"SHH!"

"Don't 'shh' me!"

"Just be quiet Reimei!"

"Fuyu no! He said to stay with mom; he'll get mad if he knew we were here!"

"Fine then you can go back, I want to know what this is about."
"Geez, I can't believe anyone would make YOU a chuunin! You are so stupid," The young girl retreated back through the wood to the riverbank. She looked around to make sure her mother didn't notice her absence then she sat down.

Fuyu remained where he was. He was staring down from a tree into a large clearing. Few shinobi made it into the grave, most died on missions and their bodies were destroyed before an enemy could take it and learn its secrets…this was basic academy knowledge of course.

His father and a woman he did not know stood before one of these rare graves. She was silently staring at it and Zabuza was staring at her.

"So why did you not come when I first sent you notice…that was seven years ago now almost eight. You could have claimed the body…"

"No, I could not. I had wanted to live out my life with the thought that my son was alive somewhere in the world. I had truly hoped to never see him again…I knew in that way he would be happy."
There was a painfully uncomfortable silence…at least on Zabuza's end.

"He missed you…I know he regretted leaving you there alone."
"Maybe but he never belonged there…he was just like you Zabuza…he would have never made it in Kiri, so his body had no place there."

"Hm…"

"But thank you Zabuza-san. I read your letter everyday for a week…I am glad that he was happy in the end."

"Yes, I did not think I could express properly his feelings for the mission…for…"
"No it was fine Zabuza, you seemed to want to brush over the topic but it is what made me most happy. Even if it was not where we thought it would be I am glad he found love…"

"Yes."

Miho turned and left, Zabuza hesitated for a minute then followed her. Fuyu remained where he was. 'This is Suigetsu's mother,' the thought wasn't very significant but he didn't want it to pass through without registering. Truth was he could barely remember Suigetsu. A few memories with him in the background, he recalled spending days with him on occasion but he always felt like Suigetsu had been too preoccupied with "grown-up stuff" to pay him much mind. And now that Fuyu was older himself, only ten years old but that was old enough to know a lifetime more than he could have fathomed then, it was understandable to him that Suigetsu didn't want to spend much time with a child. More memorable than any memories he had of his father's late friend was that he looked up to him. He respected him as a friend of his father's and admired him as a shinobi closer to his own age.

Fuyu turned back through the woods; he plopped down next to Reimei mere seconds before his father came up with Miho.

They stopped several yards away from where the two children sat. Zabuza and Miho gazed in their direction for a minute; Miho's eyes searched along the riverbank and found Konan a ways down. She was sitting with a baby propped up in her lap.

"That is your family?"
"Yes," neither of them removed their eyes from the tranquil scene.

"Hm, I suppose the older two there are already being trained by the Village's academy."

"Yes, Reimei is moving up fast through the grades…very much like Fuyu did. He is already a chuunin."
"A chuunin? That is very impressive, you must be proud."

"Very."

"The woman over there that must be Konan then?"

"Yes, would you like to meet her?"

"Oh no, I really must be leaving…I can not say much but Kiri is not exactly going through an easy time right now. It was hard enough to leave in the first place I really shouldn't linger…I have wasted enough time as it is." She turned to leave then paused. "That sounded horrible of me didn't it?"
Zabuza didn't answer…it didn't faze him. Shinobi were capable of much more horrendous atrocities than being mistaken for not caring for their children.

Before Miho left she turned back to Zabuza one last time. "The youngest one, what is it's name?"
"Her name is Masuyo…she is four months old now."

"Masuyo…did you both name her?"
"No Konan did…I don't think that is really my area."
"Hm, no…Fuyu, that is 'born in winter'…not very creative."
"Not much to go with."

"Masuyo…was that a family name? On her side?"
"Not that I know of."
"Hm, it is a powerful name for a little girl…it may have meaning we are yet to realize." She turned away for the final time.

Zabuza returned to his family. Fuyu and Reimei were having a little argument as they followed their parents home but were trying to be hush-hush about it. When they arrived at their door there were two young shinobi there to meet them.

A relatively tall, slender girl with pale, bobbed hair stood next to a shorter boy. His pale face glowed beneath his nearly uncut dark violet hair. Both wore light packs on their backs. As soon as they noticed the group coming towards them the girl rushed over.

"Fuyu-kun, Naruto-sensei had us come here and wait for you. He says as soon as you are ready we need to leave…WE GOT A NEW MISSION!" She grinned widely and could barely hold still.

"Oh, okay Nariko…do you know what it is about? Why is it so urgent?"

"It is not urgent or else we would have come looking for you instead of waiting around…which I might mention we have been doing for OVER AN HOUR! And Sensei won't tell us what it is about till we are all together so COME ON! I wanna know what it is!"
"Okay I need to go get some things real fast."

"Du-uh…oh and he said we could be gone for nearly a month!" She shouted after Fuyu as he rushed into the house. Nariko turned to the others standing there. "Hello Zabuza-san…Konan-san," she bowed slightly after each name, "how have you been? My aunt still says she wants to see the baby sometime."

Konan smiled "Tell Nami she is welcome to any time."
"Yea you said that before and she just sits around then brings it up again a week later." Nariko attempted to get a good look at the baby nonchalantly as she spoke but Konan noticed and moved Masuyo to be better viewed. "She is nice, she has hair…my aunt showed me a picture once of me as a baby, it was the only one I think that wasn't damaged by the fire, and I was totally bald. I hate her for keeping it."

Konan laughed a little. Zabuza walked with Reimei to the door. Reimei went inside and to her room but Zabuza stopped to talk to the boy for a minute.

"Hello Zabuza-san."

"Tetsumaru," Zabuza nodded at him. "How is your father? I do not think I have spoken to him all month."

"He is okay…he's been home a lot lately so I guess that means everything is okay with the Village too."
"That is good, are you planning to go into ANBU when you are older?"
"Uh…um, I don't know," the soft-spoken boy looked around uncomfortably. Tetsu felt like he had been asked that all his life.

"It would make Choukichi-sama glad I think."

"I know…"
Fuyu came back out with a small pack on his back and adorned more appropriate clothes for travel. "Bye dad," his father nodded and Fuyu walked to Konan, Tetsu took the chance to leave the slightly uncomfortable conversation. "Bye Konan."

"Be safe Fuyu."

Fuyu kissed his baby sister on the forehead; her dark eyes followed him silently. "Bye Masuyo-nii."

The three left swiftly, leaving Konan and Zabuza to walk into the house. Konan disappeared with Masuyo down the hall. Zabuza closed the curtains against the setting sun and then joined her. The surprisingly well-tempered child lay silently in her crib ready to drift off to sleep. Konan stood looking down at her when Zabuza joined her.

He bent down slightly and rested his chin on her shoulder, his arms wrapping around the kunoichi lovingly. Konan reached up and touched his hand and rested back into his chest.

"She is lovely."
"Like you." He could tell she smiled that sweet, sad smile he had come to love so very much. Miho's words played back through his head, a buzzing thought that went but was not gone. "I never asked…why did you name her Masuyo?"
"Hmm…It just…came to me I guess." Konan could still see the dream she had years ago just as clear as she saw her daughter before her now…and she was convinced she was looking at the same individual that mystified her everyday since that night. "It is a good name."

"I agree," Zabuza pulled Konan a little closer still. "Masuyo, 'to benefit the world,' and Reimei, 'dawn' they are both names of hope."

Konan was silent for a moment, "In the end, hope is all we have left."