"You again?"

The boy had a gentle smile. A gentle face. Everything about him looked gentle. He was lovely: Long dark hair, flawless fair skin, dark round eyes. He wore a pink yukata and, had Kirika not recognized his chakra, she might have mistaken him for a girl. He was smiling, hands folded. "Hello."

Kirika rose from her knees, leaving the freshly gathered herbs at her feet. Her voice was soft. "You should have worn your mask." Kirika had her katana in her stomach. The boy looked unarmed but they could both use justu. His yukata might slow him down. The yukata Kirika wore might do the same to her. The boy did not appear threatening and she relaxed a bit. Keeping the in the back of her mind knowledge that nothing was harmless.

"You may be right, but..." His eyes flickered to the side. "Well... I just..." His hands clutched together. "Do you usually come out so early?"

"Sometimes." She looked at the pile at her feet. "I'm gathering herbs."

He nodded. Their voices remained soft. The forest was always quiet.

Kirika was in front of him, Her steps were quick, the leaves beneath her feet rustled. His eyes widened.

"Hey...?" She searched his eyes with a lost, almost longing expression that seemed unnatural for her piercing, harsh eyes. "Hey... are you... are you like me?"

"...Yes... Yes, I think so..."

"...because I was born to a clan with powerful doujutsu I was an outcast my father killed my mother and tried to kill me. I was starving in the streets for so long. I am an unwanted person in this world." He pulled his legs up to his chest and smiled fondly. "And then Zabuza found me."

Oh, You pitiful thing,

Kirika smiled "I'm happy for you."

He looked at her curiously. "And what about you? I know you're the daughter of the sanin Orochimaru, but what's your story?"

Kirika pushed back from her sitting position onto the soft leafy ground, hands cushioning her head. The soil was damp and fresh with the scents of mist and the forest. "I'm not so interesting. That's all there is too it. I was with my father until a few years ago."

Are you going to live your life like a tool?

"And now that you're in Konoha."

Kirika smiled playfully. "A mission. That's all this is."

A commodity with no true human value?

"So you're a spy."

"Oh, no." She sat up and looked at him. "He sent me to Konoha to meet my mother. That's all. Truthfully, I'd rather she came to me." Kirika sighed. "It's boring. If I were a spy it would give me something to do."

"You sound homesick."

She smiled and laughed. "Konoha is the only home I'll ever have. And home is boring. I'm a migratory creature."

The boy smiled back at her. "Kirika. I came to see you. To... thank you."

"Oh? For what?"

"You knew I wasn't a tracker ninja, didn't you? And despite your mission with the Leaf, you allowed me to save my master. You wounded him badly, but when it came down to it, you chose not to end him."

Kirika smiled. "What can I say? I'm a fool for drama. I like to keep things in motion. If you want to thank me, stir up some trouble."

Will you ever truly live your own life?

Surly that wasn't the whole truth. "You don't understand. We will attack you again." He warned. "I don't want to hurt you, but I'll kill your comrades and the bridge builder."

Her eyes narrowed. Piercing. "Oh?" The birds stopped chirping. A wicked grin spread on her lips. "That's the spirit." You have misconceptions about what I am.

He recoiled, and the grin receded back to a playful smile.

"You're scary." The boy gave her a relaxed smile.

The woodnotes returned.

Will you live pitifully in the hand of someone else until you die?

"I'll take it as a challenge." She cupped his face. I'll kill you before your master, sweet boy. But when she spoke she said, "Tell me your name."

Over his cheek, their hands touched. "I'm Haku."

Are you cursed just as I am?

Kakashi had slept terribly. He had the hazed image of Kirika standing over him. Looking down on him with her evil eyes and wicked grin. Her voice in his ear. "You managed to survive this time. I'm looking forward to your death; when I can take that beautiful eye of yours."

"Look, the sensei's coming around!" Naruto said

Sakura sat down next to Kakashi's bed. "Listen sensei, your sharingan is amazing and everything but if it put's that much strain on you then maybe it isn't worth it."

The door to Kakashi's room slid open, Kirika came in and Kakashi flinched, sighed, and cupped his face.

"It'll be at least a week before you'll be able to move properly."

He nodded and sighed. "I figured."

"Hey, Kira! You're back."

She nodded. "I made a poultice with the herbs I gathered. I'll redress your injuries." She tugged gently on Kakashi's shoulder. "Sit up for me, will you?'

"Huh, well, you did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins. So we're safe for now." Tazuna said

"But what about the boy in the mask? What's with him?" Sakura asked

"He's from the elite tracking unit from the village hidden in the mist. Those masks are only worn by elite shinobi." Kakashi eyed Kirika suspiciously. He had to force himself not to pull away from her.

Kirika frowned as she unwrapped Kakashi's bandages. "The boy's not a tracker. Zabuza isn't dead."

"What? No way!" shouted Naruto "He can't be alive, we saw his body! Believe it!"

"Trackers deal with bodies on the spot." Kirika discarded the old bandages. "And he refused to deliver a coup de grace when I asked him." Besides that, he told her the truth.

Kakashi winced when Kirika scraped the old layer of scab and herbal paste off his injuries. "H-he-Urgh! He should have worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible... And now that you mention it, he used senbon for the-Agh! The take-down!"

Kirika squeezed his shoulder. "Try to hold still. I need to clean the pus away."

Naruto turned away and made a cloaking face.

"Hey, about Zabuza- Kakashi sensei, you checked him yourself! You said his heart stopped!" Sakura said.

"His- K-Kirika, go easy would you? Ah, His heart did stop. But that was just a temporary state to simulate death. Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body. Causing the heart to stop while keeping the body alive is an easy task for them. We can safely conclude that that ninja was not trying to kill Zabuza, he was trying to save him."

"Come on, you're over thinking this, aren't you?" Tazuna said

"When meeting with suspension a ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying." Kakashi said

"Looks like you'll get another shot at him, huh Naruto?" Kirika said, Naruto nodded excitedly.

"Sensei you said 'prepare quickly' but how can we do that when you can barely move?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi laughed "I'll train you, of course."

Kirika and smeared the new poultice on and wrapped Kakashi with new bandages.

He winced.

"Does that feel better?"

"It hurts worse then when you started." He grunted when Kirika slapped him on the back.

"That's good."

"That's healing up nicely." Kirika re-wrapped Kakashi. "Tsunami has a good pair of crutches, lay still and I'll have you hobbling around soon."

He sighed with relief, she hadn't needed to scrape the old poultice away or drain any new pus. Only a gentle dabbing with a wet cloth to clean, and the re-dressing. For all her trouble, Kirika was an expert with field dressings, Kakashi had to give her that. She had a good stomach for grotesque sights too; he'd never known a kid so immune to the sight of blood and pus. "Thanks." He mumbled.

Kirika let out a short tisking breath. "Pheh- For all I've done you ought to be kissing my feet."

"Does 'modesty' have any meaning to you?"

"Modesty is wasted on you."

He sighed.

"You think Sakura could take one look at your injuries without fainting? Good luck getting Sasuke to clean them. Naruto? Please. You might as well bight your own tongue. And the medical supplies on this island? Garbage. Defective, fake or contaminated. I made everything I treated you with."

Kakashi rolled his eye. "You always one to brag?" She wants something.

Kirika shrugged and packed up the rest of her supplies. "I did save your life. You wouldn't have survived without me. Oh, and my injury is fine, by the way. Thanks for asking."

Kakashi winced. "Look, I'm sorry about hitting you."

"Oh no, you only exasperated a flesh wound. Blade nicks bleed especially heavily, but I'm sure I didn't lose more than half a litre more than I would have."

Kakashi laid back down, the sting in his back had dulled a great deal. It no longer throbbed at the contact with the futon. He said nothing. Whatever she wanted, he wouldn't give her the opening to ask.

Of course, she went for it anyway. "It's a shame Zabuza isn't dead. It would be a shame if he were to injure you this gravely at our next encounter. A pity we have no... insurance, that he would not survive."

Kakashi's eyes flickered to Kirika. "Insurance? Yeah, It is a pity. But we don't. And I don't foresee anything in the future. Oh well."

"You don't? What a shame." Her narrow eyes caught his. The tension suddenly shifted, just as Kirika did. She leaned so her head was looking down at his, her eyes wide and serious and... pleading. "Can't you take a hint? I-I can't always be clever, alright? I can't always be sly." She took a breath. The slyness was gone from her voice, her brow creased and her eyes glistened. "Didn't you hear me? There medicine is garbage. Let me save these people. I can help this country." There was a hard desperation written in her face. "I want to poison Zabuza. Him and Gato." She pulled away and turned her head to the side.

Kakashi blinked. "What brought this on?"

She frowned. "You won't see it again."

"The hokage forbade you from using poisons."

"Give me the order. You're my direct superior."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"If my blades were coated in poison Zabuza would be dead. We were lucky last time. Are you willing to bet our lived over another encounter? Two deaths over a meal and it's done. Compare that to risking innocent construction workers. And what if Zabuza manages to kill Tazuna? If that happens it doesn't matter what we do, the Land of Waves will be brought under Gato's heel. It could be years before another resistance takes root. It's not right... I can stop it."

"Why?" Kakashi glared. "Why do you even care?"

Kirika tensed. She kept her head low, and looked away. Her lips pursed and her hands clenched.

Kakashi sat up on his elbow. What was this?

"...These people are suffering."

"I can see that."

"I can do something."

Kakashi watched her suspiciously.

"I... I want to do something, for once. I want to end suffering." Kirika's eyes darkened. "I want to do right."

Kakashi blinked.

Kirika's eyes darted up, shining with anticipation.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. What on earth has gotten into her? Is she faking it? If she were she go deeper into her reasons... Has guilt caught up with her? "What brought this on?" He'd already asked that.

Kirika smiled solemnly, eyes on the floor. "Suffering faces are all one of the same. It hit me; a time when I did nothing." Her eyes were glassy. "I'll never leave the Leaf Village. I would be happy about that," She stood up and turned heel. "But I know it's less my choice and more because someone will stab me in the back the moment I'm ever really called into question... and, well..." She faced the door. "People are just a little more predictable when they see what they expect. Even when they expect a monster." She slid the door open, and never looked back at him. "It's scary for me. You're not... holding a knife to my back, are you Kakashi?"

When the door shut behind her, Kakashi laid back down.

Was that the act? Or the real Kirika? No doubt Kirika had seen suffering at Orochimaru's hand, but did it plague her conscious or did she only want the go-ahead to start using poisons? He didn't see any lying in her; perhaps her bravado was all a bluff. When he thought about it, Kirika's situation must frighten her, even a bit. her playful-sadistic attitude could be a defence mechanism. A fight reaction. Perhaps she learned to act that way from her time with Orochimaru, and now it was her ploy to stave off the mistrusting Leaf ninja she saw as threats.

Kirika certainly possessed above-average intelligence. Kakashi was no fool either; they both knew Konoha would never love her. If you can't make them love you, you can make them fear you. Kakashi felt a wave of pity for her.

He gazed at his own palm. "Kirika..." He sighed. "Just what's going in your head?"

Kirika was breathing heavily as she ran. Training was going well. Dozens of tiny snakes shot out from the trees towards her, she swerved to avoid them, she stepped back, swirled and continued running. This kind of training was more for speed, agility and stamina then for chakra control or jutsu training. She took heed from when Zabusa had been able to strike her, and increased her training level. She stopped running. "Okay! That's enough!" At her call the snake turned into smoke and disappeared. She wondered how the others were doing with their three climbing. The sun was going down, and she should get back to Tazuna's place... She pushed herself back on her heels and fell softly onto her back and smiled. Adrenaline in her veins; sweat on her skin and crisp air around her. It was a good feeling.

She wondered if Kakashi believed her little act. None of it was true, of course, but she thought it had been an excellent performance. I ought to be an actress. She laughed and dug her fingers into the soft soil. She found herself thinking about Haku... now that she thought about it, he reminded her a bit of someone else... she blushed and giggled.

Kirika turned her head and flashed a grin. Kakashi stood under a tree, leaning on his crutches. "Make your poisons, Kirika." He left her with that.

Kirika's grin widened and she looked back at the sky. She hadn't expected that to work so quickly. Leaf Villagers were certainly suckers for a good sob story. The fool.

The music was coming from the other side of the door. Sasuke heard it when he was wondering through Tazuna's house. It was quiet and sweet but also... irritating. Like a pin in his brain. His hand was on the door's handle and he could here a muffled voice on the other side... He didn't like the music. It made him think of words of hate spoken deceptively soft and gently in some other language...

He ground his teeth together and pulled the door open.

Kirika was singing quietly in time with the music while she scrubbed her clothes in a bucket of pinkish water.

"...the mountains
Sweet crocus
Now you've grown strong
And your time has..."

She stopped singing when she heard the door open, her head remained turned from him, but her eye flickered back, Her piercing, watchful eye, wide and grinning like... like a snake. An open pocket watch was resting on the floor next to her. It played on without her. She turned smiling towards Sasuke; her entire body moved but her eyes remained in the same spot. Wide eyes. Like she was expecting something grand. "Good evening."

To be frank, her eyes sickened him. The way they were constantly bouncing back and forth between critical calculation and a... sadistic—is the word he would use—playfulness. Sasuke took a breath. In that moment he hated her. He hated her for her eyes' intensity, because they pierced him far deeper than his sharingan could her. And he hated her for her eyes' glee, because he couldn't predict what was behind them and it unnerved him. His voice was much calmer than his mind. "You're sure in a good mood."

She wiped her hands on a towel. "Yes, well... I'll tell you a secret. I think I have a crush."

Sasuke gave her a bored, glaring look. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. "It's not Naruto, is it?"

She laughed. "No, no. I met him just this morning. He's from east. And he was very sweet and very handsome."

"That's all it takes, huh?" He smiled cynically.

"Pretty much. You don't get girls, do you?"

"You realise you can't take him back to the Leaf, right?"

"Maybe not now... but someday he may come to me. It's all about patience."

He gave her a blank stare. "What the hell is with you?"

"What? Oh, don't tell me you're jealous." Laughing eyes.

The song from the pocketwatch stopped briefly before beginning again.

Kirika smiled.

Sasuke glared.

"What. the hell. is with you?" Suffocation and nausea washed over him. He was trembling with rage. "Turn it off!"

She held the watch close to her ear. "But I like it." A hand was on his forehead. "What's wrong?" Sasuke's eyes widened and he jolted back. She was right in front of him. Kirika's silky voice rang through the music. "Feeling dizzy? Your breathing's so heavy." It rang with delight.

Sasuke's arms moved. Kirika nudged his legs back, which he complied with in small steps, He took a deep breath and the nausea subsided, leaving him shaky and in a cold sweat but better none the less. He sighed in relief. The song sounded sweet... his anger was gone too...

His eyes drifted open lazily, then shot open. Kirika was close. Too close! His hands were on her shoulders, hers were on his waist. She was moving him lazily.

He gritted his teeth in anger. She was so annoying! "What do you think you're doing?"

"Dancing." She laughed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why?" Sasuke growled

"Why not?" Her hand pulled his up, making him lead her into a twirl, she placed her hands back on his hips and kept dancing.

"You know, you're in the wrong position, your hands should be on my shoulders."

"Yes, but it's necessary for me to be in this position, since you're clearly incapable of leading." He glared at her. She was taunting him.

"What's with you?" His third time saying it. "Just who exactly are you?"

"What do you mean? I'm your new friend Kirika."

Sasuke glared harder at her. His grip oh her shoulder tightened. "You know perfectly well what I mean. You're a lunatic. You're stronger then everyone else on squad seven, I heard Tazuna and Kakashi talking about you... you're wrong. Who exactly are you? What are you?"

She smiled. "I am exactly who you think I am." Kirika chuckled softly when Sasuke shot her another glare. "Come to thing of it, you're pretty cute, too! When you hate me, when you run around playing the tough guy or the smart guy... it's like you thing you're strong! Haha! No, that's not right! It's like... you have these silly thoughts that you're better than a chicken running around with its head cut off!" Kirika's eyes suddenly changed from amused to piercingly critical. "But you're not. Are you... Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. His mouth opened, but no words came out... she was... her eyes... evil...

She giggled and pinched Sasuke's hip. It broke him out of his trance. "It's a good thing we're friends, right? It's a good thing you're only pretending to hate me."

"I do hate you." Sasuke shot

She ignored him. "This song is called 'Lullaby for the Autumn Crocus'. Do you like it?"

"No."

"When I was young, my mother tells me she called it 'Lullaby for Kirika'. But I don't remember." she smiled fondly. "Do you know what an Autumn Crocus is?"

"No. A flower?" He guessed. "Like a spring crocus?"

"Yes! It is the name of a little, purple flower with no leaves. It's the flower on the pocket watch. It's beautiful! And it yields copious amounts of a very potent toxin called colchicine. Colchicine causes instant cardiac arrest. Isn't that interesting?"

"Fascinating."

"Now don't be that way." Kirika smiled. "Here's the twist: colchicine can be used as a key ingredient to treat illnesses. It's too bad really, autumn crocuses are critically endangered. And they have a special spot in my heart." She looked thoughtfully at Sasuke. "You know, there's a story about them. Want to hear it? It comes from the song."

"No." Sasuke glared.

"But I'll still tell it, and you'll sit patiently and listen:
"Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in a little village. She was very pretty and had a great love of flowers. But one day she got lost in the mountain woods surrounding her village.
"She wandered for days and was on the brink of dehydration, and just as she was on the verge of collapsing, a woodland spirit appeared before her. In the spirits hands were two tiny, identical, purple blossoms, full of nectar. The spirit spoke to the child and said 'I will offer you a choice, girl. Choose one of these flowers and drink from its nectar, and I will return you to your home. Both flowers will grant you eternal youth. One will bless you with the gift of life and whatever you touch will blossom and flourish; and the other will curse you with death and everything you touch will wither and die.'
"Having no other choice, the girl agreed. She chose and drank the flower's nectar. The spirit then gathered the child in his arms and faired her home. But when he placed her on the ground, she found, to her horror, that the grass withered beneath her feet. Frightened, the girl ran home into the arms of her grieving mother, who thought her child had perished in the mountains, but once the girl touched her, her mother, like the grass, withered and died.
"The village scorned the girl as an evil spirit, but could do nothing to her, for touching the girl, even with a sword caused the metal to rust and crumble before it could cut her. She was cast out of the village. Unable to end her own life, the girl wandered for centuries in heartbreak. Wherever she went she was scorned and hated. But one day, she found someone. A little boy who saw her and instantly fell in love. She warned him that touching her would kill him. Even so, he followed her and professed his love every day. The girl, though jaded, grew to love him back. His village learnt of her and her curse and in a fury of fear and hate, tried to kill her, as so many others had. The boy, believing that they would die there, grabbed her and kissed her, but before their lips had touched he had withered. In that moment her sadness turned to hatred. She scorned the spirits for cursing her and the world for rejecting her, she ran into the village and touched everything she could, she ran into another village and another and another. Finally, to put an end to her horrible rampage and bloodlust the Gods demanded that the spirit who cursed her to put a stop to her. The spirit dragged the soul of the girl's dead love back to the world of the living and fed him the nectar of life from the flower the girl did not choose and set off to find her. When he found the girl she was blind with rage. Regardless, when she saw her lost love her hatred disappeared and they ran to each other, but the moment their fingers touched the boy once again withered and died, but to the girl's dismay, so did she.
"But she did not simply die, because while her curse of death turned her love to dust, it was his blessing of life that destroyed her. When they touched the wind picked up and the girl was transformed into a thousand, thousand flower petals and was blown away to all corners of the earth, to blossom and destroy all that grows around them. And that the girl's spirit will find no peace until her flower, the autumn crocus, covers all the world and poisons all beneath it."

Sasuke sighed, annoyed. "It is morbid. You know, I don't care about you're flower. And if you ask me, that girl's doing a pretty bad job."

Kirika laughed. "It's a story, dumbass. Tell me, can you use your sharingan?"

"That's none of your business."

"Let's make a deal! It'll be fun! Our own little alliance!"

"I want nothing from you."

She pulled him closer and rested her chin on his shoulder. "You're weak, Sasuke Uchiha, but I can make you strong. All you need to do is tell me. Who do you want to kill? You're brother?"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Oh yes, I'm very aware of the... situation, of the Uchiha clan. Ah! My deepest condolences, though. I don't mean to be rude. I don't know if I'd be able to bear such a thing. Really. You have my sympathies."

"I don't need your pity." Sasuke growled.

"No. You don't." She agreed. "You need revenge. You said it yourself. You're dream is to take revenge on your brother for slaughtering your clan."

"It's not a dream." Sasuke's grip on her shoulders tightened. "It will be a reality."

"So it will. I don't suppose you remember my dream?"

"You just spouted some bullshit patriotism. Do you even have one?"

Kirika grinned. "I want amusement. I want to learn everything I can. Everything. And the rarer something is, the more enticing it becomes. Wouldn't you agree?" She gazed into his eyes. "And the promise of your sharingan, it's quite enticing."

"Get to the point." Sasuke hissed.

"Pushy. What did I tell you about patience? Konoha wasn't built in a day." She scolded. "Did I mention I met your brother once?"

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Itachi Uchiha. He was surprisingly kind."

"Tell me everything."

Kirika became serious for a moment. "The words he said..." Her eyes held nothing. "...haunt me to this day." She smiled. "I will tell you everything. I'll do much more than that. I'll lend you my power. I will assist you in hunting down and killing Itachi Uchiha. If you should die before then, I will hunt him down and kill him in your name."

That took him by surprise. "...Why would you do that?"

"Because, in return for my services, I'll dissect you're pretty head. As well as Itachi's."

Sasuke stepped back, but was held back by Kirika. They were still dancing. "Calm down. I want to see what gives your eyes that power, and how they're wired into your brain. But I won't kill you. Only after you die. I'll open up your brothers head once we kill him and yours whenever you die. A pretty fair trade, wouldn't you agree?"

Sasuke shoved her away. "Stay the hell away from me! I don't need you! Snake."

Kirika bounced back as he pushed her and swirled towards the bucket. "No? Fine, fine. It's your choice." She fished her clothing out of the bucket wrung them out, then held them in front of her, inspecting it for stains. Satisfied, she walked towards the door and snapped her watch shut, abruptly the song stopped. She looked down at it. "My offer still stands. Well. You know where to find me." She smiled gently and left, shutting the door behind her painfully slowly.