The Hyoton - 2

Downstairs Gaara and Haku joined Naruto at the table, the latter looked suspiciously bruised. He grinned at Haku, "Thanks for waking me, Haku-kun! I got down here just in time!"

"Don't mention it." The dark haired boy sat down across from him, 'I wasn't really serious before...'

Even though he had only made up an excuse to rouse the Kyuubi container, Naruto was still grateful to wake up to a bowl of miso, as was Gaara, but with less enthusiasm. Tsunami was busy scrubbing down the frying pan she had been cooking with earlier, humming merrily to herself.

Gaara kept his eyes half-lidded and poured himself some tea. Haku noticed this sulky behavior, 'Gaara-kun seems a bit off this morning...' After setting the kettle down the redhead lifted his cup and took a slow sip. Naruto's cheerful slurping of noodles was disgustingly audible all the while.

Haku frowned to himself, still watching as Gaara drank with his dark-rimmed eyes closed. He looked sallow and kind of clammy; was he sick? The red haired boy looked up and couldn't help but notice Haku's oddly perceptive stare aimed at his head.

"What?"

Haku's frown deepened thoughtfully, 'What's with everyone today?'

"Eat something Haku-kun!" Naruto said between two very loud slurps, it came out almost like an order. Haku poured himself some tea, not looking at Gaara who was once again irritable and uncommunicative.

Haku glanced at Naruto instead. Was he telling him to eat because he just happened to be underweight for someone his age and height? Or was he giving fair warning before he plowed through the remaining dishes set on the table? He guessed it was a bit of both.

Tsunami was still humming.

The tuneless noise was beginning to annoy Haku.

Gaara finally raised his chopsticks to his mouth, muttering, "Itadakimasu..." and still kept his gaze down.

'Seriously...I can't understand what's with them today.' Haku was still frustrated.

"Hey, where did Anko-sensei go off to?" Naruto asked only because his bowl was empty, "Did she eat breakfast already?"

Tsunami turned to him, "Your sensei left with my father early this morning to help him buy supplies...and something about finding dango. They'll be back later. She really is a very nice lady!"

Gaara scoffed at the word 'nice.' Anko didn't seem so nice as much as she did clinically insane. She was more inclined to forge onward into dangerous territory than most instructors. Oh yes, and they would have to fix Jiraiya's peeping problem, because he wasn't sure how much longer they could last under Anko's guidance.

Naruto took a bite of egg and Haku watched as the white, pointy incisors came down in full efficiency, 'Since when do I watch people eat? Since when do I watch Naruto eat? Do I want to make myself sick?'

Gaara gave a half-hearted glance of concern to Haku, who seemed to be silently retching across the table from him, 'I'm not even going to ask.'

Naruto however was a bit concerned, "Whoa, Haku-kun, are you alright? You need something to drink?" Haku's struggle seemed to slow a bit, "Are you choking?" Naruto pointed a finger at Gaara next to him, "Gaara-kun can use CPR so I know you'll be okay!"

Gaara gave a heated glare to Naruto.

Curiously enough he had learned how to perform CPR, but he wasn't keen to use it right now!

"You shouldn't assume such things." Gaara said curtly, taking a slurp of ramen and making Naruto feel slightly flustered. After a moment Haku stilled and seemed to be breathing regularly.

'You never know...' Naruto thought to himself.

The dark haired boy's shoulders were slumped; his knuckles were white as he gripped his tea cup fiercely. Naruto and Gaara kept eating, warily. 'Haku-kun looks like he's gonna explode.'

Tsunami was still humming.

"How can you be so normal about it?" Haku finally snapped, quite loudly. His friends paused in their munching and looked at him quizzically. Abruptly, Tsunami's humming stopped.

Finally.

"Normal about what?" Gaara said coolly, thinking if Haku was troubled that the shit was about to hit the fan.

"About that nukenin! Zabuza!" Haku hissed, lowering his voice so Tsunami wouldn't be subjected to their petty ninja affairs, "How can you be so relaxed? He's still out there! Looking for-" He paused, noticing Tsunami's wandering ear.

"You need to chill out Haku-kun," Naruto said quietly, "The no-eyebrow clown, yeah, we know he's around here somewhere. But you can't freak out in front of his family. I mean, we're still on a mission!"

"But-!"

"No," Gaara interrupted, "You're only nervous because he has a thorough knowledge of your abilities, which is understandable." He paused, "But you must stay in control of your emotions. We can't afford to have you distracted if things take a bad turn."

Tsunami's gaze was suspiciously focused on the window above the sink where she was still washing cooking utensils.

"We can't talk about this here," Naruto finished the rice ball he had been eating with one swift chomp, "Hey, why don't we go out and train for a while? Just to calm our nerves?"

Haku nodded and was starting to visibly relax, "I agree."

Haku and Naruto rose from their seats but Gaara didn't move, "Not yet."

"Why?" Haku didn't want to sound indignant but it was difficult. Even Naruto was clearly abashed that Gaara could somehow stomp and spit on his good ideas.

The redhead gave an almost imperceptible shrug, "You haven't eaten anything Haku-kun."

Naruto's offence evaporated, 'He has a point!'

Haku took his seat again, a grateful smile on his face, "Alright."

They left shortly after collecting their weapons. It was warm outside and the three genin seemed slightly nervous thanks to Haku's earlier rant, but it was too beautiful a day not to relax.

They settled for an empty beach beyond one of the docks nearby the house. There was a breeze coming off of the bay. It was high tide, Haku also noticed.

"This is great!" Naruto fell back onto the sand and gazed at the sky above. It was the same color as his eyes. Gaara dropped his gourd which fell to the ground with no perceptible sound and he kneeled down beside the blonde, running his hand over the beach sand.

It was different than the grains native to Suna and he noted that he would be one of the few people who could tell them apart at all. It was cooler, by far. Water washing in and out over it constantly gave it a different texture, less smooth than the fine, wind-blown sand of his homeland. Even the smell was unique: here it was the ocean, and it was nice, but in Suna it was the open sky and that was best smell there was. To him at least.

Gaara sat silently, creating amorphous shapes with the grains while Naruto rambled on about something to Haku, who was watching the calm water rush off and onto shore.

"Hey Haku-kun, how does that crazy Mist guy know you anyway?" Naruto couldn't help but wonder. This question was also on Gaara's mind.

Haku half turned to them, still standing near the water's edge, "Well I...I guess there's a story I have to tell you then."

Naruto sat up, listening as intently as Gaara was.

"When I was young I lived with my parents on a farm. We were happy, I guess. Things were simple," He looked away from them, "It was early spring. There was still snow on the ground when I discovered the Hyoton."

"How?" Naruto prompted, "You were like five, right? How could you use it if you were so little?"

"I don't know. It just happened. One day I could do these things," Haku said quietly, "My mother knew because she had it as well. She was once part of a clan. When my father found out he thought we were monsters..." The dark haired boy glanced back at them, "He killed her first. I watched him do it, and I...couldn't stop him. When he came after me I just..."

Gaara and Naruto were silent.