And so time goes on. Fluffy fluff warning. ^_^

BTW if the first thing you think of when you hear 'Sprite' is a soda, you disgust me (joking, kinda). Sprites are beautiful creatures of nature's glorious magic dammit. Read more fantasy! (and consequently live the rest of you life wishing you lived in a novel. Damn you LOTR and Narnia!)

I DON'T OWN NARUTO (do I look like Kishi? no.)

Chapter Five: Growth

So much changed in the years to come. The Chunin Exams, Sasuke's defection, the naming of the Fifth Hokage.

Haku heard of it all. He never ventured too far from Fire Country, even if he knew that it might take years for an opportunity to allow him to find Sakura alone. In the meantime, he stayed alert for any gossip about Konoha –which seemed to be quite the troublesome village.

When he had heard about the Chunin Exams, Haku nearly tripped over himself like some green genin in his haste to reach Konoha. He seemed to reach the village just as the high alert had receded. Despite the increase of security, Konoha was in chaos. It was enough that Haku was able to slip into the village and look for her.

He found Sakura sitting in a hospital bed and his heart nearly failed him at the sight. Her hair was cute short now, and her face was weary, but he thought she was a beautiful sight. Lightly, he had touched her hair, stroking it as he like to do. She had asked him if he missed her long hair, but Haku had shaken his head at her. He had loved her short hair, it reminded him of those first days that they had met when they were small and he had mistaken her for a forest sprite. He still thought that she looked like a pixie, so out of place in the sterile environment of a hospital.

Despite knowing his protective nature of her, Sakura told him the whole story –Orochimaru's appearance, Sasuke's curse, and finally, Gaara unleashing his demon upon the village. Haku nearly cried at the sight of her entire torso wrapped in gauze, Sakura explaining how Gaara's sand had nearly crushed her diaphragm. He held her that night and kissed her, but with the village still on edge, Haku was forced to leave before dawn.

Only weeks later did Haku hear about Sakura's teammate defecting, the boy named Sasuke running off to join with that bastard Orochimaru. Even among missing-nin Orochimaru was detested, and very few in the black market were willing to work for or with the man and his minions. Haku longed to go comfort Sakura, knowing that she would have been devastated, but he had been in the middle of a high-stakes mission at the time, and in the end he never got to visit her.

Two years passed, and though Haku had been unable to visit Sakura, his heart stayed true. The jade beads that circled his wrist was like a permanent piece of her which he carried with him throughout the days.

At some point he heard the Godaime had accepted Sakura as her apprentice, and that Sakura was flourishing under her tutelage. Haku smiled for Sakura and felt pride at her accomplishments. The role of medic was perfect for his little sprite. After all, saving souls seemed to be her specialty.

His heart never stopped longing for her despite the flow of time, but Haku was able to throw himself into his work to drown out its sighs. He had garnered a dangerous reputation in the underworld, something Zabuza would no doubt have been proud of. He had two infamous titles now: The Ice Reaper, referring to his preference for assassination missions, and the Demon Hidden in Ice, referring to his deadly Ice Mirror technique. Haku preferred the first one, however he imagined Zabuza would be absolutely thrilled about the last one. It made Haku feel like he had inherited something from his deceased master, having a title akin to the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Before he knew it, three years had passed.

And that was when he'd next heard news of his beloved.

"What's this?"

A gruff voice carried over the dingy bar which Haku was currently lounging in. Haku usually ignored most people around him, finding the usual rabble of the underground nothing more than uneducated thugs.

"The hell is she doing in the Bingo Book? She looks like she's twelve!"

"Heh, ya think that hair is natural?"

One of the men scoffed in the group crowding around what appeared to be the latest edition of the Bingo Book. "Please, there ain't no way pink hair is natural!"

Haku froze.

"I never heard of pink hair dye either though."

"It's not natural, idiot. Don't be stupid."

"But I'd sure like to check…" One of the men trailed off suggestively, and the group burst into rowdy guffaws of laughter. Haku's grip tightened dangerously around his drink.

"Heh, I agree with ya there bud! She's a beauty ain't she? Bet she's fiery in bed."

"Bit, young though, ain't she?"

"They're never too young!"

Another round of raucous laughter. Hm, looks like he would be killing today after all.

"Excuse me."

The men, a group of six roughed up missing-nin, all probably no more than genin ranked, glanced up as a cold aura suddenly engulfed him. They were all in their late twenties, early thirties, dirty and quite unattractive. They probably made up some pathetic bandit force who terrorized the local travelers. They made quite a mistake coming this close to the city, where the bigger fish liked to swim.

"Eh, whatchya want, lady face?" One man sneered at the rather feminine man before them.

Haku merely smiled serenely. "May I suggest page 24?"

The men paused, before the one directly in front of the book took a hold of the pages and flipped to the aforementioned page. And there, staring blankly out at them, was a picture of Haku. They gasped when they read the title.

Haku no longer kept his hair up in a bun, rather it had become so heavy that it was just easier to pull the long dark chocolate strands into a ponytail which ran the length of his back, side bangs slipping forward and framing his face as they always had.

When he had hit the age of fifteen, Haku had completely shot skywards. Though he had been quite short as a boy, now he reached the same height that Zabuza had once been, though he was still just as lean of muscle. Due to his height change Haku now wore an outfit similar to the standard Kirigakure jounin uniform beneath a dark green haori lined with dark blue trimmings.

"The Demon Hidden in the Ice…" one of the men whispered fearfully.

Haku smiled coldly at them. "You should not talk about her that way."

"What, that girl? Why would you –"

Their protests died as blood gurgled up in their throats, their blood literally freezing due to Haku's ice jutsu. They were dead without too much mess. Haku heard a terrified squeak behind him and turned to see the poor bar tender nearly pissing his pants.

"Ah, I apologize." Haku murmured. "Allow me to clean this up for you."

After swiping the Bingo Book which the thugs had left behind, Haku turned to leave the establishment.

A sheet of ice appeared beneath the six bodies as Haku lifted his hand, directing the ice sheet to carry the corpses outside, where the young rogue discarded them in a nearby waste dump. Glancing around the dilapidated city streets, Haku took a porcelain mask from his waistband and attached it to his face.

He stopped at the edge of the city to open the Bingo Book, quickly flipping the pages until pink flashed across his eyes. Stopping on the correct page, Haku couldn't help but smirk at the stats on Sakura. Though she was only chunin, and those rarely ever got mentioned in the Bingo Book, she had earned her entry by defeating an S-ranked criminal.

"Akasuna Sasori, huh?" Haku murmured. "It seems I am overdue to see you, my little sprite."

It was much easier now to sneak into Konoha than it had been directly after Orochimaru's attack three and a half years ago. Of course, Haku had been a mere chunin in levels of strength, and now he was easily jounin, barely ANBU. However that was the extent of Haku's fortune. He had no idea where Sakura might live, and spent a good half of his night simultaneously dodging village patrols and glancing into windows. He dared not flare his chakra, and so was forced to resort to the oldest method of the ninja arts –stealth.

Somehow, he was not surprised to find her living in an apartment near the hospital. He was glad that he had decided to start his search in that district in the first place, for Konoha was only a village in name, and was one of the largest cities in all of the Elemental Nations.

Sakura's apartment was near the city centre, so her security was not as tight as most ninja's would be. Still, Haku was nearly incapacitated twice by the various traps that she had stationed around her living space.

"Who's there?" Her voice cut through the darkness of her apartment, having woken when she sensed her traps being tripped.

The lights of the main room flickered on and Haku felt his heart warm at the sight of her, dressed in a tank top and shorts for sleeping, a kunai in one hand and her other fist glowing dangerously green.

The lights revealed Haku where he was standing across the room, and her viridian eyes widened at the sight of him. When Haku sent her a lopsided smile, the pinkette let out a joyous laugh and flung herself at him, the kunai safely tucked into the waistband of her shorts. Haku swept her up into his arms and spun her around, kissing her soundly on her lips.

Playfully, Sakura bumped her fist on his shoulder, sending him a mock glare. "You made me wait three years you bastard."

"Gomen, gomen." Haku murmured as he nuzzled his face into her neck. He had to bend down to do so, since the top of Sakura's head barely reached his shoulder now. "If it makes you feel better, every year apart from you felt like a century, my little forest sprite."

"Flatterer." Sakura huffed, though her eyes twinkled up at him with so much adoration that Haku was sure that he was going to float away with ecstasy, drown in those pools of bright jade.

The murderer, thief, monster that he was did not deserve a creature as precious as her, but Haku would be damned if he ever let anyone else have her. And though Sakura would never associate him with the word 'selfish', Haku was well aware of how greedy he was when it came to the pinkette. Controlled and polite most of the time, Haku was possessive when it came to Sakura. If he could, he would spirit her away to a remote cottage in the mountains, where no man would ever be able to gaze upon her face or receive her attention. Hell, he even got jealous when he glanced up and saw pictures of her and Naruto hanging on the wall.

Sakura's giggle interrupted his thoughts. "Maa, Haku-kun you got taller. Waaaay taller." She then pouted slightly. "We were the same height last time I saw you!"

Haku chuckled. "That was over three years ago, my little sprite."

Sakura rolled her eyes and finally released her hold on him, beckoning him to follow her into the kitchen where she pulled out a tea set and began making tea.

"Why do you call me that?" Sakura asked him and she set the tea down on the table between them.

Haku smiled as he sipped her tea, the jasmine flavor soothing his tongue. He did not remember when he had let slip his favorite flavor, but somehow she always knew.

"Would you prefer the term 'faerie'?" he asked her.

Sakura furrowed her brows. "What does that have to do with it?"

"When I first met you in that forest so many years ago, I thought you were a spirit of some sort. A forest sprite or fearie." Haku admitted with a fond smile.

Sakura blushed. "W-What? Really? It's the hair, isn't it?"

Haku laughed and leaned forward, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger, tugging on it teasingly. "Yeah."

Sakura laughed at his honest answer and they fell into a familiar rhythm, exchanging stories of their adventures during their time apart. Sakura was fascinated by his years as a rogue, never flinching from the less-than-savory aspects of being a criminal, not judging him for the blood staining his hands. Haku was amused by her own stories, of her friends and family and the general whirlwind of chaos that was her team. He would admit to being jealous of those men, who got to see her every day and had been there for her victories and defeats. Naruto especially, for when Sakura spoke of him her eyes shone with such pride and love that Haku had to remind himself that she only saw him as a brother. Still, he cut off her hero-worship of the blonde by slipping out of his seat and catching her in surprise by the lips.

When they pulled away Sakura was flushed, but she smirked through it, her eyes glinting mischievously as she asked, "You were jealous of Naruto, weren't you?"

Haku could only smile guiltily, not bothering to deny the fact. Sakura kissed him again, because he had the most powerful puppy eyes she had ever seen in her life, and when he smiled like that, like a little child caught stealing from the cookie jar, her heart melted and pooled warmth into every part of her body.

"It's nearly four-thirty in the morning. You must be tired, Haku-kun." Sakura murmured against his lips as she stood up and picked up the tea tray, placing it next to the sink in her kitchen.

"Would you like to use the guest room tonight?" She asked as she led him into the living spaces of her apartment.

Haku gave her a look, and Sakura chuckled softly. "Alright, alright. You can sleep in my room tonight."

"Where else would I sleep?" Haku asked her teasingly.

Sakura rolled her eyes but her grin was permanently plastered to her face whenever he was with her. Haku showered in her bathroom and borrowed her toothpaste and brush. She had several pairs of men's sweatpants for times when her teammates crashed at her place, which Haku used as his pajamas that night. When he emerged from the bathroom, feeling infinitely more alive after years on the road, he was drying his hair with a towel as a few rebel drops followed the planes of his pectorals.

The bright blush on Sakura's face was priceless. She covered her face with her hands and groaned into them. "No, Haku, don't do this to me."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Haku replied calmly, although the small smile on his lips spoke of his arrogance.

He threw the towel aside and climbed into bed with her, Sakura allowing him to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his arms. She eagerly curled into him, inhaling his familiar scent, pressing her ear against the warmth of his chest and listening to his heartbeat.

"I love you, Haku-kun." She murmured as she lightly pecked the center of his chest.

Haku sighed contentedly and squeezed her tighter, burying his face in her hair and savoring her sweet scent.

"I love you more than words can describe."

He was home.

There will probably be one or two more chapters after this, depending on how long the ending ends up being. Like I said in the beginning, this was only meant to be a short story.

WARNING: Next chapter will definitely change the rating of this story to M. Nothing pornographic, but sexytime will happen. Sexyfluff.

Review my lovely readers!

~Lilithia