Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys! You're awesome. You made me feel so flattered, and inspired me to continue my work… Please keep reading! xP Anyway, I've finally finished the seventh chappie! XD Sorry for not updating. T.T Had an impassable mountain of homework to get through… o.O But I've found some time and finally finished this… This chapter is mostly about Loki getting to know Haku and Zabuza, and their reactions to each other. And… Well, read on and find out.

7. Introductions

A chilly evening breeze swept over the glade, and a faraway bird broke the silence of the dusk with a melodious chirrup. The bonfire crackled as Zabuza threw some more twigs into it. Haku was sitting beside him with a bowl of hot stew, his wounds taken care of and re-bandaged tightly. Loki was crouching a bit further off on the opposite side of the bonfire, concealed in deep shadows. She had a bowl of stew as well, and was currently sipping the hot liquid slowly. The girl felt a bit awkward, eating in front of two humans like that. She was aware of the older nin watching her closely, and got even more uncomfortable.

"Would you mind honouring us by sitting where I can see you?" asked Zabuza grumpily. "You're on my team now, and I'd like to know exactly what I've picked up."

After a moment's hesitation, Loki moved out into the firelight. She was wearing one of Haku's blue kimonos over her bandages, but it barely fit her. She was too worn out to even take a proper bath; her hair was still messed up and filthy from the battle, and she was aware of brownish spots of dried blood all over her face and arms. Overall, she looked like a very beaten street beggar. Nobody seemed to mind, though.

"You were so eager to join us before one would think you'd jump at the opportunity to spill your life story to us," Zabuza continued, "and now you're shying away in the shadows. Bloody hell, you're even stranger than Haku!"

Loki said nothing and cast a sideways glance at the boy, who didn't seem to notice the man's remark at all. They were the ones who were strange. She'd never seen humans act this way. They were treating her like their equal, letting her eat with them and lending her their clothes… There were so many new things she didn't yet understand. Good thing her nose-filters were back in place, blocking out most of the scents so that she could concentrate on other concepts.

There was another couple of minutes of silence, and Loki used this pause to take a closer look at the people that had taken her in. She had been too preoccupied with other pressing matters before, like satisfying her hunger, to examine them properly; but finally the bowl was put aside, and Loki glanced across the bonfire at the other two. The man whom she now had to call Zabuza-san was tall and powerfully built, and had a cold glint in his brown eyes. The young boy, however, looked much humbler and much nicer. But both of them couldn't differ more from the image of typical 'human beings' that the wolf-girl had had in her mind for as long as she could remember.

Loki was just reflecting on the strangeness of humanity when she suddenly became aware of an expectant silence from Zabuza's end of the bonfire and realized that she must've been asked a question.

"I said, are you a Kekkei Genkai user?" the man repeated.

"A what-user?" Loki was sure she had misunderstood.

"Do you have a Bloodline Limit? It's a special trait; a battling ability, you could say, passed down from generation to generation in your family," explained Haku, joining in on the conversation. "Your regenerating ability was remarkable. I haven't seen anybody with such a skill yet. What clan do you belong to?"

"Clan?" That struck a cord. "I… don't know…" Loki replied shakily. She had no idea what the other two were talking about. Could they possibly know something about her pack, or a pack like hers?

"So, you're an orphan. Figures…" Zabuza drew the conclusion. He had a knack, it seemed, at picking up dying orphans with incredible abilities. One more orphan, in fact, and he could start his own little Genin team.

He looked at the crouching pale form in front of him, and suddenly remembered his earlier suspicions. The girl seemed pretty quiet so far, but he was determined to extract more information. If this girl truly was a Kekkei Genkai user, then it might at least explain the fact that Haku had found her in a forest half-dead. Many ordinary people that weren't ninja despised those with Bloodline Limits, and would stop at nothing to eliminate them. Loki could be such an unfortunate one. But then, why didn't she just use her regenerating ability to heal her wounds herself? What had she been playing at?

"So… what village are you from?" asked the assassin.

"Err…" Loki didn't know what to answer to that. Village? Hadn't they caught on to the fact that she was a werewolf, and couldn't have come from a village?

Hold on a sec. If they didn't know that she was a werewolf, then they thought she was a human, right? Loki straightened up a bit at the thought. Her, a human? What an interesting idea… If they didn't recognize her for what she was… She reflected on this. In her blind blunder through the forest, could she have possibly entered some different place? A foreign country, perhaps, where nobody knew how to tell a werewolf from a human…? What if… everybody here thought that she was a human? Then she could… Ah, she could almost see all the possibilities!

"Hey! Would you quit spacing out already? I asked you a question here!!" snapped Zabuza.

"Eh? Oh, er… I'm not quite sure I remember what village I'm from… It's all a bit hazy in my mind…" Loki tried making it up as she went along. If they really did think she was human, she didn't want to discourage the thought.

"Yeah, right." Zabuza rolled his eyes and tossed another twig into the flames, making the bonfire flare up for a second. She sure wasn't the talkative kind, but it was all right. They had plenty of time ahead of them; he'd get to the bottom of this eventually.

"Your metal blade... things... were also very interesting," said Haku.

"What, these?"

The two ninja flinched very barely as Loki's hand formed a fist and the claws shot out with a sudden, sharp sound over the bonfire.

"Oh, I wasn't born with those, if that's what you mean. They were… built in… sort of. They can cut anything if the right force is applied, heh." Loki grinned. She didn't know why, but she had a sudden urge to show off.

"Oh?" Haku seemed genuinely interested. Zabuza's scowl became only a little less intense. That got her talking. "But don't they cut your skin, then?"

"Oh no, their sides are quite blunt when I'm not doing anything with them. They are made in a way so that they are only sharp when I fight and apply force, like this!"

Loki leaped to her feet and swung her arm. There was a slash, and a nearby tree came plummeting down through the descending darkness with a thundering crash. A flock of birds took off into the twilight with an annoyed twittering, awakened from their peaceful sleep. Zabuza jumped up, almost overturning his bowl of stew.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, now! You don't want to attract anyone's attention!" he barked.

"Sorry," said Loki softly, blushing, and retracted her claws.

They took their places around the bonfire once again and sat quietly for a while. Loki could see that the two males seemed to be listening, as if trying to hear something.

"What's going on?" she asked in a hushed voice. The two ninja looked at her for a moment, as though considering whether to fill her in, then turned to each other. A wordless conversation went on between them for some time, involving glares, looks and other facial mimicry, which Loki found confusing and was unable to follow. After a while, however, Haku turned to the girl and spoke, Zabuza watching her closely.

"There are men after Zabuza-san and me. These… warriors are called the Hunter-nin, and they seek to destroy us and anybody who is associated with us, meaning that you, Loki, are now also in danger, since you chose to join our group."

Haku spoke slowly and gravely. Loki was aware of the two males, especially the older one, watching her with the calculating looks of gamblers around a poker table. It seemed like a kind of a test – some sort of reaction or exclamation was clearly expected from her. Instead, the girl's hand went up to her face, and her nose-filters were taken off. The colourful web of scents at once reappeared to her eyes, and Loki joyfully took in countless aromas of the quiet forest. It was all very refreshing; however, Loki had no time to enjoy the soothing fragrances right now. She blocked out the unnecessary information, and concentrated her nasal vision on finding the right scent.

"There's nobody around," she announced after a while, replacing her filters. "I did sense the scents of some people a long way off, but they had passed a couple of days ago, and weren't warriors in any case."

Zabuza gave her a blank stare.

"You aren't telling me that smelling out people for miles and miles around is another one of your specialties, now are you?" he demanded.

"Er… yeah! It's one of them… whatyoucall'ems?" she grinned nervously.

"Kekkei Genkai…" Zabuza rubbed his chin. Well, well, so he hit the jackpot with this one as well. What will the next orphan they'd come across be able to do, he wondered... Fly? Spit fireballs? Crush mountains? What were the chances of him assembling a whole army of loyal orphans with extraordinary abilities…? He should keep his eyes peeled, in any case.

The bonfire crackled merrily as more twigs were tossed into it. Its amber glow only slightly diffused the gradually condensing darkness around the three outcasts. Night swept over the silent forest; and a lone wolf howled forlornly in the distance.

That night, Loki lay curled up on her pile of willow twigs and made plans for the future. She could hear the others' even breathing and knew that they were asleep. The girl wondered what she should tell them if they decided to prod further the question of her origins. Her knowledge of human life-style was very limited, and Loki was afraid that they might ask her something that would be obvious to a real village-dweller, but which she would have no way of answering. This would surely rouse more awkward questions, and Loki couldn't afford that if she wanted to keep her true identity secret.

There was another matter that she didn't give much thought to before, but which was bothering her now that she came to think about it. A half-moon was shining through a gap in the wall, casting a ghostly shimmer on the girl's slightly frowning face. The full moon was approaching, and she knew very well what that meant. She'd be found out for sure… unless she hid out. Yeah, she could sneak away at night, the girl reflected; just before the moon rose, and transform somewhere further away. But could she really do it for three days in a row each month without the humans noticing?

Well, she could try, at least. If it didn't work and they found out the truth, she could always run away and live by herself. Not an ideal option, of course, but Loki couldn't afford to take the chance of being given back to the Centre.

It was decided that Haku was still too hurt to train on the next day, so Zabuza settled on testing the new girl's powers a little more thoroughly instead. It was one thing watching her fight from a distance, and a completely different matter to examine her abilities close up in an actual battle.

They started out as Zabuza always did when training Haku – with hand-to-hand combat. There was a battle stance, as usual, and then they were off. The Jounin punched and kicked, but Loki deflected all of his attacks with an almost effortless agility. All of her own strikes, however, were also blocked. Zabuza wasn't very impressed by this performance. After dodging another one of the girl's unsuccessful kicks, he smirked nastily:

"Is that what you call 'battling'? Why, you seemed a lot more impressive yesterday. Don't make me regret allowing your stay."

Loki scowled. She just didn't want him to get hurt, but if that was what he wished…

Sliiiing! The girl was fast, but the ninja, of course, was much faster; and the metal blades found themselves locked against a kunai. Loki growled and pushed on, intending to slice the puny piece of metal in half, but Zabuza held his ground. Not even a crack broke the smoothness of the dark, gleaming surface of the kunai.

"Sheer force won't help you here," sneered the ninja, and the girl went tumbling onto the ground as he rammed her away.

"You've got strength, I'll give you that much," Zabuza came to loom over a sprawling Loki. "I might even go as far as saying that you have some skill as well. But in order to live up to my expectations, you've got to work much, much harder than that."

Loki rolled away as the kunai struck the place where a moment ago her head had been. She was still unused to the concept of fighting humans. She remembered well her attacks on people in the Centre, but that was different. Loki had been angry then, she hadn't had any control over herself. The fight with Haku had been different, too. The girl's entire future depended on the outcome. Now, however, when her mind wasn't obscured by craziness or the need to survive, she had to struggle to overcome the barriers set in her mind by the scientists.

All right. All she needed was focus, just like yesterday. Loki just needed to imagine that Zabuza was a machine, and it would all go smoothly. But imagining that wasn't as easy as it seemed, with his human scent floating all around. Loki retreated, leaping up onto a tree-branch and out of reach. Below her, the assassin was still sneering.

"Tell ya what, girlie? Why don't we make this fun? You seem to be doing a great deal better when the odds are against you, like that last time, isn't that right?"

Loki stared. Zabuza concentrated and began making signs with both hands. Not the gesturing again, thought the wolf-girl. She sniffed the air around her, preparing herself for the needle-rain. But it didn't come. Instead, a heavy mist enveloped the man, the glade, and the trees all around; a fog so thick that Loki could barely see her own hand if she'd outstretched it. She was unpleasantly reminded of her vision loss after she'd escaped the reformatory.

Zabuza wasn't really happy about wasting his techniques on an amateur, but he really wanted to get the girl to use her powers. She had a lot of strength, though for some reason she was restraining from using it in hand-to-hand. He was also aware that she'd said she had a good sense of smell, and he wanted to check whether the girl had been lying or not.

Meanwhile, Loki pocketed her nose-filters and took in the surrounding atmosphere. The air was heavy with condensed water, and all other scents seemed stifled and faint by comparison. She knew Zabuza was there, but it was difficult to pinpoint his exact position. All that moisture…

A shape leaped at her from out of the grey obscurity. Loki slashed at it, but missed. In the next moment, she found her right arm being twisted behind her back. The wolf-girl half-turned to catch a glimpse of a very pleased-looking Zabuza. She gasped. 'What has he done to himself?' she wondered. She couldn't smell his scent at all. Well, there was a scent, but it wasn't that odour of a powerful human male she'd come to associate the man with. Instead, all she could smell was water. Oh well, that made matters so much easier, she supposed.

Her hesitation cost her, however. The girl felt a kunai being pressed against her throat, and a coarse voice said by her ear,

"If you're going to keep up this pitiful performance, I'll throw you out of the team. That's a promi--"

His voice was cut off as Loki whirled around with an incredible force and sunk her claws into his side. She expected to see blood, but instead heard a slosh of water being spilled onto the earth and witnessed Zabuza become a shapeless form of liquid just a second before the apparition hit the ground. Loki stared. He could transform into… water?

All right, enough surprises. Loki had seen enough. A good whiff of the air, and all of the man's tricks and secrets would become an open book to her. The girl sniffed. A-ha!

She jumped out of the way as another one of the water-shapes appeared out of the mist, and sliced that one in half as well. She had to keep moving, the girl knew, so that she would be harder to track. On the other hand, she also knew that now that she'd gotten a hold of Zabuza's real scent and focused on it, he'd be much easier to track. Loki would've done that precise thing a long time ago if she hadn't been too busy being confused; but who could blame her? Too many sudden changes in a short period of time would make anyone confused.

Zabuza kept shifting position, but it was only a short while before Loki caught up. She struck from the back, giving the man little time to think. Loki used her fist, not her claws this time, but the blow was powerful enough to stun the man for a second. That wasn't enough, however. Her second punch was blocked, and her hand was gripped tightly.

"Caught on to my tactic, have you?" growled Zabuza, leering. "Not bad, not bad."

He punched her, hoping to send her flying, but Loki stood her ground. The thirteen-year-old warrior realized that to win this, she would have to use her true power, her werewolf power. She was aware that she risked the chance of being found out, but she'd try her best.

Zabuza punched her again, turning her around and preparing his final blow. Here it came…

Suddenly, he felt two blades of metal sinking into his flesh. Zabuza held back the instinctive yelp of pain and stared down in mild surprise. There were two bleeding gushes running up his leg, where a minute ago Loki had slashed him with the claws on her foot. He groaned and twisted her arm.

Grunting with effort, Loki pushed back with all the strength she could muster. Zabuza wasn't really expecting that, and they both went tumbling onto the grass. Loki could feel herself changing. Her nails became claws, and her eyes narrowed and glowed as the wolf-feeling began to awaken. The assassin, however, was too busy defending himself from her punches to notice. Finally, they came to a stop, Loki pinning the man down to the ground. She was panting, teeth barred in a wolf-like fashion, trying hard to regain control over herself. Then, in one sharp movement, she swung her clawed arm and brought it down, the blades stopping a mere fraction of an inch from Zabuza's temple. The man didn't give as much as a flinch.

"This is where I kill you," said Loki. "Or I would, if we were enemies, that is," she corrected herself.

They stayed, or rather sat like that for a while, staring at each other, sunlight glinting innocently on the metal of Loki's claws through the dispersing mist.

"Very well," grimaced Zabuza, his eye twitching slightly as the pain in his leg reminded him of his wounds.

"So, have I won?" the girl pressed on. She would make this human regret ever suggesting the idea that she was weak and unworthy.

"Yes," grumbled the ninja. "You can get off now…"

He said it in a calm, steady voice, but something about his tone told Loki that it was the first and last time that she ever won a battle against this man. She retracted her claws and got to her feet, and so did Zabuza; although with more trouble. They turned as they heard footsteps: Haku was running towards them through the thinning fog.

"Master Zabuza, are you all right?" he panted as he saw the man's bleeding leg. "I… I mean… how bad are you hurt?"

Zabuza glared at him.

"Oh, it's nothin', just a measly scratch," he growled, watching a puddle of crimson liquid blossom slowly under his feet. Haku gaped at it for a moment.

"I'll… I'll go brew a remedy for that," said the boy, rounding back to the shack as the Jounin sat down and began bandaging his leg with the wrappings he had been wearing on himself.

"Sorry…" said Loki softly, flushing. She hoped nobody would be angry with her.

"What the heck are you apologizing for, girl? You did pretty damn good out there, getting me like that… Hell, that will leave a mark or two..." the man finished the bandaging and looked up at Loki. "Claws in your feet as well? Why, you're full of surprises, aren't you?"

Loki half-smiled shyly. Yeah, full of surprises indeed, she thought, remembering with a shudder that the full moon was fast approaching.

Later that day, Haku and Zabuza were sitting in the shadow of the broken-down hut, Zabuza's Cleaver glinting crimson in the setting sun, and were discussing their plans for the future. They were still on the run from the Hunter Nin, but Zabuza wasn't planning on staying that way forever. Eventually, he would try taking over the Village of Mist again, and succeed this time. There were loads of preparations to be made, of course, and he knew that he was only at the beginning of a long and perilous track; but one day, he would get there. One day, Momochi swore, he would accomplish his most cherished dream.

But before he could do anything, Zabuza realized, he needed to gather resources essential for his objective, such as money and recruits. Speaking of which…

"Say, Haku, did you see our girl lately?"

Haku looked this way and that, but Loki was nowhere around. He called out to her, but nobody answered.

"Bloody kid, can't she stay where people can see her?" he heard Zabuza mutter darkly.

"Should I go look for her, sir?"

"Yeah, and tell her to get her rear over here and stay with the group, for gods' sake!"

"Okay, I will."

Haku got up with a slight smile, amused at the older ninja's seeming resentment, and went to look around for Loki. She wasn't anywhere inside or around the shack, nor was she in the thickets on the other side of the glade. Finally, the boy found her kneeling by the stream a little way further into the forest. Her nose was in the air, as though she was sniffing for something. In that odd position, Haku couldn't help noticing, the girl bore a striking resemblance to a dog.

Or, perhaps, a wolf. He wondered where that idea came from.

"Loki?" he called out, and the girl snapped back to reality, staring up at him in surprise. "What are you doing here all alone?"

Loki didn't know how to answer this. She couldn't exactly explain that she wasn't used to human company, and that being asked questions about her past made her feel uncomfortable. She also wanted to explore the forest on her own some more and see if the scents which had seemed almost familiar to her would bring out any memories about her pack.

"Um… I… like being alone, I s'ppose," she mumbled, turning away.

Haku sighed. He didn't really want to force her to go back against her own will. Being around Zabuza-san could be oppressing at times if you didn't know him well enough, he realized. And even if you did know him for a bit longer then the two seconds it took him to get your throat slashed in half, having your back exposed to the death-glare of a gloomy assassin wasn't exactly the thing to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside on a rainy day. Ah well, if she had to be watched, it didn't necessarily have to be by Zabuza-san. Haku could handle watching all by himself. In the meantime, he could also try extracting some information. He was good at that kind of stuff.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked, motioning to a dry rock beside the girl.

She didn't. Haku sat down, making himself as comfortable as possible on the rock's cracked, mossy surface. They sat in an awkward silence for a bit, each one unsure of what to say next. Haku searched his mind desperately for any possible ideas for discussion, but could think of none.

"Nice day today," he started lamely. Something was better than nothing at all.

Loki was currently busying herself with tossing small stones into the stream's gurgling waters. She nodded slightly, to demonstrate that she had heard the boy's words.

Meanwhile, inside Haku's head, an imaginary light-bulb flashed as a potential discussion topic presented itself to him.

"You did well today," he smiled at her, "in your battle against Zabuza-san."

Loki looked up from the stream. Aha, thought Haku.

"He was pretty good, too," the girl said. She had stopped herself just in time from adding, 'for a human, that is.'

Haku laughed. It was amusing to him, really, to hear somebody say that Zabuza-san was 'pretty good' in a battle, let alone to hear a scrawny thirteen-year-old girl say that Zabuza-san was 'pretty good' in a battle. But, well, he had to admit that Loki was quite unlike any other girls he'd ever met.

Meanwhile, Loki was eyeing the boy with slight interest.

"Um…" she said, unsure of how to address him. "Err… yesterday… your… mirror-thingies were really awesome," the girl burst out at last. "I've never known hu… I've never known people could do something like that!"

"Oh!" Haku was taken aback by the sudden compliment. "Oh… well…"

"How did you do it?" Loki just couldn't help herself. She had to know.

Haku stared at her for a bit, then smiled, blushing slightly. Nobody had ever praised his powers before; aside from Zabuza-san, of course. But Zabuza-san had plans for him, Haku knew. And this was just a girl; moreover, a girl that had almost been defeated by his abilities; and here she was, being amazed at his Crystal Mirror Jutsu. Haku found it strangely… flattering.

Instead of an answer, he outstretched a hand over the stream and focused. A blob of water sprang up from the speeding current, and hung suspended in mid-air. Haku wiggled his fingers, manipulating the pending shape; and the blob squirmed in synchrony to his movements. Loki watched, wide-eyed. And in the next moment, she found herself staring at a kind of a liquid butterfly-shape, floating serenely just above Haku's unfolded fingers.

Loki eyed it suspiciously for a while; and then, when no sudden surprise-attack came, she relaxed and gave way to amazement. Never before had she seen a special ability being used for something other than fighting. Haku noticed her transfixed gaze and laughed. He wiggled his fingers some more, and the butterfly became a bird first; and then a rabbit, a fish, a flower, and, finally, a cucumber. And then, when Haku felt it was getting a bit repetitive, he blew softly onto the water blob and watched the olive-eyed girl watch it disperse in the atmosphere in a flock of tiny, fluffy snowflakes.

"How was that?" asked the boy.

"Very nice," assured him Loki, with awe in her voice. She scanned her mind for any more compliments, but was disappointed to find that her vocabulary was seriously running low on admiring adjectives. That was enough for Haku, however.

And so their conversation started up; at a nice, steady snail pace at first, but accelerating gradually. The atmosphere became less and less intense, and soon the two kids just sat beside the stream, discussing their techniques and sharing battling strategies as though they'd known each other their whole lives. Haku was easy to talk to, Loki noted. Deep in conversation, she was now only vaguely aware that she was chatting away with a human. It was, perhaps, the first ever small talk of her life…

It held its own purpose, however.

The topic of past life and villages had somehow ebbed its way into the conversation, unobtrusively nudging aside all other comments and remarks. But when Loki had spotted it, it was already too late to edge her way out of the awkward discussion theme. The girl tried mumbling something about not quite remembering anything about her homeland, as she did the day before, but Haku wasn't that easy to sidetrack.

"And what about the… reformatory?" he asked innocently.

Loki's head snapped up suddenly, her eyes widening again, but this time with shock.

"What about it?" she asked in a barely audible voice, taking care not to look Haku in the eye.

"I don't know. You tell me," he answered simply.

Loki was quiet. 'How did he know?' she wondered. How much did he know? Could these humans have informed the Centre? What should she do if they did?

Haku was waiting patiently. "Well?" he said finally, after five long minutes of Loki not answering.

Loki's lips moved slightly. "What… do you know about that?" she murmured, becoming suddenly very interested in a sad, soggy plant sticking forlornly out of the shallower part of the stream.

"It was the first thing you said when you came back to your senses," Haku explained. "Well, third, actually. Before that, there was 'Water…' and 'AAAAAH!'. Or something."

Loki was in no mood for humour. The soggy plant in the stream gave way to the powerful currents and in the next second was completely engulfed by water.

"So… you don't know what it is, then?" she asked, in a rather timid voice.

Haku shook his head.

"Oh… right." Loki remembered now. She had asked him that before, and he didn't know the answer back then, either. Unless he did some investigations since then…

However, the boy's scent seemed safe. And before long, Loki was surprised to find herself spilling out her life-story before him. She told him about how she was raised to be a weapon; how she had rebelled; and in the end, how she had escaped the Centre's clutches. Though she was careful enough to omit all the parts that could have held evidence to her being a werewolf – that was one secret Loki was not yet prepared to share with her new team-mate.

Haku listened attentively to the whole of her story; and then, when she had finished, he said:

"No villages, then."

"Nope."

"And you're on the run."

"Yep."

Haku exhaled loudly. That was an… interesting… biography, he had found. It sure was hard to believe, but somehow this whole strange story about a giant facility full of intelligent machines in which people were turned into weapons was much easier to believe than Loki suddenly not remembering what village she had come from. Perhaps it had something to do with the story being told by Loki herself. Or maybe he'd just had too much porridge for breakfast this morning.

Loki looked up at the younger nin, half-anxious, half-expectant. She had asked him, simply and straight-out, whether they were going to hand her back to her former masters, and was waiting for an answer. There was a long pause.

"Don't worry," Haku managed after a while. "You're on our team now. If Zabuza-san has taken you into his team, he won't be giving you up without a fight, you can be sure of that." He smiled reassuringly. The wind blew. The stream gurgled. Birds chirruped high up in the clear skies. The soggy plant, far away now, was still floating down the stream. And then, Loki smiled back. It was faint, but it was definitely a smile.

"I sure hope so," she said. Somehow, she was sure that the boy wasn't lying. She didn't know where the confidence had come from. Perhaps it was the porridge.

They sat in silence for a couple more minutes, each one engulfed in his own thoughts.

"Wow," Haku finally ended the pause, eyes glazing as he stared out into the distance again with the incredulous expression back on his face. "…Wow."

And then they sat in silence some more.

End Chapter! Well, Haku now knows half the story. But not about the werewolf-part of it, heh-he… And the full moon is approaching! Whatever Loki is going to do? 'chuckle-chuckle'