He felt hot. It was a strange sensation. The bed was too soft to be real, but the pain made him all too aware of the reality of his situation. Too tired to pretend he was still asleep, he stirred and opened his eyes to see his surroundings. A man in a thick desert cape sat in a chair beside him, changing bandages with a simple wash basin on a table beside him. It was a small bedroom, most likely in a highway inn somewhere in the Land of Rivers.

"So you're finally awake." The man's face seemed familiar, but Haku was too tired to think though his memory of Bingo books. Too sore to even move he stayed still, though he knew his rescuer was no simple man to have been able to extract him from the underground cave.

"How long has it been?" Haku asked with a hoarse and dry voice.

"Two days. To be honest I'm surprised you're still alive." The auburn-haired man sat down on a chair by the end of the bed and lit a cigarette with a simple fire-flicker jutsu. "Truth be told I was kind of hoping you would just die, I could have sent your body back to Sunagakure for dissection and analysis." The serious look in his eyes showed the truth in his words, as well as revealed his identity.

"But you spend two days nursing me back to health because you felt indebted… Yondaime Kazekage." The return of consciousness seemed to restore his vigor as well, his memory was improving. Of course that returned his memory of his fight with Orochimaru.

"A life for a life, there is no simpler exchange between men who owe a debt. I'm no master with healing jutsu, but I've picked up enough to patch you up as best I could. The damage to your blood vessels though, you're lucky you didn't damage your heart or you'd likely have a permanent arrhythmia or worse."

Standing up, he walked over to the corner of the room and picked up a backpack before setting it down on the bed.

"I found your supplies in the desert, and the room has been paid for another week. You'll need more time than that to recover though."

"And what about you? Orochimaru does not give up his prey so easily."

"After I managed to escape I ran into his reinforcements. While you were keeping him occupied, I killed all but one, deployed a decoy body I kept in a scroll, and then used a genjutsu on the man to make him believe he had killed me. Doubling back after that, I found you and kept a low profile. I can't say for certain that we haven't been followed, but likely Orochimaru has his own plans and can't afford to waste time hunting me again."

"Konoha's Chuunin Exams, you and he had something planned for them, didn't you?"

"We did, but in trying to kill me I get the impression he was trying to cut me out of the deal." It was a terrible pun, but Haku didn't think he meant it with a sense of humor.

Going back to grab the other backpack, he put out his cigarette in an ashtray before heading for the door. "Konoha is a good day and a half away, under good conditions. Likely it will take you two to three days how you are. I'm no fool Yuki Haku; doubtless you will follow me soon after I leave in order to attend the Chuunin Exams. I did not drug you to weaken you to prevent this; it is every man's choice to choose his own destiny. In four days time the Exams begin, if you are there, then you will get to see firsthand how these plots play out."

Without another word, he left.

Sitting up was a challenge, but staying in one place for too long was not what he wanted either. Going over to the counter revealed the medical equipment the Kazekage had left behind. Even without knowledge of medical jutsu, these were some of the most advanced medicines Haku had seen.

Still, moving was a sluggish process, his heart rate was irregular and he could feel his blood vessels were stressed. Damaged blood valves would require blood thinning medicine to prevent blood clots from forming. Likely he would have to see a doctor sooner or later, but for now he could not worry about that.

Checking his pack for his supplies, he was relieved to see his new robes were undamaged. The traveling robes he had worn during his fight were in tatters, no worries about those though. A white canvas bag on the table troubled him though. Opening it caused a single spike of black ice to fall out. The sight of it made him cringe. Still freezing cold to the touch, this was Orochimaru's venom that had been injected into him. Why had the Kazekage preserved this?

Packing up everything he needed, he left as quickly as he could. Too dangerous to leave, the solidified curse seal was the last thing he put into his backpack. Swallowing hard, he set out to an uncertain future.


His sword sat in front of him, lying on a table in his room. It had been two weeks since he had held it in his hands, it would take time to get used to its weight again… only after finishing the volumes of the man who had crafted it, the sword had gained a completely different weight.

Manipulating internal chakra was one thing, imbuing an item with chakra was another; the swords used by the Mists Seven Swordsmen were something else entirely:
A sword that devoured chakra – The Samehada
A sword that enhanced the user's accuracy and had a never-ending string – Nuibari
A sword that crushes any defense – Kabutowari
A sword with an infinite supply of explosive seals – Shibuki
Twin swords, always at their sharpest because of their lightning Chakra – Kiba
The sword that can alter its shape via chakra – Hiramekarei
And the sword capable of endless regeneration in blood – Kubikiribōchō

They were different from other items considered mystical in the Shinobi world because their origins were known, though only by the ones who carried them. The journals were a mystery up to the final volume, where everything came together in the culmination of a dark secret.

"You were human once, weren't you?" Zabuza looked at his sword, it didn't answer. Of course it didn't.

It wasn't pity he felt, nor was it remorse. The man had made his choice, altered his body's chakra network through experimental surgery, then had it ripped out of him and imbued into the very metal of the blade. But there was something else, something feared by the swordsmith who had made them.

Years after the swords were finished, the Samehada "woke up". The blade gained sentience and was alive in every sense of the word. It made the sword more dangerous, more effective. The last pages of the journal were the musings of a tired old man wondering if his other "children" would come alive as well.

There was a supplementary book about the users of the seven swords, how a shinobi from Kirigakure used the Kiba blades once during a battle before they were given to another swordsmen. Though born a water elemental user, from that day onward he could only use the lightning element.

Another was a retired user of the Kabutowari. He lived out the remainder of his days with seals wrapped around his hands because anything he touched broke apart and disintegrated.

The blades were slowly changing, it was said their power was growing with each generation. Before his death, it was said Mangetsu Hozuki had become a monster because of his training with all seven swords.

"A monster then." Running his tongue along his sharpened teeth, Zabuza stood up and walked to the table. "They call me a Demon, I wonder if using you will make me one for real?"

Hefting the blade in his hands, it did feel heavier than it had before, but it felt stronger.

"Perhaps you want to devour my soul? Well maybe I'll try to eat yours instead." Any other time he would have felt ridiculous talking to an inanimate object, but never before in his life had he felt a Killing Intent as strong as the one which was now in his hands.

Strapping the blade to his back, he strode outside and yelled for Chojuro.

"Get out here you runt! And bring your sword too, we've got work to do."