Ok... it's four in the morning, so I apologize if the last little bit is horrible XDD

Um... yeah! XDD I really liked this chapter... so... um... It's probably not very good XD I'm sorry if it's not.

I drew a picture a while ago that goes with this chapter:3 It's not very good, and I did it ages ago XD so...um... here: I'm not much of an artist, I'm afraid. n.n;;

So! Again, thank alot to Nobukane for reading over this for me! ( go check out his stories! you know you waaaant toooooo :3 )

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to masashi Kishimoto

The concentration her partner exerted as he trained, focussed solely on the target before him and kunai in his hand, made sneaking away more than easy. The small, guiltily-smiling, chunin crept away gleefully, holding back a giggle as cold, damp grass brushed her sandalled feet. It was a nice day, not warm, but tolerable, the usual thick fog blanketing their training ground, as she plunked herself down at the edge, legs dangling down over the water far below.

She sighed wistfully, cool wind sweeping her warm face, waiting for her heart to resume it's normal pace. They'd been working hard today, as usual, trying to ensure their readiness for any mission they'd be assigned, which were growing more and more dangerous.

Something caught her eye, then. A shining, iridescent streak of red through the grey. She smiled, watching it flit in and out of sight through the mist, it's wing beats so quick, they but a blur. She'd always liked dragonflies, for some reason.

"Hey,"

She jumped, as something nudged her back. "Damn it, you're quiet," She chuckled, relieved. She hadn't heard him come up behind her. He was staring at her, slightly condescending, arms folded, as one might address a disobedient child. "We should keep practising. We can't afford to slack off, Kotone."

"I don't see why we can't relax, once in a while. We're chunin, right? We've been working out butts off since we were this tall," She paused to place her hand at perhaps her eye level, sitting. "Don't we deserve a break?"

"Yeah, but as chunin, we still have a promotion to worry about, Kotone. Just wait till we're jonin. Then we can relax. But for now-"

"I know, I know," Kotone admitted. "I'll get back to it, I promise. Just a second."

"What are you doing, anyways?" He quirked an eyebrow, before slowly starting to take a seat beside her.

"Watching the dragonflies," She pointed to it, only to let out a small cry as her partner stopped mid-sit, and moved to swat it. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Killing it, what does it look like?" He answered simply.

"Don't!" She paused, blinking at him beseechingly.

"It's a fly, Kotone. Give it a rest, it doesn't matter."

"But... but... I've heard some where that they only live for about twenty four hours! "

"Then it really doesn't matter."

He resumed the attempt to clap his hands around the insect, but a harsh tug on his pant leg actually pulled him to the ground. "If a day's all it has, it's cruel to take any of it away. Let it enjoy itself."

"What the hell? It's a stupid bug. It's just going to die anyways."

"They must be good for something. They eat mosquitos and stuff. I think it's awfully brave of them. They have like, no time at all to live, and they spend it doing their part for the ecosystem." She nodded airily. "mhmm."

Zabuza quirked an eyebrow. "Only a day, eh? Then I think they're dumb."

"Why?"

"Because whenever I see two of them they're... they're..." The twelve year old shuddered slightly. "Doing...well...you know." He too a moment to cringe again, before continuing."If I had twenty four hours to live, I certainly wouldn't waste it on something gross like that."

"What would you do?"

"What?"

"If you had a day to live. What would you do, Zabuza kun?"

"Dunno. Go off by myself somewhere, wait it out."

"You'd really want to be alone?"

"Duh. I definitely wouldn't want anyone to watch me die. That'd be all... weird. I just guess I'd feel way too vulnerable kicking the bucket with someone watching."

"Vulnerable? But if you're dying, what does it matter?"

"It just seems like a private thing, somehow. Anyways, fine then. What would you do?"

She paused thoughtfully. "Well... I certainly wouldn't want to be alone."

"Why not?"

"I don't know... but just sort of... dying all by myself? It seems scary, somehow. Just waiting for it. Dying in a fight'd be different."

He nodded. "Yeah. That's how most ninja go."

"It's comforting, somehow." She agreed. "At least it'd be fast... And there'd probably be a reason for it, like that. It'd mean something."

"Look," He sighed, noting the apprehensive look on her face now. "If... if you're really so weird about the whole dying thing... " He slumped over slightly, as though embarrassed. "If you're hurt or something, and no one else is around, and you're definitely not gonna make it..." He shrugged a little. "I'll... sit with you, or something stupid like that. If It'll make you feel better. You know... Until you croak."

She smiled, slightly perplexed. In a morbid, reluctant sort of way, it was sweet. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't. Ever."

She giggled. "And I promise to leave you alone if the same ever happens."

"Thank you." He said firmly, smirking slightly. "I'm not all sappy like you are."

She sighed happily, and resumed watching it, as it lighted on a nearby dandelion. "You see? They are brave. You and me both said that if our lives were short like theirs, that we'd both just kind of give up. Sit around, and wait to die. I think they must come back as really courageous people."

"You believe that crap?"

"Of course... don't you?"

He stifled a laugh. "No,"

She tilted her head to the side quizzically. "Well... what do you think happens when we die?"

"Nothing. It's all just stuff people have made up because they're scared. Or to keep people from doing things they consider 'bad.'"

"Oh," she paused, looking out over the foggy water for a long moment. "Kuri died."

"Wha... the mouse?"

Kotone nodded solemnly.

"What's with you today? It was a stupid mouse. It was probably a bunch of different ones every time you looked."

"No." She said, shaking her head firmly. "They weren't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"They all sound distinct."

"What?"

"Yeah!" She sounded emphatic. "Kuri was big. He was louder than the other three."

"And the others?"

"Ran was is little, so it's the opposite. He's the quietest sounding. Hisa's really old, he walks slow. And Nikki's missing a foot. He kinda hops every three steps."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Kotone sighed again, adjusting her hair. It was when they'd been promoted to chunin that she'd suddenly decided that pigtails were a bit childish, and had switched to a ponytail. Zabuza had assured her that no amount of arranging her hair would make her seem less childish. She immediately hit him with a pillow.

"I don't know, I just... I guess it's pathetic, but sometimes I really like to think that my mom's watching me, somehow-" Zabuza said nothing as she stopped herself, quite suddenly.

The twelve year old bit her lip, getting to her feet. "Ok, you're right... I... I really should get back to practising."

"Finally," He sighed, also getting up, and moving back to the pile of projectile weapons they'd left. "We have a mission tomorrow. We've got to be ready."

She nodded, sending a kunai dead centre into the target, from quite a distance away. "Right."

- - - - - -

Guard duty was unbearably boring. They'd been assigned the early morning shift at a seaside post near a cliff, about half a day's walk north of Kirigakure no sato, and the noon shift at a port another few hour's walk north from there, for the next two weeks, with another, older chunin, and a new jonin.

Mizu no kuni was given protection from attackers by the sea, but that did little good if no one was watching. It was also as much about keeping things in as it was about keeping things out. The mist village, they learned, had an alarming number of ninja who fled, annually. Fairly weak shinobi, usually, who couldn't take the strain of their lifestyle.

Zabuza was often heard muttering bitterly to himself about how, for all the nuke nin were supposedly lurking, none ever came their way. He became intolerably grumpy when forced into idleness.

It was about six in the morning on the Monday of their second week that something caught the jonin's attention.

"Hm?" The older man paused, turning to the dense growth of coniferous trees behind them.

"Is everything alright?" Kotone asked warily, getting to her feet.

"Just a second," He gestured for quiet, as he slowly stalked over to the edge of the forest. "There's definitely someone there."

"There's another." The older chunin added, nodding in the same general direction.

The jonin sighed. "Ok, you two stay out of our way," He motioned to the older chunin. "What's his face and me are gonna handle this, ok brats? He'll flush em out, I'll get 'em. Watch, and learn."

The older chunin scowled at being referred to in such a way, but quickly realised that he himself didn't know the jonin, or either of the younger one's names, and really had no right to complain. Still, he was muttering to himself slightly, as he waded through the bushes, purposefully making himself as indiscreet as he could manage. It would be best to cause the criminals to reveal themselves, and be ready for it. If they were strong at all, they would probably have attacked already, anyways. Not to mention that a skilled ninja wouldn't have given themself away as easily.

It was then that several things happened in quick succession:

A flurry of shuriken, which the jonin dodged flew from the trees, as a shape launched itself at him, and was promptly sent flying by a kick to the face, A scream, presumably from the attacker's accomplice rang out from the shaded and obscured forest area, and it was only after the two rookie chunin were sure that both opponents were incapacitated, did they relax slightly, and go to help the older man restrain the enemy he had apprehended. It was the instant Kotone turned, that a third, previously unseen man struck, jumping at her, kunai in hand.

Zabuza whirled around a second too late to help, and could only watch as the knife fell, aimed squarely between his partner's eyes, and how her hand unconsciously reached down to her own kunai holster.

He was fast, but she was a tiny bit faster.

Zabuza couldn't be sure which of them looked more surprised as the sharpened metal bit into his throat, blood spattering from the wound. Kotone staggered back, eyes wide, as her attacker's lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

The chunin emerged again, seemingly oblivious to her distress, as he tossed another corpse out into the clearing, mechanically. "Got him. That's all."

The jonin nodded. "This one's alive. We'll hand him over to the interrogation division, see if there were any more in the area." He was smiling slightly, as he said this, as though he hadn't just ordered the man who's hands he was busy tying's torture and eventual death.

"Oh, and Ume?"

Kotone was paler than usual, and, Zabuza noted, shaking slightly. "Yes sir?"

"Good work."

"Th-thank you, Sir."

"That's it for today's shift, I think."

"I'll get the hunter nin." The chunin interrupted gruffly, marching off down the dirt path that wound around the trees along the cliff's edge.

"You two, are dismissed." The jonin finished, looking more content than usual.

She was intolerably quiet as they made their way to their next station. Absent, still blanched and trembling, eyes fixed on the ground in front of her in an irritatingly shocked way. Usually he appreciated the rare moment where she was quiet, but this was just vexing. She had only really stopped when they passed by a dip in the path that brought them close to the water, to wash the blood off herself.

"Hey, are you going to snap out of it, or what?" He demanded tersely, when her dismay became unbearable. "It doesn't matter, you know."

"Zabuza kun," She simply answered, as she stopped walking languidly, voice low. "I just killed somebody."

"And your point is...?" He frowned at the heartbroken, pitiable look on her face, as she blinked at him. "The hell kind of ninja are you? Look, he attacked, you reacted. That's what we've been taught. What do you think we've been training to do, anyways?" He stepped in front of her, his hands grasping her upper arms lightly. "Kill things." She nodded, her eyes returning to the ground in response to the unusual closeness. Physically, he generally kept his distance. "It was you, or him, right? Once you've entered a fight- any fight- you've put your life on the line. If he wasn't willing to die, he shouldn't have jumped at you."

He heard a quiet, shuddering breath leave the small kunoichi, as she gave a tiny nod. "And hell, if you hadn't killed him, he'd have killed you, then gotten killed himself by the jonin guy or me. So it'd have been a waste if you'd died." Kotone didn't respond. He hadn't really expected her to, it was chastising, not reassurance, after all. He wasn't so good with warm fuzzy crap like that.

After a short, uncomfortable pause, he broke away, jamming one hand in a pocket casually, a smirk forming on his face. "Get used to it, Kotone. As ninja, this is pretty much all we'll ever do. You might as well enjoy yourself while you're at it."

"Enjoy myself?" It was the most emphatic thing she'd said since the incident, and he was happy to have gotten an animated response, for once.

"Yeah. I know I certainly did." His grin widened ever so slightly at the memory of the final graduation exam he had ruined. In a weird sort of way, it had felt like he was getting back at the people who had put him through hell for three years, only to potentially kill him. "You don't really have to think at all, just move. It's exciting. I mean, they had every chance to kill me, so they can only really blame themselves for being that weak, right? Not my fault they couldn't fight of a third-year kid."

"I...I guess so,"

"Look, just relax, ok? I can't believe you're making such a big deal of it." Zabuza, feeling thoroughly exasperated, breathed out noisily, and adjusted his hitai ate. "If you weren't such a pansy, it'd have happened sooner." He added.

She hesitated, and finally started walking again, muttering to herself quietly. "You're... you're right. He jumped at me, it was all I could do... I mean, that guy was a criminal... Scum... A threat to the village...And I was just doing my duty as a ninja! It's what I'm supposed to do!" Her face had gradually brightened as she drew this conclusion, and was now smiling.

"Exactly," He sighed, glad that he might finally have gotten her to shut up.

"But still..." She faltered only for a moment. "I hope you're right, Zabuza kun. I really hope mom can't see me."

He said nothing to this, and she was quiet for another short second, before forcing another grin, and continuing along.

Thankfully, her mood stated consistent throughout the rest of the walk to the harbour. As it was through mainly ninja-populated land, there were several targets and other such training equipment by the side of the road, haphazard, and abandoned, paint peeling and wood rotting slightly.

There was a fairly well cared for target pinned to a birch tree up the road, at about the same distance as she kept from the one at their training area. Kotone smiled, pulling a kunai from the pouch at her leg, and letting it fly with a well practised flick of her wrist. It hit the red circle of the centre, as it always did.

She ran forward, now having returned to her normal, lively self, to retrieve her weapon. Zabuza lagged behind at a more casual pace, not too intent to go be bored out of his mind at their next station, and content to linger en route for a while.

He glanced up at his partner, an action he would soon regret, as she was staring much too intently at the target. "Aw damn it, what is it now?" He caught up to her before she answered, yanking the knife free, and returning it to it's holster.

"It's nothing," She answered, shaking her head slightly, her ponytail, and the long pink ribbon she used to secure it, waving slightly as she did. And so, they continued along the path, one tiny thought weighing on Kotone's mind.

She had missed.

It wasn't a big deal, of course, but it had been a long while since she had missed a shot. Generally, her aim was excellent. More troubling still, from where she had stood, it had indeed appeared that she had hit her mark. Closer inspection, however, had revealed that she was off by a good inch or so, the blade digging in to the outer layer of white paint around the red. Kotone pushed this all from her mind, and kept walking.

It was probably nothing.

That bit at the beginning's kinda weird when you concider how he DOES die O.o;; XD I'm assuming you've all seen that episode...

Um, anyways! Sorry if that was lame. Thank you so much for reading this! I hope you liked it! please review, and have a nice day :D