Folded Hands, Chapter Fourteen

Pairings: Zabuza/Haku, possibly others later

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Notes:

None, I guess. Though this kind of makes it a triple update, huh? Just couldn't stop myself.

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Naruto sat down next to Sakura at the local ramen shop. He'd been worried ever since they had left Gatou's base without Haku and Zabuza.

Sasuke, who was sitting next to Kakashi, had noticed Naruto's mood, and was hiding behind a menu. Sakura had noticed as well, but, since she wasn't antisocial like Sasuke, she had decided not to just try to ignore Naruto. Instead, she asked him, "What are you going to order?"

The blonde young man brooded for a moment before saying, "I'll just do what Master Kakashi did and ask for the most popular thing."

"Tch," Sasuke said from behind his menu. "You aren't familiar with the food here. They might give you something you can't eat."

Kakashi smiled at his black-haired student. "There's no food in this world that fits into that category," he joked.

Naruto laid his head on the table. What had happened to Haku, after all? It was eating him away. If Zabuza really was going to punish him…well it was that man's fault in the first place that Haku had been put in such a difficult place and told to do such difficult things!

He started to drift off there, his brow furrowed and his face hidden from his teammates.

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There was once a man called Yondaime, the fourth Hokage. His name had long since been forgotten; he'd been called Yondaime for so long that only his old student, Kakashi, knew his real name and he would never divulge that information.

Yondaime had been a great Hokage, but he'd had a cousin who disgraced his family name. His cousin had failed the chuunin exam and had been pushed out of the family for it, left to pursue life as a civilian. This would not have been so bad if his cousin hadn't been the lusty type, always chasing women.

One of his cousin's conquests had been a pretty blonde woman, really a girl, who was sixteen years old.

The Fourth Hokage was sometimes visited by his cousin when the man needed advice or money. He would often tell him to stop chasing women, or to at least leave the girl alone.

"Her family will disown her if she gets pregnant before she's married." he'd warned his cousin.

The other blonde man had laughed. "The thing is, she's got this condition, infertility I think, and she can't get pregnant! The perfect girl for me, I think."

Yondaime shook his head disapprovingly. "A girl like that should spend time with her friends, not being chased around by men in their thirties."

But his cousin never listened to him.

One day, his cousin stormed into his office, interrupting him while he looked over paperwork.

"Yes, Cousin Daiko?" Yondaime had asked him politely.

"She's PREGNANT!" the other blonde man had shouted. He paced around the office, drawing looks from men and women working for Yondaime, as he rambled on. "It turns out, she…she COULD get pregnant…" He kicked a nearby chair. "Fuck! She shouldn't have said that she couldn't get pregnant if she wasn't sure!"

The Hokage set his paperwork down and looked at his cousin. The man was clearly distressed.

"Cousin Daiko," he'd said after a few minutes. "Girls her age are very impressionable. Since this is the case, this is your fault."

"What?"

His cousin stared at him, then said, "Fuck," before falling into a chair.

Yondaime cleared his throat. "I have a proposal. You don't want to be the child's father, correct?"

The answer was a very obvious 'no'.

He continued. "To not disgrace the girl, I will hire her to work for me for the next few months. When her baby is born, she will return to her family, and no one will know a thing." He looked out the nearby window, putting together his plan. "In exchange for this, I want you to leave the village, and never try to contact the girl or the child ever again."

His cousin thought about that for a few minutes. "Sure. Anything else?"

Yondaime shook his head. "Send the girl here tomorrow."

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The girl, Arashi, sat down before the Hokage the next morning. "Thank you for seeing me," she said softly.

Yondaime smiled at her. "Would you like some tea?" he asked.

She looked flustered, but said, "Yes, please." The Hokage motioned for one of his assistants to bring tea.

He looked at Arashi again. "Has Daiko already told you of my plan?"

She nodded shyly.

"I'll arrange for you to live with me, under the pretense that you are my live-in maid. If you need excuses for avoiding your family in the late months of your pregnancy, I'll think of something."

His assistant brought the tea in then, and he watched as she added a large amount of sugar to her tea.

"When you've given birth, I'll have the child put into the care of the village orphanage," he said, finishing his plan.

Arashi took a sip of tea, and brought her eyes up to meet Yondaime's. Hesitantly, she asked, "Why are you helping me?"

He sighed and looked away. "Even if he has been disowned, I am still responsible for my cousin. I don't always stop him from doing foolish things, though, and therefore I am partly to blame."

She shook her head. "This isn't your fault! You're…" Tears started to gather in her eyes. "You're the greatest man in this village. I didn't even know that you were so kind…"

He couldn't stand to look at her. I'm kind? I'm sending my cousin to another country, indirectly lying to this girl's family, and sending her soon-to-be born son to live without a family. This child will most likely lead a sad life with no opportunities.

It's not kindness. All that I can do is move the pieces around to make them fit together as best they can.

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The child, a boy, was born with no complications. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, but most babies were born with blue eyes so this was not remarkable. His mother cried when she was asked what his name would be, and she said that she had no right to name him.

The Hokage had been present at his birth, and he answered the nurse who asked what his name would be.

"Name him Taro," he'd said softly. The boy was no one special; he would be the most common of the common, so the name was fitting.

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Taro grew up in the village orphanage. He had no friends, and when the Hokage spoke to the orphanage director about him, the man simply replied, "That boy is one of the saddest children we've seen here. He feels like he has no reason to live, and that no one acknowledges him."

Yondaime nodded. "That's mostly true, I suppose," was his answer.

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One of the legendary beasts, the Nine-Tailed Fox, attacked their village when little Taro was only six years old. The villagers had worked together with ninja from the temple to fight it off.

As Yondaime ran from his office towards the battle, having gone there temporarily to find one of his hidden scrolls, he stumbled across the orphanage. The fox had been through that part of town, that much was obvious; the orphanage and the nearby buildings lay in ruins.

He scowled, and started to run again, when a flash of yellow caught his eye. Surely enough, little Taro was walking out of the decimated orphanage, tears streaming down his face.

Yondaime was frozen. The boy was still alive…his kin, at that. When his blue eyes met Yondaime's, he asked, "Where's the monster?"

"Little Taro…" Yondaime said. The boy looked surprised, and sniffled as he asked, "You know my name?"

He took a few moments out from his demon-slaying to kneel by Taro. "Yes, Taro, I know you."

The boy looked at him in horror, and he began to sob. "If you knew me, why didn't you take care of me? No one knows that I'm here! I should just…"

Yondaime hugged him, patting the little boy on the back. "The monster is still out there," he said softly. He pulled Taro away from him and said, "Taro, if you can do something for me, then I'll let you live with me. I'll be your father, and I'll take care of you."

Taro stared at him. "What…what is it?" he asked, his expression full of hope.

Yondaime hated himself. The demon-sealing technique needed a container, and he didn't have one. He'd planned on asking one of the other ninja to do it, but he knew that children adapted the best. And, besides…

it's partially my fault that this boy was brought into the world. It might as well be my fault if he leaves it so soon.

"I need you to help me get rid of the monster," Yondaime said to Taro.

The boy widened his eyes. "How do I do that?" he asked fearfully.

Yondaime smiled. "I just need you to come with me, and wish as hard as you can that no one else gets hurt."

Taro smiled, and Yondaime hoisted him up so that he could carry him. He jumped onto a nearby rooftop, then began to run towards the ninetails again.

As he ran, Taro whispered into his ear,

"Will you really take care of me?"

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Naruto's eyes opened suddenly. The waitress had come by to take their order. Kakashi first ordered something very sparse-sounding, and the waitress turned to Sasuke.

"Would you like Our Vegetarian option?" she asked him. Naruto snickered at him. "I'd like some meat, please," the disdainful Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto.

I'll bet you would…Naruto thought. He knew that joke was too rude, at least for use on Sasuke (and that meant it was pretty darn rude) so he just smiled to himself.

"I'll have mine with eggs," Sakura said to the waitress, and she pointed to Naruto, who was not paying attention. "He'll have the house special."

Naruto smiled at Sakura when the waitress left. "Oh, it's so sweet that you'd order for me…"

She glared back at him. "It's only because you were zoned out…"

Naruto looked past Sakura for a moment, and he was surprised to see Haku standing outside the restaurant, looking inside. "Look," he said happily, "It's Haku!"

His teammates turned to look (Kakashi was reading Come Come Paradise again) and Sakura said, "Oh, I forgot to give him this!" and pulled at the robe she was wearing.

Naruto said, "Well, take it off and I'll give it to him."

She hit him and got out of the booth so that Naruto could get out.

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Haku jumped from roof to roof. The physical strain of this was more than he'd expected, and his arousal had gone away quickly. Thankfully, he'd remembered that Naruto had said something about a ramen shop, so he quickly headed for the largest one in town.

If I suddenly show up, will they let me eat with them? And I don't have any money either…

Haku's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten that day, and he grudgingly admitted to himself that he really, really wanted Naruto to treat him to ramen, and give him his usual cocky smile.

He bit his lip. That would be nice, but I'd rather have Master take me out to eat. Even though Naruto is more pleasant, having that with Master…talking to him normally…that would be the greatest reward.

Haku slowed as he spotted the ramen shop. He found an alleyway and jumped down into it, brushed his clothes off, and headed for the ramen shop.

He saw his reflection in the glass of the shop's window (it was more like a restaurant) and he realized that he was a mess. There was still a large tear in his fishnet shirt, and there was blood on the right side of his pants. The pants were navy, so the blood just looked black or purple and therefore didn't look too much like blood. He also realized that, well, he was wearing a fishnet shirt with nothing over it and he looked less than modest.

I forgot to get my robe back from Sakura! He thought. Well, if she was there, he would ask for it politely.

He was surprised to see Sasuke and Kakashi sitting at a booth opposite Sakura and Naruto. Naruto looked in his direction, and was soon let out of the booth by Sakura (but not before she hit him, for some reason). Haku stood in place, not sure of what to do, when Naruto ran out to meet him.

"Hi, Haku!" Naruto said. He looked Haku over and realized that he was still in bloody clothing. "Whatcha up to?"

Haku looked nervous, that was for sure. "I…I wanted to see if I could eat with you."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Sure! That'd be great!"

"I also don't have any money on me."

This made Naruto suspicious. "Zabuza sent you here without any money? What a sadist!" He put an arm around Haku's shoulders (which Haku thought was rather strange) and lead him inside. "Don't worry, your buddy Naruto will help you out! No need to pay me back!"

Haku lowered his eyes as he was lead to the table where the rest of the fire-nin were sitting. Kakashi caught Haku out of the corner of his eye, then put his book away. "Well, this table's only big enough for four and I have better things to do," he said in his usual bored drawl. Kakashi stood and motioned for Haku to sit next to Sasuke.

"I-I couldn't!" Haku said, holding up his hands. "Please, don't let me disturb you!"

"Nonsense!" Naruto said. "Sasuke hasn't had a date in a while anyway!"

Sasuke kicked him under the table, and Sakura hit his head before asking their teacher, "Where are you off to?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Nowhere special."

Naruto grinned at his teacher. "It doesn't have anything to do with the release of the next Come Come Paradise book, now does it?" he asked cockily.

Haku was once again amazed by their teacher-student interaction. He wondered how Naruto had developed this carefree relationship with his teacher.

Not one to be bothered by Naruto's joking, Kakashi just shrugged and said, "See ya, kiddoes," before leaving the restaurant. Haku nervously sat down next to Sasuke, who said, "Hi, Haku," before resting his head on the table.

Haku sighed. "Is it okay that I'm here?" he asked.

Naruto nodded fervently. "Of course! It's way better than having that perverted teacher here anyway!"

The waitress returned in time to hear Naruto's comment about his teacher. She ignored it or didn't care, and set the four bowls of ramen in front of each person at the table.

"Uh…" Sakura said as she stared at her bowl. There was a lot of meat in it. Sasuke's had eggs in it, Naruto's was plain, and Haku's…

Naruto's mouth watered as he looked at Haku's. "That's something I would order!" he whined.

The waitress didn't seem to notice that she'd mixed up their orders, and left them to sort it out. Sasuke and Sakura traded bowls, to Naruto's confusion, and Haku whispered, "I think that ours are mixed up, Naruto."

Naruto looked surprised for a moment, then clapped. "Yeah! I get the yummy bowl now!" he shouted, grabbing the bowl that was in front of Haku. Haku pulled Naruto's plain-looking ramen towards himself, and the trade was complete.

Sasuke laughed. "That waitress could NEVER be a ninja. You have to be able to catch the details."

Naruto averted his eyes. "Yeah, catching the details…"

Haku smiled. Poor Naruto.

Sakura now kicked Sasuke under the table (for being an ass) and said to Haku, "I'm sorry about not giving your robe back yet. Can I give it to you when we're away from polite society?"

Haku nodded. "It's alright; I forgot about it anyway."

Catching the details indeed.

The voice had returned.

Shut up, he thought. I just want to enjoy this little meal and go sort things out with my Master. I'll be stronger for him next time!

Yeah, right, the voice said. Like there will be a next time.

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Notes:

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Quick Quiz 3

Who is Sasuke paired with?

1.Sakura

2.Naruto

3.Itachi

4.Ino

5.Hinata

6.Temari

7.Your mom (when she dumps Naruto and decides that emo is in)

8.Kakashi

9.TenTen

10.Neji

11.no one (ALONE!)

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Quick Quiz 4

Who is Ino paired with?

1.Sasuke

2.Sakura

3.Naruto

4.Shikamaru

5.Chouji

6.Itachi

7.Your dad ('cause your mom dumped his ass for Sasuke)

8.Asuma

9.Gaara

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Also, about these quizzes…they're not polls AND THEY WILL NOT INFLUENCE THE STORY. THEY ARE PURELY FOR FUN. THE STORY IS SET.