Here's the next flashback and the last update for tonight.

Enjoy.

Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept

Flashback Eleven – Fly

"You know Zabuza? The Demon Hidden in the Mist?"

"Yeah. One of the seven swordsmen of the Land of Water. What of him?"

"Rumor is he's got some kid with him. Has been training him. From what I hear the kid is strong. Because of him the Demon has continued to evade capture."

"Haha, really now? So he's raising a little Demon Jr? Interesting. What about that other brat the Demon had?"

"From what I hear, he's still with them too."

"Tsk, it doesn't matter how many little boys the Demon ensnares. The ninja will capture them, and he will finally be executed. Him and his little brats."

"I don't know. If they were going to, they would've done so already, right?"

"Don't sweat it. Regardless, even demons make mistakes. Those three are bound to lose their footing sometime."

"I suppose, yeah."

"Yep. You just gotta keep the pressure on."

"Very good, Sasuke!"

Sasuke gazed down at the body at his feet, eyes too sad to be proud of the praise directed towards him as Haku landed next to him.

"We managed to suffer minimal injuries thanks to your quick reflexes. You were amazing, Sasuke."

Raising his eyes, Sasuke smiled weakly at the older boy.

"Thank you," he breathed softly before looking back to the dead shinobi. Haku's lips pursed as he gazed at the boy, and he raised a hand and set it on Sasuke's shoulders.

"You did what you had to do, dearheart," he breathed softly as Zabuza appeared in the trees nearby, the summoned haze dissipating with a breath. "You protected us. It was either us or them."

Sasuke pushed Haku's hand away.

"Shut up," he snapped coldly, looking away. "Just because I did what was necessary doesn't mean I enjoyed doing it."

He imagined Haku's hurt expression and hated himself for it, though he didn't immediately apologize. It was hard changing, he was quick to realize. Every time his voice was a little too sharp and his eyes were a little too cold; every time he found himself falling back into those instinctive blank stares and struggled with being who he truly wanted to be compared to who he had made himself, he realized it. It had seemed so easy that day he realized he was free – so simple. It didn't seem real, how easy it looked. Almost like a trick his mind tried to play on him to let his guard down. Like when a child who has been told all his life he can't fly becomes convinced he can, but then rises onto his feet and jumps off the ledge only to realize that gravity is a cruel, cruel master. But at the same time, as he falls down into that chasm to the jagged boulders below, he insists to himself that it was true. And even as he strikes the stones with all the force of nature, he still imagines wings bursting from his back and reaching into the sky above. Until everything permanently goes dark.

But maybe that child never could truly fly.

What was he so afraid of?

Don't be an idiot. You know.

But his legs worked just fine. He might not have been able to fly, but he could certainly do everything else a person could.

"My darling, how do we fly?"

His mother… she had always understood him. She could read his mind and know his woes without him ever saying a thing. Knew exactly what he was thinking. What magic she carried in her breast.

Jump and forget how to fall.

He wanted to forget. He wanted to be free. Every time he looked Haku in the eyes he begged for that hope to come back to him, to make it easy again.

Old habits die hard, his elders used to say. He didn't realize how true those words were until he tried to prove them wrong. He wanted change. His habits were poison, he knew that. This wasn't a fairytale. A story where change was instantaneous and the main character had no fear, harbored no doubts about his choice. Sasuke wanted to be like that and he knew it. But…

You're afraid of change.

What if he truly opened his heart again? What if he decided to love them like he loved his real family?

What if his brother came for them too? Would he be the useless, crying child he was when the unspeakable happened? Would history would repeat itself and leave him broken and beaten again? Would loving so greatly betray him again so horribly? The more he thought about it, the more the fear sank into his breast, turning his heart colder and colder.

I can't. I want to, but I can't. I have to protect myself.

"You have to fight it, Sasuke."

He jolted himself out of his revere when he heard Zabuza's voice, and he raised his eyes to look at the man's face from where Zabuza stood in front of him. The man raised a great hand and set it on Sasuke's shoulder.

"You have to be strong enough," Zabuza began, "to overcome those fears in your head and become who you want to be. Nothing's going to happen if you just sulk and whine like a baby. You have to be brave. You have to fight. Destroy whatever threatens what you love. Take what you hold dear and protect it. With both fists. You do that, and nobody will ever take anything away from you ever again." That hand moved from Sasuke's shoulder to touch Sasuke's face, and the young boy could only stare at Zabuza in awe. How did he know? How did he know? "Being afraid is what will hold you back. Don't be afraid, and you will learn how to fly."

That magic in her breast-

Sasuke swallowed, and he closed his eyes only to find himself pushing his cheek into Zabuza's hand. He clung to that voice reverberating in his skull like a mighty lion clings to its dying prey – like the struggling prey clings to its life even as its others vanish beyond the horizon. That voice and the words it carried were essential to live – essential for carrying on.

Maybe it wouldn't have carried the same weight if Haku had said it. Maybe it would've. Maybe it would've carried a different sort of weight. But Zabuza, a man who rarely showed compassion and rarely spoke in great lengths, took Sasuke's head in both hands and pulled the boy to him, letting Sasuke wrap his arms around the great man's belly.

"I want to fly," Sasuke mumbled into that muscular abdomen. "I want to be free."

"And you will be," Zabuza assured him, and his mighty arms swallowed Sasuke like tree trunks. The boy was lost in the forest of the man's arms. "You just have to learn and accept that freedom might come with killing a few people and some parts of yourself too. But if those parts are the ones that are weak, then you shouldn't cry over them. That ninja…" Sasuke turned his head to look at the dead man on the ground. "You killed him to protect what you care about. He knew what he was getting into and he chose to do it anyway. We all make choices. But some of them you shouldn't feel guilty about, okay?" He clapped his hand on Sasuke's head and ruffled his hair. "Got it brat? Don't worry, we'll teach you to fly. God's dick, your hair's getting long."

Sasuke managed to laugh, pushing Zabuza's hand away as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"It's okay, I don't mind," he replied as Haku ruffled his hair with a laugh. Pushing Haku playfully, Sasuke took his hair – which was passed his shoulders now – and pulled it in between his fingers. "I figure… I want to be a new me. Maybe changing the way I look will help with that. Besides, it's not like there's a convenient barber shop in every forth tree." He looked at Haku as the older boy laughed, and pursed his lips.

"…how do we fly…?"

He hesitantly reached out and took Haku's hand in his, making the other look at him questioningly even as he squeezed Sasuke's fingers in response. Sasuke managed a weak smile.

We just jump…

"I'm sorry."

and forget how to fall.

Haku blinked at him in surprise for a moment before he beamed, pulling Sasuke to him and wrapping him up in a hug.

I will jump.

"Apology accepted."

And I will fly.

End Flashback Eleven – Fly

The flashbacks are just for me to write all the fluff I want. Zabuza's being paternal. So cute.

Let me know what you thought? :3

Much love!

DDB