Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait, I had lots of things going on in real life and I lost muse for the story for a while but now its back. So again please R&R and if you want to criticise please have constructive criticism. Hope to see you all soon in the next chapter which would end the Land of Waves Arc.

Naruto went to a nearby forest the next day, Jiraiya was with Tazuna guarding him and Naruto was left to his own devices to 'train himself' Naruto thought that it was a bit strange since Zabuza was dead and Gato would probably only send thugs and other lower-ranked shinobis to attack Tazuna so in retrospect Naruto would have been more than enough to deal with whatever shinobis or thugs that Gato sent Tazuna's way but he had to admit that the prospect of training by himself was very tempting especially since he could go at his own pace. He went to a clearing and practiced using a particular jutus that he had been developing for a while, it involved surrounding the Dragon Blade with a concentrated mini-tornado of wind before he swung it over his head and sent it towards an enemy, which in theory should cut him/her into small pieces, but right now...

Naruto swung his sword towards a tree but before the wind blades even got halfway they had dissipated into the air; this was one of the problems, the wind blades were far too weak to reach the target unless it was at very close range, and even then they were quite weak compared to what he had thought in the first place, 'This will take some time...' Naruto thought to himself before he tried again but with the same result, 'what am I missing?' Naruto asked himself, he had learnt all about training with futtons with Asuma-sensei and he knew about the basic principle of futons so why was it so difficult?

A few hours later Naruto was tired, he was no closer to achieving perfection, and all he had managed to do was mow the grass around the clearings as well as trim the branches off a few trees, "Argh…so hard" Naruto muttered as he rested against a tree and decided to have a small nap as he closed his eyes and soon he fell asleep but what seemed like seconds to him he felt someone near him and he immediately took out his kunai and held it against the intruder's throat before he could see that it was a girl with long black hair, "I-I'm sorry…you just scared me" Naruto said.

"It's okay…I should've known better than to sneak up on a shinobi" the girl said as she sat next to Naruto, "what are you doing here anyways?"

"Training" Naruto said.

"Without your sensei? I've never heard of a shinobi, especially one as young as yourself, training by himself" the girl replied.

"I'm…quite different" Naruto said as he unconsciously went to his sword, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki…what's your name?"

"Haku" Haku replied with a smile, "you must be quite the shinobi Naruto-kun if you're training alone."

"Y-yeah" Naruto said chuckling a bit, for some reason he had the feeling that he could trust this girl…that he could tell her everything and be okay, but he knew that he couldn't do that because he had been taught to trust no one but his own team-mates and for some reason Haku looked very similar to someone that he met yesterday, "you know…you look like someone that I met yesterday" he said casually.

'Have I been found out? But how?' Haku thought to himself, his disguise should've been flawless and although Naruto looked like a proper shinobi there was still no way he would've been able to figure out who he was, "R-really? What a coincidence" Haku said with a smile.

"Yeah must be a coincidence" Naruto replied as he yawned, "man training can be tiring…"

"What is your current mission in the Land of Waves?" Haku asked wanting to know what the current mission of the Konoha shinobis were…especially since one of them was a Sannin.

"That's a secret" Naruto said with a smile, "I can't tell anyone…not even a civilian."

"But you can tell me…I doubt anyone would think of me as having secrets" Haku said hoping that he could get something to Zabuza.

"Nope, my lips are sealed" Naruto said.

"I see" Haku said with a smile though inside he was disappointed that he couldn't obtain any information for Zabuza but at the same time he was interested in the mysterious blonde boy, he was unlike any shinobis he had ever come across, there were some that were silent like him but none of them had the aura of someone who was in peace with himself or had the feeling that there was more to the person than meets the eye, "say do you have someone important to protect?" Haku asked.

"Hmm? Someone important to protect? Of course I do" Naruto said smiling underneath his mask, "Konoha…my home, that is what I want to protect."

"How about anyone in particular?" Haku asked he had never considered that someone would be willing to protect their home, he had heard of people fighting to protect their loved ones or comrades but home…a foreign concept to the missing-nin but somehow it resonated with her desire to protect Zabuza.

"No…no one in particular" Naruto said, "probably Iruka-sensei and the old man but…other than those two no one."

"I see" Haku said understanding a bit about the Genin, "very well then…I should be going" he said, "someone important to me is waiting."

"See ya Haku, I'm sure you'll have someone waiting for you…you are quite pretty after all."

"I should tell you…I'm actually a boy" Haku said with a smirk as Naruto face just fell before he giggled and went his way what an interesting boy Haku thought to himself as he went back to Zabuza perhaps he will be able to defeat Gato when the time comes.

Naruto looked back to where Haku walked, he had a feeling that he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where, "Oh well…I don't think he's an enemy" Naruto said as he continued to work on his new technique failing again a few moments later, "argh…what a pain" he muttered as he looked at the Dragon Sword and breath in and out slowly as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the sword and before long he had gone inside his own mind.

Naruto opened his eyes to reveal that he was now in a forested area where there was a lake in the middle of it and in the middle of said lake is a small shrine with a bridge leading to it. Naruto breath in and out, the transition between the physical to the spiritual world was something an ordinary mortal cannot do but to one who wielded the Dragon Blade it was quite easy albeit with some nasty side-effects that Naruto would soon experience as soon as he went back to the mortal world; he went along the bridge towards the shrine noting that the water seemed to be pristine clear…like there was no dirt or pollution in it like it was pure as snow and the forest was so tranquil and quite like it seemed like you could sleep here and there would be nothing in the world that could disturb you.

Naruto soon arrived at the shrine where a beautiful maiden with fair skin and bright blue eyes dressed in floral kimonos sat on a cushion while a low growl could be heard from underneath the maiden, "Hello Ryujin-sama" Naruto said with a bow, "how are you today?"

"Quite fine thank you Naruto-kun" Ryujin said, her voice tinkling like a bell, "other than the Kyubi trying to escape my day has been quite uneventful."

"Blasted bastard!" the Kyubi's voice, low and full of malice, cried out, "Get me out of this prison! I swear on all the Kamis and Youkais I will destroy you if you do not comply!"

"Silence!" Ryujin curtly said before the Kyubi simply growled again, "You will never break free from your prison, not while I am your ward" then Ryujin looked at Naruto and smiled as though nothing had happened, "and what is the aim of your visit today?"

"I'm having trouble creating this new jutsu" Naruto said, "I tried to gather wind around the blade then throw it at the enemy but the problem is that for some reason the winds won't converge on my blade and when I do try to use the technique it dissipates far too quickly."

Ryujin thought on this for a while and she seemed to be interested in the technique, "Tell me Naruto…did you create this technique on your own?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I mean did someone tell you the basic concepts of this technique or did you create the whole idea by yourself?" Ryujin asked.

"I created the whole idea myself" Naruto said, "why do you ask?"

"What you're telling me is similar to one of the Four Dragon Dances that you are able to do with the Dragon Sword, specifically what you are describing to me is a variation of the Dance of the Wind Dragon" Ryujin explained, "originally the technique called for the wielder to be in the air along with his enemy then calling upon the Dragon of the Wind, Fyujin, the sword would be covered in his power and only a few are able to survive after being sliced by the wind."

"Wow…" Naruto said in awe, "but honestly all of it was my own doing, I didn't even know such a technique such as the Four Dragon Dances exist."

"It is rare that anyone can even do one Dragon Dance but I do know of one person who have been able to successfully use all of the Four Dragon Dances" Ryujin said.

"Let me guess…the guy that sealed you inside the sword" Naruto guessed.

"Nope wrong" Ryujin said, "It was the Sage of the Six Paths."

"Wait…the guy that not only sealed the 10 Tailed Beast but also the guy who created the concepts of Ninjutsu?"

"Correct but I can offer you only one advice, such a technique requires you to have a heart as free as the wind and that I cannot teach you."

"Thanks anyways Ryujin-sama" Naruto said bowing, "I'll take my leave now."

"Good luck Naruto-kun" Ryujin said, "I can see great things in your future and I am sure you can destroy the darkness that you will come across in your life" her words echoed inside Naruto's head as he began to wake up into the mortal world.

Meanwhile back in Zabuza and Haku's hideout Zabuza was thinking on how to deal with his mission, Haku had failed to come up with anything useful, saying that the boy apparently had almost noticed that Haku was the Hunter-nin that had 'killed' Zabuza and took his body, Zabuza had to admit that the Genin was quite sharp and he would be a dangerous foe in the future should he continue on the path of the Shinobi, "This has become a troublesome mission" Zabuza said to Haku.

"Yes…it seems that not only do we have to fight one of the Sannin of Konohakagure, but it seems that the Genin is also strong" Haku said.

"That too but more so about the Sannin" Zabuza said, "although I am strong I am not sure if I able to defeat such a legendary Shinobi and still be able to kill the bridge builder."

"We can still quit now" Haku suggested, "there is nothing Gato has that forces us to work with him."

"But we're short on money" Zabuza said as he picked up his money bag, which was nearly empty, "if we don't complete this mission we won't have enough to feed ourselves and prices are starting to rise."

"I can always forgo eating Zabuza-sama" Haku said in an emotionless tone, "you need to eat…I'll be fine."

Zabuza looked at Haku as though he was considering his words before he went to Haku, "I appreciate the sentiment but I need you to be in top condition so you can serve me" he said looking down at Haku, "so eat, rest and prepare for tomorrow we're going to strike and complete this mission."

"Yes Zabuza-sama" Haku said as he went outside to be on his own for a while. Zabuza watched Haku and his mind wandered back to the first time he met him, back then he was still a shinobi of Kirikagure, an ANBU no less, when he had met up with Haku while he had been on a mission, the boy had been starving and living off scraps while fighting off wild dogs that were attracted to the food. He eventually managed to convince the boy to serve him as a 'weapon' a tool for Zabuza and the boy had readily accepted it as it gave him not only a life, but also a sense of purpose, that his ultimate fate was to serve Zabuza for all of eternity.

But now Zabuza thought about his initial thoughts on why he recruited the boy, true he had realised that the boy had a Kekkai Genkai that was useful for Zabuza, but was that all? Was Haku truly only a tool for him? Or was it something else? Did he also feel pity for the boy, to know that he was discarded like trash just simply he had a power that brought about countless war, perhaps that was the real reason that Zabuza adopted the boy because he had been ostracised by his village and that Zabuza, in time, saw Haku as the son he would've had if he had settled down, "Really…I must be getting out of touch if I'm thinking of settling down" Zabuza said as he went back to get some rest.