It was a day after their confrontation with Kakashi and his squad and Haku was still giving Zabuza-sama the cold shoulder. "How dare he!" She thought as she furiously chopped up some carrots to put into a soup, her knife slightly biting into the cutting board. "I am not some whore who will sell herself for protection!"
She had no idea as to why Zabuza-sama had thought this was a good idea. "No," she muttered to herself as she scraped the carrots into the pot, "I know his reasons." Zabuza-sama had explained that if they could get the blonde on their side then they could petition the Hokage for sanctuary.
Haku stirred the soup, listlessly staring into its brown liquid. "It's actually not that bad of a plan. Konoha is known for its love of bloodlines, as well as being the strongest of the Big Five. However,"
Haku frowned as she reached her hand into the neck of her blue kimono and pulled out a necklace; the necklace was on a black cord and attached to it was a silver snowflake embedded with a single diamond in its center; the necklace was the last thing she had from her mother. "Kaa-san told me to marry for love."
"Oi, Zabuza! What's this I hear about you being laid out? Was an old-bridge builder too much for the scary Demon of the Mist?" A slimy and, unfortunately, familiar voice broke Haku out of her memories. Haku left the kitchen to see that
Gatō and his two bodyguards-Waraji and Zōri-had stopped by and were in Zabuza-sama's bedroom.
Gatō was a short man with shaggy receding white hair that fell down to his back and a thin handlebar mustache of the same color. He preferred to wear dark colored business suits with a pair of circular black shades. "So, Demon,"
Gatō said with an eye roll, his voice dripping with derision, "What kept you from finishing the job? The old man hit you with his cane?"
Zabuza laid in his bed. Silent. The sheets pulled up to his neck.
Waraji let out a bark of laughter, "Yeah was the old man too much for ya? I always thought that you were compensating for something with that sword of yours." Waraji was a brown skinned man with an eye patch covering his right eye who sported a goatee and preferred to have his hair up in a topknot. He was shirtless and wore white pants.
"Shinobi," Zōri spat the word, "Always think they're better than us cause they got that chuckra crap. Boss could have paid us half and we would've gotten the job done." Zōri was a light skinned man with blueish-white hair who wore a blue jacket with black pants and a purple beanie. He also had two tattoos on his face that went from below the center of each eye to the center of each cheek.
Gatō nodded. "That's right I could have had my boys here do your job for half the price. So," Gatō approached Zabuza's bed, "What gives? I paid you good money and here you are lying in bed wasting it!"
"The bridge builder," Zabuza began, "Hired Shinobi…"
"And, so what?!" Gatō yelled, interrupting Zabuza. "What do you care about some random…"
Zabuza flexed his killing intent, a purple aura gathering around his body. Gatō's bodyguards reflexively grabbed the katanas strapped to their waists and took a step back. Gatō quickly shut up.
Zabuza glared at Gatō to keep him quiet. "As I was saying, the bridge builder hired shinobi. One of whom was Hatake Kakashi."
Gatō paled. He knew who Kakashi was. When Gatō was a more…reputable businessman, he had thought about hiring the strongest shinobi from the strongest village to do a mission for him. When he asked the Hokage, the old geezer told him that their best shinobi, Hatake Kakashi, was very expensive, meaning he was very dangerous.
Zabuza continued. "Therefore, you'll now be paying triple my rate."
"What?!" Gatō bellowed, forgetting his fear for a moment as he reached out to pull back Zabuza's bed sheet. "That's highway robbery!"
As Gatō's hand was about to grasp the sheet Haku decided to intervene. She grabbed the miniscule mogul's wrist with enough force to break it and declared in a chilling tone; "You will not touch Zabuza-sama."
Gatō screamed out in pain. "You bitch!"
Seeing their boss being attacked spurred the two bodyguards into action. Yet before they could take a single step, Haku had disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared between the two of them; in her hands were their swords, drawn from their sheaths and resting at their throats. Zōri and Waraji had the same thought, "Fast/Fast."
"Haku, release them." Zabuza ordered.
Haku nodded. Releasing the two bodyguards she disappeared in another burst of speed and reappeared by Zabuza's bedside.
"Gatō," Zabuza started, making sure that the midget, who was still holding his broken wrist, was paying attention before he continued. When Gatō looked up from where he was kneeling on the floor, Zabuza knew he had succeeded; "You'll pay me triple."
"Fine," Gatō spat, as he threw a glare towards Haku. "Triple. But you'll do it in two weeks."
Zabuza glanced towards Haku, the unasked question obvious; "Can I be up before that?" Haku gave Zabuza a slight nod.
"Agreed, Gatō. Two weeks. Now leave, I've got plans to make."
Gatō left the hideout with his two bodyguards, a look of apoplectic rage on his face.
"I had it handled, Haku." Zabuza moved the sheet to show that he had a kunai in his left hand.
"I know, Zabuza-sama." Haku clasped her hands in front of her waist. "Though I didn't want that slime to touch you."
Zabuza repressed a sigh. Sometimes Haku's devotion was a bit excessive. "You'll have to get used to it, Haku. Our current way of life will have us dealing with slime like Gatō on a daily basis."
Haku groaned and face-palmed. Zabuza-sama wasn't as sly as he thought he was. "Fine, Zabuza-sama, I'll think about your plan. Think. About. It. And that's all I'll promise you."
If Zabuza could he would have done a little jig. Sadly, his injuries prevented him from doing so. So he settled for a bright grin hidden by his bandages. "That's all I ask, Haku. And who knows, maybe it was destiny that we met the Gaki. Now I want you to head out tomorrow and get the herbs. I feel like I'll need to be at my best soon."
"As you wish, Zabuza-sama." Haku bowed.
"And Haku, I smell the soup burning."
As Haku entered the clearing where the herbs lay a breeze washed across her face, carrying with it the soft scent of mint mixed with jasmine-the distinctive scent of the medicinal herbs-but it also carried with it the smell of stale sweat.
Haku tensed.
Her hand unconsciously went towards the white sash of her kimono where she had a couple of senbon stashed away.
She scanned the clearing and found that there were some kunai and shuriken lodged in some tree trunks, branches and the ground. In the morning sun she could even faintly make out that some of the kunai had ninja wire tied to their rings.
She also noticed that there was the occasional crater as well as some torn up dirt. Alarmed, her brown eyes whipped to where the herbs were planted and was surprised to find that none of the plants were harmed.
"Whoever practiced here took care not to harm the herbs. Do they know what they're for or perhaps they just have a bit of a green thumb?" Haku was broken out of her musings by a voice muttering, "Ayame-chan bring me more ramen, dattebayo."
Curious, Haku walked further into the clearing, following the sound of the voice that was coming from behind a tree.
As she turned the corner she nearly dropped her basket in shock. Laying up against the tree, with drool running down his whiskered cheeks, was none other than the Genin that Zabuza-sama wanted her to get close to: Uzumaki Naruto.
Unbidden, a thought flashed across Haku's mind; "Is Zabuza-sama clairvoyant?"
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