Holy crap is this chapter ever long XDDD I apologize if this is rushed and pointless... It's really jsut a bunch of little anecdotes, isn't it? XD n.n;; sorry... anyways! I hope you enjoy!
One part of this chapter proves that I've been watching waaay too much CSI XDD Oh XDDD and Art attack XDDD Apparently, you CAN paint sand XDDD
Naruto: Masashi kishimoto
Like always, teaching continued, chunin and jonin seemingly oblivious to the fifteen absent children. Who became sixteen... then seventeen... The difficultly, and risk to their drills had increased dramatically, and the children shortly realised how quickly their numbers were diminishing. An intentional reduction.
Mizukage sama, they soon learned, had no time for weaklings.
Spring became summer, though the still-chilled temperature did little to reflect a change. A new tactic was introduced to their training, to further strengthen their precious hearing skills. Complicated, hazardous obstacle courses, that grew progressively more dangerous, one partner leading the blindfolded other through it.
The very idea of it had panicked Kotone, her partner simply rolling his eyes and volunteering to go first, muttering to himself how she would undoubtedly get him killed. He had done exceedingly well, however, his partner's description of the obstacles being more than enough to get him over them, as he pictured it in his mind's eye with exceptional accuracy.
Kotone proved to be much more tactile than he was, and proceeded with more difficulty, clinging to him nervously- he really wished she wouldn't- and poking at the hurdle, or tunnel they were to pass for a while before trying. All in all, they did well. Those who didn't found themselves on the steadily-growing casualty list.
Their teachers remained anonymous, never appearing consistently. It seemed that the students were taught by whoever was available. This had provoked Kotone's irritating habit of nicknaming the ones she saw regularity, a habit that slowly began annoying the hell out of her partner. It became exponentially worse, however, as he found the names embedding themselves in he back of his mind, as he would often almost, almost refer to one teacher as "Eyebrow ring lady" or "Purple haired guy". He had accepted long ago that his partner simply had a strange, strange mind, and that he should ignore her stupidity whenever possible. He just hated the thought that it was rubbing off on him.
July proved to be an especially strange time. There was an odd hushed excitement between the chunin and jonin that passed by, as they exchanged secretive whispers the children weren't permitted to hear, or understand. The oddest bit of all, was when, just as the teachers were at their most distracted, that night at lights out, there was an announcement the students thought they'd never hear. "Do as you like tomorrow," The jonin said, as he extinguished the lights and locked the door. "You have the day off."
An excited chatter immediately broke out, that the jonin quelled harshly, but instead of dying, the noise simply shifted to a exhilarated murmur. A free day? Some teams planned to sleep all day, catching up on dear, wasted sleep. Others still decided to spend the day at home, but otherwise doing nothing, or training. Then there were the brave few willing to take the two hour walk to the village, alone. Kotone and Zabuza opted for the second, taking the day to relax, and practice more leisurely, without teachers yelling.
"Ahh..." Kotone stretched contentedly, as the sound of her partner getting up woke her. "Good morning," she said happily, taking a moment to bask in the joy that was sleeping in. Once she finally discovered the motivation to get out of bed ( which was surprisingly easier than usual, as she knew that there was no backbreaking training awaiting her) and followed Zabuza to area they had dubbed the "cafeteria." It was, in actuality, a set of tables set out in the hallway, an exact amount of food laid out. It was usually putrid tasting, and cold, the village caring for the strength of the trainees, and nothing else. It was imperative to get there on time, or there would simply be nothing left. Kotone grabbed two of the anpan breads from the table, handing the other to her partner, smiling as she realised that he looked much less cranky then he usually did.
After eating, they made their way to the practice area outside, designated to their year, noting that it was relatively nice out that day. They spent a while throwing Shuriken, both now having excellent aim, then going over the basic jutsu they'd been taught, before moving to taijutsu. Sparring was always where they were the most competitive, Zabuza realising that Kotone was becoming harder, and harder to hit, and Kotone determining that it was becoming harder and harder to take one of his strikes.
Finally, panting and sweating, they decided to call it quits, stating that it was just 'A time out' neither wanting to admit defeat.
"Yeah. Because next time, I'm kicking your butt, Zabu kun." Kotone had challenged playfully.
He actually smiled. "I'd like to see you try."
Since they found themselves with free time for the first time in almost a year, decided to make the best of it, and visit the beach, for fun instead of work, for once. Kotone had promised to teach him what making sandcastles was all about, something he claimed no one had ever showed him.
There was very little sand on kirigakure's beaches. They were rocky, stone hollows catching pools of water, and life, as the tide went out, which amused the young kunoichi in training endlessly. She crouched down next to one, moving a slick piece of seaweed out from under her foot to avoid slipping, and watched nothing in particular for what to her partner, seemed like an eternity. He eventually poked his head over her shoulder to see what had caught her attention, kneeling down to look as well. "Isn't it neat?" she asked, enthralled. He quirked a thin eyebrow.
"It's a starfish."
"It's pretty."
"It's a starfish." Zabuza repeated flatly.
Kotone eventually pried her gaze away from it, skipping off farther down the beach. "There are more tide pools down here!" She exclaimed.
"Where are you going?"
He could hear her laugh faintly. "To find some sand, for sandcastles! The salt water's great for it! That's what I've heard, anyways. I've never actually made one, myself."
"It's not that great." He shouted without really looking up.
"Aw, please? I just want to try!"
He sighed, studying the sea star, if only to see what she found so fascinating. He stared at it, pinkish red and bumpy, missing a limb, and a stub of another was halfway through growing back. He exhaled noisily, finding his thought slipping away as the sun and sounds of calm water was actually putting him to sleep. He lost his battle to keep his eyes open, and was only half aware of nodding off, head slumping to his chest.
He jumped, as a sound so bizarre and piercing split the warm silence, he thought he'd dreamed it. He clambered to his feet quickly, immediately assuming that it was some animal screaming, but he soon determined, that as strange as it was, the sound had indeed been made by a human. More specifically, his partner.
He scrambled over the rocks hurriedly, soon spotting his partner so close to the shore, that the waves were lapping at her sandals. He frowned when he saw that she was in no immediate nature, and opened his mouth to berate her for overreacting.
She was trembling visibly, the blood drained completely from her face, clear blue eyes wide, and staring at something in front of her. "Oi, Kotone, what the hell?" She said nothing, eyes still fixed and unblinking, taking a panicked step back, before turning and running, collapsing in a corner between two large rocks. He turned slowly, to see what she had been staring at.
A body. A dead, drowned body. A child's body, washed up on shore, bloated and discoloured, in the midst of decomposing. He lowered his head, sighing. One of the boys from the forced swimming assignment almost four months ago, he guessed.
He coughed, covering his mouth and nose, before moving over towards his shaking partner, who was trying her best to hide herself as she was violently ill. He could hardly blame her, though. The smell of decay alone was enough to cause vomiting, let alone the gruesome appearance of a drowned corpse.
"Kotone?" He said, as she got to her feet shakily, face in her hands, as she sobbed. "Hey, Relax... calm down, alright...? It's dead, it can't hurt you, you know," If anything, that made her cry harder. He sighed, his voice softening slightly, and placing his hands on her shoulders, not resisting when she leaned against his chest. "You've never seen a corpse before, have you?"
Eyes wide, still brimming with tears, her head snapped up to look at him, shock stopping her sobbing. "You have? " Her eyes, now fixed with an embarrassed sort of sympathy.
"I..." He shook his head sharply, beginning to walk away, pulling her along by the wrist. "We should go find someone. We can't just leave him here, right?" She nodded, and was silent again for an unusually long time.
"I'm not even sure who that was."
"We don't know any of the others."
"I know... I just feel bad. If no one remembers him...He's not just dead, he's gone."
"It's the same thing, Kotone."
"No it isn't."
He just picked up his pace a little, knowing how badly an argument with Kotone could get. After a while, she simply stopped making sense, and the less sense she made, the more convinced she was that she was right. Her senseless logic often made his head hurt.
It took them a long time to find a teacher, an especially grumpy chunin who simply sighed, and dismissively told them he's deal with it.
Kotone seemed alright for the rest of the day, though the same sick sensation began to creep back into her stomach as night fell, the darkness and shadows making her uneasy, and reminding her all too vividly of the day's horrifying discovery. Kotone clutched at her sheets tightly, that night, trying to get the images from her head, as the lights were shut off, and the door locked for the night.
"Zabuza Kun?"
"Wha?"
"I'm cold."
"You're kidding," came the incredulous reply. It'd been months since she'd last asked, and what's more, it was warm.
"Please," She asked again, painfully aware of how obvious the feeble crack in her voice had been, waiting tensely for him to make some crack about her current weakness. It never came.
"Fine," She could tell by his tone of voice that he understood the reason, and was profoundly grateful, as somehow, cuddling up to her friend was comforting. It would be more than two week before the gruesome memories left her enough peace to sleep soundly.
vvvvvvvvvv
It was a long while later, during breakfast, that Zabuza blurted something out he'd regret for a long while. "Yesterday was my birthday,"
"Really? Wow! Eeee!" She threw her arms around him impulsively. There was a short awkward pause, before she pulled away, her gleeful surprise now becoming a frown. "Hey, why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to do that."
"Humph. What day is it today? It's the sixteenth, right? So, it's on the fifteenth, then? I'll remember next year, just you wait."
"No you won't."
"Why not?"
"Because your memory sucks."
She glared playfully. "Now I know I'll remember, just to spite you."
Another month passed, and September came again. There was a certain pride felt among the students, as another younger group was moved into the academy. For some reason, it felt nice knowing that they were no longer the new ones, and had seniority over somebody. They were second years.
All the while, the training had become more dangerous, and harder still, and the children (who now numbered only 120) now rarely had time to recover from one set of aching muscles, before another day of exhausting training. Their work with chakra had increased, and they were now being asked to perform very primitive jutsu- To Kotone's chagrin, his skills in chakra manipulation consistently exceeded her own, if only by a small margin- and they spent more time in the classroom, learning theory, and basic strategy. Their hours were now growing longer, and they sound themselves with almost no time to delay between classes.
December came again, and Zabuza could clearly observe as she became progressively more sullen as her birthday drew near, and chipper again once it had passed.
There were, of course, more gruelling swims, though nothing so over their head as the first, as they had improved considerably. Though there was something different one March morning, as the jonin instructing them- the one Kotone routinely referred to as 'eyebrow ring lady'- asked them to sit, as he paced before them, outlining the day's event. A race. There was a small bit of sand and rock sticking out from the water a fair ways away, that would be their goal. She smiled wickedly, as they expressed their fatigue and disinterest amongst themselves quietly.
"Oh, I think you'll want to try your best today." She opened her hand, showing them it's contents. The children blinked, taking a moment to observe the small, curiously familiar shining objects in her hands. It slowly dawned on all of them, and their eyes widened. It had been such a long time since any of them had seen candy, or anything sweet for that matter. It proved to be more than enough incentive.
They were brutal, shoving and dunking each other as they swam full tilt, fighting desperately for something that would normally seem trivial. Frustrated, sputtering, and receiving a whack in the face with an older boy's elbow accidentally-on-purpose, Zabuza could pretty well give up. He was a distance person, after all. Nearing the finish line, and still at the back of the crowd, he sighed grumpily. Defeat didn't sit well with the boy, it never had, but he decided that given the situation, it was acceptable, as long as the winner wasn't- Oh no. He used some language he'd heard from the off duty chunin that lounged around between missions, as he saw someone clamber up onto the rocky surface, grinning happily.
He gave Kotone the cold shoulder for a long time after that.
vvvvvvvvvv
He was dreading April fourth, knowing his partner's irrational behaviour would only have been fuelled by last year's ordeal, and was not surprised to have to coax her out from under the safety of her covers and out to the training fiend as he had the year before. Nothing terrible had happened, to his relief, but she did go on some odd superstitious tangent during supper, and had warned him that he would turn into a cow, or something to that effect. He sighed at the thought of it. She was truly a bizarre being at times.
Again, they were given a day off near the end of July, which they again spent training, this time, luckily, without incident.
Another month went by, and with it, a day that he was only vaguely aware of. Truth be told, it was her who reminded him, in the brief time they were given before lights out. "Happy birthday, Zabuza kun!"
"What?"
"I said I'd remember, and I did! Ha!" She beamed, happily.
He exhaled noisily, running his fingers through his hair in thought, eyes closed. "Kotone... Thanks, and everything, but what does it matter? We can't go anywhere, we can't do anything-"
"But I have something for you!" She said, pouting slightly.
"What?"
Her smile returned as quickly as it had left. "Mhmm! Close your eyes, and hold out your hand!"
He did as she asked, nervously, mind racing, as he tried to predict what it was. She had no money, no time or materiels to make anything, so logically, it was something she'd found. It was probaly a stick. Or, ew, some girly flower. No, knowing her it was one of those stupid four leaf clover things. Who was he kidding, those were hard to find! It was probably a normal clover. Or a rock. Or a rock with a clover painted- no, scratched into it with a kunai. That was it. A rock with a clover scratched into it.
"Ok! You can open your eyes now!" He heard her exclaim excitedly, as she closed his hand around something small, round, and hard. Yep. It was a rock, he knew it.
He blinked at the shiny object in his hand that was definitely not a rock. "Is this...?"
"Yep!"
"You kept it?"
She nodded joyfully. "I've been keeping it under my pillow since March!" Her expression became worried, as she added, as an afterthought," Things like that don't go bad, do they?"
"I don't think hard candy does, no." He replied steadily, before a small smile twitched at his mouth, and stayed there. "Hey... thanks."
"No problem." She watched almost pained as he unwrapped it, fidgeting anxiously. He rolled his eyes, determined not to laugh at the stupid display. "You want some, don't you?"
"Ok!" She replied, with way to much enthusiasm, as he chipped half of the little candy- which he now learned tasted something like lemon- off, and handed it to his partner, who popped it into her mouth happily.
"You are so weird, Kotone."
vvvvvvv
From the first day of their third year, they felt a difference. It had changed, drastically. The jutsu had become infinitely more complicated, and their strategy as well, as they now found themselves learning things they'd never considered, most importantly, how to be anyone. Not to impersonate an existing being, oh no, but to create a cover, and make them so real, that they could pass unnoticed amongst their peers. Kotone, Shinju, and the only other remaining girl were sometimes excused from regular class to be taught on their own, as Zabuza understood it, the role of a kunoichi could sometimes be different than another ninja's, however that was, he didn't really know what they meant by that.
Physically, the training had become unbearably exhausting, and unlike their previous years, they were given much more free time to do with what they wished. They soon realised, however, that this was a test in disguise. Those who used the time to recover from the draining day's lessons soon fell behind. It was no longer the simple case of falling behind meaning falling behind. Now, if a student fell behind, the training would soon kill them. They now numbered a mere 62. Only those who pushed themselves to breaking succeeded, and survived, Kotone and Zabuza often stumbled home, panting, only to collapse and immediately fall asleep.
"Just think," Kotone said weakly, one night in late July, eyes half lidded as she and her partner limped painfully to their sleeping mats, bruised and battered and bloody from training, chests heaving, impossibly tired. "One more year, and we'll be Genin."
"Yeah..." His eyes were closed, words mumbled.
"I guess... to protect the village...the people...It's worth it, isn't it? All this?"
He turned his head weakly, one eye slid open ever so slightly, an odd sort of chuckle amidst his gasping for breath, a small, heartfelt smile appearing, one she saw so rarely then. "It is, isn't it? To protect the village..." His voice trailed off, as sleep overtook his senses, Kotone following a moment later.
Anyways... I think this is pretty much the end of most of the Cute-sey stuff XD ( goodbye 'that random Zabuza kid, ' hello 'Kirigakure no kijin' XDD) Points to anyone who's guessed what that day in July IS XDD It'sprobably really obvious XDDD anyways! a HUUUUGE hug to anyone who's reading this (a huger hug to those reviewing! Reviews make me very happy) so yeah! n.n Please review, Hope you enjoyed it, and have a nice day!