Chapter 13: 13: Walking On Thin Ice by BANIX(Naruto)
Fic Type: SI/OC
Oc reincarnated as Haku. Haku in Konoha. This story helps you pass the time. AU.
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Walking On Thin Ice
By: BANIX
Being reincarnated is crazy enough. Being reincarnated into a fictional world is driving me mad. But finding yourself reincarnated into an alternate universe of said fictional world? I'm going insane. As if that is not enough, I am now reincarnated as a canon character who is probably doomed to die before I reached adulthood. (Reincarnated OC reborn into an AU of Naruto world)
Rated: Fiction M - English - Hurt/Comfort - [Haku, Hanabi H.] OC - Chapters: 24 - Words: 205,067 - Reviews: 555 - Favs: 1,441 - Follows: 1,669 - Updated: Mar 3 - Published: Mar 19, 2019 - id: 13238627
link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13238627/1/Walking-On-Thin-Ice
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Chapter 1
Walking On Thin Ice
Reborn Arc
It's white. It's cold. It's pretty.
The object of my attention has been here in this life for as long as I can remember. There's a strong sense of comfort in it even if I never liked the coldness of it in my previous life. According to my new Mum, I'm named after the pure snow that surrounds our village all year round. The snow was so pure and white at the moment of my birth that my new parents decided to name me 'Haku', which means 'white'.
It's a pretty bland way to name a child. I mean, can you imagine naming your child after a colour?
It's one thing to realise that you are dead and gone. It's another thing to realise that you had been reincarnated to live a second life. What I cannot accept is that I have been reincarnated into a fiction story, where the entire economy of the world is seemingly dependent on people paying for the services of killers for hire.
No wonder this world never knew true peace until the Child of Prophecy came along. How is such an economy sustainable? To be honest, although Naruto became the Seventh Hokage and his presence ushered in an era of peace at the end, I don't think it will last long unless he does something and put some permanent measures in place. The only reason why the Elemental Nations are at peace with each other in the Boruto series is because no one is willing to go against the combined might of Naruto and Sasuke. The camaraderie between the Five Great Shinobi Villages forged from the Fourth Shinobi War might have helped too, but that camaraderie won't last forever.
Kind of ironic that Nagato was actually right, that true peace can be achieved only when everybody understands and share the same pain. Without the Fourth Shinobi World War killing off half the shinobi population, the Elemental Nations would have never known true peace.
This is the world of Naruto, where people known as shinobis are able to defy all laws of physics and common sense thanks to the presence of chakra. I'm fine with the idea of chakra, what I don't like is how people here use chakra for vile means.
Chakra is beautiful, it shouldn't be tainted with such a bloody history.
I can feel it thrumming beneath my skin. I cannot explain it properly, since it's not present in my previous world. How can you explain the feeling of having something that does not exist? Chakra gives me a sense of comfort. It's always there. I had unlocked it somewhere between my fourth and fifth birthday in this world. However, I am the Haku from the Naruto verse. I know what will happen if the secret of my bloodline is leaked out. I don't want that to happen. I'm content in remaining as the son of two simple farmers who are just living their lives in a small, snowy village in the Land of Water. I have no wish to take part in any of the bloody history and future of shinobi. The very thought of it scares me. Sure, I had seen blood before when I visit the slaughterhouse the uncle of my previous life runs a few streets away from my house. Sure, I had seen dead people when the elderlies of my previous family passed away one after the other. My previous family was huge and very close-knitted despite its large size and I feel kind of guilty for dying since I know they will be heartbroken.
So, how did I die in my previous life?
My friends and I were playing by the beach and one of them decided to go for a swim. Somehow, the cliché scenario of the swimmer having cramps in his legs happened and he was too far out. To make things worse, there was an incoming storm. My friend was being quickly swept away by the currents that gets stronger the further you are away from the beach and into the sea. Guess who decided to play hero and save him?
I won't say that I regretted my decision. I was the best swimmer among the group and I at least knew for sure that he lived when I tossed a ring float at him to make sure he stays above water. However, I forgot to bring a float for myself in my haste and I was separated from my friend when an unexpected wave of water washed over us and I lost my grip on him. My friend was fine from what I can remember thanks to the float but I was dragged further out into the sea. I may be a good swimmer, but there's only so much a human can do against a force of nature.
And then I found myself here as a baby who just emerged through a woman's birth canal. I will skip the process of my rebirth, remembering it gives me goosebumps. It's not pleasant.
"Haku, it's time to head back."
My sweet and loving mother gently tapped me on the shoulder from behind and I immediately dropped the snow in my hands to follow her as she held my hand. I'm still too young to be of much help around the house or out in the farm (I still have no ideas how they managed to grow plants in a snowy land, but it's probably related to some chakra bullshit). This woman is my mother now, she has been nothing but kind and loving to me and I cannot help but love her for it. My father is the same too, he loves Mum and I, and his actions thus far are starting to make me doubt that whatever happened in canon will never come to pass, that even if he found out that Mum and I possess a kekkei genkai, he will still love us for who we are and not what we are. I know what he can possibly become if he ever finds out Mum's secret and that I inherited some 'traits' from her, but I am not going to be so careless as to use chakra anywhere near him or the house. The Land of Water is not a peaceful place even if the bloodline purges had just ended. People still fear kekkei genkai users. I like playing with chakra, but I know that until Mei Terumi takes over the position as Mizukage, I have to keep my abilities a secret.
Too bad I am still unable to manipulate ice or even snow. But hey, I can make small pools of water move now. That is something. All I have to do is to put my hands in the water and infuse it with some of my chakra and voila! The water moves to my every command!
"Welcome back."
"Tou-san!"
Dad gave a chuckle as I ran up to him.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yup! I went skating on the frozen river surface!"
My father smiled warmly and he patted the snow off my small frame with loving hands. My father has the tendency to pamper Mum and I whenever he can, and he tries his best to make our lives more comfortable in the remote village that we are living in. He looks normal although he isn't bad looking. However, it is obvious that I take after my mother, so much that I appear like a girl when I am actually a boy. I tried to make myself look more like a boy by cutting my hair short, but it ended up with my hair spiking up in all sort of places that make my hair look like a duck butt, so I abandoned that idea.
I think I kind of see why Sasuke decided to grow out his hair after the end of the manga series. Maybe Madara kept his hair long for the same reasons. It's hard to be intimidating if your hair resembles a duck's ass.
In the end, I decided to grow out my hair and tie it in a low ponytail similar to how Itachi does it. He's one of the guys in the series that managed to pull off the handsome-looking-guy-look with long hair despite having some feminine features. Maybe I can achieve the same effect if I tied my hair the same way he does.
My family had a quiet dinner and I really hope the peace in our home can last. Anyone with a pair of working eyes can tell that Dad and Mum love each other very much. I don't know how and why the fear of kekkei genkai managed to drive my father to the point of being heartless enough to decide to kill his wife and only child in canon, but I have no wish to find out. I don't want to be a shinobi if I can help it. The world out there is not a nice place and I am content with being able to manipulate small puddles of water instead of doing flashy jutsus. I'm fine with seeing gore and violence, but that does not mean I like it. I abhor it. I hate conflict. I have no wish to experience the life of a shinobi even if I enjoyed reading the manga series. The only good thing that I got going for me is that the village I am living in is located in a remote area of the country and shinobis hardly pass by. Heck, if it wasn't for the fact that someone in the village mentioned chakra offhandedly in a conversation that I happened to eavesdrop and the fact that my name is Haku, I wouldn't have even known that I had reincarnated into the world of Naruto. It was from there that I decided to ask my parents more about the history of our land and I had confirmation from their mouths that yes, we are located in the Land of Water and as her citizens, we are protected by our Damiyo and Mizukage.
Protected by the Damiyo and Mizukage? Hah.
Whatever. Right now, I am the son of two simple farmers who will probably grow up to take over their jobs when I grow up. I'm fine with it, honestly. Life is hard given the state of poverty of our village, but at least life is simple here.
I want it to remain this way.
"What… What is the meaning of… this?!"
Dad confronted Mum with a snarl, holding up a pendant in his right hand as he shook in rage and fear. I had never seen such a frightening expression on his face before.
The pendant he is holding up is a pure white pendant with a circular jewellery at the end of the loop. Engraved on the jewellery is a picture of a snowflake that looks more like a symbol of sorts.
"D-Dear. I-I can explain…"
"How long are you planning to keep it from me? HOW LONG?!" Dad screamed as he kicked at a stool in his fury and it banged against the wall. I winced as I hid myself from view outside of the room. I have no idea what Dad is so angry about, it's just a pendant.
"This… is the clan symbol of the Yuki clan." Dad gritted out. "Why is it with you?"
Fuck.
"It's not what it looks like! I… I just picked it up when I was travelling before I met you! I thought it was pretty and it can be sold for extra cash if we really need it! I didn't know what it means! I'm not from a clan! I promise! I can't even use chakra!"
"Don't lie to me." Dad seethed in rage as he inched closer to Mum, who took a few steps back in fear. "You always use your hand to tuck your hair behind your ear when you are lying, like what you are doing right now. Haku also inherited that accursed power of your clan, didn't he?"
Mum slid down onto her knees as she hugged my father's legs and begged, tears streaming down her beautiful face. I want to yell in my father's face to tell him to stop being stupid. Can't he see? Mum loves him! Why does the fact that we have the ability to control ice make him fear us that much? Mum and I will never hurt him!
"Please. I will do anything. Hit me, torture me, kill me, but please, Haku is innocent. He doesn't know. The powers of my clan did not manifest in him. He's our son. He-"
"Someone with that kind of accursed power is not my son. I don't have a son like him."
"Are you listening to what you are saying?! Haku is our child!"
Just at that exact moment, several villagers barged their way in and I quickly hid myself.
"We heard shouting and screaming, did anything happen?! Are you guys alright?!"
I hid myself behind a shelf, I have no idea what to do. I don't want to make everything worse. Dad wouldn't tell them about Mum's secret, right? We are a family, the feelings we had for each other wasn't a lie, right? He loves the both of us, he cares for us, surely that will be enough for him to at least keep our secret for now, right? He wouldn't tell on me and Mum.
Right?
"My wife… no. This… woman, is from the Yuki clan. She possesses a kekkei genkai."
A sharp hitch of breath from my Mum was all I heard before she broke into tears and sobbed. No matter what she did, my father -no, he is not my father anymore, not after what he did- just won't budge.
There was a moment of panic as the villagers reacted to the news, but it is obvious that they are hostile to me and Mum now. I bit the inside of my cheek. What do I do now?! Can I save Mum?
A sharp cry of pain was heard and I cannot force myself to stay hidden any longer. I took a peek into the room and saw that man who I used to call father strangling my mother as she let out choked screams.
I never felt so much rage in my entire life. This is insane. This is madness. I can't believe that this is happening right in front of my eyes.
"Let go of Mum!"
I rushed in to tackle that man and punched him in the kidney, successfully forcing him to release his grip on Mum. The other villagers jumped back in fear, as if I will suddenly kill them with powers that I didn't even know how to call upon.
"Haku!" Mum exclaimed as she hugged me and quickly cupped my face with her hands. "Run! It's not safe here anymore!"
"I'm not leaving you behind!"
"You need to GO! Your father and the villagers will kill you simply for being my child!"
A punch from a villager standing near us had me falling onto the ground and Mum screamed in rage as she hugged the man from behind to prevent him from hurting me any further. Isn't Mum from the Yuki clan? Can't she call upon her powers? Don't tell me…
She wasn't a shinobi and never awoke them? Like how Hashirama is the only member of the Senju clan capable of awaking the Wood Release, being a member of the Yuki clan doesn't automatically mean that you will be capable of calling ice to do your bidding?
"Haku! Run!"
Another villager grabbed onto her long hair from behind which elicited a pained cry from Mum. I snarled and picked up a traditional wooden hairpin lying on a nearby table that belongs to Mum and used it to stab the leg of the villager that was restraining Mum. My satisfaction was short lived when I was picked up from behind and thrown into the nearest wall and my head hit the wall with such force that I swore that the entire room shook with it. I whimpered in pain and my head felt light as I fought to stay awake from the heavy blow to my head.
That man who sired me stared at me with fearful eyes. I watched from the ground as he picked up a rake lying nearby that he uses for farming and walked towards me with slow, shaky steps.
"Haku! Run!"
A villager placed a hand on my father's arm.
"We can do the deed for you, you know, if it is too much for you to handle. Just wait outside."
Dad's breathing hitched but he forcefully calmed himself down.
"I… I can do it."
The villager had a grim expression on his face but passed a dagger to father.
"Use this instead. It will be quicker and it's less painful for them that way."
Mum gave another desperate scream and she somehow managed to break herself free from the hold of the other villagers and stood in between me and my father protectively.
"You are not harming Haku."
That man said nothing as he raised the dagger high up in the air before plunging it straight down. Mum blocked it by using her hands to hold onto his wrist and prevent the dagger from making its descent and the both of them wrestled on the floor as Mum pushed him down onto the floor with her weight. The villagers stood at the side, not wanting to partake in what will undoubtedly unravel to be a tragedy.
I tried to ignore the woozy feeling from the blow to my head and attempted to get up from the floor. I need water if I want to save Mum but there is no water source nearby. I am still unable to draw upon the power needed to freeze and create ice, but I can manipulate small amounts of water to an extent. I can use it to save Mum.
A sudden silence befell upon the room and I watched in horror as the dagger bury itself deep into Mum's chest where her heart is. Her blood spurted out as that man removed the dagger from her chest. Tears streamed down his face and Mum's lifeless body fell onto the floor.
No. No no no nonononononononono.
"It… It will be painless, I promise." Dad whispered as he walked closer and closer to me and lifted the bloodied dagger again with shaking hands. "I'm sorry… Haku."
My mind wasn't registering the string of apologies that were coming out of his mouth. All I can register is the sight of my Mum's lifeless body lying face down on the floor and her blood pooling around her. Her usually serene and loving face is turned in my direction, stained with blood and etched with the horror that she failed to save me, her only child.
"Mum." I said in a hoarse voice and I felt my tears spilling out as I tried to crawl towards her. This isn't supposed to happen. I made sure to not practice chakra anywhere near the house and I made damn sure that I am alone whenever I was experimenting with chakra, so WHY THE HELL IS THIS STILL HAPPENING?!
Is it because of the damn plot?! Am I destined to die on the oh-so-great Great Naruto Bridge so that the stupid Child of Prophecy can find his own ninja way?! Is Mum's death necessary so that I can meet the stupid protagonist of a fictional world and die before I grow into an adult?!
The murderer had finished what he wanted to say to me and looked at me, the dagger still dripping blood and held up in the air with his hand.
"…goodbye, Haku."
The dagger fell.
And the room exploded in a burst of white.
I held the wriggling fish in one hand as I began the long trek back to the clearing beneath the huge tree where I had set up camp. At least I won't go on a hungry stomach tonight.
It has been a month since Mum was murdered.
I am not sure if it was a blessing or a curse when my kekkei genkai finally manifested itself when it did and killed every other soul in the room with huge ice spikes that sprouted from the ground. There are still times when I think that dying may have been a better option than staying alive in this cruel and twisted world, but I survived, and so I have a duty to live for Mum, who died for my sake.
The awakening of my kekkei genkai had also improved my control over water and I can control larger amounts of them now. I am also now able to freeze liquids to create ice, although doing so takes a lot more effort. I am still unable to create ice out of thin air like what canon me did, but at least I can create them as long as I have a water source nearby.
I absently touched Mum's pendant hanging around my neck and hidden under my shirt. It is the only thing I have that reminds me of Mum and the clan that I supposedly belong to. I refuse to acknowledge that man as my father, not after what he did. I am not going to take after his family name. I had loved him, I had trusted him, I had faith that he is different from the man that I know from canon, I had decided to give him a second chance.
Look where that had gotten me. I shouldn't have trusted him. I will never trust anyone again until they prove themselves worthy of my trust. I should have known. This is the world of shinobi, there's no one you can trust other than yourself.
If there is one thing I regret, it is that I am unable to give Mum a proper burial. I had to leave quickly before the other villagers realised what happened. All I could do for Mum is to close her eyes shut before giving her a kiss on her forehead to say my farewells, grab whatever I think I need to escape out of here, taking Mum's pendant along with me, and bolted out of the village still caked in my father's blood.
The sight of my parents' corpses is a memory I will never forget.
Due to my kekkei genkai's reliance on a water source, I always keep at least a bottle of water on me and it will always have some water in it. It's my only trump card if I want to stay alive. I'm unsure if the other villagers will track me down and hunt me for who I am, it's not hard to piece two and two together given the ice formation I left behind in my former home and the infamy of my clan that I never met. I decided to flee into the woods, I may have a higher chance to survive there. I will take on wild beasts any day compared to a horde of prejudiced, hate-filled humans. My bloodline can protect me from beasts, but not from humans.
Thankfully, I met none of the two mentioned groups thus far.
My control over water makes it easier for me to fish. All I need to do is to take control of the surrounding water around the fish I want to hunt and lift it out of the river flowing through the woods in a poor imitation of a miniature Water Prison Jutsu and drop the fish into my waiting hands. Don't ask me why there is a river in the middle of the woods, I don't know either. But considering that I am in the Land of Water, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. The country is probably named as such due to the abundance of water bodies here.
As of now I am just walking blindly by following the river to wherever it leads me. It is a well-known fact that most rivers in the Land of Water leads to the sea, and thus following it should get me out of the dense woods sooner or later. I want to get out of the Land of Water, anywhere is better than here. The Third Shinobi World War should be over by now if my memory of canon serves me right. I am five years old this year going on six, only a few years older than Naruto who should be born by now, so going by that logic, there should be some semblance of peace in the Elemental Nations for the next decade or so.
I need to get out of here. It's not safe for me to be here, not with all the hate towards kekkei genkai users still running wild here. Without a war brewing outside, anywhere is safer than here where genocides are a common occurrence.
The Land of Water is made up of many islands that are clustered together, and it is surrounded by waters on all side. To get out of the country, I need to somehow acquire a boat to ferry me to the continent that makes up the rest of the Elemental Nations. I don't think I can buy a ticket to get me out of here, I have no money on me since the stash of money my parents kept was destroyed in my outburst of power. So I either have to steal a boat and pray that it will be enough to get me out of the country assuming the sea don't swallow me up like it did in my previous life, or smuggle myself onto a ship and hope that I don't get caught.
I uncapped my bottle and took a sip of water while walking before making a turn in the woods and found the clearing where I had set up camp, only to find that it is now occupied.
By a shinobi, if his gear and how he dressed himself are any indication, and a foreign one at that.
There's no one in the Land of Water that is born with such dark skin, this guy is definitely from Kumo even if I don't see his forehead protector anywhere. Great, just my luck.
"Oh, who do we have here?"
A tall, slim man with dark eyes, black hair and goatee sauntered up to me and I inwardly cursed myself for not checking my surroundings. I had grown complacent with the lack of wild beasts and human presence in the past month that I was here. I had assumed that I was safe. This ninja is looking down at me for being a child, that much is certain, but what is a shinobi who obviously hail from Kumo doing all the way here in the remote woods of the Land of Water?
As if he read my thoughts, the Kumo nin started to monologue.
"I just wanted to lose my tail so I decided to detour to the Land of Water, I never expect myself to bump into another kid. Are you a shinobi? You have quite a decent amount of chakra for someone your age. Can't have you going back to warn anyone else now, can I?" The Kumo nin said as he twirled a kunai lazily with one finger.
The large sack that lay beside where he used to sit before we found each other started to move. Something is in there, and I am not sure if that something is human.
"Damn, that kid is starting to stir." The shinobi grunted before focusing his attention on me again. "I really want to meet up with my team near Kumo's borders, the weather here is so humid it's not even funny. But those damn tree huggers are hot on my trail and I have to detour all the way here just to lose them."
So he is alone? That makes things easier.
A muffled cry from the sack caused the man to turn his head and snap his attention back to it.
"Oi, shut up! You-"
An opening.
In this world, sometimes it doesn't really matter how strong you are. All it takes is for one slip-up on your part and you will be dead before you know it. The opening of my uncapped bottle has been pointing in the shinobi's direction the whole time he was monologuing, the fact that he underestimates me helps too. He's also standing way too close to me.
A jet of water shoots out from my bottle and turned into a spear of ice before piercing into the shinobi where his heart is. He let out a shout with a mixture of surprise, shock, and anger but the ice burst out from within him before he could do anything else, and he soon lay on the floor in a bloody mess with spikes of ice jutting out from all over his body. I panted as I catch my breath and to calm myself down. I was extremely lucky that I managed to save myself from the near-death situation. This is way too dangerous for it to be a pleasant experience. I have no doubt that the Kumo nin meant it when he said that he will kill me, it's either him or me.
Killing is easy. I had killed my father, why will killing anyone else be any harder? Killing and hunting wild animals for food for the last month had also kind of desensitised me to blood and gore. This did not affect me as much as I originally thought it would.
Humans are truly a highly adaptable species. I don't know if I should be awed or disgusted by my thoughts.
The muffled cries from the sack caught my attention again as whatever it is holding inside starts to squirm. I think there is a child in there. The cries sounded human and only a child can fit into a sack that size.
I picked up the kunai the Kumo nin had dropped onto the ground upon his death and used it cut the rope tying up the opening of the sack. Like I expected, a child, a girl probably about three to five years of age, give or take, wormed her way out and I quickly cut the ropes binding her and removed the gag over her mouth and the blindfold around her eyes. She wore a beautiful orange kimono that is made of high quality, far better than what I had seen in my short life here and have dark brown hair that extends up to her shoulders.
What was shocking is the colour of her eyes.
A pair of huge, white eyes with a hint of lilac in them stared at me as I stared back at them.
A Hyuga, she has to be a Hyuga. No one else in the Naruto world has eyes like these.
Shit, what the hell is going on?!
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