Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto

Here's the next chapter guys. Be sure read, review, favorite, subscribe, all that jazz.

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PS: I am still Looking for a Beta.

As the hunter nins words floated through his ears, there was only one thing that was on his mind. Not the words or the hunter nin's intentions, but the voice. There was only one other voice that it reminded him of, and the two were and exact match.

"Would you really do that?", began Naruto, still crouched over.

"Ye-"

"Haku"

The hunter nin froze. For a moment, neither combatant moved. Then the hunter nin brought his arms back down and put the senbon away, The reflections of him disappearing one by one from the mirrors. Hands now free, he reached up and removed his mask to reveal a feminine face displaying a sad smile.

"Hello Naruto-san"

Sasuke grit his teeth as he stood a dozen meters from the dome of mirrors the hunter nin had created. Over the past few minutes, there had been small thumps from within the dome as the hunter nin attacked Naruto. Loathe as he was to admit it, he liked Naruto. To him, Naruto was the proof that you could overcome your limits with the right abilities.

Naruto had gone from the class idiot to being well on his path to becoming a competent Ninja. If a single technique could change the Dobe that much, then there was still hope that he could catch up to his brother and make him atone for his sins. Sasuke had tried to learn Naruto's Doki, but Kakashi's insistence that the only reason Naruto could use the technique without shorting out his pathways was because of his Uzumaki bloodline had made him back off from that avenue of advancement.

Who knew that Naruto had a kekkai genkai, even if it was only fast healing. Internally Sasuke remarked to himself that there was no wonder that Naruto's clan had died out. Despite the supposed insignificance of Naruto's clan, Sasuke felt himself connected to Naruto. One was the last Uchiha, while the other was the last Uzumaki. Both of them were loners, and both of them had impossible dreams that would come true, if only due their sheer will power.

Sasuke retrained his attention on the dome as the sounds inside stopped. From between the cracks he could see that Naruto had stopped moving and was facing one of the mirrors. Looking at the other mirrors, Sasuke noted that there were empty, no longer filled with the perfect replications of the hunter nin. He quickly deduced that Naruto was looking the enemy's real location. Finally Sasuke could help.

"Do we have to fight Haku?" Naruto asked. "You're my friend Haku, and I thought I was yours."

Haku stayed silent. face still as he stared at Naruto.

"Please Haku," Naruto begged, "why do we have to fight?"

For a moment, it looked like Haku had no answer. Naruto let himself hope that the fight would end without one of them killing the other.

"Because I am Zabuza-sama's tool." was his reply. Haku raised his head, his face resolute.

Naruto was speechless, trying to process the new information. Haku, kind Haku, Haku who had been so vibrant and joyful had declared herself a tool. "Why?" Naruto asked, trying to understand Haku's position.

" Do you know anything about the civil war in Water country?" Haku asked before Naruto shook his head in refutation. "When I was young, there was a sudden civil war between the general populace and those with Kekkei Genkai. Those without bloodlines believed that Kekkai Genkai wielders at fault for Third Shinobi War and the subsequent poverty that befell Water. Those with bloodlines were sick of being mistreated and attempted to overthrow the Mizukage but failed. Following the failed coup, those with bloodlines were hunted down mercilessly. Those who were lucky got out before the borders closed. The rest were forced to either join the resistance and fear being found by hunter nin, or pretend to be normal civilians and hope that they didn't slip."

Haku gave Naruto a few seconds to absorb that before continuing. "This is my Kekkei Genkai", Haku stated, bringing his arm up and through the mirror.

Naruto watched as a the air around it condensed before turning into a large snowflake made out of crystal-clear ice."the Hyoton. My mother was once the heiress of the Yuki clan of the Land of Snow before they were hunted down for their techniques. Eventually, the only one who remained was my mother and she fled to the Land of Water, hoping to leave the bloodshed behind."

"She succeeded for a while. She found love and married a small farmer in a happy community. I remember walking around the village with mother as people waved to us. It was a quiet but happy life."

"It all ended though. When I first manifested my kekkei genkai, my mother tried to help me suppress it, to keep the others from noticing that I wasn't like them. It was a futile effort. The villagers quickly noticed that water tended to freeze around me. Overnight, the smiles of the villagers turned into sneers. My father grew distant from us, constantly arguing with my mother."

Naruto watches as tears began to build in Haku's eyes as he recounted his story. It obviously pained him to recount his story, but he continued to speak.

"One night, I was woken up as my father crashed through the door of our house, intoxicated and leading a group of men. All of them armed with pitchforks and other farming equipment. My mother tried to protect me. She threw herself in front of the door to our shared room. I watched as my mother begged my father to leave me alone. I watched as he killed her and kept walking forward as she fell, intent on killing me. I watched as my mother's blood spread across the floor, and I watched as my father's blood joined hers as spears of Ice grew around me."

Tears were now streaming from Haku's eyes but his voice remained strong. Not wavering despite his sorrow.

"For months I traveled from town to town, not understanding why I was hated. Why people refused to sell me food when they saw the frost that clung to my clothes. Why they drove me out when I tried to amuse myself with making snowflakes."

Haku turned to look in the direction from which the sounds of Kakashi and Zabuza's clash rang.

"Then he came. When Zabuza-sama came, he gave me food, a purpose. When he looked at me, there was no condemnation in his eyes. He took care of me when the rest of my world hated me. Because of that…"

Haku turned to look back towards Naruto.

"Because of that, I would do anything for him."

Naruto understood as he gazed as the determination in Haku's eyes. They were the same. Naruto would do anything for Iruka, the Sandaime, or the Ichirakus. All three of them had looked at Naruto in acknowledgement when the rest of the village had believed him to be the fox. He understood why Haku was willing to become a tool for Zabuza. He understood that nothing Naruto said would convince Haku to abandon Zabuza.

"I understand Haku-" Naruto began but was cut off when Haku's mirror was enveloped in flames. Panicked, he ran towards the mirror, worried that Haku had been hurt.

As the flames dissipated, the mirror came back into view, intact and unmarred, with Haku still within.

"Don't worry, my mirrors are coated with chakra. Fire of this level won't even raise their temperature." Haku assuaged Naruto, seeing him care for his well being. On the other side of the dome, Sasuke scowled at the mirrors remaining unharmed before he headed back to guard the bridge builder as Haku's image was once more reflected in all the mirrors.

"You're such a kind person Naruto-san." Haku said as he reached into his pouch to once again draw out his senbon, "but you can't truly know of my burden."

Seeing that Haku was about to resume his attack, Naruto jumped back into the center of the dome to attempt to give himself a chance to dodge. From his peripherals, he saw the slightest movement to his left and released a Doki from his left arm before he could fully register the stimulus. As his his head turned to the left, he saw the last senbon fly through one of the cracks in the dome, having been deflected.

Before he could speak up and ask Haku to stop, another barrage of metal came from his right as Haku probed Naruto's defenses.

Haku noted to himself that the defense worked on both sides before he noticed that Naruto's right arm moved slightly slower for a few seconds. Wanting to double check, he threw another set at Naruto and watched as Naruto deflected it with his right arm. Under his breath he counted to five as the arm went from limp to normal. Feeling that he had figured out the trick, Haku threw a pair of Senbon, only throw another pair as soon as Naruto deflected the first pair. He watched in satisfaction as the Naruto didn't attempt to blow the second pair away and tried to dodge, succeeding in evading one of the senbon while the other lodged in his bicep.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he pulled the long piece of metal out his arm. Apparently Haku had figured out that his Doki needed a recharge time. He cursed his technique for needing to recharge but knew that he couldn't do anything about it right now. As Naruto saw the next barrage coming from the left, he tried to restrict the number of tenketsu he release the technique from, but partially failed. As the chakra exploded from his arm, he noted that there was still a small portion left, but not nearly enough to let him deflect the next salvo of oversized needles which ended up peppering his body.

He couldn't concentrate enough as he tried to keep an eye out for the next attack. Even if he could, he doubted it would help keep Haku from using him like a pincushion. What he need was armor. Armor that he didn't have and doubted was anywhere nearby. Thoughts of outside the dome reminded him of Sasuke's fireball and gave him another idea.

Naruto allowed himself to stop and closed his eyes, praying that Haku still liked him enough not to go for a kill shot. Naruto allowed the chakra in his pathways to completely refill, trying to ignore the pain as two more senbon pierced his arms. Once his pathways were full again, he allowed his chakra to slowly seep out of his tenketsu as another set of senbon slammed into his legs. Naruto clenched his teeth as he prepared for the hardest part. His previous thoughts had reminded Naruto of the layer of chakra Haku used to protect his mirrors. Naruto tried to replicate that on himself as drew the chakra he had allowed to seep out of his skin into a tight layer covering his body, grunting as fourth set of senbon embedded in his lower back. With a final mental effort, Naruto felt the layer of chakra stabilize into an extremely thin layer that covered his body. He was just in time as he felt the senbon barely pierce his chest before the tenketsu nearest to point of perforation released and the senbon went flying away.

Confused, Naruto opened his eyes to see three senbon fly towards his chest at extraordinary speed. Naruto both felt and saw what happened next.

Naruto had failed at creating an impenetrable chakra layer to cover his body, but what he did succeed in doing made Naruto grin anyways.

The layer Naruto created was too thin to stop the fast moving senbon. What happened was that when the senbon pieced the layer, the nearest tenketsu reflexively reacted, as the layer was still attached to his chakra circulatory system, and released itself to blow the senbon away before it could pierce too deeply into his skin. What's more, because only a few tenketsu were released at a time, the recharge time was tiny.

Naruto grinned as another three senbon aimed as his back were blown away. He didn't even need to know the senbon were coming. He didn't try to remove the senbon that were still in him, a combination of this being a new technique he was using for the first time and his low control meant that it was all he could do to keep it working.

Naruto waited for Haku to realize that he could no longer pierce Naruto as the number of senbon littering the ground around him increased. It took a minute, but Haku apparently got the message as he eventually stopped throwing and senbon and the mirror images disappeared until a single Haku remained in the mirror in front of him.

Naruto and Haku slowly allowed themselves to calm down as the adrenaline faded from their system.

"Like I said" Naruto spoke softly before Haku figured out a way past his new and unrefined technique and started to attack. "I understand your pain."

"How could you?" Haku asked, his voice now accusatory, frustration at Naruto stalemating his best technique getting to him.. "Even if you had a kekkai genkai, you are a Ninja of Konohagakure. They praise kekkei genkai and would treat you like a prince."

"I'm pretty sure I don't have a kekkei genkai," Naruto said. "And even if I did, I doubt it would help."

Naruto debated whether or not he wanted to do this before deciding that it might be the only way to get a chance to end this fight without death. Naruto reached down to grab the helm of his jacket. "You told me about your curse," Naruto spoke as he pulled up his orange jacket and the shirt beneath it."So let me show you mine."

Naruto began to let his chakra circulate within him and watched as Haku's eyes focused on the seal that appeared on his stomach. He obviously didn't know what the seal signified, Haku's eyes reflecting his confusion. Naruto wondered if those eyes would reflect hatred when he found out.

Mentally shaking his head, Naruto pushed those concerns to the side and forged forward. "On the day I was born, the Kyuubi attacked my village. They always told us that the Yondaime took it with him when he died, but the villagers knew the truth."

Haku's eyes slowly widened as he listened to Naruto's story. He didn't know much about the biju, but when Zabuza had talked about the Mizukage and the Sanbi, he had mentioned that the biju couldn't be killed.

Seeing the dawning understanding in Haku's eyes, Naruto nodded. "That's right. Knowing that he couldn't kill it, the Yondaime sacrificed his life to seal the biju within me. For the first twelve years of my life, I didn't know why people would avoid me in the streets. Why they wouldn't let me play with their kids, and why it was so scary to look in their eyes. I thought about leaving so many times, and probably would have if it wasn't for Ayame-chan. She was helped in her father's ramen store, and when she saw me looking depressed by the road-side, she dragged me over to her store and gave me a ramen on the house."

Naruto rubbed his nose, his eyes now slightly leaking as he told Haku something he had never told anyone else.

"Like I said," Naruto said, wiping his eyes, "I understand because we would both do anything to protect our precious people. That's why I can't hurt you, because you're one of my precious people too."

Haku didn't know what to do. This boy truly understood him. He understood the pain of being isolated for a reason you didn't understand and he understood the Haku's determination to do anything for his precious people.

"I….I really wish there was another way." Haku said, not seeing a way out. Haku didn't want to hurt Naruto, but he would kill his heart and do so for Zabuza if he had to.

"Five minutes," Naruto said, confusing Haku.

"What?" Haku asked confused at what Naruto meant by that statement.

"Give me five minutes and I'll make it so we no longer have a reason to fight." Naruto declared.

Haku's eyes widened at the confidence in Naruto's couldn't figure out how Naruto thought he could end this fight in 5 minutes. By all rights, Haku should take the chance and incapacitate Naruto while he had his guard down, but he found himself believing in Naruto. The utter confidence in the 12 year old's voice indicating that Naruto truly believed that his plan would work.

"...", Haku opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Closing it, he nodded and placed his trust in Naruto.

Naruto smiled at Haku's consent and bit his thumb. quickly running through the now, well ingrained set of hand signs, Naruto smacked his hand against the ground as a small plume of smoke erupted from concrete.

"What the? Naruto?", a voice came from within the smoke. Naruto watched as it dissipated to reveal a small orange toad, "What do you need me for?"

"Hey Kichi, I need you to tell HIM that I'm going to call him. It's an emergency"

Kichi looked like he was about to say something before he just nodded and dispelled himself.

"I need you to open a path out for me," Naruto said, looking back up at Haku, "preferably facing the direction our senseis are fighting"

Haku hesitated a moment before allowing seven mirrors to dissipate. "Please don't hurt Zabuza-sama."

Naruto smiled widely."Don't worry I won't hurt your precious person."

Looking back at the opening, he saw a dense fog from which he heard the sounds of Kakashi and Zabuza fighting. He closed his eyes, concentrating for this next part. Feeling himself centered on what he needed, he kept the thought firmly in his mind as he once more flashed through the seals for the summoning jutsu.

Another puff of smoke appeared when Naruto slammed his hands no the ground. This time, it was the size of a full grown adult.

Naruto watched as the white smoke cleared to show a blue toad, about the size of Tazuna.

"Yo," the toad said, "I'm Gamakaze."

"Can you use wind jutsu?", Naruto hurriedly asked. The toad nodded and Naruto pointed at the dense fog outside the dome. Understanding what needed to be done, brought his hands to his lips before inflating himself to ridiculous proportions. Finally reaching its limits, the toad let out the gathered air and Naruto watched as the chakra laden mist cleared to show a surprised Kakashi and Zabuza.

Naruto didn't bother to wait for them to speak before he dashed out of the dome, using Doki to boost his speed and cratering the concrete beneath him. Zabuza jumped to the side, arms crossed, as he thought Naruto was headed towards him. Naruto ignored him and he reached the edge of the bridge and used his second leg to propel himself upward as he cleared it. Reaching the zenith of this jump, Naruto oriented himself face down.

Naruto was now falling through the air, seconds from landing in the water and his legs remained temporarily useless, not that he would need them. Naruto used the extra air time to pump immense amounts of chakra into his third set of summoning seals. Naruto brought his arms before him as drew closer to the end of this short flight.

The rest of the spectators were confused as they saw Naruto go flying into air and then down towards the water. Only Kakashi had some inkling of what Naruto was attempting.

As his hands made contact with the surface of the water, A huge plume of smoke erupted from the point of contact, reaching the level of the bridge and rising above it.

Zabuza watched with his mouth open as the smoke cleared to show that the genin had summoned the well known chief summon of the toads, Gamabunta.

"Where the hell are you brat," the immense toad rumbled,"Kichi said it was an emergency."

"I'm up here," Naruto panted reeling for the amount of chakra he had used.

Gamabunta noticed that slight weight on top of his head was apparently the newest toad summoner. He debated knocking him off or making him take the obligatory test, but decided to put that off for another time.

"Zabuza!" Naruto shouted, having regained his breath."Stop this fight."

The Demon of the Mist raised his eyebrow at the blonde brats demands. "Oh? And why should I? So what if you summoned the Chief Toad? He won't be any use to you in this fight. He's too big to join in"

Gamabunta stayed quiet, willing to see what his summoner's plan was. It would be a good way to determine the merit of Minato's son.

"I know," Naruto replied, "but try sensing my chakra levels."

Naruto allowed his pressurized chakra to start pouring out of his tenketsu, creating a slight blue tinge around him. Zabuza didn't need to try to sense the blonde's chakra levels. Just seeing the slightly visible chakra pour out of the kid was enough to convince Zabuza that he still had a lot left.

"I have more than enough to summon a small army of battle toads if I want to." Naruto bluffed. He barely had more chakra than a gennin at the moment. "Even you would lose if you tried to battle Kakashi-sensei and the toads at the same time."

Gamabunta internally smiled at Naruto's likeness to his father. He had remembered when Minato had used Gamabunta to stop a village from revolting through pure intimidation. Apparently both father and son prefered to avoid hurting others if possible.

Meanwhile, Zabuza was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the brat really did have the ability to summon a small army of toads, then there would be no chance of winning this fight. If stood down, then it would be equally as bad. Gato was paying a huge amount of money that he could put towards the civil war. If he surrendered, then, not only would he not be paid, he had no doubt that Gato would spread the word that he had given up, tarnishing this reputation and meaning that future jobs would be harder to come by and be lower paying. Before he could make up his mind, he heard footsteps coming from the unfinished end of the bridge. As he turned to see the source, he absently noted that the mist had moved to cover up the giant frog at the side of the bridge.

Everyone on the bridge watched as a short man came into view, leading an army of thugs behind him.

"Gato," Zabuza growled, "what are you doing here?"

The now identified Gato ignored the question as he looked around."I honestly thought at least a few of you would be dead by now," Gato sneered," looks like both you and your enemies are weak."

Zabuza ignored the insult and repeated his question."I asked you what you were doing here Gato"

"Don't you get it yet?", Gato shot back, "I decided you were too expensive so I got an army of thugs to help me put you down. The bounty offered for your head will more that make up for their cost, and I can kill the bridge builder at the same time."

Haku drew up beside her master as he came to terms that he had been double-crossed.

"Kakashi," Zabuza grunted,"It looks like we have no more reason to fight."

"So it seems," Kakashi replied, bringing his headband back down to cover his sharingan.

Haku looked over to the side, hearing that they no longer had a reason to fight, and looked at Naruto, who was just visible over the mist. Naruto shook his head vehemently, denying that this was part of his plan.

Meanwhile, Sakura had decided to voice herself from across the bridge. "Why do you want to control this country so much? They have nothing left to give you. Just leave them alone!"

"Nothing left to give me?" Gato laughed," They still live don't they. I can keep milking them for money for a long as they live. It's their fate to live like animals, scraping the molded food out of their bowel to survive. Who care's if they suffer? They don't matter! besides, if I need more money, I can always sell their women off like slaves. You know what? After I kill then men, I'll make you the first slave! You're a little young, but with your hair, There's bound to be someone who'll p-"

Gato was cut off violently as a kunai entered his skull and exited the other side, taking brain matter and bone fragments with it. On the other side of the bridge, the villagers crested over the hill top in time to hear Gato's tirade and see his subsequent execution.

Everyone looked to see where the kunai had come from, only to see the wall of mist.

Gamabunta had watched the drama play out beneath him as the anger of his summoner shot through the roof. He could actually feel the brat vibrating ,as he held himself back, from where he stood atop the chief toad's head. Bunta's anger had been rising at an equal rate, so when his summoner had taken the unilateral decision to violently end that disgusting midget's life, he approved heartily. He had made his choice. Naruto had proven that he would try to avoid hurting people, but that he could also be ruthless when someone threatened the innocent.

Beneath him on the bridge, the thugs had begun to advance, yelling like barbarians. They had apparently decided that the source of the kunai was one of the ninja on the bridge and declared that they were going to kill the ninja before pillaging the town.

"Gamabunta," Naruto started.

"Got it." the chief toad cut him off, already knowing what he wanted. With a flourish, he unsheathed the massive tanto he kept at his side and plunged it down into the bridge.

Naruto watched atop Gamabunta, using the tree climbing exercise to keep him attached, as Gamabunta's huge sword plunged down, crushing the lead thug before it was cleanly driven through the bridge.

The thugs froze in shock at the lead thug being turned into a blood splatter by a tanto the size of a small building and a enormous toad appearing from the mist.

"This is your only warning," Naruto started, calling their attention further up to see a young blond haired boy standing atop the colossal toad, his voice easily reaching across the now quiet battlefield.."From today onwards, this Land is under the protection of Naruto Uzumaki, genin of Konohagakure. Spread the word that the next time someone tries to take over Wave country, I will come and crush them."

Gamabunta leered at the thugs, causing many to piss themselves. "Make sure that they know that the toads stand with their new summoner and will protect Nami as well." He rumbled.

For a moment, none of the thugs dared move. Gamabunta perceptibly tightened his grip on his tanto and it became the signal for the thugs to turn tail and stampede back the way they came.

The villagers watched as, for the first time in years, their country was free from oppression. Inari started it, but soon everyone was cheering in jubilation.

Gamabunta used his tongue to take hold of Naruto, placing him gently on the bridge. "I like you gaki," the giant toad managed to say softly enough that only Naruto heard him over the cheers." feel free to summon me until Gamakichi is ready."

As Gamabunta dispelled in a plume of white smoke, Naruto let himself relax and felt himself falling backwards as the adrenaline left his system. Before he could hit the ground, he felt someone catch him and looked back to see the smiling face of Haku.

"Thank you Naruto," Haku said, his voice soft but the affection unmistakable,"Thank you for giving me another precious person."

Team seven, Zabuza and Haku were standing at the end of the bridge.

It had taken a bit, but with everyone's help Tazuna's bridge had been finished in record time. When Naruto had finally woken up after passing out on the bridge, he had been surprised to see that Gamabunta's sword had remained in the bridge. After receiving permission from Gamabunta, through Kichi, the villagers had decided to just keep it there as a monument to their freedom.

There was only so much that needed to be done though, so, eventually, it was time to leave and Naruto had a heartfelt goodbye with Inari on the Nami side of the bridge before walking across it with Zabuza and Haku who were leaving as well.

Haku was talking with the genin while the two adults conversed.

"So where are you guys going?" Sakura asked Haku, who was once more in his kimono.

"Zabuza-sama wouldn't tell me." Haku replied.

"You're not coming with us?" Naruto asked.

Haku shook his head, "Zabuza-sama and I are still missing-nin. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't just join Konoha."

Naruto just pouted at that answer.

"It's alright Naruto-kun" Haku giggled,"I enjoyed the time I spent with you. I'm sure we'll meet again."

Before anyone could react, Haku leaned in and gave Naruto a kiss on the cheek.

"Aww," Sakura cooed. " you make such a cute couple."

Sakura waited for a response from Naruto but when she looked over, she saw his completely still and pale face.

"Naruto?" Sakura waved her hand in front of his face, not getting a response."What's wrong with him?"

Haku giggled at Naruto's reaction, "I think it's because I'm a guy."

Sasuke, who had stayed silent till now, widened his eyes in surprise before dry-heaving off to the side.

Sakura seemed have been lost in yaoi fantasy land before a shrill cry snapped her out of her daze. She looked to its source to see a screaming Naruto hightailing it in the direction of Konoha.

AN: Thanks for reading. Please Review