Chapter 18

Tomo lay asleep on the floor, exhausted having been forced to pull a cart that held both all of Nakasone's possessions and the unmoving figure of Kimura. She finally stirred, not feeling like opening her eyes. She groaned as her arms rested numb on either side of her body. Why me? She slowly opened her eyes. Slowly everything began to come into focus. Then she spotted a pair of eyes.

"What the hell?" she yelled out, the small girl standing over her stepping back in surprise. Tomo pushed herself up and looked towards the small girl with green hair who grinned at her.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Yotsuba!" said the small girl cheerfully. "You were sleeping on the floor. Over there is my village where I live. This is for you" said the girl, handing her a small clover.

"Oh thanks" said Tomo uninterested. Sakaki spotted the girl was awake and walked across to her. A clover was in her hair, carefully placed by Yotsuba. Sakaki leant down, making sure the flower didn't fall out.

"You ok?" asked Sakaki.

"I guess" groaned Tomo. "Why am I out here?"

"The weird man with the glasses said you'd be grumpy if they woke you up, so they left you" said Yotsuba intrigued by a passing butterfly. She slowly chased after it as Sakaki helped Tomo to her feet. Tomo groaned.

"How long was I down there" she asked, rubbing her sore back.

"A few hours" replied Sakaki shrugging. She turned as Yotsuba ran to her tearfully. She held up her hand, which contained the butterfly.

"I-I killed it" sobbed Yotsuba. Sakaki backed away in shock, equally upset as the multi coloured creature fluttered a crushed wing once.

"Wow, you really killed it good!" said Tomo, joining the two girls. She stuck up a thumb. "Great job killer!" She then sprinted off into the village.

"But-I-but…" started Yotsuba.

"It's probably best just to ignore her" stated Sakaki.

Tomo rushed energetically through the small streets, glancing around hoping to try and find Kimura and Osaka. Last she'd remembered the burke had fainted and she'd been left with all the work. She almost felt sorry for Kimura- Keeler was tied up and Nakasone couldn't do anything. With Sakaki leaving to find her, that meant Kimura was under the care of…

Osaka. Poor guy. She kept on running desperately searching, when suddenly a figure appeared in front of her. She yelled out in surprise and couldn't stop herself as she crashed into the tall figure. She bounced back and fell to the ground. At first she thought she may have just run into a brick wall. She glanced up as the tall bespectacled figure loomed over her. Who was this giant? He studied her, looking at the headband.

"You must be Tomo right?" he asked, helping the girl up.

"Yeah, but who are you?!" she asked stepping back and pointing to the man.

He smiled. Finally a chance to tell one of the new arrivals his proper name. "My name is…"

"Jumbo!" called out Yotsuba running to the tall man. "I found some flowers and gave them to the girls and the tall one's wearing it in her hair!" she said incredulously, the slain butterfly forgotten.

"Jumbo huh?" asked Yotsuba.

The man nodded. "That's what everyone calls me."

"Hey Sakaki we've finally found someone taller then you!" called out Tomo. She glanced from Jumbo to Sakaki and back. "It's like looking into the future isn't it? You'll be a giant soon if you keep growing Sakaki!"

"Ok" replied Sakaki unenthusiastically.

"You're probably looking for your Sensei aren't you?" asked Jumbo. "To find out where he is you'll have to decipher a series of increasingly difficult…"

"He's at our house!" called out Yotsuba.

"What she said" continued Jumbo dejectedly.

---

Kimura sat up and watched as the three girls entered his room. With training, and the assassin out of the way, he could take time to appreciate how lucky he was to get a team that had both Tomo and Sakaki. He sighed pensively- if only he'd gotten Kaorin instead of Osaka, this would have been the perfect team for him. He just guessed you couldn't win all of them. Still it wasn't bad he thought to himself as Tomo and Sakaki sat down beside him. Laying up, he was at chest level… He felt a deep joy within him as Sakaki leant over.

"Are you ok Sensei?" she asked.

"Much better now" he replied. "Much better."

"Can I get you anything teacher?" asked the homeowner Koiwai, standing in the room.

"No, I'm fine thank you" said Kimura.

Nakasone sat across from the tired Ninja, a bowl of noodles in his hands, provided by Koiwai. Nakasone had thanked Koiwai and his young daughter who had joined the man when he handed over the food to the guests. Tomo eyed the food hungrily. She guessed she must have missed that particular mealtime now. Nakasone hungrily slurped down some of the noodles.

"So those weird eyes tire you out Kimura?" he asked. "Surely it can't be worth it if you end up like this?"

"Hey! Kimura sensei beat that guy didn't he?" asked Tomo, surprised to find herself defending the man.

"True, true" replied Nakasone as he gulped down another large portion of noodles. Tomo sat eyeing it hungrily. Beside her Yotsuba (who'd just arrived) stood with the same expression as she stared at the food.

"I'll be fine in a couple of days" stated Kimura. He hoped.

"Well we have the kind Mr Koiwai to look after us" said Nakasone holding up his bowl as a form of salute. "Thank you for your kind hospitality."

"It is no problem" said Yotsuba in slightly broken speech, bowing to the man.

"What was up with the guy with the freaky mask?" asked Tomo aloud.

"Kimura sensei called him a ninja hunter" said Osaka offhand. "A hunter of ninja's right?"

Kimura nodded. Nothing like stating the obvious.

"Wow you're a genius" said Yotsuba looking up at the girl in awe. Sakaki glanced across at the small girl. She's so…so cute!

"Well apart from the obvious name, what is the job of a ninja hunter?" asked Nakasone, gently placing his bowl on the floor. Looking up at her Dad, she quickly sprinted across to Nakasone and picked up the bowl before quickly returning to the kitchen.

"Despite death a ninja's body may hold several secrets- accumulated jutsu or jutsu specific to a clan or village. This would be extremely dangerous and harmful for a village- a fallen rogue ninja's body could provide the enemy with many secrets- secrets they would not want to get out."

"I see" mused Nakasone.

"Me too!" exclaimed Yotsuba, sitting down beside Tomo, who she now appeared to keenly like.

"The hunters job is to track down rogue hunters and basically destroy all traces of their body- so the secrets do remain secret from the rest of the world."

"Destroy the body? Gross" said Tomo pulling a face which the small girl beside her mimicked.

"Gross? Perhaps. A job I definitely wouldn't want to do- but it is still critical for a village" replied Kimura.

"So Zabuza's been destroyed now?" asked Sakaki. No trace of ever existing but for the memories of his enemies.

"He should be…yet something seems strange. Something I can't quite figure out at the moment. I'll get it with some sleep. Well, wake me up when the next meals ready."

With that Kimura closed his eyes and fell asleep. Sakaki and Osaka stood confused while Tomo looked angry.

"That's it? Just fall asleep and leave us with nothing to do?!" she asked angrily.

"Well, I could use some help around the house" suggested Koiwai. He cowered under Tomo's fierce glare. "J-just a suggestion."

---

Haku stood over the tall man as he attempted to move feebly. The toxins used to take him down were powerful- many normal people would still be unconscious. He was moving and alert- however he could not stand as of yet, and could not hold his weapon. Haku gently placed a bandage around Zabuza's neck to stop the faint bleeding from the wounds. He saw Zabuza's eyes dart to something behind him- and he slowly reached down for a weapon as a branch cracked.

"Relax Mr…Miss…Haku" said Harima stepping out from the shadows of the trees. "I can remain silent and hidden if I wanted to. If I wanted to attack you wouldn't know I was there."

"Course we wouldn't" muttered Zabuza sarcastically.

"It's strange. You asked me why you were chosen to kill one simple man- yet you seem to be lying on the floor injured, unable to even draw your weapon. It would appear as though your self belief is over exaggerated."

"You were the person who called me one of the best" growled Zabuza angrily.

Harima held up his hands. "Woah, calm down Mr Momochi. I'm not here to be your enemy, I'm your employer. I need you to do a job for me, and I know the best way to get what I want is to have a healthy happy assassin."

"What is it you want?" asked Haku, keeping himself between his master and Harima.

"Hey Haku, no need to be so cold. I just came here because I thought you could with some proper accommodation. Unless you feel like sleeping out under the stars. Your choice of clothing isn't the best choice for possible cold nights. If you want I'll go."

"I'll take your offer. But don't make the mistake of being condescending to me Harima" stated Zabuza.

"I wouldn't dream of it" said Harima. He called out and was joined by two men. Haku looked at them questioningly. "I thought you could use some help carrying him."

In a single movement Haku lifted Zabuza and rested him over his shoulder. He looked at Harima who told him where to go, and the two figures disappeared.

"I really don't like this" muttered Harima to himself.

"What if he gets out of control?" asked one of his men.

"I don't want to think about it. Yet."

---

Tomo emptied the dustpan into the bin and sprinted back out of the room. Three times the dustpan had been filled- she was currently two ahead of Osaka who was busy trying to stop smaller material going under the lip of the dustpan. Sakaki stood and watched as Tomo rushed by, knocking a door out of the way with her body. Shoulder barge. Beside her Yotsuba reached up, standing on tiptoes as she placed cups and mugs in the sink. Sakaki looked down at the cute girl.

"She's a very nice girl Mr Koiwai" said Sakaki, unsure of how to talk about the subject- or if she should do.

"Thanks!" said Yotsuba before skipping away, following Tomo.

"So her mother…is she dead?" asked Sakaki nervously.

Koiwai nodded. Sakaki felt a deep sadness within her. "And her father too."

Sakaki backed away in shock. "What?" she asked calmly, regaining her composure.

"She's an orphan" replied Koiwai. "While I was travelling I found her and looked after her for a while. Then I was taking care of her." He shrugged. "Now she's my daughter. Nothing can ever seem to get her down. It can be a bit hard raising her on my own. But she's never been a burden, I've never thought of her as anything other then family. My daughter" said Koiwai proudly.

Sakaki backed away and looked down at the ground as she choked up slightly. Koiwai didn't notice and returned back to cleaning up.

In the other room, Yotsuba stood beside Tomo and watched intently as the girl approached the sleeping man with a bucket of water. She paused and held the bucket over the man, turning to Osaka and the small girl. Yotsuba stood grinning manically. Tomo went to tip the bucket when Kimura suddenly shot up out of his bed.

"That's it! There was something strange with the ninja hunter!" He slowly turned and looked at Tomo who lay upon the floor, drenched in water with an empty bucket beside her.

"What happened to you?" he asked.