I've been worried about this chapter for a while now XD; I'm not sure how I did.

There's refference made to the Konoha thing, and another incident that took place while she was there. I plan on writing them both out fully, and adding them to "odds and ends" n.n Oh, and a third thing that happend ages ago. I have yet to write that one XD; but eventually. It'll go in Odds and ends too. I've got like, 3/4 of the second part of Asayuu done. I like Gyouten XDD I have this weird thing for my secondary characters. That's why I never get anything written- I work on like, one big thing and five smaller things at a time XD;

So... yeah! I hope you like it n.n;;

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Aoyama Naoko belongs to Kisame- Er... I mean Nobukane.

On a completely unrelated note, I now own a Momochi Zabuza plushie. I was filled with dorky joy. 8D

And on another completely unrelated note, Momochi Zabuza is a bitch to draw XDDDD

Kotone's fingers pulled the plait loose as she approached the ominous figure of the abandoned Kaguya compound, silhouetted against the greying evening sky. It wouldn't do to let Risu see her this way. She'd changed on the way back, had loosened the sarashi binding her chest as she usually wore them (her rib cage was quite grateful), but her hair had slipped her mind until just now.

She breathed at a forced, even pace and trained her thoughts on the familiar cold air she'd missed so dearly- anything to calm her agitated heart rate and relax her tensed muscles. The indignity of being discovered and subsequently taunted by Morino hadn't yet lost its sting. She supposed she'd be satisfied if an actual fight had been allowed. The agreements of their visit had stated quite clearly that as long as they refrained from harming any of the Leaf's citizens or ninja, they'd be given the same protection. She'd had to tread carefully. Not that she'd failed to hold her own in the badgering that had ensued, of course. No, no; she'd unnerved the lookers on if not Morino himself. Still, she'd turned his final jab over in her head again, and again, and no matter how she concentrate on the air quality, she couldn't quite force it out.

Whatever you've done, I'll undo. To even assume you're on the same level as I am... It's a joke. Take off that mask, look me in the eye, and I might take you seriously. If you could, you'd have done it by now. You're nothing without that thing, are you?

Her hand had hovered over the polished surface for an instant, before she'd smiled, stated that she'd 'no time to humor him,' and sauntered off. Kotone sighed, and studied the mask in her hand. She hadn't had time, and it was against regulations to show her face on duty.

She wasn't afraid, and she certainly hadn't fled.

Besides, the mission had ultimately been a success. The prisoners were returned, she'd left at least a few of the other ninja aghast, and the scroll Mizukage sama had entrusted her to deliver discreetly had been handed off to the one ANBU captain, Uchiha Itachi, as he'd instructed.

She sighed as she entered the decrepit quarter, and turned one of the cat figurines dangling from the hilt of the sword she'd strapped to her back soon after leaving Konoha. She often sealed Kiyoshi away in a scroll kept in the same pocket, but in enemy territory, she felt more relaxed actually having it present.

Her pace was unnaturally swift as she strode past the homes, who seemed to stare at her blankly though broken windows like gouged, empty eye sockets. She watched nothing but the prints her own cold, sandaled feet left in the wet snow as she passed the house Misao had once occupied. Her grip on the black cat-charm tightened.

There were other tracks, larger than her own, imprinted in the slush and she followed them to the place they sometimes met. The air was dead, and still; the night's chill having cleared the mist. She could hear sound- voices- clearly as she approached, and quickened her pace.

Though the words were unclear, she recognized the deeper, guttural voice all too well. The other was strained, but there was no evidence of the shaking that would accompany an agitated Raiga's laughter, sobs or both, and Tsubasa never raised his voice. This left only Risu.

She skipped the rickety stairs and bounded to the door, well practiced in ducking through without Kiyoshi becoming caught. Words became clear, and other sounds. The click of a sword against it's scabbard, and the swish of parted air- a fight.

She skidded to a stop in the hallway, darting through the still open doorway to the room they most frequented, loosening the ties that kept her weapon in place with her left hand and taking hold of the handle with her right. The duty to keep them apart was hers; Misao sensei had entrusted it to her.

Risu had drawn his weapon, and was in mid-swing; Zabuza, conversely, had taken hold of Kubikiri Hocho close to the base of the blade as the room didn't accommodate the zanbato's immense size, and raised it. Kotone had no time to consider strategy as she skipped between them, and brought Kiyoshi down on Ekirei. Caught by surprise, the poisoned katana clattered to the ground at Risu's feet.

The rat nin's already set expression of intense loathing faltered for only a moment as he considered her presence- then he smirked. Kotone turned, as a rush of cool air and razor sharp metal narrowly avoided her. Zabuza had dropped his shoulder, and lost his hold on the weapon and the Executioner's Blade skidded wildly across the floor with momentum meant for the rat nin. Raiga, who she only now noticed, had to jump back to sitting on the table behind him, and draw his feet up to keep them as Kubikiri Hocho flew spinning by at ankle height and finally halted against the wall.

A severed strand of cobalt hair floated gently to the ground.

Zabuza stared at her, wide eyed, for only a moment. His gaze sank to scathing and returned to Risu. Though Raiga hadn't been part of the altercation, his hand hovered over the hilt of one of his own swords, and he shared Zabuza's animosity. Risu had managed to offend them both.

It was only when she noted Zabuza's labored breathing- from anger or exertion, she couldn't tell- that she realized she was still holding her own, and took a much needed breath more shakily than she'd have liked. "I can't have you fighting in here," she said finally, though the tension in the room absorbed the words and made them useless.

Risu came to this place to escape his family; Raiga because he had nowhere else to be; and the two tried to bash one another's brains in frequently. It was almost mandatory that they do whenever they met sober. But Zabuza had never partaken in the rows himself. They were a petty waste of time and energy; he made no attempt to disguise this opinion. The atmosphere was different, now. This was no drunken squabble, and the spark in the dark eyes now staring as though straight through her was nothing if not perfect detestation. They had truly meant to kill each other. They still meant to.

Risu moved first. Eyes always fixed on Zabuza, he bent to collect and sheath Ekirei. His next move pulled a match and his favorite vice from his pocket, which he lit and breathed in as the rest of the room stood still. He smiled, at length. "Lousy mongrels," he spat, as he dropped his cigarette unceremoniously and crushed it beneath his heel.

Raiga ground his teeth, and drew his weapons, looking back to Zabuza for support. He didn't have it, and narrowed his eyes at Zabuza like a traitor before storming from the room furiously. She could hardly believe she'd missed it. Those terms, "Mongrel," or "Mutt," had meant nothing to her as a child. That it took Misao to actually explain the connotation embarrassed her, now. The hostilities between the Land of Water and their neighbors to the north west fell heavily on the shoulders of anyone unfortunate enough to have been born with 'Enemy' blood. While Zabuza's bone structure, height, eyes and chakra affinity were all typical of the island's inhabitants, his complexion was an unusual combination of Lightning sienna and Water Country pallor. Had she thought Raiga's name a coincidence? How could whoever named him have known he'd be so skilled in something as uncommon as lightning jutsu? It was a cruel name they'd given him.

Zabuza finally tore his eyes from Risu, and drew even, mechanical paces to the place where his weapon had settled. "Ume san," he said without turning to look at her. "I need a word."

"Of course."

"Not here," he answered, securing the weapon to his back, and shooting a glance at Risu. Risu, she now realized, was grinning at her maliciously.

"What?" She snapped.

"Oh, nothing." He removed Ekirei from it's place at his hip, and collapsed idly in an armchair, head lolling to the side, grin sill sickening. He drew the weapon, and held the hilt with one hand, while the tip of the blade was held by the tip of his third finger. He turned it there, immune to its venom he was amused when he drew blood. "I'm just picturing that pretty white throat of yours," his eyes moved from the twisting blade to her eyes, "slit."

Kotone grimaced, thoroughly disgusted, but paused before she could hiss a reply. Zabuza reached between the back of her neck and Kiyoshi( which she'd tied back in place)'s handle, and clapped a hand securely to each of her shoulders, and steered her towards the door. "Come on. I need to speak to you," he repeated, straining to keep his tone level. "It's important." She raised an eyebrow but allowed herself to be led away, mindful of his hurry. Risu wasn't finished.

"After all," he drawled; she could imagine the smirk on his face. "Ekirei has tasted your blood before."

Kotone stopped dead, and ignoring the way Zabuza's grip tightened around her upper arm, rounded on Risu. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing- just ignore him." Zabuza growled. "You know what he's like." He attempted a step towards the hallway, but she stayed where she was.

Risu chuckled smugly to himself. "Awful anxious to get your little harlot all to yourself, aren't you?"

Kotone rolled her eyes. "Alright," she sighed, shaking her head as she allowed herself to be directed out of the room. "So he is just being an ass."

"I wouldn't put too much stock in anything Risu says," he muttered. "He likes nothing better than to get on one's nerves."

"He certainly got on yours." Zabuza grunted a reply, bandages crinkling where he wrinkled his nose in distaste. "What the fuck did he do? That wasn't like you."

His mouth twitched into what might have been a smile behind the cloth. "Just who are you to say what is and isn't 'like me'?" He let go of her arm.

"No one, I suppose." A grin pulled at the corners of her mouth. "But after fourteen years, I think it's safe to say you'd be somewhat familiar."

"I think you're overestimating that familiarity," he replied more seriously. "You caught me by surprise, just then. Consider yourself warned: get in my way again, and I will go right through you."

"That's a bit harsh," she didn't match his sobriety, and quirked an eyebrow.

"You and Risu were both within striking range. I could have cut through you both."

"You didn't, though," she reminded him. He didn't answer. "So what was it you needed to speak to me about? Can it wait? I've got to see Hatsuka, I need to return his pants."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Zabuza's pace quickened as they left the walls of the Kaguya compound and turned into the near-empty street. A few villagers meandered in the road, darting to and from meager stalls in the streets. It was a lazy sort of day anyways; more so still after dark. "That's actually what we needed to discuss." Kotone eyed him uncertainly and awaited an explanation, which he gave in as few words as he could manage.

There had been an incident a few days earlier. Nezumi Hatsuka and Kasumi Shinju had been spotted walking hand in hand by her brother. Hiraku had demanded he unhand her, and he'd responded by smirking, asking the kunoichi if she had any aversion to him, and kissing her when she insisted she was perfectly happy in his company.

Hiraku's indignance had been the least of Hatsuka's worries. There had been others that had seen, and none approved. As the Nezumi clan's heir and Risu's successor, he had a certain level of dignity to maintain. Kotone hadn't believed the public display of affection when Zabuza first recounted the story, but it was no joke. The Nezumi clan's honour had been tarnished, and Risu had been furious.

He'd wasted no time in calling his nephew for training, still enraged. Ekirei had snapped Hatsuka's practice-weapon like a twig. Then Risu ran him through.

"Is that what you and Risu were fighting about?" He didn't answer.

They'd reached their destination. Kotone instinctively turned down when they pushed their way in to the stairwell, but Zabuza grabbed her hand to stop her; he jerked his head in the other direction, and she followed him up the steps.

"He's alive, though.," Zabuza assured her, pulling the conversation from deadened air. "He's been working up a resistance to that poison for a while now. Hatsuka is nowhere near immune- not like Risu- but they're saying he'll live. After all," something like a smile played across his face as he held the door open and they entered the hallway of the tracker's department. "He has Shinju looking after him."

He said little else as she trotted after him, eyeing him skeptically as he disappeared through an opened door and began to rifle through a desk. Was it his? What a strange thought.... He forced a scroll and pen into her hand a second later, and watched her expectantly. "Well?"

"I can't read this. You know that."

Zabuza sighed, and pointed out the signatures scrawled along the far side of the roll of paper. His own sharp, irregular lettering beside a name printed in a smoother hand: Kurosuki Raiga. There was room for one more. She frowned, and looked back at the assassination unit's captain, flummoxed. "You're choosing a replacement, aren't you?"

His reply was detached. "If I get the approval of the heads of all three departments, it's set in stone. Mizukage Sama won't be able to choose for me."

"Since when did you worry about things like this?" She continued to scrutinize him, as though the answer was written somewhere on his forehead. She asked another question when he didn't respond. "Who is it?"

"Nezumi Hatsuka."

"Even after-?"

"Yes," he cut her off, and watched carefully as she added her signature to the page. "I'd had him in mind already. What's happened hasn't made me reconsider. I need someone steadfast; Hatsuka refused to bow to convention. I respect that." He took the form back from her, and set it down. His need for her fulfilled, he started back down the hallway, then stairs without another word. Kotone grit her teeth, and perused.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"If I die-" he broke off, and took a breath, before shaking his head. The sound of her footfalls echoed in the cement well, clicking at each stair. She made no attempt to hide them as she caught up, and fell into step with the demon, speeding and slowing as he did. "If I die," he snapped, at length, "I'd like to know I picked the next captain myself. Someone who'd act as they thought best and not how they believe our kage means him to. There are enough spineless lapdogs in ANBU masks as it is." He looked her in the eye as he said it. With that, he took off in home's direction.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" She called after. Her only reply was the creaky slam of the stairwell door, and ghostly remnants of her own words bounced back by the cold stone walls. She sighed, and continued her descent to the basement and the work that awaited her there.

vvvvvvvvvv

"It's time."

The boy laying on his stomach on the couch, flipping through a book with one hand, and toying with a frozen throwing needle with the other, jumped as the door slammed behind the demon. "Zabuza san?"

The older man shrugged Kubikiri Hocho from his back, and set it against the wall. "Rumor has it there's another group after our same ends. The Mizukage is becoming wary, and it wouldn't do to let him increase security, or let whoever else this is act before we have a chance." He let out a deep breath, and pushed his hair back, further than his hitai ate already did, with his hand. "I know this is sooner than I had first thought." Haku said up, and bit his lip. His teacher sounded troubled. "But I've just been to see the others. I think this is the best opportunity we can hope for. Tsubasa left the village today. Raiga's here, but not loyal enough to pose anything like a real threat. Risu, I know I could handle." He let out another breath, and met his trainee's eyes. "I'll deal with Hikyuu tonight, beforehand, as we agreed."

"Right." Haku nodded, his young face set with determination and an unwavering loyalty.

"You know what's required of you?"

The boy nodded again, repeating his instructions as Zabuza strode quickly towards the kitchen and pulled a glass and bottle from the top shelf. He then disappeared into the other jonin's room, and returned to the counter. He crushed something in his fist, and let it fall into the glass. "Once she leaves, I'm to stash our emergency supplies by the edge of the village, and then gather the others."

The demon paused for a moment, his voice less authoritarian for a moment. "Are you ready?" There was a fly buzzing futilely against the kitchen window. Haku said nothing, but flicked his wrist and let the ice needle he'd been fiddling with fly; he skewered it effortlessly.

"Good boy."

Haku beamed.

vvvvvvvv

It was late when the finally finished with the work that had pilled up for her over the past few days. She was surprised to find Haku awake and Zabuza gone when she reached home. "Hey," she greeted. He didn't look up.

"How was Hi no Kuni?" His voice retained its normal politeness, but he spoke more softly than she could explain. The poor boy was tired, she decided.

"Remarkably uneventful," she lied. He nodded, but still didn't look up at her. "You sleepy?" He nodded again, and she smiled more gently than befit a demon-jonin. "Alright then. I'll let you get to bed." Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment. "Do you know where Zabuza is?"

"He was here," Haku answered, "but then he left."

"Ah." Kotone pulled her mask from the front of her yukata, and set it down on the back of the couch. "Thank you. I Think I know where to find him. Has he...." She hesitated. "Has he seemed strange, to you, lately?"

"N-no," the boy replied quietly. His eyes fixed to the floor.

Kotone nodded. "Fair enough," she ruffled his hair, still smiling. "Goodnight, changeling." He'd been hurt the first time she'd called him this, but then she'd explained her reasoning. It wasn't a reference to his blood, she'd told him. Or at least, not in the way he'd assumed. She'd simply thought it a fitting term for a boy spirited away by demons. Kotone san always said it like it was endearing.

Haku studied the floor guiltily, before wrapping his small arms around her waist in an exceptionally tight hug, and blurting a quick 'goodnight' as he jumped on to the couch and buried himself in the blankets he'd set up for himself there.

Kotone was left slightly bewildered by the boy's behaviour. She supposed that as an interrogator, this should have alarmed her, but it was easily explained. Spending a great deal of time with a person, one adjusts to their mannerisms. It makes those she knew most dearly the most difficult to read. Zabuza's conduct puzzled her always. With that, she turned and strode back into the darkness and slush, following the familiar and well-worn path to their training ground.

"I thought I'd find you here."

The man glanced over his shoulder before rounding them again irritably. She ignored the hostility and set Kiyoshi against the nearest tree before taking a seat beside him, uninvited. He glanced quickly in her direction, and pushed his glass of sake towards her. She thanked him, but kept her gaze on his posture as she raised it to her lips.

"Zabuza kun?"

"Yes?"

She set the glass down, holding it instead in her lap, and sighed. "Is there any particular reason you're trying to drug me?"

He seemed suddenly preoccupied with something over his opposite shoulder, and turned away from her. "What makes you think that?"

"You're not denying it, for one." He made a contentious noise in his throat. "You wasted no time in giving me the glass. Usually I have to pester you for it. You won't look at me. This glass is clean; you haven't had any yourself. And besides," she was getting a bit tired of speaking to the back of his head, "you held your breath." He gave no answer, but his shoulders tensed. "You're off our game today, Zabuza. You've gotten careless."

"You're reading into nothing," he shot back, at least now turned a bit more in her direction.

"Then you drink it." She held the glass out to him. He recoiled. "That's what I thought."

The sky was grey that night. A sort of dim, purpled blanket that trapped the few lights from the village and sifted the darkness through bit by bit. They sat in silence. Zabuza made to speak once or twice, but thought better of it. Kotone simply combed through her still loose hair with her fingers as she swirled the glass and examined its contents. She could not smell, nor see anything dissolved in the drink. He'd done well, she thought bitterly, for someone who didn't generally resort to such subtlety.

"It was nothing to hurt you," he muttered, finally turning to let his dark eyes meet her pale ones. "It was just a sedative."

"Why?"

"I could have simply gotten you drunk," he admitted. "But that seemed far too unreliable."

"Why?" Kotone repeated, more forcefully.

He closed his eyes, and leaned back on his elbows, letting his head fall back against the collar of his thistle-coloured flak jacket.. "I need you out of the way for a while. Only until morning."

"I see," she replied curtly, patience wearing thin. "And why is that?"

He ignored her question. "What you told Suigetsu," she didn't appreciate his changing the topic. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" She did little but narrow her eyes and shake the glass more forcefully. "That story set Haku as your blood relative."

"It was the best I could do so quickly. It worked, didn't it?"

"And what if Suigetsu has mentioned that lie to anyone else? If Haku is discovered-"

"Why would he be?" She hissed. "Stop avoiding my question. Why is it you need me out of your way?"

"I can't say. You'd rather not know."

"Try me." The kunoichi had issued a challenge; he declined it.

He shook his head. "I can't expect you to understand. Haku and I....We have something in common; something I'm not sure how best to explain to you." His gaze grew pensive, and he studied her carefully, eyebrows furrowing in thought. "Your father was shinobi, as was his father, if Risu is to be believed. Correct me if I'm mistaken." Kotone said nothing, and he nodded, because in not doing so, she had. "And so, born from shinobi blood, from the moment you joined the waking world, you've belonged to the village, haven't you? To the Mizukage."

"Not always," she corrected, looking away. Something about his words made her uneasy. "There was a short time. Between father's death, and...and meeting you."

"And how was that time?"

Her hand flew immediately to her throat. "I," She shook her head, "I can't remember." Her expression and unconscious gesture said otherwise.

"That isn't the same." He answered shaking his head. "Far from it. I remember it as well. Wondering where you'll find food, water... Cold- always cold- not being sure you'll survive the night? You were a slave to blind instinct then, as was I. If you weren't, you wouldn't be here now. It's not the same at all... "

He was distracted by his tangent, and she frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Like Haku, I wasn't born into the Mizukage's possession. Life then was uncertain... pitiful, yes, but even the bastard, lightning country blooded, mutt-child of no one a lunatic had some happiness. Misery though it was...Haku and I have both tasted real freedom." He brushed a strand of blue-black hair from her face, and let his fingertips linger on her cheek; she didn't recoil, or freeze in place. She closed her eyes, and exhaled, taking in the uncommon feel of his skin against hers. His hands were cold– like a dead man's. When she opened her eyes again, to meet his, she was far too busy studying his expression to mull over his temperature; a bizarre, amused pity."You can't even fathom it, can you?"

She couldn't explain why, but this enraged her; insulted her. She drew back without thinking, hissing as his hand flew from her face before she could bite him. "You're talking nonsense." She snapped. There isn't anything outside of this life. There is no greater happiness. This is existence. Why can you not accept that?"

"Why can you not entertain the idea of something better?"

"Why are you dissatisfied?" She wasn't as angry as she'd have liked to be. This was frustrating, but the feeling clawing at her chest, and run away with her mouth, was not fury. She couldn't out a name to it; she identified feeling from the outside, she couldn't recognize it in herself. "We exist to serve the village, our kage. There is no greater purpose."

"The Mizukage, or the village?" His face retained it's calm, but his hands clenched and shook. "It isn't the same thing. I have no wish to serve our kage."

Kotone's hands closed around the pale fabric of her yukata; sharpened nails digging into her palms until they bled. She paid them no mind; all focus, all energy was put into her racing thoughts, which were fired from one point to another and died. She spat the first real string of words that made its way to her lips."You're selfish, then."

"Yes," he said quietly, to himself, "perhaps I am. But so are you. You simply fail to acknowledge it."

She wasn't sure if it was his distracted eyes- all she could see of his face- or his words themselves that were making her so... She wasn't quite sure it was anger. Something in her gut, but something elusive and nondescript, was tightening painfully; as thought she was feeling this indignation or whatever it was in her kidneys. This was... She could remember arguments like this before, and they never ended well. She missed that. Let him lash out at her– she'd give it back tenfold, and it would be over.

This wasn't the same– he wasn't angry. There was a controlled, almost regretful tinge to his words and expressions, but everything was dead honest. It was making her uneasy.

"Selfish," she muttered, "I've done nothing but serve our country. I 'd never do anything against mizukage Sama-" She repeated it for her own benefit.

"Out of cowardice!" It was snapped, but not in fury. He was weary, and stared at her from the corners of eyes narrowed in a lethargic dislike. "Better the devil you know than the one you don't, isn't that how it goes? Better to stay in this hellhole, as that bastard's-" He winced. She knew what he was going to say, but it stung no less when he spat 'attack dog' instead. "Our people are starving. You and I have both felt that– don't tell me you've forgotten– and now, we, two of the strongest this village has to offer, can barely scrape a living together for ourselves and a child. Our noble family used to take an immense cut of the village's revenue, and that's why we suffered in the past.... Mizukage sama has an iron grip on the entire country- not just our hidden village. The Daimyo can't rob us blind any longer. So where is our hard earned living going, I wonder?"

She protested feebly when the accusation finally sank in. Their kage existed to protect the mist village's people. He wouldn't lie to them. Zabuza laughed.

"What is a ninja than a professional liar? And what is Mizukage Sama but the greatest ninja in the country?"

"I've had enough of this!" Kotone's gritted teeth and narrowed eyes did little, in her mind, to properly portray whatever it was bubbling up from somewhere near her kidneys. She knew she should stay calm; she should keep her voice even, and her eyes icy. She was a ninja, feelings did not become her. But this was no battlefield, and this was no enemy. She wished from the bottom of her useless heart that it were.

This was her old childhood training ground, and this was Zabuza. And she'd shout at him as much as she felt like, because the bastard was making her feel very, very... something, and she didn't like it one bit. Still, though, as right as it felt she knew it was wrong; each genuine, heartfelt word she let slip was terrifying her. "You're talking like a lunatic. You're... You're not making any sense! What the hell are you getting at!? Whatever it is, it won't do any good." There was a stinging lump forming in her throat. She couldn't remember what that meant. "Whenever you set out after something, you're as miserable afterwards as you were before. It's always the same. Why can't you be content? What are you trying to do?"

"Don't ask me that." He answered, still distracted and refusing to meet her eye. "Don't make me lie to you." It unnerved her that despite the tension in every muscle and ligature, he could still remind her so completely of himself. Zabuza was as restless as he was still. She'd never seen a man who sat so quietly wander the way he did. His body abandoned, her training partner's mind could flicker from one thought to another so quickly and so completely, behind those dark, occupied eyes. He was sitting this way now, and she could see the beginnings of words press through the cloth of his wrappings before he changed his mind. "Please," it wasn't a word he used often, and it caught her off guard. "Just get out of here as soon as you can. I don't care how. Take the first mission that gets you out of the village. Just..." he closed his eyes, and shook his head, "don't be here for a while. I swear it will be different this time....but believe me when I say you'd want no part in this. Get yourself somewhere safe, and stay there. That's all I'm asking. "

"And what about Haku?" The stupid- well, if it was possible to have a lump of pure pain stuck in one's throat, that's what she imagined the problem was- thing was making it difficult to speak.

"Don't worry about him. This doesn't concern you."

Kotone grit her teeth, and turned away from him with a poorly disguised snarl. She tried to regain her composure, but she was betrayed by the quiver in her voice. "No. You're just going to do something to insane. Nope, none of my concern at all."

"What's it to you what happens to me? I don't see why you care."

"Because I...!" She'd whirled around (actually managing to startle him) and had blurted another aimless thought; one that had been bouncing around her head for some time now. The word stuck in her throat, and she was left to mouth half-formed sentiments helplessly.

She let out a pained, incredulous chuckle when her voice found her again. "You know what?" Her mouth twitched into a humourless smile. "I'm done. Fuck it, I'm done." She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head as she took the little ceramic glass in one clawed hand. "I don't care. I don't want to know. I don't want any part in whatever the fuck it is you're rambling about." She eyed the glass for a heartbeat, before tipping it back, and downing it unceremoniously. "Go to hell." She spat, pushing herself to her feet.

Zabuza said nothing, but stared wide-eyed at the glass, drained to the last drop, abandoned in the icy snow.

Her knees buckled a few steps into the clearing.

"What...? Already?" She blinked, one hand to her forehead and the other thrown out in front of her to save her balance. She was feeling a bit lightheaded, nauseous... Her heart was palpitating. "This isn't- No...." She turned to him, eyes wide. "Poison?" He said nothing, his hand hovering contingently over the ceramic cup. "You've killed me...?"

"I suppose I have."

"You said-" She breathed shakily, dizzy and faint. "I trusted you."

"That would be your fault, now wouldn't it?"

The trees around spun, but she closed her eyes and staggered back to right herself. Another tentative step brought her closer to Kiyoshi, but her limbs felt hollow– The world tilted, and the ground came rushing up to meet her more quickly than she would have anticipated.

She was standing then lying in the ice and points of grass without any way of accounting for the time between. She struggled to lift her head, and was overcome with another wave of illness. Her body tried to save itself, and she retched, shoulders heaving with a force she didn't have, as she spilled the drink and the rest of her stomach's contents into the slush to no avail.

She rolled away from her mess, and was instantly regretful. The sickness returned but nothing came of it. The sky was that of cloudy, grey-purple night above her. The stars had long since abandoned their country, and her only company was the tops of pines and birches that curved to meet the dusty blanket of the sky. She was cold.

Kotone's pale eyes flickered to the patchwork of icy snow and damp grass that made up their old training ground. Kiyoshi lay on it's side; she'd knocked it over as she fell.

She pushed herself over, and extended one trembling hand towards the hilt. It fell short. Kotone let out a breath– the ground soaking through her yukata, katabira and to her skin, chilling her straight to the bone– and elbowed herself a bit closer.

"Trying to avenge yourself, Kotone? Do you think to kill me?" He let out a gravelly chuckle. "Given the state you're in?"

The snapping of thread was his only answer. He turned.

Kotone closed her eyes, which weighed heavily with fatigue, and drew the good luck charm her teacher had given her close to her wavering heart. The red one; the one that guarded health.

"That's all you were after?" She heard him stand over the pathetic in and out of her own shallowing breath. She clutched the tiny, red cat to her chest, as thought it would save her from him. Somewhere in the back of her fading mind, she knew it wouldn't. He made no attempt to hide the sounds of his sandaled feet through the ice as he approached.

She could see little but her own dark hair, spilled haphazard over her shoulders and arms, strands crisscrossing her vision. But she could hear him draw closer, and he came to a stop before her, and reached out-

"No!" It was weak, but sharp and he withdrew. Kotone tucked her knees to her chest, pulling herself into a ball with what little strength her body could supply. "Don't touch me...Don't!" The little figure held fast in her weakening fist. The drug was doing its work well: her vision swimming, her limbs leaded and useless, her head foggy and unclear. She was muddled enough to allow the choking shrieks to escape her throat as near-sobbing. "Demon...! I hate you! Don't touch me..." She was at her limit; her voice dropped to a feeble whisper. He raised a foot to her ribcage, and flicked it outwards. She flinched, with a breathy, unbecoming whimper.

He reconsidered, and stopped short.

"You see?" He smirked, sitting back on his heels before her; eyes surprisingly dead. She'd expected excitement, malice. "I told you, didn't I? That one day you'd see me for what I really am- and you'd hate me like all the others do." His grin curved wider, but never reached his eyes. "It just took a bit longer than I had anticipated."

She tried to curse him again, but her mind was growing too hazy. She hated him. She was afraid, but couldn't quite remember the cause...

No... there was no reason to be afraid? Why was she frightened? Zabuza was here with her, that was something. She was safe, with him here. He'd always kept her safe, when she'd needed him to... When it was possible...Hadn't he? She was so sleepy...He had, she was almost certain... whatever danger it was, it must have passed. Zabuza was here, and so there was no reason to be afraid, was there...? No... Why was she so tired...? She was of value to the village, he wouldn't let anything happen to her. A waste, that's what he'd call it... It would be a waste.

All she wanted was to sleep... But she couldn't, no... she was afraid to... why...?

"Since you believe in that shit...." he sighed, "wish me luck, Kotone chan." She did, though she wasn't sure why. Something about what he had said struck her as unusual... but she was happy... It made her happy, though she couldn't.... think.... why...

Everything went hazy soon after.

Points to anyone who knows what he poisoned her with XDDD;; It's fairly obvious, I think.

So... yeah! I hope you enjoyed it, and have an awesome day n.n

And yes, HatsukaShinju is officially a pairing here XDDD I love it waay too much. And even more points to anyone who can guess what Risu was talking about XDD