I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter xDD;; I had to rewrite it several times... it kicked my butt xDD
All I'm going to say is this: It wasn't meant to end up sounding like smut, but it did o.o;;;
I'm sorry n.n;;
I think Zabuza ended up super OOC D8 -fails-
Uh... so More Naoko! n.n Yaaaaaaaay! Sooo, credit for everything she says and does goes to NOBUKANE : D (Nobukane, if you're reading this... I kinda closed the MSN window, and had to kinda... paraphrase. Sorry o.o;;)
And thanks to all the people who read over it for me xDDD Nobukane, Branwenn-wolf, and Mina. I love you guys!
So...um... please enjoy... and I really hope it turned out ok xDD;;;
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and Aoyama Naoko belongs to Nobukane
"Zabuza!"
Kotone swore under her breath, a subtly pointed eye tooth digging impatiently into her lip. The house was empty when she arrived back in the village, and given what Naoko had told her... She shook her head, and started through the well worn path between their old training ground, and the cold, rickety shack they called home.
Kotone stumbled, glancing down irritably at the blue fabric by her ankles, unused to the length. Anything past the knee felt cumbersome, and hindering, her taste directed to clothes that allowed easier movement. Of course, given her situation, there was little else she could do. The region she'd been sent too was mostly farmland, set up near a local river, which flooded this time of the year, reducing any improperly cared for patch of land to a stretch of thick mud. She'd trudged through it, fought in it, and come home covered in it. It clogged the small gaps between wires, and stuck in the zipper of her kusari katabira. Not to mention her happi, face, and hair.
She'd showered the moment she returned home, leaving the tub half full of cold water, to soak her dirtied training clothes. But that had left her with little else to wear, that would still cover the extensive scarring over her skin. The pale blue yukata she'd relied on just after her injury was all she had that would do, and she found herself now walking slowly to keep the fabric from showing too much of her marked ankles, and drew her hands into her sleeves to keep them hidden. She was unused to the feel of cloth against skin, missing her metal netting sorely.
She was feeling faintly weary, as she walked, having returned not long ago. It was an odd feeling, her limbs weighing more heavily than usual, the occasional yawn distracting her from her search. Kotone's pace was unhurried, as she scanned the trees, and bushes, there was no need to worry. Zabuza could look after himself, as he'd never hesitated to remind her.
He was a grown man, after all.
She stopped for a moment, head cocked to one side in bemusement. What a strange thought. But he was, wasn't he? He'd ceased to be a child long ago. Perhaps even before she had met him. But it was still felt strange, thinking of him as a man. Not unpleasant, just...strange.
And what did that make her?
She shook her head, willing away the confusing thoughts, and blurry feelings.
The last rays of grey sunlight had faded, and the sky now dark, and clear. The more persistent stars managed to poke through the dimness, but the others would always remain masked. That was one of the other things she loved about missions overseas. The sky. It was full, and bright. Like a million tiny pinpricks of light shining through a thick curtain. And crickets. She missed crickets.
Not that she'd ever heard one, of course, Mizu no kuni was always too cold.
It was only when she reached the edge of their training ground, as always for this season, littered with dandelions, that she remembered what she had been trying to distract herself from, and her stomach seemed to settle somewhere much lower than she would consider healthy.
There was definitely a large human shape hunched over by the edge of the clearing. Her failing eyes showed little more than a dark blur against the dim sky, but she had little doubt as to it's identity. "I come home, and Naoko tells me that her sensei kidnapped you yesterday. What the hell is going on?" He ignored her.
She approached slowly, inquisitively, as the figure of her old training partner came into focus. "You're drinking again." She eyed the glass next to him suspiciously. Zabuza turned away, failing to reply, and adjusted something over his mouth.
"What's with the bandages?" Again, he remained silent, shifting over, away from her. She frowned indignantly, crossing her arms across her chest, unused to the feel of heavy tamoto. "Hey-"
He jerked his head to one side, motioning towards the dark shapes of trees off to the side, that in the darkness, merged as one immense shadow. She glared at him for an instant, taking the motion as a unmannerly dismissal, but soon noted the thing he was indicating. There was something leaning against a ghostly looking birch... Her eyebrows tilted absent-mindedly as she wandered forward to examine the item.
Her eyes flew wide, letting out a strangled squeak from behind the hands that flew to cover her mouth as it's identity became apparent, and the shock smacked her in the face like an angry squid with half a dozen hammers. "Holy shit! Is that...?"
"Yeah."
"Woah!" She kept a considerable distance from the oversized weapon, stumbling back over to where her partner was still brooding over another glass of sake. "So... what they wanted was...?"
He nodded. "The man that belonged to was killed. His replacement as well. "
"Wow..." She collapsed ungracefully a small ways away from him, with a soft thud of fabric and grass. "I mean... that's amazing! And well deserved, of course. I'm not really surprised." Kotone beamed, giggling. But he made no sign of having heard, and the smile faded quickly. "What's the matter?"
He grunted something, keeping his back to her, and she could see that he had downed another glass of the sweet, heavily liquored drink.
"You look unhappy again."
"Again?"
"You were like this the last time you got promoted."
He sighed, with a defensive hunching of his shoulders. "Do you know what that group really is?"
"The seven strongest ninja in the village." She replied quickly. "Mizu kage sama's elite."
"Mizukage Sama's." He repeated bitterly.
Kotone's eyes flicker from the other teenager seething bitterly to himself, to her hands folded in her lap, all but the fingertips hidden by pale sleeves. "I'd have thought you'd be happy."
He lets out a heavy sigh, once again fixing something near his face. "Kotone..." There was a pause, and an obvious grimace in his voice when he spoke again. "I used to think that getting stronger... that getting higher up would give us more freedom. And it's not true."
"Wha...?" Kotone crept a bit closer, blinking.
"The higher ranking I am, the tighter this stupid leash around my neck becomes. I still have to follow that bastard's orders. It's sickening."
This confused the kunoichi even further. She shook her head, and blamed the drink, pushing his unimpaired speech, and precise, controlled movements from her mind. "Zabuza kun, he's our kage..."
Zabuza scowled again. She was incorrigible... He afforded himself a quick glance over his shoulder, eyes trailing over her quickly, noting the rare lack of metal present on her person. The fleeting glance at his face rekindles her ignored inquiry, and she persists. "ANBU masks are to avoid identification, right?" She nodded. "I doubt anyone will mistake the person carrying that thing. Anonymity isn't an issue anymore."
"Yeah. But why the bandages?"
"I've grown used to it. It feels strange otherwise."
She sighed, examining the change for a long moment. "I'll never get used to this." She murmured softly. "It's just the two of us. There's no need to-" She reached forward, a strong, tanned hand catching her firmly by the wrist before she could reach. She gasped as he lowered the hand, taking it in both of his, and brushing her sleeve out of the way. He smirked behind the cloth wrappings, lightly tracing the discoloured patches of damaged tissue.
"Yes, it is just the two of us, and there's no need for you to hide your scars. But you do. Blatant hypocrisy, Kotone."
The dark haired kunoichi eyed the damaged hand, and the ones holding it, uneasily. She twitched, suppressing the urge to squirm, or yank her hand away, but her training as a kunoichi forced her to be still, chest constricted in a dull panic, missing her metal netting. Not that it mattered, really. She could always see them through the wire mesh. She'd always see them.
He was staring absently at the torn strips of flesh, face unreadably behind the bandages, and in the dim light. Zabuza relinquished his grip lamely, eyes following as she wrenched it back close to her chest, sleeve flapping snapping crisply with the sudden movement.
"So can you actually use that thing?" She blurted the words out hurriedly, desperate to drive the conversation forward, and distract her from the alarmed pounding of her heart against her rib cage.
"Kubikiri Houcho. And not practically." He admits, after sliding one bit of cloth away from his mouth, and taking another sip from the ceramic cup. "Some senile bastard's teaching me. If the others are to be believed, he's severely cracked."
"Who?"
"Ogakuzu something or other."
"Hm. Never heard of him."
"That's the odd bit." He raised the glass to his lips again, but stopped, and offered it to the girl next to him. She took it gratefully, as he pulled the bandages in place once again, and closed his eyes in contemplation. "Neither have I, but I swear he's familiar. Can't imagine where It was I'd seen him."
"Hm." Kotone was staring intently at the bit of sake left in the glass, swishing it around with gentle movements of her wrist. "Why's it bother you so much?"
"It doesn't 'bother' me." He replied gruffly, watching her play with the cup and it's contents. The young woman made another soft noise of halfhearted interest, finally taking a long sip of the drink. Half a glass, and only half a glass, as was her habit. He grunted something irately, deciding a change of topic was in order. "Oh, and before I forget... To top it all off, Hoshigaki Kisame has it in for me."
"What? Why? You don't even know him."
"Yes, but," He sighed, voice dripping with evident disdain. "I was short with his precious student."
"Oooooooooh. Yikes."
Zabuza grunted bitterly, rolling his eyes. "From what I can tell, all those men do is get drunk, and attack each other." Another sigh, and he glanced back in her direction. "How was your mission?" Usually, he'd have known the assignment's details, but as Zabuza had been away when the mission had been organized, and the orders had come from the Mizukage in his absence.
"Wha?" Kotone's voice was soft, as she looked up at him guiltily from over the glossy blue cup clenched securely between her pale, scarred hands. Clear blue eyes flickered towards him, then away nervously, in a way that all of a sudden made him uneasy. "It went well enough. But I..." Her face contorted, as she glanced pitiably down at the drink, and drained it's contents lamely. "The targets were a group of runaway genin. It was way too easy. They barely fought back."
Zabuza shut his eyes, breathing in slowly. "They were the enemy." His voice was a tad bit tamer than he would usually allow, but he paid it no mind. She nodded, offering a weak smile as she returned the glass to him, having met her allotment of alcohol for the night.
"Of course." She kept her eyes away from his, though. She trusted her ability to fake contentment, and pride, if she really wanted too. But Kotone didn't seem to feel the need, and found that comforting, somehow.
"How did they do? The trainees."
"They did well," She closed her eyes, reflecting on the two rookie trackers's performance. Zabuza nodded, expecting no less from his subordinates.
There was a blessedly long silence between the two as the sky darkened slowly, air cooling, and few more stars bravely showed themselves. She wasn't sure when it had happened, or who had moved, but she was now directly beside him, his side warm against her's. Kotone fidgeted uneasily, as a thought occurred to her, and seemed to settle somewhere below her chest, resting there coldly. "Zabuza kun?" She whispered, resting ever so slightly against his shoulder. "I just thought of something."
He murmured something akin to interest.
"The shinobigatana's missions are incredibly dangerous, right?"
"Yeah."
"Aren't they always freakishly long, too?"
He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the frigid, foggy water stretching out endlessly before them from where they sat. "A month. Two. Somewhere in that area."
Her heart sank. "You'll never be home." She breathed, looking up at him, discontented. When she thought back on it, most of their missions had been a week, or two at the least. Month long missions were few, and far between, and that was perhaps the longest they'd been apart since his first short stint as a genin.
Dark brown eyes widened suddenly, as she reached over again, and this time his reflexes failed him. Kotone's hand cupped the side of his face gently, and she shifted even closer. "What are you doing...?" He pulled back, looking profoundly muddled, as her other hand rested on his shoulder. Truth be told, she had no explanation, and wasn't entirely sure, herself.
"It's the sake," She explained a bit too articulately, as she pulled herself close, resting her head where his heart should have been. "I'm drunk."
"Are you?" The words sounded stupid as he heard them aloud, but that couldn't be helped. Zabauza's mind was still racing frantically, though somehow blank, and he was amazed that he could reply with anything coherent, at all. "You barely drank anything." He reminded her.
"It doesn't take much, for me." She sighed into his shoulder. "And I believe you're drunk as well."
"I'm not." He protested feebly as she sat up again, now meeting his eyes.
"Yes, but if you were, you wouldn't have sense enough to know you were."
He accepted the lie, tensing as she practically sat herself in his lap. "Then perhaps we are."
Her thumb traced the seam between two strips of bandage, sliding the middle segment down, and away from his mouth. And she smiled, when she leaned in without him moving away. "We can hardly be held responsible for our actions then, can we?"
He remained still, face always dead serious, as he tried to ignore exactly how she was looking at him, or how close she was. He could probably have counted her dark eyelashes, had he felt the need... "No, I suppose we can't."
A sly smile flickered across her face, and her hand tightened it's loose grip around his shoulder, as she inclined her head, ever so slightly, eyes slipping shut... "No." Kotone squeaked in alarm, jerking her head back at the fingers pressed cautiously against her lips, which had stopped her rather effectively.
"Oh." Her eyes lowered to the ground, thoroughly shamed as she slid off of him, settling dejectedly in the grass. She withdrew her hands to her sleeves again, digging at the palm with sharp nails. She understood, of course. It was stupid... Incredibly stupid, and she'd been an idiot for expecting him to allow anything of the sort. But still...
She'd spent far too long trying to convince herself that her heart's racing had nothing to do with his presence... That the thought of him didn't leave her so pleasantly diverted...That her weak knees had nothing to do with meeting those dark, sepia eyes.
Distracted in such a way, she was caught completely off guard when Zabuza, (Who she now realised had only taken a moment to rid himself of the bandages properly) suddenly, and without any sort of warning, slipped one large, strong hand under her jaw, and brought his mouth to her's.
And it would have gone quite nicely... had he any idea what he was doing.
Kotone planted her hand on his chest, and pushed him away, giggling at his flustered expression, and wide eyes. "You're really bad at this."
He grimaced, turning away, feeling thoroughly humiliated. "I haven't had much practice." She smiled, hand returning to his cheek, and gently coaxing him to face her again, which he did reluctantly. This time, a more knowing set of lips led the kiss, and all went well.
"That's it," She sighed happily. She felt the previously taut muscles of his shoulders relax, as he became more familiar with the gesture. His hand rested gingerly on her cheek, the other toying with the pale pink ribbon keeping her dark blue hair in place, and she giggled again, against his mouth, when he pulled it loose.
Their position was precarious, and the young man's back was beginning to strain as he leaned in from too far away. Thinking little of the action's implications, he pushed her delicately to the grassy forest floor, as it was less taxing, and probably more comfortable. Kotone's eyes flew open, and she let out a strangled cry pulling away from him hastily, breath ragged with some unvoiced dread.
He withdrew just as quickly, giving her some much needed space, and watches intently as the fright shining in her eyes, jonin eyes that should never show fear, ebbs. He could only imagine that she'd related the action, and probably the unintentional restraint, with something unpleasant. And as much as it annoyed him to consider, it probably had something to do with missions spent in other men's arms, wether she was consenting or not.
"I'm a fool," Zabuza remarked sitting back up. "To trust a kunoichi in this situation. Bad things tend to happen to a female ninja's consorts..."
She smiled weakly, staring intently into the narrow brown eyes fixed on her own, reminding herself that she was in no danger. "I have no reason to harm you. You think I could? I'm flattered."
"Doesn't matter if you have no reason." He replied slyly, creeping closer when she didn't protest. He keeps off to the side, though. Unthreatening, undemanding, and unintrusive, hands still minding her face, and stroking her hair. Her own arms drape idly around his neck, as she shook away the momentary flicker of panic that had overtaken her. She trusted Zabuza above any other.
He wouldn't hurt her.
"It's wether whoever's giving the orders does. You don't act on your own."
"True enough." She sighed, now calm. After her brief episode, Zabuza had taken it upon himself to direct the situation, and had settled into the uncommonly affectionate act more quickly than she'd have anticipated. Relaxed, and less inhibited now, he was a tad rougher, but Kotone had no complaints. There was no urgency in his caresses, no ulterior motive, and his hands stayed away from her clothing, so she was thoroughly content, and at ease. "It's so nice to know that the man holding you doesn't have an impending date with the hereafter." She mumbled when a lack of oxygen forced them to break apart. "And to know that orders weren't implicated. I'm off duty."
"A kunoichi is never off duty." He answered much too seriously, leaning back on his elbows. Zabuza doesn't resist when she pulls him into another fond embrace, but there's a little thought carping at the back of his mind. Not doubt, just...a thought. He was, above all else, a ninja, and a particularly strong ninja, at that.
Which was why her sentiments confused him. He'd never noticed her to be one attracted to power, and there wasn't really anything... attractive, or likeable about him. He wasn't especially warm, or comforting, or kind. He wasn't, on most occasions, so openly affectionate, and didn't ask that she be. These things were unnecessary, to a shinobi. They were weaknesses, and as such, he had no use for them.
As for the other unappealing things about himself... He knew he wasn't exactly 'good looking.' Spiky, unkept hair, unfriendly eyes, and pointed, predatory teeth... Every thing about him was sharp, somehow. Zabuza was angular and bulky, and it had always astounded him how he managed to be all muscle and rib cage simultaneously. Not that it bothered him in the slightest, of course. He was much more threatening than he was handsome, and for a ninja, that was preferable.
So it puzzled him profoundly. What had he done to merit such annoying feelings? Not that they were entirely unwelcome... He sighed. Kotone was such a vexing creature.
She sat up quite suddenly, Zabuza rolling off to the side lazily. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" He frowned, scanning the woods behind them.
"There's someone out there." She replied.
"Ignore it." Zabuza shrugged, still toying with a few strands of her long hair, watching how the blue sheen flickered along it in the light.
"Kotone?" A painfully familiar voice called from somewhere in the darkened forest, and Kotone scrambled immediately to her feet. There was another intrusive call, as she began tying her hair back into place with the discarded ribbon.
"Ignore her." He persisted, a bit more firmly.
"It's Naoko," She whispered back frantically adjusting her rumpled clothing, to most effectively hide her scars. He took hold of one delicate wrist, in a feebly possessive grip.
"Stay." They could hear from the noise in the underbrush that the intruder was close, and he whispers back more faintly. She wasn't sure if he was ordering, or pleading, but assumed the former, and yanked her hand away.
"I'll be back soon." She promised, before turning to the darkened wooded area, before raising her voice to address the still unseen younger mist girl. "Naoko?"
The pale blue haired girl appeared between two healthy pines, looking thoroughly exasperated when Kotone reaches her. "Is something the matter, Naoko san?"
"Yes," She breathed irefully. "The man I'm interrogating isn't reacting to pain."
"You want me to help, then?" The senior ANBU asked, with a hesitant glance over her shoulder, and a frantic smoothing of her tousled hair.
"Yeah... But this guy's a real pain. He'll make you want to kill kittens when you're through with him." Kotone nodded, understanding Naoko's frazzled tone. Asking for help would have been a severe blow to her pride...
Naoko stared at her oddly, eyebrow quirked as her gaze drifted from Kotone, to the man sitting alone at the other end of the clearing. "Am I interrupting something?"
"What?!" Kotone's eyes widened as her hands flew immediately to defend herself, palms outwards. "No, no... nothing." Kotone grimaced inwardly at her stupid babbling.
"You can go finish or whatever. Meet me at the interrogations department," Kotone was much too dazed from the events of mere moments ago, and suppressing the elated constriction in her chest. She skipped over to where they had been lying, to find that Zabuza had sat up again, keeping his back to her.
"Zabuza, I-"
"Go."
"What?" She blinked, moving to sit down, but he growled, and she stepped back.
"Duty calls, or whatever. Leave. I know you want to."
"But I-"
"Just go." He snapped, and she took the advice, hurrying after Naoko.
He waited until the sound of soft footsteps, and crackling of twigs and dried leaves faded completely, eyes closed in numb reflection.
He'd been a fool.
How quickly had he let down his guard? How easily had she slipped past his defences? In retrospect, he had spent the last few minutes as a weak minded idiot, and for what? A stupid little kunoichi who lives only to jump at their moronic leader's command? She'd done little harm but a blow to his ego, but should she have been following orders against him... Which, he knew full well she would... The outcome could have been disastrous.
He searched the tall grass blindly, hands closing around the abandoned strip of bandages, which he wrapped around his face mechanically. There was a pang of something unpleasant in his chest as he considered his senseless frailty. At some point, he'd grown attached to her.
At some point during their training together as small, feeble little children, a tiny seed of fondness had rooted itself in his heart, and now he would have to deal with it as it matured. His eyes flickered half open, as he scanned the darkened clearing wrathfully. One hand took hold of one of the many fuzzy yellow blossoms dotting the ground, and heartlessly rendered it's stem. His eyes narrowed as he turned it in his fingers. That annoying little grain had grown into a weed. It had overtaken his thoughts, and suffocated his ambitions, feeding off attention meant for his goals, like the parasite it was.
Such a pretty little weed, though...
His favourite distraction.
An enraged growl tore loose, rumbling low in his throat, as he decapitated the offending bloom with a firm flick of the thumb, a mass of yellow petals plunging pathetically to the ground below. He continued to fix it with his withering gaze, hands curling into fists. It wasn't enough.
He could tear the heads off the plants all he wanted. He could shun them, and snap. But they would always grow back, brighter, and cheerier than before. To rid himself of the blasted nuisance once and for all, he'd need to tear them up by the roots. Destroy them without mercy.
The day would come, and she would betray him. She'd betrayed him already, though he doubted she knew it.
She had made her priorities quite clear, and he intended to do the same.
Yes... Ume Kotone would feel his touch again.
But it would be when his hands closed around her throat.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
"Zabuza!" Kotone threw her arms around his neck, nuzzling his shoulder happily. He was leaning against the kitchen counter when she returned late the next day. He shoved her away, and the completely unsuspecting girl fell to the floor.
He made no move to help her.
"Zabuza Kun..." She started, eyes wide in alarm.
"About last night..." His voice was level, and unaffected as she got to her feet, not bothering to glance in her direction. "I had too much to drink, and fear I may have unwittingly made some hollow advances. It was a momentary lapse in judgement, and I apologize."
"What...? But... But I..." Her hands closed miserably around the hem of her sleeves, eyes fixed on the ground. "I had thought..."
Zabuza made little notice of her as he passed, heading for the door. "It won't happen again. I assure you." And with that, he was gone, leaving her heartbroken to stare sorrowfully at the cracks in the wooden planks. She collapsed where she was, ignoring the pain of hardwood against her hip or hands.
Relationships between ninja from her country were no small matter... To admit feelings for someone was considered so impermissible that a couple were either reliant on one another for survival, or held no feelings for one another at all. It was either a deep, emotional attachment that both parties deemed worth risking disgrace for, or a simple satisfaction of human desire.
It was all, or nothing.
And knowing Momochi Zabuza as she did, she was certain she knew which it was.
I'm sorry if that made no sense o.o;;
I'm sure he was like, Super OOC XD;; sorry...
So um... thank you all sooo much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it, please review and have an awesome day!