Author's Note: In case you didn't notice, I changed my author name. Just so you don't get confused lol

I've gotta be honest- I honestly didn't expect the reaction I've gotten from you guys. The views are a bit on the humble side, but every email I got telling me that someone had commented or favorited or even added the story for update notifications really made me feel good.

That said, sorry it's taken me so long to update this. I've kinda been failing some stuff... so while I usually have time to write has been taken up by me scrambling to recover from the most serious case of senioritis my teachers have ever seen.

Anyways, just wanted to let you guys know that, while I knew where I was going with the story and already had the next chapter finished in my head, I had absolutely no intention of writing another chapter for this story.

You guys changed that. You should feel proud.

Spring
by
Taka Momos

The room was spinning as Haku opened his eyes, the ceiling violently flailing around as the walls danced beneath. He weakly gripped at the sheets to steady himself, but it did little good as his head rolled to the same, panic settling into his already nauseous stomach. His eyes drifted shut to escape the spinning, but instead of escaping his body felt as if it was falling down a dark, bottomless pit. He finally began whimpering as waves of nausea crashed against him.

His eyes flew open as he felt a cold rag placed on his forehead. He tried to focus his vision enough to see the face hovering above him, but it only made the spinning and sickness worse.

"W-wh-what's h-h-hap-"

"Don't talk. The pill you took makes you feel sick at first if you haven't eaten. You'll feel fine in a little while." All Haku could do was give a weak nod at the gruff voice he remembered from earlier. The cloth on his head was already making him feel better, and the mattress beneath him was far more comfortable than the dirt and concrete he'd long since become used to. He felt his muscles relax into the mattress below, not noticing the rustles beside him until a blanket enveloped his body.

A warm feeling erupted across his body as every nerve seemed to tingle at even the slightest touch. He found himself rubbing his arms against the blanket, reveling in how it sent waves of warmth throughout his body. As sleep once again rolled over him, he found himself smiling in content, mumbling thanks to the man still somewhere in the room.

He woke up what felt like months later, a soreness lingering across his entire body. The soreness, however, became a pain similar to being hit with a shotgun when he tried to sit up, forcing him to still with a painful groan. His entire body throbbed as he grasped at each and every breath. He tried his best to choke back the groans, but I only made him even more aware of the pain. The door to the room cried from its hinges as it swung open. Haku cringed through his pain to hear the approaching footsteps.

"You want another pill?" He could feel the panic stirring inside.

"N-no, please! Not again!" Silence fell upon the room as he laid writhing beneath the sheets. After more footsteps to various places in the room, the bed sank as the man sat next to him. A pill was quickly sipped between his lips, and a hand covered his mouth when he tried to spit it out.

"Take it." Too weak (even if weren't in so much pain) to fight the man, he did his best to swall the pill. It left a bitter taste from being in his mouth for so long, sending him into a bout of gagging. The man sat on the bed for a few minutes longer, making no sound or movement, before walking out of the room, leaving Haku in pain; to wait for the dizziness from before to assault him once again.

After waiting a few minutes, however, the dizziness still hadn't hit him. The door opened again- the man was back.

"Why?" His voice hoarsely ground the question out, expecting pain to crash him, but it was only a dull ache that throbbed beneath a numbness he couldn't explain.

"You're feeling better." Haku wasn't sure if it was a question or statement, so he settled for dumbly nodding his head. Or maybe it was the warm feeling the deep, rough voice left him with.

"The pills worked." It was another statement that seemed blatantly obvious, yet felt like he was being told for the first time. Again, he nodded dumbly, but this time choked up the courage to speak.

"Why am I not sick?" The man gave a guarded look as if he'd asked something wrong, making Haku quickly look away.

"... different pills. They're just painkillers." A silence swelled between the two as Haku found he had nothing to say. He tried to say something clever, but found himself giving an awkward giggle as his comment died upon arrival.

"I guess you're a walking pharmacy, huh?" His breathing stopped as the man's glare slamming him when he made eye contact. Instead of relaxing back into the semi-serious look his face had before, Haku could tell the man was all-business now.

"What's your name?"

"H-haku..." His breaths were still shaky from the man's sudden change in mood; fear had almost completely hijacked his body as the man sat on the bed with an unwavering, expressionless face.

"What'd you do to piss those guys off so bad?" His face, even though filled with fear, fell into a frown. What had he done? He didn't even know he needed a reason to get beatings like that, he'd just gotten used to getting beaten throughout his life. Looking back to the man, who was still clearly waiting for an answer, he weakly offered a shrug. Another silence feel between the two.

"So what are you good for?" The question caught him off guard, reeling him into a whirl of thought and memories. What was he good for? He had no money, no home, no friends, no family, barely even any clothes, and those definitely weren't anything to brag about. Or maybe he didn't mean it like that, maybe he meant -

"Come on, kid, you gotta give me a reason to justify keepin' you around." Even with clarification, he couldn't think of a reason.

"I-I can learn how to cook and clean and stuff..." The man was clearly unimpressed

"Yeah, like we really need a maid around this place. Look, I..." The man closed his eyes and heaved a sigh, completely lost in thought. Haku knew what would happen- he had no use, and they'd put him back out on the streets. He doubted he'd survive it, not in the condition he was in... the man finally opened his eyes and gave him a very firm look.

"You willin' to help me out with whatever I can think of for you to do?"

"Anything!" He clenched his eyes in pain, having forgotten that sudden movements were, in general, a very bad idea. The man just seemed to look at him, nodding; taking in everything h ewas, almost as if he were looking at what he could be.

"Fine then, I guess I can find enough shit for you to do around here." He got up and was heading for the door before Haku stopped him.

"Wait! ... w-what's your name?" The man looked him over one more time before answering.

"Zabuza."

He walked out the door, closing it gently behind him, leaving Haku alone with his thoughts.

"Zabuza..." He liked the way it felt on his tongue. He fell asleep minutes later, glad to have a warm bed to sleep in, decent food to eat, and protection.

Thinking about his protection made him feel particularly happy.

Author's Note: So? Did I do it justice? Was the wait worth it? Comment as good as you did last time and the next chapter should be up soon. I have a few other story ideas floating around in my head, and I have a research paper to write over the next two days...

This is good news. The entire problem with me writing is that, while I want to write, getting started is 99% of the battle. The fact that I'll be writing already means that I'll be more likely to write stories when I'm taking breaks.

I'm thinking of an AkuRoku story, a SasuNaru I've had half-written for a few months now, and (obviously) this one.

So do as good as you did last time and there should be a flurry of updates over the next few days or weeks!