Haku groaned in agony as she opened her eyes. The light was blinding and it felt like her eyes were being burnt out of their sockets. If there was a hell, it must be a hangover, because she could easily see this as a punishment her for all her life's sins, both real and imagined. Slowly, warily, she turned over and attempted to pull her pillow over her head to make it stop. She just wanted to go back to sleep and pretend the day before was just some horrible nightmare. Unfortunately she was already conscious and getting more and more awake as the seconds passed. Pity, that.
She hurt. There was no other way to describe it. There was no part of her body that didn't ache. From her head to her toes she felt like she'd been beaten with clubs. While he'd only struck her a her couple times, Naruto's strength had been truly monstrous, and her landings far from graceful. Her hangover only added to her pain by providing a new form of unpleasantness she'd never before experienced and hoped never to do so again.
Her state of near chakra exhaustion only added to her troubles, leaving her feeling like her body was made of lead. While not unknown to her, this degree of chakra fatigue was something she rarely experienced. Her techniques were too powerful and her reserves too deep. It was rare for her to ever get pushed anywhere near this far. The worst though, was the pain in her heart.
She would never be able to forget what happened on that bridge. Thanks to her weariness, fatigue, and hangover, her recall was not what it should be. To her the battle registered as a chaotic mass of memories, memories of melancholy, pain, loss, and rage. In quick succession she'd lost her dream, her father, and her innocence. While she'd kill before, it had never been driven by the desire to end the live of another. She'd never taken any pleasure in the idea of killing, and had always avoiding unnecessary bloodshed. She hated seeing people suffer needlessly. She shook her head. Ironic, considering that she was formerly the tool of the Demon of the Mist, who was famed for using carnage as a weapon.
This time though, she’d only had one thing in mind when she acted. She wanted to destroy him. And she did. And she enjoyed it. This disgusted her, but at the same time, she found it difficult to care. Gato deserved it. He was a vile creature whose duplicity and selfishness had lead to Zabuza-san's death. While he hadn't delivered the killing blow, this entire debacle was his responsibility. Satisfaction was to be expected. Killing him had simply been the act of avenging her master.
She paused. No. Not master. Her father. Before he died, Zabuza had said, or at least tried to say that she was like a daughter to him. He'd told her the one thing that she'd wanted to hear from him her entire life. That he loved her. He called her his legacy. In that act, he'd given her the most precious of gifts. He'd made her more than an extension of his will. He'd declared to her that she was his precious person. She was his child, his apprentice, no longer his tool. She was his heir, and through her, his memory would continue to live on.
Even in her pain this brought her comfort. For that brief moment, she saw the love in his eyes and it filled a void she never knew existed. For that moment he valued her for her and not for her blood. In that moment, she'd gone beyond being useful to being cherished. A small smile came to her face and she hugged herself, desperately trying to hold onto that precious moment where they we no longer weapon and master, but father and child.
Haku blinked as she felt a squishy sensation under her robe.
She looked down and saw that her breasts unbound, covered only by a thin yukata that only just managed to preserve her feminine modesty. Her eyes went wide with horror. Oh, no! What had she done?
If there was one thing that Zabuza had grilled into her with almost obsessive intensity, it was that her true gender was to be kept secret for as long as possible. Under no circumstances could the fact that she was actually female could end up in the Bingo Books. The reason was entirely defensive. It was an unspoken fact that many hunter-nin abused the amount of freedom that the nature of their profession allowed them to indulge in otherwise unspeakable acts of cruelty and sadism. Despite the existence of regulations to the contrary, many often felt free to take certain... liberties with the kunoichi they were hunting before disposing of them. Of course, in Kirigakure there wasn't even that. That monstrous bastard Yagura, while not actively encouraging it, actually condoned it claiming that it helped encourage loyalty among the ranks!
The price of defeat for a ninja was death. She knew this, she accepted this, and she knew well that the only reason she was alive now was due to the mercy of these Konoha-nin. It was simply the way of things. But there were things worse than death. She shuttered. It made her blood run colder than the ice she so casually manipulated. To her it was the stuff of nightmares. That was why she hid her gender. If hiding her gender was the price to pay to avoid a slow, agonizing, degrading end, it was one well paid.
There was no way that this was going to be kept out of Konoha's Bingo Books now, and once it was in their Bingo Books, everyone would copy it. Even worse, without Zabuza's reputation to shield her, she had no idea that Kiri would step up their attempts. Her existence as Zabuza's accomplice wasn't widely known due to the fact that up until this point she'd spent her life living in Zabuza's shadow, protected by his reputation and tendency not to leave survivors, she was on her own now and once Konoha listed her, all bets were off.
She felt disgusted at her own foolishness. How could she have been so stupid? She took a deep breath and tried to remember. What could have caused her to lose complete control of her senses so badly. She paused. Okay, that was a rhetorical question. The hangover made it obviously that she'd gotten drunk and done something idiotic. The question was what had she done and how's she'd gotten to this point to begin with.
She sat up and, ignoring her pain in order to try and think. She remembered passing out due to injury and exhaustion. After that, not so much. Her head hurt too badly, and just sitting up felt like a complicated task. While she never drank to excess before, and Zabuza considered it a weakness, Gouzu and Meizu loved nothing more than getting themselves drunk to the point of stupidity, finding a couple of local harlots, and dragging themselves home the next morning in a pitiful state. While she never took any pleasure in the suffering of others, she'd always thought it served them right. But now, for the first time, she actually felt a bit of empathy for the discomfort those two morons had been in.
Taking a deep breath she looked about the room, ignoring the nauseating spinning sensation, and seeing her clothing folded next to her futon, fumbled in the pile checking to see if she had any senbon. As she'd expected, the ones in her clothing were gone. After all, it is not a very bright ninja who leaves a potential enemy with weapons, even if they were no longer an open threat. Unfortunately for her though, they were rather thorough in the search. Like any kunoichi worth the title, she had her own little hindering places for weapons in case she was captured to aid her in any potential escapes, but they'd all be checked. Kakashi. She sighed. Few genin could be this thorough, it was the mark of a professional.
Gritting her teeth to off the distrction caused by her hangover, she summoned her power and formed a couple small ice senbon. Without pause, she pressed them into several acupuncture points. Within seconds her screaming migraine reduced itself to a dull but persistent headache. While it wasn't a perfect solution, it did reduce her headache enough for her to be able to think clearly.
Taking a deep breath, she focused. She remembered waking up in the bridge builder's house after the battle. She remembered tending the Konoha-nin's wounds and eating dinner with them, then she decided to take a bath, then-. She blushed. Then Naruto had walked in, and in order to conceal her gender she hid most of her body under the water. He sat across from her and they started to talk. He'd shared his sake with her, which explained how she'd gotten drunk. That's where everything began to fade.
She crossed her legs and concentrated, ignoring her body's protest. After that. She smiled. After that she'd opened up to him. He'd told her that she was alone, and he'd sworn his friendship to her. He'd declared that she was one of his precious people. He valued her existence and she declared she'd help him accomplish his dream and become leader of his village. She smiled. That was a large oath on her part, one that she might not have made so quite so swiftly without the Sake, but she knew she'd still would have made it. They were very much alike. Both of them wished to become strong to protect their precious people and by declaring that she was important to him, he became important to her as well.
A look of contentment came to Haku's face as she felting a bit of the void in her spirit fill. She'd been afraid that she'd be unwanted again, but she'd already found another precious person, and Naruto's offer to introduce her to his precious people? It was almost enough to make her feel giddy.
After taking a moment to bask in the warmth, she returned to trying to remember the night before. Now, what had happened next? She furrowed her brow in concentration and thought. She flushed. Then they'd started to tease each other and she got angry and showed him she was a girl by standing up and flashing him! Then... her eyes went wide as she flushed brightly, and gasped in embarrassment. Oh my! Then she fell on top of him and the started to kiss and do this, that, and the other thing! To make matters worse their sensei and the black hared boy walked in on them! She shook her head almost By this point she was all but glowing red with humiliation. She didn't want to remember anymore! It was too embarrassing!
She took a deep breath and tried to fight down her blush. How was she going to face everyone like this She was so embarrassed! She didn't know what to say or-.
"Hey, Haku-chan!"
With a small exclamation of surprise, Haku jumped back and spun around to face the new interloper. Biting back a groan she grabbed her head and cursed under her breath. She'd been startled, and the momentary disruption of her concentration had been just enough to allow her senbon to melt, giving her hangover leave to return full force. Her eyes narrowed slightly as they focused on the blond boy in the doorway. She wanted to be mad, but the look of barely constrained joy on his face made that difficult. Seeing her presence cause such happiness in others it made her feel valued, and that feeling was more than worth any temporary discomfort.
"Do you need something, Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, with a slight a grimace of pain on her face.
"I just wanted to see what you were doing, that's all," Naruto said, smiling radiantly at her.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she replied, wincing again as her brain felt like it was pulsing in her head, "But could you keep your voice down?"
The boy blinked in slight surprise and bewilderment, but acquiesced. "Huh? Oh, sure," Naruto said in a quieter but still uncomfortably loud voice.
"Thank you," Haku whispered hoarsely deciding to take what she could get as she summoned a second set of ice senbon from the ambient moisture, and moved to use them to dull her hangover.
Seeing her about to place the ice needles into her flesh, Naruto reacted with surprising speed. "Huh?! Hey, what the heck are you doing that for?!" Naruto shouted, frantically grabbing for the needles before she could stick them into her head.
"Don't touch those!" Haku growled, pushing him away. "I have a hangover and they help dull the pain!"
"Oh! Er, sorry... I didn't know you could do that," Naruto said. He didn't know that much about acupuncture or anything like that, but be he supposed it made sense-If you could make people appear dead with needles in the right places, then why not relieve pain?
She winced in both pain and frustration as she looked down at the puddle of water in her hands. The moment of distraction caused her to lose focus again. With a sigh she summoned yet another set and carefully applied them. She sighed in slight contentment as her headache once again became manageable. "This would be much easier if I didn't have to focus on them," she reflecting, plopping back onto her back with her arms spread to the side, jostling her top.
Naruto blushed and his eyes went wide, but he was unable to look away, gaze firmly locked on Haku's chest and the bountiful treasures that had been partially exposed from her loose top. Part of his mind told him he was a pervert, while his awakening hormones told that part to sit down and shut up and enjoy the sight of her glorious peaks that you could make it if you turned your head and looked just right.
Haku met his stupid smile with a peeked eyebrow and slowly followed his gaze downwards. Her eyes went wide and she blushed brightly as she snapped her yukata shut while simultaneously shooting him a withering glare.
"S-Sorry!" Naruto said, slapping a hand over his eyes. "I'm sorry, really!"
He turned away for good measure.
Haku sighed. It was just hard to get mad at him. For someone who'd always wanted nothing more than to be appreciated, any attention was better than none, even if it wasn't entirely innocent. Besides, he was cute when he was embarrassed. It made him difficult to stay angry with. "Naruto-kun, I know you're not a pervert." She took a deep breath. Since they've already had managed to work themselves into an awkward situation, might as well take that last step and make things downright uncomfortable, after all, they'd need to talk about it eventually. "About what happened last night..."
Naruto blushed harder. "I um... It..."
"Neither of us were in our right minds." She sighed. "We were both drunk and acted like fools."
Naruto lowered his hand and stared at her.
"But Haku-chan... I... I wouldn't..." Naruto couldn't help being confused. Last night was, well, the affection-starved boy found himself cursing his sensei for interrupting it. Haku was so soft, so warm, and how she touched him, he sighed. It was overwhelming to a boy who could probably count how many times he'd been hugged in his life on both hands.
"I know you wouldn't. It was nice being close to someone, even though it wasn't," She paused, looking for the correct word, "Appropriate." She sighed and lowered her head. "By showing my secret, I've endangered myself, Naruto-kun"
"What? Why?" Naruto asked, even more confused. Haku was really strong! Stronger than he was, well, at least without using the fox's charka at least.
"Why would you hide what you are? You're awesome!"
"Naruto-kun," she asked seriously. "Do you have any idea what Kiri hunter-nin do to Kunoichi they capture alive before they kill them?"
Naruto frowned and shook his head. From Haku's tone of voice though, it couldn't be anything good.
She paused and looked at him levelly. He really couldn't be that naive, could he? "You really don't, do you."
"No...," Naruto admitted.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In the past, Zabuza had told her many times that the ninja of Konohagakure were soft. While she would never insult them by saying it aloud, it was true. They were soft, but she believed that there was a strength in that softness. Those who hardened their hearts lacked the ability to form bonds with others, to find precious people. If Naruto was indicative of their genin, then it really was a two edged sword. They formed bonds easily allowing them to draw great strength from their attachments, but at the same time they were left blind to some of the true horrors of the world. She released her breath and opened her eyes. "Without the protection of a Hidden Village, chances are that if I am ever capture alive by hunter-nin, I will be brutally raped and then tortured to death."
Naruto stared in slack jawed horror at Haku, and then his eyes narrowed to slits, literally, as a wellspring of righteous, burning rage rose up from the depths of Naruto's heart. He hadn't known Haku for long, but she was a good person and he'd be damned if he let anything like that happen to her!
"Well then, you're coming back to Konoha with us!" Naruto said. His tone brooked no argument.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," Haku said after a moment's reflection. "But I am afraid that is neither of our decisions to make."
"I'm sure the Old Man will let you into the village! I mean, there's gotta be some way to do it!" Naruto said in an enthusiastic voice.
Haku smiled thinly. She doubted it would be so easy, but his optimism was pleasant to be around, abet hard on her headache."You are a very special person, Naruto-kun."
Naruto blushed, and grinned widely at her.
"Well, so are you to me!"
Haku flushed and smiled softly as she felt a warmth rise up from chest. "Naruto-kun, were you serious when you said that I am a precious person to you?"
"I am serious," Naruto said with complete sincerity. "Totally seriously. I promise to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. And I always keep my promises, always. Dattebayo!"
"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Her smile widened. "And I was serious with mine. I will do all I can to help you achieve your dreams."
"Well then, that's all there is to it," Naruto nodded. "We'll achieve our dreams together, Haku-chan! I promise!"
Haku smiled radiantly at the boy, and looking at him with kindly. "Naruto-kun," she began softly.
Naruto blushed and with his heart pounding in his chest, he reached out to take Haku's hand, and looked her right in the eyes. It felt a bit cheesy, but it seemed to work in the few films he'd managed to sneak into to see.
“Yes, Haku-chan?â€
"Would you please be kind enough get my a glass of water, some pain killers, and maybe some real senbon? I am in a great deal of pain right now," she stated matter of factly.
Naruto coughed, and let her hand go as the moment shattered around him. "Um, right. I'll be right back."
2
Tsunami smiled to herself as the smell of grilling fish permeated the air of her home's kitchen. For the first time since Kaiza's death, she wasn't plagued by nagging sense of dread that had overtaken the entire country. For the first time in a long time, the Country of Wave was free from Gato's tyranny. To her this was a double relief as it also meant that her father was no longer being targeted by Gato's thugs and ninja.
She frowned slightly. Gato's ninja. There was the one sore point that threatened to ruin her relief. Last night they'd brought home that cross dressing ninja girl of Gato's. She knew ninja didn't take little things like attempted murder personally, it was just business, but she wasn't a ninja and she'd already lost her husband to that bastard midget, how dare they try and kill her father?
Really, the only reason she even let the girl into her house was because she'd felt some sympathy for her. According to the ninja she’d just lost someone important to her, and despite her own apprehension, Tsunami had decided that it would be cruel to just throw her out into the cold to find for herself. Of course, she'd immediately gone and spent all that good will by getting drunk in her furo and almost having her way with Naruto-kun! Oh, that girl was just lucky she'd been putting Inari to bed because if he'd been there to see that particular bit of chaos, ninja or not, heads would have rolled! Even now, the only reason she didn't kick out that cross dressing seductress was that she didn't want to anger Kakashi and Naruto after all they'd done for her family.
"Hey, Tsunami-neechan? Do we have some aspirin or anything like that? I didn't find any in our first aid kits so I gotta ask you."
Tsunami almost jumped out of her skin. She hadn't heard him coming at all! How could a kid that loud move so silently? It was moments like this that reminded her, that while yes Naruto was a sweet, adorable, hyperactive boy, he was also a trained assassin. Regardless of that, he still managed to be one of the most genuinely good natured people she'd ever met. She smiled. He was a wonderful young man.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I believe we're out. I believe you sensei already used the last of them." Then he threw her the bottle and told her to go buy more. Damn freeloader.
"Oh man!" Naruto muttered. He shook his head and sighed. "Senbon it is, I guess..."
Naruto pulled out his canteen, filled it up from the tap, and started towards the door. Once he reached in he turned around and smiled at her. "Thanks, Tsunami-neechan!"
Tsunami frowned slightly. She could hear a weariness in his voice, and she didn't like it. "Is something the matter?"
"Hm?" Naruto blinked. "Oh. No. Haku-chan's just got a headache. I was just getting her some water."
"About that," she crossed her arms and looked at him sternly, her frown deepening into a full scowl. "While I do understand that you are... of that age, you will behave yourselves in this house! You are very fortunate that Inari wasn't here when your friend had his fit. That is a talk that I would like avoid for the next few years. Do you understand me, young man?"
Naruto blushed deeply in embarrassment and scratched the back of his head with a big, silly grin on his face."Right, Tsunami-neechan! Er, sorry about that. It won't happen again, promise!"
"It better not," she replied glaring at him.
"I'm sorry," he said again, visibly wilting under her gaze as he began to look down at his feet. It cut deeply to have someone he liked look at him like that. It felt like the cold stares of the villagers. "I really am."
Tsunami's annoyance vanished in a moment, replaced by concern. He'd saved her life. He'd saved her son's life. He'd saved her father's life. He'd brought hope back to their entire country. He'd defeated Gato's minions with his own two... thousand hands. He was a hero, yet he was shrinking away from a simple glare as if it were a dagger to his throat. While she was angry with him, the boy had well earned a place in her heart. She didn't know why he was reacting like this, but she didn't like it.
Her face lit up with an angelic smile as she stared down at the strange boy with an almost maternal affection. Gently, she placed her hand on his head, much like she'd do with Inari when he'd behaved inappropriately and accepted that he'd done wrong. "I accept your apology, Naruto-kun," she said in the very same voice she'd have used with her son.
The effect was almost immediate. Naruto's eyes lit up with the same passion she'd come to expect of him, and his endearing smile returned, as bright as ever. "Thank you, Tsunami-neechan!"
"So, Haku-san has a hangover?" she asked sternly, changing the subject for the time being, withdrawing her hand and crossing her arms ever so slightly.
"Er... Yes, yes she does," Naruto said, fidgeting. While before her stare had reminded him of the villagers, now she reminded him of Iruka-sensei when he caught him greasing the toilet seats in the facility lounge... again.
Again his reaction was much stronger than she'd expect. While she was not an expert in some things, she liked to at least think she at least was somewhat competent at reading others, and Naruto's was acting more like a boy Inari's age then the young teenager that she assumed him to be.
She didn't like the effect, and she certainly did not like the implications. Feeling that she owed the boy a bit of explanation for her coldness on the subject, she smiled at the boy and explained. "Naruto-kun, while I do understand that you, as ninja, don't take such thing personally, she did try to kill my father, and I am not a ninja."
"I know, Tsunami-nee-chan, I know, but... But she isn't going to now! And he's not dead! And she just lost, well... Her father, basically," Naruto said. It was the best analogy he could draw.
She nodded, but scowled slightly. "I understand that, but that girl is trouble. Getting drunk and trying to seduce you? You deserve better."
Naruto flushed brightly and began to twiddle his thumbs. "Actually, thats all my fault," he admitted after a minute of studying his toes.
"What?" Tsunami asked levelly.
"I was the one who brought the Sake into the bath."
"What." Tsunami repeated, her eyes narrowing somewhat. Hero or not, if she found out this brat was trying to take advantage of a young woman who'd just lost her father...
"I didn't know she was a girl, and Kakashi sensei gave me the sake, and he said that it helps make the pain stop and that friendships start when you drink together, and thought Haku might like a drink, and things just kind of happened, dattebayo!" he quickly explained, his words melting together in a single barely coherent whole.
Tsunami's twitching eyebrow moved into overtime as her righteous feminine rage shifted targets. First, he reads those perverted orange books in front of her little boy. Then he freeloads without even as much as a thank you. Now he sets up sweet Naruto-kun and that apparently innocent and grieving Haku girl up for this kind of embarrassment?!
Tsunami took a deep breath. Alright, she was decided. Hatake Kakashi must die, and if she had any realistic chance of being successful she would have gone into his room right then and smother him to death with a pillow.
After a moment, Tsunami sighed deeply and with a shake of her head, began to collect herself. Then without a word spoken, she began to rummage through the shelves and drawers of her kitchen, collecting a bewildering series of strange ingredients, including but not limited to raw eggs, soy sauce, beef bullion, cold black tea, and raw wasabi from around the kitchen. Then with practice ease, she dumped the ingredients into the blender and moments later poured the resulting viscous mass into a glass which she then offered to Naruto. "Give her this."
"What is it?" Naruto asked, wearily studying the liquid as if he was afraid it was going to leap out of the glass and attack him. Not an entirely unreasonable reaction, really.
"Hangover cure," she replied, matter of factly "Tell her to pinch her nose and drink it all in one go or it won't work."
"Are you sure this is even fit for human consumption?" he asked, still unsure.
"Probably not," she admitted, "But it works for my father, and he's still alive." Thanks to you.
Naruto's face lit back up. "Okay! Thanks, Tsunami-neechan!" Naruto said, hugging the older woman a bit awkwardly. Still, it was the best way he could think of to convey his thanks.
"You're welcome, Naruto-kun. Just tell her to behave herself while she's staying here! I will allow no funny business in this house!"
"I understand, Tsunami-neechan. Don't worry, no funny business!" Naruto repeated, heading out the door. His newly awakened libido cheered on the fact that there were many ways to exploit the language.
2 2
Sakura yawned and scratched the back of her head as she walked out of the bathroom. After the last week, oh she was so happy that she'd been given a chance to sleep in. With a smile on her face she took in a deep breath from her nose. She immediately regretted it.
"What is that STENCH?" she exclaimed, gagging and pinching her nose in hopes of keeping any more of the reeking odre out. "It smells like rotten feet!"
With a grimace on her face she turned towards the source of the stench, and of course, without any doubt, she should have known. It was coming from Naruto.
She frowned. Okay, what’s he up to this time? What could have done to create such a stink?
Did he shit himself or something?
She resisted the urge to shake her head. Nah, he wasn't that bad.
True, but he was still an idiot.
And a far cry from Sasuke! Shannaro!
She grinned like a shark and nodded, in complete agreement with herself. Still, she needed to see what the heck was going on.
Blissfully unaware of Sakura's ongoing inner dialog, Naruto smiled as he passed her and paused to say hello. "Oh, hey Sakura-chan!"
Sakura frowned at him and looked down at the glass of... something in his hands. With a grimace on her face she immediately knew that it was the origin this horrible smell. She could almost taste it. Yuck.
"What the is that stuff?" she demanded, her disgust apparent.
"It's a hangover cure for Haku-chan," Naruto replied.
"How is that supposed to cure a hangover? Make him forget about it due to the smell?" Sakura scowled, crossing her arms. "And how would you know how to make a hangover cure anyways?"
"I don't, Tsunami-neechan made it," Naruto said. He shrugged and scowled. "I don't know how it works, but if Tsunami-neechan says it will, then it will!"
Sakura blinked. "Oh." After a moment she frowned. Sakura frowned. "So... what exactly happened last night?"
Naruto blushed heavily. "Um... Well... Er... Why do you want to know?" He asked quietly.
She glared at him angrily, her eyebrow a twitching freely. Really, the only reason she didn't hit him right there was she was afraid that cup of stuff would eat through the floorboards, or ever worse, get on her. "What did you do to Haku-san?"
Naruto smiled nervously. Sakura was unpredictable, crazy, and violent-He had to admit that for some reason that was part of the reason he liked her. But he didn't want Sakura to upset the cure and water he had for Haku, so he was forced to do something he was not accustomed to: making fast excuses.
"Huh? Nothing! I didn't do anything to her! What makes you think I did anything with her!†He paused awkwardly and quickly amended his statement, “To her?"
"Nothing, then what was that Sasuke said about you making out with..." she paused for a moment as she rewound their conversation. Wait a second... "Her?!" she exclaimed, "Haku's a girl?!"
"Well... Yeah, she is a girl!" Naruto said. He couldn't help the dopey smile that emerged on his face as he recalled just how much of a girl she really was.
Sakura began to twitch madly, trying to decide how to react.
She was going kill him! That damn pervert! Poor Haku-san was upset over her father and he tried to take advantage her! She was going to make him wish he was never born!
Bah. He was probably just being an idiot. Bet he didn't even know she was a girl. Heck, Naruto wouldn't know sex if you forced him to read a copy of Icha Icha.
Though he was still the pervert who created that perverted Oiroki no Jutsu!
But he was a pervert who uses perversion against other perverts. When it comes to his own self's a total moron. For the kami's sake, he was too dense to notice how hard Hinata had it for him, and she had it so bad it was downright creepy.
Stalker creepy.
She hated people like that.
Yeah, but Haku's a girl? What a disappointment. Even though he's an idiot, Naruto's still pretty cute, at least when he' wasn't talking.
Not as cute as Sasuke.
Of course not, but still cute, and Haku made a really cute guy. Just the idea of two guys that cute in the steamy bath naked, glistening bodies, showing their love for each other...
Yeah. That sucked, but at least she saw Sasuke's thingy!
Shannaro! Beat that Ino-pig! Bahahaha!
Naruto felt a bit awkward just standing there as Sakura spaced out with that creepy smile on her face. It was like she wasn't even there. After a moment he wove his hand in front of her face. Nada. He stepped back and grimaced. Was that drool?
"Er, Sakura-chan? You all right?" Naruto asked, concerned.
"Ah, what?" Sakura asked snapping back to reality. "What were we talking about again?"
"Um," Naruto found that thinking was actually a very helpful thing to do. Past experience, combined with his knowledge of Sakura's personality, forced him to the conclusion that he should take a break when he saw one. "Haku being a girl. Speaking of which, I need to go see her, she has a hangover and stuff."
Sakura blushed and nodded. "Um. Right. You go do that."
Wow. Naruto took a deep breath as he left. Thinking before I act kinda kicks ass! I'll have to do it more often.
Quickly putting his crazy teammate behind him, he entered Haku's room, smiling brightly.
He felt a sting of pity mixed with guilt as he saw Haku laying on her futon with her head under her pillow, moaning pitifully. She was laying on her stomach with her rear slightly in the air. Now, that was one part of her that he hadn't seen the night before, but from what he could guess through the thin robe it was as well formed as the rest of her. He shook his head, banishing the bad thoughts.
With a frown on his face, he sat down next to her. "Haku-chan? I'm back... I've got some water and a hangover cure," He winced. He'd gotten so mixed up with Sakura-chan, he'd forgotten to check their weapons pile for Haku-chan's needles! Now he really felt like a jerk! Regardless, he continued. Maybe she wouldn't need them. He continued, "Tsunami-nee-chan made it... She says to pinch your nose and drink it all at once though, otherwise it won't work."
Haku turned over and looked at the glass of ‘cure’ dubiously. Honestly, he couldn't blame her. "Are you sure that isn't some kind of poison?"
"Tsunami-neechan wouldn't poison you," Naruto hoped. "She says it hasn't killed her dad yet, and she makes it for him all the time."
"Are you sure?" she asked taking the glass and looking at it with a grimace that was almost comical on such a pretty face. “I-I think its moving...â€
"I know it smells horrible but I trust her," Naruto said more firmly this time.
She looked at him for a moment then nodded. Slowly, she pinched her nose and started to drink it. Her face twisted into a mask of complete suffering, but she kept chugging until its gone. The second she was finished though, she roughly pushed the glass into Naruto's hands and made a B-line for the rest room holding her mouth.
Naruto, alarmed, ran in behind her, ignoring Sakura's indignant sputtering as he pushed past her. Inside he found Haku on her knees, worshiping the porcelain goddess, offering up the contents of her stomach in sacrifice to the toilet gods.
Naruto was reminded of the time that time Ayame got really sick and he'd stayed with her and her dad for a week to help take care of her so her father didn't have to close the restaurant. He simply stood back, held her hair, rubbed her back, and let her do what she needed to, like he'd done for Ayame when she was ill.
He looked back at the door and saw Sakura on the other side. At first she was giving him a dirty look, after all, he'd just followed a scrambling girl into the toilet. This was only momentary though, as assumption quickly gave way to comprehension, and her face softened until she simply nodded to him and closed the sliding door behind them.
Once she was finished heaving, Haku slowly sat on the tile floor and looked over to him. "Naruto-kun," Haku said wearily, glaring at him but not particularity angry. "Next time you hand me some mysterious, vile smelling sludge and call it a cure, I'm going to force you to drink it yourself."
"Um, fair enough," Naruto said, handing her the canteen and offering to help her up.
She accepted both, and stumbled over to the sink, leaning over it for support.. Looking in the mirror, she frowned slightly at her split lip and the black and blue bruises on her face. Naruto winced as if struck. He caused those. He hurt her, and while she was an enemy at the time, he still didn't like being responsible.
Not noticing Naruto's discomfort, Haku used the canteen it to wash out her mouth and grimaced, rubbing her temples. She looked back down at the canteen then drank the rest and smiled. Looking back to Naruto, she said, "I actually think it worked."
Naruto's sorrow was lightened by the sound of relief in her voice. "Well, see? That's great! Told ya," Naruto grinned.
She scowled and grabbed her side with a wince as she stood up, no longer in pain but still unsteady on her feet. “Please, Naruto. It no longer a constant ache, but I still feel sensitive to light and sound.â€
Naruto grimaced, once again feeling responsibility for her discomfort. “Alright, Haku-chan,†he replied with a nod. “Here, I'll give you a hand.â€
Being careful not to grope her by accident, he wrapped an arm around her waist to support her, as they slowly made their way out of the restroom.
In the living room Sakura frowned for a moment in internal debate, then asked, "Naruto, where's Kakashi-sensei?"
"He said we could sleep in," Naruto replied. "But Tsunami-neechan's almost done breakfast so maybe you should wake him and Sasuke up. I'm going to help Haku out."
She nodded to him and he continued on to Haku's room. Once they were inside, he closed the door, helped her lay back down on her futon, and sat nearby, feeling rather self-conscious.
"Um... Haku-chan?" He began. He was trying to find something to say, but this thinking thing made it hard to just blurt out whatever came to mind. He was actually glad about that. Asking her if they could make out some more probably wouldn't go over well.
"Hmmm? Yes, Naruto-kun?" she asked, turning to him.
He sucked in a deep breath as he looked at her. She was sitting on the futon, leaning back against the wall with her legs extended and slightly spread, dressed in a yukata that looked to be a couple sizes too large. The thin robe fell open about her breasts, not enough to flash him like before, but enough to display cleavage. The robe was riding up slightly given him an uninterrupted view of smooth legs and hint of creamy white thighs. "So do you need my help with anything?" He asked, part of him hoping beyond hope that whatever she asked would involve getting naked.
Haku nodded and lifted up what looked like a bandage from her clothes pile. "I'd like you to help me put on my breast bindings. With the sourness in my muscles I find that I do not have the range of motion to put them on properly."
"Sure thing Haku-chan!" Naruto grinned. So it all actually was true. There really was a God, and he did listen to our prayers!
[hr]
Some changes in this one. It changes a bit more in chapter 3 (which I'll post in a couple days) and chapter 4 starts to diverge seriously.
She hurt. There was no other way to describe it. There was no part of her body that didn't ache. From her head to her toes she felt like she'd been beaten with clubs. While he'd only struck her a her couple times, Naruto's strength had been truly monstrous, and her landings far from graceful. Her hangover only added to her pain by providing a new form of unpleasantness she'd never before experienced and hoped never to do so again.
Her state of near chakra exhaustion only added to her troubles, leaving her feeling like her body was made of lead. While not unknown to her, this degree of chakra fatigue was something she rarely experienced. Her techniques were too powerful and her reserves too deep. It was rare for her to ever get pushed anywhere near this far. The worst though, was the pain in her heart.
She would never be able to forget what happened on that bridge. Thanks to her weariness, fatigue, and hangover, her recall was not what it should be. To her the battle registered as a chaotic mass of memories, memories of melancholy, pain, loss, and rage. In quick succession she'd lost her dream, her father, and her innocence. While she'd kill before, it had never been driven by the desire to end the live of another. She'd never taken any pleasure in the idea of killing, and had always avoiding unnecessary bloodshed. She hated seeing people suffer needlessly. She shook her head. Ironic, considering that she was formerly the tool of the Demon of the Mist, who was famed for using carnage as a weapon.
This time though, she’d only had one thing in mind when she acted. She wanted to destroy him. And she did. And she enjoyed it. This disgusted her, but at the same time, she found it difficult to care. Gato deserved it. He was a vile creature whose duplicity and selfishness had lead to Zabuza-san's death. While he hadn't delivered the killing blow, this entire debacle was his responsibility. Satisfaction was to be expected. Killing him had simply been the act of avenging her master.
She paused. No. Not master. Her father. Before he died, Zabuza had said, or at least tried to say that she was like a daughter to him. He'd told her the one thing that she'd wanted to hear from him her entire life. That he loved her. He called her his legacy. In that act, he'd given her the most precious of gifts. He'd made her more than an extension of his will. He'd declared to her that she was his precious person. She was his child, his apprentice, no longer his tool. She was his heir, and through her, his memory would continue to live on.
Even in her pain this brought her comfort. For that brief moment, she saw the love in his eyes and it filled a void she never knew existed. For that moment he valued her for her and not for her blood. In that moment, she'd gone beyond being useful to being cherished. A small smile came to her face and she hugged herself, desperately trying to hold onto that precious moment where they we no longer weapon and master, but father and child.
Haku blinked as she felt a squishy sensation under her robe.
She looked down and saw that her breasts unbound, covered only by a thin yukata that only just managed to preserve her feminine modesty. Her eyes went wide with horror. Oh, no! What had she done?
If there was one thing that Zabuza had grilled into her with almost obsessive intensity, it was that her true gender was to be kept secret for as long as possible. Under no circumstances could the fact that she was actually female could end up in the Bingo Books. The reason was entirely defensive. It was an unspoken fact that many hunter-nin abused the amount of freedom that the nature of their profession allowed them to indulge in otherwise unspeakable acts of cruelty and sadism. Despite the existence of regulations to the contrary, many often felt free to take certain... liberties with the kunoichi they were hunting before disposing of them. Of course, in Kirigakure there wasn't even that. That monstrous bastard Yagura, while not actively encouraging it, actually condoned it claiming that it helped encourage loyalty among the ranks!
The price of defeat for a ninja was death. She knew this, she accepted this, and she knew well that the only reason she was alive now was due to the mercy of these Konoha-nin. It was simply the way of things. But there were things worse than death. She shuttered. It made her blood run colder than the ice she so casually manipulated. To her it was the stuff of nightmares. That was why she hid her gender. If hiding her gender was the price to pay to avoid a slow, agonizing, degrading end, it was one well paid.
There was no way that this was going to be kept out of Konoha's Bingo Books now, and once it was in their Bingo Books, everyone would copy it. Even worse, without Zabuza's reputation to shield her, she had no idea that Kiri would step up their attempts. Her existence as Zabuza's accomplice wasn't widely known due to the fact that up until this point she'd spent her life living in Zabuza's shadow, protected by his reputation and tendency not to leave survivors, she was on her own now and once Konoha listed her, all bets were off.
She felt disgusted at her own foolishness. How could she have been so stupid? She took a deep breath and tried to remember. What could have caused her to lose complete control of her senses so badly. She paused. Okay, that was a rhetorical question. The hangover made it obviously that she'd gotten drunk and done something idiotic. The question was what had she done and how's she'd gotten to this point to begin with.
She sat up and, ignoring her pain in order to try and think. She remembered passing out due to injury and exhaustion. After that, not so much. Her head hurt too badly, and just sitting up felt like a complicated task. While she never drank to excess before, and Zabuza considered it a weakness, Gouzu and Meizu loved nothing more than getting themselves drunk to the point of stupidity, finding a couple of local harlots, and dragging themselves home the next morning in a pitiful state. While she never took any pleasure in the suffering of others, she'd always thought it served them right. But now, for the first time, she actually felt a bit of empathy for the discomfort those two morons had been in.
Taking a deep breath she looked about the room, ignoring the nauseating spinning sensation, and seeing her clothing folded next to her futon, fumbled in the pile checking to see if she had any senbon. As she'd expected, the ones in her clothing were gone. After all, it is not a very bright ninja who leaves a potential enemy with weapons, even if they were no longer an open threat. Unfortunately for her though, they were rather thorough in the search. Like any kunoichi worth the title, she had her own little hindering places for weapons in case she was captured to aid her in any potential escapes, but they'd all be checked. Kakashi. She sighed. Few genin could be this thorough, it was the mark of a professional.
Gritting her teeth to off the distrction caused by her hangover, she summoned her power and formed a couple small ice senbon. Without pause, she pressed them into several acupuncture points. Within seconds her screaming migraine reduced itself to a dull but persistent headache. While it wasn't a perfect solution, it did reduce her headache enough for her to be able to think clearly.
Taking a deep breath, she focused. She remembered waking up in the bridge builder's house after the battle. She remembered tending the Konoha-nin's wounds and eating dinner with them, then she decided to take a bath, then-. She blushed. Then Naruto had walked in, and in order to conceal her gender she hid most of her body under the water. He sat across from her and they started to talk. He'd shared his sake with her, which explained how she'd gotten drunk. That's where everything began to fade.
She crossed her legs and concentrated, ignoring her body's protest. After that. She smiled. After that she'd opened up to him. He'd told her that she was alone, and he'd sworn his friendship to her. He'd declared that she was one of his precious people. He valued her existence and she declared she'd help him accomplish his dream and become leader of his village. She smiled. That was a large oath on her part, one that she might not have made so quite so swiftly without the Sake, but she knew she'd still would have made it. They were very much alike. Both of them wished to become strong to protect their precious people and by declaring that she was important to him, he became important to her as well.
A look of contentment came to Haku's face as she felting a bit of the void in her spirit fill. She'd been afraid that she'd be unwanted again, but she'd already found another precious person, and Naruto's offer to introduce her to his precious people? It was almost enough to make her feel giddy.
After taking a moment to bask in the warmth, she returned to trying to remember the night before. Now, what had happened next? She furrowed her brow in concentration and thought. She flushed. Then they'd started to tease each other and she got angry and showed him she was a girl by standing up and flashing him! Then... her eyes went wide as she flushed brightly, and gasped in embarrassment. Oh my! Then she fell on top of him and the started to kiss and do this, that, and the other thing! To make matters worse their sensei and the black hared boy walked in on them! She shook her head almost By this point she was all but glowing red with humiliation. She didn't want to remember anymore! It was too embarrassing!
She took a deep breath and tried to fight down her blush. How was she going to face everyone like this She was so embarrassed! She didn't know what to say or-.
"Hey, Haku-chan!"
With a small exclamation of surprise, Haku jumped back and spun around to face the new interloper. Biting back a groan she grabbed her head and cursed under her breath. She'd been startled, and the momentary disruption of her concentration had been just enough to allow her senbon to melt, giving her hangover leave to return full force. Her eyes narrowed slightly as they focused on the blond boy in the doorway. She wanted to be mad, but the look of barely constrained joy on his face made that difficult. Seeing her presence cause such happiness in others it made her feel valued, and that feeling was more than worth any temporary discomfort.
"Do you need something, Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, with a slight a grimace of pain on her face.
"I just wanted to see what you were doing, that's all," Naruto said, smiling radiantly at her.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she replied, wincing again as her brain felt like it was pulsing in her head, "But could you keep your voice down?"
The boy blinked in slight surprise and bewilderment, but acquiesced. "Huh? Oh, sure," Naruto said in a quieter but still uncomfortably loud voice.
"Thank you," Haku whispered hoarsely deciding to take what she could get as she summoned a second set of ice senbon from the ambient moisture, and moved to use them to dull her hangover.
Seeing her about to place the ice needles into her flesh, Naruto reacted with surprising speed. "Huh?! Hey, what the heck are you doing that for?!" Naruto shouted, frantically grabbing for the needles before she could stick them into her head.
"Don't touch those!" Haku growled, pushing him away. "I have a hangover and they help dull the pain!"
"Oh! Er, sorry... I didn't know you could do that," Naruto said. He didn't know that much about acupuncture or anything like that, but be he supposed it made sense-If you could make people appear dead with needles in the right places, then why not relieve pain?
She winced in both pain and frustration as she looked down at the puddle of water in her hands. The moment of distraction caused her to lose focus again. With a sigh she summoned yet another set and carefully applied them. She sighed in slight contentment as her headache once again became manageable. "This would be much easier if I didn't have to focus on them," she reflecting, plopping back onto her back with her arms spread to the side, jostling her top.
Naruto blushed and his eyes went wide, but he was unable to look away, gaze firmly locked on Haku's chest and the bountiful treasures that had been partially exposed from her loose top. Part of his mind told him he was a pervert, while his awakening hormones told that part to sit down and shut up and enjoy the sight of her glorious peaks that you could make it if you turned your head and looked just right.
Haku met his stupid smile with a peeked eyebrow and slowly followed his gaze downwards. Her eyes went wide and she blushed brightly as she snapped her yukata shut while simultaneously shooting him a withering glare.
"S-Sorry!" Naruto said, slapping a hand over his eyes. "I'm sorry, really!"
He turned away for good measure.
Haku sighed. It was just hard to get mad at him. For someone who'd always wanted nothing more than to be appreciated, any attention was better than none, even if it wasn't entirely innocent. Besides, he was cute when he was embarrassed. It made him difficult to stay angry with. "Naruto-kun, I know you're not a pervert." She took a deep breath. Since they've already had managed to work themselves into an awkward situation, might as well take that last step and make things downright uncomfortable, after all, they'd need to talk about it eventually. "About what happened last night..."
Naruto blushed harder. "I um... It..."
"Neither of us were in our right minds." She sighed. "We were both drunk and acted like fools."
Naruto lowered his hand and stared at her.
"But Haku-chan... I... I wouldn't..." Naruto couldn't help being confused. Last night was, well, the affection-starved boy found himself cursing his sensei for interrupting it. Haku was so soft, so warm, and how she touched him, he sighed. It was overwhelming to a boy who could probably count how many times he'd been hugged in his life on both hands.
"I know you wouldn't. It was nice being close to someone, even though it wasn't," She paused, looking for the correct word, "Appropriate." She sighed and lowered her head. "By showing my secret, I've endangered myself, Naruto-kun"
"What? Why?" Naruto asked, even more confused. Haku was really strong! Stronger than he was, well, at least without using the fox's charka at least.
"Why would you hide what you are? You're awesome!"
"Naruto-kun," she asked seriously. "Do you have any idea what Kiri hunter-nin do to Kunoichi they capture alive before they kill them?"
Naruto frowned and shook his head. From Haku's tone of voice though, it couldn't be anything good.
She paused and looked at him levelly. He really couldn't be that naive, could he? "You really don't, do you."
"No...," Naruto admitted.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In the past, Zabuza had told her many times that the ninja of Konohagakure were soft. While she would never insult them by saying it aloud, it was true. They were soft, but she believed that there was a strength in that softness. Those who hardened their hearts lacked the ability to form bonds with others, to find precious people. If Naruto was indicative of their genin, then it really was a two edged sword. They formed bonds easily allowing them to draw great strength from their attachments, but at the same time they were left blind to some of the true horrors of the world. She released her breath and opened her eyes. "Without the protection of a Hidden Village, chances are that if I am ever capture alive by hunter-nin, I will be brutally raped and then tortured to death."
Naruto stared in slack jawed horror at Haku, and then his eyes narrowed to slits, literally, as a wellspring of righteous, burning rage rose up from the depths of Naruto's heart. He hadn't known Haku for long, but she was a good person and he'd be damned if he let anything like that happen to her!
"Well then, you're coming back to Konoha with us!" Naruto said. His tone brooked no argument.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," Haku said after a moment's reflection. "But I am afraid that is neither of our decisions to make."
"I'm sure the Old Man will let you into the village! I mean, there's gotta be some way to do it!" Naruto said in an enthusiastic voice.
Haku smiled thinly. She doubted it would be so easy, but his optimism was pleasant to be around, abet hard on her headache."You are a very special person, Naruto-kun."
Naruto blushed, and grinned widely at her.
"Well, so are you to me!"
Haku flushed and smiled softly as she felt a warmth rise up from chest. "Naruto-kun, were you serious when you said that I am a precious person to you?"
"I am serious," Naruto said with complete sincerity. "Totally seriously. I promise to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. And I always keep my promises, always. Dattebayo!"
"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Her smile widened. "And I was serious with mine. I will do all I can to help you achieve your dreams."
"Well then, that's all there is to it," Naruto nodded. "We'll achieve our dreams together, Haku-chan! I promise!"
Haku smiled radiantly at the boy, and looking at him with kindly. "Naruto-kun," she began softly.
Naruto blushed and with his heart pounding in his chest, he reached out to take Haku's hand, and looked her right in the eyes. It felt a bit cheesy, but it seemed to work in the few films he'd managed to sneak into to see.
“Yes, Haku-chan?â€
"Would you please be kind enough get my a glass of water, some pain killers, and maybe some real senbon? I am in a great deal of pain right now," she stated matter of factly.
Naruto coughed, and let her hand go as the moment shattered around him. "Um, right. I'll be right back."
2
Tsunami smiled to herself as the smell of grilling fish permeated the air of her home's kitchen. For the first time since Kaiza's death, she wasn't plagued by nagging sense of dread that had overtaken the entire country. For the first time in a long time, the Country of Wave was free from Gato's tyranny. To her this was a double relief as it also meant that her father was no longer being targeted by Gato's thugs and ninja.
She frowned slightly. Gato's ninja. There was the one sore point that threatened to ruin her relief. Last night they'd brought home that cross dressing ninja girl of Gato's. She knew ninja didn't take little things like attempted murder personally, it was just business, but she wasn't a ninja and she'd already lost her husband to that bastard midget, how dare they try and kill her father?
Really, the only reason she even let the girl into her house was because she'd felt some sympathy for her. According to the ninja she’d just lost someone important to her, and despite her own apprehension, Tsunami had decided that it would be cruel to just throw her out into the cold to find for herself. Of course, she'd immediately gone and spent all that good will by getting drunk in her furo and almost having her way with Naruto-kun! Oh, that girl was just lucky she'd been putting Inari to bed because if he'd been there to see that particular bit of chaos, ninja or not, heads would have rolled! Even now, the only reason she didn't kick out that cross dressing seductress was that she didn't want to anger Kakashi and Naruto after all they'd done for her family.
"Hey, Tsunami-neechan? Do we have some aspirin or anything like that? I didn't find any in our first aid kits so I gotta ask you."
Tsunami almost jumped out of her skin. She hadn't heard him coming at all! How could a kid that loud move so silently? It was moments like this that reminded her, that while yes Naruto was a sweet, adorable, hyperactive boy, he was also a trained assassin. Regardless of that, he still managed to be one of the most genuinely good natured people she'd ever met. She smiled. He was a wonderful young man.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I believe we're out. I believe you sensei already used the last of them." Then he threw her the bottle and told her to go buy more. Damn freeloader.
"Oh man!" Naruto muttered. He shook his head and sighed. "Senbon it is, I guess..."
Naruto pulled out his canteen, filled it up from the tap, and started towards the door. Once he reached in he turned around and smiled at her. "Thanks, Tsunami-neechan!"
Tsunami frowned slightly. She could hear a weariness in his voice, and she didn't like it. "Is something the matter?"
"Hm?" Naruto blinked. "Oh. No. Haku-chan's just got a headache. I was just getting her some water."
"About that," she crossed her arms and looked at him sternly, her frown deepening into a full scowl. "While I do understand that you are... of that age, you will behave yourselves in this house! You are very fortunate that Inari wasn't here when your friend had his fit. That is a talk that I would like avoid for the next few years. Do you understand me, young man?"
Naruto blushed deeply in embarrassment and scratched the back of his head with a big, silly grin on his face."Right, Tsunami-neechan! Er, sorry about that. It won't happen again, promise!"
"It better not," she replied glaring at him.
"I'm sorry," he said again, visibly wilting under her gaze as he began to look down at his feet. It cut deeply to have someone he liked look at him like that. It felt like the cold stares of the villagers. "I really am."
Tsunami's annoyance vanished in a moment, replaced by concern. He'd saved her life. He'd saved her son's life. He'd saved her father's life. He'd brought hope back to their entire country. He'd defeated Gato's minions with his own two... thousand hands. He was a hero, yet he was shrinking away from a simple glare as if it were a dagger to his throat. While she was angry with him, the boy had well earned a place in her heart. She didn't know why he was reacting like this, but she didn't like it.
Her face lit up with an angelic smile as she stared down at the strange boy with an almost maternal affection. Gently, she placed her hand on his head, much like she'd do with Inari when he'd behaved inappropriately and accepted that he'd done wrong. "I accept your apology, Naruto-kun," she said in the very same voice she'd have used with her son.
The effect was almost immediate. Naruto's eyes lit up with the same passion she'd come to expect of him, and his endearing smile returned, as bright as ever. "Thank you, Tsunami-neechan!"
"So, Haku-san has a hangover?" she asked sternly, changing the subject for the time being, withdrawing her hand and crossing her arms ever so slightly.
"Er... Yes, yes she does," Naruto said, fidgeting. While before her stare had reminded him of the villagers, now she reminded him of Iruka-sensei when he caught him greasing the toilet seats in the facility lounge... again.
Again his reaction was much stronger than she'd expect. While she was not an expert in some things, she liked to at least think she at least was somewhat competent at reading others, and Naruto's was acting more like a boy Inari's age then the young teenager that she assumed him to be.
She didn't like the effect, and she certainly did not like the implications. Feeling that she owed the boy a bit of explanation for her coldness on the subject, she smiled at the boy and explained. "Naruto-kun, while I do understand that you, as ninja, don't take such thing personally, she did try to kill my father, and I am not a ninja."
"I know, Tsunami-nee-chan, I know, but... But she isn't going to now! And he's not dead! And she just lost, well... Her father, basically," Naruto said. It was the best analogy he could draw.
She nodded, but scowled slightly. "I understand that, but that girl is trouble. Getting drunk and trying to seduce you? You deserve better."
Naruto flushed brightly and began to twiddle his thumbs. "Actually, thats all my fault," he admitted after a minute of studying his toes.
"What?" Tsunami asked levelly.
"I was the one who brought the Sake into the bath."
"What." Tsunami repeated, her eyes narrowing somewhat. Hero or not, if she found out this brat was trying to take advantage of a young woman who'd just lost her father...
"I didn't know she was a girl, and Kakashi sensei gave me the sake, and he said that it helps make the pain stop and that friendships start when you drink together, and thought Haku might like a drink, and things just kind of happened, dattebayo!" he quickly explained, his words melting together in a single barely coherent whole.
Tsunami's twitching eyebrow moved into overtime as her righteous feminine rage shifted targets. First, he reads those perverted orange books in front of her little boy. Then he freeloads without even as much as a thank you. Now he sets up sweet Naruto-kun and that apparently innocent and grieving Haku girl up for this kind of embarrassment?!
Tsunami took a deep breath. Alright, she was decided. Hatake Kakashi must die, and if she had any realistic chance of being successful she would have gone into his room right then and smother him to death with a pillow.
After a moment, Tsunami sighed deeply and with a shake of her head, began to collect herself. Then without a word spoken, she began to rummage through the shelves and drawers of her kitchen, collecting a bewildering series of strange ingredients, including but not limited to raw eggs, soy sauce, beef bullion, cold black tea, and raw wasabi from around the kitchen. Then with practice ease, she dumped the ingredients into the blender and moments later poured the resulting viscous mass into a glass which she then offered to Naruto. "Give her this."
"What is it?" Naruto asked, wearily studying the liquid as if he was afraid it was going to leap out of the glass and attack him. Not an entirely unreasonable reaction, really.
"Hangover cure," she replied, matter of factly "Tell her to pinch her nose and drink it all in one go or it won't work."
"Are you sure this is even fit for human consumption?" he asked, still unsure.
"Probably not," she admitted, "But it works for my father, and he's still alive." Thanks to you.
Naruto's face lit back up. "Okay! Thanks, Tsunami-neechan!" Naruto said, hugging the older woman a bit awkwardly. Still, it was the best way he could think of to convey his thanks.
"You're welcome, Naruto-kun. Just tell her to behave herself while she's staying here! I will allow no funny business in this house!"
"I understand, Tsunami-neechan. Don't worry, no funny business!" Naruto repeated, heading out the door. His newly awakened libido cheered on the fact that there were many ways to exploit the language.
2 2
Sakura yawned and scratched the back of her head as she walked out of the bathroom. After the last week, oh she was so happy that she'd been given a chance to sleep in. With a smile on her face she took in a deep breath from her nose. She immediately regretted it.
"What is that STENCH?" she exclaimed, gagging and pinching her nose in hopes of keeping any more of the reeking odre out. "It smells like rotten feet!"
With a grimace on her face she turned towards the source of the stench, and of course, without any doubt, she should have known. It was coming from Naruto.
She frowned. Okay, what’s he up to this time? What could have done to create such a stink?
Did he shit himself or something?
She resisted the urge to shake her head. Nah, he wasn't that bad.
True, but he was still an idiot.
And a far cry from Sasuke! Shannaro!
She grinned like a shark and nodded, in complete agreement with herself. Still, she needed to see what the heck was going on.
Blissfully unaware of Sakura's ongoing inner dialog, Naruto smiled as he passed her and paused to say hello. "Oh, hey Sakura-chan!"
Sakura frowned at him and looked down at the glass of... something in his hands. With a grimace on her face she immediately knew that it was the origin this horrible smell. She could almost taste it. Yuck.
"What the is that stuff?" she demanded, her disgust apparent.
"It's a hangover cure for Haku-chan," Naruto replied.
"How is that supposed to cure a hangover? Make him forget about it due to the smell?" Sakura scowled, crossing her arms. "And how would you know how to make a hangover cure anyways?"
"I don't, Tsunami-neechan made it," Naruto said. He shrugged and scowled. "I don't know how it works, but if Tsunami-neechan says it will, then it will!"
Sakura blinked. "Oh." After a moment she frowned. Sakura frowned. "So... what exactly happened last night?"
Naruto blushed heavily. "Um... Well... Er... Why do you want to know?" He asked quietly.
She glared at him angrily, her eyebrow a twitching freely. Really, the only reason she didn't hit him right there was she was afraid that cup of stuff would eat through the floorboards, or ever worse, get on her. "What did you do to Haku-san?"
Naruto smiled nervously. Sakura was unpredictable, crazy, and violent-He had to admit that for some reason that was part of the reason he liked her. But he didn't want Sakura to upset the cure and water he had for Haku, so he was forced to do something he was not accustomed to: making fast excuses.
"Huh? Nothing! I didn't do anything to her! What makes you think I did anything with her!†He paused awkwardly and quickly amended his statement, “To her?"
"Nothing, then what was that Sasuke said about you making out with..." she paused for a moment as she rewound their conversation. Wait a second... "Her?!" she exclaimed, "Haku's a girl?!"
"Well... Yeah, she is a girl!" Naruto said. He couldn't help the dopey smile that emerged on his face as he recalled just how much of a girl she really was.
Sakura began to twitch madly, trying to decide how to react.
She was going kill him! That damn pervert! Poor Haku-san was upset over her father and he tried to take advantage her! She was going to make him wish he was never born!
Bah. He was probably just being an idiot. Bet he didn't even know she was a girl. Heck, Naruto wouldn't know sex if you forced him to read a copy of Icha Icha.
Though he was still the pervert who created that perverted Oiroki no Jutsu!
But he was a pervert who uses perversion against other perverts. When it comes to his own self's a total moron. For the kami's sake, he was too dense to notice how hard Hinata had it for him, and she had it so bad it was downright creepy.
Stalker creepy.
She hated people like that.
Yeah, but Haku's a girl? What a disappointment. Even though he's an idiot, Naruto's still pretty cute, at least when he' wasn't talking.
Not as cute as Sasuke.
Of course not, but still cute, and Haku made a really cute guy. Just the idea of two guys that cute in the steamy bath naked, glistening bodies, showing their love for each other...
Yeah. That sucked, but at least she saw Sasuke's thingy!
Shannaro! Beat that Ino-pig! Bahahaha!
Naruto felt a bit awkward just standing there as Sakura spaced out with that creepy smile on her face. It was like she wasn't even there. After a moment he wove his hand in front of her face. Nada. He stepped back and grimaced. Was that drool?
"Er, Sakura-chan? You all right?" Naruto asked, concerned.
"Ah, what?" Sakura asked snapping back to reality. "What were we talking about again?"
"Um," Naruto found that thinking was actually a very helpful thing to do. Past experience, combined with his knowledge of Sakura's personality, forced him to the conclusion that he should take a break when he saw one. "Haku being a girl. Speaking of which, I need to go see her, she has a hangover and stuff."
Sakura blushed and nodded. "Um. Right. You go do that."
Wow. Naruto took a deep breath as he left. Thinking before I act kinda kicks ass! I'll have to do it more often.
Quickly putting his crazy teammate behind him, he entered Haku's room, smiling brightly.
He felt a sting of pity mixed with guilt as he saw Haku laying on her futon with her head under her pillow, moaning pitifully. She was laying on her stomach with her rear slightly in the air. Now, that was one part of her that he hadn't seen the night before, but from what he could guess through the thin robe it was as well formed as the rest of her. He shook his head, banishing the bad thoughts.
With a frown on his face, he sat down next to her. "Haku-chan? I'm back... I've got some water and a hangover cure," He winced. He'd gotten so mixed up with Sakura-chan, he'd forgotten to check their weapons pile for Haku-chan's needles! Now he really felt like a jerk! Regardless, he continued. Maybe she wouldn't need them. He continued, "Tsunami-nee-chan made it... She says to pinch your nose and drink it all at once though, otherwise it won't work."
Haku turned over and looked at the glass of ‘cure’ dubiously. Honestly, he couldn't blame her. "Are you sure that isn't some kind of poison?"
"Tsunami-neechan wouldn't poison you," Naruto hoped. "She says it hasn't killed her dad yet, and she makes it for him all the time."
"Are you sure?" she asked taking the glass and looking at it with a grimace that was almost comical on such a pretty face. “I-I think its moving...â€
"I know it smells horrible but I trust her," Naruto said more firmly this time.
She looked at him for a moment then nodded. Slowly, she pinched her nose and started to drink it. Her face twisted into a mask of complete suffering, but she kept chugging until its gone. The second she was finished though, she roughly pushed the glass into Naruto's hands and made a B-line for the rest room holding her mouth.
Naruto, alarmed, ran in behind her, ignoring Sakura's indignant sputtering as he pushed past her. Inside he found Haku on her knees, worshiping the porcelain goddess, offering up the contents of her stomach in sacrifice to the toilet gods.
Naruto was reminded of the time that time Ayame got really sick and he'd stayed with her and her dad for a week to help take care of her so her father didn't have to close the restaurant. He simply stood back, held her hair, rubbed her back, and let her do what she needed to, like he'd done for Ayame when she was ill.
He looked back at the door and saw Sakura on the other side. At first she was giving him a dirty look, after all, he'd just followed a scrambling girl into the toilet. This was only momentary though, as assumption quickly gave way to comprehension, and her face softened until she simply nodded to him and closed the sliding door behind them.
Once she was finished heaving, Haku slowly sat on the tile floor and looked over to him. "Naruto-kun," Haku said wearily, glaring at him but not particularity angry. "Next time you hand me some mysterious, vile smelling sludge and call it a cure, I'm going to force you to drink it yourself."
"Um, fair enough," Naruto said, handing her the canteen and offering to help her up.
She accepted both, and stumbled over to the sink, leaning over it for support.. Looking in the mirror, she frowned slightly at her split lip and the black and blue bruises on her face. Naruto winced as if struck. He caused those. He hurt her, and while she was an enemy at the time, he still didn't like being responsible.
Not noticing Naruto's discomfort, Haku used the canteen it to wash out her mouth and grimaced, rubbing her temples. She looked back down at the canteen then drank the rest and smiled. Looking back to Naruto, she said, "I actually think it worked."
Naruto's sorrow was lightened by the sound of relief in her voice. "Well, see? That's great! Told ya," Naruto grinned.
She scowled and grabbed her side with a wince as she stood up, no longer in pain but still unsteady on her feet. “Please, Naruto. It no longer a constant ache, but I still feel sensitive to light and sound.â€
Naruto grimaced, once again feeling responsibility for her discomfort. “Alright, Haku-chan,†he replied with a nod. “Here, I'll give you a hand.â€
Being careful not to grope her by accident, he wrapped an arm around her waist to support her, as they slowly made their way out of the restroom.
In the living room Sakura frowned for a moment in internal debate, then asked, "Naruto, where's Kakashi-sensei?"
"He said we could sleep in," Naruto replied. "But Tsunami-neechan's almost done breakfast so maybe you should wake him and Sasuke up. I'm going to help Haku out."
She nodded to him and he continued on to Haku's room. Once they were inside, he closed the door, helped her lay back down on her futon, and sat nearby, feeling rather self-conscious.
"Um... Haku-chan?" He began. He was trying to find something to say, but this thinking thing made it hard to just blurt out whatever came to mind. He was actually glad about that. Asking her if they could make out some more probably wouldn't go over well.
"Hmmm? Yes, Naruto-kun?" she asked, turning to him.
He sucked in a deep breath as he looked at her. She was sitting on the futon, leaning back against the wall with her legs extended and slightly spread, dressed in a yukata that looked to be a couple sizes too large. The thin robe fell open about her breasts, not enough to flash him like before, but enough to display cleavage. The robe was riding up slightly given him an uninterrupted view of smooth legs and hint of creamy white thighs. "So do you need my help with anything?" He asked, part of him hoping beyond hope that whatever she asked would involve getting naked.
Haku nodded and lifted up what looked like a bandage from her clothes pile. "I'd like you to help me put on my breast bindings. With the sourness in my muscles I find that I do not have the range of motion to put them on properly."
"Sure thing Haku-chan!" Naruto grinned. So it all actually was true. There really was a God, and he did listen to our prayers!
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Some changes in this one. It changes a bit more in chapter 3 (which I'll post in a couple days) and chapter 4 starts to diverge seriously.
