Part I: Haku, You're Free

The Sandaime took a long smoke from his pipe and blew a large cloud of smoke from his nostrils before saying, "Now the matches will be set up." Glancing at the first match, he announced, "Haku vs. Kiba Inuzuka. "

Naruto glanced at Haku and laid a hand on her shoulder, which was shaking from nervousness. "Don't worry; you'll do fine. Kiba's tough and all, but you have the brains of this battle. In the ninja world brains come before brawns and strategy before power. Plus, you have speed, which no doubt Kiba can barely match even though he's fast."

Haku gulped before murmuring, "Yes, but can I have enough stamina and energy to last throughout the battle long enough to use my brains and speed?"

Naruto shook his head dismissively and replied, "Have some confidence and you'll do fine."

Haku nodded, and she brushed her cheek against Naruto's soft hand before leaping off the railing into the arena. Hayate coughed a bit before saying, "Whenever you two are ready, begin."

Kiba hesitated before muttering to Akamaru, "No fair. They expect me to hit a girl." Ino and Sakura obviously heard that and were screaming indignantly at him from the small audience. "Well, she is a girl!" He pointed a thumb at Haku. "What? You want me to call her a boy? Man, that would be rude! Unless you are a boy?" he asked uncertainly at Haku, who flushed but was silent due to the fact that she was too mortified by his question to answer.

Naruto smiled. "Good thing Haku's not hot-tempered or else Kiba's good as goner. Girls don't normally take those kinds of comments as compliments. Quite the contrary."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You would've thought that girls swooning over my body would want the same thing for themselves."

Sakura gaped, and Naruto leaned over the railing, trying to hide his laughter. Then, regaining control of himself, he whispered to Sasuke, "Otouto, uh, girls like you for your looks and skills; they don't exactly want your body for themselves to have (meaning they don't want to be a boy - that's the greatest insult you can give a girl), though if you're toned and in shape, it would help them like you even more."

Sasuke made a motion with his hand impatiently. "I knew that!"

Kiba had no idea why everyone was making a huge deal out of his comment...until Sakura screamed at him, "How DARE you insinuate Haku's a boy?!!!!" He learned it the hard way when she threw a coconut (it just randomly appeared, okay?) at his head, and it landed squarely on his forehead, resulting in a huge bruise.

Ino nodded approvingly at her action. "Serves him right! We girls have to stick together, though you still have a huge forehead."

Sakura had a tick above her forehead as she marched over to Ino, and the two began to hurl insults at each other.

Kiba rubbed his head and muttered, "Fine, she's a girl. No need to get harsh." Then he smirked at Haku. "I was joking about not being able to hurt a girl. Come at me with everything you got."

Haku shook her head. "You attack first."

"I'd be happy to!" Akamaru poofed and an identical clone of Kiba appeared. Kiba explained, "Akamaru and I battle as a tagteam."

Haku nodded, not really concerned. Two fight together, two lose together. All she hoped for was that her low stamina doesn't provide an obstacle to her kekkei genkai. As Kiba charged, his speed momentarily caught her off guard as he was extremely quick. The moment she dodged his, Akamaru came from behind and rammed into her. Haku let out a pained groan before pulling out one of her scrolls and threw it to the other side of the arena. This action went unnoticed by Kiba.

"So ya wanna give up yet?" Kiba asked, noting as she gripped her side where Akamaru had rammed into her.

"Not yet." Haku sent a small charge of her chakra to her scroll on the other side of the arena and released a torrent of water at Kiba. Kiba yelped in surprise as cold water drenched him to the skin. Haku smiled and took control of the water before it seeps through the ground and direct it at Akamaru, also drenching him.

Naruto grinned and turned away. Kiba and Akamaru had already lost the moment the water drenched them.

Haku smiled and asked, "You might want to give up now."

"No way!" Kiba charged at Haku, who immediately activated her bloodline limit - the ability to control both wind and water chakras to create ice. Kiba felt a sudden drop in temperature and noticed that all the water on him and Akamaru froze.

"Crud..." he muttered, his teeth chattering. Akamaru's fur went stiff, and the duo tried unsuccessfully to break their icy coating. The more they struggled, the more chakra Haku had to put in to harden the ice; this Haku realised was serious. Her chakra was running out way too fast.

Haku controlled her water to envelope Kiba and Akamaru into an icy sphere, suffocating them and weakening them. She had no intention of killing her opponents, but this was the only way she could think of to defeat them with her low stamina. The quicker the battle was over, the better off she was. After a few minutes, Kiba and Akamaru ceased struggling. The ice finally broke as Haku's chakra was nearly used up. She stumbled a bit before sitting down to steady herself.

Hayate declared Haku the winner and thought, If Kiba could hold on just a while longer, he might've won.

Kiba was pale on the floor and Akamaru was still unconscious. Haku was beginning to worry whether she had overdone it but her fears were quickly put to rest as Naruto shook his head assuringly. "Kiba will be fine. Probably he'll get a cold for a few days, but it's nothing to worry about."

Haku smiled sadly and watched as medics carried the duo from the arena. It was clear to her that she wasn't meant to be a shinobi that can kill without feeling guilty. Naruto may be able to do it as circumstances call, but she can never do it. Her life shouldn't evolve around killing and taking away life. It belongs in saving and preserving life. Right then, Haku wanted nothing other than to become a medic-nin. The feeling of a shuriken or kunai somehow scares her as if she was destined to put those weapons down. But it seems as if Naruto-sama and Sasuke-sama are intent on becoming plain ninjas and they probably want me to become one with them, too. Haku was torned once again. Two decisions. She could either go her own path or the path that Naruto, who was the one who saved her, wanted her to go. "I can never be happy doing things he disapproves of..." she muttered to herself. She was eager to do whatever it takes to please him, even if she had to give up her own dreams for his. She wanted to make his dreams come true even though in the process...she will never be able to fulfill her own.

Naruto looked back at her worriedly and asked, "Are you okay, Haku-chan?"

Haku felt a tingle of pleasure when he called her that. "I'm fine...Naruto-kun." She might as well call him by a new title as he was going out with her now.

Naruto gave her a look. "Really, Haku, what's wrong? I won't laugh." Really, she needs to learn to share her feelings. All those emotions bottled up would drive her crazy one day.

Haku looked into Naruto's eyes once again and they, once again, gave her strength. "It's just that I don't want to be a killer...I want to be a medic-nin instead." She was practically pleading to him.

"So aim to be one," was his apt reply. "You don't have to learn to kill if you don't want to. That's what I like so much about you; you're so pure and innocent. What are you so scared of? That I'd disapprove?" Receiving a nod as an answer, he sighed, exasperated, and replied, "Haku, you're free. You're not my slave or anyone else's. You're free to become whatever, whomever you want. If I wanted you to do whatever I want, you'd still have your collar on. I don't want you to have to do only what other people want you to do. You're free, and no one can or should take your freedom away from you. Go be a medic-nin if that's what you truly want. I have some medic books you can borrow." Naruto smiled as he closed his eyes, reciting a statement he had heard from his years abroad,
"'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.' In a land far away, the heart of a government resides in the fact that the people governed have the right to pursue happiness, as long as they don't take away another person's rights in the process. Haku, you're not my inferior. We're equal in everything except skill level. You have the right to do however you want with your life."

"So you aren't upset that I don't want to be a shinobi?"

"Not at all." Naruto shook his head and asked, "Do you need me to carry you? You look a little drained."

Haku shook her head and stood up, wobbling unsteadily before walking up the stairs. "Haku-san..." Haku turned around to see the shy Hyuuga girl Naruto had introduced to her the other day. "Yes?" Haku asked.

"You're bleeding..." Hinata glanced at Haku's side, which was dripping with blood from Akamaru's claws. Haku widened her eyes in surprise; she hadn't noticed.

Hinata fingered the ointment she held - she had meant for it to be for Naruto. However, Haku needed it more than her crush does. Not one for words, Hinata handed the taller girl the ointment without saying anything - only smiling.

Haku took it, looking at it curiously. "Is this ointment?" Receiving a nod, she returned Hinata's smile and said, "Arigato, Hinata." She studied her wound before applying carefully, wincing as the ointment stung her slightly. The scratch wasn't too deep but it was deep enough to keep her bleeding.

Hinata sat down next to Haku and decided to ask the question that's been on her mind for the last few hours. "A-are you and Naruto-kun close?" she asked, politely avoiding to ask, "Are you and Naruto going out?"

Haku nodded. "We're a couple now."

"Oh." Hinata cast her eyes downwards. It was too late for her now. Naruto already have someone; the worst part was that she didn't even tell him. She wasted all her chances and now, he got another person to turn to. Oh, who was she kidding? Even if she had told Naruto, he still wouldn't go out with someone like her. How many times have the elders called her weak? Here, Haku was a ninja for less than three months and had beaten Kiba, whom she herself had trouble beating and had been training for most of her life!

"Something wrong?" Haku watched her worriedly.

"It's nothing." Hinata closed her eyes. "How did Naruto meet you?"

Haku replied, slightly uncomfortable with the subject, "He met me on one of his missions. I didn't know I was a ninja back then." Hinata didn't press her, but she could feel her curiosity. "You seem as if you want to ask a question. What's your question?"

"Why did he take you back to Konoha if he didn't know you were a ninja?" Hinata wondered briefly whether Naruto was in love with Haku then - the moment he saw her. Sensing Haku's discomfort, she added quickly, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to!"

Haku sighed and replied, "Let's just say my life then wasn't close to being pleasant. In fact if told truthfully, I was miserable. Then, death would've been merciful. When Naruto came, I didn't trust him at all. I thought he was going to hurt me like everyone else did, but he gradually gained my trust and I never regretted my decision to trust him."

Hinata was silent. Haku seemed to have lived through more than just verbal abuse, like she had. "What happened?"

Haku scrutinized Hinata cautiously, wondering if Hinata was trustworthy enough to tell. How differently would she treat her if she knew Haku had been a slave? Seeing Hinata's gentle, kind, timid features, Haku knew she was trustworthy; Hinata's eyes were similar to hers as if Hinata, too, had live through some of the hardships Haku faced (dead mothers [maybe], evil fathers [though Hinata's didn't try to kill her], etc). "Do you really want to know?" Then she began telling Hinata of what happened between her and her parents, her capture by slave traders, and even described some of her torturing experiences. Hinata was a good audience, though some of Haku's descriptions scared her. It was hard for Hinata to imagine how people could be so cruel, especially to someone like Haku.

Hinata could scarcely believe Haku survived all her beatings and tortures, being worked until her hands bled and until her body ached, and sleeping on hard floors that sometimes had jagged rocks here and there. "They starved you for weeks at times and even when they let you eat, you receive food that are way past their date?"

Haku smiled patiently and answered, "When you're starving, you won't think much of how the food taste, only that it's food. I got sick a lot, but you have to remember that my feelings didn't matter."

"Were you ever happy at all?" Hinata asked, her heart tearing at the thought of Haku having suffered so much without a moment's repose, never able to speak her mind, helpless in the hands of her masters - she could only live on, wishing for death when she could finally rest.

"I have been...ever since Naruto-kun came into my life," Haku replied. "Because of him, I am what I am now. He found a way to get my collar off. I can never pay the debt I owe to him."

"Haku, you're exaggerating again!" Naruto came up to them and sat down next to Haku. "You already paid your supposed 'debt'! You are worth more than any debt. You're free, and that's my payment. Not to mention you're giving me your love, too!"

Haku let out a soft laugh. Two months ago, she had been afraid of Naruto getting so close to melting her heart, but now, she wasn't afraid to even love him!

Naruto couldn't help laughing at the sound of Haku's laugh. It was light and happy and pure, like birds singing. He doesn't heard her laugh very often, even after her collar was off. Turning to Hinata, he added, "Oh, you're facing Neji next. Good luck."

Hinata blushed beet red before nearly running away from him. Naruto cocked his head, confused at the beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

Naruto gently pushed Haku to lay down though she protested. "No way, Haku. You are going to rest. Don't push yourself...unless it's necessary of course. No, no, no, and no. Lay down and get some rest. Akamaru gave you a pretty deep wound there."

"I've been through worse though!"

"Still though, I can't have my lover be hurt in any way," Naruto replied, grinning as he kissed her forehead and making Haku blush a fiercely red. "I love it when you blush. You should do that more often, Haku. You're not very easily embarrassed despite the fact that you're shy around people."

Haku shrugged. "I'll take that as a good thing then. I don't want to look embarrassed every time you call me your 'lover'."