Bloodlines

Chapter 8
complications


Neji noticed her peeking around a tree as he left to join up with Naruto, Sai and Sakura at the gates. It was not a meeting he had been looking forward to.

Hinata had rushed from the room at her father’s proclamation that Neji would be wed to Naruto. He had seen the hurt in her eyes, but was helpless as how to comfort her. He himself was still wrapping his mind around this new turn in his life.

He paused near the tree, waiting for her to speak, maybe even attack him. Instead she looked at the ground, hands clasped.

“I am sorry.” He said softly. “I had no intentions for this to happen. . . It is the wish of the clan.”

“I know.” Her reply was so soft he almost missed it.

Silver eyes met silver eyes. He was startled by her sudden directness.

“Be good to them.”

She was gone in an instant, Neji staring after her. He stood there for a long moment, settling his mind before moving on to the gates.

Haku had been trying to teach Ramen to do something cool. Spit acid maybe, or grow really big so he could eat bad people. So far all he did was lick his eyes. Eye licking, while awesomely gross, was far from fear inducing.

Kakashi’s dogs could talk. Akamaru was just cool all by himself, his dad had the toads, Granny had the giant slug. Haku was sure if he just worked hard enough and waited long enough, Ramen would do something extraordinary.

So far though, he didn’t do much. He turned when a hand fell on his head, mussing his hair. Kakashi sat next to him, his one visible eye turning to the tiny lizard.

“Still no progress?”

“Nope.” They both squinted down at the lizard. The lizard just stared blithely back.

“Iruka-sensei said sometimes a lizard is just a lizard. Then he made me go over the different chakra points. ” Haku screwed up his nose, a clear impression on his thoughts on the lesson.

Kakashi laughed.

“How about a more interesting lesson?”


Two hours later, Haku had discovered the wonders of being a ninja in training. Not yet able to access the sharingan safely, Kakashi instead taught him many of the things he would teach one of his new Genins. Haku was a fast learner, just like Sasuke had been. But more importantly he had every bit of Naruto’s unending tenacity. He picked up the skill of gathering chakra in his feet and hands very quickly, and soon Iruka was calling them down from the trees for lunch.


Sitting under a tree, tired and happy as only a good training session could make him, Kakashi smiled down at Haku. The boy was staring up into the canopy, face a study of concentration, sandwich forgotten in his hands.

“Dad says I have to learn stuff now because I’m special.”

Kakashi nodded, having finished his own sandwich before Haku had even noticed.

“It is the responsibility of those of us with special abilities to learn to use them to help our village and our comrades.”

Haku stared at the silver haired ninja for a moment.

“It sounds hard. Guess I will have to learn lots then.”

Iruka sitting nearby smiled to himself. Haku was indeed very much Naruto’s son.

Something strange woke Haku up. More of a strange tingling inside his head. He sat up, finding the fire burned down to sullen embers, and the moon riding high and bright in the sky. Nearby he could see the bumps of Kakashi and Iruka’s form.

The feeling intensified, and Haku climbed quietly out of bed. Several years of sneaking into the kitchen for midnight snacks when he stayed at Iruka’s had made him learn the art of getting around both Kakashi and Iruka’s ninja instincts. Some of Kakashi’s lessons on ninja stealth earlier in the day were paying off as well, as Haku slipped on his sandals and moved into the shadows of the forest.

A small lake was nearby, and he paused to admire the reflection of the moon on the dark surface. It was pretty, and he wished he had his coloring things so he could draw it to show Sai when he got back from the mission.

His heart startled in his chest when he noticed the dark figure standing nearby. Childish instinct screamed “Monster!” And despite all the lessons learned earlier in the day, he felt himself freeze in terror as bright red eyes flashed at him in the darkness.

“Hello nephew. How bout we take a little walk?”


Iruka woke suddenly as if from a bad dream. Kakashi was instantly alert next to him, a kunai in hand. Iruka looked at him through the loose veil of his hair, noticing the red glow of Kakashi’s revealed Sharingan.

“Someone’s nearby.”

Iruka instantly turned to Haku’s sleeping bag, only to jump to his feet when he found the bag empty. A sudden burst of wind, and Kakashi had disappeared into the darkness.