"Naruto!" Sakura complained. "Quit hogging all of the rice, I want some too!" Naruto glanced at the pinkette before getting another spoonful of rice and plopping it on his plate before putting down the pot of rice. 

"Sorry, I like rice." He said, not sounding the least bit sorry. He then picked up his plate and began walking away, getting confused looks from everyone in the room.

"Uh, where are you going, Naruto?" Kurenai asked as she watched the boy began walking outside. 

"He doesn't want anybody seeing his face. The only person who knows what he actually looks like is his father."Sasuke spoke in a bored tone. Kurenai rose an eyebrow. 

"He doesn't take off his mask?" Shikamaru shook his head. 

"He's as mysterious as his father, maybe more, and sometimes it's a drag." Ino rolled her eyes. 

"That's what makes him so dreamy, it also helps that he's super cute!" She said, squealing. Everyone in the room deadpanned at the girl. Ino was annoying sometimes.

"Interesting. How about this, a challenge," She trailed off, getting everyone's attention as they looked at the brunette. "Whoever brings me a picture of Naruto's face, will be able to get free barbecue for the whole month, and of course, I'll be paying." Choji's eyes widened before he disappeared out the door in a burst of speed.

"Why must you do this?" Asuma asked in an exaggerated voice. "Now he won't sleep til he gets that picture." Kurenai shrugged, a sly smirk dawning on her face.

"Whatever works." She looked at Sakura and Sasuke. "And I'll take you guys to any restaurant you want for as much as you want for a month as well if you bring me a picture."

"Uh, don't I have a say in this?" A voice was heard, causing everybody's heads to turn, revealing Naruto who was leaning on the door frame, an empty plate in his hand.

"Jeez, it's Hatake Tradition to wear a mask. The only people we show our face to is our family, and our partners." Sasuke rose an eyebrow.

"Partner?" Naruto closed his eyes, chuckling softly and rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, you know, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, those."

"So the only way Kurenai-sensei will see your face is if you two get married?" Sasuke asked, a smirk on his face as Naruto's whole body turned red in embarrassment, while Kurenai's face had a light blush to it.

"W-what? Sasuke!" Naruto roared chasing the Uchiha around the house.

"Then I'll never see his face, sadly." Kurenai said, chuckling. "You're a little too young for me, Naruto." Everyone watched as Naruto stopped holding a stick to Sasuke's throat, both of the boy's looking into each other's eyes, Sasuke with surprise, and Naruto with a sadness.

"Naruto?" Sasuke whispered. He knew all too well for the boy's crush on their sensei, and even joked about it, much to Naruto's embarrassment. Naruto stood up, and closed his eyes and smiled under his mask.

"Y-yeah. Guess you'll never see my face, Kurenai-sensei. Age gap and all." He said, chuckling slightly, rubbing the back of his head. Though, on the inside, it was a hurricane of emotions going through him.

"Plus, I'm not really looking for a relationship right now, I'm almost thirteen and everything. I'd hate to be tied down like that and all." He felt tears burn in his eyes, wanting to spill out of his eyes.

"Naruto?" Ino spoke softly. Naruto only closed his eyes, not wanting to see anything.

"Thank you for the breakfast, Tsunami-san, I will be going to train. I need to practice." And like that, he walked out of the room in a haste. Sakura turned to her sensei, her eyebrows raised.

"What was all that?" Kurenai frowned.

"I honestly don't know." Shikamaru yawned, stretching.

"I know, but Naruto hasn't really been doing anything bad to me lately, so I won't tell his secret, it's for him to tell." Kurenai looked at Shikamaru.

"What secret?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"It's a drag really, I don't understand how he holds onto baggage like that. It's troublesome." Ino sighed, suddenly envious of Kurenai.

"I'm going to go find him." Kurenai said, standing up, only to stop when Asuma put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't, let the boy train. Everybody needs some alone time." He said, smiling weakly. Kurenai shrugged Asuma off of her.

"Not this one, he's unstable." She whispered venomously, getting everyone to look at he in shock.

"W-what do you mean Naruto's unstable?" Sakura asked. Kurenai realized what she said and felt like palming her forehead.

"I mean, Naruto's a little weird, but to call him unstable?" Shikamaru spoke aloud, his laziness no longer evident in the Nara's expression. "That's a tad bit too far."

"I," Kurenai began before storming off. "I don't need to explain myself to a bunch of Genin, you want answers? Ask Asuma." Everyone then looked at Asuma, causing the Sarutobi to sigh in defeat.

With Naruto

Naruto sat in a tree, high off the ground by at least three-hundred feet, and he was looking at the sky, the sun painting the blue that was the sky, and Naruto felt the storm in his heart slowly cool down to a soft drizzle.

"Why did I have to catch feelings for my sensei?" Naruto muttered to himself, shaking his head. "I'm an idiot, that's why." He stood up on the branch before he began walking forward, the branch bending under his weight.

He took another step forward, flinching as the branch let out a crack. "Come on." He whispered to himself. Pain. The pain in his chest intensified, making him feel like he was wearing weights on his chest.

"Can I?" It felt like thousands of birds were flying in his stomach, the anxiety creeping up and spewing out of his skin as he felt his heart race as another crack from the branch was heard again.

"No." He whispered, but he took another step forward, his body moving on it's own, the branch bending even further. "Yes. I can. I will. I can, I will, can, will, can, will, can, will." He silently swore and was about to take the final step before he heard Kurenai's voice.

"Naruto!" She called out from the bottom of the forest. "Damn it, where are you?" She muttered as she pushed a tree branch out of her way.

What was he doing? Was he going to jump? That was ludicrous. Why would he want to jump? Was it this pain in his chest? The weight? Kyuubi?

No. He didn't want to jump. He didn't want to leave yet. He had things to do. He had to be a weapon, a tool, for Konoha. He had to. He promised, and he never broke his promises. He slowly took a few steps back, his breathing slowly slowing down before a large crack was heard behind him. He turned around and saw that the branch was breaking.

"Oh fu-" He began as the branch snapped from under him and he plummeted down, the sudden increase of wind caused his hair to fly back. He brought out his sword, and stabbed the tree as deep as he could, forcing chakra into his arms as he cut through the tree, his speed slowly decreasing.

"What's that?" Kurenai asked aloud as she looked up, only to see a figure coming down upon her quick. 

"Kurenai-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Watch out!" Being a Jonin, Kurenai was quick to analyze a situation, however, Naruto was somewhat quicker. Naruto lost grip of his sword, and fell on top of Kurenai, who was knocked to the ground. Naruto had his hands and feet on the ground, with Kurenai under him, there faces inches apart. 

"What was-" Kurenai began, clueless to Naruto's blush under his mask. She was cut off as Naruto instantly leaned forward, pressing his masked lips against her lipstick covered ones. Kurenai's eyes widened in surprise at the bold move from the Genin, and she instinctively kicked the boy off of her, making him tumble into a tree. 

"What the hell was that?" She shouted angrily at the grey haired boy, who was laying on the ground. 

"I don't know." Naruto answered honestly. "It was like my body moved on it's own." Kurenai glared at her student. 

"Bullshit!" She shouted. "You had no good reason to think you had the right to kiss me!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. 

"I think I had a good reason." He responded, smiling awkwardly, still on the high of the kiss he had initiated. 

"And what was that? You better have a damn good reason or-" Naruto looked Kurenai straight in the eyes, grey meeting crimson red. 

"Because I like you." Kurenai stopped talking instantly. 

"Y-you, what?" She replied dumbly. Naruto slowly stood up, his eyes never wavering in determination. 

"I. Like. You. Ever since I saw you, I thought you were beautiful, the most beautiful person in Konoha, in the world. But, I didn't actually start liking you until you talked to me that night, on the branch." Kurenai remembered the incident. Did, did she really affect the boy so much? 

"And ever since then, I've liked you." He finished. Kurenai took a small step back. This was, this was too much for her. Too much. 

"But, the age difference, seven years apart, I'm a, you're a, why would you ever even entertain the thought of us being together? To think you had a chance." Naruto smiled sadly behind his mask. The pain in his chest slowly increasing. 

"I didn't. To be honest, I knew I was a fool. But if there was anything that my father taught me, is to never give up, and to never lose hope." Kurenai looked at Naruto before walking forward, grabbing the boy by his collar, and looking him dead in the eyes. 

"Naruto Hatake, listen loud and clear. There is no hope, no chance, in Hell, that we will ever end up together. I won't ever, ever, EVER, entertain the thought. Drop. It." Naruto felt his heart shatter into tiny, little shards that scattered in the wind, never to be found. 

"Oh," Was all he could get out. He, he felt empty. A nothingness. He felt like a piece of shit, someone who deserved to die, but would never get it because death would be a grace instead of a punishment. Kurenai saw the boy have his internal conflict before she walked away, she was too mad to care. 

Naruto felt his heart be crushed. And he replayed the thought in his head over and over again. Again and again. 

He slowly began trudging forward, walking without a care in the world, not even bothering to block the various bushes in his path, only avoiding the trees. His slow trudge then became a walk, then a slow jog, and then a run, and then a full on sprint, the trees around him becoming blurs. He eventually ended up in a clearing, where a large hut was standing alone in the midst of some trees. He slowly walked forward and entered the hut, not caring if he was yelled at by some civilian or whatever. 

He was just curious. 

What he found was even more interesting. 

There, laying there with his eyes closed, was none other than Zabuza, his chest moving up and down, being very much alive. He took a single step forward, before Zabuza's eyes snapped open, glaring at Naruto. 

"You're that brat." He said in a gruff voice. 

"You're that douche." Zabuza rose one of his non-existent eyebrows before laughing. 

"Touche. Somethings different about you though. Something about your eyes. When we fought, they were filled with fire, and now, they're filled with ice. I wonder, what could happen in a total of 48 hours?" Naruto shrugged. 

"If a man can make ramen for 89 people in one hour, how much do you think he can make in 48?" Zabuza chuckled. 

"You're weird." The large man said, getting a nod from Naruto. "So, are you here to kill me?" He said, looking over at Naruto who had a hand on his chakra sword.

"Of course not." Naruto responded, shocking Zabuza. "I have no quarrels with you at the moment. For now, we are but ninja on different missions. Even if you're mission interferes with mine, it's not honorable to kill one that is injured." 

"I doubt you'd be able to kill me anyway, brat." Naruto was about to ask a question, but was stopped as he felt cold steel touch his throat as the Anbu who had supposedly "killed" Zabuza stood behind him. "Not with Haku around." 

"We are but simple ninja, Hatake, we are not known for our honor, we leave that for the Samurai in the North." Naruto let a small smirk come across his face before he whirled around suddenly, knocking the kunai out of Haku's hands and grabbing Haku's neck and slamming them into the wall. 

"What do you know, I guess you're right." Naruto spoke in a low tone, a grin on his face, though unseen. He let go of Haku and put his hands in his pocket. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to get in a fight while you're master's in such a condition." 

"Zabuza-sama," Haku let out, barely being able to breathe by the sudden neck hug she had just recently had. "He's strong." Zabuza's eyes widened at Naruto. 

"I know you're the Copy Ninja's kid, but to just grab Haku by the neck like that? And to even get her to admit that you're strong, you're something else." Naruto let out a small laugh. 

"No, I'm nothing but a tool, a weapon for my village's use." Haku's eyes widened under her mask. He was, just like her. A tool. 

"Do you have something precious to you? Something to protect?" Naruto looked at the girl, and she saw a subtle sadness in his eyes. 

"I thought I did. But it seems my efforts were for nothing. I, I feel like having such feelings are useless. When they don't work out, it only hurts." 

"Jeez kid, how old are you? 12? 13? You can't be thinking of shit like that, it's too deep, even for me, and I'm 33 years old." Naruto sat down on the ground, not caring if dirt got on his clothes. 

"If you don't mind, I wish to be able to spend the night here. I don't wish to be near anyone familiar, and besides, you guys seem interesting." Zabuza contemplated the pros and cons. If the boy really wanted to kill him, he would've done it after he disabled Haku. 

Seeing no reasonable cons, he nodded his head. 

"On one condition." Naruto rose an eyebrow, indicating Zabuza to continue. "You show me your face. Nothing is ass suspicious as someone who hides there face." He began unwrapping the bandages around his face. "I shall do the same." Naruto saw Haku do the same, and observed her features. 

She had hazel brown eyes, and pale, porcelain skin that made her bright, pink lips stick out more and she had a small nose, making her even more pretty than she was. 

Zabuza looked normal, but his teeth were sharp, like a shark. Naruto decided to follow the bandwagon. He slowly took off his mask, revealing three whiskers on each sides of his cheek. He slowly smiled, revealing his white teeth as he rubbed the back of his head. 

"This is the first time I've taken off my mask in awhile. I don't even brush my teeth without my mask, but I can still do it, somehow." Haku had a mild blush on her face, thinking that the grey haired boy was quite handsome, something Zabuza hadn't missed. 

"Okay, you can stay. But only for the night. We're still enemies on the battleground, ya here?" Naruto nodded, putting his mask back on. 

"Loud and clear, Zabuza!" He said as he laid down on the ground. 

"Naruto-san," Haku began, peering at the boy who had his eyes closed. "It's morning, why are you trying to sleep?" Naruto didn't bother opening his eyes. 

"I'd rather sleep than feel the pain inside me right now." And with that, he drifted off into a restless sleep on the ground. 

"He's. . .weird." Haku commented. "But in a good way." Zabuza nodded, closing his eyes. 

"Indeed, I have a feeling, that if we weren't enemies, we'd be able to be friends." Haku held back a sad sigh. Zabuza was right. 

Too bad they would have to fight when Zabuza got better, then they wouldn't be friends. 

But enemies. 

And done! How was it? Good? Bad? Telllllll meeeeee! 

So yeah, Haku's a girl. And we're diverging off of Canon just a bit, because, yeah. 

So, give me you're opinions! I really like them for my newer stories. 

Anyways, 

Til next time my lil demons!