It had been a close call the previous night. As it was everyone was walking on eggshells in the house. Kakashi went over the events in his head. Wondering how he could have let it get so out of hand. He remembered himself yelling at his students when a chair clattered to the floor. Then all hell broke loose.

***Flashback***

Next thing he knew Tsunami was screaming and he was watching Sasuke plunge a table knife into Naruto's chest. It was obvious that Sasuke was after Haku since he was still grinning into her eyes as he felt the blade sink deeper. Unfortunately for him it was Naruto whose eyes he was now looking into, and fortunately for Naruto it could have been worse. Naruto, knowing he had no time to turn and block the avenger, managed to pull off a kawarimi with Haku just before Sasuke struck. As soon as he realized he'd stabbed the wrong target he tried to pull the knife back out but was stopped as Naruto grabbed his wrist. Red chakra seemed to swirl around the two boys before Naruto punched Sasuke in the face hard enough to send him crashing through the front door.

Naruto stalked out of the house after his target with a pissed off look on his face as he pulled the blade from his chest and threw it towards Sakura. It sank halfway into the beam beside her head barely managing to nick her ear. Kakashi was the only one that seemed able to move besides Haku who didn't even look fazed by the evil aura in the area. He didn't think he just acted as he dove out of the door and stood between the predator and his prey. "Naruto you have to calm down. You are going to lose control!" The blond looked at him with slitted red eyes, his gritted teeth showing two long canines through his sneer. "NARUTO!" It was no good the boy just walked towards him.

Naruto stopped suddenly as two arms wrapped around him from behind. He took another step forward, dragging his captor another foot. A brunette head of hair rested on his shoulder as Haku whispered something into his ear. He shook his head and took another step. The arms gripped him tighter making him falter. He no longer moved forward, but the oppressive aura was still there and he was still snarling at Sasuke. The Uchiha was starting to regret his decision as he desperately tried to crawl backwards until he found himself against a tree, leaving an odd wet trail behind on the ground. Haku was still talking into Naruto's ear and Kakashi could see his eyelids start drooping and the oppressive aura slowly dissipated from the air. After another minute it had lessened considerably to the point that Kakashi walked cautiously up to him and tried calming him down as much as possible, but when he got close enough that he was just about to hear what Haku was telling him Naruto suddenly dropped over unconscious with Haku's hold being the only thing keeping him from slamming into the ground.

Kakashi sighed in relief. That was one thing he didn't want to see on this mission or any other point in his life for that matter. He turned his attention back to his student who was pale white from fear. Kakashi didn't even spare the boy words as he knocked him out and tied him up before dragging him inside, not caring anymore what the council did because of the injured remnant. In the kitchen he saw Tsunami unconscious in Tazuna's arms from fear, while the man himself was deathly pale. Kiba was flat against the wall farthest from the door with Akamaru under his jacket whimpering, but they were both recovering. Sakura on the other hand was unconscious like Tsunami, but unlike her no one had bothered to catch the pinkette. He signaled for Kiba to grab the girl and follow which got a slow nod and a shaky "H-hai..." from the boy. When they arrived at the room for the boys of team seven Kakashi threw Sasuke on the floor before getting some rope and tying him up to a stock. Using excess of the same rope he tied up Sakura before taking her to her room and tying her to a stock as well. Each stock was nothing more then a couple boards of wood that would make it impossible for either to get out of the room quickly, if at all. Each arm was bound to one side of the horizontal post with the hands bound as well so they were unusable. One leg was bound to the vertical post while the other was securely tied to a rafter to keep them from going too far without a chaperone. They could move around a little, but with their chakra suppression seals back in place they were even less then a threat then before.

Shutting the door as he walked out he found Kiba waiting for him in the hall trying to calm a still slightly whimpering Akamaru. "Kakashi-sensei...What was that?"

"...Don't worry about it. Try to get some sleep. We have a lot of work tomorrow." A pained groan made him turn towards his room for a moment.

"...H-hai, and sensei...thank you."

"Hai..." Kiba went back into his room while Kakashi tried not to cringe as another groan traveled down the hall. Heading downstairs he barely hit the first floor before Tsunami was in front of him, grabbing his vest.

"Is he alright? Should we get a doctor? How is Haku?" It amazed him that even though she had fainted from sheer terror from the aura the boy put out, she was still concerned for him.

"He'll be fine. He heals quickly. Are you two alright though? That must have been a bit of a shock."

"...We'll be fine. Inari just thought it was a nightmare. He's already asleep again."

"I see. Well we are still on a mission, but Sasuke and Sakura will be sitting out the remainder. If you see them about without one of the rest of us I need you to come find one of us right away. Neither of them is to be trusted for the remainder of the time we are here." Both of them nodded to Kakashi still a bit stunned at everything that was happening. "We will see you in the morning. Heh I'm kind of hoping the bridge doesn't get finished now. I'm really not looking forward to facing the council when we get back. Well, that's life I guess. Good night."

***Flashback end***

Tsunami put a plate down in front of him, bringing him back from his daydreams as the smell hit his nose. Thanking her, he finished his plate quickly before Tazuna, Kiba and he made their way to the bridge to start the day's work. Without Gatō around, and with the immediate threat of attack gone, many of the workers who had quit were now waiting patiently at the work site. Each one bowed down and apologized to Tazuna for their weakness when they should have been fighting back. He just brushed it off though and began handing out jobs. The day passed as if nothing ever happened. The blood and grime from the battle was washed away days ago. The only sign that anything had happened being the patched scrapes from weapons and a couple blood stains that had seeped in too deep to clean in one go.

Back at the house things were a little less smooth. Sasuke could be heard throughout the house yelling for someone to untie him. In the next room over Sakura was sobbing to herself wishing that she were free so she could answer his cries for help. Meanwhile, down the hall Naruto was still asleep, but his wound had healed over. Haku doted over him like a mother would a sick child even though he just seemed to be suffering minor chakra exhaustion. She hadn't left his side all night, relying on Tsunami to bring her dinner as she watched over the boy that saved her life the night before. Unlike his selfish counterpart, Naruto had used the same skill to put himself in harms way rather then the other way around. He had taken the hit meant for her and yet all she could do was watch over him as he slept. She had been tempted many times to go over to the Uchiha's room and end his life, but for the peace of mind of Naruto she couldn't. If she did he would see her as no better then the teme that tried to kill her when she was mostly helpless.

It wasn't until mid afternoon that Naruto made the first signs of consciousness. Haku hadn't seen it though as she fell asleep on his chest while listening to his steady breathing. He blinked his eyes open, staring at the ceiling of the room as his senses reawakened. He could see that it was light out at this point, and there was weight on his chest. The smell of wildflowers hit his nose as he listened to the steady sound of someone breathing near him. When he finally lifted his head off the pillow he saw Haku curled up beside him and half on him. He eased himself out from under her, being careful not to wake her. As she lay sleeping he crept out of he room and made his way downstairs where Tsunami was making herself busy by cleaning up the downstairs.

"Good morning Tsunami-san." He called out with a big smile on his face.

"O-Oh! Good morning Naruto-san. You startled me."

"Heh sorry about that. I guess I'm a little late for breakfast huh?"

"A bit...There is some rice in the cooker still if that is enough, but if you want more just let me know."

"That will be fine. Thank you." Naruto left the room with Tsunami watching his back. Even though she had seen him injured before and knew his healing abilities, it was still a wonder to see him up and about like nothing happened after being stabbed in the chest by someone who was supposed to be his ally. What she didn't know was hat there was still a lot of emotional pain on his mind.

Sure, Naruto didn't like the teme, but he had at least trusted him enough to not try to kill someone in cold blood, let alone someone nearly defenseless. Then there was the fact that he was stabbed after making sure that the rest of the mission got completed. A portion that the Uchiha was obviously not capable of at the time, at least to the point where he would have most likely attacked friend and foe alike. Now said Uchiha was tied up without a chance at getting freed anytime soon, and with gumdrop out of the way, no one was going to help him get free either. The main issue was that Sasuke had brought up so many memories that Naruto was hoping he could have some reprieve from. Memories of the attacks that the Konoha villagers made on him. The whole time he was eating his mind was running through those memories as he sat in a daze just staring at the wall.

It wasn't until Haku put her hand on his shoulder that he realized his bowl was empty. He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there, but he definitely hadn't heard her come up to him. He mentally berated himself for being caught unaware. "Oh, hey Haku. Did you sleep well?" He stole a glance at her off to the side as she sat down next to him. He could see the worry and a bit of confusion on her face.

"H-hai, I'm fine Naruto-kun, but how are you? You got stabbed in the chest yesterday, then you seemed to have lost it and went after the Uchiha. To be honest you scared everyone in the house, probably everyone in the neighborhood too with the amount of killing intent you were putting out." Haku was looking very uncomfortable by this point. He had scared all of them last night, that much was true, but what bothered her was the pure primal feeling that was sent out. She had felt killing intent before, many times, but she had never felt it so raw and that was just the overflow. She didn't even want to think about what was aimed at Sasuke.

"Don't worry about my injuries. I heal quickly, always have. Consider it a gift from a...friend of mine. Along with rapid healing, I also have heightened senses and though I've been to the hospital numerous times, I've never actually been sick a day in my life. I know what you're thinking and no it's not really a bloodline. I can't tell you exactly what it is though. I'm just not comfortable sharing that information yet..." Apparently Haku wasn't going to push the matter as they sat there in silence for awhile, just taking comfort in the company of someone who seemed to understand them.

After a couple hours of general chatting when a topic popped into their heads, the pair turned towards the door when they heard the knob turn. They were greeted by the sight of the bridge crew making their way home for the day. "You guys are early. Did you finish already?"

After setting his safety helmet on a stand near the door, Tazuna turned towards the pair with a wide smile. "Not yet. I decided to spread the last bit over two days so we wouldn't end a day with only two feet to go. Would be a waste to call everyone out early only to be done in an hour, so we're just going to have two early days." His grin changed to one a little more sinister. "Since you're both up I'll assume you have been keeping each other company?" A quick wink the the two told them all they needed to know about what he might be insinuating.

Despite how innocent their conversation was, the two still couldn't help but blush a little at the insinuation. When Kiba saw this, he of course got his hopes up once more. 'Maybe Naruto will go for this new chick and that will leave Hinata free for the taking. Even if he doesn't, this girl doesn't seem half bad.'

"Oi, Tazuna-san. It's nothing like that. We were just talking about ninja stuff, mostly. Besides I have a girlfriend at home, so it's not like I'm really free or anything." As much as he hated to hurt others, Naruto felt he had to make that clear. He had seen how well Haku and him were getting along and he was looking for a way to break the news to her. He didn't feel right just coming out and saying it to her face just in case he was reading into it too much. Tazuna just provided the perfect opportunity though, and by the look that flashed across the young girl's face he was right on the money in his assumption.

Haku had quieted down considerably on the outside, but on the inside she was in utter turmoil. She was wondering if all the nice things Naruto said to her and did for her was just that. He had saved her from a life where she was more or less a slave, and he had saved her life from his own comrade. Was he just a naturally overly nice guy? Not many people in their line of work would go so far as tho throw themselves in the line of fire for the sake of someone they just recently met. By the time dinner came her mind was utter chaos. She hadn't even realized that everyone was sitting around the table chatting while she debated with herself inside her head.

As Tsunami once again began to pass the food around Haku found herself not having much of an apatite. Instead of digging in she opted to take a bowl of rice for herself, and feed the two upstairs. Kakashi and Naruto both told her to be careful as she walked away with a food laden tray. She decided to get the worst of the two out of the way first, and went in to where Sasuke was bound. Upon opening the door she couldn't help but laugh at the avenger as he glared at her. She had a feeling that it wouldn't have mattered who walked into the room at that time, anyone would have gotten the same glare. Unfortunately for him it came out as little more then a child's futile attempt to stare down their parent. Being hopelessly bound to a beam will do that, but she still gave him a B for effort.

"So the serving bitch came at last. How about loosening these ropes and I show you how to truly serve an Uchiha. It's somewhat of a tradition for us to take strong women as our own. As they provide strong offspring." His smirk alone sickened her, but the offer he suggested actually made her retch much to his annoyance. "What? Does the thought of being bred sicken you? Don't worry then, because once word spreads that you turned away an Uchiha no one will want you anyway."

"I would rather live my life alone and locked in a cave then spend one day under the name Uchiha. Do not think you can threaten me into anything. I have lived my life and grown stronger because of threats many times worse then anything you can dream up. Besides, wouldn't it be beside the point, dear Uchiha, to wed someone stronger then yourself." It was an unnecessary retort she knew, but she just couldn't help herself. His yells ran through the room until he had to stop from lack of breath. As he sat there breathing hard and glaring at her more she got to her real reason for being there. "Now if you're a good boy and quiet down I will feed you. Know that I won't enjoy this, so if you don't behave I have no qualms about leaving the food here for you to figure out a way to eat it." She set the tray down and picked up one of the food items before offering it to him. He begrudgingly ate it as he knew she had no reason not to make good on her threat. He may be the last Uchiha in Konoha, but they weren't in Konoha. They were alone, in a room, in Wave.

"So, what is the real reason you're here. If you despise me as much as you say you do then you wouldn't be here right now unless you had a reason for doing so." Sasuke said between bites.

As Haku shoved another portion of food in his mouth she sighed. She was hoping to get through the whole meal before he figured that part out. "I want to know what you know about Naruto. You went to the academy together so you must know at least the past few years of his life."

"Hmph. I don't know why you're so interested in that dobe, but fine I'll shatter this illusion you have about him. He was the dead last in class. He did poorly in every subject there was. He couldn't even do a simple bunshin and made a barely passable henge. His test grades hovered around barely passing and his practical skills with weapons and taijutsu and projectiles were even worse. How he managed to pass I don't know, but he should have quit trying to be a ninja."

"What about his life outside of school?"

"What, do you think I was all buddy-buddy with him? I'm one of the elite in Konoha. I wouldn't associate with his kind of trash for anything. Nor would any self respecting person."

"And yet he has outperformed you on every task so far this mission." This only served in earning her another string of curses, but she had learned all she was going to from him. She left him yelling warnings and threats behind her as she closed the door on him and made her way to the next target. She took a deep breath before entering the room of Sakura. This wasn't going to be pleasant. Even if Sasuke's room would have been sealed in a sound barrier the pinkette would have found some way oh hearing his yells. As it was she opened the door and steeled herself as the expected wall of noise hit her.

"What were you doing to Sasuke-kun?! You were torturing him weren't you, you bitch?! Just because you're jealous of us doesn't give you the right to damage him so others can't have him! Why don't you just kill yourself. You should have died last night anyway! You're just lucky that Naruto-baka got chivalrous and saved you. Otherwise Sasuke-kun would have torn you to shreds!"

Haku finally got a chance to get a word in when Sakura decided breathing was a good thing. "Do you want to continue or do you want to eat?" Haku rose the tray a little more to emphasize her point. Sakura only glared as her stomach answered for her, which seemed to only worsen her already bad mood but at least she shut up. Unlike Sasuke, Sakura was silent the whole time she ate. For someone who Naruto said was the biggest (known) brain of the kunoichi, she didn't seem to be able to figure out or care why Haku was the one feeding her. It wasn't until the last bit of the meal was in the girl's mouth that Haku broke the silence. She would have done it sooner but she was too busy marveling that the girl could actually keep her trap shut so long. "Sakura, I want you to tell me what Naruto was like back in the academy, and if possible, before that."

"Huh? Why would you want to know about a loser like him? Wouldn't you rather talk about Sasuke-kun? He's so much better then that baka. Sasuke-kun was the rookie of