A/N: Hello readers! BlackChaos here! Now then, I hope everyone enjoyed Chapter 2. I got reviews from three people, and I appreciate those reviews. I hope I'll see more reviews very soon. Now then, on with Chapter 3! Read On!
BlackChaos, out.
Chapter 3
The Replacement
Haku lay in bed that night, hearing Kakashi's instructions over and over again.
"A Leaf Ninja, huh? Is this what you would've wanted, Zabuza? To give me a purpose again?"
Unable to sleep, Haku stood up and grabbed Zabuza's sword. He then wandered outside, and attempted to swing it. He couldn't even move it outside with him without using both hands. He knew he had a lot of work to do.
"Zabuza could swing this with one hand, I can barely lift it with two. I need to get stronger." He continued to attempt to lift and swing the sword, like Zabuza was able to do. With ever swing, he nearly lost grip of the sword.
"Wait a minute...What if I directed my chakra...?" He shut his eyes and began to focus intently.
"Direct my chakra into my arms and hands..." His arms began to glow a faint blue, and he lifted the sword once more, this time able to lift it and swing it with one hand, albeit very close to dropping the large blade once again.
"Hm. I should probably use both hands for now. At least until I can fine-tune my strength so chakra isn't required in nearly such large amounts to swing it." He grabbed the sword with both hands, and the faint chakra glow grew dimmer.
"By using both hands, it lessens the chakra usage, because the weight is evenly disributed." He told himself as he watched the glow dim. He began to deftly swing the blade with both hands, and smiled as he watched the sun begin to rise.
"I promise, Zabuza. I'll make you smile upon me in heaven. I'll make you proud." And he continued to swing the blade as the sun rose.
Unknown to Haku, Kakashi and Guy were standing upon the Hokage Tower, watching him in the compound.
"He's determined, I'll give him that."
"To have such chakra control, to have figured out how to use it so he could wield the sword, you've definitely picked an interesting new recruit, my Eternal Rival." Guy said with a smile.
Kakashi ignored the last comment and sighed.
"I'm going to need your help, Guy. Haku's been trained for long range combat and assassination, not Taijutsu and close range. If anyone can help with his muscle training to use that blade, it's you."
Guy grinned and gave his "Nice Guy" Pose.
"Kakashi my Eternal Rival, with this request coming from you, I'm going to give your new student everything I've got in Taijutsu training, THAT'S a promise!" He said, a twinkle in his teeth as he gave Kakashi the thumbs up.
Kakashi ignored Guy's with a sigh.
"A simple yes would suffice."
And as the morning sun rose over Konoha, Haku smiled and returned to his room, placing the blade beside his bed, and falling into a peaceful sleep.
Naruto sighed as he woke up in his bed, and looked out at the village. Iruka's words still echoed in his mind.
"Itachi Uchiha..." He got up and jumped in the shower. As the water pelted him, he remembered the epic day where he was coated in mist and blood, the day that changed his life forever. As the memories flooded his brain, Naruto shed a tear, hidden in the falling water.
Getting dressed and ready to go, Naruto walked out, locked his door, and jumped down to the street. Unfazed by the slamming doors and windows, he continued to wander the streets, determining what he would do until the allotted meeting time with his team.
"I should probably visit Sasuke...Or I should go do some research..." He thought aloud, completely oblivious to his Stalker.
"N-Naruto...He's changed so much in the last month...It almost makes me sad that I don't see his smile anymore..." Hinata thought to herself as she watched the blonde ninja walk the streets.
She sighed lightly.
"If only I could talk to him...If only I could figure out how to help him, maybe..."
Then Naruto stopped short.
"What're you doing, Hinata?" He asked gently.
Hinata nearly fell over in shock, he had sensed her presence!
"N-nothing, Naruto! Wh-what about you? I-I mean..." She stammered, unable to finish a single statement, yet again.
Naruto smiled.
"I'm just thinking, is all. You okay? You look a little red." He asked as he moved a little closer to her.
Hinata's blush instantly grew drastically.
"O-oh, I'm fine, Naruto!" She blurted out.
Naruto blinked.
"Um, okay? Well, I wanna go take care of some stuff, so..." As he turned away, Hinata's eyes widened and she stumbled forward.
"N-Naruto! W-wait!" She accidentally stumbled into him, nearly knocking him over.
"Whoah!" He caught her and smiled.
"Easy, you okay?" He asked. His smile radiated in the sunlight, and it nearly made Hinata faint.
"Y-yeah..." Unable to control herself, she looked into his eyes, her own pupils shining with a gaze like a diamond, filled with hope.
"N-Naruto..." She blushed faintly as she moved a little closer to him.
"Hinata..." He moved in towards her, and as their lips connected...
"Hinata...Hinata...HINATA!"
Hinata suddenly blinked several times and looked around, blushing quite visibly.
"H-huh?! Wh-what happened?!"
Kiba sighed as he looked at his teammate, she'd done it again.
"You were just standing there, eyes glazed over. You were REALLY out of it."
Hinata blinked a few times.
"W-where's Naruto?"
"I passed him a little while ago. He said he ran into you a minute before. He said he had some stuff he wanted to take care of, so he'd just left for the library."
Hinata looked down in embarrassment.
"It was just a dream..." When she realized Kiba said the Library, she perked up and bolted.
"S-sorry Kiba! Gotta go!" She ran off in a cloud of dust, and as he watched her run off, Kiba swore he saw a drop of blood under her nose...
Naruto sighed as he continued walking. What the Hell was that about? Hinata had seriously zoned out there. All he did was say he had to go, and she just stared at him. She was a weird one, that much was certain. But Naruto had more important things to worry about. He walked into the Hokage Tower and began to walk down the stairs, leading to the basement.
At the bottom, was the largest library Naruto had ever seen. However, Naruto had never stepped foot in a library, so he wouldn't know anyway.
The library clerk looked at Naruto, and to his surprise, smiled.
"Can I help you, Sir?" Naruto blinked. He knew that everyone had attended Sasuke's funeral, and he was sure that everyone knew the role he had played in Sasuke's death. So why was this woman smiling?
The clerk continued to smile.
"Oh not to worry, Mr. Uzumaki. We don't hold grudges in the Hokage's Tower. Lord Hokage specifically makes sure he knows that his workers treat all people of the village equally in fairness." She explained.
Naruto just blinked. The Hokage had made sure he was safe? It took a minute for everything to click.
"Now then, how can I help you?" She asked again.
Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.
"Give me any and all records of the Uchiha Clan." He stated, cool eyes staring right into the clerk's, almost like gazing into one's soul.
Haku yawned as he sat up and looked over at Zabuza's sword. He smiled, got up, and got ready for his day. He knew that first things first, Kakashi would take him to see the Hokage and be officially announced as a Leaf Ninja. Until then, he decided he wouldn't wear a headband.
Putting on his normal attire, and using his chakra to help, put Zabuza's blade upon his back, the way his former master had carried it. He then left the room and walked into the village, leaving the empty glamor of the Hokage Tower and entering the tranquil peace of Konoha.
As Haku wandered the streets, he bumped into the one person he hoped he wouldn't.
"Oh, pardon me..." Sakura turned and stared at Haku.
Now granted, Kakashi had helped try to make Haku feel welcome by having Sakura keep him company and talk to him a little, as did Naruto. Sakura however, was still a little uneasy around Haku, be it for the fact that he was a former Mist-Nin, or that he had fought Sasuke the day he died, and it was partly wounds that HE caused that killed Sasuke. Either way, she and Haku were still on uneasy terms, but she saw Haku was trying to be friendly, and knew the least she could do was give him a chance.
Haku looked down.
"Oh...Sorry, Sakura-chan..." Haku said with a faint smile.
Sakura smiled, he was the most polite person she'd ever met, and the only person to put suffixes on people's names. Everyone else in the village had dropped -san, -sama, and -kun long ago, but Haku was the first person she'd met who still used such titles. She was guessing that after a little longer in the village, he'd drop the suffix too.
"Just Sakura is fine, Haku." She explained with a smile.
Haku nodded.
"Right..."
Sakura decided to try and start up some conversation. She new Haku was still really nervous, so she wanted to help him.
"So, I see you've got Zabuza's sword, huh?" She asked, pointing to the large blade on his back.
"Y-yeah..."
"How'd you do it?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"How'd you get it on your back? That thing must weigh a ton!" She explained.
Haku smiled.
"O-oh, it takes some chakra control, is all. I think even Zabuza used it to help control the sword. Just direct the chakra into your hands and arms, and it helps strengthen your arms enough to control it. I can barely lift it as it is, but the chakra helps me, even if it's just a little..."
Sakura just stared at him. To have such powerful usage of chakra control as a genin was almost unheard of, especially in male shinobi, but it seemed Haku was quite adept in using his chakra control.
"Wow..." She smiled, and decided to try and change the subject.
"So, why're you out and about? Did the Council let you go?" She asked with hope.
Haku nodded.
"Yeah...Kakashi-sensei's taking me in as a member of your team..."
Sakura blinked.
"So they've replaced Sasuke that quickly..." She thought to herself. She knew they needed a three-man squad, but she thought it would take more than a month to find a replacement.
"Oh...Well, come on!" She exclaimed, hiding her slight sadness in remembering Sasuke's death with a smile.
Haku blinked.
"Huh?"
"I gotta show you around the village! If you're gonna live here, you need to know about this place more, not to mention find a place to live!" She explained, and started walking off.
Haku smiled and followed, maybe it wouldn't be as hard as he thought to be accepted here...
Naruto sighed as he went through the large amount of papers. They were all very helpful in their own right, but they all basically just confirmed what he'd heard about the Uchihas in the past, and gave him a little information he'd never known. He'd found a few jutsu guides which taught him some more useful information, which he would go test some other time, he decided.
When he looked up at the time, he shot up and ran to the counter.
"I'm going to need these for a few days, okay?" He asked, the clerk just nodded.
"That's fine, just please bring them back."
"Got it, thanks!" He yelled back as he ran out of the library.
As Sakura and Haku wandered the streets of Konoha, and Sakura explained the whereabouts of certain things, a flash of black and yellow flew past them, spinning Sakura in a circle.
"What the?!" She yelled as she caught herself, eyes spinning.
Haku blinked.
"Was that...A person?"
Sakura shook her head, trying to clear up her dizziness.
"Jeez..."
Naruto dropped the files at his home and ran to the memorial shrine, where Kakashi was already standing there in his usual spot.
"You're late, Naruto." Kakahsi stated calmly.
Naruto walked up to his spot next to Kakashi and looked at Sasuke's name again.
"Yeah, was doing some research." He explained.
Kakashi grinned.
"You? Doing research?" He asked in disbelief.
Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, that hard to believe?" He asked.
Kakashi chuckled.
"No, not at all..."
Naruto sighed as he looked at Sasuke's name, and stood there silent with Kakashi for the next several minutes.
Finally, Kakashi piped up.
"Let's go, we're late."
Naruto smiled.
"Not like you ever care about being late for anything, Kakashi-sensei." He said with a chuckle.
Kakashi sighed.
"Yes, but we don't want to keep Haku waiting."
Naruto blinked.
"Huh? What about Haku?"
Kakashi smiled.
"The Council cleared him."
Naruto smiled and pumped his fist.
"YES!" He cheered.
Kakashi laughed lightly, he hadn't seen Naruto so happy in a while, he was glad Naruto was still capable of smiling.
"Well what're we waiting for Kakashi-sensei?! Let's go!" He yelled as he ran out of the clearing, after a quick goodbye to Sasuke.
Kakashi sighed.
"I don't know, maybe he hasn't changed that much after all..." And he vanished.
Haku smiled as he sat down and watched Sakura pace. They'd been walking around for quite some time, and when she realized they were late, bolted to the meeting spot, only to find that, as usual nowadays, Kakashi and Naruto were late.
As she began to mutter angrily, Naruto appeared and smiled.
"Hey, sorry I'm late..."
Sakura glared at him.
"Let me guess, you got lost on the road called Life?" She asked sarcastically.
Kakashi sighed as he appeared behind her.
"That's MY line, Sakura."
Sakura proceeded to scream, jump, land in the nearby stream, look down, and scream again.
"What the HELL Kakashi-sensei?! Don't do that to me!!" She screamed.
Kakashi proceeded to cover his ears.
"Sakura, has anyone ever told you you're loud?" He asked.
"Oh let me at him NOW!!" Inner Sakura screamed, ready to tear the Copy Ninja to shreds.
Sakura growled at her sensei and got out of the stream, attempting to dry herself off.
"Anyway, our team is complete once more, now we need to start taking missions again. Most importantly, Haku, we're going to the Hokage's office. We need to get you instated. Ready?" Kakashi asked.
Haku nodded.
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." Haku stood up, and they began to head for the Hokage Tower.
Along the way, many doors proceeded to slam again, and Kakashi just sighed at this, while Inner Sakura was ready to go homicidal and destroy the village.
As they approached the Tower, Kiba was seen passing by with an unconscious Hinata, who was clinging to an orange jacket, which looked eerily similar to the jacket Naruto had once worn...
"Hinata, this is just way too creepy..." Kiba whined as he dragged her away.
Naruto blinked, then Sakura, then Haku, and finally Kakashi. Followed by...
"What the Hell just happened?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi sighed.
"I really don't know." He answered as he entered the Tower.
As they climbed the stairs, Naruto began to think back to when his only dream was being Hokage, that was all he thought about, along with making sure he got his daily dose of ramen. Now, everything was different. He wanted to be Hokage, but it had kind of taken the back burner. He had a promise to Sasuke he had to fulfill, and until he did, Hokage would have to wait.
As they entered the Hokage's office, Sarutobi sat behind his desk with pipe in hand.
"Ah, Kakashi, you're here. I was wondering when you'd arrive." He said with a chuckle.
Kakashi bowed, followed by his students.
"Lord Hokage, forgive my tardiness."
Sarutobi smiled.
"Relax. Haku, come forward." he instructed.
"H-hai, Hokage-Sama..." And Haku walked toward the desk.
Sarutobi nodded and reached under his desk.
"From this day forward, do you swear to serve and defend the Hidden Village Konoha, and protect the Land of Fire with your life?" He asked.
Haku nodded.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. I would die for Konoha, and the land of Fire." He answered.
Sarutobi smiled.
"Very well." He placed a headband on his desk.
"Take it, you are officially a Leaf-nin." he instructed.
Haku nodded and took the headband, placing it on his forehead, where the headband of the Mist once rested.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Haku said with a smile.
Sarutobi smiled.
"Not a problem, Haku. Now then, I have no missions for you currently, but I hear we'll be having visitors from the Land of Herbs soon. I will call for you when they do." He explained.
Kakashi nodded.
"Understood, Lord Hokage." And they turned to leave.
Naruto smiled. He didn't know Haku well, but he knew that Haku could be trusted. Now all they had to do was complete enough missions to earn the trust of the villagers...
As they left the Hokage Tower, Kakashi grinned.
"Well, you're dismissed for now. Go train, I'll come get you when the visitors have arrived." He explained as he vanished, holding his beloved book in hand.
Naruto sighed.
"He's only gonna know because someone has to come yell at him to get us." He explained.
Haku blinked.
"Really?"
Sakura nodded.
"Kakashi-sensei is NOT the most responsible ninja in the village."
Haku just stared at them in disbelief.
Naruto chuckled.
"Well, I'm gonna go train, I'll catch up with you later..." And he vanished in smoke.
Haku blinked, and as he turned to face Sakura, he saw she too was gone, and a bead of sweat dripped down the back of his head.
Naruto had grabbed the jutsu guide he found in the library, and had gone to the one place that had still been quarantined off: The Uchiha estate.
Going to the dock, looking at the blood that stained the paths around him, he sighed as he took out the book. He would master as many jutsu as he could, he needed to. He couldn't just rely on Shadow Clones anymore, they weren't enough.
"Let's see..." He looked out at the pond lake before him and smiled.
"This must be where the right of passage was performed."
He put the book down and began to practice.
"Inu-tori-Tatsu-tori-inu-inu-tori-Mi-Uma-I-Ushi-U-Tora..." Naruto felt his chakra begin to build.
"I've got to continue, I must master this..."
And he continued hand seals into the night.
Haku had begun to wander around, looking for somewhere to train, when he saw the most unusual sight before him: A man with a bowl haircut and a green jumpsuit.
"You must be Haku, Kakashi's new student!" Guy yelled in excitement.
Haku blinked. Then nodded.
Guy grinned.
"I'm the Noble Blue Beast of the Leaf: Might Guy!" He exclaimed as he gave Haku a thumbs up.
Haku just stared at him.
Guy grinned. "Kakashi asked me to help train you, so come!" he yelled as he began to jog in place.
Haku cocked an eyebrow.
Guy smiled.
"One hundred laps around the village! Come on, let's go!"
Haku just stared at him with eyes as big as oranges.
"You must be joking."
Guy laughed.
"I know, so few! Alright then, two hundred!"
Haku nearly fell over.
"Are you insane?!"
Guy grinned.
"Now come on, let's go! If not, then it's gonna be five hundred laps on your hands!" he yelled as he dashed off.
Haku sighed.
"What have I gotten myself into?" He asked himself as he jogged off into the sunset, following the running Jounin.
A/N: Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter, I felt a little random today, so I gave you a little humor as well. Sorry about the Hinata thing, but it had to be done. Don't worry, I'm not gonna make any sudden romances, only in Hinata's dreams does that ever happen XD. As for Haku's usage of suffixes, I just felt that it would show just how out of place Haku feels right now. It'll all match up after a few chapters, plus I need Haku to talk like that for something...Anyway, any advice is always welcome. Use that little button at the bottom that says review, and my friend here'll give you a glomp.
Chibi Hinata: Reviews pweese? For Naruto-kun?
Read on!
BlackChaos, out.
