Well, it's been a while...
To all my reviewers, I have to apologize. Due to certain circumstances involving my computer and it's connection to the internet, I was completely cut off from updating. All I can ask is that you don't forget about this story and continue to read.
You'll notice in this chapter I've done some things that probably don't fit in very well with the Narutoverse. Up until now I was getting the story almost straight from the manga, but now I'm going off into uncharted territory. It is very likely I'm going to get flames for the things I'm going to do here, and it is also a likely possibility that many of you will lose all faith in me and quit reading. All I can say to this is you will be missed. I like the story the way it is and that's how I've decided it's going to stay. I apologize if it's not to your liking.
I don't own nothin man.
"Ugh…" Reiko groaned as he woke up in a soft bed. He could tell there were people around him, but he didn't know who. His thoughts suddenly drifted to his mask "Where's my mask?"
"Your mask is just fine. We picked it up and carried it back for you." A gruff voice said from his bedside.
Reiko slowly opened his eyes to find Zabuza and Haku sitting on either side of him. Zabuza had his arms crossed over his chest, while Haku was smiling and humming some tune. They were so very different from each other.
"Zabuza sensei? Haku chan? What are you two doing here?" Reiko asked quickly, hoping he hadn't been voluntarily kidnapped. He wouldn't get paid for the job.
"First off, we're in Tazuna's house, which he graciously allowed us to stay in, and second, Haku is a boy. I'm sure you've already been through that last one though." Zabuza said, being back to his old self without the evilness and the mission to kill him.
"Haku is a girl." Reiko said with a smirk as he closed his eyes "Now that I know the truth, you can just ask her. She'll tell you."
"Haku?" Zabuza asked suspiciously with one eyebrow raised. He always knew Haku was slightly feminine, but just figured there was something wrong with him. This kid had proved to be pretty smart however, so Zabuza considered it a question worth asking.
"Well…" Haku said, sighing and looking down at the floor. Finally deciding on something, Haku reached back and untied something, adding breasts to his figure. "Yeah…I'm a girl…"
"…" Was the only thing that Zabuza could say for the moment. He just stared at Haku's breasts for a long time. It would have been understandable had it been in a sexual way, but the thought that was going through his head was 'Those are NOT supposed to be there on guys.'. Guess anyone can be surprised given a long enough life.
"Don't worry Haku chan, if you don't want me to tell anybody, I won't." Reiko said with a smile "I understand your reasons for hiding your true gender. Though I must say you make a pretty sad imitation of a boy."
"I suppose it's okay now." Haku said, her voice not changing at all "Especially with the situation we talked over with Kakashi."
"What are you talking about?" Reiko asked confusedly. The two of them plotting things was slightly unnerving, giving their recent situation.
"We're going to train you kid." Zabuza said flatly as if it didn't mater to him. "You did say you'd like to learn from me. That and you keep calling me sensei…"
"You'll…train…me?" Reiko asked, barely being able to get the words out. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates, but not bleeding.
"Yes. We'll be living on the outskirts of Konoha so we can train you." Haku explained "Kakashi san is going to report us as dead, so the hunters won't be after us anymore."
"Do I get to learn how to wield oversized swords of mass destruction and chaos?" Reiko asked hopefully. That was his one main wish after all, aside from all the different suiton jutsus, which he also liked a lot.
"We're already on top of that kid." Zabuza said, picking up something from under the bed. In a flash there was a longsword stabbed into the bed, mere inches away from Reiko's head. It didn't bother him so much because he was staring up at the sword. "This, is your sword."
"I love you Zabuza sensei." Reiko said very calmly making Zabuza and Haku doubt whether he was joking or not.
In his defense, it was a nice sword. It was just long enough for his height, though not nearly as wide as Zabuza's sword. It was by no means a cleaver, but it was at least two katanas wide, which was plenty good enough for Reiko.
"I feel like the luckiest guy in the world…" Reiko said, a smile all over his face. " I'm going to learn how to skewer people on a large sword and then wash them off with a kick ass suiton jutsu."
"Wow…for a kid, you understand the system pretty well." Zabuza said while scratching the back of his head. "But I understand that you are typically a genjutsu user, which neither of us use. For any of your genjutsu training, you have to do that somewhere else."
"No problem sensei!" Reiko said cheerfully as he used his sword to pull himself out of bed. "Hey, I can't see it too well so I'm gonna ask you guys. How are those senbon wounds on my back healing up?"
"Rather nicely actually." Haku said coolly "By the way, I am very sorry for that. Though you should know that if I had been using senbon like yours, you would be very, very dead. Naruto's shoulder hasn't completely healed up yet after you hit him with one."
"He's probably gonna be pissed off at me for that. I've limited his ability to train." Reiko said nervously. "At any rate, when do I start my 'kick your ass without you ever knowin it' training'?"
"Tomorrow." Zabuza said calmly "We're staying here for two weeks to recuperate before we head to Konoha."
"SWEET!" Reiko yelled, jumping into the air in pure happiness "I'm gonna get to be so awesome after just two weeks alone, it'll be hard to describe my raw irresistibility."
At that point in time, Zabuza just walked off. He didn't say anything, or give clear indication as to what he was doing. He just left. In the future, Reiko would look back on that moment as the first of many, MANY, times that Zabuza would do that. You couldn't hardly blame the guy. He was just uncomfortable around the sheer weirdness that seeped from Reiko like the worlds most ineffective sponge. Haku was merely silent.
Stepping outside, Reiko immediately noticed that everybody had been waiting for him, including Naruto, who had his shoulder in a harness. It wasn't as if everybody had been hoping he would get better, but just hoping they could talk to him. After the stunt he pulled on the bridge, it was to be expected. For a time, no words were exchanged, and nobody's gaze left Reiko's. Seeing this, Reiko did the only thing he knew to do. He opened his big mouth.
"So, what's for dinner?" He asked amiably while scratching the back of his head. It took a second, but everybody visibly brightened. It was good to have him back.
The next two weeks constituted training and eating. Reiko began learning the basics of large weapon fighting, along with the steps to perform Kirigakure correctly. He was drained at the end of every day, but enjoyed it nonetheless. He was learning from the demon of the mist after all.
Kakashi kept up his training on all of his students, including Reiko. Zabuza and Kakashi had come to an understanding as to the training of team seven, or rather Reiko. Zabuza could teach what he wanted, when he wanted, so long as it didn't interfere with Kakashi's training regimen, which was mostly chakra control work. Reiko didn't mind at all, even though he was being worked to death.
Tazuna eventually finished his bridge, with one of his main workers being Zabuza. It shocked everybody else too, but Tazuna got the idea that Zabuza wanted to make up for nearly killing them all. It helped everybody around him to understand that Zabuza wasn't a bad person, just a man with a job. In fact, just about everybody would agree that Zabuza was pretty damn nice to have around. His overall presence was like that of a father who watches over his children. Of course, he was a very detached and stern father, but that was more of a front than anything. Haku could easily attest to him being a big softie underneath it all.
Haku was completely different from Zabuza. It was a wonder they weren't always at each other's throats. Somehow, they had worked out a series of compromises, allowing them each certain liberties and certain boundaries. Zabuza could basically do whatever he wanted, so long as Haku didn't have to clean up after him and take care of him. There were exceptions, like when he was hurt, but that's a little different from going out and getting drunk, then having to fend off the mobs of angry fathers who say that he defiled their daughters…When Haku told that particular story, nobody bought it. All the same, they were almost inseparable, and Reiko's odd personality fit in finely with their little troupe.
After their two weeks of blissful training came to a close, it came time for everybody to say their final goodbyes. They weren't tearful goodbyes, but more like happy ones. Tazuna even gave Zabuza a good hearty pat on the back. They had a strange understanding that only they could really comprehend.
It was then that Inari chose to walk up to Reiko with his head looking down towards the ground. This was their first real contact since the incident where Reiko went a little crazy and yelled at him.
"You know, you were right…I am weak." Inari said, looking down into the dirt as if it was interesting.
"I know…" Reiko said with a grin "But it's okay as long as you understand what it takes to change that."
Inari looked up at him with tears in his eyes. Reiko said the rest of his goodbyes and swiftly moved away before any creepy hugging could happen. Inari looked a little disappointed, but he really didn't care. He had a sword now.
Soon they were all on the road, laughing back and forth with each other and generally having a good time. Reiko kept on babbling about swords and putting things in hell. You know, the normal stuff.
To all of my reviewers who were good enough to review. I want you to know that the last chapter was extremely confusing, due in no part to the fact that I tried to keep it as close to the original manga as humanly possible. Because of this, an exponentional loss of understanding seemed to be the general consensus. I can only express my deepest apologies and hope you don't hold it against me for long.
Trangle on and on and on...