"Naruto" Normal speech
'Naruto' Normal thought
'Shannaro' Inner Sakura's speech
"Rasengan" Jutsu/Seal

Nami no kuni
Tazuna's house

After Naruto blacked out from exhaustion, Tazuna and his team brought him to Tazuna's house. Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, opened the door and saw that the boy on the masked man back need help and brought them in the house immediately.

After they put Naruto to the bed to rest, they went down the stairs to the kitchen to talk.

"What happen to that boy? Oh, and thank you all for protecting my father" asked Tsunami then bowed her head down.

"It's just our job, Tsunami-san" answered Kakashi lazily.

"That boy has managed to defeat the huge bad ninja that Gato has hired to kill me. He really managed to surprise all of us" replied Tazuna with a pleased look.

"Woah! Really? But he is just a teenage and already that powerful? I am glad that he is with us then" said Tsunami with a grateful look.

Sakura turned to Kakashi and asked worriedly
"Sensei, will Naruto-kun be alright? How long will he be lying like that?"

Kakashi eye-smiled and respond.
"Don't worry, Sakura. Naruto is a fast healer so he will be back to full health in no time". Then he narrowed his eyes in thought and wondered."The problem is that I want to know from where or who did Naruto learn all those sword techniques from? That certainly is a Konoha style at all? And he said back then that it was Uzumaki style. But as far as I know all Uzumakis except him were dead"

"I want to know as well. Though Naruto was my teacher for 6 years, I never saw him used a sword before" said Sasuke and he also put his knuckle to his chin in thought.

"Wait! You said that Naruto-kun was your teacher before you became a genin, Sasuke? But I thought your family was the one training you" asked Sakura surprised at the revelation. Kakashi looked in interest at the knowledge as well.

Sasuke shook his head and replied.
"No, I trained together with Naruto since we were 6. Naruto knew many stuff that surprised me greatly, because he was so far more advanced than any child his age. From then, I decided that Naruto will be my sensei before I become a genin. And I never regretted my choice that day"

Sakura than looked down at her hands and begin to think. If Naruto was the one that made Sasuke so strong then he certainly could train her as well. She already undestood that her jounin sensei is a lazy ass and won't train her properly. She will ask Naruto to train her when he woke up. After seeing the battle between Zabuza and Naruto, she finally realized how weak and useless she was compared to the other members of her team. But she will changed from this day on. She want to be worthy of Naruto's attention and affection.

Upstairs

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, but immediately covered his eyes because of the light that was blinding him. He reopened his eyes and glanced around.
'What happen back then?... Oh, I remember now, I managed to kick Zabuza's butt, but was too tired from those techniques and fell unconscious. Which means I am probably in Tazuna-san's house'. Then he raised his body up a little to look around the room.

Tsunami and team 7 go upstairs to check if Naruto has got up or not. When she opened the door, Sakura's eyes widen in happiness as Naruto was ok and already up. She could surprise her feelings and leap to hug him.

"Naruto-kun! I am so glad that you are ok". She then pulls off a little to look at his expression. "How are you felling? Do you still feel hurt anywhere?"

Naruto smiled softly at her concern which cause Sakura's cheeks to redden a little.
"I am fine, Sakura-chan. Thank you for your concern"

Tsunami looked at those two and smirked then turned to the 2 male members of the team and said
"This girl sure care a lot about that boy eh? Ah, young love". She then turned to walk away to get the team alone time.

Kakashi and Sasuke walked to Naruto's left side and say down, the right side was occupied by Sakura. Kakashi turned to Naruto and asked.
"Naruto, I wanted you to answer me one question, that everyone in this room want to hear the answer to that question"

Naruto looked back at him and replied.
"It depends. If it was too personally then I won't answer it"

"Since when or from who did you learn those sword techniques?" asked Kakashi looking at Naruto intently.

Naruto looked at them for a while thb sighed and said.
"I apologize, but I can't give you gius the answer to that question"

"Why?". This time Sasuke was the one that asked.

"Because it was one of the secrets that keep me alive to this day. I am alive now, not because of Sandaime's order, or anyone's help. I am alive right now because, I have my own secrets that if I were to tell anyone I will be doomed. Those secrets, I can't trust to tell anyone, but to keep for myself" said Naruto seriously.

"Even so, you must tell me, Naruto. I am your jounin sensei, I must know what all you capable off. If you don't want to tell me than I will report back to Hokage, so that he will deal with you" said Kakashi narrowing his eyes.

Naruto also narrowing his and replied coldly.
"Go ahead and report to Hokage-sama. But even he won't able to get anything from me. Ibiki-san and Inoichi-san won't be able to get out anything even they look into my head. My mind is protected by a combination of seals that of you are not a seal master, then it's futile to try to invade my mind. The best Hokage-sama can do is to threaten to execute me, but he won't do it because of my...special condition. So either way you guys won't be able to get anything for me"

Sakura looked down feeling hurt that Naruto didn't trust her with his secret. Sasuke also gritted his teeth in frustration, as after all his years Naruto still didn't trust him enough to trust with his secrets.

Kakashi glared Naruto for a while, before he sighed and said
"Ok, if you don't want to tell is then we won't force you anymore. Though there is one more thing I'd like to tell you guys about"

Elsewhere in Nami no kuni

The masked Kiri ANBU has taken Zabuza far enough so he decided to put Zabuza's body to the ground and extracted the senbons that was struck to his neck. He was about to do what he intent, but suddenly Zabuza's eyes snapped wide open. The hunternin intent was to remove the bandage on Zabuza's mouth, so that he will cough up the blood. Zabuza caught the hand of the hunternin and said.
"No need. I can do it myself"

"Oh, I see you already revive, Zabuza-san" said the hunternin and watched as Zabuza began to raise his body a little.

"Geez, you so rough" said Zabuza with the same frighting eyes and began to remove the senbons in his neck.

"Zabuza-san, please don't take those out so roughly, either. You will die for real" advised the hunternin politely.

Zabuza threw the removed senbons to the ground then glanced at the hunternin and said.
"How long are you going to wear that fake mask? You know I hate it, Haku"
"My apologize. I forget that it's been a while since I need to use this disguise" said the hunternin and removed the mask revealing a feminine gentle face of a beautiful girl. She smiled softly at Zabuza. She then opened her eyes and said " But you should thank me for using that disguise to save you. That boy that you fought is incredibly powerful you know. I could say that what he demonstrated back in the battle with you is not everything he is capable of. If wouldn't have put you to a near death state then you would certainly bleed to death. That boy is very dangerous, Zabuza-sama"

Zabuza turned to Haku and replied.
"Yes, I could also feel that he was not a normal genin. Then, there is his blade, Nenekirimaru. He said that it was his rightful heirloom. I wonder what he meant by that. Plus his technique seems really familiar to me, though I couldn't remember where I saw it before. Either way next time, make sure that he will be dead for sure. I will take care of Sharingan no Kakashi". Zabuza then tried to stand up but felt that he couldn't.

"You won't be able to move for a week Zabuza-sama. So for now, you just focusing on resting your body until you are full recover" advised Haku and helped Zabuza to stand up. Then they Shunshin away.

Tazuna's house
2nd floor

3 genins of team 7 are listening intently to what their sensei want to inform them, though Naruto already knew what the talk is about. Kakashi looked at his students and said.
"I suspect that there is a possibility that Zabuza is still alive"

"What? Why do you think that, sensei?" wondered Sakura in surprise. Sasuke also looked on in interest.

"Hunternins mission is to eliminate their target and brought the proof of the kill. Which means that the hunternin that we seen, could just took Zabuza's head as a proof of his kill. Instead he used the senbons to strike at his neck. Senbons usually wasn't used for killing, but more for medical use. Some could used them to put their target to a near-death state to fool the others." explained Kakashi.

"In other words, you want to say that Zabuza is alive, aren't you sensei" said Naruto with closed eyes and his time suggest that he wasn't surprised at what he just heard.

His 2 teammates widen their eyes. Kakashi once again narrows his eyes at Naruto and said.
"Yes. But I want to know, why you wasn't surprise at that? Or maybe you already about that outcome?"

Naruto opened his eyes and replied.
"Yes, I already knew that Zabuza is alive. Why do you think I said 'See you later' to hunternin-san?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto for a while then decided to rub his forehead. Naruto is giving so much headache now with his knowledge. Kakashi then turned to his team and said
"Anyway to counter Zabuza, we will do some training. We will wait for Naruto to recover and then start the training"

"But what can little training do to us? I mean you and Naruto-kun barely managed to win against Zabuza. Then there is also that fake hunternin. I doubt that it will help us in the battle with Zabuza" said Sakura looking at her sensei squinting her eyes.

"That's where you are wrong, Sakura-chan. Even if we are a bunch of genin, but with proper training, right strategy and teamwork, we could defeat even the strongest shinobi. And usually the powerful shinobi had an arrogant attitude and that will be their downfall for underestimating their opponents. Remember my favorite quote: It's better to be underestimate then being overestimate. That's why you shouldn't say that your training will be useless" replied Naruto sagely. Kakashi himself find that those statements are very wise.

Sakura looked on in awe at Naruto and her cheeks unknowingly redden. Her heart is beating like crazy.

Naruto then turned to Kakashi and asked.
"I want to ask though. What we will be training at?"

Kakashi looked at him and answered.
"We will train to control the chakra more proficiently. Tomorrow, we will start the tree climbing exercise"

Naruto and Sasuke looked back at each other then smirked. Kakashi and Sakura looked at them questionably and asked.
"Why are you two smirking?"

"Because we have complete that exercise since 5 years ago already. When I start training Sasuke that was the first thing I told him to do" answered Naruto with a smug smirk.

Kakashi blinking for a minute then sighed.
"Ok, then. If you two already knows how to do then tomorrow you will help Sakura with the exercise. Alright, team dismissed for now"

Suddenly a young boy run into the room and said bluntly.
"Why are you here? You will all die of not get out of here. Gato will kill you all"

Tsunami and Tazuna rushed to the room and apologized.
"Sorry, for his rudeness. This is my grandson Inari. Say hello to this people Inari"

Inari didn't said anything but just looked at team 7 with disdain then replied.
"You guys are just trying to be heroes. But heroes didn't exist. Only those idiots that trying to risk their life for nothing"

Naruto looked back at Inari and said calmly.
"Whether heroes existed or not is up to you. If you believe in them then they will exist. And you say that we are trying to be heroes? It's nothing like that, we accept the mission that you grandpa has payed for. But just looking at you, I could already feel the fear for Gato coming from you. Gato is a mere coward with money that's all he is. You are afraid of him because you are powerless. But unlike you, I am not. That's why you words mean nothing to me, Inari-san"

For some reason, Naruto's words irritated Inari to no end and he glared daggers at Naruto. Tsunami and Tazuna looked at him nervously and then glanced back at Naruto. Naruto's expression never change. Inari glared at Naruto one last time and turned his back and turned to leave. Tazuna seeing that asked.
"Where are you going, Inari?"

Inari turned his head a little and looked back from the shoulder.
"I will go look at the ocean, grandpa". With that he turned to leave.

Sakura looked back at Naruto and said sternly.
"You shouldn't be so rude to him like that, Naruto-kun"

Naruto just lied down and said.
"Whatever, now I'd like to rest. I am still not fully recovered after all".

Everybody stood up and began to leave. Kakashi before he left said.
"Get well, Naruto"

Sasuke looked at Naruto one last time and turned to leave. After him were Tazuna and Tsunami, they also wish him a quick recover.

The last to leave was Sakura. She looked hesitantly before decided to do what she intent. She crawl closer to Naruto with a blush on her cheeks and muttered hesitantly.
"N-Naruto-kun... I...um"

Naruto looked at Sakura's embarrassed face and chuckled
"You want something, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura feels really embarrassed but she gathered her courage and assault Naruto's lips surprising him. Naruto's eyes widen in surprise and just let her to continue. He didn't kiss back but didn't push her away either. Their hearts began to beat in unison and they could hear each other's heartbeat.

Sakura was a bit disappointed that Naruto didn't kissed her back. But she was still glad because he didn't push her away. Sakura finally separate their lips with a huge blush and a trail of saliva between their lips. She then stood up quickly and rush out of the room.

Naruto blinked a little then touched his lips and smiled and muttered one word.
"Soft"

Outside Naruto's room

Sakura has rushed out from Naruto's room as quick as possible. Her cheeks are still red from the memory of Naruto's lips on hers. Also she could recall that there has beaten in unison. Sakura began to smile softly and touched her lips gently. Inner Sakura couldn't help but to comment.
'Cha, that was incredible girl. Now Naruto-kun is ours. With this we have even the score with Ino-pig. Keep up the good, girly'

Sakura beamed and then head to her room to go to sleep and to prepare for tomorrow training as well as to ask Naruto's help in training her personally.

Zabuza's hideout

After Haku has brought Zabuza back to his hideout, she immediately put him to bed. But not long after that Gato and his goons appeared as they probably heard about his failing attempt to kill the bridge builder.

Gato saw that Zabuza lying injustice bed and approached then scoff.
"Kirigakure no Kijin, my ass! You was defeat by a mere child and you even dare to call yourself a demon?". He was about to strike Zabuza, but suddenly a hand catch his wrist. He looked back and so a murdeous look on Haku's face.

"Don't you dare touch Zabuza-sama with your filthy hand" said Haku with a chilling voice. Gato was startled by her cold voice. The two samurai ronin saw that their boss is in trouble and was to unsheathe their swords.
"Why you little whore..."

But they immediately shut up as Haku suddenly appeared between them and point their sword to their throats. She then looked up with a furious look and said.
"Leave now if you not want to die this very moment. I am mad right now"

Gato back away to the door with his two goons and stuttered.
"D-don't let it happen again, Zabuza! O-or you will regret it". With that the cowardly billionaire disappeared along with his goons.

Haku turned back at Zabuza and asked
"Why can't we just kill that arrogant filth already? He is pissing me off with each time he open his mouth"

"Because we need money to survive Haku. Though for some reason, the world is going to change very quick real soon. And we will be part of that change" respond Zabuza and then closed his eyes to take a nap.

"A big change huh?" muttered Haku for some reason remembered the spiky blond haired boy that had defeat her master by his own.