Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or Naruto. R&R please.

Chapter 10

Unexpected Blessing

"What did you do to tick her off?"

Haku sighed. "She knows of the attempted Mizukage assassination,' he explained. At Garnet's questioning look, he continued, "The Mizukage is the leader of the Hidden Mist Village, where Master Zabuza is from. Before he became a missing nin, we attempted a coup de ta against him but failed. Since then, Master Zabuza and I have been rouge ninja belonging to no one other than ourselves."

"Ah," Garnet said. She picked up her bowl of soup, starting to slowly drink the contents. She gagged a little at the taste but kept drinking until the entire soup was gone. "Disgusting," she said putting the empty soup bowl back on the table. "That has got to be the vile thing I have ever tasted."

Haku chuckled. "It's better than hunting for food in the desert,' he said. Garnet saw his point, shrugging her shoulders. She quickly downed her tea, gagged again, and sat back comfortably on her many pillows. Haku watched as she was drawn into her thoughts, lost to him for the time being.

In Garnet's mind, many questions ran rampant without answers. 'How can I properly mourn Zidane when I have Haku?' 'What should I tell my child about their father? The truth, or keep it to myself?' 'How can love for one person be automatically switched to another without a proper mourning period?' 'What if Haku doesn't see me like Zidane did and leave me alone?' 'What if I end up not loving Haku or him not loving me?' 'Has Alexandria already chosen a new queen or is Beatrix in charge of a search party?' Garnet was thrown out of her mind when the door slammed open, revealing a person who appeared to be very ticked off. They were covered from head to toe in a black cloak and hat and held a pole-arm in their right arm. Haku reacted immediately, standing up from his seat moving to the front of Garnet's bed in one swift movement. "Who are you?" he asked defensively.

"Get away from my friend!" the person yelled. The person rushed forward toward Haku. He almost engaged him when Garnet caught their attention.

"Freya, stop!" Garnet yelled. She stood up quickly from her bed, almost falling before Haku caught her in his arms.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!" 'Freya' yelled.

"Freya, calm your fury!" Garnet said. "Haku is not your enemy!"

The person called, Freya, stopped to look at the two. "How did you know it was me?" Freya removed her hat revealing a rat-like face with pointed ears where regular ears were supposed to be.

"You forgot about your tail in disguising yourself," Garnet explained. She pointed to a place directly behind Freya. Instead of moving to look, Freya simply whipped her tail around to her left side.

"I believe you are right Dagger," Freya said. "I was never good at stealth."

"Garnet nodded in understanding. "How did you get here?"

"I should ask you the same thing," Freya replied. "Do you know how worried everyone has been?" Freya stepped closer to her friend, only to be blocked by Haku. "Let me pass."

"Not until you pass a test first," Haku said.

"Haku, this is Freya," Garnet explained. 'She has been a friend of mine for many years."

"And remember how you got here," Haku replied simply but chastising. "No ninja would put anything past the snake man when he has his sights on something or someone."

Garnet nodded sadly. Truth be told, she vaguely remembered seeing Orochimaru's face in her court watching her with his keen eyes. "Alright," Garnet said. To Freya she said, "I shall give you a test Freya. I will ask you three questions only you know and have never told anyone outside the group."

"Fine," Freya replied. She stood at a soldiers' attention, left arm stiffly at her side while her right held the pole-arm near her right foot at a slight angle. "Administer your test."

Garnet nodded and thought for a moment. 'If Orochimaru had truly been studying me, why disguise himself as Freya? I haven't seen Freya since the day I married Zidane. Even during our travels, Freya and I were never that close. But Orochimaru wouldn't know that. Nor would he know the destruction of Clera by my mother.'

"First question," Garnet said at last. "What is your title?"

"I am a dragon knight of Burmecia sworn to defend His Majesty and the people of Burmecia," Freya answered.

"Correct," Garnet said. "Second question, when you and the others were fighting for Clera, you all met someone you knew but the others didn't. Who was it and what is your relationship with them as of that moment?"

Freya answered immediately. 'It was Sir Fratley. I had thought him lost after he went to tour the world and he did not remember me." Garnet noticed that Freya's answers were correct, but the way she answered them was different from the true Freya she had known from traveling.

"Correct," Garnet said again. "Last question, who destroyed Clera and how did they destroy it?"

"Clera was destroyed by your mother, Queen Brahne with one of your summons," Freya answered. Haku's eyes narrowed at the vague ending, but he said nothing as Garnet walked past him to see her friend.

"Correct." Garnet stepped in front of Haku to get a better look at Freya. 'You answered all the questions correctly." Garnet's smile faded as she continued. "But there is one problem. Though I believe your answers, I do not trust the way you answered them. The Freya I traveled with was very different in her mannerisms. And I haven't seen her in four years. In short, I do not believe you are the true Freya."

Freya's mouth curled into a smile that seemed familiar to Garnet. When Freya spoke next, it wasn't in her voice, but in a voice that had Haku grab Garnet and put her behind him protectively.

"You are smarter and I gave you credit for Your Majesty," the false Freya said. The ninjustu faded, revealing Orochimaru. "Be warned that I shan't do that again."

"Orochimaru!" Garnet's anger became visible in her eyes.

"What do you want?" Haku asked.

"Is it not obvious?" the snake sannin asked. 'I have come to collect the prize that you stole from me."

"Why do you want me so badly?" Garnet asked. "I have nothing by which you can use in your world. So why go to all the trouble to kidnap me?"

"Well my dear," Orochimaru said. "I have promised a powerful friend that I would bring you to him. I like to keep my promises."

"Well not today Orochimaru."

The door had remained opened when Orochimaru had come through. Standing in the middle of the open door was Lady Tsunade and a man with spiky white hair.

"If it isn't my former team members, Tsunade and Jiraiya," Orochimaru said. He had turned towards the door and was now facing the two newcomers.

"This ends here Orochimaru," the man named Jiraiya said.

"Oh no Jiraiya," Orochimaru contradicted. "This is only the beginning." Suddenly, a flash of white light went off, filling the room with smoke. Garnet, Haku, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, all coughed the smoke trying to see where the snake had gone. When the smoke cleared, only the three ninja and Garnet remained. Orochimaru had escaped again.

"Damn!" Jiraiya cursed. "He got away!"

Haku forced Garnet back into the bed then turned to face the other two sannin. "It is good to see you again Lady Tsunade," Haku bowed to her. To Jiraiya he said, "Though I haven't met you, I know of your exploits Lord Jiraiya. It is an honor to meet you."

"Who is the kid?" Jiraiya asked Tsunade.

"This is Haku," Tsunade answered. "He is the protector of Queen Garnet and companion to Zabuza Momochi."

Haku bowed again at the Hokage's introduction. "I know Master Zabuza and I have done some bad in our past," he said to them. "But believe me when I say that we will protect Her Majesty with our lives."

The Hokage nodded while Jiraiya just looked at the boy with calculating eyes. 'He's serious,' he thought to himself. 'That much is obvious. Otherwise he would have let Orochimaru take her instead of protect her the way he did.' A moment later, he too nodded taking what Haku said as the truth. "You got guts kid," he said. "Not many stand up to him and live long enough to tell about it." To Tsunade he said, "I'll have sentries posted around in case he tries to come back." Tsunade nodded and watched as Jiraiya left in a 'poof'.

Haku resumed his seat next to Garnet's bed. The Hokage turned back toward Garnet and sighed. "This is becoming increasingly difficult," she confided.

"You don't need to worry so much, Lady Hokage," Garnet said. "Knowing that Orochimaru is truly after me makes finding him that much easier."

Tsunade looked at Garnet with uncertain eyes. "How so?"

"If you look at this from his point, he won't stop until he has me," Garnet explained. She earned a protective glare from Haku which she returned with a smile before she continued. "That puts you on the defensive trying to protect me while he inches ever closer pushing you where he wants to go. But a defensive strategy only goes so far until people end up hurt." She paused to see if the Hokage understood her words. Tsunade nodded, and Garnet continued once again. "The only way to catch him off guard is to turn the tide on him. Make a move that he will not suspect. After he showed himself tonight, he proved that he knows of your allies and that he is not afraid of making the first move."

Tsunade nodded again and picked up where Garnet left off. "So we need to make the next move but something that he will not suspect," she speculated. "There is one problem with that though. What will he not expect?"

Garnet thought for a moment before answering. "From what I've noticed, he expects that you would do anything in your power to protect me," Garnet explained. "What he won't expect is for me to openly be aggressive. He expects that I'll be tucked away safely into a corner while everyone else fights."

To Haku's dismay, Tsunade nodded in agreement. "So what you're saying is that you want to fight?" Haku asked her.

Garnet looked down at her bed sheets while absently stroking her belly. "The last thing I want to do is fight," she said at last. "But this Orochimaru has killed my husband, captured me from my home, and continually chases me. For those reasons, I must protect myself against him. Because of me, several ninja are injured for protecting me. This I cannot allow. I understand that injuries are normal, but if they can be avoided by my fighting alongside my protectors so much the better. I don't believe that he wants to hurt me. He could have done so anytime in both Alexandria and here. He has other motives than just to kill me. What those are we do not know. For all we know, he is working for someone who wants to harness the power of the eidolons. The new questions that arise from that are more difficult without more knowledge of his 'partner'. With the team that I traveled with, I met a few who knew of my abilities. Only one comes to mind that would do anything to control the eidolons that I carry. But he was killed four years ago. Other than him, I don't know anyone else that might want my abilities."

Tsunade nodded and sighed. "This is most likely against my better judgment," she said. "But I agree with you. Not a word Haku!" Haku had opened his mouth to argue, but shut it and scowled at the Hokage. Tsunade continued, "Before we decide on a course of action, though we need to check your health and that of the baby. I heard you had quite the trip through the desert."

Garnet nodded her assent. A green glow emanated from Tsunade's hands as she drew closer to the young queen. Just before she placed her hands on her, Garnet screamed in pain. Her hands flew to her belly, still screaming as the pain grew in intensity. Tsunade lifted the covers, seeing the problem immediately. Garnet's water had broken. "How far along did you say you were?" Tsunade asked when Garnet's screams stopped.

"Only four months," Garnet's answered. She held back more screams as the pain increased again. Tsunade covered Garnet again, and checked with her healing chakra.

Tsunade frowned. "You're full term," she said. "The baby is coming now! Haku, go to the healers and grab a few of them. Tell them I need them now!"

Haku nodded and left the room at a run. Tsunade uncovered Garnet from her blanket tossing it aside. More pains racked Garnet as Tsunade moved the chair away from the bed. "I'll need to remove your pants for the birth." Garnet nodded. Tsunade removed the pants tossing them onto the floor. "Keep breathing," she reminded Garnet. "Deep breaths. Slow ones. They will help with the contractions until the healers get here."

Garnet nodded again breathing deeply and releasing. More pain came as another contraction overtook her. They started coming closer together and more painful than the last. Garnet didn't scream, but bit her lip until it bled fighting back tears as more contractions came. The door suddenly opened, Haku leading several healers at a near run. The healers took different spots around the young queen, Tsunade at the end of the bed, and one healer on each side of the bed. Haku took his place at Garnet's side, taking her hand in his, squeezing it for comfort. She squeezed back, but didn't let up her squeeze and held on as if his hand was her lifeline.

"Time to get to work Your Majesty," Tsunade said. Visibly, Garnet turned white as a sheet. Haku winced as she applied more pressure to his hand. "You don't have to worry," Tsunade continued. "We can make this delivery as painless as possible. All you have to do is breathe deeply, and push." Tsunade nodded to the other healers, whose hands had started glowing with the familiar green light. They all held their hands around Garnet's stomach. Immediately, Garnet's pain subsided. "Okay, push now!"

Garnet push with all her might. She had no pain, but she did feel movement in her stomach. The more she pushed, the more movement she felt. "Just a little more Garnet," Haku said. He squeezed her hand in comfort. She breathed deep again, pushing with all her strength. With one final push, she started hearing a baby cry.

"Excellent Garnet," Tsunade said. The Hokage cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the newborn infant in a cloth, wiping off the blood. "You sleep now Garnet," Tsunade said. "I need to clean off the child and check for any problems." Turning to the other healers, Tsunade ordered them to stabilize Garnet, and then she left with the infant in her arms. Haku looked from Garnet to the doorway, worry etched into his features.

"You should follow her," one of the healers said. "That is very unlike Lady Tsunade." Haku nodded, his mind made up.

"I shall be back shortly, Dagger," Haku said. "If you need anything, just call for Master Zabuza. He is close by and will hear you if you call him. He will come if anything goes wrong." Garnet nodded, laying her head on her pillows. Haku faced the healers next. "If anything happens to her while I am gone, I will hold you all personally responsible." They all nodded as Haku disappeared in a circle of snow.