Hi guys! n.n Thank you so much to anyone reading this I logged on this afternoon, and saw that this story had 400 hits! I know that's not a huge deal, really n.n but It made me happy Thank you! And thank you for the lovely reviews! they make me happy too!

er... I apologize for this chapter. n.n;; It ends weirdly O.o;;

Oh! XDD and I should explain something. Tetraphobia is a fear of the number four XDD because, in some languages, such as japanese, the words for "four" and "death" are the same ("shi", I believe. n.n; I alologize if I'm wrong) anyways XD like how some people are afraid of the number 13 in other parts of the world. ( Obviously, the example in this chapter is pretty exaggerated XDD)

So... yeah! n.n hope you enjoy the chapter!

Naruto belongs to masashi Kishimoto.

Also! XDD the term "Ninja-esque" isn't mine XDD credit for that one goes to "Ask a ninja"

Months went by, and winter faded slowly and gradually into a still-chilled spring, their training continuing as always. It had been steady, and it was only when they truly stopped to watch each other that they realised how their skills had improved. Naturally, over the months he had made some observations about his partner. Most of them oddly irritating.

Her taijutsu had developed, using mostly her natural speed and flexibility (she dodged and blocked often, waiting for an opening instead of trying to make one, something he found useless), she was a strong swimmer, the way she pronounced the word 'probably' made him cringe (it usually came out as 'Probly' and for some reason, this annoyed him to no end ) Kotone was physically incapable of rolling her tongue, she was a "cat person," right handed, her favourite colour actually seemed to be red, though she couldn't wear it as it would 'clash with her hair,' whatever that meant. Comparatively, though, these idiosyncrasies were nothing.

The most annoying discovery of all happened on April fourth of their first year of training. It had never really come up before, but as he found that morning, Kotone was unbearably superstitious.

"I don't feel well." She said, as he shook her shoulder, burying her face in her pillow.

"Aw, come on, Kotone! They said today was important! Damn it! You're so lazy!"

"Not today."

"Why the heck not?!"

"It's April fourth, today. Four-four. There's no way I'm getting out of bed."

He just gaped at her. "You've got to be joking." He said, crossly, trying to physically pick her up. He wasn't yet strong enough to do that, exactly, but managed to drag her to her feet.

She pulled away, trying to return to the safely of her sheets, but he grabbed her around the waist, actually having a fair bit of difficulty restraining her. "Look, just cut it out!" He shouted, letting go when her flailing stopped, and releasing her. He sighed, and pushed his messy brown hair out of his face."Nothing's going to happen, ok? It's just any other day. You'll be fine."

She bit her lip, sulkily, before crossing her arms, and looking back at him. "Alright, Zabu kun," came her small, hesitant voice. "But if I die today, it's your fault."

Over the months, the water-training had become much more serious, games replaced by rigorous stroke drills, carefully supervised by more anonymous chunin. Which is why they were surprised when there were little boats set up in their usual practice area, which they were told to get into, two pairs per one teacher manned vessel. The wind sweeping over the ocean was icy, waves chilled and violent, the boats rocking menacingly.

But, as always, the trainees did as they were told, and eased themselves in, Kotone relieved to see the nice, older, black-haired girl from earlier, and her partner, a sea-green haired boy. "Oi! Shinju neesan, stop rocking the boat."

"Sorry, Hiraku kun." Kotone made a face. Alright, so now she knew their names, but her partner was her brother. That was no fair, 'random partners' didn't seem to be quite so random, anymore. She leaned over, trailing one hand against the water's dismal surface, watching the ripples made as the boat moved. She shivered, as the cold breeze carrying the fog to shore passed over her soaked hand.

She sat back up, catching sight of Hiraku, who had turned around in his seat, eyes fixed on hers strangely. Kotone blinked at him, before smiling uncertainly, giving a small wave. He spun around immediately, returning his focus to the misty waters ahead, as Zabuza was doing. "What the..." Kotone's partner had suddenly begun looking more interested, and tapped her on the shoulder, pointing to a dark shape appearing in front of them. "Look, land. I think it's a little island."

True enough, they were approaching a small, tree covered island, one of the many dotting Mizu no kuni's coastline. The boats soon ran aground, embedding themselves in the rocky sand muck that squished underfoot once they left the little watercrafts. The teachers, however, did not, one standing up in his beached boat, folding his arms impatiently, as he addressed the academy students.

"Today's assignment is simple." A large tanned hand pointed over the waves, towards the distant lights of their home, dotting the horizon through the fog. "Swim back."

An eerie silence followed, as the children stared at the frigid, rolling waters, contemplating their unattainable assignment, as their teachers pushed off from shore, beginning to boat home. "Remember your first day," The same man called. "Your only responsibility is yourself, and your partner. Leave the other pairs to help themselves. And a word of advice: lose anything that will weigh you down." His voice had faded beyond hearing and the children were left looking at one another in disbelief, as this was a huge jump from their usual swimming lessons, and the chill the wind brought from the ocean was foreboding.

A shrill screaming of some sea bird woke them from their dismayed stupor, echoing from nowhere and everywhere through the spaciously suffocating mist. "We'd better get going." Her partner's voice was unusually small, as he bent down to remove his sandals, before pulling off his jacket as well. "The sooner we get going, the sooner we can get back."

"Y-yeah..." She nodded quietly, eyes never leaving the water passing back and forth over the beach, as she took off her own sandals and sweater, discarding them in a haphazard pile. She doubted that she'd be able to come back for them.

She knew that it was half of their number on the beach now, meaning that half of the seventy two pairs, of the original seventy five. Four children had passed away over the year, and two had to be sent away. The first, one of the other girls, had died of a heart condition the medic nin hadn't been aware of, another two had died during training exercise accidents, one falling from a cliff, the other getting lost and starving to death. Kotone shuddered, remembering how that one hike had almost led to both of those ends for her partner and herself. The fourth had dropped from exhaustion. As for the other two one had broken his back, the other had some sort of medical problem, meaning that neither could ever attempt anything remotely ninja-esque, again.

She realised that it should have bothered her more. But somehow, it didn't. She took a moment to be grateful that she didn't know any of the others at all. It made it less real.

What did feel real was the icy feeling travelling up her spine from her submerged ankle, as she hesitantly waded into the waves, jumping back slightly as they lapped at her chilled shins, before venturing deeper. Her partner was already in past his waits, plowing along, teeth gritted against the cold. Kotone had long since noticed that about him. He was amazingly strong willed, and could often simply force himself to do something that would nevertheless be painful, or frightening. She wasn't sure how, exactly, and could only try and keep up, such as this particular incident, where her course of action was to try running after. Which, in hindsight, was a bad idea, as all she accomplished was moving an incredibly short distance for the energy she used, thanks to the water's resistance, and thoroughly soaking the blond ninja in training next to her ( Who shot her a very nasty glare as he moved away) Looking around now, she could see the others wading by the shore, or bobbing between the waves. Shinju and her brother were the farthest out, and had definitely started swimming.

Zabuza simply stopped where he was, allowing her to catch up with him, before beginning again, soon finding his toes straining for contact with the sandy ground below. Kotone sputtered, as a wave passed over her face, accidentally timed along with a breath, pulling her under. A gasp, a moment of flailing panic, before her body's memory kicked in, and her legs pushed her to the surface again, kicking furiously to keep herself there.

The boy next to her when she resurfaced had settled into some odd form of doggy paddle, treading desperately. Kotone began something remotely frog-like, and like that, the two began inching their way towards the distance, proper technique long forgotten with fear and urgency. This wasn't about swimming. It was survival now. To do whatever he hell worked, whatever would get them home.

They continued endlessly, the shoreline never appearing to come any closer. Spitting out mouthful after mouthful of salty, freezing water, clothes clinging to them, restricting movement, as they kicked and pulled at the ocean with numb and shaking limbs.

The panic was slowly dwindling, and had become a dull ache in Kotone's stomach, overpowered by the words she repeated ceaselessly in her mind. Keep going. Almost there. Getting closer. You can do it. Keep going...

She glanced in her partner's direction coughing up a bit more water she had inadvertently inhaled. His face was serious, eyes set ahead determinedly, despite the obvious fatigue and cold affecting his movement. As frightened as she was, it was comforting, somehow, having him beside her.

She had no idea how long they'd been swimming, but guessed happily that there was only about a third of the swim left. She'd lost sight of many of the others, though, oddly, she saw a single child pass her frantically. She recognized him as the read headed boy from their first day, who, if she was correct, was partnered with the blond boy who had given her the dirty look earlier. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see him, close behind, floundering helplessly between the waves. "Zabuza Kun..." She choked, hoping that her voice would carry despite the water in her throat, and cold wind in her face.

"We can't."

"Hey!" Zabuza raised an eyebrow incredulously at the unreasonable amount of energy she was wasting, trying to get the redhead's attention. "He needs help!" The other boy, however, seemed driven by instinct, as he fought to get himself to shore before fatigue caught up with him. Zabuza sighed at his partner's inefficient nature, returning his attention to the goal, only half listening to her cries. "Wait! Please, he's going to-"

A scream.

Hiraku and Shinju become important later :3 so... yeah! n.n thank you for reading! Please review: D and have a nice day! n.n XDD