Hey everybody, welcome to the second chapter of Shinku Kitsune!!!!!!!!!! This is the chapter where Zabuza and Haku met our hero!!!!!!
Oh, before I forget, there's a poll on my page for the next pairing. It's gonna be the final say for you guys and i still got to approve it, but don't lose faith in me!!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything thats naruto related that i actually get paid for. If i did own naruto he'd be kick ass strong, sasuke would be proven as the little fag that he is(no offense gay people i love all kinds), and sakura would be proven as the little whore she is. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Emphasized Annoyed "Normal speech" 'Normal thoughts' "Kyuubi/Demons/Summons/Extremely pissed off Naruto" 'Kyuubi/Demons/Summons/Extremely pissed off Naruto thoughts'
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A Few Minutes After Naruto Fell Into Unconsciousness
Two lone figures jumped down from the gigantic trees of the infamous Forest of Death. One was tall, lean, dark, had no shirt or visible eyebrows, wrappings around the bottom part of his face, and a giant zanbatou strapped to his back. The other figure was much shorter.
The feminine bodied one was short, no taller than 3 feet, with milk-chocolate eyes, snow white skin, hair in a bun on top of her head, and dressed in a small blue and aqua-green travel kimono. She didn't look older than six or seven. Her button nose scrunched up as it caught the scent of blood. "Zabuza-sama, do you smell that blood?" she whispered/asked.
"Hn." He grunted an affirmative. They had been in pursuit of another missing-nin to collect the bounty, but the strong, coppery smell of death made him curious. Slowing down his pace, which his apprentice mirrored, he followed his nose. After a few seconds the odor got stronger and stronger. When he found the source, he quickly wished he hadn't. Both of their reactions varied. Zabuza was slightly disgusted and on edge, but was use to things like this. His protégé, he noticed, took it a lot harder. "Haku-chan," he spoke softly, effectively throwing his professionalism away to help his adoptive daughter (at least in his eyes), "are you alright?" Normally he wouldn't let his compassionate side out for anyone to see, but this was Haku and she wasn't just anybody.
Haku just nodded, though her insides were in absolute knots. The sight before her was borderline hellish. It was what appeared to be human and blonde, at least she thought so. The rest was pretty much a mess. The boy's clothes were drenched with blood, which was still pouring out, bones were sticking out of his legs and arms, he had kunai and shuriken sticking out of him, his face was completely mutilated, and he reeked of blood, sweat, dirt, and burnt skin. The only sign that his poor soul was still alive was the slight rise and fall of his bled out chest. In short, the fact that he wasn't dead amazed them both.
"Z-Zabuza-sama we h-have to h-help him." She half-stuttered half-pleaded.
He looked skeptical. "I don't know. He'll drag us down."
Haku looked at her guardian in horror. "But Zabuza-sama," she all but whined, "he'll die if we don't help him." Seeing that he was still hesitant, she decided to pull out her secret weapon, Puppy-Dog Eyes no Jutsu. She started to form the handseals that the ex-kiri-nin immediately recognized. Panicking with wide eyes, he drew his sword and rammed it into the ground in front of him. He waited for a minute or two until he thought he was safe. He sighed in relief until he was tapped on the shoulder. On pure instinct, he turned around to see and feel the full force of the jutsu. Zabuza tried in vain to look away, but he just couldn't, no sane man could. Sighing in defeat he said, "Fine, we'll take him back to our camp, but you're carrying him."
Haku's triumphant grin fell for a moment at having to carry the bloody blonde, but she had a feeling she would've anyway. As she went to go pick up the boy, she was surprised to find that he didn't weigh more than her. Soon they took off towards their camp and picked up some speed to make sure the bloody pulp of a boy wouldn't die from blood loss.
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They arrived at their camp just 5 minutes later. It was really just a small clearing, surrounded by a ring of trees, but it was safe. Haku gingerly set our hero down and quickly found a med-kit. She didn't know many medjutsu, a fact that she definitely wanted to remedy, except the basic Shousen Jutsu (Mystical Hand Technique).
She worked tirelessly for what seemed like hours, though it'd only been about 8 minutes. Zabuza helped where he could. He didn't know and medjutsu, medicine, or medical techniques. It was amazing he was still alive. As far as he knew, or wanted, a strong will and drive heals just about anything.
After a good 12 minutes of work, Haku fell on her butt in complete exhaustion. Her chakra was low and her arms were tired from healing, wrapping, sterilizing, numbing, setting bones, and helping the blonde boy look somewhat normal. Most of his body and face were in gauze and the limbs that were broken, were in makeshift casts. He looked like the mummy-version of Elephant Man. Zabuza watched, amused, as she grabbed her sleeping bag, laid close to Naruto, and promptly knocked out for, what he had a feeling of, a couple of hours.
Deciding to take up guard duty, Zabuza leaned on a tree with his giant cleaver next to him. He watched the pair sleep peacefully for a few minutes before turning towards the night sky. He pondered what to do next. He was pretty sure he couldn't leave the blonde behind, especially after Haku worked so hard keeping him alive. Also, judging by the fact that she moved close to him when she went to sleep, Zabuza had a feeling she might be slightly attached to the boy. He was thrown from his musings when he heard a small moan. He looked to the children to find that Haku had gotten closer to the blonde and had an arm over his stomach. A truly evil smile grew on Zabuza's face as he thought of one word, 'Blackmail.'
With stealth that would make silence jealous, he reached into his bag and pulled out a small, grey, rectangular box. Moving to the sleeping "couple" he carefully maneuvered them around. He put Haku's head and right hand on the boy's chest and left arm around his back, pulling him into a close hug. He put the blonde's covered chin against the top of her head and his right uninjured arm around her shoulders, pulling them even closer. As the last piece de resistance, he slowly and extremely softly intertwined their legs, which really did it by themselves, much to his eternal joy. Leaning into the perfect spot a good couple of feet away from them, he pushed the button on the box. A bright flash filled the area. Zabuza cursed at himself for not turning off the flash.
He sighed in relief when they just stirred slightly. Putting the camera back in his bag, he found his guard spot again. As he leaned against the tree he thought, 'I can't wait till they wake up.' He chuckled at imagining the looks on their faces.
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Warm. Warm and content. These were the things that Haku felt when she woke up. She couldn't remember she was this comfortable. Her legs were wrapped around it and she felt safe. She felt something on her shoulders but assumed it was the sleeping bag. Her left arm was wrapped around it and her right one rested on its squishiness. The ice-user's head was on a semi-hard/soft pillow that felt a little rough. She didn't know why but it felt familiar, like……..gauze? She heard something odd in her pillow. It sounded like thumping……… Wait. Soft, squishy, gauze-like feeling and rhythmic thumping?
A look of realization, horror, and embarrassment hit her. Haku's eyes grew wide and a deep blush was on her face as slowly looked up. Unfortunately, the gods weren't being kind to her, as that was the exact moment Naruto woke up. He looked down at her with equally wide eyes and a blush to match. To Haku, his eyes were beautiful, like deep oceans of the purest blue that she could just get lost in.
Naruto had much similar thoughts, 'She's gorgeous, whoever she is.' Her skin was as white as the whitest snow and as soft as the finest silk. The girl's eyes were both the lightest and darkest brown he'd ever seen. They were like the darkest milk chocolate one could find. Both didn't notice their position or the looming figure over them. A loud cough immediately snapped both of them out of their trances. Naruto saw a man with no shirt or eyebrows, with a giant sword on his back, and pieces of twigs in his arms. He couldn't really tell, mostly because of the bandages on his lower face, but he was pretty sure there was an amused smile on his face.
"Am I interrupting something?" he asked innocently. Quickly realizing their positions, they jumped apart and sat down with blushes that would put the reddest of tomatoes to shame. Zabuza, just as quickly, burst out laughing. Haku and Naruto glared at him, until the blonde finally realized that these two were probably missing-nins, judging by the Eyebrowless man's scratched hitai-ate.
He jumped to his feet and slammed them both down, breaking the casts on his legs. To both nins shock, they were completely healed. Not a scratch on them. What shocked Zabuza more though, were his eyes. They were eyes of a warrior, eyes that have seen the worst of life and survived, eyes that he thought should never belong to a child. Easing his hands up as a show of surrender, he spoke, "Easy kid, we want to meet you, not to eat you."
Haku would've laughed at Zabuza's joke, but she saw Naruto's eyes as well. She had a gut-feeling that he has suffered as much as her, if not more so. The young apprentice felt a connection, a bond, between them. She realized that she wanted to get on his good side, so she helped the sword-swinging man out a bit.
"What Zabuza-sama said is true. My name is Haku. Over there is my master, Momochi Zabuza. What's your name?"
There was a long silence as Naruto checked them out. He knew he shouldn't trust strangers, but when he looked into their eyes for any sign of deceit, he found none. 'You can trust them, kit. For now.'
'Kyuubi?' he looked around.
'I'm speaking through a mental link I opened up. Just think whatever you want to say to me, and I'll hear you loud and clear.'
'I got you. So, why should I trust them?'
'They helped heal you. I did most of the work, but I couldn't set the bone back in place. Since you're weak, puny, little body (Hey!) isn't mature enough to handle my youkai, you cannot fully utilize my healing abilities.'
'Oh.' He thought. 'So any suggestions on what I should do now?'
'Ask what they want, what they're doing here, introduce yourself, I don't care. Just don't get yourself killed.'
Naruto nodded and spoke to the duo, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. May I ask what you're doing here?" I know you're not fro Konoha. Oh, and thank you for healing me." He thought it was better if they didn't know about the Kyuubi. 'The less they know the better.'
They were a bit surprised by the sudden talking after a few minutes of silence. They grew a little worried when his eyes glazed and were going to ask him again when he spoke.
Zabuza decided to continue the conversation, "You don't need to know what we were doing here. I want to know why you were in such a state in the first place."
"That's classified info, but I'll tell you if you answer my question first, No Brows." Haku giggled at Naruto's nickname for her master/sensei/father-figure, while Zabuza's forehead acquired a fast twitch.
"Watch it, gaki, or I'll finish what whoever left you for dead started." He growled.
Naruto smiled at Haku's giggle. He really liked the sound and wanted to hear it again. He made it his life goal to hear it again if only for a moment. 'Where did that come from?' he thought he heard snickering in the back of his head. 'What's so funny?' he asked the now laughing fox.
'Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.'
"Dumb fox." he muttered.
"What was that, gaki?!" Zabuza yelled.
"Hmm. You say something?" he asked in a cool way, perfectly imitating a certain jutsu-stealing, perverted ANBU. Haku giggled more at Zabuza's angry face, but stopped when he glared at her and blushed when Naruto winked at her. "You shouldn't stop laughing because Ol' No Brows gets sour, Haku-san. It's a really pretty sound." He said making Haku blush harder and look down at her feet in an attempt to hide from her embarrassment.
Said "No Brows" was smirking under his wrappings during the whole exchange. "That reminds me." He thought out loud, making the other two look at him. He pulled out what looked like a photo and, when he laughed a little evilly, they immediately got suspicious.
"What was that, Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked.
"Just a little mail." He said nonchalantly.
"What kind of mail?" she asked insistently, he usually didn't keep secrets from her unless it was life-threatening and she had a feeling of dread as to what the picture contained.
"Aren't we getting a little off topic? Okay kid, we'll tell you why we were here, but after that you answer our question, deal?" he didn't like bowing to the boy, even in the smallest way, but Haku's scary when she gets pissed and he had a feeling, if she saw the picture now, she would get really pissed.
Naruto thought about it a minute and said, "Deal."
Zabuza nodded. "We were on a bounty hunt for a missing-nin. We were running low on funds, so we decided on making a quick buck. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of him in this forest when we smelled blood. We followed the stench and found you. Or what was left of you. Haku decided to take you here and heal you." Naruto smiled at Haku, who smiled shyly back.
"Now that I told you why we were here, tell us why you were near dead when we found you." The ex-kiri-nin prodded.
Naruto sighed, "OK, but you'll both want to sit down. It's a pretty long story." Once they got comfortable, he waited a few minutes to gather his thoughts.
"7 years ago, a demon attacked the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Kyuubi no Kitsune to be exact. The Yondaime Hokage was its only hope, because every wave of the ninja that was sent was destroyed. Although it wasn't Kyuubi's fault, he had to be stopped. The Yondaime used a Kinjustu called Shiki Fuujin, Hakke no Fuuin Shiki, and Shishou Fuuinto seal the fox inside a newborn infant. I was that infant." Zabuza's eyes widened and Haku gasped. Naruto flinched at both, but he continued. "Apparently, the villagers see me as the demon incarnate. They hate me with more passion than a hundred thousand suns. Ever since I could breathe or walk, they've treated me worse than dirt. Assassination attempts, beatings from shinobi and civilians, glares, extremely raised prices, refusal to sell to me, you name it, and I've been dealt it." Kyuubi helped Naruto fill in the gaps of his story via their mental link.
The silence was deafening. The two nins couldn't believe their ears. Zabuza couldn't even imagine who could do that to a mere child. He'd seen and heard some pretty messed up things before, but he shuddered at what the kid had to go through. Haku had tears in her eyes. 'He's just like me,' she thought. ', Persecuted over something that we have no control over.' When she saw a tear fall from his eye, she did the only thing she knew about how to comfort someone. Haku stood up, walked over to him, and wrapped him in an embrace. He stiffened and snapped his eyes shut immediately; waiting for the pain he thought was inevitable. Naruto hesitantly opened an eye to see Haku buried in his chest. The blonde slowly lifted his arms and returned the hug. He silently started to weep.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, just enjoying each others' warmth and comfort. Naruto caught the whiff of honey and lavender in her hair, while Haku smelled ramen and, of course, fox. Both memorized the scents and both found them really enjoyable.
They would've stayed there longer, but Zabuza, with a smirk on his face, had to break it up because an idea hit him. He loudly coughed in his hand, "Ahem." His smirk grew when their eyes shot open, cerulean blue meeting chocolate brown, and they jumped away from each other. Both blushed about 20 shades of red, and they looked down and away from each other. Zabuza just couldn't hold it in anymore; he busted out laughing and started rolling on the ground, holding his sides. The red-faced pair glared daggers at him. But he started laughing more.
Getting off of his high, he turned towards the demon container. "Kid, funnies aside, I got a proposition for you." He said in a serious tone. This immediately caught both the 7-year-olds attention.
"What kind of proposition?" asked Naruto, suspicious of the man.
"Come with me and Haku-chan and let me train you. You can get away from this village and its hatred."
Naruto was speechless. Here was a high Jounin-level missing-nin telling him he would train him. Not only that, but he could leave the village that caused him so much pain. He was definitely excited about the possibility of training. Naruto had just joined the Ninja Academy last year and he was already known as the "dead-last." He could get stronger than anybody expected him to ever be. He also liked the idea of staying with Haku. He blushed a little thinking this.
Haku was shocked as well. She didn't think Zabuza would take another apprentice. She was also happy too. This would mean she could be with Naruto more. She blushed when she thought of the blonde, but she didn't know why. She would have to ask Zabuza later, he was like a father to her.
Zabuza thought it was a pretty good offer and everyone benefited from it. He'd get another apprentice to teach the "silent killing" method to, as well as possibly kenjutsu, Haku would get a friend her age, and maybe more (judging by both their blushes), and Naruto would get out of a village that hates him and gain people that would care for him, accept him. Now he just had to wait for Naruto's acceptance or decline.
'What do you think, Kyuu?'
'Kyuu….that's what they used to call me…..''It's a damn good deal, kit. I can sense they're both strong. Who knows? They might be able to make you stronger. But, it's not my decision to make. If you want my advice, I say weigh the good and bad, then make a solid choice that you won't regret later.'
'They do look strong. Maybe I can learn from them. Then I can show this village that I'm not a demon, but a human. Alright, thanks Kyuu.'
'Whatever.'
"That's an amazing offer, Zabuza-san." Naruto said after a moment of being quiet. Another minute went by before he spoke again, "I accept." Haku's face lit up with a smile and Zabuza smiled as well, though it was more of a smirk. "But…. I want to say goodbye to a few people first. They were the only people to actually accept me."
"Alright, but meet us at the East Gate in 2 hours." Zabuza said. As Naruto turned to leave Zabuza said, "And welcome to the family." They then took off, leaving the blonde behind with a huge smile and a few tears in his eyes.
'Family…..'
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It took some time, but he finished writing and delivering his letters to Iruka-sensei, Old man Tuechi and Ayame-neechan, and finally his Jiji-san. He slipped into his apartment and packed what little he could. The blonde boy met Zabuza and Haku at the East Gate just in time. They smiled/smirked at each other and took off into the night at a leisurely pace.
'Ready, Kyuu?' he grinned.
'Ready, kit.' he grinned as well.
With that, he left the Village Hidden in the Leaves to begin his legend.
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Jutsu Guide:
Puppy-Dog Eyes no Jutsu: Haku's personal jutsu that makes any male viewer put into her control immediately. And don't worry, Naruto will find out all about this technique in due time.
Shousen Jutsu (Mystical Hand Technique):Shousen Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by medical ninja. This technique allows the ninja to heal wounds by focusing their own chakra to their hands. If the ninja is highly skilled, they are able to heal more critical injuries. Highly skilled medical-Nins such as Tsunade can use their techniques to perform surgeries that otherwise would not be possible.
Shiki Fuujin: a Fuuinjutsu technique developed by the Fourth Hokage. A variation of this technique was used to seal the Kyuubi within Naruto. The technique was taught to the Third Hokage who later used it in battle. After calling forth the Shinigami (Death God) with the proper handseals, the user will hand over their soul in exchange for the Death God removing the soul from his target. The ultimate sacrificial jutsu, this technique can be used by a Kage Bunshin, but the Death God will still remove the original caster's soul.
With the jutsu activated, a spectral form of the caster will appear in front of the Death God. The Death God will push his arm through this spectral body, and the arm will extend from the chest of the real caster. This forces the caster to be close or grasping his target. The arm will reach out into the body of the target, and draw their soul from their body. If the Death God is unable to remove the whole soul because of the near death of the caster, it can remove it's knife and merely slice off a portion of the spectral form's soul to consume. This will render the targets corresponding body part dead and useless. The soul portion removed will then be sealed within the chest of the caster. Both the soul of the target and the caster will never pass into the afterlife. They will be condemned to suffer in the Death God's stomach for all eternity, locked in a hated combat, never to escape.
Hakke no Fuuin Shiki: a Fuuinjutsu technique used by the Fourth Hokage. The Hakke no Fuuin Shiki was used in conjunction with the Shiki Fuujin technique to seal the Kyuubi demon within the stomach of Naruto. The Hakke no Fuuin Shiki allows the two Shishou Fuuin to leak the Kyuubi chakra back into Naruto's own chakra.
Shishou Fuuin: a Fuuinjutsu technique used by the Fourth Hokage. The Shishou Fuuin was used in conjunction with the Shiki Fuujin technique to seal the Kyuubi demon within the stomach of Naruto. The Hakke no Fuuin Shiki was used to make the two Shishou Fuuin allow the escape of the Kyuubi's chakra back into Naruto's own chakra. This allows Naruto to draw on the chakra of the Kyuubi and still keep the Kyuubi itself imprisoned. Naruto can access this chakra whenever he experiences heightened emotions or when his own chakra is drained.
Ya no mas! For non-spanish speakers, that mean No More!!!
I hope you like it so for!!!! The next chap should be a time-skip. But dont worry, it's just to their home, that's all!!!!!
Please don't forget to vote and come back for more!!! Speaking of that, I'm sorry to report that the next chap will take a little longer to get out than this one :[ but hey thats life!!!!!
P.S. make sure to review as well or........TOBI WILL EAT YOUR SOUL!!!!!!!!!
thank you!!!!
-Servant