The Caged Bird Seal - 1

Chapter Soundtrack: "Furaito" (Flight) by CHABA

The morning sun filtered down through an open window, illuminating Haku's angelic face. He rolled over under his blanket and after a moment rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Hmm..." Haku sat up with a well-rested stretch, welcoming the sunlight.

Yesterday, he had recalled, was the beginning of his life in Konoha. It wasn't all ninja training that he expected it would be but rather learning to live peacefully again.

It was something he could get used to.

He also found it a pleasant change to sleep under a roof for once after traveling with Hiroshi for so long…sleeping out in the cold. Haku sighed at the thought. How was Hiroshi doing?

'I promised to make him proud...' Haku smiled to himself. After seeing he had managed to impress Jiraiya as well as his friends, he felt he was well on his way in doing so.

The dark haired boy peered over from his spot on the couch. Not too far away was Naruto, snoring loudly in his bed while wearing a penguin nightcap. It was a comforting sight.

On the opposite side of the room was Gaara. He was sitting propped up against the wall with dark circles under his eyes. Haku was concerned.

"Did you get any sleep, Gaara?" Haku asked as he stood and folded his blanket.

The red haired boy shook his head, "...the voice keeps me up all night."

Haku looked at him with worry, "What voice?"

Every night they had stopped on their journey to Hidden Leaf with Jiraiya, Gaara had the same excuse over and over again as he stayed up. Haku feared if he didn't eventually get some sleep he might go crazy.

But Naruto was a living testament that proved one didn't have to be deprived of sleep to be crazy.

Gaara noticed Haku's troubled face. It touched him that he and Naruto cared so much.

"It's alright. I'm okay so long as I get a chance to rest."

"You still have to get some sleep eventually." Haku replied softly.

Gaara turned his gaze back to the open window. He had watched his friends sleep all night with a mix of jealousy and fascination.

It was strange to have to watch Naruto and Haku sleep soundly while he just sat there; afraid to let the Shukaku possess him again.

A sparrow fluttered to the window sill and perched there, observing the apartment's occupants curiously. Gaara couldn't help but smile. He liked Konoha. That was one thing he was sure of.

Haku quietly passed by the slumbering blonde and entered the kitchen. He had taken it upon himself to feed everyone that morning, and he investigated all of the cabinets and the refrigerator to see if anything edible was present.

His luck wasn't very good. One sniff of a milk carton told Haku that he would have to be cautious as to not accidentally poison his friends.

"Gah...what smells so good?" Naruto's nose distinguished the wonderful aroma of food even during his sleep. He sprang out of his bed and paused when he saw Gaara seated on the floor, looking exhausted.

"Gaara, are you okay?" The blonde boy asked, "Come on, I smell chow!"

Gaara slowly got to his feet and followed Naruto to the source of the pleasant smell. Spread out on the table were three bowls containing rice and eggs with a side of miso soup.

Naruto grinned, "Haku! Where did you learn how to cook?"

He dove into his breakfast with an excited 'Itadakimasu!' while Gaara just observed Haku's handiwork. Apparently his talents extended beyond perfect chakra control and cleaning.

The black haired boy smiled at them, pleased that he had done well.

"My mother taught me many things." He answered, "I would make things for her sometimes. Gaara, aren't you hungry?"

Gaara nodded and took a seat beside Naruto. His stomach growled. He felt as if he hadn't eaten in ages. Gaara eyed the rice in front of him warily.

"Itadakimasu..." He said softly before quickly bringing his chopsticks to his lips.

Haku was in an extremely pleasant mood that morning, and just couldn't extinguish the sweet smile on his face. In only a matter of minutes, Naruto had devoured every last morsel in front of him.

Haku sighed in slight annoyance. His energetic friend's eating habit was something he would never get used to.

"Oh, Naruto, I suppose later we'll have to go get some more food," Haku announced, "There isn't much here."

Naruto blinked at Haku and then chuckled sheepishly, "Heh heh, you're right. I can't cook well and I mostly just eat ramen all the time..."

"We've realized." Gaara smirked.

Naruto huffed. Over time, Gaara's at first quiet/timid personality had become cooler as he got to know Haku and Naruto better. Yet, Naruto was able to see he was still being friendly.

"Right," Haku nodded, "We can go later after we-"

"Go see Hinata-chan!"

The blonde's responses were becoming easier to predict. Haku smiled and nodded again before taking a bite of egg.

*

"Hey, check this out!" Naruto flashed a shuriken in front of Haku and Gaara's faces, "I found it lying on the side of the road yesterday! I'm gonna start practicing how to throw it!"

"That's great Naruto." Haku wondered how an expensive weapon such as a shuriken had been cast aside but it was Naruto's good fortune.

Haku had once heard the saying: 'finders-keepers' and believed it applied to any abandoned item.

Suddenly Gaara spoke up, "What is he doing?"

Naruto turned to him, "Who's doing what?"

The three of them looked up, and saw none other than the Legendary Toad Sage balanced on a high tree branch next to a building while scribbling notes.

"Research maybe?" Haku suggested.

Naruto of course frowned, "What a weirdo..."

He leapt up into the tree to go insult the old ninja, and Haku and Gaara followed out of curiosity.

Before Naruto could bark at the sennin, his eyes strayed in the same direction the toad hermit's had. Jiraiya was peeping into a window, observing a...

"What the heck are you doing old man!" The blonde hollered.

Startled, Jiraiya seized Naruto and clapped his hand over the child's big mouth.

"Shut up ya little runt!" He hissed, "You want me to get caught?"

There was a muffled 'yes', and Haku and Gaara had also noticed the subject of Jiraiya's attention. Gaara scowled and Haku wore a look of utter repugnance.

"Jiraiya-sama!" Haku gasped, "It's not right to spy on ladies when...when they don't have their clothes on!"

"Ahh what do you know?" The sennin growled, "Hm, we better get down before she catches us."

They leapt down from the cover of the tree and Naruto was released from Jiraiya's hold before he could gnaw his hand off.

"Old man you should be locked up for that!" Naruto barked in disgust, pointing an accusing finger at the sage.

Haku was also mortified and Gaara was gripped in a state of silent abhorrence.

Jiraiya snorted, "Its important research! Squirts like you are too young to understand. Now why don't you run along and go play with your little friends?"

Glad to be rid of the offended nuisances, Jiraiya resumed his post to continue his notes.

Haku stood blushing. He felt his respect for the legendary ninja wilting.

Naruto was still appalled and felt that no amount of insults could affect the perverted sennin after what they had witnessed. He turned to Gaara and mumbled something quickly into his ear.

He only shrugged.

With a 'pop', the cork sprang out of the top of Gaara's gourd, and with his arms folded, the red head let sand leak out surrounding Jiraiya's hiding place.

Haku and Naruto watched (Naruto especially pleased) as Gaara effortlessly flung the sage back out of the tree with his levitating sand.

"-the hell?"

Jiraiya was face-down on the ground and covered in sand before he could blink.

"You little shit!" Jiraiya growled at Gaara, "That's the second damn time!"

Gaara wore a small smirk, wondering if he should have done worse to the sennin. Naruto was rolling on the ground laughing, holding his sides.

"Ha ha! Ero-sennin! You had that coming!"

"Naruto, we should hurry and go find Sakura-chan now." Haku reminded his friend.

"In a second, Haku," Naruto was grinning, "I asked Gaara to do a bit more than that..."

Gaara stood with sand whirling in wait around his feet.

"But if we don't hurry to the Hyuga compound, then that boy will get the seal put on him-" Naruto muffled Haku before he could continue.

"Shh! We don't want Ero-sennin finding out!" The blonde hissed. Haku nodded in confirmation.

The words 'Hyuga compound' and 'seal' attracted the sennin's once undivided attention.

'Now how would these three squirts know about the Hyuga Clan and their Branch Family's Caged Bird seal? They just got here!' He frowned at Haku, wanting an explanation.

"What was that, farm boy?" Jiraiya inquired.

Naruto waved him off of the subject, "It's nothing old man! I thought you wanted us to go play with our little friends!"

Gaara's sand returned to his gourd. He saw there was no point in continuing to torture the sennin.

"Why don't you just go ahead with your nasty 'research'?" Naruto had successfully managed to divert the sennin's interest.

Jiraiya looked smug, "That's not a bad idea..."

In a flash, he had gone back to his hiding place, taking the blonde's advice.

Haku sighed, "Maybe later we should tell Hokage-sama what Jiraiya-sama has been doing?"

Naruto looked down at the shuriken he had discovered, "Yeah, maybe Hokage-sama will let me use him for target practice!"

Gaara smirked, "I don't think you need permission for that sort of thing, Naruto."