A/N: Uh, still unbeta’d, standard “I don’t own anyone from the Naruto-verse” disclaimer (that I forgot to stick on the other chapters facepalm), and please review. Concrit, especially on characterization, is love. (But concrit / flaming.)

Warning(s): Unbeta’d

Chapter 2: Memories from the Mist

When Naruto awoke the next morning, he found Haku’s bed empty and made. He shot up and searched the apartment but found nothing. He got dressed quickly, threw open a window, and climbed out. From there he jumped onto the roof and began surveying the town, wondering if he would spot the missing-nin.

Did he leave? Naruto wondered. Or was this a trick to kill someone on Zabuza’s orders?

“Looking for someone?” a voice asked from behind him.

Spinning around he found Haku perched on top of a ventilation shaft.

“How long’ve you–“ Naruto stared at him.

“Been up here?” the older shinobi finished. “Since sunrise. I didn’t mean to scare you or anything by disappearing.”

“No, it’s alright. It’s just that we’ve got to go back to see Tsunade-baachan. You need one of those permission i.d. things. Like what some Hidden Sand ninja had at the… Chuunin Exams….”

Haku jumped off and approached him. He laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled a little.

“Let’s not waste any time then.”

Naruto nodded and they both jumped from building to building until they reached the administration building, which held the Hokage’s office. Just as the day before, they knocked and were bade to enter by Tsunade. Once again the Godaime was at her desk, Shizune standing to her right.

However, this time, a girl with short pink hair and a red-banded Leaf hitai-ate resting on top of her head was standing with her back to the door.

“Sakura-chan…?” Naruto called out to her tentatively.

The girl spun around and her green eyes widened in surprise. She smiled brightly at him.

“Naruto! It’s been a while,” Sakura greeted. “When did you get back? And… wait, who’s that with you? They look kind of… familiar….”

“We got back last night and me and Ero-sennin found Haku the day before that,” he explained.

“Haku…,” she thought for a moment before turning to stare at him with a mix of shock and horror. “You! I remember you! You were that masked kid who works for Momochi Zabuza!”

“Not anymore…,” he told her, looking at the floor. “He discharged me from his service two months ago, a month after he took the role of Mizukage. For now, I suppose I’m staying in Konohagakure.”

“That’s right, you need your temporary residence card,” Tsunade said, pulling out a card on a lanyard and pushing it across the desktop. “Just keep that on you at all times, and if you’re still here after a year, you’re either going to have to get a new one or apply for permanent residency.”

“Thank you, Tsunade-sama,” he replied, tucking the card under his turtleneck.

Both boys turned to go when Tsunade called them back.

“Hold on, there are still a few things I’ve got to discuss with you, Naruto,” she announced. “You’ve been gone two and a half years training with Jiraiya. I want to see the results.”

“Wha- results?” Naruto blinked in confusion. “How can you see that?”

“You’re going to be fighting someone this afternoon,” the Godaime explained with a slight smile. “Take a look outside.”

She gestured out the window, closest to the door, on her right. Curiously, the blond boy opened it and poked his head out. A wide grin split his face when he saw a man crouched a few feet away reading.

“Kakashi-sensei!” he cried out.

“Hey,” Kakashi said, raising a lazy hand.

He placed the book in his back pouch and stood up.

“Oh, hey, before I forget, I’ve got something for you,” Naruto told him, digging into his bag. “Aha! Here it is!”

He extracted a thick little book and handed it to his sensei.

“Icha Icha Tactics?” the former ANBU asked weakly, ogling the cover. “But... how?”

“Ero-sennin finally finished it and gave me a copy for you as a gift,” he replied, sounding bored now. “I don’t know how you like it, it’s so boring.”

“Icha... Icha... Tactics?” Haku muttered, glancing at Sakura through half-lidded eyes. “He seriously reads that garbage?”

“He usually does…,” she whispered back, sounding annoyed.

“So, Kakashi-sensei, does this mean you’re my opponent?” Naruto questioned as they crawled back through the window frame.

“Eh, not exactly,” he answered, perching in the window for a few seconds to look between his two former students. “I’m yours and Sakura’s opponent. You’ll be working as a team against me.”

Everyone went down to a training field with three logs staked into the ground. Tsunade, Shizune, and Haku retreated into the woods, where they found Jiraiya in a tree. There, they settled in to watch as Kakashi procured two bells and reiterated the old challenge. More through habit, Haku took a place in a tree as well and watched the challenge closely, marking their every move, thinking of what could be used as a possible countermeasure in a similar situation. The jounin demonstrated use of taijutsu and genjutsu before displaying different types of elemental ninjutsu. The Mist-nin made note of the earth and fire-based attacks utilized, but froze when he saw the water technique. Haku stared as the giant, serpentine dragon reared its liquid head and moved to attack the two teenagers. When the jutsu disappeared, he realized a slightly shaking hand was now clutched over his heart as he stared wide-eyed at Kakashi, now escaping into the forest for cover. Forcing the hand back to his side, he remembered that day long ago when Kakashi and Zabuza had used that very same jutsu. But he found the memory caused him nothing but more pain.

Silently, he jumped away from the other three and went to find Kakashi. It took him a while, but he found him sitting under a tree, reading Icha Icha Tactics. The boy dropped to the forest floor and waited for him to put down the book. When he did, the man turned both his eyes on him.

“I’m sure you’ve copied many different water jutsu,” Haku said quietly. “Why did you have to use that one? Why his?”

“It was the first I thought of,” he replied with a little shrug. “I guess your presence has made me think of our fights back in the Wave Country three years ago.”

Haku looked down on him, besides the faint trace of sadness in his gaze, his expression was unreadable. He used the Shunshin no Jutsu to return to his spot in the tree to watch the trial’s finale. After Tsunade declared that the three of them would form Team Kakashi, everyone dispersed to go home and sleep the morning away, just as the sun began peeking above the treeline and over the village.

However, the missing-nin found that he was unable to sleep. He lay on his bed, listening to Naruto snore, molding some ice in one hand. Unconsciously, it took the form of a person. As features began to appear, Zabuza’s face stared back menacingly at him. As Haku stared at it standing in the palm of his hand, tears began to well up in his eyes. From nearby, Naruto gave a loud snort, shocking the boy into dropping the figure of ice. It hit the floor and shattered. The shards scattered across the floor glittered in the morning sunlight filtering in through the window. Haku looked over and saw that Naruto was still fast asleep and dejectedly lay down on his side.

As he stared down at the floor, the one prominent fragment, half the man’s face with a particularly fierce eye, pointed in his direction.