Chương 1419: 10
The Review Q&A
Kitsune95: Why would he do that? Naruto is not one to want others pity, and even if he was ranting about how shitty his life was would not have affected Sasuke or Sakura. Sasuke would have scoffed thinking the dobe was lying or something, and Sakura would have believed he was telling her that so she would pity him and go out on a date, or something along those lines. Naruto knew this, so no I really don't think he would have spoken of his past.
Wolfenden: He just guessed, it's not like he had ever been to her house, it was really something he said to make fun of her. But can't you totally see her having something like that? As for Haku, it's a little bit of both. The idea of Haku being a gender confused male that is hotter than many of the females Naruto's age makes me sick to my stomach. However I do have a plan for her… I won't tell you what that is, but if you can guess I'll give you a cookie.
Lord Mist: You are right. Fem. Haku is cliché, but I have a reason for making Haku a female and hope that I can make it so that this is not as bad as the others. As for the Wave mission, as I said before, if this arch was not so important to Naruto's development as a person there would be no way I would write this. However, this is where he gets his 'true strength comes from protecting my precious people' mind set, so it's kind of necessary.
Tragicmat1: I have read all of his stories, I'll be honest due to the fact that his writing is bomb and he actually updates constantly, he is probably my favorite author on .
Naruto Namikaze The Legend: Well if you want he can wear a trench coat, but just about every other story has that. What about a red trench coat with black flames on the bottom, a picture of a nine tailed fox on the back doing some kind of dramatic pose and the kanji for, well Kanji for some kind of nickname on above the fox. I gave him the cloak right now because it will help him conceal his movements and hand seals, giving him an advantage over some of his less powerful opponents. I may change it later on though.
Krsnik02: I don't even think the Sennen Goroshi is an actual jutsu, that was really just a gag like how the Oiroke No Jutsu is an S ranked Kinjutsu, it's really not but it's funny to make it so.
You guys are seriously awesome with your reviews! I really love the feedback, encouragement and other comments I'm getting. Hearing your opinions really makes posting my stories here worth it. So thank you!
This is a shout out thank you to everyone who has been reviewing my chapters! Many people have made a lot of good points in their critiques, and a lot of others have help me keep my massively inflated ego up, while others have also helped to keep my head from getting large enough that all the hot air in it could power the state of Texas with ease. So thank you!
Thank you Senjuto, for continuing to beta my stories, I do appreciate how much more awesome they are! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Because if I did you would know, if I owned Naruto…Naruto would not be an idiot, Sasuke would come out of the closet, Itachi would have never died… at least not by Sasuke's hand, and Sakura would have been bitch slapped at the very start of the series. So yeah, I don't own Naruto.
Naruto: Shift in Life
Chapter 10: Calm Before the Storm
The next morning saw Naruto getting up bright and early, making some breakfast in the kitchen while everyone else slept. He flipped the pan cake currently on the frying pan; while at the same time put a few spices on the sizzling pieces of bacon that was in the other pan. Having been cooking for nearly a month, he had gotten good enough to make a fairly decent meal. Nothing extravagant, but now he could eat his food and actually enjoy the flavor, rather than eat his food and wanting to gag.
Normally Naruto would have had a clone make him breakfast while he got ready to start the day. Since he had started taking his training more seriously he had found himself having less time but this was special, at least to Naruto it was. He was making for someone else, not just himself and for whatever reason, felt that it would not be the same if a clone made it. It was a pretty odd notion for him, considering he had no clue why he felt this way, but he had never been one to question things like emotions and feelings and usually just went with the flow when it came to these things. And so, here was making breakfast.
When all the food was done he put it in a container before sealing it and a blanket he had gotten from a closet, in a scroll. Putting the scroll in his pouch Naruto hurried out of the door and began making his way towards the clearing that he was going to see Haku in.
Haku put on her yukata after she finished taking a shower, this time not wearing the chest bindings she had worn to conceal herself with. She looked in the mirror for a moment as she grabbed her brush and began to comb her hair. As she did, she thought about why she was doing this.
Not going to see Naruto, her mind was clear on that. Zabuza had always told her to 'know thy enemy to allow for an easier victory,' though she was sure he was just quoting from someone else. The man may be a skilled shinobi, but he was nowhere near intelligent enough to come up with a saying like that.
No what she was wondering was, why was she getting so dressed up? She often took care of her appearance, as evidenced by the blemish-free skin and silky black hair. But she had never before bothered to truly comb her hair other than the necessary times she needed to get knots out. Nor had she worn makeup before, something she was now wearing, though it was really just a hint of lipstick that she had found in her bag for the times she had to go somewhere in disguise to gather information for Zabuza when he asked her to.
She shook her head as she realized that thinking about it wasn't going to help. Finished with her brushing Haku stood up and left her room.
"Naruto!"
Naruto turned around and grinned as he saw Haku walk into the clearing. "Hey Haku-chan! How are you…doing?"
He blinked when he noticed that her chest was decidedly…larger than last time.
Now having spent as much time as he had with Anko, he was now well aware of the female figure so it was not a surprise that he had noticed this rather easily. However, since Haku had been wearing her bindings yesterday Naruto had not even noticed them before, and the difference was extremely noticeable.
Haku who happened to take notice of where he was looking blushed and, despite being fully clothed covered her chest. "You know, it's kind of embarrassing when you look at me like that."
"Huh?" Naruto looked at her face before his eyes widened as his face took on the hue of a tomato, "Oh, no! I was just…I was surprised because well…because of yesterday and all! And I! erm…"
Haku giggled as Naruto got completely flustered, her embarrassment fading a tad as the blond continued sputtering out excuses. "It's ok; I suppose it would be surprising. I usually wear chest bindings to hide them."
"Oh…" Naruto said in realization. "So…how about we start again?" he asked sheepishly. "How are you doing?"
Haku brought a hand to her mouth as she giggled from Naruto's behavior, "I'm doing well, thank you. And what about you, did you have a nice sleep?"
Naruto grinned, "Yeah it was good, better than sleeping out in the woods like I did last time we met. To be honest, I think sleep is overrated." The blond grinned for a moment, "Though I did have some fun yesterday, beating the crap out of Sasuke-teme."
Haku blinked at the blond and tilted her head slightly, "Sasuke…teme?"
"Yep! Sasuke-teme," The spiky haired shinobi gave a grin.
"Who's that?"
Naruto looked at her strangely for a second before remembering that she did not know who his teammates were, having never met them before, "Sasuke is one of my teammates. All Konoha ninja operate in four man cells, three genin and a Jonin. Sasuke-teme is one of the other genin on my squad, and let me tell you the prick is a real piece of work, though he was surprisingly docile after our training."
Of course it could have been because Sasuke had been far too tired to actually get angry, not that it mattered to Naruto.
Haku giggled a bit before getting curious, "So…why would you beat the crap out of your own teammate?"
"Training," Naruto chuckled a bit, "I was helping him with his tree climbing."
"Tree climbing?" the raven-haired girl asked in a voice that was a mixture of idle curiosity and awe. She knew what tree climbing was of course, she could do it too, but appearances had to be kept in order to stave off any suspicion that Naruto might gain.
"Yeah, it's an exercise us ninja do," Naruto thought about the best way to explain it. "Basically we ninja use an energy called chakra for all of our cool jutsu, by channeling chakra to the bottom of our feet and this allows us to climb up a vertical surface."
"That's sounds pretty amazing," Haku commented.
"I suppose it is," Naruto said before grinning. "I remember after I had helped him get all the way to the top. Hehe, he looked so smug, thinking he was all badass. I had to burst his bubble by telling he hadn't mastered the technique until he could fight on a vertical surface for one hour as if he was standing on a horizontal one."
Naruto smiled as he looked up at the sky and remembered the beat down he had given Sasuke, "I remember after that Sasuke was pretty pissed for a while. That look on his face was priceless, he looked so…"
"Disgruntled?" Haku suggested when she noticed Naruto having some trouble finding the right word.
"Nah, I'm sure he was disgruntled. But he really just looked constipated," Naruto said as he reached into his kunai pouch.
Haku tensed when she saw his action but covered it with a giggle, "Well that type of training does sound pretty hard."
Naruto nodded as he pulled out a scroll, "Yeah it can be. I remember when my friend Anko was teaching it to me." Naruto shuddered as he laid the scroll on the floor and unrolled it, "She had me run across a single tree while she threw kunai, shuriken and snakes at me…while laughing!"
"She sounds kind of crazy," Haku commented as she watched him channel some chakra into what she recognized as a containment scroll. There was a small puff of smoke as the contents were unsealed, and Haku saw a container of steaming breakfast, pan cakes, bacon and a pitcher of orange juice, all of it laid out over a blanket.
"Breakfast?" Haku asked in surprise, she had not expected him to do something like this. It was oddly heartwarming.
Naruto looked up and gave her a sheepish grin as a small blush spread across his face, "Well, I thought…since I asked you to meet me here and all, it would only be proper that I make you some breakfast…" He looked away as he finished, a small blush spread across his face.
Haku also found herself feeling a little flustered as a tint of pink reached her cheeks,
"Thank you." She said, smiling as she sat down.
"No problem," Naruto grinned at her, handing her a plate as he put some food on it.
Haku accepted the plate and watched as Naruto dished himself some food as well. She looked at the food for a few moments, not ruling out the possibly of the food being poisoned. Such a tactic was often used among ninja when doing assassinations. Usually ninja would do this when their mission was to assassinate a small time thugs or merchants since they would not have enough money to afford someone to check for poisons. This meant that there was a good chance that hers was.
However, she did not think Naruto was the kind of person to do that. Aside from the fact that there was no way he could know who she was, he seemed far too kind-hearted to use such an underhanded tactic.
"Sometimes you're too soft Haku…"
Like me,Haku thought as she remembered some words Zabuza had said whenever she refused to kill her opponents, something she still could not do to this day. It was the one area she felt she had failed her master. She had never been able to kill anyone; it did not matter if they were enemies or not. In battle she had always just knocked her opponents unconscious, that way they could complete the mission without needless death.
"You ok?" asked Naruto as he noticed the odd look on Haku's face. "Why aren't you eating? Is it bad?"
He hoped it wasn't bad, but maybe his clones cooking skills hadn't passed over to him. That would really suck. All that time they spent cooking and others still can't eat it.
"Huh?" asked Haku before she realized what Naruto had said. "Oh no!" she picked up her fork and began to grab a decent sized piece of food with it, "I was just thinking about something…"
Not wanting to be rude she took a bite, the food wasn't amazing or anything, but it was good. "It's good," She complimented, taking another bite of her food.
"You think so…?" Naruto asked as he rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish expression. "I only just started cooking a month ago, so I wasn't really sure how good I've gotten."
"Well you don't need to worry," Haku said with a smile. "It's definitely good, especially considering you've only started cooking for a month. A little more practice and if you didn't want to be a ninja, you could end up being a chef."
Naruto put a hand to his chin in mock thought, "Now there's a thought. Maybe I could work at Ichiraku's if I ever decide to retire after being Hokage."
"Ichiraku's?" asked Haku in curiosity, having never heard of such a place. "What's that?"
Naruto looked up and grinned, "Only the best place in the world! The very place that makes the ultimate food of the gods, and Kami's gift to man!"
Haku giggled a bit as she saw fire light up in Naruto's eyes as he spoke of a place that obviously sold his favorite food. "And what food do they make?" she asked.
"Ramen of course!" Naruto shouted as he held a fist up to his face. "There is nothing better than the noodle goodness that is ramen as it slides down your throat, or the broth that tastes of heaven while you drink it. Ramen is the gift that Kami has bestowed upon man, in order to grant us unworthy mortals a small taste of heaven before we die. Ramen is the food of the gods!"
Haku sweatdropped a bit at the boy's obvious obsession for the unhealthy noodles. "Eh, sushi's better," She said with a shrug.
"What!" Naruto shouted as he looked at her with a shocked look. "How could you possibly think that rotten fish could be better than a gift that Kami herself bestowed upon us?"
"Sushi is not rotten," Haku shot back with a glare. "And it's far better than those disgusting and unhealthy noodles you eat!" She gave Naruto a smirk, "It also doesn't make me short."
"Hey! I'm not short!" Naruto shouted. How dare she insult him for his height! Ever since he had entered the academy Naruto had been the shortest person in class, so one could imagine that he may be a little oversensitive about the subject.
"I've grown a whole two inches since I…" He paused for a moment before his cheeks burned, with embarrassment "since I started eating things other than ramen."
Haku giggled before it turned into a laugh. Naruto scowled a bit as Haku lay on her back and held her stomach, trying to regain her breath.
"It's not funny…" Naruto mumbled in embarrassment. So what if it makes me short, it's still the food of the gods, He said to himself, reaffirming his belief in ramen.
"I-I'm s-sorry," Haku apologized as she struggled to get herself under control. "But you have to admit, it was funny." She sat up and looked at Naruto with a smile.
Naruto tried to glare at her Uchiha-style, but ended up giving her a sheepish grin. "Yeah…hehe, I guess it was."
They continued eating for a while in silence. Normally Naruto would find any kind of silence uncomfortable, even with his recent changes in personality. Whether it was the sound of his clones shouting out jutsu, or his own sarcastic remarks while training, or Anko's sarcastic remarks while she was beating the crap out of him; Naruto always needed some kind of noise.
Yet the silence here was oddly comforting, as if he didn't need to have any noise around Haku in order to be comfortable. It was perplexing.
"So this Ichiraku you mentioned," Haku started, getting the blonde's attention. "Are the people there important to you?"
"Yep!" Naruto said with a grin, "In fact they were the first of three people to ever become precious to me." His grin faded into a small frown, "…I'm…not well-liked in my village." Haku's ears perked up when she heard that, as well as catching the hurt in his tone.
"For some reason…people hate me, and I never knew why." He decided to leave out the part about having a nine tailed rampaging fuzzy sealed inside of him; after all, it was supposed to be a secret. He shook his head and continued, "They were some of the first people to look at me like I wasn't some kind of monster. I remember they would often give me free meals when I didn't have enough money to buy food…"
Haku looked at the blond next to her wide-eyed. The tone of his voice, the way it sounded so helpless. It was the exact same tone she herself had before Zabuza found her. It was then she realized why this boy had reminded her so much of herself.
A part of her should have realized it sooner, and was now berating herself for having not seen it. She looked into his eyes and saw the same pain she herself had felt before she was given a purpose. The pain of loneliness, the feeling of having people hate you for something beyond your control. The blond had the same eyes that she had.
"I had people very dear to me once…a long time ago," Naruto looked over at Haku in surprise as she started talking. "My parents. I was born in a small snowy village in Mizu no Kuni. My parents were very kind people…and I was happy. But…when I grew up and began to learn the ways of the world…something happen."
Naruto noticed Haku's expression getting depressed, "You don't have to tell me something like this, just because I shared some of my past with you." He told her as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Haku looked up and her eyes widened as she realized what she had just been about to tell him, something that only Zabuza knew of. She was about to heed his advice and stop, but for some odd reason felt compelled to tell him. Like there was some kind of force that was pulling the words out of her mouth, compelling her to let the blond know of her past so that he would understand that he was not alone.
"No," She shook her head. "I…want to tell you…I've kept this in for so long, maybe telling someone will help."
Naruto looked at her before nodding and offering a smile, "So, what happened?"
"My father… he had gathered a mob, and then he killed my mother." Naruto gaped at her as she told him that, not even able to truly comprehend what she was saying. "Then, he tried to kill me."
"What?" asked Naruto, sounding like he didn't understand what she was telling him.
"The country of Mizu has had endless civil wars, and those with Kekkei Genkai came to be hated. Because of these clans with Kekkei Genkai bloodlines were used as weapons in countless battles. As a result these clans were blamed for the cycle of war that had plagued the country. After the wars, these clans were forced to hide their Kekkei Genkai, or be willing to risk getting butchered by the hunter squads specifically designed to kill Kekkei Genkai clans."
"You have a Kekkai Genkai?" asked Naruto as he realized where this was going.
"Yes," Haku said, "My mother was from one of the clans that carried a Kekkei Genkai. My father discovered this…because I had been careless enough to use it…"
A few tears came to Haku's eyes but she wiped them away. "I had discovered my Kekkei Genkai's powers and had gone to show my mom, I had thought they were so cool at the time and wanted her to be proud of me. I remember her slapping me for it and telling me to never use it again. However, my father had also seen me use my abilities. I remember coming home one night and…my father…he had killed my mother and tried to…tried to…"
Haku had to pause as more tears came and she cursed herself for showing such weakness and in front of an enemy no less! Someone she shouldn't even be telling this too! She should not have even told him this much in the first place. Not only did she have nothing to gain from telling him, but he could use this information against her and Zabuza should he figure out who she was.
She was shaken from her thoughts when Naruto came closer to her and wiped away the tears on her face.
"I think I understand," he said, looking at her with a look of understanding and compassion. He too had noticed the look she had when she was talking about her past. He had seen her eyes whenever he looked in the mirror, more often than he cared to admit and more often than anyone else would ever know. When the pressure of the villagers' hatred became too much he would gain those eyes, and considering how much hatred they had for the blond he looked like that quite often.
He shook his head and focused on the girl in front of him, "You don't have to say anymore…"
She knew she should follow the young man's advice, as there was no reason to tell him potentially harmful information. However…
…Haku shook her head, "No. I want to…" She took a deep breath before continuing. "After that he had tried to kill me and I…I was forced to kill my own father and the rest of the mob that was with him. In my panic I had accidently activated my kekkei genkai and used it to kill them. After that I ran…I ended up living on the street, scavenging for food from the trash cans…everyday coming a little closer to death until I wanted to die…I…"
Naruto was not sure how, why or when it happened, but before he knew it, Haku had bowled him over, clutching to him like some kind of lifeline. For several minutes Naruto was too shocked to do anything other than lay there, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Thankfully, his experience with Anko, while so completely different from this new situation it was not even funny, had enabled him to know what to do when a member of the opposite sex was hugging you. Either hug back, or make a smartass comment about the person hugging you being a child molester.
Naruto decided to go with hugging.
He wrapped his arms around Haku's shaking form, one hand going to the small of her back and the other going into her hair and running through it, much like how his grandfather figure, Sarutobi would hug him when he was depressed.
"It's ok…" Naruto said in a soft voice, "let it all out…"
Naruto was not sure how long he had stayed like that, with Haku lying on top of him crying. Not that he particularly cared; it was obvious she had suffered even more than he had. If he knew his parents, and they had tried to kill him, he probably would have broken a long time ago. That she had survived was a testament to how strong her spirit was.
"I'm sorry," Haku sniffled out eventually, after getting all the crying out of her system, "I don't know what came over me." In all the time she had been a tool for Zabuza she had never cried, and now here she was bawling her eyes out not only on some stranger, but an enemy she would have to do battle with when Zabuza recovered.
Shaking her head Haku sat up and set her hand in her lap, looking down at them as if remembering the past.
"S'ok," Naruto said with a small smile. Wanting to comfort Haku in some way, the spiky haired blond moved on instinct and brought an arm around the raven-haired girl's shoulder.
Haku smiled as she leaned into the blond, resting her head on his shoulder. Even knowing he was an enemy she felt an odd sense of peace settle over her. Enough so that she had dropped most of her defenses and guards.
Maybe it was the odd aura the blond exuded, the strangely warm and comforting presence that he held. Or it could have been the similarities that she had seen between him and her, the look in the eyes and the general presence of someone who has lived a life of loneliness. However, whatever the cause was, Haku honestly did not care and just wanted to feel some form of comfort no matter how fleeting it was.
They stayed like that for a while longer until Naruto asked a question. "So…do you have a someone important to protect?"
"I do," Haku said, closing her eyes as she continued resting her head. "However, I don't think he would understand anything, if I were to tell him this…"
She had tried once when he asked her about it. However all Zabuza had done was give her this blank stare as if he did not understand. Not surprising considering he did not even remember his parents and most of his memories were bloody and violent, most of said violence being instigated by Zabuza himself. Yeah, she doubted that even smacking him in the face with her past would help him understand.
"Ah," Naruto said, sighing he leaned his head on Haku's. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, enjoying Haku's scent. The only other person he had been this close to was Anko and she smelled like blood, snakes, dango and sake. Not the most pleasant mixture of scents.
"I should probably go…" Haku commented after a while. They had been here for over an hour; no doubt Zabuza was wondering where she was since she had never taken this long to do something as simple as gather herbs, which was the excuse she gave him.
Naruto nodded reluctantly and let go of Haku, "Yeah…I should to; chances are my sensei is most likely looking for me by now."
The two stood up and Naruto created a clone to clean the picnic supplies. The two looked at each other for a moment, unsure what to do. After all, what do you say when someone essentially just bared their heart to another?
Haku was the one to move first, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Naruto was a little embarrassed since Haku was at least three inches taller than he was, making him reach her shoulder. Not that it stopped him from hugging back, and enjoying the feel of someone hugging him.
"Thank you," Haku said as she backed away and gave Naruto a smile.
Naruto grinned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe, don't mention it. Getting hugged by such a pretty girl, I think I should be thanking you."
Haku blushed at the compliment the blond gave her, having posed as a guy for so long she had never received compliments from anyone. It felt…nice.
She managed to reduce her blush to manageable levels and smiled at Naruto, "I had a nice time. Maybe…maybe we can do this again tomorrow?" she asked. Haku knew it was wrong to be so close to the enemy, but he understood her, something she was sure that even Zabuza could not do.
"I'd love to!" Naruto said with a large grin, excited that she actually wanted to see him a second time, "Same time tomorrow?"
"Yes," Haku said, her smile widening a tad.
"You're late," Kakashi commented to the blond as he read his book with a disgruntled Tazuna at his side. "We've been waiting for over an hour you know."
Naruto shrugged as he walked up the two, "Sorry, I ran into one of Zabuza's accomplices and had to fight them to the death."
Kakashi stopped reading and looked at him for a second. Naruto became nervous, wondering if he had seen through his half-truth.
His wonderings were banished when Kakashi eye-smiled, "Naruto…I'm…so proud of you…coming up with such an awesome excuse…I now feel like my time being this team's sensei have truly born fruit."
Naruto sweatdropped, "Uh…yeah, let's go with that. So…" He grinned, "are we gonna get this show on the road or what!"
"We would have done that an hour ago if you had been here…" Tazuna mumbled.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that and assume you said, 'Gee I'm glad he's not three hours late like Kakashi'." Naruto shot back with a small glare.
Kakashi shrugged as they began walking, "Well don't worry, I'm sure if you work on it a little more, you'll be three hours late too."
Naruto face-faulted at his sensei's words before getting up and run a hand over his face, "Sometimes I worry about you sensei."
(Three Days Later…)
It had been six days total since Naruto and the others had escorted Tazuna to Nami No Kuni, and in those six days the three genin had grown much stronger. Thanks to Naruto's tort-training, Sakura had actually managed to increase her reserves a fairly decent amount. She had not mastered tree climbing, but had managed to at least double her reserves, though she still refused to do any physical exercise in fear of looking 'manly'. Both Kakashi and Naruto had tried to get her out of that phase, however neither had any luck with it and eventually gave up.
Sasuke had improved much more drastically than Sakura. While his reserves had not improved much, he had mastered tree climbing. He had also admitted, even if only to himself, that Naruto was alright. He had noticed that the more time he had spent with the blond the stronger he got, and so did not complain or let his jealousy get to him too much.
Not that it had changed the dynamics of their rivalry; Naruto still thought the raven-haired Genin was the arch-typical brooding teme. And Sasuke still believed that Naruto was a blond idiot who was inferior to him, even if he knew that was not true as the two were fairly close to even when it came to their physical prowess in hand to hand combat.
Naruto himself had probably improved the most. Not that anyone other than Kakashi would know that since the blond preferred to keep his training secret in order to avoid any jealousy on his team's part. He had managed to learn Shunshin, and could even do it without hand seals, giving him an edge when he needed extra speed. He had also mastered water walking and was now adding the leaf floating exercise to it. He had also increased his training seal to level two.
Of course he had found level two nearly impossible to move in for the few two days. Naruto had learned that in order to properly use the training seals he had to enhance his body with a constant stream of chakra so that his body could move when the resistance seals were on. Once he could move through a set of taijutsu kata's at the speed he could normally, he would slowly decrease the amount of chakra he was using to keep himself moving. It was a slow going process, especially because he had to sometimes take the seals off so he could get used to his body's speed without them, but he knew that once he started getting the hang of it, this form of training would be allow him to use his training to its maximum effect.
His elemental manipulation had unfortunately, not gone as well as he had hoped. So far Naruto was only able to slice the leaf one third of the way through. Thankfully some good did come out of the training, as all of his wind jutsu took less chakra to use and he had better control over some of the higher level ones.
Things had also gotten a little better at the house as well. Inari though still quiet, no longer made comments against Naruto. Sometimes the whiskered blond had even caught the kid watching and following him when he trained, though the blond had no idea what that was about. His relationship with Sakura had remained unchanged, she still seemed to either ignore him or tried to hit him on some occasions. Though this may have been on the account that Naruto had begun finding amusement in torturing the girl every chance he got with comments on her obsession with Sasuke. He and Tazuna got along pretty good, they would often tell jokes and Naruto, in a bout of inspiration had used his Tajuu Kage Bunshin NoJutsu to make a one hundred man strong work force, much to Tazuna and the workers amazement and delight. Kakashi also seemed to be treating him well, not that he hadn't always, but the man seemed to respect him more. Something Naruto suspected came from when he had made that excuse for being late.
Naruto had also spent more time with Haku, who had come to meet him in the same clearing every day since they had met. The two had grown extremely close despite the short amount of time they had been together due to their similar experience they shared from their past. They had never spoken of the time Haku had mentioned her past; and in truth, they didn't need to, having come to understand each other well enough due to the similarities in their lives.
Instead Naruto would often regale her in tales of his pranks. How he had started his pranking career in order to get back at all the people who had ignored and made fun of him, though the main reason was a little darker than that. He would tell of her setting up stink bombs in restaurants, small explosives in toilets that would go off when someone flushed in the academy, painting the Hokage Monument in broad daylight and other pranks he had pulled throughout the years.
Haku had never laughed so hard when he had told her some of them. If she were honest with herself, being with Naruto had been the most fun she had ever had. It depressed her to know that this happiness and content she was feeling with the blond would end soon.
Looking out the window from her room Haku sighed as she finished getting ready to meet up with Naruto. It was the last day they would get to see each other as friends. Zabuza was now completely healed and had told her the plan to kill the bridge builder would commence tomorrow, which had been why she decided on having dinner with the blond instead of breakfast like normal.
Looking herself over in the mirror one last time, Haku tried not to let her emotions spill before she looked away and left her room.
"Going somewhere?"
Haku stiffened as she turned around and saw Zabuza leaning against the wall.
"You're going to see that boy again aren't you?" he asked.
"How did you know?" Haku asked, knowing better then to lie to Zabuza. She had never been able to lie to Zabuza, not that she had ever tried to before.
Zabuza looked at her before casting a careless shrug, "Since you came back the second time to 'get herbs' and had this odd glow about you." He put up quotation marks when he said getting herbs, "From what I understand, that only happens when a girl becomes a woman."
Haku blushed a bit at the implication, "W-we haven't done anything like that…"
Zabuza chuckled in amusement at seeing Haku actually get embarrassed about something for once, "There are other ways to become a woman."
"And you would know?" Haku asked in a slightly snappish voice.
"Whoa, looks like the claws are out today," Zabuza said, hiding his surprise with a laugh, "I don't think you've ever snapped at me unless I hurt myself."
"I'm sorry Zabuza-sama," Haku said, looking contrite.
"Meh, its fine," Zabuza replied, not really caring that she was a bit snappish. He paused and look at her intently, "you know I don't approve of this. Getting close to the enemy unless you're going to assassinate him is not what a ninja would do."
Haku winced and looked down, "However, I am not going to stop you, should you wish to see him."
That cause Haku's head to snap up so quickly Zabuza was sure she would snap her head. "You won't?" She asked in a guarded voice.
"You're not a child Haku," Zabuza said, "you can make choices for yourself; I'm not going to stop you."
He began walking away, but still managed to toss a parting comment over his shoulder, "Just be ready to not let your feelings get the best of you when we take down the bridge builder and everything will be fine."
"Going somewhere Naruto?" asked Kakashi as his blond student left the dinner table and went over to the door.
Naruto stopped and turned his head to look at Kakashi. "Just going to get some fresh air sensei," He replied as he scratched the back of his head. "You said that tomorrow, chances are Zabuza will be healed. I…admit I'm feeling a little nervous."
His other two teammates looked at Naruto in surprise. The old Naruto would have never admitted to being nervous about anything.
Kakashi however narrowed his good eye as he saw through Naruto's lie, though what he was lying about Kakashi was unsure of. He decided not to press the issue for the moment and shrugged, "That's understandable, just don't stay up to late. We're waking up early tomorrow."
"Bah! You worry too much sensei!" Naruto whined, waving his hand in the air. "I'll be fine, and even if I'm late I'll just tell Zabuza about the black cat that crossed my path, forcing me to take the long way around. I'm sure he'll understand."
While everyone else in the room face-faulted, Kakashi eye-smiled, "Perhaps, but I don't think he would get the joke like I would."
"Whatever," Naruto said as he left.
Walking into the clearing Naruto saw Haku was already there.
"Haku-chan," Naruto said with a smile as he walked up to the beautiful raven-haired girl.
Haku gave Naruto a smile of her own as she gave him there by now, customary hug, "It's good to see you Naruto-kun."
Naruto grinned as he broke the hug, "You make it sound like we haven't seen each other in years rather than yesterday with a tone like that."
Haku just gave him a sad smile, something that Naruto noticed but ignored as he grabbed her by the hand and led her to one of the trees. Sitting down Naruto leaned against the tree while Haku sat in between his legs, leaning her head against his chest. This had been something that they had started doing on their third meeting. It had been amusing when Haku had first began snuggling into the blond, who had felt his face about to burst, something that the fake hunter ninja had found surprisingly amusing. Though after the first fifteen minutes of blushing, stuttering and trying not to pass out from the feeling of having a beautiful young woman pressed against him, the whiskered blond had gotten used to, and come to enjoy the cuddling they did.
Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as possible without making her uncomfortable as he put his head on hers. He took in a deep breath as Haku's scent filled him, letting out a sigh as he nuzzled deeper into her hair, causing Haku to giggle a bit. They stayed like that for nearly half an hour before Naruto broke the comfortable silence.
"You work for Zabuza, don't you?" he asked. He felt Haku stiffen his arms and aimed to reassure her, "Don't worry, I don't care if you do."
Knowing Naruto enough to realize that he was not the type to lie to her, Haku relaxed, melding back into Naruto. "Yes…when did you figure it out?" she asked curiously.
"The moment you told me about your past," Naruto said, shrugging a bit. "A girl from Kiri with a Kekkei Genkai, and a former Jonin turned missing ninja from Kiri wanted for the attempted assassination of the Sandaime Mizukage. It wasn't all that hard to figure out." He complimented himelf on reading up about Zabuza in the bingo Book, otherwise he probably would have not even considered that Haku may have been working for him even after she had told him of her past.
Despite being surprised that Naruto had known for this long and not done anything against her, Haku nodded. Or maybe she should not be so surprised, especially since she had known Naruto was her enemy from the moment they met and done nothing against him.
"How is Zabuza by the way?" Naruto asked.
Haku sighed, "He's fully healed."
"Then I suppose you'll be attacking the bridge builder tomorrow," Naruto hypothesized.
"…yes," Haku commented in a quiet whisper.
"I wish you wouldn't you know," Naruto said, his grip on Haku tightening a bit.
Haku buried herself even deeper into Naruto, her head nuzzling into the blonde's neck, "… I know." She tried not to let her sadness get to her; "… are you angry?"
"No…" Naruto sighed, "I know you can't help it. This battle is necessary. Zabuza is your precious person, I know I can't stop you." Having spent as much time as he had with Haku, her ideal's had been permanently imprinted and taken into his own ideal's, namely her thoughts and beliefs on true strength coming from protecting those who are precious to you.
"You know, you don't have to fight if you don't want to," Haku suggested. She knew it was unlikely, but she really hoped Naruto would not participate in the battle.
Naruto smiled, "I could…however, the people here that I care about. Kakashi-sensei, Tazuna-ojisan and his family. And even my teammates, much as they annoy me, have become my precious people." Naruto paused and tilted Haku's head so she was looking at him. He gave her one of the genuine smiles that only she, Anko and the Hokage had ever seen, "Just as you are."
Haku bit her lower lip as a few tears spilled from her. She put her head back in the crook of Naruto's neck, "You know…you're going to make it that much harder for me to fight you…"
"Sorry…" Naruto apologized. "Am I…precious to you as well?" he asked.
"Of course," Haku said in a whisper.
Naruto bit his lip as he made a decision. "Haku," He said, making said girl look up at him, "I have something important I want to tell you…"
Haku looked at him for a moment and saw the hesitation in his eyes. She smiled at him, reaching out a hand she began to gently stroke the whisker marks on the left side of Naruto's face.
KAWAII! She thought with an inner squeal as Naruto began to lean into her hand and purr.
"What do you want to tell me?" She asked.
Naruto opened his eyes, which he had closed when Haku began her whisker stroking. He grabbed her hand to stop her, finding it difficult to concentrate due to her ministrations. Haku blushed a bit when she realized what her actions were doing to the blond.
Taking a deep breath Naruto began to tell her something that no one in his age group knew. "The day I was born, the Bijuu known as Kyuubi attacked my village…"
Kakashi looked at the three genin, all of whom were looking rearing to go, "Are you three ready?" he asked.
"Hn," Sasuke said/grunted with a smirk. He felt more than ready to prove his might as an Uchiha to everyone. With all of the training he had done the raven-haired Genin had never felt stronger.
"Yes sensei," Sakura said, looking a little unsure of herself. Truthfully, she felt nervous and sick to her stomach, but she wanted to prove to her Sasuke-kun that she could be a valuable comrade.
"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, looking at the blond who had been uncharacteristically quiet.
"Something's missing…" Naruto murmured before the proverbial light bulb snapped, "Ah hah! Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Two dozen clones appeared with a puff of smoke before spreading out around the house.
"Just in case that midget Gato decides to send some goons to deal with Tazuna's family while we're away," he explained at seeing the questioning glances.
"That's a very good idea Naruto!" Kakashi said with an eye smile.
"You know with the way you're all talking, it sounds like this Zabuza character's is going to come back right now," Tazuna said with a nervous laugh.
"Sorry," Kakashi replied, "just being careful is all. So are you ready to go, Tazuna-san?"
Tazuna nodded, "Of course, I want to get this bridge done. And with the gaki's help it should be possible to finish the bridge in no time!"
"You can count on me ya binge drinking old man," Naruto said with a two fingered salute.
"That's not a very nice name…" Tazuna complained with his head down.
Naruto grinned, masking his nausea from knowing what's to come, "Let's go!"
"Is the ambush ready?" Gato asked from his cell phone.
On a small boat under the bridge the Akuma brothers, Haku and Zabuza didn't bother listening as Gato began squawking for them to answer him.
"Are you ready Haku?" asked Zabuza.
Haku hesitated as she put on her mask. "…Yes."
"I need you to get in the game Haku," Zabuza said, "we can't afford to get careless around Kakashi and his brats."
"I understand Zabuza-sama," Haku said.
Zabuza looked at her while the Akuma brothers looked confused.
"Hmmm…very well, let's get this show on the road."
"Wh-What is this!" Tazuna shouted as he the mist was covered in a thick fog. So much so that the only thing visible beside the bridge, were the bloody bodies on it, thankfully they were still alive.
Tazuna ran over to one of them who was conscious and lifted the man up, "What happened Ed!"
"A m-monster…" the man choked out before passing out from blood loss.
"So he is back…" Kakashi muttered.
The mist began to thicken and Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "Here they come! Defensive formation!"
Kakashi and the three genin pulled out their weapons and surrounded Tazuna, as the mist became so thick they could not see more than ten feet in front of them.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted as fear began to take her again, but she quickly steeled herself, "This is…"
"Yeah, this is Zabuza's Kirigakure No Jutsu alright," Kakashi said, wearily eyeing the surroundings even thought he could not see very far.
"Long time no see Kakashi," came Zabuza's disembodied voice. "I see you're still with those brats… and look at that one…he's still shaking."
"That's just cuz' the teme forgot to take a piss before we left and has to go real bad." Naruto said, keeping Sasuke from saying something cool. "You wouldn't mind if he goes over the bridge before we get this party started do you?"
"Dobe!" Sasuke grunted with embarrassment.
"Naruto-baka!" Sakura shouted with an angry blush on her face.
"Looks like that brat's still got a mouth on him," Zabuza commented, "perhaps I should fix that!"
After he said this a dozen Mizu Bunshins appeared around the group. All of them holding the swords attached to their back.
"Hey teme," Naruto commented with a smirk forming on his face, "want to see who can kill the most first?"
"Hn, you're on!" Sasuke smirked.
The two disappeared in a burst of speed, reappearing at their original positions several seconds later as all the Mizu Bunshin dispersed.
"I think it's six for six," Naruto mumbled before turning to Zabuza and shouting, "hey no brow-Ojisan, think you can make another one for the tie breaker!"
"Tch. Cheeky brat," Zabuza muttered, appearing in the mist. "They saw through my Mizu Bunshin. My how you brats have grown, it's a good thing I've got my backup with me."
On cue Haku and the two Akuma brothers appeared within the mist as well.
"What the fuck! Didn't we deal with those losers before we got here?" asked Naruto as he saw the Akuma brothers.
"It looks like they managed to escape their confinements," Kakashi said, "I thought the ANBU would have picked them up."
"I take it you want the blond brat, Haku," Zabuza said.
"…Yes," Haku replied.
"You're too soft Haku."
Haku did not reply as she stepped forward and prepared to face Naruto in combat.
It's a good thing both Naruto and Sasuke have grown, I didn't take the Akuma brothers actually escaping into account, Kakashi thought. I'm gonna have to talk to the ANBU about getting a quicker response.
"Sasuke, with your increased speed you should be able to deal with the Akuma brothers," Kakashi said. "But be weary, last time they were caught off guard because the element of surprise they were going for didn't work. That won't be the case this time."
"Hn. Whatever," Sasuke said, he had wanted the hunter ninja. However two on one was just as good. He tightened the grip on his two kunai and charged.
"Naruto…"
"I know," Naruto interrupted his sensei, "I've got the hunter ninja."
Kakashi looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Good luck," he said before running off into the mist.
Unlike the others who had ran off to fight, Naruto calmly walked away from Tazuna, moving several meters away from the bridge builder and Sakura to start his battle. Haku followed him, stopping when they were unable to see the others.
"Naruto-kun…" Haku started.
"Don't," Naruto interrupted with a head shake. "We both knew this was going to happen, I don't regret meeting you, even if this battle was inevitable."
"I feel the same," Haku said, her masked face looking down.
"Haku, do you think you can take off your mask? I want to see that pretty face of yours even if we're supposed to be enemies," Naruto said.
"Still the charmer even in battle," Haku replied, taking off her mask to see a tear-stained yet smiling face.
"Hey now, no tears," Naruto said, "if you start crying, then I'll start crying and then I'll be considered a hypocrite for calling Inari a cry baby."
Haku made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "Sorry," she said, wiping her eyes.
"Don't be, I'm barely holding myself back from balling like some snot-nosed brat here. You've got nothing to be sorry about," Naruto flipped his kunai into a reverse grip. "It actually makes me feel kind of special, knowing you can cry for me even though we have to fight each other."
"Then I'm glad I can do this for you at least," Haku said, "…I suppose we should start…"
Naruto sighed as he closed his eyes, "Yeah…" Opening them again, he looked at Haku and charged.
Haku did the same and the two met in the center of the arena, Naruto's kunai clashing against Haku's senbon.
The battle of the bridge had begun.
So here it is, the battles are starting now. I get this feeling that this is the moment everyones been waiting for with this arch. So let me know what you think. Comments, critiques and the like are all welcome here.
Also this is just a request but for any fanfic authors who are reading this, can you please PLEASE udate your stories! I think I'm going stir crazy here being one of the few people who
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