Folded Hands, Chapter Eighteen

Pairings: Zabuza/Haku, possibly others later

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Notes:

Smoe's Gaara pairing was pretty funny but the winner is Reiya Inc. due to…well, Reiya said Vince Vaughn and not only is that WEIRD but he's…well, you know. Good job.

Smoe—

Gourdness!

Ima Super Mute Ant—

Heh heh, they probably wouldn't…

MewMew2—

I forgot what chapter it was exactly but I want to say it's around 270 or 280. I don't have the chapter anymore, but I think it's somewhere around there. I'll post the chapter number if I ever find it.

IceNight009—

Yes, incest is gross, but lots of fanfiction writers and readers go for it. Like, EdxAl from FMA, or putting twins together…I actually am a twin, so this pisses me off. Fuckers.

I also agree with you that no characters seem to fit Gaara; that's actually why I posted that quiz.

Lastly, Sai ain't "queer". Well, probably not. In the manga, Sai likes to piss people off, get under their skin…I don't want to spoil anything (like how he insults Naruto) so I won't give anything else away.

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Haku looked for familiar faces as he ran through one of the halls of Konoha temple. He knew that he was drawing looks, but his panic had overtaken him.

Where could Master be? I didn't see him after I left the Hokage's office, and then I took a bath…I have no idea where he could be! Was I supposed to follow him earlier?

He recognized the overweight, yet kind, ninja who had helped him earlier. He was eating a bag of potato chips while walking alongside the attractive blonde girl Haku had seen him with earlier.

"Chouji!" she shouted, trying to snatch away the bag of chips. "You're going to ruin your diet!"

He tried to shield the bag from her and pouted. "It's not nice to grab things from people. Besides, it's been four hours since lunch and I need a pick-me-up!"

"Honestly! And we're on the way to dinner to!" She threw her hands up in the air in an exasperated fashion and her blue eyes found Haku as he ran toward them to ask for directions.

It's that new girl! She thought.

Chouji saw him, too, and waved to him. Haku stopped in front of them for a moment, hands on his knees so that he could catch his breath.

Before he could ask his question, Chouji asked, "Are you looking for your teacher?"

Surprised, Haku stood up. "My teacher?"

"That guy you came here with earlier. He's your teacher, right?" Chouji asked him, concerned.

That's right. I need to pretend that I'm an ordinary ninja in training and that Master is my teacher.

Haku nodded. "I can't seem to find him." He realized that the girl was looking him over again with a look of curiosity on her face, and he shied away from her eyes.

Chouji turned and pointed down the hall he'd come from. "Go through there, then turn right and go straight again. I heard from Master Asuma that a foreign ninja from the Water Country is going to stay there for the night, and it's probably your teacher."

"Thank you," Haku said breathlessly as he ran past them.

Ino scoffed. "She's not very ladylike, running through the halls like that."

"That's a guy."

"WHAT?"

Chouji returned his attention to his bag of chips as his female teammate tried to comprehend what he had said.

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At the same time, Naruto found himself running through the halls of Konoha temple, looking for Haku.

Where could he have GONE? He's not in Sasuke's room, and the only person I found in the bathing room was Sai…uh…and I don't think he's in the dining hall yet…

Well, I'll check there.

Naruto dashed towards the dining hall. We haven't eaten for hours, so maybe he'd go there! It's worth a shot, at least.

He rounded a corner and ran into Hyuuga Hinata as she waited at the entrance to the dining hall. Naruto jumped back as soon as he found himself standing over Hinata, and he offered her a hand.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata!" he exclaimed, pulling her to her feet as her face turned bright red. Without any further apology, he rushed back into his search for Haku.

"Hinata, have you seen the new guy around here?" he asked, trying to look past her to see into the dining hall.

Hinata blushed after hearing Naruto say her name, but she answered his question as normally as she could. "N-no, N-N-Naruto, I didn't kn-know that there was a new b-boy here."

Naruto stared at her. "Did I really scare you or something?"

Hinata realized that he was referring to her stuttering, and she held her hands up. "No, Naruto! I was just a little s-surprised to see you so suddenly!" She laughed politely, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Well, anyway, there is a new student here. He came here with us earlier today and I can't find him!"

Realization seemed to come over Hinata. "Oh, that girl…or, I guess it was a boy…is a new student?"

"Yep!" He smiled. "I was gonna show him around, but he disappeared on me…" Naruto thought for a moment. "Can you do me a favor, Hinata?"

Hinata felt her heart lift, and she said, "Of course, Naruto!"

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Haku rounded the last corner to find a group of adults talking in a hallway. There was a shapely brunette woman with red eyes, a large rough-looking man with black hair, and Naruto's teacher, Kakashi.

Haku walked up to them and waited until one of them would acknowledge him and listen to his question. This was somewhat unfortunate, because Kakashi stood with his back to Haku as he spoke with his companions.

The woman laughed. "So, Haruno got to do a little role-playing, huh? I would never push that on my Hinata."

The rough man rubbed his chin in contemplation. "I can see Ino taking to that…but Shikamaru would make fun of her until she wouldn't feel up to it anymore. Either that, or she'd hate the clothes she's have to wear."

"I didn't get any complaints," Kakashi said, shrugging. "Sakura likes challenges." Without turning around, he asked, in a louder voice, "Can I help you with something, Haku?"

Haku gave a start, then said, "Yes, please. I was wondering where my Mas—where Master Zabuza was?"

The woman looked over Kakashi's shoulder, right into Haku's eyes. "Is this the new student?" she asked curiously.

Kakashi stepped out of the way and pushed the unwilling Haku forward to meet his companions. "Yes. This is Haku, a student from the Water Country. He's going to stay here for a while, so you two need to be nice."

He motioned towards the rough man, and said, "Haku, this is Asuma."

Haku bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you."

Kakashi then motioned towards the woman. "And this is Kurenai." After Haku bowed, he said, "These two each teach a three-man team, like the kids you met already. Naruto will probably introduce you to their students if he hasn't already."

"No, he hasn't…" Haku remembered what he'd wanted to ask Kakashi. "Have you seen Master Zabuza anywhere?"

"Yeah, he's in his room the last I saw him."

Haku's heart was lifted instantly. He was close by! "Could you please tell me where--"

His question was interrupted as a dark-skinned man who wore his brown hair in a ponytail rushed down the hallway. "Kakashi!" he shouted.

Kakashi pulled his attention away from the now frustrated Haku. "Yo, Iruka!"

Iruka strode up to Kakashi, and in an obvious effort to hide whatever he was actually feeling, he said, "I take it that Naruto came back alright."

The silver-haired man smiled at him through his mask. "Of course. I would never let any harm come to Naruto, Sasuke, or Sakura."

Iruka tried to hold back something, then said in as controlled a voice as he could, "That is not something that I would believe so easily, from hearing the stories that Naruto comes back with every time a mission ends, Kakashi."

Haku fumed silently as he watched the two men hold their own conversation which was completely unrelated to his dire request.

As if she had been able to hear his brain screaming, Kurenai turned to Haku and said, "Your teacher is in room 320. Just go down that hall to the right, and he should be in the last room."

Haku thanked her, bowed, and left.

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Hinata smiled at her teammates as they came into her line of sight.

She had promised to do something for Naruto, and now was the time to start.

I don't know how this will help Naruto, but I'll give it my best shot!

"Kiba! Shino!" she called to her male teammates in a soft voice as they neared her. Kiba replied by saying, "Good afternoon, Hinata!" and Shino nodded as if agreeing that the afternoon was good.

She walked up to them. "I need to ask you two to do something for me. Is that alright?"

Kiba's eyes widened.

"Is it a secret?" Shino asked.

Hinata started to whisper something to Kiba, and then she told Shino. They both shrugged, then nodded.

"Now, can you please both tell other people?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure, but what for?" Shino asked, his expression hidden behind his sunglasses and hood.

Hinata blushed. "Um…it's something that N-Naruto wanted me to do…"

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Haku knocked on the door to room 320. There was no noise in the room, and he waited for a few seconds, not sure if his knock would be answered. He realized that he might have been bothering his Master, and that maybe he shouldn't have sought him out in the first place.

I am going to have to stay here on my own for a month, he thought. He may be annoyed if I show that I am too dependent on him.

His self-doubt increased when the door to his Master's room opened, and Zabuza stood before him. Haku noticed that the man was still wearing bandages over the lower half of his face.

What, did you want a kiss, Haku?

He bit that thought down. Even if we did that…thing, we're not—I'm still his—

"What is it?" Zabuza asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Haku swallowed nervously, then said, "I was wondering what you wanted me to do right now."

"Have you eaten?"

Eaten? "No, Master…Zabuza."

His Master studied his face for a few seconds, then said, "So go eat with the other kids."

Other kids.

Haku nodded and smiled at his Master. "I will. Thank you, Master." he said, bowing as he heard his Master's door shut.

As he began to walk away, he wondered what he'd done that would warrant this treatment. They had…grown closer, hadn't they? Haku had hoped that maybe there would be a relaxation of their relationship, but if not…

That is something that he will decide, and I will follow his decision.

Haku retraced his steps, more slowly this time, to the place where the overweight young man had given him directions.

That's right. My duty is to submit to his will completely. There is nothing else to our relationship.

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Haku found his way to the dining hall rather easily. The majority of the people in the hall were walking in the same direction, and he had realized that it must have been dinner time at the temple.

He caught more stares as he followed the crowd. There were children who stared at him nervously, teenagers who gave him cold glares or warm smiles, and adults who face showed no expression. Haku briefly wondered why there were people of so many different age groups at the temple.

As he entered the dining hall, he began to nervously search for Naruto, Sakura, or Sasuke with his eyes. He caught a flash of pink, and Sakura was indeed in the dining hall, sitting at a table with the attractive blonde girl he'd seen earlier.

Haku walked towards her briskly, and she and her friend both saw him, smiled, and waved.

"Hi, Haku!" Sakura said cheerfully.

"Hi, guy!" the blonde said.

Haku deadpanned.

Guy…?

I'm glad that she doesn't think I'm a girl, but is that an appropriate way to address someone?

Shaking it off, he took a place sitting across from Sakura. "Hello, Sakura," he said, smiling back at her. He noticed that she was already eating.

The blonde girl reached across Sakura. "We didn't really meet yet, but my name is Yamanaka Ino," she said, holding out her hand for Haku to shake. He took it and said, "My name is Haku."

Ino nodded and sat back. "Sakura's told me some stuff about you. You helped her out on the last mission, right?"

Sakura nodded before Haku could respond. "He picked me up and ran with me! It was so cool!" She blushed. "It was like something Sasuke would have done!"

"Hmph." Ino stuck her tongue out at Sakura. "Not with you, Sakura." She turned her attention back to Haku and blurted out, "This isn't what dinner is usually like."

"Huh?" he asked, not quite sure of what she was talking about.

Ino snatched Sakura's plate out from under her chopsticks and showed it to Haku. "They changed the menu today. Godaime wanted to be sure to impress the foreigners, so we're all eating this," she said.

Haku inspected the food as Sakura glared at her blonde friend. It looked like something that he had seen his old Master eat once.

He shuddered involuntarily.

Ino continued. "It's usually rice and vegetables and stuff around here. Well, some of our parents give us real food, but it's usually nothing special." She unceremoniously set Sakura's plate back down on the table.

"Why would she serve different food?" Haku asked.

Ino gave him a weird look. "You're kind of like a diplomat or something, I don't know what it's called, but you're a foreigner and Godaime likes impressing foreigners."

"...then why are you telling me?"

"I don't like sneaky stuff," Ino said. And that was that.

The unreliable guy from before—Shikamaru—and the guy who'd given him directions now sat down with the girls. Shikamaru sat down next to Haku, across from Ino, and Haku blushed.

He saw me in the bath. And not only that…that guy from before…

"Hey, lazy," Ino said to Shikamaru. "Have you met Haku yet?"

He nodded. "Sai met him, too."

Ino's blue eyes widened. "Oh, god." She glanced at Haku and said, "He's gonna have a field day, isn't he?"

Sakura elbowed Ino as Haku looked around the table. Everyone was staring at him now with looks of concern on their faces.

"Don't worry," Chouji said. "Sai's usually off by himself. He shouldn't bother you too often."

"Why would I need to worry about that?" Haku asked. "He…made fun of me earlier, but…"

Sasuke sat down next to him. "Worry about what?" he asked the group in general.

Haku swallowed nervously. "I-I met a guy named S-Sai--"

Sasuke's eyes shot open, then he turned away from Haku and said, "Just don't hang around him. If he doesn't see you, he doesn't say anything."

"Who is Sai?" Haku asked. He was becoming frustrated with the lack of answers.

Sakura waved him off. "Oh, he's just a guy who works with one of the 'elite' teams in the northern tower. He likes to bug people when he comes out of the tower, and that's about it."

Bug people?

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Zabuza lay back on his bed and he stared at the ceiling as he contemplated his next move.

I can get that kid off my hands for a while, make some more money, and maybe he'll have become more experienced by the time I get back. No amount of teaching will help if he can't get any experience, and I'm not up to all of that.

It was fortunate that he had come across the fire-nin before he'd become too frustrated with Haku. The slave had potential, but Zabuza wasn't the teaching type, and he wanted Haku to learn his water jutsu, and maybe to find a way to use his water-manipulating ability more effectively, but he didn't want to have to hang over Haku, making him learn the basics.

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(Three days before the Gatou mission)

"Hey! BANDAGE FACE!"

Zabuza stared at Naruto as he stomped towards him from across the lake. "What's he doing?" he asked Kakashi without taking his eyes off the angry young man as Sasuke tackled him mid-stride.

Kakashi shrugged. "It's Naruto. Sometimes, he just needs to be left to his own devices."

The two young fire-nin continued to struggle, and Zabuza looked at his slave's face across the lake. Haku looked worn out so suddenly.

The emotional crises of teenagers.

Zabuza turned his attention back to Kakashi. "Your kids ever give you trouble?"

"Just the same old thing, over and over," Kakashi said as he started to open one of the scrolls containing the mission plans. "Naruto and Sasuke fight because they each have a gigantic ego. Sakura used to be the voice of reason, but she's taken to fighting them too, just not as often as they fight each other. And there are some things about them that I can't stand."

"Like what?"

"On some days, their faces."

Zabuza laughed.

Kakashi spread the map of Gatou's base out on one of the large, flat-topped rocks near the lake's shore. Zabuza lingered, his attention back on his student. Haku was now fighting Sasuke, though it was obviously a training fight. He watched the black-haired fire-nin hold back against Haku, and stop frequently to give him advice.

He knew that Haku knew that he was inferior to the foreign ninja, even if they were the same age.

It must be hard for him to have to learn from a kid his own age.

"I have to admit," he said after watching Haku for a moment, "that your students seem to be very skillful. Did you train them yourself?"

"Hell no," Kakashi said. "Back home, the kids train at our temple until they're thirteen, when they are separated into three-man teams and given a specific teacher. Meaning, me."

"So they learn the basics there?" Zabuza asked, making his way towards Kakashi.

"Yeah. It's not my job to teach them the little things—just to supervise them on missions."

"I want Haku to go there."

Kakashi looked up from the map, somewhat surprised, though the bland expression hadn't left his face. "You want to send your slave to train at our temple."

"Yeah. Maybe we can work out some deal." Zabuza sighed as he watched Haku take a punch from Sasuke in the face. "I don't want to teach him the basics myself, and he has a lot to learn."

Kakashi nodded. "The leader of our temple has always liked the idea of foreigners training with our students—you know, so they can learn how to fight against a lot of different techniques."

"So we can work something out?" Zabuza asked.

"I think we can."

Zabuza noticed that Haku had taken a break from his training fight with Sasuke, and that he was lying on the grass near the lake's shore.

"Good," he said as he walked towards Haku.

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There were other reasons for getting rid of Haku for a while, though.

He was very distracting.

Besides, Zabuza liked his solitude. There was freedom in loneliness, and he found that to be very appealing.

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Taro stared at the large nine-tailed fox as it carved a path through their town, straight to the building where he, Yondaime, the scary silver-haired man, and the dark-skinned teenager were waiting. Yondaime knelt by him, and Taro wrapped his arms around Yondaime's arm in fear.

"Don't worry, little Taro," Yondaime said. "We're going to get rid of it."

Iruka tried to look at the streets, searching for his parents. Another rock from the Umino catapult hit the beast, and Iruka sighed in relief. His parents were still alive.

Taro whimpered. He was cold, tired, and scared out of his mind. He was surrounded by three strange men, standing on a rooftop, and staring at a monster that resembled something from one of his dreams.

The beast suddenly thrashed, taking out another section of the town as it came closer to Taro. He shut his eyes tightly and heard Iruka stomp across the roof in the direction the fox had taken.

"Calm down, Iruka," Yondaime said. "I'll need you to focus during the ceremony."

Kakashi stood by silently, waiting for his older teacher to give him instructions.

The Nine Tails turned its head in Yondaime's direction, and he pulled out a flare, lit it, and threw it into the air. The beast became enraged and ran towards the Hokage once the light had died out.

"Now," Yondaime said, pulling out the forbidden scroll he'd taken from his office. "Kakashi, Iruka, hold him down. He's going to thrash around once I've implanted the Nine Tails, and his chakra reserves will increase by a millionfold."

Kakashi nodded, and he pulled Taro away from Yondaime. "Come here, kiddo," he said.

Taro screamed and tried to pull himself away from the ANBU. Iruka dropped down by Taro's right side and said, "It's okay, he's not going to hurt you."

Yondaime turned around. "Come on, Taro, you want everyone to live, right?"

Taro stared at the blonde man. If I do this, he'll take care of me. I'll get to live with someone, and I won't have to go back to the orphanage. He sniffled and said, "Y-yes."

"Then lie down. Those two are going to hold you down, but be brave. They don't want to hurt you."

The little boy nodded and laid down on the rooftop. Yondaime pulled his calm blue gaze away from Taro as Iruka and Kakashi restrained him.

As he unrolled the scroll, he thought, I do not want my kin's blood to be wasted. This ritual will work. It must!

Taro's blue eyes took in the scene before him. Iruka held him down on the right side, grimacing; Kakashi held him down on the left, saying reassuring words. Before him, Yondaime began the ceremony.

He fell into unconsciousness as a bright light appeared before his eyes. His head was suddenly full, and he felt as strong as a monster.

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