Haku Is a "Girl"

Silence was a heavier echo than any shout.

After Naruto's words fell, the entire bridgehead sank into an eerie dead silence.

The twelve villagers who had only just learned how to grip bamboo spears stood frozen in place, their expressions shifting from fear, to confusion, to an indescribable bewilderment.

They had thought they were lambs being led to slaughter, only to be told that they were treasures meant to be protected.

Sasuke clenched his fists at his sides, his nails digging deep into his palms.

A burning sense of shame, mixed with a strange admiration, crashed violently through his chest.

He had always viewed Naruto as a cold chess player, while he himself was merely a piece being precisely controlled.

But now, he realized that the chess player did not care about winning or losing this particular game at all.

What Naruto wanted was the future of the entire chessboard.

That perspective, that stance of calculating everything while still adhering to some mad principle, made Sasuke's heart, so filled with the flames of revenge, waver for the first time.

Sakura covered her mouth, tears swirling in her eyes but refusing to fall.

She stared blankly at Naruto's back, at the dead last she had once despised and hated.

"Everyone, listen to my orders."

Naruto broke the silence.

"Mr. Tazuna, immediately lead all the villagers, carrying enough food and water for three days, into the depths of the forest at the southern end of the bridge. There is an abandoned mountain god shrine on higher ground there, easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"Until you receive my signal, no one is to leave."

Tazuna's lips trembled as he stepped forward.

"We... we can help! We can..."

"Your mission is to survive."

Naruto cut him off.

"Then finish this bridge. This country needs hope, and you are hope itself."

There was not the slightest warmth in his words, yet Tazuna's tears instantly burst free.

For the first time, the numbness vanished from the young fisherman named Kaikai's face. He tightened his grip on his bamboo spear and shouted.

"Let us stay! We can fight too!"

"That's right! We aren't cowards!"

The other militiamen stirred as well.

"Follow orders."

Naruto's voice abruptly turned cold, like an ice spike piercing everyone's ears.

"This is part of war too. Now, move."

That unquestionable authority instantly crushed the courage that had just begun to rise.

The villagers said nothing more. Under Tazuna's organization, they began silently retreating.

Kaikai walked at the rear. He looked deeply at Naruto once more, then nodded firmly before turning and disappearing into the forest.

Soon, only the four members of Team 7 remained at the bridgehead.

Ka walked over to Naruto, his expression complicated.

"I take back every doubt I had about you."

He spoke, his voice somewhat dry.

"I thought you would treat them as expendable resources."

"Sensei."

Naruto looked toward the direction where the villagers had vanished.

"Those villagers have undergone training and possess basic self-defense abilities, but they are still nowhere near capable of fighting ninja."

"Sending them into battle would only be a Mū sacrifice."

"A qualified commander does not waste the life of a single soldier."

Ka fell silent.

He looked at his student. That golden hair, in the faint morning light, reminded him so much of someone deep in his memories, someone who had always worn a warm smile.

"You really are... very much like that man."

Ka's voice was soft, like a sigh.

Naruto did not respond.

He turned around and began laying out the real battle plan.

"Zabuza and his companion will likely appear before noon two days from now. Their targets are the bridge and Tazuna, so this will be our battlefield."

"Sakura, set up a medical station and backup traps at the middle of the bridge, centered on that tallest bridge pillar. Your task is support and rear surveillance."

"Yes!"

Sakura's response was crisp and decisive.

"Sasuke, take the bridge entrance. You are responsible for the first wave of assault and reconnaissance. The Sharingan is our advantage. Do not waste it."

"Mm."

Sasuke answered.

"I will remain at the center of the battlefield as the mobile force and command core."

Naruto finally looked at Kakashi.

"Sensei, Zabuza is yours. The ninja who uses senbon is mine."

It was still an order. Ka scratched his head, feeling for the first time that being assigned tasks so clearly by his own student was not half bad.

"Understood, Teacher Naruto. Student Kakashi understands."

He answered lazily.

The team dispersed and began making their preparations.

Sasuke wiped down his kunai, but he could not calm himself with Mū.

He walked over to Naruto, who was checking Explosive Tags, and stood there silently.

Naruto did not look up, as though he had not noticed him.

After a long while.

Sasuke finally spoke, his voice hoarse, as though every word had been squeezed from his throat.

"Can you... help me get revenge?"

Naruto stopped what he was doing.

He raised his head, his blue eyes calm and Mū-disturbed.

"Revenge is an inefficient tactical objective contaminated by emotion."

"It will cause you to make incorrect judgments and waste unnecessary resources."

Sasuke's body tightened.

"However."

Naruto's tone shifted.

"If the target of your revenge is defined as 'an enemy of Konoha,' then the operation to eliminate him can be incorporated into higher-level strategic planning."

Sasuke did not understand those complicated terms.

But he understood what Naruto meant.

"As long as you obey me."

Naruto stood and met Sasuke's gaze.

"Follow every one of my commands. Make your strength the sharpest link in my plan."

"I will create the most efficient path to victory for you."

Sasuke looked at him.

There was no sympathy in those eyes, no understanding—only absolute rationality that regarded everything as a component.

Entrusting his hatred to someone like this.

That in itself was a humiliation.

But Sasuke had Mū other choice.

Because he had witnessed with his own eyes just how powerful that rationality was.

"Fine." He forced the word out through clenched teeth.

The next morning, in the forests of the Land of Waves.

Naruto entered deep into the woods alone.

The militia's training had been intense, and their muscle strains and fatigue needed treatment.

He remembered that in the Warhammer World, apothecaries from the lower levels of hive cities used certain common plants to make fairly effective restorative ointments.

The plants of this world contained something called natural energy. Their effects would only be better.

He pushed aside a patch of damp ferns and spotted a cluster of purple herbs.

This was it.

Just as he reached out to pick them, faint footsteps came from another direction.

Naruto did not turn around.

His senses had already detected the presence of that life-form.

There was no killing intent, no hostility. The aura was as peaceful as the forest itself.

A petite figure in pink casual clothes appeared nearby.

It was a "girl" who looked slightly older than him, with long hair draped over his shoulders, delicate features, and a basket for gathering herbs in his hand.

"Hello..."

The "girl" seemed somewhat surprised to see Naruto, but still greeted him politely.

"Are you here to gather herbs too?"

Naruto stood up, holding the purple herb in his hand.

"Mm."

He replied blandly.

The "girl" walked over and curiously examined the herb in his hand.

"This is Nightshade. It can clear heat and detoxify, but you cannot use it carelessly. Too much can make you dizzy."

His voice was clear, carrying an innocence untouched by the world.

Naruto looked at him.

His senses, forged and tempered countless times by psychic power, pierced through the chakra disguise and saw something deeper.

Within that petite body, he saw a will as frigid as a glacier.

And beyond that will, he saw an utterly pure "loyalty" entwined around it.

A soul that, in order to protect someone, could offer up everything without hesitation.

"Is that so?"

Naruto placed the herb into his ninja tool pouch.

"Thank you for the warning."

He turned, preparing to leave.

"Wait!"

Haku called out to him.

"Is your shoulder... injured?"

He pointed at the faint trace of blood seeping through Naruto's clothes.

"I have some very good medicine here. I made it myself, and it is very useful for wound healing."

As he spoke, he took a small porcelain bottle from his basket and offered it over, his face filled with pure goodwill.

Naruto stopped and turned to look at the hand held out before him, and at the porcelain bottle filled with kindness.

He was silent for a moment.

Then he accepted it.

"Thank you."

The "girl" revealed a gentle smile.

"You do not look much like a ninja."

His words were soft, yet they were like a probing needle.

"You are more like... a general. Like the generals from the Warring States era in storybooks. Very serious, but always seeming to be thinking."

Naruto held the cool porcelain bottle.

General.

Commissar.

Soldier.

They were all merely different roles played to achieve the ultimate objective of "human survival."

The terms themselves held Mū meaning.

Their value depended on the function they could perform.

His heart remained utterly Mū.

"I hope we meet again."

The "girl" smiled, turned, and walked into the woods. His figure soon disappeared into the damp mist.

Naruto remained where he was, unmoving.

He opened the stopper of the porcelain bottle, and a clear medicinal fragrance drifted out.

The ingredients were clear, the proportions precise. It was superior medicine for wounds.

The enemy had already begun close-range reconnaissance.

This meant that their efforts to organize the militia had already drawn the other side's vigilance and unease.

The enemy was assessing the threat level of their group.

The time for the decisive battle was drawing near.

He replaced the stopper, put away this unexpected "spoils of war," and turned toward the village.