Disclaimer muse still on vacation. I don't think she'll be returning anytime soon, so disclaimer ideas are greatly appreciated. I don't own Naruto. *still lame…*

It was another week before Mizu had the energy to return home. She was still fairly weak, though, so she depended on Haku to help her. Whenever she would get pale or short of breath, Haku would carry her in his arms for as long as needed. He was willing to carry her the entire time, but she wanted to stretch her legs.

Once they reached Konoha, Mizu went to see the Hokage. "I'm going to need time off," she stated as soon as she walked in. "I finally found my limit. Of course, it doesn't help that I passed out and was unable to eat for a week. I'm not sure how long I'll need, but I'll keep you updated. I know. I'll send Haruno Sakura to you with updates. Oh, and I'll need transfer papers. I have the student of a very strong and talented Mist rogue living with me." Mizu was solemn. "Momochi Zabuza is dead. His tool now lives with me." She left.

Exhausted, Mizu slid down the wall. Haku was immediately at her side. He carried her to her apartment. He lay her in her bed and brought food.

She grinned, her eyes half-lidded. "You'd think the way you've been feeding me, I'm a recovering anorexic."

"You think the way you'd been eating before you were an anorexic," Haku countered.

She stuck her tongue out at him, but let him feed her anyways. Her eyes drifted closed, and she focused on the feel of his arm around her, her lips brushing against his fingertips. She listened to his heartbeat, steady and strong. Tears welled up in her eyes, and a few slid down her cheeks.

Haku kissed them away. "What's wrong, love?' he asked softly.

Mizu threw her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. "Never again," she sobbed. "Don't ever leave me again."

Haku wrapped his arms around her waist. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and murmured, "No. No, never. Forever, remember? I promise." He gently wiped away her tears and kissed her. She calmed and drifted to sleep in his arms, never seeing the deep pain and torture in his eyes. He had died on the bridge for Zabuza, and yet his heart was the one beating. "I'm sorry, Zabuza-san." A tear glimmered in the corner of his eye. He looked down at Mizu, kissing her forehead. "Thank you."

There was a knock at the door. Sakura poked her head in, grinning. "Two things. One, Hokage-sama wants to see you. Two, how are…"

Mizu blushed. Her hands unconsciously folded over her stomach.

Haku laughed softly. "One, then us he shall see, and two, things are fine."

Sakura giggled. "Well, I'd hate to break up the party, but Hokage-sama seemed pretty desperate."

Mizu sighed, letting Haku help her up. "Sarutobe won't like the news," she murmured.

"He'll deal," Sakura laughed. "You'll be okay?"

Haku swung Mizu up in his arms. "She'll be fine," he assured Sakura.

Sakura left, giggling. Mizu buried her head in Haku's shoulder. "Do you have to carry me?" she complained half-heartedly.

"I can't let you hurt yourself, love," he responded.

She decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting and relaxed. She rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck. She let her eyes slide closed, smiling contentedly. Then she realized she didn't have her mask.

Her eyes flew open, then slammed shut, afraid to see the reaction of people around her.

"What's wrong?" Haku asked softly.

"My mask," Mizu whimpered. "I don't have my mask."

"And no one has noticed who you are, love."

Mizu opened her eyes and looked around. No one reacted strangely. No one pressed themselves against the walls in a haste to get away from her. She smiled at a group of kids playing in the road that Haku had to sidestep. They smiled back.

"A girl can get used to this," Mizu murmured, stretching up to steal a kiss.

Once they reached the Hokage, Haku set Mizu down. She walked into his office, tugging Haku in behind her.

"Sarutobe," she greeted him. The jonin in the room glanced at her, confused, but looked way as soon as they recognized her. All except for one.

"Pleasant surprise, Mizu-san," Kakashi greeted her.

"Nice seeing you again too, Kakashi-san."

One of the jonin seemed angered. Before it could boil over, the Hokage addressed Mizu.

"Mizu-san, I need you to head a mission."

Before he could continue, Mizu said, "I can't."

Haku squeezed her hand.

"Mizu-san, I have given you two months. Now-"

"You see, Sarutobe, I've heart that if you live with someone you love, it often leads to a physical relationship."

She grinned at the blush blooming across the Hokage's – and most of the jonin's – faces.

"And physical relationships tend to lead to pregnancy. So I've heard. And I've heard pregnancies tend to lead to infants."

She smiled up at Haku. "So we decided to test the theory."

She returned her gaze to the Hokage. "Sarutobe, I'd like you to meet my Haku. My only weakness."

Everyone stared at Mizu and Haku, until a female jonin stuttered out, "You… you're pregnant?"

Mizu laughed, her eyes glittering. "Congratulations, Yuuhi-san. I knew it was going to be a female who would figure it out. We've been trying to keep it under wraps. Only one other person knew."

"Sakura," Kakashi said.

Mizu giggled. "Wondering why she hasn't been bugging Naruto or swooning over Sasuke, haven't you?' she teased.

"Makes sense," he allowed.

"He will have to go."

Mizu froze, then slowly turned on the Hokage. "What?" she demanded, her voice flat, happy mood evaporated. The room was suddenly deathly silent.

"He's a weakness. Like you said."

"And the perfect tool that you created doesn't have a weakness, eh, Sarutobe?"

"Others will use it to hurt you."

"I had a weakness before Haku, you know."

Sarutobe was silent.

"Because of what you made me, I wished for death. I wanted nothing more than to die," she hissed.

Haku flinched, wrapping his arms around her waist, burying his face in her hair. She leaned against him, her hands folding over her stomach.

"And now, I have something to live for. I have Haku, and my unborn child. Now, I have true strength. As someone I love and care for dearly once said…"

Haku murmured softly, his voice almost unnoticed beneath hers, "Once you fight for someone you love, then you will become truly strong." He pressed a kiss to her neck.

"I'm going to live, Sarutobe. I'm going to have a life. I'm taking back what you took form me so may years ago. I'm still The Angel, but I have a reason to continue. But for now, you'll have to deal."

She glanced around at the dumbfounded jonin. "What never seen anyone say no to the Hokage before?"

Haku laughed and shook his head, scooping Mizu up into his arms. "It was nice to finally meet you, Hokage-sama," he said before leaving. Mizu's laughter rang through the halls.

And this will probably be the last update for a while. I need to do a bit of timeline research before I can continue, but this isn't a horrible cliffhanger, like I've done before! Reviews, s'il vous plait! Je vous adore!