Hello again! I do hope everyone is staying safe during these dire times, and I hope I can make quarantine easier for you all with this next chapter! Please enjoy!
Naruto fell back on the grass, huffing. Looking up at the tree, he saw he hadn't made much progress with the exercise. Naruto forced himself back up, and made another run for the tree. He started to feel his feet stick, but it never lasted. When he approached the top mark, Sakura's words got to him. "You don't belong here." Naruto felt himself flinch, and slid down the branch, landing hard. "Ooh..." he groaned.
"You shouldn't push yourself."
Naruto looked up, still lying down, and looked upside down at a familiar girl. Boy, not girl. Man, he was never going to get used to him. Quickly, he sat up. "Oh, hey. Uh..."
"Haku."
"Haku, that's right. Sorry; I'm usually good with names. I just had a bad day." Naruto chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh. What happened?" Haku asked, feigning ignorance.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"You can tell me. I've no one to snitch on."
Naruto looked to him and away, before sighing. "I let my teammate down."
"The dark haired one?"
"No, Sakura. My other teammate; you didn't meet her that day." Naruto waited for a moment before continuing. "We were attacked. Sakura was pretty brave." Naruto smiled. "It was awesome, really. But, me...I just froze up."
"They must have been terrifying." Haku said, trying to ease him up.
"In hindsight...maybe not. But the claws got to me. And how they came out of nowhere!" He exclaimed. "I guess it was a bit too much for me."
"But you both made it out okay, obviously."
Naruto just looked even more bummed out. "We almost didn't...and it was my fault! Sakura took a blow meant for me, and she nearly died because of it!"
Naruto suddenly stood, and kicked the grass. His sudden outburst didn't faze Haku though. "I don't really remember how, but we got out of it alive." Naruto suddenly started laughing. "I started acting like an idiot, and Sakura went off on me. She listed all of my mistakes, how I'm just all talk, and that I don't belong with them."
Haku chose his next words carefully. "That's harsh."
Naruto turned around and gave him a frustrated smile as tears streamed down his face. "You know what's the worst part of it? She was right!" He shouted. "In the end, I just became a ninja so people would acknowledge me! But I never took into account the responsibility!"
Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked down at the grass. The two just stood, Haku facing Naruto's back as he slouched. "Perhaps you should quit." Haku suddenly suggested. Though Naruto's back straighten, he still didn't turn to face him. "You've only just begun. And it will only get harder from here." Naruto still didn't respond. "If you feel you can't protect those close to you, you will only be in the way. And you will face hardship, some nothing could ever prepare you for. If you truly feel you can not overcome this, now is the time to leave this life behind."
Naruto finally turned to him. To say he looked both piqued and perplexed was an understatement. "Did you have to go through something similar?"
Haku thought back to Zabuza's hand reaching out to him. He then remembered a horde of bandits butchering everyone they found while his mother held him close. And finally, he thought back to the first time he held a blade, which was soon covered in ice and blood...
Snapping back to the present, Haku answered "I've had to make difficult decisions, early in my life." He said. "In the end, I chose to be a survivor." "
"By yourself?"
"No, I had a teacher. He is very harsh, but his teachings have helped me immensely. And for that I will always be thankful."
Naruto nearly sweat-dropped. "Uh...wow."
Haku smiled and said "Well, I didn't mean to make things more confusing for you. But you do have a choice to make. Please consider it carefully. Because once you do, you must live with it the rest of your life." Haku bent down for his carrying pole, making sure Naruto didn't see him slip the kunai back into his kimono. "I must be going." He said. "Stay well, Naruto."
Naruto said nothing as he watched Haku walk away. "...you do have a choice to make. Please consider it carefully." Haku's words echoed in his head.
Sakura waited by the door. She was wide awake, and yet her mind was elsewhere. She thought back to what Sasuke said to her. "You're annoying." It hurt, there was no denying that. But when she thought about Naruto, she felt even worse. It brought her further back in time...
A six-year old Sakura cried as she felt herself skin her knee. "C'mon, forehead! Get up!" One of the larger girls yelled. "You still have to catch the flag!"
Before she could get it together, one of the other girls caught it. "Can't believe how useless she is!" Another of her teammates said.
Eventually, having had enough of their game, the girls walked away. "Hey!" Sakura cried as she tried to run towards them.
"Get lost, you giant forehead freak." One of them shouted."You don't belong here."
Passing 10 years old, many of the girls in the village got into certain fashions to look more adult. Such a group of young girls were getting together to show off their imagined maturity. "I love those jeans, Megumi!"
"Your mom let you get earrings already? I'm so jealous!" another squeaked.
Sakura approached them, trying to see what they looked like. Many of them were already looking 13! She hoped to be as beautiful as they were...
The group took notice of her, and just laughed at her. "I think you're in the wrong grade, here!" one laughed.
"Bet she doesn't even have a training bra yet!" Another said directly to her face.
"Hey, don't tease her, Satsuki!" One of the girls admonished her friend. Sakura's eyes lit up. "I don't think she'll EVER have need of a training bra!" She finished, practically crushing Sakura's soul.
As most of them began to walk away, another girl approached her. "Don't take it personally. You just don't belong here, that's all." Sakura just looked on as she felt that feeling of loneliness spike...
Sakura came back to reality as she felt a tear drop from her face and onto the floor. "I'm such an idiot." Those experiences may not have been life or death...but as someone who was told those words before, she should have known better...
Sasuke, finding himself too irritated to sleep, wanted to take a walk to clear his head, but in the end his common sense ruled that he should stick by the house. Not wanting to face Sakura just yet, he wound up on the roof, dangling his feet off. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
Sasuke looked to see Kakashi looking at him from his bedroom window. "Same could be said about you." Sasuke shot back.
Kakashi only shrugged. "I know what Sakura said bothered you." Sasuke turned around, saying nothing. "What you said back is also bothering you." Kakashi added. "While you were correct in telling Sakura off, you also could have been more gentle with her. Sakura nearly died; no doubt the experience has left her terrified, even if she doesn't show it. It happens when we are let down...Sometimes we just lash out when we shouldn't." Taking his silence as meaning he was listening, he said one last thing. "They're the only teammates you've got, Sasuke. Imperfect, human teammates. Be careful how you treat them. If you don't keep them close, you'll lose them. And in the end, they may be all you will ever have."
Sasuke leaned forward slightly, bringing his hands together in thought.
Haku returned to their hideout, Zabuza still lying on the couch. Without saying a word, Haku got right into seiza position across from him.
"Have you found anything?" Zabuza asked.
"It appears the team is in disarray, despite their victory from earlier today."
"How so?"
"The orange one, Naruto, seems to have let one of them down. And it's getting to him."
Zabuza continued to stare at the ceiling as he remembered the brat's power and ingenuity. "Did you make contact with him?"
"I pretended to be his confidant, and told him to quit."
Zabuza gave him a look. "Well, if he does leave, it would benefit us in the short-term." He said off-hand.
"Short-term?"
"Still, we should not count on that happening. Kakashi simply won't allow that to happen. And the others?"
"They're held up at Tazuna's. The other two seem to be in good health. But Kakashi is under duress."
"So it would seem. But he's sure to have a trick up his sleeve if he's attacked."
"It would be unwise to do nothing and let him recover." Haku argued. "I can finish him off; his genin can't hope to protect him!"
"I will not let you attack the copy ninja without me!" Zabuza shouted. "Besides...he's mine."
"He defeated you." Haku sternly reminded him.
"He had help. Besides..." Zabuza crushed a steel ball in his palm to emphasize his next point. "...I now know how to beat him."
Six years ago...
"And they would take me to the fields every summer solstice." A young Haku said as he told Zabuza about his parents. "It was covered in sunflowers. I loved coming there and running around forever."
Ever since Zabuza first came to feed him, he brought the child his meals every day he was home. It got to the point where Haku refused to eat unless it was Zabuza bringing him his meals. "Sounds like fun." Zabuza agreed as he ate a small portion of rice. "I'm sorry you won't be able to do it with your folks again."
"Zabuza-san?"
"Yes?"
"Maybe you could bring me to the fields next summer?" Haku asked.
For a moment, Zabuza was at a loss for words. "I'm sure someone will take you once we can get you adopted." He finally answered.
"I want to go with you." Haku emphasized.
Zabuza sighed. "We'll see." He told him as he got up. Collecting the tray, he said "Sleep well, Haku." And like that, another of their meetings came to an end.
Present Day
It was time to go back. Naruto almost didn't; he almost took Hali's advice, and he couldn't figure out why he shouldn't as he made his way back. He wasn't sure his team, or the village for that matter, wanted him. When he opened the door, he saw Sakura look right into him. The two just stared at one another, neither saying a word. Naruto proceeded to the couch, but Sakura broke the ice. "Aren't you going to say something?"
Naruto sighed, shrugging. "What's there to say? You were right."
He was about to leave, but Sakura stopped him, grabbing him by the wrist. "No, I wasn't." Reluctantly, Naruto turned to face her. "I was upset. I may have been frustrated, but that gave me no right to tell you off like that. Sasuke-kun told me everything you did while I was unconscious."
Naruto just shrugged it off again. "Too bad I couldn't pull that off when it counted the most."
"But you did. Tsunami and Inari are alive because of you, as am I." Sakura assured him.
"What if they didn't get there in time?"
"They did; that's all that matters." Sakura decided now was the best time to say it. "Naruto, I'm sorry. For what I said, I mean. You may not be nearly as good as you want to be yet...but you can be one day. And I'll be there to help you get there. I promise I'll be more patient from now on."
It took a good while for Naruto to finally look her in the eye. "I'm sorry too. If I were as brave as you were out there, you wouldn't have been hurt like that. I promise, I won't let you pull my weight without helping carry some of yours too." After a moment's hesitation, he slowly extended his fist to her. "Still friends?" He smiled cautiously.
Sakura looked at it, and sighed. She couldn't help but smile at the same time. "Yeah. Still friends." Sakura lightly bumped his fist in return.
I'll leave you off with this. Things are going to look up...before they come crashing down.
