Rabbit Princess [Gaara] [1]

☾ 12 ☽

"Why did you stop?" Haku asked Naruto. "I killed an important friend of yours, but you can't kill me?" Tsukiko stared at the boy, too shocked to move. How could this be? If Haku wanted to kill them, he could've easily done it when Tsukiko and Naruto were out there alone.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed suddenly as he punched Haku harshly, making him stagger back and fall over. Haku slowly got up once more, coughing blood. Tsukiko took a few steps closer, trying to figure out if this was some sort of joke or something. Haku looked back at Tsukiko and Naruto.

"Where did that energy of yours go? You can't defeat me like that," Haku said. "He wasn't an important person to you? There are those who have the wrong idea. They fail to defeat an enemy that needs to be defeated, show them mercy instead, and decide not to take his life... If you ask me, doing something like that it is not showing mercy. Do you know the pain of living without a dream? Knowing you are not needed by anyone?"

"What are you trying to say?" Tsukiko forced out.

"Zabuza-San does not need a weak Ninja," Haku replied. "You both stole my reason to exist," Tsukiko felt an uncomfortable feeling.

"Why...? Why do you fight for that guy?" Naruto asked. "He gets money from bad guys and does evil things! Is that no-brow the only important person you have?!"

"I had people that were important to me a long time ago," Haku answered. "My parents... I was born in a small village in the Country of Water, where the snow piled up deep. All we did was farm and we were poor, but my father and mother were happy with it. I was happy. They were really kind parents. But when I first took notice of my surroundings, something happened,"

"Something...? What happened?" Naruto asked. Haku wiped his blood from his lips. Tsukiko continued to stare at the older boy.

"This blood..." Haku trailed off.

"Blood...?" Naruto repeated. "So... So, what happened?"

"My father killed my mother, and tried to kill me," Haku said. Tsukiko and Naruto were shocked. "The Country of the Water has experienced many civil wars and those who possess the Kekkei Genkai were hated,"

"Kekkei Genkai...?" Naruto asked. Tsukiko couldn't imagine how it felt to be killed for having a Kekkei Genkai, and by one's own father...

"It is passed down from parent to child, or grandparent to grandchild," Haku told him. "It's a special ability or technique that runs in the family. Because of the special abilities they possessed... The families were used in many disputes and the country itself feared them to be the harbingers of disasters and wars.

"After the wars, those families hid their abilities and lived on. Because only death awaited them if their secret was revealed. That boy probably had a tough time, as well. Those who possess a special ability are feared by everyone. My mother possessed the Kekkei Genkai, she kept it a secret and married my father and must have believed that an ordinary life would continue for a while... No, forever..."

"But my father found out about our secret," Haku continued. He explained how his father brought a gang of men and killed his mother and then tried to kill Haku as well. "When I came to, I realised that I killed my own father. And at the time, I thought of myself as... No, I had to think of myself as being... I realised that it was the most painful thing one could feel,"

"The most painful thing one could feel?" Tsukiko questioned slowly.

"The feeling that you are not needed by anyone in this world," Haku answered. The words struck Tsukiko and Naruto, shocked by the similarity. Haku looked at Naruto, "You said to me, 'I want to become the number one ninja in my village, and make everyone recognise me',"