Folded Hands, Chapter Eleven
Pairings: Zabuza/Haku, possibly others later
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Over the course of the next two days, Zabuza worked Haku as hard as he could. Haku found himself looking forward to the blissful rest that came with eating, bathing, and sleeping.
Will it always be like this? He wondered. I'll probably get used to it in a while…but, still, isn't this a little much?
He had started to get a feeling for fighting, though. His body had picked up speed, and he found that he could be rather inventive when he was cornered, exhausted, and in pain.
It was lunch time, the day before the mission. Zabuza had told him to make lunch for five that day, and he sat down at the table, looking over the mission documents.
Five? Does that mean that Naruto is coming here?
Surely enough, he heard a soft knocking on the door when he was almost finished with lunch. His Master answered the door, and he heard Kakashi's voice for a few seconds before his Master shut the door.
"We're going to eat outside," Zabuza said. Haku nodded. He knew that his Master did not want such strange ninja inside his house, or possibly anyone.
I wonder how many people besides myself have been in this house while Zabuza stayed here, he thought. Perhaps lovers had stayed there as well?
Haku shook his head. Master does not seem like the type to keep lovers. Maybe, he would go to a brothel…
No! I shouldn't think things like that! Of course he wouldn't need to pay for sex!
Haku turned off the stove and began to move the food onto dishes. His Master entered the kitchen then, and said, "We'll be outside. Bring out the food whenever it's done."
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Naruto folded his arms and did not look at Zabuza as he joined the three foreign ninja who were waiting for him outside. He'd paid careful attention to the route they'd taken to Zabuza's house, and filed it away for future use.
His eyes passed over the house quickly. So this is where Haku has to live? This place isn't nice at all! Not only that…he probably doesn't even have a bed! If he's Zabuza's slave, then he probably has things worse than Zabuza. Maybe he has to sleep on the floor, or maybe in Zabuza's bed…
Oh, hell no.
Naruto scowled at Zabuza now. If anything seems wrong here, I'll do whatever is right. I can't believe this monster would force Haku to live like this. He's just a normal kid, really!
Sasuke elbowed him. "Stop staring," his hissed as their teacher spoke with Zabuza.
"But Sasuke--"
"I know what you're thinking," his black-haired teammate said. "You'll make things hard for Haku, though."
Naruto heard the front door open, and he saw Haku walk outside, carrying a large dish. He stood up quickly, and ran towards Haku to take the dish from him.
Haku was surprised to see Naruto actually interact with him, but he smiled softly and said, "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon," Naruto responded automatically. Haku's smile made his heart sink. "Do you need any help in there?" he asked, looking at the front door of Zabuza's house.
Haku shook his head. "I can do it on my own. Thank you for helping, though."
He turned away from Naruto, who stood rooted to the spot, staring dumbly as Haku left him. He looked at the large dish in his hands, which contained some sort of stew, and he turned to the others.
Carefully not looking at Zabuza, Naruto shouted, "Hey Sasuke! Get out Sakura's blanket!"
Sasuke waved him off and started to set up for a picnic.
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Sakura's Shadow Clone Replication Technique had gone smoothly. She had transformed into a tube of lipstick on the vanity counter, and was now watching her clone spin around as it admired itself in the mirror.
"How cute!" the clone said as it looked itself over. "This outfit is cute! I need to get one to show off to Sasuke!"
Sakura would have hit her forehead if she had been able to. It seemed that overly-truthful Shadow Clones were not limited to Uzumaki Naruto.
The clone giggled as it heard moans from next door. "It sure would be funny if that was Chouji and Ino!" it said happily.
Way, way too truthful.
The clone looked around the room for a few minutes. Sakura began to get bored, so she dispelled her transformation and tapped her clone on the shoulder.
"Can I …talk to you?" she asked.
The clone blinked at her. "Huh…?"
Sakura groaned inside. Naruto could order his clones around, right?
"Listen up," Sakura said. Her clone stood at attention. "No matter what, if a guy comes in here, you take the lead. I'm going to transform into an earring so I can give you advice, but you have to be the one who does…the doing." Sakura blushed. She felt stupid for talking to a Shadow Clone about sex, or fake sex, or whatever this was called.
"If he is the one who…does the doing…then you'll poof out of existence."
"I don't want that!" her clone whined. "Then I won't get to see Sasuke!"
Sakure glared at her clone. "This isn't the time for that! There's no 'I' in clone! I need you to pull together for me!"
Her clone said, "Okay…"
There was a knock on the door. Sakura quickly touched her clone's earlobe and transformed into a pink earring.
"Who is it?" her clone asked cheerfully.
Mist entered the room. "How are you?" she asked in a tired voice.
"Okey-dokey!" Sakura answered, far too happily to be normal.
The older woman gave her a look. "The little kid thing, right? Yeah, I've heard that some guys like that kind of attitude." She sighed. "I don't think we'll get much business today, but if I guy wants to see a line-up I'll call for you."
Sakura sighed inwardly. She didn't really trust her clone with this job.
"Since you're new, you probably won't work much just yet," Mist continued. "But, remember, if a guy comes in here, make sure he's signed in first, then relax. The key to this is to have fun."
Her clone nodded, and clapped its hands. "I like to have fun! Especially if it's a little violent!"
Way, way too truthful.
Mist stared at the clone for a second, and said, "Well, some guys like that too…"
The clone beamed back at her. More moans came from next door, and her clone giggled. "It would be funny if that was Chouji and Ino," it said aloud.
"Huh?" Mist gave her another look. "Butterfly, and…pig?"
Way, way too truthful.
She would never, ever, resort to this again.
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Haku finally sat down with his Master and the foreign ninja after he had brought out all of the food. Zabuza and Kakashi had begun to eat (and they had both uncovered their faces, as was expected), and Sasuke poked at his food. Naruto kept his hands folded over his knees, and had not touched anything. It was obvious that he was waiting for Haku, out of respect.
Haku smiled as he sat down. He caught Naruto's eyes, and Naruto tried to smile back.
Kakashi cleared his throat, and Haku and Naruto turned to him.
"Tomorrow," he began. Haku glanced at Zabuza, then nodded, not sure if he was being asked or being told what would happen 'tomorrow.'
"Tomorrow, I will leave at four in the morning to meet Zabuza. Sasuke will leave at seven, and Naruto," he said, turning to the scarred young man, "you and Haku will meet around seven thirty. Remember to bring supplies for Sakura, because she's unarmed right now."
Kakashi went on to pull out three square-shaped packages. "These are pictures of the VIP's," he said, handing one to Naruto, one to Sasuke, and one to Haku. "Don't kill them," he added, looking straight at Naruto.
"WHAT?" Naruto exclaimed. "Why are you telling me that? Of course I know not to kill VIP's!"
"Then don't get riled up," Kakashi said. Sasuke smirked but kept his mouth shut.
"Kill?" Haku asked.
"Yeah, don't kill them," the silver-haired teacher said in a bored voice. "You're free to kill the other ninja working for Gatou, or any other guards."
Haku kept his mouth open for a moment, ready to ask another questions, but he shut his mouth quickly and looked down. That's right. This is a mission. It makes sense that I'll have to kill someone. It's really not surprising.
He still felt a little uneasy, though.
Kakashi cleared his throat again, and said, "Naruto will be with you, so don't worry about that."
Haku held up his hands. "No, it's okay. Nothing to be worried about." He smiled.
Zabuza gave him an odd look, and said, "Don't let him take all the kills, though. This will be a good opportunity for you to train."
"Yes, Master," he said softly.
…oh, shit.
Haku lowered his eyes quickly. Naruto had stopped eating, and Sasuke glanced at him for a moment, then continued to eat, trying to act as if nothing strange had happened. Kakashi showed no reaction.
He wasn't sure of why he suddenly felt so uncomfortable. The others had known that he was a slave, so what would change when he acknowledged it by calling his Master by his rightful title?
Was it because it had finally been acknowledged?
He glanced at his Master for a moment, afraid that he had made a mistake, but Zabuza's attention was on Kakashi. "You think that girl got knocked up yet?"
"HEY!" Naruto shouted, standing up to glower at Zabuza. "Don't talk about Sakura like that!"
Naruto's reaction was a little more angry than Haku would have liked. He knew that the blonde ninja was probably also venting anger from Haku's enslavement, so he immediately said, "Don't worry, Naruto. I'm sure that Sakura would take care of herself somehow in a situation like that."
Naruto looked down at Haku. "You sure she would?"
Haku was a caught off-guard by the question.
Are you sure you would, Haku?
He smiled back at Naruto. "Of course."
Sasuke tugged on Naruto's pant leg. "Sit down," he said.
Naruto gave the ever-passive Zabuza one last glare, then sat down in a huff. He started to sulk again.
Zabuza laughed at him. "I see that one hit a little hard, huh?"
Naruto scowled. "None of your business."
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The foreigners left a little while after that, and Zabuza helped Haku to bring the dishes into the house. Haku began to clean immediately.
So diligent, Zabuza thought. He hadn't replaced the bandages on his face just yet.
After he'd locked the front door, he said, "We won't train for the rest of today. Get plenty of rest, and go to bed soon." His Master started to look through the fridge.
"Is there something you're looking for in particular, Master?" he asked.
Zabuza smiled, though Haku missed it. He had to admit that the title sounded nice when it came from Haku's mouth. He was proud to be the owner of a slave who had so much potential, as proud as Kakashi must have been of his students. "Just a snack. I don't expect you to cook tonight."
Haku smiled guiltily. "I'm sorry, but I didn't buy any snack food."
His Master closed the refrigerator, and said, "Well, then make a little something. Don't spend too much time or anything, and bring it to my room when you're done." That said, he left the kitchen.
Haku returned to washing the dishes, and frowned. Had he driven his Master back to the solitude of his room again? He sighed, and began to work on his Master's dinner.
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He knocked on the door a short while later, and his Master said, "Come in."
Haku cautiously opened the door to see Zabuza sitting on his bed. He handed him the plate of food he'd brought, and smiled when he saw that his Master's face was still uncovered.
He realized that he'd been staring when Zabuza asked, "Do you need something or do you have a question?"
Haku quickly said, "No, Master." He almost left, and then he thought of something.
"Actually, can I ask you a question?"
Zabuza set the plate on the small table next to his bed, and said, "You can try."
Haku took that as a 'yes', and said, "I called you 'Master' in front of the foreigners today." He suddenly felt incredibly nervous. "I was wondering if that was okay with you."
Zabuza looked at him as if he was insane. "Why wouldn't it be? You're my slave."
That had never been said before, not outright, and it hit Haku as hard as his embarrassment from his slip earlier that day. He smiled, though, and said, "Of course it would be alright, Master. I apologize for troubling you with such a question."
"Don't worry about it," Zabuza said.
Haku was not satisfied, though.
"May I please ask you one more question?"
"Shoot," Zabuza said, not bothering to look at Haku.
"Do I make you proud?"
Zabuza returned his attention to Haku. He stood, waiting patiently, for the answer to his question.
So he thinks about things like that?
"You shouldn't need to ask me that." Zabuza said heavily. Haku nodded. "O-of course not," he said softly. He took a step back, preparing to leave the room. "I promise to work harder, so that I can please you one day, and make you proud, Master," he said softly, bowing slightly.
Zabuza snorted. "I meant that that shouldn't matter. Just give your all for me, and submit to my will completely." He paused, then said, "Don't come to me for validation. Live to be proud of yourself. I don't care about how your relationship with your previous masters was. I need something different from you now."
Haku stared at him for a moment, then said, "Yes, master."
"Haku."
"Yes, Master?"
Haku stared at Zabuza's face again. He couldn't silence the thoughts that ran through his head, telling him that Zabuza was attractive, he was caring…in some ways…and he had let him into his bedroom.
He remembered what his old master had told him. Don't play dumb. When you figure out that I want something from you, give it to me. And figure it out fast, or I'll just take what I want.
He was supposed to use his head in situations like this. Think ahead, figure his Master out, and address his needs.
And, those bandages were nowhere in sight.
He stepped towards his Master.
"Haku, I don't think that you really understand."
Haku smiled. "I'm sorry that I'm so slow sometimes," he said softly.
Zabuza glared at him, only enhancing the strength of his facial features. Haku's smiled grew a little. "Don't just fucking smile at me to try to cover up what you're thinking," he said angrily.
"I promise I'm not," he said as he quickly lowered his face to his Master's.
The contact lasted for only a second before Zabuza's hand met his face in a sharp slap. He drew back quickly holding his stinging cheek, and the kiss was over.
Haku kept his eyes averted. He had misread his Master, and now he would have to pay for his stupidty.
"What are you thinking?" his Master asked. He had barely raised his voice, but that alone was enough to terrify Haku.
"I…"
"What would make you think that that would be the correct thing to do in this situation?" Zabuza asked angrily. Haku's face reddened, and tears began to gather in his eyes.
Zabuza grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him. "Don't try to pull that shit again," he said gruffly.
"Yes, Master," Haku answered, barely a whisper. His Master released him, and he began to leave.
He turned at the last moment, thought, and bowed low. "I sincerely apologize for what I did, Master," he said. "Please believe me. I will never do that again."
"I know," Zabuza said. "Go to bed already."
Haku shut his Master's door, fighting back the tears that were threatening to come to the surface.
Too much has happened, that would lead me to believe that that was the right thing to do.
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