Haku slipped into a sleeveless pink yukata and sandals, glancing over at the swordsman's still form. Zabuza-san had overexerted himself far too much. He'd nearly been killed by the copy ninja.
If Haku hadn't been there to intervene, chakra exhaustion or one of the Copy Ninja's thousand jutsus would have claimed him.
They were out of soldier pills. He would gather some herbs to make more. Help Zabuza recover his depleted chakra more quickly in case they had another encounter with the Konoha ninjas anytime soon. Zabuza must be at his peak if that happened. Next time, Haku wouldn't allow him to face them alone.
Stepping out of the hidden structure, soft moss muffled his sandaled footfalls. As always, the forest was refreshing. The crisp air, the white sunlight filtering through layers of brilliant green leaves and soft fog. The leaves of the plants were plump and glossy with moisture. Haku journeyed a short distance through a strip of forest in search of the herbs he needed.
One of the Konoha ninja, a boy in an orange jumpsuit, lay unconscious on the ground. Birds landed on his lifeless body, pecking around in the nearby dirt.
Haku sucked in a sharp breath. They shouldn't be this near his hideout. And why was this boy all alone? Where were his teammates? Zabuza was vulnerable right now. What if the others found Zabuza while they were separated?
Birds fluttered out of Haku's way. Kneeling over the boy, Haku could feel his chakra. See the faint rise and fall of his chest. He wasn't dead. Haku's fingertips gripped the cool metal of the senbon hidden in his clothing.
Should I just- take care of him now?
His thought was interrupted by a groan from the younger boy. Relaxing his grip on the needles, Haku gently shook the boy's shoulder.
"Hey wake up. If you sleep out here you'll catch a cold."
The Konoha ninja blinked up at him slowly with refreshingly naive eyes. Wide and blue as an unclouded sky. Eyes that hadn't yet seen death.
Not like his own.
"Ungh. Hi, what are you doing out here?" the boy mumbled, rubbing dirt from his eyes.
Haku didn't introduce himself. It was best not to get too attached. He smiled warmly at the boy though. "Gathering medicinal herbs."
"Really?" The boy peered at the plants around them as if noticing them for the first time. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Can I help? "
"All right." Haku cupped a white flower in one hand. "This is kakumakusa. I need some of the roots.
"Hey, since you know a lot about medicinal herbs do you know about medicines too?" Naruto asked, reaching for a handful of honeysuckle stems.
"I know a little."
"Someone sent us a bottle of medicine, but we don't know if it's really medicine," Naruto said. He rubbed at his disheveled yellow hair. "Eh, it's kind of hard to explain. My teammate's friend is missing, but sometimes he gets messages and things like this medicine that say they're from her. Sasuke believes it is her though. He has to. His goal is to find her so he can protect her."
"Sasuke must be truly strong then." Haku smiled down at the herbs he'd gathered in his basket so far. "His friend must be too, if she cherishes him enough to send things like that."
Naruto immediately blanched, whirling to face him. "Hey! Don't underestimate me! I'm strong too!"
Haku laughed. "I'm sure you are, but do you have someone precious to protect? The greatest strength comes only when you are protecting someone you cherish."
The blond looked down at his hands in wonderment, suddenly clenching a fist. "I-is that so? Then, I'm going protect everyone! The more important people I have, the stronger I'll be right? To the hokage every person in the village is precious. So that must be why the strongest person in the village is the hokage."
"That's very wise," Haku said with a soft smile. He hoped they could complete their mission while avoiding another fight with the Konoha ninjas. Naruto's optimism, his innocence was refreshing. Haku didn't want to steal that from him, but, no matter how endearing their opponents were he would never allow any harm to befall Zabuza-san.
Even if it meant sacrificing this sunny, pure-hearted boy.
Haku pushed himself to his feet. "Thank you for your help, Naruto-kun. I have enough herbs now."
"Oh!" Naruto scrambled up too. "If, if I bring that medicine would you be able to tell us if it's safe?"
"I don't know if I'll be coming back here," Haku said. "It's probably for the best if we don't meet again."
"WHAT!" the blond yelped. "But, ya know, I kinda thought it would be nice to see you. I mean, you're really pretty. Even prettier than Sakura-chan! And you're nice too." Naruto straightened his shoulders suddenly. "I know we'll see each other again. It's a feeling, 'ttebayo."
Haku bit back laughter, his mouth curling in a smirk. "Just so you know, I'm a boy." He enjoyed the exaggerated look of horror and disbelief arresting the younger boy's face.
"B-but how?" Naruto stammered.
"I just am," he slid the basket handle over a forearm and pushed himself to his feet. "Don't be too sad," he said, throwing a backward glance over his shoulder at Naruto as he walked from the clearing. "I'm already attached to someone else anyway."
Tucking a stray honeysuckle vine into the basket, he thought of his beloved mentor. How underneath the gruff treatment and harsh words had been a steady supply of warm food even when it meant Zabuza didn't have enough to fill his own stomach. His mentor had justified it saying that Haku would be a useless tool if he wasn't fed enough to develop properly.
The sheer number of hours Zabuza had invested in Haku's training, the growth he'd experienced. The knowledge he'd gained about the human body, the many ways to disable or kill a person, all thanks to his mentor. The care he received at Zabuza-san's bloodstained hands was far greater than what he'd ever experienced at the hands of his own father.
His father, the other villagers, all impaled on shards of ice.
He hadn't meant to do it. He really hadn't. And even though it meant he survived their attempt to murder him, he often regretted it. He hadn't been strong enough to save his mother in time. But wasn't weak enough to die alongside her like he deserved.
It wasn't until Zabuza found him that he stopped surviving and began to live again. He would dedicate his life to Zabuza. To achieving Zabuza's dream of becoming Mizukage. To changing the bloody mist village into something better so that the children there could have eyes full of innocence, just like the Konoha ninja he'd just met.
Zabuza-san, don't worry. I won't let myself get attached to them. You're the only one I cherish.
Sayuri gingerly pushed the door to Professor McGonagall's office open. The older witch was seated behind her desk, and another student sat in a chair practically shivering and crackling with excitement.
"We've been waiting for quite some time now," McGonagall said sharply. "Do try to be a little more punctual in the future. Now, I must say that while I understand your circumstances pose unique obstacles to completing your assignments, that's no excuse for not turning in your written work. It's clear from what you have scraped together that you haven't been going over the textbook. Our lecture time in class is limited, which is why it is necessary for you to learn the material in the assigned text. In this class, moving forward without understanding the mechanics of what you are doing is dangerous. That's why I've asked Miss Granger here to help. She's one of my Gryffindors and the brightest witch of your year as far as I'm concerned."
Sayuri cautiously inclined her head in the direction of the other student. The girl had chakra that buzzed and hummed with barely suppressed activity. Sayuri fought the urge to flee. It didn't feel quite like insects. But, at the same time it kind of did. More like bees than beetles though.
She took a deep breath through her nose.
It's not beetles. Calm down.
"Yes, Professor," Sayuri said.
"Now, please describe exactly the issues you are having with your studies?"
"Well, Professor Flitwick taught the Slytherins a charm that makes text so I can feel the writing with my fingers. So that's great, only I was never taught to read English. My housemates help me as much as they can, but it's exhausting for them to read all of it out loud for every assignment."
"Miss Granger, do you think you can handle tutoring Miss Uchiha in basic reading?"
"Certainly. We could start with the alphabet today, it is simple enough." The voice coming from the other student was almost like a higher pitched echo of the transfiguration professor's.
"I suggest you get started now," McGonagall said. "You may use my classroom, as it's currently unoccupied."
The other girl hopped to her feet, hefting a large bag onto her shoulder. Sayuri tried not to sigh too deeply in front of them. She really had better things to do with her time. It wasn't like she was the only student who couldn't read well. She was just the most obviously deficient.
They left the professor's office, door swinging shut behind them as they went.
"Do you need to hold my arm or anything?" Granger chirped. "I can lead you there."
"I know where the classroom is." Sayuri rubbed at the sides of her head, wondering how much trouble she would get in if she ditched Granger and made a run for Hagrid's instead. Playing with a baby unicorn sounded a million times more appealing than this.
"Have you been blind your entire life? Or is your blindness acquired?" Granger asked in the same shrill, clipped voice.
The sting of irritation prickled at the back of Sayuri's neck. "What difference does it make? If I can't see, I can't see."
"Well it does make a difference because if I describe how something looks you'll know what I'm talking about if you have seen something similar before."
"Whatever. It's acquired. How do you prefer to be addressed?"
"Hermione," the girl said simply. "And you?"
"Sayuri is fine."
They walked in silence the rest of the way to the transfiguration classroom. Hermione held the door open for her, and sniffed in a superior sort of way as she led Sayuri toward the desks. "All right then. Let's start with the alphabet. There's a little song to help remember the names of the letters. I'll write them down as I sing, then we can use that charm you mentioned to make the paper more tactile so you can feel them. Is it the Pellegemanus charm?"
"That's the one," Sayuri said. She cringed inwardly, hoping she wouldn't be expected to sing the song too as Hermione took out her quill and began scratching out letters while chanting nonsense sounds in an overly cheerful tune. Her voice wandered a little as it ascended and descended, the buzzing of her chakra intensifying as she grew more focused on what she was doing.
Sayuri really wanted Tsuchibue there to learn this as well, but it was too risky summoning him in front of the Gryffindor. She asked way too many questions about everything. Plus wizards were weirdly touchy about using blood to cast spells. It didn't make much sense to her, but Hermione seemed like the type to ask a million questions about it and go to a teacher with what she found out so it wasn't worth the trouble today. She'd just have to make sure to summon the crow beforehand next time.
Luckily the song was short. Hermione pulled out her wand and cast the charm on the paper.
"Put your hand here now, this letter is Ay." A fizzling hand darted out and touched Sayuri's wrist. She was expecting the contact, but it still made her startle and jump badly.
"Honestly, why are you so jumpy? Does it have to do with not being able to see your surroundings? Would it be better if I warned you next time?"
"No," Sayuri snapped. "It has to do with your magic. It feels like I'm sitting next to a beehive that's about to explode."
"It feels like what?" she said faintly. Then after a brief pause Hermione jumped up from her seat, her voice penetrating. "Wait, you mean you can FEEL other people's magic? How?"
Sayuri clapped her hands over her ears. "Ow! Calm down. And yes."
The Gryffindor did everything but calm down. If anything, she grew even more intense. "Are you an empath then? Can you feel people's emotions too? It makes complete sense that if you had some natural ability as an empath it would grow stronger to compensate for your vision loss. This is amazing. That's a really rare ability you know! I read in a book about wandlore that Mr. Ollivander is one, I definitely think it's true after meeting him. Did you feel anything strange about him when you got your wand?"
At that moment, Sayuri decided she would never, ever tell Hermione about the crow's realm or their waterfall.
"Look. All I know is some people are overwhelming. Have you ever tried meditating to calm your magic down? Because I think it would help you a lot. It should help you with your control and ability to cast spells too."
That got Hermione's attention. "How do I do it?"
"It's simple. Just sit like this," Sayuri pulled her robes up enough to position herself crosslegged on her chair. "Then you put your hands like this. And you sit quietly, and you feel your magic running through your body and you just focus on it."
"That's all? How long do I do it for?"
"My mother used to have me meditate for an hour every morning and evening. I just do it when I can't sleep now, so don't really keep track anymore." Sayuri bit her lip and let her hands fall into her lap. "After you can focus on it for long periods of time then you can try more stuff with it."
"That's such a long time! But, I'll try my best. Your mother is a witch then? I didn't know meditation was used magically. Is she an empath too? My parents are muggles, I'm the first witch in my family."
Sayuri's shoulders drooped. As far as she knew, neither tou-san or kaa-san were sensor types. But maybe they just never told her. "I don't know. Both my parents died, so I can't ask them. They were both magical though."
If Sayuri was honest with herself, she was surprised at Hermione's tenacity and sudden interest in meditation. None of her dorm-mates had shown any interest in it when she was sitting on her bed doing it. They mostly left her to herself, and that suited her just fine. Maybe the Gryffindor would actually become bearable to spend time with if she practiced it faithfully.
Maybe she'd feel less like an excited cluster of bees.
"Oh no! That is awful. I'm so sorry for bringing it up. And, I won't touch your arm again. I read that physical contact can be overwhelming for empaths."
Sayuri didn't bother to correct her on that point. She honestly wasn't even sure if an empath was remotely the same thing as a sensor-nin. Instead she reached for the parchment, and began tracing the nearest letter with her fingertips. It made an oval shape.
"That letter is Oh. It's in the middle of the alphabet. You'll want to start out a little higher on the page."
Verbally, the Gryffindor guided her up and to the left toward the letter Ay and walked her back through all of them. All twenty six letters. It was excruciating. English was written backwards compared to her native language. She'd have to get used to reading from left to right now.
"I did get a reading primer from Flourish and Blotts," Sayuri said. "But there wasn't anyone to tell me what the different letters are supposed to be called or sound like. Jiji- I mean, my gramps doesn't know how to read really. Or that's what he says anyway."
"Oh, that's so sad!" Hermione said, stricken. "You should bring it to our next meeting and I'll go through it with you. We should probably meet more than once per week or you won't be able to read until after Christmas though."
Sayuri suppressed a groan. She really, really needed to work on that genjutsu for Captain Flint if she was going to convince him to teach her to fly.
"What do you think about Tuesday afternoon? We can meet in the library," Hermione said.
"Um, I guess that's a good day. But, we should meet somewhere else. Madam Pince banned me from the library."
"WHAT!" shrieked Hermione. "WHAT did you DO?"
"I kind of set a book on fire," she muttered into her hands very fast, dreading the reaction it was bound to provoke.
Hermione did not disappoint.
Author's Note: Kakumakusa is a traditional Japanese herb also known as Japanese Goldthread. It's a pretty little white flower, and I thought it suited Haku nicely.
I've got plans for Hermione. Buahahaha. If anyone has any stuff or characters or things you'd like to see, or things that are happening that you like, just let me know in the comments.
We're in the midst of moving out of state so this update isn't as long as usual, but working at this is helping me stay sane. Thank you for the get well wishes for my kid's surgery! She's doing super well. It was honestly life changing for her in a very positive way, the surgeon actually cried when he saw how much better she was doing at her 2 week checkup because it was a risky but necessary procedure and he wasn't sure how much it might set her back.