Demons Don't Have Hearts
This was inspired by the, erm, was it the fourth….? Yes, the fourth volume of Naruto, where Haku dies a bloody and obviously painful death in order to save Zabuza, who goes on a homicidal rampage because of said death after saying over and over that Haku's death didn't effect him.
…Nice.
Yeah. Anyway, this'll be pretty sad. It's basically about Zabuza and Haku's relationship—shounen-ai if you like—, and about their lives together. Yeah.
Gods, you make it sound like they're married.
Well, maybe they are. Ahem. Read now, okay?
Disclaimer: We own nothing.
Warnings: Angst, shounen-ai.
Demons Don't Have Hearts
Once upon a time, there was a man who was called a demon and a monster. He was abhorred, rejected by all who met him, ostracized and alienated for deeds he'd committed as a child.
This man's name was Momochi Zabuza, and he was, in nearly every sense of the word, a demon. He killed without a qualm, without hesitation, without second-guesses. He never questioned his actions or their morality, but simply killed and killed and killed.
In due time, his hands become stained with the blood of hundreds, the mark of their suffering etched indelibly into his flesh.
And still, this man felt no remorse. He felt no pity, no sympathy. He didn't care for the lives he took. Momochi Zabuza was called 'Demon', and he did the name justice at every turn. He felt no remorse for this.
Momochi Zabuza felt no remorse for this, mostly because he was a demon, and demons don't have hearts.
Once upon a time, in the very same land the Demon grew up in, there was a young boy, born to loving parents.
One day, his father found out about his mother's blood-line—that she was from a clan bearing a kekkei genkai, an innate talent passed down through generations. This man murdered his wife, and the child was forced to kill his own father in self-defense.
From then on he knew nothing but pain and abandonment.
Finally, one day, at the tender age of six, the boy found himself drawn out to his limits and beyond. He was dying, there was no way around it. It was cold, and he was starving and sick; he certainly wouldn't last another two days, and probably not even through the night.
The boy's name was 'Haku'.
Momochi Zabuza, the Demon, the heartless killer of killers, came upon this orphaned boy when he—Haku—was at his lowest, dying in the gutter.
"Look at you," Zabuza sneered, staring down at the pathetic boy. "An orphan, a foundling. Unwanted and unloved, abandoned. Soon you'll die here, in the gutter, with nothing left to show you existed and no one to know or care what your dreams were."
Haku merely smiled up at Zabuza, and said, "I…can see myself in your eyes. We have the same expression." Zabuza was taken aback by this fearless reply from this frail little boy.
He knelt down next to the child, his head titled to the side. "You're very pretty. Are you a boy?"
It was a question Haku was, even then, used to hearing. He nodded, still gazing fearlessly at this imposing man who'd stopped to deliver to him the news of his impending death.
Zabuza leaned forward and grasped the broken chain still connected to the leather collar around the young boy's neck. For what seemed like an eternity, he studied it, and then let it drop and looked up into Haku's face.
"A slave?" he asked. Haku nodded, still gazing up at Zabuza. The man nodded; he'd expected as much. And, considering how very pretty Haku was, it wasn't hard for the worldly Zabuza to guess at the exact nature of the boy's 'services' to his master.
For the first time, the Demon noted the boy's bruised face and tattered clothing, and the hopeless, broken look in his eyes. He felt an unexplainable anger welling inside of him; anger at this boy's treatment, anger at the world for forcing such an innocent to suffer so early in life, anger at Haku himself for having that look in his wide eyes.
Haku noted Zabuza's clenched fists and narrowed eyes, and whimpered, fearing that he'd angered the man.
When Zabuza saw the child's fear, he attempted to hide his anger.
"Come with me," he said gruffly, getting up. "That is, if you want to live."
Haku blinked, confused. Zabuza was offering to help him?
"Will you…" Haku stopped, and cleared his throat. He spoke up, his childish voice ringing through the frigid air. "Will you keep me?"
Zabuza paused, surprised at the question and at the child's boldness. Finally, he continued walking, and said, almost gently, "Yes."
Momochi Zabuza didn't understand why he answered that way, or why he cared about the boy at all, mostly because he was a demon, and demons don't have hearts.
Years passed, and Zabuza trained Haku to be a remorseless, heartless killing machine. Yet, no matter how much the boy was hurt, and how much blood stained his young hands, that innocent look never left his beautiful eyes.
It frustrated Zabuza to no end. He'd often find himself beating the boy for some inconsequential error in his training, just to try and get that look out of his eyes. It never worked, and Haku never looked at Zabuza with anger, only love and sadness.
Zabuza couldn't understand why Haku didn't blame him. He simply didn't understand how the boy could stand the treatment he received without being at all resentful.
Momochi Zabuza didn't understand this, mostly because he was a demon, and demons don't have hearts.
Momochi Zabuza never cared for Haku as a person, because Haku was only useful as a tool. The boy's only purpose was to serve Zabuza, and Zabuza had no regard for Haku's personal feelings.
Haku was merely a useful tool, an expert killing machine that obeyed the Demon's every order without hesitation, without question. Zabuza couldn't care less if Haku was sad, or happy, or angry.
Tools do not have emotions. Zabuza refused to acknowledge Haku as anything more than a tool, so Haku refused to acknowledge his own emotions.
Momochi Zabuza didn't ever once think of Haku as a real person, mostly because he was a demon, and demons don't have hearts.
Once, only once, Haku and Zabuza failed in their duty, in their job. Once, and only once, they botched an assassination attempt.
Haku incensed the demon fox, Naruto, by making it seem as if his friend were dead, and Naruto, in turn, attacked Haku.
The boy was defeated, and begged Naruto for his death, saying that he had no reason to live if he could not be useful to Zabuza, and that, if he had been defeated, he was weak and therefore useless to the Demon.
Naruto found no way out, and prepared to kill Haku, when the boy went against his own words and leapt away from Naruto's oncoming strike.
Instead of dying at Naruto's hands, Haku interposed himself between Kakashi and Zabuza, saving the Demon's life at the cost of his own.
Haku died almost instantly, and Zabuza died shortly after.
As he lay dying, Zabuza reached out and caressed the still-warm skin of Haku's delicate, beautiful face, tears sliding down his cheeks. He finally understood it all.
He understood how Haku could gaze at him with only love and admiration and, occasionally, when he thought Zabuza wasn't looking, sadness. He understood how the boy could kill so many and remain innocent. He understood that Haku was a person, and, further more, he realized that, all the time, he really had understood this.
He understood then that he loved Haku with all his body and soul.
A demon would not have understood, because demons don't have hearts.
However, Momochi Zabuza was no demon.
Will I ever go to sleep before three in the morning? I mean, seriously. Ever?
Just shut up, would you?
She's tired. So am I. Anyway, yeah. Review, okay?