Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: Hey, guys. Been a while, huh? After finding some of my old fic docs and cringing at the amount of errors I found (guess that's what I get for typing this entire story on an iPad and rushing when editing the last few chapters), I've decided to go back and touch up the story as a whole. The English degree on my wall demands it. This might mean just edits or I might rework parts to make them better. Significant or important reworks are as follows:
~ added two entirely new chapters (Chapter 44 & 45); other chapters have been renumbered accordingly
~ added minorly to Chapter 41 to set up added content to Chapter 46; added content to the end of Chapter 51
Chapter 51 – 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 she 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 skewers before he found his voice. "Zabuza's coming to the village."
"He is?"
"As part of the delegates 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 worst 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. She'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 negotiations to be over for the day. A few Anbu waited as well. They were the designated escorts for the delegates around the village. She'd already handed them her letter from Tsunade, informing them that Zabuza would be under her care for the evening.
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 dressed like a normal Kiri nin and without his signature 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 the conversation. 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 graduate 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 toward 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.
Raido and Kakashi sat outside a tea house enjoying the expensive matcha leaves that had just arrived a few days before. They sat in silence, neither feeling the need to fill the silence. Kakashi scanned the crowds as they passed; even when he wasn't on duty, even when he was in Konoha, he couldn't switch off his paranoia. Sometimes he wished he could and other times wishing that had almost gotten him killed.
He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just civilians and shinobi going about their days. He wondered how Haku's meeting with Zabuza was going. He'd been ordered out of the apartment for the day, so here he was, minding his own business like a good boy. His gaze drifted to Raido and he frowned. The scarred nin was staring at something over Kakashi's shoulder. "What?" He got no answer, so he turned around in his seat.
The only thing out of place he saw was a woman flanked by two Anbu. She was examining a weapon shop display window. Her shoulder-length hair was a stormy blue-gray and the one eye he could see was a lighter green than Amaya's. The dark-gray haori she wore sported whirlpool symbols the same color as her hair. Dark ninja sandals and two leather straps crossed over her back completed her, in Kakashi's opinion, sensible outfit. If he had to guess, two swords would hang nicely on her back from those straps, but of course, she wasn't allowed weapons. The Copy-nin looked back to his friend, who was continuing to stare. Kakashi smiled; he knew that stare. "I think that's one of the delegates from Kiri. If I remember right, her name's Nari. And if my research is correct, she's single."
He said the magic word. Raido shifted his gaze from the woman to Kakashi, who was grinning under his mask. "Don't give me that look. So I think she's pretty. So what?"
"So what? I know you, Raido. When was the last time you didn't pursue a woman you thought was pretty and available?" The silver-haired man chuckled. "I know that's gotten you in trouble a time or two."
The scarred shinobi did his best to hide behind his cup. "I've given up on dating. No one wants me, not really. Ever since I got these scars, no girl treats me the same."
Kakashi knew Raido was still hurting over his last break-up a week before. "Hey," the silver-haired Jonin said, his voice soft, "don't beat yourself up, Rai. You just haven't met the right girl, that's all." Kakashi was as surprised as Raido at the comforting words that came out of his mouth. It wasn't really like him to so quickly offer comfort. And in public no less, where anyone walking by could hear.
A smile tugged at Raido's lips. "Amaya's really done a number on you, huh? I wish I had a girl that made me want to be a better man."
"Get up, Raido," Kakashi commanded. "Get up and go talk to that woman." He jerked a thumb at Nari, who was still browsing.
"No," the Tokujo said and stared mournfully into his cup. "She'll just ignore me or brush me off or—"
Kakashi said the words as they came to him. "Don't be a baby, Rai. Look, all those girls before couldn't see what a kind, caring, good-hearted man you are. They couldn't look past what's on the outside, but who cares? The outside doesn't matter, not to the right person. But if you never try, how will you know if you've found that right person or not? So get up and go talk to the pretty lady, dammit. Who gives a shit if she's from Kiri. It'll either be a mistake you learn from or turn into something wonderful. And we've both made plenty of mistakes before, but we always pick ourselves up and come back better than before."
The Copy-nin could see his impromptu speech had worked. Raido lifted his chin, stood up, and with a confident ease Kakashi hadn't seen in his friend for a long time, the scarred Jonin strolled up to the Kiri delegate and offered his opinion on a sword she was eyeing lustfully. The silver-haired Jonin turned back to his tea, which he warmed with a tiny fire jutsu, and smiled to himself. Amaya would be proud.