15

I'd like to say that something interesting had happened past that talk I'd had with my teammates... Or not. That was untrue. Interesting events were rarely anything a sane individual would welcome, especially in this line of work. But I'd like to say that something other than us making camp, sleeping in shifts, then breaking said camp in the morning had occurred.

Basic acknowledgment of how serious the situation was? Or could be, possibly, if everything went wrong?

From someone that wasn't the client, I meant.

…I shouldn't have expected it. Not even slightly. But hope was an odd, fickle thing.

It was one of the things that got me up in the morning: My family. My friends. Food. My stuffies. Ino. Hope… Not necessarily in that order, but I had my motivation for my continued subsistence on table scraps and the unthinking disregard of those that could crush me in an instant.

And isn't that what was true for everyone, when you think about it? The motivation part. And the luck required to not attract the attention of a walking apocalypse from day-to-day part. Not - everything else.

I might not have been all that special in the greater scheme of things, but I preferred to believe I had more variation and depth to my needs, wants, and general reasons for persisting in the face of adversity than the average. That I was just that little bit more of an individual, even if it was only because I played a bit part in the narrative.

Hope. As I'd said.

Those were the thoughts that kept me occupied as we were, slowly, ferried across the water. Surrounded by mist. Open to attack from any and every imaginable angle by nin that were famous for their familiarity with aquatic warfare.

With only two people on said boat capable of water walking or, otherwise, defending themselves with any efficiency in the current environment.

With me being one of the two.

...

That was not the best twenty minutes I'd ever spent doing nothing, no.

But at least it ended quickly.

Making landfall on the island where our job was with absolutely nothing happening, other than Naruto misjudging the water-to-dirt distance and wetting his sandals, had me feeling positively ecstatic. Or as close as I could feel while prophecy nipped at my team's heels and me by extension.

…This was really hurting the quality of my sightseeing. Everything I saw? It was beautiful. Near untouched, the dirt road trod into the ground by thousands of feet doing little to detract from the views that would always be with me.

Sharp. Clear. Every leaf. Every insect.

The taste of the still fresh kombu onigiri I was currently savoring…savored, the last bite vanishing neatly behind my teeth, my tongue lashing out to lick my fingers clean.

The wisps of watery light… Screw it. I really wasn't in the mood for poetry. I could feel the chakra from here, up in the trees and behind the bushes, trying to blend in, but not quite managing to do so less than fifty yards away from us.

To be clear, they weren't bad. They were really good, honestly. Anyone able to evade my teacher's senses, even as rusty as he was, was no slouch.

But I'd been looking for them. And…they were trying too hard.

It wouldn't make sense to most people, maybe to another sensor, but there was a certain sense of uniformity that stood out. If you knew what nature, the flow of the elements, did on its own and without interference, this stood out.

All chakra spoke, and they were trying too hard to be quiet.

Looking back on this whole trip was going to be - bittersweet, I think.

"Ah, Sakura…" Naruto, sandals long since dry and boredom long since set, gave me the side-eye as I kept cleaning my fingers; strands of chakra, entirely invisible, leaving each to dip into the treeline. "You can get worms like that, you know?"

Even as my strings continued to do their work, I couldn't help but turn my head and stare.

"Trust me, Sakura. You don't want that." He shuddered, voice low. For Naruto. Which wasn't low enough to keep everyone else from staring. "Those pills aren't fun."

…I didn't need to know that. And neither did anyone else for that matter.

Either they looked queasy or they were Kakashi, rubbing his temples hard enough to leave red marks.

And I understood completely.

Even if this had ended up becoming the perfect cover.

"Alright." I took a breath as I finished my work. "First, Naruto. Some things you keep to yourself and your primary physician. But thank you for looking out for me."

"N-No problem, Sakura. You know me. Always helping." He looked around, suddenly remembering where he was and with who. "And I didn't have worms!"

Zabuza, or who I assumed was Zabuza and had no reason to believe otherwise, began to wind up for a throw.

I had to time this exactly.

"Sure. I'll believe you." Not even for a second. But I believed for that long… And was I going to have to start checking his diet? "And the second thing. This is very important so I hope you're listening closely." Both my hands became fists and Naruto stepped back, uneasy and playing his part as I finished up. "We have company."

Naruto gawped, this time rearing back in surprise. "I thought I was imagining it!"

…Ignoring how that silence might have gotten us all killed in other circumstances, it was good to know he had the basics of Ninshu down already.

But here we go.

Kakashi's single eye widened as everyone else blinked at me, confused. Confused, and an eternity far too slow to pick up what that meant for my liking. "Du-"

Set them up.

That was when I pulled with all I had…and slightly over a hundred pounds of feminine androgyny and far too much clothing for the summer months flew into the clearing we'd stopped in; letting out a gasp that a ceramic mask couldn't cover up, tumbling in the air in an attempt to get his feet under him.

Knock them down.

Zabuza also pulled as Haku ended up in his line of fire, loudly cursing as the Kubikiribocho screamed like a buzzsaw into the air and over the forest instead of at torso height and into the nearest tree.

…Watch it work better than you ever thought it would?

That was - different.

Not that I was complaining, having seen the greatest threat here lose his weapon thanks to a kneejerk reaction. There was no reason to complain.

But good job, me.

Taking advantage of his unspoken affection for the boy might have been...mean. That or allowing him to take Haku out for us by accident… Not that that would have happened. But whatever it took, yes?

Yes.

That was all.

"-ck!" Kakashi's warning came out somewhat flat after what had just happened, but it didn't stop him from pulling up his headband, red-eye spinning as he pulled a kunai. Or from rushing to take on an off-balance Zabuza right then and there, the man as vulnerable as he was ever going to get; he didn't skip a beat. "Watch the client!"

"His eye-"

"Triangle formation." I cut Sasuke off at the verbal knees, his body moving before his mind could catch up to guard Tazuna, the only person to actually hit the dirt when told to do so… Good idea, as the jonin squared off and Haku stood. "He's the Copy Ninja, Sasuke. This isn't a secret. Ask him about it after."

Not the time.

"...Later." Sasuke growled but nodded, reaching for his own kunai while a pair of senbon slipped free of Haku's sleeves and into his hands; I could see Naruto's face twist from out of the corner of my eye as he crossed his fingers, holding off for the moment. "After this."

Yes.

"You are all very calm, after having attacked a hunter-nin of the Mist. And got in the way of him taking his prey." Haku shifted into a loose stance. Not quite ready to fight. Not quite not. One that could change in the blink of an eye. "I've been watching Momochi Zabuza for the perfect time to strike. And you've ruined it."

"Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked under his breath, hands lowering slightly. "The hell...?"

"You're still going with that? After what we just saw? Interesting." I interrupted before Naruto could do a Naruto. Talking wasn't going to work this time. He needed practice. And a very confusing, life-changing encounter with homoerotic tension and friend-making philosophy while alone with Haku in the woods before he had a chance of changing anyone's mind. "I don't know many missing nin that would purposefully miss a decapitating strike when his hunter was in the way."

Haku - stopped.

That was the only way it could be described. He stopped. He stopped, right down to his breathing and the smallest of micro expressions that could be seen through his full-body coverings; it was momentary. And it ended when his fingers reformed their grip around the senbon that had begun to slip. "Ah."

Bullseye.

"You probably should have saved the Demon Brothers for this. Gone for an alpha strike to divide our attention." My braid fell from my shoulder and I felt more than heard Tazuna scoot back. "That was a mistake."

Mist began to pool around our feet.

Haku's shoulders rose, then fell in a silent sigh. "Perhaps. Their failure does make this more difficult. Slightly." His stance shifted to an entirely combat footing as he dropped the facade. "But I'll be more than enough to handle you three."

…That didn't make me feel good things.

It didn't change much.

But I hadn't liked that.

"He didn't even try," Naruto said, a small tremor of excitement in his voice as he took up his own stance. "You can't just crumble like that under questioning, you know?"

"It won't matter soon," Haku began a slow strafe to the left, circling us as the mist began to thicken and the sounds of battle began to dull. "But I'll be sure to remember that if this ever happens again."

I really didn't like that. "Naruto. Sasuke."

"Yeah?"

"Sakura."

"He doesn't have any backup. So I'll watch the client." I gave them the nod and they split off from the formation, getting my gist before I finished. "Don't screw around."

"Yeah. You heard the lady, Sasuke." In a plume of wasted chakra that made me breathe out of my nose in exasperation, an eye-searingly orange army of knuckle-crunching, jeering blonds appeared. "Don't screw this up."

Sasuke flipped him off and I pinched the bridge of my nose as they both rushed into the fight.

Seriously. No one ever took things like this seriously.

The first wave of clones jumped in and, as expected, they were instantly smoke on the wind in a flurry of fists and needles.

They'd learn.

Tazuna, reluctantly, and somewhat sheepishly, began to stand... Being the only one on the ground for this long had to have chafed. "Just you?"

"Hmm?"

Sasuke, using the smoke as the cover it was, was instantly in Haku's space. Where Haku had been waiting for him, smoke not being nearly good enough to hide him from a Mist nin, and they began to clash. Legs against legs. Senbon against Kunai.

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes.

Those Senbon were abnormally tough. And I had to wonder who the provider was.

…They were doing fine so far. Naruto and Sasuke, that is. And that was good steel.

Idle thoughts.

"I mean, you're supposed to keep me safe, yeah?" Tazuna chuckled nervously and wiped some moisture from his brow, not all of it sweat as the mist became nearly opaque... But enough. "Are you sure you can handle it by yourself?"

Fair question. And, as badly as I wanted to say that, if I couldn't, it would mean we were all going to die anyway, I wasn't going to. Because this was my job. And someone had to take this seriously.

"My teacher is handling the bigger threat while the rest of my team is fighting the apprentice." I caught a needle just before it could pierce his throat between my thumb and forefinger; Naruto and Sasuke getting glancing hits in kept Haku from voicing his disappointment, but I was sure he had it. "So, yes. I'm sure."

Tazuna had nothing to say to that. Lips sucked in, he nodded. And reluctantly took the needle when I offered it to him, his hands not trembling at all.

He had some backbone to him, that was for sure.

Hm.

"It'll make a good story for your family, if you can think one up."

"Hah! It could be that." His features cleared somewhat, a small measure of relief in his eyes; Lightening the mood and moderating panic, client relations. Second-year. Success. "Inari might be getting too old to bounce on my knee, but he's still my grandson."

"Hotblooded?" I kept an eye on the action, this time on the older ninja and-

Kakashi's right hand twitched.

At the end of a jutsu, a supplementary one that I could only assume had been layered onto whatever the Sharingan had already done.

I hadn't imagined it. What had I missed? Why would he be showing signs of nerve...

...

I... At least I knew that jutsu worked in the long term. But that didn't matter now. Or it mattered in a way I didn't want it to.

Had he seen someone for that? I'd assumed he had, or that it had been light enough he hadn't noticed, but clearly not.

He clearly had noticed. And he clearly hadn't seen someone for what should have been an easy fix.

The edges of Momochi's killing intent slid off my back like water. Like the water the two of them just about danced on, moving so smoothly I could hardly believe it was real as he took swipes at my teacher with a gardening tool of his own, always a split second too late to make the hit.

A split second that wouldn't have mattered with a much longer blade.

...

But, again, it didn't matter.

Fuck. Shit.

Gods damn it.

If we lived through this, after I was done kicking my own ass, I was going to kick his.

If. Hah. Naruto and Sasuke would be fine. Us? Everyone else?

We weren't necessary.

"Shannaro," I quietly cursed, embarrassing old habits rising to the top as my heartbeat began to rise and blood began to pound in my ears; Tazuna, just about to speak at length about his grandchild before my outburst, I didn't doubt, frowned. "I'm sorry, Tazuna-san. And I'd be happy to continue this conversation at a later time…but may I ask you something?"

He nodded, all business as a fireball lit up the fog. And Naruto let out a collective battle cry that echoed oddly in the distance. "You've saved my life, twice. And that was really super of you. So, sure, go ahead."

I didn't wait. "Are you claustrophobic?"

The balance of moisture on his brow gained in salt, instantly. And that businesslike demeanor gained some cracks. "Not...really? No more than anyone else." He removed his glasses to give the lens a nervous cleaning. "Why are you asking?"

I doubted that what I was going to say was going to be appreciated. And neither was what I was about to do.

Tazuna nearly dropped his glasses as I pulled a freshly requisitioned piece of gear from my pack. A rebreather, barely used.

Freshly cleaned of vomit and with enough air for nearly an hour of operation.

More than enough time for what had to be done.

"I apologize, Tazuna-san. But I must join the fight," I explained myself to an already pale and growing more pale Tazuna. "Please put this on."

I was right.

He didn't enjoy it.

==========

These genin were good. Better than most chunin Haku had ever dealt with before. Certainly better than the Demon Brothers had ever or would ever be, no matter how hard they tried.

That explained why they weren't here right now, bragging about how they'd killed a defenseless old man if anything did.

Or why they weren't holding off these two while he helped his master against the Copy Ninja, Kakashi.

The ninja that was the closest thing to 'famous' as any ninja ever got.

Haku tsked and saved his air instead of talking, bruises building up under his clothing as the blond sent another wave of clones. The fifth so far in two minutes. That they popped like soap bubbles and had the fighting abilities expected of a fresh genin, one that hadn't applied themselves in training, didn't change that he had to put in an effort to wipe them out.

Or that the black-haired genin, the last of the Uchiha if that fan on his back wasn't just for decoration, was more than willing to use those same clones as cover and springboards.

That one knew how to fight. There had been several near misses. Slices torn out of his clothing, holes poked into the padding he was wearing so he wouldn't have any holes poked in him; he was quick too. Fast enough to make Haku raise a brow.

The Uchiha backed off with a hiss, teeth bared as a flick of Haku's wrist put a needle in his arm. Right in a pressure point that would take the strength out of any further attacks for at least the next half hour. "Damn it!"

But he wasn't fast enough to make Haku raise both.

They were both still children, after all.

When these two had still been in the academy, Haku had been his master's tool. Forged. Sharpened. Put to a purpose that Haku had put his all into from the very moment his master had found him and taken him from the streets.

…His master that had-

Haku's head was rocked back by a fist slamming directly into the middle of his mask; he could smell iron as the ceramic met his nose and flattened it, the wild-eyed clone that had done this dispersing as its knuckles broke on his face.

He needed to keep his head in the game.

All these bruises had come from somewhere, after all.

Haku cleared his nose as blood leaked into his throat, the kick from yet another clone passing his head with space to spare as he slid beneath to attack the Uchiha, dark eyes snapping towards him and away from where he'd been with startling quickness.

Another needle sank into the boy's thigh even then, making that leg buckle and him cry out as Haku vanished into the mist yet again.

Being distracted while in a fight for your life was dangerous.

"Sasuke!" a chorus of clones cried.

"I'm fine, damn it! Keep your eyes open!"

As was fighting someone that had someone to fight for.

Haku circled around and, with a single step, he was between them both. The right spacing for what he was about to do… He'd wanted to save his chakra for the fight with Kakashi. But it seemed it wasn't to be. "I am sorry it has to be this way."

He always was. And the looks of stunned horror on the faces of his enemy, people he'd have preferred to have never met when this was the alternative, didn't change that.

"Naruto! Jump!"

There was a twinge in Haku's chest as he brought his hands together. "Goodbye."

A monster leapt from the earth just in front of him; howling. The sludgy screech of a saw carving through a rotten limb as the world's colors bled into the hateful, hungry dirt. Red. White. Grey; the stench of antiseptic and flickering green in a pair of bottomless holes.

…Killing intent. A good amount of it. But not nearly enough to stop him from doing what he had to do.

Haku shook it off, the monster becoming a girl. A girl bigger than he was, with thighs as thick around as his waist with muscle, but still a girl.

He focused, her reaching towards him even at this range far too slow to-

He was going to die.

There was a needle in his throat. There were two. Three. Four killed his screams as his blood ran like water.

Into his eyes. Out of his mouth and down his chin. From the wreck of his fingers, shards of bone protruding wetly in the open air.

Haku came back to himself once more as a thrill of pain ran through his arms, the both of them knocked straight up into the air by the back of the last genin's hands to both elbows.

His hands separated from each other. Those blows were hard enough that he felt a pull as they threatened to leave his sockets, her muscle proving to be the furthest thing from show as he retreated into the nearest gaggle of clones, hyperventilating.

The energy of someone fighting for their very existence filled him as he carved through that horde like they weren't even there.

"Sakura!?"

Sakura. The monster had a name. The -

Blood ran down his chin.

The Leaf had its own monsters, it seemed.

"The client is safe." The pink-haired ge… Jonin? The pink girl gave him a dispassionate glare. Strands of hair swayed and drifted in the dead, humid air, the end of her braid following his every move as if it had eyes of its own; the red bow did nothing to make it, or her, less threatening. "Let's finish this quickly."

That sounded like a threat. A threat she might be able to come through on.

Haku rolled his shoulders and ignored the crack that resulted.

He didn't like that at all.

"...Finally." The Uchiha plucked out one of Haku's needles with a wince and stood up as Haku cautiously made some space. "This guy is really pissing me off."

"You're screwed now, buddy!" The blond, Naruto, crowed and pointed at Haku. And Haku couldn't say he was wrong. Not that he was right either. But this fight had just gotten difficult. "You had it easy with Sasuke, but now you're gonna get it!"

Sasuke scoffed as he pulled free another senbon, pocketing that one as well. "Blow me, idiot."

The difference between what he'd just experienced and what he was now seeing hit Haku nearly as hard as that killing intent. That constant pressure and sense of cold, the sickening flicker of his hindbrain feeding him the sight and smell and taste of an onryo coming for his head… And two people talking as if the onryo wasn't there.

The killer you didn't even know was there.

Haku breathed out as her hair unwove itself, locks at a time… Silk. Blood-soaked rope. "You know the art of Silent Killing as well?"

"...Silent? With ninja?" A small, cruel grin took over her entire face. Seemed to take over as time dragged on, seconds becoming hours as her hands lifted. "Where does fifty pounds of metal come into it, I wonder?"

Haku's eyes grew wide as he felt a push at his back, a tug on his clothing that had him stumbling forward against his will. The same force that had forced him into the open brought him within the range of her hair.

And then he was fighting for his life.

Fighting off attacks from every angle, stretched to his absolute limits in a moment that lasted forever; water dripped from every razor-thin line, every needle and lance, spraying him with the imagined scent of liquid decay as he spun, senbon points in his hands parrying and diverting what he couldn't dodge.

A single glancing strike carved its mark in his mask. Another tore a sleeve down the middle, sending half of his senbon supply tumbling to muddy ground.

He didn't have the time or the room to try and gather them again. And he didn't bother trying as Sakura vanished from view, the terrifying curtain that was her hair filling every direction he looked.

And it continued to rain.

And he refused to hold his breath, to weaken himself as his mind insisted that he was being pelted with old blood and fresh filth.

This girl...no, this kunoichi, was something else.

He held up a hand and did the first sign.

But she'd made a serious mistake, allowing all this water to gather. "The weight of the metal doesn't matter if the target is dead before they know you're there."

"True."

Second sign.

Sakura's hair contracted and twisted, wringing itself dry and changing nothing.

Third...and he pulled away from that sudden force tugging at that hand on pure reflex, the biting cold intensifying for that briefest of moments, going straight to fourth.

Time - stopped.

Haku, slowly, turned his head.

Sakura, entirely normal now, held his hand in hers. No more killing intent. No more screams. No less terrifying. "I suppose I do know something about it after all."

Haku's hand crunched. Loudly.

The worst part was that he couldn't feel it. But he could see his fingers flex, the tendons and bones shifting around them with several, louder, snaps.

The wreck of his fingers, shards of bone protruding wetly in the open air.

A shape made itself clear in the Mist, just over Sakura's shoulder… Disinterest became fear, dark green eyes opening fully as Haku sagged in relief.

"I'd be lying if I said this wasn't personal."

"SAKURA!"

Blood filled the eye holes of Haku's mask as Kubikiribocho ripped through the girl's midsection.

"And I'm no liar."