(A/N: I know, short chapter. The next one will be better)

Haku

"What's this?" I heard some yell behind me. I didn't even turn around to see who it was, for I already knew who the voice belong to. It belonged to none other than Gato, ruthless shipping magnate, and the current client of our services. Even without facing him, I could see the man flanked by his two samurai bodyguards, glaring at me through his sunglasses as I sat bedside next to a currently sleeping Zabuza.

I never liked the guy. He was such a detestable person all around. The fact that he desired the Land of Waves' shipping routes under his control so badly that he could care less about how much the country is suffering didn't sit well with me. I knew what was going to happen once we killed Tazuna. Gato was going to drain this country until it became nothing more than a name of the past. I really didn't want to take this mission. However, I wasn't in charge of choosing missions. Zabuza was. Whatever he went, I followed. And whatever mission he took, I assisted. And besides, I was a ninja, which meant I was mere weapon used by the client to achieve even the most despicable of goals, as long as the money was right.

"He's resting," I said, swallowing my pride.

"Resting…." Gato said. I heard footsteps behind as the group approached. "I didn't pay you guys to lounge around! I paid you to kill that blasted bridge builder!"

"It's not that easy!" I said, turning around to face him as I sat up. "He has a group of ninja from the leaf protecting him." This explanation did little to quell Gato's anger.

"That does not matter to me! I paid you all good money to kill this man because you said you were the best at such a task. I didn't pay you to sleep." As he said this, he brought his hand out towards Zabuza's resting form, intent on rousing him. Before his hand could reach however, I angrily brought my left hand out and grabbed Gato's wrist before twisting it to my right. The audible sound of bones cracking could be heard.

"Don't. Touch him." As I said those words his samurais instantly reached for their swords to unsheathe them. They then stopped in mid-draw as the temperature of the room literally dropped several degrees. "Do you really want to try your luck with me?" As I spoke, haze formed around my mouth, my breath now visible. I released Gato, who stumbled backwards, holding his right hand. He then sneered at me.

"You'll pay for this," he declared as he turned away, his bodyguards in tow. I huffed out a breath as I turned towards Zabuza.

"You didn't have to defend me," Zabuza said as he rolled over on his back, revealing the kunai that was palmed in his right hand. I smiled slightly.

"I know," I said, cracking my neck slightly. "Why do we put up with him in the first place?"

"We made a contract with him. And I honor all contracts to the letter. But don't worry. Once we're done with Tazuna, Gato will be the next person to lose his head."

Sasuke

Ever since a few nights ago, the spar between Naruto and Kureiga kept on playing in my head. And it wouldn't stop. No matter how much I tried to ignore it, it kept on annoying me, like a mosquito.

Quite frankly, I didn't expect Naruto to become as skilled as he was. I remembered, back at the academy, that he had nothing going for him. It took him years just to be able to throw a kunai or shuriken properly. And while everybody at least had a jutsu of their own, Naruto couldn't perform a simple clone. And yet here was Naruto, not only learning a clone technique that most, if not all, Leaf-nin learn at the Jounin level and was learning a taijutsu style reserved only for the strong and determined. Determined, he was. But he wasn't powerful, at least, not as powerful as me.

As I stood there on the front porch, leaning against a railing, I decided to humor the thought of Naruto and I fighting each other one on one. Maybe the dobe could actually amuse me. I scoffed at the thought with rare smirk on my face.

"Hah, didn't expect you to be smiling," a voice sounded. I didn't even turn around as Kureiga approached, stretching his arms outward. His eyes were somewhat red and his eyebrows were drawn together in a frown. At first, I was going to just flat out ignore him, like I usually did. In my opinion, Kureiga's ability to mold the Lightning element was the only reason he wasn't on as low of a level as Naruto. But curiosity got the better of me.

"What do you think of Naruto?" I asked, turning my body towards him. Kureiga raised an eyebrow at me for a few moments.

"What's your angle, Sasuke?" he replied finally.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." Kureiga's eyebrows squeezed closer together. "You usually ignore me, and you usually could care less about Naruto. So I'll ask you again: What's your angle?"

"Maybe I'm just curious?" I offered. Kureiga scoffed.

"Whatever," he said. He then shrugged. "What can I say? Man's got some heavy fists on him." He then tilted his head up. "Speaking of which, did Naruto get back yet?"

"I don't know," I replied, my voice carrying a slightly apathetic tone. Kureiga scoffed once more.

"Sorry, forgot who I was talking to." Kureiga then turned towards the house. "Tsunami's making breakfast."

"A heavy fist," I said after he disappeared into the home. I then scoffed before I turned and walked inside.

After breakfast, I decided to head back to training area to try and finish off my training. I couldn't help but have a smile on my face as I thought about how Naruto might have climbed. As the sight of Naruto and his tree came into view, I figured he might have climbed up about five feet.

And I was wrong.

As I walked up as Naruto was making another attempt to climb a tree, my eyebrows rose in surprise to see the huge gap in slashes and to see that he was over halfway up the tree. While he wasn't close to the point I reached, he wasn't far either. I narrowed my eyes as he fell towards the ground and landed on his feet. He paused for a few moments, giving me a dirty look as the only means of acknowledging my presence, before turning and making another climbing attempt.

I shook my head, reaffirming myself that the Dobe was not on my level. I then turned towards my tree and went to work on my training.

As my training went on, Naruto and I were making progress. However, despite the fact that I was making a progress, Naruto was gaining on me little by little. For every two slashes, he'd make three to four. I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out how he was able to do it.

My answer came in the form of a pink-haired kunoichi, who was walking towards us.

"Ohayo," she greeted. Naruto slid down his tree and landed.

"Sakura-chan!" he greeted as usual. Sakura smiled as she pushed a bento into his hands while I stood on a sturdy branch above them and looked at them. "For me?"

Sakura nodded. "It was our breakfast," she said. "You forgot to come in." She then looked at Naruto's tree. "I see that my pointer helped." Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I'm actually getting close to Sasuke," he replied. Sakura chuckled as she looked up at me for a few brief moments. She then blushed as she waved at me before turning away and walked away from us. I mulled over the exchange between the two of them before I dropped to the ground behind Naruto, causing the blonde to turn around quickly.

"Naruto…" I started. I frowned slightly. "Sakura showed you a trick?"

Naruto stared at me as if I grew a second head. He then chuckled. The chuckled continued briefly before it turned into hysterical laughter. I narrowed my eyes, not amused by the display. He then abruptly glared at me.

"I'm not telling."

My eyes widened slightly. I then turned away from him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he got one over me.

Again.

Haku

I was still a little agitated over the fact that Gato actually had the nerve to try and put his hand on Zabazu. So I changed clothes and did the one thing that usually calmed me down.

I went herb picking.

It was something I usually did when I ever became stressed or frustrated. Whenever I did so, I would be so focused that I would but forget about the thing that was bothering me. Plus, it would also result in having herbs in stock when I needed them, which was always a good thing.

So I was on my hands and knees, sifting through the grass for any herbs that could be of use. I was at it for about an hour, with my basket halfway full. I usually didn't go out for this long, but the earlier run-in with Gato left me particularly incensed. While Zabuza and I have never been hired out for saintly work, Gato made all of them looked like peacekeepers. Up to that point, I never hated client so much. Because of that, I was extra focused. And, uncharacteristically, I ended up drifting a lot further.

As I picked an herb, I looked of briefly, catching a mass of orange. I looked back down briefly before doing a double take. Orange suit, blonde hair, whisker marks. Indeed, it was the boy from earlier. Twenty feet away, and he was dozing. I narrowed my eyes before I crawled over. I moved very slowly, making sure not to make a sound. I couldn't help but feel my heartbeat go up in anticipation as I slowly approached him.

Just a little closer…

Once I was close enough, I reached my hand over, letting it hover over his chest before I brought it down gently upon.

"Come on, you slept long enough," I said heartily as I shook him. I saw his eyes clench before they cracked open. His blue eyes looked up at me for a few seconds, and I felt as if I was being scrutinized. It was as if he was trying to determine if I was a threat or not. I guess I couldn't blame him after the ordeal Zabuza put him and his team through. After a few seconds, he sat up. I backed away a little bit to give him some room. He brought his arms out in a stretch as he groaned and arched his back slightly. He then turned his head back to me.

"Good morning," I greeted.

"Hey," he said in a near whisper. He then looked around before he sighed out. "Did I really spend the night out here?"

"…" I paused for a few moments, digesting what he told me. He spent the night out here, sleeping. With no tent, no sleeping bag, not even a fire. I took one more look at him and saw that he was a little dirty. I narrowed my eyes before speaking again. "What were you doing?"

"Training," he said. "I'm trying to get stronger!"

"I see… Ah, my manners! My name is Haku. Yourself?" As I said this, I brought my hand out. The blonde-haired by smiled as he took my hand and gave it a slight shake.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Genin of the Leaf." I returned his smile.

"So, you were training?" I said.

"Yeah," he said. "I have to become stronger. I want to be Hokage someday!"

To become Hokage… It was definitely a lofty goal for a genin. As a matter of fact, he was the first one I met who had such a goal. I never heard of a ninja ever wanting to become a Kage ever since he was about Naruto's age.

"That is a very large goal," I said. "Is there a reason why you want to be Hokage?"

"So people could recognize me." As he said this, I couldn't help but detect a slight edge to his voice. Was it anger? Or was it sadness? Or, perhaps, it was a little mix of both? He then continued. "A lot of the villagers don't like me."

I couldn't help but frown, if only out of empathy. When I lived in the Land of Water, the people there hated and feared people with Blood Limits due to this war that involved combatants who used Blood Limits. This extended to my father, who led a small mob to kill my mother due to her having one. He almost did the same to me, but fortunately (or unfortunately), I killed him with the one thing he feared and loathed.

"So how come you're out here?" he asked. I blinked, and then smiled slightly.

"I'm just here picking herbs," I answered before I got on all fours again to search for more.

"May I help?" he asked. I thought about it for a moment before nodding. And that's what we did for the next hour. During the herb picking, he told me about his team, from his crush on Sakura, to his hatred of Sasuke and his friendship with Kureiga. Throughout the whole story, I couldn't help but notice how delicate he was in handling the plants. He was so careful in not damaging them, as if he had a lot of experience doing so. This was a surprise to me. I wouldn't have pegged him for a gardener.

The longer we spoke, the more I hoped that I wouldn't have to kill him. Had we met under different circumstances, or in a different world, we could have been friends. Maybe I'd even consider him a brother. But unfortunately, we were both ninjas that had a mission to accomplish.

"So you want to be stronger," I said. "Do you have something, or someone to protect?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at that question.

"Someone to protect?" he repeated. I smiled.

"When a person has someone or something to protect, they train harder to make sure that they keep that person or thing protected. Especially that person or thing means a lot to them. At least, that's what I heard." Naruto bowed his head in thought. I smiled as I stood up. He stood up with me and smiled. "Well, Naruto-san, I got to go. It was nice speaking with you."

"Likewise," he said. He then stood up on the tip of his toes to place a kiss on my cheek. I couldn't help but widen my eyes as I took a step back in surprise. Naruto gave me a confused look, then an apologetic look. "Did I do something wrong, Lady Haku?"

That's when it donned on me. I then chuckled.

"Not really," I said. "It's just that, I'm a boy."

The look of animated surprise on his face wasn't the first one I ever received. But, for someone reason, it never lost its comedic value.

Sakura

It was the middle of the night. And I was lying in my sleeping bag, awake. I was trying to sleep for two hours, but I couldn't help but think about my trip into town with Tazuna. Even after talking with Kureiga the night before, I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

Sighing, I sat up, rubbing my eyes with my fingers before standing up. I looked down at my sleeping ware to make sure that I wasn't dressed too inappropriately before I made my way downstairs. I made sure to keep my steps light so I wouldn't wake anyone up. As soon as I made it down stairs and made a left, I saw sitting at the table, nursing a glass of water. On that same table was a pitcher. I stood there, surprised to see him. He was ready to take another sip when his dark eyes landed on me.

"Couldn't sleep, either, I see," he said. I didn't say anything at first. Instead, I walked over, past Kureiga and towards the cupboard. I opened up the cupboard and took out an empty glass. I then turned towards him.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Just as long as you don't hit me," he quipped. I scoffed as I took a seat from across him. "So what's keeping you awake at this time?"

"Remember when you told me about the town?" I asked. Kureiga nodded with a low hum before beginning to take a sip. "Well, I started to see what you mean?" After taking his sip, he set the glass down.

"Screwed up, isn't it?" he commented. I scoffed.

"Screwed up? Screwed up doesn't even begin to describe it. Everything seemed so run down. I passed by a stand that was selling vegetables, and the produce were sparse and seemed barely edible at best. Half the businesses were closed. This was the first time I came across a beggar. And you want to know the worst part?"

"What?"

"He was just a boy, no older than we were when we first started the academy."

"That sucks." Kureiga shook his head. "I'm not going to lie to you, I don't think I ever been in a town that was so rundown. I don't even think my dad has ever been a place that was in such a rundown state."

"Has your father been here before?"

"Oh he had. But he talked about how lively it was. It was the place where you can find anything. And when I mean anything, I mean anything. A lot of traders went through the Land of Waves, so a lot of valuable items would be available in abundance. Not only that, a lot of people went here for vacation. A lot of people came to just relax, or even retire. This doesn't look like the place he left." Kureiga pressed his lips together. "It's not the same as he described it. Not anymore anyway."

I looked over at Kureiga in silence as he looked down at the table with a mix of disappointment, anger, and annoyance. We remained silent for a few more moments.

"So…" I began, wanting to break the silence."… What's keeping you awake?" As I asked this, I reached over and grabbed the pitcher of water and began to pour in my glass. Kureiga shrugged.

"Nightmares," he said. I raised an eyebrow at him. He raised his eyebrows briefly. "Zabuza."

"Did he really spook you that much?"

"Spook me? No. He didn't spook me. Cats that jump out of nowhere spook me. Lightning strikes that hit close enough, ironically, spook me. No, Zabuza doesn't spook me. Zabuza outright terrifies me." I watched him as I noticed his bloodshot eye. And with every word, the irritation became more and more present in his voice, and the volume of his speech rose ever so slightly. "Do you know what I saw before Kakashi saved me from getting decapitated? Huh? Do you? I saw this man that was about to swing a sword at my neck, fully intent on taking my head off and keeping it for a trophy. And not just any kind of a sword, mind you. I'm talking about a sword so ridiculously large that freaking giants can use it as freaking dagger! And does he have any trouble swinging that thing? No! I have more trouble handling a kunai than he has handling that thing!"

"Kureiga!" I whispered sharply. "Calm down. Everyone else is sleeping!" Kureiga took in a deep breath before sighing.

"Sorry," he said. He took a swig from his glass of water. He then set the glass of water down, just as I decided to take a sip.

"I didn't expect you to be so shook up by it," I mused. He scoffed.

"You tend to be when you become this close to having your head mounted on the wall." I frowned. I then brought my hand out and grabbed the glass pitcher. I then brought the water forward before tipping it, pouring water into Kureiga's glass. I didn't stop until the water level was about an inch from the top of the glass. I set the pitcher down before looking back at Kureiga. He looked back at me with a look of slight surprise.

"Kakashi was able to defeat Zabuza the first time," I pointed out. "I don't see why it can't happen again."

Kureiga kept his eyes on me for a few more moments. He then nodded before picking up the glass and taking a sip.

We sat there in silence, drinking away in silence until the pitcher was empty. We then stood up, with Kureiga taking the glass and pitchers to the sink. I don't know why, but I waited for him. This seemed to surprise him as he turned away from the sink, only to pause for a brief moment to see me stand there. He then walked towards the stairway, and I went with him as he passed by. We both ascended up the stairs, still in silence, before making our way to our rooms. We came to a stop in front of his door. Before he could open the door, I gently grabbed his elbow. He turned and looked at me, and I gave him a smile.

"We'll get complete this mission," I said. After a brief moment, Kureiga returned my smile before turning away and opening the door. He then looked back at me one last time.

"Goodnight, Sakura," he said.

"Goodnight, Kureiga," I replied. He nodded before entering his room, closing the door behind him.