Chapter 4

"Haku?" Megumi was confused, she didn't usually see Haku with his hair down and she was a little worried since he was just staring out into the forest.

"Megumi, would you like to go out into the forest with me?"

"What for?" She was nervous; Zabuza had told them to stay in the hideout for fear of running into their targets.

"Don't worry, we won't be recognized. I just wanted to get some medical herbs to help with Zabuza's recovery. Maybe you could get him some flowers like you used to, I think he would like that." She remembered how she would bring Zabuza flowers after venturing into whatever place they were in at the time, she also remembered him never having a reaction to her presents.

"I'm not a kid anymore, and I doubt he even cared." She said looking out the window with him.

"You'd be surprised." He starred at her already knowing what she would say, she could never deny Haku.

"Ok, let's go get ready."

…

To better disguise themselves, they changed from their ninja gear to brightly colored kimonos to better blend into the town's look.

"Let's split up, I saw some flowers up ahead the last time we came by here. The herbs I'm looking for are in the other direction."

"That sounds good." And with those words they went in different directions.

Megumi's basket was almost filled with flowers when she felt someone approaching. She gasped as she saw it was the boy Sasuke. As she got up to leave quickly she tripped but was saved by none other than Sasuke. 'How embarrassing! I'm a ninja who trips and gets saved by her enemy!'

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He didn't seem to recognize her as he looked at her.

"I-it's ok, I didn't expect anyone to be out here." 'Ok, he doesn't know who I am. Maybe I can get more information on him.' Sasuke on the other hand was just confused as to why someone would be in the forest this early.

"Isn't it dangerous for you to be out here on your own?" He asked with more confusion than concern.

"Well, I'm not alone. My friend is around here gathering herbs while I gather flowers for… someone. Hmm, I think I have to start over though." She said as she saw the ruined flowers she dropped when she tripped.

Sasule did feel a little guilty for scaring her and decided to be nice to a girl for once. 'So far she hasn't been weird like Sakura.' "Why don't I help as a sorry for scaring you?" Megumi could never resist the charms of a gentleman and blushed as she agreed. They were picking flowers in total silence and Megumi couldn't help but feel awkward. It was slowly consuming her mind, 'Why does the silence have to be so loud? I can't take it anymore!'

"So why are you out here anyway?"

He was surprised she had even spoken. "I'm looking for someone. He was an idiot that stayed here training all night."

"So then you are ninjas, and judging by your headband you're from the leaf village." Megumi already knew the answers but couldn't help but want to hear it from Sasuke himself.

"Yeah, we're here for a mission and stopped to train in this forest." He couldn't help but stare at the way she would pick the flowers; every stem was the same size 'like she was trained in precision and accuracy.'

"Aren't you already strong though? Why do you have to train more?" He blushed a bit at her words.

"There's always room for improvement, I think." She giggled at his words. 'I must sound like an idiot, good thing Naruto isn't here he'd never let me live this down.' "By the way what's your name?"

"I'm Megumi, what about you?"

"Sasuke." As he picked another flower he couldn't help but wonder why he felt so comfortable with her. He was contemplating the thought when he heard her call his name.

"Sasuke, can I um…" 'Uh-oh, what does she want?' Sasuke was nervous as he waited for her question. "Can I please try on you headband?" She had her hands together and her eyes closed shut as she asked. 'Maybe she is a little strange.' He thought with a smirk.

"I guess it couldn't hurt."

"Thank you!" Next thing Sasuke knew, Megumi was basically hugging him as she untied his headband. She didn't think anything of it but Sasuke hadn't felt this awkward since Naruto had kissed him. She had the biggest smile as she put on the headband. "I've always wanted to be a ninja." It was true, despite being considered a missing ninja she never was an official one, she wanted to feel like she was part of something bigger, like the Leaf Village.

"It suits you." It was out before he could stop himself. She blushed at the compliment as she smiled. "I-I have to be going now, I'm still looking for the idiot." As she took off the head band and gave to him, she picked a purple flower and gave it to him. He accepted it but with a clearly confused face.

"It's to remember me." He smiled once he understood.

"Thanks, I wish I could give you something but I don't have anything with me."

"That's ok, if we meet again you can give me something there." She couldn't believe she was doing this. This was her enemy and yet she was basically becoming friends with him, but she couldn't help it there was something about him that she wanted to get to know.

"Alright, see you later."He left in the direction he was originally headed. As she got up to look for Haku she saw him coming from the same direction Sasuke had gone towards.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's go" For some reason she wanted to keep her meeting with Sasuke a secret, something just for her.

Meanwhile, Sasuke felt the same. He kept the meeting to himself and kept the purple flower pressed in one his training scrolls for safe keeping. 'Till we meet again.'

…

It had been another day and the herbs Haku had gotten him seemed to have worked wonders, and while no one had said anything about it, Zabuza had placed Megumi's flowers on his bed side table. This fact and her meeting with Sasuke had her incredibly cheery. Of course, happiness never stayed long for her.

Zabuza was sitting on a couch with his team surrounding him. As Megumi handed him an apple to eat he crushed it without a single problem.

"Your recovering quickly." Stated Haku.

He made a noise between a grunt and a growl as he responded, "Just a little longer Haku."

"Yes." That simple exchange of words swept away Megumi's good mood. Somehow she had forgotten about the mission, she forgot that her new friend was also her enemy, she forgot that she was a killer. It had never bothered and the only reason it did now was because she had a bad feeling about the coming days, and all she wanted to do was get rid of it.

"Can we train?" She asked Zabuza, it had always worked before in clearing her mind so why not now?

"You're not usually one for training Megumi, so why start now?"

"I just want improve myself to be of better use to you." She answered quickly, it was half lie; she really did want to be better but she also just wanted a distraction.

The Next Day…

Haku looked down at the sleeping Megumi, "She's never trained that hard before. Although, her skills are coming along nicely soon her blood line trait's strength should match my own, maybe even surpass it."

"She was reckless and trained too hard, now she'll probably sleep for the rest of the day." Zabuza stated as he fixed the bandages on his face. "Yuki, you'll stay here and take care of her. If she wakes up and we're still not back then meet us at the bridge sight to assist us."

"Got it." He didn't want to argue this time. He noticed how focused Megumi was during their training, 'Like she wanted to forget something.' It worried him and made him want to make sure she was alright.

"Let's go Haku. We should be back in an about two hours, after today we either complete the mission or abandon it." With that promise, Zabuza and Haku disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Yuki looked down at the sleeping Megumi as she softly snored. 'You really are hopeless.' He thought with a smile.

It had been close to two hours and Yuki was walking back to Megumi's room when he heard her yell. "Argh! Why didn't someone wake me up?" He heard her footsteps grow nearer. "Yuki? Where'd they go?"

"So you're finally awake huh? Zabuza gave you the day off and left me here as nurse, there at the bridge right now finishing the mission."

She gave a soft growl as she went back to her room, "I can't believe they would do that! Yuki, they ditched us!"

"I really doubt they wanted to ditch us." He stated with a sweat drop. A second later she was fully dressed and dragging Yuki out the door.

"Well c'mon we got to help." Using their chakra to run faster, they ran towards the site where the bridge was being built.

'Of all days to sleep in, it had to be this one.' She scolded herself. They had been running silently for about five minutes both thinking anything when Yuki broke the silence.

"Megumi! Whatever we find in at the bridge, make sure you keep a level head." Her eyes widened in shock, she couldn't believe she was hearing Yuki say this. "Don't take it the wrong way, but think about it alright. We can't just jump in because we're worried, now tell me the Mist Village's Shinobi Rule."

She struggled because she knew the rule so will, Zabuza would always tell it to her when she was younger. "A shinobi must never show attachment."

As they landed on a tree close to the bridge, Megumi could barely see through the fog as the battle reached its highest degree. "He's using his Crystal Ice Mirrors." She stated. It had seemed Haku had been using them for a while and as she takes a closer look she could see Sasuke laying on the ground motionless. 'No…' She took in a shuddering breath. 'What did I expect, he is my enemy.' She felt a tear fall and looked back at the battle in time to see Naruto punch Haku through his mirrors and watches as the mirrors and his masks break away. "We have to help him!" She was stopped by Yuki's hand, he always seemed to know when to stop her.

"Megumi…" He said softly. She looked back at the scene and heard Haku accuse Naruto of taking his reason to live. 'He doesn't want to live anymore.' She whimpered as she slumped into Yuki's arms. Then through the fog they heard growling and Zabuza's yells. The fog cleared up and they could see Kakashi ready to use a lighting jab on Zabuza who was trapped by dogs. The next moment happened so quickly that Yuki and Megumi stood in shock. Haku was on the receiving end of Kakashi's Lighting Blade and died keeping his wrist firmly inside him. Zabuza took the opportunity to try to slice through the both of them but Kakashi dodges and puts Haku's body down and disables both of Zabuza's arms with kunai knives.

It had happened so quickly that Megumi barely realized that she was crying fully and Yuki was trying to cover her face. She heard Gato's mocking tone though, "He sure made a mess of you, Zabuza." He had a gang of thugs behind him and she couldn't help but feel sick when she saw his smirk.

AN:

Oh no! I think some of you know what's coming in the next chapter.

PLEASE! I beg of you Review!

-Michelle