Shizuka took a deep breath before approaching Kakashi as he was leaning against a tree, now only needing one crutch to move around.

"Sensei?" She asked timidly.

The man took one look at her uncharacteristically shy demeanour before closing his book and directing his full attention to his female student.

"I would like to try the fire jutsu again."

After the little heart to heart she had with Sasuke she felt... lighter somehow. Talking about it with someone that wasn't her hospital assigned therapist helped more than she would have imagined.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi questioned dubiously.

"Yes."

And so Kakashi with the use of a quick earth and water jutsu created a shallow pool for her to practice in safely.

With a determined frown, Shizuka removed her shoes (because there was nothing worse than wet sandals) and got to work. She deliberately started small, focusing on creating and sustaining the barest flicker of a flame until she dared to put a bit more chakra.

About an hour later she was content with the singular fist sized flame she could create and sustain for at least a minute before it fizzled out. An ember of pride lit her chest at the stable breathing and lack of trembling hands.

"What's the next step, sensei?"

"Now, you're going to throw it as far as you can in the direction of that big tree there." He gestured vaguely at the tree she had used for her climbing practice.

"Won't I set the forest on fire?" She questioned dubiously.

"I'll be here to make sure it doesn't." He said without looking up from his book.

Feeling bolstered enough, she inhaled a big breath before shoving at the chakra in the ball of flames as hard as she could.

With an anticlimatic wooshing sound, the orb fizzled out as soon as it left her hand.

"Uhhhh"

The tips of her ears burned pink as she helplessly looked at an amused Kakashi.

"I figured that would happen." He chuckled. "It's harder to maintain the chakra in a jutsu when you're no longer in direct contact with it. Why don't you try hovering it above your hand first?"

Shizuka got back to work with a small pout. Academy jutsu were a lot easier so she hadn't expected this one to be such a step up.


A kunai came rushing down from the treetops at a high velocity. With an undignified yelp, Shizuka jumped out of the way, nearly falling over due to what was probably a mild case of chakra exhaustion.

After hours and hours (Kakashi got bored enough eventually to leave her unsupervised) she had finally gotten the stupid flames to detach from her hands without immediately fizzling out.

She could already predict the absolute hell it would be to try and get a second orb in the air simultaneously.

A problem for future Shizuka.

The annoyed glare she shot up in the general direction the weapon had come from lessened as her eyes landed on both of her teammates sitting comfortably on one of the higher branches of their respective climbing trees.

"You guys did it!" She exclaimed happily as she watched the two of them flip back onto the ground.

Shizuka raised her hand for a high five and Sasuke, with an exhausted grin, tapped his hand to hers.

At the dejected look in Naruto's eyes, she rolled her eyes and raised her hand again.

"You too, Naruto."

With sparkling eyes and an ecstatic grin, the blonde hit her hand with his own.

The trio then shuffled into the kitchen, exhausted and hungry.

"What's with you three?" Tazuna exclaimed. "You look dirty and tired."

Shizuka, too tired to make a retort to that, merely plopped down into the free seat next to Kakashi, reaching for the glass of water already there.

"Hah!" Naruto chuckled. "We made it to the top of our trees!"

"Good." Kakashi praised lazily. "Tomorrow we will be escorting Tazuna to the bridge so the construction can recommence."

She wordlessly pushed two plates of food towards the boys as they fell into their seats and immediately dug into the meal.

"I've been meaning to ask this for a while, Kakashi." Tazuna spoke up. "Why did you decide to continue the mission even though I lied?"

Shizuka perked up at that. She'd very much like to know the answer to that too.

Kakashi paused for a moment before he folded his arms in front of him.

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage." He replied. "But, under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive."

Shizuka shared a look with her cousin. That was incredibly cringey and lame.

A loud clang directed their attention to the table as Inari harshly put down his cup, tears gleaming in his eyes.

"Why" He stood up abruptly. "Why are you trying so hard that you end up like that? You can never beat Gato. Weak people will lose against strong people."

It was uncomfortably silent for a moment as no one knew or was willing to deal with the situation until Naruto lifted his head from the table.

"Shut up. We're not like you."

"You shut up!" Inari retorted angrily. "You don't know anything and it pisses me off! I'm different from you, someone who doesn't know any real pain and just laughs all the time!"

Shizuka's fist clenched as swallowed down the angry words bubbling up her throat. This little kid needed some serious re-education. She couldn't believe Tazuna and Tsunami were letting him speak like that to guests. Guests risking their lives for him nonetheless.

Her own mother would have whooped her ass for that level of disrespect.

"Is that why you're pretending to be the main character of a tragedy and just crying?" Naruto commented offhandedly. "An idiot like you can just keep crying."

A flicker of respect for the boy flared up. Shizuka wouldn't have been able to keep her calm like the blonde. His words were harsh, yes, but warranted.

Inari, completely fed up now, turned tail and ran out of the kitchen, followed by a much calmer Naruto.

Dinner continued in silence.


Shizuka took a step closer to Tazuna and her team as a thick fog rolled over the bridge littered in unconscious (or dead but let's think positive) bodies of construction workers.

"What happened?!" Tazuna yelled, clearly distraught by the sight.

"Sasuke, Shizuka" Kakashi warned lowly. "He's coming."

Her right hand hovered over the weapon pouch tied to her thigh as her eyes darted around the mist nervously. Her heart beat picked up until she was wondering whether the small huddle consisting out of Tazuna and her team (minus Naruto who had been so wiped out that Kakashi decided to let him sleep in) could hear it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi." Zabuza's voice was impossible to pinpoint, sounding like it came from all around them. "And you're still carrying those kids around. That one's shaking again, how pitiful."

Two (presumably) water clones stepped out of the fog.

She glanced over at Sasuke to indeed see him shaking but the smirk on his face told her that it wasn't because of fear this time.

"I'm shaking with excitement." He said as he pulled out a kunai, brandishing it in front of him protectively.

"Go for it, Sasuke." Kakashi encouraged.

Two quick slashes and all that was left was a puddle of water.

"Ah he can defeat the water clones now. He's gotten stronger." Zabuza praised as he finally stepped into view. "A rival has appeared for you, Haku."

With a start, Shizuka recognized the boy that emerged next from the fog as the hunter nin they had encountered early.

"I'll fight him." Sasuke challenged cockily. "He pulled that stunt on us and I despise conceited guys like that."

Shizuka would bully him about calling other people conceited later.

An unfazed Haku swiftly dashed forwards, kunai in hand. The boy was fast but so was Sasuke, who managed to block the strike with his own kunai.

"Shizuka, you stick with Tazuna-san and stay close to me if you can." Kakashi ordered.

Obediently, she stood in front of Tazuna as she withdrew a kunai. Her gaze continuously darted between Zabuza and Sasuke.

Her eyes widened as Haku performed a set of hand signs one handed. She didn't even know that was a thing. A sinking feeling that they were still severely outclassed settled in her gut.

"Water release: Thousand flying water needles of death."

Pronouncing the jutsu took the boy longer than making the appropriate hand signs for it.

Shizuka could only watch as icy needles formed in mid air, all pointing at her cousin. When they came down, Sasuke nimbly jumped out of reach over the jutsu before returning fire with some shuriken.

"You're not as fast as you think." She could hear Sasuke taunt right before he rammed a leg into Haku's back, sending the boy sliding backwards in Zabuza's direction.

"You thought you were quicker than me?" Sasuke continues on, Uchiha ego rearing its head. "Let's find out what more you were wrong about."

"You made a mistake making fun of our team just because my students are young." Kakashi gloated. "Sasuke is Konoha's top rookie. Shizuka has a sharp mind and a level of chakra control unequaled in her age group."

Shizuka puffed out her chest as she soaked up the praise like a dried out sponge.

"Of course there's also our number one hyper active, knucklehead shinobi, Naruto Uzumaki." Kakashi finished.

"Haku." Zabuza's voice sounded harsh. "You understand you'll be defeated like this?"

"I'm sorry that it had to come to this." The boy said softly as he gathered a large amount of chakra around.

A shiver ran down Shizuka's spine as the temperature dropped considerably. Rectangular sheets of ice formed around both Sasuke and himself, obstructing her view.

She nervously bit her lower lip as a grunt was heard from inside the ice dome.

Kakashi attempted to help but was intervened by Zabuza, drawn into their own fight.

"You'll be fighting me." The man grunted. "Your boy doesn't stand a chance."

The pained grunts and clangs from inside the dome intensified, a nasty feeling settling into the pit of Shizuka's stomach. She was worried.

"Tazuna-san?" She turned towards the man, unsure whether to stay and protect the man or go and help her cousin.

"Go." He said.

Gratefully, she darted off towards the structure. Performing a quick set of hand signs, a flaming orb flared into existence. She wasn't good enough yet to truly throw the jutsu as it was meant to be used, so she settled by hovering it over the open palm of her hand as she slammed it into the structure.

A loud sizzle was heard as fire collided with ice. She grunted as she forced more chakra into the flames, feeling the ice sheet slowly give way beneath her hand.

Shizuka let out a yelp as a hand emerged out of the ice, grabbing her wrist and yanking her into the dome, sending her stumbling into her cousin who managed to stable her.

She let out a harsh breath as she scanned over Sasuke's bloodied and bruised form. He could barely stand.

Angry red eyes looked at the masked boy in the mirror. How dare he hurt her cousin?

The genjutsu she weaved distorted reality only slightly, making Sasuke and herself appear more to the left than they really were.

Shizuka cursed as a barrage of ice needles came from every direction so fast and so all-compassing that it didn't matter where Haku thought they were standing.

She tried to deflect as many needles as she could with her kunai but multiple slipped through, embedding themselves into her arms and legs with sharp little pricks.

"This is futile." Haku spoke from a mirror to her right.

A split second was enough to weave an entirely new genjutsu around the boy. He was standing inside a burning house as sharp needles struck his body from all sides.

Shizuka took the pause to heave Sasuke's arm over her neck and make way for the narrow space between two of the mirrors.

A loud thunk sounded as a shuriken hit the mirror containing Haku, effectively knocking him right out of it but also snapping him out of the genjutsu.

"Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!"

Relief and irritation battled inside Shizuka. She could have gotten Sasuke out if Naruto hadn't interfered. On the other hand, now they two people inside the dome and one outside. Haku seemed vulnerable to attacks from the outside so-

"Yo, I came to help you."

Shizuka nearly screamed as the blonde popped up into the dome. Sasuke, showing less self control, immediately started scolding his teammate.

"Not the time, people." She cut through the argument as another barrage of needles hit.

With the three of us, it was slightly easier to deflect the sharp weapons though plenty still managed to hit. One hit the soft part on the back of her knee particularly painfully.

Naruto created several shadow clones, sending them all rushing to the mirrors as Haku moved from one mirror to the next. Another small orb of fire managed to singe the bottom of his pants.

Her pride at the hit didn't last long as it didn't work again like she had hoped it would. Another barrage of needles forced her down with a grunt as it dug into her right calf harshly, making her leg give out. She suspected a nerve was hit by the excruciating pain that flared up as she tried to move the leg.

"Shizuka!" Sasuke hovered over her frantically. She gasped as his dark eyes morphed into a familiar bright red, decorated with a singular black tomoe. The Sharingan.

She could only look on in horrified silence as Sasuke took the hit for her before collapsing into a bloodied heap next to her.

"That man..." He sputtered as a trail of blood dripped down from the corners of his mouth. "I didn't want to die until I killed my brother. You guys... don't die."

A sob bubbled up in her throat as she pulled herself closer to the now still boy.

"Sasuke?" She wailed as she shook him. "Sasuke wake up."

"He's a shinobi worthy of respect. He died in battle, such is the path of a shinobi." Hake spoke solemnly.

Sasuke's hand was so cold. Cold like Natsumi's were.

"I'll kill you!" There was a ginormous flare of red chakra around Naruto.

Shizuka looked on numbly as his nails grew and his usually pretty blue eyes turned a harsh red before pouncing for Haku, knocking the absolute shit out him.

With a shaky hand she tried to look for a pulse on the inside of her cousin's, so cold, wrist. But as Naruto wreaked absolute havoc around her, she could only focus on the soft, so so soft, pulse strumming against her fingers.

She frantically yanked out the needles still littering his skin, more hedgehog than boy at this point. Her tears dropped steadily onto his skin, leaving trails in the grime.

"Come on Sasuke." Her voice trembled as she stroked a hand over his deadly pale cheeks, wiping away some of the blood. "You can't do this to me."

A shuddering heave and Sasuke's head was in her lap, her hand stroking through his tangled hair.

"I can't lose my family again."

Slowly, almost like he had heard her pleading, his eyes opened.

"Stop crying, l-loser." He slurred as he attempted to sit up.

"I hate you." Shizuka gritted out through clenched teeth as she threw her arms around her cousin and squeezing tightly as she dissolved in a new round of sniffles.

Hesitantly, Sasuke's arms, still trembling, came up around her back as he squeezed back just as tightly.

"I hate you too."