I had a thought, while typing up this chapter, that some parts of my story didn't exactly sit well together, and I just wanted to clarify them. The part where Gaara ridicules Naruto and Sasuke for being gay would lead one to believe that in the particular universe this story takes place in, homosexuality is frowned upon, or just not very common. But then, the fact that both the main characters, one of the brothers (so far), and two of the side characters are gay would lead one to assume that being gay is quite a normal thing, and nothing to be shocked about at all. Well, I intended for it not necessarily to be "frowned upon" by everyone (Although just like in the real world, some prefer to insult what they don't understand), but also not to be the normal, everyday thing, even though most (pretty much all xD) of the characters this story focuses on are gay. Well, yeah, it's a yaoi-based fanfiction so of course the statistical ratio of homosexuality to heterosexualiy is going to be much higher than that of reality. I just didn't want anyone to be confused or think I wasn't paying attention to my story plot. Happy reading, as always :)
Zabuza shifted, one eye lazily opening, glancing around, it's twin sliding open to full awareness to match it. Before he could even have a thought of the warm comforter surrounding his body, or the nice mattress under him as he had thought of before, the memories of the previous night's activities assaulted his mind, sending him an odd mix of excitement, guilt, and pride. How could he feel pride? What was there to be proud of? He had somewhat manipulated a sweet, innocent youth into finding him desirable, at least to his mind's thinking.
True, he had never lied to Haku about anything, but he doubted the boy understood the full extent of his life. What he had been through, what he had seen. What he had caused. Whatever his feelings were, one thing remained the same as when he had met the boy at the base of the tall marble stairs. He would not fail his mission and allow harm to come to Haku. Nothing too threatening had happened yet, but Zabuza knew all too well from experience that the worst kinds of trouble often came from still waters. And even though he wasn't quite sure he believed the hysterical mother, he couldn't stop thinking of this Orochimaru character.
He shifted, sitting up, when he heard a tentative knock at the door. A knock so quiet he knew it couldn't be the flashy Deidara or the cheerful Kisame. It could have been a maid, but he was sure it was Haku. It was as if the kid had a sense about him, when he knew Zabuza was thinking of him. Then again, Zabuza thought, there was rarely a time he wasn't thinking of him. He had never let any person or thing invade the privacy of his thoughts so much, distracting him from minor things. And he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that yet.
"Come in." The boy walked in shyly, arm slung across his chest, holding his opposite arm. He glanced up at the man's eyes, seeming to gauge the situation. When the guard's dark eyes weren't cold or haughty like he knew some people's could be, he smiled a little.
"Breakfast, sir. They told me to come tell you."
"I think I need to take a shower first, don't you?"
Haku blushed a little, but his grin remained. And if Zabuza wasn't mistaken, he could see a smidgen of teasing in it. "Whatever you think is best." He retorted, stepping over to the foot of the man's bed, his hair moving with the air. Zabuza noted navy blue shorts with a white belt strung in between the loops, ending in a fat ivory ribon bow perched on one of the narrow hips, albeit not nearly as short as the ones he had been wearing on their meeting day, and a dark blue t-shirt. He also noted that he had never given a damn what anyone had ever worn before, but now that he knew Haku it seemed like the most interesting thing on the face of the planet.
"My mind is a little muddled. A shower might clear it." He admitted in a mocking formal tone, as if they hardly knew each other.
"Oh. Didn't you sleep well?" Haku knew how to play along.
"I can't complain. But there were a few times my sleep was interrupted." He passed by the boy on his way to the bathroom connected his own room, their bodies brushing, the contact of skin like an electric shock to Haku.
"How many times?" He asked, watching the man stroll to the bathroom door, the pajama pants he himself had pulled down the night before slung low on his sharp hips.
"Once." Zabuza said simply, closing the door behind him, and effectively getting the last word.
Haku smiled giddily, turning a circle, his hands clasped on his chest because he knew nobody could see him to make fun of him, or suspect him of being too happy. When he heard the shower turn on, water drops slapping the hard tile floor, he tried not to imagine the man under the hot spray of water.
He figured the best way to distract himself would be to get downstairs and begin eating.
"You look happier than a lark, Haku." Kisame commented, tossing the last bite of his 3rd piece of French toast into his mouth.
"Oh?" Haku asked, eyeing him warily, pouring syrup over his crispy pieces. "I suppose so. I got some nice pictures yesterday."
"And made some friends." Deidara inserted innocently, gazing up at them over a frosty glass of juice.
"Yes." Haku said softly. Kisame glanced at them simultaneously, before grabbing a fourth piece.
"Well. That's good." He said decidedly, leaning back in the wooden chair, all too aware of the implication in his younger brothers' voices. All three of them glanced at the doorway from the living room when Zabuza strolled in. All 3 pairs of eyes were on him, but unaware to him, his eyes locked on only one of the members of the Hoshigaki family.
"Good morning." Kisame said pointedly, and Zabuza glanced up from Haku to him. He could see where the escort's obviously undivided attention lay, but he figured that had something to do with his occupation.
"Morning." He said, taking a seat. He eyed the large platter in the middle of the table, still heaping with food.
"You should eat, un." Deidara suggested after a minute. Zabuza glanced at him absently.
"Alright." He said agreeably, helping himself to a few pieces of the sweet fried bread. "Did you sleep okay, Haku?"
Haku's eyes widened a little bit, in confusion, then realization. His bodyguard was trying to be subtle, he realized. Because they were in front of other people. He felt shameful and guilty when the thought occured to him that he'd rather Kisa and Dara just go away, so the man would give him those long, intense looks with his dark eyes. Or one of those slow smiles, that took forever to go from his eyes to his mouth that nearly made Haku sick with love for him.
Love, he thought, feeling a flutter of panic, and then warmth immediately after it. He thought he might be in love with Zabuza. But that was ridiculous. . . Wasn't it? He'd only known the man a few days. He couldn't possibly fall in love that fast, could he?
"Yes. I slept fine, thank you." He said, hesitating before adding, "I was a little warm, though."
Before Zabuza could cough into the drink he had lifted to his lips, Bindi blissfully unaware, strolled into the kitchen. "Well, it's a good thing I made enough. It's nice to have the house full again, although you're all men." She mused, laying a hand on her generous hip. "An awful lot of testosterone in this house, if you ask me. Maybe a pretty girl is what some of you nee-"
"You know." Kisame said, clearing his throat, and pushing away from the table, standing quickly. "I just forgot I'm a little pressed for time. Breakfast was wonderful, as usual, Bindi." He said, flashing her a dazzling smile before heading towards the door. "I've got a, er. . . Previous engagement, so I'll see you all later."
"Bye." Dara and Haku said in unison. Kisa had escaped the "A pretty, sweet girl will make you happy" lecture. They didn't get it anymore, Bindi was starting to accept the fact that girls, pretty and sweet or otherwise, weren't really what either of them were interested in, but she still seemed to think Kisa was in need of one.
Haku wasn't exactly sure what his eldest brother needed in terms of love. He had never known of a woman or a man that Kisame had been interested in, he had always kept his personal life very private from the rest of them, even Jaken and Emily.
"And what about you, Mr. Momochi?" Bindi asked, clearing plates sticky with powdered sugar and syrup from the table.
"Hm?" He grunted, putting down his fork and turning toward her.
"Do you have a beautiful woman waiting for you somewhere?"
Haku nearly snorted gleefully, but managed to hold it in and keep cool and composed while the dark-haired man stared at her like she had asked him if he had a rocketship capable of flying to the moon waiting for him.
"No." He answered flatly.
"Ever been married?" She asked conversationally, stacking them up on her arm and laying them in the sink.
"No." He answered again, cocking an eyebrow.
"Well. You don't say much, but you get your point across." She said, smiling brilliantly. "Any plans for today?" She asked, her words directed at the three of them.
"I think I might just relax today." Deidara answered, shrugging. "I might go out, un. Haven't really decided yet."
"Zabuza and I are bringing something over to Naruto and Sasuke." Haku answered, after the blonde was finished. "I think we might just hang out with them all day."
"Well." Bindi nodded. "Have fun and be careful, both of you."
"I don't need to be careful." Haku said, quietly, but haughtily. "I mean, that's what Zabuza was hired for, right?" His eyes seemed to bore into the woman, her having obviously said something that touched a nerve with the boy.
"Well, you know what I mean." She said, waving off the comment, and heading determinedly cheerful to the kitchen, where she would wash up the morning dishes. She hadn't been housemaid to the Hoshigaki brothers for the better part of their lives without learning to take moodiness with a grain of salt.
Deidara sniffed, sitting up in his chair, and gazing at his younger brother with pretty, baby blue eyes. "Have fun today."
Haku tilted his head a minute, before answered, "Yeah. I will." a little hesitantly. "Is something wrong, Dara?"
"No. Well, I. . . No." He said, shaking his head. "Yes." He said, after a second, making Haku's eyes widen.
"Yes?" He asked, to make sure. Deidara nodded relunctantly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"It's just. . . I love you, Haku." He began. A little shocked, but touched, Haku nodded.
"I love you too." He answered. It was true. Even though they disagreed about a lot of things, he did love his brother. Deidara wasn't a bad person, he just made some bad choices.
"I didn't want you to think. . ." He trailed off, sighing. "Look. Uchiha and I don't get along, and he probably told you some things about me, un."
"Are you saying he lied?" Haku asked, leaning forward. Deidara shook his head very slowly.
"No. I doubt he lied about anything. But. . . I wanted to talk to you and maybe. . . Explain some stuff to you. I didn't want you to think I was some kind of whore or something."
Haku shifted, eyes lowered. He didn't know what to say. It was true, when he found out the things Dara had done, he had just chalked it up to his brother being a slut, and that was the end of it.
Zabuza glanced over at Haku, wondering what he was thinking. He looked over at Deidara, wondering why the boy felt uninhibited about having this seemingly private conversation in front of him, who was nearly a stranger to the blonde. He figured the boy didn't even see him as a real person, just as Haku's bodyguard and protector.
When his brother didn't answer, Deidara went on. "I've slept with a lot of guys." He admitted. "And. . . Most of them weren't my boyfriend or anything. Just. . . Flings, you know, un? One night stands or whatever."
"But why would you do that?" Haku interrupted him quietly. "Why would you want to?"
"I. . . You wouldn't understand, Haku. Everyone thinks you're weak. But they're wrong. You're so strong, you're stronger than me by far."
"What do you mean?" Haku asked him incredulously.
"You're strong inside. You don't care what other people think of you. You dress how you want and look how you want, and when people mock you or call you names, you don't let it break you down."
That was true, Haku supposed. Well, that had been true, before meeting Zabuza. He had never cared what anyone had thought before the man, but now that seemed to be the most pressing issue in his life.
"I thought you were like that, too." He answered honestly. He had never seen Deidara cry or get mopey over criticism, like he knew some people could.
"I'm not." He said quickly. "I can pretend like something isn't bothering me, but really it's tearing me apart inside. That's why. . . Well. When I have sex with guys, they aren't thinking that I'm not good-looking enough, or that I'm not smart. They just. . . Want me." He said, shaking his head. "And it's really. . . Nice to have someone want you."
Haku nearly answered with 'I know', but he thought better of it. "I'm sure it is." He said softly. "But that doesn't mean that you should just. . . Do that with everyone." He hesitated, not wanting to insult his brother. "Shouldn't that be something special?"
"It should be, un." Deidara answered. "But I guess I just got so caught up with everything, I sort of forgot that it should be. I regret most of my decisions now." He added, sipping his drink.
"Why is that?" Haku asked, tilting his head. "It's not like you've got some sort of. . . STD or something." His eyes got huge suddenly. "Do you!?"
"No!" Deidara said quickly. "God no." He tacked on, shaking his head. "It's just. . . Well, it's stupid, I shouldn't talk about it just yet." He smiled, and stood. "I've actually got some plans today, so I'm just going to head out. See you tonight." He nodded at them, then bounced from the room, leaving Haku confused and slightly worried.
The brown-haired man glanced at the boy, and shrugged. "Something is still bothering him, you know that, right?"
"Yeah." Haku answered. "But I suppose I won't know what it is until he tells me." The boy shifted a little bit, and glanced out the window. "Can we hurry up and go? I wanna get out of here." He said. Zabuza stood immediately.
"Grab the pictures, and we'll go." He commanded, heading toward the door to start the car up. He wondered why Haku was suddenly in such a hurry. Probably just excited to give Naruto and Sasuke the picture he had taken. He settled into the seat, turning the key in the ignition when he saw the pretty boy hurrying down the steps, slamming the front door behind him.
When he had snapped the leather seatbelt across his chest, the ghost of a smile flitted across the man's lips as the car pulled out of the driveway. "Why the rush, Haku?"
"I wanted you to kiss me." He said definitely, turning toward him, knees propped up on the hot dashboard.
Zabuza laughed a little. "Well as I'm driving right now, I don't know if that's an option."
"I think you could manage if you really wanted to." Haku said quietly, his eyes sparkling.
"Oh, I really want to." Zabuza assured him. "But your well-being comes first. It wouldn't be very fitting for us to be scraped off the asphalt along with the chunks of my car just because you wanted a kiss."
When he glanced over at his young companion, he was rewarded with the most pouty, tempting look anyone had ever given him. Haku's frame lurched forward a second as the car was pulled off to the side of the road, the brakes squeaking as Zabuza slammed it into park. He gave the boy a slanted look, letting his hands drop from the steering wheel and rest beside him. Grinning, Haku tore his safety restraint out of the buckle and lunged forward, his hands hitting the man's chest, their lips slammed together.
Cars whipped by them every so often, as it wasn't too crowded of a road. As their tongues and teeth and lips moved together, Haku released a little moan, his hands gripping the faded cotton shirt his guard wore. He felt strong hands come up and grip the backs of his thighs, hard, as if locking him in place. His knees rested on either side of the man, one awkwardly pressed against the door, and one on the center console.
Zabuza raised one of his hands up from a silky thigh to fist through the ebony hair, which also reminded him of silk. Everything about the boy seemed soft. Well, not everything, the man thought smugly, feeling the teenager's hips move against his, making them both groan as their arousals brushed together.
When he felt Haku's hand begin to slide under his shirt, skimming over rock-hard abs, he bit back a moan, and leaned his head back, panting. "Haku. . . Haku, this is crazy."
"Hm?" Haku made a noise in his throat, his mouth latching onto the man's collarbone, sucking and nipping. It seemed to be one of his favorite spots.
"We can't keep doing this."
"Why not?" He asked breathily, sighing when the man's fingers plucked at his nipple through his thin shirt. "Please don't stop." He begged, his eyes wide and glittering, the sun slanting in through the dirty windshield to light their bodies. It was nearly impossible to ignore the boy's request that he continue, but somehow he managed to grit his teeth and stop himself from sliding his fingers under that damn shirt to feel warm, bare skin.
"No, Haku. We have to stop. You know that."
"But-"
"We're on the road, outside, in broad daylight." He deadpanned. But his body was on fire, pulsing and aching and making him insane with thoughts of how the younger male's body would feel gripping his cock. How he would look with nothing but sweat and Zabuza's own hands and mouth caressing him.
"Then take me to your apartment." He whispered. "Zabuza." He moaned the word, his damp forehead resting in the crook of the man's neck.
He wanted to. God, did he want to. It had been years, he supposed, since he'd had sex. It simply hadn't been a priority, there had been nobody to strike his interest, to make him want, need, desire. Until now. "I can't." Unleashing the restrain he'd tightly kept his desires for the boy locked away in would be terrifying for both of them, even if Haku didn't know it now.
"We don't have to do it." Haku whispered, his breath hot against Zabuza's neck. "Let's just be alone."
"Every time we're alone, we're like this." He reminded the boy.
"I just wanna touch." The boy begged, nuzzling his face against skin, his fingers still holding the shirt in an iron grip. "There's nothing wrong with touching, right?"
"You tell me." Zabuza said blankly, his hands trembling, his fingers digging into the skin of Haku's legs.
Haku didn't know what to say. He sighed, snuggling deeper against the warm, hard body under him. "I like you." He finally replied.
"I know."
"You like me too."
"Yes."
"We could just talk." Haku finally relented, even though his body was screaming for contact. He wished he were older, and not so weak. If he were older and stronger, Zabuza wouldn't have had any qualms about taking him to his apartment and fucking him on every available surface, he was sure.
"We could." The man agreed. "But if we did that, how would Naruto and Sasuke get their picture?"
"Afterwards." Haku snapped in annoyance. He rarely got so frustrated, but he felt so helpless. It was like the universe was plotting against he and Zabuza's happiness.
"We'll talk about it afterwards." Zabuza said flatly, removing his hands from the perfect, smooth thighs, after giving them one final, loving stroke.
"Fine." Haku said, plopping back down in the passenger seat. He sighed, glancing down at himself. His shirt was disheveled from Zabuza's fingers, his thighs had pink spots from Zabuza's fingers, and his shorts were. . . Not fitting correctly at the moment. He blushed, and glared up at the man, his tawny eyes bright with frustration, who noted where his eyes had drifted from. He never knew he could be so turned on, just from someone else being turned on.
It was torture seeing him there, long hair mussed, skin hot and flushed and damp, lips swollen and dark from rough kisses. Cock straining against tight-fitting shorts. If he had been someone else, anyone else, Zabuza would have driven home at 80 miles an hour, dragged him through the door of his home, and lowered him to the floor, tearing his clothes off and giving him exactly what he wanted. An excellent fuck.
But Haku meant so much more to him than that. It had taken a lot of thought to realize it, but the boy was different than anyone Zabuza had ever known. Pure, and sweet, and innocent. And gorgeous, Zabuza reminded himself.
"You understand why we can't do this, right?" He asked gruffly, revving the engine up again, ready to drive.
"No." Haku said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest, although he really did understand.
"I don't want to hurt you. You don't know what I'm like, alright?" The man finally growled. Haku lifted one eyebrow, lower lip poking out.
"You're Zabuza."
"You don't know what I'm like." He said again.
"I want to!" Haku said desperately. He felt hot, stinging tears fill his eyes, and wasn't at all embarrassed by them. He had never felt more like crying. "Please. I want to know you." He wept, bringing his knees up against his chest again, burying his face in them, his entire body shaking with his sobs. "I'll do anything." He finally whimpered, lifting his head, his cheeks streaked with wet, shiny trails.
Zabuza's heart wrenched, a sensation he had never experienced before. He was making the boy cry. "I'll take you to my apartment." He finally bit out. "But we can't. . . We can't have sex."
"I just want to talk." He replied, but the tears wouldn't stop pouring out. When Zabuza's hand rose from the wheel to brush a lock of dark hair from the side of his face, he sniffled, rubbing at his eyes.
"Please stop crying." The man pleaded, stroking a knuckle across the wet stripe. "I didn't mean to upset you." He promised.
"You'll tell me anything I want to know about you?" Haku asked softly.
Zabuza hesitated a fraction of a second. There were things about him he didn't want anyone to know, especially not Haku. "Anything." He swore wearily, wanting to bang his head on the dashboard of his old, beat-up car.
Wow, 8 chapters already, and I still have a lot of ideas for this one! Naruto is such a great show to work with, because of all the fantastic characters. Also, something kind of funny, I have a few of the Naruto video games and although my younger brother (I'm 18, he's 16) isn't exactly a fan of the show, but I get him to play the games with me. And earlier today, I was explaining to him that I was writing a fanfic, and asked him "You know Zabuza and Haku?" And he doesn't remember all the names to all the characters, so he thought for a minute and said "The one with the mask and crazy ice mirrors, and the guy in pajamas with the huge sword?" xD I laughed so hard. Review! ;D
