A Worn out Tool
Chapter One:
"Dispose of you"

"I-I'm sorry Zabuza-san... its all my fault..." the boy said sadly, reaching out towards the large wound on the larger man's chest. Blood poured from the wound, collecting on the ground below.

He found his wrist being grabbed firmly. "Don't touch me." Zabuza demanded, squeezing his wrist and causing him to pull back in pain.

"Ahh... Sorry... Zabuza-san." he said, turning his head in shame.

In the midst of battle, Haku had been hit hard into the wall, causing him to fall to the floor, barely managing to stay awake from the blow. By the time he recovered, he looked up to see Zabuza give the final blow to the enemy, before the large man dropped to his knees in pain. Haku had never seen such a thing before.

"Take us home before I bleed to death." Zabuza demanded.

"Ah-- hai." Haku said, trying to push his guilt aside as he concentrated, removing both of them from the

A while later...

Haku sighed, watching from the door as the older man tried to wrap his own wound, only for him to have near no clue how to do it correctly.

"Zabuza-san... maybe I could just--" he began to suggest.

"Haku!" he said "Go into the kitchen and make yourself useful." the man snapped at him.

"...Hai..." He bowed slightly before turning and leaving, going down the hall to the kitchen.

He sighed, and leaned against the counter. Tears came to his eyes for an unknown reason, and he wiped them away. He had failed his master... again.

The past few missions they had gotten from clients, Haku's preformance had been far from good, and he had a feeling that he was becoming nothing but a burden for Zabuza. And now he had failed him, and he ended up getting hurt.

He wiped another tear threatening to fall, and began to look for something he could cook for the man. He had found something, and was about to start cooking when Zabuza entered the kitchen.

"I'm going out." he said simply.

"But I though-" Haku began to answer, cutting off when he heard the door slam.

Zabuza set the spices he had been holding on the counter, and waited for a moment, making sure he wasn't going to come back in saying he forgot something. And the tears returned, this time causing Haku to fall upon his knees. He hated himself so much, this whole thing was his fault. He had failed Zabuza, and now Zabuza wanted nothing to do with him.

And now he cursed himself for crying. He was being weak! Weeping over his fault like some little child.

"Za-zabuza-san could be back any minute!" he said, wiping the tear's off his face. "I can't let him see me like this... I can't show him how weak I've become.."

No matter how many times he told himself these things, he could not get himself to stop crying until many moments later. But thankfully, he got himself to stop, cleaned his face of the traces of his moment of 'weakness', and actually managed to cook something, setting aside a nice warm plate for Zabuza upon his return. And he tried to forget what happened today...

The hours ticked by after that, and Haku sat upon a simple wooden chair, staring intently at the door, waiting for his master to return. But as the night grew dark, and the moon rose high into the sky, he was beginning to get worried. He kept warming up the food he had made, and even re-made it a few times to make sure it would make Zabuza pleased.

But by the early morning hours, Haku had passed out upon the wooden chair. His hands upon his lap, and his head hung low as if he was praying. He slept, though not well, for the next few hours. And when he awoke, the sun reaching out in the sky, Zabuza had still not returned.

The fact that his master had been gone for so long worried Haku to no end. Millions of possibilies flashed through his head. What if he had bleed to death? What if he had been attacked? With that wound he could have--

There seemed to be no end to it all, as Haku cleaned their whole dwelling, trying to keep his mind off those thoughts. But they kept returning to him no matter what he did. And when he had nothing left to clean, he returned to his chair, and looked at the clock.

"3:00" is what it read. Zabuza had left nearly 24 hours ago, longer than he had ever been gone before, without a reason that Haku would know beforehand. He wondered if he should go out and look...

After debating within himself, he forced himself to wait a couple hours. But by the time 6:00 rolled around, he was having a heart attack.

"Thats it.." he told himself. "I'm going to track down Zabuza-san.. just to make sure he's safe... then I'll leave before he realises my presence.."

He took his senbon, and was ready to go. As he turned, and was reaching for the doorknob, it turned, and the door flew open. Reveiling none other than Zabuza.

Haku jumped back from the door, and a look of relief passed over his face as he saw his master. Zabuza looked at him harshly, but not in the usual way. Haku felt nervious...

"Zabuza-san! I was... worried..." he admitted softly.

His master said nothing, and after continueing to look at him, he walked right past Haku, out of the kitchen, not even muttering a word to the boy.

Haku watched him, and headed out the kitched after him, only for him to come back in, almost hitting Haku. He headed for the door once more.

"Zabuza-san?" Haku questioned. "Wher--"

"A mission." he said, interupting Haku in mid-speech.

"Oh..." he said. "Please allow me to get ready.."

Haku turned sharply, beginning to go so he could prepare for a mission.

"Your not going." Zabuza's voice came, and at these words, Haku froze. His heart sank deeply, as he turned around once more.

"N-nani?" he asked, not believing what he had just heard.

"Your not going on this mission Haku." he repeated, only in a more angry-sounding tone. "You'll only be in my way. I decided something Haku. Your becoming useless to me. You are losing your purpose as a tool, and becoming weak. And for that, I think I will dispose of you soon."

Haku's eyes couldn't have been any wider at the end of this comment. His whole body froze, and his whole mind went blank. And he just started at his master, his mouth hanging open. But he didn't even bother to close it. His master saw his shock, but didn't care, or didn't seem like it, for he merely turned around and turned, and left.

Then it hit him. The wave of pure agony that his master's words had caused. And he came down, now sinking down unto the floor. He no longer cared if he was seen being weak, for he had failed Zabuza, and now Zabuza wanted to dispose of him. There seemed to be no point. All the training, killing, deeds he committed... they were all in vain.

Because Zabuza didn't want him any more..