OMG I KNOW IT'S AN UPDATE

So far I've only got the flashback done. I'll see if I can crank out the other too, but it's almost two in the morning where I am right now. -.-

But please enjoy!

Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept

Flashback Thirty: Teammate

"It will take a while for us to prepare the ceremony." The words echoed hollowly in his ear as the songs of birds filtered through behind them. "So relax. Walk around the village and enjoy yourself. Get to know your new home. But do realize that you and your... 'family', will never be alone."

It was freeing, in a way. Being in such a cage. He was truly no longer an Uchiha. He was a Terranova - officially. The last of his people. And Zabuza and Haku were his official family. The Uchihas were a thing of the past. He and his new family were no longer to be hunted or scorned. Everything he had ever wanted, everything he had ever dreamed about over the past two years - he was receiving.

The weightlessness in his breast when he opened his eyes to the daylight, his head on Haku's chest... it seemed almost worth becoming a shelter for a beast.

But was that what the creature really was? A beast? Ragnarok, the Landslayer - the shattered pieces of a dead god brought back together again. Sasuke hadn't even heard of the legend before. What kind of person was he like? Could he even be considered a person? Would Sasuke be able to stand up against the power of a god? Or would he be consumed?

It was hard to wrap his mind around the concept - sharing his brain with someone (something) else. The freedom, the family, the breeze blowing through the window - none of it seemed real. Andora seemed simply like a dream. The alchemists had tried to explain it to him, but it was still so hard to imagine. Not even they truly understood what was going to happen should the embodiment succeed. For it had never happened before. Ragnarok was too fierce - too strong for the human body. All the other hosts they had tried had died. Gruesomely. Why were they so confident that Sasuke's fate would be so different?

"Only the foolish try to cage a god."

Haku's words floated across his mind as a leaf floated into the room, turning and twisting silently on the wind.

Maybe it wasn't confidence. Maybe it was simply desperation.

Is the Land of Waves really that desperate for power?

He wondered how a god would think. Would it be in words, like he did? Would it be in another language? Or simply images? Feelings? Pictures? Would they be able to understand each other? Maybe even get along?

It's not real. It doesn't feel real.

Or would the god do his beast to kill the mortal that caged him, and take Sasuke's body for himself? Was that even possible?

What would this... god be like? Could they maybe even be... friends?

Sasuke was excited and terrified all at the same time.

I can't die. He told himself. I am all that keeps Haku and Zabuza alive here. I have to stay. If he tries to kill me... He took a deep breath. I have to fight him. With all my might.

"Dearheart?"

Sasuke's eyes shifted upwards to gaze into Haku's. The older male smiled at him.

"You've been staring out the window for a while. Are you all right?"

Sasuke blinked for a moment, shrugged and settled down a little more fully in the embrace of Haku's arm.

"You grew up in the Land of Waves, right Haku?" He asked slowly. "What... do you know about Ragnarok?"

Haku sighed softly as he lifted a hand, running his fingers through Sasuke's hair as he thought.

"From what I remember from the stories," he replied softly, "Ragnarok was a benevolent beast with an incredible temper. He created the wind and sky and water. Brought life to the shores and oceans. He created the Land of Waves and helped found the Village Hidden in the Mist. He was a great and good leader. Until he was crossed by his people." A troubled look passed over Haku's face, and he pulled Sasuke a little more tightly to him. "In his anger, he sent the ocean into the land, flooding forests and staining the rivers with salt. Under his hand, the land began to die."

"But the land's still here," Sasuke breathed. "So that means he didn't succeed, right?"

"That's right," Haku murmured. "He was defeated, destroyed in battle by the very creatures he had created. They tore him apart and scattered his pieces to the winds."

"But those pieces have been brought back together," Sasuke stated quietly. Haku took in a deep breath.

"Yes," he admitted very, very quietly - so hard that Sasuke had a hard time hearing him. Raising his other arm, Haku wrapped that one around Sasuke too.

Both of them knew what that meant.

"Do you know what's going to happen to me?" Sasuke managed to ask, almost choking on the words as he folded into the other male. Haku buried his face in the younger boy's hair.

"No," he surrendered, threading his fingers through Sasuke's mane. "No, I don't. I wish I did. That way I would know what to prepare for. But..." he inhaled a shaking breath, but couldn't hold it like he had hoped and quickly exhaled. "I can only pray that... he is still as kind and gentle as he used to be. I can only pray that the years haven't made him hateful."

"What do you pray to, Haku?" Sasuke asked quietly. "What do you pray to, if not to a god like Ragnarok?"

Haku blinked at the question, thinking for a moment.

"Whatever... makes me happy, I guess," he admitted. "This world is too beautiful, too perfect to have happened out of sheer coincidence. Maybe there is one unifying deity. Maybe there isn't. We as human beings find it hard to believe in something we cannot see. Even harder to pray to something like that. But I do believe in a flower blooming. In freshly fallen snow. Light spring rain. A crisp breeze." His hands threaded through Sasuke's hair lovingly. "You."

This made Sasuke's eyes widen, and he raised his eyes to look into Haku's in awe. Haku merely smiled at him, gently pushing the raven locks behind the boy's ears.

"I see beauty everywhere I go," he continued softly as he gazed at the smaller boy. "Beauty, I can believe in. So I pray to whatever made the beauty around me - no matter what it is. Whether it is a god or something else entirely, something that could make a world so wonderful could never be so horrible."

Sasuke, gazing at him, could only smile.

"I can definitely agree with you on that," he breathed, making Haku's smile widen.

"Haku. Zabuza."

They both looked away from each other towards the door to the other room - where Zabuza stood, pants and no shirt. He motioned for them to get out of bed.

"Get up," he told them simply. "It's time to meet your new teammate."


The Village Hidden in the Mist was a tiny floating village just about a mile offshore from the mainland, constantly surrounded by fog. The only way to get there was by boat, and the entire village consisted of houses and buildings and walkways constructed on floating logs and air compartments - designed to move with the water rather than against it. A long spit of an island in front of the village protected it from any fierce waves or tides, and the entire village was anchored down by heavy chains dug deep into the ocean floor.

It was a pretty lively community, as Sasuke was surprised to see. There were children running and playing along the surface of the water - young, aspiring ninjas already learning how to control their Chakra as they chased each other. Lines of laundry connected buildings for stories high. Gondolas passed back and forth, carrying passengers while others parked themselves next to walkways, selling goods and food. Lines of walkway-boats connected one part of the village to another.

The sea air was so foreign to Sasuke - so unlike the air of Konoha. The constant breeze was refreshing, though the salty air stung his nostrils at first. As he gazed at this new world, he could only ask himself one thing.

Can I really live here? Can this really be my home?

The elderly shrank away to hide in their homes as Zabuza, his two boys and their escorts passed by. The word that one of the Seven Demons of the Mist had returned was a harsh one indeed, and Sasuke wondered if Zabuza would ever be treated like an equal.

As if the man cared about that.

Am I going to be alienated like I was back in Konoha?

Maybe not. Though fear flooded through the streets at Zabuza's passing, it almost faded just as quickly when Sasuke followed after, holding his hand tenatively in Haku's - waiting to lash out and defend him. Big eyes and whispers and hesitant smiles followed him wherever he went. Heads poked out of doors and windows and children followed him for a few feet before losing their courage and retreating.

"I don't get it," he breathed to Haku as they walked along, headed towards the house of who was supposedly going to be his future teammate. "Why are all of these people looking at me like this?"

"They've probably been fed a story by the Mizukage," Haku whispered back. "I'm sure it's something about you being a godsend and Ragnarok returning all the power to the people."

"Oh, they're going to be so upset when they find out that's not the case at all," Sasuke replied dryly, making Haku raise an eyebrow at him as they neared the elitest part of the village.

They arrived at a very simple, not quite so large estate, and Sasuke had to blink at the complete lack of character on the outside. The architecture was very plain, no designs carved into the stone. It was completely different from the other buildings in the area. The others drowned in history of the families there, so heavily so that the very walls seemed to speak tales of the people that lived and died within them. But this one they now stood in front of... seemed so empty. It sucked everything into itself and gave nothing back. It was a blackhole of blankness. It had no charm, held no character.

It was the estate of... nothing.

The only thing even marginally interesting about it was the insignia on the double doors - placed directly in the center of the two.

An illustration of an incredibly simple mirror - even barely colored - sat on the doors in between the two guards, with the simple black kanji beneath it.

"KRIKO"

"KriKo..." Sasuke breathed as they all stood there, waiting for the doors to open. "I've never heard of these people before."

"Neither have I," Haku replied. "Maybe they're a new clan."

"Or maybe they're just lame," his teammate stated grimly, making Haku blink and cock his head as he considered this possibility.

Just then, their access was granted, and the doors opened in front of them.

The inside wasn't much better. The courtyard in the center of the estate was plan white sand with a few old and large bansai trees and stones in common spiral patterns- immediately Sasuke knew with a certain amount of shock that this wasn't a new clan at all. Those trees were incredibly old, and wonderfully taken care of. He hadn't even known they could get that big.

Moving his eyes inward, he saw there was a small koi pond and a waterfall closer to the center of the yard. Nothing exotic or outstanding. Everything he saw was very basic and very expected. There was nothing striking about the place at all.

Except for the silence. The lack of movement. The courtyard was completely and utterly empty.

One of the guards had followed them in, and beckoned them along the stone path to the large building directly at the back of the courtyard.

Here, there was some form of decoration as they moved up the three steps to stand in front of the plain double doors - also baring the insignia. Two large white banners hung down from the roof and wrapped around the columns on either side of the doors, stretching out across either side of the building like a border.

Though that was different, there was no coloration or designs on the banners. No hint of uniqueness. So Sasuke was, ultimately, unimpressed.

Are these people serious?

Silently, the doors opened for them.

Sasuke blinked in surprised.

Oh. They're all here.

About two dozen people stood in the room - a quick glance saw that the girls were on one side and boys were on the other. The two groups faced each other, leaving enough room for an aisle in the center of the room for Sasuke and his escort to walk through. Up at the back of the room stood an older woman who was obviously waiting for him, hands interlaced in front of her.

Immediately, Sasuke felt goosebumps appear on his skin as he began to walk forward. All of these people looked... the same.

The boys and girls all had the same style haircut for their gender. Boys short and girls long. All of them had black hair and eyes, all of them wore the same uniform white kimono, most of them were of similar height, all of them stood the same way-

And all of them had that same empty, blank look on their faces. Like they weren't feeling or experiencing anything that was happening around them. Like they were ghosts. Blank slates.

Woah. Creepy.

Even the woman that waited for him had something akin to that lifeless gaze - the smile seemed like it was carved into a statue.

However, when he got to the steps, life seemed to peek into the room, and the people around him simultaneously broke into smiles when the woman did. She bowed to him, and the others in the room followed suit. At first he wondered if her smile was fake too, but then he realized that it wasn't necessarily fake, per say, but just real enough.

"Welcome, Sasuke Terranova," she greeted, extending her arms. "We, members of the KriKo clan, consider your presence a great honor. We welcome you and your flock into our home as guests, companions, family. I pray the joining of our houses will be blessed by the great god of the sea - may his winds watch over us." She bowed her head with palms lifted to the sky, her minions following suit, as Sasuke thought.

What? He thought dumbly. Joining houses? What does- oh. Dread suddenly filled his heart, and he swallowed thickly as he was beckoned up the platform to stand evenly with the woman. This girl... I'm...

"May it bring me great pride to introduce to you, your new teammate and my daughter..."

She motioned to the white curtains behind her.

I'm supposed to marry her.

"Inaré KriKo!"

End Flashback Thirty: Teammate

Dun-DUUUUUN!

I'll see what I can do about the other installment, but no promises.

In the meantime, I hope you liked this one. :)

Much love!

DDB