It had been a misty day in the land of water-not that there were any other days in her home village-when they came.

Not being part of a shinobi village, her home had no shinobi protection when it came to nukenin attacks.

Kokomi was five years old when she hid under the floorboards of her family's cabin and listened to her parents being killed.

It was afterwards, as she cried over her dead family, that the spirits first appeared.

She had felt a nudge at her cheek and had at first thought that maybe her mother was still alive and reaching for her. Wiping her tears she saw that it was a small fish formed entirely out of water that had been nudging her.

"What?" she had croaked out, voice raw from crying.

The fish had started pushing at her back until she stood up. She hadn't wanted to leave behind her parents but the fish kept pushing at her until she was outside the village and hiding in a couple of bushes on a hill overlooking the village.

It had gotten dark by then and Kokomi had only just made it into the bushes when a multitude of people stormed into the village, setting fire to everything inside.

She was too far away to hear what they were saying to each other but it didn't matter. This was the last time she'd seen her home village.

—

Kokomi barely remembered the weeks after she left her village. All she knew was that the fish directed her to freshwater she could drink and was eventually joined by a water jellyfish that would hover over edible plants she could eat.

The first thing she could vividly remember after that was coming across two coyotes cornering a shiba inu puppy.

"Get away!" she had called out to the two canids harassing the puppy.

One of the coyotes turned to her while the other one remained focused on the puppy.

She went to shoo them away. As she flung her hands out towards them, multiple fish made of water sprung out of thin air and attacked the coyotes.

They howled in surprise and leapt away when barraged by the fish.

When the coyotes were gone, the pup calmed down and looked up at Kokomi, "Thank you."

Surprised, Kokomi replied, "Um, your welcome."

She hadn't spoken to anyone in weeks and her voice was gruff from disuse.

"I'm Gorou," he introduced himself.

Kokomi had given him her birth name and Gorou had requested to stay by her side.

"I'm a ninken, you know! When I'm big, I'm going to fight just like my family did," he had said with a proudly lifted head.

"I didn't know the ninja in the Mist Village used ninken," she had replied.

"My family is from Konoha," he'd explained, "but my mother came here when she was pregnant. I'm the only one of my family who's still alive, I think."

"I am the only one left too," she had said in a quiet voice.

"Then we'll be fighters together and make our families proud!"

He squinted at her, "You are a shinobi, right?"

"Uh, no. My parents were both civilians, I think."

"How'd you use that water jutsu then?"

Her little fish friend had appeared at that moment and Kokomi absentmindedly pet its underside as she explained the sudden appearance of the water spirits.

From that day on the two of them had remained together and had each other's backs.

Kokomi might not have been much of a fighter back then but her water spirits helped them out whenever they needed it and while Gorou never became as big as he hoped, he still possessed the instinct of a ninja dog.

Kokomi was seven when she met Haku.

Gorou had gotten into a fight with them and the child was holding his own against the ninken.

"C'mon!" he grunted as he tried to get a good grip on the kid.

"Gorou, let go," Kokomi told him.

Reluctantly, the shiba let go of the child.

"He's trying to steal our food!"

"We can share with him today and get more tomorrow," Kokomi assured, handing some of their provisions over.

The other child seemed reluctant but eventually snatched up the food before moving back to a safe distance to eat

Gorou grumbled.

"I-" the child started, "I am Haku."

She introduced herself first, "and this is Gorou. He's friendlier usually."

Haku looked doubtfully at the shiba.

Gorou huffed, "Usually, we don't get robbed by street rats."

Kokomi pushed against his side with her leg, "We're street rats."

"No we're not! We're wandering shinobi! It's a difference!"

"You're shinobi?" Haku asked.

"No," Kokomi clarified, "We would like to be but we're not part of any village, so I don't think it counts."

"I… would like to be a shinobi as well," Haku said slowly, "If that would give me a purpose."

Gorou sat back on his hindlegs and lifted his head-this is what he usually did when he lectured Kokomi about the shinobi world, "Most shinobi have what they call their nindo. It describes their personal rule to live by and their reason for being a ninja."

"What is yours?" Haku asked.

Kokomi answered, "Uh, we're still figuring that out… You could join us on our way, if you want to."

Haku hesitated and looked at Gorou.

The ninken huffed, "As long as you don't steal my food, I don't mind," he told them.

Haku gave them a weak smile, as if they weren't quite used to the gesture, "I'd like that."

Only a few months into Haku joining their little group they found a proper way into the shinobi world in the form of Momochi Zabuza.

He had found them in the streets and offered to make proper tools out of them. Haku agreed immediately–anything for a purpose of their life.

Kokomi had only hesitated a moment longer before realizing that this would be how she could train like a real shinobi.

Gorou followed Kokomi as he always did.

Kirigakure had not been a nice place to be in for Kokomi but it became her home for many years. During these years Zabuza trained both children in everything he knew–which mainly involved different ways of killing people.

They both had become genin in the same year, when they were ten and eleven respectively, and this was when Kokomi had first noticed that Haku would sometimes prefer the female uniforms over the male ones.

When she asked them about it, Haku had simply shrugged, "I don't feel much like a boy," they'd told her.

"Are you a girl then?"

"No, I'm just Haku. I don't feel like a boy or a girl."

It had confused Kokomi then and so the eleven-year-old had asked Zabuza about it.

"In the shinobi world, the only difference your gender makes is that some assholes will underestimate you if you look feminine," the swordsman had said, "If Haku says they don't feel like a boy, then I guess they aren't."

"What if I don't feel like a boy?"

"Look kid, the only thing that really matters to a shinobi is that they can kill. If you don't want to be a boy, then don't be one."

Kokomi had stayed silent for a moment before deciding, "I'm not going to be a boy anymore."

Zabuza had nodded at her and she took that as his seal of approval before running off to tell Haku about her decision.

—

"This is Terumi Mei," Zabuza had said one day, "She's a pain but will teach you how to fight in those clothes of yours," he had gestured to their kimonos.

The redheaded woman glared at Zabuza, "What Zabu-kun means to say is that he's too much of a gorilla to move in elegant clothing, so he begged me for his help."

"I didn't beg for shit, you offered to teach the brats."

"Please, don't think I didn't notice your pointed comments about them."

Kokomi and Haku had looked at each other wordlessly, both able to see the amusement in the other's eyes.

They had both become fond of Mei quickly, Kokomi even more so than her friend.

It was Mei who had helped Kokomi figure out a name for herself when she had realized that she felt more like a girl after all.

"See, it can be spelled with the kanji for heart and ocean, which is quite fitting for you and your little water friends," Mei had said.

She had blushed and taken the paper on which Mei had written her new name in perfect calligraphy: Kokomi.

"Thank you," she had said unusually shyly.

"Aw, you're so cute," the redhead hugged the blonde against her. "Say, would you like some help with your wardrobe?"

"My... wardrobe?"

"You're still wearing Kirigakure standards! I know Zabuza has no style but I've seen Haku in more fashionable outfits so clearly, he isn't completely depriving you of the clothing world!"

"Uhh…"

"It's decided then, let's go!"

Out of all the people Kokomi had left behind in Kiri, Mei was one of the very few that she missed.

—

"Gross, my tail is wet," Gorou complained.

"Your everything is wet," Zabuza huffed.

"But a wet tail is the worst! You would know that if you had one!"

Gorou sounded as if not having a tail was clearly a great setback to Zabuza.

"We will be able to make a fire soon," Haku told the dog amicably.

"This is why you're my second favourite," Gorou told them–no one needed to ask who his favourite was.

"We're not making a fire tonight," Zabuza decided, "We're not far enough away for them not to be able to find us. It would be stupid to give them a beacon to follow."

No one argued with him, though Kokomi could hear Gorou grumble "This is why you're my least favourite."

The shiba was promptly ordered to take the first watch that night as the other three shinobi huddled together under a makeshift roof. It had been two years since they left Kirigakure after a failed coup and they had become used to sharing body heat at night.

In the beginning, there had been more of them but one after another had left them. Zabuza still had a couple of loyal followers but they only ever joined up with them when there was a big enough job to do. Small assassination jobs like the one the three–four with Gorou–had done tonight were usually done on their own.

Though most of Zabuza's followers spent the majority of their time away from him, Haku and Kokomi followed him wherever he went.

The swordsman had never asked it of them but he likewise hadn't refused when they left the village behind him.

He might think of them as mere tools but to Kokomi and Haku he was family.