The Hyoton - 3

"I don't know how I did it really, but once they were dead I knew I couldn't stay."

"Where did you go?" Gaara asked. His voice was low, somewhat angry.

"Nowhere," He said simply, "It was freezing, I remember. There was a bridge outside of town and that's where I saw him."

"And the guy saw you but he didn't do anything?" Naruto prompted, up to speed.

"No. He left. I'm not surprised, it wouldn't be in his character to care about another human being," Haku's voice was particularly icy, "But after that I met Hiroshi and then-"

"Us!" Naruto finished and nodded to himself as if that explained everything. Sadly it did.

"Odd how he can still recall you if you really held no interest to him..." Gaara speculated.

"Yes, I'm not so sure about that myself," Haku mumbled, turning back to stare at the water, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It was just painful to talk about."

"No sweat, we're even now!" Naruto soothed, "You know how me and Gaara-kun are super-cool jinchuriki," Gaara rolled his eyes, "And we know about...well, your mom and dad."

Haku nodded, not quite sure what to say. So he said nothing, following his better judgment, and walked out onto the water, focusing his chakra to his feet without really thinking about it.

"He's sad," Naruto said quietly, "I wish there was something we could do to, you know, get his mind off of it."

"There's nothing we can do now." Gaara answered, sand drifting dreamily around him in circles.

"Feh!" Naruto stood, brushing himself off. He was aggravated that Haku, one of the most emotionally stable people he knew, was still unable to come to terms with his past. Not that he blamed him. It wasn't everyday a missing nin shows up and tells you that there are others like you somewhere out there.

Something occurred to Naruto as he watched sand drift around the redhead in slow, calculating coils and he frowned, "Let's train! I'm bored."

Gaara looked up at him impassively, not very interested. Haku most often tested his defenses, and when it came to sparring against Naruto, the boy usually made such a raucous Gaara would purposely end the fight just to not have to listen to his jabbering.

He also knew that wasn't very fair, but it bothered his conscience little.

The blonde couldn't help but be spiteful. There was sand everywhere! It was an open invitation and apparently Gaara wasn't taking him seriously.

"Get up off your ass you bastard, we should really work on your taijutsu," Naruto smirked, seeing the redhead scowl, "I mean all you do is stand around and let your sand protect you. But I'm pretty sure one day you'll run into someone who can get past that shield of yours..."

"Unlikely."

"Well, it'd still be useful," Naruto went on, "What? You're too lazy to improve your speed and stamina? Now that I think about it you are kind of clumsy."

"Have you looked in a mirror recently?"

"Hey! At least I can throw a punch!" Naruto barked, flexing a muscle, "Which is more than you can say!"

The sand hovering around Gaara dropped down; that was the last straw. He didn't have to prove anything to anyone, most especially Naruto. Gaara stood, almost mechanically and gave Naruto his attention.

The blonde was pleased, 'I guess that got him!'

In truth, Naruto had never actually seen Gaara fight in close-quarters combat. Ever. So it was an understatement to say he was completely shocked as the red haired boy shifted into a textbook-perfect offensive stance and beckoned him to come at him with a flat-palmed hand.

The nerve.

The absolute nerve.

Naruto balled his fists and leaped, not sure how to attack Gaara because it was astounding to see that sand didn't race up to shield him once Gaara caught Naruto's punch, and forced him back with a flick of his wrist. Still, the sun-bleached grains quivered beneath Gaara's feet as he restrained it with chakra, yearning to come to his aid.

"Okay! Good! You're not totally pathetic," Naruto had only said it to provoke him, and was successful, "No cheating with sand, got it?"

Gaara said nothing and only lunged forward. Naruto was taken aback by his burst of speed. Leaning back, he avoided a jab that was quickly followed by an uppercut, grazing his left shoulder. Naruto let Gaara drive him back; his feet skidding in the sand, grit and shells were sent flying.

It was odd but surprisingly well-matched. Dodge a swipe at the face, 'That would've hurt you bastard!' Throw a few punches, block a few, Naruto wasn't trying hard and it was a mistake. Wham. Gaara smirked, picture-perfect hit on the solar plexus and Naruto stumbled backwards, grinning maniacally, 'When did Gaara get this quick?'

His stomach nerves were screaming but Naruto moved faster, forcing chakra into his feet for speed as Haku had once suggested. Naruto's first two blows connected with Gaara's shoulder and rib cage, the third he blocked, 'Darn! Improvise!' Naruto smirked as he followed through with his punch and predictably Gaara caught it. He cursed himself as he was nailed by a brutal roundhouse kick in the side.

He tumbled down, sand around him writhing and swept Naruto's legs out from under him. The blonde made a yelping noise and righted himself on outstretched hands. Gaara regained his footing and continued with another volley of punches.

'He isn't as fast as Haku-kun, but he's way stronger...' Naruto could already feel himself begin to bruise, 'Maybe Ero-sensei can give us some formal training or something. This is awesome!'

Two hours later they were seated on the beach, sweaty and bruised and out of breath. Naruto sported a black eye that made him resemble his sparring partner somewhat. Gaara wouldn't admit it, but Naruto had the upper hand. He was more experienced, better with improvisation and hit hard consistently. He was sure he had beaten the blonde well enough to get his point across.

He could throw a punch. He just chose not to.

Was that a problem?

Haku all the while had been absently utilizing his Kekkei Genkai while his friends fought. Water had been sent streaking through the air, creating dozens of shapes and a number of different variations of clones. For a half hour he had been fiddling with one shape in particular.

He had formed a simple rectangular sheet of ice with a very generous amount of chakra. He had been compressing the surface, making it smoother, flatter, and thinner as his teammates' battle cries rang out over the beach. He was surprised no one had stopped by to investigate them yet, but appreciated the privacy all the same.

'I'll give it a bit more chakra.' He estimated, forcing it into his basic ice-sculpture and began to refine it; purifying it of sand, salt and minerals. It couldn't have been more than a quarter of an inch thick when the once bluish, translucent ice became glass-like and reflected the sun's light brilliantly.

'A mirror.'

It was perfect: a sheet of ice in the summer. Maybe he'd use a bit less chakra next time...

Haku observed himself in his creation. It was magnificent. He felt it too, as if his chakra control was truly balanced as he gazed into it, wondering what the resonance could mean, 'It would be useful for distracting enemies and quite possibly a good-'

"What are you doing, Haku-kun!"

Haku leapt in surprise. He felt his stomach fly up into where he thought his brain should be and his chakra fluctuated drastically. He was startled and he felt some part of him being compressed as he fell forward, expecting to slam into the mirror but he seemed to...melt into it.

Naruto watched as Haku dove into the mirror and disappeared.

"Eh?" Naruto, horrified, fell backwards, abandoning any chakra control that his feet had on the water's surface and crashed into the salty waves. Seagulls screamed in laughter overhead.

The blonde forced his head above water, gulping air, "W-what the hell just happened?" He stared at the mirror hanging suspended in the air. Haku had been there a second ago and just vanished from sight.

Naruto gaped as Haku's image shown perfectly clear in the mirror, as if he were still standing in front of it, 'This is one retarded jutsu or a magic trick...'

"Naruto-kun?" Haku was speaking, or was it the mirror?

Naruto's brain was beginning to hurt as he treaded the deep water. Even more puzzling was that Haku emerged from the ice mirror, stepping out of it casually and back onto the surface of the water where Naruto stared at him in wonderment.

"How'd you do that?"

Haku was mystified. He hadn't exactly tried to walk into a mirror before: that sounded like some ridiculous carnival trick. But this was real. When he felt it, it wasn't like ice to him at all. It was water, allowing him passage and once he was inside, it was a wide plain, where he had a large view of his surroundings from a separate dimension. Even if it appeared outwardly thin and impenetrable it was almost like walking into a room. How he did it was another matter.

"I don't know..."

Confused, wet and annoyed, Naruto regained his chakra control and trudged back to shore with his clothes sopping wet. Gaara watched from the beach as Naruto returned and Haku moved into the mirror again inquisitively, wanting to investigate, "Well that's new."

Naruto was grumbling to himself as his feet reached the sand again, and he wasted no time in tugging his saturated, orange jacket over his head and tossing it at Gaara, who snickered at him when he missed by a few feet, 'Damn...the wind's blowing the opposite way.'

His tee stuck to his chest with a smacking noise as he clawed at it, still muttering ill-naturedly. Next time he'd make sure he'd warn Haku that he was visiting when he wanted to investigate his progress, 'Jeez, he's paranoid. I wish I wasn't always on the receiving end of his panic-attacks.'

"Haku-kun's new ability looks interesting." Gaara mused, not hiding his smirk.

"Yeah? Well, you wouldn't think that if you were the one who went out there to check on him." Naruto snapped, reduced to his dark-green boxers, "Haku-kun is way too jumpy." The blonde sprawled out on the warm sand, ignoring Gaara's mirth at his lack of clothing.