I'm finally done with school! For now...stupid summer classes. So I get to have vacation time! Hopefully that means I will have extra time to write...it might mean I have less time...but the chapters coming out will probably not change.

Zabuza

An undisclosed amount of time after the last chapter...

"Man he's tall and has a really big sword." I commented when we first met Zabuza.

"Yeah and that sword almost chopped your head off." Sasuke muttered.

"Minor details Sasuke."

"That's what you notice?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, I mean look at him with his tallness." I answered gesturing at Zabuza who was grinning evilly at us.

"What about his bandages, don't you think that's strange?" Sakura asked me.

"Kakashi wears a mask," I pointed out to her, "And Sasuke wears bandages too."

"But he..."

"The thing you should have mentioned to me is the cow arm and leg warmers."

"So why didn't you mention them earlier instead of him being tall."

"Tallness seemed more noticeable." I responded.

"Your students seem to have some guts standing there talking about me." Zabuza said with a chuckle.

"Thank you." I responded taking that as a compliment.

"Too bad they won't be living much longer."

"The world is going to end?!" I asked looking at the sky and waiting for the meteors to start falling from the sky. I couldn't tell if there were meteors or not since the mist was in my way.

"Such an amusing little ninja, she will be the first to die. How to do it I wonder?" Zabuza wondered as he disappeared completely into the mist.

"I won't let that happen." Kakashi said. I heard the sound of his sword swinging once more but it was stopped by a kunai I think. Like I can see anything. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura keep Tazuna safe. Nami stay focused."

"Yes, sensei!" we all answered immediately doing what he told us.

During the long battle, that involved way too much water, Kakashi eventually got caught in a water prison.

"Take Tazuna and leave." Kakashi told us. How he can talk while he is drowning in a water prison I shall never know.

"No." Naruto disagreed. Sakura looked like she wanted to leave. Sasuke obviously agreed with Naruto, since Sasuke want to fight an all. Then words were shared and Naruto and Sasuke started attacking Zabuza. I felt so useless standing there, but if I went anywhere near that water while being hit by a water clone there is no way I would be able to suppress my power. Naruto and Sasuke tricked Zabuza and got Kakashi out.

"Sorry Nami-chan." Kakashi apologized before him and Zabuza did an attack which caused us to have to go to the top of the trees so that we would not drown. So much water. Kakashi won and was about to kill Zabuza when Zabuza was hit by some senbon needles.

"Thank you for helping me capture him." A mist hunter nin said before disappearing.

"What I didn't even sense him! He's our age."

"There are people stronger than us, it is a good lesson to learn." Kakashi answered, well that was my version of what he said. I wasn't really paying attention I was glaring at the tree where the hunter nin was hiding.

"Oh, Nami you must be upset over seeing a mist ninja." Sakura said noticing my mood.

"Yeah, but also..." I said but trailed off because Kakashi passed out. I was not going to carry him.

"You're awake." we all noticed before we could get his mask off his face. Fine Kakashi ruin our fun.

"Yeah, but I won't be able to walk for a while though." Kakashi said eye smiling.

"I think there is something else you should tell them." I said hoping that Kakashi figured out the same thing I did.

"Zabuza is most likely alive. Mist hunter-nins usually burn the bodies."

"How did Nami-chan know that?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't, but I look like my parents. So any hunter ninja from mist would have seen their pictures and would wonder if I was their daughter. At the very least the hunter ninja would have asked for my name, or all of our names."

"So if you face some mist ninjas in the future?" Naruto asked.

"They would try to kill me." I answered nonchalantly as if it was no more serious then there being a nice breeze today.

"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked.

"I am going to train you." Kakashi announced eye smiling.

"Okay everyone we are going to train by climbing these trees."

"That's easy." Naruto remarked.

"Without your hands." Kakashi replied.

"That's impossible." Naruto said. Kakashi decided to show Naruto, and the rest of us, buy climbing the tree with only his feet and his crutches.

"See. What you have to do is focus chakra into your feet to climb." Kakashi explained. "Now give it a try."

All four of us stepped up to different tress. Naruto got two step up and fell, Sasuke got just a bit farther, Sakura and I calmly walked up to the top of the tree. Sakura grinned proudly while I merely sat on the branch smiling like usual.

"What!" Naruto shouted pointing at us.

"It seems the girls are better at chakra control then you guys. I am proud of you Sakura, you can guard Tazuna during the day while he works on the bridge. Nami I expected you to be able to do that, from what your other teachers have told me so it is kind of unfair to the guys. Nami while they are training you will go over to the stream that is in the forest and practice your Kekkai there. I know that it is easier for you to practice it alone so I will leave you alone for the most part. Have fun kids." Kakashi said before he left us.

"Hey Naruto come here. The key is to make sure that you use the same amount of chakra for each step once you figure out how much you need." I offered helpfully before I waved to Sasuke leaving the boys to their trees, hopefully Sasuke wouldn't glare at them too much. One of these days he will glare at something and it will combust randomly and I will laugh and laugh and laugh some more. Unless that something is me, then I would have combusted.

That night at dinner I was watching Sasuke and Naruto inhale their food and then throw it up. Disgusting. After they did it twice I had enough.

"Stop waisting food!" I shouted at them quite randomly. It was so random that they both actually stopped what they were doing to stare at me.

"You're all going to die." the little kid informed us.

"Thanks for the newsflash kid." I answered him sarcastically since I was annoyed. I mean seriously everyone dies.

"Che." Sasuke made a noise that I am going to pretend was a snicker.

"You know what I just realized Sasuke?" I asked him looking as if I just had an epiphany or something.

"What?" Sasuke asked playing along much to the shock of everyone. And they say Naruto is the most surprising ninja.

"Now I finally know why you glared at those trees, because they are hard to run up with chakra!" I answered simply grinning.

"Hn." Sasuke said as all the ninja other than Sasuke laughed.

The next day as I practiced diligently, by slowing walking into the water and then letting my Kekkai Genkai activate, until I felt a presence near my lake. I quickly pulled in my chakra and discontinued the kekkai stumbling forward a bit.

"Hello." a voice called through the trees.

"Hello." I called back knowing that usually enemies don't announce their presence, although I was staying focused just in case this was one of the weird enemies.

"I am sorry I thought I heard someone..." a figure that looked girly said as she entered the clearing near the lake.

"No harm done." I said smiling at the girl moving out of the water. Thank goodness it's a girl, I didn't want some dude to see me in my bathing suit that I took with me to practice in.

"What were you doing?" the girl asked me eying me weirdly.

"I was training." I answered simply leaving it ambiguous on purpose. I reached for my towel, the beads of water are really annoying because they make it hard to focus, and start drying off.

"Is there someone that you want to protect?" the girl asked as if she asked the question a lot to random strangers in the woods. Maybe she did, who am I to say what is weird or not. If she wants to ask random people in the forest a random question so be it.

"Of course." I answered simply.

"Your precious person?" she asked as we both took a seat on the bank.

"People. I value the life of my team and more importantly my friends." I corrected.

"Don't you have one special person that you would give your life for?" she asked me.

"You ask lots of personal questions to someone who does not even know your name." I pointed out.

"I am Haku." she said.

"I am Nami, what are you doing out here?"

"I am gathering herbs to help my sick friend." she answered simply.

"That makes sense."

"Are you going to answer my question?" she asked seeming slightly put out by my lack of answer.

"My answer is that I don't have one specific person that I would die for because I would die for any of my friends. I'd also die in service to my country." I answered her.

"I should be going it's getting late."

"Bye then Haku."

"Oh, by the way, I am a guy." Haku informed me causing me to stare at him open mouthed, "And I like your outfit." he said laughing as he walked away. Wait a second my outfit, crap I forgot I was in my two piece bathing suit and nothing else. I was just talking to a guy in my bathing suit! I think I am going to blush for about three years over this.

Preview from next chapter: End of Wave mission

After a while of fighting Naruto came and shouted stuff about being there, making him completely loose the element of surprise. I stood in the mist concentrating on listening to both fights.

"Do you know what is going on?" Sakura whispered to me.

"Not really." I admitted. I should probably work on the whole figuring out what is going on by listening thing. That would be a good skill to have. Too bad I don't have it right now.

"Not knowing what is going on is really annoying." Sakura complained.

"If I trusted myself more I would dispel the mist." I informed Sakura.

"You can do that?" Sakura asked impressed.