Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto verse.

His breath is visible in the crisp morning air. Thoughts of murder flood his mind with a few of doubt mixed in. He pushes his platinum blonde hair back over his shoulder with a single bone knife in his hand.

Ahead of him are two travelers: a masked man with a huge sword and a small boy. The boy stops short of them and inquires as nicely as he can, "Do you come from the Mist village?"

"No," the masked swordsman replies flatly.

The bone wielding boy smiles gratefully, "Oh, sorry." He starts to run past when his eyes connect with the eyes of the other boy. The boy looks up at his master and whispers, "Master Zabuza, his eyes are like mine."

Zabuza halts and considers the thought momentarily. After a few seconds, he turns to the blonde young man who is about to rush to the mist village. "Boy!" he calls. "Why are you going to the Mist village?"

He stops and glances over his shoulder, clenching his knife tightly. "I am going to wipe out the village."

Zabuza sighs, "Boy, I just escaped from that village. There is no way that you will be able to survive. You and whoever you are attacking with are going to die."

The boy hesitates than answers, "If I'm not going to attack the village, what will I do? I have no purpose but to attack them."

The master swordsman glances at his companion and a hint of a smile appears beneath his bandaged face. "Come with us. I will give you a purpose," he offers.

The small boy next to him says hesitantly, "You will never be alone again."

The knife wielding boy thinks about it for a few seconds. "I'll join you, if you can give me a purpose."

"Than come. We should leave before the Hunter nin catch up, though I have a feeling with your friends attacking, we have some time," Zabuza states. He turns and starts to walk away. "Come, Haku."

The boy slides his knife into his belt and runs to catch up with them. Haku looks at the other boy shyly, "What is your name?"

"Kimimaro. What's yours?" the blonde replies amiably.

"I-I'm Haku," the other boy smiles. "Master Zabuza took me in off the streets. He said he's going to teach me how to fight!"

Kimimaro grins, "I already know how to fight. I am the best fighter there is!"

Zabuza raises an eyebrow and answers, "Than you two will be very useful. Let's hurry. I can hear their war hoops from here." He breaks into a jog. The two boys quickly rush after him, glad to finally have somewhere that they can belong.

Kimimaro asks as he runs beside Haku, "Why were you on the streets?"

"I can control water. My daddy tried to kill me and killed my mom. I used my powers to protect myself and I had to run away or the villagers would kill me," Haku replies sadly, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"Really?" Kimimaro says excitedly. "I can control bones!" He shoots a finger bullet into a nearby tree, sending splinters flying when it flies through the tree and into the next one.

Haku smiles happily, "I can do that, only with water."

Zabuza silently listens to them, occasionally calling for them to keep up. Kimimaro whispers to Haku, "So you're family is dead?" When he receives a nod, he inquires, "Do you want to be my brother? I don't have a family either."

"I would like that," Haku says with one of his rare smiles.

Zabuza chuckles and thinks, 'Brothers, huh? They will be the best ninja the Mist has ever seen! They might even surpass me someday as one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist.'

"Hey! Master Zabuza, can I get a cool sword like yours someday?" Kimimaro calls to him.

Zabuza laughs and retorts, "Yeah, you can get a cool sword like me someday. Both of you can!" The two boys smile happily at the news.

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