Woah... twenty chapters, and eighty reviews O.O I can't believe I've gotten this far with this XDD thank you so much to everyone reading! really... you make me so very, very happy :'D
And an ESPECIALLY big hug to Nobukane XD who's OC Naoko is finally introduced for real. She was mentionned before, twice, but never really XD points to anyone who remembers the first time she was mentionned. She's awesome XD go read about heeeer visit Nobukane's paaaage!
I'm afraid she didn't really get to say much this chapter... but I've been having a really hard time getting in contact with Nobukane recently ;; so! XD and I really don't want to massacre her personality XD
Ok! WARNING. There's going to be a LOT of swearing from here on in. XD; There are some things I simply cannot picture her saying without a curse word in there... so... yeah o.o I hope that's not a problem for anyone.
and finally... I imply something here XD I'm making an allusion to a certain cannon character... gosh I'm evil XD it's not about Kotone, really, it isn't. I just couldn't resist Zabuza making a comment about him XDD
The boat ride back to Kirigakure was strange, as Menou curled himself in the soaking kunoichi's lap, as she stroked it as one would a house cat, recounting her adventures in the cave. The little cub purred loudly, Kotone chuckling. "Yes, I'm sure that fish would have been tasty."
The mist nin operating the motor stared at her for a long moment, as she not only spoke to the cat, but seemed to be carrying on a conversation. "Kotone," He started slowly, now thoroughly convinced that she had lost her mind. "That thing's not talking."
"Yes he is," She answered bluntly, the black and deep gray, rosette patterned ball of fur let out a whiny little mew in protest.
"All I hear are cat noises."
"Well that's weird."
He shrugged. "I know Nezumi's rats talk..." A grunt, as he turned back to the rudder, curtly. "Maybe it's just you they make sense to. It's your blood on the contract, after all."
Menou hissed, the hairs on his shoulders sticking up angrily. "He says he doesn't like those rats," Kotone smiled. "They're stuck up. Think they're so great, because they work with an illustrious family."
Zabuza sighed, eyes rolling. It took him a few weeks to adjust to the cub's frequent presence, as it would occasionally flit back to wherever it was it had come from.
A day or two after his sixteenth birthday ( Kotone had dragged him out for Unagi, which hadn't been as annoying as he had thought it might be) he strode into the ANBU's main office, to hand in the paperwork (oh, how he hated paperwork) from the day before's kill. Pace quick, and tense, he stepped into an almost empty, rectangular room, it's blue paint fading drearily. A ratty looking desk occupied much of the far wall, behind which, a small, nervous looking little man he knew to be named Kinyuu, who looked to be in his mid twenties was fumbling with some papers, and scrolls, as though looking for something.
The unusually empty room's two other had their backs to him. He recognized them, of course, as Kinyuu handed the smaller of the two whatever scroll it was he had been looking for, and glossy white mask, like his own, and the one worn by the viridian-haired boy beside her, but blank.
It was Kinyuu who noted his appearance in the room first, stuttering a greeting, and extending a hand to take the papers, and Zabuza stepped forward to get rid of them. Kotone and Hiraku turned, the kunoichi's face brightening, as the other's fell.
"What's going on?" His voice was hard, and demanding, eyes set on Hiraku, who seemed to shrink under their gaze.
"Well...Uh... I..."
"You were still on your mission yesterday when they called me down here, Zabuza kun." Kotone started, motioning to the mask in her hand. "I've just been informed that my application to the Torture and Interrogations division's been accepted. I'm supposed to start tomorrow."
"I was here getting mission information," Hiraku stammered, holding up the scroll he held. "Which I've done... Better get going then. Duty calls, and all that!" He hurried from the room before his sentence was finished, laughing uneasily.
"Woah, what's with him?"
"I haven't the foggiest." The taller, dark haired man replied guilelessly, glad his mask hid his smirk.
vvvvvvvvvv
Zabuza awoke the next morning, stepping out into the living room to the smell of overcooked toast, and the noise of his partner, already dressed in her black shorts, and dark happi, the mask she had tied to her hitai ate, now painted with symmetrical lines from the eyes, curving down her cheeks in dark red paint, milling about the kitchen. He crinkled his nose, slightly, frowning. He could never remember her having woken up before himself.
"Good morning, Zabuza kun." She yawned, biting into her breakfast.
He didn't answer, but instead strode over to the bright red thing on a small table by their beat up old couch, that certainly hadn't been there the previous morning. "Kotone? What the hell is this?"
"Hm?" She raised her eyebrows, looking over her burnt piece of bread. "Oh, that. I didn't think you'd notice."
He picked the thing up, it's glossy red body supporting a disturbingly happy head on a string, which bobbed, and nodded happily. "You didn't think I'd notice the hideous cow-shaped bobble-head you dumped in my living room?"
"No," She answered calmly, brushing a stray bit of hair from her eyes. "I didn't think you'd mind my putting a good luck charm in our living room." She took a sip from the coffee mug set down beside her. "It's called an akabeko, they're supposed to ward off illness. With a new job starting today, I didn't want to take any chances. Besides," The kunoichi added. "I thought you liked cows."
"Where'd you get that idea?"
"You know those armbands you have? And the boots?" She paused, skeptically.
"Oh... right."
She drained what was in the coffee mug, getting to her feet. "Well... I had better be going. Wish me luck!"
"You know I won't." He replied, eyes rolling.
She sighed sharply, before heading off to her first day as an interrogator. Zabuza stayed motionless, eyes flickering guiltily from the cow figurine to the food out on the table, an back again. Scanning the room quickly for nosy feline eyes, he strode curtly to the offending trinket, picked it up, opened the drawer beneath it, and shut it inside, before returning to the kitchen, now content.
vvvvvvvv
Kotone sighed, shutting the door behind herself, and collapsing on the couch, mentally exhausted. Her day had been... informative. While she herself hadn't yet been asked to question a target, she had observed, and, from what she could see, their village relied more on torture than interrogation. If a confession took too long to obtain, the masked interrogator would simply pull out some senbon, and try a more persuasive approach.
As a jonin, she had seen a lot, and wasn't really surprised. The information they gathered from the criminals helped keep the village safe. It was necessary. The end more than justified the means.
She blinked, frowning, when she noted a distinct lack of bright red in the room. Sitting up, and scanning the spot where it had been. "Zabuza," she breathed impatiently, quickly sliding the drawer open, unsurprised by the toy lying haphazardly on top of some old books. Without a second thought, she returned it to it's place.
She slept in late the next morning, to find it returned to the drawer. She corrected this, only to find it gone again when she returned home. She smiled. It was no longer a childish, wordless argument.
This was a challenge.
And so began the battle of the Akabeko.
For the next eight weeks, the fight continued, neither ever actually acknowledging it existed. It had become less of a fight than a habit, now, and Zabuza found himself mechanically placing the 'good luck' charm in the drawer, knowing full well that she would find it, as he had hid it in the same place for weeks now, and the whole thing would start again. It was incredibly stupid, but damn it, after this long, he couldn't stand the thought of losing.
It was early one October morning, striding out of the house, securing the haphazardly paint streaked mask over his face, he reached out and grabbed the doll unconsciously discarding it in it's usual resting place.
Another sound, besides the drawer shutting, caught his attention. A tiny, muffled thud, as something small hit the carpet, rolling to settle by a couch's leg. He frowned, sliding the door back open noisily. A decapitated cow stared back at him.
He crouched down, picking the toy's severed head, and turning it between his fingers, studying the thing. There was a loop on the inside of the body's oversized neck hole, that corresponded to an identical ring on the thing's exaggerated neck. The string that had connected the two had snapped. He removed the body from it's hiding place, simply sliding the neck where it would have gone. It looked alright, from a distance, but with even a small bit of inspection, it's state of disrepair would be evident, as it now reassembled something vaguely turtle-like, it's no longer suspended head too far in.
His eyes shifted both ways, ensuring that no one, human or feline, had seen. He was much better at breaking things than he was at fixing them.
Kotone would be gone for the next few days out with a number of other trackers, as an interrogator was often useful out on missions, when multiple targets were travelling together. Catch one, and torment the others's location from him. Easy.
He fled the room quickly, hoping that his partner wouldn't notice the damaged trinket. Of course, he had considered just crushing the stupid thing, but had decided against it. As breaking it would undoubtedly result in a lot of complaining, and sulking. Which he would really rather do without.
vvvvvvvvvv
She let the door squeak shut behind her, as she dropped her mask on the top of the sofa, not really caring as it fell, clattering to the ground. She was in desperate need of a shower, sweaty and covered in dirt, and their target's blood, as there had been no time to clean off properly, for an unbelievably long while coming back from their mission from Hi no Kuni.
Her beeline for the bathroom was paused, suddenly, as something red, and still where it should have been, when it shouldn't, caught her eye. The akabeko was still there? She grinned widely. Ha! Success! Kotone meandered over to the bathroom, feeling quite content.
"Hm," She tilted her head slightly, in thought, as she closed the door behind her. On her mission, someone else had disposed of the bodies, but still... eventually, she would be asked to. And she had her doubts about Menou's ability to dispose of a human corpse, let alone several.
It seemed as though she would have to try for something a little different, then, wouldn't she?
vvvvvvv
It had been six years since he had officially become a ninja. And Momochi Zabuza could honestly say, that in that time, especially his time on the Assignations unit, he had seen a lot. It took something quite unusual to surprise him at all.
But even the bravest of souls would admit, that coming home to a full grown jungle cat on one's couch was something quite unusual indeed.
Zabuza blinked, as the thing glowered at him with bright green eyes, before baring it's teeth, two long pointed fangs revealed, and letting out a low rumbling growl.
"You jaguars grow up fast, it seems." He commented dryly, moving to counterattack as it let out a screaming roar, crouching to pounce. A small strangled sort of mewling noise interrupted them, both of their attention turning to the left hand side of the room, where Kotone was striding, Menou in her arms. The cub hissed.
"Never confuse a jaguar with a leopard," The kunoichi translated. "You seem to have offended them both,"
Zabuza grunted ambiguously, he and the cat, apparently a leopard, both eyeing each other suspiciously.
"Kotone San? Who is this?" The large black cat asked, in a smooth female voice.
"Oh! He and Kotone sama share territory, Hisui nee san!" Menou answered happily.
Hisui inclined her head, still studying the tall, male ninja carefully. "Kotone San, is this your mate, then?"
"W-wha?!" Kotone stammered, eyes wide. "N-no! Humans live together sometimes, Hisui..I mean...Well..." Zabuza, who was incapable of understanding the cats, was left puzzled, as his partner chuckled nervously, blushing profusely, in a ver un-ninja ish way. "Human females...er...well... Humans my age don't generally, do that, Hisui,"
"Hisui Nee san? What's Kotone sama talking about?"
The much larger cat sighed, placidly. "I'll explain when you're older, Menou."
"Hey, what the hell are you talking about?" Zabuza crossed his arms impatiently, completely unable to understand two of three of beings involved in the conversation. Something for which Kotone was very grateful, and she tried to compose herself. He rolled his eyes, immediately going to set his mask down in it's proper place, somewhere in his room. "How was Hi no Kuni?" He asked disinterestedly.
"Hot as hell." She sighed, plunking down on the couch next to Hisui, who moved her head so Kotone would scratch her ears. "I thought I was going to die."
"Heh," The older boy scoffed. "If you think that's bad, try Kaze no kuni. You really will die. "
"It disturbs me that you sound so hopeful." She answered, grinning slyly.
Hisui, now contented with the amount of ear-scratching, got to her feet, softly jumping down to the floor, Menou following. "If you have no more need of me, Kotone san, I should be heading home, for now."
"Wha? Oh yeah, sure. Thanks, Hisui, Menou. See you guys,"
"Bye Kotone sama!" Menou chirped happily, before the two disappeared in a puff of smoke, to where ever it was summoned spirits lived normally.
The kunoichi lay down, feeling rather drowsy. "Anything happen?"
"Hm?"
"On the mission." Came the flat reply, from somewhere in his room. "I hear you ran into some trouble."
"Oh shit, yes," She groaned. "Ran into like, eight leaf ANBU. We were seven, but they killed two. Senpai called for us to retreat, and they chased us off. It was alright, though, we managed to find, interrogate, and dispose of the target, afterwards, we just had to take a lot longer than normal. To be sure we'd lost the konoha-nin."
"Still, that's kind of pathetic," He made a face. "The assassinations division's leader's a coward."
"Humph," She glared over at where he had poked his head out from the doorframe, crossly. "I'm pretty sure they had an Inuzuka, and an Uchiha-bastard with them."
"An Inuzuka?"
"Yeah. They must have. Every so often, one of us'd have to punt a dog out of the way. With all the barking, none of us could hear a damned thing. 'S how they killed those two." She paused for a moment, before relaxing again. "Another good reason to improve my summoning technique. I couldn't exactly sick Menou on them."
"That would be highly unimpressive. They might just die laughing, though, if you're lucky."
"Which I rarely am," The kunoichi mumbled, trying to blow away the annoying strand of hair tickling her face.
"What about the Uchiha?"
"Funny looking guy," she commented, eyes closed. "Didn't look like any of the Uchihas on the interrogations's division's list."
"The hell? Weren't they all wearing masks? How are you even sure he was an Uchiha?"
"He threw a katon, a donton, and a suiton technique at us in the span of five minutes. How many people do you know of with three chakra types? The worst bit? One of the other guys sent this Katon jutsu at us, right? And right then, the fucker comes out with a suiton. Steam everywhere. And since somebody had cast the kirigakure jutsu already-"
"You couldn't see any of it."
"Exactly! He seared three of us, and actually steamed the one guy to death."
Zabuza was quiet for a long moment. "Didn't get you, did he?"
"No, I'm fine." She said, nodding.
"Right," The other paused, and thought for a second. "You know...I think I might actually know who you're talking about."
"What?"
Zabuza shrugged. "Some jerk in our bingo book... No one important."
"Hey," Kotone sat up, looking at him, expectantly. "You know how you tracker guys always go drinking after a mission?"
"Yeah,"
The ANBU generally went to a certain bar near the Mizukage's office after each kill, the interrogators as well. It was an odd sort of tradition, as it seemed that it took an amazing amount of alcohol for any of the other kiri nin to enjoy each other's company, at all. Zabuza had gone since he was first accepted to the tracker unit, despite his being blatantly underage, at fifteen. Not to mention that he didn't enjoy the others's company by any stretch of the imagination.
She had often joked about his coming home totally plastered, and amused her self by imagining Zabuza as a happy drunk. But, he never came back at all intoxicated, and she had never seen even the slightest hint of a hangover the next morning, Working with the trackers gives one a new sort of respect for one's liver. He had said, after one night. A couple of well aimed senbon there, and you're finished. I'm not about to go damaging it for fun.
"I've never been," she said. In all honesty, she had never had alcohol before. "The others are all getting together, and I was wondering..."
"You want me to come."
"If you want to."
"I never really want to go."
"Then why do you?"
He grinned. "Being sober around a bunch of drunk people is a great way to... overhear things. That's why. That and the occasional bar fight."
Unfortunately for Zabuza, the closest they got to a bar fight were some rowdy chunin near the back of the room, who seem to have had a few too many.
Kotone was studying her small, half empty glass of Sake intently, as Zabuza finished his second. "Don't like it?"
"No, no...I do. It was good, I just don't want any more."
"Suit yourself," The young man said, taking, and finishing her glass, Kotone going on to finish several glasses of non-alcoholic umeshu, made with sugar.
He overheard things at work, too. And, as he listened to conversations amongst his coworkers, Kotone's name was mentioned often. She had, it seemed, become exceptionally good at her job, and was regularly being given especially difficult, or important targets to question, all of which she cracked eventually.
"Oi, Zabuza," The smiling almost sixteen year old said happily, poking at his shoulder. "You're not totally scrawny anymore!" He took a moment to rue the fact that he couldn't attribute the comment to drunkenness. Though, perhaps the enormous amount of sugar she had consumed would be a sufficient excuse.
It was true, though. In the past short while, he had indeed begun to fill out, his body now more suited to it's full height of six feet. The arm that she was prodding was indeed more sinewy than before.
Zabuza sighed, getting to his feet, having paid for their drinks. "Come on, Kotone. " He started tersely. "I think you've had quite enough sugar for one night."
vvvvvvvvvv
It was a couple of weeks after that Kogane made her first appearance. Of course, following Hisui's arrival, returning from a mission to find a lioness prowling around his home was less surprising.
Kogane, slightly larger than Hisui, and sandy brown, was obviously less compliant. It wasn't unusual to see Kotone and her arguing, though, to the tracker nin, a very one-sided argument. However, the two were definitely better suited to body disposal than one alone, and usually, the interrogator was able to keep her irritable feline companion in check.
Usually.
"Bitchy little thing, isn't it?" Scarcely had the words left his mouth, when two rows of pointed, carnivorous teeth were gnashing at his eye level, jumping out of the way just in time to keep from having his face clawed off by the irate lioness. Kotone intervened before Kogane had a chance to pounce again, stalking off angrily through the pine and birch trees outside.
"A bitch is a dog... I think that's what offended her." The kunoichi said once the grumpy animal was out of earshot.
"I didn't need you to jump in like that." Zabuza mumbled grumpily. It was then that he decided to simply avoid contact with anything that had a tail, and retractable claws (Not because he was afraid, of course, because demons didn't get scared like that, or so he told himself) because he simply disliked putting up with them, and the stupid things seemed to have it in for him anyways.
"I've been meaning to see how far I can go with the kuchiyose jutsu," Kotone, now sixteen, commented one morning in January, while leaving the house. "Just out of curiosity."
Zabuza nodded flatly, having returned from his last assignment only a few hours earlier, and though he was reluctant to admit it, in desperate need of sleep, though he knew he would have to report to the mizukage for some stupid meeting in a few hours, anyways.
An icy wind swept the snowy forest, causing Kotone to shiver slightly, her happi far from warm. She shook her head, before continuing to crunch through the snow, deciding that run to the village would be as warming as a coat anyways, and broke into a sprint.
The previous night's snowfall had long since stopped, but flakes still drifted down from the pine trees, whenever a breeze disturbed them.
She was careful to avoid crashing into anyone, as she reached the crowded village street, brushing slightly past a ninja she recognized from work. She heard him grumble something angrily to a shorter man, as she darted past, finally skidding to a stop when she reached the doors to the Mizukage's office, her breath visible in the cold air, as she slipped inside.
The main inconvenience to Kotone's profession was unfortunate placement of headquarters, in the basement, where as Kinyuu's desk was up two flights of stairs. She hopped up them briskly, before approaching the timid looking man's desk, and giving a cheery 'good morning,' which he shakily returned, before informing her that a group was already at work on some now captives, apprehended early that morning.
It didn't take long to realise that something was seriously wrong, as there was an unusual amount of activity going on, as sense of urgency lingering in the air. "Hey, what's going on? "Kotone asked a man she recognized, but didn't really know, as was the case with most other mist nin. They weren't a very tightly knit society.
"The leader of the tracker nin unit was killed this morning, and we have yet to find the guy that actually did it. We're trying to get it out of some of these scum bags," He indicated the rather shabby looking men seated in empty rooms, with the exception of a table, bolted to the floor, a pad of paper, and a pen, awaiting interrogation. "That one's all yours, Ume. We're trying to get the location of whoever it was that was leading their little group of rogues."
Kotone nodded, fitting her mask over her face, carefully."Thanks,"
vvvvvvvv
Two hours, seventeen carefully placed senbon, and one half-dead, trembling nuke nin later, Kotone got her confession, checking something off the pad of paper with a casual flick of the wrist.
The dazed criminal was unaware of the door creaking open, though the interrogator turned, as a rather pudgy, balding man poked his head inside.
"Done, Ume?" The department's leader asked plainly.
"Yes sir,"
"Good. We have no more use for this one... Dispose of him. Then meet me outside, Ume. There's something I need to speak with you about."
"Yes sir," she repeated mechanically, drawing a few more throwing needles, that she never used for throwing, from her sleeve.
There seemed to be a sadistic streak running through the ANBU as most of her fellow inquisitors dispatched of their targets as slowly and usually as painfully as possible. As far as she could tell this was an enormous waste of time. A simple couple of Senbon to the heart would kill them almost instantly, and she doubted that one could get much satisfaction torturing someone who already looked dead already anyways.
The man, in his late forties, was waiting in the hallway, once she had properly destroyed the target's body. He started walking, Kotone quickly matching his slow pace, as he was very obviously out of shape, a slightly prominent gut indicating years of paperwork, and few field missions.
"What was it you wanted to speak to me about, sir? And where are we going?" They had reached the stairwell, and were ascending them as quickly as his sluggish pace would allow.
"Top floor, Ume. Mizukage Sama's office."
Kotone gaped at him from behind the mask. "Mizukage Sama's office? What's going on?"
"New recruit," He grunted.
"I didn't know we were hiring."
"We're not," The older man scowled. "But this particular recruit is a bit...special. We've made an exception."
"Special, sir? How so?"
"You'll see,"
Kotone nodded, and stayed quiet as instructed, until they reached the top floor, stepping out into open hallway, footsteps echoing against the tile floor, neither bothering to hide their presence as they approached the door at the end of the hallway, the kunoichi stepping inside after her senior ninja.
Their kage, now looking to be about thirty five, looked up from his paperwork, the dark haired kunoichi immediately beginning a polite bow. She righted herself, quickly scanning the room, which, she could now see, was occupied by six people.
Hachidaime grinned, getting to his feet slowly, his three assistants in the room quickly returning to work, filing, reading and signing papers, and surprisingly, Kurosuki Raiga, the head of the reconnaissance unit. But it was the sixth person who truly surprised her.
She couldn't have been more than fourteen, dressed in blue, her pale turquoise bangs framing her face neatly. But it was her eyes that made Kotone stop, determined hazel, that she swore she had seen once before...
"Ume," Hachidaime started, indicating the younger, and much smaller girl. "This is Aoyama Naoko. We would like you to show her the ropes, as it were."
Of course. Any student of Hoshigaki Kisame's undoubtedly qualified as 'special'. A slightly flustered Kotone blinked, at the task she had been given. "Me, sir?"
"Oh course," He assured craftily. "You are undoubtedly one of our most talented interrogators, after all. We feel you would be a good example, until she gets settled in."
"Of course, Mizukage Sama."
"Good...good... Now, if you two wouldn't mind running along... We three have something rather important to discuss. Namely, the appointment of a new captain for the tracker unit, as I'm sure you've been told." Both girls nodded. "He should be here any minute,"
"Have a wonderful day!" Raiga, who had been sitting against the back wall, with an incredibly stupid grin on his face, exclaimed much too happily as they left.
"That guy's dented." Kotone whispered, removing her mask as she shut the door behind herself. She sighed, pulling the mask away from her face, before stepping back, and looking Naoko over with well trained, calculating eyes.
"So you're the one who challenged my record, eh?" Naoko opened her mouth to answer, but quick, steady footsteps from the other end of the hallway caught both their attention.
Kotone smiled, as the tall, surly tracker nin approached, dark eyes narrowed in disapproval. Her grin widened as something clicked, and she suddnely took a few jogging strides towards him, the younger interrogator hastening to catch up.
"Oi," Kotone extended one hand to rest on his now well muscled arm as she passed, causing him to stop, and look down. An impish little smile flickered across her face, as she whispered something, then continued down the hallway, leaving him bewildered for a long moment, before shaking his head, and proceeding to the Mizukage's office.
"Congratulations, captain."
XD I hope that last bit made sense. And I hope you guys were paying attention XD because pretty much everything from this chapter will eventually come back to haunt you.
XD funny looking Uchihas with dogs... "no one important," Eh Zabuza? XDDD
Thank you all so much! I hope you liked it! Please review, and have an awesome day!