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Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 1: The Wandering Performers

At an inn in the Land of Water

"Rumi! How many times do I need to tell you to focus on your finger placement! You won't be able to perform without me if this continues." Rumi's mom chastised the young 10-year-old girl with long purple hair.

Rumi rolled her eyes and flipped her long purple braid behind her head.

"Come on, mom, we've been playing for hours. Why don't we focus on practicing for our performance tomorrow? The dance sequence could be more exciting."

Rumi's mom sighed. Her daughter could be so stubborn sometimes. "Fine. We'll practice our performance."

Rumi's face broke out in a wide smile. Her playful and cheery smile was her mom's weakness.

"Great!" Rumi shouted in glee. "Now watch this!"

As her mom played the shamisen, Rumi's feet bounced and spun around gracefully. She hit every bounce in the rhythm perfectly, moving fluidly and energetically like a flowing river. Even her mom had to admit, Rumi was a prodigious dancer, and she played a big part in the amount of money they earned from their performances.

As Rumi's mom's performance reached the climax and came to a close, Rumi effortlessly added a few graceful backflips and landed heroically.

"Tada! And that's how it's done!" Rumi beamed, satisfied with her performance.

"That was very good, Rumi." Her mom said with a warm smile. "But I'm not sure if the back flips fit the music."

"Yeah, sorry. By the end, I was kind of making up my own song and dancing to it. I think we can change the ending to sound like this!" Rumi suggested enthusiastically as she grabbed her shamisen and playing her own version of the song.

The sound she produced was elegant but grew in intensity, and the ending of the song definitely had an added oomph to it.

"Rumi... you played so beautifully there... Where did that come from?" Rumi's mom asked, wondering how she was able to play so well, when she had been struggling earlier.

Rumi shrugged. "I dunno. It just came to me naturally."

She then grabbed a paper fan and folded it began swinging it around like a sword.

"I think it would be even cooler if we added a sword to the performance! It would be so epic!"

Her mom's warm smile soured instantly.

"Rumi! What did I tell you about how I felt about weapons and fighting! Didn't I tell you I hate it!?" her mom yelled.

Rumi sighed. "Yes mom."

She couldn't understand why her mom was such a stickler. It was just a performance. It would be cool, and people would love it. Why was her mom such a stick in the mud sometimes.

"Sheesh... god forbid a girl wants to give a cool performance... what a killjoy." She whispered under her breath.

Her mom however, heard her clearly. She sighed as she told Rumi to take seat next to her.

The young girl pouted as she plopped onto the cushion next to her mom.

"Rumi... you need to understand... violence brings up a lot of bad memories for me..."

"But mom!" Rumi whined, "I'm not fighting or anything! It's just a prop for a performance!"

Rumi's mom looked away, her eyes staring off into the distance as if she could peer into the past. "I know... but... it's just... I have a lot of trauma..."

She subconsciously placed her hand on her stomach.

Rumi's eyes widened with curiosity.

"Trauma? Like what?"

"It's not a story for a young girl like you to hear... maybe I'll tell you when you're older."

Rumi's mom remembered the traumatic experiences that led to the conception of her daughter. She hated violence. And she hated ninjas. Especially ninjas from that cursed clan.

"Rumi, you must promise me that you'll follow in my footsteps and just be a performer. I don't want you to ever enter the world of violence." She was worried her daughter would one day show signs of the sadistic and violent nature of her father.

"Ok mom... I promise." Rumi innocently agreed.

Rumi's mom pulled her young daughter into a hug and smiled, before she grabbed her shamisen again.

"Alright. Now let's see that dance sequence paired with the changes you made to the song."

Rumi beamed and got ready to get back into practice.

"Alright! I got a couple new ideas!"

In a hidden lair, somewhere in the Land of Fire

"You must not leave any trace behind. If anyone sees you... kill them." A grim looking man wrapped in bandages spoke.

The masked ninjas in front of him didn't speak. They only nodded to show they understood.

"Good. Now go."

The masked ninjas vanished from his sight, ready to do his bidding.

'Those bastards in the Mist must never be allowed to threaten us like that again... ever.' the man thought to himself.

Back at the inn in the Land of Water, the next day

"Did you see that, mom? They ate that up! I knew they'd like the changes!" Rumi was practically bouncing off the wall in excitement.

She loved performing and she loved the reactions she got from the crowds every time she performed. She was practically a star. If she kept at it, she'd be a household name in no time.

Her mom smiled. Of course, she was very happy with the amount of money she made tonight, but she loved seeing her daughter thriving. She would be taking after her footsteps. This way, she was sure Rumi would stay away from violence and danger.

"We made so much money tonight! We'll be able to buy our own home in no time now! Right, mama?" Rumi asked her mom.

Rumi's mom nodded. "Of course, darling. We'll soon have a beautiful house with a big yard where you can run, play, dance, and do everything you like."

Rumi was elated. Soon her mom wouldn't have to travel around all the time anymore. Her dream was to perform and make money so that her mom could relax at home.

Everything would change soon. For the better, she hoped.

Later that night

Rumi's mom stopped singing and looked at Rumi. She was out cold. Snoring, one leg dangling off the bed, the whole works.

"Sleep well, my purple songbird." She whispered to her sleeping daughter, before she kissed her forehead. Even in her sleep, Rumi smiled before turning over in bed.

Rumi's mom smiled softly and got up to get some water.

She had barely stepped out into the hallway, when she saw a streak of blood on the floor. Her eyes widened and she followed the trail down the hallway to see 4 ninjas wearing masks. She quickly tried to step back into the room before being noticed, but she was too late.

"She saw us." one of the ninjas whispered quietly.

Without another word, the four ninjas rushed at her with their swords drawn.

Rumi's mom screamed in fear as she fell backwards into the room, scrambling in panic to get away.

Rumi woke up in surprise, wondering what the noise was about.

"Mama! What's wrong?" Rumi yelled in confusion.

"Rumi! Run!" was the last thing her mom was able to say before the four ninja cut her down.

Rumi covered her mouth in shock and fear. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"No... mama..."

"The kid saw us too. What should we do captain?" one of the ninjas asked.

"No witnesses. Kill her too."

One of the ninjas stepped up to her. "Sorry kid. You'll join your mama soon."

Rumi's world seemed to slow down. Her head was pounding. She could hear her heartbeat in her head.

"NOOO!" Rumi screamed.

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 2: All Alone

In a hospital somewhere

"MAMA!" Rumi screamed as she woke up.

She hyperventilated as she looked around. She had no idea where she was, and she couldn't see her mom anywhere.

"Woah kid. Calm down. You're safe here." A man next to her said, as he tried to calm her down.

"Where's my mama? Where is she?" Rumi asked, panic rising within her as she had no recollection of what happened.

The man sat down on the chair next to her bed. "Sorry kid. She was already dead when we got there."

Rumi shook her head. No. No. This couldn't be true.

"You're lying... there's no way. She's not dead! Don't say that!"

"I'm sorry... there was nothing we could do..."

Rumi broke down. She couldn't even process what was going on. All she knew was that her cheeks felt hot, and tears were pouring down her eyes before she could even open her mouth.

"Tha-that can't be true... mama..."

She collapsed into her bed as she exploded into tears.

The man next to her stood there, not knowing what to do. He didn't know how to cheer up a 10-year-old girl who lost her mom.

One of the female ninjas that was there went over and hugged her.

"Shh... it'll be ok... it'll be ok."

She let her cry until she passed out.

"Errr... are we going to have to wait until she wakes up before we can ask her what happened?" The man asked.

The female ninja smacked him upside the head. "You dumbass! The girl just lost her mom! Let the poor girl rest a little. The report can wait."

The man sighed and sat down in the chair next to Rumi's hospital bed. "Fine fine... whatever. Guess I'll read my Icha Icha while I wait."

The female smacked him again.

"You idiot! There's literally an underaged girl sleeping next to you! And I'm here too!"

The man sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Sheesh... ok ok... I'll... twiddle my thumbs... or something."

The female ninja crossed her arms and hmphed.

"Sheesh... there's no pleasing you..."

A few hours later

Rumi woke up, feeling drained and broken inside. She was sure she was stuck in a nightmare. She'd wake up, cry to her mom about the nightmare, and go cuddle with her like she always did. This had to be a nightmare.

However, when she opened her eyes, she was still in that sterile looking room that she remembered from her nightmare.

"Mama..."

"Looks like somebody finally woke up." A man said before he got slapped in the back of the head again.

"How are you feeling sweetheart? Do you want some water?" The female ninja asked.

Rumi nodded.

After she got some water and calmed down, Rumi was faced with the truth. Her mother was dead, and she was all alone in the world now.

"Hey, do you think you can come with us to answer a few questions?" the female ninja asked.

Rumi didn't have anything better to do. She didn't know what she was going to do with her life now, so she nodded.

She followed the two ninjas into a room in a different building. It was empty room, other than the table in the middle with two chairs on opposite sides. A stern looking man was already seated on one of the chairs, waiting for her.

"Take a seat." the stern looking man told Rumi, and she nervously sat in front of him.

"Wh-what's going on? I'm scared..." Rumi quietly said to herself.

The female ninja put her hand Rumi's shoulder.

"Don't worry, kid. It'll be ok. He's just going to ask you some questions."

Rumi gave her a nervous nod. She felt a little better from the female ninja's presence.

The stern looking interrogator saw Rumi calm down a bit and began his questions.

"So, what's your name?"

"R-Rumi..."

"Mhmm. And how old are you, Rumi?"

"T-ten..."

"Where are you from? What were you doing at the inn?"

"Me and my mom..." Rumi's eyes watered, remembering her mom. "We... we traveled around... we were staying at the inn because we had a performance scheduled in the area..."

The interrogator wrote everything down.

"Interesting. What did you guys perform?"

"She plays the shamisen... and I sing and dance..."

"That's very interesting." The interrogator replied. "You lived an interesting life, eh?"

Then he put the brush down and looked up at her.

"Could you tell us what happened at the inn?"

Rumi's heart started beating fast and she felt lightheaded.

She remembered waking up and seeing strange ninjas in masks cutting down her mom.

"They ki-killed my mom!" She cried out. "Then... then..."

The interrogator signed for her to continue. "Then?"

"I don't remember... I don't remember anything after that... I don't even remember how I got here..."

The two ninjas who brought her to the room and the interrogator shared a look.

"You're telling me you don't remember a thing? You don't remember what happened to those ninjas afterwards?" The interrogator asked.

Rumi shook her head.

The interrogator stared at her for a while.

"Ok Rumi. Thank you for cooperating with us. You may go now."

The two ninjas raised their eyebrows. That was it?

"You, take the girl out of here." the interrogator told the female ninja.

The confused woman nodded and took Rumi from the room. That was the shortest interrogation ever.

"Sir?" the remaining ninja asked. "Is that all?"

The interrogator shrugged. "She's obviously traumatized. She won't be of any use. She won't remember a thing no matter how long we keep her here. It's not like we have a Yamanaka to probe her mind."

"But sir, how can we explain what happened to those foreign ANBU? They were torn to pieces..."

"Maybe they were after someone in that inn that they shouldn't have been after. Let's wait for forensics to get back to us. But right now, I doubt that girl will be able to tell us anything useful." The interrogator concluded.

Back with Rumi

Rumi was somewhat grateful for this female ninja. She had been the only person who showed her any kind of kindness, and Rumi began to cling to her.

"Mi-miss? What's going to happen to me now?" Rumi asked.

The female ninja looked down at her with a smile that was meant to be reassuring, even though she knew Rumi's life would now be a difficult one.

"I'm only a few years older than you, so you don't have to call me miss." The female ninja responded with a chuckle. "You can call me Mei."

Rumi looked at Mei and nodded.

"Where am I going now?" Rumi asked.

"Well... you don't seem to have any other family... so you're going to have to stay in the orphanage in our village." Mei responded.

Rumi's shoulder sagged when she was reminded about how alone she was.

Mei's heart broke for the girl. She wanted to cheer her up in any small way.

"I've got something for you though." Mei told the younger girl, as she pulled out a scroll and unsealed an object.

"Mama's shamisen!" Rumi cried out as she desperately took it from Mei's hand. This was the last connection she had left to her mother, and she hugged it as if it were her mother.

"I thought you might appreciate it. It'll keep you connected to your mom." Mei told her.

Tears flowed like a waterfall as she walked. She held Mei's hand with one hand, and she cradled her mom's shamisen with her other.

They soon reached the orphanage, and Mei spoke with the director about the Rumi before returning to say goodbye.

"I'll be going now Rumi." Mei told Rumi with a sad smile. "You take care of yourself. Maybe I'll see you again in the future."

Rumi sniffled. The only person who seemed to care for her was leaving her alone too.

"I'll come check up on you from time to time. I promise." Mei told Rumi.

Rumi looked up at her sadly. "You promise?"

Mei chuckled. "I promise."

Mei gave Rumi a hug and then left all alone

'I guess it's just me now...'

She turned around and saw the orphanage. It was a slightly large house that was full of sad looking children.

Her heart was overwhelmed, and she was about to cry again. Then she looked down at the shamisen in her arms.

She began to pluck the strings of her mom's shamisen, which caused everyone to look at her.

'No. Mama is still with me.'

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 3: Sorry Mama

At the orphanage in Kiri

Rumi was an instant star at the orphanage the moment she showed up. She had showed up with a bright smile, unlike the other children, and the beautiful sound of her shamisen and her voice immediately caught the attention of all of the kids and even the staff there. It was like a breath of fresh air in a place that was drowning in despair.

The kids gathered around her as she played her shamisen, and one by one, the kids felt their spirits lifting.

Rumi soon finished her song and gave a small bow, and all the kids clapped.

"That was beautiful, Rumi." The director said as she walked up to her. "Where did you learn to play?"

"My mama taught me!" Rumi responded with asmile. Then she remembered why she was here and her smile turned sad. "Before she... died..."

The director put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"I see. She must have been a wonderful teacher. I haven't heard such a beautiful performance since... ever." She responded.

Rumi smiled. She was determined to make her mom proud.

Rumi was immediately popular at the orphanage, and everyone wanted to be her friend. They admired her beauty and her singing, and when they found out about how acrobatic she was, they all begged her to teach them.

Her days there were surprisingly fun, as she never had friends her age before. Even the staff there seemed to have a new vigor to them, and they all doted on Rumi for bringing life into the dreary orphanage.

However, she wasn't always happy-go-lucky. At night, when she was sure everyone was alone, she'd go sit by the edge of the forest to play her shamisen and sing.

She poured her soul into her songs, and the songs she sang were sad and haunting but also beautiful.

She tried hard to stay strong for her mother to honor her life. Still, at night, she couldn't help but feel sad and alone.

Word soon got out about the hauntingly beautiful singing that would ring out at night, and the villagers would gather around in the vicinity to hear her sing.

However, every time they tried to get closer to see who was singing, she'd run away into the forest, and her light springy steps helped her be exceptional in her ability to avoid being seen. Only the orphanage people knew of her singing, and she didn't want to be seen when she was singing her sad songs. She valued her solitude.

She became somewhat of the talk of the town, known for her beautiful voice but also by the mystery surrounding her identity. She was never seen by anyone.

At least until tonight.

"Not bad for a civilian kid. Did you get any training?" a voice asked Rumi one night, when she was hiding in the forest to avoid being seen by the villagers.

Rumi looked around, not seeing anyone. "Wh-who's there?"

"Up here, kid."

Rumi looked up and saw a strange looking man who looked somewhat like a shark.

"Wh-what do you want from me?" Rumi asked in fear.

The shark man jumped down to her.

"Just wondering who this mysterious singer that nobody can see is. I didn't expect it to be a little runt like you."

Rumi took a few steps back. She was unsettled by this man who exuded danger.

"If I wanted to catch you, you wouldn't be able to take 5 steps." He said with a toothy grin. "So don't bother." Rumi instinctively obeyed.

"You know, you're quite quick and agile for your age. You should join the ninja academy here."

Rumi scoffed. "Not interested. I've heard about the academy. I heard the savages there kill each other to graduate. I'm not interested in violence."

The shark man chuckled. "You're missing out. Violence is fun." Rumi gulped nervously.

"All jokes aside, a little runt killed the whole graduating class a few days ago. The Mizukage decided to stop the practice of killing each other thanks to that mean little fucker." the man told Rumi.

"You do what you want. But if you're weak, you'll never be able to protect yourself. Or anything important."

Then the man vanished into the woods, leaving Rumi alone with her thoughts.

The last words the shark man said echoed in her head as she walked back to the orphanage. Maybe if she had been stronger, her mom would still be alive.

Rumi spent all night thinking about the shark man's words. Her mom told her to just be a performer and to stay away from violence. She was told that violence consumes and destroys.

She had always trusted her mom to be right. But now? Her mom was dead. And she couldn't shake off those dangerous two words that have ruined many people before.

'What if?'

What if she had been strong enough to protect her mom? What if she could have changed everything that night?

Rumi went to sleep that night determined to change the outcome of her life.

She would never be too weak to protect what's important to her ever again.

Days later

Mei dropped by the orphanage with some good news.

For days after meeting Rumi, she couldn't get the poor girls face out of her mind. She had seen plenty of orphans during her growing career as a kunoichi, and they all broke her heart. But sooner or later, she'd forget about them.

Rumi's face, however, lingered in her mind. That last look Rumi gave her, a look of someone who saw her as a lifeline, a look that desperately wished to cling to her, a look that suggested she was the last person she could rely on. That look had been haunting her for days.

So, she had done what she could to help her out. She had somehow convinced the people in charge of investigating the inn to give the money that Rumi and her mom had earned, which had been left at the crime scene, back to Rumi. Surprisingly, they agreed to do so. After the village took its cut of course.

"Mei! You really came back!" Rumi said with a bright smile.

"Told ya kiddo. I keep my promises." Mei said, returning with a smile of her own.

The two of them walked around the orphanage premises, talking about how they had been doing.

Mei was surprised at how quickly Rumi had become a sort of queen at the orphanage, and how different the vibes at the place were compared to before.

"Wow. You must be a hell of a performer, huh? How much do I gotta pay to get a performance from you?" Mei joked.

"A million ryo!" Rumi suggested emphatically.

Mei chuckled. "Dang. I don't know if I can afford that. Why don't I work on a payment plan with you? Let's start with this."

Mei dropped the bag of ryo into Rumi's arms. "It's what you and your mom earned."

Rumi's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought about this money. She just assumed she would never see it again. She jumped into Mei's arms for a hug.

"Mei! Thank you so much! Now I'll be able to go to the academy!" Rumi squealed with delight.

Mei smiled as she hugged Rumi back. Until she processed what Rumi said.

"Wait. What? The academy? What academy?" Mei asked, a look of horror falling on her face.

Rumi didn't seem to notice as she beamed at Mei. "The ninja academy here in Kiri! I'm going to become a kunoichi! Like you!"

Mei hated the idea. The life of a kunoichi was not a glamorous one at all.

"Are you sure? You know, the life of a ninja is not an easy one..." Mei wanted to help keep Rumi's innocence.

Rumi's face hardened. "Well, the life of a helpless orphan who's too weak to defend herself or anyone else is not easy either!"

Welp. Mei had to admit that was also true. She hated the idea of this innocent girl entering a world of violence, but after what Rumi went through, she couldn't think of a good enough reason to dissuade her.

"I suppose you're right..."

Rumi perked up again.

"Yeah, so help me sign up for the ninja academy, big sis!"

*Author's Note*

Hi guys! I hope you're enjoying the story! The idea for the story randomly popped up into my head the other day so I started writing to see if others would enjoy it. Please leave a review if you liked the story or if you have any suggestions! Next chapter, Rumi finally begins her shinobi training!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 4: The Mist Ninja Academy

The next day
Mei took Rumi on a shopping spree, though it was strictly for things she needed for her time at the ninja academy. Rumi had never gone on a shopping spree before, so Mei needed to rein her in to stick to only what she needed.

"But Mei! We already got like 5 books! Can't we get something more ninja-ey? How about a sword? Ooooh look at that one!" Rumi's eyes sparkled as she walked by a weapons store when a ninjato caught her eye.

"Those books are going to teach you the basics every ninja needs to know. And we already got you training kunai and shuriken. The academy will let you use a training sword when you practice so you don't need a sword right now. You'd probably just hurt yourself right now." Mei told Rumi.

"Aww man..."

At the Academy, on the first day of class

Mei helped her enroll into the ninja academy in the Mist Village and made sure she was settled in before she left to do her own things.

With an eye for flair and theatrics, Rumi wanted to start her journey off with eye-catching ninja outfits, but Mei knew there would be a lot of rough and tumble lessons at the academy, and only helped her buy practical and, according to Rumi, very unappealing, drab clothes that made her blend in with everyone else.

She still walked in confidently into her assigned classroom with a smile. Today would be the first day of her journey of becoming a powerful ninja that was capable of protecting what she loved.

She entered and stood in a power pose, taking in the sight. The air was full of a nervous but excited energy of a new batch of students coming in.

However, she soon felt a sudden shift in the energy.

The busy room suddenly went dead quiet, and even the air itself seemed to go cold. Everyone stared at her direction.

'Is everyone staring at me?' She wondered for a second, before she turned around to see a young boy around her age standing behind her.

"It's him... the demon..." people began to quietly whisper as the boy quietly walked past Rumi.

Rumi recoiled slightly when he walked by. He had a dangerous aura emanating off of him. Though not quite as strong, he reminded her of the shark man. When she caught a glimpse of his eyes, she could see something that was different from the other kids in this room. It was the same eyes she saw in the shark man, and in the ninjas that killed her mom.

When the boy sat down, the other kids moved away from him, leaving a circle of empty seats around the boy. Rumi too, felt compelled to keep her distance, even though she couldn't quite explain it. His aura was just... dangerous.

Soon the teacher walked in.

"Alright kids, I see a lot of you haven't taken a seat yet. Please sit down in any empty seat. I see a lot of empty seats around that boy." The teacher told the class.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Zabuza." The boy responded.

The teacher's eye widened before looking through his class list again.

"So... we got the little demon in our class huh..." the teacher whispered quietly to himself.

This was supposed to be the boy who had killed the entire graduating class of academy students. He had personally taught some of them, so he held a bit of a grudge towards the boy.

"Well alright. Those of you without seats go sit in those seats around Zabuza."

The kids hesitated before reluctantly inching themselves towards Zabuza. They were terrified of him.

Rumi was one of the kids without a seat and was forced to sit near him. However, the other kids had already taken the seats that were as far from him as possible, so she was forced to sit next to Zabuza.

She gulped nervously and gave Zabuza a small wave and quietly said hi.

However, Zabuza didn't even give her a glance, instead just staring straight ahead with a deadly intensity.

'H-he's so scary... what's wrong with him.' she thought to herself.

On the field before her physical training class

With the bright personality that Rumi had, she already had gotten friendly with some of the people in her class. What they told her made her almost pee her pants.

"H-he killed the entire class of seniors?" She gasped. She realized that he was the kid the shark man had been talking about

She had seen some of the upper classmen as she entered the school and had been intimidated by them. They all looked so much bigger and scarier than her. She couldn't imagine how the boy could have killed over a 100 of them.

'If he's so strong... why is he even in our class?' Rumi wondered.

The gossiping quieted down when Zabuza walked onto the field.

"Alright kids. We're going practice sparring to see what level we're at before we start building you up. Partner up."

Rumi was so thankful she wasn't partnered up with Zabuza. She watched the supposed "friendly" spar between Zabuza and another boy. The boy was frozen stiff by Zabuza's aura, and even if he hadn't been, Zabuza moved with a ruthless proficiency and completely dismantled the boy in just a few hits.

The boy yielded quickly, fearing he would be Zabuza's next victim.

Zabuza didn't seem to care at all about the small fry, and went to the back to sit down. He was completely unreadable for Rumi.

After a few more spars, it was now Rumi's turn.

From what Rumi had seen, this was really a way to just gauge people's levels. Some people had training from their clans, and it was evident, but some people had no training either, and that was also evident.

She knew she was part of the latter and was worried. 'Oh man... I'm gonna get my butt kicked so hard...'

"Alright Rumi and Iwashi, it's your turn now." the teacher told the pair.

Rumi gulped nervously as she stepped into the center of the field, where she stood to spar against Iwashi.

As soon as the teacher signaled for them to fight, Iwashi charged in aggressively.

'Ok Rumi. You don't know how to fight. Let's just focus on not getting hit.' Rumi thought to herself as she got ready for the onslaught.

Her left foot slid back and allowed her to dodge the first haymaker thrown by Iwashi. She weaved under the second fist and moved her feet to slide out of position to his back.

Her friends gave her a cheer. Even though Rumi couldn't see it, her movements were so smooth and effortless, it looked like she was an experienced fighter.

"Yeah, Rumi! Go get him!" Some people cheered.

Iwashi grew angry as his frustration built up from being unable to land a single blow. She was so slippery! And worst of all, she didn't even throw a single fist! Was she trying to humiliate him or something?

Rumi soon felt like she was getting the hang of things. This was remarkably similar to dancing for her. The rhythm of his movement was so easy for her to read. She could almost hear the song of his movements, and she simply danced along to it instinctively, which allowed her to almost subconsciously predict his movements before Iwashi even knew what he himself was going to do next.

The teacher was impressed with Rumi's movements too and wrote it down in his notes. However, he wanted to see more aggression now, now that he knew she could evade well.

"Alright Rumi. Let's see a little more of your offense now." The teacher urged.

'Shoot. He wants to fight back. I don't even know how to throw a punch...' Rumi was stumped.

She brainstormed on what she could do, her mind whirring creatively as she effortlessly dodged Iwashi's uncontrolled blows.

'Maybe if I disrupt his rhythm, I can make him stumble or something." Rumi thought to herself.

She knew the next move Iwashi would make would be for him to aggressively plant his right foot down to throw another haymaker. So, she stepped out and occupied that spot first with her own right foot and slid to the left, to avoid Iwashi when he would fall as he tripped on her foot. Then she planned to pivot on her right foot and slide it back before she could push Iwashi's butt with her left foot to expedite his fall to the ground. She'd just use his own moment against him.

Everything went according to Rumi's plan, and her movements were fluid, as if they were flowing along to a song that only she could hear. Everyone was stunned when Iwashi faceplanted on the ground, and Rumi spun around as she front-flipped to land in front of Iwashi.

"Yield!" Rumi demanded.

Iwashi begrudgingly yielded to Rumi, with her classmates cheering for her. It had been a fun fight to watch, as it was flashy and showy, with her completely outclassing Iwashi, while not being so brutal like Zabuza's fight had been.

Zabuza had also watched the fight with interest. She moved with a fluidity and effortlessness that the others didn't fully comprehend. She had no offensive bag to speak of, but her footwork was something he hadn't seen before.

She was no threat to him right now, but he'd keep an eye out for this girl.

Zabuza smiled for the first time that anyone saw, but it was more unsettling than comforting.

"How interesting..."

*Author's Note*

Hi guys! I appreciate some of the comments you guys left me in my PMs! It's so encouraging to hear you guys enjoyed it! I know the story is kind of a niche topic, so not a lot of people have read it or will read it or even find it. I hope I can write something that's fun for those of you who found it interesting so far! I appreciate your support! Please leave a comment or review if you liked it or let me know if you have any suggestions! Thanks!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 5: A Growing Rivalry

A few months later

Rumi had thrown herself into her studies, driven by the singular purpose of becoming stronger. However, things weren't necessarily all smooth sailing. She wasn't dumb by any means, but she also wasn't at the top of her class, and it wasn't like she thrived in ninjutsu either. When examined, her chakra levels were just above average, and she didn't display any unique abilities in terms of kekkei genkai or techniques.

Rumi worked on covering her weaknesses and spent a lot of time finding people who could help her with her studies. As a result, she was far from being at the bottom, above average actually, but there were more exceptional shinobi prospects in her class when it came to those fields.

However, where she thrived was in her combat skills. She soaked up martial arts lessons like a sponge. For her, each martial art style was like a dance. She would learn to understand the style of the martial art as if it were a dance genre, then reassemble the pieces however she saw fit like a freestyle dancer would.

She was really excited when she finally learned how to use swords. She'd been fascinated with kenjutsu since she was a child, even if she mostly came across sword play in the form of performative dance.

This was where she poured in most of her efforts and attention. She was fascinated with the sword culture in Kiri and began to really admire and look up to the legendary seven ninja swordsman of the Mist. She hoped to join them one day.

As a village that didn't have as many ninjutsu powerhouses as Konoha, Kiri really put an emphasis in close combat and swordsmanship in the average ninja to level the playing field. It was a way for clanless ninja to gain respect in the her reputation as a swordsman grew, many older shinobi took an interest in her growth.

However, the thing that irritated her to no end was Zabuza.

No matter how hard she tried, she could never beat Zabuza in a sword fight. She hated being under his shadow.

It wasn't like Zabuza was kicking her butt easily like he did with everyone else. She was shaping up to be a master when it came to reading battle rhythm. But what Rumi soon learned was that even if you could read someone's movements, if you weren't fast enough or strong enough, there was nothing you could do, especially when the opponent was an experienced and skilled fighter too.

"Grrrrr... this is supposed to be my one thing. My one thing!" Rumi complained to her friends. "Ninjutsu? Sure. Zabuza could have that one. Grades? Sanma can take that! Taijutsu? Zabuza can take that too! Just let me be the best with swords!"

She threw her back onto the grass in the field, lying in a starfish pose. "I'm here busting my butt every day, and I haven't cut him once! Like, is he cheating or something? How hard is he training?"

Her friends reassured her that she was doing well too. "Come on Rumi, cut yourself some slack. You're the second best in both taijutsu and kenjutsu. Your genjutsu and ninjutsu aren't bad either. Your grades are better than Zabuza too. You're so well rounded."

"But I want to have my thing! Something that's iconic to me! I'm just... so basic right now." Rumi complained.

Her friends shrugged. She was easily the most beautiful girl in the class and was by far the most popular person in the academy. They envied her if anything.

However, they didn't know that deep down inside, she was still the scared girl from the inn. She'd still get nightmares of her mom being cut down, even if she never got to see what happened next. She never found out how she had even made it out of there. Maybe a part of her never did.

She was worried she wouldn't be strong enough when it mattered. Being the second-best fighter in a fight could mean you died.

"Grrrr... I'm going to surpass you, Zabuza... if that's the last thing I do!" Rumi yelled into the air before she sprang up to go train more.

Meanwhile with Zabuza

Unbeknownst to Rumi, Zabuza was also training his butt off trying to stay ahead of Rumi. He was leagues ahead of her when they entered the academy together, but that gap had been closing alarmingly quickly.

'I'm the guy who killed the entire graduating class! How is this purple hair singer bitch catching up so fast?' Zabuza thought to himself as he religiously went through his sword katas.

"I'm going to surpass you, Zabuza! If that's the last thing I do!" he heard a shout echoing in the distance.

Rumi didn't know, but Zabuza was undertaking extreme measures to keep his edge. When he heard Rumi began waking up at 6to train in the morning, he began waking up at 5. When he heard Rumi began to wake up at 5, he woke up at 4.

He was now constantly tired and hungry, and a little bit angry, trying to stay ahead of Rumi. His pride would not allow him to fall behind to some wide-eyed girl who seemed ignorant to the violent world they were in.

"Fuck! This bitch is gonna be the death of me!" Zabuza began to swing his extra heavy training sword harder and faster.

He was sure she was purposefully forcing him to overwork, trying to beat him by attrition at this point.

"That devious bitch! Ugh!"

Back with Rumi

Rumi had met with Mei for dinner after her training session.

"So, I've been hearing you've been getting really good with the sword." Mei mentioned, as she ate ramen with Rumi. She loved to get a good ramen every now and then, but Rumi seemed to be obsessed with it. Mei wondered if anybody in the world liked ramen like this girl.

"Pfft. You've been hearing lies. Ugh! No matter how much I improve, it seems like Zabuza has gotten even better! I haven't gotten the best of him yet! I don't get how he does it! I've been waking up every day at 5 to begin training too! What, is he waking up at like 4 or something? Grrrr..."

She angrily slurped her bowl of ramen. She was always so hungry after training so hard, so when Mei offered to pay, she made sure she got her fill.

"Don't know what to tell ya. I'm not really one for swords. I'm more of the ninjutsu type." Mei replied as she mentally counted the 3rd bowl of ramen Rumi inhaled. Damn this girl could eat.

"I know! You've got your lava thingy going on! It's so cool!" Rumi replied.

"Well... I've also got my boil release." Mei corrected.

"What? You've got two kekkei genkai?" Rumi was so jealous.

"Here I am wishing I had one thing that made me unique, but you've got two?"

"But you are unique, Rumi. You're unlike anyone else I've ever seen." Mei replied, trying to help Rumi see her own potential.

"Unique? How so?" Rumi asked.

"Well, you definitely have your own style that just can't be replicated. And you've got a voice that's simply breath taking. Don't forget the crazy agility and footwork you have too. Also, you're gorgeous."

Rumi rolled her eyes and ordered another bowl of ramen. "So, I can sing and dance. I'm sure that will give me the edge in a fight." She said sarcastically. "A pretty face means nothing. I'm just a clanless orphan. You know how it is in this village. I'm just a third tier nobody. I don't have a clan and I don't have a kekkei genkai." Rumi said quietly.

During her time in the Hidden Mist Village, Rumi had come to learn of the caste system present in the village. Clans with kekkei genkai ran the village as first-class citizens, while other minor clans were second-class citizen. Clanless shinobi were third-class, and they were mostly used as cannon fodder. That's why Rumi wanted to stand out so badly. Maybe then she'd actually get some respect.

"Maybe it will give you an edge. Who knows?" Mei said as she pulled out a small mirror and looked over her face to make sure her makeup hadn't smeared.

"And who put the notion thata pretty face means nothing in your head? Someone ugly?" Mei said with confident smile as she put her mirror away.

"I'm a ninja. I use any and all assets I have to win. If you don't think I've used my beauty to misdirect or distract people to give me an edge before, think again." Mei advised.

"You're a smart girl. Learn how to use what you've got to make yourself unique rather than trying to copy someone else. You're never going to beat Zabuza when you're just trying to copy him."

Rumi stared into her 4th bowl of ramen, thinking about what she just heard.

"Be yourself, Rumi. Don't try to be somebody else."

Later that night

Rumi was back in her room, lying in bed thinking about everything she heard today. Mei's words echoed in her mind. 'Be yourself...'

She realized, in a way, she had been trying to be Zabuza. She saw him as powerful, so she had been trying to emulate what made him strong, instead of finding what made her strong. She had to find out how to do things her own way. She vowed to beat Zabuza in a way only Rumi could.

But a big question remained to be answered.

'But who am I?'

*Author's Note*

So, trying to figure out the timeline in Kiri was very confusing. The anime and manga have different details, and there are no specifics. Like, when did Zabuza become a member of the seven ninja swordsmen? Who trained him? When did he get the Kubokiribocho? Who were the other members?

Also, when do kids go to the academy in Kiri? It says Zabuza killed the entire graduating class before he was a student. It also says this happened when he was 9. So does this mean they go to the academy once they're 9? In Konoha they go to the academy at age 7.

For this reason, I've decided I'm just going to create my story with my own head canon at this point, at least regarding Kiri.

I'm going to have Kiri be less centralized than the other villages. The people with clans will get a private education until they get to the academy, while its tough luck for clanless orphans. This way they people in power, the clans, have an edge to keep themselves in power, and also the village can save money on education by making people spend more money on personal education/ training.

So here's the situation I have for Kiri. As of right now, the current Mizukage is the 3rd one, and the years for the academy are 9-13.

Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story! Please leave your comments and reviews if you like the story! I don't get a lot of reads as this is a niche story, so if you guys support me that way, I'd appreciate it so much! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 6: Cut Short

The next day at the academy

Rumi walked onto the field and noticed dangerous auras from numerous adult shinobi she had never seen before.

'Who are they? What are they doing here?' She thought to herself, before the teacher called for everyone's attention.

"Alright kids. It's time for our kenjutsu sparring sessions." The teacher told the students. "Aji and Buri, you guys are up first."

The students began to have their sparring matches, some being more exciting than others. After a few rounds, it was Rumi's turn.

'Alright! Time to kick some butt!' Rumi thought to herself, cracking her knuckles in excitement.

"Rumi and Tara. You may now begin your fight."

With the teacher's signal, the two girls flew at each other with their swords.

Tara threw a quick slash at Rumi's midsection, but Rumi had already seen her move coming based on the minute ways Tara's muscles were moving. She dropped her stance before swinging up to knock Tara's sword up to create space for her to move in.

She threw Tara off by using the same momentum to throw an uppercut with her left hand that landed squarely on Tara's jaw, which knocked her out cold.

The teacher gave Rumi an approving smile before declaring her the winner.

Rumi beamed before she shot Zabuza a glare, challenging him non-verbally to do better than her.

Zabuza didn't bother giving her a response, even though he was itching for his turn now.

"Alright Zabuza. You're up next. Come to the field." The teacher soon told Zabuza.

Zabuza looked nonchalant stepping on to the stage. He knew all of these 9 or10-year-old kids didn't stand a chance against him when he'd already slain 100 genin level fighters.

A scared looking boy stepped up to fight Zabuza when he was called. As expected, the fight was a boring affair, ending before it truly began. Zabuza completely overpowered him in a single strike, using brute strength and speed to simultaneous cut through his opponent's guard and strike his head at the same time.

The teacher was disappointed nobody could put Zabuza in his place but also knew that he couldn't expect any of these newbies to stand a chance.

"Good job, Zabuza. You can step off now." he told Zabuza.

A hooded man that had been watching the fights caught Rumi's attention when he moved to the teacher. She didn't know what he said, but the teacher nodded when the man whispered to him.

"Alright. Zabuza get back here." The teacher told Zabuza. "I'm also going to need 5 volunteers to step up to fight him. If no one volunteers, I'm going to pick at random.

The other kids looked at each other, hoping someone else would volunteer so they wouldn't have to. Nobody was budging.

"I'll fight him!"

The teacher turned around and saw his purple haired student.

"Alright Rumi. Come up here." He said with a smile before looking at the others. "Anyone else?"

"Actually, I'd like to face him by myself." Rumi said with determination in her voice.

The teacher looked at the man who had whispered to him, looking to see what he had to say.

The man looked at her up and down. There was nothing too promising about her physically, but the determination in her eyes suggested something different.

"Sure. Let's see if this girl is different from the other cowards here." The man replied before stepping back to see what happened.

"Ok Rumi. You'll be going up against Zabuza alone. Good luck." The teacher said before commencing the fight.

Rumi pointed her training sword towards Zabuza, ready to respond to any attack.

Zabuza's cocky smirk became one of determination as well when he saw Rumi. He wanted to beat her soundly to make sure she knew that the gap between them was too big for her to overcome. He wanted her to be discouraged and give up so that he could go back to not having to wake up at 4 am every day.

He charged at her with aggression, swinging the practice sword with extreme speed and power, which was backed by a surprising amount of precision.

Rumi read his attacks and weaved through them, reading his footwork to predict the next move to come, before springing forward with strikes of her own.

Zabuza had been in enough fights to predict where the strikes would come and easily parried them. While he didn't have Rumi's instincts, he had experience and deadly aggression to back him up.

The crowd watching got heated, watching the top two students in the class fighting out a spar that was actually competitive for once.

The man watching cracked open a smile, showing rows of sharpened teeth. "Well, it finally looks like we got a fight on our hands."

Rumi grew frustrated with the way Zabuza easily parried her attacks and kept her on the back foot. She had put in way too much work for her to be this behind. She decided she would amp up her aggression.

She gritted her teeth as she grabbed her sword with both hands, swinging at Zabuza in tight, controlled swings, as her feet began dancing to a more and more aggressive tune.

She flowed like water, her swordplay never wasting a single movement, her wooden blade dancing through the air like a whirlwind.

However, Zabuza moved in his own deadly elegance, swinging his sword like a master. He stopped her attacks in their tracks, effortlessly parrying or blocking her swings to throw off Rumi's rhythm.

He could see the determination in her eyes blazing, and he decided he was going to end this now to crush her spirit.

He broke his swing mid motion, and shifted his stance suddenly, striking out in a blur from an unpredictable angle.

Rumi was caught by surprise, and her only course of action was to put her sword between her and Zabuza's blade to block the strike.

Zabuza's ridiculous strength shattered her sword and sent painful shockwaves down the bones in her arms, causing her to drop the stump of the sword.

Zabuza backhanded a shocked Rumi in the face, knocking her to the ground, before pointing his blade at her throat.

"Alright. That's enough" The teacher said, as he stepped in to stop the fight. "I think we've seen enough.

Rumi felt humiliation and frustration turning her cheeks red, as she wiped the blood from her busted lip. He had never been so brutal with her before.

"You win this time, Zabuza... I'll beat you soon though... just you wait." Rumi growled out as she glared daggers at him.

"Unfortunately for you, purple hair girl, I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon. You see, shinobi aren't allowed to fight against civilians." The man said as he stepped up.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Rumi asked in surprise.

"I've come to see Zabuza for myself. To see if he lived up to his reputation." The man then took off his hood to show his painted face and a big, sharp, toothy grin.

The kids gasped. "It's Juzo Biwa! One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist!"

Rumi's eyes widened when she heard. This was one of her idols. The wielder of the Kubokiribocho had come to see her fight! And she had been beaten soundly, in an embarrassing fashion.

"I've decided to train you myself, boy. The academy is a waste of time for you. Come with me." Juzo said to Zabuza.

Everybody was shocked by the revelation and stood in silence as Juzo walked off with Zabuza.

Rumi clenched her fists until they turned white. Tears of anger and frustration began to fall from her eyes as she watched her rival's back become smaller and smaller in the distance.

She had blown her one chance to beat her rival and lost in a humiliating fashion in front of one of her idols. Now her one-sided rivalry had been cut short. And there was nothing she could do about it.

'It's not fair...' She thought to herself. 'It's not fair...'

'Now I'll never get the chance to prove myself to him...'

*Author's Note*

I guys! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I appreciate all of you who have been leaving comments or sending me PMs to encourage me and tell me how you've enjoyed the story so far. I hope I can continue to write a story that you guys can enjoy! It really means a lot to me when you leave comments or reviews, so please leave a comment or review if you enjoy the story! Thanks for your support!

Also, I'm debating if I should include Mira and Zoey in the story, or just have it be Rumi. Let me know if you have any suggestions! Also, is Rumi and Zabuza a good pairing? Or should we just let her be single lol. Or someone else? I mean romance isn't at the center of the story, so it doesn't really matter, but let's see where things go.

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 7: Something Special?

In the following weeks

Rumi was devastated after Zabuza unofficially graduated from the academy and left her all alone.

His leaving meant that she rose to the top of the class, but that brought her no joy. What's the point of being at the top if you didn't beat anyone noteworthy to get there?

She was largely motivated by the dream of beating Zabuza and joining the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, but that dream had been stolen from her before it could even begin to bud. She was sure he was now going to be part of the next generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, being handpicked by Juzo, while she was left behind, seen as nothing remarkable.

She stopped training so hard and tried to solve the puzzle Mei had left for her.

What made her special?

She had stopped playing the shamisen as much, busy training to beat Zabuza, but she nowpicked it back up, taking her time to sing.

Being the natural performer that she was, she loved to watch the sway she had on people. When she performed, she loved to watch how she had her spectators eating out the palm of her hands. It was as if she had them under a spell.

'Maybe I should just quit being a ninja and be a performer again.' Rumi often thought to herself. It seemed like that was where her talent lied.

One night, she was once again contemplating giving up on being a ninja. With no motivation or drive, everything seemed so dull.

However, something Mei had said popped back into her mind. Mei said she used every talent and asset she had to be a deadlier ninja.

'Pfft. Yeah. That's easy when you can melt people with lava. Or... melt people with acid.' She thought to herself.

'What does she expect me to do? Sing to them to sleep? Make them dance to my song?'

Rumi hollowly chuckled to herself. What nonsense.

She closed her eyes and got ready to sleep.

Her eyes shot open when another thought came to her mind.

'Or could I?'

2 years later

"Hey kid, looks like you're going to be leading your own team soon." Juzo told Zabuza with a chuckle as he read a scroll he received. "To think a kid is going to be leading other kids. Hilarious."

Zabuza rolled his eyes. "I supposeit's about time for me to have a team."

"Yeah. You got someinteresting ones joining your team apparently." Juzo told Zabuza as he reclined on the couch.

Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "What's so interesting about them?"

"Well, it looks like they want to form an elite team centered around you. Well, an elite team in the making I should say. They're recent graduates." Juzo began. "Let me see... one of them is slightly older than you. 15-year-old kid named Koi. They say he's proficient in water ninjutsu. Pretty young to be using elemental jutsu. Interesting."

Zabuza wondered if Koi was going to be disrespectful on account of his age. Zabuza had been younger than most of his shinobi peers and been treated like a kid often. Obviously, he had to often correct their behavior with his sword. Hewondered if he would have to do that to Koi.

"Interestingly enough, you got a kid who's younger than you! He's a whole baby! 7years old!" Juzo said in surprise as he read the scroll. "Oh, I see... this might be a nepo baby or something. He's a Hozuki. Mangetsu Hozuki. They say he's a prodigy though. I guess you can test him on that."

Zabuza frowned. 7 was remarkably young. He'd see if the kid was worth his salt. "I swear, if this is like a baby-sitting job, I'm going to kill him..."

Juzo chuckled. "Hey, you were 9 when I picked you up. Maybe he's better than you."

Zabuza rolled his eyes. "Who's the last one?"

"The last one is a kunoichi." Juzo raised his eyebrows at Zabuza to tease him before he winked. "Ooh la la. She's your age too! Think she'll be cute?"

"I don't give a single fuck about what she looks like, Juzo. Just tell me what she's good for." Zabuza responded.

Juzo snickered for a little bit before he continued. "Alright scary man. Whatever you say. Well let's see... This last girl seems promising. She graduated at 12! Graduating a year or two ahead of schedule! Must be halfway decent then, right? They say she's talented in genjutsu. Interesting...That's kind of rare around here I suppose."

Zabuza furrowed his brows. "Genjutsu? That shit is weak. The genjutsu guys I've seen have been support units that ended up needing the most support. Damn... this really is a baby-sitting job, huh."

Juzo shrugged. "Well, it also says that she was the best overall fighter in the academy, both from her class and the graduating class."

Zabuza scoffed. "A 9-year-old version of me killed 100 of those useless idiots. Big deal."

"Well. You're going to meet them soon. You can check them out for yourself." Juzo told Zabuza. "Head on over to Training Ground 9."

Zabuza sighed before he left.

'Fuck me.'

At Training Ground 9

Koi looked at the little kid standing in front of him. He could not believe that this was his teammate. Was he even 10? It was honestly insulting.

"You got a problem with me?" Mangetsu said as he glared at the older boy.

"Look kid, you must have confused the academy with genin team. The academy is over there." Koi pointed out.

"Oh. Interesting. Is the academy spelled like T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G-G-R-O-U-N-D-9? No? Then why do you think I'm here, bozo!" Mangetsu fired back.

Koi gritted his teeth. "I'd kick your ass for your attitude, but that would be called child abuse."

Mangetsu repeated Koi's words mockingly. "Meh meh meh, I'd kick your ass for your attitude, but that would be called child abuse. Shut up man. You probably couldn't even do it if you tried."

"Wanna find out?" Koi said as he got into a threatening stance.

Mangetsu smirked as he drew a sword. "Try me."

They were about to clash when a sword landed between their feet. They looked up to see where that came from.

"You guys both need to shut the fuck up." Zabuza said as he strolled into the training ground. "I'm here to see my shinobi team, not a bunch of idiot kids."

Koi tensed up in fear, knowing of Zabuza's reputation, and got his act together.

Mangetsu's eyes sparkled when he saw Zabuza. "Zabuza-senpai! You're my captain?"

"You know me?" Zabuza said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course! You're a legend!" Mangetsu said with a smile. "You're a real killer! My goal is to beat you one day!"

Zabuza smirked. "Heh. Good luck kid. You're gonna have to get in line for that."

"There won't be a line if I beat all of them first." Mangetsu said confidently.

"I like your spirit kid, but don't get ahead of yourself." Zabuza told Mangetsu. "Now, where's the third member?"

He wanted to ask by her name, but he realized he never got the last member's name from Juzo. He just knew it was some genjutsu girl.

"Sorry I'm late! I couldn't find my jacket!" a female voice called out.

The three boys turned around to see a slim and athletic girl with a purple dragon tail braid running over.

Koi blushed when he saw who it was. "Oh my gosh... She's on our team?"

"Wait... purple hair? No... it can't be..." Zabuza said in disbelief. "Shit..."

"Hi guys! I'm Rumi! Sorry I'm late!" Rumi said with a big friendly smile on her face, as she looked over her teammates.

She recognized the older boy from the academy. He was two classes above her. Then she saw Mangetsu.

"Aww! You're so cute!" She said as she looked over the boy. "You must be pretty strong if you're here!"

Mangetsu beamed. Finally, somebody recognized that he was someone to be taken seriously and didn't look down on his age. And she said he was cute too. Nice.

Finally, Rumi turned her attention to the team leader. Then, her jaw dropped.

"ZABUZA? You're my team leader?"

Zabuza face palmed as he sighed. "So, you're the genjutsu bitch... This is going to be such a pain in the ass..."

Rumi's eyes narrowed. "Hey, I'm not a bitch. Don't call me that."

"Yeah yeah whatever." Zabuza waved her off.

Rumi bristled at the disrespect. Seeing her rival after 2 years and being disrespected by him was pushing her buttons.

"Listen here, you don't get to treat me like I'm beneath you because you beat me that one time." Rumi said menacingly.

"No, you listen here." Zabuza interjected, cutting her off. "I get to treat you however I want, because I'm your captain, not your friend. If you got a problem with that, then you can fuck right off. I won't stand for insubordination."

Rumi glowered but stepped back into line. She knew as a ninja she would have to respect the chain of command. "Fine. Whatever you say, captain."

Everyone went silent in the hostile atmosphere, as the two former rivals glared at each other.

"Is she your girlfriend, senpai?" Mangetsu suddenly asked, breaking the tension.

"She/He is not my girl/boyfriend!" Zabuza and Rumi yelled out together as they both blushed.

They both glared at each other before huffing and looking away as they crossed their arms.

'This is going to be so annoying.' They both thought to themselves.

*Author's Note*

Well, it only took one chapter for Zabuza and Rumi to meet again! What do you guys think about the team? Interesting dynamic? Expected?

Also, before I get to later chapters, I want to decide on if I want to introduce Zoey and Mira into the story. Please let me know what you think in the comments or in the reviews!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a review or a comment if you liked it! It means a lot to me! Thanks for your support, guys!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 8: Old and New Rivalries

With Rumi, later that evening

"Congratulations on graduating from the academy early!" Mei told Rumi as she held up a container full of sushi.

"Yum yums! Give me!" Rumi yelled as she sprang from her seat to get to the sushi.

Mei held Rumi back with an outstretched arm and a hand on Rumi's forehead, as she held the containers far from her. "Nuh uh. It's not going to be that easy. You're going to have to earn this sushi by telling me about your new team."

Rumi rolled her eyes at the mention of her team.

"Ugh... you wouldn't believe who's on my team..." Rumi said as her shoulders sagged comically.

Mei chuckled as she sat down at a table with Rumi. "One of your fanboys? Who's your sensei by the way?"

"You know... actually I think I do have one of my fanboys on my team." Rumi responded as she thought about Koi, who kept stealing glances at her. "But I have a weird team. I have a 7-year-old boy in my team, and I'm not sure who my sensei is."

The 17-year-old auburn-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "What? A 7-year-old? You don't have a sensei? Are you in a scam or something?"

"I mean the kid is fine. He's a little cutie with attitude." Rumi responded as she opened her container of sushi that Mei slid towards her. "The sensei part is the weird part. Zabuza is my captain."

"Oh my gosh. No way." Mei said, enjoying the hot tea that was being spilled. "Isn't that the boy you were obsessed with?"

Steam came from Rumi's ears, and a burning flame could be seen in her eyes. "I wasn't obsessed with HIM! I just wanted to beat someone strong! God forbid a girl wants to have some goals!"

Mei laughed out loud with a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, sorry. I was just teasing you. But yes, please continue. This does sound most unusual. Even if he's strong, it's unheard of for an 11-year-old boy to become a sensei."

"Well, that's the thing. He's not my sensei. He's my captain. Apparently." Rumi said as she grabbed a piece of sushi and shoved it down her gullet.

"Captain? You just became a Genin though? I mean, I've seen more experienced Genin going on missions with Chunin captains, but you're just a newly graduated student. You should be with a Jonin sensei." Mei thought out loud.

"That's what I thought too. Apparently, they're trying something different with us. Explains the 7-year-old, I guess. Think he's some sort of prodigy." Rumi said as she scarfed down a few more salmon rolls. Her eyes sparkled as she savored the taste.

"Oh, so it's team prodigy for you, huh?" Mei said in a playful, teasing way. "Only prodigies allowed?"

Rumi cheeks turned pink. "Hey, I didn't say all that. I'm just saying that he must be really good if he'sa Genin already. I'm just regular old me."

Mei wiped some of the soy sauce off of Rumi's mouth with the napkins that came with the sushi. "Hey now. There's nothing regular about you. I don't want to hear that."

Rumi smiled at Mei. She was so thankful for the support she had received from Mei ever since she got here. She had become a sort of adopted older sister/ mom for her.

"Thanks, Mei." The two shared a warm moment before Rumi scowled again at the thought of Zabuza.

"Ugh... His arrogance has grown to unseen heights! I hate him!"

Mei chuckled. "Uh huh. Tell me all about your crush."

"MEI!"

With Zabuza

As an experimental group to foster younger talented ninja, Zabuza's team would be under Zabuza's command most of the time, but he would still be an apprentice under Juzo himself. The high command wanted Juzo and other skilled shinobi to come and teach them lessons from time to time, while Zabuza was groomed for leadership.

"So. How'd you like your team?" Juzo asked Zabuza, who scowled.

"Don't get me started. I've got a bunch of morons on my team."

Juzo laughed out loud. "What? You didn't like baby-sitting?"

Zabuza gave Juzo a deadpan look before continuing. "I've got a little kid who apparently both looks up to me and wants to hurt me at the same time. Then there's an older boy who feels threatened or something by said child. Then... there's that purple hair bitch..."

"Ohhh! That's the girl? You mean that girl you beat that one time? The one you kept talking about?" Juzo said, remembering the day he met Zabuza.

"I spoke of her like twice! Or maybe thrice! That's not the point! She feels some sort of rivalry with me or something, and she's so fucking annoying!" Zabuza responded. "She's very much a distraction."

Juzo chuckled. "Oh yeah.I'm sure. It's hard to concentrate when there's a cute girl around. I get it. One time I went on a mission with this baddie called Mei, and -"

Zabuza cut him off. "WHO SAID SHE WAS CUTE!?" He shouted. "She's so annoying! I can't stand her! She's such an attention seeker!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Calm down, Momo-chan." Juzo told Zabuza, which made him growl. He hated that nickname.

"One of these days, I'm going to kill you and take your sword." Zabuza responded.

"All in due time, Momo-chan. Now, let's get back to business. I want to see what your team can do. I'll meet you at the training ground at 10 in the morning." Juzo told Zabuza.

"...Fine... but you better not call me that in front of my team." Zabuza warned Juzo, who just laughed.

"We'll see."

The next morning, at Training Ground 9

"So, you guys are the brats under Zabuza." Juzo said as he walked onto the training ground with his legendary Kubokiribocho slung over his shoulders.

The three Genin's eyes sparkled as Juzo walked on. They were seeing one of their heroes.

"Juzo-senpai! Is that really the Kubokiribocho?" Mangetsu asked with adoration evident in his voice.

"Who said I was your senpai, kid?" Juzo replied. "I'll only consider you my kohai if you're a candidate to be one of the next generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Now stop fanboying and get back in line until my kohai Zabuza tells you what to do."

Mangetsu gave him a confident smile. "Oh, you'll see soon. Senpai." He stepped back into line.

Juzo smirked. He liked the kid. He didn't let himself get punked. He'd see what he was made of soon enough.

"Alright team. Juzo is here to see what you guys are capable of. So, we're going to put on a little exhibition match." Zabuza told his team.

"If that's the case, let me teach this little runt a lesson!" Koi said, volunteering him and Mangetsu as the first match.

Mangetsu drew his sword. "Well, we'll see who's going to be the teacher and who's going to be the student."

Juzo laughed. "Alright! A fierce rivalry! A 7-year-old and a 15-year-old! Let's see this!"

Koi felt his blood boil. He was going to humble this little brat today.

"Well, if they're going to fight, I want to fight you." Rumi challenged Zabuza to a fight, with determination flashing in her eyes. She had unsettled business with him.

Zabuza gave her an evil smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Rumi could hear the malice dripping from his voice.

Meanwhile, Juzo shifted his eyes back and forth from the two rivals.

"How cute."

*Author's Note*

Hi guys! I hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who left me such nice reviews or left comments! I have so much fun reading your comments and reviews, and I'd love to interact with you guys more.

Please let me know if you guys have any suggestions for the story! I'm wondering what kind of powerups I could give to Rumi. Maybe a summoning? I want to keep summonings as something rare and special in the story so I don't want everyone to have one, but she's the main character so I guess it could make sense. Or maybe I could buff a different character with one. Speaking of a different character, I'm still wondering if there should be a Team Huntrix, or if I should just focus on Rumi. Let me know what you think!

Thanks again for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 9: Unexpected Surprises

At Training Ground 9

Mangetsu and Koi squared off with each other. Koi was chomping at the bits to get at this cocky little brat who'd been disrespecting him since the moment he met him.

"Alright you two. You may begin." Zabuza told the two fighters.

Juzo pulled out some popcorn started munching with glee as he plopped onto the ground, sitting cross legged. "Can't wait to see the show! Hopefully they don't disappoint!"

Koi immediately went on the offensive, throwing several shuriken towards Mangetsu.

Mangetsu smirked as he easily parried every single shuriken with his sword. Zabuza, Juzo, and Rumi all raised their eyebrows in sync. Rumi whistled, clearly impressed.

However, the shuriken were merely an opening distraction for Koi, who immediately started forming hand seals.

"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" Koi began spewing out a fast stream of water towards Mangetsu.

Rumi's eyes widened. "That's a C-rank elemental jutsu!" She was shocked as she didn't know any elemental jutsu yet. She had underestimated Koi for being a fanboy.

Even Juzo was surprised. "Not bad! Guess the reports weren't lying!"

Mangetsu jumped to the side to dodge it, but Koi just turned his head to redirect the water towards Mangetsu, who had to weave through the water as he ran towards Koi.

With great effort, Mangetsu reached Koi and stabbed Koi in the stomach, which made Rumi gasp. Mangetsu was fighting with deadly intent against his own teammate.

"Koi!" Rumi shouted out in concern.

Koi's eyes bulged before he suddenly turned into a pile of water which collapsed.

"Wow! A water clone too!? AND a substitution? This guy is good!" Juzo said in excitement. "He knows how to pull a bait and switch!"

Zabuza was impressed too. He saw him using the stream of water to create the distraction needed to create the pools of water for a water clone. This was all just a set up.

Mangetsu looked surprised when two more water clones rose up from the pools of water that were formed from Koi's Wild Water Wave. He didn't have much time to process, as he had to look up when he saw Koi coming towards him from the air, with his sword raised above his head.

Mangetsu barely blocked the devasting blow from above, which made him stumble from the impact. Koi's two water clones immediately closed in on him and began raining down blows in conjunction with the real Koi.

While Mangetsu struggled, he seemed to be managing to hold off the three opponents.

Rumi bit her nails as the fight was a lot more intense than she had anticipated. She didn't think teammates would be fighting with such deadly intent. She looked to her side and saw Zabuza watching with a deadpan face, while Juzo was digging into his popcorn, excited by the fight.

'Psychos... this whole village is full of them...' Rumi thought to herself before she turned her attention back to the fight.

Koi smiled when he saw an opening in Mangetsu's guard that was created when the 7-year-old swordsman tried to fend off an attack from his water clone. Koi swung at Mangetsu with powerful slash towards his body.

Mangetsu's eyes widened, and he quickly parried off the attacks from the two water clones so that he can mount some sort of defense from Koi's slash. However, all he could do was hold his sword up to try to block Koi's blow, but Koi was much stronger than Mangetsu, and easily swept aside Mangetsu's hastily mounted defense and sliced through the boy.

"No! Mangetsu!" Rumi screamed as she tried to run for the boy.

However, she was stopped in her tracks, when Zabuza caught her by the arm. "Shut up and watch."

Rumi looked at Zabuza in surprise before she turned her eyes back at the bisected boy.

Mangetsu had a scared look on his face before his upper body began sliding off of his lower body.

Rumi put a hand over her mouth. This was so cruel. She thought the days of the bloody mist were over, and comrades wouldn't be killing each other. It seemed to her that the same bloody mentality had remained in many of the Kiri shinobi. And now, a 7-year-old boy was killed by his own teammate who should have had his back.

She was surprised once again however, when Mangetsu's scared face turned into a smirk, before he turned into water.

"Was that a water clone too?" Rumi wondered out loud.

However, she was surprised when Mangetsu reformed out of the puddle around him, but much bigger this time, as his body absorbed the water around him.

Koi stepped back in surprise. "The Hydrification Technique? He's a Hozuki?"

"Thanks for the water!" Mangetsu sneered as he was now bigger than the older boy.

When Mangetsu started swinging now, he was much stronger, and it was now Koi who was put on the backfoot.

Rumi was surprised at how powerful her teammates were but was especially surprised with Mangetsu. She was right. He definitely was no ordinary child.

Juzo sprang to his feet. "Dayummm! The kid can fight! I like him! Let's go, kohai!"

Mangetsu beamed at the praise, as he amped up his efforts.

With his bigger size now, he was now fighting more on par with the older boy and his clones, who seemed to be looking for a way to nullify the Hydrification Technique, but failing to come up with any answers.

"Alright. I've seen enough. Stand down." Zabuza ordered.

Koi and Mangetsu stopped their fight and sheathed their weapons. Both of them had grown to respect each other more after their fight and gave each other a nod of acknowledgement.

"Wow you guys! That was incredible! I didn't know you guys were that strong!" Rumi said, congratulating the two of them.

Juzo also walked up to the two Genin and gave them a nod of approval. But he was especially impressed by the little 7-year-old.

"You know what? I think I might know someone who'd be interested in training you." Juzo told Mangetsu who beamed.

Juzo then turned to Rumi. "Welp. Now it's your turn, Purple."

Rumi broke out into a big smile that creeped out Zabuza.

"Alright! Let's go!" Rumi said as she pulled out her sword and got ready.

"Go easy on her, alright?" Juzo told Zabuza as he sat down with his popcorn again.

"Now begin!" Juzo announced.

Koi stood by the side while Mangetsu sat next to Juzo and started stealing his popcorn. Juzo glared at Mangetsu, but let him steal a few bites.

Meanwhile, Zabuza pulled out his sword and prepared to humble Rumi again.

"Hope you've gotten stronger. Don't disappoint me." Zabuza taunted as he charged in. "Show me how much stronger you've gotten!"

Mangetsu smiled like the kid he was. He was finally seeing his idol in battle.

Zabuza struck with a blinding speed, and each strike was heavy yet precise. Mangetsu fawned over his beautiful movement. It was perfect swordsmanship, worthy of a Jonin. Mangetsu's and Koi's swordfight looked like untrained children fighting with unbalanced sticks by comparison.

Rumi quietly hummed to herself, quickly synchronizing her tune to Zabuza's movements which helped her read his movements better. She learned from her previous lesson and deflected his attacks rather than try to block them, as he was much, much stronger than her physically.

"Looks like you've gotten faster and smarter!" Zabuza remarked. "Guess I can amp it up then!" He gave her a rare, wicked smile as his heart began to beat faster in excitement. He loved a good fight. Only Juzo had given him a good sword fight over the last two years, and Rumi had definitely stepped up her game.

Rumi leaned back to let Zabuza's sword glide over where her head had once been, before she ducked and tried to sweep him off his feet with a sweeping kick, but Zabuza easily jumped over that.

"Not bad!" Zabuza commented before he backflipped away and sheathed his sword. "Let's see how you deal with some ninjutsu!" He rapidly chained together some hand seals and stretched out his hands.

"Water Release: Water Hail!"

A large barrage of water bullets was shot at Rumi. They struck Rumi in the chest, and she fell back with a thud, until a puff of smoke revealed a now busted up log instead of Rumi.

Zabuza continued with his hand seals. "Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!"

He began expelling a beam of water that made Koi's seem like a trickle, and blasted a nearby tree into smithereens upon contact, when Rumi cartwheeled away to dodge the blast.

Even though he knew Zabuza was only going at about 60 percent, Juzo was impressed at how Rumi's kenjutsu was proficient enough to stand up to him. He figured she was probably better than a lot of Chunin with her sword. But what really impressed him the most was her instinct and ability to read an opponent. That was something that was nearly impossible to teach without a ton of fighting experience. He figured Rumi was probably the strongest swordsman from the three Genin right now. But he wanted to see something more. A one-trick pony was a boring sight.

Zabuza jumped back into the fray as Rumi was rising back to her feet after rolling away from Zabuza's potent beam of water which devastated the training ground. Zabuza landed where Rumi's head was with a downwards heel kick, but Rumi managed to roll away in time, before she sprang back up and struck back towards Zabuza with her own sword.

The two traded slashes in deadly dance, but this whole time Rumi had been setting up her own jutsu as she hummed.

"You won't be humming soon enough!" Zabuza exclaimed as he began to swing harder and faster.

However, he soon felt his movements as being a bit... off. He was doing everything as he normally would, but everything felt off rhythm.

"Surprised?" Rumi asked with a smile as she continued to hum.

Now it was Zabuza's turn to be on the defensive, him not knowing what was going on with his movements. Everything was still crisp, and the moves were executed correctly, but he was always just a half second off.

Juzo was confused. He couldn't understand why Zabuza's battle rhythm was so off. There wasn't anything he could pick apart in terms of execution, but it just seemed like Zabuza was moving one beat behind what was happening and struggling to catch up.

Zabuza was growing frustrated, being unable to move like he knew he should be, as he tried his best to parry Rumi's precise strikes. Her incessant humming really pissed him off as his frustration grew. Then, all of a sudden, it finally clicked for him.

"That fucking humming! It's an auditory genjutsu!"

*Author's Note*

This was my longest fight scene yet! I had so much fun writing it, and I hope you guys enjoyed it too! I didn't want anyone to look too weak or underwhelming, while still giving everyone their aura of strength. It was really challenging to write Rumi's growth without making Zabuza seem weak, so it took some time, but I'm happy with the results! It's my longest chapter yet, but you'll have to wait until the next chapter to see the end of the fight!

I also want to appreciate all the artists who reached out to me about making art for the story, but I'm not currently interested in getting art made right now, so please don't message me regarding that. Other than that, feel free to chat with me! I'd love to discuss the story or hear any suggestions!

Anyway, thanks for reading! And thank you so much to everyone who left me kind messages or left comments. It means so much to me!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 10: Triggering the Demon

At Training Ground 9

"Auditory genjutsu?" The three spectators wondered to themselves aloud. That wasn't something the Genin hadn't even heard of.

A wild smile broke out on Juzo's face. He was excited to see what would happen next. Both he and Zabuza hadn't faced an auditory genjutsu user, and he was curious to see what would happen next.

Zabuza rapidly chained together a combo of hand signs. "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Koi's mouth dropped at the high level jutsu as a massive wall of water exploded outwards.

Rumi had to jump into a tree to avoid being swept away.

Zabuza's smile was now manic. His bloodlust had been triggered by the fight.

"Hiding in Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza whispered to himself as he used to water to create a thick cloud of mist that covered the entire battlefield. If Rumi's fighting style involved reading his movements, he decided to rob her of her vision.

"Damn! I can't see a thing in the mist!" Juzo complained. "Guess he's getting serious about this!"

Rumi was lost in the mist. It was so thick, that she could hardly see the tip of her sword.

Zabuza moved silently like a shadow, striking out from the mist, using his ears to locate and attack Rumi. With her unable to see him, his split-second delay in movement wasn't something Rumi could use against him.

Rumi tried to run out of the mist, but it seemed to follow her. She had to really use her ears to locate Zabuza, but she was often too late to locate him, and she was forced to barely block the attacks that came her way, and Zabuza began landing more and more shallow cuts on her jacket.

However, Rumi wasn't finished yet.

Juzo, Mangetsu, and Koi were trying to figure out what was going on in the mist, when they suddenly heard Rumi's beautiful voice in a song.

"Singing?" Juzo wondered what Rumi had up her sleeve.

For Zabuza however, it was more than confusing. He was suddenly completely disoriented. In his own thick mist, he couldn't tell which way he was facing. Was he looking up? Down? Sideways? Backwards? With Rumi's voice seeming to emanate from all directions, he was unable to locate Rumi at all, and it seemed like he was floating in a cloud, unable to reorient his bearings.

He tried biting his own lip to have the pain dissipate the genjutsu, but as long as he could hear the song, he was unable to regain his sense of direction.

He had no choice but to dispel his mist. He'd have to just go all out to defeat her.

When the mist receded, he found Rumi's sword at his neck.

"Yield!" Rumi demanded.

However, Zabuza just smiled as he dissolved into water.

"Shoot! It's those water clone thingies!" Rumi realized, as she saw three Zabuzas leaping at her.

Even with Zabuza hampered by her humming jutsu again, she was barely able to keep up with the three Zabuzas attacking her.

'Shoot... these clones are really tough... as if one Zabuza wasn't hard enough...' Rumi thought to herself as her dancing feet helped her weave and dodge through the storm of blades coming for her.

Zabuza jumped back to let his two clones distract her, while he began chaining together a long series of hand signs.

'Survive this, bitch.' Zabuza thought to himself. The battle had driven him to a battle frenzy, where all he was worried about was winning at all costs.

Juzo recognized the hand signs Zabuza was making and got up. "Hey! What are you doing? This is just a spar!"

Zabuza, however, couldn't hear Juzo with his current mind state. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"

A massive dragon of water formed around him, and lunged at Rumi at breakneck speed.

Rumi's eyes widened as the water dragon bullet bore down upon her. "Oh. My. God."

She tried to dive away and evade the dragon, but it tore through everything as it closed in on her.

Rumi put her arms up in fear as she screamed and was struck head on by the gaping maw of the water dragon.

Rumi felt like she was hit by a boulder and felt like she was drowning at the same time, as she tumbled violently across the grounds, only coming to a stop when she was smashed onto a tree.

She fell to the ground, with a trickle of blood coming from her mouth.

She looked up and saw a purple aura forming a demonic form behind Zabuza as he walked up to her. She was about to lift her sword up, when Zabuza put his arms out and trapped her in a globe of water.

"Water Prison Technique." Zabuza said with a deranged smile, as he kept her inside the ball of water.

Rumi couldn't even breathe in the prison, let alone sing or hum, and looked at him with fear in her eyes. This was just supposed to be a friendly spar, and she had been fighting to make him yield, but it looked like he was fighting to kill her.

"Try singing in there, bitch." Zabuza said coldly, as Rumi looked at him in fear.

Zabuza raised his sword arm to strike her down, when Juzo's massive sword swung down between Zabuza and Rumi.

Zabuza was forced to jump back and got into stance, ready to fight his own master.

"That's enough. You've won." Juzo said with a serious look on his face. "Get ahold of yourself."

Zabuza suddenly snapped out of his blood lust and looked around at the situation. Rumi was gasping for air at his feet. She looked broken, looking up at him in fear and disappointment, which made him feel something in his chest that he couldn't quite recognize.

Rumi used her sword to support herself as she struggled to wobble back onto her feet, and Koi ran over to her side to support her.

"Look, Rumi. I'm quite impressed with you. You're quite a prodigy yourself. You've done well. Go back home and rest and recover. I'll see you again in a week." Juzo told Rumi.

"I'm impressed with all of you. We'll come up with a training regime for you three and start finding some missions for you to do soon. Now go home. All of you are dismissed." Juzo told the three Genin.

Rumi limped back to the orphanage, supported by Koi, and Mangetsu followed behind them like a worried puppy.

Juzo turned around and looked at Zabuza with disappointment.

"You've gone too far, kid. We already know how strong you are. We were just trying to see how strong she was. You've been getting elite training while she was at the academy. You didn't need to try to kill her like that." Juzo chastized Zabuza.

Zabuza looked over at Rumi. He couldn't get that last look her gave her out of his mind. She looked genuinely hurt, both physically and emotionally. For the first time, he felt something like... remorse.

"I... I didn't mean to go all out like that... I don't know what happened." Zabuza quietly muttered.

"Well... she's definitely not going to like you after that." Juzo said as he glanced over to Zabuza. "Man, you really don't know how to treat the ladies, huh."

Zabuza glared at Juzo. "You know I don't care about that. I just... feel... something weird. I feel bad for winning... and that feels weird."

He had been trained to win at all costs, but now it was bothering him. It didn't make any sense. Seeing her beautiful and confident smile turn into one of hurt and fear... he didn't understand why it bothered him so much, but it did.

"Why do I feel bad for winning? We're ninjas." Zabuza asked Juzo.

"You're a strong kid. Jonin level in combat. But I sometimes forget you're still a kid. You've got a lot to learn, Momo-chan." Juzo told Zabuza, trying to cheer him up.

"Now let's go back to our training ground, so I can kick your ass." Juzo said as he walked off with a distracted Zabuza who seemed deep in thought.

'Why... why do I feel bad?'

*Author's Note*

That was the newest chapter of the story! Was that what you expected? Rumi is quite strong, but I want to pace her growth. Zabuza is supposed to be like the Kakashi of the Mist, so I want him to stay ahead of her for a while. She is not close to beating him. I've got plans for her development in the future, so don't be too disappointed though.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a review or a comment if you liked the story so far! Thanks for the support!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 11: Learning to be Strong

At the Orphanage

Mei was furious when she heard what had happened to Rumi. She ran straight over to the orphanage to check on her unofficial younger sister.

"Rumi! Are you alright?" Mei asked as she busted into Rumi's room.

Rumi gave her a sheepish smile. "Hehe... yeah... I was a little shaken up but I think I'm getting better now."

"What happened to you? What did that little bastard do?!" Mei demanded answers.

Rumi told Mei about the how the team spars went.

"Yeah... and then he got real serious all of a sudden and sent this huge water dragon at me. That was really scary. It hurt a lot too." Rumi told Mei.

"He used the Water Dragon Bullet jutsu on you?" Mei was furious. "That's a high-level jutsu meant for serious battles! It crushes and drowns people! What the hell is he thinking!? In a spar?"

Then she looked over at Rumi. She looked a little beat up, but she seemed... relatively in one piece. "I'm so sorry that happened to you but... are you sure? You seem in... decent shape... for someone who got hit by a deadly B-rank jutsu..."

Rumi looked over herself. "Hey! You think I'm lying? It hit me straight on! I was smashed into a tree! The tree splintered too!"

"It hit you straight on and smashed you into a tree?!" Mei looked over Rumi again. What Rumi described did sound like the effects of the Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu but... Getting smashed into a tree could be deadly for a lot of Genin. Smashed so hard that the tree splinters? That was some force. She should be a bloody pile of broken bones... How was Rumi ok?

"That wasn't even the worst part to be honest. I was going to just yield at that point, but then he sudden trapped me in this weirdly viscous ball of water and I really thought he was going to drown me..."

Mei's fists were white from being clenched so hard. She was utterly disgusted with Zabuza.

Rumi was hurt more mentally than physically. "It just seems like... what is the point of all this? I tried so hard to become strong. And I got bulldozed. And to make things worse, my teammates try to kill each other. I hoped I'd form lifelong bonds with my team... you know...like a family... But now? I don't think they'd think twice before they kill meif it benefited them..."

"How can I even go on a mission when I can't trust my own teammates?" Rumi looked up to Mei with tears in her eyes. "At the end of the day, you're the only one who really cares about me in this village. To everyone else, I'm just a tool to be used until my usefulness wears out, and they'd dispose of me without a second thought. What is the point of all of this? I just want to give up."

Mei sat down on the edge of Rumi's bed and gave Rumi a hug. "I'm sorry your team is the way it is. But don't give up, Rumi. Don't give up."

"What's the point? So what if I get stronger? This whole village is rotten. The corruption, the discrimination, the people even. They all suck." Rumi responded.

Mei looked at her with empathy. "You're right. This village is corrupt in a lot of ways. A lot of the people here have little empathy too. But this is our home. There's a lot of good people here too. Our village may have a lot of shortcomings, but we have our precious bonds too."

Mei gently cupped Rumi's cheek. "Life as a ninja is not easy. I already told you that before you even joined the academy. But if we want to change our lives, if we want to change our village, we need to become stronger. As shinobi, we earn our voices and freedom with our strength."

Rumi scoffed. "Yeah... maybe if I train harder, Zabuza can kill me in front of everyone. Maybe that's why I lost... Maybe I should have been trying to kill him too..."

"Rumi... there is more to strength than just being good at fighting." Mei explained. "You can't just beat everything into submission."

"But I thought you said strength was our voice and our freedom as shinobi?" Rumi replied in confusion.

"Of course, we need to be good fighters to protect ourselves and those that we care about. But there's inner strength too. The power to continue, even when things are hard. But most importantly, the power to stay true to yourself even when it would be easier to change." Mei told Rumi.

"Rumi, you are not a cold-blooded killer like a lot of the shinobi here. It could be because you haven't been on many missions yet, but I believe that even if you did end up killing people, it wouldn't be because you take joy in it. Don't change who you are to get back at someone."

"Isn't it stupid to stick to something that doesn't work? My way of thinking almost got me killed!" Rumi responded.

"But you didn't die." Mei responded. "I'm not saying be a fool and be unaware of the nature of this world. Train harder. Learn your weaknesses and see how you can cover it. But don't let your heart turn cold. Don't become the monster you hate."

Rumi looked down as she thought on Mei's words. Mei was right. She had made a vow to keep her mom's values alive when she first joined the academy. She wouldn't let Zabuza or anyone else take that away from her.

Mei saw the pensive look on Rumi's face and smiled. She pat Rumi's head to cheer her up before she pulled out her secret weapon for cheering her up.

"Rumi... I brought you some maki rolls~!" Mei crooned to Rumi.

Rumi's head shot up and her eyes sparkled as they widened.

"Yum yums!"

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 12: First Mission Together

A week later, at Training Ground 9

Zabuza was with Juzo, looking over at his team who he hadn't seen since the sparring sessions. Juzo was going to take a backseat and let Zabuza lead his team. He was here to observe Zabuza and see how he led.

Though Mangetsu and Koi didn't seem like they wanted to kill each other anymore, the tension between Rumi and Zabuza made Koi and Mangetsu a little uneasy.

Rumi had a neutral expression on her face, but she never looked directly at Zabuza. She was still mad at Zabuza for trying to kill her, and Zabuza knew it. He had rarelyfelt sorry for his actions before, so he didn't know how to navigate this situation, and it was making him very uncomfortable.

"Erm... I hope you guys... enjoyed... your break?" Zabuza said awkwardly.

"... Yes sir." Koi responded. Juzo was dying of laughter inside, but he only showed a small smirk on his face.

Zabuza needed to pivot. He didn't know how to do small talk with this team.

"Alright, anyway, umm... I was very impressed with all of your performances. It looks like we have a very strong team here." Zabuza glanced over at Rumi who showed no response to his statements whatsoever.

Zabuza coughed into his fist to hide his awkwardness. "Yeah. Anyway, I saw you guys are all very competent fighters. Today, I'd like to see more of your other skillsets, so I decided we should go on a mission together."

"Ooh! Our first mission!" Mangetsu remarked with excitement. However, Rumi wasn't that thrilled. She had once dreamed of going on her first mission, but her experience with Zabuza robbed her of that excitement.

"What is our mission?" Koi asked.

"Well, we'll be going on a raid today." Zabuza responded. "One of the most common missions in Kiri. We've found some bandit and pirate camps, and we will be..."

"Redistributing their goods!" Juzo interjected with an excited smile.

Mangetsu grinned. "Oh man. I've been waiting to go on my first raid!"

"What are our mission parameters? What are our roles? What are we to expect?" Koi asked.

Zabuza glanced over to a silent Rumi before he responded. "Well, we will be taking a small ship and hit two bandit camps we've discovered near some islands in the Oburi Gulf. As this is a mission meant to gauge your skills, I decided I'd lead us but see what you guys can do once we're there. We'll be pairing up to form a vanguard and support team. We'll switch the roles after the first camp."

"How are we splitting the teams?" Mangetsu asked.

"Well, I guess it'll be..." Zabuza looked over at Rumi. If he paired up with Rumi, it would be a nightmare. "I'll pair up with Koi. Mangetsu, you will be with Rumi."

"Yay! We're going to partner up, big sis!" Mangetsu said with a smile as he looked at Rumi.

Rumi gave him a small smile back. She'd seen how bloodthirsty he could be, and was disappointed, but he was still a child, and he seemed to like her, so she decided to be nice. Maybe she could change him to be better.

Meanwhile, Koi looked disappointed. He wanted to be paired up with Rumi. Now he was with his captain instead.

"Alright. Let's move out." Zabuza commanded.

A few hours later, on a small ship in the Oburi Gulf

"Alright. Our intel tells us that the island next to that rock over to our right is where the first bandit camp is." Zabuza told his team.

"So. Up first will be me and Koi at the front. Rumi and Mangetsu, you watch our rear." Zabuza said. "Sensei, watch the ship for us. If we need backup, I'll send you a signal."

Juzo nodded. "Don't worry about the ship. It's in good hands."

Soon, the ship reached the shore of the island.

"Ok team. Let's move out." Zabuza told his team.

On the first island

Zabuza and his team were standing on top of some jagged rocks that gave them a good view of the island's features.

"You see those trees over there? The bandit camp is just between those trees and the shore." Zabuza informed his team. "Now, does anybody have any jutsus or abilities that are useful for scouting?"

Nobody responded.

"Well, it looks like we'll have to use good old-fashioned stealth then. My favorite." Zabuza commented. "Let's go."

The team moved quietly. Zabuza used a weak version of the Hiding the Mist Jutsu to emulate sea mist as they used it as cover to get to the trees. One the team reached the trees, the climbed the trees and began quietly jumping from tree to tree until they reached some trees with a view of the bandit camp.

Rumi looked over the bandit camp to see what was there. The bandit camp was comprised of a wooden palisade surrounding a clearing with a crude wooden building with a small wooden tower at the center and smaller tents scattered around. There were two archers in the tower, and the one opening of the camp had two men armed with spears guarding it. Inside the wooden walls, Rumi spotted at least 10 men roaming around, doing different activities. Some of them were cooking, some of them were sharpening their weapons, while others were drinking and chatting.

"I think I see about 15 people." Rumi reported her findings to her team. "Two on the tower, two at the gate, and about 10 or so around the camp. I don't know how many are inside their tents or inside that wooden building."

"Good scouting." Zabuza said to Rumi, trying to get back on Rumi's good side.

"Thanks." Rumi said without much emotion. She was trying to do what Mei said in being herself and being polite, but she couldn't bring herself to be happy about it.

"I think I saw at least two figures inside the building. There could be more." Koi reported.

"Nah, there's at least three. I think I saw a woman in there too." Mangetsu added.

"So, there's at least around 20 people in the camp. There may be more that are currently away from the camp who may return at any time." Zabuza summarized.

"I'll enter from the gate to draw their attention. Koi, you come from the opposite side. Climb over the wall. Rumi and Mangetsu, you stay within supporting range. I doubt we'll need back up for mere bandits, but just in case." Zabuza instructed his team.

"Got it." The three Genin responded.

Inside the Bandit Camp

A thick mist began to roll in from the gate of the camp.

"What the heck? Why is it so foggy all of a sudden?" One of the gate guards wondered out loud, before his head was lopped off.

The other gate guard heard a thud before his partner's head rolled over towards him from the mist.

"Wh-what the hell!? We're under attack!" He screamed, before his head was also separated from his body.

The archers in the tower turned their attention to the gates, and saw a thick mist. They quickly rang their bells to get everyone's attention. "We have an attacker at the gates!"

All the men outside grabbed their weapons and ran towards the gates, ready to fight, and several more men emerged from the tents.

The men in the camp gulped nervously as a figure slowly emerged from the shadows. The archers immediately shot several arrows at the figure, hoping to end the fight early. They could see the figure stumbling after taking some hits.

"Did they get him?" One bandit asked another.

They got their answer when the headless body of one of the gate guards fell forward, out from the mist, with several arrows stuck in it. Then several shuriken quickly emerged from the mist, killing two of the bandits, before Zabuza leapt out with his sword above his head.

"Shit! It's a Kiri ninja!" One of the bandits yelled before he was cut in half from his shoulder to his waist.

the doors of the wooden building slammed open with that warning, and 10 more bandits came rushing out, bolstering their numbers to 27. The remaining bandits rushed at Zabuza with their weapons, hoping to overrun him with numbers.

"Well, that's a little more than 20.' Zabuza thought to himself as he fought off the bandits.

"He's just a kid! Why are we struggling!" One bandit said as he and four other bandits attacked Zabuza from all sides yet failed to land a single blow.

The archers in the tower focused their attention on Zabuza, hoping to hit him with their arrow. However, while they were concentrating so they could hit Zabuza instead of their comrades, Koi had infiltrated the camp from the rear and quietly climbed up to the tower.

He took a kunai and quietly slit the throat of one of the archers, who fell with a thud.

The other archer turned around in surprise, but the life soon left his eyes too when Koi's kunai was jammed up his chin.

'I guess I'm supposed to lay the body down quietly, so I don't make a sound. Noted" Koi thought to himself.

Koi then began to form hand signs to perform the Wild Water Wave Jutsu.

Several of the bandits were struck from behind by a wave of water, knocking them down. Zabuza quickly disposed of these unlucky bandits with his sword.

Koi formed some water clones from the puddle to aid Zabuza, before he threw some shuriken at the bandits and jumped down.

While not all of the shuriken struck a bandit, the ones that did injured them, allowing Koi's water clones to finish them off, before the real Koi entered the fray and began fighting too.

Within 5 minutes, all of the bandits lay dead at their feet.

While Mangetsu seemed excited to have his turn, Rumi was horrified. Yes, these were bandits, but they slaughtered everyone. She thought they were just here to reacquisition some supplies.

Zabuza whistled, signaling for Mangetsu and Rumi to come down. "Alright. Grab everything of value, and let's load it on the ship."

While Mangetsu and Koi went straight to work, Rumi couldn't help but feel like this was wrong.

'Is this what we do as shinobi? Is this it?' She thought to herself.

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 13: Rumi's Show

Back at the ship

"Oooh man. You guys got a good haul!" Juzo commented as Zabuza's team brought the loot on board.

"Yeah! And it looked awesome too!" Mangetsu chimed in. "I can't wait till it's our turn, right big sis?" Mangetsu asked Rumi.

Rumi just gave him a strained smile. She was not looking forward to it at all. She had imagined her missions being more like stealing information to protect her village or defending the village's interests in some way. Maybe even guarding important figures or escorting them through dangerous lands. Or something like that. This was just wholesale slaughter of unsuspecting people.

She knew she would have to sometimes do things she didn't want to do. Unsavory things. But seeing this kind of brutality firsthand for the first time... It hit her differently. She knew she would have to follow orders as a ninja, but she wondered if she could be more loose with her interpretation of those orders.

"Mangetsu-chan." Rumi called, catching her younger teammates attention.

"Do you mind letting me take the lead when it's our turn? I have an idea." Rumi asked.

While Mangetsu was a proud individual who sought to prove himself as a deadly shinobi, he found himself unable to say no to someone he started considering his big sister. She just had this weird charm to her.

"Sure. I guess. What do you have in mind?" He asked.

Rumi whispered her plans in his ears.

"What? But why? This is our chance to get some action!" Mangetsu whined. "We're ninja! This is what we do!"

Rumi gave him a stern look which caused him to wither a bit. "We're ninja. Not monsters. We do what the mission asks us to do. Besides, don't tell me you're just a brute with no brain too. I thought you're more creative than that."

The subtle manipulation worked on the little boy. "Hey, who said I have no brains! I can be creative too!"

"That's good to hear Mangetsu-chan! I think some creativity will make you more versatile, and thus more dangerous too!" Rumi told Mangetsu, playing on his desire to become stronger. "Let's go put on a show!"

"Yeah!" Mangetsu cheered.

Later, near the Bandit Camp

"Alright. Tell me what you guys see." Zabuza asked his team, hidden in the trees a short distance away from the bandit camp below.

"This camp looks a little more organized than the last one. The walls seem to be made of earth this time, and much thicker. People can walk on the walls. There's also a moatgoing around the walls, which we can use to our advantage for our water jutsu." Koi reported.

"There's a second camp in the back!" Mangetsu explained, describing an inner fortification inside.

"I've counted at least 40 people this time. There are 10 archers posted on the outer walls. They have 2 men armed with spears at the gates, and it looks like 2 teams of 5 people patrolling the camp. It also looks like they've got a smithy and a storage area... I think I even see a prison." Rumi reported.

"Good work. You've all spotted key features." Zabuza commented.

"Are you sure these are just bandits? They seem... a little too organized. What if this is a military installation sanctioned by the Water Daimyo?" Rumi asked in concern.

Zabuza shook his head. "We know where the official armies of the land of water are stationed. Also, they don't have their banners, which makes them fair game. These are just bandits."

"However... whoever is leading them might be more experienced... perhaps a former officer of the Daimyo's military or even a rogue ninja... we need to be careful." Zabuza warned."Maybe I should lead this one."

"No! Me and Mangetsu have this one. Right, Mangetsu?" Rumi interjected, getting Mangetsu to support her.

Against his better judgement, Zabuza decided to relent. He didn't want to have another thing for Rumi to hold against him.

"Fine. But know, if things go bad, we'll jump in even if you don't ask us too." Zabuza added. "I suspect there will be at least 50 people there, and we'll probably have to join in at some point."

At the 2nd Bandit Camp

The armed bandits in the camp were busy with their given roles, some patrolling, some cooking, and some mending armor and weapons. They were chatting amongst themselves when they suddenly heard someone singing near the gates

"Who the hell is that!" One of the sub-captains yelled, and all the men grabbed their weapons and ran towards the gate.

However, even as they ran, they seemed to be unable to reach the gate. In this camp where they've spent hundreds of hours, they suddenly seemed unable to locate anything. They were completely disoriented.

The singing continued to get louder and louder, and soon, it seemed like the sound was coming from all sides, adding to their sense of disorientation and confusion.

"What the fuck is going on!?" one of the bandits yelled, unable to discern where anything was. It seemed like they were all experiencing a collective stroke or something, and they began to panic at the strange sensation.

Mangetsu chuckled as he melted into the moat. The water rose in a pillar on the side of one of the side walls and Mangetsu reformed on the wall as the water dropped him off there. He snuck towards the archers on the walls and stole all of their arrows before pushing them into the moat.

He quietly snuck into the camp and opened the cages that were inside, shushing the prisoners inside and leading them out. He worked with Rumi to corral the disoriented bandits into the cages before locking them in. He then unplugged the cotton from his ears.

Rumi triumphantly walked into the camp and high fived Mangetsu. "Hah! Did you see that? We totally tricked them so bad! Great job Mangetsu-chan!"

Mangetsu beamed at her praise. "Hehe yeah! That was so fun! Those idiots had no idea what was going on!"

The bandits cursed at the two ninjas, some of them even throwing their weapons at them, but Rumi and Mangetsu easily dodged and parried their projectiles.

"Alright! Let's loot this place up!" Rumi told Mangetsu before Zabuza tackled her.

"Hey! What the heck was that!" Rumi yelled, before she saw several shuriken stuck in the ground where she had been standing a moment ago.

She looked up in shock when she heard several voices from the wall from the inner camp.

"I knew those idiots were useless, but I didn't think they'd all be tricked by some kids!" A man dressed in Kiri ninja gear yelled.

"Missing-nin!" Zabuza told his team, who quickly got into formation. "I knew it!"

From above the wall, the rogue ninja ordered his men to charge as he pointed at the 4 ninjas below, and 20 bandits exploded out from the inner gates, charging at them, while a second missing-nin joined the rogue ninja on the ramparts.

"Shit. We have 2 missing-nin, and 20 armed bandits." Zabuza said as he drew his sword.

Koi began weaving through hand seals to form 2 water clones and got ready to fight.

"Well... I guess we're going to get the fight you wanted, Mangetsu-chan!" Rumi told her partner as she prepared herself.

Mangetsu smirked. "Perfect."

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 14: Got Your Back

At the Bandit Camp

Zabuza's team charged towards the bandits and began carving through them.

The ones that fought against Rumi were the lucky ones, even if some ofthem lost their limbs, as Rumi tried her best to be merciful. She tried to injure or disarm her opponents to incapacitate them, rather than downright killing them, while her teammates were trying to kill them as soon as possible.

"Rumi, look out!" Zabuza called out when he saw one of the missing-nin blasting out a water jutsu at Rumi.

Rumi jumped up and kicked off of her opponent's chest, using it like a springboard to backflip away from the attack.

Zabuza cut down the bandit in front of him and threw several shuriken towards the missing-nin which forced him to dodge them and interrupted his next jutsu.

"You guys take care of these bandits! I'm going for their leader!" Zabuza yelled, as he jumped towards the wall with a chakra-powered jump.

The missing-nin dressed in Kiri garb drew a sword and blocked the slash Zabuza threw as soon he landed on the wall.

Zabuza traded blows with the former Kiri-nin before he jumped back to dodge a kunai slash from the other ninja.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spear!" The other ninja yelled, forcing Zabuza further back as he jumped back and lopped off the sharp tip of the stone spike that protruded from the wall towards his head.

"Tch. An earth release user. How troublesome." Zabuza muttered to himself as he began weaving his own hand seals.

"Hiding in the Mist Jutsu."

"Heh. You think you can get me with this? I'm from the Mist as well!" The former Mist ninja said out loud as he closed his eyes and began to listen for footsteps. "Get out of here! I got this!" He told his comrade.

The earth release user created a pillar of stone to eject himself from the wall and jumped towards the Genin.

The former Kiri-nin heard the smallest of steps behind him, and stabbed backwards, hearing a gasp.

"Gotcha, you little punk." He said with glee, before the Zabuza he stabbed turned into water and collapsed.

"Shit!" He tried to block Zabuza's next strike, but only partially succeeded, and Zabuza's slash blinded one of his eyes. "ARGHH! MY EYE!"

Meanwhile, the introduction of the earth release user into the fray complicated things for the Genin. While they had reduced the number of bandits to 7, a trained shinobi was a tough fight for these Genin.

Rumi and her team struggled to dodge sharpened rocks that flew at them while they fought the bandits. To add to their struggles, the missing-nin would also turn the ground they were standing on into sand to reduce their mobility.

"Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!" Koi yelled as he chained together the required hand seals. The powerful torrent of water swept 3 of the bandits away, while stumbling some of the others, allowing Mangetsu to quickly take down 2 of them.

Meanwhile, Rumi used her surroundings to jump back and forth between the broken stone pillars and spikes that the earth release user had created and flew towards the older ninja.

Her blade crashed into the man's kunai, and though her sword was much bigger than his kunai, his deft use of it allowed him to keep up with her at close range. However, this distraction prevented him from using jutsu, allowing her teammates to continue mopping up the bandits without having to worry about getting struck by projectiles, or twisting their ankles in sand.

As Rumi's fight with the earth-release user continued, she began to read into his rhythm, and she began humming to synchronize her rhythm with his.

"Tch. You're not bad for little girl!" The older shinobi said through gritted teeth as dodged her sword thrust to his head.

Rumi just smiled as she continued to dance around the man's defenses. The man was not the swordsman that Zabuza was, and she had slowly begun to throw off the man's rhythm by altering her humming, which the man did not pick up on.

Meanwhile, the rogue Kiri-nin's fight with Zabuza was starting to go horribly wrong for him. Zabuza would appear out of the mist and slash at him, but only in non-lethal areas. However, this was no act of mercy. Zabuza was taking his time dismantling this man psychologically and physically, landing cuts on the man's ear, his leg, his cheek, his arm, slowly wearing the man down and building up his panic.

"We have to retreat!" the rogue ninja said to his comrade once he realized he couldn't beat the little kids that he underestimated.

The earth release user realized these kids were far from ordinary Genin, and decided he needed to take things seriously now, or they might die.

He parried Rumi's sword aside, before jumping back as he threw a barrage of kunai at Rumi. Rumi parried a few of them as she also jumped back to avoid being struck by the kunai. He used this small break to create an earth clone to help the bandits deal with Koi and Mangetsu, before he encased his forearm with stone and jumped at Rumi.

Rumi had to lean back to avoid the stone fisted punch aimed at her head, and used the momentum to back handspring away, redirecting his punch upwards with a kick as she did so.

She sprang back up into a thrust with her sword aimed at his head, but he moved his head to the side to dodge it and grabbed her sword arm with his left hand.

Before she could react, he grabbed her throat with his stone arm, threatening to crush it.

Rumi had to respond instinctively, throwing her feet up and wrapping it around the man's arm and jumping into a flying armbar.

She put her whole weight into it as she scrambled to secure her free arm around the man's wrist. As they both toppled over, she snapped the man's elbow causing him to scream in pain and let go of her throat.

Rumi rolled away and stumbled onto her feet, holding onto her bruised throat which had been milliseconds away from being crushed.

"You fucking bitch! I'll kill you for this!" The man yelled as he got back to his feet.

"Talk is cheap! Bring it on!" Rumi replied as she picked up her sword again and got ready to fight again.

However, before either of them could jump into action, the body of the rogue Kiri-nin smashed into the earth-release user, knocking them both into the ground.

"Water Release: Water Spikes!" Zabuza yelled, and a giant spike of water rose from the spilled from Koi's jutsus, and impaled the two rogue ninjas through their torsos.

Rumi looked up to see Zabuza and he gave her a nod of approval. She had done well against a tough opponent, and on her first mission as a Genin too. He had to give her props.

Though the sight of all the dead people around didn't make her feel great, knowing that this was a life-or-death mission and knowing she held her own against a Chunin level ninja and being acknowledged by her rival still felt a little good.

She had covered her teammates back regardless of how she felt prior to the mission, and they had covered hers. Even Zabuza. That was kind of strange, feeling angry at almost being killed, to being helped by the same person.

"That was awesome!" Mangetsu told Rumi as he and Koi walked up to her after finishing off the bandits. Their earth clone opponent had dissolved when the user died.

She looked at her teammates and gave them a nod and a smile. She thought she could feel the start of the camaraderie she so badly wanted.

Maybe she could count on her team after all.

*Author's Note*

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys liked Rumi's first mission! There will be more to come!

Just a btw, I appreciate you lovely artists that are reaching out with offers for collaborations. Unfortunately, I'm not looking to make any art right now, just so you know.

Anyway if you liked the chapter/story, please leave a comment or a review! Thank you so much to everyone who left a comment so far! I appreciate it so much, and it makes writing more worth it for me!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 15: Sudden Changes

Following their first mission

After the performance shown from their first mission, Zabuza's team was immediately noticed by the higher ups in the village and started to get special attention. Over the next few months, they were thrown into various types of missions to expand their versatility, and to quickly build up their experience. The team proved extremely effective, and their growing teamwork was quickly cementing their reputation as a team you could throw into any mission fit for elite Chunin and come out on top. They would be the next generation of Kirigakure's elite.

As such, the village decided they would take a different approach to training, and instead of sticking a single Jonin on their team to train them, they'd send various elite ninja to sharpen different skills.

At Training Ground 9

"So, who's training us today, senpai?" Mangetsu asked Zabuza, excited about having met Fuguki and Kushimaru in his previous training sessions.

"Well well. Looks like someone is excited to meet me!" A red-haired kunoichi said with a grin on her face as she walked onto the field.

"Ameyuri-senpai!" Mangetsu shouted out in glee as he lit up, excited about meeting his fourth Legendary Ninja Swordsman of the Mist.

"You must be the little Hozuki kid I've heard about from Juzo and Kushimaru. Heard you're interested in learning how to use our blades." She responded,which prompted Mangetsu to nod enthusiastically.

"Well too bad. Only the strong can wield these Kiba blades. You'll have to prove yourself to me before I'll think about letting you give them a swing or two."

Mangetsu just gave her a smirk. He would do whatever it took to wield those blades someday. Unlike most kids in the Mist Village who wanted to simply be one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, he wanted to be the strongest of them all. He wanted to learn and master each of the Seven Legendary Swords of the Mist. He'd do whatever it took.

Ameyuri turned her attention to Rumi next. "And you must be Rumi, Mei's little sister!" Ameyuri gave Rumi a bright smile. "I've heard so much about you from Mei. She's a close friend of mine!"

Ameyuri walked up and put a hand on Rumi's shoulder. "Between you, me, and Mei, we're doing a fine job of making a name for the kunoichi of Kiri. I'm happy to have finally met you."

Rumi lit up with a huge smile. She was finally being recognized for her own merit, and having one of the most powerful ninja in the village praising her like that made her feel like she was finally being accepted and seen by the village. She was so thankful that Mei had really taken her under her wing and had been a rock she could lean on. Now, it was made apparent that Mei had also been putting in a good word for her too. Rumi was excited to prove herself.

"Alright you brats. Let's see what you guys can do!" Ameyuri barked out before she flashed a toothy grin.

Over the next few months

Zabuza's team grew in skill at a rapid rate under such focused and intensive training. The ninjas that knew of them spoke of them as potentially the future of Kiri.

During this time, Rumi began to really bond with her team as she went on mission after mission. She loved the camaraderie she was building with her team, and their chemistry and teamwork made her feel like she was executing an elaborate performance with her team. They were a well-oiled machine, operating like the best dance troupes in the land, where each member knew their roles well and knew how to support each other.

Even her relationship with Zabuza had been improving. Ever since he came to her aid during her first mission, he'd been increasingly growing more and more helpful, and also even... nicer. It was honestly a little weird for her at first, seeing his attitude toward her changing, but she decided she'd welcome the change instead of questioning it too much. She still stayed a little more guarded with him after the experience she had with him in their spar, but she decided to at least be more friendly with him than before.

As they went on more missions together, Koi began to stop fanboying her so much. This meant he was actually able to talk to her now without blushing and develop more of a friendship with her. He still stole glances from time to time, but Rumi felt more comfortable with him now, since she felt like he wasn't ogling her all the time anymore. Mei hoped she could develop something with Koi, thinking they looked cute together.

Zabuza could see them getting closer too, at least as friends, mostly due to Rumi simply seeing him as just a friend at the moment, and Zabuza felt strangely jealous. He was really making an effort to make up for the rocky start to their relationship, but it seemed like he was making little progress while Koi was quickly becoming her friend. It wasn't fair.

"What is it this time?" Juzo asked, surprising Zabuza who had been unknowingly glaring at Koi and Rumi.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Zabuza asked, feigning ignorance.

Juzo rolled his eyes. "Come on, kid. If you really think I'm that stupid, I need to tear you a new one with my Kubokiribocho."

Zabuza crossed his arms defiantly as he turned his head away from Juzo. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just thinking about my next mission."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. I'm sure you were. I'm sure you weren't looking at Purple over there wishing you could be the one sitting next to her." Juzo said sarcastically.

"Hey! Who said anything about her?! She just happened to be where I was looking as I was zoning out! I don't care about her at all!" Zabuza shouted back.

Juzo put up his hands is a fake surrender. "Ok then. Whatever you say, scary man. I'm sure in that case, you wouldn't mind if Koi gets closer to her and maybe even starts dating her then, huh."

Zabuza's eyes widened, and his face turned white. "D-dating her? What? He better not!"

Juzo smirked. "Why not? I mean, it's not like you like her, right?"

Zabuza fumbled to find the right words to say. "W-well, of course not! But I still don't think they should date! Because... they... they don't even look that good together!"

Juzo chuckled. "Uh huh. Right. Well, I guess somebody better let them know that because they don't seem to know it."

Juzo laughed as Zabuza's face turned red, and the younger ninja stormed off in a huff.

"Oh kids. They're so transparent." Juzo said to himself.

Zabuza walked up to his Genin.

"Oh. Hi Zabuza!" Rumi greeted with a smile.

Zabuza felt his cheeks blush, and decided he need to change the pace of the conversation.

"Do you guys know where Mangetsu is?" Zabuza asked, not addressing her greeting.

"No. Why do you ask?" Rumi replied.

"We're going to be training."

Rumi raised an eyebrow. "Training? We just trained this morning though."

Zabuza crossed his arms. "Well, we could use some more. You never know what we'll come across."

Rumi and Koi looked at each other and raised their eyebrow.

"Ok..."

"Koi, go find Mangetsu. Rumi, get ready for a spar." Zabuza ordered.

Koi looked reluctant, but he knew orders were orders, so he left to do as he was told, stealing one last look at Rumi before he left.

"You better not try to kill me again." Rumi said with narrowed eyes as she drew her sword. "Swords only!"

Zabuza gave her a smirk as he drew his sword as well. "No singing either."

Rumi opened her mouth to protest before her face changed into a sneaky smile. "Fine."

Zabuza gave her a deadpan look. "And no humming either."

Rumi threw up her hands in a fake tantrum after having her scheme nipped in the bud.

"Ugh. Fine. No humming."

Zabuza smiled and beckoned her to make a move. Rumi smiled back before charging at him.

"Here I come!" She yelled.

Even without her singing, Rumi was becoming more of a difficult opponent by the day. After training with Ameyuri, she had begun to get familiar with using either hand for her sword, and she switch her sword back and forth between both hands, giving her a layer of unpredictability as she danced around him with elegant footsteps, striking with whichever hand she found to be most advantageous.

However, Zabuza was still a prodigy with the sword and was able to block and parry all of her attacks. He shifted between different swords styles in an attempt to break her rhythm and rained down powerful blows at her, forcing her to be defensive.

The entire time he sparred with Rumi, Zabuza was smiling, unbeknownst to himself. He was really enjoying this fight, more than usual.

However, that all came to an end when Juzo showed back up with a grim look on his face.

"Zabuza, Rumi... Stop your spar. I just got some news that you need to hear."

"What is it, Juzo sensei?" Rumi asked with a concerned look, as Mangetsu and Koi arrived at the training ground.

Mangetsu was about to make some sort of snarky complaint about the impromptu second training of the day, when he sensed something was off by the unusually serious look on Juzo's face.

"Good. The entire team is here. Looks like I won't have to repeat myself then." Juzo said.

"What is it, Juzo senpai?" Zabuza asked. He couldn't think of any reason for Juzo to look this serious.

Juzo looked over his young team with an unreadable expression on his face before he finally opened his mouth.

"We just declared war on Konoha."

*Author's Note*

Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! I've been uploading nearly every day or at least every other day for the last few weeks. But I'm going to be busy for the next few days to weeks, so I won't be able to upload as regularly. Hope you guys understand!

Anyway, the story is now moving on to the next arc! The 3rd Shinobi World War! We're finally moving out of Kiri to see the wider shinobi world, and we'll get to see our protagonists interact with Konoha ninja! I'm excited to see where this goes, and I hope you guys are too!

Thanks for reading my story, and I hope you guys like where it's been going so far. Please leave a comment or a response if you like the chapter! Thanks for the support!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 16: The 3rd Shinobi World War

Many of the younger shinobi were excited for the chance to make a name for themselves when the war started. All of the most famous shinobi had proven their mettle during war, and they were looking to add their names to the list.

However, upon first contact with their enemy, they soon realized the unglamorous and brutal nature of war. Their comrades, friends, and even family members fell by the day, and even the ninja that had been on life-or-death missions before struggled to come to grips with the sheer number of casualties they faced. Kiri had chosen to declare war on Konoha as they had thought Konoha would be distracted with their other enemies on other fronts, such as Iwa, but the younger shinobi of Kiri came to quickly learn that Konoha's reputation as the strongest village had been paid for with the blood of their enemies.

Despite this, with chaos came opportunity. Where others stumbled, some would stand tall. This was the filter of war, and this was where legends were forged. One such team for Kiri was Zabuza's team. Despite being the youngest team fielded by Kiri, their deadly efficiency and surprising versatility and creativity allowed them to undertake surprisingly difficult missions for Genin and even most Chunin, and come out alive.

With Team Zabuza

"Alright. Your next mission is to link up with squad 23 and provide back up for the 37th platoon. They're currently pinned down by Konoha shinobi by some islands not far from the mainland." Juzo told Zabuza and his team.

"Push through with the 37th platoon and secure a beachhead on the Land of Fire, and we'll send you reinforcements by ship. I know you guys are technically Genin right now, but you certainly have the skills of a Chunin. In fact, you're stronger than a lot of Chunin, so don't be cowed by them. Especially since Zabuza is actually going to be in charge, and you will be directly underneath him."

Rumi gulped. Securing a beachhead meant that she'd basically be in the front lines. Konoha ninja would be entrenched and waiting for them. This would not be an easy undertaking, even for them.

With the 37th Platoon

A wounded Chunin was carried into a large tent which was being used as a makeshift hospital.

"Damn it! It's almost as if those Konoha bastards never run out of chakra!" The wounded Chunin's teammate growled out in frustration.

"If only those cowards faced us in close combat! I'd cut them to pieces!" The other teammate added.

A veteran Chunin shook his head. "You fools. This is why we're taking such casualties. You're underestimating them. They pretend like they're soft, but they're all killers. Do you really think you can beat a Hyuga up close? I lost my sensei to that Hyuga known as Hizashi. All the Hyuga have to do is touch you, and it's over."

"So, what are we to do? Those Sarutobis have been blasting us with fireballs all day!"

"Forget the fireballs! We've been torn apart by those Inuzuka dogs and crushed by those fat ass Akimichis!"

The veteran Chunin had his injury wrapped up and put his armor back on. "We've sent word for reinforcements. Hopefully they arrive here soon."

By nightfall, the fighting for the day ceased, and the shinobi of both villages returned to their camps. It was getting hard to see, and both sides needed a break.

The Kiri camp was in a rush to regroup. Out of the 40 shinobi that arrived on the beach, 16 of them had already been killed and another 6 had been seriously injured. They were left with only 18 able bodied ninja to man the camp and to take care of their injured. Unlike Konoha, they only had the most basic treatment available for their ninja, so all they could provide was first aid until they could be shipped back to the Hidden Mist Village.

The remaining 18 shinobis had to take breaks in shifts, having to stay vigilant for the Konoha ninja's counterattack.

Due to medical advancements in Konoha, soldier pills, which temporarily increased chakra dramatically, were issued to most ninja, which allowed them to fight on harder and longer than other villages. The Kiri ninja were caught completely by surprise when the fighting began and were trying to figure out how to fight through this disadvantage in chakra reserves.

One group of Kiri-nin was about to go for their food break, when one Chunin shouted out a warning. "Explosive tag! Watch out!"

The Kiri ninja scrambled and escaped the explosion. However, the explosion was merely a distraction, and 24 Konoha ninja invaded their camp.

The Kiri ninja drew their swords and charged in towards the Konoha ninja. They were low on chakra and were forced to engage mostly in close combat to make up for their weakness.

Some of the injure Mist ninja grabbed their swords and hobbled out to join the fray. They were outmanned and were desperate against a foe who seemed unstoppable.

A pair composed of an Inuzuka and an Akimichi were especially dangerous for the Kiri ninja, as the Inuzuka tore through their lines with an animalistic rage, while the Akimichi grew their arms to absurd sizes to swat away their opponents.

Several Chunin pooled their efforts together to make a massive wave of water to create some space, but it seemed to be an effort made in vain, as it only bought them a few moments to regroup while the Konoha shinobi jumped to safety from the wave.

"What do we do, captain?" A Mist Chunin asked his leader, who's eyes were busy scanning the field to assess what could be done.

"Hold the line! We hold out for reinforcements!" The captain yelled as he jumped back into battle, cutting down an unlucky Konoha shinobi.

However, the morale of the Kiri ninja was wavering, they had lost 5 more ninja and were down to a mere 13 out of the 40 that were sent here.

"Maybe we should retreat!" One Chunin told his teammate as he jumped back from a fire jutsu sent by a Sarutobi. "This battle is lost! Who knows if reinforcements are coming anyway!"

The Kiri ninja were shaken by his words, and were about to break, when a fist was driven into his stomach, causing him to fall to his knees.

His teammate turned around to see who it was, when a massive dragon made of water blasted right by him and struck the Sarutobi in the chest and smashed him into a rock, killing him.

"Any coward who flees will be killed on sight! Attack!" Zabuza yelled as he charged forward with his sword and slashed down another Konoha shinobi.

"Reinforcements! They're here!"

Rumi and her team spearheaded the Mist's reinforcement squad, and the group of 12 ninja boosted up the wary Kiri ninja numbers to 25, and they now outnumbered Konoha's 19 ninja.

The tide turned quickly with fresh bodies hitting the scene on Kiri's side, and Zabuza's young but elite team inspired the rest of the Kiri ninja to fight on harder. After Koi and Mangetsu teamed up to cut off an arm of the Akimichi, and Rumi slashed the Inuzuka through the Achilles, the Konoha ninja decided they had enough.

"Retreat! We need to regroup!" A Konoha captain shouted, and the Konoha ninja began to retreat.

The reinvigorated Kiri ninja were not about to let them escape so easily, and began to pursue them, killing two more ninja that were too slow to escape.

A chase began as the Konoha ninja ran into the forest, with the Kiri ninja following them closely.

The Konoha ninja were about to be routed completely until several new ninja joined the fray, blocking the Kiri ninja.

"That's far enough. You're going to have to deal with us if you want to get them."

3 pairs of Sharingan with tomoe ranging from 1 to 3 began spinning in the dark, as a team of 12 Konoha jumped in to cover the Konoha nin's escape.

The captain of the Kiri ninja gritted his teeth. "Shit. It's the fucking Uchiha."

*Author's Note*

Hi guys! I've been busy recently with a move and I haven't been able to upload for a while! Thanks for being patient! Anyway, the 3rd Shinobi War started! How did you like it so far? I'm debating on how long to stretch this arc out for, as it was basically just background info for the main Naruto story.

I'm leaning towards introducing Mira and Zoey into the story soon, but I'm still debating if I should, or if I should just focus on Rumi.

Let me know what you guys think!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a comment or a review if you liked the story! Thanks for the support!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 17: Chaos in the Forest

With the Kiri Platoon

Zabuza scanned the Konoha ninja blocking his way. 3 Uchihas, 1 Aburame, 1 Hyuga, 1 Nara, 2 Akimichis, and 4 other clanless ninja. Many of their opponents were from elite clans in Konoha and this would not be an easy fight. Still, the Kiri ninja had the numbers advantage at the moment, having 25 ninjas on their side vs their 12, and winning this fight could mean securing the beachhead allowing the Hidden Mist Village to establish a base of operations on the decided this was a risk worth taking.

"I see you've chosen death then." One Uchiha said arrogantly as his Sharingan showed Zabuza's muscles getting ready to swing his sword. "We'll show you the power of the strongest clan in the Leaf Village!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" The 3 Uchiha said together, as they combined their massive fireballs to create a wall of fire heading towards the Mist ninja. The Mist ninja had to scramble out of the way in order to avoid being engulfed by the inferno.

"Shit! My leg!" One of the Mist Chunin yelled, being a second too slow to completely avoid the giant wave of fire. That one second of weakness cost him his life when an Akimichi caught him with an enlarged hand and dashed him against a tree.

"No! He was my teammate, you bastard!" The Chunin's teammates jumped towards the Akimichi for revenge, but they struggled to fight his massive size.

The Kiri ninja split off into small teams or pairs to fight the Konoha ninja, hoping to overwhelm them with numbers, while Zabuza went against the captain who was an Uchiha.

Rumi jumped in to help the 2 Chunin who was struggling against the Akimichi.

"I got him! Go help the others!" She yelled as she danced around the Akimichi's deadly strikes with ease.

"I'm gonna squish you like the little bug you are, you Kiri pirate scum!" The Akimichi growled out as he swung his enlarged arms at Rumi.

However, Rumi was too skilled to be caught by someone like him. It didn't take much time for her to learn his rhythm, and she easily danced around him to hamstring the huge Konoha ninja.

The Akimichi screamed in pain as he fell to his knees, and Rumi delivered a devastating spinning kick to the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

She turned around to find another opponent and looked around to see who she could help.

A short distance away, she saw Mangetsu shocking a clanless ninja by letting the Konoha ninja's kunai pass through him harmlessly using the Hydrification Jutsu, before he shoved his sword up the Konoha ninja's chin to kill him.

Koi on the other hand, was struggling against an Uchiha, who kept reading his hand seals and recognized the jutsu he was trying to use, and avoided or prevented them.

"How the heck does he know what I'm about to do next!" Koi shouted out in fury.

The Uchiha smirked arrogantly. "You fool. I'm an Uchiha! My Sharingan allows me to see everything you plan on doing!"

"Koi! I'm here!" When Rumi jumped next to Koi, Koi gave the Uchiha a smirk of his own.

"Heh. Don't think you're so special because of your eyes. My teammate here can do the same thing! She'll beat you easily!"

The Uchiha was infuriated. How dare some clanless little Genin compare herself to the likes of an Uchiha! He would show them both their place.

"I'll teach you a lesson they should have taught you in that backwater village of yours! You don't cross an Uchiha!"

His Sharingan began spinning as he charged at the two Genin.

Rumi almost instinctively began to read his rhythm and blocked his heavy kunai strikes with her sword.

"I got this Koi! Go help the others!" Rumi told her teammate. Koi had seen her in action over many missions and knew she was much stronger than people knew. She was only second to Zabuza, and Zabuza was easily Jonin level already. He gave her a nod, before he formed some handseals to spew water towards one of his comrades who was being surrounded by the Aburame's Kikaichu, and jumped away to help him.

"You really think you can defeat me by yourself?" The Uchiha scoffed in disbelief. "Your arrogance will cost you your life!"

"We'll see about that!" Rumi shouted back as she began her deadly dance with the Uchiha.

Much to the surprise of the Uchiha, the fight was evenly matched. He was able to read all of her movements with his Sharingan, but it seemed she was somehow able to read his movements as well! Without even having a Sharingan! She infuriated him, dodging all of his attacks like a slippery eel.

"Tch. Not bad for a little girl!" He yelled angrily as he threw a spinning kick towards her head, which she ducked under.

Rumi began to hum as she amped up her intensity, putting the Uchiha on the backfoot.

"Humming?! You think this is a game?" The Uchiha's veins were popping out on his forehead. He was insulted.

Rumi's continuous onslaught made it difficult for him to form any hand seals for a jutsu. However, that was no problem for an Uchiha who only needed to make eye contact to cast a genjutsu.

"Take that!" The Uchiha yelled, as he cast a genjutsu on Rumi, which made her freeze in her tracks. He used that moment to quickly form the hand seals for the Uchiha signature jutsu.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

He watched with satisfaction as Rumi screamed in pain as she was engulfed in flames.

"Yes, bitch. Burn." He muttered to himself with a smile.

He wanted to make sure she was dead, so he watched her scream. But she continued to scream. And scream. And scream. The smile on his face began to fade when the scream began to echo from all around him, continuing on and on.

"Wh-what the hell is going on?"

The screams continued all around him, filling him with dread, especially when he began to hear an eerie humming sound underneath the screams.

"Get your shit together and kill the girl! What are you doing?" He heard another Uchiha yell at him, before the other Uchiha went back to fighting Zabuza.

However, by now, the Uchiha was feeling sick. Reality didn't seem to be what it should be, but he was unable to pinpoint what was wrong. 'Is this a genjutsu? But how? She didn't even make any hand seals?' He thought to himself in confusion, before Rumi slashed him across his eyes with her sword.

"AHHHH! My eyes!" He yelled in pain and in fury of losing his most valuable assets.

He was soon knocked out cold when Rumi delivered a devastating punch to the jaw.

Rumi looked around to see who she could help next and looked around her. Despite the success she was having, the superior quality of the Konoha shinobi allowed them to fight off the Kiri ninja despite their numerical inferiority.

She turned her head on a swivel when she heard shouts coming from behind her, and she had to jump away and parry several kunai thrown at her by the fleeing Konoha ninja who had regrouped and rejoined the fight.

The tide shifted completely in Konoha's favor now, as they now had both quality and quantity on their side.

The Kiri ninja had been cut down to 13, while Konoha now had over 20 ninja. The Kiri ninja were being pushed back by the renewed onslaught and were forced out of the forest.

"Shit!" Zabuza said to himself as he jumped away from the Nara's shadow snaking towards him, before he threw several kunai at him to distract him.

"Captain! What do we do?" Koi asked as he and Zabuza teamed up to send a wave of water towards the Konoha ninja to get some space and time to talk.

"Simple. We kill them all!" Zabuza yelled as he went in and cut down a Konoha ninja who stumbled from the water attack from him and Koi.

The other Kiri ninja knew that there was no other option but the either kill or be killed. They fought their hardest, but their numbers were now reduced to just 9, while Konoha still had 20. Hope was quickly fading.

The Aburame used his bugs to swarm a Kiri Chunin and drained him of all of his chakra as he screamed. Rumi was shocked to see him die of chakra exhaustion and gasped. The Aburame turned to make eye contact with her quickly sent his kikaichu towards Rumi now, remembering that she was a true threat, as he saw how she defeated the Uchiha. She jumped and twisted her body to avoid the bugs but they followed her relentlessly, until a sudden spray of lava destroyed the cloud of bugs chasing her.

"Lava? In the forest? That's not normal." The Aburame said with surprise as he tried to summon the few remaining kikaichu back to him.

"What the hell was that?" A Konoha ninja yelled, before the Hyuga quickly realized what was going on. "We need to run!"

However, the Hyuga was unable to say more, as a bolt of lightning struck him in the chest and knocked him over. The Nara looked to see where that came from and was penetrated by a huge needle which pierced him and pinned him to a tree with a wire.

"A needle?" One Konoha ninja said in shock at such an unusual weapon, before he was cleaved in half by a massive sword.

The Konoha ninja collectively took a step back when several figures landed in front of the Kiri ninja.

"No... It can't be..." the last remaining Uchiha said as he took a step back. "It's the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and the Lava Mistress!"

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 18: Rising Stars

The aftermath of the battle

When the Kiri reinforcements led by some members of the 7 Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and Mei arrived on the battlefield, the Konoha shinobi were forced to retreat with heavy losses, and Kirigakure was able to establish a command center on the mainland that could be well supplied by ships.

Recognized for their role in the battle, Zabuza was promoted to Jonin while the Genin were promoted to Chunin. While previously only the higher-ranking ninja in the know knew about the growing reputation of Zabuza's team, now more and more of the average shinobi began to learn about Zabuza's Genin-turned-Chunin.

Rumi in particular was starting to be noticed by the other Kiri-nin. She was some clanless orphan, but as a 13-year-old, was able to take down an Uchiha Chunin, as a Genin no less. It was clear she was a special talent, and her distinctive purple hair made her easily recognizable.

Rumi's sociability and performative star-qualities made her well-liked in Kiri, and she was slowly even building upsomething you could call a fan base, as far as ninjas went.

With their promotion, Rumi's squad was sent out for more dangerous missions. With Zabuza now a Jonin himself, they were used more independently, without oversight from Juzo anymore. When required, the Chunin would sometimes lead squads of Genin for easier missions too.

With Rumi

"Well, well. Look at who we have here! Miss Superstar-Chunin is in the house!" Mei said as she smiled at Rumi who danced into the room with Mei's introduction. "I'm so proud of you. You've really made something of yourself."

Rumi smiled brightly at her favorite person in the village, before giving her a hug. "Thanks, Mei!"

She had been so busy going on mission after mission, that some time back at the village for rest had been long overdue. "Why'd you call me?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing." Mei said as she invited Rumi to sit at a table with her.

The two shared stories of how their experiences in the war, encouraging each other and being impressed by each other's exploits. Mei was very happy to hear that Rumi had been having so much success in her young career, while staying true to her beliefs and ideals, somehow completing missions and winning battles without killing anyone.

Rumi too, felt like this time of catching up was much needed. She had seen so much violence and cruelty, that it was hard for her to stay grounded. This time with Mei helped her remember what she really wanted to be like and remember some semblance of normalcy.

After the two caught up, the direction of the conversation changed. "You know, I called you here to catch up with you, and I loved hearing everything, but I also had something else to tell you."

Rumi straightened up a little from her laid back posture, curious about what Mei had in mind. "What is it?"

"You know, the standard squadcomposition for Genin is usually a Jonin sensei and 3 Genin." Mei began, and Rumi nodded as she followed along.

"But we've always been shorter on manpower compared to villages like Konoha, Kumo, or even Iwa, and with this war, we're even shorter on available Jonin. We can't always find an available Jonin to train Genin these days."

"That makes sense." Rumi concurred. "We didn't have too many Jonin in the village to begin with in the first place."

Mei nodded. "Right. That's why the village experimented with your team. A Chunin leading a team of Genin. Of course, this wasn't entirely new, in the sense that a Chunin captain often does lead a team of more experienced Genin on missions. But after how your team turned out, the village has decided to try to use more Chunin to train new Genin, with either 1 Tokubetsu Jonin for 3 Genin or 1 experienced Chunin with 1 new Chunin and 2 Genin, or some sort of mix like that. There's no real standard really, especially with how the war is going."

Rumi raised an eyebrow. "So, where are you going with this?"

Mei smiled before she leaned back on her chair. She turned her face towards the side door and called out. "Girls? Please come in."

Two girls who seemed to be around Rumi's age walked in the room.

One of them was taller, with a long angular face, and had dark-pink hair that was styled in two half-up pigtails and two middle parted locks framing her face. She had a bit of a resting bitch face, and she looked more guarded.

The other one was slightly shorter, and Rumi could tell that she was a lot more bubbly. She had black hair styled in two braided buns, and micro bangs and fringe locks framing her rounder face.

"Rumi, I want you to meet Mira and Zoey. Zoey and Mira, meet Rumi." Mei said, introducing the girls.

Rumi saw them and gave them a friendly smile and a wave. "Hi guys!"

Zoey gave an enthusiastic wave with a huge smile on her face, while Mira gave a more subdued wave back.

"HIIIII!" "Hi." The two girls said with contrasting levels of enthusiasm.

Rumi giggled at their contrasting personality, before she turned back to Mei.

"They're gorgeous! I love their styles!" Rumi said as she looked at their colorful and stylish outfits. Mira blushed while Zoey squealed.

"I'm happy to hear you like them. And I agree. Between the four of us, I think this room is full of beauties." Mei said with a giggle. Then, she turned more serious. "But I didn't bring you guys together just so that you can be friends. Even though I hope you guys become good friends. Rumi, Mira and Zoey are new graduates from the academy. Mira is 12 and Zoey is 11. I want you to be their captain. You're going to be in charge of their training and lead them on missions, the way Zabuza did for you."

Rumi's eyes widened. "I'm gonna be a captain? But I just became Chunin not so long ago!"

Mei nodded. "I know. But you could easily be a Tokubetsu Jonin in combat skills. But since you're so young, the village decided that Mangetsu can be your sub-captain. Since he's so young, you'll have command, but I'm sure he'll be helpful in combat, as your teamwork in past missions have shown."

Rumi felt a bit of doubt in her heart for a second, but then she crushed it. This would be her team. She would make sure she'd do her best and create a friendly and supportive culture, just like she always wanted. She hoped they could become best friends someday.

She stood up confidently in a power pose. "Alright girls! Get ready to form the strongest team Kiri has ever seen!"

Mira smirked confidently, cracking her knuckles, while Zoey jumped up and down enthusiastically.

"Alright, alright. Do you future strongest ninja in Kirigakure want to have some lunch? Maybe some ramen?" Mei asked.

"Yum yums!" All three girls said at the same time, before they turned around and looked at each other for a brief second, surprised they all called food the same thing. Then they all broke out in a laugh.

Mei looked at the 3 girls with a smile. She wondered how much these girls would grow over time.

*Author's Note*

Welp! I ended up adding Zoey and Mira! They probably won't be as important to the story as Rumi is, but I couldn't write a Kpop Demon Hunters inspired Naruto Fanfic without including the 2 other members of Huntr/x! If you have any ideas for abilities you think I should give them, then please let me know! I have some ideas already set, but maybe if you give me something that doesn't contradict that or make them too OP, I could maybe add it in!

Also, I've been debating on giving Rumi or one of the other girls a summoning and was wondering if it would be too much. What would be a cool summoning for Rumi? There are some obvious choices if you think about the movie, but I wanted to give her something weird or unexpected maybe. Idk. Let me know if you have ideas!

ALSO! I'M NOT COMMISSIONING ANY ART RIGHT NOW. PLEASE DON'T MESSAGE ME ABOUT COLLABORATING. I appreciate your enthusiasm about the story, but I'm not going to make any art.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 19: Team Rumi

At Training Ground 9

Rumi brought her 2 new friends/ Genin to her former training ground and decided to learn what they can do.

"So. What are your skillsets? Or do you wanna keep it a surprise? Maybe it would be a better idea to see your skills in action. How about a spar?" Rumi suggested.

Mira pounded her fist into her palm with an excited grin, while Zoey gave a big smile that was almost unsettling. Rumi wasn't sure the enthusiasm was necessarily a good thing for her to find out for herself, and decided she'd make the two of them spar.

"Umm... Yeah! I totally love your enthusiasm! I love it! Show me what you can do by sparring... each other!" Rumi wasn't one to abuse her rank, but in this case, she was glad she had the excuse to set them against each other instead of having to fight them herself.

Mira pulled out a scroll and unsealed a naginata, while Zoey pulled out a kunai in each hand and held them in reverse grip, and they both gave each other a slightly crazed and over enthusiastic grin.

Rumi decided to slip out of their field of vision for her own safety and let them begin their spar.

Zoey was a blur, using her blazing speed and agility to cover her small size, as she rushed in to close the gap and neutralize the effective range of the mid-range naginata.

However, Mira, while a bit slower, was no slouch either, and changed her grip to throw the butt of the naginata into Zoey's face, which she jumped back to avoid.

Mira's skill with the naginata was surprising to Mira, as she swung the massive polearm with elegance and dexterity, spinning the weapon and throwing slashes out in fluid motions that quickly adapted to Zoey's acrobatic movements. Zoey backflipped, handsprung, and dashed out of every attack Mira threw, and even used her kunai to redirect Mira's attacks.

Rumi was amazed at Mira's ability to use her massive weapon with such agility, while Zoey surprised her with her ability to use her tiny weapons effectively against Mira's massive one.

Zoey backflipped then seamlessly transitioned into a back handspring to gain some space and some airtime to throw a barrage of shuriken and kunai towards Mira. Mira spun her naginata to block the projectiles, before lunging forward and using the polearm as a pole-vault to launch a flying side kick at Zoey. Zoey braced her arms into an X to block Mira's kick, and Mira used Zoey's forearms as a platform to backflip away and regain control of her naginata.

Rumi's eyes were sparkling as she watched their acrobatic and elegant fight. The music in the movements was ringing in her head, and she felt her heart begin to beat faster in excitement. This fight was like a dance!

Rumi loved watching their spar. As intense as it was, she could still see them smiling, as they were simply enjoying a friendly spar, instead of trying to really hurt each other. This was exactly what Rumi had wanted to see from her team on her first spars with them.

Mira threw a mighty strike downwards with her naginata towards Zoey, but Zoey stepped sideways and jumped on the naginata's blade, sinking it into the ground, as she lunged towards Mira's throat with her kunai.

"Yield!" Zoey demanded, but Mira just smirked.

"Why don't YOU yield?"

Zoey felt something cold touching her stomach and looked down to see Mira holding up a kunai of her own to her stomach.

"Dang. That was badass!" Zoey said with a smile as she withdrew her kunai, and she and Mira laughed.

Rumi clapped enthusiastically before she embraced them in a hug. "That was amazing guys! You guys were so cool!" She was so happy to see someone else fighting to make someone yield instead of fighting to kill.

Rumi felt a connection with them that she hadn't felt with anyone else other than Mei. 'Maybe I finally found my people..." Rumi thought to herself with a smile.

A few days later

"What do you mean? I'm gonna be training someone?" Mangetsu asked in annoyance. "I'm like 8!"

Rumi shook her head. "No, Mangetsu-chan. You're gonna be like my vice-captain, but I'm gonna be leading. Also, we don't really need to train them to learn new jutsu or anything. We just need to be with them to give them mission experience. With how the war is going, we'll need to them to get stronger soon, but we want to still make sure they're prepared, and we need to keep them safe until then."

"Sheesh. Sounds boring." Mangetsu said as he walked towards training ground 9 with his favorite teammate.

"Fine. Let's see who these little Genin are. They better not-" His jaw dropped when he saw a girl with black hair tied up into buns. Her smile made his cheeks blush.

"Hi guys! This is Mangetsu! He's my teammate! He's really young, but he's really strong!" Rumi said as she introduced him to her Genin.

"Hi." Mira said as she waved as she gave him a small smile to be polite.

Meanwhile Zoey was a lot more enthusiastic. She stuck out her hand for a handshake. "Hi! It's nice to meet you! I'm Zoey!"

Mangetsu shook Zoey's hand but was unable to meet her gaze as he blushed. "It's nice to meet you..." He said in an uncharacteristically small voice.

Rumi and Mira shared a look with one eyebrow raised. 'Interesting...' Rumi thought to herself.

In the Land of Fire

For their first mission, Rumi's team had been sent to deliver a message to an outpost in the Land of Fire. The outpost was relatively close to the forward base that Rumi helped establish on the coast and was expected to be somewhat safe, as there were many Mist shinobi stationed nearby.

The Rumi's team were talking quietly amongst themselves while they kept an eye out for enemies as they walked. They still had a few more hours to go, and it seemed like things were going smoothly.

Mira chuckled as she listened to Zoey's crazy "Would You Rather" questions, until she suddenly felt something strange.

"Rumi... I feel something... strange."

"Something strange? What is it?" Rumi asked.

Mira put a hand on her forehead. "I-I'm not sure. I just have this strange feeling that there's something ahead."

Rumi wondered if Mira could be a sensor. She immediately halted her team. "Do you think it might be shinobi?"

Chapter Text

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 20: Zoey and Mira's First Mission

With Team Rumi

Rumi asked Mira if she thought she was sensing shinobi.

Mira focused on what she was feeling for a second before responding. "I-I think so. I think they could be. It's similar to what I feel from each of us, but just further away. And more."

Rumi and Mangetsu shared a look as they drew their weapons, which made Zoey react as well and draw her kunai.

"How many?" Mangetsu asked.

"I'm not sure... give me a second." Mira closed her eyes and focused more on the feelings she was having. She could see a muddled mass of blue energy ahead of her, but as she focused, they soon began to separate into individual balls of blue energy, which she was beginning to assume was chakra.

"I think... there's around 10... no... 12." Mira reported.

'Could they be Kiri shinobi?' Rumi thought to herself. 'It's possible but... why are they not moving? If they were dead, Mira wouldn't be able to sense them like that... maybe they're resting?'

"Mangetsu." Rumi called out.

"Hmm?" he responded.

"I want you to make 4 water clones and disguise them as random Kiri shinobi. Let's hide ourselves and follow behind them secretly and see what happens."

"You got it."

A moment later, 4 Kiri shinobi were walking silently down the road, with Rumi and Mira up in a tree, watching them.

"They're getting closer to the chakra signatures I sensed." Mira said as she watched.

"We'll see what happens next."

In a split second, the 4 water clones were set upon by a group of Konoha Chunin, a barrage of kunai and shuriken tearing them apart, until they turned back into water and fell with a splash.

"They're water clones!" One of the Konoha-nin exclaimed. They knew we were here!"

"Find them now!" The captain of the team said, and the 12 ninja fanned out, looking for the Kiri ninja.

"Our source said that there would be Kiri shinobi with valuable intel passing by! Don't let them pass no matter what!"

'Shoot! They were waiting to ambush us!' Rumi thought to herself as she jumped down from the tree with Mira.

"Send a couple water clones to the east!" Rumi ordered Mangetsu. "The rest of us will stick together and go west! Let's move!"

Rumi's team sprang into action immediately and began running west silently.

'Maybe if we're lucky, we can get out of here without a fight.' Rumi thought to herself for a second, before she heard something in front of her. She immediately threw one arm out to her side to signal everyone to stop. Several kunai and shuriken landed right where they would have been if they hadn't stopped at that moment.

"Found you!" 4 Konoha shinobi yelled as they jumped down to fight them.

"They're just Genin! Take them out!" The leader of the Konoha squad said to his team, and two of them charged forward with kunai in their hands, while the other two began forming hand seals.

Rumi, Mira, and Mangetsu sprang forward with their weapons in their hands. Mira and Mangetsu intercepted the two shinobi coming at them, while Rumi went ahead to fight the two Konoha ninja who were preparing to use jutsu.

Zoey threw her shuriken at the jutsu casters to interrupt them, and they had to jump out of the way. Her precision however, allowed one of her shuriken to nick one of the ninja's fingers, causing him to grimace in pain.

"That little bitch!" He yelled as he dove at her as he continued his hand seals. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

Zoey back flipped out of the way, throwing more kunai towards the man.

He deflected most of them, but some of them gave him shallow cuts on his arms and legs.

"You BITCH! I'm going to enjoy killing you!"

Meanwhile, Rumi engaged the captain of the Konoha team that attacked them. She knew this fight needed to end quickly before the other 8 Konoha shinobi joined up.

Her elegant swordsmanship was surprising to the much older Konoha Chunin. She looked like she was still a very young teenager, but she was somehow giving him trouble. He was confused about how she was so strong until he noticed her purple hair.

"You! You're that girl who defeated Akamori Uchiha!" He knew Akamori was considered quite strong amongst his peers, and the sight of Rumi put fear into his heart.

Rumi didn't respond. She continued her onslaught, and his attacks became more and more exaggerated as he began to feel fear, and she was able to read his movements more easily. When he lunged forward to stab her with his kunai, she sliced off his wrist, depriving him of his main fighting hand, as well as his ability to use jutsu.

He screamed in pain before Rumi slammed the butt of her sword into his head, knocking him out.

She turned around to see Zoey jumping, diving, sliding, and backflipping all around her opponent, delivering shallow cuts to him, while he tried his best to burn her alive.

Zoey was unable to get too close without the risk of getting burned, so she was looking for openings as she moved around him erratically and making him frustrated. When she saw an opening, she suddenly dived under his guard, and kicked him in his testicles. The man collapsed with a scream, and Zoey gave a backflip kick to his jaw, instantly knocking him out.

She looked up and saw Rumi wince at the man's crushed crown jewels before she gave Zoey an approving nod.

Zoey smiled and turned around to help her teammates, but the fight was already over. Mira sat on top of an unconscious Konoha ninja with her naginata slung over her shoulder, while Mangetsu was looting his downed opponent.

"These soldier pill thingies are crazy! Collect as many as you can!" He told his team.

They had just finished looting and tying up the Konoha shinobi when Mira suddenly spun her naginata to deflect a bunch of kunai thrown their way. Mangetsu stepped up next to spit out a wall of water to block a huge fireball that came their way.

Zoey threw several kunai which pinned one of the shinobi to a tree, before she sprang forward with Mira.

She leapt off of Mira's shoulders to get extra airtime, before she pulled out a small scroll. She used the scroll like a lasso, wrapping around the arms of one of the Konoha shinobi. "Kai!"

The wrapped portion of the scroll exploded with a loud and bright explosion. The arm of the shinobi it was wrapped around was burnt severely, but the others around him were left temporarily blindedand disoriented from the flashbang.

Rumi and her team didn't know Zoey had something like that up her sleeve but jumped at the opening it provided.

Mira spun her naginata like a storm, smacking people with the broad side of the blade to knock them out, while Mangetsu and Rumi used their swords to disarm people and knock them out. Zoey was a blur, running through people and stealing their kunai pouches, before stabbing them in their feet with the stolen kunai.

In a few moments of chaos, the 8 Konoha shinobi who joined later were also defeated and were tied up. Having caught the entirety of the force sent to intercept them, Rumi thought she should capture them and send them back to HQ for interrogation.

"The outpost isn't far from here. I think we should send two of us to deliver the message, while two of us guard these prisoners." Rumi said.

"Why don't we just do this?" Zoey suggested as she pulled out a bigger scroll. She drew 12 large circles on the scroll and began writing kanji around them.

"You know advanced sealing techniques?" Mangetsu asked in surprise.

"Huh? Advanced? I don't know what those could be, but I know how to put things away! This is how I clean my room! Fuin!"

The 12 captured Konoha shinobi were sealed into the scroll.

Mangetsu whistled. "Well. Damn."

"Now we can all move together! Yay!" Zoey said with a cheer, as she got on her knees to roll up the giant scroll like a blanket she was cleaning up, as if it was something she did every day. Her team shared a look before they burst out in laughter.

*Author's Notes*

And that was Mira and Zoey's first mission! What did you guys think? I love writing the dynamic between the girls and showing how different they are! One thing that's difficult is having them be sort of morally upright and having them fight without killing people. I think it's so much harder to beat someone who wants to kill you without killing them.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! If you have any good ideas for powers I could give Mira and Zoey that don't make them too OP, let me know!

Please write a comment or review if you liked the story so far! I'd really appreciate it!