Days have passed since the preliminaries have ended. Ko was returned to the hospital to rest her leg until it was safe enough to walk which she hated, she wasn't the type of person to just sit around. Ko was a little surprised that her team hadn't visited her yet but she assumed Naruto and Sasuke were preparing for the finals and Sakura probably didn't care. It was boring laying in the hospital bed not doing anything but Ko mostly meditated to pass the time. As she was meditating, she felt a chill in the air and opened her eyes to see Kabuto sitting on the windowsill.

"I see you recovered quickly," Ko said breaking the silence and focused on her comrade.

"I see you've heard." Kabuto replied with a smirk then pushed up his glasses to the bridge of his nose.

"I heard you got your ass kicked." Ko chuckled wishing she could've been there to see the fight.

"Well if I didn't have to hold back, she would've been dead." Kabuto answered with a hint of anger in his voice; he hated losing.

"I know, it's just weird hearing someone kicked your ass. So why are you here?"

"Once you're out of here, which will be soon, you're going to have a new sensei to train you. Lord Orochimaru thought you'd enjoy learning a new technique for your next match."

"Who's teaching me and what am I learning?" Ko questioned tilting her head to the side in curiosity which made her hair slightly cover her face. It's been years since she learned something new.

"It's a surprise."

"Gah, doesn't he know I hate surprises?" Ko groaned falling back onto her bed feeling frustrated.

Kabuto chuckled at Ko's childish behavior. He had to admit, he missed having Ko at the hideout with them. She offered company when Orochimaru didn't want to be bothered and he enjoyed training her in medical ninjutsu. They grew up together so they could be technically siblings, learning under the same person. Ko could say the same thing about Kabuto. Even though he got on her nerves most of the time they were together at the Sound Village, she couldn't hate him; she guessed it was common for siblings.

Kabuto gave her a small smile and disappeared leaving Ko alone once again. She noticed a small paper on the side of her bed on the nightstand. She reached over and read it. 1:00 Training field #5.

"Alright I guess I'm getting out today," Ko concluded as she put the note back on the stand.

A nurse came in a few minutes later telling Ko that she will be released in an hour but not to put a lot of weight on her leg. She was sentenced to bed rest for the next couple of days but Ko didn't have time to rest. Once the nurse left, Ko was counting down the minutes to when she was going to be discharged, she's been wasting her time resting when she could be training.

Once Ko was discharged, she walked out of the hospital and headed towards the training field which unfortunately was on the opposite side of the village. Her leg still stung but she knew walking wouldn't cause a lot of stress on her leg. As she limped through the village, she noticed there were a lot more people around the shops. She looked around noticing there were more people from the other villages wondering the streets than the locals.

Ko made her way to the field which took about half an hour because of her injured leg. The training field was just outside the wall but surprisingly wasn't used as much as the others. She reached the area not seeing anyone so she sat down at the base of a tree to rest her leg. Unfortunately, when she sat down, she wasn't alone anymore. Ko looked up at the branch above her seeing Kankuro looking down at her.

"Awe man you're the brat?" Kankuro whined with an irritated tone which irritated the red eyed girl.

"And you're teaching me?" Ko replied in the same tone.

Kankuro jumped down from the branch landing in front of Ko staring at her. As he looked into her eyes, he noticed she still had that same look in her eyes as before which made his heartbeat quicken. He didn't know what it was about this Leaf ninja, but he was interested in her, wanting to hear her story.

"Alright so what are you teaching me?" Ko questioned impatiently.

"Someone's eager. My sensei ordered me to teach you how to be a puppet master."

Ko's eyes lit up at his words. She had suspected he was a puppet master but had never seen him fight. She was surprised that her Father had remembered how much she loved the technique when she was younger, especially how she was obsessed with the famous Sasori of the Red Sand.

"So let's get started then," Ko eagerly demanded wanting to know this technique. She's been waiting her whole life to learn.

"Ah ah ah, ask politely." His voice was now playful which made Ko raise a brow. She thought he would be more mature than this seeing that he was clearly older.

"Can we please get started?" She asked through her teeth not afraid to show her irritation with him.

"Can we please get started..." Kankuro repeated with a hand gesture wanting her to continue the sentence.

"Kankuro?"

"Kankuroooo," he motioned for her to continue.

Ko glared at Kankuro as she looked at his smug painted face. Her glare slowly faded leaving her stoic look but then she smirked.

"Fine, I'll play your game...Kitty sensei." She replied making him freeze at his new name.

Kankuro's face fell then quickly turned into anger as he saw Ko's smirk grow wider. "I hate you," Kankuro growled as he stared down at his new student.

"The feeling is mutual, so now let's get started."

"Hold out your hand," Kankuro ordered. Ko did as he said and held out her arm with her palm facing downward. Kankuro stood next to her doing the same. "Now, concentrate your chakra to your fingers and imagine it extending out of your fingertips."

Ko did as he said and within a few minutes she could see a small blue line extending from the tips of her fingers. She wasn't able to hold it long but that was only the first step. Kankuro lowered his arm and walked over to the closest tree sitting at the base of it while Ko practiced. She did the same thing as before but didn't make much progress. For the next few hours, Ko has been trying to extend her chakra further and further, but it seemed as if she wasn't getting anywhere. She let out a frustrated sigh as she let her arm fall to her side.

"Ugh I didn't think this would be extremely hard." Ko complained as she threw her arms up in the air.

"Heh that's why only Sand Shinobi practice it; it's a difficult technique. It takes years of practice and patience to master." Kankuro said from his seat entertained by her frustration. He's seen nothing but confidence from the girl so it was nice seeing a different side of her.

"For ordinary shinobi it would...but I'm a prodigy. I master a jutsu after a few tries. This can't be happening." Ko sighed as she looked at the ground in disappointment.

Kankuro saw the look on her face knowing it all too well. He knew she was disappointed in herself for not making any progress and couldn't help but feel bad. He had been in the same boat when he first started to learn but he could at least extend his strings farther than she could after a couple of tries.

"Hey well, I guess you haven't been challenged before." Kankuro started to say catching her attention. He didn't like seeing her disappointed so he attempted to make her feel better.

"Huh?" Ko questioned as she looked up at him.

"If you master something easily, then there's no challenge. It gets boring after a while but when you finally get a challenge, it's exciting and that's when you can really test yourself."

"I guess you're right. This is just new for me." Ko looked away from him and down at her hands.

"I can tell."

Silence fell between the two besides the birds flying high above them. Ko looked up at the sky seeing that the sun was going to start setting soon.

"I guess that's it for training today. Man, I was hoping to avoid them a little longer." Kankuro sighed knowing Temari will question where he has been all day while Gaara will threaten to kill him as usual.

"I have nothing better to do, we can get something to eat?" Ko suggested instantly realizing what she just said. "What the hell did you just say Ko? Dinner with someone? How pathetic, he's the enemy...well maybe not if Father is trusting him to train me." Ko thought mentally beating herself up over this.

"I guess, beats being in the same room as my siblings." Kankuro sighed.

"Alright well I know of this one small shop we can eat at. it's not too far." Ko said as she started to walk away.

Kankuro walked behind her a few paces behind but easily caught up to her because of her limp. He watched her as they walked observing her. Her face was blank once again void of emotion as she kept her focus on the path in front of her. From time to time her red eyes would flicker to her surroundings then focus on the path again. It looked as if she was trying to observe the village as if it were the last time she would see it. Ko's eyes met Kankuro's making him look away and look up at the trees above him pretending he wasn't staring.

Kankuro didn't want to look away since her eyes looked pretty awesome to him. He'd never met or seen someone with red eyes like hers before and it could be the last. His thoughts were interrupted when Ko reached for his hand.

"Hey what are you doing?!" Kankuro exclaimed in surprise slipping his hand out of hers.

"There's a mob of people out there. You'll get lost if we get separated." Ko explained as she grabbed his hand again making him blush then started to pull his arm.

Kankuro allowed her to lead him to wherever she was going. He was amazed how gracefully she dodged the busy villagers and visitors who almost ran into her unfortunately, he wasn't so graceful and bumped right into them. Finally, Ko slowed down stopping in front of a small shop. They walked inside seeing an old lady behind the counter.

"Hello Ko, I see you brought a friend." The woman gave the two a smile as they approached her. Her white hair was cut short into a bob which was pulled back by a blue headband.

"I'll have the usual," Ko answered as she sat down.

"What about your friend?" She questioned as she watched Kankuro take the seat next to Ko.

"Uh do you have sushi?" Kankuro questioned unsure what they would serve; this was the first time he stayed at a foreign village and was unsure if they had different food than his home village.

"Yes we do!" She exclaimed giving him a warm smile.

"I'll have that then."

The old lady nodded and went to make their food.

"Sushi huh?" Ko questioned turning towards her new sensei.

"I live in the desert, we normally don't eat fish." Kankuro reasoned as he put his puppet on the floor next to him. "So you come here a lot?"

"I live close by, plus my team usually goes to the ramen shop on the other side of the village. It's nice to have some peace and quiet."

"Heh so you're surrounded by brats?" Kankuro chuckled seeing she also is annoyed by people.

"Seems so, they're annoying."

Silence fell between the two and stayed silent waiting for their food to come out. Ko was the first one to get their food and quickly stuffed dango in her mouth. Kankuro couldn't help but smirk at the face she was making. She had a smile on her face with her eyes were closed enjoying the food. She looked different then how she usually looks. Just by looking at her eyes she seemed deadly but she looked like an innocent kid when she let her guard down.

He didn't realize how hungry he was until he saw Ko eating. He started to glance towards the door waiting to see the lady with his food. When she came out and placed it in front of him, he dug in.

"So how come I'm the one training you? You're going to spend your whole month of training on a technique you won't be able to use?" Kankuro questioned as he finished his meal.

Ko swallowed her food. "I'm strong enough to handle myself. I'd rather learn something I've always admired than another jutsu." Ko answered as she grabbed her fourth stick of dango.

"You didn't see your opponent fight, how are you going to be prepared?" He liked the confidence she had but was still doubtful about her abilities. She had a petite frame but he knew from her battle her muscles were toned. Still, at first glance she looked like a porcelain doll, easily to break. He would never guess she was a strong shinobi.

"I'm strong enough to handle her. Once my leg is fully healed I can take her." Ko brushed off him underestimating her knowing she was more than prepared for her match. Learning puppetry wasn't the only thing she wanted to work on but her leg needed to heal first.

"Did you even hear about her match?" He was sure she had. Her teammates should've told her about it when she was in the hospital.

"Uh no," Ko answered and was a bit disappointed that her team didn't tell her anything about her opponent, they didn't even visit her in the hospital.

"She's skilled in taijutsu which everyone could tell you lack in compared to her and her elements are water and wind. She only used two jutsu and the match was over."

"Sounds challenging. I can take her." There it was again, that confidence she had. Kankuro couldn't help but smirk at her response.

"If you say so."

"I got some tricks up my sleeve."

"By the way, why are you eating so much? That's your fifth stick of dango." He pointed out eyeing the four lone sticks on her plate.

"With a life like ours, you never know when your last meal is going to be so you better enjoy it." Ko said as she took a bite of her dango.

"Hm good point but I should get going." He said getting up and placing his puppet back onto his back.

"What time are we meeting tomorrow?" Ko questioned.

"About that, as much as I love sitting around doing nothing. I'm not babysitting you while you struggle so find me when you've made a lot of progress."

Ko watched Kankuro walk away then finished her last piece of dango. She paid the bill and headed home wanting to train more alone. Her apartment wasn't that far away from the shop so it only took her a few minutes. Before she entered her house, Sasuke appeared in front of his door.

"Hey stranger." Ko greeted as she unlocked her door.

"Why were you eating with that sand ninja?" Sasuke questioned which caught Ko off guard.

"I can't have company while I eat my food?" Ko questioned back.

"He's the enemy Ko." Sasuke scolded before walking into his apartment.

Ko smirked at his comment and entered her home. "Oh Sasuke, so naive."