A/N: Ok, so I was looking for a NaruHaku fic and all I could find was NaruFem!Haku. Now I'm not one to get up people's asses about what they like, but there was hardly any (if any at all) male Haku fics out there. It pissed me off, so I'm going to write one. It'll most likely suck and make little to no sense, but you know… I wanna write one dammit, if no one else will.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did… I'd screw the series up, but Gaara would TOTALLY be in it more.
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Back then, on the bridge, he'd been so furious at Zabuza for brushing Haku's death, his sacrifice, off so easily. Sure, he'd come around, let the barriers fall and confess his true feelings, but that didn't lessen the anger Naruto had in his heart at the older ninja's earlier words.
He shouldn't have needed convincing. Naruto shouldn't have had to yell and scream at the man to finally give a fuck. Haku had literally lived for the guy and Zabuza had ignored the boy's utter devotion and love for him.
A broken tool, a useless weapon, Haku had used these words to describe himself; he'd been so earnest, so convinced that he deserved to die because he had lost to the Leaf Nin. That he was of no use to Zabuza and therefore, there was nothing left for him but death.
He'd wanted it as much as Naruto wanted to be the Hokage. It was so twisted, so wrong it made the blond burn with rage everytime he thought of it.
When they'd met in the woods, when Haku had woken him up and spoke to him about his dreams and the meaning of true strength, he'd been so beautiful. Naruto didn't think he'd ever see a more perfect creature then the Mist shinobi. Not even Sakura could measure up and that was saying something because his friend was the hottest girl in the village and Haku wasn't even a girl.
He'd felt stupid for calling the other boy "sis", when Haku had stopped and added as an afterthought:
"By the way, I'm a boy."
It had really messed with Naruto's young mind. How could a boy be so pretty, so graceful? At the same time he'd felt like chasing after the guy and begging for forgiveness, but then Sasuke appeared and he forgot all about the boy in the pink yukata.
That wasn't entirely true, he'd never completely forgot Haku's advice and gentle smile, they had stayed in Naruto's head, he'd go over them as he trained with Sasuke in the forest as they tried to perfect their chakra control. And when Sasuke had "died" and the blond flew into rage, those memories had saved Haku's life, well for the few moments before he threw himself in front of Kakashi's attack.
To save Zabuza.
It always came back to that. That Haku had willingly died to save someone so cold, to save a traitor and a murderer, but that was what made Haku so special, he over looked things like that. He hadn't cared that Zabuza was a murderer and a self-proclaimed demon. What Haku saw was the man who had saved him from the never-ending darkness that was his existence; had looked upon the small boy not with scorn or hatred, but acceptance and approval. He had given Haku the one thing he craved:
A reason to carry on living, a purpose, it was one of the only things Naruto liked about the Demon of the Mist. The happiness he had given Haku, the smile and tears as the boy spoke of his master moments before he died; the fondness in his brown eyes and soft voice.
Then in a blink of an eye, it was gone.
He'd watched, he'd watched with wide sapphire eyes as Haku drew his last breath, tightening his hold on Kakashi's wrist, preventing escape. Even then, in his last seconds on Earth he'd been thinking of Zabuza.
Always Zabuza, and never himself.
He hadn't deserved to die, not like that, not that soon. He was Naruto's age and he'd died in the line of duty and devotion, a broken tool using up the last of its twisted purpose.
They'd buried them, after the battle was over and the villagers had returned to their homes, to celebrate victory over the gangster Gato. Naruto hadn't felt like celebrating, an innocent person had died. He'd offered, demanded to carry Haku's lifeless body to his final resting place. No one objected and Kakashi carried Zabuza, being the only one strong enough to lift the assassin.
He'd made the wooden cross and put it at the head of the fresh grave, wrapping Haku's scarf around it as well as the crown of flowers Sakura had made. Zabuza's sword had been placed behind his own grave and after a few moments of silence and the talk of a ninja's purpose, they had left.
Left the graves to be forgotten and eventually destroyed by nature.
But Naruto would never forget, never.
Because Haku deserved to be remembered, to have grown up in such a dark and cruel world, to be able to blossom into a gentle and beautiful boy, in body and soul, he deserved to be remembered.
Because Naruto loved him, and he would never forget the lesson Haku had taught him, the smile he'd given the blond in the forest and the honest apology he'd made as he stopped Naruto's attack and vanished to save his precious person.
He remembered the dark haired angle whenever he'd look at Haku's blood stained headband. He'd taken it when the others weren't looking; he needed something of the boy to keep the memory alive.
Afraid he'd forget if he didn't have something, forget like everyone else, Haku's sacrifice had been in vain and was quickly forgotten by those who had witnessed his unjustified death.
It wasn't fair because he deserved more, he deserved to be remembered and spoken of with just as much fondness as those names on the Memorial Stone in the training grounds.
Though most of all, he deserved to live. He'd had so much to live for, so much he could have become. What he could have become to Naruto if the Leaf Nin had told the boy, had realized sooner. He could have saved the boys life, could have given him something else to live for.
He hadn't deserved to die.
It made him shed angry tears whenever he thought of Kakashi closing Haku's once beautiful hazel eyes, now glassy and blank, knowing they would never open again. He would never smile, never chuckle, never wake up.
Therefore, Naruto kept the headband in the draw of his bedside table, to take out occasionally to remember the boy who'd changed his very view on the way of the Shinobi. Haku.
The kind and wise boy, with the grace and beauty of a Geisha, the innocence of an angel and a smile that could warm even the darkest of people.
The exiled orphan from the Land of Water; cursed by the KekiGenki and feared as much as a Jinchuuriki, a reluctant Shinobi, a broken weapon, Zabuza's blunt and useless tool.
Haku, the boy Naruto Uzumaki had fallen in love with and would never forget.
Because he had deserved much more.
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E/N: I changed the ending, because it was crap and I'd started to ramble. Short and pathetic. I didn't know how to finish it because this thing really didn't have much of a purpose or plot to begin with. Man I suck…
Review or whatever. My first Naruto fanfic, I really wanted my first to be about Gaara but I wanted to get this done. No matter how crappy.
Chao!