Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and gang. Just playin' with 'em ;P. Any OCs you see in the story are mine.

Review Replies: THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED!
Kuria Kitsune: Yes, most likely NaruHaku. . .or maybe a threesome ;P who knows?
Dragon Man 180: Naru's 8, Haku's 6.
TimeReaper: I try :P
Dajare: Thanks! I wanted that chap to get people teary-eyed :P
Ebil-Baka: :D
drunkdragon12888: Really? I just based it off my main character of my original works.
The-Rogue-Otaku: Thank you!
Zhuyou: Me thank you!
nishasha: Sorry, but I don't do yaoi :P
bhodi li: You didn't cry?! NOOOOO I HAVE FAILED :(

Notes: Sorry for the long wait. School is starting so updates would be later. Sorry. And yeah, this is a short chapter too . Oh well, I'll try to make the next one longer.

Chapter Five: A slap to the face, Shot in reality.

Haku awoke to a orange mist curling around her feet. Shivering, she pulled the blankets closer to her. She huddled in the sleepy warmth of the woolly cloths, before noticing the blond boy sitting by the river, leaning back onto his arms as he stared at the rising sun.

The orange beams gently licked the boy's face, bathing in a surreal golden glow. His flaxen locks swayed in the chilly morning breeze while his loose shirt flapped with a multitude of slow ripples ruffling across.

Suddenly, Naruto cocked his head back, his unexpected sideways glance at Haku startling the girl a little.

"Neh. . .awake Haku-chan?" the boy grinned.

Haku nodded.

Leaping up from the grass, Naruto walked over to his backpack and pulled out a long towel. Flinging it over to Haku, he gave her another grin before saying, "You should wash up. I'll go buy breakfast. Wait here, ok?"

The raven-haired girl nodded dumbly. Naruto then started walking back down the dirt path to the city when Haku's soft, stuttering whisper stopped him.

"Narashi-kun. . .arigatou."

Turning back, Naruto just beamed. "Meh. . .it was no problem."

Haku, seeing the blond's shining eyes, smiled.

"You know Haku-chan. . .you're beautiful when you smile."

With that, the blond was gone, a slight rustle of leaves fading in the wind as he left a stunned Haku, with the towel swaying in her frozen fingers.

---

After fifteen minutes, Naruto returned with seven bowls of steaming ramen. The two sat down and ate their share quietly.

"Hey Haku-chan," said Naruto, finally a few moments of finishing his sixth (and last) bowl.

"Hmm?"

"You know how you said last night on how you wanted to be a medic nin?"

Haku glanced at her companion curiously.

"Her name is Tsunade. She's considered one of the greatest medical ninjas, able to heal almost any wound. She is one of the Three Sennins of. . .K-Konoha."

Haku inwardly frowned at Naruto's stutter of "Konoha", but did not dwell on it as the boy continued his little speech.

"See. . .I have an. . .ailment of sorts that hampers my ability to do jutsus. And my um, sensei doesn't wish to accept another stude---"

"Ailment? What. . .what do you mean? I've never read about such a sickness before. . ."

"I. . .um. . .don't know how to say this. I just. . .can't use standard jutsus, like Henge or Bunshin," trailed off Naruto. Yet, he gave Haku an exultant smile, his eyes closed in confidence as he proclaimed in a loud braw.

". . .but don't worry! Something as small as that won't get me down! I'm awesome!"

HAH! YOU WISH.

Argh, shut-up Kawaiibi. No one asked you.

Haku grinned with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Narashi-kun. . ."

"Anyway. . .as I was saying, Tsunade is a great medical nin. Apparently, she wanders around villages, trying her horrible luck out in various gambling dens.

I was thinking that it would be great for you if you could be apprenticed under her. You'll make a great medic nin!" finished the blond.

Then, his eyes dimmed. His smile cracked.

"But. . .but there's one problem. According to my, um, source, she just wandered into. . .

. . .into the Village of Mist."

Haku still. Her blood chilled. Her chestnut eyes widened.

"We. . .can wait. But, if we do, we won't know which country she goes next. My um, source says that it was pure coincidence that he found Tsunade," muttered Naruto as quickly as possible while averting his gaze to the ground.

The wind whipped around them harder. Leaves drizzled around them in twirling spirals, their brown, crinkled surface glowing with the dulled orange of the sun.

The grass bowed, the glinting dewdrops on their lush green became more apparent as the sky ebbed into a bright sky-blue.

"I'll. . .we'll. . .go."

Naruto was surprised. "You're. . .you're going?! Demo. . ."

Haku stared at the swaying grass. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Exhaling loudly, she reopened her eyes and jerked her head up, looking straight into Naruto's eyes.

Determination was set deep into her hazel orbs. The fear, terror and horror that flashed through the girl of yesterday was erased in the girl of today. Haku sat straighter, her lips set in a grim line as she quietly, but firmly spoke.

"I will not run."

. . .I will not run. . .

Naruto widened his eyes in surprise. With those four words, any traces of the frightened girl that he had found was gone.

She would not run.

. . .but, hey, you know what? They pulled through it. They went through shit, but they still can talk about it, openly too. . .

Naruto wanted to cry. He opened his mouth to protest against her decision, but no sound came out.

. . .if you do not confront those fears, they will not disappear. They will always remain in your mind, to haunt you, to molest you, leaving you broken and wasted. . .

He had ran. He had ran for years. Now he was still running.

Yet she. . .she stopped running.

Was he truly a coward?

Naruto had no answer. Even now, the faint cries of his younger self drifted through the door of that memory, the door which he had taken years to seal, years to bury.

Naruto shut his mouth and looked away.

Haku may have a great emotional wound cut into her, but Naruto had it worse. The curses of the villages, the cross-shaped brand that was still left embedded onto his chest. . .

Yet the blond knew he was making excuses.

"If. . .if you truly wish to go now, we shall leave."

"H-hai."

Naruto packed the blankets and towels back into his bag. Picking the backpack up and hoisting it onto his shoulders, the blond gave a shaky smile to Haku, before setting off for Water Country, with Haku trailing behind him.

Am. . .am I truly a coward?