Alright, I'm back! For now… Anywho, sorry that it's been a while, but with balancing school, a social life, and getting sick a lot, it's hard to write. I don't know how long this chapter will be, but it'll likely be quite short, as I've pretty much forgotten what I'd planned for this chapter. I'll try my best to update more frequently, but I won't be making any promises! Anyways, onto the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. (Obviously.)
The Many Worlds Theory
Chapter 7 - The Broken Demon
It'd been a few days since they'd arrived at the Land of Waves and after an entire day of training, the three members of Team Ten had learned basic Chakra Adhesion. While Ino and Shikamaru, like Sakura, had picked it up straight away, Choji had a harder time.
He simply didn't have the finely-tuned chakra control of Ino or the methodical mind of Shikamaru. When asked if he wanted any tips, he would simply refuse, stating that he wished to figure it out on his own. Training late into the night to catch up to his teammates, he finally figured it out in the dead of night before returning to Tazuna's household.
Naruto smiled from his spot on the roof of Tazuna's home as he watched Choji enter, exhausted and covered in dirt and grime. Choji really did remind Naruto of himself. As he pondered the thought, he didn't notice how much time had gone by as Choji climbed out of the window and sat down next to him.
"Hey," Choji greeted, as he began to lay onto his back.
"Hey," Naruto responded, glancing over to the boy. Noticing his damp hair, Naruto figured that he must have just gotten done bathing.
"What are you still doing up?"
"Just looking at the stars. I can't really sleep."
The two were silent for a few moments before Choji asked, "How'd you do it?"
"Do what?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Become so much stronger in barely a month," the Akimichi asked. "You were the deadlast in our class… and now… you're able to fight against a jounin. No offense, but… I just thought that you were like me."
"What do you mean 'like you'?"
"Untalented," Choji simply responded. "Shikamaru, Ino, Sasuke and Sakura… they're all talented… they're geniuses. I just thought that you were different… like me."
Naruto sat up, looking over to Choji with his brows furrowed. "Choji. I think you're misunderstanding something."
"And what's that?"
"You're talented too. In fact, I'd say that you're more talented than anyone else here." Seeing Choji raise an eyebrow questioningly, Naruto elaborated. "You're a hard worker. That's a talent that exceeds everything else. Being a genius is great and all, but being a hard worker beats being a genius any day. You can have all of the natural-born talent in the world, but if you don't work hard, you'll never get anywhere. You don't have to sell yourself short." Getting up, Naruto gave a reassuring smile before going back inside. "Chin up. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
"Good night," Choji replied, looking at the stars as he began to ponder what Naruto had just told him, only to realize that Naruto had completely avoided his question. 'I guess it'll just be another mystery,' he thought as his eyelids began to droop little by little before finally closing.
Choji sneezed loudly before beginning to sniffle. "And that's why you don't sleep outside with only a t-shirt and shorts," Ino told him.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Choji dismissed as he walked out of the house, heading to the forest.
Ino sighed. "Seriously… why can't he just take care of himself? Why was he even out there, anyways?" she pondered aloud.
"Sorry, that was my fault," Naruto answered, nervously scratching the back of his head. "He came out to talk to me last night and I guess he fell asleep after I came back in. I should've noticed."
Ino simply raised an eyebrow but ultimately just sighed once more. "It's okay, he-" she began, only to be interrupted by a loud knocking on the door next to her.
"Did he forget something?" Naruto wondered.
"Probably," Ino sighed. "What'd you forget?" she asked as she opened the door, only to reveal a bloodied Zabuza kneeling before them; a sickly Haku lying in his arms. Ino gasped at the sight, frozen.
"Please, help him," he begged as his voice cracked, tears running down his face.
Not wasting a moment, Naruto ran over as he took Haku from Zabuza, carrying him over to a small sofa and placing him down. "Ino, go get Sakura!"
She didn't move; not a single muscle twitched.
"Ino!" Naruto shouted again, shaking her from her shocked state.
"O-on it," she said, running out of the house and towards the forest.
"What happened?" Naruto asked Zabuza as he began to examine Haku. This was completely different from his memories.
"Gato betrayed us… he gassed Haku with poison and ordered his men to kill me while I was still weak. I was able to get us out, but Haku, he…" his voice cracked as he thought about what had happened to the one that he'd raised. Walking over to Naruto, Zabuza lowered himself to the ground as he begged, "Please, save Haku. I don't care what you do to me, just… save him."
Naruto didn't know how to react. There, prostrating before him, was none other than the Demon of the Hidden Mist; a man known to have ruthlessly killed masses of people without hesitation was now begging for help. Sure, he had wanted to get their help and hoped that they would survive, but… this turn of events was just so different compared to what had happened in the other world. Naruto couldn't help but be thankful that Tsunami and Inari had left the house before this happened. He couldn't imagine how this would have gone if they'd been present.
"Raise your head. Our medic-nin should be here soon. Are you injured?" Naruto asked after confirming that Haku was still alive.
"Just a few scrapes and bruises," Zabuza replied slowly, lifting himself off of the floor to kneel by Haku. "Will your medic be able to help him?"
"Yes. From what I can tell, the poison's fairly powerful, but is slow-acting. She should be able to save him." Naruto simply watched as Zabuza cared for Haku, holding the androgynous boy's hand as his face contracted in pain. "Why come to us?" Naruto asked.
Zabuza looked down at Haku as he answered, "Because you were the only chance that I had to save Haku."
"Even though we're your enemy?"
"Yes," Zabuza replied without hesitation.
"You truly care for him, don't you?"
"Yes," Zabuza told the blond. "He's like my own son. When I met him… it was like the world was giving me another chance."
"Another chance at wha-"
"What happened?" Sasuke asked as he, Ino and Sakura ran into the house.
"The boy's been poisoned. Sakura, please, help him," Naruto told the medic-nin.
Nodding, Sakura ran upstairs before coming back down with her scrolls and performing the same procedure she'd used to treat Asuma. Taking some of the poison and placing it into a vial, Sakura got up.
"He should be fine for now. I just need to create an anti-poison for him and he should make a full recovery."
"Thank you," Zabuza told her, the bandages that once wrapped his face now hanging loosely around his neck.
"You're welcome," she responded with a small smile. "Ino, I need to gather a few ingredients. Can you help me?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, of course," Ino replied, following the medic outside.
Watching as the two girls left, Sasuke turned back to Naruto as Zabuza stayed next to Haku. "What now?" he asked.
"I don't know," Naruto responded. "But we have to let Kakashi and Asuma know about this before they come back."
"Yeah. I'll go tell them. You should stay here with them."
"Yeah, but afterwards…"
Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said as he left the house.
"Why do you trust me enough to do this?" Zabuza asked.
"To do what?"
"Help me."
Naruto was silent for a moment. "I knew someone like you before."
"And he died?"
"Yeah… while avenging his… child."
"Sounds like something I'd do," Zabuza laughed.
"Earlier, you were saying that meeting Haku was like another chance. What did you mean?"
Zabuza let out what seemed like a sad chuckle as he began speaking. "I had a girlfriend once." Seeing that Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, he elaborated. "It was when I was about eighteen. We met during one of my missions. I was supposed to take out a bandit group that was occupying a small town. Simple job. In and out, but… when I got there, I found that the group was just a small part of a much larger organization that had been working against the Hidden Mist. So I was ordered to stay in town for longer and find out what I could. During that time, I met her… Kana." His voice broke at her name as he recalled the memories that he'd tried to bury.
"She was the daughter of the innkeeper for the hotel that I was staying at. She just brought out an entirely different part of me; a part that I didn't know I had… I was stationed there for a month before I was told to take out the group and during that time…"
"You fell in love," Naruto said.
"Yes, but I had to return to my village and so I left. A couple months went by before I received a message from her saying that she was…" Zabuza placed a hand over his mouth as tears began to trickle down from the corners of his eyes. "She was pregnant." With ragged breathing, he continued his story. "I was so happy. I considered just leaving the village then and there, but then…"
"Then what?"
"The town was attacked. The organization that the group was a part of destroyed the town while trying to find the one responsible for the deaths of the bandits. By the time that I'd heard and gotten there, everything was destroyed and Kana had died with our unborn child."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Naruto said, unsure of what else to say. This was something that he had never expected to hear. The Demon of the Hidden Mist really was just another person. No matter how feared and renowned he was as a demon, he was just another human who had been broken by loss and grief. Life could disappear in the blink of an eye and thus he had to do everything that he could to protect it.
"So why did you defect from Kiri?" Kakashi asked from his position across the table from Zabuza. When he was informed of Zabuza's presence at Tazuna's household, he immediately made his way back with Sasuke, while Asuma kept watch of the bridge.
"Why do you want to know?" Zabuza asked.
"Just curious. I'd heard that you staged a coup because the Mizukage is supposedly being controlled."
"Where did you hear that?"
"It's just a rumor," Kakashi responded. "Any truth to it?"
"Yes. There is," Zabuza said, looking down at his hands on the table. "From what I could tell, the Mizukage isn't acting of his own accord."
"What makes you so sure?"
"I first met him when I was a child, before the incident that coined my nickname. He was nothing like his is now. He seemed so drained at the time, but… he was kind. He was so bright and cheerful, but then he suddenly changed; like he became an entirely different person. I just don't believe that that could happen. So, after finding more people with the same idea, I staged a coup. You know the rest."
"Interesting," Kakashi thought aloud. This was definitely something to look into further, but he would have to wait until after the mission was over with before he could investigate. The Hokage would likely find this story fascinating, but of course, what information could his students have on this subject? He'd simply have to find out.
Welp, like I said, a short chapter. Not much here, but hopefully you'll forgive me for that… Please? Well, I'll try and update more, but again, no promises. Anywho, yeah… Zabuza's past is different and we see that he's gone through a lot, but there may be even more to come for him… or maybe not, who knows. We'll see eventually. Anyways, until next time! See you!
