Chapter 1, Part 2: Quick Preparations and a boat ride

Throughout the twenty-nine years of his life, he had only shown any emotion when he was a child - for the first and last time.

Then, how did some random punk get to him to so quickly, so forcefully?

Zabuza pulled the grey, hooded cloak across his chest after donning a red oni mask.

The village doctor had told them to come back after an hour to collect Haku, for she needed time to prepare a stretcher with straps to stabilise his body. Then, immediately after, he would to meet up with Kakashi's group at the docks. Slinging his pack over his shoulder, he opened the door and headed out. It should be ready by now.

"We are leaving," he said, unconsciously expecting to hear the sound of even footsteps following behind him.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama," a pleasant voice softly reached his ears.

Frowning, the former Mist-nin turned around, only to find empty space. Sadistic brat...

A chilly wind gently blew past him, causing the bottom of his cloak to flare out a little.

He hadn't walked alone for a quite a while.

"Hurry up! What's taking you guys so long?" Sakura heard the blonde scream from outside. Poking her head out of the window, she sighted the young genin pacing up and down, his arms impatiently folded behind his head.

"Shut up, you idiot!" came the Uchiha's response from an adjacent room. "We're coming already!"

"Jeez, even the old man moves faster than you." Naruto shouted back from the ground floor.

"Naruto! The Hokage is the best shinobi in the entire village; you can't just call him anything you want, you know?" Sakura intervened.

"Whatever, whatever. I'm gonna surpass the geezer and become Hokage, then no one will have to worry about this stupid manners thing."

She couldn't pinpoint why, exactly, but she had been feeling rather uncomfortable lately, especially after the incident at the Land of Waves, and this distress was manifesting in her previous outbursts towards Naruto and Inner Sakura. Hopefully, this wretched feeling would go away on its own, somehow.

"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed and grinned as Sakura and Sasuke stepped out of the house a minute later, his arms still folded behind his head. Kakashi-sensei had left earlier to make arrangements with the boatman, and he had told them to wait for him and Zabuza at the docks as soon as possible.

Soon, the two genin had caught up with their teammate and they started walking towards the docks.

A large smiled still plastered across his face, he turned towards Sasuke, realising that they hadn't really talked to each other ever since their return from the Great Naruto Bridge.

"Hey, Sasuke," he called out to his raven-haired teammate.

"What is it?" the Uchiha scowled at him.

Naruto pouted his lips and glared back at him through his squinted eyes. He was actually about to thank Sasuke for saving him during their mission, but now he didn't feel like it.

"Why are you so grumpy today?" the blonde questioned.

"Tch, it's none of your businesses," Sasuke snapped back at him, his eyes angrily darting to the right.

Sasuke wasn't exactly a cheerful person, but he seemed moodier than usual, even by his standards. Now that he thought about it, Sakura seemed kind of down as well. Unfortunately, neither of them were probably going to open up, at least to him.

He wished that he had someone to talk to and relate to. Sure, Iruka-sensei and the Hokage were nice to him, but they were so much older than him; it wasn't the same as having someone who was his peer.

If Haku stayed at Konoha, then maybe...hopefully...they could be friends?

Kakashi observed his students who were quickly approaching him, Zabuza and the boatman flanking him on his right and left respectively. They had carefully positioned Haku on the boat's floor to prevent the ice from shaking too much.

The Leaf-nin sighed as he turned to look at the vast ocean before them. This was going to be a long journey.

It was already almost sunrise, and the water was around freezing point; the temperatures were much lower at the Land of Waves than at home. The sea was calm that night; the waves gently lapped against the hull of the wooden boat.

They would probably reach dry land again in another hour or so. Then, they would have to spend a few more hour trekking through the forest to get to the main gates.

Though it was pitch black, the Uchiha was still able to make out his surroundings. Zabuza was still polishing his sword even though he had been doing so since the start of the ride, Haku lying unconscious beside him. Sitting opposite to him was Kakashi, who seemed to be buried in his book despite the low visibility. Sakura had taken her place right next to him. Though her eyes were glued shut, his sharp vision picked up subtle movement beneath her eyelids. Maybe she was actually thinking about something intelligent instead of fangirling over him for once.

He took a quick glance at Naruto, who appeared to be lost in thought. That's...odd. He never really seemed to be the type who could sit still and think. But honestly, why was he surprised? Naruto had no one to talk to for years; he must have learned to keep himself company a long time ago, perhaps even earlier than himself.

He still couldn't believe the way he had instantly lost his sense of self-preservation during the fight at the bridge.

"My body just...moved on its own..."

Sasuke grimaced, but thankfully no one could see due to the darkness. That sounded so stupid, especially coming from him. His body just moved on its own...Sure it did.

What puzzled him was the fact that the worst student in the entire cohort managed to win against the very enemy he could not defeat. How did he, a genius, get overtaken by the Dead Last student within just weeks? To add insult to injury, an assassin was being nice to him out of pity.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his brother's words echoing within his mind.

There is no value in killing the likes of you.

If he couldn't even beat the Dead Last student and some crossdressing teenager, how was he supposed to land a hit on him?

The Uchiha frowned as his fingers tightened around the edge of the wooden seat.

If he kept falling behind, he would never be able to become the true Avenger of his clan He needed to get stronger. Much, much stronger. Even if it meant sacrificing his pride.

The monotonous scraping of rice paper against steel was getting under her skin.

Sakura just wanted to rest; they had been travelling for so long already. However, she was stuck with that A-ranked criminal, and it simply wouldn't do to let her guard down. The noise served as a perfect reminder of that.

Just weeks ago, she was the one with all the answers, the one who could solve any problem thrown at her. What happened to all that?

She had thought that she would be able to adapt to the lifestyle of a shinobi, just as she had adapted to excelling as the top student. It was only now that she was starting to comprehend that the ways of students and shinobi were miles apart, far greater than she had first assumed.

As she sat in the boat with her fellow teammates, the boy, and the two jounin, another realisation was starting to sink in.

She was, quite bluntly, the worst fighter amongst all of them, save for the boatman of course.

It was a bitter pill she didn't quite feel like swallowing. When she first joined Team Seven, she thought that she would at least be better than Naruto, the one who had virtually no chakra control, horrible taijutsu skills and zero knowledge of literally anything.

Sure, she did know that she wasn't the best fighter among her peers, but she thought that she would at least be more useful than Naruto.

Naruto and Sasuke had freed Kakashi-sensei from Zabuza's Water Prison jutsu, stood up against that boy and actually managed to make some progress.

She, in the meantime, had just stood next to Tazuna like a blinking idiot with a puny kunai knife like it was going to help much. She literally had one job - to stop any attacks directed towards him. But she managed to mess that up; Kakashi-sensei even had to risk himself just to protect both the bridge-builder and her, effectively turning her into a liability for the team.

What's the use of studying so much if all she could do was just stand there like some deer in the headlights?

Somehow, she had managed to convince herself for so long that her studies at the Academy were enough, that book smarts were all she really needed. Now, looking back on her delusional thinking, she felt like going back in time to slap herself.

If she had learned anything from this mission, it was that she needed to start pulling her socks up.

Zabuza continued to glide the rice paper against his the edge of the kubikiribocho. He could tell that Sakura had been feeling uneasy around him, which he found mildly amusing.

His gaze shifted to the raven-haired genin. When he first saw the Uchiha emblem sewn onto the back of his shirt, he couldn't believe that he was actually Konoha's Last Uchiha. What was the Hokage thinking, letting the sole survivor of a powerful clan run all over the place like that? He should be hiding his abilities, not flaunting them. Like the Byakugan, the Sharingan was highly coveted - which would certainly attract a lot of unwanted attention to the kid who couldn't even hold his own against an average chunin.

In fact, he never allowed Haku to use his ice techniques under broad daylight. The only reason he had allowed him to do so this time round was because only Konoha-nin were present, and this village had never pursued kekkei genkai users for the sake of obtaining power due to its diplomatic foreign policy. In addition, the surrounding villagers and fishermen were definitely too weak to pose a threat to them should they give chase. They were too caught up with their own problems to meddle with the affairs of others in the first place.

"Hey, boat guy, how long more before we get there?" a familiar voice drawled.

"Naruto...you should address him as Mr Watanabe!" Sakura hissed darkly.

"Ten minutes!" came the boatman's enthusiastic response.

The swordsman turned to look at the blonde. Naruto's eyes were squinted, his lips seemingly curled upwards in annoyance.

"Aww, man. Can't you make this thing go faster?" he yawned.

"Cover your mouth when you yawn!" Sakura sighed in exasperation.

Zabuza masked his disbelief well.

There was something that Naruto was hiding behind that facade of his, and something told him that he wasn't a stranger to this something. He dipped his rice paper in a small bottle of lacquer thinner once again, his conversation with Haku from a few days ago coming back to him...

"I have returned," a voice quietly announced, followed by thudding of a closing door and brisk footsteps heading towards the kitchen counter.

The former Mist-nin leaned his back against the headboard of his bed, stretching his neck upwards. Earlier that morning, Haku had left to collect more herbs, donning a sleeveless, amaranth pink kimono.

"So, whose mind did you mess with today?"

For a few seconds, the only sounds present were the clicking of the electric ignition and the hissing of gas. He could hear the clinking of a metal pot as it was set onto the stove, presumably filled with water.

"I'm glad you are recovering," his protege replied a little flatly after a long pause, his back facing him as he neatly chopped the herbs before adding them to the pot.

Zabuza grunted. He had been with the brat long enough to know that something was off. Coolly, he tilted his head, staring at him expectantly.

"Just spit it out," he dryly said.

Feeling his mentor's eyes on him, Haku turned around and walked to his bedside, his shoulders stiffening.

"Zabuza-sama," he started, clearly hesitating. "I must ask if you will allow me to spare the genin who wears the orange jumpsuit."

Zabuza furrowed his brows.

"What's so special about him?"

His apprentice bit his lip, the corners of his eyes twitching.

"He has...dreams...and..."

"...He is...burning..."

"Everyone, we have reached our destination!" the boatman exclaimed, as if the long journey didn't tire him at all. On the contrary, he looked even more energised than before. He cheerfully looked around to see how his passengers were doing.

The one with the pink hair seemed at ease, though tired. The black-haired one seemed to be even grumpier than when they had departed, and the blonde one looked alright, though a little gloomy. Ah, the dreaded seasickness was a terrible affliction. Perhaps he should bring them all on more boat rides, and teach them to enjoy the pleasures of sailing. Then, maybe they wouldn't be looking so depressed!

The girl on the stretcher was worryingly pale at the start, but now she seemed a little less white, and the chunk of ice on her shoulder had gotten a little smaller. Of course she was going to be fine! The sea has miraculous healing properties, after all!

He sighed in disappointment as he looked at the two grown men; he couldn't see any emotions on their face. Were they tired? Happy? Hungry? He would never know. They didn't even respond to his announcement! Did they think they were too cool for him? How dare they! Without him, they would still be stranded on that island!

"Rejoice! We have reached our destination!" he joyously declared as he picked up both oars, one pointing at each of the jounin, almost hitting Sakura and Naruto in the process.

"Okay," the white-haired one replied as he continued flipping through his book. The brown-haired returned his bottle of lacquer thinner to his pack and sheathed his sword. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed to be in the mood for rejoicing.

"Come on! You've all reached home; you've got to feel something! All us are young! We must savour and enjoy and appreciate every moment of our lives, especially in the prime of our lives!" he bellowed as he exhuberantly pointed his right oar towards the sky, vigorously rocking the boat in the process.

"Goodness," the white-haired one sighed. Finally, finally he said something else! Anyone else would have thought he was mute!

"You have a relative living in Konoha, don't you?"

How did he know? Did he read his mind? Was he psychic?

He looked at the mask covering his left eye. That's it! It must be his eye! How humble of him to hide it instead of showing his powers to the world! How noble!

"You are psychic!" The boatman gasped. "He is my cousin's sister's mother's son's brother's cousin! Like me, he is able to truly able to appreciate the wonders of sailing!"

"Oh god, he actually has a family," he heard the white-haired one groan under his breath.

"Of course I have a family!" the boatman retorted. "My family extends far and wide, from the chilly tundras of Yukigakure to the scorching deserts of-!"

"We are to alight now. Sadly, we have business to attend to, and cannot afford hear about your family," the white-haired one quickly interrupted him and pointed at the area surrounding the hull of the boat.

The boatman sighed as he looked at the sandy ground. It seems that they have arrived at dry land. Fine, fine! Next time he would tell them if he ever saw them again!

The boatman raised his hand, and turned around to address his beloved passengers. Unfortunately, none of them were within sight anymore, leaving him to stand alone in his vessel. They were shinobi, weren't they? No one else could move so quickly, so stealthily.

Oh well, one must not dwell on the past and focus on the future! After all, he had a secret assignment eleven hours later, and he would be accompanying a lovely lady and two handsome lads on a long, treacherous trip to the Land of Water from the Land of Waves.

Author's note:

First off...Happy New Year:D I hope everything goes smoothly for you guys, wherever you may be:P
This chapter is really short because it's meant to be a brief transition to the next chapter, which is really long x.x Anyways, thanks so much for reading my fanfic ^_^