I stood in amazement at the bridge that spanned over a vast amount of water. I've never seen anything like it, in the land of water we use boats to travel from one island to the next. Up until recently, there was no such thing as bridges connecting to the mainland. If it wasn't for my brothers sacrifice and his killing Gato this bridge probably wouldn't exist right now.

I started my trek across the bridge wondering how long it would take me to reach the island. I suppose it didn't matter how long it takes me, I've been dragging my feet and enjoying the scenery the whole way here as a way to stall for time. I hope a ninja from Kirigakure will be on their way to the land of Waves, that was the main reason I've been dragging my feet. Other than that the thought of me visiting my brother hasn't quite settled yet.

It took me five days to travel this far, like I said I was taking my time. I spent a lot of time talking with Isobu. I convinced him that I was no longer interested in that technique I've been wanting him to teach me, but I don't think I'll ever not be interested. Instead, I decided that if he thinks I'm ready for it then he can teach me. I'm getting tired of his silent treatment everytime I ask about it, so now I've left the decision to him on when he would want to teach me. That is if he would ever want to teach me.

Other than that, we've been talking more. Isobu seems to look forward to my daily visits, which may have to come to an end once I get back to the Leaf village.

It took a solid hour for me to cross the bridge. I know it would have been faster if I wasn't walking, but I didn't care. I was here now.

I looked around at the surroundings. I remember Naruto said Zabuza and Haku were buried within view of the bridge, honestly though, that could be anywhere. The bridge was very large and there was lots of land overlooking the bridge. I'm sure I'll find the right spot though. The executioner's blade is very large, it would be easy to find as a grave marker. Or at least it would be in theory. From what I could tell, I'll definitely have my work cut out for me. I don't even know where to begin looking.

Upon entering the village I received several stares. It took me a little while to realize these people don't really deal with ninja. At least from what I could tell there weren't any here. This must just be a village of normal civilians then. A thoughtful look overcame my face, what would my life have been like if I wasn't from a family of ninja? I stopped walking and mentally shook myself from that thought, I would probably be weak.

"Excuse me Miss?" voiced a child. I looked down to see a small boy with dark brown hair and dark eyes, he looked to be at least eight or nine years old.

"Hn?" I gave the child my attention wondering what he could want.

"You're a ninja right?" he asked. I nodded my head yes. "Are you from the land of Fire like Naruto?" his eyes gleamed in admiration either from the fact that I was a ninja or that I could possibly know Naruto.

"I'm actually a ninja of the land of Water." I turned my head slightly so that he would be able to see the land of water symbol on my side ways forehead protector. The child's smile faded from his face. "Don't worry, the lands of Fire and Water are allied, so I won't hurt you. I'm also friends with Naruto."

"Huh? You are friends with him?!" the gleam of happiness in his eyes returned at the mention of Naruto. I want someone to admire me like that, it's heartwarming.

"I am, he wanted to come with me on my visit here, but he had to train for the Chunin exams." I said.

"Do you have someplace to stay? You can stay with us while you're here." he said.

"I just got here, I only got to look around."

He grabbed my forearm and started to pull me. I didn't want to come off as a jerk so I let him. "Come with me. It's almost supper time anyway."

"Wait, I don't even know your name." I said. The child just kept pulling me along behind him.

"My name is Inari." he didn't stop pulling, so I continued to follow.

"I'm Ketto Momochi from Kirigakure." I said.

Inari brought the two of us to a house built on stilts over the water. He pushed open the door while still maintaining his grip on me. "I'm home! I brought a friend!" he called into the house.

"Hn? Who do you have with you?" Inari pulled me into a dining area. The voice belonged to an older man with graying hair. Glasses adorned his face and his tanned body was quite muscular for someone of his age. There was also a younger woman who was setting food on the table.

"This is Ketto, she's a friend of Naruto." Inari finally let go of me to show me to the man. "Ketto, this is my grandpa, Tazuna."

"Tazuna?" I questioned. "The bridge builder Tazuna?"

"Yeah, you've heard of me?" he asked curiously.

"Naruto said you could help me find someone." I said.

"Oh," he raised a brow, "and who would that be?"

"His name is Zabuza."

"I see." he said. "You are aware of his condition, right?"

"I am, I've actually come to arrange for him to be taken to Kirigakure along with Haku." I said.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but did you know Zabuza?" the woman asked.

"I don't mind." I replied. "I'm Zabuza's younger sister."

"I'm sorry about that, my name is Tsunami. Please have a seat and help yourself to some food."

"That's okay, I can always eat in the village or go fishing." I said. I slowly backed up. "I don't want to intrude on your family time."

"It's okay, we don't mind." Tsunami said with a smile.

"Yeah, just sit down." Tazuna agreed, "You should take off that sword first, it looks heavy."

I detached my sword from my belt that loops over my left shoulder. I held it for a moment not sure where to put it so that no one would accidentally touch it and poison themselves. I looked around and decided to lean it against the wall behind the chair I chose to sit in. I think as long as I keep Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari within sight I can keep an eye out for them and make sure they don't get too close to my sword.

I sat down in the spare chair for me, "Actually, I've been carrying that sword for so long I hardly even realize I'm carrying it anymore." I said. I accepted the plate of food Tsunami offered me. "It's really helped build my strength over the years. Now I feel like I can lift almost anything." Being stronger than people my age shocks most people, but if you've had extensive training it would make sense.

"It looks similar to the one your brother carried." Tazuna observed it behind me as it lay against the wall.

"That's because this one was meant to condition me to one day wield my brothers sword. This sword has the same dimensions as his sword." I explained. Or at least my Kukushibyo was mostly similar, it doesn't have any missing sections of the blade like the executioner's blade does for decapitating people.

"I see, I'll take you to him in the morning." Tazuna said. "In the meantime, we have an extra room you can stay in for the night if you don't have anywhere to stay."

At first I was going to say no, because I didn't want to intrude more than I was but then I decided to accept their kindness. It saves me the trouble of having to find somewhere else to stay and I doubt these people would let me stay anywhere else that wasn't with them. "Thank you, that would be nice."

When we were done eating Tsunami showed me to the room I could stay in. I carried my sword with me, being mindful of Tsunami as she opened a door to a room for me. There wasn't much in the room, just a single bed placed in the middle of the room, but that was more than enough. I never really cared much for material items, so it didn't bother me that this room didn't look like it was lived in.

"You can stay here." Tsunami said.

"Thank you, it's more than enough." I replied.

"Sleep well, Ketto."

I placed my sword against the wall by the left side of the bed, then I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

The next day Tsunami made us all breakfast. When we were done eating Tazuna and I left the house for him to bring me to Zabuza's grave. I was more than ready to see him. I feel as if I waited too long before coming here, I should have come right away.

Tazuna brought me to an open area that overlooked the new bridge. The ground looked like it had been untouched for awhile, which was a good thing. At least I won't have to worry about anyone disturbing the grave. There wasn't a marker signifying my brother was here, instead his executioner's blade was planted in the ground between the two places the Earth was dug when they were buried. "Here you go, I'll leave you to yourself now." he left me. Now, I was by myself with my brother and Haku.

I stood there facing Zabuza's executioner's blade for a while not quite knowing what to do with myself. I didn't know how I should feel or what it was that I was feeling. I did know that I didn't care as much about his death as I should have. Zabuza defected from the village years ago, he tried to kill uncle Yagura and attempted to take me with him. Or at least I heard from uncle Yagura that Zabuza planned on taking me with him, but that night I wasn't in the Kage tower, I was out late that night in one of the training grounds wanting to get stronger. I haven't seen Zabuza since that morning and nothing seemed off to me. I never would have thought that he would do what he did.

Before he left he always included me in his training. He didn't see me as a weak kid sister like he should have, he acted as if I was his equal. That's why I was out training my myself that night, I wanted to try and become stronger than him. I wanted him to see me as someone worthy of be a challenge to fight instead of us being evenly matched. All of the fighting techniques that I knew before he left were the things he taught me. After he left was when uncle Yagura took over my training and started spending more time with me.

I think Zabuza trained with me until I was at his level because he wanted a sparring partner he could rely on. Of all of the other seven ninja swordsmen I remember Zabuza always took his training more seriously than they did, which I didn't seem to mind as a kid, I was just happy my brother wanted to spend some time with me. It really was the only way we could bond as siblings, otherwise, I'm not sure Zabuza could have connected with a sister at all. He wasn't really prone to talking to women in general, so he must have used fighting as a medium for us to get closer, it was the only thing he was really certain about. He must have been relieved that I took to fighting as well as I did.

Zabuza knew the truth about me being the host of the three tails. There was only going to be a limited time until he found out. He would want to know why his sisters skin can't be pierced with any blade. When he found out he only wanted to train me harder.

Sometimes I wonder if he actually cared for me. Thinking back, I remember Kisame was always the one to ask me if I was alright after a mission. He would check me over for injuries that I knew wouldn't be there and he would pat my head everytime I did a good job. I suppose that once you think about it Kisame cared more for me than Zabuza did. I didn't mind that much either, I can't imagine what my life would have been like if Zabuza cared about me, that thought is too far from my reach.

I can't even imagine what my life would have been like if I was part of a normal family. The kind of family where the parents would be alive and the older brother would be protective of his younger sister. The brother would take on life's challenges so that the younger sister wouldn't have too. What if that was Zabuza? I can't really imagine that either.

I took my sword off of my belt, resting it across my legs as I folded them underneath me. I think I'll be here for awhile so I might as well get more comfortable. I sighed and realized that something was wrong with my throat. It was hard to take in breaths and exhale without shaking, it was almost as if something was stuck in my throat. My hand went up to my neck to discover nothing was there. My neck felt physically fine, but why do I feel this way?

My eyes burned and tears started to fall. The last time I cried was when I was five. I remember that Zabuza came at me with his executioner's blade for the first time. I was doing just fine until I focused too much on his eyes, for a moment I believed he was trying to kill me and that scared me. I remember he told me that being we were both born into the life of a ninja that I should expect everyone will try to kill me, even my brother. He said that as long as I fought with everything I had and kept a calm mind I would grow as a ninja. Since then I haven't cried. Somehow this feels different, my throat didn't hurt that time. It was just a few tears, but now I can't seen to make them stop.

I tried to control my breathing, but my breaths seemed to come out in pants because my throat hurt. Why couldn't Zabuza still be alive? At least then I could foolishly believe he would someday come back for me. It would be something for me to hope for. I could dream that he would come back to me, he would resolve his differences with uncle Yagura and we would all live together in Kirigakure. But I'm not stupid, I know that never would have happened, still it would have been a nice thought.

Would he have fought for me the way he did for Haku? I like to believe he would but honestly I'm not sure if that would be the case. The doubt saddens me, but maybe I'm overreacting. He told Naruto he loved me and when I think about it I love him too. I wish I could have seen him one more time while he was alive, but life is cruel. I'll never be able to tell him that I loved him too, that despite everything we've been through together that he was my brother, someone I would fight for, someone I might even kill for if it came down to it. My loyalty to the my uncle as the Mizukage is what drives me to kill for him, but if someone were to threaten Zabuza's life then I wouldn't hesitate to go after them if Zabuza hadn't taken care of them already.

I bowed my head to the executioner's blade and continued to cry not carrying if anyone happened across me. Time passed while I contemplated the 'what if's' of my life. The sun started to set, I didn't care much, I was going to stay in my position until I decided my grieving became pitiful.

The tears stopped falling some time ago, but I stayed in place, not moving. A shadow cast over me, curious I looked up to see a member of Kirigakure's anbu. A glance at the muscular body and his mask with the purple slashes cutting across the white porcelain over his left eye told me all I needed to know about who it was, Emon. I don't know his real name, I've never had the need to learn it. I don't know much about him, but I do know his hair is a sandy blonde color that is always mused and his eyes are a light green. To me he seems as if he could be close to uncle Yagura's age, but that's hard to determine without getting to see ones face. I also know that Emon is an elite ninja, like me, he also takes his orders directly from the Mizukage. As far as I know, he has never partnered with anyone before, the Mizukage doesn't even order him to partner with anyone. Emon is literally a solitary shadow with the sole purpose of serving the Mizukage.

He looked down to me in my kneeled position. "Lady Ketto, the Mizukage has sent me to retrieve the body of your brother." his voice was void of any emotion, like a ninja of the Mist should be.

"Right," I said. I stood up, pulling my Kukoshibyo with me and attaching it to the belt on my back once more. "There is another, his name was Haku Yuki. He was precious to my brother."

"From the Yuki clan?" he questioned.

"Yes, he had the kekkei genkai of his clan that manifested itself as ice mirrors." I explained. I looked to the place Haku was buried. "If it's possible, I would like for Haku to be buried next to my brother in Kirigakure."

Emon was quiet for a moment before saying, "I'll make arrangements, you have nothing to worry about Lady Ketto." He didn't move, he stood there a bit longer. "What should we do about the executioner's blade?" His concern could have been about his ability to wield it. The seven ninja swords of the Mist pick their wielder and not the other way around, so only select few can become one of the seven ninja swordsmen. They are ninja with higher concentrations of chakra than a normal ninja. Ninja who have survived a graduation exam have a higher probability of being a wielder, in essence Emon shouldn't have worried about it. Maybe he knew that I wanted it for myself? As Zabuza's sister and with my compatibility with the blade I am designated to be the next wielder of the blade as it has been long before Zabuza defected.

"I'll take care of it." I reached forward and gripped the hilt of the executioner's blade pausing only to feel the thrum of chakra coming from the blade. I detected some of Zabuza's chakra, which is likely due to the fact that he was the longest wielder of the blade and it's last. I tugged the sword up and out of its place in the ground. I was a bit surprised to feel that it was actually lighter than my Kukoshibyo. I suppose black coral would be more dense than iron. "It's lighter than I thought it would be." I mused.

"I'm not surprised." Emon voiced. "I watched you grow up and have seen you train. The Mizukage puts you through some serious strength training for you being a girl."

"He has, but I don't mind." I said. I swung the blade in the air, trying to get a feel for it. Then I managed to attach the sword across my Kukoshibyo. I must be a sight, a teenage girl with not one but two giant swords on her back, one with a silver blade and the other with a black blade. "I'll take the executioner's blade with me back to the Leaf village, the Mizukage should be there soon for the Chunin finals."

"The Mizukage will be in the Leaf village a week before the finals as a diplomatic figure." Emon said. That means I'll be seeing uncle Yagura sooner than I thought.

"Did he ask you to report my behavior?" I asked curiously.

"He did." he replied. It's like uncle Yagura is patiently waiting for me to have a break down. I understand why he's doing it, normally he wouldn't bother keeping an eye on my mental state after I kill someone for him but this time someone else took my brothers life. This is something that could greatly affect me and yet I somehow feel ashamed that I didn't quite react the way I should have. The second I found out Zabuza was dead I should have bursted into tears. Instead, I didn't shed a tear until I was in front of his resting place and even then I feel as if I prompted myself to cry.

"And your report?" I pressed.

"Besides your eyes being red there is no sign of crying or distress. If your eyes weren't red I would have thought Zabuza's death didn't affect you at all." he said.

"It almost didn't." I admitted. "Zabuza was the one to teach me that tears were a weakness. No matter how much pain I feel physically or mentally I don't cry. I tried not too, but I seemed to have lost my composure for awhile today. It wasn't because of the loss of Zabuza, but the fact that I didn't seem to care that he was gone."

"I'll tell the Mizukage that you remain unaffected." he said.

I nodded and turned to face him fully. "Would you like some help digging?"

"That won't be necessary, I'll take care of it." he said.

"Right, well I'll leave you to it." I walked back to Tazuna's having already decided that I would stay here for a couple of days. I would be able to spend a day or two in peace and I can connect with Isobu before I go back to the Leaf village.

Once I walked myself to Tazuna's the setting sun was fully over the horizon. I knocked on the door not wanting to be rude and barge into their home. Tsunami was the one to answer the door.

"Ketto? It's late." she said.

"I know, I'm sorry. I should have been back sooner." I said. "Would it be okay if I stay here with you for the next couple of days? I want to clear my head a bit before I have to make my way back."

She opened the door all the way, gesturing me to come in. "Stay as long as you need to." I entered the home and she closed the door behind me. "You must be starving, you've been out all day."

I didn't feel hungry, but I didn't want to be rude. "I am a bit hungry."

"Good, I'll heat up some food for you. Go put your sword away." she stopped for a moment. "You have another sword with you."

"It's my brothers, its mine now." I said.

"Well, go put those away and I'll get some food for you." she said. Tsunami was so caring, it was kind of refreshing.

I went to the room they said I could stay in and took both swords off of my belt, leaning them both against the wall by the bed before I went to the dining room. There, Tazuna was seated at the table with a newspaper folded open in front of him.

"You were gone for quite awhile, I thought you had maybe left the land of Waves." Tazuna said, he didn't look up from his newspaper.

"I just needed some time alone." I replied. I took a seat in the same place as the night before. Tsunami placed a plate of food in front of me. "Thank you, Tsunami."

"How was it, being out there?" Tazuna asked.

"Dad, you can't ask her that." Tsunami scolded. She nudged Tazuna's shoulder and frowned at him.

"It's okay." I said. "It was depressing. I kept remembering things that lead to his death. He may not have been a good person, but I can't help caring for him."

"Of course you can't help it, he's your brother for Christs sake." Tazuna grumbled. The newspaper rustled as he folded it up. "Look, I'll tell you this, in the end your brother turned out to be a very honorable man. He worked to right his wrongs and killed Gato. He was so moved by his own actions that I don't think he cared too much about dying. Too him, as long as Gato didn't succeed then at least he served a purpose."

It was quiet for a moment, I honestly thought Tsunami was going to yell at him again. "Thank you for your words. I'll always remember him in those moments." I mustered up a small smile for him.

"Good," he said. He relaxed in his chair more, almost as if he was waiting for my reaction. "That's a good image to remember someone as. Everytime you think of him just remember that he helped liberate the people of the Land of Waves. Know that all of our progress from here on out is thanks to him. You should be proud."

"I am, I just wish he could still be here so that I could see him one last time. I know that won't be possible, but I'll have to settle with watching the people he saved from a tyrant excel at life." I said. I started picking away at some of the food on the plate Tsunami gave to me.

"Eat up, then you should get some rest." Tsunami encouraged. "You look exhausted."

"Now that you say it, I do feel tired." I had a few more bites before I couldn't handle eating anymore. "I'm not really all that hungry, I'm sorry Tsunami."

"Are you sure you don't want to try taking another bite?" she asked.

"Tsunami, leave the girl alone. She's too upset to eat." Tazuna reprimanded her.

"I'm sorry Tsunami, I think I'm going to try and get some sleep." I got up from my seat and went to the room they're letting me use. I crawled into the bed just wanting to sleep.

I ended up staying in the land of Waves for another six days, making my overall stay a week long. Tazuna and Tsunami were very nice about letting me stay with them for as long as I did. I really just wanted to enjoy my time with them. Honestly, I wouldn't mind coming back to visit sometime, but I know that I might not get to.

Inari took me into the village a few days to show me off to his friends. It seems as if the other children in the village used to think Inari was a compulsive liar, so that would explain why he felt the need to prove himself. Inari also said there are not many ninja that pass through the land of Waves, maybe that's part of the reason the other kids didn't believe him.

I spent some days helping Tsunami around the house. I went with her into the village and carried her groceries back to the house so she wouldn't have to. I helped her clean the house spotless. I swept the floors and then scrubbed them. I helped her with laundry, cleaned the dining table and all of the counters in the kitchen. I even made supper a few nights, they were dishes that were typically made in Kirigakure but they were slightly similar to what they eat here in the land of Waves. In Kirigakure we use a lot more spices and herbs to give our dishes flavor, the first night I made supper Inari couldn't stand the spice of the food but he said it was still delicious so he kept eating.

A couple of days I even went with Tazuna and helped carry some of the heavy lumber for his projects. The men were really impressed with the heavy loads I could carry. Tazuna always kept me busy when I went with him, I think he was trying to keep my mind off of the reason of why I was there in the land of Waves, which I appreciate.

When I left them I was content with my visit.

When I left, I remember waving at Inari, Tazuna and Tsunami as I started across the bridge back into the land of Fire. I didn't plan on going straight back to the Leaf village yet, I decided that while I was near a large source of water that I would do some training because I am supposed to be preparing for the final exam to becoming a Chunin. I wasn't worried about not being strong enough to succeed, but I haven't been training lately and that bothered me. I've always trained, everyday for as long as I can remember and while I was in the land of Waves I stopped for awhile. The most I did was meditate, I didn't even get to talk with Isobu because I didn't want Inari, Tazuna, or Tsunami finding out.

The plan I had come up with was for me to travel down the coast to a non populated area and work on some water justus. I wanted to see if I could do the water dragon jutsu like Mitsuru and Zabuza, because up until now I only ever focused on my swordplay and the hiding in the mist technique. I once was able to form a giant tidal wave, but I feel like that's not as practical as other water jutsu's.

I stopped walking on the shoreline of the land of Fire when the bridge leading to the land of Waves became faint. I took both swords off of my belt and stuck them into the sand crossing each other, I didn't want their weight to distract me from my training with the water dragon jutsu. I also tossed my bag down into the sand. Then I walked forward so that I was closer to the edge of the water and stopped. I remember when Zabuza first taught me how to do this jutsu, he was so proud that he could do it. That was when he first became an anbu when he was nineteen. It was the strongest jutsu that he could perform and he was so happy. I didn't want to take that away from him so I didn't bother to remember the hand signs, but after he defected from the village uncle Yagura took over my training and that was one of the things he taught me. The hand signs were clear to me in my head, all forty-four of them.

My fingers started moving rapidly as I moved through each one, at some point in my training I focused on the speed and efficiency of delivering these hand signs. Despite that, it still felt like it took too long to complete them. It's one of the flaws of this jutsu. I'll acknowledge that it's still a powerful jutsu in it's own right. The force behind the thrust of the dragons head is damaging, but while in battle some ninja may not have the time for all forty-four hand signs.

In front of me the water rose, the spiked serpentine body emerged as the dragon I was trying to conjure. I almost expected it to roar at me, but I knew that it wouldn't. I was curious to see if I could manage to form and maintain another water dragon. I know Zabuza used to be able to, maybe I can too.

I focused on the image of another dragon in my mind. Slowly, the water to the right of the dragon already present moved to take shape. When it finished moving it appeared as the first did, only this one was half the size of the first. My brow furrowed as I felt the use of chakra, it was more draining with two dragons even if the second one was half the size. I knew it would take more chakra but I didn't think it would be this noticeable. I think that if I worked on it I wouldn't feel the difference as much.

Staring at the smaller dragon, I wondered if it would have the same force behind its attack as the bigger one or if it would be weaker. I spun around and used my arms to direct the smaller dragon into the treeline. It crashed against a tree, all of the water converged on one spot. The water from the dragon fell to the ground after it hit its mark leaving behind a bare spot on the tree where the bark was completely chipped off. It didn't seem to be as powerful as the bigger one was, the bigger one would have cut through the tree and left a mark on the one behind it. I wasn't dissatisfied with the results, I had a feeling that would be the case. There is less water mass, so it only makes sense that it wouldn't have the same impact.

"Damn it Kakuzu, I told you she knew we were following her!" a voice yelled by the tree I hit. I could sense their chakra, but I hoped they were just travelers. Why would they be following me?

I watched as a man about Zabuza's age stepped out from the treeline. He had silver hair that was slicked back and his eyes were magenta. Something that was strange about him was his attire. He had on a black cloak decorated with red clouds, I've never seen anyone wear something like that before. This man also had a three pointed scythe on his back, making me rethink what their intentions could be.

Behind him stepped a man that looked older than the first did, apparently his name is Kakuzu. Most of his head was covered by a gray cloth, he also wore a navy mask that covered the bottom half of his face. The only thing visible was his eyes, which as he came closer I realized were not normal. They had red sclera instead of white, and the iris was a lime green color, he didn't seem to have a pupil.

"You're an idiot." Kakuzu spat at the young man. "If she knew we were following don't you think she would have confronted us earlier?"

"Shut up!" the man with silver hair yelled. "I don't understand why you have to be an ass Kakuzu!" he got up in Kakuzu's face.

I was a bit confused, they planned on ambushing me but gave up their position. To top it off now they are fighting with each other? This is ridiculous. I should just walk away while they're fighting with each other, but I want to know why they're after me. I haven't had someone try to confront me like this in at least a year.

"I was hoping you two were travelers." I said. I still had my first water dragon formed and I knew that if I needed to I could get to one of my dispatched swords if I needed it. I had little doubt that their wouldn't be some kind of conflict, but if I didn't have to engage then I can just continue on my way. "What do you want?"

"Your head." Kakuzu said. I narrowed my eyes at him. There was no emotion in his voice, if anything he seemed indifferent.

I didn't make a move, not yet. "That's a curious thing to want, I'm afraid I can't give it to you."

"You're the only living Demon of the Mist, because of that the bounty on your head has doubled. I want that money. We are not asking," Kakuzu turned to the younger man, "Hidan." Hidan reached over his shoulder to get a grip on his scythe. Then he brought it in front of himself with a smirk. "I would prefer it if her body was in one piece, but if you must then just the head will do."

"Got it," Hidan ran forward with his scythe gripped in his hand.

I pushed my arms forward, directing the water dragon towards the two hoping to knock at least Hidan down so that I would have more time to grab a sword. I was surprised when Kakuzu darted in front of Hidan standing his ground with his arms stretched out. What I saw shocked me, he skidded a few feet backwards but otherwise he was able to stop the water dragon in its tracks. I've never seen a person do that before, but I didn't hesitate. The dragon still retained its shape so I pushed forward trying to give the dragon more power to push Kakuzu far enough away so I won't have to worry about him while I fought Hidan.

However, Hidan didn't wait. While Kakuzu was holding off my water dragon Hidan ran around the obstruction as he yelled at Kakuzu. "Why did you get in my way for?! Damn it Kakuzu, you said I could kill this one. I want her sacrifice so stay out of it!"

Hidan was closer now. I was able to push Kakuzu back some more, but Hidan was more of a threat at the moment. I let go of my hold on the water dragon and dodged out of the way as Hidan threw his scythe at me. It didn't land a hit though it was close to my right arm. If I hadn't moved, it would have struck me in the chest.

I didn't make it to either of the swords, instead I was halted in my tracks as a shadowy looking creature with a white mask appeared in my path. The mask was white and beaked with some light blue paint under the eyes. I didn't know what it was or what it would do, but being that they're here to kill me I doubt it matters. I can't let that thing touch me, at least not until I know what it can do.

"Fuck you Kakazu!" Hidan yelled. He was behind me retrieving his scythe.

"The bounty is too high for me to trust you with it." Kakuzu replied. I wonder if my bounty is really that high. I mean, I've had people come after me before, but it was all for some revenge for a loved one that I killed. This would be the first someone wanted me dead for my bounty.

I quickly reformed the water dragon and launched it at the masked creature. Before it could hit the creature there was a wall of earth in front of it that stopped the water. The water from the dragon fell and absorbed into the sand. Then a spear of earth was flying at me too fast for me to dodge. It impacted on my stomach, crumbling away as it continued its journey. It left clumps of earth on the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Hidan shouted. I glanced back at him to see him smirk, "I'll make you bleed." He ran at me with his scythe raised.

I ran forward to avoid him and dodged the shadowed creature as I ran passed. I quickly grabbed the hilt of the executioner's blade, because that one was easiest to get to. I lifted it out of the sand and spun to face my opponents. With the sword raised in front of me I said, "What if I make you bleed first, what kind of bounty hunter would that make you?"

Hidan stopped running towards me and started laughing uncontrollably.

"Girl, if you're trying to be brave you should know that they all end up screaming, even the men." Kakuzu said. He took a step forward so that he was standing beside Hidan. "It's best if you accept that you're going to die."

"I think you underestimate me, I'm truly not afraid." I said. "I'm not called the Demon of the Mist for nothing. Did you see that earth spear? It didn't even scratch me. What makes you think you can kill me?"

"To me it looks like I'll just have to keep hacking until I get lucky." Hidan smiled wide. "This is going to be so much fun!"

"I don't know about that." I said. I shifted my stance so that my knees wouldn't lock in place. "Who sent you?"

"No one sent us. We collect bounties to fund our organization." Kakuzu said.

"What organization is that?" I wondered. I still couldn't place their odd cloaks. I haven't seen anyone with a black cloak and red clouds before, so they must not be from the land of Water, otherwise, I would have known about them. Besides, a cloak like that would have been recognizable anyway.

"The Akatsuki, maybe you've heard of us." Hidan said. He seemed full of himself, as if I should know who they are.

"No, never heard of you." I replied indifferently.

"That's not surprising." Kakuzu said. "Our organization isn't based in the land of Water or Fire, so you wouldn't have known about us until we decided to pursue you. Now, we'll be needing you for that bounty."

My grip tightened on the hilt of the executioner's blade and my muscles tensed in preparation to attack. "I'd like to see that. Just try and take me." I surged forward with my blade. The shadowed creature moved to block any attack that I would throw towards them, only I wasn't planning on hitting them yet. I was hoping the shadowed creature would make a move. It looks like this will be Kakuzu's main defense for now, so if I don't get rid of it right away I may regret it later.

Before the creature could move its arms to conjure some earth, I launched myself into the air to meet the only solid piece it had other than its shadows, it's mask. Drawing the executioner's blade to my left side, I used the momentum of my swing to hit the center of the mask. The blade cracked the mask causing it to start to crumble away. I used my strength to continue the blades journey through the mask splitting it in two. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I was satisfied when the shadows dispersed as I fell to the ground with my executioner's blade in hand.

Through the dispersing shadows Hidan's triple scythe came flying at me. I sensed it coming because it possessed a little bit of Hidan's chakra, but I'll admit that the chakra of the shadow beast concealed most of Hidann's. I barely blocked the hit of the scythe with the executioner's blade, having it bounce off in another direction.

The moment my feet settled in the sand I charged forward once again, knowing that it will take Hidan longer to retrieve his scythe, I ran to Kakuzu. I came at him hard and fast, I was surprised when he lifted his hands palms flat as he held the blade of my sword in between his hands much like the water dragon he stopped. I used more of my strength to try and surprise him into losing his grip on my blade so that I could recover it. His arms shook in effort to hold me back, but he didn't lose his grip.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hidan coming up on my left fast. I glanced back at Kakuzu to see him focusing on the blade in between his hands and my movements. Without giving away my next move, I quickly yanked my blade from between Kakuzu's palms and spun to face Hidan. He tried swiping his scythe at my legs, but I jumped over his blades and used my own to send his scythe flying out of his hands again. The second my feet were back on the sand, I used my movement to spin once another time and end up behind him. I let go of the executioner's blade with my right hand so my left could swing it up and in front of Hidan's neck, my right hand found a grip on the blade. I settled behind him, the executioner's blade pressed to his neck.

It was quiet for a moment before Hidan started laughing maniacally. I don't think I've ever met someone that reacted this way to their apparent death before, but I wasn't going to let this shock me. That's how people die in situations like this.

"What are you laughing at, surprised the younger Demon of the Mist will be the one to kill you?" I taunted.

"You couldn't kill me." he cackled.

I pressed the blade into his neck a little harder, just enough to draw some blood. "Would you like to bet on that?" I looked to Kakuzu, who was standing across from us just far enough away where he couldn't save Hidan if I did decide to kill him. "What about you, Kakuzu was it? How about we make a deal, I won't kill your friend if you agree to let me walk."

"You assume that we are friends, I don't like Hidan even a little bit." Kakuzu said. "Go ahead, kill him and I'll still collect your bounty. Honestly, you would be doing me a favor if you killed him."

"Damn it Kakuzu, you fucker, we're partners! So many times I could have used you as a sacrifice for Jashin and I didn't!" Hidan shouted. I was confused on who Jashin is, but if he was mentioned in the same sentence as a sacrifice then he must be some kind of godly power. Not that I would know anything about that, no god has ever done me any favors in my lifetime.

"Hear that Hidan, it looks like you get to die today." I stated. With my gip on the hilt and blade of the sword, I used it as a support against Hidan's neck as first my right leg followed by my left were placed against Hidan's back. Once in position, I used the strength in both my arms and legs to use the executioner's blade for its intended purpose, decapitation.

When Hidan's head was free of the muscles and tendons of his neck it rolled over my shoulder with blood spewing into the air. As his body fell forward into the sand, I followed. My right hand let go of the blade as my left swung the sword out to the side for a more comfortable landing. I got off of Hidan's headless body, immediately getting into a fighting stance to face Kakuzu. I stuck the sword into the sand as I raised my fists ready to strike. I thought to reduce the extended period of our battle by cutting out time that he could have stopped my blade again. I can hit him hard and fast with my fist just as I did with Temari in the second stage of the chunin exams. Only this time, I won't hold my punches like I tried to do with Temari.

I rushed over the sand to throw my first punch only to be blocked by his forearm. I kept moving, never staying in one place for too long. My punches always aimed at a different part of his body; wrists, neck, abdomen, inner elbows. He would block many, but there were a few that I managed to connect. I focused on the spots that I've already hit, wanting to weaken him. It's a slow process but at least it should pay off.

After I managed to use my legs to get Kakuzu to lose his balance I heard something that didn't seem possible to me, Hidan's laughter. "Haha, Kakuzu, why are you letting a girl beat you up!? Hurry this up and sew my head back on!"

This kind of thing shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. I wasn't expecting a decapitated man to act as if he wasn't just decapitated. I'll admit that this distracted me for a moment, in which Kakuzu managed to get one of his hands wrapped around my ankle to pull me down into the sand with him. I kicked at him, but that didn't seem to have effected him. He crawled closer towards me with his grip still on my ankle. I quickly sat up and punched his face with a left hook causing him to pause as his face jerked to the side. I used this moment to pull my ankle free and get some distance between me and Kakuzu.

I darted to the executioner's blade and yanked it causing sand to fly as I pulled it out of its resting position. I rushed back over to Kakuzu intending to impale him through the chest as he was still in the sand. Only his arm seemed to detach itself from his arm from visible stitching and flew to me. Instead of implaling him like I planned, I slashed at the appendage. The stitches that seemed to hold him together stretched and dodged the blade of the sword. I moved my position so that Kakuzu's hand would miss my throat and rotated to follow the movement of his appendage.

Kakuzu was breathing heavily in the sand, but managed to push himself up. He pulled at the stitches on his arm to pull his forearm back to the rest of his body. "Damn Kakuzu, you're getting old." Hidan taunted.

"Shut up Hidan, or I won't stitch you back together." Kakuzu said calmly.

I once again raised my executioner's blade in front of me. A small part of my conscious knew that if I used my Kukoshibyo from the start I wouldn't have the issue of Hidan still being alive and I would only have to scratch Kakuzu for the poison in the black coral to take effect. Though right now I would have to do this the hard way. Who knows what I would do to Hidan, maybe dismember the rest of his body and bury him all over the elemental nations? What would I do with his head? He is far too talkative for me to want to keep it. I guess I could always bury his head at sea…

My only real threat right now was Kakuzu, he is on a very short list of people that can battle me for as long as he has without dying. So in a way I respected him even though he was here to kill me and collect my bounty. I can admire his honesty, he knows what he wants and he isn't afraid to let everyone know it.

"You're not going anywhere with this battle." I said. "I think it would be in your best interest if we resumed at a later date."

"We'll finish this now." he said. He moved his body in a defensive position. "I'm not going to let a little girl take me down."

"But you see, I've grown bored of this fight." I lowered the executioner's blade. "I need to be on my way, I have somewhere I should be."

"I can't let you get away, we need this bounty. It'll support us for sometime." he said. He lifted his arms and they detached from his body as they flew towards me. I dodged and ran across the sand to get my Kukoshibyo and my bag. I slung the bag over my shoulder and attached both swords to my belt before I turned and dashed for the water.

Sand kicked up as I ran to the shoreline. Normally, I would have stayed and killed him so that I wouldn't have to deal with him later, but something tells me it will be difficult to kill him just as it is to kill Hidan. The last thing I need is another opponent that I can't kill. For now, it would probably be best for me to retreat until I know more about their abilities. I wonder if Hidan gets his immortality from his god? Who is Jashin anyway?

Water splashed up my legs as I ran into the ocean. I told myself I wasn't going to look back, but once I got to my waist I turned around to see another masked creature, this one looked to be smiling with a blue wave on each cheek. If the other one was earth then this one must be water. How many of these masks does he have?

The masked creature raised its hands and summoned a tsunami like wave. I turned and dove under water before the wave could reach me. Using Isobu's ability to swim extremely fast in water, I swam out into the ocean.

When I was far enough away where I was sure Kakuzu couldn't see me I started swimming underwater to the shoreline in the distance at a more normal pace. Isobu once taught me how to breath air through water from the bubbles of the water, but to me it feels strange. I don't prefer swimming underwater, I just know that if I'm underwater it's harder or nearly impossible for people to track me.

I swam close to the ocean floor thinking that I could at least admire the view being that I'm completely submerged. The sun reflected through the water making everything seem lighter than it should for being the bottom of the ocean. There were many large rocks that the sealife have utilized as their homes along with clusters of yellow coral. Everything was covered with algae making it look green, yet it made everything look more lively. At least it seems more lively when you realize that with all of the algae the fish are living comfortably.

A school of orange cichlids swam around me causing me to stop. I was fascinated with fish and their ability to swim with humans as if I wasn't invading their habitat. Sometimes, I'll get fish that are skittish and they dart away before you get near them, but these fish didn't seem to care. I stretched out my arms and a few of the cichlids swam around my arms, one of them brushed their fin against me. Others swam in between my legs as I lightly kicked to stay in my place.

My attention was diverted from the cichlids when I saw an angel fish swim by. South of the land of water I can find tropical fish like the cichlids, but I've never actually seen an angel fish before. The environment must be better suited to them here. The angelfish was black with light yellow stripes, the elongated dorsal and anal fins making the fish stand out among the other cichlids of its family.

I watched the angelfish interact with the other cichlids for a while longer before I started swimming to the shore again. When I was closer, I swam up to the surface of the water with my head breaking through the surf to the fresh air. I took a few deep breaths even though I wasn't in dire need of air, I always overreact a bit when I'm in a more stable environment than the one underwater.

As I tread water I thought about my next course of action. Should I get out of the water or stay in? If I stay in the water I couldn't swim at night and the sun was currently going down, but if I continued back to the Leaf village on land then I wouldn't be able to sleep while I traveled. I didn't ever trust stopping and making a camp for the night, if gives others the opportunity to ambush you if you're not careful. You never really get to sleep peacefully either, always having to keep an ear on the environment and wake yourself everytime you hear something that doesn't belong.

To me it looked as if I was going to stay in the water, but I can't swim at night, it's even darker down there at night then it is above water. I've also never tried sleeping under water before, I don't even know if it's possible. Breathing underwater comes somewhat naturally to me with the help of Isobu's teaching through the years, I still don't know if I want to try it. I'll admit that it's worth a try, it's definitely better than getting no sleep at all.

I dove back underwater and swam for a little while before I found a large enough rock that I could lay on. I unfastened the belt that's wrapped around my shoulder to hold the swords and dropped it to the ocean floor, they drifted to the ground and lodged themselves blade first in the sand. I kicked myself forward to the rock and sat on it cross legged. I thought that it would be nice to talk to Isobu before I went to sleep or attempted to sleep. I haven't spoken to him in awhile, I've never really been alone to talk to him.

With my legs crossed, I raised my arms gently with the palms facing up. I calmed my thoughts and focused on Isobu. It only took moments for me to appear in front of his cage.

"It's been awhile since we've had a chance to talk." I started.

"It has," he responded with his gravelly voice, "this is also the first time you've been underwater while you summoned me."

"You can sense that I'm underwater?" I asked, I never thought he would have any idea where I was while I appear here. I didn't think he could sense anything outside of his cage.

"Of course, it's a faint feeling, but it's a feeling nonetheless." he said. He was silent for awhile and I didn't know if I should ask about that technique I've been wanting him to teach me or if I should leave it alone for a while longer. "I've done some thinking." he started. I gave him my full attention to show respect and made eye contact with his one exposed eye. It's unusual for him to start a conversation. "About that advanced technique you want me to teach you. I still won't teach it to you, but I'll teach you something similar."

"Oh?" I was even more curious now.

"A technique to allow you to control the water in the environment around you." he said. It's not the same as the blood bending I've been wanting him to teach me, but it's a step closer. "You can create a mist by using your chakra to envelope an area. This technique will allow you to draw water out of plant life, the air, and even other objects that contain water."

"Where do I start?" I asked. I was eager to learn more and evolve into a stronger ninja.

"First you will need to learn to sense water." he said.

"I already know how to do that." I said. "I can sense the water in my water dragon."

"Not fully, for the water dragon you don't have to have as strong of a feel for the water. You already know what you want to do with it and your chakra responds to your wants. You need to listen and feel the water." he explained.

"Okay, what exactly does that mean though? To listen and feel the water?" I asked.

"It will be easy for you to do where you are right now. You can physically feel the water but you need to sense the water and connect with it. Don't be discouraged if you can't connect right away, it takes ages for someone to achieve harmony with an element as free spirited as water." he answered.

"Then what comes after sensing the water." I wondered. I planned on at least grasping this technique, so I would need more information to move forward.

"After sensing you will learn to command the water. Once you can sense the water commanding it will be easier, but it will still take some time." he warned. "This could take you years to accomplish."

"We'll see." I said. "I'm going to try it now. Thank you for your wisdom, Isobu." I bowed to him before leaving.

My eyes opened underwater with the sunlight almost completely gone. I decided to try and feel for the water like Isobu said to do before giving up. I understand the way in which he want me to feel for the water, but I can't seem to do it. He did say that it would take some time, maybe even years and yet I would beg to differ. He told me that it would take months to master the hallucinogenic hiding in the mist technique when it only took me weeks. I plan on mastering this as soon as possible. Though it looks like I won't be getting anywhere today. I lay down on the surface of the rock and use my bag as a makeshift pillow. I close my eyes without any worry of accidentally forgetting how to breathe underwater, I've been getting more used to it with the time that I spend down here and now I'm confident I'll be fine in the morning.