Myst and Leaves
by Wanderer D
Chapter 7
It had been three months since Jiraiya-sensei had left, and as Haku thought on her master's last words she growled in annoyance.
"A problem, Haku-chan?" the Chunin seating across from her asked.
"N-no..." Haku shook her head, then looked sheepishly at the Chunin instructor. "I'm sorry, Kurenai-sensei, I don't think Genjutsu is going to be one of my strengths."
Kurenai laughed. "Nonsense." she looked down at the diagrams. "You have advanced a lot in the last month, and we only have one more week before my training with you ends." she smirked. "You have the Uchiha's already wary of your increased knowledge and ability. I hear that idiot Fugaku is already trying to get his youngest kid to train harder."
Haku smiled slightly. "I hope he doesn't get hurt."
Kurenai shrugged. "I wouldn't worry. We all have seen how Itachi dotes over him. I'm sure he'll keep the elder Uchiha in check."
Haku nodded.
"Speaking of which..." Kurenai continued, blushing a bit. "What type of person is he?"
Haku blink-blinked, then smiled impishly at her teacher. "Kurenai-sensei, don't tell me you..."
"Not at all!" Kurenai spoke up shaking her head a bit too hard in Haku's opinion. "I just... well... I wonder what he is like, that's all. I've never had a chance to really talk to him..."
Haku sighed. "Itachi-ni... sensei... is a very private person. He is very strict with his training, and he tried to keep his distance... but he is kind. He is different from the other Uchiha. I don't know how to put it... he cares a lot for all of us."
Kurenai blinked. "You mean, children?" then she smiled. "Were you going to call him nii-san?"
Haku blushed and shook her head. "Konoha." she answered, ignoring the second comment. She looked at the sky and passing clouds. "He relishes in helping Konoha. I can tell from the way he taught me. He wants Konoha to be strong but not uncaring."
Kurenai smiled. "It always amazes me, Haku-chan, how good you are at reading people."
The adopted Nara smirked. "It is troublesome at times. I admit, sensei."
The Chunin groaned. "Not you too. Shikaku-san is more than enough!" she was about to say something when her eyes strayed from Haku and her mouth clamped shot.
Haku followed Kurenai's glare to its victim. A young blond boy in ill-fitting orange clothes that were a couple of sizes too big for him. The boy had been watching them with a slightly envious look, but the moment that Kurenai glared at him, he cringed, turned around and walked away.
"Naruto-kun!" Haku whispered in shock, forgetting herself.
Kurenai's head snapped back to her. "You know of him?"
Blinking rapidly in surprise, Haku nodded. "Yes... I, I heard of him..."
Kurenai snorted angrily. "Keep away form him, Haku. No good can come from that de- kid."
Haku had to bite back an angry retort. She wasn't supposed to know Naruto. Jiraiya had stressed that almost every day since they had set way towards Konoha. And common sense dictated that she not give away her knowledge. She still did not know exactly what got the adults of the village in such a state where Naruto was involved. Although she was disappointed that Kurenai would feel that way.
Haku stood up. "Before he died, my father said very similar things about me... Kurenai-sempai." she bowed politely and walked away, despite knowing that her lesson with the Chunin would have continued for another hour at least.
Kurenai could only stare at Haku's back as the young prodigy walked away, clearly offended. It hadn't been her intention to hurt Haku with that comment. The child couldn't possibly know about the truth behind Naruto's nature... and yet, Haku had confided in her how little she thought of her father and town for condemning her only because of her bloodline. Such a reaction...
An uneasy feeling started to settle in her stomach as she considered what she knew of Naruto.
Barely out of the Orphanage, no-one had wanted to adopt the demon-fox child, according to the report from the council. The Hokage had seemed fit for the fox to have a place to live. That was all that she knew, other than spotting him from time to time walking down the street. He hadn't talked to her, looked at her or done anything to her, personally. But she had greeted the fox with hate every single time.
And now Haku had indirectly compared her to her biological father. A being less than human by all accounts of his behavior and ignorance and lack of compassion. A man who Kurenai had condemned every night since she had heard what he had done to Haku's mother and what he had almost done to Haku. A man upon she fervently wished the worst tortures of hell.
A man whom she felt so different from, so alienated. Until now. Was she really like that?
Disconcerted, Kurenai also stood up, but made no attempt to call Haku back, or even follow her.
o.0.o
Naruto walked away from the training ground. He had heard some of the villagers talk about a really young ninja being trained there, and he had gone to take a look. He hadn't done anything to them and yet he had felt the hatred coming his way.
He sighed and kicked a stone. It bounced a couple of feet and hit something. Slowly looking up, he followed the stone, to the foot, to the leg and up, to stare at the Chunin from earlier.
Fearfully he took a step back, but she didn't do anything other than to look at him. Trying to read her intentions he looked at her eyes.
The red irises were a turmoil of expressions. Far too many for a young child to fully appreciate. But Haku would have recognized the clear message behind the wavering stare.
The woman started walking towards him and Naruto closed his eyes, cringing involuntarily. He had met other ninja and they had all kicked him or punched him. He knew he couldn't escape now.
He could hear the footsteps coming closer.
He braced himself for what was coming.
When the footsteps stopped he waited for a moment. Then waited again, deciding that maybe the girl was deciding where to kick him. When no physical violence ensued he dared open one sky-blue eye then the other one.
The Chunin wasn't hitting him. She had stopped right next to Naruto and was staring straight ahead, pointedly not looking at him. The young boy could see a series of emotions playing on her face. Her hand slowly came up and again he closed his eyes.
He felt her palm press against his head. He waited for it.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun."
The hand left his hair. The footsteps resumed and faded away.
Naruto opened his eyes and turned around, but the Chunin was gone.
o.0.o
Haku walked up a series of steps to where she usually laid down to watch the clouds. As she approached her favorite tree, which had been shown to her as a premium cloud-watching place by Shikamaru, she noticed her brother was there already.
"Hey Shika-kun." Haku said flopping down next to the other kid, pinning the plump youth between them. "Who's your friend?"
Shikamaru, who had already laid back to look at the clouds merely looked at her. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
Haku shrugged and looked at the other boy. "Hi, I'm Haku."
The boy smiled sweetly and nodded, gulping down the chips he had been chewing before answering. "My name is Akimichi Choji." he nodded. "Pleased to meet you."
They remained silent for a while, watching the clouds, with only the sounds of Choji eating interrupting the peace.
"You know..." Choji suddenly said. "If we had one more person we could play Ninja if we wanted."
Haku smiled. "Sure! I have some old notes in my room we can use to make the origami shuriken."
Shikamaru snorted, still looking up. "You seem to forget that we still need someone else to play, Aneki."
Haku grinned. "I know just the guy."
o.0.o
Naruto sighed as he threw a stone into the lake.
Konoha's central park was always weird for him. He would go there to watch children play and hope to meet friends. But as he would start making a connection, some villager or other would tell the children not to play with him. The children would listen and he would be alone again.
Today had been such a day. He had met a blond girl his age, crying and had quickly gotten her to cheer up, but when her parents had come up to see what had been wrong with her, they had blamed him and taken her away without even giving him a chance to explain. Her mom had even threatened to punch him if he ever got close to her daughter again.
He sighed again.
"Hey."
When Naruto didn't turn, another voice called. "Hey, you, blond kid."
Groaning at his bad luck, Naruto turned around. He knew how things would play out. The bullies and the kids that hated him would gang up on him and beat him until a ninja would eventually step in to shoo them away, leaving Naruto behind to get home on his own.
The troop was smaller than usual. Two boys and a girl. Maybe he could fight them, or out run them. He stepped back warily, ready to bolt when they attacked.
o.0.o
Haku hurt. She could not bear to see the young boy she met in her last life, so full of life and pain and cheerfulness... scared of her. He was ready to run.
She smiled a bit, although it slipped a bit when he stepped back again. "My name is Nara Haku. This is my brother Nara Shikamaru and our friend, Akimichi Choji."
Naruto didn't move, but he was obviously curious. Clearly the other kids never bothered to introduce themselves. He nodded slightly. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto."
"We wanted to play Ninja..." Shikamaru said suddenly, looking at Naruto with a slightly bored expression. "But we are missing a person."
"Would you like to play with us?" Choji asked, finishing for all of them.
Naruto looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, trying not to cry, Haku showed him the origami shuriken. "We brought weapons?"
Naruto grinned.
o.0.o
They played until it started to get dark. Through the games, Haku had sensed several familiar presences. Shikaku had been there, with another person. Kurenai-sempai had been another. She was still angry at the Chunin, but at least the Genjutsu master had not interfered and had eventually left. It wasn't until twilight that she noticed the bad intentions from people walking towards them.
"Hey kids. Step away from the boy in orange and go home." A man said, making all of them turn to look at the arriving adults.
There were seven of them, and one of them was a Chunin. Haku cursed. Villagers could be scared away easily, a Chunin might hurt her friends. Her thoughts drifted to the scrolls left in her room. She hadn't been slacking off, but with all the training she had been given in Konoha by several Chunin and Jonin she had ignored her Ice Techniques in favor of the vastly different learning from her time in Kimigakure and under Zabuza-sama's tutelage. She could have used some of the techniques now to disorient the villagers at a low chakra-cost.
"You kids should do as he says." The Chunin spoke, nodding towards one of the villagers. "You don't want to hang out with that brat. He'll only bring you pain and betrayal in the long run."
"Yeah. Let us take care of him so he never bothers you again!" Another villager laughed, cracking his knuckles and chuckling evilly.
Haku took a defensive stance. "The only bad fortune today has been the sudden arrival of a bunch of drunken idiots and captain pompous." she growled.
Shikamaru took a cautious step forward. "Aneki, we should all run. If we can create a distraction I am sure we'll be all safe back home."
Haku nodded without taking her eyes from the angry group in front of them. "Take Naruto straight to the house, and don't let them follow you."
Shikamaru nodded, looking nervously at her. "Don't get hurt."
"This ought to be good." The Chunin said. "I know who you are. The Nara Prodigy." he spat. "I don't care how good you are kid, you are no better than anyone else. And you are certainly not better than any Uchiha!"
The shout was the only warning she had. In an instant the Chunin was on her, trying to kick her. Although he was faster than she was, Haku had much more experience than him. She might be a child now, but she made up for it with her intimate knowledge of combat.
Instincts kicking in, Haku's hands deflected the kick as her body moved to absorb the energy of the attack. She retaliated, jumping over the overstretched leg and trying a kick of her own.
The Chunin was fast enough to catch her leg and threw her away from him. Haku landed hard on the ground, but she was already rolling to a stand.
She heard a grunt and a scream and she looked in horror at the villagers, who were holding Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji in their arms.
"Don't get distracted!" the Chunin shouted attacking again. "Consider this a free lesson, brat!"
o.0.o
Naruto struggled in the arms of the villager. He recognized this bunch as a group that usually picked on him and would hit him constantly. They were part of the few that would get away before helped arrived because they had a ninja, Chunin or even Jonin at times, helping them and warning them if someone was coming.
He was impressed with Haku's ability, but when the Chunin jumped at her and punched her because she was distracted, he feared for her. She landed on her back and didn't get up immediately, but the Chunin screamed in pain.
Naruto saw him fall to his knees and hold up a hand that had some sort of big needle going completely through it.
Haku stood up slowly and wiped blood from a split lip. Naruto winced. He knew how those stung later on.
He started struggling again.
o.0.o
The Chunin ripped the senbon needle out of his hand and glared at Haku. "I'm gonna kill you you little bitch!"
Haku gritted her teeth. The needle had been more instinct than anything. The Chunin was sloppy, and most likely underestimating her. But now...
The ninja's eyes turned red, and she was suddenly reminded of her fight with the Uchiha kid at the Wave Country. When something similar had happened to him, he had been able to start dodging her attacks. This was not good. The Chunin had probably much more experience with his bloodline than a Genin.
Her enemy seemed to blur and suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Her brain couldn't explain why until her eyes focused on the fist buried in her stomach. Haku crumbled under the strength of the punch.
o.0.o
Naruto watched in horror as one of his new and only friends fell unconscious after a vicious punch from the ninja.
Anger welled within him and he could feel something within stir as the ninja picked up Haku by the neck.
With a sudden burst of strength, Naruto bit on his captor's hand as hard as he could, tasting blood.
The man screamed.
o.0.o
The Chunin looked at the villager as he let go of Naruto. The boy, snarling, ran towards him. With a snort, the Chunin kicked Naruto on the chest, knocking him down.
It was then that he felt something. His head whipped around to Haku, who had both her hands grasping his wrist.
But that was not what worried him. It was the fact that he could no longer feel his hand.
o.0.o
Haku concentrated hard. The cold wind the strange ninja had taught her seeped into the hand that was holding her. She didn't just want to numb it, she wanted him to hurt!
Colder! She thought. Colder!
Her hands wrapped tighter around the wrist.
Colder!
She gritted her teeth, thinking of Naruto, Zabuza, Shikamaru, Jiraiya...
"Frozen Wind!" she shouted finally, fingers digging into the hand that held her.
There was a crack and then a the sound of something crashing into bits. Haku unceremoniously landed on the ground, not understanding what had happened.
Then the Chunin started to scream and the villagers were running away.
o.0.o
The Hokage looked at the four children and the two fathers.
"I trust that what Naruto-kun, Haku-chan, Shikamaru-kun and Choji-kun said is true and that this happened in self defense."
Haku looked up, slighly offended. "I assure you, Hokage-sama that..."
"Oji-san! We are telling the truth! They are the same guys that have attacked me before!" Naruto interrupted.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
It was broken by a knock on the door.
"Come in." Sarutobi called from behind his desk, glad for once, about the interruption.
A young man in ANBU uniform stepped in. He looked at the group for a second, then looked at the Hokage.
"Hokage-sama, I came to report that Tomoyuki-kun is in the hospital and is stable, although his hand was completely destroyed in the fight."
"Thank you, Itachi-kun. Has he said anything about his side of the story?" Sarutobi asked.
Itachi looked down at the children, his gaze lingering on Naruto, then Haku.
"Yes, Hokage-sama. According to Tomoyuki-kun, Haku-san, Naruto-kun and the other two ambushed him as he was on his way to buy Okonomiyaki for that night's dinner. He intends to pursue the matter and no doubt will have captain Fugaku process a formal procedure to have the two 'felons' arrested and punished appropriately."
"Thank you, Itachi-kun, you are dismissed." Sarutobi said with a sigh.
"What?!" Naruto shouted. "That's a lie!"
Choji looked nervously at his father, who shook his head and smiled.
Shikamaru tried to look unperturbed, but looked a bit grateful when Shikaku placed his hand on his and Haku's shoulder.
"Who do you believe, Aniki?" Haku asked, her hand unconsciously sneaking up to touch Shikaku's for comfort, surprising both him and the Hokage.
Itachi looked at Haku impassibly. It was impossible to see what was going inside his head. He shook his head and turned to leave.
On the doorway he stopped. "It would be convenient for the Hokage to know that the one place that serves Okonomiyaki in Konoha is on the other side of the village. Completely opposite from the park. It should also be noted that Tomoyuki-kun has a rather boastful personality and has bragged about his abusing of Naruto-kun several times in public." he paused, seeming to think for a moment. "It is also worth mentioning that the ANBU team that caught up with them, managed to see the last bit of the fight, a fact that my f- Fugaku-sama is well aware of. He is at the moment trying to identify them to keep them from interfering."
Sarutobi had started smiling when Itachi had started to talk. With a wordless nod, he acknowledged the information the Uchiha Prodigy had given him.
Itachi looked over his shoulder at Haku and nodded just slightly before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
o.0.o
That night, Haku sat in her room as she extended her family history scroll. Thinking back on what she had done that day, she took a deep breath.
She had postponed this long enough. In her studies, a couple of her teachers, including Kurenai-sempai had mentioned that sometimes a ninja's weakness was psychological, rather than physical. It could of course be anything, but she had to learn from the clues. Find out what irked them, what type of situation or thing they avoided without apparent reason. In all likelihood the analysis would not be too helpful during combat. But if her task was to hunt a nukenin, for example, learning what made him "tick" would help in his defeat.
Thus, today she had recognized her psychological weakness. She was avoiding her studies into her clan's power. Before, as a tool, it was simple. It was an extra ability for Zabuza-sama to use in his fight. Now... it had a history. It was related to people that existed before her. The weight of these traditions, training and techniques had scared her.
She started slowly, placing her hands on the extended scroll and closed her eyes. The air around her cooled down, as her thoughts flowed into her being.
"Colder." she whispered.
The temperature dropped further, and mist started to materialize around her.
"Colder."
The scroll slowly stretched out completely. There was no part of it that could even indicate that it had been rolled up at some point.
"Colder..."
Frost started to cover the scroll.
"Colder..."
Tendrils of blue light flashed, making Haku open her eyes. The family tree had disappeared, and now new letters and names appeared on it. She turned the scroll horizontally and read the only two names on it.
"Asano Hyoga" she read aloud. "And Asano Saori." she recognized the name as Hyoga's daughter in the family tree.
She recognized this now, for what it was. A summoning contract.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to act before common sense kicked in and stopped her. Biting her thumb, she drew blood. Pressing her little thumb against the frozen paper, she signed in her name. "Asano Haku of the Nara and Senju clans." she said as she wrote.
A sudden gust of wind blasted her out of the way. The room spinned around her and suddenly, she was waist deep in snow.
It was nighttime, a full moon cast blue-sliver light all around her. Stars sparkled, unusually bright and clear even with the light from the moon. She was in a small clearing in a forest. She looked at the magnificent pine-trees all around her, and then she stopped in shock.
Emerging from the trees was a huge white wolf. Spikes of ice seemed to function as an armor of sorts around his shoulders and back. His snout was covered in a crystalline helm, giving his glowing yellow eyes and even creepier look. Ice protectors covered all four of his shins. Each of his paws was as wide and big as a house and he rose as tall as the tallest of the trees around them.
Haku stared, completely at a loss for words or thoughts.
The wolf looked down on her, as if considering. A whiff of his nose and slowly a smile spread, showing white fangs twice as long as a man was tall.
"You are a young one, aren't you?" the wolf said. She knew it was the wolf speaking, although he had not made any movements other than the smile. "Tell me cub. How is it that you are here? How come you to be in the land of my Lord, the Wendigo?"
o.0.o
NEXT CHAPTER:
"Wendigo? Who is he? And what is your name?"
"I can smell the blood of the Asano line in you cub."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Author's notes:
Aneki is the female version of Aniki. I just think the concept of Shikamaru calling Haku Aneki as if they were in the Yakuza very amusing. Same for Haku calling Itachi Aniki.
Yes the change in how Haku addresses Kurenai is intentional.
I also cannot promise that the chapters are going to be always as long or longer than this one.
And now, for the reviews:
Dermonster: Well, I am glad the story has you intrigued! :D Again, I will not make promises on the pairing, although I will admit I am some what of a Naru/Hina fan.
Alucard180: Heh, the book thing will come up again at a later time. Jiraiya was almost prophetic when he called the "Gutsy Ninja" Naruto.
Redrobin: Go is so complicated! Argh! I mean, yes, simple in essence but have you tried to play against a 1-dan? My respect for Shikamaru's intellect and as a strategist has gone up several notches. He is pretty much downplayed in almost all fan fiction I've read. So I might have work on that a lot.
Youknowwhatman: More to come!
o.0.o
Remember guys and gals, I love hearing from you! Let me know what you think of the story! You letting me know helps me move things faster! Is it worth continuing? Let me know! :D
