DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING OF NARUTO! ONLY MY IDEAS! DON'T SUE! I'M POOR!

I Was Never A Child

Zabuza sat reading a scroll. He had trained for hours that day and was

exhausted, so he had designated this evening for simply reading up on some

new techniques. Or so he said, he wasn't really reading, just sort of

pretending to read and staring off into space, he was essentially just

vegging out and relaxing. He knew no one would bug him if they saw he was

occupied. So he didn't need to worry about doing anything that night, but

when you have free time, something will have a way of occupying that time,

in the most irritable way possible. But he wasn't expecting this...

"Zabuza san?" It was Haku. He was standing in the doorway and looking

at Zabuza. He held a rabbit in his arms. At his small size the rabbit

looked very large and it was a rather adorable sight, though Zabuza would

never admit it.

"Can't you see I'm busy, Haku." he said, irritatedly without really

looking up from his scroll.

"No, I can't, sir." Zabuza looked up angrily. Who did that kid think

he was?

"If I have my face turned towards a scroll, and I'm not doing anything

else but this, I am clearly-"

"-pretending to read?" Haku looked at him with those big brown eyes,

so did the rabbit. Zabuza prentended that he wasn't caught in the act of

slacking off.

"Now tell me, how do you come to that conclusion?" Haku looked at him

as if it were obvious. He stepped closer into the room so that there wasn't

so much space separating them.

"When I came in, you were looking at a scroll, but your eyes weren't

moving anywhere, which would indicate you weren't really reading, just

staring at the paper and pretending to read. And your face had a blank

expression on it. If you really were reading, you would have had a look of

concentration on your face as you took in the information. Another

indication you were only pretending to read." Haku said, pointing out all

the things that Zabuza had forgotten about. It really was amazing how such a

young boy could spot such small details from just standing in the doorway.

Zabuza was caught and even he had to admit it. He was really quite proud of

Haku.

"Since you can tell me all of that, why don't you try telling me WHY

I would be pretending to read?" He said, he may have been caught, but he

would still get the last word in.

Haku took a moment to think When he came up with an answer he lowered

his eyes a bit. "Becase you wanted to be left alone. I'm sorry Zabuza san"

Zabuza nodded at Haku but he couldn't help feeling that small prick of guilt

that you get when you make a child sad. He sighed in exasperation.

"Well, what did you want? I assume you did have a reason for coming

here?" He said, he might as well figure out what the boy wanted.

"It wasn't really important. I'll leave you alone" Haku turned to go

but Zabuza stopped him.

"So you interrupted me and now you are going to leave without saying

anything. You bothered me for nothing." Zabuza turned back to his previous

job of fake-reading. He knew Haku would have to tell him now. And Haku did

indeed turn back with his head lowered.

"I was just wondering, why you felt you had to pretend to read and

close everyone else out in order to relax? Is it fun?" Haku looked up at him

again to try and see a reaction. what he saw was Zabuza looking back at him

with his own questioning, yet thoughtful look. He took a deep breath.

"Haku, it isn't that it's fun, I'm tired and I just wanted some

'quiet time'. It's easier for me to relax alone" Zabuza said. He didn't

really have a good reason for it, he just did it. He always had been alone

so it was more natural for him to be more relaxed when he was alone.

"Oh...I like to relax with other people, I like to hear others

laughing with me, that's what makes me happy. That and a nap. Have you ever

tried relaxing with others?" Zabuza put down the scroll, it was clear he

wouldn't be reading it anytime soon, or pretending to either.

"No, Haku, I haven't, In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a very

sociable person" Haku looked deeper at him and walked up to his chair.

"That's sad, didn't you have any friends when you were my age?"

"No, I killed all the possbile friends I could've had before I even

knew them" Zabuza said, reflecting on that day when he first went to the

academy...Good times, gooood times!

"So you never played?" Haku looked up at him, he looked sad.

"No, not really, when I was a baby, I imagine my parents played with

me, but other than that, no, I didn't play" Zabuza said, thoughtful once

again. "I don't remember a lot about them either way though so it doesn't

matter."

"What do you remember about them?" Haku asked. It was natural for the

boy to be curious.

"Like I said, not alot, and it isn't anything important that I do

remember" Haku didn't relent.

"But I still want to know! please tell me about your parents?" Haku

said, using his child cuteness and a hopeful voice. It wasn't fair, even

Zabuza couldn't resist that!

Zabuza sighed and plucked Haku up from his place and sat him down on

his lap. "Well...I remember that my mother was pretty, I think. And my

father was a very well built man as close as I could figure. He had a deep

voice, but it wasn't a nice one, it was cold and cruel, he never really

paid any attention to me that I remember. But my mother..." He looked a

little distant, as if remembering a very sweet and fond memory. "My mother

had the voice of an angel...I do remember that she was always with me, I

remember her the best..." Zabuza closed his eyes, to remember her once more

from the memories he could scrape together.

Haku sighed happily "she sounds very nice...I miss my mother..." He

looked sad again. Then all of a sudden his face brightened up again.

"Zabuza san? Our fathers were very much the same." Zabuza was slightly

startled out of his memories. It was such an abrupt comment, but it was

true. Zabuza thought about it a bit.

"You're right Haku, they were, at the end anyways." Haku nodded

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Out in the hallway, a couple of random henchmen were listening. And

why not? it wasn't like Zabuza opened up like this often. And certainly

not to them. One of them snickered.

"I know something else they have in common!" Random Henchman 1

snickered, covering his mouth with one hand to stifle the noise.

"What?" asked the second.

"They were both 'Mama's Boys'" The first one laughed again. The second

started to have fits of giggles as well. They quickly ran away before they

were discovered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back into the room with Zabuza and Haku.

Haku looked up at Zabuza once again. He looked a little thoughtful and

then he smiled happily.

"I think we should play!" He said suddenly. Zabuza did a double take.

"We should what?"

"We should play! I haven't played in such a long time, and you've

never really played at all! I think everyone should play once in a while.

You might like it, Zabuza san" Haku looked hopeful, again employing his

natural, irresistable, chibi-cuteness. Zabuza looked helplessly at him and

siged, he needed to learn how to do that, it would be a lot quicker and

easier to take over the Wave Country. He didn't know why, but something deep

inside of him agreed with Haku, he sort of wanted to play. Maybe playing

would be good for him? Stranger things had happened. He sighed.

"Alright, we'll play" He said finally. Haku could have jumped for joy.

"What do you want to play?" He asked, fearing the worst. Before Haku could

speak though, he felt he needed to add one more thing. "I have one

condition, I don't want to play anything stupid or make myself look like a

loser! So nothing like 'Teddy Bear Picnic', 'Tea Party' or 'Dress-up'! Got

it?"

Haku made a face and stuck out his tongue in disgust. "No way! I

wouldn't play that! Those are girls games!" Zabuza rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, girls are 'icky' right?" Haku looked at him in astonishment.

"You think so too Zabuza san? Wow! we have a lot in common after all!"

Zabuza gave him a blank stare. Haku smiled "I want to play Hide-and-Go-

Seek!" Zabuza thought for a moment, there was no harm in that game, nothing

stupid, he might even get Haku to learn a few tricks while he was at it. He

nodded.

"Let's make this a bit more of an excercise, shall we? When you are

hiding, or seeking, I want you to use as much stealth and Ninja techniques

as possible, alright?" Zabuza looked down at Haku who was beaming with joy.

"What's that look for?"

"If we call it an 'excercise' can we do it all the time? It's like a

more fun type of training!" Zabuza stared at him. Only Haku could manage to

put it that way so quickly...Zabuza nodded again.

"Alright, we'll see how it goes today and then I'll think about

making it a usual practice excercise." Haku almost did jump for joy.

"YAY! Ok! who should hide first?" After a bit of debating they settled

on doing a Janken match. Zabuza lost and so he was the seeker. He gave Haku

ten seconds to hide, which he found himself a place that he thought Zabuza

would never find him. Bear in mind that he is young and still rather naive.

Zabuza started the Hunt. He searched through the bedrooms, the

bathroom, the kitchen cupboards and everywhere else until he came to the

living room. He's gotta be in here somewhere He thought. And was he ever

right...

Zabuza spotted the couch cushions...moving. There was a very odd lump

in the middle and the cushions were slightly askew and off-kilter. He

sighed but then decided to teach him a lesson about hiding better, without

scolding him.

"Hmmm, I've checked everywhere! Where could Haku possibly be?" He said

in a sarcastically funny voice, obviously uncharacteristic of him. He

decided to draw it out a bit since the cushions had started shaking with the

silent giggles of the young boy who obviously thought Zabuza would never find

him where he was in the couch.

Zabuza pretended to check behind the bookshelf, curtains and many other places

in the room. "Hmmm I guess he's outsmarted me! I think i'll take a rest on the *couch*

until he decides to come out!" With that Zabuza plopped himself down on the couch,

knowingly right on top of Haku. Haku let out a small squeek of surprise before quickly

covering his mouth to surpress some giggles. Hr was trying desperatley not to wriggle

while he laughed. Zabuza was very heavy.

Zabuza grinned, Haku was failing miserably and the couch cushions were still moving.

He decided to stretch and lie down on the couch, making sure to apply as much weight as

possible onto the cushions, and therefore, Haku. "aaah, my this couch is rather lumpy! maybe

I shout beat the cushions to make it softer?" Zabuza said, making sure Haku could hear him

clearly. Haku let out a squeel.

"No Zabuza san! It's me Haku! I'm under you! get off! you're too heavy! please don't beat

the couch!" Zabuza couldn't stop himself from laughing as he got up, pushing into the couch

cushions with his palms. He yanked off the cushions and Haku rolled out giggling like mad and

gasping for breath.

"and THAT'S why you should learn better hiding skills! Now it's YOUR turn to find ME!"

Haku kept giggling but he nodded, left the room and began to count. Zabuza thought. Where

should I hide? Somewhere he'll never find me! ...no, that isn't very fair, I don't even know

why I care...but I suppose..." Zabuza looked over at the floor lamp. I suppose it couldn't

hurt...to make it more fun, hell, we can train later, I can go down to Haku's level of fun for

a while. Quickly he grabbed the lampshade and hid the floor lamp. Placing the lampshade

securley on his own head he stood as straight as he couldwith his arms and legs at his sides.

He snickered I...am a floorlamp...

"TEN!" Haku shouted and he ran about to look for Zabuza. When he re-etered the living

room he looked at the floorlamp. It looked different...the lamp was usually a lot thinner, and

it didn't have arms and legs last time he checked. Haku sweatdropped. "Zabuza san...that's even

more pathetic than me hiding under the couch cushions..."

Zabuza cracked a grin, removing the lampshade from his head. "Just showing you how easily

you can be discovered!" He lied. He had to admit, he was having fun. He got a sudden urge and

lunged at Haku. Haku shreeked as Zabuza began to tickle the little boy into fits of laughter.

But when Haku started to recover from the initial shock, he attacked back. Right into Zabuza's

stomach, where he was the most ticklish, and then he squirmed around and got his toes. Now it

was Zabuza's turn to shreak. He was incredibly ticklish at his toes. He started to giggle. And

Zabuza giggling is definitley one adorable sight.

The laughter and their game could be heard until late in the night. The other men in the

house had long gone to bed snickering about Zabuza giggling. It was later that Zabuza escorted

Haku to his room, both of them still panting heavily from the 'excercise'. Haku looked up at

Zabuza.

"Zabuza san? can we do this tomorrow?" Zabuza smirked. It was fun. He wouldn't mind doing

it agan, but his stomach and toes needed a rest.

"Maybe not tomorrow Haku, the day after." Haku looked sad again but smiled.

"Then I have something to look forward to! I'm going to work really hard tomorrow on my

illusion skills! you'll NEVER find me!" With that Haku skipped off to bed, happier than ever.

Zabuza did the same...minus the skipping, he had to salvage something of his pride.

Some time later the next week...Haku succeeded in stumping Zabuza...He couldn't find him

for a whole hour, not until Haku jumped out at him, he had henge'd into a couch cushion this

time. It was then decided, after Zabuza's heart attack, that the couch was Haku's favourite

place to hide, and therefore was a place to watch out for. They had had fun with this game.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

HI! I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN LIKE...A YEAR! BUT HERE YA GO! A STORY FROM MY NEW

OBSESSION! I HOPE YOU LIKED IT! Fanarts would be GREATLY appreciated! Just send me an e-mail

about what the fanart is about, and definitley scan and send me a copy! I wanna see these!

Thanks!