Wind-Wave Forest: a seven-story suspended tower supported by tree trunks.
The strange figure took off his mask and gently stroked Zabuza's hair as he lay on the couch.
He was young and beautiful, with a pure, refined air that seemed out of place in this world. His dark eyes were like two jewels set in a face fair as snow.
His name was Haku, a fifteen-year-old boy.
When Haku was six, his father rallied a group of villagers, killed his mother, and tried to rape him.
Driven by fear, he awakened the special ability inherited through his bloodline—Kekkei Genkai—and summoned hundreds of ice needles. They pierced every villager but him, leaving them riddled with bloody holes, and he escaped the village.
He wandered and begged. Because of his striking looks, he was even tricked into becoming a male prostitute.
Another outburst of slaughter. Another escape.
The world was vast, yet everywhere he went, he found nothing but malice.
But in the end, he was lucky. He met Momochi Zabuza on that snowy day, when Zabuza crouched barefoot against a bridge. He met a man who truly needed him.
"From today on, your bloodline belongs to me. Come with me."
Nestled against Zabuza's chest, Haku seemed to hear those heart-stirring words again.
"I understand. I'm Mr. Zabuza's weapon. I'll obey your orders. Please keep me by your side like a kunai."
He'd said it with a smile like a flower last time. Now, he was as cold as ice.
Haku regretted it deeply.
A true ninja should have cast aside all emotion. But his innate kindness had kept him from killing Naruto and the other children, so he had chosen to lie in wait instead.
He'd said it was to analyze the Sharingan's weakness.
Zabuza hadn't forced him. He'd accepted Haku's choice.
They'd only agreed that if Zabuza lost, Haku would seal his pressure points to make him appear dead, then rescue him disguised as a Kirigakure hunter-nin.
But that boy with six whisker marks and a cheerful face had struck without warning, without even forming Hand Seals, and ruined everything.
He'd destroyed Haku's lifelong wish to help Zabuza fulfill his dream.
A cramping ache seized his chest, belatedly overwhelming him until he could barely breathe. At last, tears streamed down his face.
"I'm sorry. I'm still just a kid." He kept wiping away his tears. "Please forgive me just this once, Mr. Zabuza."
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Someone pounded on the door.
"I spent all that money hiring you to kill an old man! How did you let him get home safely?"
Haku's face crumpled in an instant, murderous intent surging through him.
He formed Hand Seals with one hand and shrieked, "It's all your fault, you bunch of animals! Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"
Water and wind gathered in the air, forming countless sharp ice spikes like a torrential downpour.
Whoosh!
The ice spikes tore through the air, and the door vanished in an instant.
The one who'd knocked, a ronin guard, was no longer recognizable as human. He'd been pierced all over, like a porcupine bristling with ice quills.
Haku reached out and closed Zabuza's eyes. He got out of bed, gripped the Kubikiribōchō—which stood nearly twice as tall as he was—and dragged it across the floor as he stepped out of the room.
A moment later.
"Ah!!!"
Roars and screams tore through the tower and the forest.
Inside the wooden house by the shore, Kakashi lay flat on the tatami.
Tsunami, Tazuna's widowed daughter, knelt beside him, feeding him porridge one spoonful at a time.
"Is Naruto still at the walkway?"
Tsunami nodded. "Ever since you passed out, that child's been keeping watch in the tree. He hasn't come back to sleep."
Kakashi looked thoughtful. Bracing himself with his right arm, he struggled to sit up. "I'll drink it myself."
He took the bowl and gulped down the porridge. When he tried to stand, his legs were simply too weak.
"Could you find me a pair of sticks?"
Tsunami smiled gently, rose, and left the room. She soon returned carrying a pair of crutches. "See if these are the right fit."
"Thank you." Kakashi steeled himself, pushed off the floor, and stood with a jolt. He stumbled toward the door.
"Would you like me to help you?" Tsunami asked.
Kakashi firmly shook his head, pulled up his mask, and made his way to the water walkway. Facing the sea breeze, he took a deep breath of air that smelled of rock dust.
"Sensei, why are you up?"
Haruno Sakura jumped down from a second-floor window. The hem of her torn red qipao had been cut off, exposing her long legs, and her delicate toes in their sandals seemed to blend into the pale skin.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes in a smile. "I wanted to see Naruto."
"I'll go with you."
"Sure."
Haruno Sakura hadn't seen Naruto for four days either.
After the masked man left, Kakashi had promptly passed out. Naruto had taken command without hesitation and arranged their next steps.
He'd sent Sasuke to patrol the village, assigned her to watch over Kakashi and Tazuna's family, and kept watch himself at the walkway by the village entrance.
Until Kakashi recovered, all action was forbidden.
Sasuke had been in a bad mood, but he hadn't refused. She'd naturally followed the arrangement too.
The road was bustling. Beggars called out everywhere, most of them children, though a closer look revealed adults watching from the alleys.
Haruno Sakura couldn't bear to see children filthy and miserable. She had plenty of candy in her ninja pouch, so whenever they asked, she gave them some.
As a result, the beggar children crowded around her and Kakashi. They didn't even leave them alone after the candy was gone; they wanted to search her bag too.
Kakashi said coldly, "Little Sakura, take out your kunai."
"But they're all children."
Kakashi's voice grew stern. "Take—"
Suddenly, a loud shout rang out from the bridge entrance.
"Hey!"
The beggar children swiftly lined up in two rows and stood at attention, raising their left arms diagonally as they shouted fervently, "Greetings, Young Commander!"
Across the channel between the islands, Naruto jumped down from the treetops. He stepped onto the water, put his hands in his trench coat pockets, and walked steadily up the walkway.
Kakashi could hardly believe it. Naruto had learned Water Walking? He'd only used it during battle, and Kakashi had never taught him the theory or technique.
The kid's talent was almost on par with his own.
Haruno Sakura watched Naruto approach between the two rows of beggar children. The scene was bizarre, yet somehow strangely harmonious.
She was about to greet him when Naruto said, "You're recovering pretty well, Kakashi-sensei. You'll be running again soon, right?"
Haruno Sakura fell silent, her spirits sinking.
"Soon," Kakashi said with a smile, tapping his crutch. "Thanks for all your hard work."
Naruto waved it off.
Kakashi said, "I was planning to teach you how to gather and control Chakra, then walk while sticking to tree trunks. But now it looks like only Sasuke and Little Sakura need to learn."
Only when she heard those words from her teacher did Haruno Sakura have to face the fact she'd been ignoring.
The dead-last she'd once known had surpassed her.
Naruto was rarely modest. "It's just talent. Nothing to be proud of."
He truly believed it.
Haruno Sakura looked at Naruto's sunlit blond hair and his confident, spirited expression. For a moment, she was dazzled. She lowered her head to the side, suddenly a little afraid to meet his eyes.
Kakashi said, "Little Sakura, take me to find Sasuke."
Haruno Sakura's heart suddenly tightened. She glanced at Naruto and, seeing no reaction from him, waved. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Naruto replied.
Haruno Sakura couldn't read any emotion in his voice. As they walked, she turned back and asked, "Why do these children listen to you?"
"I gave a few speeches." Naruto clasped his hands behind his back as his black trench coat fluttered in the sea breeze.
Haruno Sakura didn't understand. Kakashi's gaze drifted away.
In the woods on the far side of the island, Haku emerged from a flower field in a pale pink kimono patterned with round crests.
He tilted his head to the right and gazed unfocusedly at Naruto.
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