outlook on things. I thought it was due to his advanced proprioception at first but… Master, have you ever heard someone tell you that chakra has a colour or a taste or anything like that?"

"No."

"Well, Naruto does. He is able to ascribe sensations to his chakra, tying them to the five senses. When I gave him some instructions to walk on water, he asked how viscous the chakra ought to be."

"I've never heard of anything like that." The nuke-nin hummed. "Though it might be an Uzumaki trait."

"Zabuza-sama? Who were they? The Uzumaki, I mean."

The Kiri no Kijin had a thoughtful look on his face for a few seconds before he grinned savagely behind the bandage wrapping his mouth.

"Some of the toughest sons of bitches across the nations."

The following day, the trio left the house early and walked down to the harbour. Donmachi was basking in the first rays of the sun; her people were slowly awakening to the distant sound of bells. In the temples, prayers were offered to Suijin, the Sage and the All Mother. Meanwhile, shops and stalls were being set up in the streets, workshops were opened and little boys and girls, apprentices of various crafts, were running errands for their masters.

The business in the port, however, was already in full swing. Fishermen had left before dawn to spread their net, hauling back to Donmachi with the rising sun and were now noisily selling fishes and other kinds of seafood. Little stalls proposed second rate products, fresh or cooked. Meanwhile, first-class catches were sold in a dedicated square, at a descending bid. It was a deafening, messy and violent affair. Naruto looked on in fascination as fat viragos and important-looking businessmen alike came to blow over an (admittedly magnificent, though he did not know much) tuna. Haku grabbed the blond's sleeve and yanked him along.

The trio left the fish market behind, Haku and Naruto with a sandwich each, filled with raw vegetables, mayonnaise and a breaded fish fillet. Away from the epicentre of activity, there were much fewer people to go through and they reached the jetty they had to be in ten minutes. Moored to the pontoon was a ship, slightly bigger than the one they had boarded from Nami to Donmachi. A crew of hardened sailors was milling around the vessel. A man with leathery wrinkled skin, white sparse hair and an eye patch over his right socket, who had been overlooking the carousel of seafarers, approached the group.

"You're Kenpachi-san?" He asked Zabuza.

The nuke-nin nodded. "Kenpachi Tori. I want to cross to Nagishima. A friend told me you did that."

"We do. I'm Kenta Chogi, captain of the Asui. Two things before you say anything. First, you pay in advance. Two, my ship, my rules. That's okay with you?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Sure. How long to reach Nagishima?"

"Two weeks, give or take. It'll depend on the wind. And whether or not we're spotted by the nutcases cruising around Mizunokuni."

The nuke-nin nodded, retrieved a pouch so full of ryo it was cracking at the seams, and dropped it in the captain's waiting hand. "We are in your capable hands, captain Chogi."

"Good. Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen."

Naruto sniggered; Haku glared at him.

The two boys quickly reestablished their routine. The Asui being much larger than the Ochaco, they had the necessary place to spar lightly, practice their forms, shadowbox and work on their conditioning away from any prying eyes. When below deck, they kept perusing the few scrolls and books Haku owned, again and again, peeling the text every word for a morsel insight they could have missed, trying to expand their knowledge by performing some experiment and getting lost late into the night in endless talks about chakra. The blond boy tentatively spoke to some of the more friendly-looking sailors as well, who introduced him to the arts of tying knots, sewing clothes and astronomy. Naruto found himself quickly enraptured by the simple act of repeatedly tying and untying a length of rope. It occupied his hands and freed up his mind.

On the second day, Zabuza gave Naruto a slip of paper. When the boy channelled his chakra through the sheet, it was cleanly cut in two. The nuke-nin shrugged and told Naruto his natural inclination was fuuton but that he would learn suiton anyway.

Nature transformation was a branch of chakra manipulation that aimed at giving chakra the properties of the five elements. With doton, suiton was one of the transformations that relied on giving chakra materiality, a tangibility and with it, physical properties. As such, it could be merged with actual water to achieve a power boost. On the opposite side of the spectrum were raiton and katon, two transformations based on a much more metaphysical understanding of the world. Fuuton, Naruto's natural affinity, was unique in that it contained a bit of both, which made it notoriously difficult to master.

It took Naruto a few minutes to puzzle Zabuza's explanations, internally wondering why people liked to use big words when a simple "suiton is chakra that imitates water" would have been sufficient. When the nuke-nin told him to "organize his chakra into small particles, free from one another but contained as a whole", Naruto understood too. Haku had explained what water truly was, how liquid was only one phase of matter and how the world around them was built from particles called atoms that, at all time, adopted one of three possible phases.

The man's instructions felt wholly insufficient. What of the heat? What of the cold? What of the flow, the swirl, the "splash"? What of the way water shaped and was shaped in return, the way it battered coastlines and boats? What of the rain, the dew, the sea? If chakra was to imitate nature, then suiton ought to imitate it all. Zabuza answered with a look that made Naruto feel as if he had grown a second head. Haku shared a glance with his master but said nothing.

In spite of his misgivings, Naruto tried his hand at it, a basin full of water on his knees. Over the following days, after his usual regimen, the blond played with the liquid, observing how it escaped his grasp, how it separated in countless droplets dripping down his fingers, how it vibrated when it boiled, how steam condensed against the steel of a kunai. Haku even showed him the way frost crept from point to point, trapping the particles of water in a rigid network of arabesques.

On the fourth day of travel, Naruto sat down on the bridge, at the prow of the Asui. It was the end of the afternoon but the sun was still high. A slight breeze was tousling the blond's spikes. Haku was not far behind him, speeding through kenpo forms. Folding his hands in the Inu mudra - right-hand flat over his left fist - Naruto reached for his chakra.

Moulding chakra was an experience that went beyond the five senses. The energy sparked at the junction between the material and the spiritual, when body and mind swirled together in a double-spiral, an infinitely fine vis, without ever melding save at the ultimate edge. There, at the mathematical point of perfect balance, chakra ignited. At the same time, however, chakra was always there: it was what allowed the physical and the metaphysical to coexist in the first place. It was the origin of the double-spiral, the core of the vis. It was a "self-sustained, self-induced" equilibrium, or so claimed Haku's books.

Moulding chakra meant artificially establishing the junction and turning the spark into a blazing fire. Naruto's problem was that he naturally produced an all-consuming inferno instead of a simple spark, which meant that moulding chakra only turned the flames into a firestorm. As a result, any jutsu he attempted blew up in his face. It had taken some time and dedicated work on the "steps" to understand that. So, Naruto did not mould; instead, he reached for what was already there.

It required a certain mindset because naturally occurring chakra was raw, undirected. When a shinobi moulded chakra, they imprinted the energy with their will, through mudra and focus. Hence, Naruto needed to shift to a state of readiness, subconsciously encoding his chakra with his wants. Working tirelessly on the "steps" helped tremendously, as they were jutsu meant to be used without focusing. By continuously practising the silent step or the fast step or even the opposing surface step, Naruto had cut down on the time he needed to achieve readiness.

The fire - though it was not a fire, it was more akin to periodic blasts of hot wind howling from an infinitely dense, pulsating singularity - was waiting for him as Naruto seized control of it, coursing through his coils like a whirlwind. Slowly, Naruto extracted an ounce, a fraction of the power and enveloped it in silence and quiet. He scattered it in countless little particles and willed one to slowly move in a wide circle.

Slowly, the nearest particles fell toward the one moving, creating a droplet. The droplet kept circling, attracting more and more particles until it turned to a swirling stream. Naruto opened his eyes as he willed the flowing chakra through the tenketsu of his hands.

Before the chakra could phase into reality, it blinked. With a pulse, it abruptly scattered in a howling gust that burned the boy's coils and tenketsu. Naruto's features only hardened with resolve as he reached once again for his chakra. Attempt after attempt, he repeated the process, patiently drawing on the energy within his coils and scattering it into tiny particles before priming the flow. Failure after failure, the chakra was destabilized before it could physically manifest, Naruto's primary affinity taking over the conscious manipulation.

For almost three hours, the blond relentlessly tried to manifest suiton, brow dripping with sweat, his hair sticky from the effort, the coils and tenketsu all over his body burning, his hand and fingers bruised and marred. It was Haku who eventually stopped him, breaking him from a trance-like state, and insisted Naruto take a rest and a moment to recover. When the blond took stock of his surroundings, he realized night was falling. The skies were darkening, inky black bleeding in the purple and orange shades painted by the setting sun.

"It's time to stop, Naruto-kun. You are hurting yourself."

The blond smiled and flexed his hands. "That's okay." He winced. "It's not painful."

Haku gave him a flat look.

"Okay, it's not that painful."

"It is nearly time to eat anyway. Let me see your hands before we go."

Naruto smiled bashfully. "Sure. Thanks."

Haku sat down and delicately took Naruto's left hand in his. The brunette grimaced at the damage wrought by the repeated failures at manipulating chakra. Fortunately, he had an unguent prepared for this exact kind of wound. After he retrieved the ointment, Haku applied a generous amount on Naruto's hands and massaged them gently.

"How did you make this one?"

"Chamomile, garlic and ginseng."

"You should really become a doctor."

"You've already told me."

"Well, I'm telling you again!" The blond exclaimed with a smile. "You need to become a doctor. Mizunokuni won't be much of a home if everyone is sick but I'm sure you'll be good enough to heal everyone."

"Naruto…"

The boy shook his head. "Nuh huh, I don't want to hear whatever you're gonna say about being a tool. A tool can be anything, from a kunai to a hoe. We'll need tools that can repair and rebuild."

"Zabuza-sama-"

"Didn't you heal him after turning him into a pincushion?"

"Yes."

"Did he call you useless?"

"No."

Naruto nodded sagely. "Then it's set. You already know so much about the body, about healing herbs, about… about… whatever you need to know to heal people. I can be the blade. You can be something more, Haku."

"My duty goes to Zabuza-sama first, Naruto-kun. I'll be whatever he needs me to be."

Naruto rolled his eyes and withheld a groan. When Haku resorted to the "duty" argument, it meant the conversation had basically reached its end. They had had this discussion, in some shape or form, a number of times already. He had learned to recognize that and so, instead of smashing his head against what he knew would be a wall, he looked up.

"Do you think the stars are lonely? Being so far away from one another?"

Haku raised his head, still gently massaging Naruto's wounds. "I do not know. They shine so brightly, I'm sure they can see each other. And from here, they don't seem that far apart. Also, if they truly are like our sun, I'm sure they tethered planets much like ours."

"It's funny how humans are kinda like suns," mused Naruto. "We attract others to us. We have to. I'm sure the boss is the same."

Having said that, and before Haku could think of a retort, the blond jumped on his feet and flexed his fingers. Once again, the brunette observed, fascinated, the inhuman healing rate of his younger companion. It was something all his knowledge of healing practices could not explain. The chakra burns should have subsisted for at least two or three days and they were fading already.

"Damn, it's really working fine! Thanks Haku!"

The older teen kept to him the fact it should not have worked that well and smiled. "Let's go eat."

They had dinner in the cabin they shared. The captain had invited them once on the first night, out of courtesy but had not reiterated the gesture. Instead, they made do with the grub reserved for the sailors. It suited the pair just fine, as it allowed them to discuss chakra, jutsu and other things in peace. Tonight, like the night before, Naruto tentatively tackled the subject of Haku's hyoton.

The older teen's black ice was a kekkei genkai, an innate way to mould chakra that transcended the five more common affinities. Naruto found the ability incredible but his friend was reluctant to speak about it. The conversation had already died down thrice when Naruto finally gathered enough courage to ask the question he truly wanted to be answered.

"Say… Haku."

"Yes?"

"Why do you… why do you hate your hyoton so much?"

Grief deformed Haku's features, twisted his visage into an unrecognizable mask of pain. Seeing this, Naruto felt a wave of panic mount in his chest and throat. Without thinking, he flung his plate aside and embraced the older teen. Haku froze, his mind slowly reeling in his scattered focus.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," was whispering the blond. "I shouldn't have asked that, oh, I shouldn't have asked."

Slowly, Haku returned the hug before he disentangled himself from the younger boy. He breathed in and out, deeply.

"That… that's okay." He hesitated. "I'll tell you."

"If you don't feel like it then-"

"Please, Naruto-kun. Let me… let me speak."

Naruto nodded slowly and sat next to his friend, seizing Haku's right hand in his left and shooting the older teen's a gaze that challenged him to say anything. Haku felt himself choke at the gesture but appreciated the fire it filled him with. He had noticed, over the past two weeks, how staunch a supporter Naruto could be.

"When I was young… I lived with my parents. I-I remember we lived happily. One day, I discovered I could conjure ice. My mother panicked. Mizunokuni has been tearing itself apart over kekkei genkai long before I was even born and those bearing one were seen as monsters."

Naruto held his tongue, in spite of the burning urge to ask why such discrimination existed. He found the answer within himself, barely a second later. Fear, obviously. Fear of the unknown, fear of a power only a few possessed. Fear that could only bear hatred. He knew about it.

"Someone from the village saw me. They roused up the other villagers, my father included and they killed my mother." Haku's voice broke on the last word. "I killed them all when they turned against me." He whispered eventually.

Naruto embraced him again. He could not, refused to hold himself back.

"On the day of my birth, a monster attacked Konohagakure, a nine-tailed fox," the blond said in a raspy, hurried whisper. "Nobody knows why. Lots of people died and long story short, it was sealed…" - his voice shuddered - "sealed in me. Everyone knew so everyone hated me."

Haku felt his eyes widen to the size of saucers, sheer astonishment warring against sorrow.

"What happened… it wasn't your fault," assured Naruto, his voice still low and trembling. "You've got something special. Think of all you could do with hyoton. Keep food cool, preserve organs, make ice cream-"

Haku laughed. It was more of a hiccup, really, choked and squeaky but a laugh all the same at his friend's outlandish words. Not that he did not like them. He had only ever considered his hyoton as another tool to serve Zabuza's plans, a tool to kill, to destroy. Because his kekkei genkai had been awakened by violence and blood, he had only thought of it as a weapon.

"Thanks," he murmured.

For a silent minute, the two boys hugged. Eventually, they separated and smiled at each other.

"The fox?" ventured Haku.

Naruto cast his gaze down. "I don't know how it works," admitted the blond. "I know I have a seal on my stomach. That's it."

"Can you… can you show me?"

Naruto shrugged, stood up and lifted his shirt. He focused for a second on his chakra and it appeared. It was a pitch-black spiral caged by eight flames, centred over his abdominal muscles.

Haku blinked. "Well, okay."

Naruto swallowed thickly. "O-Okay?"

The older teen nodded firmly. "Yes. Okay. You're Naruto-kun. You're my sibling blade." He marked a pause. "You are my friend."

Naruto felt like crying. He did not have to ask if Haku meant what he had said. He knew he did. Tears spilt forth, no restraint strong enough to hold them back, his resilience finally spent by his exhaustion. They flowed down the boy's cheeks, over the whisker-like birthmarks, rolled off his chin. They shook him, turned his breathing raspy, choked him. His were tears of relief, of chains finally cast aside, of freedom found. This time, it was Haku who embraced him.

That night, for the first time since Naruto had killed him, the ghost of Tazuna left him in peace. As for Haku, he tentatively created a minuscule sculpture out of his hyoton, as he had done so long ago for his mother.

The following days of travel were uneventful. Naruto progressively lost the dark circles under his eyes and his features relaxed; his nights remained peaceful and his sleep undisturbed. Proper rest renewed his energy and enthusiasm and he poured everything he had into his training. Haku welcomed it all, enjoying both the healthier appearance of his friend and the heightened (if only a little) challenge he gave him during their sparring sessions.

Zabuza saw everything and said nothing. The man knew how Haku viewed himself and he had never seen the point of correcting him. He had been a tool himself, long ago, for Kirigakure.

At some point, however, something within him had snapped. Foolishly, he had started to dream. How presumptuous, for a tool to dare do such a thing. He had been broken and discarded for his crime. He lost his raison d'être. When he and Haku found each other, he simply taught the boy as he had been taught. His dream was forgotten or maybe marred by the shame of his failure. He did not know and it did not matter.

It did not matter because his dream was reborn, lit once more inside his heart. From the fire burning in his soul, he would reforge himself. He would make himself into something capable of creating a home. A home for monsters.

The nuke-nin saw the bond between Haku and Naruto and decided it was fine not to say anything even though his nerves now crawled every time he saw the blond.

AN: feel free to leave a review.