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Chapter Text

How does one find themselves in a situation where they have a bounty over their head?

Hikari didn't know either. 

She assumed that, having been kicked out by the Mizukage himself she wouldn't be named a Nukenin. Alas Hikari was never the brightest tool in the shed. 

"Oh let up already!" Hikari screamed at her pursuers in frustration. She was running on empty, she wanted to stop, and have a huge lunch that left her immobile for days. She was no stranger to hunger, but having pursuers on an empty stomach was not ideal. Hunter Nin being said pursuers wasn't ideal either.

Her stomach was growling, skin sticky with sweat and legs throbbing from running for what felt like days but couldn't have been more than a couple of hours. In hindsight, leaving the Village on an empty stomach wasn't a particularly good idea. It's not like she meant to, but she panicked and practically flew out of the village gates without a plan. See, she wasn't exactly expecting Hunter Nin to just follow her the minute she stepped one centimetre outside the border.

"Ao-san! I'm only following orders!" She groaned. She really was, no matter how ridiculous it seemed. After all, why would the Mizukage kick out the only Heiki left in the village? 

And why would she just... go without asking any questions? Sure that was a bit dumb on her part, but.... heat of the moment, you know?

"Stop, Hikari! You can't just leave!" Ao's shout shook her to her core. How could she even begin to explain this situation? 

No matter what, a Chuunin could never out run ANBU. And Hikari could never outsmart someone like Ao. It's not like Hikari actually had anything left in Kiri, not with her best friend's death and her mentor leaving. 

Certainly not with the Seven Swordsmen defecting and taking the Seven Swords with them. 

It's not like she could hide in the mist with Ao of all people pursuing her. She had to find another way. 

How does one lose a pursuer with the Byakugan at his disposal? 

She really didn't have to think much because next thing she knew, the air got knocked out of her lungs as her face hit the ground from several meters in the air. 

She groaned, clutching at her head as she got up.

"Ow." 

"Why is Ao chasing you of all people, kid?" A familiar voice. One she hadn't heard in a while 

She was about to answer, but the growl of her stomach cut her off. She swallowed the embarrassment, smiled sheepishly and asked. "You wouldn't happen to have some time and money to spare, would you?"

"Well?" Zabuza crossed his arms over his chest.

Hikari glanced up at him and reluctantly let down her chopsticks. "It's not my fault! Yagu- Mizukage-sama was the one who told me to 'leave and never come back'," she said. 

Zabuza sighed. "I didn't know you were this dumb, Hikari." 

"What do you care? You left," she said around a mouthful of ramen. Heavens she was starving. She was so glad she ran into Zabuza when she did... or he ran into her... quite literally. With Ao hot on her heels, she would've been caught, sooner or later. That didn't mean she was glad to see him, if you know what she meant. She was starving though, and having him pay for her meal could almost make her forget the growing resentment she held for the man sitting across from her. 

He took her to ramen, which was typical of Zabuza. Not that he'll ever admit it, but he actually enjoyed it, to an almost concerning degree. They picked a quiet seat at the far end of the restaurant by the sea, where they could both see the exit and windows at all times and listen to the crashing waves as a bonus. Call her paranoid, but she did not want another chase before she's done with her unreasonably sized meal.

Zabuza sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know why I had to leave." 

Hikari stayed quiet. Shoving bite after bite into her mouth. Of course she knew why he had to leave. She was there when the whole thing went down. Still.... She still felt bitter at being left behind. He was the last one to leave, and she had hoped with all her being that she would somehow be enough to stay. 

So yes, Hikari didn't have many kind feelings towards Zabuza at the given moment. She wanted to fly across the table, slap him, take Kubikiribōchō and leave so he would know what it felt like to be blindsided and left alone. But he was paying for her meal so maybe she could be civil for a little longer. And she wasn't sure he'd actually care.

Still, she couldn't stop herself from opening her mouth to say one last thing. "Momochi-san." Her voice quivered and she silently hated herself for it.

"Hm?"

"Mangetsu... Mangetsu's dead." She whispered, biting the tip of her chopsticks to prevent her lips from wobbling and her sobs from coming out. 

This time it was Zabuza who let his chopsticks down. The sight reminded him of eight years ago, when four-year old Hikari tugged at his sleeves holding back tears and announced bad news just like this. 

"And Suigetsu?"

She looked up at him, sniffling. "That's the thing... I don't know. He disappeared suddenly. I've been trying to find him, but I don't even know where to start," she rambled. "I tried requesting missions, search parties, even... I even told Ao-san but nobody listened to me." 

"Is that why you defected. To find Suigetsu?"

She bristled. It sounded like blame, more than anything. Like it was somehow her fault Suigetsu die disappeared suddenly, like she was the one tasked with watching him and ensuring he stays within the village walls. Like he was her responsibility. Hikari shook her head, trying to calm herself before it all goes to shit. Before she spews out her feelings. 

"I didn't defect!" She shouted, slamming her hands on the table as she stood up. 

That's not what I wanted to say.

The chatter in the restaurant they were in died down, and Hikari felt numerous eyes on her. He lips wobbled, her face reddened and she grimaced. She cleared her throat, and sat back down, her face still red as a tomato. To distract herself, she focused on the leather texture of the chair, sticking to her exposed skin in this hot, humid weather. Zabuza had his arms crossed across his chest, giving her his most unimpressed look.

"I didn't defect, Yagura-sama told me to leave. To never come back." She repeated in a much quieter tone. "I don't know why he would say something like that..." she trailed off. 

That is not what I want to say.

"That's what I'm trying to understand. Why would he tell you to leave, just like that?"

Hikari hummed. "He looked... scared." She chewed on her lips. That was the biggest missing piece of the puzzle. The most concerning and alarm raising part, filling her with dread and anxiety to the point that she lost her appetite for a minute. 

"Scared? Yagura?"

Hikari nodded in affirmation. "Like he was warning me or something. What could Yagura possibly be so scared of that he'd want me out of the village?" She tilted her head to the side. Just thinking about it gave her the shivers. 

They shared a look across the table. 

They seemed to be on the same wavelength. Whatever Yagura was warning Hikari of, it was dangerous. Dangerous enough that he was worried about her inside the village and was willing to gamble on her safety outside. 

The question is, how safe was she out here? She sniffled again, then went back to her noodles. 

Zabuza had always felt some kind of.... affection for Hikari. He was called unnecessarily cruel, and rightfully so, what with killing his entire graduating class as a Genin and all, but when it came to Hikari it was a little different. 

Maybe it was pity, though he never thought he could ever feel something like that towards anyone. Maybe it was kinship, but that didn't seem right either. 

Either way, these feelings were like the sea, unstable, they ebbed and flowed, then simmered, then hit with violent currents when he was least prepared. He remembered the first time they came crashing into him like a wave in a particularly violent storm. When a four year old Hikari called out to him one snowy morning, face red from the cold, or maybe from crying, pulled on his sleeve and fussed over something he couldn't understand for a hot minute until he caught the word "Baba," within the incessant sobs and babbling, snot and tears messing up her face and obscuring her vision. Pointing him in the direction of the cause of her distress. He wasn't sure if she was actually looking for him at the time. Maybe he was the first 'adult' she came across, or maybe she couldn't see properly and was completely out of her mind with crying that she didn't even know who she was tugging at, but nonetheless Zabuza had followed her that day, letting her tug and pull him until they arrived at her intended destination. 

How different would things have been, he wondered, if that day never happened?

Unfortunately for Hikari, Zabuza came to unconsciously associate her with bad news. He couldn't really say he was surprised at the delivered news of Mangetsu's death. Anyone who peaked in that godforsaken village wasn't ever left alone. Still, the sight of Hikari holding back her tears and eating her noodles with her nose getting redder and redder by the second was enough to evoke that same distant feeling of sympathy held for her eight years ago. He sighed, then threw one of his chopsticks at her. It clocked her right in the middle of her forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Stop looking like that."

"Like what?!" She squawked, rubbing the sore spot on her forehead.

He didn't even bother replying, just stared at her like she was the one who attacked him, not the other way around. She grumbled and went back to eating, before pausing. An omnious feeling consumed her.

Somebody's watching, somebody's watching, somebody's watching, somebody's watching.

Her heckles raised, her stomach flipped and suddenly her meal didn't look so appetising anymore. The smell made her distantly nauseous and she was about to heave; feeling herself stiffen minutely before she forced her muscles to relax and pretend that nothing was happening. So much for finishing her entire meal. She was so looking forward to desert too. Whoever was watching them might have noticed her little slip-up but she didn't want to confirm it. She slurped her noodles despite feeling like she was swallowing slime and her stomach chruning, protesting, closing up. Hikari looked up at Zabuza with her eyes, not lifting her head from the bowl, waiting for a sign that he noticed too. The look on his face confirmed that she wasn't feeling paranoid, and someone's eyes were in fact on them. Whoever it was had suppressed their chakra presence, so much so that it was only Hikari's heightened senses and intuition that put them on her radar. She chewed, pretending to ignore the eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes on her, watching, waiting, tracking, following, unblinking, unrelenting, just watching, watching watching. 

'Act normal.' Zabuza signed in code underneath the table, his hand hidden from view. 

Hikari didn't answer, just tapped her affirmation on her chopsticks as she shoved another bite of noodles into her mouth. How long would they have to sit here? How lomg would she have to continue shoving tasteless food in her mouth, chew and swallow like it wasn't making her sicker and sicker by the second? 

Hikari was about to throw in the towel and get the heck out of here when Zabuza got up, calmly and took pulled her out of her seat by her shoulder. Hikari startled, looked up at him in shock and met his eyes. 

Continue acting normal. They said.

"Ah- but.. wait I haven't had desert yet!" She blurted out. It was the first thing she could think of, and by the look Zabuza gave her, it wasn't very impressive. But she did really lament the fact that she didn't get the chance to order desert. It was the only thing she was actually excited about since getting into the restaurant, but Zabuza just refused to let her order any without actually eating something first. He was mean like that. 

 He kept pulling at her shoulder and dragging her until they were outside the restaurant, when Hikari had the distant realisation that they hadn't paid.

"Did you plant these people there just so we wouldn't pay?" She whisper-yelled indignantly to him. 

"We? There's no we, I would've paid for both of us, you ungrateful brat. And no, I didn't plant them there, who do you think I am?" He whisper-yelled back. 

"Well then what do you want me to think? We didn't pay!" She gritted out. "Also could you maybe not grip my arm so hard? It's actually starting to hurt." She struggled a bit trying to pull her arm from her grip.

He let her go gently.

"Thank you." She mumbled, wincing a little at the red markings his fingers left behind. 

As typical of the Land of the Waves the air was humid and sticky, making her feel like she had to scratch at her skin. Hikari could practically feel her hair frizz up and could smell the sweat she was about to be drenched in from miles away. It really sucked but such was the price to pay for being by the sea all the time. The salt clung to the air, more prominent here than in Kirigakure. She had travelled quite the distance despite being chased by Hunter Nin. The town they were in had dilapidated houses with rust on their doors and fallen balconies, many of them under restoration or getting ready to be demolished for safety. It didn't seem strange to see debris or rocks falling from them if the civilians side-stepping them and avoiding them like second nature was any indication. Hikari gladly took in the scene around her, people lounging by the sea, or having a languid stroll, listening to it's waves crashing repeatedly on its shore. 

Her old house in Kiri was by the sea, before she and her mother were moved to somewhere more central and closer to the Mizukage building. The sound of the waves brought her a distinct sense of nostalgia and she just might retire in this town. Maybe find a job in a local worksh-

"We're still being watched, don't let your guard down."

Well thank you for interrupting me. She almost rolled her eyes. She knew that. She wasn't a one-track minded person like Zabuza was, okay? She can pay attention to the people tailing them and the sea waves thank you very much. When her life is in immediate danger, she'll pay closer attention to-

Are you freaking kidding me?! She almost screamed at the smoke bomb going off next to them. Well joke's on whoever did that. Now they were on her bad side for interrupting her sea contemplation. Hikari unsheathed the sword strapped to her hips and heard Zabuza taking Kubikiribōchō off its holster somewhere next to her. 

Whoever thought obscuring her vision would make her incapacitated or unable to fight in anyway, was completely wrong, she'd been practicing kenjutsu with a blind fold since she was four. She blocked out the panicked screaming and shouting of civilians around her, taking a mental note to pound the assailants extra for doing this in the middle of a civilan-populated area, and focused on footsteps. Calm, light, airy and almost indetectable... Zabuza. Then another set. Much heavier, louder, clumsy and even heavier breathing.

"Oh come on! It's like you want to be found!" She cackled, swinging her sword to her left. Much to her dismay, she didn't hit anything. Her opponent dodged and judging by the air on her face, he went down. 

This time she heard a cry of surprise and the distinct sound of blade cutting flesh, then blood the familiar smell of blood hit her nose.

Gotcha.

She kicked at her right, sending them flying into one of the stone buildings, making the smoke screen clear out bit. She immediately followed and was about to swing at him again when she noticed the cracks going up the walls of the building. She changed her directory, holding the sword above her head rather than beside he face and swung with all she had at the building hoping to send it crashing down on her assailant. 

Unfortunately for her, he seemed to get out in time. She groaned, pulled her sword out from between the rubble and faced him once again. So they weren't suppressing their chakra, they didn't have any... or at least much going for them.

You know if she'd recognised him from somewhere, maybe this whole thing would've made more sense. Then again Hikari isn't really good with faces so.... 

She scrunched her nose up, and focused really hard on his face but nothing rang any bells... not even distant ones. 

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Hikari asked in confusion, tilting her head to the side and keeping her face scrunched. She honestly could say she'd never seen that man in her entire life but.... well she had to absolutely make sure, because what if she owed him money or something? It's not she could actually pay it seeing as she literally left Kirigakure a few hours ago and with only her daily equipment, her sword and the literal clothes on her back. Would she have to sneak back in somehow to get her stuff back? Years and years of notes and thousands of literature and weaponry were piled in her tiny apartment, worn from use, theories and annotation lined the books passed down onto her from generations upon generations that she had simply left behind in her blind panic. Maybe she should sneak back in. Today? They wouldn't expect her back the same day, would they? Was she willing to gamble? On one hand all her stuff was back in the village and she couldn't replace them, so not getting them back would suck, but if she were to get caught she'd be put in T&I especially if she already had Hunter Nin on her tail somehow.... hmmm.....

"Hey! Don't space out in the middle of the fight!" The man shouted at her in disbelief.

"Oh! Sorry!" She grinned. Hikari closed the distance between them, swinging at him again, but the pesky man dodged her again. "Damnit. Would it kill you to stay still, man?!"

"Yes!"

"Oh, right. Woops." 

Looks like she had to step up her game. Pouring chakra into her legs, and her sword, she closed her eyes, adjusted her breathing, straightened her stance and channelled her fights with Mangetsu. With his pesky ability to liquefy himself in a blink of an eye, if she didn't go fast enough she would never actually get to hit him. 

This man, however was no Mangetsu, so she really didn't have to get as serious with him. Before he could so much as take another breath, Hikari had him flipped on his back, pinned underneath her chakra reinforced legs, sword to his neck and her eyes looking coldly into his scared shitless ones.

"I think I asked you a question. It's rude not to answer you know?" She smiled sweetly, tilting her head to the side. "Do I know you from somewhere?" She kept her smile on her face as she pushed the sword to his neck just enough to draw a tiny drop of blood. 

"No! No! Please! We're only here for the bounty!" He fumbled, panicked and practically crying. 

"Bounty?"

"Yes! See!" He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and basically shoved it into Hikari's face. It was a torn page from a Bingo Book with Zabuza's face on it. 

Momochi Zabuza 

S-Rank

Nukenin 

Flee on Sight. 

Hikari sighed, lifted the sword up and leaned backwards. "You idiot it says flee on sight! You couldn't even take me on! What makes you think- you know what I don't care." She pointed the sword at him again.

"No wait, wait! If you let me go I'll give you some of that prize money okay?! We can share!" He panicked, raising his hand in surrender... or was it pleadingly? Hikari wasn't really sure... hmm

Hikari hummed and put her index finger to her chin, pretending to think about it for a minute? "How much are we talking?" She asked curiously, leaning in further, feeling more than hearing the man's breath hitch.

"Thrity- no! Fifty! Fifty percent! My partner and I will take twenty-five each! So-"

"Fifty percent? That doesn't sound so bad!" She smiled.

"R-right? So you can let me go and we can-"

"Unfortunately for you, Bounty Hunter-san, I'm not really interested." She shrugged nonchalantly, before shifting her weight and sliding her razor sharp sword across his throat. The blood sprayed, her clothes, face and hair got drenched, maybe some even got in her eye. She got up, sliced the air to get rid of the blood on her sword.

"Really?" Zabuza asked.

"What? It would've been rude not to hear out what he had to offer!" She shrugged, and took out a blue embroidered handkerchief to clean her blade up. 

"I think killing him in broad daylight in the middle of a civilian town is more rude."

She glanced off to the side, a few meters away from where she was standing to find the corpse of the other bounty hunder sprawled out with water surrounding him. "Pot, meet kettle." She muttered before offering him her handkerchief. 

"At least I didn't slit his throat and get covered in blood." He pointed out. "Is that a jellyfish?" He asked as he got to cleaning his own sword.

"Well excuse me for not knowing any fancy water jutsu." She grumbled. "And yes, Mangetsu embroidered it for me!" She grinned as he handed it back to her.

"Mangetsu did?"

She nodded. "Un, he said it 'improved his hand-eye coordination' or something along the lines." She pocketed it. "Also really helped him with senbon practice apparently." 

"You don't say."

"Yup!" She sheathed her sword and Zabuza put Kubikiribōchō back on its holster. "Can't believe we got attacked by bounty hunters in broad daylight outside a ramen restaurant of all things," she said as they both started walking and leaving the scene slowly. 

Hikari didn't say anything for a while, but she was staring very readily into his face. She was unblinking, not watching where she was going, but still kept that weird searching look on her face as they passed by less and less dilapidated houses as they went deeper into town and farther away from the sea-damaged buildings by the shore.

"What?!" He finally snapped. 

Hikari didn't startle, just looked deeper and deeper like she was scrutinising his every feature individually until he had to physically shove her away. 

"Ever thought about covering your face up?" She asked. 

"What?!" 

"Well yeah! If you cover yourself up there's less chance of you getting recognised and attacked?"

"You think I can't handle a couple of bounty hunters?"

"No, I'm saying it's a hassle to handle bounty hunters. Besides you'd be doing the world a favour!" She shrugged. 

"A favour, you say?" He asked sarcastically. "How about you cover yourself up, you dumb bitch?"

"Dumb bitch?! Me?!" She squawked. 

"Maybe if people couldn't see your face they wouldn't be able to guess how dumb you are."

"I'm not dumb! If anything the dumb one here is you for not thinking of this yourself!" She shouted, her face getting red. 

"Look at you doing a poor impression of a tomato!" He cackled. 

As they were arguing and walking, people started to pop their heads out of balconies, staring at them curiously. Women covered their children's ears and ushered them away. Izakaya and shop owners closed the doors and stared at them from behind glass windows. One child in particular cried as they passed him by.

"See that! Your ugly, stupid, permanently sneering face just scared that poor child!"

"It was your shrill, ugly ass squawking voice that made him cry! He's probably deaf by now!"

"Squawking?! Who do you think I am?! Your mo-" Boink! "OW!" 

"That's enough out of you, you stupid brat!"

Though he would never admit it, Zabuza actually thought Hikari had a point. If people couldn't see his face, they wouldn't be able to tell who he is for sure. 

Not to mention she had shouted at him for not taking care of Kubikiribōchō properly. Hitting him repeatedly on the head and all. Once they had set up camp somewhere in a small cave within the rocky mountains by the sea, she forced it off him muttering indignantly about 'stupid Seven Swordsmen taking the swords with them when they can't even give them proper maintenance' and hunched herself over it for hours on end repairing, polishing and sharpening it, until it was better than it would've been if it was forged yesterday. She handed it to him, exhausted, sweating buckets with a pained look on her face, chakra at an all time low, just one more movement away from chakra exhaustion. 

"You sleep first, I'll take first watch."

"No, no I can't sleep I have to go back to Kiri." She rubbed her face. 

"Didn't you just tell me earlier today that you can't go back?"

"Well yeah, but-" She groaned in frustration, pulling at her hair. "All my stuff is still there." 

"Stuff?"

"You know! My notes! Weaponry? Literature! Scrolls! Money! Everything!" She threw her hands up.

"You left without money?!"

"I left without everything!" She wailed. "I panicked!"

Zabuza sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hikari, you are one more second away from chakra exhaustion. Go to sleep. Your stuff can wait."

"What if they confiscate it?!" She glared at him.

"For Gods' sakes, Hikari aren't they locked up behind a blood seal or something?" 

"Yeah?"

"Then they'll surely be there tomorrow morning." He pointed out. "Go to sleep and we'll get there first thing in the morning. You won't even have to take second watch because as soon as my shift is up, we'll move out."

"We?"

"Would you rather I leave you to get them on your own? Leave you to Ao and them and let the Mizukage deal with you?" He snapped, getting impatient. 

"Well, not but-" 

"Then yeah, we. Now sleep or you'll pass out and if you do, I won't take you anywhere."

"But-!"

"No buts! We'll sneak in and out and it will be like we were never there in the first place." He gruffed out, interrupting her steadily increasing stubbornness. She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. She opened her mouth to protest, but he levelled her with one of his looks that made her close her mouth. 

She grumbled and finally laid down, but not before giving him one last glare and pulling the sleeping bag cover over her face like a petulant child. It was like her body was waiting for some kind of confirmation because the second she was done processing his words, she immediately fell asleep, out like a light.

Zabuza leaned his head on the cave walls, sighing at the sleeping twelve-year-old, and thought to himself.

Get Hikari's stuff first thing in the morning, then find a suitable face mask to invest in. 

Still he refused to admit Hikari was right. 

Chapter Text

Zabuza didn't even get the chance to wake Hikari himself. Years of waking up at dawn made it second nature for her, as easy as breathing. It was efficient, but he wished to strangle that habit out of her. How he'd hoped for her to stay asleep a bit longer before she started pestering him in a way only she can. The silvery light was barely over the horizon as the twelve-year-old rolled up the sleeping bag she had occupied the night before. Salt clung to the air and attacked her taste buds as she liked her lips. She yawned, stretched then moved towards her companion. She toed at him, nudging his thigh and jostling him lightly. "Let's go." 

He swatted her away. "No."

"Wha- you said first thing in the morning!"

"Yes, the morning, not dawn." He grumbled, pushing her away.

"Momochi-san." She said gravely. 

"I said, no."

They both crossed their arms and gave each other their hardest glare, neither of them letting up, neither of them backing down, just staring, staring, staring, and waiting for the other to bare their throat in submission, literally. 

--->

The silver light of dawn intensified steadily, the sound of songbirds and seagulls breaking through the once suffocating silence. The sun was particularly bright that day, beating down on their skin and Zabuza was already done with this whole thing. Land of Water summers were notoriously brutal, humid, and over all unbearable at their peak. Maybe he shouldn't have promised to accompany Hikari to get her stuff back from Kiri. As usual the air was sticky and humid, clinging to them like a second skin. They were already halfway to the village when Hikari stopped abruptly behind a boulder. Eyes tracking something. 

"Something's happening over there." She whispered, eyes wide and unblinking. 

They stayed silent, watching as figures appeared out of the rocky terrain. "Konoha." They said in unison.

"Should we engage?" Hikari asked, fidgeting with her fingers nervously. 

"No, not unless they come to us first."

 Hikari crossed her arms over her chest, tapping nervously on her own bicep. It was a nervous habit she was unable to keep down, one Zabuza tried to train out of her repeatedly and failed. 

They didn't get a chance to react when suddenly one of the Konoha ANBU got into their faces. Hikari jumped back, but couldn't manage to avoid getting nicked in the shoulder. 

So fast. 

Hikari unsheathed her own sword in a panic. Really, she wasn't ready for any kind of human interaction. She just wanted to get her belongings quietly and continue on her way.... whatever way that is. She repeatedly dodged and deflected multiple blows and swings, twisting her body left and right, jumping up and crouching down, caught in a sword fight that honestly brought a bit of elation to her. It wasn't often that people from outside of Kiri were good swordsmen. Her foot barely touched the ground from before she found red eyes staring at her from behind the mask. Tomoe spinning lazily.

"Uchiha." She groaned. "That's just great." She leapt backwards again, dodging a swing to her stomach.

The masked ANBU stood with his tanto, seemingly unfazed. Crow mask staring blankly st her. It was a crow, right? She could never honestly tell with them. It was unnerving to say the least, but Konoha has always been creepy like that, giving their ANBU agents grotesque imitation of animal faces as their mask. She briefly wondered if that meant something or if that was just some kind of personal preference of some kind that just stuck? 

Hikari was working up quite the sweat already. No matter what, Hikari couldn't keep up with him forever, and certainly not with how fast he was. Even faster than Mangetsu and that's saying something. She wiped the sweat away before it got into her eye. She'd have to up her strategy. She fished a small scroll out of her pocket, and unsealed another sword. A nodachi that was taller than her.

"That won't help you."

"Let me be the judge of that!" She snapped. He was right, but he didn't need to know that. 

What could Konoha possibly want here? Was she already listed in bingo books? Why send ANBU here? And an Uchiha nonetheless. 

And why is he so freaking fast?! 

She found herself pinned underneath his weight, wheezing as the air got knocked out of her lungs. 

Man she wished Mangetsu was here. She looked up at the white porcelain mask completely unimpressed. Oh well, sometimes arrogance gets you in such a predicament. He stiffened over her, as he felt the pointy tip of a blade hovering over the back of his neck. Pressing just enough for him to feel its pressure. If he weren't ANBU and probably trained to calm himself down, Hikari was sure he would've run away when he felt his tanto vibrating and heating up steadily in his hand. 

Uchiha or not, fire nature or not, everyone got burnt from heat, and Hikari would be damned if she lost a fight to someone with a sword of all things. He leapt off her, deflecting the nodachi that attacked him. Hikari, ever the opportunist, kicked him with a chakra reinforced leg while he was distracted and sent him flying into the side of a mountain. She was under no impression that she could possibly defeat him, she knew her strengths well enough that she was aware that he could and would cut her down if this went on any longer. Plus Chuunin vs ANBU wasn't exactly fair, now was it?

Also, where was Zabuza in all of this?! 

Hikari barely had time to recover her footing when the Uchiha shunshined and got in her face a second time. She gasped at the sickening but familiar sound of blade slicing skin, and watched as a huge amount of blood spilled from her stomach. She gritted her teeth, fed up. So much for getting her belongings back without a hassle. She directed her chakra to her open wound, trying to dodge the next blows, but failing miserably. 

Hikari stopped, panting and holding her stomach like her organs were about to fall out. And they probably were, if she didn't work fast enough. The Hidden Mist technique was probably her best shot at the moment. It wouldn't work very well, given how fast the ANBU was and his sharingan, but it would buy her enough time to pull herself together and plan something to get her the heck out of here. So she did. Hikari activated the jutsu and disappeared momentarily from the sharingan's view. 

It bought her just enough time for her wound to knit itself back together, heating, bubbling and sizzling like it was a liquid set to boil. She sighed, and tried coming up with a plan. Quickly before the Uchiha found her. 

Quickly. 

Quickly.

Quickly. 

She ducked narrowly avoiding a Fireball Jutsu aimed at her head. The fire singed the tips of her hair and she almost gagged at the smell. She whipped around, aiming at his face but he caught her blade with his own. 

She huffed out in annoyance, glaring at the masked face. She didn't know how she knew but she was 90% sure the bastard was smirking at her from behind his mask. She leaped away and ran.

She knew he would catch up to her in no time. Matter of fact, she was betting on it. She ran, darting between boulders, kicking up sand, behind sparse trees and even gliding on the ground. She barely avoided shuriken and even explosive tags aimed at her. He caught up with her multiple times, and she knew he wasn't even trying to actually catch her. Good, this was all according to the half-baked plan she came up with on a whim. She just needed to get to the sea. 

Hikari gasped at the sudden pain that struck her back. Blood sprayed and she was on the ground in seconds. She silently thanked her lucky stars it was a blade, not a Fireball Jutsu or something along those lines. She gritted her teeth and directed chakra to her back, listening to the distinct sizzling sound and the tangy smell of scorched metal. 

"Sick." The Uchiha said in wonder. 

Wait a damn second... did he just injure her just so he could see that?! She gritted her teeth and pulled herself up, resuming her chakra enhanced run. If she suffered one more hit, she'd have to choose between executing her plan and healing herself. Neither guaranteed that she would come out alive, but she liked her odds better with the former. 

Onwards. She had to get to the sea.

--->

Zabuza was already done with dispatching his opponent when he saw Hikari being struck to the ground. He winced at amount of blood coming out of her. 

She didn't seem to have noticed him, continuing on her way towards...

The sea?

Zabuza smirked to himself. So much for thinking that she needed his help at all. He stuck Kubikiribōchō in the ground and leaned his weight on it, watching. 

--->

Hikari's skin prickled at the sudden change of temperature once she submerged herself deep into the water. She resisted the urge to gasp and drink half the ocean. 

The Konoha ANBU didn't follow her in. Smart move, but not smart enough. She ignored the stinging of the salt on her back, her flesh not fully back together, and started looking for his chakra signature. 

She found it a lot faster than she thought. Pinpointing his location, she manipulated her chakra, feeling the familiar pull in the center of her stomach and pointed it up.

She heard his yelp in surprise before she resurfaced. She watched as the water encapsulated him and trapped him in the prison she created. Hikari stood up on the surface, sweating buckets, panting and on the verge of passing out. But if she did now, he would for sure kill her. She had to keep going. 

She wasn't very good at Nature releases. Most Heiki's weren't, at least according to her father. As far as she knew, she was the only one left. That, however, didn't mean that Yagura, Zabuza and Kisame and even Mangetsu didn't drill enough jutsu into her before they all went batshit. Water Prison was the only one she could actually do, given enough time, effort and a rather huge body of water. Unlike Zabuza who could do it with little to no effort and a body of water as small as a puddle, heck if he had enough chakra and time, he could do it out of the moisture in the air, Hikari's wasn't as refined nor effortless, often taking her all to make even a small one. 

She watched his body slump forward, falling to the bottom of the sphere surrounding him. She left it there for a few minutes for good measure, then dispelled it. His body fell into the sea, sinking gradually. 

"Took you long enough." 

Hikari groaned. "Look who's talking! Where were you anyway?!" 

Zabuza shrugged and pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "Taking care of my share of enemies." 

She groaned. "Why are the Uchiha so overpowered?"

"You're one to talk, with your healing."

She gaped at him. "That takes up so much chakra though! And it's not like we're immune to injuries! It only works if it's some kind of live steel and you know it!"

"Still, pretty useful."

Hikari huffed in annoyance, then glanced at the sky in lament. The sun was already high and their chances of sneaking in undetected have significantly slimmed. Not that they were very high in the first place, but they were even lower now. "So much for getting my stuff back first thing in the morning."

Zabuza rolled his eyes. "We still can, but after you rest."

"But-"

"Rest." He pointed to the ground firmly. 

Hikari humphed, crossed her arms over her chest and sunk to the ground. "You said that last night!" 

"Yeah, you were on the verge of chakra exhaustion, as you are now." He pointed out. 

Hikari pouted. "But-"

"Hikari."

She frowned even further. "I'm not sleeping."

"I never told you to." 

"Don't you think we should at least go somewhere else?" She asked, glancing at the body a few feet away. 

"Yeah, good idea." He hauled her up. 

"I can get up myself!" She squawked. 

--->

It was early afternoon by the time they made it to the village gates. Hikari swayed on the balls of her feet, thrumming with excitement at the prospect of getting her things back into her possession. 

They sneaked into her apartment easily enough. Suppressing their chakra signatures until they felt like a songbird's. Zabuza stood watch by the door, and a clone by each window until Hikari sealed everything into her storage scroll safely.

The Heikis, in Hikari's opinion were the original hoarders. Belongings took priority over furniture, especially tools and weaponry. Books, scrolls notebooks and scrap pieces of paper pinned to the walls and lined bookshelves that took up half the rooms, leaving minimal space for residents. Weapons piled up in an organised chaos in the other rooms, categories upon categories of decades, if not centuries worth of development, theories, failures and successes. Every prototype that stayed a dream in its designer's mind, and every commercialised weapon that later became standard issue. Everything that existed or were to exist about them, was hers. No library, no encyclopedia and no database held as much information as she did. And she had memorised almost everything over the years. Reading, rereading and writing down her own notes, her handwriting mingling with that of people she never knew, and never would. She could vaguely identify her father's handwriting. He'd often sit her on his lap as he explained his theories to her as if her little mind could ever comprehend them. By the time she was three or four, she could recognise his scratchy scrawls, looping on the edges of the well worn pages. Hikari's fingers traced her name in such writing, never had gotten the chance to receive the product of her father's four years worth of theorising, an intricate blueprint with detailed instructions, a custom weapon made just for her. 

One she could never create even if she wanted to. 

She put the blue print away, tucked it into her storage scroll under the "Baba" section, and resumed sorting her things. 

It was an arduous task, taking up more time than one might think, but if she didn't want to spend even more time unpacking and reorganising, she had to take her sweet time keeping the organised mess under control before it became a messy mess. 

"Are you almost done?" Zabuza asked. 

"Five more minutes." She estimated. 

He stayed silent after that, letting her do her thing. Hikari worked in silence, sometimes nicking herself on something or other, but she was almost done. She wasn't lying when she said she would take five minutes or so to clear out the tiny but packed apartment. Some things were already stored in storage scrolls because she simply didn't have enough space. This apartment wasn't at all like her old home by the shore. It was much bigger, with a whole floor dedicated to her clan's idiosyncrasies, plus the basement. Hikari barely had enough space for her bed and a kitchenette, and it still wasn't enough. She pushed one last nodachi into her scroll, watching as it faintly glowed as it sunk in. 

"Done." She called out, tucking her scroll into her pack.

"Good, let's go. Remember your disguise." 

Hikari nodded, wrapping the thin black fabric over her yukata, and letting down the fish net face mask over her nose.

Civilian women often kept their faces covered except for their eyes. Something or other about protecting their skin. Hikari didn't really understand it, but went along with it for the sake of getting the heck out of here undetected.

Wishful thinking because as soon as she stepped out of the apartment, Hikari's brown eyes met with bright pink ones. 

"Shit." 

--->

Yagura leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms and scrutinising his star pupil. "I honestly thought you were smarter than this." He sighed. "Did you honestly think that was a good disguise?"

Hikari shrugged, taking the black wrap and face mask off. She stood in her yukata, shinobi gear hidden underneath it. The Mizukage's office, sparsely decorated, with blue leather chairs positioned in front of his desk with a small table between them. And farther in the corner of the room was a similar couch. Yagura used to have pictures here, but took them down a few years ago.

"Did you honestly expect me to leave everything behind Yagura-sen... um...Yagura-sama?" She asked, stumbli a bit over the title. Yagura was her "teacher" for years before he became Mizukage, teaching her everything she knew and some. 

He gave her a wry smile. "I thought I told you not to come back."

Hikari shrugged. "I don't understand why, though. And so suddenly too?" 

Yagura closed his eyes. "I can't tell you, Hikari. I'm being watched. Someone is-" he clutched at his head. "Something's happening to me. I can't explain it. Just... just get the hell out of Kiri, and don't come back until it's safe." 

Hikari didn't really understand, but she knew first hand how steadily more and more insane Yagura became the past four years. Him taking office, then encouraging her to undergo the Jonin exams, then failing her, over and over again, like it was intentional sabotage, but it was the frown on his face when he called her in for a mission and found her rank still Chuunin that made her think that something was off. Yagura had gone more confused, more paranoid and more contradictory as time went on. One day he'd pass new laws, then the next he'd call them ridiculous and cancel them. He'd kill someone then ask about them a week or so afterwards. Multiple coups were organised and all of them failed. Such was the reason for Zabuza's current exile and Terumi Mei's disappearance. 

The whiplash made everyone stand on edge. When he first came into office he tried fixing old policies, cancel and ban traditions, he even almost took off the one child restriction on her diminished clan, going through the logistics of it all to allow Hikari the possibility of having a family somehow if she were to want it in the future. Cancelled Kekki Genkai Hunts and even allowed Terumi Mei to come out of hiding. Abolished the bloody mist for a short while. That didn't last long. It was a slow descent into madness for Yagura. Missing meetings, reestablishing the Bloody Mist, hunting Terumi Mei down until she went back into hiding and ultimately drive the village into an even worse state of chaos than it was in before. All in the span of his four year rule.

Hikari wasn't afraid of Yagura... not really, not anymore. She spent more time with him than she did with her own father. She knew him like the back of her hand. It was... jarring, blood curdling, to see him try to cling to the last strands of his sanity like this. She could tell that something was wrong with Yagura. She didn't know when this slippery slope started; what triggered it, or what triggered the small moments of clarity he had, such as this one.

"You told me to leave then sent Hunter Nin to chase me down."

"I... I did?" He asked, looking up at her. Yagura was good at masking his emotions, but Hikari, having spent eight whole years with him, daily was well versed in the slight changes in his face. He looked lost, but also like he didn't believe her. Hikari nodded reluctantly. She shifted her weight slightly, giving the Mizukage nervous and weary glances. "Yagura-sama, if you wanted me out of the village, why did you take me here? Why not just let me go without a fuss?" 

"I don't know...." 

Hikari didn't know how to respond to that, so she didn't. She stayed silent, fidgeting lightly with her fingers. 

"I'll write you up for a mission. Long term, indefinite, whatever, just... just don't come back." He took out a mission scroll from his desk drawer, not looking at her.

"Yagura-sa... Yagura-sensei," she said firmly this time. "Why? Why do you not want me here?"

"It's not safe for you here." He ephasised and started writing something then he paused, looked up at her then frowned. He looked down on his desk, then back up at her again. His face betrayed nothing but Hikari could see the confusion, the fog written clear in his pink eyes. "Hikari.... what are you doing here?"

Hikari gasped, then stumbled and flung herself out the office window.

Something's definitely wrong with Yagura. So, so wrong. He wasn't going batshit crazy, he needed help.

She had to help him. 

But.... what could she even do?

--->

"I'm telling you something is wrong with him." Hikari chewed on her lips. 

"He's never been right to begin with." Zabuza shot back, face obscured by the white mask he had on his face.

"That's not what I mean and you know it!" She snapped. Stopping short in her tracks to glare at him.

Zabuza gave her a blank look. "I don't care for your theories, Hikari. Shrimpy has gone absolutely bonkers. The only way for things to get better in Kiri is if he becomes fish food."

Hikari made a strangled noise. "I'm telling you, he's not right in the head."

"And I agree."

"Not like that! He's forgetting things... like his mind is playing tricks on him. He... he said he would assign me to a longterm mission so I could be authorised to be out of village borders, but once he got the scroll out to write it, he stopped and asked me what I was doing there! Momochi-san, you might not like Yagura-sensei-" Zabuza scoffed. "But that doesn't mean that he doesn't need help-"

Zabuza turned around and got super close in her face, killing intent seeping out of him. Hikari yelped in both surprise and pain when he gripped her shoulders tightly enough to bruise. "Listen to me, Hikari. Listen very, very well. I don't care how good he's been to you, I don't care how much you think he needs our help, or any help for that matter. That man is rotten, he doesn't deserve help. Drop it. I don't want to hear it ever again, do you hear me?" 

Hikari nodded, pushing him away from her weakly. Tears already streaming down her face. Once he let her go, she turned away from him, sobbing. 

Zabuza sighed. "Hikari." He tried to soothe, but she pushed him away again, leaving him to stand there by himself as she ran away into the mist. Zabuza cursed silently, then set off to find her. 

It didn't take long for him to find her. She didn't make it far. 

Hikari was staring blankly at the sea, her knees pulled to her chest and chin resting over them. He knew that she felt his presence, but she just didn't acknowledge it. Pointedly ignoring him. Petulant and pouting like a child. Her eyes were still glassy from crying, hair frizzy and twice its usual size from the humidity. It would've been funny if it weren't for the uncomfortable silence hanging over them. 

He just stood there waiting for her to break the silence, but she seemed content to just listen the the waves crashing gently on the shore. 

Hikari, whenever not having a good time, would always find the sea, and listen to it. It reminded her of her father, who would often take her out to play in the sand or have a little swim whenever she was having a tough time. Hikari didn't get to spend enough time with him, so all the memories of him were precious, even if she didn't really remember his face. Even if the only thing she remembered about him was the mole underneath his right eye. That crinkled when he smiled at her. The sea was a reminder of her father, comforting, familiar and sometimes terrifying. Unlike her father though, the sea was here to stay. No-one could take it away from her like they did him. The sea won't suddenly disappear die like her Baba did.

"We need to keep going." Zabuza muttered, breaking the heavy silence. 

She continued ignoring him, not even looking in his direction. Eyes fixed on the sea.

"Hikari." He sighed. He tried pulling her up but she just slapped his hand away. If her little jump was any indication, she might've been too lost in thought to hear him the first time."You know how I feel about Yagura." 

Hikari sniffled. "He still needs help." Glancing up at him, accusation and disapproval written on her face.

Zabuza sighed. He didn't have time for this, he was supposed to be back at base yesterday. Still, he couldn't leave Hikarion her own now that she was probably dubbed a Missing Nin. "What do you think he needs help with?" He resigned.

Hikari frowned and shook her head. "I don't know, but... it's like... like something else is controlling him, or.... or maybe he's injured somehow? Has anyone bothered to check?" She knew he didn't care but... this was bothering her. What could it be that has Yagura acting like this?

"Do you think it's the Sanbi?"

Hikari gasped at the sheer ridiculousness of the prospect. "Isobu-" Zabuza made a disapproving noise. "-wouldn't be cruel even if that were true," she said firmly.

"So if it's not the Sanbi-" "Isobu." "-and probably not a head injury, what do you think it could be?"

Hikari stayed silent. She didn't know, she didn't know, she didn't know.

"You know I actually don't care, right?" 

She nodded. 

"I still want to drown him by my own two hands."

Hikari nodded again. Her thinking face still on, her frown deepened. What could possibly have Yagura behaving in such a way? Like something is controlling him. It wasn't Isobu, definitely not, so what could it be? The brain fog was almost like... almost like.... She gasped, turned to Zabuza horror stricken and panicky. 

She leaned into his personal space suddenly, clutching at his sleeves, looking nervous, eyes wide and scanning the clearing around them, blood rushing through her ears, breath thin and jagged as she breathed out. "What if.... oh Gods, what if it's genjutsu?" She whispered. Zabuza almost didn't hear her.... almost, but he did. Her speculation was so ridiculous, so far-fetched but she said it with confidence that it almost seemed like a fact. She was so sure if it that he was almost inclined to believe her. No matter how ridiculous it seemed. 

"What?!"

Chapter Text

In Konoha's sweltering heat, stood a man with a mask and headband covering one of his eyes. Sighing with a sort of resignation that only came with loss. He passed the mission scroll in his hand to his two teammates and subordinates, careful of the response the younger one had.

"Recollection. Let's hope they're alive." He muttered.

"Yes sir."

--->

The thing about summer, was that Hikari hated it with her entire being. She hated how it left the air humid and sticky, she hated how her hair frizzed up and made her look like she was electrocuted, and most of all she hated the abnormal amount of sweaty clothes she had to wash every day because the sun just couldn't give them a break.

She laid down sprawled across the ground watching the sun set over the horizon, not willing to move so her body stays as cool as possible. 

"You'll get sand in your hair." Zabuza toed at her shoulder. She swatted him away. It's not like she cared any way. "Go away."

"Why do you even insist to look at the sea so often."

"Does it matter?"

"Hikari."

She huffed, then sat up looking at Zabuza sourly. "Leave it alone, Momochi-san."

His raised eyebrow spoke enough. Hikari groaned. The thing about Zabuza Momochi, he was stubborn and he was also a gossip. Never one to pass up any kind of information. Probably why he chose to be a mercenary after defecting.

Who would've thought that he would stoop so low? She thought bitterly.

Hikari sighed, then fell back to the sand with a loud thud. "A mission gone wrong." She relented, not willing to elaborate any further.

Zabuza waited for her to continue. They stayed in the silence of Hikari's decision until he shook her shoulder gently, prompting her to continue. She glared at him, not really willing to talk about it, but he would pester her until she said something.

"Mangetsu and I... we had a mission on one of the islands." She glanced up at him. "The ones up north. Our target was... he was smuggling some kind of venom we use in our poisons to someone. I think an enemy village, to make antidotes or... something. I'm not really sure, Mangetsu had all the details." She licked her lips nervously. "We confronted him on his fishing boat. Mangetsu.... I was supposed to...." Her breath hitched. "I didn't get to him on time. I could've done something. Mangetsu... Mangetsu was pushed out of the boat just as he liquefied himself and... he fell. He fell into the sea and I couldn't get to him on time." Her eyes became wide, stuck in a memory. "I tried so hard, but he was already gone. Mangetsu couldn't hold himself together, I tried to-"

"There's nothing you could've done, if he was already in water form." Zabuza interrupted.

"No! You don't get it! Momochi-san... I could've done something. I just wasn't fast enough." She panicked.

"Hikari-"

"No!" She yelled at him, sitting up. "No." She repeated softly. "I could have saved him."

Zabuza waited for her to explain. She clearly had some kind of thought process, even if he didn't completely agree with it. Zabuza sighed. "What do you think you could've done, Hikari?" He asked softly.

Hikari sniffled, dug the heels of her hands in her face, until she saw stars behind her eyelids. Nose already turning red as she resisted the urge to cry. "I could've done something." She repeated, firmly, not quite yelling but with enough conviction, Zabuza almost believed her. Almost. "He wouldn't be dead now if I didn't freeze up." She hiccuped. She couldn't hold back her tears.

Each time she closed her eyes the scene of her best friend's death would replay in her mind. The way she couldn't stop his doom from happening plagued her, haunted her, never left her senses. Always, always hovering at the edge of her consciousness, waiting for the perfect time to remind her of her failure. If it had been the other way around, she would've been alive and kicking. Mangetsu would've saved her.

Zabuza didn't have anything to say, so he just listened.

"He would still be alive if he'd had anyone else with him. It's all my fault." She whispered. The guilt was consuming her, eating her from the inside. Since Mangetsu's death, Hikari found herself unable to create anything. The only thing she could keep thinking about was Mangetsu, how she could've saved him. How he wouldn't have been a part of the huge water body had she been fast enough, had she been good enough. "Mangetsu is the sea now, Momochi-san san, he's part of it as much as it's a part of him," she said as a way for explanation.

He didn't need to know anything else. He'd already pushed the Chuunin too far.

--->

Team Ro had made it into the Land of Waters in record time, they also found the missing members of their roster in an even shorter time. What a great day for them... so far.

"Tread lightly, this could be a trap," Hound said.

He received nods of understanding. The sea was violent, crashing waves against the shore. Sea gulls called out in agitation, typical unstable weather. The thing about summer in Water, was not only was it brutal, it was also stormy. It could be the height of summer and they'd find themselves on the cusp of a raging storm. It seemed like they were about to be caught in one. How lucky.

Last time he was this deep into the Land of Waters, his hands were coated with blood, organs, so much blood.

His fingers twitched at his side, the scars on his hand hidden by his gloves tingled. Lightning burns vibrated with hidden sparks. He could sometimes still feel the squelch of organs enveloping his fingers, the pulse of a heartbeat throbbing against his skin. It was so wet, and almost slimy, slippery, his arm went out the other side with a sickening wet crunch and very little resistance. He was not about to throw his breakfast up.

There was so much blood. Who would've thought so much blood could come out of one person? So, so much blood.

"No pulse." Cat whispered, hovering over the body lying face down in the sand. Hound snapped out of his train of thoughts, looking over his subordinates.

"Crow?"

"Still missing." Weasel replied, voice not betraying anything. His eyes stayed fixed on Hound's slightly trembling fingers. He could just say it was anticipation. His little kouhai would take it at face value at this point in time. He decided not to comment on his intense stare.

"Then we continue searching." Hound crouched down beside Cat, sealing the stiff body in a storage scroll. "Move out."

"Yes sir!"

--->

Uchiha Shisui never thought drowning would feel so peaceful. Man that girl really got him, huh? She was clever he had to admit, and he never thought someone could actually get him to take a chase seriously. It was so good.

The water felt even better. Weightless, tender, like the caress only a mother could manage. Is this how it felt for Itachi to get cared for by Mikoto?

If so, he never wanted to leave. The water was still around him, holding him in its embrace like a long lost son being welcomed back into his mother's arms. He wanted to stay forever. Here it was peaceful. No wars, no fighting, no killing. If only it had actually stayed like that. The currents around him picked up and he picked up and spit out on the shore. He coughed up the water from him lungs, heaving it out of him and gulping the air like his life depended on it. That's because it did. Still the water didn't want to leave him alone.

"I found him!" Weasel called out to his teammates. Dragging him by his ankles away from the unrelenting waves that kept crashing against his face, not allowing him to breathe.

Shisui took a gasping breath once his face stopped getting assaulted, then continued coughing up the water blocking his airways. He vaguely registered a hand rubbing at his back, patting firmly but gently to help his body expel the liquid inside his lungs.

"Tacchan." He choked, coughing up more water. Blinking as the blurry sight of his cousin with his mask askew cleared up little by little. His cute baby cousin.

"Shisui, are you okay?" He asked gently, firmly. As he always was. He continued rubbing at his back with a worried crease between his eyebrows. Gosh he looked much much older than ten.

"I think I'm in love." Shisui answered, thinking of wild curly hair and sun kissed skin. Itachi made a small strangled noise that would've been normal if it were anyone else, looking back at his Captain, mouth slightly agape.

Shisui snorted at the sound he made, it would've been normal funny if anyone else made it, but it was hilarious because the usually calm, collected Itachi was the one who did.

Possible concussion. Itachi signed, looking worriedly over at his cousin, still rubbing his back as he hacked up more water.

--->

Hikari's feet ached, her back hurt and she was this close to launching a full attack on Zabuza Momochi. "You said we'd be there in fifteen minutes three hours ago." She complained.

"Hush."

Hikari gaped at him. "Momochi-san, please tell me we're almost there, because I physically can't move anymore," she begged, shivering, and rubbing her arms for warmth.

"Almost."

She gave him an incredulous look. Excuse her for being a bit skeptical, seeing as he said that repeatedly for the last four hours they've been travelling in the bitter cold. The sun hid behind heavy clouds threatening rain and the cold made the hairs on Hikari's neck stand. The frigid cold clung to her skin along with the salty air of the Land of Waters. Never mind the fact that she was covered in the warmes fleece jacket she owned. "Where is that hideout you're taking me to anyway?" She stuttered out. "Why can't we go to the same one we've been staying at the past three months?"

"Wouldn't be a hideout if I tell you, now would it?" He shot back. "And why do you think, genius?"

Hikari made an offended noise. "I don't know! You tell me!"

Zabuza rolled his eyes and didn't answer.

Hikari sighed, dragging her feet through the snowy ground of underdeveloped roads and uninhabited territory. Snow and sand did not mix well and if she gets any more sand in her boots she swears to the Sages!

The summers in Water were brutal, the winters even more so, snow falling thick and heavy, then rain, then snow again, then hail, then blizzards. It was disastrous weather after disastrous weather. Their skin cooked in the summer, and then froze in the winter. It made Hikari feel like she was constantly getting pasturized, like milk. She gave a wry chuckle at her own train of thought, earning a mildly concerned look from the man walking beside her. She noticed the look, then shivered slightly at a rush of cold that ran through her.

"I'm so freaking cold, it's not even funny, Momochi-san." She whined.

He didn't reply to her, choosing to ignore her instead.

Hikari sighed, circulating chakra in her body even faster to warm herself up even more. Honestly, this kind of weather should be illegal. Hikari's scanning eyes got a bit distracted when they found a rundown building over the horizon. It looked like it was burnt or something. Would there be any survivors?

Probably not, from the looks of it. What was a house doing so far away from civilisation, all the way in the middle of literal nowhere? These people couldn't have gotten help even if they'd asked for it.

Hikari shivered, whether from the cold or from the ominous sight she saw was unclear, but either way she couldn't wait until she got the heck out of here. She noticed that Zabuza had walked ahead and didn't wait for her. Honestly with this much mist, you know Water and all, she wondered how the heck he wasn't worried that they'd lose each other.

That or Zabuza wanted to get rid of her faster than she initially thought. Hikari huffed, planting her hands firmly inside her pockets, and walked over to the crouching form of Zabuza Momochi.

"....thrown away, unloved, uncared for."

Huh? What the-?

"Soon you'll die here by the side of the road with nothing to show that you liv-OW!"

"Who says that to a child?!" Hikari shrieked, knocking him upside the head. "What the heck is wrong with you?!"

"Hikari!"

"Shut up for a second!" She turned to the small child kneeling on the ground, lips turning blue, his skin sickeningly pale, almost see through from the cold, shivering, cold... Were those icicles forming on his skin? What the heck happened here? Why was there a chain around his neck? And why was he dressed like it was the middle of summer?! "What happened?! Are you okay?!" She fussed, unwrapping her black scarf and putting it around the shivering child. "What's your name?" She asked gently, ignoring the sudden coldness her neck was assaulted with. Her jacket was high collared, and she still missed the scarf when it was gone.

The child shivered, pulled the scarf tighter and whimpered slightly. Hikari gave a scathing glare to Zabuza, then gestured to the whimpering child in a way that said, 'fix this, now.' There's no way this scarf would be enough. Still he looked better off than she thought he would considering the way he was dressed.

"Don't mind scary-face here-"A squawk"-He's actually a big softie. What's your name?" She asked again, still crouching to stay at eye level.

"...Haku." Came out the small voice.

So. Freaking. Cute

Hikari cooed, heart eyes almost popping out of her sockets. Was it legal for children to be this cute? "Haku, you're very cute did you know that?" She reached out to scoop him up in her arms. He allowed her, appreciative of the warmth than enveloped him when she held him close. She gestured vaguely to Zabuza to give her his cloak.

He gave her a look, which she responded to with an expectant one of her own. They stayed like that, staring each other down, neither allowing themselves to give up first. The shiver against her chest made Hikari glare harder at the tall man. She rubbed Haku's back soothingly, never breaking eye contact.

Zabuza really, really didn't want to, but he complied, shrugging his cloak off and handing it over to the expectantly outstretched hand of his... student? No that wasn't right. Mentee? He hadn't been her mentor for years... companion?.... He just gave it to her like she asked, okay?

Hikari hummed in satisfaction and wrapped it around Haku, and by extention herself. Sneaky little shit, warming herself up and using the orphan as an excuse.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Hikari gave him a blank look. "What does it look like? Do you want me to leave him out here to die of hypothermia?" She huffed.

"No, what are you doing?" He pointed to the fact that she was carrying him as they resumed walking.

"Taking him with us?"

"Why?"

Hikari frowned, looking at Zabuza like he'd grown a second head. "Did the cold fry your brain or something?" She asked, fake concern lining her eyebrows. "Are you running a fever?"

Zabuza slapped the hand reaching for his forehead away. It's not like Hikari would've actually reached it, but it was the thought that thoroughly annoyed him. "Stop it. We're not taking him."

"We can't just leave him outside in the middle of nowhere like this! At least let's take him somewhere safe? Do you know what happens to little kids left on their-"

"Okay, okay, shut up!"

Hikari shot him an unidentifiable look, snuggled closer to the child hanging onto her chest, and promptly continued walking.

"I'm not carrying him if you get tired."

"Of course you are." She replied simply.

--->

"I'm not leaving him here!" Hikari argued, standing her ground.

"You said somewhere safe, this is safe enough. Let's go." He grabbed her forearm. She pried it away, wincing at the pop that her shoulder made.

"No." She said firmly. She really wanted to rub at her shoulder, but stood her ground.

"Hikari, I've had enough of this. We're already off course. We don't have time for your stubbornness, we need to go, now."

"We- Momochi-san, he's seven! We can't leave him alone in the middle of the night! We can take-"

"No, we can't. This isn't a game, Hikari. We can't take him with us, what makes you think he'd be safe where we're going?!"

"You're taking me there, why can't we-"

"You are a seasoned shinobi. In a pinch I know you can take care of yourself."

"Really?! Or is it because I'll be useful?! You know for all your opinions on Yagura-san, you're exactly the same!" She pointed at him accusingly.

"How dare you?! Is that what you think?! Is that why I saved you from Ao and them? Because you'd be useful?!"

"Why else?! It's not like you actually care about me!"

If there was one thing Hikari was exceptionally good at, it was keeping old wounds open, and occasionally rubbing salt in them. It showed in the way she would wake up in the middle of the night to check if he was still there or if he'd left like he did four years ago. It showed in the way she didn't trust him a hundred percent when he left for a job on his own. Waiting and counting the minutes until he got back. It showed in the way she'd constantly remind him whenever she go that chance that he left. Left her to fend for herself, left her under Yagura's mercy just as his descent to madness spiraled and went out of control.

It never stopped making him feel like shit.

Haku sat on a bench watching the two shinobi argue in the middle of the night. Heads started popping out of windows, lights turned on, but nobody said anything. This was a civilian town, and for all it was worth, nobody wanted to anger two shinobi strapped with weapons from head to toe. He snuggled into the cloak that was covering him, trying to tune out the arguing voices.

"... already off course. We can't lose any more time."

"You're the one who stopped to talk to him in the first place!"

"Will you shut up for once?!" He yelled at her, finally at his wit's end. Oh no, oh no, why did he say that? Why did he say it like that.

Hikari swallowed the retort, pursed her lips, and turned away from him. She toed at the snow beneath her feet, but didn't say anything. Sages be good she already had tears welling up in her eyes. He just kept on piling up the shitty things he could do to Hikari as if he's running for first place in a "How to Be a World Class Asshole to Hikari Heiki" competition.

Zabuza sighed, and rubbed at his forehead. "Hikari, listen to me. We can't take him with us. He wouldn't be safe."

Hikari didn't reply, just crossed her arms and refused to look at him. Like a petulant child. Like she was four again.

No that wasn't exactly fair to her. He was at fault here too. "Hikari."

She avoided his eyes, but that didn't stop her from speaking her mind, albeit more subdued, more nervous, fidgeting with her shoulders raised to her ears, like she was preparing for him to blow up on her again. "You could... I don't know, we could teach him! It's not like we'd be out on jobs all the time, right?"

Zabuza sighed. "Of course not, but what makes you think we could even do something like that? You think any orphan is cut out to be a shinobi?"

Hikari gave him a skeptical look then sighed as well, breath coming out in a thin cloud before disappearing. "Well..." she unzipped her fleece jacket, and showed Zabuza the icicles forming on her collarbone and up her neck.

"Kekki Genkai....?"

Hikari nodded. "Most likely.... Yuki clan?"

"Definitely." Zabuza nodded back. He watched silent as Hikari zipped herself back up, and snuggled into the high collar of her jacket. "This changes things."

"Hypocrite." Hikari muttered.

"Not like that, you little shit. He really isn't safe on his own."

"That's what I've been trying to say!"

"You could've started with that!" He pushed at her face. She swatted his hand away.

"So?"

"Yeah, alright, we're taking him with us." Zabuza conceded.

"Good, you're carrying him." Hikari turned on her heel and didn't wait for him. Zabuza grumbled, but went to pick up the lonely child. He knelt down and looked at him closely. Haku smiled up at him. "You have the same eyes as me, Mister," he said hesitantly, immediately trying to hide under the cloak after her said that.

Zabuza stared at him in shock. If he were a lesser man he would've had a more obvious reaction, but he didn't. He silently turned and gestured to the kid to climb up on his back. "Hikari, come help secure him." He called out.

Hikari stopped moving, then complied easily. She apologised softly as she took the cloak off Hak, then immediately rewrapped it around him and Zabuza in a way that secured him to the older man's back so neither of them had to commit much effort for him not to fall off.

It was admittedly smart of Hikari. "Good idea."

"Thanks! I saw civilian women wrap their infants on their back like that in Kiri. You know, with their black wraps." She grinned, spinning her index finger in the air.

He wished he'd never said anything.

--->

In the thick foliage of Konoha's towering trees, surrounded by lush greenery covered in a light dusting of snow sat a lonely figure clad in a dark high and wide collared shirt and arm warmers by the streaming river.

How does one Shisui Uchiha find himself lulled by the sound of streaming water, you might ask?

Itachi Uchiha didn't have an answer, but ever since he almost drowned, he found him lounging dangerously close to the deep end of the Naka River. Feet almost -not quite- but almost swept away carelessly by the powerful current.

"Shisui," Itachi said by way of greeting, sitting down beside his cousin. Snow immediately made a shivering sensation run up his spine, but he didn't let it show.

"Ah, Itachi. Back so soon?" Shisui asked, grin stretching across his face. Itachi nodded, hands playing slightly with the lush grass beneath his palm, brushing away at the snow before tangling the long blades through his fingers. "It was a short mission."

That was technically true, but actually, he rushed here immediately. Well, after filing in his report, he rushed here immediately. Shisui had been acting strange for months now, it was a bit... unsettling. He's yet to change out of his ANBU uniform, but he'd had a bad feeling all day, he couldn't wait until he changed to see his cousin. Neither of them commented on the blood coating Itachi's armour or running up his neck. Some even got into his hair, but he really didn't want to talk about that. His hands itched to clean it off, but held back.

Shisui came first, then his hair.

Shisui hummed, lying back on the snow covered grass, listening to the sound of the steadily running water, uncaring of the snow getting into his hair. "Tell me about it."

Itachi suppressed a disgruntled noise at the prospect. It was one thing for fresh snow to get in his hair, but snow that was already on the ground? Shisui didn't even seem bothered by it. Itachi wanted to clean it off. His fingers toyed more intensly with the grass.

"You know I can't do that." He really wanted to, though. He also wanted to brush the snow out of Shisui's curls.

"Come on, Itachi, humour me for a second." He looked towards him, grin still on his face. Itachi frowned, looked at his cousin, then back towards the river.

River. Snow. River. Snow. River. Snow.

"Why do you always come here?" He asked. He'd noticed the way Shisui's shoulders have been slouching more and more lately. Or the quiet disappointment that he expressed first thing in the morning, as if he hadn't been expecting to actually wake up. He also noticed the way his eyes stared at the water, not in contemplation, but longing. Like he was silently begging it to take him into its embrace and drown him. Shisui, for the past three months would stop and stare at any large body of water for extended periods of time.

He still had the snow in his hair.

It didn't affect his performance on missions so nobody ever questioned it. They painted it as a newly surfacing quirk of the 'unusual Uchiha', but Itachi knew better.

Something was wrong with Shisui.

He had snow in his hair.

Shisui's grin lessened, but didn't completely fall away. "It sounds peaceful, don't you think?" He closed his eyes.

"Not really." No really, it didn't. It sounded like his heart, beating way too fast beneath his ribs. He was sure Shisui could hear it, but if he could he didn't let on. Itachi wanted to lock Shisui away somewhere so he would stop staring so much at the water.

Snow in Shisui's hair.

He couldn't explain it, but Shisui shouldn't be in close proximity with any body of water anywhere, let alone the Naka River.

He shouldn't have snow in his hair.

Itachi's hand was almost cramping with how much he was twisting his fingers.

Shisui chuckled.

"It's cold." Itachi pointed out. He had to get him away. He had to brush the snow from his hair.

"I'm aware."

"So we need to go back." Itachi pressed, visibly becoming upset. Away, away, away.

Snow, snow, snow.

"You go on ahead. I'll stay out here for a bit." Shisui waved at him dismissively. No, no, no. He's not leaving him out here on his own. Not when he looked at the river like that.

Not when he had snow in his hair.

"But... Mom said you should come for dinner today." Itachi tugged at his hair, clearing a bit of snow from his hair. Finally. AWAY.

"Ouch. Alright, fine, fine. I'm coming." Shisui swatted at his hand.

There was still snow in his hair.

That wasn't exactly true, but it was the only way Itachi could think of to get Shisui away from the river as fast as possible.

The only excuse to get him home so he could get the snow out of his hair.

Never mind the fact that Itachi came here first thing after filing in his report, and didn't get the chance to talk to his mother at all, but she wouldn't mind. Mikoto always asked about Shisui, and always told Itachi to invite him for dinner sometime.

She actually probably meant for him to arrange it with her first and in hindsight he probably should've given her a heads-up before actually extending the invitation, but... well... his mother would understand why he did it. Besides she wouldn't actually get started on dinner now. It'll be at least half an hour before she even starts, so that should give him enough time to tell her once he makes it home.

Yes, tell mom first then shower, take the snow out of Shisui's hair, and change into something.... less bloody. 

Then they could have dinner. 

Chapter Text

Haku found that being with Zabuza, Hikari and a band of mercenaries was... a lot more eccentric than he thought. 

Hikari, being twelve, shouldn't terrify literal grown men the way she did, but Haku found himself hiding as well on numerous occasions despite not actually doing anything. 

Mainly, Hikari went around berating grown men until they cried about their weapon maintenance... or lack thereof. In her words, it was abysmal and a disgrace. Such a session was currently ongoing as Hikari bent over one of the mercs, pointing at him with a sneer on her face as he crossed his arms above his head as if to protect himself from her verbal blows.

"What? You gonna cry?" She asked mockingly, hands over her hips. 

"Who's gonna cry?!" Two of the other mercenaries' heads popped out of the doorway, grins on their faces as if that's the most exciting thing that had happened all week. 

It might as well have been. More people came in ,and Haku watched in confusion as they all started mocking the quivering man on the floor. Mimicking crying noises and rubbing at their eyes sarcastically. 

Hikari, seemingly satisfied with making a grown man twice her size cry, turned on her heels with a slight smile. She spotted Haku hiding behind the doorway, smiled warmly at him and ruffled his hair as she stepped out of the room. He stared at her as she walked down the hallway. 

"Does anyone know where Kotarou is?" Zabuza asked coming around the corner, eyes trailing behind Hikari as she walked away.

"Hikari-nee made him cry." Haku pointed towards the room where three adults were acting like children.

"Hikari! Stop making my subordinates cry!"

Hikari spent a long time in her room. When it wasn't time to eat, train Haku or spar with Zabuza, she stayed hunched over multiple notes, calculations and blueprints laid strewn across the floor. 

Haku wasn't allowed in Hikari's room, not that the Chuunin herself had forbade him from entering it was Zabuza who'd said scary things could happen in there, so Haku, who liked to think he had some kind of self-preservation, opted to watch her from afar. He had a distinct feeling that Zabuza was fear mongering, but he couldn't be sure and didn't really want to risk it. Hikari's room was incredibly messy, paper laying everywhere and sticky notes stuck to every surface available to her.... that included herself. They littered her arm and thighs, only her left arm remained free.... is that a sticky note in her hair? It must be uncomfortable having that much graphite smudged on her hand. 

How she didn't get paper cuts was beyond him. Haku watched mildly impressed as the older girl twisted her torso to lay on her side while her legs remained in their crossed position on the floor. She narrowed her eyes in thought, then scratched at something with a pencil. She tilted her head, hummed then glanced up with her eyes. She grinned, then sat up straight so quickly he was sure he heard something pop. He winced a little at the sound.

She beckoned him over with her hand. Haku started, Slowly letting go of the doorframe.

She always smiled when she saw him; he'd hesitantly smile in return. Still he refused to enter the room, toeing at the threshold shyly. Hikari stood up and crossed over until she was face to face with him. She held out her hand so he would take it and he complied. She held a fluttering paper in her other hand, her fingers smudged with graphite. 

"Where are we going?" He asked glancing up at the older girl.

"My workshop." She answered simply. "I think I'm onto something big!" She chirped.

Haku found himself feeling a bit excited as well despite the nervousness that had built up, drawing in on her energy. There was a slight skip in her step, like she just came up with something that will help with world peace. Haku tried to tell himself that Zabuza was being ridiculous, butif he'd warned Haku of the impending doom of going into Hikari's room, what would happen to him in her workshop?!

"Plus, I think it'll do you some good to learn proper weapon maintenance, don't you think?"

Haku nodded immediately, not even thinking about it. Hikari's wrath is yet to be directed at him, despite the fact that the snow was beginning to fall less and less frequently, he's yet to do anything to significantly piss her off. He was grateful. Haku could be wrong, but Hikari didn't seem like the most patient person out there, so he really, really didn't want to get himself on her bad side. She grinned at his reply, sharp canines and all. 

"You know, Haku, I think we'll have a great time together! I'll even teach you how to forge some standard issue gear! I know you'll do great!"

Haku nodded intently to everything she said. He wasn't really sure why she wanted to do that, but she's an expert, apparently, and while he's not really sure why or how -especially at twelve- but she seemed to know what she was doing at least. He just hoped she wasn't about to dissect him or anything. Don't tell her he said that, but he was sure she had a couple of screws loose up in her head.

The walk to Hikari's workshop is a small one, lasting a short two minutes out the enagawa at the back an into a huge shed in the backyard. Don't ask him why a band of mercenaries live in a traditional house, he's just as confused. 

If Haku thought Hikari's room was messy before, he's definitely not thinking that ever again. In the workshop, the smell of oil and grease hung in the air so thick, he could almost taste it on his tongue, the walls were lined up with blueprints and shelves carrying various prototypes and standard issue gear with creative variations that seem like they wouldn't exactly work but they were experimental anyway. A lone office chair sat in the centre of the shed. It honestly looked a bit eery. Haku wanted to bolt. Hikari let out a loud cough as they entered. Muttering on about how she neededt o air the place out. She pulled him inside gently and pointed to a table in the far corner and asked him to sit on it. He obliged quickly, and watched as she pulled out some raw materials out of the scroll hanging by the entrance. "Listen, Haku." She didn't glance up at him, setting raw steel and some kind of paper by his thighs. "Craftsmanship is a big part of why swords can be so expensive, it doesn't have to be elaborate, but it has to be well made. Some people purchase Katanas or Wakizashis purely for aesthetic purposes, but that doesn't mean it can't be functional." She sat down, toying a little with some of the steel on the table top.

Haku glanced at it with morbid curiosity. It looked pretty, but also dangerous. He fidgeted slightly with the hem of his yukata, glancing nervously between Hikari and the metal in her hand. She silently held it out to him, gesturing encouragingly for him to take it. It was small enough that she could hold it between her index finger and thumb with ease, like a pebble by the lake. He hesitantly took it from her, letting put a spurprised squeak at it's unexpected heaviness. Haku heard Hikari chuckle a little beside him, sending him a huge grin. 

"Heavy?"

He nodded. 

"Be like steel, Haku. Always, always have your enemies underestimate you, and you'll never be at a disadvantage. Appear small, harmless, and don't let out everything in your arsenal, no matter what." She brushed his hair away from his face. She honestly didn't know why she was saying this, but she remembered sitting exactly like that when her father worked, and he'd said the same thing to her. 

Haku stared at the pice of metal in his hand soberly, then nodded.

Since getting back from their mission in Water Country, Kakashi Hatake has been a little... off. Not that he was normal in any sense of the word, but he was extra weird these days. Of course something like that didn't go unnoticed even by someone like Itachi. They were walking towards a restaurant Tenzo had suggested for... Team bonding? Itachi was relatively new to team Ro, but it didn't feel very necessary to him. Why do they need team bonding? He'd ask Shisui but he hasn't been around for a while. Long term mission. He hoped he wasn't very close to any large bodies of water... that would be impractical though, because what if his supply runs out and he needs water? Or maybe to wash blood or wounds? It was a solo mission too, so nobody would actually stop him if he tried to jump in.

Still, Itachi hoped he wasn't close to any large bodies of water. Even if that meant he'd have to ration his supply.

But it was long term.

He looked at his Taichou, slouching a little more than usual, hands in his pocket. Twitching slightly every now and then. 

Both his Taichou and Shisui were having weird reactions since coming back from Water... were they sick? Maybe they caught something while there. It was a different environment after all. But then, why didn't Itachi catch it too?

"Taichou, you're being weird." 

Kakashi sighed. "You can't say that to people, Itachi-kun." 

Itachi gave him a confused look. "No?"

"No."

"Oh." He replied softly, looking down to the ground. He fidgeted slightly with the hem of his shirt. Itachi was a refined killer, he was fast, efficient and in words of others, a prodigy. There was basically nothing he couldn't do.

Social interactions were a nightmare. They made him nervous and somehow he never got them right. He tried to learn but...

"How's Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi asked after a beat of silence. 

"Good." Itachi glanced back up at his superior. 

Kakashi made a non-committal sound. 

Yes, social interactions weren't really his thing. They weren't Kakashi's either. They stayed silent after that. Kakashi gave him a once over before shrugging, and pulling out a book seemingly out of no where. 

Izumi said that to deepen connections, you could ask people about things they enjoy... would Kakashi actually reply to him if he asked? It's just that he brought that book everywhere so...

Itachi mulled over his decision to ask him until they arrived at the BBQ place Tenzo was waiting for them at. He would ask him about it, if only to test what Izumi said. 

He waited until they sat down with Tenzo. How would Kakashi reply? Hmm.

"Taichou?"

"Hm?"

"Would you recommend that book to me?" Itachi leaned over curiously, glancing at the seemingly randomly dog-eared pages in the orange book. 

Kakashi looked up, getting his thinking face on, then his visible eye closed as it usually did when he smiled? Did he actually smile or was it a kind of perfected expression that made it seem like he was smiling? Tenzo looked a bit shocked at his question, but it was okay to ask, right? He stared expectantly at his Taichou awaiting his answer. He seemed to come up with one because he nodded slightly to himself and looked back at Itachi. 

"Sur-"

"Absolutely not!" Tenzo interrupted, face pale and expression aghast. "Senpai! You can't just-"

"Lighten up, Tenzo-kun I was only teasing." Kakashi waved at him dismissively. 

Itachi didn't understand why he received such a reaction.... he would have to tell Izumi that she was wrong. 

She was not going to be happy with him.

Hikari was so tired it wasn't even funny. She laid on her side in the middle of the room. Her prototype failed and she found herself in another creator's slump.

That and she'd been unsuccessful so far in finding any leads to Suigetsu's whereabouts. Hikari huffed in frustration, as she scribbled something new on the seemingly messy diagram sitting on the floor of her room. 

"I swear you'll finish the paper supply in the country." Zabuza commented in exasperation. 

She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Suigetsu was still missing. Had been for the last six months and she couldn't find him.

Did he even know that Mangetsu was dead? Hikari rubbed her head in frustration. Where was he?

Haku popped his head out from behind Zabuza's leg, smiling slightly at Hikari, swaying in anticipation on the balls of his feet.

Hikari slowly got up, fighting the deep fatigue set in her bones and ruffled Haku's head and took his hand to her workshop. It had become somewhat of a weekly routine for both of them. 

Hikari was teaching him maintenance and he enjoyed watching her forge and sharpen kunai specifically. It was cute. She never had anyone so invested in her work before. 

Hikari turned the lights on, then closed the door of the shed. Haku skipped into the workshop without waiting for Hikari's instructions and plopped himself down on the table in the far corner. It was second nature at this point.

She noticed that Haku stopped being nervous and started being excited whenever they came in. 

They fell into routine, Haku occasionally handing her a whetstone or a hammer. Sometimes he'd get her water. 

Usually it went without a hitch. 

Usually. 

"Ouch." Hikari muttered. 

Haku started, looking at her curiously as she painstakingly pulled a senbon out of her left eye. "I forgot. Haku, always wear protective gear, alright?" She turned her head slowly and looked directly at him, bleeding eye and all, senbon held casually between her two fingers. "Lest this happens to you."

Haku's eyes widened, horrified at the sight of her eye bubbling up like it was boiling as blood ran down her face. She seemed so nonchalant. Like her eye wasn't taking on water properties and that she hadn't just blinded herself. He scrambled out of the shed, screaming for Zabuza. 

"Hey wait! Don't panic, it's…. fine." She sighed as she watched him already across the yard, taking Zabuza's hand and pointing towards her in distress. She blinked at the heat in her eye, listening for the hiss as it quieted down. Hikari reached over for the tissues she kept by her desk and patted the blood away.

Haku was outright crying now as he clung to Zabuza's pants. "Really? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! A senbon got in my eye! That's all." She argued defensively, holding the bloody needle for the older man to inspect 

"Oh. Well, why is Haku…?" He gestured to him in confusion. 

Hikari shrugged. "Beats me."

"Hey kid, look at her. She's fine." Zabuza pushed at Haku's shoulder gently to encourage him to look at her. He obliged fearfully, staring up at the older girl as she stared back at him curiously. 

He let out an indignant sound as he stumbled towards her, hand landing on her face, underneath her left eye. He checked her over, turning her head this way and that. Seemingly only now noticing the red line that was permanently etched in her eyeball. He almost cried at the sight of it. 

"Old injury, Haku." Hikari reassured him gently as she guided his little fingers to the side until they made contact with her ear. The skin bumpy and lined with slightly darker skin in a lighting-esque pattern, trailing down to her neck, branching off to the underside of her chin and shoulder. 

It suddenly made sense the way she tilted her head slightly to the right whenever someone talked to her. 

"I can see just fine. Live steel doesn't hurt me." She reassured him gently. "See?" She covered her right eye and followed her finger with her left. It was only then that Haku slumped against her and started crying again. This time in relief. 

"I thought you were hurt!" He sobbed. 

Hikari wrapped her arms around him. "Of course not, but I should definitely make sure you wear protective gear from now on." She joked lightly. 

Haku nodded against her chest. 

Cute.

Hikari pretended she couldn't see the smile on Zabuza's lips through the mask. Or that he scowled at her once she gave him a teasing grin. He was growing attached to Haku

Zabuza and Hikari argued a lot. 

A lot. 

Haku and the band of mercenaries cowered behind Hikari's shed/workshop ducking whenever a stray kunai or senbon went their way. 

It was one thing to watch them spar. It was another to see them actually try to kill each other. Most of the time, Haku was the topic of their arguing. 

He cringed, watching Kubikiribōchō slice its way into Hikari's stomach and out the other side. She coughed up blood but didn't let it stop her. She lifted her hand high up and struck the broadsword with it and cleaved it in half, breaking it at its point of contact with her stomach. She clutched it with her hands, uncaring of the blood that streamed out of them and pulled it out in one swift motion she might as well have split herself in half. More blood coated the ground and Haku was almost sure parts of Hikari's intestines had fallen with it. It wasn't long before a loud hiss reached their ears and Hikari's skin boiled like it was made of water. 

Haku watched in morbid fascination as it melted back together as if nothing had ever happened. It was always such a stomach churning, but interesting sight to witness. He distantly heard someone vomit behind him. Not that he could blame him honestly. He licked his lips nervously, they might actually kill each other at this point. 

Haku knew that realistically speaking these two actually cared about each other. Regardless of the current bloodbath. 

And yet….

And yet, he also knew that Zabuza would kill anyone without hesitation if they ever got in the way of his plans. 

That included Hikari. 

Haku also knew that, if he weren't here, Hikari wouldn't need to be in so much pain right now. 

It was stupid really, but she had freaked out over something so simple. So obvious that he wouldn't have believed how this argument, turned to fight to the death, started had he not been there to witness it himself. 

So what if Zabuza called him a tool? So what if he told him that his mind, body and soul belonged to him? That his wants and needs were irrelevant in face of what Zabuza wants and needs.

So what?!

Haku thought it was pretty obvious. Yet, he couldn't help the warm feeling that developed in his stomach hearing Hikari defend him so adamantly, so wholeheartedly, like he was someone precious to her. Like he actually mattered. Haku could cry, just recalling it. 

He wanted to cry now, watching these two tear into each other with killing intent suffocating him and everyone else. 

In the year and a half Haku had spent with them, Hikari always had his back, always taught him new things and always smiled at him so softly like his mother used to, once. She taught him so much, even going as far as theorising if he could create weapons out of his ice. She'd called it a perfect assassination tool, left not evidence and completely controlled by him. 

She experimented with him, spending days, no weeks, writing with her scrawly handwriting in notes, scratching out failed attempts and looking for new angles.

All to help him develop his skills. 

Zabuza had accused her of projecting her regrets onto him. That her inability to find her friend's brother for a year and a half despite looking, searching, scouring the entirety of the continent so diligently, so thoroughly had made her guilty. That she was treating him like she'd treated Suigetsu before his disappearance to assuage her guilt. So she wouldn't drown in it. Told her to give up on him. That she's wasting her time and energy because he was most likely dead.

It must've had at least a little bit of truth because she had bristled at his words. She denied them so vehemently then accused Zabuza of being heartless, that he wouldn't know what it meant to care for someone that didn't benefit him somehow. That he wouldn't know love if it introduced itself to him.

Then the name calling came, the guilt tripping, the accusations and the dirty laundry all aired out for everyone to see. 

Old grudges resurfacing, old wounds reopening.

It was all Haku's fault. 

He shuddered when Hikari let out a loud keen, a sickening crunch sounding out from her head and Zabuza swung what was left of Kubikiribōchō's body at her. She crumpled to the floor immediately from the blunt force.

Haku screamed and found his feet making their way towards her without realising it. He knelt by her head, hands hovering over the blood leaking from her forehead and onto the ground. Breath laboured and heavy as he tried to remember what he should be doing. How could he help? 

Hikari wasn't even looking at him, eyes glassy and staring up at the sky. 

Oh no, oh no, oh no. What should he do? What should he do? What should he do?

What should he do?

Tremors found their way through his body, his arms shook, his vision blurred and the blood, the blood was getting closer to him. Hikari's blood. What should he do? How can he stop this? 

He barely registered his own sobs, his hands finally finding purchase on Hikari's shoulder, brushing the lightning pattern that etched itself into her skin. He shook her gently, waiting for a response, but she wasn't responding. Her head lolled side to side with each shake, her eyes still staring at the sky. 

Why wasn't she responding?

"Haku." Zabuza's firm, angry voice cut through the fog building up in his brain. He gasped loudly, and looked up at the man.

He stood there, the remaining half of Kubikiribōchō hanging limply from his hand, clothes soaked in blood, where his ended and Hikari's started, he didn't know. His eyes were cold, unimpressed, his face a perfect mask of indifference as he stared at him. At Hikari.

Haku shook silently, swallowing the lump in his throat.

For the first time since meeting them, Haku was actually terrified of Zabuza. 

"Come here." 

Haku's body obliged without him thinking twice. 

If he pissed him off, would he kill him too? Would he look at him as indifferently as he looked at Hikari now?

Hikari who was lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood because of him.

He shuddered as Zabuza's free hand, sticky with blood, curled around the nape of his neck. Not squeezing, barely touching him actually, but his body stiffened up regardless. 

"Nobody touch her. Leave her out here."

"But-" Haku protested. 

"I said, leave her." He interrupted, voice cold. Cutting through the tension in the air. 

Haku bristled, but didn't dare defy him.

Night had fallen and Itachi found himself anxiously swaying on the balls of his feet.

Shisui, for all his faults, wasn't prone to being late. 

Especially not this late. 

Where could Shisui be? They were supposed to meet for training an hour ago. His feet took him automatically to the Naka River. Sharingan activated, searching, looking, watching. 

He spotted a bit of an irregularity in the current, and immediately sprinted towards it. Uncaring for the cold, Itachi plunged his arm and took hold of Shisui's hair, pulling him up in one swift motion. 

"Ow, ow, ow! Let go!" Shisui swatted at his hands. 

"Shisui. We were supposed to meet an hour ago." Itachi breathed out. 

He was alright, he was alright. He wasn't drowning. He wasn't drowning. 

Shisui was alive. 

"Sorry, I must've lost track of time." He replied. 

The slouch never left Shisui's form after that particular mission in Water two years ago. 

In light of recent events, it had only deepened, and more often than not, Itachi found Shisui in the exact same situation they were in right now. Head buried underwater in the deep end of the Naka River. 

Almost like it was a siren calling out his name. 

Shisui said he was training his lung capacity. Said that he didn't want to get caught in another water prison and drown because of it if he could help it.

Itachi knew it was bullshit, but didn't actually call him out on it. 

Out of sight, out of mind.

Right?

"You can let go of my hair now, Tacchan," Shisui quipped, looking up at him with a grin. 

"Sorry." Itachi let go almost immediately. He stepped aside and waited patiently for his companion to get out of the river and put his gear back on.

"Don't look so anxious, Tacchan. It's just a small swimming session." Shisui flicked his forehead. He pulled his mesh undershirt over his head.

Itachi almost scowled at him. Swimming session his a- 

Who was Shisui trying to fool here?

"I wasn't aware swimming sessions amounted to you putting your head under water and, well, not swimming." 

Shisui shrugged. "Eh, details. Hey, check this out." He did a couple of hand signs and an unbelievably hot breeze swept over them. Itachi watched with mild detachment as Shisui's hair dried and poofed up until it was twice its normal size. "Pretty cool right?"

"You look like a-"

"Spare my poor feelings, Tacchan."

"Stop calling me that."

"No."

Itachi sighed, glaring at him but without any actual heat. "If you keep this up, I'll tell mom." He gestured at the river. 

Was it petty and childish to bring his mother into the picture with Shisui being seventeen and an ANBU? Yes, yes it was. Did Itachi care? A little bit, honestly, but his mom could be scary when she wanted to be, and she cared very much about Shisui.

Even if he didn't return the same feelings.

Shisui just flashed him his signature grin. "What? Worried about me?" He asked, clasping the arm guards on his left forearm.

Itachi was about to open his mouth to reply, but Shisui cut him off promptly. 

"Don't worry, Tacchan. I won't leave you on your own, I promise. Besides, if I do, who will you socialise with?"

"Tenzo-san, probably." Itachi answered. 

"Mean." Shisui pouted, sliding his wakizashi into place. 

"He makes better company, anyway."

Shisui made an offended noise. "You don't mean that!"

"I do."

"Mean, Itachi. Mean." Shisui repeated, in mock despair. 

Itachi didn't bother responding before Shisui sighed. "Well then, there goes my plan of buying you some dango after practice today." He lamented, putting his hand on his cheek.

Itachi's head snapped towards him, so quickly Shisui was sure he heard a slight cracking sound. Itachi's lips were pursed in a line, looking at him with an unreadable expression. 

Shisui knew that look, but pretended not to understand as he kept walking. 

"Since Tenzo is so nice I'm sure he'll get you dango after every mission too."

Itachi looked away from him slowly. His eyes kept swiping left to look at him though, apprehensive and hesitant. 

"Oh don't look at me like that!" Shisui cackled, stopping his walk short, and holding his stomach. He bent over, laughing out loud in the middle of the forest.