naruto fic without naruto! +icons.
I thought I'd forgotten how to fic. =_=
Zabuza/Haku, the beautiful, tragic pairing that I've wanted to write since the first time I read the series, but my procrastination skills are so honed I didn't stand a chance. For ze lovely zauberer_sirin as consolation until I manage to rack up some decent Shikamaru/Temari. Yay for gay canon pairings!
Sine Qua Non
Haku learns that if he dresses like a girl, or at least dresses ambiguously and pulls his hair back to let his face do the rest, he's bothered less when he has to go out to the market place for food and the forests for herbs. Zabuza does not care if his face is exposed in battle and, accordingly, Haku does not care, either. In a country rotting with crime like Mist, people have stopped looking at faces; they clutch at their bags and hurry through the streets, pausing only to jostle someone out of the way. Haku changes as soon as he returns from an errand, and if Zabuza knows about this whim, he does not address it.
But that is not surprising. Zabuza rarely cares about Haku's matters outside of jutsu and missions.
*
A few years of intense training and soon Zabuza doesn't leave for any fight without Haku close behind in camouflage: observing, learning, waiting. They know there are only so many times they can use the momentary death trick before word spreads around to all the Hidden Villages, but they don't worry; most times, there is no need. Haku attaches himself like Zabuza's shadow, and the first man he kills is a hunter-nin; Zabuza was already bleeding badly from an ambush attack, and Haku cleanly slices the man's head off from behind, the hunter mask rolling to a halt a few feet away from the decapitated head.
Zabuza's mouth is swathed in bandages, but he pats Haku's head and his body relaxes a fraction of its lean stiffness.
Haku keeps the mask as a souvenir.
*
Zabuza leaves for one or two nights at a time every few months. The first time, Haku reaches for his needles, but Zabuza cuts him off with a succinct, "You don't need to come," and Haku steps back purely from surprise. He can tell by Zabuza's lack of weaponry that it's not a mission, and he bows and retreats back to his room. The next day, he checks his plant supply and leaves to restock in a neighboring forest; the thick branches cast a comforting shade over his head, and he doesn't let Zabuza's intentions cloud his mind, and instead concentrates on the warm wind wafting through the trees to help him find the type of root he needs. When he returns, he does not linger by the windows or door.
Zabuza's chakra awakens him the second night and he sleepily rises to set a pot of water on boil for tea just as he hears the front door click open. The tea is ready to pour by the time Zabuza sits down at the table; Haku doesn't ask any questions, and none are answered.
*
He stumbles across Zabuza by accident, but Haku always actively, if subconsciously, searches for his chakra, so that is not much of an excuse. He feels it while out on the market one day, past a row of dirty venders through a back alleyway, and he follows the trail, though he knows he shouldn't. He stops before a run-down townhouse, a worn sign hanging lopsided above the door on the cusp of crashing down. The humidity has caused a thin layer of grime to grow on the rotting wood, and the street stinks from a dumpster further down, the smell mixed with the salty sharpness that permeates every crevice in Mist Country and trapped in the still heat.
Haku is young and pure, but he's clever and managed to survive several weeks on the street after he killed his father, and he knows what type of place this is and what Zabuza would want in it, without Haku, and what he should do, which is turn around and go home.
*
It is not much a home without Zabuza, is how Haku finally reasons with himself as why he curls his hands into fists and pushes the decrepit door open.
*
He creeps down the length of an inside wall, avoiding the dark clusters of townsmen and wandering travelers sitting in small tables drinking alcohol and hustling loudly. Female voices pitch across the room, full of shrewd laughter and high frequencies. The stench fills Haku's senses and he stops his breath until he reaches the open stairway at the end of the bar counter. Zabuza's chakra flows effortlessly to him now and, at the top of the stairs, his eyes train in on the closed door two down on his left. He pauses, and slowly makes his way towards it.
He hears noises inside, and can distinguish Zabuza's gruff voice conflating with a high-pitched moan, and Haku bolts down the stairs, weaving through the crowd, and bursts out the door, inhaling a deep breath.
But the damage is done. Haku learned how to detect chakra from Zabuza, after all.
*
Genjutsu is useless after you've already revealed yourself, and Haku decides he might as well stop keeping up pretenses, so he sits next to the window, legs curled beneath him, and stares out at the road that winds from the market place. Zabuza appears a little before dusk, slow and languid, the dirt specks clumping on his heels and the white bandages wrapped around his ankles. Haku does not make an effort to get up.
Neither of them exchanges words until Haku asks pleasantly if Zabuza has already eaten, and he receives a nod and sound of confirmation.
"I thought you hated going into town when humidity's this high," Zabuza finally says.
"We were short on food," Haku murmurs easily.
Zabuza looks down at him. "I'm going to take a shower," he replies as he turns around, and then says in disgust, "That place is so dirty."
Haku's eyes follow his movements. "You don't have to go there," he tells him softly. There's a clatter in the bathroom and Haku is suddenly right outside, leaning against the doorframe. "No, really, if you want, I can--if you--," his voice insistent and then trailing off.
Zabuza peels his shirt off in one fluid movement and reaches out with one long arm to ruffle his hair; Haku catches his wrist with a tight grip, his blood pulsing thickly in his palm and making it flushed from the heat. He repeats, "If your body needs release," forcing himself to not flinch under Zabuza's dark eyes.
When he pulls him close, Haku feels his life race through his veins like when a fire jutsu rips through water, and he doesn't think he'll ever get used to this feeling of being needed. That doesn't mean he craves it any less.
====================================================================
+42 Naruto icons. All from Chapter 1.
Zabuza/Haku, the beautiful, tragic pairing that I've wanted to write since the first time I read the series, but my procrastination skills are so honed I didn't stand a chance. For ze lovely zauberer_sirin as consolation until I manage to rack up some decent Shikamaru/Temari. Yay for gay canon pairings!
Sine Qua Non
Haku learns that if he dresses like a girl, or at least dresses ambiguously and pulls his hair back to let his face do the rest, he's bothered less when he has to go out to the market place for food and the forests for herbs. Zabuza does not care if his face is exposed in battle and, accordingly, Haku does not care, either. In a country rotting with crime like Mist, people have stopped looking at faces; they clutch at their bags and hurry through the streets, pausing only to jostle someone out of the way. Haku changes as soon as he returns from an errand, and if Zabuza knows about this whim, he does not address it.
But that is not surprising. Zabuza rarely cares about Haku's matters outside of jutsu and missions.
*
A few years of intense training and soon Zabuza doesn't leave for any fight without Haku close behind in camouflage: observing, learning, waiting. They know there are only so many times they can use the momentary death trick before word spreads around to all the Hidden Villages, but they don't worry; most times, there is no need. Haku attaches himself like Zabuza's shadow, and the first man he kills is a hunter-nin; Zabuza was already bleeding badly from an ambush attack, and Haku cleanly slices the man's head off from behind, the hunter mask rolling to a halt a few feet away from the decapitated head.
Zabuza's mouth is swathed in bandages, but he pats Haku's head and his body relaxes a fraction of its lean stiffness.
Haku keeps the mask as a souvenir.
*
Zabuza leaves for one or two nights at a time every few months. The first time, Haku reaches for his needles, but Zabuza cuts him off with a succinct, "You don't need to come," and Haku steps back purely from surprise. He can tell by Zabuza's lack of weaponry that it's not a mission, and he bows and retreats back to his room. The next day, he checks his plant supply and leaves to restock in a neighboring forest; the thick branches cast a comforting shade over his head, and he doesn't let Zabuza's intentions cloud his mind, and instead concentrates on the warm wind wafting through the trees to help him find the type of root he needs. When he returns, he does not linger by the windows or door.
Zabuza's chakra awakens him the second night and he sleepily rises to set a pot of water on boil for tea just as he hears the front door click open. The tea is ready to pour by the time Zabuza sits down at the table; Haku doesn't ask any questions, and none are answered.
*
He stumbles across Zabuza by accident, but Haku always actively, if subconsciously, searches for his chakra, so that is not much of an excuse. He feels it while out on the market one day, past a row of dirty venders through a back alleyway, and he follows the trail, though he knows he shouldn't. He stops before a run-down townhouse, a worn sign hanging lopsided above the door on the cusp of crashing down. The humidity has caused a thin layer of grime to grow on the rotting wood, and the street stinks from a dumpster further down, the smell mixed with the salty sharpness that permeates every crevice in Mist Country and trapped in the still heat.
Haku is young and pure, but he's clever and managed to survive several weeks on the street after he killed his father, and he knows what type of place this is and what Zabuza would want in it, without Haku, and what he should do, which is turn around and go home.
*
It is not much a home without Zabuza, is how Haku finally reasons with himself as why he curls his hands into fists and pushes the decrepit door open.
*
He creeps down the length of an inside wall, avoiding the dark clusters of townsmen and wandering travelers sitting in small tables drinking alcohol and hustling loudly. Female voices pitch across the room, full of shrewd laughter and high frequencies. The stench fills Haku's senses and he stops his breath until he reaches the open stairway at the end of the bar counter. Zabuza's chakra flows effortlessly to him now and, at the top of the stairs, his eyes train in on the closed door two down on his left. He pauses, and slowly makes his way towards it.
He hears noises inside, and can distinguish Zabuza's gruff voice conflating with a high-pitched moan, and Haku bolts down the stairs, weaving through the crowd, and bursts out the door, inhaling a deep breath.
But the damage is done. Haku learned how to detect chakra from Zabuza, after all.
*
Genjutsu is useless after you've already revealed yourself, and Haku decides he might as well stop keeping up pretenses, so he sits next to the window, legs curled beneath him, and stares out at the road that winds from the market place. Zabuza appears a little before dusk, slow and languid, the dirt specks clumping on his heels and the white bandages wrapped around his ankles. Haku does not make an effort to get up.
Neither of them exchanges words until Haku asks pleasantly if Zabuza has already eaten, and he receives a nod and sound of confirmation.
"I thought you hated going into town when humidity's this high," Zabuza finally says.
"We were short on food," Haku murmurs easily.
Zabuza looks down at him. "I'm going to take a shower," he replies as he turns around, and then says in disgust, "That place is so dirty."
Haku's eyes follow his movements. "You don't have to go there," he tells him softly. There's a clatter in the bathroom and Haku is suddenly right outside, leaning against the doorframe. "No, really, if you want, I can--if you--," his voice insistent and then trailing off.
Zabuza peels his shirt off in one fluid movement and reaches out with one long arm to ruffle his hair; Haku catches his wrist with a tight grip, his blood pulsing thickly in his palm and making it flushed from the heat. He repeats, "If your body needs release," forcing himself to not flinch under Zabuza's dark eyes.
When he pulls him close, Haku feels his life race through his veins like when a fire jutsu rips through water, and he doesn't think he'll ever get used to this feeling of being needed. That doesn't mean he craves it any less.
====================================================================
+42 Naruto icons. All from Chapter 1.