Folded Hands, Chapter Seven

Pairings: Zabuza/Haku, possibly others later

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Note:

Darkrini—

AHHHHH! Thanks for your reviews! You're always so great! And yeah, it was a cliffhanger…that chapter was a lot longer than all the others so far, and I needed to study for an exam, so I just decided to leave it at the best stopping point.

All—

Sorry about the errors. I typed the last chapter REALLY fast.

Also, I kind of skimped on the jutsu names before. I'm now referencing Wikipedia for Haku's, Zabuza's, Sasuke's, etc, attacks. The internet is so useful!

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Haku soon had to bade farewall to the fire-nin. His master had finally finished the mission strategy with the help of the foreign teacher, and Haku was anxious to hear about it.

He watched Zabuza's back all the way home, wondering if his master had pushed for him to have an important role. He still hoped that he wouldn't be forced to dress like a girl, but anything other than that would have delighted him.

Training against the fire-nin had changed Haku's feelings about becoming a ninja. Their spectacular fighting abilities were worthy of envy.

He wanted to catch his master's eye like that.

Haku kept his eyes down for most of the walk home, and neither he nor his master spoke. He let his gaze drift over his master's back and shoulders, and then he looked away.

He's much better looking than the others were.

He had to fight to keep such thoughts to himself.

"Haku," his master suddenly said, startling him.

"Yes, master?"

Zabuza motioned for Haku to walk beside him. "I need you to wake up bright and early tomorrow," he began. Haku nodded.

"The first part of the plan is familiarization. Tomorrow, you and the black-haired kid are going to give the dealers a visit."

"Dealers?"

Zabuza nodded. "Gatou has a lot of influence in this area. He's already set up a prostitution ring. The pink-haired kid is going to do go in from this angle." Haku swallowed nervously. He couldn't imagine Sakura as a prostitute, but he nodded.

"You and that other kid are going to get to know the area by visiting the local drug dealers. We've been informed that shipments generally come in the day after tomorrow, so we're going to attack then. They should be dry tomorrow, or so I've been told," he said, adding a shrug to show his conviction in this information. "Either way, you two are going to start from that angle."

"What am I supposed to do, Master?" Haku asked.

"Just ask them for something. Dealers are always willing to give kids a try because they're so easy to hook." Zabuza glanced over Haku's face to make sure that he was listening. "They'll probably talk to you two without suspecting anything. While you're there, look around. Check out the layout of Gatou's base if you get close enough."

Haku nodded. "I'll do my best."

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Daylight came, and Haku awoke soon after. He dressed, prepared breakfast, and waited for the black-haired fire-nin to arrive.

Sasuke knocked on the door to Zabuza's house while Haku practiced the hand seals for the Water Dragon Bullet technique. He answered the door quickly to see Sasuke standing with his arms folded. He was wearing all-black that day, and looked unhappy.

"Good morning," Haku greeted him. Sasuke returned the greeting.

"I need to go tell my mas—Master Zabuza that I'm going," Haku said. Sasuke nodded and yawned.

Haku left the door ajar as he crossed the living room and rapped his knuckle against Zabuza's door. "Master?" he asked softly.

Zabuza opened the door. "Time for you to go?" he asked, completely awake.

Haku nodded and fought to keep his eyes on his master's face. He had realized for the first time the night before that his master was…almost attractive…in a certain way, and he knew that his master wouldn't like it.

"Yes, master," he said, keeping his voice soft so that Sasuke couldn't hear the title he used to address Zabuza.

There were a few seconds in which Haku simply waited for his master to say something. Zabuza then told him to leave with a wave of his hand, and Haku quickly turned on his heel and joined Sasuke outside.

He paused before he shut the door. He saw that his master had left his room now, and was preparing to eat in the small dining room. Haku shut the door and tried to focus on the mission.

Sasuke looked at him blearily, then said, "Let's go…" and began to walk away from the small house.

Haku followed him at first, then caught up to Sasuke.

I need to remember to not project myself as a slave to these foreign ninja, he thought. His mind returned to his master.

Master almost never leaves his room before I've awoken…does he feel uncomfortable around me? Maybe he wakes up before me everyday, but he doesn't want to be bothered with waking me, so he just stays in his room so he won't have to deal with me…

"Haku?"

Haku's attention snapped to Sasuke, who was giving him another bleary look. Haku now realized that there were dark circles under the fire-nin's eyes, and he looked absolutely miserable.

"What's wrong?" he asked in alarm. "Are you sick?"

Sasuke smiled. "I…I need coffee…or something…" He shrugged and looked around the marketplace. Haku realized that they had already come so far…and he hadn't been paying attention at all!

Some ninja you are.

Caught up in thoughts about your master…

"Coffee?" Haku asked politely, trying to keep his mind on the day's mission.

"Yeah." Sasuke frowned. "Last night, some RETARD kept going on about how he wanted to do today's mission." He sighed. "Naruto kept nagging me and kept saying that if I was going to check out the dealers, I had to look like a drug addict."

"Oh." Haku felt foolish for not thinking of that himself.

"So, he kept me up all night. At first," Sasuke said, looking around the stalls, "He just whined and said, 'I should go on this mission! I'm a great actor!' and then I said, 'No, you're not, and that doesn't really matter anyway." The smile returned to his face. "Then, I ignored him and tried to go to sleep…and he kept throwing things at me, saying that I couldn't be a good ninja if I wouldn't try harder to act on my missions…"

He looked around then, suddenly very irritated. "Where the fuck is the coffee?"

Haku smiled as he watched the fire-nin look for 'coffee' on the menus of the nearby stalls. "It's called café here," he said. Sasuke was almost funny when he was sleep-deprived, he decided.

He wasn't as charming as Naruto, though.

Haku felt that this was going to be a long day.

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They arrived at Gatou's estate within that hour. Sasuke was still tired, but Haku agreed with Naruto in that sleep-deprivation would make anyone look like a drug user. Sasuke looked like he would kill for…well, Haku didn't know much about drugs, but he did know that Sasuke looked hungover.

He had a lot of experience with hungover men.

As Haku began to remember something from his time with his past master, two men (presumably Gatou's) shouted at him and Sasuke from the lawn area of the estate.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?"

The nervousness immediately returned to Haku. We're walking, he thought. No, we're FUCKING walking. He secretly hoped that Sasuke's language would not rub off on him.

Sasuke waved back. "Can we talk to you?" he shouted to the two men.

As the men crossed the lawn, Sasuke held his head in his hands again. "Do you have any idea of what to do?" he asked Haku under his breath.

"No idea at all."

"Fuck." Sasuke closed his eyes. "I can't even think straight right now."

Haku swallowed nervously as he tried to scrap together a background story explaining why two teenagers would want to visit drug dealers shortly after daylight.

The problem began to resolve itself when one of the men greeted them loudly. "Hey, kids, do your parents know where you are?"

Haku was completely taken aback by the question, but Sasuke looked up from his hands and smiled. "Hell, I don't know where THEY are, so I think we're even."

"Ha!" The man who had greeted them loudly nudged his companion in the arm. "Funny little shit, huh?"

The second man glared at him.

"So, kiddoes," he said, turning his attention back to Sasuke and Haku, "What are you in the market for today?"

"Just wanted to see if there were any Country of Water specialties," Sasuke said.

"You're a foreigner?" The man looked him over. "Should've known. Weird shoes."

Sasuke sent Haku a sidelong look, and Haku decided that it was time to speak up. "Do you have anything in right now, or do we need to come back later?"

The man threw his hands up in the air. "The stuff we sell on the street was bought out half a week ago! We've been practically dry and we've lost god knows how much business to the street-corner guys," he said angrily. "But since you kids were nice enough to come down here, how about a little taste of the finer stuff?"

It was Haku's turn to look at Sasuke for help. Sasuke turned to the men and said, "Nah, don't want to try something I can't afford."

"Come on!" The man practically roared. His expression was a mix of amusement and frustration. "Don't tell me that you came all the way out here, and made us come over here and be all friendly, just to pussy out when you got close to getting your hands on some."

Haku began to panic. The man seemed to have become more irate. "W-we're just not sure…"

The man turned on him. "Your friend's already halfway into the other world, but how about you? Come on, just a little."

Haku glared at the dealer. Is this what 'pushing' is?

"I…I'm not sure…"

"Oh come on! Did you just let your friend drag you down here?" The man sneered, then elbowed his companion again. "Is this kid a pussy or what?"

That awful word again!

The man's companion just said, "Yeah, what a pushover."

Haku looked to Sasuke for help, but the loud man said, "No, don't look at him. I'm talking to you, kid. Can't you make a decision for yourself?"

Sasuke tried to send Haku a look saying, 'Whatever, let's go,' but Haku's attention was fixed on the dealer.

"Fine, I'll just try it," he said, trying to glare down the loud man. "What is it?"

The quiet companion produced a small capsule. He opened the capsule and pulled a small yellow tablet. The loud man took the tablet from him.

"Down this, and you won't believe the thing's you'll see," he said.

Haku held out his hand, and the tablet was dropped into his palm. He looked at it cautiously, and Sasuke tried to use the opportunity to stop what was about to happen.

"Look, he can take it later, let's go," he said, tugging on Haku's robe.

"Let him decide by himself. He knows what he wants to do."

Sasuke glared daggers at the dealer and watched helplessly as Haku swallowed the tablet.

"Sweet dreams," the loud man said as he left them for Gatou's base. "Make sure you come back later!"

When the dealers were out of eyesight, Sasuke grabbed Haku's shoulder. "Why'd you take it?" he asked angrily.

Haku looked away and shrugged. "I thought it was the only way they'd leave us alone."

"You don't even know…" Sasuke grabbed his head again. "Whatever, let's get out of here."

Haku followed him. He now realized that it had been a mistake to take the pill, but ten minutes passed and he still didn't feel anything.

"How is it?" Sasuke asked as they trudged through the forest on the way to Zabuza's house.

"I don't know," Haku said. "I think that they gave me the wrong thing."

Sasuke stopped walking. "Let's not go back until it kicks in."

"Why?"

Sasuke sighed. "Naruto's done stuff like that before. Let's just say that it'll be better if it hits you here, then if it hits you when you're in front of your teacher. Less to explain that way."

Haku nodded. "What do you think's going to happen?"

"No idea. They didn't say much about it…"

Haku suddenly felt very light. "Hey…"

Sasuke took a step toward him. "Is it starting?"

"Hey…"

Sasuke watched him as he began to sway back and forth. Haku almost fell back, but stopped himself. He tried to walk towards Sasuke, but the he found that he couldn't close the distance between them, and when he stopped trying to walk, the distance between them grew.

Haku began to look irritated. "Haku?"

"Hey…"

He tried to say something else, like , 'where are you' or 'what am I doing' but all that he could say was that one stupid word. He tried to say something else, but he felt like he had lost control of his body.

Haku sank to his knees, but he didn't feel the pain of falling. He rocked back and forth, and Sasuke knelt a few feet away from him. "Haku?"

He couldn't say anything now. He couldn't raise his head to look at Sasuke. He began to see…things.

It all came back right then. The alcohol, the bathhouse, towels, brushing his hair, the trial, the windmill, his skinny arms…the water dripping from the laundry…the frozen laundry line…

He felt stronger arms, stronger hands on his shoulders, and he couldn't look up. The hands grabbed him, pulled him forward, and someone with a deep voice was shouting at him.

How had this happened? How had be become so weak? He realized that he had always been like this, as weak as a little girl, unable to do anything, just being pushed around…his arms gave way and the strong hands tried to lift him up.

More shouting. He had to try harder, right?

Try WHAT harder? For who? For what? Why couldn't his master just fuck off? Why couldn't the orphanage director just fuck off? He was happy being on the ground…but they pushed him around…

He thought that, when he had first fallen, that he had been able to see leaves on the forest floor. The colors all blended together now and he couldn't see anything, but when he closed his eyes…

Haku was pulled forward again.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF ME!"

Haku sat up quickly, lashing out by striking Sasuke in the face. He realized where he was and who he was with now, and what he had just said…he covered his mouth with his hands as he realized that he was still talking, unable to stop himself.

"YOU GODDAMNED SICKO! I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU AND I HATE BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO AND I HATE THE THINGS YOU MAKE ME DO AND I DON'T WANT TO CALL YOU MASTER ANYMORE AND I--"

Sasuke's form came into sharp focus, and the black-haired fire-nin stared at him in shock, not sure of what to make of the outburst.

Tears were streaming down Haku's cheeks then, and he realized that they were the reason that his vision had been blurry. He held his breath for a moment as he stared at Sasuke, who stared back at him, and then he tried to wipe his face with the sleeves of his robe.

"I-I'm sorry that I'm always like this…I always mess up…I'm so stupid…" he lamented. "Everything's so obvious but I…I get it all mixed up…"

Sasuke continued to stare at him.

"Haku…"

Haku hid his face in his hands. "Please don't leave me here."

"Of course not." Sasuke sat beside him, but was careful not to touch him. "Just…whenever you're ready to go…"

"Hey."

"What?" Sasuke moved so that he could look into Haku's face. "Is it happening again?"

Haku pulled his hands away from his face, then wiped his eyes and gave Sasuke a weak smile.

"I bet that stuff won't sell very well after the first week."

Sasuke was surprised by the joke, but then he forced himself to smile. "Maybe it was a bad batch."

"Really bad."

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They returned to Zabuza's house about thirty minutes later. Haku had calmed down after the first outburst, and kept apologizing for the things he'd said.

"It's okay," Sasuke said every time. "If it was Naruto, then he probably would've done something way worse." He smiled. "If it was Sakura, well, I don't think that normal drugs work on her anymore…not after than medical training…

Haku was more worried about what he'd said during his outbursts, though. There were some things that he wanted to keep secret from everyone, even from his master. Sasuke seemed smarter than most, and Haku was afraid that we would start to piece together Haku's history.

What was more frightening was the possibility that Sasuke would put it together incorrectly.

When they reached the door to Zabuza's house, Haku found a note pinned to the front door.

"We're at the lake again. Come quickly."

Haku handed the note to Sasuke, who rolled his eyes. "I need some god damned sleep…" he groaned.

Haku nodded and then began to walk towards the lake. His thoughts still rested on Sasuke, though, and he couldn't bite back what he was thinking.

"Sasuke."

"What's up?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

Haku swallowed nervously. "About the things I said…" he tried to judge the nature of those things from Sasuke's reaction. Sasuke looked away.

"About those things…I was with someone else until a short while ago."

He stopped walking, and said, "Even if you don't know what happened…exactly…I need you to know that."

Sasuke stared at him. "So, you're saying that that person…isn't around right now?"

Haku nodded. The shame began to weigh down on him.

Sasuke knows now. He knows that I'm a slave, and that…

Sasuke looked away. "You're a slave, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"So Zabuza owns you."

"Yes."

"So Zabuza is your master."

"…yes."

"And…" Sasuke gave him a level look. "…and that person isn't around right now?"

"No."

"When we're at the lake, will that person be around?"

"No."

Sasuke didn't seem entirely satisfied with that answer, so Haku added, "That person is not able to do anything any longer."

"Not able to do anything?"

Haku was torn between telling Sasuke exactly WHY his old master couldn't do anything to him, and keeping his past confidential. He closed his eyes and forced out, "Not anything at all."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment, then said, "If that changes, tell me."

"I'm sorry that you had to know."

"No, it's better that someone knows." He looked away. "Does anyone else know?"

"Naruto does. And your teacher might, too."

"Kakashi?" he asked. "Well, I don't know if it makes a difference to him." he sighed. "Naruto has a big mouth, though."

Haku began to walk again, and Sasuke walked beside him. As they neared the lake, he whispered,

"Please don't tell my master that you know either."

Sasuke nodded, and tried to keep his face neutral.

The four other ninja came into focus right then, all together at the water's edge.

Naruto was the first to take notice of his teammate and new friend. "Hey! Haku and the jackass are here!" he shouted as he ran towards them. Next to him, Kakashi glanced towards the newcomers, and Zabuza didn't pay them any attention as he ran over the mission plan with the foreign teacher. Sakura was reading a book while lying on a nearby blanket.

Naruto hit Sasuke's shoulder at the first opportunity. "Hey, you don't look so good!" he said, smirking.

"That's because you didn't let me sleep last night," Sasuke said through his teeth.

"Some ninja you are!"

"I can't believe that you stayed up all night too, and you're still so…" Sasuke glared at his comrade. "Oh, I don't feel like it anymore." He pushed past Naruto and started to talk to Sakura, looking more at the comfortable blanket she was lying on than at her face.

Naruto almost hit Haku's shoulder too, but he restrained himself. "You okay? You don't look so good either."

Haku shrugged, then walked towards his master without saying a word to Naruto.

"Master…Zabuza?" he asked.

If Zabuza had noticed the change in his title, he didn't say anything about it. "How'd it go?" he asked gruffly, not looking at Haku as he studied something in Gatou's information folder.

"A-alright." Haku looked to Sasuke for help to find that Sasuke had taken up residence on Sakura's pink picnic blanket, leaving Sakura to find a reading place on a nearby patch of grass.

"Did you find anything?"

Haku came back to the present. The mission! They had gone for a reason! Oh god, he had forgotten…

"Well, when we got there, these guys ran us off…"

Zabuza glared at him. "It's easy to tell when you're lying. What happened?"

Haku swallowed. "We didn't learn anything. I…well, I forgot what I was supp--"

"Whatever." He held up a scroll. "We found the guy who designed the base, so we 'politey coerced' him into giving us the plans."

"He even gave us tea," Kakashi said in good humor, smiling at Haku through his half-mask.

"Oh," Haku said. He was somewhat stunned by the sudden turn of events, but he tried to keep it to himself. He suddenly felt exhausted.

"We're busy, so go play with the other kids," Zabuza said, waving him off.

Haku nodded, crushed, and he joined Sakura at her resting place.

Sakura closed her book. "You don't look so good. Did something happen?"

Haku shrugged. "Nothing, really." What a waste of a day.

Naruto sat down next to Haku and Sakura so that they sat in a triangle. "What's up, guys?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged, and ignored Naruto. "Haku, was Sasuke mean to you? You see, he's really not good with sleep deprivation…" She glanced at a now-snoring Sasuke. "Out like a light."

"No, but…" Haku turned his attention to Naruto. "He knows now."

"He knows?" Naruto's eyes widened and Haku shrugged. "You can tell her too, for all I care."

"Tell me what?" Sakura asked, glancing at Kakashi and Zabuza before whispering, "Is there a secret?"

Naruto smiled. "Er, not really. You see, Sasuke thought Haku was a girl this morning, and--"

Sakura hit Naruto over the head. "Like I'd believe that!"

"Children, quiet down…" Kakashi said in his usual bored voice. Sakura ducked her head down.

"Haku, whatever it is, you can tell me," she said. "Come on, don't just tell the boys…"

"I…" Haku wasn't sure of how to say it. So far, Naruto and Sasuke had each learned that he was a slave without him having to be the one who said it.

Naruto interrupted him. "I'll tell her later, okay?"

Haku quickly nodded.

It's probably better that way.

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"What?"

"I'm not kidding!"

Sasuke looked up from his hotel bed to see a furious Sakura backing Naruto against a wall. Naruto held his hands up to protect himself.

"Guys…" he whimpered. "Shut up already…."

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. "Naruto said that Haku was Zabuza's slave!" She glared at her blonde comrade. "Just because someone obeys their teacher, doesn't mean that they're a slave, you idiot! Do you have any idea of how pissed Haku would be if he heard you say something like that?"

"Honest!" Naruto shouted, jumping onto his bed in his flight. "Haku really is a slave! Like a master-slave thing! I'm not joking!"

"Naruto!"

Sasuke forced himself up as Naruto tumbled towards his bed. "He's telling the truth," he said to Sakura. She immediately froze as she knelt on Naruto's bed.

"What?"

Sasuke nodded. "I found out today. Haku kind of told me on accident."

Sakura stared at him. "But I thought that slavery was illegal."

"I think the laws are different in this country."

Naruto sat down on his own bed now, next to Sakura. "It's still not right, though."

Sasuke nodded. "I was really surprised when I found out, myself. It kind of makes sense, though…he's always so polite, and shy…"

Kakashi knocked on the door to the boys' room. "Kiddoes, it's after dark. Boys and girls in separate rooms."

Sakura blushed and left Naruto's and Sasuke's room quickly.

"Lights out." Kakashi said, turning off the light in their room.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted.

"Thank god…" Sasuke said.

Naruto lay in bed for a few minutes, not sure of what to think of Haku's situation.

"Hey retard."

Naruto fought to not answer, then Sasuke said, "Don't tell Haku I told you this, but…"

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As Haku fell asleep that night, his reaction to the drug came back. He stayed awake for hours, waiting for an invisible threat.

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