The next day I woke to the sound of knocking at the door to my room. I rolled out of bed and walked straight to the door to see who would wake me up. I opened the door to see Shozouki, his light brown hair was neat and his lavender eyes looked dull like they usually are whenever they look at me.

"Did I just wake you?" he looked confused at my attire. I was still wearing my clothes from the Forest of Death and there was still blood on my bandages that are wrapped around my hands and forearms.

"I didn't sleep in the Forest of Death so I came straight here and went to sleep after the preliminaries yesterday." I said. I looked around in the hallway looking for my teammates, Jiro and Mitsuru only to see that Shozouki was alone.

As if sensing my unasked question Shozouki said, "They kept Jiro at the hospital overnight. They wanted to be able to monitor his ears incase there was any drainage that could cause an infection. Mitsuru is with him now. You should get cleaned up and head over there too. He asked about you last night."

"Why?" I could feel my brow furrowing, why would Jiro care about where I was?

"He just said he had something to tell you, I'm not sure what it's about." he said.

"I'll take a shower and be right over, what time is it?" I asked curious about how long I slept for.

"It's midday, you slept for a whole day." Shozouki said. "Well, are you feeling refreshed?"

I nodded to him. "I'll see you at the hospital." I shut the door, not waiting for him to say anything else. Then I turned and pulled off my shoes and taking the belt off from its place wrapped around my body and resting on my left shoulder before going straight to the adjoined bathroom. First, I found a scissors in one of the drawers by the sink to cut off my bandages. There was blood on all of them, less on the bandages wrapped from my ankles up until just before my knees, but enough for me to quickly cut them off and throw them in the trash. Then I moved onto the ones on my hands that were wrapped up my forearms until my elbows. I cut those off and they followed the others into the trash bin.

I observed each forearm noting how the blood from the bandages soaked through to my skin. Temari's blood stained my pale skin. Other than that my seals stood prominent with their black color. They were intricate tribal designs that stretched all around my forearms including the palms and the backs of my hands. These seals have been in the Karatachi family for generation after generation. They are only known and used by a Karatachi, the seals require the blood of a Karatachi to work. So, if for some reason I needed my seals removed only uncle Yagura or myself can do it. I suppose there is also my distant cousin Mei, but I'm not really sure where she is right now.

I took my hair down from it's high ponytail, letting the blue locks fall to my knees. I turned the shower on, setting it to a neutral temperature. I don't care what the water temperature is, I can't feel it through my thick skin so it doesn't matter to me. Then I started taking off my sleeveless black top with a slightly deep v neckline, after I took off my high waisted leggings. Finally, I unwrapped the bandages that were wrapped around my abdomen covering my first seal that I received the day I was born and had Isobu sealed inside of me. This seal circled around my belly button and like the others it wasn't fully completed, uncle Yagura said that it was so my chakra could mix freely with Isobu's. At first I was worried about it, but he assured me that the seal was in place and was working accordingly. The additional seals are to conceal any traces of our chakra.

Once I threw those bandages into the trash I stepped into the shower and started scrubbing the blood off of my body the best I could before moving onto my hair. I stayed in the shower long after that contemplating what I should do in the month I've been given to do training. I could always work on my bond with Isobu, but I feel as if there is something that's more important.

I should go to the land of Waves, the place Kakashi and Naruto said Zabuza was buried. I don't really know how I felt about going there and seeing his burial place, though I knew it was something I needed to do. Right now I don't feel anything about his death. Uncle Yagura thought I would possibly have a break down and that my emotions would become unstable, but I haven't experienced any of that. My emotions have been mostly cut off since my graduation to Genin all those years ago.

I got out of the shower with my mind made up, I was going to the land of Waves. After drying off my body I wrapped clean bandages around my abdomen before putting on a clean set of the same outfit I just took off. I also wrapped my hands up to my elbows and the same with my ankles to knees. I slipped my shoes on and then returned to the bathroom to brush through my knee length blue hair and pull it back up into it's high ponytail. I didn't care that it was still wet, it'll dry sometime today.

I knew I wouldn't need my Kukoshibyo sword in the village, but I didn't plan on coming back to this room before I left for the land of Waves. I buckled my belt around my body and over my left shoulder before attaching my large sword. I made sure I had extra bandages in my bag and my other pair of clothes along with my hair brush before I left the room and made my way to the hospital to see Jiro.

First I went to the front gates, I wanted to drop off my bag in the treeline. I didn't want any of my team knowing I was leaving the Leaf village right away, I probably won't tell them at all honestly. At the gate the two standing guard were the two that were disguised as Genin during the first part of the exam.

"Hello, I was going to be leaving the village in an hour or two. Is it okay if I leave my bag in the treeline until I leave?" I asked.

"If you want we can always hold it for you here." the guy with a bandage across his nose patted the counter he was seated behind. "I'm Kotetsu and this is Izumo."

I handed my bag over to him, "Thanks for holding onto my bag, my name is Ketto Momochi. Like I said I'll be back in a few hours. There's a few things I have to do first."

"Alright, we'll be here with your things." Kotetsu waved me off. I turned and walked back into the village. I walked all over until I stopped to ask a random civilian where the hospital was.

She pointed me in the right direction and I was faced with a big white building. I walked in to see a check in desk. I walked over to the woman seated there. When she noticed me I said, "I'm here to see Jiro Matsuo, I was wondering which room he was in."

"Just give me a second." she looked through some files before she looked up to me. "He is currently in room two-hundred-seven on the second floor."

"Thank you, I'll be going up now." I said. I left her at her desk and found myself a flight of stairs to take up to the second floor. Room two-hundred-seven was easy enough to find. Mitsuru and Shozouki were here visiting, it still baffled me how they cared enough to see Jiro in the hospital.

Jiro was the first to notice me. His dark brown hair was mused from laying in bed, otherwise his brown eyes had a lightness to them. "Ketto you came." he said.

Mitsuru and Shozouki turned to see me in the doorway. "Shozouki said you wanted to talk to me?"

Jiro's head snapped to Shozouki who sighed and said, "You should tell her." Shozouki walked to the door dragging Mitsuru with him from their spots by Jiro's bedside. "You can't progress as a ninja if you are terrified of your teammates, fix it."

Those two left leaving me and Jiro alone. "I already knew you were afraid of me." I said. "It kind of confuses me that you try to befriend me and then go back to being afraid."

"I've been trying to get used to you, I'll be fine and then I'll remember that day." he said.

It made sense now, he knew someone that participated in the Genin graduation exam. I killed someone he cared about. That is the only day that could have any significance linking both him and me together. I don't regret taking those lives, as soon as the exam started I was targeted for being the youngest. I was seven at the time while everyone else was twelve or thirteen. The goal of the exam was to kill at least one of your classmates. Another reason I was targeted was the fact that I never went to the academy. The other participants thought I didn't have any ninja experience because of that fact, but they didn't know the Mizukage Yagura trained me himself.

"A sibling? Cousin? Friend? Who was it?" I asked. I crossed my arms and watched the emotions run across his face. I supposed I could have said it less harshly than I did, maybe if I said it with a more gentle tone it would make me seem like a caring teammate and diffuse some of the tension.

"My older brother, Shiro." he said. "It's kind of sad actually, in the Mist you don't really care about anyone and your emotions are cut off at a young age. When I found out Shiro was dead I didn't really care all that much. I was mad that I wouldn't be able to surpass him but I wasn't sad."

Since that exam has been banished children in the Mist become emotionally detached because their parents don't know how to display emotions. It's been like that in the Mist long before the exam was banished which is probably why Jiro reacted that way when he was younger.

"It's not uncommon to feel that way." I said. "That still doesn't explain why you are afraid of me."

"I thought that if I could defeat the one that killed Shiro then in a way I would be surpassing him." he started. "But then we were presented his body. It wasn't like anything I've seen before, you could see his veins through his skin and they were black. His skin looked like it was a grayish color and there was black blood coming out of his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. The cause of death was listed as an unknown toxin. So when I decided I was going to defeat you to surpass my brother minutes later I knew I would never be able to do that. Instead, I've dedicated myself to training to one day be able to aid you."

"Aid me?" I asked confused.

"Yeah, you didn't really think you were going to do everything on your own did you?" he raised a brow at me. I didn't respond, because that's exactly what I thought. "I guess that would be your mindset as a Demon of the Mist."

"That's how it's always been." I said. "I've never needed to rely on anyone other than myself."

Uncle Yagura came to mind, I can always count on him being there. I really only care that he's in my life, I would never ask him to make time for me, I respect that he has his Mizukage duties. Whenever he finds the time to train with me, I never question it. No matter what I'm doing I find a way to push that off until later just so I could spend time with him. I always crave his attention. As my only parental figure I'm always trying to please him, I finish missions fast, I try harder when we're training and try not to mess up, I even try to progress my own training by going off to the South Sea that's South of the main island in the land of water.

I discovered this place a few years ago, I disappear for days at a time just to be there. The area has what looks to be a mountain range passed a few smaller islands of the land of Water where the area is more unknown. I thought that being the area is isolated no one would be able to witness me practicing jutsu's I have because of Isobu. I did some training there for a few days a couple years ago when I discovered the supposed mountain range was actually a giant water creature. It was an extremely large lizard like creature with dark gray scales. It's hindlegs were larger than it's forelegs and its tail was long enough for it to use as a whip. Along the ridge of its spine and along its tail there were sharp protruding spikes that gave it the look of a mountain range.

At first it watched me train on the water, after a few days it revealed itself to me. I'll admit that I was terrified of it, I've never seen a creature that big. It introduced itself as Kokaku, he apparently could sense the three tails chakra in my mist and wanted to battle me. I agreed because I didn't see any other option, I didn't think he would just let me go. I used my Kukoshibyo sword and quickly found out I couldn't pierce through his rock like scales. Then I relied on my tidal waves and shock waves to disorient him and knock him over, but that didn't seem to work either. I remember that he used his tail to bat me aside and I fell under the water, hitting a rock with my head and was dazed. When I swam to the surface Kokaku told me that he was intrigued by me. He offered to engage in a summoning contract with me and I agreed. So along with uncle Yagura, I also look to Kokaku to be there for me. I've never attempted to summon him though. I was a curious if I had enough chakra to summon him, but I've never needed to yet.

"You can rely on me and Mitsuru now." Jiro said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I've never had someone tell me that before. "I'll try to remember that." I said, even though it will probably take me some time to actually remember. I didn't want to dwell on the idea of trusting in someone like that, at least not in full anyway. I'm sure it will probably float around in my head for some time. Instead, I managed to change the subject. "Will you be released from the hospital soon?"

He sighed as he slumped into his pillows, "They want to keep me here for another night to make sure there isn't anymore fluid draining into my ears, so they'll release me tomorrow."

"Then you'll start training right away?" I asked.

"Maybe not right away." he said. "Mitsuru said he was going to train with me, do you want to train with us too?"

"No, I'll be training on my own." I said. Jiro looked a bit disappointed so I added, "It's nothing against the two of you, it's just better if I train alone. I won't have to worry about accidentally…" I trailed off. "You know."

He looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on his face. "Oh! Right, that." Jiro has the worst memory, still, I'm not surprised that he forgot about the state of his brothers body already. I've known him for long enough to know he has a terrible memory.

I uncrossed my arms and moved to leave the hospital room. "I'll leave you to continue healing. I need to go and do something, I'll be back."

"Huh? Oh, okay." he said. "I believe you can get stronger!" he exclaimed after me.

I didn't turn around, I just kept walking. I didn't want to see Jiro's face as I left, I would feel a little bit guilty about leaving the village after everything he said then. I opened the door that Mitsuru and Shozouki closed behind themselves earlier, I saw that they were waiting in the hallway to give me and Jiro some space.

"The two of you can go back in now." I said.

"Did he tell you about his brother?" Shozouki asked. He was standing with his arms crossed over his chest much like I was earlier. The difference between the two of us is that Shozouki is genuinely curious about my answer while I could hardly care about what anyone thinks. I don't try to let any emotion cross my face.

I nodded, "He told me about Shiro and his plans for the future. It's hard for me to understand that he would want to- I'm not sure, protect me? Fight by my side? Whatever the case, I'll have to get used to either idea."

"At least he told you. Now you know why his attitude changes constantly around you." Mitsuru said. He was leaning against the wall to support his body and relax.

"The two of you should know that I don't care if anyone fears me." I said. "I've gone nearly my whole life alone. People were either afraid of my uncle or of what I could do, so it doesn't bother me that Jiro acts the way he does. I trust in my ability to protect myself, I don't ever place my trust in anyone so there is never a moment for them to disappoint me."

Mitsuru and Shozouki frowned. Shozouki was the one to respond, "I can't fault your logic."

"I'll be going now." I didn't say anything more than that because I didn't want to accidentally give away the fact that I'll be leaving the village this afternoon.

Shozouki nodded and reentered Jiro's hospital room with Mitsuru following. I walked down the hall working my way to the stairwell that I used to get up here when I noticed one of the rooms that I passed earlier now had their door open. I was curious and decided to figure out who was staying in the room.

The room belonged to Temari, she lay on her hospital bed in a white hospital gown that seemed to be loosely tied in the front instead of the back. In between the spaces where the gown was tied I could see that she had bandages wrapped up and down her torso, they looked to stop at her waist where the blanket she had ended. Her right wrist was wrapped from when I grabbed her and threw her across the arena, that snap that I felt as I was doing it must have been some kind of fracture maybe a sprain. There were scratches all over the visible skin on her arms and face. The bruise on her right cheek was a deep purple color, I'll admit I didn't hit her as hard there as I did on the rest of her body, I didn't want to cause permanent damage to her face so I held back a bit on that punch. It still looked terrible.

Temari didn't have her hair in her pigtails, I was surprised to find out she was actually prettier with her hair down. Her golden locks fell just passed her shoulders, it was a bit unruly, which is why she probably wears it in pigtails, but I thought it looked nice. Temari didn't look as confident as she did when I first met her and Kankuro in the village about a week ago. Instead, she looked a bit lost and defeated.

I noticed that she was by herself, I know I should have just kept walking and left her to be alone with her thoughts but she went out of her way to talk to me during the preliminaries, I should at least check and see how she's doing.

I knocked on the open door to get her attention, she seemed to be deep in thought about something. I wonder what was running through her head? She blinked a few times before looking over to me, still in the doorway. I didn't plan on staying for long, just long enough to see how she is doing.

"I see that the medics got to you in time and you are recovering, how bad was it?" I asked.

"Uh, internal bleeding, a punctured lung, six broken ribs, and minor cuts and bruising." she said. She furrowed her brows, her face forming a frown. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you here?"

"I was just leaving, Jiro is down the hall." I pointed in the direction Jiro's room was. "I saw you were also here as I was leaving and decided to see how you were doing."

"I thought we would be enemies after our fight?" Temari asked confused.

"I suppose it would be easier that way, if circumstances were different I think I would like to be your friend." I said. It seems that Naruto, Jiro, and Isobu have me thinking about friends lately. Or at least ally's, which I'll admit it would be better if they were friends too, it definitely would strengthen bonds.

"That would be nice, I guess." she agreed. "Wait, what circumstances?"

"I'm not quite certain yet, but I do feel there is something big that is going to happen and I believe one of the Genin of the Leaf is a target." I didn't mention that I was also a target, I wonder if Temari knew her village wanted me to be defeated before our match.

"I don't know what you mean, but I think something is going to happen too." she said. She must not have known then.

We were quiet for a minute before I asked, "How long will it take for you to fully recover?"

"Six to eight weeks, maybe." she grumbled. I could tell that she didn't really like being stuck in a hospital bed. I still didn't regret being the one to put her in here, I do need to get to the final round afterall. "I'll be stuck in this bed for most of that time."

"At least you have a good view." I stated. The window that took up most of the left side of the room showed the village from in front of the building. You could see the many shops and their colorful overhangs, villagers walked from one to another buying the products that each store has to offer, everyone looked happy. I'll admit that this sight is much different than what would be seen in Kirigakure. It was now that I noticed the window was open letting in a nice breeze. The coldness of the breeze did remind me of Kirigakure, but that was about it.

"I guess I do," she said off handedly. "Ketto, can you come here for a minute?" It was my turn to be confused but I didn't question it, I didn't think she would try to hurt me. I walked closer to her bedside, stopping to her left. She reached for my right hand, which I moved further away from her. "I just want to see something, I promise I won't do anything to you." I wasn't worried about that, I didn't want her to see what was underneath the bandages that covered my hands. I reluctantly gave her my hand, preparing myself to snatch it away if she so much as touched the edges of my bandages. Instead, Temari squeezed my hand several times furrowing her brow. She moved down to my fingers before she said anything, "You're so cold, and your skin feels like rock?"

"My body temperature is always lower, I don't feel the cold. Not like anyone else would anyway." I completely ignored her comment about my skin feeling like rock, then I would have to come up with an excuse so that she wouldn't know why it was really like that. I can't exactly tell her that it's from my fused chakra with Isobu and that its a way his shell manifests on me.

She continued playing with my fingers, squeezing them and flexing them. She seemed so fascinated with them, I didn't feel like pulling my hand away. Thankfully, she seemed to realize what she was doing and let go sheepishly. "Sorry about that." she said. "It was just something I've been wondering about since our match."

I understood, if I was being pummeled by seemingly rock hard fists I would be curious too. Since we were talking about things we were curious about, I decided to ask about the person who's chakra I could feel above us, Gaara. My eyes flicked to the window but it didn't feel like he was going to move to come in, so he must be sitting on the roof. I briefly wondered if he could hear us, but I decided I didn't care. I could always ask, but that doesn't mean Temari would respond to my question. "Gaara's bloodlust isn't his own, is it?" I've experienced other people's bloodlust, until now I've never met someone who let it consume them like how Gaara does.

"W-what do you mean?" she stammered, there was a blush on her cheeks and she wouldn't meet my gaze. It was as if I asked about something that I shouldn't have known about. I remembered Temari wasn't there after our match to see me calm Gaara down from his urge to kill.

"I grew up in the Bloody Mist, I know bloodlust when I see it and I've never seen someone be so consumed before." I said. I also added, "After our match he almost lost his control over it. He didn't even react to Kankuro when he talked to him."

Temari sighed and closed her eyes, "Gaara is the jinchuuriki of the one tailed demon, Shukaku."

I already had a feeling that he was a jinchuuriki, but it is nice to have it confirmed rather than just assuming. Now his vast amounts of chakra, and bloodlust make sense. "I see, that would explain some things."

"You mean you're not afraid?" Temari asked looking confused.

"No," I said. In an off handed way I added, "I was raised by the jinchuuriki of the three tailed demon, Isobu. He is the only one that has ever cared for me." As much as I want to say Zabuza cared for me, I know that he was only ever using me as a weapon. That's how he treated everything and everyone, so I shouldn't be too offended by the thought. "So, there wouldn't be a reason for me to feel intimidated by Gaara. The only thing anyone should fear about him is that no one helped him try to control his demon. He's had to try and figure that out on his own."

"You were raised by a jinchuuriki? And you weren't afraid of them?" she looked shocked. Her dark turquoise colored eyes widened.

"He was all I've ever known, I didn't know I was supposed to be afraid of him so I wasn't." I started, "Even when I was told by other people what kind of person he was when I wasn't around I still didn't care. All I knew as a child was that he raised me as his own child when my parents died and I love him as if he was my father." Temari looked down at her lap looking guilty. "Something tells me that like Kankuro, you are also afraid of Gaara."

Temari looked up to me, "How do you know that?"

"He told me yesterday, and it's pretty easy to tell with how the two of you act around Gaara." I said. "You can still be the sister he needs, everyone is susceptible to change."

"What are you doing here? Get away from her." a voice growled by the doorway. I looked to see Kankuro seething in anger, his hands were at his side clenched into fists.

"It's okay Kankuro, I called her over to me." Temari said. "She was just walking by when she checked to see how I was recovering, she was going to leave right away but I called her over here and we've been talking for a while, right Ketto?"

"Yeah, Temari is really nice to talk to." I said.

"Temari, we didn't come here to make friends." Kankuro reprimanded.

"I know, it would be nice though." Temari said dejectedly.

"I think I should go now." I believed Suna was planning something, I don't know what it is or who the primary target is, but even I'll admit that it is strange Suna ninja's came after my team in the Forest of Death and in the preliminaries I was pitted against Temari. It's almost like it was planned in a way that the Suna ninja's were supposed to defeat the Kiri ninja's. Or maybe I'm reading into it too much. Either way it doesn't seem to be a coincidence anymore now that I'm slated to fight Kankuro in the final round.

I left my place at Temari's bedside and walked across the room. I brushed passed Kankuro as I passed him. "Use your time wisely this month. I look forward to our fight." I said. I continued walking out of the room and down the hallway to the stairwell. I've had enough of hospitals today, I can't stand the smell. I can handle the smell of blood, it's just the smell of disinfectant is too overpowering.

I walked passed the check in desk and out the front doors to the hospital. When I was on the street I ignored the urge to look back and meet the eyes of the one staring at me, but I already knew who it was. On second thought, he should know that I am aware of him. I don't want him thinking he has some kind of upper hand over me.

I looked up and met Gaara's curious gaze before I fully disappeared in with the crowd of shoppers. I vaguely wondered if I would need anything for my trip to the land of Waves. I had a few snacks in my bag, I don't eat much so I'm not worried about getting hungry. It should be okay if I ate something before I left, that ramen place I went to with Naruto was pretty good. I think it was called Ichiraku Ramen.

I started to make my way in that direction, or at least what I thought was that direction, I didn't quite remember where it was. I was only there one time about a week ago so it's understandable that I wouldn't know where it was. It seemed I didn't have to worry about finding it though when I heard an excited shout, "Ketto, Ketto over here!"

It was Naruto, he was waving at me with a big smile stretched across his face. I walked to him saying, "I was on my way to Ichiraku Ramen, but I don't remember my way there."

"That's okay, I'll take you there. I'm kind of hungry too." he said. He started walking, I kept pace with him, keeping him to my right. "Hey, when we're done eating do you think you can teach me some of your taijutsu? Or maybe some other cool trick or something?"

"I don't think I'll be able to. When I was done eating I was going to leave the village for a little while." I said. Naruto's face fell and I felt the need to add, "If I come back early enough I might be able to teach you something?"

"Really? That would be so cool!" he exclaimed. We approached Ichiraku Ramen pretty fast, so I must have been close before. "You know, when we're done eating I should find Kakashi sensei and ask him to train me. I want to get a head start on my training."

We each took a seat at the counter and ordered our food. "You mean you're going to train the whole month that we were given?" I asked.

"Well yeah," he turned to look at me, "Aren't you leaving the village to do some training?"

"Not really," I replied.

"Why not, aren't you worried about making it to the final round?" he asked.

"No, Kankuro's chakra is weaker than Temari's so I'm not at all worried that I'll be able to defeat him." I said. "Why, are you worried that we won't be able to face off in the final round?" From what the tournament sheet shows my half of the matches has an extra match and that is Jiro and Mitsuru's, whoever wins that one gets a free pass to go against whoever wins from the second round between either me and Kankuro or Shino and Shikamaru. So at some point I'll probably have to go against one of my teammates., I wonder how that would go?

"I'm not really all that worried about it, you're pretty strong. I don't doubt you'll make it to the final round." he said. "It's just, if you're not training during that month you'll be gone from the village then what are you doing?"

We were given our ramen and I separated my chopsticks before picking at the noodles. "I was thinking about going to the land of waves to pay my respects, maybe arrange to have him taken back to Kirigakure." I said softly. "You know, so he can rest at home where he belongs."

"You mean Zabuza?" he asked. I nodded. "I almost forgot he was your brother."

"That's okay, I don't expect you to remember." I said.

"Are you going by yourself?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to bother anyone with this kind of thing, so I decided to just go myself." I lifted a big bunch of noodles to my lips, blowing on them a bit before biting.

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked looking to me. "Because I can, I can show you where he was buried too."

"No, I don't want to interfere with your training. Didn't you want Kakashi to train you?" I questioned.

"That's right!" he exclaimed as if just remembering. "But if you want me to go with you I will."

"I can go by myself, it's probably better that way." I took some more noodles from my bowl. "Hey Naruto, if it isn't too much to ask, could you tell me what you thought about him? Everyone thinks he lives up to his name of being the heartless demon from the Mist, only I knew a different Zabuza." He didn't show that he cared about anything, but in his own way I felt that he cared about me. I'll admit that sometimes I doubted even that.

"Well, he was definitely strong, I even think he was stronger than Kakashi sensei. I know that if Zabuza continued fighting against us we wouldn't stand a chance, honestly he could have killed us at anytime." Naruto said. He was sobered up from his normally cheerful attitude. "I was actually pretty scared of him, I didn't know if we would be able to defeat him and I thought that I wouldn't survive the mission to become a stronger ninja. But then Haku was killed in front of him and he seemed to not care about his death. I yelled at him, saying that Haku cared for him and was loyal to him and that he didn't care." Naruto looked to me. His blue eyes shown with an emotion that confused me though I was able to recognize it as heartbreak. I thought that Naruto may start to cry, but not a single tear fell from his eyes. "Why would he not care? If someone cared for me like that I would have fought harder, or been crying, something! He was emotionless. Why would he act that way Ketto?"

"I'm not sure how much you know about the the land of Water, but at a young age we are taught to dismiss emotion in order to become an effective ninja. When Haku died Zabuza reacted the way that he always has, emotionless." I said. I can't recall a time Zabuza ever cried or showed any emotion other than anger. Even the night that he defected from the village, I never suspected a thing. He even attempted to kill uncle Yagura the night he defected. The two of them never got along, but Zabuza never thought about killing him. Or at least I didn't think he did.

"I think something I said triggered something in him. That was when he started crying and reacting the way he should have when Haku died." Naruto said. "He could barely move, his arms were broken and he had various weapons sticking out of his body. He asked me for a kunai and I threw him one, I believed he could avenge Haku's death and I was proven right when he leapt into the air and caught the kunai with his teeth. He fought his way through Gato's men, with his progress towards Gato he had more and more weapons lodged into his body. He somehow managed to kill Gato and that was when the rest of Gato's men fled and Zabuza collapsed."

"That's how I pictured he would fall. He never knew when to give up. I'll admit that I'm the same way. It was part of our training. We were taught to push our bodies to the limit and then keep pushing it. I'm not surprised with his actions." I said.

"Just wait, I'm not finished. There was something I remembered. I forgot about it until now because when I first heard it I was a bit confused by his request." Naruto said. I stayed quite and he continued, "He asked us to carry him over to Haku, so we did. We stayed by his side until he took his last breaths. He way crying uncontrollably and kept saying 'she's not safe, I've failed her. Tell Ketto that I tried to go back to her, tell her that I love her."

I was quiet, I didn't know what to say. Of course I'm not safe, I'm the three tails jinchuuriki but the only people that know that are me, uncle Yagura and maybe Zabuza himself. I never knew if he actually knew the truth of that or if he just suspected. Either way I should be safe right now, there was no way for that information to be leaked to anyone hostile. Unless Zabuza knew something that made him believe I was in danger. Maybe that's why he thinks he's failed me?

"He said he loved me?" I questioned, it felt like something was stuck in my throat. I tried clearing my throat which seemed to work but I still felt it, whatever that feeling was.

"Yeah, does that shock you?" he asked curiously.

"He's never said that to me before. The first and last time he says he loves me is when he's dying." I said. "Honestly, I didn't know he felt that way. He's always kept himself distanced from me, well everyone really."

"It sounds like you've had a hard life. I've never really had someone care about me before, but I still crave attention." he said. "I really just want someone to notice me. How do you not let that bother you?"

"I only ever wanted my uncles attention. He trains with me and has helped me grow stronger." I said. "To me, no one else matters. I rely on my own strength to progress as a ninja because I know there won't be anyone that I could trust to have my back."

"Well, you've got me!" he beamed. "I'm your friend, you can always count on me to have your back. Even if our villages are far from each other, if you need me I'll come."

I didn't know how to feel, but I felt happy? I could feel a soft smile spread across my face for Naruto's promise. I can't remember the last time I gave a genuine smile. I didn't mind Naruto's words it was just a different feeling from earlier when Jiro said something along the same lines. Jiro didn't know much about me, but he did know more than Naruto. He knew about my graduation, and throughout the years he knew about my position as the Mizukage's right hand. I've killed off whole clans, hunted enemy ninja, and even infiltrated enemy nations for the Mizukage.

Despite knowing all of that Jiro chose to get stronger to be of assistance to me. I couldn't wrap my head around the thought of Jiro knowing all of that about me but still deciding he wanted to help me. It was a little easier for me to accept Naruto's words because he didn't know nearly as much as Jiro did about me and Naruto has never shown me any fear.

Still with the smile on my face I said, "The same will apply with me. If you ever need my help while I'm in Kirigakure just send word and I'll come."

Naruto grinned wide, "You know Ketto, you have a nice smile. You should smile more often."

"I'll try." I supposed it's better than nothing, right? "Naruto, where exactly was my brother buried?"

"We buried him right next to Haku overlooking the Great Naruto bridge. We used his sword as a grave marker for the two of them." he said.

I looked to Naruto curiously. "You have a bridge named after you?"

"Yeah, old man Tazuna named the bridge after me." he smiled again. "He's the master bridge builder we had to escort down there. At first he was annoying and he kept doubting our abilities, but he's not that bad of a person."

I was still a bit shocked that Naruto had a bridge named after him. He is going to be a ninja loved by all in the future, I can feel it. He's going to change the world one day for the better. I'm glad that he's my friend. I'll have to tell my uncle to maintain alliances with the land of Fire, I don't know what I would do if I had to extinguish my friendship with my first friend.

While thinking of my uncle, I had a thought. "Naruto, If I gave you a letter would you send it for me? I'm not sure where to go for that kind of thing here."

"Sure, what's it about?" he asked.

"I was going to write to the Mizukage so that he could send someone to meet me in the land of Waves to retrieve Zabuza's body." I explained.

Naruto turned to the owner of the stand asking for paper and a pen. When he got them he handed them over to me. "Here you go, write what you need to and I'll take care of the rest."

"Thanks." I took both the pen and paper from him and started to write my letter. I wrote what I knew about the location of Zabuza's body. I even added that there was a second body that is buried next to his that will also be taken back to Kirigakure. When I asked Kakashi a week ago about the two he said that Haku was a Yuki, I also wrote that down so that there would be a name for his grave marker. I also added that I was going to the land of Waves and that whoever he sent to collect the bodies should either look for me or this Tazuna person Naruto mentioned. When I was finished, I folded up the letter and wrote Mizukage on the top of it before handing it over to Naruto. "Thanks again for doing this."

"Don't mention it." he grinned wide. It's like he's always happy. I wonder how he stays that happy?

The two of us finished our ramen and paid the owner. Naruto offered to walk me to the front gates to see me off. Before we could get there we saw Kakashi. Naruto darted off towards him. "Kakashi sensei, can you train me for the finals?!"

Naruto's smile disappeared when Kakashi said, "About that, I was going to ask one of my Jounin friends if he would train with you." he said sheepishly.

"Why can't you train me?"

"I was going to train with Sasuke. He needs a little extra… help." Kakashi said.

"Is is because of his shoulder?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi looked to me curiously.

"During his fight I noticed there was something wrong with his shoulder. He kept grabbing it and at one point there were markings that were coming out of it." I said. "It's an imbalance of chakra, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah, that's right." he said. He continued to watch me with his one good eye. "You're pretty perceptive."

"I've been trained by the best. I always pay attention to my surroundings." I replied. Naruto still looked sad over the fact that Kakashi won't be able to train him. "Actually Kakashi, would it be alright if I train with Naruto?"

"But Ketto, I thought you said you were going to be leaving the village to see Zabuza?" Naruto asked.

"I'll still go, but I can leave you with something to work on in the meantime." I said. I turned back to Kakashi, "Well Kakashi? You wouldn't have to ask your friend to teach him anymore."

"I guess, but you're from a different village. Why would you want to help Naruto beat you?" he asked skeptically.

"I'm not helping Naruto to beat me. I'm helping a friend get to the last round of the finals so that we could battle each other." I said. "We made a promise to each other to make it to the final round."

"Then you can." Kakashi said. "See you around." he lifted his hand to wave at us and used the transportation jutsu to disappear.

"You're going to train me!?" Naruto exclaimed. He was excited, it was easy to tell.

"Yes, I'll train you. Is there a place we can go that has lots of water?" I asked.

"The hot springs, would that work?"

"It will do just fine. We should go deliver that letter first and then we can go to the hot springs." I suggested.

"Okay, this way!" I followed Naruto. He brought us to a place that held many birds. There were mostly pigeons and falcons, but I thought I saw an owl in the mix. Naruto rolled up my letter and put it in a small container that was tied to a falcons leg. He picked up the falcon and said, "To Kirigakure." Then he released the bird. "There we go, it should make it to Kirigakure in no time."

"Good, now let's go to the hot springs." I suggested. "I have an hour or two before I should be leaving. That should be enough time to teach you something."

Together we walked to the hot springs, with Naruto directing me on where to go. When we reached the hot springs we wove around the buildings to get to the water. The air over here was hot and steamy, I'm not sure I liked the feeling being that I'm used to the cold, but I think it might have been nice to relax in. Maybe I'll have to come back some other time to relax, we don't have any hot springs in the land of water.

Standing on the bridge by the hot springs I said, "I suppose I should have asked you if you could walk on water."

"Walk on water?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Is it possible to walk on water?"

I took his response as his answer of not knowing how. "I'll teach you how to do that then."

"Are you sure you know how to walk on water?" he asked, eyes narrowed.

"I wouldn't suggest teaching you if I didn't know how." I said. "Here, I'll show you." I walked off of the bridge we were standing on and turned to start walking on the water of the small river. Before my feet could touch the water I focused some chakra into my feet. As I walked I adjusted the chakra to match the current to keep myself upright. Once I got to the middle of the river I stopped and turned to Naruto.

"You've been able to walk across water this whole time?!" Naruto was amazed. "What do I have to do!"

"Have you ever walked up a tree before by only using the chakra in your feet?" I asked. I've never had to do the exercise, for sword training they jump straight to walking on water. That's the first step in mastering how to handle a sword anyway. You have to know how to walk on water before the instructor would even give you a sword, so that's what I focused on.

"Oh yeah, is it like that?"he questioned. He stepped towards the water's surface wanting to give it a try.

"It's similar but there's a bit more too it. In the exercise where you walk up a tree you focus your chakra at a constant rate of output. For this you have to constantly change your chakra output to match the waters current." I explained.

He nodded his head, "I think I've got it." He tried to walk on the water by doing what I said. He took one step onto the water and as he was moving the other foot for a step he fell forward and into the water. It took a couple of moments for Naruto surface and spit some water out of his mouth. "It's so hot!"

"Think of it as motivation to not fall in again." I said. "Here, let me help you." I held my hand out for him to grab onto. He took hold of my hand and I pulled him up out of the water without too much difficulty. He wrapped his arms around my side and put most of his weight on me so that he wouldn't be in to water. "Try again, remember the current is constantly changing so your chakra must too."

"Alright, I'll try again." He let go of me. He only lasted a couple of seconds before falling again.

I spent the next hour pulling him out of the water before he started to get the hang of it. His feet were still under the water but his ankles were above the water. It's progress.

"Ketto, look I'm doing it!" he cheered. I couldn't tell if he was looking at his reflection or if he was staring at his submerged feet.

"In no time at all you'll be as good as me." I said. I only just noticed that my clothes were wet from helping Naruto out of the water all of those times. I didn't mind, I just wish there was a breeze to cool me off, but I think that might be asking too much at a hot spring.

"Once I have this water walking thing down what will we do?" He asked still focusing on his feet.

"Then you will learn to perform other jutsu like your shadow clone jutsu while on the water." I said. "In Kirigakure we would teach you how to wield a blade, but I believe you should focus on what you already know."

He nodded in understanding. "Hey Ketto, do you see what I see?" Naruto's eyes were narrowed at something behind me.

I turned around to see an older man with long white hair kneeling over by the partition leading to what sounded like the woman's side from the giggles I could hear. He also seemed to be giggling. It seems we have ourselves a pervert.

I gestured to Naruto to follow me. I walked off of the water and over to the perverted man without him noticing me or Naruto. I knelt next to the giggling man on his left side and casually said, "Look Naruto, it's a random pervert. What should we do to him?"

Naruto was on the man's right side and said, "I think we should teach him a lesson." He smirked, then flexed his fist.

We each grabbed one of the older mans shoulders and punched him in the face causing his body to fly backwards a few feet. The man landed on his back. He grunted before sitting up. "You little punks are interfering with my research."

"Research?" I questioned. I rose to my feet and placed my hands on my hips, looking down at the man expectantly.

"What kind of sick twisted research is this?!" Naruto shouted disgustedly.

"It's none of your business." the man said darkly. His head was tilted forward casting a dark shadow across his face. He did a series of fast hand signs, wait, is that? The man placed his palm flat on the ground, "Summoning jutsu!"

A larger than average toad appeared under the man's hand. It was red with orange spots on it. The toads tongue darted out of its mouth and was coming toward me. I could have dodged, but I'm not really one for running away from a fight. I stood my ground and raised my left left arm. The toads tongue wrapped around my forearm and I braced myself for what was to come. There was a tug on my forearm, I held my ground the best I could but my feet were still dragged a foot or so before I managed to maintain my position.

"Hey! Let go of Ketto old man!" Naruto yelled. He charged towards the man while making two shadow clones of himself. They each had a kunai pulled out and it looked like they were going to converge on the old man at the same time.

I pried the toads tongue off of my forearm so that I could help Naruto. I ran forward pulling out my own specialized kunai. While Naruto ran at the man from the front and sides, I used a bit of Isobu's speed to appear behind him. Naruto's shadow clones were beaten and Naruto was tossed to the side. I rested my kunai against the man's neck as he stepped to go after Naruto.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." I said. I tilted my kunai so the protrusion near the top was slightly digging into the skin of his neck.

"Huh? You're a fast one." he muttered. "What do you want?"

"We were only trying to stop you from peeking on those ladies. It's indecent." I said.

"Yeah, What kind of research was it that you were doing?!" Naruto yelled. He picked himself off the ground and approached us. I slowly took my kunai away from the man's neck and put it back into my kunai pouch.

"I'm a writer, I'm the author of the Icha Icha series." He said while rubbing his neck absently. "I'm also the Legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya!" He went into a pose.

I looked at him confused, "Legendary?" I questioned. I crossed my arms. "I've never heard of you."

"Those are the pervy books Kakashi senses reads!" Naruto exclaimed while pointing at the man.

"Ah, so you do know of me." Jiraiya stayed seemingly proud of himself.

"Hardly, those books are trashy." Naruto said indifferent.

"W-what?!" Jiraiya was shocked. He seemed so distraught that we didn't know who he was. Suddenly, his face turned serious and he turned to me. "I believe I know of you."

"Do you?" I questioned. "If that's the case then I apologize for not knowing who you are." After hearing about who he was I still didn't recognize him. The only people worth keeping an eye on were in the land of water, because most of them defected. Like the Demon Brothers, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and the Demon's of the Mist. I was still affiliated with the land of water, but of course I meant my brother.

"You're one of the Demon's of the Mist, the only one now from what I've heard." Jiraiya said. "What are you doing here?"

"She's here for the Chunin exams pervy sage." Naruto said. "She's moving on to the final round, just like me!" Naruto's smile was plastered on his face once again.

"Is she now?" Jiraiya looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Why is a Kirigakure ninja participating in the Chunin exams? They haven't participated in over a decade."

"The Mizukage decided it was time for change." I said. Though I'm still not sure if that's the reasoning behind him sending me here. He didn't exactly get the chance to explain, he just said that he would when it was a better time.

"I see." Jiraiya said. "Well, I need to get back to my research." He turned away to go back to the partition only for Naruto to step in his way.

"I don't think so." Naruto crosses his arms.

"Don't you have something better to do?" I asked.

"Not really, now if you'll get out of the way." he said to Naruto.

I thought for a moment, if he was really a legendary sage then maybe he could help Naruto prepare for the finals. That way Naruto won't have to do his training on his own.

"Jiraiya," I started, he turned to me from glaring at Naruto, "would you be willing to train with Naruto this month? His sensei is focusing on another student leaving him with no one to train him."

"What?! Ketto, what do you mean?" Naruto shouted, "You think this pervy sage can teach me anything? He gets distracted by ladies, I bet he wouldn't stand a chance against my sexy jutsu!"

Together Jiraiya and I said, "Sexy jutsu?"

Naruto did a hand sign and transformed himself into a naked blonde woman with clouds of smoke covering the chest and butt. Naruto had his hands clenched together. "I'm Naruko, can I help you?" Naruto's voice was more feminine and wispy sounding.

"That's a pretty impressive transformation, but it's still indecent." I said.

Jiraiya was pulled out of his trance by my voice. "How about this kid, you do your jutsu for me a few times and I'll teach you a trick or two."

I didn't know if I should be creeped out by Jiraiya's smile and blush combination at Naruto's transformation. I mean I've seen worse, so I shouldn't let any of this bother me.

"Why would I do that?!" Naruto yelled while still in his transformed state.

"Naruto, it may not be ideal, but I have to leave for the land of waves and you won't have anyone else to train with you." I said to him. He looked as if he was going to argue against it when I added, "You did say you wanted to go against me in the final match didn't you? Jiraiya could help you get there."

Naruto looked away from us as he transformed back into himself. "Fine." he grumbled.

"Wait don't turn back yet!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"I'll transform back once you teach me something you perv." Naruto snapped.

"Then I can leave you to Jiraiya, I'll see you when I come back from the land of waves." I said. "I'll be leaving now, I've already spent too much extra time in the village."

"I'll get stronger so I can face you in the final round, believe it!" he shouted.

I casually waved to him and sent a soft smile before turning to leave. There was still much of the day left, but I had planned on leaving earlier than this. I walked to the villages front gates without anymore distractions. I collected my bag from Izumo and Kotetsu and then I was on my way to the land of Waves.