Running into the boy Haku had certainly been unexpected, but life was an intersection of all sorts of surprises, so Xia Yan took it in stride.
Besides, the boy's appearance had not disrupted Xia Yan's plans. He continued wandering around the Land of Water as he pleased.
Only after reaching the coast did he decide it was time to head straight back to Konoha.
There was actually one thing that gave Xia Yan a headache sometimes: whether the boy would start talking carelessly after learning that he was Konoha's Hokage.
After all, a Kage going into someone else's village to cause trouble was inherently difficult to accept.
Especially since what Xia Yan had done was practically no different from a villain's actions, which carried some risk of exposing him.
However, after Xia Yan told Haku, "My presence in the Land of Water is our little secret," and instructed him not to reveal it,
the little fellow seemed to have found "the meaning of his existence" and immediately promised Xia Yan that he would never disclose any information.
That left Xia Yan quite satisfied. Like Kimimaro, Haku essentially had his loyalty maxed out.
It was rather funny, really. Kirigakure received little attention in the original story, but practically every shinobi who came out of it had their professionalism maxed out.
Although there were embarrassing exceptions like Kiba, the other characters had certainly left a fairly deep impression on Xia Yan.
Whether Kimimaro, Haku, or Kisame, these fellows were either incredibly loyal or frighteningly professional.
Frankly, no matter how many flaws people like them had, those flaws could not diminish Xia Yan's fondness for them, because they embodied what a true shinobi was!
On Konoha's side, there was also Uchiha Itachi to represent those with relatively good professionalism.
Unfortunately, in Xia Yan's