Chapter 11: Incentive
Yugao led Goku to an empty part of the training ground that was barren: no trees, no training posts, nothing but the grass beneath them.
"Okay Goku, let's work on-" she started.
"Wait sensei, can we work on a new technique?" The teen asked with buzzing excitement. "I've taken some inspiration from that trash guy's Raiton jutsu."
She gave the boy a curious look, until she realized what he was saying.
"So a rapid fire type attack?" She questioned.
"Yeah, something like he kept blasting us with lightning over and over. So can we work on that?" He asked again.
"…Eh, sure. Again, since you don't have a chakra network, I don't have any offensive moves to teach you." She shrugged, changing the plans for her only student. "Yeah, we can work on the attack. Have you ever tried something similar to it yet?"
Goku shook his head. "No, I literally just made it up. I kinda would have preferred to start practicing it with you in case I screwed up. I figured you could help me with any problems that I have with it."
"Fair enough. Understand though that I still really don't know much about ki despite our tenureship, so I don't know exactly how much help I'll be with this." She said before, trodding backward to give him operating space. "Now, just try it. Aim it on the ground or in the sky, not towards me."
Goku nodded before he looked to his hands, accumulating as much ki into his palms as possible. Then, positioning his arms, he prepared to launch his thereby made-up attack. "Kame Sandan!" The Saiyan shouted. He moved his hands forward, unleashing a few turret's of Ki with both hands.
However, it turned out to be much too weak and all of them exploded immediately, right in the Saiyans face.
"Ah! Damn it," Goku cursed as his ass was on the ground, comical black smoke and ashes all over his face. Yugao after witnessing the attempt tried stifling her human laughter at her students failed attempt, and halfway succeeded. Nurture vs Nature. ANBU vs Woman.
Her stifled laughter only made Goku snicker himself at his failed attempt, and then push himself up from the ground. "Hey, sensei! Quit laughing and give me some useful advice or something."
"I...I can't," She replied between laughs. "You wanted to do this, therefore you should fix the problems on your own. I'm only here to supervise the training."
Goku scowled slightly, and then repeated the same steps from earlier. He unleashed his continuous torrent, but it was too strong and stable this time. It came out as one wave of Ki, and not a weaker, more plentiful turret. It raged onto a normal sized hill, completely obliterating the natural construct upon contact.
'…Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a really long day?' He grumbled to himself, wiping the sweat off of his brow as he set himself to try it again. He wouldn't back down from the challenge of actually making it work, he'd be damned if he did.
-Another Hour Later-
The Saiyan was exhausted after his individual, ki-based training. He had spent every second working on the technique he had imagined in his mind, and being who he was it was not long before he got the hang of it. Being not of this world, he was able to pick up on things faster than what you would consider fast. It was a hack.
"You seem pretty exhausted Goku," Yugao observed with a chuckle. "Consider me shocked."
"Well, it was definitely worth it," Goku stated with a grin on his tired face.
"Indeed," Yugao stated, before moving on to the close. "I have some plans with my significant other today, so no missions. You are dismissed. Take it easy for the rest of the day and relax, you've earned it. Maybe go check on your friends, even people like us need to reset."
Yugao made a hand sign before using the Shunshin and disappearing, leaving her student alone.
"I wonder if I could learn to teleport too," Goku muttered, wondering if he could transmit himself with ki like elite shinobi could with chakra. That would definitely be a project for later...
-Later-
'I just want some groceries...' Goku sighed mentally. While he loved consuming other peoples food as much as possible, his wallet simply could not afford that. Or specifically, D-rank missions were barely enough to cover his appetite on a daily basis. He needed to hit more high ranked missions before starvation seeped in.
On the positive ends of things, the entrance to the convenience store from which he bought his food was less than two hundred feet away. The sooner he got in there the sooner he could go to his humble residence and burn his food to crisp. He was never a prodigious chef after all, in any universe.
As he rushed to reach his destination, tuned out his surroundings in favor of his growing hunger. The moment he returned to reality, he was already within inches of another person's skull. Knocking heads, both he and his victim fell to their buttocks.
"Sorry about that," the Saiyan muttered, rubbing his forehead as the stars cleared from his vision. When he had his wits about him again, he took a more measured look at who he had crashed into. Staring at him with slightly wide eyes none other than...
Hinata. He had not seen nor genuinely thought about her since the academy ended, which was over a month ago. Her outfit was as it always was and her hair appeared a bit longer, though it was still styled in a ponytail.
"Long time no see," Goku greeted her, smiling at the development.
The girl flinched, as though she had been snapped from a stupor. Blinking several times, the Hyuga rose up to her feet and offered him a hand. Taking it after a moment, the boy was pulled to his feet.
The hand lingered for a few seconds even after he was fully upright. She still did not speak.
"Hello?" Goku joked, waving his hand in front of her face.
Gently guiding his hand away from her face, Hinata surprisingly opened her arms up for a hug. The boy's emotional brain knew what this movement symbolized, and thus he returned in kind.
"What are you doing here?" she finally said while releasing herself from the hug, her eyes drifting up and down his frame as she spoke.
"I'm low on food and I can't just buy my way out of hunger," he explained, scratching his hair in typical sheepish fashion.
"I see," she started. And then she lightly smiled. "With the way you eat, I'm not sure groceries are any less expensive."
"Welp, I'm running outta options. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it," the boy responded with a chuckle.
As he moved to step past her to scrap together some form of dinner, he was stopped by Hinata's hand taking a grip on the back of his sleeve.
"Hey, wait," she said, tugging him back slightly. Goku ceased his walk and turned back around again. The girl's grip held firmer than he could remember.
"I can make us dinner back at my apartment today," she said directly, catching the boy off guard. "I-if you want-"
"Really?!" he asked frantically. "You would?"
"Hai, you need to eat and I can use the company," she offered. Goku perked up at the proposal. He could finally catch up with her after all this time! And eat well too.
"Arigato, you're the greatest!" Goku said with a nod.
Hinata appeared to relax somewhat at his words. She then began to walk off down the leftmost street, the direction of her home of a few months. Goku followed suit, taken off guard by the obvious pep that was in the girls step.
Eventually, they reached her front door, which was obviously locked. Hinata reached down and pulled a key from her right jacket pocket.
Once the door was open, she beckoned him inside, to which he quickly obliged.
Stepping inside, Goku kicked off his boots and stretched his legs. From what he could see, the room was lavish compared to his own domain and everything was put together in an orderly fashion. Clan inheritance versus being an unwanted orphan, go figure.
"Take a seat. I'll start dinner," the girl said, pointing to the dining table as they entered the kitchen. Goku did as he was told and sat himself down. Without another word, Hinata made her way over to the counter and created a single Kage Bunshin to aid her.
The task was feeding Son Goku, and her name was not Chi-Chi Hyuga. She needed as many hands on deck as she could have.
Of all the things Goku had ever expected to occur upon returning to Konoha, Hinata willingly cooking for him was most certainly not on the list.
'I wonder why she offered it in the first place,' Goku pondered. It was a surprise — a pleasant one — but a surprise all the same. As he watched the girl and her helper speed blitz the kitchen in a ninjutsu-aided culinary assault, Goku tried to decipher what the hell was going on.
Had she...unofficially coerced him into a date?
Despite never knowing what love or marriage meant as a younger kid — thinking it to be some kind of food — spending years with Roshi meant he was bound to learn the basics about relationships and the like. While it was not important to him generally, he wasn't totally naive.
Men liked women and women liked men, and they eventually trained together in a bedroom.
That's at least how Master Roshi had explained it.
Part of the Kame nindo was to study well, and well, even he tried to from time to time despite the insane boredom that came with it.
Therefore as he carefully considered what got them to that point, it was clear she had simply wanted an excuse to bring him to her home.
'I can use the company.'
Goku thought back on it, a humorous smirk forming on his face. The older version of Hinata was something he was still relatively unfamiliar with, but apparently deceitful and indirectness were things she wasn't. As far as he could tell, she wanted his company, and wanted it enough to request it directly under the guise of food.
Leaning back in his chair, the Saiyan looked on with appreciation as Hinata prepared their food.
He couldn't wait to stuff his face.
-Later-
The moment it had become clear that Goku was about to be himself and walk off, she knew she had to shoot her shot. Thankfully, Goku was easily coaxed by food, as without it there was no telling if he would give her any kind of attention. As the statement goes, the quickest way to a man's heart was through their stomach.
She had never expected the advice to matter much, given how she did not particularly have feelings for anyone in her short lifetime.
Naruto? He was one of her best-friends, and she admired the way he lived his life despite the hatred he constantly received. He was a strong role model in her life, but did she ever love him? Perhaps in every other story the answer was yes, but in this one she would be lying if she said she did. If she wanted to fall for the blonde, it woud not take long before she got what she wanted.
Which isn't what she wants. Structure, fate, and guaranteed outcomes were something her clan adored and something she began to look past...the moment the boy in her dormitory became relevant in her life. Everything about the boy was captivating, and she would be lying if she said that did not entice her very being.
Shelving the thoughts for the time being, Hinata refocused her attention on the mass amounts of food. It all appeared to be sufficiently cooked, and thus she went to prepare all the dishes with her helper.
Despite being disowned so-to-speak, she still maintained a level of perfectionism. She could not accept anything less than absolute symmetry. In a process that took her two minutes, Hinata arranged everything to Goku's astonishment.
When she was finished, the indigo-haired girl was met with Son Goku, who had widened eyes.
"Yes?" she asked, feeling rather awkward.
"Oh nothing," he responded quickly. "Carry on."
Hinata sighed slightly, seating herself across from him and watching him intently as he clasped his palms together in a prayer over the food.
The moment of truth had arrived. Hinata grew to enjoy the results of her own cooking, but she never had a single review beyond her own judgement.
"Wow this is great!" Goku said upon swallowing his first bite, immediately reaching for a second. Hinata could not contain her smile and slight blush at her companions brashness. It felt good to be appreciated.
"Thank you so much," she said gratefully. "I'm glad you like it."
Goku gave her a thumbs up as he downed bite after bite after bite all at once. His table manners left a lot to be desired, but Hinata found it endearing. And surprisingly enough, he left absolutely zero mess to clean up around him.
It just appeared savagely.
"So, how have you been? Obviously it's been a while," the Saiyan asked nonchalantly before digging into a bowl of rice. "Are you doing okay? What about your team?"
"I've been well," she started. Goku's expression uplifted, though his gaze never wavered, egging her to continue.
"Ever since I left...the Hyuga compound," she continued, a somber smile tugging at her lips. "I've been enjoying the peace of not being pressured to be someone I was not. I still love my family, my tou-san, nii-san, and nee-chan, but it was time for me to be my own person. It gets lonely sometimes though, and with my teammates we get along but we're not close outside of work. Sometimes I wonder if I'm on the right path or not..."
She trailed off, not wanting to show anymore weakness. She had no idea how the boy in front of her would take it.
"We just gotta keep up the fight," he responded slowly, still trying to appease his insatiable appetite. Hinata shook her head and chuckled at his antics and simplicity.
"Right, you of all people would say that," she said jokingly.
Goku wolfed down the rice left in his bowl.
"Of course!" he said as he chewed. "I say be yourself and stand strong on whatever it is. And if you can't yet, get strong enough so you can."
"Speaking of getting stronger, how's your training?" she asked. "No doubt you're stronger than when we 'fought'..."
Goku sighed and set his fork down.
"I am, but I feel like I'm not where I should be," he grumbled. "Nobody around is really a challenge. Sure I can hold back, but at times I wish I could go all out."
That was quite the statement, given how powerful her cousin was, not to mention her own father and then the Hokage himself. To say that no one could challenge him is an audacious claim, but she could see that he was not attempting to bluff or impress her.
He really believed that? Wow.
The pair soon switched to other topics. They discussed their missions, theorized about Kakashi's face, the last five years for them both, Kame House, Mercenary Tao and Korin's tower, Mirai Toshi, Team Eight, Akamaru, Yugao-sensei, and Red Ribbon Army among other things. Throughout the many twists and turns, Hinata had an epiphany.
She was happier than she could ever recall being. It was insane.
Everything Goku said, harmless jokes or dead serious statements, brought her intense joy. She was so glad she decided to be bold and make her move.
After they had spent over three hours at the dining table, both of them internally surmised it was time to end the night.
"We should probably wrap this up. We both gotta report to our sensei's tomorrow," the boy said, sounding rather disappointed.
Hinata felt her mood plummet at the grim reality of life. Did he have to leave? Would he ever do this again?
"You're right," she muttered under her breath, her eyes looking down and catching the boy's attention.
"You alright Hinata?"
Looking up from her folded arms, the girl saw that her "friend" had stood up from the table.
"Um," she stammered. The Saiyan nodded. Hinata fidgeted with her hands.
"Would you be willing, to come back sometime soon?" she asked carefully. "W-We can train together as well-"
"You want me to stay right now too huh?" he blurted out, reading underneath the underneath with his sensory ability. He could faintly feel the feelings of the girl near to him, they exploited themselves like an open book.
Hinata gave him a nod, confirming his theory. She didn't want to let go of such a heavenly feeling. It was nothing less than therapeutic.
"Only if you want to," she added softly.
"It's okay, I'll stay," the boy said after a time.
A wave of relief washed through Hinata. Thankfully, he sounded comfortable with it. Slowly rising to her feet, Hinata looked at her "friend" and noticed something.
"You don't have any sleeping clothes do you?" she asked. Goku looked down at his outfit, which consisted of his usual orange gi pants, and a dark-blue undershirt. The only thing he had beneath that were boxers and a wife beater tank top.
"I'll be alright," he said. He then glanced around the room. "So, do you have a couch?"
Hinata was conflicted. On one hand, they were young and it was not a prerogative in her programming to lust for lustful things...yet. Kissing was the worst thing she would even conceive of subjecting herself to committing.
On the other hand, she was an adult. She lived on her own, made her own money, killed with her own hands, and could drink or consume whatever she wanted. Eee.
"You're staying in my room," she mumbled bluntly.
And then being the Kame student he was, Goku's face gained color.
"B-but, the only thing in there is–"
"Is my bed, yes," she interrupted, her face shaded a similar hue of red to his. All of a sudden, the hesitation was gone. She knew what she wanted. Playing by the rules and being honorable was a martial artist thing to do, she was a kunoichi.
Win at all costs.
Goku had nothing to say, he had never done anything remote close to this. Comforting people or being anything other than himself was not his strong suit.
Hinata then took him by the arm and pulled him out into the hallway that contained her room and the bathroom.
"I'm going to take a shower, so you can go wait in my room. Once I'm done, you'll take one too. After that, we figure out how to sleep. Deal?" she said, looking him in the eyes with every word.
"Deal," the Saiyan said assertively, turning into the open doorway of her room.
Locking on to the bathroom door's handle, she set off to bathe.
-Later-
'She wants company. You're gonna give her that Son Goku, the end.'
He mentally coached himself. It was no secret that he internally wanted to be there. If he didn't, he would've exited her presence.
Goku left the shower in his sleeping garments, and walked into the bedroom just to be greeted by a happy Hyuga.
She was wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt with short black shorts, her hair untied from the usual ponytail and let loose, flowing past her shoulders.
"Any particular reason you're just standing there?" she asked lightly.
"I was waiting for permission," he answered.
"Permission granted. Effective immediately," she responded, playing along with the quip.
"Positive?" he inquired.
Hinata took a few steps toward him, stopping just in front of his feet.
"Hai, now no more questions," she whispered. Upon receiving a pup like nod, Hinata pulled back the sheets of her bed before sliding under them.
"Come on," she gestured gently.
Doing as he was told, Goku laid down next to the girl with his arms at his sides. Said girl yanked the sheets over the top of them.
Silence.
And then illogicality.
"Thank you Son Goku," Hinata said sweetly.
The Saiyan in question craned his head to the side, and found that her pale, lavender eyes were on him.
"No problem. I'll always be here if you need me, remember the promise?" he asked kindly. The Hyuga girl's pale features twisted up in visible emotion. She reigned herself back in rapidly.
- Flashback no Jutsu -
"W-why are you sad, Goku-san?"
"Because I hurt Sasuke," he grumbled, "and I didn't wanna but I couldn't help myself."
"B-but you were a-amazing Goku, I've never seen someone so young m-move like that, even Neji-niisan..." she drifted off solemnly. "I wish I could move like that."
"I almost really injured him," Goku said softly shaking his head. "I love to fight, but I never wanna injure someone," he finished, burying his head in his hands.
"But if you don't wanna fight as hard as you can...who will protect me?" She meekly whispered with a somber look on her face. "I mean. I wanna get strong so nobody has to protect me at all! But seeing you fight...I know you could protect me if you wanted," she said, well mostly hoped.
"Protect you from what? Do people bully you too?"
She remained still for a moment, pain showing on her face before she nodded, and began rolling up her sleeves. Goku couldn't help but go wide-eyed in shock at the number of welts and bruises covering the young girls arms.
"Who did this to you?" He asked, his concern for Hinata now outweighing his self-loathing.
Just as quickly, she rolled her sleeves back down and looked at the ground. "I c-can't say," she stuttered, "Will you still get stronger and fight? So that bad things d-don't happen to anyone?"
"Heck yeah!" The young Saiyan said, fired up. "But what if I ended up hurting you too?"
"Because I'd like to think you...you wouldn't hurt anyone to be mean," the Hyuga responded, chuckling softly.
-Later That Day-
"Yo Hinata," Goku abruptly said, surprising the young girl who had just exited the academy. Before she could reply he continued, "I'll protect you from anything, be there for you and help you train, I promise!"
-Flashback no Jutsu Kai-
"You...you remembered that?" she asked with surprise.
"Of course. Even when I was training with Master Roshi, I never forgot about my word," he said.
Hinata turned onto her side and faced him fully.
"I really missed you," she said out of the blue.
Goku felt a pang from his chest, a skin prickly goosebumps feeling taking his whole body over. Turning onto his own side, the Saiyan met her gaze. The indigo-haired girl's eyes held a number of emotions within their nigh-white irises, but among them, he found compassion?
Love? Affection? Longing? Gratitude? He didn't know and he didn't care.
"I missed you too," he responded bluntly, not knowing what else to say. Hinata giggled.
"Did you really?" she asked, her tone tired but eager all the same.
"Oh yeah, aside from Naruto you were the only person I really cared about at the time. You were and still are one of my precious people," he said resolutely.
Hinata turned her head again to reveal her entire face once more.
"Do this more often? See me more often? Train in our free time?" She shot off without fear or hesitation, relishing in the pressure the spot they were in created.
Goku cracked a sincere smile.
"Deal, deal, and deal."
Goku was a simple guy after all, do right by him and he would do twice as much for you. It was just who he was.
The Hyuga took his left hand that happened to lay flat on the mattress into both of her own. She then tugged on his arm.
Taking the hint, Goku instinctively scooted closer. Hinata then pulled herself into him with a grip on his shoulders.
"Thank you so much. You're the best," she stated sleepily yet profoundly.
Then, before he could say a single word in response, she tilted her head to the side, leaned in, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. She couldn't beat the temptation.
Goku was that cute.
Mind already used to not processing information too much, Goku aloofly stared into darkness as Hinata tucked her head under his chin and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.
And then acting on whatever came natural to him, he wrapped his arms around the girl to return the hug she was already giving him. She was breathing evenly, with only small sounds escaping her. And she was out.
Maintaining his jaw atop her head softly, Goku closed his own eyes. He didn't know what to do with any of this, what to think of the girl in his arms, what he was supposed to think, or anything of the sort.
It didn't matter, he lived for the moment. Move first, ask questions later.
He enjoyed this type of training so far, it was refreshing and especially stimulating. Why not keep it up?
-With Team Seven-
Haku was not having a good time. First, the raven-haired boy rages after she "kils" Naruto. Then she was beaten by a suddenly healed Naruto and Sasuke, and promptly taken out before she could help her master. She had no idea what happened to Zabuza or if he was even alive. Not to mention she was a prisoner, who knows what they planned to do to her?
Then her heart sank. What if Zabuza was dead? What could she do without her master, she was never made to do anything herself. The only serious decision she ever made was to go with Zabuza and now that he was probably dead she had no purpose. 'Maybe I can just get them to kill me and get it over with...'
Though, all this time alone in the room gave her plenty of time to think about things, which made her think.
'Do I need to die? I have freedom now, freedom to do as I wish. Can I really put that as a positive though? I've... never had complete freedom, I don't know what to do... ' Haku thought, as her thoughts trailed back to the boy she met in the forest a few days before the battle on the bridge, and the Uchiha who was responsible for her being taken out of the fight.
She sighed. What would Naruto think of her after she tried to kill him and his friend, the Uchiha? And she already knew that Sasuke probably hated her based on his emotions when she "killed" Naruto. Haku legitimately liked them because she could relate to them, they were the same, in a way.
Her musing was finally stopped when the entirety of Team Seven entered the room with various expressions. Kakashi seemed neutral, Sakura was a little fearful of the one who could defeat her teammates and Sasuke was frowning down upon her. However it was the blonde's expression which truly made her upset.
He looked betrayed, hurt by the fact that the one he spoke with so casually was actually someone who was planning to kill them.
The silence was palpable, which Kakashi decided was enough and began to speak. "So, let's talk shall we?" His only response was Haku looking up at him and inclining her head slightly.
"Alright then, let's start with names. My name is Kakashi Hatake, and you are?" He spoke cheerfully, despite the fact that this was - for all intents and purposes - an interrogation.
"My name is Haku Yuki. I am the last of the Yuki clan." She spoke with little emotion, something Kakashi could easily connect to the fact that Zabuza was dead.
"Well I didn't ask about your clan status, but I'm pleased you're being so cooperative..." He said. "...now then, since your friend Zabuza is dead, what do you intend to do? We can't actually accuse you of anything other than assault since you are neither a missing-nin nor have you killed anyone." He continued in a serious voice.
"I... I don't know, Zabuza's goals were my life. I am little more than a broken tool..." She said sadly, looking crestfallen, with a few tears welling up at the confirmation on her masters death. Then she began to breakdown as quietly as possible. Team Seven gave her some time to calm down before continuing.
Well they would have, if Naruto wasn't there.
Naruto couldn't take the way she thought of herself and decided it was his time to get involved. "What do you mean just a tool? You're a kunoichi, a human being! If that's all that bastard thought of you as then there was no point of helping him!" He said with anger leaking out.
Haku hearing this let out a small laugh, though it was bitter rather than cheerful. "That may be, but what would you do if you had only one precious person? Would you do anything to help them, to get them to achieve their dreams? That was exactly what my goal was for Zabuza-sama." She replied, again almost emotionless.
Kakashi decided to butt in before Naruto threw a tantrum. "Alright, well that's good and all, but we still don't know if you are safe to release. So until the bridge is complete you will be our 'guest' so to speak. After that you can do as you please, since you clearly were just following orders." Kakashi spoke, knowing that everything said was true by examining the conversation with his Sharingan.
"If that is what must be done, so be it." Haku spoke with finality. Kakashi nodded at this, slightly glad the "boy" was so broken since it made his job here so much easier. He then untied Haku and allowed her to go and clean herself of all the filth accumulated during the fight.
After a while, she emerged and went downstairs. Tazuna, not realizing what went on between the "boy" and Team Seven had a silent heart attack thinking "he" was going to finish what Zabuza started, but was surprised when "he" silently sat down and did nothing. Oh and I mean nothing, "he" sat there near motionless. Like a statue. A creepy, mentally broken statue.
This was the sight Naruto and Sasuke arrived to after coming back from some rather "light" training, which consisted of both of them sparring with taijutsu on a constantly moving stream. Seeing Haku in this state made it easier for the blonde to approach the girl, since he too knew how loneliness felt. He sat down next to the girl and took a few moments to compose his thoughts, not wanting to get upset over potentially nothing.
Sasuke grabbed a hot bento box that had plenty of tomatoes and onigri and sat down on a chair in the corner of the good sized room.
"So..." Naruto began. "...was any of it real?" He said softly, not really wanting the answer, but steeling himself for it when it came.
"Yes it was. I could see you, me, and the Uchiha were the same. I saw it in your eyes, the loneliness and the pain and it made me happy to see others who had shared those feelings, so I couldn't help but interact with you." Haku replied, and Naruto let out a genuine smile at this.
"That's a relief, I was afraid you were just lying to me or something. So what're you gonna do when we finish the bridge? You can't exactly just wander, it's not really safe to do that." Naruto replied, never losing his smile.
"I still don't know. I have never really made my own decisions Naruto. I have been following Zabuza-sama's orders to the letter my whole life since... since the incident," Haku said, flinching slightly at the last part. Bringing up her past was never the easiest thing for her. She had major family issues.
"Do you... want to talk about it?" Naruto replied nervously. He didn't exactly want to drive the boy away by bringing up a topic he didn't want to discuss, but his curiosity got the better of him. Haku thought about this for a second, weighing the options. 'I think I should talk about this, to finally let it go.' He thought.
"N...No. I've already told you and Sasuke-san about my story." She said, clearly apprehensive about doing so. "However, I left out what happened after...after I killed my father and everyone in the house."
"Tell us," Sasuke spoke up with a monotone voice, taking the words right out of Naruto's mouth. "We want to know everything."
"Okay then... I just went away, scrounging food wherever I could and just trying to stay alive. Then when I had sat down on a bridge one day a masked ninja came up to me. He offered me a place at his side, as a tool. That man was Zabuza-sama. From then on I simply did as he required and helped him however I could. I had a purpose. Then all of this happened, and now I have nobody again!" She finished, tears beginning to fall.
"It's all right Haku. If you want, we'll be your precious people, or at least I will. We'll be your friends, right Sasuke?" He replied soothingly. Haku could do little but widen her eyes when the Uchiha gave the most minute nod she had ever seen. 'I tried to kill both of them and the bridge builder. I tried to break their will within the mirrors. I did all that and... Naruto wants to be my friend?' She thought, frantically trying to make sense of this.
"What? You want to be my friend?" After a quick nod, she couldn't hold back her confusion. "Why?!" She all but screamed. "I've done nothing but try to kill your team since you got here! I attacked you and the Uchiha. I could have killed the both of you, allowed the death of your sensei and killed your other teammate!" She said vehemently.
"That's not true. Did Zabuza make you speak to me in the forest? Did Zabuza tell you to take non-lethal shots on me? That was all you Haku. You are a good person with a life full of suffering." She couldn't hold back the tears with these words, jumping at him and hugging him fiercely.
"Thank you!" She repeated like a mantra. Naruto was happy that she was comfortable enough around him and Sasuke to run her emotions like she was. Then again, the topic isn't exactly easy to speak about.
"You're welcome Haku-chan," He said unconsciously. Then both he and Haku realized what he said and she jumped back with a cute 'Eep!' and looked at him while covering her mouth.
"Wha..What did you say?" She spoke slightly nervous as she wasn't expecting such a term of affection. 'Wait a minute... that was the female term!' She exclaimed mentally. Did he know? Her eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal.
"Nevermind..." She said "...thank you again, Naruto-kun." She finished somewhat nervously, not used to communicating with someone other than Zabuza.
-After the Bridge's Completion-
The rest of the week went smoothly. The Team - along with Haku, who was surprisingly collected after Zabuza's death - guarded Tazuna and his remaining men while they constructed the bridge. It wasn't really like they needed to do so anymore, but it made the village feel safer having it's heroes overlooking them. They had no issue guarding the bridge since it was a constant reminder of the squads failure.
Naruto, Sasuke, and the girl had gotten a little closer over the week due to the fact that Naruto and Sasuke trained their reaction times via Haku's quick senbon. Sakura actually trained hard as well and little else happened during the week. Haku and Naruto chatted a little and got to know each other a little. The week did wonders to cure Haku's sadness over losing Zabuza, she was now aware what the man never offered her. She never felt wanted with him... but now she was beginning to understand how it felt again.
Now that the bridge was done Team Seven, Haku and the villagers were standing at its end. Team Seven was preparing to return to the Leaf Village and the villagers of the town were seeing them off. There was one other matter of business left however, and Kakashi felt it necessary to sort it out as quick as possible.
"So Haku, what do you intend to do now?" He spoke seriously, his tone commanding respect. Haku sighed, she was dreading this. Before she could speak however Naruto spoke with a loud and happy tone.
"She's coming to the Leaf with us of course!" He said. Squad Seven were surprised by this, but mostly by the word 'she' barring Sasuke. He'd neglected to mention that little development of course, and Kakashi coming out of his stupor decided to clear this up.
"What do you mean she's coming with us? More importantly, what do you mean by 'She'?" He said. Naruto blinked multiple times before realizing he hadn't said anything and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Oops, forgot to mention that did I?" He said, earning nods from two of the three members of Team Seven. "And obviously I said she's coming with us because she is! Right Haku-chan?" He said. Looking at the newly discovered girl they could all tell she was in an internal struggle - except Naruto, being oblivious as he is - and all waited for HER answer.
"Well... I..." She said. 'What if they hate me for my Kekkei Genkai there? What if I'm treated like an outcast again?' Her thoughts raged on before she composed herself and continued. "Would they... hate me there?" She said meekly. Naruto was a little confused and decided to put his questions to rest.
"Why would they hate you? It isn't like your a...oh." He said, remembering her childhood.
Hearing the pause, the brooding Uchiha decided to place his own input. "They wouldn't hate you Haku, Konoha loves Kekkei Genkai. It would be the opposite of Mizu no Kuni, I promise." He said calmly, not needing to explain what happened to her to his team since Kakashi pieced it together immediately.
Haku still looked unsure but decided nothing could come from inaction. "Okay, I'll go to the Leaf Village with you," she said with a small smile.
-Later At the Hokage's Office-
"Alright then. If I allow you entry as a shinobi of Konoha then I have a few conditions. Do you have any issues with that?" He asked, getting a quick 'No' in response he continued. "Firstly, you will not be able to leave the village for a month." He said, and after seeing no argument he continued.
"Secondly, you will be joining Team 7 during their training sessions, but you will not be on their missions." He said, again seeing no argument. It was the opposite in fact, she seemed pleased.
"Lastly, you will be inducted as a Chunin given your hunter-nin background, but you will not be permitted to take missions until after the Chunin Exams are over. Understood?" He finished, getting a nod and nothing else. He then smiled and got onto a more cheery topic.
"Then from this day forward – you- Haku are a shinobi of Konoha!" He said, holding out a headband. Haku smiled and was thrilled that she wouldn't be sent away, Naruto was ecstatic that she could stay, Sasuke had a smirk on his face at the prospect of training with her, and the other two members of squad Seven looked pleased.
Hiruzen decided to wrap this up. "Now, if that is all I must request you all leave. Naruto, I will speak to you soon I'm sure." He said, and they all turned to leave.
"Haku!" The Sandaime called, to which she turned and walked back to the man. "I don't suppose you have somewhere to stay do you? I can't exactly have you sleeping outside now can I?" He said. She blinked. Where was she going to stay? Maybe they'd give her temporary housing.
"Um... No I don't." She said neutrally. The Sandaime sighed, arranging temporary housing was always a pain in the ass. The apartment complex owners would argue with him for ages to stop from having to give an apartment for free.
"I'll sort out the housing, come back in an hour or two Haku and I'm sure I'll have something for you." He said, and Haku nodded.
"Thank you Hokage-sama." She promptly responded, deciding to take her leave to go explore Konohagakure and gain familiarity with the place.
-Two Days Later-
The majority of Team Seven besides Naruto was already at the training ground. Sasuke was first there, since he had no hobby other than walking and training, followed by Haku who knew the importance of punctuality and then Sakura. The group then saw a small yellow-haired blur in the distance and knew who it was. And then came a whistling tone from somewhere around the area.
The quartet of Genin turned around to see Kakashi standing atop a post. Naruto smiled up at him while Sakura was about to scream at him about his lateness...
Before realizing he wasn't late.
"K...Kak...Kakashi-sensei... your... your on time!" She said, shocked by the fact that he was capable of being on time even remotely.
"Yes, well I decided that we needed to be even more serious about your training, so here I am," He said, then he decided to continue.
"We are going to be doing physical conditioning and strength/speed training for now. It became clear to me in the Wave that you aren't all in shape to do your jobs as effectively as possible. Also, I will be evaluating your taijutsu styles to see if you are using them correctly or if they aren't suited to you." He said, earning four nods.
"Haku, Sasuke, you two are the fastest so we will be working on your strength and taijutsu." He said, earning nods once more.
"Naruto, you're only slightly slower than Haku and Sasuke, but your taijutsu's coordination and chakra control still require some fine tuning." He continued. "You must attune your whole body to the fight. You must be able to hit hard but also correct yourself quickly if you miss. I've noticed you just throw most of your weight into your blows and hope they connect, and if they don't you leave yourself wide open, even if it's for a second. We also need to work on your blocking, dodging and parrying." He said, as if reading from a textbook.
"Lastly Sakura. You need...just about everything," He said casually. The girl face faulted at this, but realized he wasn't wrong. She was no where near the standards that her fellow rookie teammates set for themselves. She just sighed in realization and nodded.
"Haku, Sasuke. You two will be wearing weights and sparring with one another to increase your familiarity with the increased weight on your body while also boosting your muscle mass." He said. Then he turned to Naruto.
"Naruto, you will also be wearing weights, but you will be doing laps of the clearing and then you will come to me so we can work on your taijutsu and chakra control." He said, and then he turned to the pink haired member of the team.
"Lastly, Sakura. You will be doing all these things. However you will be doing less of each and we'll work on rounding you out more before specializing you a bit more." He said calmly, earning a nod. "Your work will be heavily focused upon building your physical attributes which will in turn build your chakra reserves."
"Well then, let's get to it," He said with a serious edge to his voice. "Expect these next few months of training to be a hell that you have never experienced. We need to get you guys on par with Son fucking Goku!"
Little did they know, only Hagoromo himself could bridge that gap for them.