AN:What's going on ya'll?! I'm back once again with a new chapter for ya! I'm really liking where this arc is going, and I'm having a blast changing up canon for you guys. I've read so many versions of the Wave Arc that I thought it'd be boring to write the story that you already know so well. So, more twists and turns FTW! Anyways, Read and Review please! I love hearing what you guys think! -Afroman007

Chapter 20:

Karin stared at Haku impassively as the dark-haired girl returned the stare. Finally, after several long moments, Karin spoke.

"Haku-chan," she began quickly. "It's not what you think!"

Haku's eyebrows rose.

"Oh?" She replied mirthlessly. "And just what do I think, Karin-chan?"

Karin felt her ire rise. She hated head games. More specifically: Haku's head games. Haku had an infuriating knack for interrogation, even when it came to simple things.

"You know what I mean!" Karin bit back irritably. Haku smiled and shook her head before becoming solemn once more.

"Karin," she said calmly. " I know where you went, and who you went to see. Tell me, was this 'Naruto Uzumaki' actually related to you?"

Karin felt her breath hitch in her throat. She would be mad to try and lie to Haku, and there really wasn't a reason to hide the truth. Naruto was her enemy after all...

She hung her head dejectedly and sighed.

"Yes." She said flatly. "He's actually my first cousin. His mother was Kushina Uzumaki, my aunt."

Haku said nothing as she digested the information.

"You don't plan on betraying Lord Zabuza to help him, do you?" She asked after a moment's pause.

Karin's head shot up and she narrowed her eyes angrily at her.

"Of course not!" She spat in reply. "I'd never betray Lord Zabuza for something so trivial!"

Haku shook her head and regarded Karin with a softer expression.

"Family is not a 'trivial' thing, Karin-chan." She replied in a low tone. Karin's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. She blushed and shook her head violently.

"I know that!" She replied heatedly. "But, I wouldn't betray Lord Zabuza just because I know one of my enemies is actually family! Hell, I don't even know him! For all I know, he could be a major ass!"

Haku chuckled.

"But, I get the feeling that he isn't, right?" She replied calmly. Karin sighed and ran her hand through her thick, red hair.

"No." She acquiesced. "He's a good person. He was a bit guarded when I spoke with him, but that's only natural: if I were in his shoes I would've done the same thing..."

Haku nodded as she got to her feet and began walking back towards the hideout. When she was a few feet away from Karin she turned around and addressed her once more.

"I won't say anything about this to Lord Zabuza." She said quietly.

Karin let out a relieved breath she wasn't even aware she was holding until now.

"However," Haku added, a tone of cold steel in her voice. "If for whatever reason you do end up betraying our master, I will strike you down regardless of our friendship, Karin."

Karin felt herself shiver involuntarily at Haku's words. Not because of the coldness of them...

But at the fact that Haku would deliver on them.

Naruto returned to his shared bedroom with Kakashi and Sasuke about an hour after meeting Karin. His mind was spinning. He had a relative? A living, breathing relative! The thought made him fill up with happiness like a balloon. The balloon abruptly popped when he remembered that Karin was an enemy, an accomplice of Zabuza.

'Why can't anything in my life every work out smoothly?!' Thought Naruto in frustration as he plopped down quietly on his bed. He heard an gruff snort, that he instantly recognized as Kurama.

"Because brat," Kurama interjected. "If everything went smoothly in your life there'd be no point whatsoever in living."

Naruto conceded that his tenant had a valid point, and then suddenly remembered that Kurama was questionably absent during his interaction with Karin earlier.

'By the way, Kurama..' Naruto began suspiciously. 'Where did you go earlier? You knew something about Karin, didn't you!?'

Kurama was silent for several long moments before he replied:

"I'll admit that her chakra signature was familiar to me as an Uzumaki's, but beyond that, I was as surprised as you. I had no idea that Kushina even had a sister..."

That brought up another point that Naruto had been thinking about. Why hadn't his mother mentioned that she had a sister to anyone? Surely she told his father, right? Not to mention, shouldn't the Old Man know about her?

Naruto groaned and rolled over in his bed. This was all maddening! Just a few hours ago he had been ready to start training to defeat Zabuza and his accomplices, and now he felt like he didn't want to fight at all! Well, that wasn't entirely true, he realized. He wouldn't mind fighting, as long as Karin didn't fight. He frowned as he glanced out the window at the night sky. Of course Karin would fight; Zabuza didn't seem like the kind of person who would waste manpower.

Naruto sighed as he pulled his blanket over his head. There was no use in stressing out about it. He needed to focus on getting stronger. If he could just do that, maybe there would be a way to beat Zabuza without getting Karin involved. As he drifted off to sleep however, a voice in Naruto's head nagged that it wouldn't be that easy...

Naruto awoke a little later than usual the next morning and groggily rolled out of bed. Upon getting dressed, he sleepily made his way downstairs where he could hear the distinct voices of his sensei, Tazuna's family, and teammates around the table.

"G'morning, everyone!" Naruto shouted boisterously, which caused Sasame to spit out her orange juice, Sakura to almost choke on a strip of bacon, and Kakashi and Sasuke to continue eating quietly, showing no sign that they even heard the greeting. Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari jumped a bit, but otherwise got over Naruto's entrance quite quickly.

Naruto ducked under a playful swat from Sasame as he sat down in a chair and pulled a plate towards him.

"Good morning, Naruto." Kakashi remarked calmly, eye-smiling as he did so. Naruto grinned in return as he began to dig into his eggs. Sasuke, who had just finished his helping stared at Kakashi expectantly.

"Now that Naruto's here," he began. "Can you explain what the plan for today is, sensei?"

Naruto stopped eating to glance at Kakashi, who nodded.

"Sure thing." He replied. "So, as I said yesterday: the girls will be going into town this time to see what they can dig up on Gato."

Sasame and Sakura grinned at each other victoriously. Kakashi ignored them as he continued.

"While you and Naruto will be with me as we guard Tazuna-san while he works on the bridge."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically as he continued eating. Sasuke shrugged as he turned to Sakura and said:

"Good luck with getting the villagers to talk," he mumbled. "They're not going to tell you anything that they haven't told us..."

Sakura began to reply when Sasame interrupted her.

"Don't worry, Sasuke," she said in a sly tone. "You and Naruto-kun just don't have what we do!"

Sasuke's eyebrow rose slightly in interest.

"And what could that possibly be?" He asked indignantly.

Sasame winked at Sakura and replied smoothly:

"A woman's touch!"

Sasuke groaned and finished off his orange juice, choosing not to say anything to refute Sasame's ridiculous answer, while Sakura giggled at his grumpy expression.

Naruto couldn't help but feel like someone's eyes were glaring at him as he continued to eat his breakfast. It only took a few seconds to find the culprit. Inari sat near his mother and grandfather, staring intently at him.

"Can I help you with something?" Naruto asked irritably. Everyone at the table turned to look at the two of them.

"It's nothing." growled Inari rudely, as he pushed out his chair and took his unfinished plate towards the kitchen sink. "I'm done, Mom. I'm going back to my room..."

Tsunami watched him go with a sad look marring her pretty features. Naruto watched the boy go as well, a look of irritated confusion on his face.

"That kid..." Naruto began, only to have Tazuna interrupt him.

"Please forgive Inari," he replied with a sigh. "He hasn't been the same since..."

Tsunami flashed a dangerous look at her father, and Tazuna quickly clammed up, only to replace his solemn expression with a forced smile. He clapped his hands together as he stood up and glanced around the table at the Konoha nin.

"Well!" He exclaimed happily. "I'm stuffed! Time to continue building my super-awesome bridge!"

Naruto and the other exchanged suspicious glances at one another before Kakashi cut in.

"You heard the man, team!" He said in an equally cheery tone. "And you all know what to do, so let's move out!"

Naruto nodded, but continued to watch the stairs that Inari had just vanished up.

'I wonder what happened to him to make him like that...' Was Naruto's final thought on the matter, before he followed his team out the door, Tazuna in the lead.

The day was already hot as Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna finally made it to the bridge construction site. Naruto watched as Tazuna walked over to a few nearby workers and started talking and directing their work on the bridge. He watched this until he heard Kakashi clear his throat and wheeled around to face the masked jounin.

"So, how should we go about this Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto remarked cheerfully. "Should Sasuke and I take different ends of the bridge? Should we use weapons? What if Gato's goons show up, and-?"

Kakashi held up a hand to forestall Naruto's endless deluge of questions.

"Take it easy, Naruto," Kakashi admonished. "You and Sasuke don't need to worry about any of the protection stuff. I have something else in mind for you two to do!"

Kakashi's visible eye crinkled into what could only be a grin, which made Naruto and Sasuke glance at one another nervously.

"And," Sasuke replied carefully. "What would that be?"

Kakashi nodded his head happily.

"I'm glad you asked, Sasuke!" He sang, beckoning the two genin to follow after him. He led them towards Tazuna, who watched them approach with a quizzical stare.

"Tazuna-san!" Kakashi continued cheerfully. "I'd like to volunteer Naruto and Sasuke here to help you with construction of the bridge! Justy tell them what to do, and they'll be happy to help!"

Naruto and Sasuke's faces went pale.

"WHAT!?" Naruto cried in outrage. "Kakashi-sensei! Why in Kami's name are we-!?"

As if a dark storm-cloud began to gather over his head, Kakashi wheeled around to stare down the two boys.

"I haven't forgotten that you two disobeyed my orders yesterday, you know." He began dangerously. "Anyways, think of it like a training exercise!"

Naruto and Sasuke both groaned, but made sure to keep it quiet enough that their sensei wouldn't call them out on it. From the recesses of his mind, Naruto heard Kurama chuckle in merriment.

"Oh snap!" He cackled delightfully. "He got you two good! I'm starting to like your meat-sack of a sensei!"

Naruto rolled his eyes irritably and hung his head. He should've known that Kakashi-sensei had something like this planned for them. He hoped that Sasame and Sakura would have an easier time of it then Sasuke and him.

Sasame let out a long exhale as Sakura and her headed into the small fishing village just south of Tazuna's house. As she looked around, she was surprised to notice that the town itself looked worse than it had when they had arrived no less than two days ago. She shook her head sadly.

"These people..." She began in a heated whisper. "No: no one deserves to be exploited like this!"

Sakura bobbed her head in silent agreement as she watched a mother usher her two very malnourished children back into their shack of a home.

"It doesn't make sense actually," Sakura commented as she turned her head away from the door the mother and her two children disappeared behind. "Why would Gato take away all of their livelihood and business? If he just reigned over them instead of usurping them, he'd be that much better off wealth-wise..."

Sasame shook her head in disagreement.

"Because this isn't just about business, Sakura-chan," she expounded, a note of rising anger in her tone. "It's psychological warfare. Gato uses fear as his main weapon. If the people are too afraid to lose anything else to him, their homes, their families, hell: even their lives, no one's going to stand up to him!"

Sakura digested Sasame's words for a long moment before replying:

"But, didn't Tazuna-san say that someone in the village did try and fight off Gato?"

Sasame paused and looked at her. Sakura was right. Tazuna had begun to tell them of a man who stood up to Gato, but abruptly stopped. Sasame got the feeling that whatever became of that man must've been terrible.

Sasame hated seeing people like this. The sight was too overtly familiar, too close to home for her. Her village had once been lively and prosperous, only for it to be ransacked and raided, her kinsman killed in cold blood, and-

"Sasame-chan!"

She wheeled her head to her right to find Sakura looking at her with a concerned expression. She blinked. She must've been zoning out. As she glanced out of the periphery of her vision at the surrounding town, she realized how careless that was.

"S-Sorry, Sakura-chan," She apologized. "What is it?"

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she glanced ahead and down the street a ways. Sasame followed her line of vision and promptly frowned.

At a nearby shop, Sasame realized it was a bar, was a group of Gato's thugs harassing a young waitress outside.

Sasame made to take a step forward to help the young girl, only to feel an insistent hand placed on her shoulder. She followed the hand to Sakura's jade green eyes that glinted with a look of disapproval.

"Don't." she whispered urgently. "Remember what Kakashi-sensei said? We can't cause a scene in town. Naruto and Sasuke-kun already did. Follow me..."

Sasame hesitated as she glanced back at the thugs, who were now taking turns pushing the waitress back and forth and jeering. With an angry sigh, she followed Sakura as she leapt silently onto a nearby rooftop.

Sasame and Sakura came to a halt on the rooftop of the bar where Gato's thugs were harassing the waitress. Silently, she peered over the roof's edge to look down, only to notice that the waitress was no longer outside. She sighed in relief. It took all of her willpower not to hop down there and beat the crap out of those fools. Anko had always had it out for men like them, and Sasame guessed that she picked up on that animosity over the years of living with the woman. Then again, Sasame always did hate thugs to begin with.

"Looks like that waitress got away alright..." Sakura sighed in obvious relief. "That's good."

Sasame nodded mutely as she continued to watch the disgruntled thugs mill about in front of the bar.

"Now what?" One of the thugs whined. "That pretty little thing ran away, and we've got no one to serve us booze!"

Another thug growled at him.

"Shut up, Kanjin." He snapped. "We ain't even supposed to be drinking anyways! You know we have a job to do for the boss..."

The thug Kanjin spat on the ground, but didn't argue further.

"Fine," Kanjin said flatly. "Let's hurry up and round up the ones that Gato has on his list. The ship sails in a few days from now, but it's better to get 'em while they're not expecting it."

Kanjin's face split into a wicked grin, revealing his yellowing teeth.

"And if we're lucky, maybe Gato won't mind if we have a little 'fun' with the new slaves before he ships them off to Kami-knows-where!"

All of the thugs began to chuckle lecherously at Kanjin's remark and began to leave the bar, making a point to break bottles and chairs as they left.

Sasame and Sakura sat wide-eyed at what they had just over heard.

"T-That disgusting piece of-!" Sasame began indignantly, only to have Sakura cut her off.

"He's going to sell people!?" She cried in horror. "I knew he was a scumbag, but what he's doing...it's reprehensible!"

"Oh?" Came a new voice from behind them, causing both girls to wheel around. "And just what do you two plan to do about it?"

Sasame's eyes widened in recognition at the new arrival and then narrowed in suspicion.

"YOU!"

Haku sighed as she left Zabuza's hideout and made her way towards the small seaside village of Wave. There were many things on her mind, the most pressing being what she should do about Karin.

Haku had known Karin now for over five years. It seemed like yesterday when Haku saw the red-haired girl for the first time, looking thoroughly dead as she trailed after Zabuza in that small village in the Land of Grass. When Haku had asked Zabuza why Karin would be traveling with them her master had given a gruff reply that brought more questions than answers at the time.

"Because she's an Uzumaki," He replied gruffly. "Now, let's go."

At the time, Haku had no idea why Karin being an Uzumaki mattered. Then again, maybe Karin's family had access to a rare kekkei-genkai like Suigetsu's or her clan? As the years passed and Karin slowly meshed into their small unit, Haku had been surprised to learn the true extent of Karin's abilities. She was a skilled sensor; in fact, she was the best sensor Haku had ever seen. Granted, Haku hadn't met many other sensors in her life, but according to Zabuza, Karin's abilities were without par. And that meant something if he said it.

However, Haku knew how much Karin's clan meant to her. Karin may not say it aloud, but Haku had overheard the girl dreaming many a night, mumbling her mother's name in her sleep. She had watched Karin rage when someone disrespected her clan, which had caused many small fights in the past. Hell, even Suigetsu knew not to disrespect the name Uzumaki in front of her. That was saying something for the white-haired boy. Normally, he didn't care one bit about what came out of his mouth.

The fact that Karin had a living, breathing relative was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it meant that Karin's clan was not as extinct as she previously thought. A curse because the so-called relative was on the opposing side of their interests. Haku wanted to believe that Karin was sincere in her declaration that she wouldn't betray Zabuza even if it meant fighting her own kin, but Haku had her doubts. If she were in Karin's shoes, she'd be hard=pressed to raise a finger against her own flesh and blood. Then again, she had no problem killing the man she once called 'father'.

She shook her head of the memory. The past was the past. She had no need for such things now. Her only purpose in life was fulfilling Lord Zabuza's ambitions and dreams. Her own wants and desires were secondary, trivial things.

Haku arrived in the town and frowned at the state of the village. While she held no love for Gato's monopolizing of the town, or his terror tactics, she could not help any of the villagers. Grated, none of the villagers knew that she worked for Gato, and would no doubt be grateful for even a small handout, she could not afford to be seen helping out. No doubt Gato's thugs would report her, and then what? Would she just cause her master another headache when Gato confronted him about her actions?

'I can't afford to help them,' Haku thought bitterly. 'Even if I did, it wouldn't help Lord Zabuza at all, so it doesn't concern me...'

Haku continued to tell herself this as she passed by starving children and their families, all of whom looked completely devoid of hope. She ignored Gato's numerous bands of thugs that leered at her as she passed by them on the street. She idly thought about how easy it would be to send a senbon into the eye of a thug that made overtly crude gestures at her, but thought better of it. No need to create a scene that she'd only come to regret as a hasty reaction.

As she rounded the corner she saw something that immediately put her on high alert. Standing before her were two people she instantly recognized: Kakashi Hatake's female students. Ducking in the safety of a nearby alleyway, Haku reached into her kimono and withdrew her Kirigakure oinin mask and swiftly secured it over her face.

'And just what are those two up to, I suppose?' Haku thought as she watched the two genin. Upon further observation, she realized that the two girls were currently watching as a young woman, who appeared to be a waitress, was harassed by a group of Gato's thugs outside of a bar. Momentarily confused as to why the two Konoha ninja didn't hurry to the girl's aid, Haku continued to watch the two of them until they abruptly leapt up onto a nearby rooftop and made their way towards the bar. Haku followed them silently.

Haku listened intently as the two girls seemed to make a startling discovery: Gato planned on rounding up villagers and selling them as slaves. Haku already knew about Gato's illegal slave-trading business (as much as she loathed it) and knew it was in Lord Zabuza's interests to keep the Konoha ninja from interfering.

Taking a steadying breath, Haku silently moved out from her hiding spot behind the two girls and declared:

"Oh? And just what do you two plan to do about it?"

Her mouth crinkled into a satisfied smile as the two Konoha genin's faces lit up in recognition of her.

"YOU!"

Karin currently wanted to kick herself. Why you ask? Well, that's a little more complicated.

Currently, she was fleeing through the forest, trying to get as far away from the glare of Sharingan Kakashi as possible.

"Way to go, Karin!" She growled in irritation. "You just had to forget to mask your chakra signature! So stupid!"

She paused on a tree branch and quickly cast out her senses to see if she had been followed. After several nerve-racking moments, she exhaled a breath she wasn't even aware that she been holding.

"All clear." She muttered in relief. "That was too close..."

Karin had decided to spy on the bridge that was currently being built by Tazuna, her master's target. It should've been a cake-walk, gathering intel, seeing that she had the ability to completely erase her chakra signature, at the cost of not being able to use any kind of chakra molding technique. Therefore, it made her a natural at espionage. Everything would have been perfect if he hadn't shown up.

Karin's thought strayed to the person who had caused her to become careless in her observation: Naruto Uzumaki, her cousin.

She had been watching the workers on the bridge mill about as they carried steel girders and tools here and there, working on the bridge's infrastructure. It was

dull, but watching their progress gave her a good estimate on how long it would take for the bridge to be completed. Lord Zabuza still wasn't in shape to go after Tazuna yet, but they had a deadline. All would be for naught if Tazuna finished building the bridge.

That's when Naruto showed up.

Karin watched in surprise as the bridge-builder walked into her field of vision, followed closely by Sharingan Kakashi, the Uchiha boy, and Naruto. She was too far away to overhear their conversation, but to be completely honest, she wasn't really even paying attention to it. Her eyes were trained on her cousin.

She watched, spellbound as she observed his features, his smile, and his laughter. She watched as his bright, blue eyes squinted like that of a fox when he thought hard about something. He was so open with his emotions, she thought, completely different than he was when she had spoken to him last night on the bridge-builder's rooftop. She felt a heavy pang of sadness in her heart as she remembered that she would have to fight him sooner or later. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to somehow convince the boy not to get involved, to just stay out of her master's way so he wouldn't be harmed, but she knew this was simply a fantasy. Naruto Uzumaki was not the type to back down from anything, she realized. This boy was the very same boy who had directly challenged her master and outsmarted him, even if Lord Zabuza hadn't been taking him seriously.

Karin sighed heavily as she continued to watch Naruto as he began to help the workers move equipment around on the bridge. Why did it have to be him? She thought despairingly. Why couldn't she run into a blood-relative elsewhere? Someone who didn't come into direct conflict with her master's ambitions?! Such was fate, Karin thought. She was just bound to never find happiness. After all, it seemed like anytime she did, it was stripped from her just as quickly as it had come.

She continued to ruminate on what she could only call her 'crappy life' until she felt a sudden feeling of danger. Whipping her head up, her eyes locked with the one visible eye of Sharingan Kakashi, who was looking directly at her. Karin felt her insides freeze. Would he come over and attack her? She slowly crept backwards from his penetrating stare.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" She mumbled as she began to scramble backwards more swiftly. Kakashi's eye continued to look at her with its' solemn glare until just as quickly, his gaze went back to watching his two students.

Karin felt her whole body collapse onto the trunk of the tree she was currently perched in. That was too close. She had to get out of here, now. Without so much as a second glance, Karin bolted off into the trees, eager to get as far away from the one-eyed Konoha jounin as possible.

After checking to make sure she was in the clear, which she was, Karin cast out her senses again to find Haku. Even after their tense confrontation last night, Karin still found that she trusted the ice-user. Haku only wanted to see Lord Zabuza's ambitions come to fruition after all; she wasn't one to begrudge anyone for their personal feelings. She had said so herself. As long as Karin didn't betray their master, she would have nothing to worry about from her.

The thought filled Karin with gratitude. After all, all it would take was Haku telling Zabuza where she had been last night, and Karin was as good as dead. Zabuza didn't take kindly to betrayal or double-crossing whatsoever. Karin had watched her master slaughter clients for simply shorting him a few ryo on a job. Needless to add, Lord Zabuza didn't know that Karin knew that he had lied to her. Not as if Zabuza was one to feel guilt, but she guessed that the fact that he would be caught in his own lie would anger him. Karin knew that her best bet was to stay on her master's good side, and worry about her cousin afterwards. That was: if he survived...

Karin finally found Haku on a rooftop staring down Kakashi's two female students. Not knowing what was going on, she quickly hid herself on an adjacent rooftop and suppressed her chakra. It wouldn't do Haku any good if she just leapt to her side and started a commotion.

From her hiding spot, Karin could overhear the girls' conversation.

"YOU!" Cried the orange-haired Konoha girl in obvious surprise. Karin watched as Haku nodded her head.

"Me." Haku replied flatly. Karin watched as the orange-haired girl pointed a finger at Haku, who remained motionless.

"You're Zabuza's accomplice!" She hollered. "What are you doing here?"

Haku tilted her masked face to one side as if she were just asked an irrelevant question.

"I recall that I just answered that." She stated matter-of-factly. "I asked you 'what you plan to do about Gato's slaving business'?"

Karin watched as the orange-haired girl's face reddened in agitation. She half-expected the girl to attack Haku, but was surprised when the other Konoha girl, with pink hair placed a soothing hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Take it easy, Sasame-chan," the pinkette said as she observed Haku cautiously. "We don't know anything about this person, except that he works for Zabuza..."

Karin had to hold back a snort of laughter.

'They think Haku-chan's a boy!?'

She stifled her giggles with some effort and reengaged herself in the ensuing conversation once more.

"Therefore," Karin overhear the pinkette continue. "We shouldn't try fighting him. I think that's what he wants..."

Karin turned her attention back to Haku, who continued to stare impassively at the two Konoha ninja.

"You should listen to your friend, Sasame-san." She said seriously. "You know nothing about me, but I know many things about you and your team..."

Karin watched as the two girls froze in shock. The girl, Sasame retorted:

"Cut the crap!" She bit back disbelievingly. "We only ran into you once: do you mean to tell us that you discerned that much information? Impossible!"

Haku giggled softly and pointed a finger at them.

"Oh, but it's true." She added, her voice laced with amusement. "For example, I know that your dark-haired teammate is an Uchiha, and that the blonde-haired boy, Naruto..."

Karin's heart stopped. Haku wouldn't...

"Has a living relative working for my master that he's kept secret from you..."

The two girls stared at Haku, their faces contorting into matching expressions of disbelief.

"N-No way..." Sasame muttered softly. "Y-You're lying! Naruto-kun wouldn't keep something like that from us!"

Haku said nothing for several moments before replying.

"Am I?" She continued confidently. "Go ahead and ask him then, by all means..."

Karin watched in shock as the pinkette grasped the other girl, Sasame's arm and silently communicated something with her. Sasame nodded curtly and then faced Haku again, an angry glint in her brown eyes.

"I don't believe you." She snarled angrily. "But, I know better than to pick a fight with an enemy I know nothing about. Don't follow us. Even if you are strong, we have the advantage in numbers, and it won't be hard for us to summon our teammates for help..."

Haku waved aside the threat easily and replied:

"I have no intention of stopping you at this point, however..."

Karin narrowed her eyes. What was Haku up to?

"It would be in your best interests to simply hand Tazuna-san over to Lord Zabuza. There is no need for unnecessary bloodshed..."

Sasame's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"No way." She snarled. "We'll never hand Tazuna-san over to the likes of your 'master'! Don't you even care in the slightest about what Gato's doing to this nation!? He's bleeding it dry! How can you even work for a scumbag like him?!"

Haku stiffened momentarily at Sasame's words. Karin thought for a moment that she might have to step in to help, but watched as the ice-user regained her stoic mannerism just as quickly as it faltered.

"I don't work for Gato." Haku spat Gato's name out as if it were a curse. "I serve only Lord Zabuza. If he feels he must join up with Gato to achieve his ends, I will follow him. A tool has no reason to question it's betters."

Karin watched in confusion as the girl named Sasame stiffened at Haku's words. From her point of view it seemed as if Haku's answer had struck something in the girl.

"Shinobi are not tools." Sasame said resolutely. "We're people."

Haku was silent for a moment before replying:

"That is what you believe," she stated flatly. "Not what I believe."

The two stared down each other for a moment longer before the pinkette urged Sasame that they needed to leave. Sasame glanced back at Haku one last time before the two of them leapt off the rooftop and sped off towards the edge of the village. Karin realized that they were most likely heading towards the bridge to rendezvous with the other Konoha ninja.

Haku stood quietly on the rooftop before turning her masked face towards Karin.

"You can come out, Karin-chan." She called, much to Karin's surprise. With a leap, Karin landed in front of Haku and stared at her incredulously.

"How did you even sense me?" Karin asked in confusion. "I suppressed my chakra...?"

Haku removed her mask to reveal a smirk.

"When I mentioned Naruto, your technique faltered for a moment. Luckily, neither one of those girls happened to be sensors, or they would've spotted you too..."

Karin nodded absentmindedly before she felt a rush of outrage course through her.

"Haku!" She bellowed angrily. "Why in Kami's name did you tell them about me!? Why would you do that?! I trusted you!"

Karin wasn't even aware that her eyes had begun to water. She felt so betrayed. If she couldn't trust Haku, who could she trust?!

Haku frowned and regarded Karin with something akin to sorrow in her warm, brown eyes.

"Karin-chan," she began softly. "Listen to me..."

Karin wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and glared at Haku.

"I told them because it will cause a rift in their team," Haku continued with a sigh. "Remember what Lord Zabuza asked us to do? He ordered us to cause trouble for them. And I couldn't think of a more perfect opportunity than that!"

Karin continued to stare down Haku with obvious hurt in her expression.

"I don't care!" She cried. "Don't you understand what you've done!? You've put Naruto in a dangerous position! Once his sensei finds out about this he'll-!"

Karin's next words caught in her throat as she looked into the furious eyes of Haku.

"Karin-chan." Haku hissed. "I believe I told you last night that I wouldn't hesitate to strike you down if you even think about betraying Lord Zabuza. Since when is Naruto's safety more important than our master's orders?!"

Karin's eyes widened, and she closed her mouth tightly. Haku continued to glare at her and Karin could only hang her head. As she did so, she heard Haku slowly moving away from her towards the edge of the roof.

"Pull yourself together, Karin-chan." Haku said in a cold tone. "Eventually, we will have to fight the Konoha ninja, including your cousin. Remember that Lord Zabuza was there in your darkest hour: not Naruto."

And with that, Haku vanished from the rooftop, leaving Karin alone and beginning to sob.

"Think of it as training he said! When we get home, I'm gonna prank him so hard...!"

This was what Naruto currently thought as he helped Sasuke haul yet another large beam of steel across the surface of the bridge.

Kakashi had set the two boys to work without so much as batting an eye. Naruto and Sasuke had done everything from carry steel beams, to using the tree-walking technique to inspect the durability of the bridge's supports. Needless to say, Naruto was beginning to regret ever disobeying Kakashi's orders the day before.

To add to his ire, Sasuke had taken to the work with gusto. At first, Naruto couldn't understand why his stoic brother would be so enthusiastic about helping out, until he watched as Tazuna handed Sasuke a can of paint and a brush, and told him to start painting the railings of the bridge. Sasuke began painting with a fervor Naruto couldn't begin to describe.

When Naruto asked Sasuke what brought on his complete one-eighty in eagerness, Sasuke grunted:

"I never got over that disaster on the Hokage Monument," he grumbled moodily. "I'm going to make sure this time I do things right!"

Naruto decided not to bother Sasuke again for the time being.

The two boys continued their work alongside Tazuna and his crew while Kakashi watched on, at least: Naruto assumed he was watching. Their sensei had opened his Icha-Icha novel once they started working and been engrossed ever since. This only added to Naruto's frustration however, and he took to his work with an increasingly bad mood, causing many of Tazuna's workers to give him a wide berth.

As noon approached, Kakashi shut his book with a snap and beckoned to the two of them to come over. Naruto placed down a hammer he was using to nail some boards together and hopped over to his sensei, looking quite miffed.

"What is it, sensei?" Naruto almost growled.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow at his blonde-haired student curiously, as if he could not begin to understand what the young Uzumaki could possibly be upset about. Sasuke sauntered over, his shirt and pants completely covered in brown paint. He looked oddly satisfied, if the small smirk on his face was any indication. Kakashi decided not to ask about it.

"I believe that you two have done enough helping out for today!" He explained happily, only to receive a low growl from Naruto and a nod from Sasuke. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before you disobey one of my orders, hmm?"

Naruto clicked his tongue and looked away moodily, while Sasuke shrugged. Kakashi sweat-dropped.

'They really don't respect me at all, do they?' He thought miserably.

He cleared his throat and continued:

"Well, anyways," he went on. "I did say that we would move on to something more advanced for your training and I've decided to start you on the basics of nature manipulation..."

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged excited glances.

"But!" Kakashi added, holding up a hand to prevent Naruto from cheering, which he was sure was going to happen at any second. "I don't plan on starting until Sasame and Sakura return. After all, I don't want to have to repeat the same lecture twice..."

Naruto's face fell at Kakashi's words and he crossed his arms with a pout.

"Of course you wouldn't," he mumbled. "You lazy bastard...!"

Kakashi turned to look at Naruto with an eye-smile.

"Something to say, Naruto?" He asked a little too sweetly. Naruto paled and shook his head frantically.

"N-Nope! I heard you loud and clear, sensei!"

Kakashi nodded, still smiling and glanced past the two boys, his eyebrow rising.

"Well," he began with a start. "Great timing! Here comes Sakura and Sasame now!"

Naruto turned to see Sasame and Sakura running towards them, a panicked expression on their faces. His brow immediately furrowed.

'Why do I get the feeling that they don't have any good news to tell us?'

Kurama grunted.

"Because they don't." He replied matter-of-factly. "Their emotions are all over the place. Something bad must've happened..."

Naruto nodded mentally and ran up to met the two of them, who were gasping for breath.

"What happened?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Are you guys okay? Gato's goons didn't attack you or anything, right?!"

Naruto was shocked to observe that neither Sakura or Sasame would meet his gaze, instead opting to look away from him. This puzzled him, but he couldn't suppress the ominous feeling that whatever happened it concerned him in some way.

Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Give them some room, Naruto." He advised as he watched the two girls slowly begin to steady their breathing.

"Now," Kakashi began calmly. "What happened in town? Did you guys find out anything about Gato's plans?"

Sakura nodded.

"We did, sensei..." She began, but then chanced a look at Naruto before continuing. "...And we also found out something that we need to check into right away!..."

Kakashi glanced from Sakura to Naruto in confusion until Sasame cut in.

"Naruto-kun." She began in a solemn tone. Naruto turned to look at her in bewilderment. "Is it true that you have a relative working for Gato?"

Everyone fell silent as they turned their eyes to rest on Naruto, who felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck. He glanced down at the ground and sighed deeply.

"Yes." He replied miserably. "Although I just found out about her last night. My cousin, Karin Uzumaki works for Zabuza..."

AN: Oh snap! Naruto's been found out! How will the two Uzumaki cousins deal with this development? Who knows (except me. lol) WIll Kakashi and the others be able to shut down Gato's slaving operation? What's Suigetsu up to? And what does Haku plan to do about Naruto and his friends? Find out next time!