Bloodlines

Chapter 9
A Uchiha Always Breeds True


When Naruto had given birth to his son, he had vowed that Haku would know none of the pain and loneliness he himself had suffered. In such, he may have spoiled his son a little. Certainly he had plenty of help. An entire group of ninja in fact, that went out of their way to spoil him, coddle him, and otherwise shelter him from many things they felt would be hurtful to him. In Naruto’s mind, the harsh realities of life would come to Haku soon enough, and so he sheltered what little childhood of Haku’s he could manage.

Tsunade had once made the comment that sheltering the child of a ninja would do the child no good in the long run. Naruto however had looked at the small round face of his son, and couldn’t give in to logic over love.

Haku was now facing the realities Tsunade had warned of first hand. His feet hurt, his stomach growled, and he was painfully thirsty. He had tried to voice his discomfort to the strange man that had made him follow him. It was soundly ignored. If Haku stopped, the man would turn and stare at him with his scary red eyes, and Haku would find his feet moving once again as if someone else was in his body.

Now, exhausted nearly to tears, he stared at the red clouds on the man’s robe, feeling lost and missing his father more than ever before.

Shoving the stuffed cat’s ragged ear into his mouth, he stifled the urge to plead again to stop. Tripping on a rock in his exhaustion was the breaking point. He lay on the ground, sobbing even as a shadow fell over him.

“It seems you inherited your sire’s weaknesses as well as his looks.” The man looked at him clinically, like his father looked at a broken weapon. It wasn’t a very nice look.

“At your age, I had already killed a man and mastered the sharingan. It seems once again Sasuke has disappointed the Uchiha bloodline.”

Haku rung the stuffed cat between his hands, uncertain if he was meant to respond. Nothing the man said made since to him, so he stayed quiet. This however seemed only to gather the strangers irritation.

A blurred flash and Haku’s stuffed cat disappeared from his hands, pinned to the ground by a kunai. The fluff oozed from its insides, blowing in the wind. Haku drew his hands against his chest, truly frightened.

When the black robed man crouched down in front of him, some animal part of his brain held him frozen, like a mouse caught in the stare of a viper. When the eyes turned from endless black, to the strange red design of before, he felt his entire body tense. Those eyes were bad. Everything inside him told him to run, but nothing worked.

“I’m afraid dear nephew, that I must use you for awhile. You see, your father has something inside him I need, and I need you to get him. Unfortunately he will die once we have what we want, but don’t worry, you won’t have to mourn. You will join him soon enough.”

“No! You’re lying. My father is the best, no one can beat him!” Haku snarled, but the man just smiled slightly.

“One of the rules of being a ninja dear nephew, there is always someone better.”

“Stop calling me that! You’re not my uncle!” Anger was quickly chasing away fear, and the familiar way the man was treating him was rude.

“Oh, but I am! You see your sire, my little brother, abandoned your father to the fate of the village. He had more important things to think of than fatherhood it seems.” The smile on the man’s face was all but friendly.

“Or perhaps it was the fact that Uzumaki is a talent-less moron. He did try to kill him once after all. Your father was right to leave you, your blood is tainted.”

Haku’s eyes began to burn, his small frame shuddering with a mix of fear and anger. He rubbed at them restlessly.

“Stop LYING! Lying is wrong! My father is Uzumaki Naruto and he would never abandon me!”

“Wrong!” The man shouted. “Uzumaki gave birth to you yes, but you are the son of Uchiha Sasuke and you have proven to be just as weak and pathetic. They should have killed you at birth!”

The burning behind Haku’s eyes became a pain, like hammers against the back of his eyes and claws scraping in his brain, everything turned red in his vision and anger turned to rage. He stared up into the hateful eyes of the monster that had taken him.

“YOU’R WRONG! I HATE YOU. GO AWAY!”

The red eyes widened for a moment, reflecting Haku’s face and his mirrored red- sharingan eyes, before the man toppled like a doll, lifeless on the ground.

Haku wiped at the wetness on his face, and was startled to see red, like blood staining his fingers. Trembling, he stood and backed slowly away. He was distracted when Ramen skittered from his collar and down his arms, turning its head up to stare at him. Haku was more than a little relived to see a familiar face.

“What do I do!?” He asked it, filled with uncertainty, and very much lost. As if in response, the tiny lizard jumped to the ground and skittered into the forest, stopping to stare back as if waiting.
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Turning to look at the unmoving man on the ground , Haku didn’t wait to see if it were a trick. He gathered up what remained of his toy, and followed Ramen into the shadows of the forest.