Disclaimer: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and related properties bunch of others is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto and the property of Shueisha, Viz Media, TV Tokyo Co., and Shonen Jump. Please go support the official release.
Naruto tilted his head ever so slightly to the side in confusion. "Precious people?" The two words rolling off his tongue naturally as if he was connected to those words in someway.
Haku nodded his head vigorously in return. It was quite warming to think that he was guiding someone else down the part of enlightenment.
"Yes, Naruto-kun. Find people who are precious to you and then, you'll truly become strong."
Reading those shounen manga was really coming in handy. The real super power of friendship and teamwork cannot be beat!
With an energetic exit, courtesy of Naruto, Haku went off to tend to Zabuza wounds, they had a week or two to prepare for the upcoming on the battle afterall.
Two weeks later.
Haku and Zabuza waited.
They waited.
And they waited.
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Team 7 hadn't appeared as they were supposed to. One hour late and no sign of team 7 appearing. All that time Haku could've spent reading his manga!
"Haku place the exploding tags along the bridge, then meet me at the base." Zabuza ordered as he was done waiting.
A quick shunshin and Haku was alone.Not to keep his master waiting any longer, Haku took to placing the explosive along the bridge.
Once reaching the half way point, the ice user surveyed the desolate bridge. Removing his mask to get a better view of his environment.
The people of wave placed their hopes on this very bridge. A hope that would day see themselves free from Gato's tryrannival reign.
A hope that would never come to fruition.
The exploding tags Haku was carrying were now feeling heavy. The cold air along his guilty conscious attempting to preventing wave country's ruination but alas, Haku had to do what he had to do.
"Haku!"
In came Naruto Uzumaki, brightly entering the scene without a single care in the world.
Confusion instantly struck Haku as he tried to locate the other members of team 7. He couldn't find any sign of them nor sense them.
Only Naruto was there.
Was this some sort of tactic perhaps? Have Naruto distract him while they all attack him together?
It would've been foolish to send only Naruto to show up against an elite jonin and his associate; Haku presumed team 7 by now discovered that he was a fake mist hunter nin and working alongside Zabuza.
"Thanks to you Haku, I'm now pulling in the greens."
To prove this, Naruto pulled out a massive wad of cash from his wallet, to which Haku's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Without a doubt, If Zabuza had seen this, he would've killed Naruto right then and there before looting the boy dry. Haku himself was even contemplating whether or not should he do the same.
For Zabuza's sake of course! Not like he had any use for that kind of money, especially not for more sailor moon manga.
"And where did you get this money?"
"Oh that, I sold my team to human traffickers." Naruto announced somewhat flippantly. As if it was the most natural sentence one could possibly say.
"What?"
"Yeah, I sold my team to human traffickers. You said to find precious people. So I did; my team. I figured that people that are precious are valuable and boy did they sell well in the black market, especially Sasuke
due to his Uchiha lineage and Kakashi-sensei for being an elite jonin. I even sold that bridge builder Tazuna."
'Is this some sort of cruel joke, right?' It must've been Haku internally reasoned.
"I also became stronger as well, just as you said Haku," Naruto smiled, a smile Haku was started to fear.
A multitude of thoughts entered Haku's head, but he couldn't voice them in favour of dumbly asking, "And how does that make you stronger?"
"Simple." With a snap of his finger, the vacant bridge had now welcomed an army of 100 powerful thugs, within their numbers were even ninja. "Why become stronger myself when I can get others to do my bidding? Now I have the strength of 100 men!"
Haku felt his skin crawl, and goosebumps were now littering his arms. He legs were becoming like spaghetti as weight crashed down on his knees.
It was as if Naruto was disillusioned and didn't comprehend what his own actions were.
The cold air hanging over over the bridge was more pronounced than before. Haku didn't know whether to attribute the hitching of his breath to the cold air surrounding him or because of the boy in front of him.
Haku's mind decided to entertain a little game of thought.
What was more unnerving?
The fact that Naruto sold his own teammates for profit without a single shred of remorse, or that Haku himself had a helping hand in giving rise to this.
Maybe his speech about the real super power of friendship and teamwork wasn't as super special awesome as he once thought it was.
"Well Naruto, I best be going. I wouldn't want to waste your time." The bridge was going to get blown up another day, Gato can definitely wait. But before Haku could even make on step, Naruto cut him off.
"Haku wait. I have to tell you one thing." Naruto stood before Haku, looking him dead in the eyes.
"Sure thing Naruto. What is it?" The answer, he wasn't ready to hear.
His exuberant smile only got wider, showing a rather unsettling amount of teeth, "I consider you to be one of my precious people."
The end.
A/N The real super power of teamwork is a reference to Sonic Heroes.
And yes, I turned Haku into an Otaku. And it rhymes. I think that's a nice addition since I don't really remember seeing an Otaku ninja before.
And I wrote this fic simply because how cringy ''precious people'' sounds.