"Ah! It's Lord Sora!"
Haku looked at Kou, who was walking toward him and Zabuza, and his big black eyes lit up at once.
He quickly and carefully set the rabbit cage in his arms down by his feet, then bowed respectfully.
Looking at Haku before him, Kou smiled and replied:
"Long time no see, Haku. You look well. How have you been lately?"
His smile was warm, and his voice was gentle. He didn't have the condescending air that important people usually carried. He sounded more like a kind older brother from next door chatting with a child.
Haku raised his head and looked at the kind young man before him. The corners of his mouth curled up without him realizing it.
His cheeks were faintly flushed, perhaps from excitement or nervousness, but the light in his eyes was real and bright.
"Thank you for asking, Lord Sora. I'm doing very well!"
His voice was clear, full of the energy unique to a boy his age, yet more restrained and polite than most.
"Lord Zabuza treats me very well! He looks after me in every way, both in daily life and in my training!"
As he spoke, he naturally edged closer to Zabuza and reached out with his little hand, as if to take Zabuza's hand.
Zabuza turned his head and clicked his tongue. He shifted slightly to dodge Haku's hand.
Turning his face the other way, he put on an impatient expression.
Haku didn't mind. The smile on his lips didn't fade in the slightest.
He simply looked up at Zabuza beside him with clear eyes full of affection.
Watching Zabuza sulk, Kou couldn't help laughing.
He had known Zabuza for so many years, yet this was the first time he'd seen the Demon of the Mist, a man who killed without blinking, looking so flustered.
"Lord Sora..."
Zabuza looked at Kou, who was still smiling, and was at a loss for words.
The corner of his mouth twitched. A rare, awkward flush appeared on his angular face.
If anyone else had dared to laugh at him like that, he would have drawn Kubikiribōchō and shown them that his blade was still sharp.
But the man before him was Shiina Sora.
He was Kirigakure's first-ever Mizukage Aide, the man who had changed the village single-handedly!
He was also the benefactor who had approached Zabuza when he was planning to assassinate the Mizukage, then convinced him with his strength and actions, showing him a new future for Kirigakure.
It was also thanks to his efforts that Zabuza had the peaceful, quiet life he'd never dared dream of before, no longer forced to struggle for survival in the Blood Mist.
Faced with the benefactor who had changed his life, Zabuza could only stay silent to hide what he was thinking.
Looking at Zabuza, who was a little embarrassed, Kou stopped laughing and remarked with genuine amusement:
"Looks like Haku really likes you. You've become an excellent teacher, Zabuza."
He paused, the corners of his mouth lifting again.
"Still... I really never expected you to take the kid out shopping."
Faced with Kou's teasing, Zabuza couldn't help retorting:
"I only did it because I made a promise to the brat."
He glanced at Haku beside him. His voice carried a hint of annoyance, but if you listened closely, there was a trace of guilt beneath it.
"We agreed that if he completed the task I gave him for his training, I'd grant him one request.
Who could have guessed his request would just be to go shopping?"
He shook his head as if he'd seen something completely incomprehensible.
"Tch... He's still just a kid, after all."
Haku, standing beside him, listened to Zabuza and lowered his head a little sadly.
Seeing Haku's head droop, Zabuza opened his mouth as if to say something.
But the words turned over and over in his throat, and he couldn't get them out.
His lips moved a few times. In the end, all he managed was a stiff, flat sentence:
"That's enough for today. Go home and find your mother. We'll continue training according to plan tomorrow."
Haku paused, then nodded and said quietly:
"Yes, Teacher Zabuza."
He turned and was about to leave.
"Wait!"
Zabuza's voice rang out from behind him, suddenly urgent in a way even he didn't notice.
Haku turned around in confusion, his big eyes full of questions.
"You forgot to take this."
Zabuza's expression stiffened. Looking thoroughly reluctant, he bent down and lifted the snow-white rabbit out of the cage by his feet.
He held it by the scruff of its neck. His touch wasn't gentle—in fact, it was a little rough—but his hand was steady, and he didn't hurt the rabbit at all.
He held the rabbit out to Haku.
Haku's eyes lit up in an instant.
The light rose from his eyes and brightened his whole face, like fireworks bursting into bloom.
"Thank you, Teacher Zabuza!"
He took the rabbit and cradled it carefully, as gently as if it were a precious treasure that might break.
He bowed deeply to Kou and Zabuza, then turned and walked away, glancing back to wave at them as he went.
Kou smiled and waved back at Haku. Only after the small figure vanished into the mist did he slowly look away.
Haku and Zabuza were among the few things he felt he had truly changed.
He thought back to when he had first arrived in Kirigakure.
Back then, he had acted as a Mist Anbu operative and had no intention of making himself known publicly.
His original plan had been simple:
Use his assignments in Kirigakure as an excuse to keep away from that bastard Obito, while taking advantage of the opportunity to absorb the village's accumulated knowledge of ninjutsu and secret techniques and strengthen himself.
Changing Kirigakure had never really been part of his plan.
After all, he wasn't truly committed to Obito's Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.
Joining the Akatsuki and becoming his lackey had been nothing but a move forced on him by circumstances.
All he had to do was throw out a couple of Great Fireball Techniques while working. That was enough to earn Obito's reward.
Work seriously? No way!
But that idea changed the moment he learned Obito planned to wipe out every major Kekkei Genkai clan in Kirigakure.
Seriously? How could anyone come up with such a brain-dead idea?!
Every one of those Kekkei Genkai clans had a history of nearly a thousand years. Never mind the Kekkei Genkai and secret techniques they'd passed down through generations—their bodies alone were an enormous fortune.
Did Obito realize what a waste that was?! Orochimaru next door would be drooling with envy!
To protect his assets... No, as a champion of love and justice, he had to stop this utterly inhumane atrocity!
In the end, after he talked Obito around, Obito abandoned the plan to weaken Kirigakure and adopted his strategy of "high secrecy, broad recruitment, and gradual action."
They'd hit it off, and after Kou put on a show of "risking everything to remonstrate" in front of all Kirigakure, they'd pulled off a whole routine of playing the bad cop and good cop with Obito, who controlled the Fourth Mizukage. As a result, they successfully brought Kirigakure's underground opposition into their fold.
Kirigakure had entered an era of two suns in the sky.
Zabuza, who represented those deeply dissatisfied with the Fourth Mizukage's (Obito's) brutal rule, was now part of Kou's faction. So were the survivors of the Yuki Clan, persecuted by those policies even before Zabuza's time—with Haku as one example—as well as the Kaguya Clan, with its Shikotsumyaku, and the Hozuki Clan. In public, they stood in opposition to the faction represented by the Fourth Mizukage, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki.
Kou pulled himself back from his memories and watched Haku's back gradually disappear into the mist. He couldn't help feeling sentimental.
"Time sure flies."
He turned to Zabuza. A trace of seriousness entered his warm eyes.
"Haku's gone. Now it's just the two of us, so we can speak freely."
"You... have something you want to tell me, don't you?"
Zabuza watched Haku walk away, and only after the small figure had completely vanished into the mist did he slowly shake his head.
His expression turned serious. The usual aggression in his face gave way to the cool, careful demeanor of a shinobi.
"The kid's certainly very talented. At such a young age, he already has the strength of a Chunin, but..."
He paused, a trace of regret in his voice.
"He isn't suited to being a shinobi."
Kou didn't reply right away.
He simply watched Zabuza. There was no surprise or doubt in his eyes, only a silent permission to continue.
"You understand too, Lord Sora."
Zabuza's voice dropped, as if he were speaking about something he didn't want to admit but had no choice but to accept.
"His heart is too soft. He can't bring himself to be ruthless toward enemies, he trusts strangers too easily, and he still clings to all those foolish fantasies about the world.
Someone like that wouldn't survive a day on the battlefield."
His fingers tightened around the hilt of the sword on his back.
"He learns ninjutsu quickly, and he trains hard when I teach him Taijutsu.
But he isn't suited to learning the things involved in killing."
"He's not like that kid from the Kaguya Clan by your side."
Kou nodded in agreement.
"I know."
His voice was calm, as if he were stating something he had already confirmed.
"This child really isn't suited to being a shinobi."
Zabuza furrowed his brow slightly, as if waiting for him to say, "But..."
Kou didn't say "but."
He simply looked at Zabuza and said meaningfully:
"That's where you, as his teacher, come in handy, isn't it?"
Zabuza froze, then fell silent for a moment.
His gaze settled into the depths of the mist, in the direction Haku had disappeared. At some point, the hand gripping his sword hilt had relaxed.
"...I'm not suited to getting along with a kid like him."
His voice was stiff, as if he were making excuses—or trying to convince himself.
Kou looked at him and chuckled.
Realizing he couldn't talk his superior out of it, Zabuza gave up resisting.
He took a deep breath, as if remembering something important, and lowered his voice further.
"Lord Sora, I ran into Mei Terumi on my way here."
Kou's eyes narrowed slightly.
"She seemed to be heading to your place. She said she had something she wanted to discuss with you."
"Mei Terumi..."
As Kou listened to Zabuza, his smile gradually disappeared, replaced by a thoughtful expression.
Wasn't she busy dodging the matchmaking arrangements her clan had made for her? What did she want with him...
Before you continue