There were a lot of things going through my head when Zabuza stuck around with us while both Haku and Sasuke recovered from the state of momentary death the two had been put through. For one thing, Haku and Zabuza were alive and I honestly couldn't help but feel absolutely ecstatic about that—especially since I'm pretty relieved that I did not kill Haku.
I am never doing that again until I know what I'm doing with senbon… Still, it was thanks to my stupidly risky throw and the freak-out that occurred afterwards that had caused the outcome of this battle to result in Haku and Zabuza living to see another day. My emotional stability may have taken a huge hit from this experience, but for what it was worth, it wasn't too bad.
Bring on the nightmares!
I mean, Gatou's dead…could have done without seeing Zabuza decapitate the scummy bastard, but I'm not complaining. The bastard deserved it for what he did to Haku—I am way too emotionally invested in this guy. Probably didn't help that Haku decided to fill us in on his background while we were getting well acquainted with the people we had originally been fighting before Gatou bit off more than he could chew and learned the hard way about what happened when he fucked with missing-nin from Kirigakure. That is to say, that one never lived to see another day.
It was rather weird, though, just seeing Zabuza act so calm and collected within our presence at Tazuna's house. In fact, he and Kakashi were getting along quite well…in a somewhat vitriolic sense. Zabuza certainly liked messing with Inari, who made it a bit of a game to try and sneak up on Zabuza without him noticing.
Being who he was, Zabuza could always tell when Inari was sneaking up on him…he just liked to play along with the kid. It was honestly cute—which is a word I would never use to describe Zabuza. I had to remind myself that he had a hand in raising Haku, which sort of explained the way he acted, but not too much.
I guess it was just easy to say that Zabuza mellowed out considerably when it was revealed that Haku wasn't dead. Haku certainly seemed to reflect Zabuza's change in demeanor through the way he was polite and friendly towards us, without showing any hesitance—even when Zabuza had said he was soft.
The construction of the bridge continued without any setbacks the day after Gatou's life came to an end. A couple of days had passed before Zabuza had brought it to our attention that he still had some unfinished business in regards to Gatou, even though he was pretty dead.
It turned out that the reason why Gatou had gotten so desperate to hire a missing-nin like Zabuza and the Demon Brothers was that he had grown too comfortable with his hold over the country of Wave and ended up situating his main base here. And considering how cocky Gatou had gotten, he had allowed Zabuza and Haku into his base without so much of a second thought to how horribly it could backfire on him. And boy did it backfire on the bastard!
Zabuza had ended up dragging Kakashi, Naruto, and I into a plan to raid Gatou's base. We were going to go through every little thing that was in that bastard's base and take every single thing that held value of some sort. It sounded like a simple idea, and Kakashi seemed willing to go along with it—but only because Naruto asked him persistently if they could go.
So while Haku and Sasuke were left behind at Tazuna's house, the rest of us left to go on a raid. Gatou's base, in general, was huuuge. It was also quite secluded…and still full of Gatou's men, who were squabbling over who got what, now that he was dead. They were quite quick to flee upon seeing Zabuza, who had left quite the impression on them.
It was shortly right after Gatou's men had fled, in which Naruto had created a bunch of clones to help speed up our investigation of the area, that we came across something I thought I'd never do. Freeing many girls who had been forced to sell themselves when their families could no longer pay off the high taxes Gatou had imposed on the people of Wave was just that. It was just…oh god, like what the hell?!
Some of those girls couldn't have been any younger than fourteen…I have never been so happy to see someone dead after that—especially since some of the girls weren't treated so nicely, as shown by the bruises and scars that covered their bodies.
Naruto had created a bunch of shadow clones to help escort the girls back to their homes, with Kakashi making a shadow clone of his own to lead the clones. Shortly after they had left, Kakashi had ruffled my hair and told me everything would be okay.
I'm not sure if he did that because he had noticed how disturbed I was to see those girls or because I was a girl—or maybe even both, but it did honestly make me feel better. Kunoichi classes never dealt with this sort of shit.
I mean—prostitution was a topic that was covered, so I'm not that unfamiliar with it. Konohagakure does have its own Red Light District with many brothels, of which are home to many oiran of differing rank and the average non-oiran sex worker. Though, that was just it…these girls weren't sex workers—there was nothing for them to gain through this, aside from humiliation and shame, and considering how some of these girls looked, even more than that.
They didn't have a choice at all...
It's just—we never heard of the dark side of the profession and just seeing it this way is really sobering. It didn't help that what happened afterwards was just as sobering.
Gatou was breeding exotic animals—animals that weren't even native to Wave or the countries around it. And when we first came across the scene, it was pretty bloody and full of dead animal corpses—specifically, fox corpses. A couple of Naruto clones were beating up some left over thugs who were the cause of death for the foxes.
Luckily, there were still many foxes left over, but unfortunately, the foxes who were killed turned out to be mothers, and…well…
"Kakashi-sensei, I can't leave them-ttebayo!" Naruto whined as he held a basket full of mewling fox kits close to his chest.
"Well, I don't think we'll be capable of handling nine fox kits." Kakashi was trying to be reasonable—and he was—but it was really difficult when pathos was involved at maximum power. Deep down, I think Kakashi really wanted to allow Naruto to keep them, but since Naruto is currently jinchuuriki and housing Kurama, a nine-tailed demon fox…the irony didn't seem to be welcomed.
"But Kakashiiiii!" Naruto looked at Kakashi with wide-eyes that were glistening with tears. He showed Kakashi the fox kits and all it took was a minute before Kakashi turned away and sighed.
"You can take care of them until we leave Wave…" Kakashi knew when he was defeated.
"Yaaay!" Naruto was so happy that I had to stop him from spinning around because he was still holding the basket and I doubt the baby kits would appreciate being spun around.
"You're way too soft on your brats," Zabuza told Kakashi.
"I'm sorry, but are you their Jounin?" Kakashi narrowed his right eye at Zabuza. "Didn't think so."
Wow, Kakashi can certainly be snarky when he wants to be.
"So are we going to continue this raid or what?" Even though I would rather fawn over the cuteness of the fluff balls in Naruto's possession, I want to free these poor animals from their cages. "These animals aren't going to free themselves."
"Small problem with that—since these animals aren't native to Wave, we can't exactly free them without that causing any problems," Kakashi explained. "I have to send a messenger to Konoha to have them all put in Training Ground Zero."
"Training Ground Zero?" How many training grounds do we even have in Konoha? "What's that?"
"You see all of these animals?" Kakashi gestured at the many animals in cages. "This is why we have Training Ground Zero—for exotic animals."
I did not know that… "You learn something new every day…"
"Hey, these little things aren't opening their eyes-ttebayo!" Naruto suddenly brought up. "Does that mean they're asleep, or…?"
"Naruto, they're crying, I doubt they're asleep, so…" Wait a second… "If they're not asleep, then…"
Oh fuck—these things aren't even nine days old!
"Sensei…" I don't like this one bit… "I think we need to leave…can we come back later? Preferably, when we have more people with us?"
And when these freaking fox kits aren't crying? Oh god, I think they're hungry…
"I doubt four people will be enough to take everything Gatou has…" Maybe we should wait until Haku and Sasuke recover. "And Zabuza did mention Gatou had a treasury, so…"
Come on—take the bait!
"We'll leave once we make sure the entire place is cleared of Gatou's men." Thank you, Kakashi!
…
…
When we returned to Tazuna's house, I found myself helping Naruto and the others bottle-feed the fox kits we brought home with us. It was a rather tedious thing to do, but I wasn't that annoyed. In fact, I was inwardly squealing as I bottle-fed the white ball of fluff I held in my hand. I think this one might be an albino…
Inari certainly seemed rather into this, as was his mother and grandfather, who decided to help us out (thank god). Haku and Sasuke were also helping, since they were at least able to do something as simple as bottle-feeding. Then there was this guy…
"You tell anyone I did this, and I will kill you." Did I ever mention that Zabuza also was helping? There was just something about a dangerous missing-nin bottle-feeding a fox kit that I found oddly adorable.
It was certainly enough for Kakashi to risk taking a picture of the scene in secret…you know, for blackmail. This is seriously something I can't honestly believe this is happening. Then again—I never expected Zabuza and Haku to make it out of this entire scenario alive. I'm glad they're alive…their deaths really shook me up in the manga. They're two characters that I thought deserved to live.
However, there is something that's bugging me right now and that's what exactly is going to happen to them after we leave Wave?
"So what are you two going to do after we leave?" I found myself asking.
"Avoiding hunter-nin, as usual," Zabuza replied. "It's only a matter of time before Kirigakure hears of our whereabouts and come after us."
"Thankfully, news takes a while to reach Kirigakure," Haku remarked. "So we have some time before we have to leave."
"That doesn't sound fun-ttebayo…" Naruto made a face. "Hey…why don't you come with us?"
Knucklehead say what?
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Naruto, do you have any idea how much trouble those two will cause us if we bring them back to Konoha with us?"
"That is seriously putting us at risk with Kirigakure." Kakashi looked nervously at us. "The Sandaime has only just managed to make contact after years of a lacking response from their Mizukage. He is in the middle of forging an alliance."
"One that could possibly fall apart if they find out we are housing one of their missing-nin…" Sasuke's expression was serious, which was hilarious in the sense that he was wearing that expression while feeding a fox kit.
"Is that what goes on in those hidden villages of yours?" Tazuna asked a question that was rather appropriate coming from a civilian like him.
"But he helped this country!" Inari did not seem to be liking what he was hearing. "Can't something be done?"
"Sensei…?" Tsunami looked questioningly at Kakashi.
Kakashi sighed. "For a shinobi to leave their village is a crime considered punishable by death. The only way to overturn something as such is to request for a pardon from whoever is in charge of that village."
"For Kirigakure, that would be the Mizukage," Haku explained. "And Zabuza-sama is not exactly on good terms with the Mizukage."
"Turns out assassination attempts and coups d'état aren't taken rather well when done against the Mizukage." Zabuza had one weird sense of humor, trying to play something so serious as though it wasn't serious. "I doubt Yagura would even consider trying to pardon me after what I have done."
"Isn't Yagura the Yondaime Mizukage?" Kakashi arched his brow at Zabuza.
"That's him—he wouldn't look it at first due to how short and young he looks, though." Zabuza chuckled. "You wouldn't believe how many times he got mistaken for a child..."
"You act as though you know him…" A little too well, if you ask me.
"I knew him back before he became Mizukage, if that's what you mean." Okay, this is certainly treading stuff that wasn't in the Naruto wiki. "Enough to know that something was up when he was Mizukage, though what's it to ya?"
"The Yondaime stepped down at the beginning of this year due to health reasons, so Kirigakure is now under the rule of the Godaime Mizukage," Kakashi explained. "Terumī Mei is her name, in case you're wondering."
Holy shit, Mei's Mizukage already?
"Well I'll be damned." Zabuza sounded rather surprised. "She actually managed to become Mizukage."
"Heeey, since Yagura isn't the Mizukage anymore, do you think the Godaime will pardon Zabuza?!" Naruto seemed rather eager to bring Zabuza and Haku back with us. "Can Zabuza and Haku change villages or something-ttebayo?"
Is there something like that? "Sensei?"
"Well…it'll take a lot of paperwork and political involvement, but…it is possible," Kakashi replied. "A pardon is still required before anything, if these two wish to change their citizenship so that they are now with Konohagakure."
"Hey, Haku…you say that your kekkei genkai made you unwanted in Kirigakure, right?" Kirigakure was infamous for its bloodline purges. "Konohagakure protects anyone with kekkei genkai."
"Two of our Noble Clans are those with kekkei genkai," Sasuke added. "That includes me, of the Uchiha. The Hyuuga are the other, and if you need any help, Chōko's family can pitch in to help as they're another of our Noble Clans."
"Just what clan are you from?" Zabuza suddenly asked me.
I blinked a few times and nodded my head. "I'm from the Akimichi clan…my name is Akimichi Chōko, in case you're wondering."
Zabuza certainly seemed surprised to hear that, though it was probably because I appeared different from what those of my namesake usually possessed.
"Part of the reason why it would have been a bad idea to take her off my hands is that her family would have been after your ass," Kakashi explained. "Not only is she an Akimichi, but she is the daughter of the current head of the clan."
"And the last missing-nin that tried to do something to me ended up on my father's kill list," I added. "Fun fact: My father didn't have a kill list until after a certain snake bastard tried to kill me."
"Snake bastard…?" Haku repeated questioningly.
"I'll give you a hint…he's a Sannin," Kakashi remarked. "And our little glasses-wearing girl, here, punched him in the crotch when she was eight."
He sounded so proud…as though he was happy to know that I was capable of such impulses as an eight-year-old.
"That's not something you should be proud of!" Goddammit, Kakashi, stop making my life difficult!
Of course, after Kakashi had said this, Zabuza was now looking at me with as though he had hit the jackpot. Fortunately, Kakashi put an end to it by saying that I was still off limits.
…
About a few minutes later, we put all the fox kits back into the basket, as we were finish feeding them. Everyone, or that is, the adults, had gone downstairs, leaving the rest of us in the guest room with the kits. Kakashi and Zabuza said they were going to be discussing things in regards to what Naruto had brought up. I'm guessing Kakashi is actually considering on going through Naruto's suggestion…
As for the fox kits and us—they should have fallen asleep right after we had fed them, but they didn't. Instead, they were crying…rather loudly, and it was to the point Naruto was growing frustrated because he didn't know what to do. Inari tried to help as much as he could, while Haku and Sasuke did the same, but to no avail. I'm guessing these kits just wanted their mothers…
What's even sadder is that these kits had siblings of their own that Naruto's clones were unable to save, just like their mothers…
"Chōko-chan, do something, please?" Naruto looked at me with those eyes of his that made me unable to say no.
I looked at the crying fox kits and sighed. These things were just so pitiful and helpless that my conscious couldn't just let me ignore them. "Okay, I'll try to see what I can do."
I'm not exactly a fox whisperer or anything, but dammit—I'm gonna at least try my best to get these little things to stop crying! Their cries are seriously making my chest hurt…
"The joy I felt when I touched you,
Went deep, deep down,
And seeped into
Every nook and cranny of this body."
Back when we were at the orphanage, we sometimes found ourselves caring for the infants there. It didn't take too long for all of us to learn that some of these infants preferred to be lulled to sleep via song. And when it came to songs, the boys usually looked at me since kunoichi classes made me the viable source for knowing about songs and how to sing them. It also helped that my past life had an obsession with music and songs.
"Even if I'm far away,
And no longer understand anything,
Even when the time comes
For this life to end."
Sometimes, the other orphans would be there to watch us care for the infants. Naptime was a huge deal for the children who were five years old and under. To some of the children, they wanted the same treatment as the infants and wished to hear the same song I had used. Those very same children also happened to have the luck of knowing how it once felt to have parents and seeing someone sing children to sleep reminded them of when their parents were still alive and with them.
"Everything of now,
Is everything of the past.
We'll meet again, I'm sure,
In some nostalgic place."
I still question my past life's priorities when it came to memorizing things that are completely irrelevant to the knowledge that I should have possessed for this world when I was reincarnated. And yet, seeing some of the irrelevant things I have come to learn and memorize helping others in some way makes it worth it.
"The warmth you gave me,
Deep, deep down,
Comes to me, now complete,
From a time long past."
I'm starting to notice how much quieter the kits are starting to get. They're still crying, but not as loud, meaning that my singing is actually working. So it wasn't a waste...
"Steadily in my heart,
The flames of passion give light.
And softly soothe my pain,
Down to the depths of my grief."
It's rather ironic how much I can relate to this song in some way, considering the origin of where I heard it—that being a movie trailer for a Studio Ghibli movie about a certain Japanese folklore. The folklore was about a bamboo cutter and the baby he found growing inside a glowing bamboo plant. What's even more ironic about it is that, from what I could remember, in this world, the very same folklore has a place in the form of a certain woman who shares her name with the child the bamboo cutter and his wife raised in the tale.
Kaguya-hime, or Princess Kaguya, was her name. And I am quite sure from what little I know about Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, she is a reference to the Kaguya from the same tale.
"Everything now,
Is hope for the future.
I'll remember, I'm sure,
With memories of life."
Silence is what I heard after I finished singing. The kits were fast asleep, as was Inari, who was curled up on Sasuke's futon. Naruto was relieved, as was Sasuke, and Haku seemed stunned.
"You have a lovely voice," Haku said before smiling at me.
I felt my cheeks heating up a bit, if only because I got complimented by an attractive person. It was Himawari all over again, except Haku was a boy who was closer to my age…
"How old are you?" I found myself asking Haku.
"I recently turned fifteen at the beginning of this year!" Haku replied. "What about you?"
"I turn thirteen next month…" Holy shit, I'm getting old…
Haku nodded his head. "Ah, so you aren't that much younger than I am..."
Why does that seem like a good thing to you? Eh, I'm guessing Haku hasn't been around anyone his age for a while until now… Okay, there is something I've been meaning to ask, and I should do that right now.
"Can I have my ribbon back?" Not saying you look bad with it or anything, but I just want my ribbon back.
Haku blinked and smiled sweetly at me. "No."
"What do you mean no?" I narrowed my eyes at the androgynous-looking male.
"Zabuza-sama gave it to me," Haku replied as though it were obvious. "That is why I cannot part with it…"
"But it belongs to me…" Come on!
"I apologize, but I just cannot part with it, Chōko-san." Haku looked sympathetically at me. "How about I get you something to replace it?"
I puffed up my cheeks in annoyance. "No…how about I do that instead?"
Haku blinked. "Hmm?"
"It's my ribbon, so I should be the one to replace it with something of equal value…" Assuming I'll be able to even do something like that. "What do you think of another ribbon?"
Haku tilted his head to the side as he tugged lightly on the ribbon tied around his bun. "Hmm…I'll consider it."
"Okay!" I grinned. "I'll get you a ribbon that'll make you look even prettier! What do you say?"
"I think…I would like that." Haku smiled again.
I nodded my head and then turned to Naruto, who was currently watching the sleeping fox kits. He just seemed so enthralled with their existence. Sasuke, on the other hand, when I looked at him, seemed rather concerned.
"What's up with you, Sasuke?" I asked him.
"Kakashi said that Naruto could take care of them only until we leave Wave," Sasuke responded. "I'm worried about how attached he will get to those."
Oh right, shit… "Well, I'm sure he won't get too attached!"
Ahahhaa, yeah—no, he's definitely going to get attached.
"Hey, what are we going to name them-ttebayo?" Did I say definitely? I meant affirmatively.
Kakashi is so screwed…
…
…
For the next few days, apart from having to care for nine fox kits, Zabuza and Kakashi had to leave Tazuna's house every once in a while to check up on the animals back in Gatou's base. Kakashi was making a list of the animals that were there for reference for the message he was going to send back to Konoha, in which Tazuna was able to confirm that some of the animals used to be native to Wave, but have died out.
Wolves, were some of those animals, as we found out through Tazuna, who told us, "There used to be wolves in Wave."
It was a rather sobering comment. I mean, extinction of species in an area was enough to make me quiet for quite a while. Certain types of birds were amongst those, such as cranes, seagulls (which is oddly weird, considering the location of this country), and hawks.
And, while they might have not been native to Wave, snakes had been found amongst the animals and I just shuddered at the thought that I nearly encountered one while we were there. Ugh, freaking snakes…
Kakashi was also able to confirm that Gatou's base also possessed rare plants and trees not native to Wave. It was just a huge menagerie of animals and plants. Whatever wasn't native to the Land of Waves was going to be taken back to Training Ground Zero in Konoha. As for the rest, Tsunami suggested of turning Gatou's base into an animal sanctuary of sorts, which was a rather good idea.
"And since Sasuke and Haku are almost at full strength, I think tomorrow we'll be able to properly continue our raid," Kakashi continued. "So be prepared for tomorrow."
That meant going directly to sleep after dinner, which we were currently eating at the table.
"We'll watch over the kits while you're gone," Tsunami assured Naruto. "So don't worry."
Naruto still wasn't that sure, but then Zabuza started talking about the treasury he and Kakashi had the luck of investigating.
"There are quite of lot of valuable items there, including some scrolls that might catch your interests, speaking of which…" Zabuza walked over to Haku, who had been eating with the rest of us. "I got you a birthday present."
"But…it isn't my birthday," Haku remarked.
"It is today…for me," Zabuza said as he handed Haku a scroll. "Try not to look into it until you fully recover your strength. It's a summoning scroll that I thought you would like."
The look of gratitude on Haku's face was so immense that I thought he was going to cry. A small blush tinged his cheeks as he accepted the scroll and held it close to his chest. "Th-Thank you so much, Zabuza-sama!"
It was honestly touching to see how much Zabuza truly cared for Haku. It just proved how much of a cover the whole mindset about tools and whatnot was to Zabuza to hide his true feelings. I'm honestly glad they're still alive…
That night, Kakashi sent one of his ninken to deliver a message to Konohagakure. We should get a response back within three days, depending how it all went. After which, we would learn of what was going to happen to Zabuza and Haku. Hopefully, it isn't anything too bad.
…
…
The next day, we had a rather rude awakening in the form of Zabuza dumping a bucket of water over all of us, except Kakashi and Haku. I nearly threw a kunai at Zabuza for that, but Haku stopped me. He wasn't exactly keen on anyone hurting Zabuza. Though, compared to what Haku had done to Gatou, he was rather gentle with me when he grabbed my hand.
It still scared the crap out of me, but it was better than having a broken wrist like Gatou… And a broken wrist to someone who usually relies on shurikenjutsu and taijutsu just meant bad times.
Right after Naruto, Sasuke, and I changed out of our wet clothes, the three of us, Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku left Tazuna's house. The raid was on and we were all ready to take as much as we can with us, as whatever was left over was going to go to the people of Wave. Surprisingly, it was Zabuza who had made that suggestion.
Zabuza, despite all what he did, was not someone without morals. The one thing he hated most was corruption and considering what Gatou did to the Land of Waves, Zabuza wanted to give the country a good start in their recovery.
…
…
"Wh-Whoa…" I felt my eyes practically bulge when I saw what was beyond the doors Kakashi and Zabuza had pushed open. There was just so much gold, silver, and jewels…it was honestly overwhelming. The poor college girl in me just wanted to outright cry at the sight of this. It was so beautiful…
Then Sasuke saw the scrolls and ran over to them, yelling, "Dibs on Raiton!"
Naruto, Haku, and I were quick to follow after Sasuke, since, while treasures are lovely and everything, new techniques were much more valuable and useful to us. Though, that's not to say that I still wasn't going to claw anyone's eyes out if they grabbed something I wanted that was shiny and pretty…because I would.
I like pretty things…especially if they were shiny.
"All of these Fūton jutsu…" Naruto looked at the many scrolls he held in his arms.
Kakashi just took one look at them and said, "Naruto, those could be stolen Sunagakure property."
"…Still mine-ttebayo," Naruto said as he stuffed them down his backpack.
There was a lot of stuffing of scrolls within our backpacks—well, everyone's but mine. Haku managed to find a couple of scrolls containing Hyōton techniques. He was honestly pleased, considering his kekkei genkai. As for me, I was looking for scrolls containing Suiton jutsu, but couldn't find any, surprisingly…
"Sensei, where are all of the Suiton?" I asked Kakashi.
Kakashi gestured at Zabuza. "Ask him."
"I already laid claim to them the other day," Zabuza said unabashedly with an expression that made it look like he was grinning under those bandages of his. Of course the missing-nin from Kirigakure would have hogged all of the Water Release scrolls! "Though, Haku will be willing to share them with you."
"No," Kakashi was quick to say, with a firm tone before telling me to go on ahead with looking elsewhere.
I blinked a few times and just decided to start going through the gold, silver, and jewelry—though, not before checking out a couple of more scrolls that were available. Since I couldn't find any Suiton jutsu scrolls, I decided to look for the next thing that caught my eyes: summoning scrolls.
Unfortunately, there weren't much around, only like two, but I was willing to take with what I could find. I'll probably just give them as a gift to one of my friends, since I'd rather go with a summon that was more avian than a flying mammal, like a bat (even though I adore bats), or a crustacean, like a crab. I seriously wonder what it was that Zabuza had given Haku…
That was before my attention turned back to the piles of treasure littering the floors of the room. There were so many pretty things and I wanted it all. Within the next few minutes, I could be found digging through the piles of jewelry, putting on whatever caught my eye, like a simple silver anklet with a pretty jewel dangling from it or a bracelet…yeah…
Maybe I should get something for Mama…
"What do you think of this?" Haku nearly scared the crap out of me when he just held out a ring in front of my face.
Once I calmed down, I found myself drawn to the ring Haku was holding in front of my face. It reminded me a lot of my high school class ring from my past life. It had a sleek appearance and consisted of white gold with an emerald on it. I always liked the combination of green and silver, and yet, I considered myself a Gryffindor than Slytherin, despite the fact that my past life's surname had something that will basically never let me forget about the founder of Slytherin.
A bit of irony there, though, considering my current life as Akimichi Chōko leaving me with a crippling fear of snakes. So now I have reasonable reasons to never consider myself fit for Slytherin…ever, like at all.
Nostalgic thoughts aside, I really liked the ring Haku was holding out to me. "Pretty!"
"You can have it!" Haku said, about ready to place it in the palm of my hand.
Of course, then Kakashi dropped by and took the ring out of my hand before I could even place it on my ring finger.
"I'll take that!" is what he said before going on his way.
I was rather miffed, but decided to ignore it as I continued to look through what was in front of me. I mean, there was a lot to offer, so I shouldn't be complaining—oh who am I kidding, that ring was mine!
"Sensei, you jerk, that was mine!" I exclaimed.
Kakashi ignored me as he placed the ring on his left ring finger and held it up to see how it looked on himself. I'm surprised it could even fit on his finger…then again, I never did check if it could fit on mine, so the fact that it was able to fit on Kakashi's meant…dammit, it could never fit on me!
"Never mind…" I huffed. "I'll find something else that actually fits me…"
I hate it when jewelry doesn't fit me…
…
Time passed and soon, Naruto joined Haku and I as we continued looking through the treasure pile. Naruto reminded a lot like Abu from Aladdin, like…he grabbed whatever caught his attention and stuffed it down his backpack. He paid very close attention to anything that held a spiral design on it, and when asked about it, he gave a very simple explanation.
"Iruka-sensei told me about a bit about my Uzumaki heritage," he began. "He told me about the clan's symbol, which looked a lot like a spiral or swirl!"
Wow, Iruka, kudos to doing something like that…wait, what?! "How much did he tell you?"
"Hmm…not much, really-ttebayo," Naruto replied. "Iruka-sensei said he was going to tell me more about the clan when I got older! I don't know why, but I can wait!"
I have a feeling it had to do with the destruction of Uzushiogakure and the fact that the surviving members of the Uzumaki clan were basically scattered all over the world. Naruto didn't need to know of something like that just yet. In some ways, he was like Sasuke, having lost his clan through the destruction of its home.
Still, it was nice—just seeing Naruto being so happy to have some knowledge on his clan heritage. And it definitely showed through his obsession with items that held a design similar to that of the Uzumaki clan symbol.
I might have ended up fighting over a few items with Naruto because of this, like…mine! But Naruto did grab it first, but I still wanted it, dammit! It got to the point where Zabuza made a comment about taking it easy, but then Naruto responded by saying, "Why don't you take some to bribe to the Mizukage?"
Zabuza thought for a moment before immediately joining us in our taking of the many treasures in this room. It was honestly a smart idea, considering that Zabuza might have to pay off his fee in accordance to the bounty that was on his head. At least, that's what Kakashi said might happen. It really depends, as missing-nin rarely ever manage to successfully receive a pardon and make it out alive.
And considering how Zabuza knew Mei just as well as Yagura, it might do well to give her some gifts. I'm sure she would appreciate it…
…
The more time we spent in this room, the more items we discovered. There were also paintings, statues, and even instruments, as well as expensive textiles. There were also weapons as well, though they were more for decoration than for combat. Though, as we continued to search, we actually came upon real weapons and armory. Naruto was absolutely ecstatic about this.
"Look at all this armor and weapons…" Naruto looked about ready to grab some…but Sasuke stopped him.
"Put down the pointy things," Sasuke said in a somewhat stern tone.
Naruto frowned. "But I heard Neji-san's teammate likes this stuff-ttebayo!"
I'm guessing he's talking about Tenten. She would like this sort of stuff.
"Are you trying to woo every girl in Konoha to be in your unofficial harem or something?" Sasuke looked questioningly at Naruto.
The thing about Naruto is that most of the items he had gotten that didn't remind him of his clan's symbol were going to be given to his friends as birthday gifts of some sort. For the most part, the jewelry was for his female friends. He hadn't really moved onto what his male friends would have want just yet, so Sasuke brought up a bit of a point.
Upon hearing Sasuke ask him this, Naruto was quite quick to say, "No."
"Then go easy on what you get," Sasuke calmly said. "Okay?"
Naruto nodded his head. "Okay…"
"To be honest, I think your backpack has reached its limit." It was practically bulging from everything that Naruto had stuffed into it, from scrolls to jewelry, to a few decorative weapons. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, what do you think?"
Kakashi took one look at Naruto's backpack and said, "Let's get that into a scroll before you get mugged."
I'm honestly amazed that how many sealing scrolls Kakashi had even brought with himself. Like, is there any particular reason he carries that many around with him? Or is it just a force of habit? Truth be told, I always carried an extra empty sealing scroll to store our backpacks to get rid of some deadweight.
Right now, I was using that scroll to store all the jewelry I wanted to keep. I managed to get enough things to hopefully calm my mother down when she found out about what had occurred on our supposed C-rank mission. I might have also snuck in some weaponry…what? I like sharp stuff, too!
I like it especially when it's shiny…I need help.
…
…
It was the late evening when we finally left Gatou's base. One thing Naruto was quick to do after we had raided the treasury was check on the plants that Kakashi and Zabuza had said they had found there. Naruto might have taken a couple of those with him, most of them being fruit trees and the like, maybe even a few flowering plants.
Oh, and did I ever mention that Gatou also had an aquarium of some sort in his base? His base was located near the water… And the reason I even mentioned this was because Naruto wanted to take the dolphins that we had found there with us…how?
"We are not keeping the dolphins!" Kakashi had been firm with his decision.
And Naruto still tried, saying, "But they're Iruka-sensei's family-ttebayo!"
By that, Naruto was bringing up the fact that Iruka's name meant dolphin.
Kakashi just looked at Naruto for a moment before saying, "No, Naruto."
And that was that. We freed those dolphins by the way… They deserved to be free, dammit! And luckily, for us, considering the location of the base, and where the aquarium was situated at, all it really took was breaking down a gate to allow these beautiful creatures to escape. It was certainly quite a sight to see them swimming off into the distant, as the sun began to set on the horizon.
I am seriously glad that Gatou was dead. Freaking hell, when he wasn't being a bastard to people, he was being a bastard to animals…
…
Since that day, we stayed mostly at Tazuna's place, with Kakashi and Zabuza going back to Gatou's base to keep an eye on the animals. We still had to take care of the kits, though after a couple days of doing so, it came to our attention that we needed help…like, actual help.
So Kakashi ended up having to ask one of his ninken, Pakkun, if there were any ninken that had recently given birth. Turns out, there really was, but in order to bring the mother out, a contract needed to be made because otherwise, she wasn't coming out at all.
"That being said, who is willing to make a contract with the dog summon?" Kakashi looked at all of us after he had made this explanation.
Before anyone could even register what Kakashi was asking for us, Sasuke raised his hand and said, "I'll do it."
And just like that, Sasuke became the first out of Team 7 to make his first summoning contract. And what we got, were two Shiba Inu of the mother-daughter duo type, by the names of Hanī and Miriku.
Hanī was, as her name suggested, a honey-colored female Shiba Inu. Miriku was the pup she had given birth to and, like her mother, was much like her name suggested. Miriku was the color of milk, being an albino Shiba Inu. These two were going to be Sasuke's main ninken, though that didn't leave him unable to summon Kakashi's ninken, according to Kakashi himself. That aside, the fact that Hanī was a new mother left her able to nurse some of the fox kits we had on us, making our jobs of feeding them much easier.
Though, there is something I found entirely hilarious out of this scenario, and it's the fact that Sasuke's ninken are Shiba Inu. Like, holy crap, I can't look at Hanī and Miriku without thinking of that stupid Doge meme. I mean…
Such ninken.
Much cute.
Wow.
I should just stab myself with a kunai for even doing that. Still, I like Shiba Inu and Miriku just reminds me so much of Koromaru from Persona 3, so I'm pretty happy to see an albino Shiba—especially a puppy. Life seemed to be pretty good after that…except for the fact that Haku still refused to return my ribbon to me. I even tried going to Zabuza for help, but Kakashi kept me away from the missing-nin for reasons he refused to tell me.
…
Eventually, we received a response from the message Kakashi had sent to Konoha, in regards to the exotic animals in Gatou's base and the request for allowing Haku and Zabuza into the village. As soon as Konoha received word of the completion of the bridge, they would send shinobi to fetch the animals. As for Haku and Zabuza, they were allowed into Konoha for the most part. It was just details involving the Mizukage's pardon, which would allow the two to move into the village officially, that were still pending.
It really did help that Haku had a kekkei genkai, which certainly motivated the council to make a decision. However, as Zabuza was, technically, Haku's guardian, the two could not be separated, so while the council didn't want to add in Zabuza, they had no other choice. And before that could even happen, they needed Mei's blessing in order for them to switch villages.
The Sandaime sure did not like the amount of paperwork that was going to come out of this, but for what it was worth, Zabuza and Haku were finally going to have a place to call home. Naruto was completely ecstatic over this thought, while I was just as happy, since I really didn't want to say goodbye to Zabuza and Haku.
I was just worried about them dying, okay? It's a reasonable concern…
"So when are we going to leave again?" I asked Kakashi, wanting to make sure I knew what was up.
"When the bridge has been completed," Kakashi answered. "According to Tazuna, it's nearly done now."
"That's good to hear," Sasuke remarked. "I'm starting to miss home…"
"Yeah, me too…" Wave is nice and everything, but I miss Konoha and everyone there.
"No matter how many years you've been working as a shinobi, you can never seem to completely smother that feeling of homesickness that torments your heart," Kakashi stated. "And, to be honest, I miss lounging about with you guys in the living room."
That was something we nearly did on a daily basis after coming back from a D-rank mission. It was just something that we fell into routine. It felt weird to break out of it when we accepted this mission and left Konohagakure.
"So you live with your Genin?" Zabuza looked questioningly at Kakashi.
Kakashi coughed into his hand. "I was assigned to watch over Naruto and Sasuke around five years ago. This little girl, on the other hand, keeps forgetting she has a home and stays over far longer than she should."
"Sorry…" I smile sheepishly. You have no idea how often I forget to go home…it's gotten to the point where Kakashi just drops everything and takes all of us back to the Akimichi compound in order to apologize to my parents for borrowing their daughter.
"So you are their guardian?" Haku asked Kakashi.
Kakashi thought about it for a moment and nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess you can say that."
There's just something about hearing Kakashi actually accept something like that instead of denying it… It made me oddly happy.
"Does that mean I can call you Tou-chan-ttebayo?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi smiled at Naruto and firmly said, "No."
Typical Kakashi.
…
…
I should have seen this day coming—really, I should have. Hell—I was even talking it over with Kakashi during breakfast!
"Hopefully Naruto knows that if those kits see him, there is no giving them up because of imprinting and all." To be honest, I'm not completely sure if foxes go through imprinting. I was more of a bird person (still am) and happened to be informed about birds, because birds.
Anyways, it was shortly after I had said that that Naruto came running down the stairs, loudly exclaiming, "They're opening their eyes!"
Well…shit.
"We're doomed." Kakashi face palmed.
Even if foxes didn't go through imprinting, Naruto had gotten so attached to them, that I doubt we could even separate them. Looks like we're keeping the kits and oh man—that's gonna be a lot of paperwork. It was just a standard procedure in regards to bringing in foreign animals.
First Haku and Zabuza, now these little kits, I wonder if it's going to become a habit for us to bring in strays…
…
…
…
A/N So stuff happened and…yeah, I've had it in my head to bring Haku and Zabuza to Konoha. The only difference is that I managed to think up a procedure, because let's face it—things need to happen in order for anyone to get past the fact that Zabuza is a missing-nin. And by that, I mean paperwork, political involvement, and apologies.
Oh, and by the way, there is a Studio Ghibli movie about Kaguya, and it's called the Tale of Princess Kaguya. Made me cry, so do have some tissues on you when you watch the movie because you will cry. The song is called Inochi no Kioku or Memories of Life, and I first heard it in the trailer for the movie. Looking at the lyrics, I do see it fitting Chōko.
In other news, fox kits—you have ChibiFoxAI to thank for that, and the reason for it, is that first, it was just a suggestion on Skype…then it started growing into more until it became part of the plot. Like, these kits are going to be here to stay. I guess you can say that the originality train decided to crash through this fic. Expect to be seeing a lot of references with these foxes, because it's going to happen—especially when they get named.
Also, a raid on Gatou's base became a thing…it came to my attention that with Haku and Zabuza alive, they would know where his base would be and considering how desperate Gatou had gotten to hire missing-nin to get rid of Tazuna would mean that said base would have to be very close.
Naruto is somewhat aware of his Uzumaki heritage, not much to make a huge difference, but enough for him to have an idea that he does have a heritage. Oh, and Sasuke has become the first of Team Spiky Hair to make their first summoning contract, and it's with Kakashi's ninken.
Say hello to mother-daughter duo Hanī and Miriku! They'll also be here to stay—expect them to have bigger roles come later chapters. And in case anyone is wondering, Chōko will also make her own summoning contract, just not with the scrolls she has found—even though she is totally considering the bat summon.
That aside, Mei's Mizukage earlier than expected, so that's definitely a thing—and in case you're wondering, you should expect a trip to Kirigakure sometime in the future. It is something that needs to be done, so just keep that in mind.
Also, keep in mind that, despite the way Zabuza has been portrayed in this chapter, he is still who he is, and that is the Demon of Kirigakure. I see him as being someone who hates corruption, considering what Yagura did to Kirigakure thanks to a certain Uchiha controlling the jinchuuriki. And when it comes to Haku, expect Zabuza to act completely different than he would with anyone else. Because in canon, Zabuza was the very person to mention that, no matter how much a shinobi tried to act like an emotionless machine, they were still human.
Oh and Haku refuses to give Chōko her ribbon, much to her annoyance. Speaking of Haku, I've noticed the recent support for the Haku/Chōko pair, so I'm just going to say there's going to be another poll made in order to accommodate to new suggestions when it comes to pairings. I just want people to have fun shipping. It's supposed to be for fun and to keep tabs on the supported pairings.
Anyways, shout out goes to Uchiha Salad for being reviewer #360 and Molly Grace 16 for being reviewer #370! And another shout out to Orion Heartling for being reviewer #380, and holy crap, you guys were really vocal this time around! Just thank you so much! ^^ Oh, and an honorable mention goes to kopycat101, for getting the references (which were Urusei Yatsura and Lucky Star), and another one for GreyfaceMcNobody (loved the name!)! Thank you guys so much for taking the time to review!
That's about it for now. This A/N is going on far longer than it should, though I should say this before I end this and that's I'M FINALLY OUT OF SCHOOL! FUCK YEAH!
Expect to see more chapters out of me, so until next time, everyone! KD out! XD