Haku was sitting on the windowsill, not making a sound. Already two days passed. The clock was ticking.

He looked out of the window to look for the forest, where Zabuza now trained.

"Zabuza-san. Even after such beatdown from Sharingan Kakashi, he still believes he can wield Kubikiribōchō".

Despite his small doubts, Haku was amused by Zabuza. This man was standing on his feet and even training with a huge sword, after what happened at the lake.

"I wish I was tough like you. I want to be," Haku thought.

He took out his senbon and also decided to train in the forest, but not in the same place as Zabuza, much closer to the village.

He did for an hour or two, using not only his senbon like usual, but also tried the flesh out his Ice Release techniques.

Haku opened a small notebook with a smile and studied what was written in it – it was clear who left these notes for him.

"Thank you for this," he thought and continued.

There was even less time for the order to be executed. Based on what Gato's spies told them. Sharingan Kakashi and his team of kids still stuck around, and with much smaller injuries.

That meant the danger didn't go anywhere, and he and Zabuza must prepare to the fullest.

"We have to do this. Even if I die". Haku thought.

Then, when he finished training, he changed his clothes and went to the forest again, only now for different reasons.

Meanwhile, Team 12 was almost done licking their wounds. Ino regained her chakra back and started helping Tazuna's daughter Tsunami around the house in her free time.

Neji's arm was still not okay, but that didn't stop him from walking around, trying to prove everyone that he is completely fine and is ready to train and guard. Kakashi only rolled his eyes on this.

But overall, the time in Land of Waves felt dragging for everyone, especially for Naruto. He was forced to witness the unhappy, depressed citizens every time he showed his nose out of Tazuna's house.

But right now, the team was busy with their training, far away from Tazuna's house in the deep forest. Ino was still studying a new jutsu, while Naruto was practicing with kunai, and Neji with his taijutsu.

"I think is this is pointless without Kakashi-sensei, you guys". Said Ino, with a small whine in her voice.

"You say that, but your mud walls look… Acceptable. Okay, who am I kidding, they are bad". Neji commented on it, which made Ino puff her cheeks.

"Hey! Ino is trying her best, stop being such a moody!" Naruto raised his voice at Neji, as he already decided to get mad on the behalf of Ino.

The girl only laughed – here is her samurai in shining armor… Yay.

"Naruto I can deal with everything mysel-"

"Maybe instead of screaming at me, try to train?" Neji already seemed pretty annoyed, and Ino rolled her eyes on his remark.

"What do you mean? Look, I'm training…"

"You know only clones and Wind Cutter. That's too little of an arsenal, especially after we saw what the real fight was. Drop the kunai, and work on something that will save your life".

"Maybe you shut your mouth?"

"And maybe you listen to me at least once?"

"I have a small list of Wind Style jutsu. Take and learn, at least one," Neji extended a small list on paper to Naruto.

This surprised Ino, unlike Naruto, whose first reaction was to huff and complain. It looked like Neji actually cared about Naruto's wellbeing… Only for a tiny bit.

Naruto angrily threw the kunai he was holding, and instead of the tree, it landed somewhere in the forest.

"Uhm…" Naruto looked at his teammates and Neji rolled his eyes for at least 50th time today.

"Okay, be fast. Then work with one of the jutsu in this list".

He angrily roamed through the branches, and was looking for his kunai. Just a thought of spending all those days with Neji by his side and not being able to leave, was awful to him.

"Look at me, I'm Neji and I'm here to lecture you all!"

He was roaming for quite some time no kunai. Naruto began to check every bush, and still no luck.

"Ugh. Okay, doesn't matter. I'm going back". He thought. Suddenly, he heard a small tap on his shoulder.

Naruto jumped and immediately turned, what if it was an enemy? But to his shock it wasn't an enemy. Or someone from his team. In front of him was standing a beautiful girl with long black hair and a pink kimono.

She was holding his kunai in her hand, and showed it to Naruto.

"Is it yours?"

"Uhm… Y-yeah, yeah. Mine. Thank you".

The girl laughed and smiled.

"I see you are a shinobi. My congratulations".

"Oh yeah, this. Yes, I am, I'm here with my team".

"NARUTO!" He suddenly heard Neji's voice, and saw how he was getting through the bushes. Ino was following him.

"Oh look, I guess Naruto wasn't losing time". Neji remarked. The girl stood still, displaying zero emotions.

"Are you two his team?" She asked.

"Yeah, sadly we are," Ino remarked on this. "You found it? We are tired of waiting, Naruto. There is training ahead!"

The girl smiled, and showed Ino the kunai, that Naruto forgot to take back.

"Were you looking for this?" She smiled at them. Neji nodded and quietly took the weapon from her.

"Why are you in the forest so early?" Neji asked with suspicion in his voice.

"I came to collect some herbs. I'm training to become a medic," the girl said in a really calm manner. She was generally calm throughout the whole exchange with Team 12.

"You are not from the Land of Waves, right? You look way too healthy and full to be from there" Neji pressed even more. Something clearly didn't add up about this girl.

The girl didn't answer.

"Hey, leave her alone! She helped me," Naruto pressed against Neji and Ino rolled her eyes. She took a few steps towards the girl and waved.

"Excuse those idiots. I'm Ino. Your name?"

"Haku".

Naruto, albeit blushing a bit, shook Haku's hand, and Ino did the same. Only Neji stayed away, keeping up reasonable distance.

"Okay, Naruto, Ino – we are leaving now. Bye Haku, was nice seeing you," Neji said, and moved his head to the direction of the bushes, expecting his team would follow him.

Only Naruto and Ino stayed where they were.

"Do you need any help? I'm an expert with plants, that way easily can find some for you," Ino smiled at Haku, and the girl only silently nodded.

Naruto, without words, also joined to help Haku up, so that left Neji looking at his teammates, dumbfounded.

The young Hyuga was very surprised by their actions, but even despite the interest, he waved his hand on this situation, leaving Ino and Naruto to help the girl by themselves.

"Okay, you know where to find me. And hurry!" Neji commanded, before jumping to the bushes.

"Ino, surprised you decided to help us," Naruto remarked, while looking for yet another herb.

"My thanks," Haku had added.

"That's nothing," Ino smiled, but her face was selling out that she wanted to ask Haku something. "So, Haku, if you are not from the Land of Waves, where is your home?"

Haku was definitely caught off guard with this question. She took some time, but answered.

"My home is near a person really precious to me," she said, not paying attention to the faces of Naruto and Ino, who were very surprised by that unusual response.

If anyone asked them the same question about where is their home, Naruto or Ino definitely would have answered "Konoha". It was a different case with Haku, which made Ino raise her eyebrow.

"So, you don't have a village?"

Haku smiled.

"I don't need a village. I have a really precious person by my side, and I have places to come back, after I finish my jobs. The person dear to me is my home".

Naruto and Ino were looking at this weird, but also somewhat mysterious girl, and were surprised by her reaction. Naruto himself got silent and spaced out. Home…

He is supposed to have a home, and a village. But does he have anyone to come back to after missions?

No.

His flat is small and dirty, he doesn't have anyone make him that one real meal he sees mothers making for their children…

And he never had any of that. All his life, people around him showed that he was not wanted in the village or deserved a place beside them.

He kept quiet, while tried to get rid of those thoughts. No, sad feelings – go away!

Ino, seeing how distraught her teammate was, just patted him on the shoulder and went to finish helping Haku by herself.

Two girls managed to collect everything Haku needed and Ino gave out what she collected. Haku accepted, but still had a confusing smile on her face.

"Ino… Why you and Naruto are helping me?"

"What? Because we can, of course! I'm not usually this generous, but I just wanted to be free from Neji's and sensei's nagging. And also, I really wanted to help you, since you helped Naruto".

"Thank you. By the way – was it that obvious that I wasn't from the Land of Waves?" Haku asked.

"You wear a clean, beautiful kimono. Kids on the streets of Land of Waves are running around in dirty parts of fabric," Naruto finally got back in reality and mumbled something. He remembered all those poor kids on the street, begging for money or food, and his heart sank once again.

"We helped them as much as we could. I got so used to seeing big plates in front of me – couldn't bear looking when smaller kids go through this," Ino picked up another plant.

Haku clearly was touched by this fact, but kept weirdly silent.

"It looks like you both really care… Even if you are from a big village".

"Yeah. Of course, we care – no matter where we came from," Naruto got up and gave Haku his biggest smile.

"Then I'm sorry for my bad judgment. I always thought people from big rich villages were ignorant to the fate of something like Land of Waves," Haku quietly said, and small tones of guilt slipped in her voice.

Ino kept silent. "If only you knew where Naruto lives, you wouldn't say such things about "rich village", Haku".

She only briefly saw the complex where Naruto's flat was located, so herself knew that not everyone in Konoha were rolling in luxury.

"Thank you for your help," Haku bowed, took her basket full of herbs, and waved goodbye.

Naruto was silently looking at her back, only thinking about what Haku said. Ino shrugged it off, but understood there was clearly something wrong with it.

She pushed Naruto, and pointed at the bushes. With the words "yeah-yeah", the two genins left the field.

"Ugh, finally. I thought you decided to spend the night there," Neji angrily said, and put the jutsu list under Naruto's nose.

"NOW, you will not go anywhere! Take this and practice, do you really wish to die?"

Naruto signed and took the list. In there, a handful of useful but simple Wind Style jutsu. He chose one and began practicing it.

"I'm no Kakashi sensei, so you are on your own here," said Neji. "Ino, you also have to start up your training".

"Hey! Don't you boss me around! And I'm training, see?" Ino replied with annoyance in her voice.

Team 12 has got back to training, but Neji didn't know that everything on his teammates' mind were Haku's words.

Naruto kept silent this whole time.

"A person dear to me is my home," was a phrase on his mind. Maybe it is great when someone loves you so much… And why did Haku meant when she said she doesn't have a village?

He didn't know answers on those questions.

"They clearly thought I was a girl"

Haku also was walking towards Zabuza's base and was thinking about those two genins. He was chuckling over this situation, and remembering what Zabuza said about his choice of clothes.

But inside, he understood that he was more interested in the kids' reaction to Land of Waves.

"Who knew that someone so healthy and clean could care about some kids they never met, from another small village?" He was thinking.

Those two were definitely a weird case – helped him with herbs, asked a lot of questions…

Why?

Those inner thoughts weren't leaving him up until he reached Gato's base. There, he immediately went to heal Zabuza with the herbs he collected.

Zabuza, as soon as saw Haku, tried to put on a brave face – he wanted the boy to believe that he was okay. Haku quickly noticed that his master was still somewhat hurt, but haven't said anything.

Just took some steps closer and showed him the herbs he collected. Zabuza only chuckled and turned them down.

"Ugh. I'm fine now. Thank you still, Haku".

"Zabuza-san, take a rest. It's not good for you to walk around like this, especially after you trained so much".

"No Haku. We don't have much time left – we have to start attacking now, if want to keep our heads on".

Haku signed.

"Understood".

"I already have a working plan how to get rid of Tazuna, and we will be going out soon".

Bad idea. Zabuza was still not in his best condition, and also, there was a huge risk of the shinobi protecting the bridge builder being near him.

And Haku caught himself on the fact that he didn't want that to happen. He kept silent for quite some time that even Zabuza got suspicious, then, quietly voiced out his concern.

"Zabuza-san… Can we somehow only paralyze other people working for that man? I don't want to kill them," Haku finished, and Zabuza looked him deep in the eyes.

"I don't want to kill the children shinobi. I believe they are innocent and… Quite not what I had expected from someone who grew up in big village".

"So, looks like someone talked to them. Is this right, Haku?"

Haku shut up. Him and his big mouth…

"My apologies. I never expected to run into them. But again – they seemed quite nice".

Now it was Zabuza's turn to keep silent, but then, he spoke up again, putting his hand on Haku's shoulder.

"Haku, your merciful ways will be the death of you one day. But yes, I agree, knocking them out would be much more practical," this sentence by Zabuza got a nice smile of Haku.

He sat on the bed and took out the notebook. Zabuza looked over his shoulder and had a reaction that looked like a smirk – Zabuza himself had long forgotten how to smile properly.

"Her gift?"

"Yes. She really knew what I wanted the most," Haku quietly said and lowered his head.

"Missing her already? I will get you to her soon, just wait".

"Do not worry yourself, Zabuza-san, my priority is still the plan".

Zabuza stroked Haku's hair. "What a good kid".

"Good then. Now you know what is coming for both of us. Get prepared for meeting her though, she's definitely missing you."

Haku completely understood that. One thing that he hid from Zabuza was that he wasn't desperate to run away from his old life.

Zabuza had a plan to get Haku and by extension, himself away from the world of dirty killings. He had this plan in mind for quite some time, and Haku agreed, but still wanted to make sure that his loved ones would be okay.

And that meant to execute the task before finally paying the price to leave.

"Okay Haku, we must go now". Haku nodded on this and picked up his mask.

After some time for preparations, the two Rouge Shinobi exited from the base. Gato looked out of the window and satisfyingly smiled.

He then whispered something to his close ally and closed the window up.

Haku was walking silently, and Zabuza held his hand.

"Everything will be okay, I already promised you, remember?"

"I'm not thinking about myself. Just… Those kids".

Zabuza signed.

"I understand your feelings, but those three are the same weapon of Konoha as all shinobi are. Never forget that".

"I… I wouldn't, Zabuza-san. A weapon, just like I am".

"You may think of yourself as a weapon, but at least you don't serve any village right now. And even this will come at a cost for both of us".

"Sadly yes… That is the fate of someone who wasn't born in a rich enough village".

Team 12's training got cut short when their teacher called for them back.

"Are you sure you are okay now, Kakashi sensei?" Naruto asked, when the team was accompanying Tazuna to his workplace.

"Looks like it – I can't trust you three to take care of a garden, nevermind watching over Tazuna," their sensei gave a short and stiff answer.

Naruto, Neji and Ino signed. As soon as they got back from the forest, Neji noticed his teammates were acting really weird.

Not only Ino didn't insult him once, both her and Naruto really were as silent as rocks, while training. On every question they answered with a small "okay" and went back to whatever they were doing.

Neji didn't know about their talk with Haku so couldn't understand their feelings. Kakashi also noticed the silence in his team and whispered:

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Ino was the first to shrug away her sensei's questions, before Naruto could chime in and ruin something.

She had to stay focused. Even if it's only a small escort mission, their heads needed to be 100% in the mission, and those thoughts about the weird talk with Haku definitely didn't help.

While Naruto and Ino were drifting in their thoughts, Neji started to get worried. Something felt wrong, every second they took one step towards the bridge.

The air, the atmosphere – all felt somewhat different. He had no idea why he thought that way, but now he was sure of that.

"Kakashi sensei. There is something wrong, I can feel it".

"Just get ready in case anything happens. But right now, do not touch the Byakugan".

"I- Yes, understood".

The team got more cautious. Ino took a deep breath and could barely move her legs – the deathly silence was much worse than any open up attack.

At least with attacks, adrenaline was doing half of the job for you. And sometimes, if you are lucky – battles can end fast, so you wouldn't have time to get scared.

But here everything was different.

They walked further, until saw the horrible – a couple of people on the bridge were lying dead, with blood around.

Ino almost fell on her from the smell, but she composed herself. Kakashi looked further, and noticed the fog gathering around them.

"Looks like our previous attack was useless. Zabuza Momochi is alive and now came to finish his mission."

All three of the young shinobi gulped. A dark figure in the fog turned, and began running towards them.