A/N: I've decided to take a page from TrixBella's beta-reading, and put the time and location for the scene changes in brackets. As this is an AU, this is to be expected, and so people who are not into such stories, I would ask that you keep your mouths shut and don't bother reviewing. But other than that, do read and review would you kindly?

…

[Somewhere in the trees…]

A silent onlooker was watching the entire battle below. Five genin were going up against one Momochi Zabuza who held two jōnin ninja in his Suirou no Jutsu and his army of Mizu Bunshin. The blind genin simply smirked and sheathed his katana before moving his hands to perform one seal: "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Before long, a small battle had taken place between the blind genin's Kage Bunshin, and Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin with the former charging in and taking the initiative while three of the other genin that had a spine walked in with their colleague, taking care to avoid getting themselves killed or sidetracked in the chaos.

The witness noted the strengths of both types of clones amidst the chaos as the Kage Bunshin were dispelled into puffs of smoke while the Mizu Bunshin were turned back into water: the genin's clones were definitely weaker than Zabuza's, but they had larger numbers, a larger variety of weapons, and teamwork on their side—it was practically a war between wolves and bears. For every two Zabuza clones dispelled, five of the blind genin's followed…this was an even fight.

Meanwhile, the four genin were making good progress towards Zabuza, as the archer stayed behind to clear a path for her colleagues by raining arrows on the battlefield from afar. This was a wise choice as her longbow needed distance to be any effective; and judging by how quickly she was able to nock and loose several arrows at once, she was very proficient in its use. As this was happening, the other three female members of the group were charging in with one of the blind genin following—one of them punched through the clones with about as much force as a falling meteor, the other two worked with the blind one in slicing through the others. Once they neared the original Zabuza, a last-minute clone was created from the water in front of them to hinder them; the three female members of the team dispelled that clone, and stood in such a manner that obstructed the original's view.

What happened next was that the blind genin ran forward with his zanbatou at the ready. As he leaped over his colleagues, he had his blade seamlessly following through in its swing for a one-handed overhead strike that threatened to bisect the larger man. Seeing no other choice, and that he had little time to make another clone, Zabuza released his hold on both jōnin and jumped away—but the blind genin wasn't done; once he landed on the water, he took a few quick steps towards the nuke-nin and shouted "Crom Fria!" as he swung that large sword upwards sending a wave of Hyoton chakra riding along the surface of the water that froze Zabuza's legs upon landing.

As he struggled to free himself from the ice, Zabuza quickly turned his attention to the two jōnin that were making headway towards him. It was the one-eyed jōnin that managed to get to the fight first, matching the nuke-nin sign-for-sign in a duel of ninjutsu technique while the swordswoman grabbed the blind genin, and performed a Shunshin no Jutsu to take the both of them back to the clone battle to dispel more of them. The first attack to be performed was the summoning of two dragons made completely of water…and then the second attack that really won the battle was the large vortex of water that washed Zabuza away.

Things have just gotten out of hand! And the witness knew this because the jōnin with the red eye managed to pin Zabuza to a tree with kunai. With the flick of a wrist, a senbon needle was sent flying into the target's throat, putting the nuke-nin in a death-like trance; much to the surprise of his opponent. "Thank-you for your assistance," she said to the one-eyed ninja, as she started pulling out the kunai, "but I'll take it from here. I've been hunting Zabuza for a while now—my superiors should be glad to have his body back." As soon as the last kunai was removed, the witness hefted the body over her shoulder and vanished in a Shunshin no Jutsu—leaving the one-eyed ninja behind to fall into a coma from chakra exhaustion…they'll be back for round two, and she would make sure of it!

…

[Meanwhile, at the "Thousand Years of Spring" Dango Stand in Konoha…]

The smell of sweets was enough to make any child go crazy. While dango was the specialty of this stand, other confectionary treats were served as well; honeyed natto with rice, dried and peeled apple slices candied in its own juice and cinnamon powder, coconut-covered mochi stuffed with peanuts and topped with cherries, even agar treats that monks tend to favor, as well as the stand's specially-made honey-lemon tea served hot or cold. It was a small place to be eating, but it was a very good place to be at when one has had enough salts and felt the urge for sweets of both the tongue and the ear. This was because as she was working on the food, Haruno Sayuri usually sang to herself while cooking those delights that teased the tongue in a voice that made men's knees melt as they would try to beg her to marry them.

"Here you go!" sang out the voice of Sayuri, with a tray carrying a batch of dango along with some sake, "Now seeing as you're my favorite customer, you have the honors of trying out my new recipes. We don't have any real sweets connoisseurs around in this village, but I think you're close enough." It was then that she noted that her favorite customer had a bit of a tired look on her normally sadistic face. "What's wrong Anko? Normally you'd jump at the chance to try out my new dango."

Tired? No, the poor dear was dead-tired! And it showed because Anko was leaning her head on her arms with Kurenai next to her with the same concerned look on her face for her friend. "I'm fine," she said, "just thinking about…something is all."

After putting the tray down and setting the sake bottle and shot in front of Anko, Sayuri had a bit of a scandalous grin on her face as she watched the purple-haired ninja forego the shot and go for the bottle, much to the disgust of her best friend. "All right, who's the lucky guy?"

Upon hearing that sentence, Anko's eyes widened in surprise and she almost drowned in her sake as she put down the bottle and started clearing her throat. "What was that?" she said, as Kurenai helped pat her friend on the back.

"You heard me, who's the lucky guy?"

Kurenai simply chuckled at the idea. "Anko? Getting a man? Surely you can't be…"

Even though the look on Sayuri's face was of amusement, you could tell from her eyes that she was serious. "I saw all the signs Nai-chan," she said, before turning her attention to the only other person in the stand, "and as for you Anko: the fact that your face is bright red and have yet to respond is not helping you in your efforts to deny the fact."

As she was about to retort, Kurenai looked towards Anko—all words her mouth had died upon seeing that the pineapple-haired jōnin was in fact red in the face while making a very good impression of a fish gulping for air. "S-shut-up Sayuri," she finally managed to sputter, "I'm…not…red!"

"Anko, you're redder than a tomato and your stuttering just now isn't helping your case, so you may as well tell all before we get all our friends together to find creative ways of making you talk," said Kurenai, pushing the issue and knowing that that her best friend was just caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar and in broad daylight.

Knowing that she was cornered, Anko knew that there was no way out. With a sigh, she decided to get this over with. "If I tell you, the two of you have to promise that this stays within our circle, except for Yoko. Am I clear?"

Now this was probably her biggest secret of all if Anko requested that everyone in their circle except for Yoko to be told. The reason being that Akimichi Yoko, the sweet and cute-as-a-button niece of Akimichi Chōza, was horrible at keeping secrets—and among their circle of friends known famously in the village as the "Queens of Konoha", she was known as the "Gossip Queen". "We swear," said Kurenai, as she stood up, "but we may as well get another Queen to listen in. After all, I'm pretty sure she'd be interested too."

"Actually, I just so happen to be on my break," said a voice from behind Anko and Kurenai, surprising all three women until they saw that it was Ayame that joined in as she settled in on the counter, "now what's this about Anko's secret man?"

Upon knowing that everyone was near, and that she could trust that nobody would say a word (especially to Yoko), Anko beckoned everyone closer to listen. "Have any of you thought of pursuing a love interest in someone a bit younger than you?"

The other three girls looked to each other in confusion, but it was Ayame that broke the silence, "Depends on who you're talking about…but before we do this, can you please explain how this all started?"

She couldn't even begin to tell them how it all started, but she supposed it would have to do for her to start at the beginning. "Okay then, you all remember the time I was found after Orochimaru branded me with his curse mark right? Well when I was rescued, I was found by a kunoichi…after that day, I took to her like I would a daughter to a mother." The three women listened in, and wondered as to what their friend was getting at, but motioned for her to continue. "Whenever she asked me to do something for her, the curse mark compelled me to do it…as if it made me feel good from making her happy doing even the most menial of chores for her. Later on, I felt that same feelings for a little boy only much greater."

The three women's eyes had widened upon hearing that. The speed at which the questions came was fast enough to be unheard, but the ones that made it through included:

"Wait a minute you're into a boy?"

"How much younger is he?"

"He's not a civilian is he?"

"What's he like?"

"Who is he?"

At this, Anko turned to face the "Queen of Sweets" with an even look in her eyes after raising her hand for silence. "Okay everyone, three things! One, yeah he's a boy—and to be honest, he's almost half my age. Two, he's barely a genin, but I can tell he's more powerful than he seems. And three, Nai-chan should know how powerful he really is because she thought he would be a better tracker than that would-be rapist she has on her team. Now going back to what I was saying, I haven't seen that boy in a while—and yet whenever I am near him, the curse mark gives me such a high mixed in with lust that I want to just knock him out, tear off both our clothes, and then take him like an animal in dry heat regardless if it's in public or not."

Now the "Ice Queen" knew who her friend was talking about…and from the looks of things the "Queen of Chains" was slowly putting two and two together if the calculating look in her eyes were any indication. She then had a playful look on her face when she decided to grin at the two of them. "Well then, maybe I should go see if this boy of yours is actually able to do to me what he's done to you," said Kurenai, looking at both Ayame and Anko with a very feral grin, "maybe I'll take him right in front of the two of you!"

As the two of them faced their red-eyed friend with shock on their faces, "Y-you wouldn't dare!" sputtered out Anko, "He's too young, even for you!"

"Y-y-yeah," said Ayame, chipping in, "and besides, why haven't you asked Asuma-san out yet?"

Upon hearing this, her face had turned as red as her two friends. Yuhi Kurenai, the "Ice Queen" of Konoha, had been stalking the object for her affections—albeit in a more subtle way, but it was still stalking. To think that she had been found out was enough to make someone of her reputation red with embarrassment. If she was going down in this discussion, she's taking everyone else with her! "Well at least I'm not the only one who's got someone to stalk! Tell me Sayuri, what did you think of Iruka-kun's gift to you?"

Konoha's Queen of Sweets could only gasp in surprise. This discussion had spiraled out of control, but then again it was usually fun whenever it did happen. "The flowers were sweet, but…"

She was interrupted with an 'ahem', to the left. When they all heard that one exhalation of breath, that one cough for attention, all four of them immediately shut up and looked to see a woman about their age standing there with a jovial smile on her face—much to their self-disappointment. The woman was not sexy but her slightly chubbier build had instead optimized her for an adorable look that still attracted men, and she had blackish purple tattoos over her eyes that gave her the affectionate nickname of "Panda". To the four skinnier women, that jovial smile was her trademark 'I caught you' look. Oh well, they may as well come clean now…and hope that Akimichi Yoko did not reveal to anyone outside their group anything they were about to tell her…

…

[Nami no Kuni market district, five days later…]

This was a very sad situation that he found himself in. As he sent chakra waves to the area around him to detect threats directed at him and the client's daughter, Naruto could not help but feel the extreme sense of helplessness the place gave off. True, he'd heard in whispers on the road as to what Gato had been doing—but he never thought it'd be this bad. A little earlier, Naruto had to threaten a man that tried to rob him of Mizu-Hime as that was the only weapon he brought with him. His exact words to the would-be thief, much to Tsunami's amusement as he squeezed on the man's offending wrist were, "If you plan on using that hand ever again, you'd better refrain from touching something that isn't yours." Once he knew that the thief was scared enough to obey, he let go. Amusing as that situation was, it still opened his proverbial eyes as to how bad things were in this place.

"It must be hard," he finally said, holding Tsunami's hand tightly as she guided him to the supermarket, "I highly doubt that you need eyes to see that it's like this entire place has just up and died."

"I know," she answered, with sadness clear in her voice, "it's been like this since Gato came to this island. At first, it seemed like he was going to bring business opportunities to help our country flourish. Yeah he had business opportunities all right…for himself! But with the bridge my father is building, we can finally be free of this."

Naruto let out a grunt of agreement. "That makes two of us…this place is too depressing with Gato in charge. I only hope that we end his reign so that people can laugh and smile around here again."

It wasn't long until the two of them made it to the supermarket that Naruto extended the reach of his chakra radar that he saw the extent of the damage that Gato was doing to this place…there was barely any food in the store! At this point, the blind genin had made it a point that if he was ever to find that man, he would cut his genitals off and shove it down his throat. Before he could think any more of it, Naruto felt a small and weakened signature creeping towards him without any malicious intent behind it. He was just about to finger his katana when he heard a mousy little voice speak. "Excuse me mister, but can I have some money please?"

With his chakra radar focused on the little voice, he found that it belonged to a little girl with her hands out and looking up at him with apparent desperation in her little eyes. Naruto could only let out a sigh as he used his chakra radar to scan for any witnesses before turned to face the little girl slowly, only to shock her as she realized that the person she was begging from and that was crouching down to eye-level with her was in fact blind. He then reached into the pouch behind him, and pulled out a 500-ryo note and placed it gently in her hand. "Take this, and don't let anyone see it," he whispered to her gently, as he closed her fist over the bill, "with the troubles happening around here, I think it's especially dangerous for you to be seen walking around with this. Now go and buy yourself a treat, and don't worry about me—I have a job, but you need this more."

The little girl had a look on her face that made it obvious that she felt bad for asking something from someone handicapped, but she was also grateful that someone was willing to help her in the first place. "T-thank-you mister," she said, bowing to him with tears in her eyes, "I'll never forget this…someday I'll pay you back for this." She then ran out of the store, taking care to hide the bill in a subtle fashion…unfortunately for Naruto, this scene was witnessed by only one person who was coming around the shelves with the groceries she was looking for.

"Are you ready to go Tsunami-san?"

Once she grabbed his hand, the two of them started to walk on home. The twins were hard at work in training, but given the fact that Naruto, Meilan, Kikyo, and Sakura had mastered the tree-walking exercise already, the four of them were assigned to guard various places: Naruto to escort Tsunami to and from the supermarket, Meilan and Kikyo were sent to guard the client while he was at work, and Sakura was assigned to house-sitting duties. Everyone needed to have something to eat after a long day of work, especially given the fact that Kakashi and Yūgao-sensei believed that Zabuza would return with his accomplice. He could only hope that the client's grandson would shut-up already…the mood of this place was already enough to make him want to kill himself.

As the two of them walked, Naruto had an idea formed in his head!

…

[Elsewhere…]

A stunning beauty had a tray of medical instruments at the ready. Her ebony hair matched her eyes, and her skin was almost transparent—making her resemble the infamous Yuki-onna her mother's home country had told tales of, especially given the red lipstick she wore that enchanted so many men. Unfortunately for her, this blessing had turned out to be a curse more often than not, and especially now since a lot of the mercenaries hired by Gato were lecherous pigs who wanted nothing more than to take advantage of her. As she was in the middle of treating her father-figure, Haku heard the sound of the door opening behind her; well what do you know? Speak of the devil, and the devil comes.

"Well isn't this a pathetic sight?" rumbled the voice of the corrupt businessman, being flanked on both sides by yojinbo, "I thought I hired you to take out the bridge builder, not to lick your wounds! So what the fuck are you doing here?"

Zabuza refused to answer, which didn't sit too well with Gato. This made the man furious enough to jab his cane at the nuke-nin. "Hey, I'm talking to you dumb…" He never got to finish his sentence as he felt a strong hand gripping him at his wrist and squeezing hard, eliciting a squeal of pain from his mouth. As he looked to see the owner of the hand that worked to break his arm, Gato found that it was Haku that broke it. Just as the two ronin were about to draw their katana, they each felt a cold blade being pressed against their necks as they saw what appeared to be swords made of ice threatening to decapitate them both.

"I would recommend against that," she said with anger clear in her voice, "I am currently in a foul mood. Don't do anything to compound my bad day."

Before long, Gato watched as his thugs were both kicked to the walls near the entrance to the door. He then ran to the threshold, and turned to face the bedridden jōnin. "You have one more chance," he said angrily, "you fuck this up one more time and your life is forfeit!" He wasn't done, as he turned to face Haku with a mixture of anger and lust in his ugly features. "Same for you girlie; if your boss fails again, then I'll see to it that you will be made my personal sex slave as I rape you to death!" After speaking his mind, Gato and his thugs fled the area while Haku dispelled her ice swords.

"You really didn't have to do that," said Zabuza, with a heated glare in his eyes, "I could've taken care of him myself."

"And risk you reopening your wounds? Not a chance," she said, with an amused look on her face, "you're all I have Zabuza-sama, I'd like to keep you alive for as long as possible. Besides, you still have that bet you made with Terumi-san on who would be Mizukage first. But what are we going to do with the battle on the bridge?"

The nuke-nin could only groan in annoyance. His eternal rival Terumi Mei was not a woman any man should ever cross if they were smart; and when you make a bet with her, sheholds you to that bet. It just so happened that her bet with him stated that if she became Mizukage first, that he would have to pay her with free missions for ten years. Once he was reminded of the rematch he would eventually have, Zabuza immediately knew what he wanted done. "I want you to help me take everyone else out of the picture; I will deal with the blind genin personally."

The look in Haku's eyes had turned from amused to curious. She could not help but wonder as to what was so special about that one genin. "I should be able to take care of that with little trouble at all, but why are you so interested in him?"

The grunt that left Zabuza showed his excitement at the prospect of fighting that genin. "He claims to have learned directly from my master's master, and so I want to see which one of us is the better student in one-on-one combat…and I especially am looking forward to fighting one that has been afflicted with the Curse of Kazan to see if the stories I've heard are true."

With a nod of affirmation, Haku left the bed her master was sleeping in and went behind the partition. "If it means that much to you Zabuza-sama, then I'll take care of it for sure," she said, as she threw her greenish black kimono up and hung it on the partition, followed by her ANBU pants, and then her sweater, "but in the meantime, you should be resting. I'm going out to get some herbs to aid in your healing…I only hope that you're willing to put up without food in the meantime."

As he laid there in bed, Zabuza watched as Haku left the partition in her pink kimono with nothing but a sarashi underneath and form-fitting shorts, a black satin collar around her neck, and straw sandals on her feet. Her attention however, was on getting the basket she needed for picking herbs. "Ha! I once heard that a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of pleasure…just hurry back though. The sooner we finish this mission, the sooner we can kill the Mizukage and you can walk around wearing the finest kimono money can buy without fear of being persecuted for your kekkei-genkai."

Once she had found the basket she was looking for, Haku walked out the door. She didn't want to admit it, but Zabuza had actually named the very thing she wanted to do…

…

[Tazuna's House, at night…]

The whole day was a nightmare of boredom for most of the genin, and a good deal of depression had happened as they sat at the table. For Naruto, he knew that his bummer was mostly in the fact that the village was almost in shambles, and the fact that a child was suffering his own childhood sans the glares and the hate directed at her; his other bummer was the fact that the client's grandson had come on down, much to his own displeasure. Kikyo and Meilan however, were disappointed in the knowledge that so many of Tazuna's workers had quit working on the bridge one by one…and they were witness to the first one in a few weeks. Sakura had to deal with the fact that she had to babysit and house-sit, and not fawn over the twins. This was the hour that slightly brightened up their day…and it was to commemorate the healing of both jōnin.

The twins had entered just in time with chakra burns all over their bodies, but with satisfied looks on their faces. Naruto could tell they were progressing well from the pointers he gave, because he could feel that sense of smug satisfaction coming from the both of them. Once the two of them managed to find their seats, dinner had started, but before anyone could dig in, Inari had chosen this moment to speak. "Why are all of you trying so hard in the first place?" This caused everyone at the table to face him at the outburst. "What do outsiders know of our pain? You all have three square meals a day at your own homes while we have to sit around here cowering! You all know nothing of how much we all suffer around here? So why bother? It won't matter how much work you put into it, Gato will kill you all!"

Inari could not finish his little tirade as everyone's attention was turned to the sound of something shattering and fluid hitting the table—it was revealed that Naruto's demon-possessed hand was gripping the remains of a ceramic teacup with blood dripping from the wound and mixing in with the green tea that had spilled all over his side of the table. They all noted that he had a very angry aura about him, to the point that even Kakashi was having trouble breathing. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" he asked sarcastically while facing the boy and continuing to crush the pieces of the cup in what appeared to be an iron grip and ignoring the pain, "Well don't let my little outburst stop you, please continue. I'm pretty sure you were at 'Gato will kill you all!'"

The little boy was starting to be afraid of this kid with the red arm. He could not answer, and so he wordlessly imitated a fish gasping for air. "Oh you were finished?" mocked Naruto, as he finally let go of all the pieces, "Well then allow me to retort! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SUFFERING?"

As the last part was shouted at Inari, Naruto stood up and calmed down just a little bit, allowing his blood to drip to the floor as he started taking slow steps towards the younger boy. His voice got increasingly colder and colder as he got angrier and angrier. "Have you ever been starved? No? Then how about being beaten senseless by a crazed and ignorant mob every time it's your birthday? Still nothing? What about being overcharged for even the most basic necessities of life? That never happened to you? WELL THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WHINING ABOUT?"

Everyone at the table that did not know of Naruto's situation before were now being made aware of every bad thing that had happened to the blond. This especially hurt the Uchiha twins, as they were unaware that the boy they loved was tormented to that point. "You're actually luckier than I am while I was growing up. You know why?" asked Naruto as he stopped in front of the younger boy, the coldness in his voice softening just by a little bit, "You have a family that loves you and supports you and has been with you from day one, while I didn't! You have a roof over your head, and comforts that everyone takes for granted…I was kicked out of the orphanage at age five and had to learn to fend for myself! You have good food to eat even now in this time when it is scarce around here, while I had to rummage through garbage just to survive! You have chances to celebrate your birthdays, while I had come to fear them because of the beatings that came with them!"

Inari could not say anything, but he could only watch as Naruto reached for the hitae-ate that covered his eyes. "And ultimately, there is also a luxury you have that I envy; one that I would trade all the strength I've gained so far just to have," said Naruto, as he finally pulled the blindfold off his eyes with his undamaged hand, hitting the younger boy with the full power of his eyes—the smoky blue color looked almost dead and froze him in his place, but it was clear that there was sadness in equal parts with pain and anger, "and that luxury is the power of sight. You live in a world where you can see all kinds of colors and all the textures you can picture Inari, while I live in a world where there is nothing but black all around. I live in a world where I can't see the orange and purple of the setting sun, nor can I see the details of the bark on the trees, and neither can I see the faces of the people I love…see their smiles, the looks of hate or pain on their faces, the glint in their eyes when they are happy…so many things to see that I will miss forever."

With his hand still clutching his hitae-ate, Naruto finally softened up just a little more. "The point of the matter is that no matter where you go, there is will always be someone who suffers worse than you. Just be glad of the blessings you already have, and try to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else if you can help it."

When he was finished, everyone had felt the strangling feeling emanating from Naruto's anger dissipate a good deal. Meilan would have rushed to bandage her lover's hand, but it was Satsuki and Tsukiko who beat her to the punch. "It's okay," he finally said, before turning his attention back to the people at the table, "if I may be excused, I just need to go outside and meditate a bit."

As he turned to leave, he felt two hands on his shoulder. "At the very least…" began Satsuki, "…let us bandage your hand." finished Tsukiko. Knowing that the twins were always adamant in whatever they wanted to do, Naruto simply gave in and sat down as the two of them placed gauze on his hand before wrapping bandages around it. With a bow, Naruto walked out and into the forest with nobody knowing how far in he was going. The silence between everyone was very palpable afterwards.

"Is everything he said true?" asked Tsunami, finally breaking the silence.

Meilan let out a sigh of true sadness. "It is," she admitted, the pain clear in her voice, "and to be honest, it's even worse than he said. I won't say exactly how, but I will say that it took me almost five years to heal him before he could trust people enough to share the same bed with me. It is not easy, falling in love with someone as broken as he is, but the process of understanding him in the meantime is more than worth it; even with such slow progress that I'm having in healing him, I've still a long way to go before truly undoing all the damage."

At that, Tazuna and his family could grasp the extent of Naruto's pain, and this was especially true in the case of Inari. The little boy now felt like shit, thinking everyone else was happier when in fact there were people who had suffered even worse. Tsunami on the other hand had shared the sympathy her father had for the boy that let his anger out at her son, and wondered as to how to help him. Tazuna felt that had another bit of inspiration to help him; one that had been added to Kaiza's bravery, and that was Naruto's will to live even with such adversity in his childhood. With that inspiration added, the old man felt determined to finish the bridge now more than ever!

The shinobi on the other hand had mixed feelings; while Meilan, Yūgao, and Kikyo already know of the pain that Naruto had to go through and wished to hold him closer to comfort him, Kakashi felt that that little outburst was the demon slut impersonating his sensei's son and trying to corrupt everyone to her side—he would not let this insult slide, and he'll make sure of it by the end of this mission! And he knew just the time to do it, because he had a feeling that Yūgao was sent to assassinate him by the Hokage himself if he tried anything to kill the slut outright. He'll get his pound of flesh, but not now…he needed to wait.

Satsuki and Tsukiko could only cry to themselves; they thought they had it bad when Itachi killed everyone else in their family. Yeah, their father was a sexist asshole, and yeah a lot of members of their family were assholes too, but neither of them felt all of them needed to die. As they hugged themselves closer, they felt determined to get Naruto into their arms and make the pain he felt from the past to go away. Perhaps in helping him, they would in turn be helping themselves in repairing their souls as well.

As she was sorting out her feelings for the blind boy, Sakura had contemplated with her inner-self as to what she felt. 'He's got a demon arm, and so that makes him a demon,' she thought herself, 'and yet, the arm doesn't control him—so he isn't the demon. But either way, demon or not, nobody deserves to have that happen to them. Birthdays are supposed to be celebrated, not feared! I can't tell what to think about this! My mom has always told me that Naruto was a bad boy and that it was okay to hurt him…while Sayuri told me that wasn't true and that people hurt him for no reason. Who do I listen to?'

'Will you just shut up?' shouted her inner-self, 'Mistresses are comforting each other upon learning that the boy they are in love with had gone through a lot of hell. You're their slave! You should be helping to comfort them! Now march your ass on over there, and comfort their hot and firm asses! And when you see that poor idiot, you will do everything in your power to compensate for everything that you said and did to him! Shannaro!'

…

[Somewhere near Tazuna's house, the next morning…]

Haku's search for herbs had been progressing well for her as she started picking each and every plant needed to accelerate Zabuza's healing. The rustling of the trees, the sound of the wind blowing through their branches; yes, this was such a peaceful sound as she strolled through the forest. Her civilian disguise should be enough to make her less threatening, but also reduced her chakra signature in the event that ninja were nearby—especially that blind ninja that interested her master so much.

Yes, the entire area was peaceful, and yet she could not help but feel naked as she felt like eyes were upon her—watching her every move. She made sure that her chakra signature was low enough to be undetectable to ninja, but high enough to see if anyone else was nearby. To her relief, there was nobody near her but it still didn't change the fact that someone seemed to be watching her. She was about to break into a run to find the herbs she needed and get out of these woods fast when she tripped over something. To her surprise, Haku never hit the floor; as she opened her eyes, she found that her forehead was just inches away from being impaled by a twig as she was being balanced on one foot. She also felt something tugging at the bottom of her kimono. "I really would be careful," said a voice from behind her, "rushing around can be more dangerous than taking your time."

Before she could contemplate any further as to the owner of the voice, Haku felt herself being pulled away from the twig as her center of gravity was being shifted to pull her back and falling on her ass. Once she found the culprit that saved her life in a semi-perverted manner, she saw that it was the blind genin, and he was only armed with his Kumo-standard short sword. She also noted that the feeling of being watched was the strongest when she was near him—was this aura coming from him? "Not to be rude or anything, but normally people thank each other after saving one another's life."

That matter-of-fact line had snapped Haku out of her thoughts as she put the basket down, and bowed before the blind boy—not that it would matter anyway, considering he was unable to see. "I thank-you for saving my life, now I'll be on my way." She then stood up and started turning around.

"If you're looking for the liverwort, you'll find plenty here miss." said the blind boy as he went back to meditating.

Now this surprised Haku enough to stop her mid-step. She then turned around to face the blind boy in meditation with shock evident on her graceful features. "How did you…"

"…know? It wasn't hard; the combination of herbs that I smelled in your basket was enough to tell me what the next ingredient is, so you may as well sit down and have a chat with me. There's no rush now is there?"

Seeing no other way out of this, Haku sat down in front of the blind kid and set the basket down next to her. "So what is a blind boy like you doing here…umm, I'm sorry, I never caught your name."

The boy's features had briefly turned to realization before he had a sincere smile on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? The name's Uzumaki Naruto, a genin from Konoha. May I have the name of the lovely lady in front of me?"

Now this, Haku did not see coming. Normally, men that called her 'toots' or 'babe' often wound up with ice senbon lodged in their bodies, but this boy was saying it in a polite fashion in such a manner that it stayed her needles. "I am Haku, Yuki Haku. Now Naruto, back to my question earlier?"

The boy now known as Naruto let out a slight chuckle as he spoke. "Right, well I could ask the same of you; what's a beautiful girl like you doing out here picking herbs?"

Haku could not help but feel the urge to sincerely smile with the boy, but she blushed upon being called 'beautiful'—and from someone who was blind too. "I'm picking them for somebody who is in dire need for them."

"They must be lucky to have someone like you in their life."

The laughter that came from her was both nervous and joyous. "I suppose they are. But tell me, do you have anyone you wish to protect?"

"I have people I wish to protect," began the boy, "and those are the few who acknowledge me for who I am. They are the few who love me for me…without those people, I would probably have just ended it all long ago."

She smiled with happiness; that someone was like her, that had someone to protect was a very joyous prospect to her. Haku could only wonder as to the expression on Naruto's face when she told him her "real" gender, which she decided to do. "That's good. It probably means that you are a very strong person. When you have someone to protect, that makes you strong and wish to become stronger." At this point, she started to pick the liverwort she was looking for with a frown. "Goodbye Naruto, I hope to see you again some other time." After a few more steps away from the boy, she then turned to face him. "By the way, I am a boy."

As she started to walk away, she heard laughter coming from Naruto on her seventh step. "Your words say that you're a boy, but your voice and your scent betray you. Ah yes by way, do you think you can do me a favor?"

As soon as she heard that, Haku turned and faced the boy with curiosity written all over her face. "What is it?"

"Would you please tell Zabuza-san that as soon as he is feeling better, that I want to have a word with him in private?"

Haku's eyes had widened in fear and shock as she realized that somehow this blind boy had found her out. "Don't be surprised that I found out this quickly," Naruto said as he started to explain himself, "the combination of scents I picked up in your basket told me that you were making an herbal mix meant to accelerate the speed at which wounds are healed, and coupled with the fact that Zabuza's scent was mixed in with yours and I already deduced as to who you work for. I can't tell you anything personal because I don't know anything for sure, but what I do know is that you'd have to be very close to his heart in order for you to have that smell of his mixed in with yours. It's very simple really, now would you be so kind as to take your hand away from that senbon in your basket?"

As she extracted her hand from the senbon that was laced around the bottom of the basket, Haku's mouth had formed an O-shape upon having her not-so-hidden-anymore weapon revealed. Her suspicion-mixed surprise was as clear in her eyes as it was in her voice. "How do you know all this? Can you see the future?"

Naruto just chuckled with amusement. "Let's just say that I've had an eye on you for quite some time now, and leave it at that. Now do I have that appointment with Zabuza or not? If you're so worried about foul play during the meeting, then you can participate so that you can hear for yourself what I have to say—I guarantee you that I have no foul play in mind."

This could go one way or another, and Haku knew it. But then again, this decision was out of her control. "I'll inform him of the meeting, but I'm not promising anything. If I sense even one instance of treachery, then I'll perforate you with so many needles that you'll put a pincushion to shame. Am I clear?"

"Crystal. Now when you have Zabuza's answer, I'll normally be here meditating at around the same hour."

And with that said, Haku left. With every step she took, she kept trying to dismiss what Naruto said as a possible lie; but no matter how much she tried to shake it off, no matter how skeptical of the meeting she was, there was this little voice inside her that told her that she could trust this boy…

…

A/N: Naruto threatening the thief that tried to rob him was inspired by Ulthane when he first met War in "Darksiders". The exact quote was: "You plan on usin' them hands ever again, you'd best not go touchin' that what ain't yers." As to Zabuza's fate, I am wondering if I should follow canon and kill him off, or if I should let him live…and yet I'm still deciding Kakashi's fate as well, so do help me in my decisions would you kindly?

…

Dungeon Fighter Class Introduction:

Mage—mages are simply just that; they are the wizard-class of Dungeon Fighter Online. On average, mages are the shortest class in the game and are the most difficult to play (physically weaker than most others). There are now two kinds of mages: male and female, and each one plays differently from the other. For example: the male mage is taller and his basic attack is a projectile, while the female mage is shorter and yet is a melee character. Female mages can become Battle Mages (lots of close-contact fighting and reliance on chasers, and so spears and poles are a must), Summoner (summons creatures to do her dirty-work and to assist in attacking opponents), Witch (can do all elemental damage, and specializes in the use of the broom), and the Elementalist (unlike the witch, this class is dedicated to doing elemental damage). Male mages on the other hand only have two subclasses so far: they can become Elemental Bombers (emphasizes more on long-range attacks and nuking the field), or they can be Glacial Masters (the male mage's counterpart to the Battle Mage, lots of close-contact fighting due to the fact that he makes a lot of weapons out of ice). Haku is classed as a Glacial Master, while Tayuya will be a summoner (Conqueror Kasijas will be her boss-summon and her flute will serve as a rod), Nii Yugito will likely be an Elemental Bomber or Elementalist, and Fu will be a Battle Mage (not sure if I should give her a spear or a bo).

…

Updated Character Classes:

Kimimaro: Berserker/Blade Master (Short Sword specialist)

Zabuza: Berserker/Blade Master (Zanbatou specialist)

Tenten: All classes except Nen Master, Striker, Grappler, Elementalist, Crusader, Monk, Summoner, Witch, Glacial Master, Necromancer, Avenger, and Elemental Bomber depending on the weapon at hand (her predominant class however, will be Brawler/Rogue)

Shion: All Priest classes, but predominantly Avenger

Hidan: Avenger (he likes to use a scythe, and his Jashin form could be his demon form)

Mei: I am conflicted as to whether I should class her as an Elementalist or Elemental Bomber…

…

Dungeon Fighter Techniques Used:

Mountainous Wheel—Berserker: Naruto pushing Zabuza away from the Jōnin

Ice Wave Sword—Asura: Naruto freezing Zabuza

Teleport—Male Mage: Haku getting to Zori and Waraji

Ice White Sword—Glacial Master: Haku threatening Zori and Waraji

…

Songs Used:

"Uprising" by Daisuke Ishiwatari from "Blazblue: Continūm Shift"—Clone Wars, Naruto Vs. Zabuza-style

"Flight Over Ruined Eden" from "Darksiders"—Naruto's scans of Nami no Kuni

…

Vocabulary/Culture Notes:

Yuki-onna—an all-female type of Japanese monster that takes the form of a strikingly beautiful woman with pale skin that appears in the middle of blizzards to enchant men in such a manner that they are lost in the snowstorm and frozen to death. Shirayuki Mizore and her mother from "Rosario Vampire" are examples of such monsters, but they are either called "Abominable Snowgirls" or "Snow Fairies". The monster's name literally means 'snow woman'.

Yojinbo—the Japanese word for 'bodyguard'…this is usually what ronin samurai are hired for, if not for services as hit men.

Sarashi—this is a form of breast-binding in Japan involving the use of bandages; this is notably done with Kuonji Ukyo from "Ranma ½".