Chapter 49 – Water and Leaf
Kakashi stared at the ring on his sink and smiled. He knew why Amaya had left it; he'd just have to return it to its proper place around her neck. Pulling on the shirt he'd been in the middle of putting on, the silver-haired nin scooped up the necklace and ring. He found Amaya eating a few rice balls for breakfast, saw there were some left on the table for him, and took the opportunity to return her necklace. Leaning against her, the Copy-nin fastened the chain. "You misplaced this. Figured you'd want it back." He kissed her cheek before taking the chair opposite her.
"I'm not one of your ninken. I don't need a collar." Her words seemed harsh, but he could tell there was no bite behind them.
"But it looks so good on you."
Amaya smiled. "That may be so, but I'm no man's property. In fact, I'm going out with Haku today."
"Haku?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were into younger men."
"Maybe I'm bored with you. You're practically an old man."
"You're not getting any younger yourself," he sniped back.
"It's not my fault young men find older women attractive. I wonder how experienced he is." Amaya licked her lips as she finished her last rice ball and stood to leave. "I might have to show him a thing or two."
The silver-haired Jonin knew shw was joking, but couldn't help grabbing her arm as she passed. "He could never love you as much as I do."
Amaya smiled, putting her arms around his neck as she sat in his lap. Her kiss was sweet, saying all the words his possessive statement didn't deserve. When she pulled back and stood up, she patted his head. "You be a good boy today. If you are, I'll bring you a treat."
It wasn't until she left that he noticed the necklace around his neck.
Haku waited for Amaya outside a sweets shop, an order of dango already at the table for her. He'd acquired a sweet tooth since joining the Leaf Village and dango was among his favorites. As Amaya slid into the seat across from him, she watched as he fiddled with the skewers on his plate. Haku was a creature of stillness, never wasting energy he didn't have to. Her smile turned into a frown. "What's wrong?" Despite the worry bubbling in her stomach, she picked up the dango he'd bought her and nibbled one while he searched for the right words.
She was on her second of four dumplings before he found his voice. "Zabuza is coming to the Village."
"He is?"
"As part of the delagates for the alliance treaty."
"With everything that's been going on, I honestly forgot about that."
The medic nin's smile was sad. "I didn't. And now my worse fear has come to pass."
Amaya remained silent for a bit, finishing off her dango before speaking again. "Why won't you be happy to see him?" She thought she knew the answer, but she wanted to see if Haku knew too.
"I... I miss him. But I love it here in Konoha..."
"And you're afraid that by meeting him again, you'll want to go back with him," Amaya offered.
He nodded, eyes downcast. "He was my whole world for so long. But I have a life here now. A good life, with people I care about."
"You know, we won't care about you less if you decide to go back with him."
Haku glanced up in surprise. "The Hokage would just let me leave?"
"She wouldn't be happy about it and they'd have to ensure you couldn't reveal secrets about the Village, but she'd understand. Mist was your first home, after all."
"So you think I should see him while he's here?"
"I do. We could use my apartment if you wanted. And I or Kakashi could ask him if you don't feel up to it right away."
"That's very kind of you."
Two days later, Amaya waited outside the Administration Building of the Academy, waiting for negoiations to be over for the ANBU waited as well. They were the designated escorts around the Village. She'd already handed them her letter from Tsunade, informing them that it was all right if Zabuza went with her.
Finally, the door opened and people filed out. Zabuza was the last. He saw Amaya, towering over her as he approached. He wore Kiri regulation clothes and had ditched all the bandages he'd worn. "Well, well, I wondered if I might see you while I was here. How's that damn Copy-nin doing? I still owe him a beating."
"He's fine. So am I, thanks for asking. And so is Haku."
The faint smile that had touched his lips fell away. "I don't want to see him, if that's why you're here." The former nuke-nin began to walk away.
Amaya easily caught up to him. "Why not? He wants to see you."
"After the way I abandoned him, he shouldn't want to see me. That was the point. Besides, I hear he's made a good life for himself here. He's a medic nin, yes?"
"He is and the fact that you're asking tells me you want to see him as much as he wants to see you."
Zabuza growled. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"No. and you might as well come with me since I'm your escort for the night. You're stuck with me until the morning."
"Lovely. All right, all right. Lead on."
The tattooed Jonin smiled broadly as she led him to her apartment. Victory was sweet.
Haku fidgeted nervously as he waited for Amaya's return. Hopefully, with Zabuza in tow. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as the door of Amaya's apartment opened. The owner walked in first, but behind her came Zabuza. The boy was shocked to see him without his signigure bandages.
The former missing nin sat next to each other on the couch while Amaya excused herself to get them all drinks and snacks. She doubted either would touch the food, but she had to be a good hostess and give them time to talk alone.
"So, I hear the rebellion in Kiri is over," the medic nin said.
"Thanks to the money the Leaf Village sent, it is."
"What are you doing now?"
"I'm an advisor to the new Mizukage."
"Oh? I'm sure it doesn't suit you. You were always on the move."
"I did what I had to to stay alive, but I'm getting used to staying put more."
"Oh, I see..." Haku trailed off, unsure of what to say or do. He'd played out their reunion many times in the past two days, but he realized he'd hoped for more than this. He'd hoped for Zabuza to say that he needed Haku to come back with him. That he was too bored, too lonely, too anything without Haku around.
From the kitchen, Amaya winced at what parts of the conversation she could hear. She turned down the burner on which she was heating water for tea. Those two needed more time.
It was Zabuza's turn to ask awkward questions. "You're a medic nin now, huh? Seems about right for a softie like you. You always were patching me up whenever I got hurt."
"I've learned so much more since I've been here. My medical knowledge can be put to use saving people instead of killing them."
"I'm sure you like that. Made any friends besides Kakashi's brats? I guess you can do that now that we're not traveling constantly."
"I have. Most of them are medic nin older than me. I'm the youngest to ever graducate Konoha's medic ninja training."
"I bet you are. No one's as good as you."
"I'm sure there are people. Like Lady Tsunade. The things she can do are amazing."
"Hmm."
The pair lapsed into silence again and Amaya couldn't stall any longer. She brought out a tray with tea for all of them and some sweetened rice cakes. Haku took a cake, but Zabuza only sipped his tea. Amaya sipped her tea while the silence stretched on. Finally, the Kiri shinobi sat down his tea, rose, and walked towards the door. "This was a mistake."
"Zabuza, wait!" Haku cried out, desperation clear in his voice.
The older man stopped but didn't turn around.
The medic nin took a step closer to his former master, speaking as the words came to him. "I want... to go back with you. It's not the same without you here. I can be a medic in Kiri. I can make new friends. I just want to be by your side again like the old days."
The Mist shinobi whirled around, anger in his voice and tears in his eyes. "No! You want what you remember. We only ever left blood in our wake, but here you have a chance to repay that debt. With me, your hands will just be stained even more. I'm the Mizukage's advisor in name only. She uses me like the assassin I am. I know I've never said this… but I think of you as my son. I don't want that life for you again. I want yours to be better than mine. That's why I told you to get lost. I hoped you'd hate me enough to never want to see me again."
"You think I wouldn't kill without hesitation again for you?"
"I know you would and that's why I refuse to let you come back. Damn it!" Zabuza scrubbed at his eyes with rough hands, angry at himself now for being so weak. It was all Haku's fault; his softness must have been contagious. Some of his anger faded as his eyes dried up. "Look, maybe once things calm down, you can come visit for a while. Right now, there's still pockets of the late Mizukage's sympathizers and it's my job to snuff them out. But once things are stable, we'll see."
Haku couldn't help himself. The boy, tears in his own eyes, walked to his master and hugged him. The sudden display of affection caught the Kiri nin off guard and he stood board-rigid for a moment before embracing his son back. Zabuza glanced at Amaya after a moment. A rice cake hung half out of her mouth and her eyes were wide. "You tell anyone about this and I'll personally drag you to hell."
Amaya's only response was a vigorous shake of the head.
