Naruto: Hints

Naruto bounced back towards Tazuna's house in the early evening, sore but cheerful with Zabuza strolling behind him. The nukenin had drilled him mercilessly for hours, never letting up for so much as a second and not letting him use shadow clones. On the plus side, Naruto's stealth was better than it had ever been and he had learned not only the hidden mist jutsu but also the voice-throwing technique Zabuza used to confuse his opponents. On the minus side, the blond's clothing was half shredded and very bloody. Zabuza had received the news that Naruto was a fast-healing stamina freak with pointy-toothed glee and attacked ceaselessly, inflicting injuries that would have killed any other genin. Even now the jinchuuriki could feel the slight burn of bijuu chakra running through him to offset the damage.

The blond had a lot of thinking to do as well. In addition to the crash course in silent killing Zabuza had told the whisker-marked genin a little about how the nukenin had met Ame-kaa-san. Apparently his mother figure had wandered across Mizu no kuni during the bloodline purges -genocidal massacres more like- and spirited away the children of various infamous clans from under the noses of the Yondaime Mizukage's men. Haku had not been one of these; Zabuza had found the delicate boy scavenging in the streets of one of Water Country's many ports and taken him on as an apprentice on a whim. Ame had encountered the duo a few months later to offer Haku clan training with other Yukimaki survivors, which Zabuza had accepted on his apprentice's behalf.

The Demon in the Mist described Ame-kaa-san as 'the strangest female I've ever seen or heard of' and told Naruto a story about how she had once talked a squad of Hunter-nins out of killing them. The story was rather far-fetched, but Zabuza swore it was the truth. He also claimed to have drunk himself into a stupor afterwards to drive the sheer unlikelihood of the incident out of his mind.

The other hints dropped about his kaa-san's past were equally intreguing; he hadn't realised his mother was on the short list of possibles for the mysterious bingo book figure Aruji no Shitai, Master -or Mistress- of Corpses. Of course, discovering sweet, loving, starry-eyed Ame was a gifted necromancer was a bit shocking, but Naruto suspected that was an aspect of her being miko to Shinigami-sama so he got over it quickly. Anything involving dead bodies was considered kinjutsu -forbidden- in ninja circles, but Naruto knew she came by her skill far more ethically than the other candidates for the title.

Not that I told No-Brows that Kaa-san is miko to Shinigami-sama; it is after all a secret.

Naruto pushed through the front door of the bridge-builder's house and came face to face with the rest of his team plus Haku sitting around the table performing standard weapons' maintenance. Sakura was sharpening a kunai, Sasuke was oiling the mechanism on a fuuma shuriken and Haku -in a girly komono- was methodically working his way through a large pile of senbon. Kakashi was the only one paying attention to his surroundings: he was watching Tsunami prepare the evening meal over the top of his orange book. Not porn, just orange. Not Icha Icha, no matter how... ambiguous the cover. I am in control of myself, dammit.

"Ah, Naruto-san," the civilian woman said warmly, turning towards the blond, "Kakashi-san tells me you have volunteered to go shopping with Haku-san for me."

"Hai, Tsunami-san," Naruto agreed with a wide grin, "I'll go and change. Could you tell Haku what we need, please?"

Half an hour later Naruto carefully re-entered the room.

"Can we go now Haku?" the blond asked, shifting a little uncomfortably under the wide-eyed stares of the rest of the room's occupants. I don't look that different, do I?

"Naruto," Sasuke said decisively after a pause, "you look girlier than Haku."

Naruto fidgeted. The plum kimono painted with semi-abstract bamboo patterns was rather pretty, as was the eggshell green obi painted with coral pink sakura blossom. The black wig did make his eyes appear bluer in contrast, Naruto knew, but still...

"I look that feminine?"

"Aa," Sakura said faintly. "It is very disconcerting. You even move like a girl. A civilian girl."

Naruto blushed. Too much practice. "Well, anyway, shouldn't we be leaving Haku?"

"Hai, Naruto-chan, we should," Haku agreed, smiling faintly as he rose to his feet. "Shall we?"

Naruto followed his fellow cross-dresser out of the front door and let out a shaky sigh. "Tough crowd, ne?"

Haku giggled. "They were simply surprised. You are clearly male in your everyday clothing, so it unsettled them to see you looking so very feminine after a simple wardrobe change."

It hadn't been a 'simple wardrobe change'; Naruto had subtly adjusted his bone structure as well. "They didn't have to stare so," he whined, coming up beside his newest friend while making sure to keep his steps short and graceful.

The ice user gifted the blond with a singularly twisted smile. "Perhaps not; it is however a compliment to your skills that you astonished them so greatly. I didn't realise you cross-dressed regularly though."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "The civilians back home don't like me for some stupid reason beyond my control. A disguise means I don't get overcharged for rotten food. Besides, girls get better bargains than boys."

Haku's chin dipped slightly, his loose wavy hair falling forward to frame his delicate face. "I see."

Naruto rather hoped he didn't.

A/N: A short but essential chapter, being as it is mostly backstory and scene-setting. Many thanks to all my wonderful reviewers for their comments!