"You're Zabuza?"
The ninja nodded in reply. He was still staring into the beautiful woman's blue eyes. Come on! Focus! he thought to himself. This is no time to be daydreaming! He started going through his options in his mind. I could go with the classic cut and run (literally), or I could keep playing the 'just passing through' game. He sighed and made his decision. "That's right, my name's Zabuza..." he thought better than to use his real last name. "Zabuza Kurichi," he said, "Again, I apologize for intruding, I just needed a place to sleep, and no one was here."
The woman still looked suspicious, and she stood there staring for a moment longer. Then the alarm disappeared from her eyes, and she held out her hand. "Here," she said, "let me help you up." He took her hand and she pulled him up off the floor. He regained his balance and pulled off the sheets that were still hanging on him. "My name's Rose," she said politely.
"Rose," Zabuza said dumbly. He realized how stupid he was acting and regained his thoughts. "So, do you live here all by yourself?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I like it. The peace is nice. I do get bored, though. And lonely..."
"Oh, well I guess that's to be expected," he answered.
"Um, I have a question. Why do you have such a big sword?" the alarm started to come back into her eyes. "I thought you were just passing through."
"I am, but I..." Crap! I didn't think of that! "It's for self-defense," he said after thinking for a moment, "I learned sword-fighting back in my village, and with my size, a sword this big is just natural." He was relieved when she visibly relaxed.
"Oh, that makes sense," Rose said. "What village are you from?" she asked curiously.
Uh oh, Zabuza thought. "Um, the Hidden...River...Village," he lied. "It's on the southern edge of the Land of Waves." Please buy it.
"Hmm, never heard of it," she said. "Are you a Shinobi there? That's what that headband is for, right?" She pointed to Zabuza's headband, and he mentally kicked himself for not taking it off when he went to sleep. Luckily, it seemed that this woman had little contact with the outside world, so she knew little about villages and the headband symbols.
"Yeah, I am."
"Then why are you all the way out here?"
"I'm on a mission." Okay, I'm getting back to normal. I don't have to think as long about lying.
"Oh, really! How cool!" she said enthusiastically. "What's the mission?"
"I have to go meet someone in another village."
"What's the village's name?"
"It's the Hidden Tide Village."
"Wow, I've never heard of that one either. I should probably get out more!"
"Yeah," he said absently. He was thinking about what he was going to do from here.
"Hello?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. What did you say?"
"Would you like to stay here for a while?" Rose said.
"Well, I-" Zabuza saw the eagerness and excitement in her eyes and he sighed. "Sure," he said. "I'd be happy to."
"Okay! Um, I don't have a spare bed or anything, so I guess you'll have to sleep on the floor. Sorry."
"It's alright, I'm used to it," he said casually. He remembered seeing some firewood outside. "Uh, do you need help chopping firewood?"
"Oh, well, I guess. It's kinda tough for me to do it. Thanks." She turned and opened a closet he hadn't noticed. She pulled out a broom and began to sweep the floor. The former Mist ninja picked his sword up from off the floor and walked out the door. He walked over to the firewood and stood staring at it. What now? he thought. How do I get out of this? He lined up four pieces of firewood and raised his sword. He brought it down and looked at the four pieces, which were now eight. Perfect. All four pieces were cut right down the middle. He smiled and set up four more.
The firewood clunked as it hit the floor. "Here you go."
"Oh, thanks!" Rose said as she placed two bowls on the table. There was a big pot sitting in the fireplace over a fire. "That was fast. Lunch will be ready soon. It just needs to simmer." She went and pulled two spoons out of one of the cabinets.
Zabuza looked around and saw how cozy the cabin looked now. "So, why were you out last night?" he asked curiously.
"I was out looking for some herbs. It got really late and I was pretty far from here, so I found a big tree root to spend the night in instead of walking back in the dark," she answered. "Okay! It's ready!" she said as she sniffed the pot of what smelled like vegetable stew.
For some reason, he didn't quite believe her, but he didn't really care. He was just acting friendly until he could get out of this place. Zabuza picked up his bowl and walked over to scoop some out. He stopped as he was reaching for the ladle's handle. "You first," he said as he stepped aside to let Rose have the first serving.
"Ah, what a gentleman!" she teased. She giggled and poured out some of the hot stew. He was starting to get irritated at the feeling of his face turning red, which had happened three times in the past two days. After filling his bowl to the brim, he sat down with Rose and they started eating.
Zabuza thought about what he was going to do from here on out, but he pushed the thought away as talked with the beautiful woman that he had met by chance. Or perhaps, fate.