Summary: Harry Potter was supposed to be their savior. What they never expected was that Harry Potter never existed in the first place. But how do Haku and Zabuza fit into the picture?
Pairing: HP/RB
Rating: T for now, but might get upped for later chapters.
Note: This is slash. In case the pairing didn't give it away. Feel free to leave if this bothers you, otherwise enjoy.
Disclaimer: If I owned either HP or Naruto, I think I would be able to afford faster internet access. As it is, I'm operating on something from the Mesozoic period which runs at about one page per hour. So, no, nothing here belongs to me except the random plot idea.
Anagnorisis from a Requiem
PROLOGUE
Death came quicker than he'd expected. It hurt a whole lot more than he expected, too, but at least shock hit before it became too unbearable. The inability to breathe was not something he expected to bother him quite as much as it did. From the moment the hand broke through his sternum and splintered his spine, simultaneously tearing portions of his lungs, he lost most of his senses, only conscious of his relief that Zabuza was alive, and the pain through the all-encompassing numbness.
Death, also, apparently took a lot longer than he thought. It wasn't inconceivable to assume that the moment he stopped breathing would be the moment his soul, or his life-force, or living chakra, or whatever, left his body, and thus leaving behind a corpse well on its way to decomposing. On the other hand, he knew the exact moment he stopped breathing, because everything immediately stopped hurting.
But there were no beams of light, no darkness encompassing him, no gods to welcome him to the beyond, or demons for that matter. There was just Kakashi and his eyes. It's ironic that the last thing he would ever see would be Kakashi's confused and horrified eyes.
He distantly heard Zabuza's voice, saying what, he couldn't be sure; he wasn't sure he was able to understand anything anymore. A swish of his master's cleaver, and he had the unpleasant experience of shifting pressure inside his chest cavity as the copy-cat ninja pushed them both out of the sword's way. More shifting pressure and a soft puckering sound as Kakashi pulled his arm out, and the blood from that area gave a few half hearted gushes in an effort to leave his body.
He was soaked by now, and would be more than uncomfortable had it not been for the numbness. He continued to stare, unblinking before a hand came over his eyes and forced them closed.
Again the battle ensued, but he was far away.
A sudden trauma to his head, and he knew he'd been kicked. For what, he couldn't comprehend. It wasn't like he posed much of a threat at present.
Things began to fade more rapidly.
Naruto's protests rang out over the silence. He defended the dead boy's existence. He gave far more meaning to that last act than the boy felt it deserved. He even called Zabuza heartless, said he should have cared more. But Naruto couldn't understand.
But he did care, you foolish boy. He wanted me, which was more than anyone had ever done for this unworthy thing. He cared far more than anyone did. He cared.
The boy thought this, as everything faded to black, and he felt nothing else.
It was over.
Or so he thought, until the darkness suddenly became warmth, stifling warmth. Everything pressed down against him from all sides, and then he was moving.
A glare of light, a loss of the heat, and a breath of life.
And then Haku was gone.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.