In the following days, Hitomi had little time to spend with the adults. Her mother only returned home for showers and a change of clothes, sleeping when she could between missions and eating only when time permitted. Asuma and Kakashi, unfortunately, followed a similar work regimen. Even Ensui, now that Hiruzen had stepped down from power, was back on active duty, though he wasn't sure for how long that would remain the case. His service to Shikaku, whenever that was required, still took precedence, and he wasn't sure he wanted to serve Tsunade—the man preferred to work within the close knit circle of his clan, as much as possible.
Hitomi used the three days she had before her mission with Jiraiya to spend time with Hanabi and Sugi outside of Academy hours. The two children had begged her to teach them her katas, the same ones her shishou had taught her years ago. Even though the Hyūga heiress didn't need a taijutsu instructor, she wasn't content with only having the Gentle Fist in her close combat arsenal. Seeing as both kids have expressed their willingness to take matters into their own hands should she refuse, Hitomi had little choice but to give in to their request. She started by teaching them the way the Nara greeted the sun—a foundational ritual stretch that complimented their fighting style.
In the evening, she exchanged letters with Haku about their plans for when they saw each other again, and during the trip. It was easy to convince Zabuza to hit the road again; the two nukenin only saw one place as their true home, only to find themselves chased away from there in disgrace so many years prior. Hitomi had vowed to fix that mess if it didn't right itself when Terumī Mei set her ambitions toward taking Kirigakure back. For now, it wasn't her priority, but perhaps one day she could direct her full attention towards the matter.
Or at least, she hoped she could.
She had started writing to Uchiha Itachi as well, a fact she kept well-hidden from Sasuke. Thankfully, with how busy everyone was, that wasn't much of a challenge. Her brother was mostly deployed on messenger missions through the Land of Fire since, amongst their team, he was the closest to Chūnin level. However, no decision would be taken before Tsunade became Hokage. It was almost funny, the way no one thought the mission Jiraiya, Hitomi and Naruto were embarking on could fail.
Hitomi told Itachi all about little details he missed in her memories, like how his brother aced the Academy's tests or how good he was with kids. There was always something new she could tell him. Sometimes, more rarely, they exchanged words about other subjects. He knew a bit about fūinjutsu, but not enough to create his own seals. He gave her a few pieces of kenjutsu advice and told her about Shisui, the last owner of the blade she never left behind anymore.
Then there were Gaara's letters. He had left Konoha in a rush, without bidding a proper goodbye. His first letter spoke of how she had been accurate about the dead Kazekage in a pit not far from Sunagakure, surrounded by his dead guards. Despite that, Hitomi offered him little in the way of comfort; she knew he despised his father. What she instead offered was advice: a suggestion that he should show some sympathy towards Kankurō and Temari, since they bore at least some affection for their late sire.
She felt the way the geopolitics in the Elemental Nations shifted, day after day. Such power, in the hands of a mere Genin, was reason enough to worry. To distract herself and pass the time, she buried herself taking notes within her Library; she immersed herself in even the simplest of tasks in order to keep her hands and mind busy and trained until her body said no more. By the middle of her fourth day, she had mastered the Shunshin. Ensui had never given her that lecture after all, so she didn't feel at all guilty about learning techniques without supervision. The delay when she used it was gone now, and she no longer felt dizzy after arriving at her destination. There remained only one element she had yet to include—the aesthetic flare of some glorious glitter… and of course, a place in her fighting style.
Both seemed equally important.
Hitomi rose before the sun on the day they were poised to leave the village. First, she had to shake Naruto out of sleep; he'd been absent the past few days, but he had come home the previous evening, Karin in tow. The Uzumaki girl was now occupying the last available room in their house, but Hitomi doubted the permanence of that; Karin had always spoken of having her own place, somewhere closer to the hospital.
After she dragged Naruto out of bed and into the shower to freshen up, Hitomi went downstairs to prepare breakfast. She found Karin and Sasuke already on the task, bickering in hushed tones about the way Naruto preferred his omelette. An affectionate smile on her lips, the girl muffled her chakra so she wouldn't be noticed and watched them for a moment. If Ensui, Asuma and Kurenai had been there, sitting around the table and exchanging amused looks at the teenagers' antics, life would have been perfect.
"Naruto prefers his eggs just a bit runny," Hitomi said. She had to step in then, lest they get nothing done at all, "but he's so impatient to leave that he'd eat anything this morning."
Sasuke straightened with a triumphant expression as Karin winced, surprised. Hitomi didn't know what kind of training the Kusajin shinobi received, but she found it incredibly lacking when she saw the way her redhead friend moved and bore herself. Most Genin wouldn't have any difficulty winning a spar against her, especially those from Hitomi's group. Fortunately, Karin would be a medic now, kept away from the frontlines and protected by stronger comrades during missions.
She sat at the table, her gait flexible and tranquil. It was mission day, and the prospect of her being on the road again never ceased to put her more at ease. The only person she'd truly miss during this adventure was Ensui. He couldn't leave, of course. He was too essential to the village right now and, with both Haku and Zabuza waiting for an escort from them just ten kilometres away from the village, Jiraiya had decided they were safe enough. Besides, the Hermit was still a former student of Hokage the Third, and Ensui still despised the old man's gut.
"Y-you'll take care of Naruto, right?" Karin asked as she put a plate in front of her.
"Of course, I'll always do my best to protect him. But, you know, he doesn't need much taking care of. He became really strong."
"Yeah, no kidding," Sasuke snorted. "The way he kicked that Hyūga genius' ass… People have to take him seriously now."
"Ah, I was sure I had sensed yours and Kakashi-sensei's presence. You watched it all, didn't you?"
"Hm hm. Sensei told me that a dramatic entry was a crucial part to a good show. Besides, arriving late allowed me to build tension within the public, so…"
"Oh, please don't tell Shikamaru about any of this. He was pissed to have carefully calculated the length of shadow he'd have during his fights to have it all messed up because you arrived late. If he hears that you did it on purpose, I think he'll find a way to kill you."
"You mean that's why he glares at me every chance he gets since after the invasion? Wow. You Nara know how to hold a grudge."
"Trust me, you haven't seen the worst of it. Or of me, for that matters."
Karin looked at them both, noting the gleam of horror in Sasuke's eyes and Hitomi's wicked smile, then burst out laughing. It was strange to see her finally overcoming her shyness, in a way that didn't make things awkward like she had expected it to. Naruto arrived then, kissing his cousin on the cheek before settling down on his usual chair. As soon as Sasuke presented him with the plate of food, he dug in without a missed beat, much to the amusement of the rest of the table.
After breakfast, Hitomi and Naruto prepared to leave the village. Jiraiya had told them to meet him at Konoha's Gates at ten in the morning, a fact she passed on to her favourite pair of deserters. Before she left, Hitomi took several passes at her belongings to ensure that she had everything she needed for the mission, but nothing could stop the nervousness that came back to choke her like a hand around her throat when she left the Nara lands with Naruto by her side. Sasuke and Karin had left earlier for their own duties, having expressed their apologies for not being able to see them off.
"Everything will be okay, Hitomi-nee, believe it!"
Hitomi shrugged off her anxiety when she heard the knuckle-headed boy's voice. She looked at him, her eyes immediately softening as her body relaxed. It was hard to stay worried when he was next to her, his smile as sunny as ever and pride in his every move. "You're probably right," she admitted. "I'm only worried because Tsunade and Orochimaru used to be part of the same Genin team…"
"What? How?"
"You didn't know? Hm, you don't spend enough time in the archives…"
"Hitomi-nee, you're the only one who likes that dusty place."
"Anyway," she continued, ignoring the interruption, "Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya were a Genin team once, under the Third's tutelage. They fought during the Second Shinobi World War, in the Land of Rain, and they were so good at ninja arts that its leader, Hanzō, let them live after he beat them and named them the Sannin, the three legendary shinobi."
"Aah, I knew Jiraiya was part of that team, but no one told me that Tsunade and Orochimaru did too! Is that why the Hermit came back to the village?"
"The fact that his former teammate is active once more played a role in that decision, yes, but I think it's rather related to Hiruzen-sama's injuries. They have always been close, after all."
She didn't tell him about Jiraiya's other motivation to return, of course. Distributing S-ranked secrets was a severe offense that would likely land her in jail, and as much as she liked Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi, she wasn't prepared to visit the prison under their jurisdiction. Her secrets were far too precious, and she wasn't sure she could protect them from the two men. They wouldn't use physical torture on a child, a teenager, but there were many, many ways to break a mind. She was certain that Shimura Danzō had men in the Torture and Intelligence department – she would have put men there if she'd been in his place, so she wouldn't miss any information. But then, Ibiki didn't look like he'd tolerate secret agents whose loyalty didn't belong to him walking into his domain. She wondered who, between the councilman and the department leader, had won that battle.
They arrived at the Gates ahead of schedule, but Jiraiya was already there, trying to convince Izumo and Kotetsu that the best oil for weapons was the one he purchased in the Lotus district. Around them, the streets were finally clear, with D-ranked missions focused solely on rebuilding. Almost all the Genin from this generation would have to learn the basics of masonry to help the workforce Konoha had barely managed to hire.
"Aah," Hitomi drawled, her tone light and humorous, "you three are all wrong. The best oil for that is made and sold in Nara land. You only need a ridiculously little amount of it and it lasts forever. I barely touched the jar I bought when I graduated."
"Tss," Kotetsu answered, "not everyone can afford to buy clan goods. You're lucky to live there, you don't have to pay the tax other shinobi have to pay to buy Nara products."
He was right, but this was very common practice in Konoha. Only the Yamanaka, Akimichi and Nara had derogations between their three clans. When Hitomi bought treats in the Inuzuka lands, she paid almost twice as much as she would have in civilian parts of the village. The only reason she went through with the purchase was because they were her cats' favourites, and she had the money for it.
"Come on, now, Kotetsu-san, don't pout. My mom taught me economics. I know how much a Chūnin is paid, even if he's stationed at the village's Gates. You aren't afraid of the big bad Nara, are you?"
"No need for big bad Nara. The tiny wicked Nara in front of me frightens me just fine."
Hitomi burst out laughing, and the others quickly followed suit. She loved to have her potential, her power, and everything that would one day make her a terrifying kunoichi, acknowledged.
"Come on, kids, time to hit the road," Jiraiya said when they calmed down. "Izumo, Kotetsu, I'll buy you a drink when I get back if you do the paperwork for us. Deal?"
The two guards almost tripped over themselves in their eagerness to accept. Jiraiya didn't exactly go about his day throwing invitations to drink with Chūnin, though if it could help Hitomi and Naruto dodge paperwork, it seemed he didn't quite mind. When it was settled, the three ninjas left the village and followed the road for ten kilometers without looking back, keeping their discussion towards lighter subjects.
Zabuza and Haku were waiting for them, just as they had promised. Hitomi welcomed them by throwing herself in the youngest's arms. He hugged her back, pressing his cheek against the top of her head. There was still something between them, a spark that wasn't just friendship. They both felt it with every letter they wrote to each other, and now that they could meet again, it was even harder to ignore – but Hitomi loved Lee. What she felt for Haku was longing, tenderness, and maybe something else she couldn't quite name, but that feeling wasn't significant enough for her to act on it.
"So, how are things in the Land of Water these days?" she asked after they hit the road again, the two deserters now with them.
"Not too bad," Zabuza grunted. "The money your clan leader gave us helped a lot. We could equip everyone decently with it, and we all get warm meals everyday. The open fights haven't started yet, though. We're still trying to decide who should rule the village when we get it back. They're hesitating between a woman, the only survivor of her clan… and me."
"You don't look psyched by the idea of becoming Mizukage, Zabuza-san," Jiraiya said after a second of silence.
"I don't want to be. The war chief's life isn't for me. The Mizukage stays behind a desk most days and almost never leaves the village – it's how things are done in Kiri anyway. I like to travel and I feel trapped when I stay in one place for too long."
Haku hummed in approval, his eyes lost in front of him. No one could deny those two loved traveling. As for Naruto, he seemed deep in thought, only turning to Jiraiya after some time. "Say, is it the same for the Hokage?"
"Hm… I'd say it's a bit different. Okay, Hiruzen didn't leave the village much, but he was very active inside. He went to the Academy for important events, kept an eye on the hospital and the departments, and even on the General Forces. He was very approachable. I heard that Rasa-sama, the Kazekage who died during the invasion, was very distant with his people."
"That's right! Even with his own kids. Gaara told me he almost never saw his dad, and not at all after he turned five. He even told me that Rasa-sama was trying to have him murdered, and that was why Hitomi-nee's shishou went to Suna for years, to protect him and his siblings."
"That's right," Hitomi sighed. "Rasa had decided that his son wasn't a good enough weapon to serve the village and wanted him killed no matter what. If I sent Ensui-shishou, it's mostly so he would have someone to protect him, even if he didn't really need protection with that demon inside him. It was the intention that mattered, that helped him feel loved and supported. And it worked out well, didn't it? Gaara has been raised by Ensui-shishou to become a fine young man, and he's close to his siblings. It wasn't the case before."
Jiraiya shook his head, grinning. "So you were the one behind that whole affair, you little minx. But how could y- oh, right, your communication notebooks. Sabaku no Gaara has one as well, hasn't he?"
"Hm hm, and Haku does too, as well as most of my friends in the village. I like to keep in touch with them. Drawing the seals for a notebook is easy and quick now that I'm used to it. The hardest part was creating the first pair, then I got the hang of it."
"I really have to look at your fūinjutsu skills during this trip."
"Hey, what about me?" Naruto exclaimed, indignant. "You promised me a technique, old man, you haven't forgotten about that, right?"
"Of course I haven't, kid! For you, I have a very special technique. One that's meant for you."
The man's tone was still light, but Hitomi saw the sadness that brushed on his features like a mirage. It was the Rasengan, the technique his genius of an apprentice had invented, that he intended to pass down to Naruto. The Yūhi girl wouldn't have liked being in his shoes, with all the painful feelings he had to battle through. For a long time, they continued talking. Jiraiya made sure to focus on light subjects as to not unnerve the two deserters who escorted them.
He didn't know if he could trust them yet, after all.
At nightfall, they stopped in a little cave that was barely big enough for all five of them. Nights were getting colder in the area, especially as they neared Tanzaku to the south of the Land of Fire, where the weather tended to be colder. Under Jiraiya's orders, Hitomi went to hunt their dinner. She caught several rabbits and birds, enough for five famished shinobi who didn't want to tap into their rations if they could help it.
Later, when their bellies were full, Zabuza took first watch, leaning his titan-like sword against the wall at the entrance of the cave. Jiraiya took the opportunity then to signal for Naruto to come closer. He looked at him for a moment, thoughtful. Did he remember the father as he watched the son, like a ghost on his expressive features? Was it because he was afraid of that pain that he had relinquished his guardianship to Hiruzen? For a wild moment, Hitomi imagined her mother getting that right over Naruto by threatening the Hokage to tell everything to Jiraiya about the boy if he wasn't put in her care. It was just one of the many, many ways that woman could have managed such a feat; her daughter would probably never know.
For long minutes, the Hermit explained how the Rasengan worked to his student. Hitomi listened in distractedly as well, just in case she wanted to learn the technique one day. She wasn't certain she wanted to, truth be told; the Water Release repertoire suited her so well, after all. There was also the fact that she had so many things on her plate already – contact seals, most even more complicated than the corporal seals she had barely dipped into, made her shiver in anticipation. So many possibilities…
"Your turn now, young lady!"
She straightened with a start, torn away from her thoughts by Jiraiya's gravelly voice. She looked up to him and silently obliged his gesture to follow him into another corner of the cave, She could almost feel her shadow follow the whims of the fire, independent from the rest of her body. Ensui had told her it was the sign she was almost ready for the next clan technique, the one Shikamaru had learned during his month-long training for the tournament. She knelt where Jiraiya told her to, well aware of the cautions the Hermit was taking when speaking of something as dangerous as fūinjutsu.
"I had a chat with Kakashi before I left. He told me you were extremely advanced for your age. You've started on corporal seals, right? Have you made any of your own?"
Hitomi shook her head. Thus far, all the seals she had created were formed from pieces of others.
"I figured as much. I can count on one hand how many people are capable of that since the Fourth's death." There was no quiver in his voice nor even a trace of expression across his face, but there was something in the way he pronounced the title… something that reflected the grief he felt each time he mentioned his former student. Had he not been one of the three legendary Sannin and a notorious perv, Hitomi might have entertained the idea of hugging him. While true that she was just a teenager, she knew exactly the lengths Jiraya was willing to go to piss both her and Naruto off.
"To create your own seals, you need thorough knowledge of both language and calligraphy. Creating seals, it's akin to creating a new element of written speech or a new meaning for words and traits. You'll be making something that doesn't exist yet, essentially."
Hitomi frowned, but listened closely. Could she possibly use her knowledge of languages from the Previous World to create new seals? It was certainly worth a try. Her palms tingled with longing and anticipation, even though she knew she wasn't quite there yet, that her understanding of fūinjutsu, instinctive as it was, wasn't deep enough. Jiraiya had made sure to reiterate that fact to her multiple times.
Their journey continued as such throughout. During the day, they covered as much ground as they could and at night, Jiraiya tutored the two Genin, with Zabuza or Haku occasionally intervening to have Hitomi work on her swordsmanship or ninjutsu for a bit. Thanks to the Hermit, she had learned two new B-ranked techniques. The first, the Eye of the Storm, raised a very dense circle of water around her to protect her. The other, Calling to the Pack, launched five almost solid water wolves from her fingers to her opponents.
Two qualitative pieces to add to her arsenal.
"Say, Jiraiya-sama, what can you tell us about that woman, Senju Tsunade? We don't know much about her, except that she was your teammate long ago and kind of a famous medic."
It didn't come as a surprise that Naruto was asking about the woman; amongst them, he was the most interested in the people behind legends. Perhaps it was due to his intention of becoming one himself that spurred such an interest. Hitomi was curious too, but much like Zabuza and Haku, opted to listen instead of asking more questions.
"Well… She has one hell of a temper," Jiraya explained, stroking his own chin as he gazed down the path. "When we were away on missions, she always managed to get the best spot to sleep and, if we tried to protest, she didn't go easy on us. She's superficial too—she uses a medical technique she invented to look as young as your adopted mom, and she's my age!"
Hitomi wasn't sure vanity motivated Tsunade to keep herself looking young. As a kunoichi, she understood, perhaps better than boys, how much appearances mattered in their world. For herself, it translated into a show of apparent vulnerability, delicate smiles and a voice that was always soft. Tsunade had probably chosen youth—the peak of her beauty. Men often underestimated pretty things, and pretty women as well.
"She always found the most sorrowful stories to tell our sensei so he'd excuse her mistakes," the Hermit continued. "Never had more than a tell-off from him no matter what she did. Also she's obsessed with gambling and atrociously bad at it, I swear. She was the best of us… and the one who fell the lowest."
Hitomi felt a tug at her heartstrings then, at the tone of his voice. It would seem even the legendary Sannin, looming like a giant above herself, was capable of vulnerability. He was a man who preferred avoiding thoughts about everything he had lost and all the things that remained unsaid between him and his former teammates… even the one that had drifted so far off the beaten path that there no longer remained a recourse for him to return. It was unfair, really. He had given everything he had to the village. Rare were the shinobi to still be in active service – or even alive – at his age. He never stopped, because stopping meant having time to think, to remember, and he had more than his share of memories to flee from.
She understood. She understood in the hollow of sleepless nights spent in her Library, when she rested her body but certainly not her mind. She understood when Haku laid down next to her without a word, his breath brushing away a strand of her curly hair that he had twisted between his fingers earlier that evening like a talisman. She understood when she weighed every word she wrote to her friends – to Itachi too, thanks to a brief break alone.
She understood, yes, but she had nothing to offer in the way of healing his wounds, just as he was powerless to mend hers. So they did the only sensible thing they could: they ignored each other's pain and offered something to keep their mind away from it. It worked most times, and in times when it didn't, they had Naruto and his funny stories to tell or request, or a prank to work on. There was always something he could be proud of, and he loved to share his pride.
I read that the Sharingan, after reaching a certain form, grants its user perfect recall; she wrote to Itachi one night when she felt particularly down. Is it true? Are you, too, forced to remember your every mistake and every weakness?
He responded quickly, something he had never done before. It was as though he could perceive, in her rushed handwriting, the distressed angles and upset traits reflective of her emotions.
It's true. I cannot forget, but I learned to lock the worst memories out of reach. You're young, Yūhi-san. If luck is on your side, you'll still have plenty of time to fill the surface of your strange mind with happy memories to occlude the others.
She wanted to answer that he was still young, too – he was only five years older than she was, after all – but she stopped herself. In this world, was he already sick? Even without that sword of Damocles over his head, he would soon start to lose sight, if it wasn't happening already. Blindness was often deadly for shinobi who weren't born with it. He was part of one of the most dangerous organizations in the world… If his so-called partners, Kisame aside, realised that he was weakening, they would tear him apart, make him disappear. She refused to let that happen.
You sound depressed, Yūhi-san. The spark you had when we met in the Fire Forest seems gone. Is everything okay?
That message arrived several hours after she told Itachi about a nightmare she'd had. Two weeks had passed since they left Konoha. Since Jiraiya couldn't be certain that Tsunade would be in Tanzaku, he'd decided to explore all the touristic cities along the coast and all the ones that had at least a casino or gambling house. In some places, they heard about the Legendary Sucker who lost astronomical amounts of money with each table she decided to sit at, and others they didn't. It was still enough to follow her tracks, though that meant those others who weren't so friendly could as well.
I'm afraid, she admitted to Itachi once she could write without Naruto trying to read over her shoulder. There's a very big chance we'll cross paths with Orochimaru during this mission. Jiraiya-sama thinks that it's unlikely; that he's too badly wounded to travel, but one of his closest agents, Kabuto, is a medic. He could have patched him up enough to be fit for travel again, to seek out traces of another medic, the best one in the world… I'm terrified.
Some time passed before Itachi's next response. Hitomi stared at her notebook for a few minutes then, supposing Itachi wasn't any more alone than she was, decided to work on one of the seals Jiraiya had started teaching her. It contained elements she had never used with Ensui and Kakashi, the most complex ornaments she had ever seen, and, after she drew it twice or thrice, it made her wrist ache. The one he picked up was a vicious one: it trapped the victim inside a very limited perimeter and sent any attack against the barrier back to them.
Hitomi, of course, liked that a lot.
A few more days passed before they encountered their first problems. Jiraiya had taken the whole team inside a casino to collect intelligence, and split everybody up to cover more ground. Soon enough, however, a loud commotion led Hitomi to a gaming table in particular. Haku was there, as well as several very drunk players. It was hard to tell under the usual polite and smooth veneer the teenager wore like a second skin, but Hitomi didn't let it fool her; he was pissed. She shifted to the right and saw that he had gripped a player's hand, which was lingering close to his bum.
Too close.
Ouch. In all sincerity, she would have liked nothing more than letting Haku handle that situation like he wanted to, but she couldn't allow him to attract attention to their group. She stepped forward, focusing on the hard and cold knot of bitterness, anger and disgust that never faded from her mind. The air around her began growing heavy, gradually thickening to a point where it was starting to asphyxiate the nearby civilians. In the middle of that wave of terror and tenseness, Hitomi let her sweetest, most harmless smile bloom on her lips.
"Please leave my friend alone, we're going. Coming here was a very obvious mistake. Haku, we're going."
They took advantage of the fact that the players around them were still dazed to step away and disappeared into the crowd. It took some time for Hitomi's killing intent to fade until nothing was left of it in the atmosphere around her. She was holding onto Haku's hand tight – she was so tiny that it would be easy to have her disappear in such a dense cluster of people – as she weaved through the sea of people until they were back at the entrance.
Hitomi glanced at the winnings in her pocket. While they were collecting intelligence, she found some time to collect quite a bit of money as well. After all, shinobi were very good at poker, and she could count cards without looking like it.
"I didn't know you could make it appear at will now," Haku said, his voice still tense.
She mumbled something inaudible, bought two lemonades at a stand nearby, then came back to the bench where they had settled. With a hard, cold gleam still alive in her red eyes, she handed him the glass. "It gets easier every day. I don't know if I should worry about it or not… It probably makes me a better kunoichi, but I'm afraid I'll lose my grip on parts of me that are dear to me."
"I understand. It was the same for me, in the beginning, with Zabuza-shishou. He had to make me kill more people than I could count before it became easy but, far before that, he demanded that killing became a reflex for me and… I was afraid, sometimes, that I'd lose all my sensibility. And yet, it would have made my work for him so much easier."
"Hm hm… That's the cost of being a ninja. In another world, we'd be too young to even think about death on a daily basis, but here, it's become part of our everyday life."
Silence stretched between them like a web that grew thicker every second. There was no comfort nor peace in that silence, only the faint whisper of their most torturous thoughts.
"During the invasion, I killed forty-three people. I thought it was less, but some of them died from the wounds I inflicted upon them. I checked in the registry. I can't feel guilty but… some of them still weigh heavy on my mind. Enemies who weren't ready to die. Enemies I only wanted to injure. It feels a bit unfair. I should be horrified by all those deaths, or by none of them, not pick the ones that get to me."
"Hum… It's empathy, that's all. I understand that, and I think Zabuza-shishou does as well. Especially since the battle on the bridge, in fact. He softened, in a way. When I don't feel like doing something and he can handle it, I'm allowed to step away from it. He says that, since we're going to survive a while longer, he doesn't want me to hate him."
Hitomi snorted. There was no way Haku could feel anything but adoration and respect for Zabuza.
"I know, it's ridiculous. Who thought the great Demon of the Bloody Mist had feelings and insecurities?"
The two teenagers let out a faint laugh and, for the first time since they had left Konoha, Hitomi's shoulders relaxed. It was exactly why she missed Haku so much when they were away from each other with only the notebooks allowing them to stay in touch. His gentle logic worked better on her in person than through letters.
"Ah, there you are!" Naruto beamed. "We got intel! Well, the old man has intel… But I, ah, I think he's busy."
One look at his very red face was enough to let Hitomi know that she didn't want to go back inside. She had a very clear idea of what, exactly, was keeping him busy. With a sigh, she got her purse, heavy with her newly acquired money. "I think there's a food stand not so far away from here. Wanna eat a bite? On me. Jiraiya-sama and Zabuza-san will find us in no time when they're done, err, researching."
The other two didn't hesitate for one moment before accepting her offer, and the three teenagers walked to their target, a famished gleam in their eyes. They had had breakfast, of course, the adults wouldn't have let them skip it without good reason, but it had been hours ago. They could afford to have nice things, couldn't they?