Shameful Pride
"Kid, give me your kunai." Zububa commanded. He didn't know the boy's name, but he did know that he had changed his preference to life.
At first, he killed to live. Killers sent to kill him. Fighting to survive.
Soon, he slowly changed. From the frightened animal he was to the blood craving demon he is.
Now, he lived to kill.
Up for hire, to kill. To make a living. To soon change the lives of people. He had to kill.
Haku
He melted a thin layer of ice that had once encased his heart. Though not thawing it, he had gotten through.
The kunai went flying through the air, replaying images when they met many times ago. His life, flashing past him.
He knew he was going to die. But he was going to die with honor.
He was going to die fighting.
With the speed of kami's will, Zabuza sped forward, kunai in mouth. The look of determination evident in his hollow eyes.
Slash after slash; stab after stab, blood drenched the man.
Every hit, every shot of pain that raced through his veins reminded him of Haku.
The boy that had meant the world to him. A little brother. A son. A true friend.
They killed beside each other, and now, they were going to die beside each other.
Tears formed in his eyes that soon mixed with the blood of his victims.
His dream. Their dream. It all had to come to an end.
"See you in hell!" Zabuza shouted at the top of his lungs. He delivered the killing blow and watched with satisfaction at the sinking body of Gato.
The weapons in his back screamed at him to just drop there and die. Be he pushed on.
His vision swam in and out of focus, causing him to stumble every so often.
He smiled a sad smile at the beaming sun. It seemed to be glad that such a monster was killed. But clouds of emotion shadowed it with the trth that such a man was now dying
The blond kid had done it.
He had finished what haku started. Something that made him feel alive. He had thawed his heart.
He had made him care.
To care. It was something Zabuza had never done before. He had cared about money, but not for a person.
His body fell limp and plummeted to the ground with a sickening thump. A pool of blood collected around him.
Through a fuzzy brain, he laid there, listening to his once enemies, to the bandits, and finally, to the villagers.
The villagers whose very lives he was sent to destroy. The villagers now were witnessing his death.
"Kakashi, can you bring me over to him, for one last goodbye." Zabuza could feel his voice failing him. Kakashi grimly nodded and proceeded to remove the weapons embedded in Zabuza's back.
The trip over to his friend felt like eternity. He waited for this day, to die next to the boy he held close to him like a son.
His time was coming short and his voice failing him further.
"I wish I could go to where you were going." Zabuza began to cry.
This was his life to he had chosen, the life he lived. He felt ashamed on the inside; he had dragged Haku through all this. Both side by side, but he was sure that they weren't going to the same place.
Dying dead, he was sure that he saw Haku cry. A pit feeling sunk in his stomach, he had caused such a pure creature to die.
Haku, pure as snow. Pure as the clouds. The purest soul he would ever meet. Tainted with blood from the darkest demon in the mist.
He turned his head and looked straight at Naruto. He inwardly smiled and breathed his last breath with his last thought running through his mind.
Looks like Haku's got a successor…