A/N: Seems last chapter pissed some of you off, but guess what? If you don't like it, then don't read it. Also, I don't appreciate being threatened in my PMs. You know who you are. That aside, this chapter should be interesting. It'll be the final chapter that takes place in the Land of Waves.
Time for Chapter 16
Enjoy!
A sudden, uncomfortable silence took hold of the living room as the front door of Tazuna's home opened. Though a bit of light conversation had managed to drum itself up between Naruto and Satsuki, who were currently the only occupants of the room, it all vanished upon the arrival of the remainder of their team. However, it was not the added presence of Shikamaru and Kakashi that had sent the pair into silence. No, it was what Shikamaru held in his arms that killed any semblance of normality.
Though Zabuza had indeed confirmed that the huntress was still alive despite the absolute torrent of damage Naruto had inflicted upon the girl, neither he nor Satsuki had expected to ever see her again. Contrary to these reasonable expectations, the huntress was cradled in Shikamaru's arms. She was certainly badly injured, as evidenced by the litany of cuts and bruises on her face, but she was still breathing rhythmically.
"Start talking. This better be good." Naruto said rigidly as he glared at the unconscious girl. Kakashi nodded and directed Shikamaru to sit down in a nearby chair, which resulted in the Nara having to awkwardly balance the huntress on top of himself.
"I'll give you the official reason that she's here, and then I'll let you all argue until your hearts give out. Getting that first part out of the way, we're technically obligated to either kill any Rogue Ninja we encounter, or capture them. I usually ignore that rule, because it's a pain in the ass, but that's the legal reason the girl is here right now." he said. He then looked to Shikamaru and drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair he had chosen to sit down in.
"As for what's actually going on, Shikamaru broke one of the prime rules of this line of work, which is to always keep yourself impartial to the people you meet. In other words, never let your personal feelings interfere with the task at hand." he said. At this, Naruto rose to his feet and stared down at Shikamaru from across the room.
"Let me get this straight. You got all sentimental about a person who just about murdered a member of your own team? Please tell me I've got this wrong somehow." he questioned. The Nara pensively met his eyes and gathered himself for a few moments.
"I really wish you were wrong. I feel about as dumb as I look." he said honestly. The blonde's nostrils flared at the response. It was a direct confirmation of his accusations, and that fact angered Naruto greatly.
"Does what she did literally today not bother you at all?" he said tensely. Shikamaru shifted in place and wiped some stress-born sweat from his brow.
"It bothers me a ton. It wasn't an easy choice." he said. Naruto shook his head and rubbed his temples. He was extremely tired from the events on the bridge, and such intense emotion was quite fatiguing.
"It should have been an easy choice. Even if you just found her by accident, which you definitely didn't, you should've just left her there to freeze. She deserves it after what she's done." he said angrily. Finally, Shikamaru showed some backbone.
"Satsuki isn't dead, Naruto. She definitely tried to kill her, and I'm not okay with that, but don't you think what you did to her was punishment enough? She's barely alive." he argued a bit more firmly. Naruto clenched his jaw and stepped forward.
"Why are you defending her? No, screw that. Why have you been defending her? We had this same argument back on the bridge. What's your problem? Why are you so against the idea of her dying?" he asked harshly. Shikamaru took a moment to set the huntress on the floor without damaging her further. He then stood up to meet his teammate.
"Because I don't think answering every wrong a person commits with murder is a good way to go about things. It doesn't do anybody any good. Let's say Satsuki had died. Would killing Haku have really made you feel any better?" he shot back. Naruto barked a short laugh.
"That's adorable. You even know her name. Want me to make wedding cards?" he said sarcastically. Shikamaru held his glare.
"Answer the question. How'd you feel? Even when you thought both of them were dead. Can you honestly say that you felt any better? Because you still looked pretty damn heartbroken to me." he pressed tenaciously. Naruto's eye twitched. While he certainly had stronger ground to stand on, Shikamaru was a daunting person to clash with intellectually. That much was clear.
"Nothing could have made me feel better. Not even killing her. That doesn't change that she deserved it." he said seriously. Shikamaru jammed a finger at Satsuki, who was sitting silently on the couch behind Naruto.
"For the second time, Satsuki isn't dead. If she were, I'd be way more willing to agree with you on this one thing. But she's still alive, so I really can't agree with the notion that she deserves to be dead." he said. Naruto scoffed at his words.
"Yeah? And do you really think that she hasn't killed other people? Because I'd be surprised if she hasn't slaughtered at least a few dozen." he countered. The Nara held his ground despite the second step the blonde had taken toward him.
"What gives you the right to be the judge? You didn't know those people, and you never will. She isn't innocent. I'm not even going to try to argue that. I just don't think it's right for any of us to sentence her to something. Leave that up to the people who do it for a living." he said. Naruto prepared himself to speak once again, but was cut off by an unexpected voice.
"If you feel so strongly about it, then come and make it happen. I won't stop you."
Every person in the room turned their attention to the floor, where Haku resided. She was now sitting up, with one hand supporting her weight and the other rubbing her bruised cheek. Slowly, surprisingly, the battered huntress staggered to her feet while using the chair right next to her for support.
"How much have you heard?" Shikamaru asked carefully as Haku steadied herself and wiped dried dirt from her face.
"Enough. I know what this is about." she said shortly. She then locked eyes with Naruto, who was visibly perturbed by her return to consciousness. After a moment of incredibly uneasy silence, Haku spoke again.
"You aren't exactly wrong. About me having killed before, I mean. I've killed plenty. You will too in time, but for now, you can still take the high road if it satisfies your morals."she said. Naruto glanced at the coffee table at the end of the couch, where a kunai sat.
"Don't tempt me." he growled. Haku shrugged and stood waiting for his next move. The blonde slowly found himself feeling more and more uncomfortable with the idea of flatly killing the girl. Though his anger toward her had not waned, his belligerent rage had. He was fully aware and in control of himself for the most part, and that fact seemed to be suppressing his desire to kill. When his silence stretched on for too long, Satsuki cleared her throat.
"Since I'm the one who ended up in purgatory for a few minutes, I think I've got the right to say my piece now." she said. Somewhat relieved to have been effectively pulled from the platform, Naruto conceded and nodded. With her status as the next speaker established, Satsuki continued with her eyes fixed on Haku.
"I don't think it'll be any surprise to you that I'm not exactly a fan of you, or the fact that my own teammate went out of his way to save your life, but unlike this hothead, I also don't think that you're really all that much worse than the average Ninja. This is a violent business. Murder is a necessity." she began. She then sat up a bit straighter and cracked her stiff neck.
"Like you said, we'll probably all end up with a long list of graves to our credit. We're just green enough to not be hypocrites when we look at you and cringe. I don't like that you're here, and I'll give Shikamaru a piece of my mind when I have the time and energy, but for now, I won't bother you. Just stay the hell away from me." she concluded. Naruto initially opened his mouth to refute the sentiment, but quickly shut it again.
"I still hate every part of this." he eventually said. Shikamaru took an uncomfortable glance at Haku, who had seated herself back on the floor.
"I'd be lying if I said that I liked it either, but I'm not backing down on this. She doesn't deserve to die." he said firmly. Opting to step in before another argument could brew, Kakashi stood up from his seat.
"Well, let's leave it at that, then. I'd say that Satsuki's take on things is the most reasonable. For now, let's turn in for the night. I think we could all use the sleep." he said while suppressing a yawn. It was still fairly early in the evening, but every single Ninja in the room, Haku included, was utterly exhausted.
For the first and only time that day, they all agreed on something.
Haku blew a strand of hair out of her face as she stared up at the ceiling of the unfamiliar room. Her emotions regarding her present situation were mixed at best, and purely negative at worst. Life with Zabuza hadn't exactly been pleasant, but it had at least been straightforward. Now, all that lay before her was a sea of uncertainty and doubt. Would she be executed by Konoha upon her delivery to its justice system? Would she be set free? Many questions, virtually no answers. Sighing slightly, she glanced across the room into the leftmost corner.
In it sat the singular positive of her current reality. Shikamaru had said very little since the lengthy argument he had had with Naruto earlier in the evening, and for good reason. It was clear that his decision had created something of a temporary rift between himself and his teammates. He had plenty to think about, and likely just as much to regret. Though her initial instinct was to feel guilty on his behalf, logic dictated that it was his own fault.
'I never asked you to save me, boy. I'm not sure why you did in the first place.' she thought to herself as she gazed at him. Despite her puzzlement at his decision-making. Haku still found herself unable to hold anything against him. He had shown her the ultimate mercy to no benefit of his own, even after having witnessed her attack his team. Finding that she could take the silence no longer, Haku spoke up.
"Are you planning on sleeping at all, or is that not possible tonight?" she asked. The Nara glanced up from the floor and shrugged tiredly.
"Maybe, maybe not. I might just pass out by accident." he said honestly. The huntress nodded and rubbed one of her eyes. She had been allowed a bath by the wife of the bridge builder whom she had been tasked to kill, which had made for an interesting, if quite brief encounter with the woman. The bath had been refreshing, though quite uncomfortable at points due to her soreness.
"I know that you said you weren't sure before, but...why? Why did you bother?" she asked after a time. Shikamaru sighed and let one of his legs extend out in front of him as he stared at the far wall.
"You played me. You made me care. Only took you a few days, too. Even if it was all to get information out of me, or even to set this situation up somehow, I can't help but be sort of impressed. You're damn good." he said numbly. He was ashamed of having fallen prey to his own emotions, and he was attempting to hide it behind a veil of apathy. Haku felt her chest tighten slightly at his words.
"I didn't want to lie to you. I really didn't. I just...had to. There was no way around it." she said carefully. The genin in the corner met her eyes for a moment.
"Is Haku actually your name?" he asked oddly. For whatever reason, despite the simplicity of the question, Haku's bottom lip quivered in response. He truly had no faith in any of what she had told him. All the way down to the most personal of details.
"Yes it is. Haku Yuki." she said brittly. Noticing the break in her voice, Shikamaru looked at her more carefully and scooted away from the wall a few feet.
"Are you...okay?" he asked quietly. The huntress covered her eyes with her left hand and let out a sad laugh that slowly decayed into a bitter chuckle.
"I knew that I would have to kill you. I knew I would have to hurt you all, and I still kept coming. Now, the person I made so many mistakes for doesn't even trust me enough to believe in my name. " she said shakily. She then shook her head as a tear escaped down the side of her face and down onto her futon.
"And then you went and wrecked their trust in you by still caring about me when you shouldn't have. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I feel like a parasite." she said in what more or less amounted to a whimper. Shikamaru slowly scooted his way to her side and settled beside her.
"You aren't a parasite. I saved you because I saw a good person behind the lies. You aren't the monster Naruto thinks you are, and even if it's gonna make my life difficult, I'm glad you're alive." he said reassuringly. Haku slowly let her hand slide down her face and onto the floor again.
"You're too pure for your own good. That innocence will get you killed someday." she said. The Nara smiled and scratched the back of his head.
"It's probably a good message for me to hear. It's a lesson worth learning. But even if you end up being right, I'd rather die knowing that I saved a life before I kicked the bucket." he said honestly. Haku gazed at him for a few moments before sitting up and drawing her knees to her chin.
"It's such a cruel thing that people like you, or even Naruto are forced to become Ninja. I did it out of necessity, but from what I've seen, who your family is determines your career path in the hidden villages. You deserve more peace than this path will ever afford you." she said. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders once again.
"Nothing I can do about it, so I don't complain all that much, even if I think most of what we do is a serious drag. Besides, I can't say it's been all bad. Traveling has been weirdly fun." he said. Haku settled into a cross-legged position.
"I hope that enthusiasm carries you as far as it possibly can. I'd hate to see you become as cynical as I am." she said. The Nara raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile.
"You were full of jokes out in the forest. I don't think you're all the way gone yet." he said. Haku thought back to the night fondly and sighed. She then worked her way forward little by little.
"That was the first time I'd laughed like that in years. The only other time was by myself, too. Left on my own, I'm completely inert these days. I can think, I can eat, I can survive, but I can't laugh anymore. You brought that back out of me again. That...meant a lot to me." she said quietly. Shikamaru itched his cheek absently.
"Everybody deserves to laugh. I'm not a comedian at all, that's Naruto's job, but I'm glad you got to laugh a little. Sounds to me like you've earned it." he said. Finally unable to stop herself, Haku lurched forward and wrapped him up in a tight hug.
"I haven't earned a damn thing, and I think you're a fool for caring, but thank you for saving my life. You reminded me what it felt like to enjoy myself. You're a lovely person, Shikamaru-kun." she whispered in his ear. The Nara blinked several times at the affectionate honorific she had attached to his name.
"N-No problem. I think you're exaggerating a little, but still." he said awkwardly. Haku separated from him, but kept her hands gently resting on his shoulders.
"I'm not, but it's clear that you don't take compliments well. I'll leave it at that for now." she said with a smile. She then lowered herself back onto her futon and closed her eyes.
"Sleep. We both need it." she said. The Nara nodded and stood up to leave. He hadn't made it three steps before he stopped and returned to his corner. The huntress, having tracked his movements by ear, opened her eyes once again.
"Feeling bold, are we?" she said sarcastically. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and settled back into place across the room.
"Nope, nothing like that. I just think it'd be better if I'm in here just for tonight. I don't think he'd try anything, but Naruto's in a bad mood, and he doesn't like you very much. I won't do anything weird, don't worry." he said matter-of-factly. Haku felt a small part of herself melt at the implication of his words. Pulling her covers up so only her nose and eyes poked out from under them, she curled up into a ball beneath the blankets.
'Even if I'm executed, I'm glad to have met you, Shikamaru Nara.'
Naruto exhaled through his nose absently as he completed scratching a small geometric design into the floor of his room with a kunai. The shapes were meaningless, but they provided an easy distraction from the dull silence. He was hardly happy to begin with, which made his present inability to sleep all the more irritating. He wanted the day to be over in the worst way, and that luxury wasn't being afforded to him for whatever reason. As he blankly began to scratch another set of shapes into the floor, the sliding door to his room creaked open.
"Can I come in for a few minutes?" Satsuki, whose head was poking in through the small opening she had created, asked quietly. Finding that he had nothing better to do with his time, Naruto nodded and observed her curiously as she gingerly stumbled her way into the room. She was still more or less incapable of walking long distances, but as it turned out, most of the reason was that the vegetative state Haku had rendered her to had muddled her circulation. As it returned, so did her mobility.
"So, what's on your mind?" Naruto asked once she was inside and settled. The raven-haired girl tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear and made a wide gesture with her hands.
"A lot of things. A lot happened today. We completed our first mission, I pretty much died, and then Shikamaru brings my murderer home for whatever reason. A lot to process." she said honestly. Naruto prickled at the reminder of the situation regarding Shikamaru and Haku.
"That last part is probably why I can't sleep. I just don't get it. What good reason could he have had to do it?" he said frustratedly. Satsuki shrugged and claimed Naruto's unused blanket for herself by wrapping it around her own shoulders.
"I'm not him, so I can't say for sure, but we do know that they had met a few times before the bridge. Way out here, it's possible they made fast friends." she suggested. A humorous smirk then spread across her lips.
"Or maybe he's just a sucker for a pretty face. Because that girl is gorgeous. I'd kill to have her skin." she said only half-jokingly. Naruto snorted and leaned his face on the ridge of his hand.
"He better not be. I'll beat some sense into him if that has anything to do with it." he muttered. Satsuki waved a dismissive hand and further wrapped the blanket she had taken around herself.
"I doubt it's the case, but that's neither here nor there. My guess is that they got to know one another just well enough for him to get attached. She was definitely lying to him for most of it, but even a liar can let their personality slip through sometimes. Somebody as smart as him would probably pick up on that." she said. The blonde picked at some leftover dried blood on his forehead that even the bath hadn't washed away.
"I guess that makes some sense. It's still dumb that he saved her. Even if you're still here, she tried to kill you. That's not okay." he said. His teammate shook her head.
"She was actually trying to kill you in the moment, but I took it instead. Your point still stands, though. It was stupid of him to do, but even so, the circumstances feel so specific that I doubt it'll be any sort of issue with him going forward." she said. Naruto raised an eyebrow and studied the girl.
"You're way more fine with all of this than you should be, you know." he said. Satsuki shifted in place to alleviate the pressure on her left leg.
"I'm not fine with it. I just don't see the point in letting it ruin me right now. Besides, people have done way worse things than get emotionally involved in a mission. It happens more than they probably tell us. He made a mistake. A big one. He'll be punished for it, but I don't think that's our place." she said. The blonde considered her logic briefly.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm still pissed at him, and I'm not gonna let him forget just how dumb this was, but it'll probably happen to all of us at some point." he admitted. The pair then lapsed into a fairly lengthy silence, with no words being exchanged for an upwards of three minutes.
"Can I ask you a question, Naruto?" Satsuki inquired to break the streak. Naruto glanced back up at her from the floor and nodded tiredly.
"Sure, knock yourself out." he said. The raven-haired girl pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. She was grappling with something, that much was clear.
"When I woke up on the bridge, I saw you at the edge. You...had red eyes. Your nails were long, and you had fangs. I'm guessing that change is how you beat up Haku, but I'm totally lost other than that. What happened to you after I dropped out?" she asked carefully. The blonde instantaneously tensed and balled up on himself. His posture shrunk inwards, his eyes averted away from her, and his arms tightly hugged his knees to his chest. Quickly sensing his discomfort, Satsuki scooted a foot closer to him.
"I feel like a bitch for pushing you on this, since it clearly bugs you, but I feel like I have a right to know. You had nothing for her when I took the needles for you, and the next thing I knew, you'd beat her senseless." she said gently as Naruto clammed up. It took him several moments, but the blonde eventually spoke.
"I really don't wanna tell you. It's...not something that you really want to know. Trust me." he said. Satsuki tilted her head to one side.
"I want to know. If you're worried about me thinking less of you for whatever that power was, I'll probably be more concerned if you don't tell me." she said. Naruto kept his eyes glued to the floor. He had greatly feared being questioned on his explosive reaction to Haku's attempted murder of Satsuki, and now it had come. Worst of all, it was coming from the last person he wanted to explain it all to. Despite his dislike of the situation, the genin forced himself to speak.
"What happened on October Tenth, sixteen years back?" he asked vaguely. Satsuki furrowed her brow in puzzlement at the seemingly random question, but answered it anyway.
"The Nine-Tailed Fox attacked Konoha. We lost a few thousand people, and then the fourth put the Fox down. He died in the process." she summarized. Naruto sighed and shook his head.
"You're mostly right, but one big part of that is wrong. The Fox never died. The Fourth was strong, from what I've heard, but he couldn't take it down. He solved it another way." he said. He then took a deep breath and steeled himself. Outside of Kakashi already being well aware of his status, he had never verbally told another human being of what he harbored.
"He found an infant, and he sealed the demon away inside it. He died doing it." he said. Satsuki's eyes widened just a tad as she connected the dots being provided to her.
"And that baby was…" she began, trailing off near the end as the magnitude of what she was learning truly sunk in. Naruto nodded stiffly and finally looked her in the eyes.
"You're looking at him. I've got a demon inside me. That's what happened when Haku killed you. I got so angry that whatever weird sealing jutsu the Fourth put on my body slipped a little. It's never happened to me before, but I know what the fox feels like." he said. The Uchiha girl simply stared at him silently for a time. It was an enormous chunk of information to process, and it was clear that she needed time. Finally, after nearly two minutes, Satsuki moved. When she did, Naruto flinched and scuttled back a foot. At this sight, Satsuki frowned.
"Did you...think I was going to hit you?" she asked, drawing an ashamed nod from her teammate. The girl responded by obliging to his silent wish and giving him space.
"Part of me is shocked to hear all of this, but at the same time, it definitely explains what happened today, and it also explains why our classmates treated you like garbage." she said thoughtfully. Naruto smiled sadly.
"Yup. They've got every right to hate my guts." he said depressingly. His gaze then fell to his own lap. He utterly despised feeling so exposed and alien. Then, against all his expectations, something surprising happened.
"Hey, look at me." Satsuki said softly. Before he could respond, the raven-haired girl gently laid her hands on either side of his face and turned his head upward. Once they were eye-level again, she let her hands slide down to his arms, where they stayed.
"If you were worth hating, or anywhere near as bad as you clearly think you are, I wouldn't even bother making fun of you, and I definitely wouldn't joke with you as much as I do. You're a demon's container. Not the demon itself. Don't get that confused." she said firmly. Naruto tried to respond, but found that he had no clue what to say. As such, Satsuki continued on for him. Using her grip on his arms, she pulled him forward and wrapped him up in an uncharacteristically warm hug.
"I'm not gonna treat you any better or worse just because of what you keep under wraps. I'll treat you just the same. I'll make fun of you, I'll give you grief, and I'll get prickly when you fire back. Nothing is going to change." she said. Despite none of her words being precisely positive in a literal sense, their true meaning hit Naruto like a massive stone.
"And even if it's a little weird to think that you woke up a demon to defend me, it's still...really touching that the idea of me dying pushed you so far over the edge. That was really sweet of you. In a violent sort of way." Satsuki said, a trace of humor working its way into her voice by the end. She then made more space between them and smiled.
"And hey, I got to awaken my Sharingan today, so I can't be too mad about how things turned out. Just keep your head up, okay?" she said. Naruto nodded, but said nothing. Sensing that his voice was entirely gone, Satsuki released him from her grip and flicked him on the forehead.
"I'm gonna head to bed. If you wanna murder Haku or something, she's probably asleep by now." she joked. A moment later, she exited the room with a still-awkward walk. Once she was gone, Naruto collapsed onto his back.
'That...went way better than it could have.' he thought to himself. Satsuki's reaction had been entirely unexpected. Full and unwavering acceptance. It felt out of place given how volatile she was seventy percent of the time, but he had no room to complain.
"Why are girls so confusing?" he grumbled. He then reached out for the covers he had been using for warmth. After a few seconds of searching, he came up empty-handed.
'She stole my blanket.'
A/N: Gonna try to keep chapters about this length from here on out. It lets me do three scenes per chapter, which helps a lot. I thought this story needed some sweetness after all the strife of the past few chapters, so I provided it.
Tell me what you thought in a review :)
See you next chapter! Read and Review!
