AN: Bit of a long wait this time, mostly because I wasn't quite sure how to format this chapter. Luckily I think I got something that works well.

Chapter 5: An Enemy who I'm keen to Defend…


It was the crunching of grass that woke me up, the instincts that Kakashi had taken relish in instilling in myself and my teammates rearing their head. I kept my eyes closed as they approached, careful to keep my breathing steady. They wouldn't be a danger to me. Of that, I was fairly sure. But as far as they knew, I was just another genin.

Waiting for my moment, I suddenly jerked, blinking my bleary eyes before turning towards the form of one Haku Yuki.

I was instantly hit by just how true Naruto's words had been in the source material. Haku was pretty and not in the generic sense. They held a poised sort of beauty, ethereal to take in. If the world had been different, the faux Hunter Ninja in front of me could easily become a model.

"I'm s-sorry for disturbing you." Haku apologized quickly, their stutter sounding so natural that I found myself almost believing it. It fit with their act of being a civilian who had a not too unreasonable fear of shinobi. When near God like beings existed in the world, a certain amount of deference was a survival mechanism as much as respect.

"I can think of worse ways to wake up." I chirped back with a slight smirk. If Haku wanted to play the civilian, then I was totally going to see how I could push their buttons.

If I didn't get out of this without getting them blushing up a storm, then what was I doing here?

"That's rather forward, Ninja-san." Haku replied, their eyes widening just a fraction.

"Oh? And what gave me away as a Ninja?" I inquire curiously, smirk still on my lips.

Haku blinked before gesturing their hand to the fairly substantial destruction that my training had wrought. Several trees were either severely damaged or straight up knocked over. If I hadn't caused the destruction myself, I might have suspected a storm had swept through that small section of the forest.

"Fair." I replied with a chuckle. "You can blame my asshole of a sensei for that."

Haku brought their hand to their mouth at my coarse language before letting out a small giggle. It took a great deal of restraint on my part not to gush over how cute the noise was. If that was Haku's real laugh, I might just be tempted to go rogue just to hear it.

Glancing down at Haku's basket, a small collection of herbs peeking out of it, I gave a charming smile. "You're searching for herbs, right? How about I help you and I can regale you with the tale of the prick who got me into this mess?"

Haku pondered my offer for a second before I gave an additional offer. "I'm sure your friends will be jealous if they found out you had a shinobi working for you for a day."

"And how would I pay you?" They prodded.

"I think a time in your presence will be more than enough payment." I flirted with a smile.

Rolling their eyes, Haku gave a huff. "If you must." They said, and I instantly knew that this wasn't going to be a wasted morning, no matter the outcome.

Picking myself up, I draped an arm over Haku's shoulder and began leading her through the forest. "Well, my dear, let me tell you the tale of a dashing hero and fat, old bastard who takes things way too serious…"


"We'll be stepping up your training from now on." Kakashi announced over breakfast in Tazuna's house, catching all our attentions as we looked up. "While your strategy paid off, I don't think it is liable to work again. If Zabuza's accomplice is indeed a Hunter Njnja, then all three of you will need every advantage you can get."

"You think he'll come back? He looked pretty traumatized back there." I asked with a grin that was matched by Naruto.

"Yeah sensei, he ran off screaming like a girl." Naruto quipped, gaining a small swot from me.

"Don't be reductive, Dobe." Sasuke snarked.

"Yeah, he sounded more like a screaming goat anyway." I added.

"As comforting as that scenario is, I doubt it will last. Zabuza is an accomplished shinobi and killer. A little bit of trauma won't keep him down for long, and he'll be a bigger pain when he does." Kakashi said before giving his signature eye smile. "Luckily for you, my cute little genin, your sensei will protect you."

Snorting, I took another bite of the breakfast in front of me. Luckily, I had retained Sakura's motor skills when it came to using chopsticks. I shuddered to think of how ridiculous I would have seemed if I'd suddenly forgotten how to use a basic utensil like that.

"The food is heavenly, Tsunami-san." I announced to the woman sitting next to her geriatric father who gave a demure smile and gave her thanks for the compliment.

"So what are we going to be doing, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, making all three of us turn towards him.

Quicker than I could catch, he was suddenly holding three scrolls with ribbons matching our hair colours tied around them. "You three are pretty advanced for your age group, and we're way past the fundamentals at this point."

"We're aware." Sasuke replied evenly, memories of the hell our sensei had put us through these past months clear in his eyes.

Kakashi gave that stupid smile, looking as innocent as possible for a man with a kill sheet as long as he had, could. "So, it's high time we began specializing you three a bit. This bit of training you'll be doing on your own, under my supervision, of course." With that, he handed us our scrolls.

"What good will that do!? Gato will still end up killing you! It's pointless!" Inari, the bridge builder's grandson shouted. Naruto seemed to have it handled as he began arguing with the poor boy.

Deciding to let that particular set of events play out without me, I opened the scroll.

Dread hit me as I read the first sentence that was revealed, my eyes slowly drifting back up to Kakashi. "No…" I whispered in abject horror.

"Yes."

"This… This is just cruel, Kakashi!" I shouted, suddenly very aware of the wrath my sensei could weild.

Because written on that scroll was words that struck fear right into my heart with its sheer cruelty.

It read: Body Refinement and the Flames of Youth.

By Maito fucking Gai!


"And he is…" Haku asked curiously.

"You know how most civilians think shinobi are crazy freaks of nature?" I asked and was impressed by the bashful look they put on in response to the question. "Well, Gai is that for Shinobi. The man's a beast."

Haku's eyes widened at the comparison.

"Yeah, I know. All that because I called sensei old a few times. Not my fault he's rocking the silver fox look." I groused.

"And your teammates?" Haku pressed, sounding too innocent for the blatant attempt to grill me for information. If I didn't already know who they really were, I might just have fallen for it. It was lucky that I didn't have much to give.

"Oh those two are in trouble when this is over, I assure you…"


"Just tell me, you miserable prick!" I growled, trying and failing to grab the dark haired prince of brooding as we marched back to Tazuna's house. Needless to say that going through Gai's manual for improving technique and physique had taken a very hard tole on my body. I ached in places I was sure I shouldn't have been able to ache!

"No, I'm not risking Kakashi putting me through whatever he is with you." Sasuke denied as he tried and failed to keep the smugness out of his voice. "You've made your bed, Isōrō. Sleep in it."

"You suck." I replied with a pout before turning to my (much better) teammate. "Naru~!" I cooed.

"No way Sakura. I'm finding it hard to think as is." Naruto said with a shake of his head, letting out a hiss as he brought his fingers to his temples, rubbing circles into them.

"Not a hard bar to clear, I'm sure." Sasuke quipped, gaining a rude gesture from the blonde that brought a grin to his face.

"That's a point…" I began as my eyes zeroed in on the Uchiha. "Why aren't you barely standing straight? What has Kakashi got you doing exactly?

"Wouldn't you like to know…" Sasuke shot back with a smug smirk.

"You're lucky neither of us are in any condition to fight or we'd be kicking your ass right now, asshole." I reply with a glare.

"Sure you would, Isōrō." He snarked in return, deftly dodging the swipe I tried to send at him, leaving me to lose my balance and fall flat on my face.


Haku let out a soft chuckle at the retelling, brown eyes clearly filled with amusement. "You sound like you care for them a great deal."

"Of course I do. They're my boys." I reply with a wistful smile before giving Haku a serious look. "Don't tell them that though, got to protect my badass image." That got a snort from the masquerading Ninja. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up why don't you."

"I am sorry, I don't mean to offend." Haku apologized but I found myaelf just waving them off good naturedly

Letting the conversation drift after that, I continued helping the would be enemy gather the herbs to heal Zabuza…

Wait…

"You said you were gathering these for a friend, right?" I spoke up, finally acknowledging just what we had been picking. I'm sure that I would not have recognised it had I not spent the last couple of weeks going over all types of similar plant with Anko-sama. "Because if you're planning to give them this then I have to wonder just what you're doing. These things will have you in your arse and seeing strange things."

Haku's eyes widened a fraction at my words, perhaps surprised at my knowledge. "My… friend is a retired Samurai. He… has trouble sometimes and needs something to relax his stress."

Translation, Zabuza was still paranoid about the phantom fan girls coming for him. The mental image of the dangerous man quivering beneath his bedsheets afraid of a gaggle of crazed fans had me cringing slightly. I hadn't thought the reaction would be that bad.

"Sounds like you care a lot about him." I mused. "I suppose even a man like Zabuza can find someone to care, right?"

Haku stilled before jumping back, putting distance between us as they reached into their sleeve, a glint of light revealing the sendon needles they carried.

"Peace!" I shouted, holding my hands up in a placating manner. "I had you clocked from the moment you arrived. If I meant you harm I would have attacked already."

"Perhaps this is a trick. Perhaps you have some sort of psychological attack designed for me waiting in the shadows." Haku replied with a glare. "I will protect Zabuza-sama with my life."

"Damn, just what did he do to get this kind of feverish loyalty? It can't be his winning personality." I snark.

"He saved me!" Haku shouted before their face faltered for a second as they turned away. "You wouldn't understand."

"Maybe I won't. But I'm willing to listen." I offer. "And it looks like you've got a lot on your chest there. Besides, if it comes to blows, your secret will stay with me anyway."

Haku paused, a long breath escaping them before they turned towards me. "What do you know of the Village Hidden in the Mist…"


Hearing the story of Haku's childhood was harrowing. Much more so than the accounting in the show. It was so much more raw, sad and angry in person.

The happiness on Haku's face at the memory of their mother. The hurt and betrayal at the mention of their father. How Haku had been a normal child, a Daddy's little girl with a loving home. Then her bloodline had come to show itself and everything had went to hell.

A genocide of anyone who had even a whiff of hereditary powers, man, woman and child all. They were no longer people but demons, set on bringing Mist to ruin. All under the orders of a Kage sent mad by outside forces.

That Haku had survived before being found by Zabuza was nothing short of a miracle. The loyalty she felt for the man was understandable, reasonable even, in the way this world was anyway.

"So, that is my Nindo. My Ninja Way. To serve Zabuza-sama as his tool until he has no use for me." Haku said solemly.

"You love him, don't you?"

"He is the closest thing I have to family." Haku said with a nod and a wistful smile. "It's the same with you, isn't it. Your "boys"?"

"We're only as strong as the will to protect those that we love. I'd do anything for them." I reply resolutely, images of the two idiots who had wormed their way into being my brothers. The two who I'd wanted to abandon once upon a time. Now, they were mine and no one would hurt them if I had my way.

Meeting Haku's eyes we shared a long look. In that moment, we understood each other, because in a way we were the same.

"You need to abandon this mission. Gato is not trustworthy." I blurt out, because despite knowing I shouldn't, I had to try and help Haku survive. "Besides, I'd hate to have to hurt a girl as pretty as you."

Haku blushed before giving a small, sad smile. "I would give you the same warning but it seems we are both forced into a corner. You have your mission and I have mine." With that Haku turned to leave, only pausing to look back and give a knowing smile. "By the way, I'm a boy."

A breathless chuckle escaped me at that before I gave a matching smile as Haku retreated. It seemed we were even more alike than I thought.

"So am I…"


AN: And on that bombshell, that's the end of the chapter.

So, to clarify if anyone is confused: Haku in this story is Trans, as is (due to the soul transference) Sakura. Haku's gender has often been debated in the fandom for years with two very distinct camps that I both enjoy but the concept or Haku being a trans character hasn't been explored all that much from what I've seen and I thought it would be a fun road to take.

Sakura being trans will be a subject that will be explored as we get deeper into the fic and will play a part in things to come. How that will happen… Well, as the great River Song once said:

Spoilers!