Folded Hands, Chapter Sixteen

Pairings: Zabuza/Haku, possibly others later

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

Notes:

Er…pentuple update?

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

When Haku awoke the next morning, his Master was still in bed with him. Haku smiled, burying his face in Zabuza's chest…

…and realized that he was still Zabuza's slave, and not his wife.

He got out of bed and threw on a clean robe (he didn't feel like dressing), then left the room to prepare breakfast. Haku smiled as he cooked for his Master. Yesterday had held a lot of surprises.

As their food began to cook, Haku looked through the living room for messes to clean up. He found his dirty robe on the floor, and next to it was a piece of paper that had been folded.

Haku stared at the folded piece of paper, wondering how it had gotten there. His Master would have probably thrown it away, right?

He recalled the night before, when his Master that thrown dirty linen and towels into a corner of the room, and not the laundry basket.

I'll read it. If it looks like trash, I'll throw it away. If it doesn't, I'll fold it back up and let him find it himself.

His plan set, Haku unfolded the piece of paper and read.

'Haku—

We're gonna get you out of there.

You're too good a person to be that monster's slave.

Meet me tomorrow at three and we'll take you back to the Fire Country.

--Uzumaki Naruto'

Haku stared at the piece of paper before tearing it into confetti.

Sorry, Naruto, but there is nothing now that can separate me from him. I never want to leave his side, and I do want to belong to him.

He threw away the scraps of paper.

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

Haku decided to take a quick bath before returning to the kitchen. He was surprised to find his Master standing in front of the stove, stirring something.

Haku hurried back into the kitchen. "You don't have to do that, Master!" he said, quickly taking the pot handle and the spoon from him. "I'm sorry for leaving the kitchen…it was just for a few minutes, though."

"It's not worth apologizing for," Zabuza replied. Haku focused on the pot instead, although its contents did not actually need constant stirring.

Haku snuck a look at his Master's face and saw that the bandages were no where in sight. He let his eyes wander over his Master's face for a moment, and then he spoke.

"We're going to go see the fire-nin later today," he said.

Haku's heart skipped a beat. "When?" he asked softly, trying to keep his worries from his Master.

"Around three."

Haku stopped stirring, and embraced Zabuza. Not sure what this was about but not about to complain Zabuza patted his back. "Good morning to you too," he whispered in his ear.

Haku knew that this couldn't be real. He was allowed to be so close to Zabuza…to be the one to touch him…to hear 'good morning' and know that he had a chance to always be the first to hear that from him each day…

What were the fire-nin up to? Were they going to ambush Zabuza and drag him away? He shook his head against Zabuza's chest. I don't want that.

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

Naruto sat in bed, thinking about Kakashi's plan. Sure, the plan had only consisted of a fair trade, but dammit! Life wasn't fair, and sometimes he couldn't be fair or fight fair either!

He scowled at the ceiling. Sasuke had noticed his foul mood as he sat in the bed on the other side of the room. "What's up your ass?" he asked the blonde ninja.

Naruto tried to think of a way to turn that into a Sasuke-is-gay insult, but he was too absorbed in his thoughts of Haku. He sat up in bed and yawned.

He hoped that Haku had gotten his letter.

"Are you thinking about that note you slipped Haku yesterday?"

Naruto nearly fell of his bed. "How did you know?" he shouted, not quite believing.

Sasuke folded his arms. "It was pretty obvious. I mean, I saw you writing something on a piece of paper at the restaurant. Then, I saw the paper go into Haku's pocket after Sakura gave Haku his robe back." He glared at Naruto. "And last but not least, you hugged a GUY, Naruto. Come on. You need to act natural when you do these things."

Naruto slumped forward on his bed. "Ah, man…" He made a sad face as someone knocked on their door.

"Who is it?" Sasuke called.

"…you guys dressed?" Sakura called into the room.

"Tch." Sasuke glared at Naruto. "I wouldn't be naked if he was in the room!"

"Hey!" Naruto said. "We're naked around each other all the time at the temple's baths!"

"You DUMB FUCK! Do you not realize how GAY that sounds?"

"Hey! It's true, and there's nothing wrong with it! You go there all the time!"

Deciding that the males on her team were decent, Sakura rolled her eyes and opened the door to their shared hotel room. "It's noon already, and you two need to get out of bed," she said.

"You're quite the mother hen, Sakura," Naruto said. She, of course, punched him for it and sat down on his bed, facing Sasuke.

"Do you think Haku got his note?" she asked him curiously.

Sasuke smirked as Naruto shouted, "You saw it too? Ah man! I need to work on my sneaking skills!"

"Worst ninja ever," Sasuke said under his breath.

Kakashi knocked on the frame of the door that lead to the room then, his face buried in Come Come Paradise (the volume he'd purchased the day before).

"You three wearing any clothes?" he asked, not looking at any of them.

His three students deadpanned.

What would we be doing if we were all in here with no clothes on…Naruto wondered. The stupid look on his face made Sakura hit the back of his head and Sasuke glared at him as if to say, 'You are such a dumbshit'.

Kakashi flipped the page of his book. "So, Naruto, do you think that Haku got your note?"

Naruto blinked. "Okay, Sasuke and Sakura were there and all, but how do you know about it, Master Kakashi?"

Kakashi shrugged. "The trees have eyes," he said mysteriously as he left his students to pursue some adventure…or, rather, to read Jiraiya's latest trash novel.

Their teacher gone, Sakura turned to face Naruto. "So, what did you put in that letter anyway?"

He shrugged. "This and that."

Sasuke smirked. "A confession of undying love."

Naruto scowled again. "No, Sasuke. I'm not gay like you. Now YOU can go confess to Haku like you want and I won't stop you…"

A kunai whizzed past Naruto's cheek and hit the wall behind him. Sasuke pulled back his throwing arm and said, "No more gay jokes for the rest of the mission."

Sakura nodded. It was getting to her, too…Sasuke was the foremost object of her affection, after, Naruto being a distant second. She didn't want him to die by kunai, at the very least.

Sasuke cleared his throat, realizing that he'd made himself the center of attention and speculation. "What DID you put in that letter, Uzumaki?" he asked Naruto.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I just said that we'd meet today at three."

"…and?"

Naruto looked away guiltily as he told his teammates about the letter's contents.

Sakura stared at him. "You…you should be tried for treason!"

"Hey, that's a bit far--"

Naruto's defense was interrupted by a very pissed-off Uchiha. "No, Naruto, it's really not! That's insubordination, acting without orders…you FUCKING IDIOT!" he shouted, standing up. "How could you think that was a good idea?"

Sakura glared him down when he looked at her for help. "Go set things straight, you idiot!" she said, pulling him off the bed and pushing him out the door.

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

Haku paced around his Master's living room, waiting for the man to finish preparations. He wanted to warn him about the ambush, but at the same time…maybe it was a joke?

No, it couldn't have been a joke.

Unless Sasuke had written it, pretending it was from Naruto. It seemed like something he might do.

Or, maybe, he'd just phrased it wrong. Maybe he'd meant that they'd VISIT the Fire Country…that would explain some of it…but the part about him being too good a person to be Zabuza's slave? Now, Haku wasn't sure if he even WAS a good person…at all…and he actually wanted to be with Zabuza, and if he would be with him as his slave, so be it.

His Master left his bedroom then, bandages covering the lower half of his face. "Are you feeling well?" he asked Haku.

His slave nodded, but Zabuza knew not to trust Haku on how he saw himself. Instead, he held Haku's shoulders, stopping him from pacing, and looked at Haku, his eyes boring in to his slaves'.

"Tell me what's bothering you," he said firmly.

Haku looked away, and said softly, "I received a strange letter from Naruto. He said that we'd meet at three and that…that I would go with him somewhere."

"And that's exactly what's happening."

Haku's eyes shot back to his Masters'. "I made an agreement with Kakashi yesterday. You're going to train at Konoha Temple for a few months, and then I'm going to teach you after that."

Haku felt like he'd been told the precise time of his death then. Three o'clock, no more Zabuza.

He embraced his Master again, and buried his face in his chest. He wanted to ask Zabuza to promise that he'd come back for him, but he knew that was too much to ask.

He had to trust Zabuza.

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

"Will you really take care of me?"

Yondaime didn't spare the blonde boy a look. "Yes. Do you trust me?"

"No…" Taro confessed.

Yondaime sighed as he jumped to the next roof. "I need you to, Taro, even though it's hard. Just believe in me, and wish for the safety of the villagers."

Taro hid his face in Yondaime's black vest, the mark of the Hokage during battle. "I want everyone to live," he whispered. "I want everyone to live, I want everyone to live…"

Yondaime jumped off the roof and landed near the Umino's house. He saw the head of the house and his wife watching at the demon fox moved onto another portion of the neighborhood.

"Mr. Umino?" Yondaime asked as he approached them. They both turned around, startled to see the Hokage carrying around a young doppelganger of himself during the demon's attack. "Where is Iruka?"

Umino sighed with relief. "He's alive, thank goodness. He's out warning the other villagers and helping other families escape.

Yondaime nodded. That sounded just like the genin.

"We're going to set up the catapult system to try to kept that thing over here," Mrs. Umino said. The Hokage once again nodded calmly, and said, "Please be careful. I greatly appreciate your effort to keep the Nine-tails focused here, but please take care of yourselves as well."

Mr. Umino smiled at him. "As long as Iruka is safe, we're willing to fight for him!"

Yondaime nodded quickly and followed the demon's path of destruction.

"Who were those people?" Taro asked him.

"Just good people. They only have one son, and they always look after all of their neighbors, taking care of those in need." He smiled gently. "They are not rich people, nor are they ninjas—save for their son—but they want to protect the people of this village."

Yondaime felt a presence nearby, and surely enough, a silver-haired ANBU was following. "Sir, have you found the scroll?" the ANBU asked in a lazy, low voice.

Taro stared at the new man. He was wearing a white and red mask, black pants, and an ivory tank top. He looked frightening to the young boy.

Yondaime replied, "Yes. And this boy will be the container."

The ANBU kept up with his pace. "Sir, I understand your urgency to find a container, but myself or another ANBU, even a Jounin or Chuunin--"

"It has to be a child," Yondaime cut him off.

The ANBU was silent for a moment, then said, "Is there anything I can do to help with the ritual, sir?"

"Yes. I'll actually need you to help calm the boy." The older man did not turn to look at him, but the ANBU knew that Yondaime's attention was on him, seeing through him. "So please take off your mask, Kakashi, before you make little Taro cry."

The ANBU obeyed quickly, throwing the mask to the side. The lower face of his face was covered by a navy half-mask, and a strip of black cloth covered his left eye. "Not sure that did much to help, old master," he said jokingly.

Taro looked at the man again. He seemed relaxed and lazy now. Kakashi waved to him as they neared the demon, and Taro waved back, not sure of himself.

"Yondaime!"

A call from below alerted the Hokage: it was Umino Iruka. He instantly dropped down to meet the dark-skinned gennin. Kakashi followed suit.

Iruka saluted both men. He was only fifteen years old, maybe a little old to be a gennin, but still a decent ninja. Yondaime waved at him and he stopped saluting.

"Your parents are worried about you," Yondaime said.

"I know…" Iruka clenched his fists. "Are you going to perform the ritual?"

The Hokage nodded. "Hatake offered to help me, but you can help, too."

Iruka looked surprised. "How?" He eyed the unmasked ANBU beside the Hokage. He didn't have THAT kind of training, and he wasn't sure of what the Hokage could have wanted from him.

Yondaime shook his head. "You'll see soon enough. Follow me!" He jumped back onto the roof, followed by a silent Kakashi and a hesitant Iruka.

As they ran toward the demon fox, Taro waved shyly at Iruka. The gennin looked confused at first, but then he waved back, smiling broadly as the first catapult was fired.

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

Haku eyed the path to the lake wearily. He knew that there was a good chance that this was a trap—he didn't know how fire-nin operated, after all.

His eyes strayed to his Master's back as he thought about what was about to happen. He was going to go to the Fire Country for a few weeks…after having sex with his Master? No, that wasn't right! He should have been able to enjoy their time together!

Then again, he didn't want his Master to have to teach him all of the basic that he was sure Naruto had learned when he was six…like, what was this chakra stuff all about?

But still, to be separated from his Master…

He saw Naruto's smiling face, Sakura standing politely, Sasuke with his arms folded, Kakashi reading…

Oh, who was he kidding. He saw Naruto's smiling face and he punched him when Naruto ran to meet him.

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

Quick Quiz 5: (ONCE AGAIN THIS WILL NOT AFFECT SHIT)

Who does…Kakashi get?

1.Kurenai

2.Ayame

3.Sakura

4.Ino

5.Hinata

6.Temari

7….Iruka

8.Naruto (after he gets over being dumped by your mom for Sasuke)

9.Obito

10.Rin

11.Yamato