Author's Note: Yessss another update at last! Bwahaha. x3 I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update! TToTT I've been so very busy with end-of-school projects and exam preparations that I got a severe writer's block as a result! O.O Also, I got lost on the Way of Life between my endless piles of homework, and couldn't find the way to the computer. Oo Err…

Anyway, after a long time of not writing, here is Chapter Nine for you to enjoy :D Originally, it was rather long so I cut it in half, but don't worry. The other half is sitting nicely and quietly in my files, waiting to be submitted as another chapter. Bwahaha, aren't I evil. –evil grin- Meh, I'll just make the chapters shorter from now on, and update more often. -.o

Also, thanks for the awesome reviews! xD You guys just make me want to submit a new chapter every day, and MAN how I wish that was possible. But anyway, onwards with the story! xO

9. Journey

Loki was still feeling weak over the next two days, though her condition improved considerably compared to the first night of the full-moon cycle. But even though the moon was no longer full, Loki still needed to sneak out after darkness in order to find a quiet, private place for her transformations. Miraculously, she managed to get away with these disappearings for both remaining nights (various wild animals the girl captured during her 'waking hours' always came in very handy). Zabuza and Haku didn't seem to mind at all having new additions to their diet, and all suspicions were cast aside in a deliciously-smelling atmosphere of roast meat and happy carbohydrates.

During those two days Loki also found out that there was one animal out there that she was categorically not allowed to hunt, no matter the circumstances. She couldn't understand what was so special about the little white rabbit she had almost skewered with her metal claws one morning as she was showing off her hunting skills to Zabuza. However, it seemed very precious to Haku and he had made a point of being really upset for a long time after he'd rescued the thing right from under the girl's deadly blades. Apparently, this rabbit was a 'pet' – a concept Loki categorized as another one of the humans' oddities; and although she didn't quite see the point of feeding something that could find food well enough by itself, she knew better than to argue with Haku. To make it easier for herself and prevent any such unpleasant incidents in the future, Loki simply decided to leave alone all and any rabbits she ever came across – just in case.

Not long afterwards, Zabuza finally announced his plans of abandoning the shack to the general public, which consisted of an alert-as-usual Haku, a slightly confused-looking Loki, and the white rabbit, which was currently gnawing on a celery stalk. It was decided that they were leaving the next morning. Where to, Zabuza preferred not to mention (just in case Loki was with the Hunter-nin. It was hard to shake off a suspicion if you were Zabuza Momochi).

The whole remaining afternoon had then been spent on wrapping up left-over roast, packing the bags and covering up all traces of evidence that could lead any randomly passing-by Hunter-nin onto Momochi's tracks.

Meanwhile, Zabuza was giving Loki some last-minute instructions, in case they were to encounter any hostile confronters.

"…Remember those Taijutsu techniques that I taught you…" Zabuza was saying while demonstrating a battle stance. He listed a couple of moves as an example, and Loki nodded. "…And the Body Flicker Jutsu, poorly as you perform it."

There was a slight scowl from Loki's part at that one, though she didn't deny it. Her Body Flicker left quite some room for improvement (there was room enough, in fact, to fit an entire cathedral in there and still have space left over for a small gift shop). Yes, as it was, Loki's access to her chakra was still very limited.

"…And for gods' sakes, do not reveal your claws to your opponents until you really, really need them!" Zabuza punctuated the last 'really' with an icy death glare for more effect, but by that time Loki was just too used to them to notice this one as well. The girl nodded again to show that she acknowledged the man's words. Then, as a sudden idea struck her, Loki's hand went up to her face.

"Perhaps we could avoid getting into any messes in the first place if I just have enough time to warn you about the oncoming trouble," said the girl, removing and pocketing her nose-filters.

Zabuza scrutinized her for a moment. That was a good thought. He had almost forgotten all about the girl's special ability.

"Smart girl," he said after a while, grinning through his bandages; which left Loki feeling very pleased with herself for the rest of the day.

In the morning they set off. The weather was cheerful, not a cloud tarnishing the brilliant skies - a perfect day to embark upon an unpredictable and potentially dangerous journey.

Zabuza and Loki had to wait for Haku for quite some time before starting on their way while he crawled around in the nearby bushes trying to recover his ever-elusive pet-rabbit. This caused an outburst of rage and curses from Zabuza, who hated to wait. But the man knew that his apprentice wouldn't leave without the damn animal, so he just decided not to waste his breath and calmed down eventually, though rather reluctantly.

Loki stood on a rock while they waited, turning her head this way and that and scanning the air for any suspicious scents. The atmosphere was pleasant and rather relaxing, but the girl felt a bit restless. She glanced at the sad, broken-down hut back in the depths of the glade. The old wrecks were looking more forlorn and abandoned than ever now, betraying no clue of being the renegades' former lodge. That shack had grown to be somewhat… somewhat like a home to Loki over the past several weeks, and she felt a strange tingle in her chest at the thought of leaving it behind. Suddenly it just didn't seem like a very good idea, but it wasn't up to the girl to make decisions. So she just stood and wandered about where they could possibly head to next.

Finally the rabbit was retrieved (under the accompaniment of numerous snide remarks and curses from Zabuza), and the Mist team was off, rushing upwards into the thick canopy of century-old trees. Zabuza chose a way and sped off in that direction, his apprentices on his heels, leaping from branch to broad, sturdy branch. Their surroundings became a green blur as the travellers accelerated, and the faint morning breeze became a harsh, searing stream of resisting air. It was quite fun, Loki thought, although you had to be very careful to avoid getting hit by randomly hanging vegetation. She was managing all right, but sprinting at great speed through all those evil and elaborately intertwined trunks, twigs and vines could prove quite a challenge for a beginner. The good thing about being a werewolf, however, was that you learned pretty fast as you went along.

They called a halt in the afternoon, not so much because they were tired (by that time, Loki had become quite skilled at concealing her fatigue) but because Zabuza was beginning to feel slightly hungry, and that was never a good thing. They had some roast boar, and Loki had to run down to a nearby stream to refill her water canteen (generally, werewolves got thirsty a lot more often than humans, once again due to all those complex biological details that you wouldn't possibly understand).

After that, the ninja were yet again on their way. They journeyed all day long and slept under the open sky that night, with Zabuza on guard duty. Loki found the whole experience strangely familiar. A faint, old recollection, a mere shadow of a memory was prodding her mind gently right on the threshold of consciousness, although… it couldn't quite be right, now could it. Loki was absolutely certain that there had been no forests in the Centre, and no starry skies to sleep under.

The forest gradually grew less and less dense as Zabuza led his team on towards the destination he'd had in mind. They were using a path on the ground instead of the trees now; and eventually, that pathway widened out to become a fully-fledged road. Tall wooden poles lined the way like great, worm-eaten sentinels; and long cable wires extended along those poles seemed to stretch on forever and ever. A small village was lodged in a valley not a long way away, and that was the place Zabuza was heading for.

There were quite a few of such townships around these parts. Concealed and isolated by the wilderness, they were protected little communities that made business by selling all kinds of things (whether legal or not quite so) to any travelling passers-by with money on them that ever happened to stumble upon those locations.

The big thing about money was that, besides giving its owner the power to buy almost anything in the entire world, it could also make people very incurious about who bought their merchandise. Business didn't tend to go very well if you lived in a secluded little place and were picky about your customers. That was why shopkeepers of the Quiet Village Hidden in the Pine Needles tended to ignore such insignificant little details as bloody battle-axes, shrunken-head necklaces and, in certain cases, giant neck-slicing Cleavers. Zabuza liked that.

The man's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he felt something brush lightly against his right hand. He looked down to find Loki pressing in closely to his side. It was a rather unintentional movement from the girl's part, caused simultaneously by staring wide-eyed at the telegraph-poles instead of watching where she was going, and trying to shy away from them into the shadow of her mentor.

Zabuza fixed Loki down with a suspicious frown.

"What's the problem, girl?"

Loki flinched at the sound of his voice and withdrew at once from the man's personal space, flushing.

"It's those things," she said, casting a nervous glance over at the poles. They bore faint scents of steel and circulating electricity, thus slightly reminding the girl of the Centre and its complicated, cruel devices, which she came to associate with a lot of pain. "What are they?"

"Telegraph-poles. Nothing to be frightened of," explained Haku from Zabuza's left, waving his hand lightly. He had already gotten to know Loki well enough to be able to guess her concerns. "Don't worry, we're not going to hand you over to the Centre," he continued in a bored, sing-song voice of somebody explaining an obvious concept to an inquisitive but slightly dim student for only the thousandth time.

That seemed to calm Loki down a bit, but she kept casting suspicious glances at the telegraph-poles over her shoulder every now and then throughout the remainder of their journey.

Another thing that Zabuza liked about the Quiet Village Hidden in the Pine Needles was that, for some reason, few Hunter Nin ever came there. Few people ever came there, period. Not many even knew about the place; but the ones that did know, however, mostly happened to be the handlers of such insignificant objects as bloody battle-axes and giant neck-slicing Cleavers.

Certain security measures were nevertheless obligatory. You just never knew. That was why Zabuza took the necessary precautions by making Loki sniff Haku's old Hunter-nin mask and scan the area for any scents of similar objects. (It was an easy task for the wolf-girl, for under the strong scent of Haku there was a thin layer consisting of odours of specific wood and paints that had been used on the thing. The overall scent was quite simple to detect and would be common for all such masks.)

After making absolutely certain that the surroundings were Hunter-nin-free, the Mist team continued confidently (more or less) on their way.

The village streets were deserted, except for a couple of wary-looking washerwomen hanging the laundry to dry outside their homes. Out of the corner of her eye, Loki could see them giving Zabuza's sword suspiciously-disapproving glances as the trio walked past. The Cleaver's owner, however, remained completely unperturbed by the fact. He had more important matters on his mind at the moment, like that important little business he had to attend, which was none of Haku's or Loki's concern.

But before he attended any important businesses and such, Zabuza realized that there was a little shopping they had to do first. He glanced sideways at Loki. She definitely needed a new outfit. Her (or rather Haku's) kimono, which had already been a couple of sizes too small for the girl, had become even smaller as a result of being Loki's only clothing choice available throughout continuous training. Through all the rips and tears, patches of filthy bandages could be barely visible. Overall, Loki looked as though she had been through a shredder; and Zabuza would not be disgraced by people saying he didn't take care of his subordinates.

Twenty minutes later, the ninja came out of a small clothes shop on the corner of the street, Loki turning excitedly this way and that as she walked, trying to take in a fuller view of her brand-new outfit. She had never seen a thing like that before. It wasn't a kimono, but a rather stylish garment in black and dark-grey hues, of the type that a real kunoichi would wear. It came with a pair of tight-fitting shorts and looked somewhat like a dress, except that what was meant to be the skirt was, in fact, rather more like two wide strips of finely-processed grey material covering the wearer's front and back. (The shorts were there for a reason.) There were also black fishnets and bandages involved in the design, a constant and irremovable detail of any proper ninja uniform.

"Congrats, Loki, you look like a real kunoichi now!" beamed Haku as the girl continued the thrilled inspection of her garments. He found a bit silly the fact that somebody could get so excited over clothes, but Loki was a girl, after all. And he had to admit, she looked much better in this new outfit than she did in the shredded kimono.

"You like it?" Zabuza asked the girl in his usual gruff tone of voice, watching her fruitless attempts to see her own back over her shoulder with slight amusement. It wasn't as much a question, but a rather tactful reminder that he did, indeed, spend a considerable amount of gold in that clothes shop and was now supposed to be thanked.

"Yes!" Loki replied happily, finally giving up on trying to check out her own back. "Err, thanks… um… Zabuza-san." Or whatever it was that people usually said in such circumstances.

She didn't know why she called the man 'Zabuza-san'. Even though he had told her to call him that at the very beginning, Loki either referred to him as 'master', like she had done when addressing the humans at the Centre, or avoided using any names at all. But "Zabuza-san" just slipped off her tongue, and this wasn't supposed to happen. Zabuza might have been treating her better than all her previous trainers had done, but he was still a human (and so, for that matter, was Haku). And Loki found it hard to trust humans, regardless of who they were. She preferred to keep her barriers up.

Up until now, that was. Loki didn't know when or how it could happen, but she gradually began to think of the two ninja she was accompanying not as 'those humans', but as… well, people. People that she didn't much mind being with. And considering that Loki was a werewolf, it meant coming a long way.

There was a small caf nearby, squished in from two sides (as well as the top) by numerous shops, stores and apartment rooms. It didn't look like much, but it was the best caf there was. It was the only caf there was.

Zabuza led the way towards it. It's been a while since he or Haku had eaten a proper meal. Hell, why not make it a treat day for everyone?

Meanwhile, Loki was wondering out loud whether they sold headbands like the ones her team-mates wore around here somewhere. If she was getting a uniform, she figured, she might as well get the complete set.

Haku smiled at that, and shook his head.

"It doesn't work this way, Loki. Headbands cannot be bought in shops. You've got to graduate from a ninja academy in order to earn one."

"No headband for me, then." The sparkles of happiness flickered one final time and died away.

"Nope."

Loki sighed and hung her head. So much for becoming the official member of the squad. Haku saw her disappointment.

"You can wear mine if you want one that much," suggested Haku the gentleman; but Loki refused the offer, smiling gratefully.

"That's all right. Accessories don't matter."

"Well, that's good," put in Zabuza, who'd been listening. "Don't expect me to throw away my money buying you any useless trinkets." It was quite obvious that he wasn't going to anyway, but he just had to point out the evident fact. That was Zabuza Momochi for you.

They entered the caf to find themselves surrounded by tables, sleeping men and a sort of a greyish floating haze. A little bell rang as the door opened and, behind them, closed. As soon as they were inside, Loki's unprotected nose informed her that some heavy drinking had been going on in the place. Brownish-yellow scent of alcohol stung the girl's nostrils. 'Humans,' she thought disgustedly, narrowing her eyes and trying to breathe as little as possible.

Zabuza fished in his knapsack and produced a small sack of gold, which he handed to a puzzled-looking Haku with the words "Here. Buy yourselves something to eat."

Behind them, the air shifted slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Momochi noticed the tiniest hint of a movement, just the merest suggestion of motion. A couple of softly-breathing heaps sprawled over the nearby tables budged a little at the sound of gold coins clinking, and then went back to looking innocently asleep. The bandaged nin frowned and lowered his tone.

"Buy anything you want, there's enough here for both of you. I will be… out. Let's just say I feel like strolling a little, understand?"

Haku nodded. 'Understand?' usually meant that something serious had come up, and Zabuza needed to take care of it on his own.

"If anything happens…" the older ninja peered at the drunken men through narrowed eyes - "you know what to do."

"Yes, sir."

In reality, Haku didn't. But Zabuza-san didn't have to know that.

Zabuza caught his eye, and then glanced at Loki, who had been carefully sniffing at the contents of an almost-empty beer mug. He was amused to see her screw up her face in distaste and toss the offending mug carelessly back onto the table.

"Make sure she behaves. Don't let her wander off on her own."

"Yes, sir. You can count on me, sir."

"Good. I'll be back soon." Deciding that he had given enough instructions for two hours of leaving his apprentices on their own, Zabuza gave one final approving nod, turned around and walked out of the caf. The little bell rang again as he left. Haku watched the door shut, eyed the sleeping men suspiciously and joined Loki at the counter. A puffy-eyed barman greeted them with a drowsy "Yes? How can I help you?"

Haku picked up a menu from one of the tables. There wasn't a great variety of dishes to pick from. He settled for a bowl of udon and passed the menu over to the wolf-girl.

"Er…" said Loki, who couldn't read. An awkward silence followed. Haku broke the pause by taking the menu back from the girl and scanning it over again.

"Um. I'll order you some yakitori."

"Some yucky--what?"

"Yakitori. You'll like it, trust me," said the boy reassuringly, seeing Loki's confused stare. "And no, it's not yucky. At least it's not supposed to be…" Haku couldn't help but add the last bit in a small voice while casting a disapproving glance at his surroundings.

"Hey, watch it, kid!" growled the barman, who had heard.

The Hunter-nin were in hot pursuit. The renegade was very clever and very elusive, but they managed to get a hold of his track at last, and this time he wasn't going to get off that easily.

There were six of them in the squad. They were aware that their enemy was also strong as well as clever and elusive, and that he was probably going to be a handful even when outnumbered one to six; but they were all quite strong themselves and would win, eventually. Of course, they could have informed a dozen of other Hunters about their findings, just to be on the safe side of things; but there was also the bright and shiny prospect of promotion if they apprehended a dangerous and powerful criminal all by themselves. Besides, there would also be other rewards, and anyone who could do simple math would realise what that meant with as few members on Team Successful as possible…

Several kilometres away, Zabuza was prowling the murky streets of the Quiet Village Hidden in the Pine Needles. There was a business he still had to attend in this place. That was the reason why he was here in the first place.

He was waiting for the informant. The informant was supposed to give him the address of a man, who in turn would hand him the current coordinates of his new employers. Zabuza wondered who the hell they were going to be this time, and whether the money offered was even worth all the trouble he had to go through to get to those bast-- people. If it wasn't worth it… well…

He spat onto the ground. There was nothing that he could do, really. Except make plans. And he had several of them circulating his mind at the moment. Unfortunately, with the goddamn Hunter-nin on his tail they would all prove quite difficult to carry out.

Zabuza spat onto the ground again and swore darkly under his breath. Where was that damn informant...?

Back in the diner, Haku and Loki had received their orders and settled down to eat at a table near the window. The girl was very pleased to discover that yakitori turned out to be grilled chicken.

"Told ya you'd like it!" beamed Haku, watching the wolf-girl gobble down her meal. He wished she ate a bit slower and… less ravenously, but he couldn't blame her for being hungry.

"Where's Zabuza-san gone off to?" asked Loki, swallowing yet another mouthful of chicken, which turned out to be pretty fresh and well-cooked, against all expectations. '"Zabuza-san"… That's twice a day already,' the girl caught herself thinking.

"There's some business he had to take care of."

"What kind of business?"

Haku shrugged. "Didn't say."

"He didn't even get himself anything to eat!" exclaimed Loki in-between large bites of chicken. You had to admire the man. Even she was too hungry to function properly (and had gotten even hungrier when she sensed the chicken), and she was a werewolf. Werewolves were supposed to be better at this resistance stuff than humans.And yet Zabuza appeared to beat even werewolves at that.

Haku shrugged again and chopsticked around in his own bowl. "There are things more important than food," he said, swallowing some noodles.

Loki eyed him with slight amusement and stuffed more yakitori into her mouth. Things more important than food, eh? She begged to differ.

Meanwhile, the smoke-filled air in the caf trembled and stirred as one of the seemingly-sleeping figures got slowly up to its feet. It stood there for a while, rocking gently, then turned around to face the two kids sitting by the window. For a moment it stared at them, as though some invisible radar inside its head were trying to pick up the faint signals of gold coins clinking; and then, making up its mind and deciding that it was quite a safe idea, the shape began to lumber towards the two.

End Chapter! And a cliffhanger-ish ending, evil, evil me (well, what did you expect? ;) What will happen next, I wonder? o.O

And in the scene with the road and the telegraph poles, I kinda referred to the filler sketch of Chapter 30 in the manga n.n;; I thought it was a cute scene. x3 Only I added Loki in the picture this time, ahaha...

Also, since I'm only vaguely familiar with the geography in Naruto's world, I took the liberty of inventing some of the villages and such. And no, there is no Quiet Village Hidden in the Pine Needles in manga or anime (or at least I hope not). :3 Enjoy the biscuits. x3