Chapter 5

"Haku you must remember as a tool to never hide anything from your master. They must know everything if you wish for them to use you efficiently." A gravelly voice said to her.

Haku turned and she responded to the voice "...of course Zabuza-san I know not to hide anything from you."

Zabuza stared at her for a moment almost if trying to read her then with a scoff he looked back to sharpening his blade "Then I'll have you know that tomorrow we are killing those ninjas that attacked us last time. I won't stand to lose to them a second time and we need to kill that bridge builder. After that we're going to get our reward and then prepare to declare war on Kirigakure."

"Of course your word is law Zabuza-san" Haku said with a nod

"Good then tomorrow you are set to take on the brats and Tazuna." Zabuza said getting up with his blade in hand before leaving their hideout. To do what was beyond Haku's knowledge. After he closed the door everything went black until she saw herself on the bridge.

Haku then found herself facing Naruto and Sasuke ready to fight. Time still running forward she felt herself throw the sebons at the two over and over damaging the two teens. Seeing their faces filled with pain and anger brought Haku to her senses as she shouted. 'Stop! I don't want to hurt them anymore!' Haku yelled but nothing came out of her mouth. Her body wasn't under her control and she watched as she pulled out more needles intending to kill Naruto and just like before it hit Sasuke who ran to protect her teammate. Tears started swelling in her eyes as she saw Naruto holding Sasuke, his face unseen to her but what she saw shook her to her very core.

She saw those red eyes filled with hatred and malice stopping her in her tracks both mentally and physically and what was said next made her want to run away and hide. "I hate you Haku." Just from hearing those words made her start getting dizzy as everything started to blend together. She kept trying to apologize but Naruto didn't react instead his anger just got more and more intense. Her mirrors dissolving, she finally got control of her body and started to back away in fear and horror at what she did to her master.

"Where do you think you're going Haku? No my tool?" Zabza's voice prevailed through the mist.

"I'm sorry Zabuza-san I don't want to hurt them anymore. I can't fight anymore. They are both important to me especially Naruto and seeing his eyes filled with pain and hate towards me sacres me." Haku said desperately as she saw her former master walk over to them.

"Do you know why he is looking at you with those eyes?" Zabuza asked the girl as she shook her head. She knew that it was probably because of her attacking him but she knew he was a kind boy. He was supposed to forgive her yet there he was red eyes still flared and fangs showing as if he was telling her that he was ready to tear her apart piece by piece.

"It's because Haku I don't want you around me. I know you pretend to be good but I know one day you will hurt me and the one's I deem as precious. I hate you and you're nothing more than a useless tool so leave." With those words Naruto picked up Sasuke and walked away eventually disappearing into the mist. Tears filled Haku's eyes as she desperately tried to run towards Naruto but as much as she tired she was helpless at seeing Naruto's figure slowly disappear. She started coughing as her vision got hazy from her starting to hyperventilate.

"Well you heard it from the source kid just like he said you're broken and no good to him nor me." Haku turned and saw Zabuza walk away in the other direction before disappearing. There was no strength left in her body to move so with a horrified look she collapsed before crying even harder and louder. Everything started spiraling and spinning faster and faster. Eventually it all went black for her.

Her eyes flying open she gasped for air and tried to see where she was. As she tried to pull herself up she felt a pair of strong hands holding her in place. Slowly she looked up to see the sleeping blonde in her nightmare. Scared as if this was the start of another nightmare she slowly raised her hand and with the lightest of touches placed her hand on his cheek. Seeing him scrunch up his face in slight discomfort he eventually gave a sigh of comfort and nuzzled her hand.

His reaction made her start to cry again but from joy. Placing the same hand that held his cheek on his chest as she slowly closed her eyes. She could hear his heartbeat and it felt comforting. She knew that she teased him endlessly but in reality she was scared. Terrified even that there was a chance that he might get rid of her and abandon her. So she tried to do everything she could to make him stay but after opening her eyes to look at the boy that was peacefully wrapping his hands around her. She knew that she didn't need to, she just needed to trust him and be there for him and it would all work out. Closing her eyes to go back to sleep she gave a soft smile while she whispered "Please never let me go."

z-z-z

Naruto's eyes fluttered open as he yawned. He looked down to see the familiar form of Haku asleep on his chest. While he wasn't 100 percent used to having someone sleeping with him it really did help him sleep better. However at one point he felt Haku shaking in her sleep and what sounded like crying so he wrapped her with his arms and squeezed. However he wasn't sure if that was him dreaming it or not but either way he hoped it helped her rest. Giving a gentle smile to the girl as he heard her softly breathing he lazed around as he started playing with her hair. He then saw her smile in her sleep as she held on a bit more tighter. While Naruto wasn't used to relationships, interactions, or love he knew that he wanted to protect Haku with all of his being if possible. That was something he was going to keep true for his entire life and that's the truth.

After time passed Haku eventually woke up and after some light teasing, got dressed and after eating, made their way over to the training grounds. On the way there they went over everything that happened last night. After having their meal with Sasuke they agreed to her that she can come and join them in training when they were done with missions and on days when they didn't have training unless something else came up. They also made sure she once again reaffirmed that she wouldn't tell anyone anything and that in return they didn't let anyone know about her being a girl. While Sasuke knew that some people knew and that eventually more people would find out, she for now would rather hide it and deal with it later than deal with it now. After that they made some rough plans to achieve their goals together and after some time passed the young Uchiha left to go home to rest.

Finishing their talk as the duo arrived at the training grounds they saw a sight they didn't expect. In front of them were the 3 other genin teams besides their own. Team 8, Team 10, and Team Guy were all in their groups chatting. "Hey Naruto and Haku hurry over here!" Sakura yelled, waving over the duo as she saw the two approaching and looking lost. Waving over the two gave their greetings to Sakura and Sasuke.

"So what is this about, why is everyone here?" Naruto asked his teammates only to get a shake of their heads. Apparently they were all told to come here at the same time and that's it. Before they could continue their convo they heard a shout from the side.

"Ironic that the deadlast got here last!" Kiba howled with laughter as he approached Team 7 with his team in tow. Behind him was the quiet duo of Hinata and Shino. The ratio of loud to quiet was evened out in the team as they both rarely shouted but they were all good people.

Naruto rolled his eyes before waving his hand in greetings. He got along with Kiba well enough as they had similar personalities but they always riled each other up although Kiba tended initiate more often. Maybe it had to do with his clan and the whole alpha heiarcity? Oh well at the end of the day Naruto didn't let it bother him too much. Shino was nice enough to Naruto but he could never get a read on him and Hinata was always polite to Naruto so he tried to be in return. However the girl always seemed nervous around him to a certain degree so that bothered him.

"Says the guy who forgets he's human and chases his own tail like a dog." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Shut up it was one time and I wanted to join Akamaru so he wasn't alone! Also since when did you care about protecting the dunce or did the kiss make you go gay?" Kiba countered with a smirk as he saw Sasuke start blushing before scowling in response.

"MY SASUKE-KUN WOULD NEVER BE GAY!" Shouted Ino as she ran over with her team defending her knight in shining armor. She was part of the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho trio and self proclaimed "number 1 fan" of Sasuke. Although Sakura tended to fight her on that front. Following her were the other two thirds of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio that being Shikamaru and Choji.

"Ugh this is troublesome, can you please be quiet or at the very least yell about your "true love" at the fan club meetings?" Shikamaru said with a groan while Choji nodded in agreement as he continued to eat a bag of chips. Ino blushed while everyone laughed around them as they knew that during free time in the academy there tended to be secret 'club' meetings about Sasuke and the club members unrequited affections. They tried to hide it but after the fifth shout of "Sasuke-kun is going to have my babies not yours!" it kinda became the secret everyone knew but turned their head and pretended didn't exist. Especially Sasuke.

While Sakura and Ino had their annual bout Naruto felt a finger poke his back. Thinking it was Haku he placed his hand on her head and rubbed it to comfort her as he knew she might feel out of place here. Only when he heard a shout of "Hey buddy I ain't your girlfriend!" did he turn around. Instead of his raven haired friend that stuck by his side he saw that it was instead the girl that ran the shop where he and Haku went to buy gear. "Bun bun girl what are you doing here?" Naruto said while blinking and tilting his head in confusion.

Said 'bun bun girl' gave him a look of annoyance before turning and pointing at her teammates "I'm part of Team Guy. The crazy guy in the green is Rock Lee and dead eyes over there is Neji. I just thought to talk to someone that wasn't either of them but I might have to beat some sense into you for calling me bun bun girl instead of my name. It's Tenten for your information."

"But why would you be mad about being called bunbun girl? I thought your buns were cute and memorable because they made me think of a panda. But that's fine I'll call you by your name so no worries!"

"A panda? Memorable!? Uhhh I never had someone compliment me, but isn't he dating that girl? Then again he said it was complicated mmmmm. " Tenten muttered to herself while staring intensely on the floor almost as if she was figuring out a complicated puzzle that required her entire focus.

It seemed like she was debating between herself as every few seconds he would hear a whisper between "Panda" and "Cute" but deciding that she was fine alone in her own world Naruto slowly inched his way back to Haku. It also didn't help that the one called Rock Lee was shouting about youth while wearing a jumpsuit a bit too tight for comfort and the other one name Neji commanded quite the depressing aura that showed he didn't want to talk to anyone.

Haku was still next to Sasuke as besides Naruto she knew her best. Plus she felt a bit uncomfortable around the other students But as she saw her master make his way back to them she gave him a smile. However that's when the dam broke as people finally noticed the girl's presence.

"Who is that beautiful girl and why is she smiling at Naruto!" Kiba shouted once again, shocked that the dunce was able to get any girls interested in him let alone one as cute as the girl he was currently looking at.

"I'm not sure but I'm sure she hasn't even seen Sasuke-kun's greatness and that's fine for her to keep her interest towards that loser." Ino said hauntily with her hands crossed.

Haku stared at the responses before she gave her usual smile and a quick bow "Hello everyone my name is Haku and I am Naruto-sama's tool. Also to the blonde I would thank you not to refer to my master as a loser and actually I have had a chance to hangout with Sasuke-chan" Haku said with a sneaky grin while she looked at the flustered Uchiha.

Said Uchiha scowled to once again hide to her blush as she knew that Haku was teasing her and provoking Ino. Silently cursing the girl and promising to herself that there will be revenge and as she was about to retort Ino went in front of her as she began to shout to defend her love's pride. However before she could open her mouth a whirlwind whipped in the middle of the training ground throwing leaves all over the place. Once all the genin's visions returned they saw standing in front of them all was their teachers.

Standing in front of them were the team leaders of the genins which were Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi, and finally Might Guy. Kakashi gave a wave to them and as all of the genin approached he started talking. "Welcome kiddos to a special surprise from your lovely teachers. All of us have been talking and we all found out that we are planning on sending you guys to the chunin exams. So we thought until that time every now and then we will hold group training sessions here to help push each other further and that way you guys can get more used to each other. After all if you do pass and receive your promotion then you'll be a part of teams of different ninjas and even leading teams of different compositions! Anywho after introducing yourself to each other which it seems like you guys already did we will move on to some mock fights. From there we will have your fellow ninja's assets each of you and after that my fellow instructors and I will devise a new training plan for all of you."

After letting the chatter die down from the excitement of finding out they were going to the chunin exams and receiving additional training the groups were divided by their teams. First round was Team 7 versus Team 8, second was Team 10 vs Team Guy, finally the winners would go for one last round before receiving their critiques from each other and the teachers.

Once everything was done the Teams that weren't in the first round went to sit on the sidelines. Haku also joined them as technically she wasn't a part of any team and her inclusion would unbalance the teams to 4 vs 3. After that was done the two teams that were first to fight took some time to form their plans. After that Team 7 and 8 each took half of the field and prepared for battle. Team 7 went with a standard 1-1-1 formation with Naruto in the lead followed by Sasuke and finishing with Sakura while Team 8 went in a formation of 1-2 with Kiba in the lead followed by Hinata and Shino.

"I hope you're ready to get rocked Naruto because I'm not holding back." Kiba said growling with Arakmaru in tow. Shino and Hinata then each put themselves in their stances with Shino's bugs buzzing around and Hinata's byakugan activated.

"Right back at you because it looks like right now I have to teach someone who's alpha!" Naruto said as he placed himself in the first stance of raging waves, chakra blades in hand. Sasuke smirked as she activated the Sharingan and Sakura put her hand in her pouch ready for anything. Silence prevailed as no one said anything and at the sound of Kakashi's "Start!" they charged.

Naruto ran in for haymaker to try and takedown Kiba right away but after he ducked he gave a quick punch to Naruto's stomach earning a grunt of pain. Thinking he could take advantage of that, Kiba then went for a low kick to try and knock the blonde on his ass only for Naruto to jump back and dodge it. Readjusting himself he made the familiar hand seal and shouted "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" out came 4 other clones with a poof of smoke and all of them charged at Kiba ready to take him down. Naruto and the clones started to lay on the hits towards Kiba and Akamaru and while the duo were suited for close combat and dodging most of the attacks after a bit there were marks and cuts on both of their bodies but before Naruto could take further advantage the clones disappeared as a wave of insects created a barrier in front of Kiba.

"If you ran ahead any further we would have gotten here too late Kiba. Take note of that next time please. '' Shino said plainly as he started to direct his bugs to attack the blonde allowing the beast duo to regain their breath. Giving a nod Kiba and Akamaru got themselves ready to jump back in the fray but then they heard "Jump back now!" from Hinata and obeying her commands quickly got out of the way. Not a moment later a massive fireball appeared as they saw Sasuke flank them trying to scorch them with a fireball. Nodding to each other they prepared to go in to take down the Uchiha when they saw a kunai land nearby them. Their eyes widened when they heard it fizz before it exploded.

Trying to retreat back further from the smoke and to minimize any damage Team 8 tried to realign themselves to fight again when they saw a group of Naruto clones and Sasuke chase after them. Preparing themselves again to fight they tried to charge only to realize they couldn't move. Their eyes widened as they saw wrapped around them were golden chains and turning their heads to the side they saw Naruto in the side holding out his palm. "This round is our win," Naruto said while panting slightly. This was the first time he tried to use his mother's technique "Chakra Chains'' in a real life combat simulation and while it served the job it was draining his reserves like crazy. Hearing a shout of "Match over!" from Kakashi Naruto released the chains before plopping down on the ground in exhaustion while his teammates went to go to his side.

"What just happened there? I felt like just as the match was starting it just ended." Ino said out loud as she was shocked at the outcome. While she did think that Team 7 was going to win she didn't think it would have been that fast.

"It's because of Naruto's moves Ino." Shikamaru said with a yawn while everyone looked to pay attention to his explanation "When the round started he made sure to draw attention to himself by riling and engaging Kiba. During that time he continued to do so with his clones and while that was happening Sakura and Sasuke made their way over to flank the trio. Then while the other two tried to cover Kiba's mistake they were forced to retreat from Sasuke's fireball into Sakura's trap. They could have ended the match there if they used more than one exploding kunai but they didn't want to hurt the other side badly so they only threw one and from there it was game over" As shikamaru concluded everyone was shocked by how efficiently they took down Team 8.

"But how did Naruto get to the otherside without being seen by the other team, especially when there was a Byakugan user?" Tenten asked the lazy boy who gave the explanation.

"It's simple when you have the blessed eyes of the Hyuga clan and know how to use them." Neji stated hauntingly with pride "You see during the smoke as Naruto was making the clones he had two of them launch him above in the air over their line of sight to get to the other side as they were retreating from the blast. Which then allowed him to restrain Team 8 with that strange move of his. However I would have thought Hinata-sama would have done better not to disgrace the Hyuga name and would have noticed but it seemed she was too focused on what was in front of her."

"Huh I see." Tenten said while she contemplated the explanation in her head. That boy was certainly getting more and more interesting by the second.

After Team 7 got up they went to the sidelines with Team 8 in tow. After a round of congratulations from their teachers and fellow peers they went to take a seat while the other two teams went to go fight. Haku went over to congratulate the other two members of Team 7 and after that went to sit by her master's side. "That was quite the risky play there master."

"Yeah it definitely was but I really wanted to try out mom's jutsu. I want to work on getting used to her jutsu because while it's easier to get than dad's rasengan, it's giving me more trouble on making it last for a length in time. I guess it doesn't help that I have crap chakra control to begin with and that seems to be an important part of retaining the chains." Naruto replied as Hsku sat by his side.

"Maybe but even so I didn't think that you would have needed to resort to using any tactics like you guys pulled out because their team didn't seem to be very synchronised yet."

"I suppose so but at the same time Shino and Hinata managed to help rein in Kiba which was good. The only thing is that they played into our trap as we guessed Kiba would rush forward." As Naruto said that he looked over to where Team 8 were sitting. They all looked fine but they all seemed upset, Hinata especially as it seemed like she was holding in tears. Frowning at the thought of the girl in tears he turned back to Haku.

"Hey Haku, give me a second. I'm going to go over to cheer Hinata up as she doesn't seem to be doing so well." Naruto said as he got up. Haku gave a soft smile to the boy as he knew he was kind hearted and tried to reach out to those in pain. It made her feel more secure knowing that she was following someone like that and in a way just reminded her that she wasn't alone now. Nodding she saw her master get up and head over to the Hyuga.

Naruto made his move to the kneeling girl lost in her thoughts while he sat next to her. After giving her a moment to see if she would notice him and seeing her not react he poked her shoulder. As Hinata went to look at who poked her out of her little world and after seeing who it was said world proceeded to explode when it was her crush Naruto "Na-Naruto-kun wh-what's up?" Hinata managed to stutter out while blushing a storm.

Naruto gave a smile to the girl. He always knew she was kind but a little strange however who was he to judge. "Besides the sky, nothing much, I just wanted to check up on you because I thought you looked a bit upset." After he finished he took a seat next to her looking out to the battle.

Looking forward as well her blush receded and instead was replaced with an upset look on her face "I'm just bothered by the fight. Not the fact that I lost to you of course! I just felt powerless the entire fight." Hinata said softly. While she always tried her best, she just always felt that she wasn't good enough and just was a disappointment. That's when she felt a hand on her head. Looking to the side she saw Naruto rubbing his hand on her head with a smile.

"Honestly Hinata I thought you were the reason that they even managed to survive as long as you guys did. Kiba was being an idiot per usual which made Shino commit too much to defend Kiba. You were able to keep yourself relatively safe while at the same time defend your teammates. Honestly I would say that's pretty cool!" After pulling his hand he could see Hinata looking at him intensely and after a little gave a small smile.

"Maybe...maybe you are right Naruto-kun. Thank you. I appreciate it and I'll make sure to keep it in mind." Hiniata said without stuttering. For right now she was fine as she was still in awe by his words. However once the words passed she will probably pass out from the fact he approached her, talked to her, and rubbed her head. She could die happy now. That she knew for sure.

"Doesn't change the fact that Hinata-sama is a failure and disgrace to the Hyuga name" A sneer came in front of them. Looking up Naruto saw that it was the Hyuga boy that was a part of Tenten's team, Neji said his name was? Regardless, he didn't like the boy's tone to Hinata.

Picking himself up he stood in front of her "I don't know what standards or logic you're using but each and every angle shows that she did her best and she performed well. Maybe you're the wrong one for not being able to analyze that?" Naruto spatted back at the boy.

"So doing nothing but shouting at her team to dodge obvious moves and traps was her giving it 100%? If that's the case than she was even worse off than I thought of." Neji countered as he stood there unfazed by Naruto's comeback.

Just as Naruto was about to go up to the boy further he felt a pull on his sleeve looking back he saw Sasuke pulling him back. "Don't be an idiot and fall for his provocations. They just won their fight so we can go and show them who's boss together. As a team." Sasuke finished with a smile.

Naruto took a deep breath before turning around again back at Neji "Say what you want but when we enter that field I'll show you how wrong you are."

"I would love to see you try but please try not to waste our time." Neji stated as he turned back to his team.

After checking on Hinata one last time Naruto left with Sasuke to go to his half of the field where Sakura was waiting for them. Sakura waved and also patted Naruto's back as she heard Neji's comments and while she didn't know Hinata too well she was angry on her behalf as no one should be belittled like that.

After taking a moment to make sure that they were both paying attention Sasuke started speaking "So now it's the final fight before we get feedback from the teachers. Currently this match is only for us to show off our strengths and weaknesses and overall it's not something we need to go all out on." Sasuke then turned on her Sharingan before giving a devilish grin "But that doesn't mean we can let them walk over us. I think it's time to show off that power of teamwork 100%" Naruto and Sakura both returned an equally devilish smirk of their own before they started to plan ready to show off which Team meant to stand on top.

AN - So that's all for this chapter and before I begin I'm sorry for taking so long to release this. Currently online school has started up and finding all of my teachers different solutions to this current mess has not been fun plus private lessons lol. Anywho I used this chapter mainly to help expand Haku's character as it was something I was planning on doing soon and also have this story's Team 7 finally interact with the rest of the genin teams. These changes will affect lots of things and I hope that you all look forward to it! Anywho that's enough from me make sure if you have any comments to review becasue I'm always looking for ways to improve! Take it easy and until next time!