Haku shook her head, causing the two bangs that framed her face to tickle her cheeks. "He did not. He asked, ``What if Konoha wanted to take possession of the blade?"
Zabuza scowled, as his right arm unconsciously drifted towards his sword. "Your response?"
"I didn't have a chance to," Haku told Zabuza. "We were interrupted by the blonde Genin, Naruto I think his name was. He came storming up and started pointing and yelling at me for coming in at the last second. I believe that he was still coming down from the adrenaline."
"That gaki, I can't believe he tricked me." Zabuza sneered, his version of a pout. "He used a Henge to turn himself into a windmill shuriken and had his teammate throw HIM at ME!" Zabuza finished, sounding incredulous.
He turned to the side and muttered, "Still, the plan took guts. I'll give the kid that much. Uzumaki Naruto…I thought Uzumakis all had red hair?"
"What was that Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked as she finished rolling up her scroll and placing it back in her sash.
Zabuza turned back to Haku. "It's nothing; what else happened?"
"After Naruto-san interrupted me, Kakashi went to console his student and I gave Naruto a compliment for his efforts against you." Haku giggled as she recalled the boy's blush after her compliment. The boy must not be used to receiving praise. She wondered, "Are those whiskers real?"
"Ugh, Sadist Haku, the wound's still fresh." Zabuza covered his eyes with his forearm. "How will my pride ever recover?"
"There, there," Haku patted Zabuza's shoulder, "I'm sure you'll get another chance for payback once you recover."
"Speaking of," Zabuza removed his forearm from his eyes. "How long is it going to take me to recover?"
"Two weeks, barring any complications."
Zabuza frowned behind his bandages. "Two weeks? Any way to speed up my recovery?"
Haku's lips quirked. "I recall seeing a couple of nice healing herbs in one of the nearby forests. They'll help speed up your recovery by a few days. Although," Haku narrowed her eyes at Zabuza like a mother who knew that their child was going to misbehave, "If I get those herbs then you can't do anything strenuous for the rest of your convalescence. Otherwise their healing properties will become poisonous."
"Hmm," Zabuza closed his eyes and mulled it over. "If we wait too long the chances of a real Kiri Oinin showing up for my sword increases, or heavens forbid, another one of the Seven showing up. I'd rather hand it over to Konoha shinobi than have it in Yagura's slimy hands. Though I don't trust the midget, Gato, as far as I can throw him. I've seen the way he leers at Haku. And who knows if he'll try anything when I'm recovering. Hmm, can I risk that?"
Zabuza turned to Haku; "I'll make my decision when we return back to base. Anything else worth mentioning from your conversation with Hatake and the Gaki?"
"Hmm," Haku tapped her chin with her index finger, thinking. "The 'Gaki,' Naruto, he did make reference to spending time around the Hokage when he was younger." Haku laughed as she recalled what he called the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen-the current Kami no Shinobi; "He referred to him as 'Hokage-Jiji."
Zabuza narrowed his eyes at that bit of information. "Interesting. The boy could prove useful if he's that close to the Hokage." Zabuza was piecing together a plan in his head. If the boy is close to the Hokage then he could be a valuable hostage, or maybe…
"Haku, how old did you think the Gaki was?"
"Around thirteen," Haku answered, sounding confused by the question.
"About two years younger than you then?"
"Yes…" Haku narrowed her eyes. She didn't know why he was asking, but she had a feeling she wouldn't like where this conversation was going.
"And what did you think of him?" Zabuza asked, trying to sound casual.
"At first glance? Not much. Though he did surprise me when he used Kage Bunshin (Shadow-clones), and his plan to save Kakashi was as brave as it was insane."
"Yes." Zabuza nodded in agreement. "He shows great potential. And what did you think of him…physically?"
"…he was a bit on the short side." Haku really didn't like where this conversation was going.
Zabuza scoffed, "I'm sure he'll grow a bit. He just started puberty. In fact, it wasn't until I was around fifteen when I star-"
"…Zabuza-sama," Haku interrupted Zabuza and gave him a saccharine smile. The temperature began to drop as Haku's killing intent was rising. "What are you planning?"
Zabuza repressed a shudder. Sometimes Haku was scarier to him than Kisame, and that man fed people to his sword! But he soldiered on; "Well, Haku, as your guardian, I only want what's best for you and I feel like it would be best if you went out and met somebody. In other words, I think it's time you got yourself a boyfriend!"
Though she couldn't see it, Haku was sure Zabuza-sama's shark-like teeth were on full display in a full grin underneath his bandages.
A resounding slap echoed throughout the forest and sent birds fleeing from their nests and to the skies.
Haku left the scored tree and walked a bit farther; the clearing with the medicinal herbs was just a couple of minutes away from there.
The herbs would speed up Zabuza's recovery by converting his chakra to medical chakra, ensuring that his wounds would heal at a rapid pace.
However, medical chakra requires the greatest of control, like a surgeon performing open-heart surgery, one slip up and you nick an artery and the patient bleeds to death.
The same can be said for using medical ninjutsu; should you surge your chakra and break that delicate balance you risk crippling or killing your patients. Therefore, it's imperative that Zabuza-sama not be subject to any battle for a week after administration of the herbs, otherwise…
Haku smacked both her cheeks to get rid of the negative thoughts. "Zabuza-sama will be fine. He'll recover before Gatō's deadline." Haku snarled, "Gatō, that slime."