An Unexpected Friend (Book 1 of the Unexpected Series)

Summary: Team Seven face off against Zabuza and his apprentice, and Kokoro is shocked to find out her cousin has been leaving out important information.

Kokoro, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Tazuna left the house to supervise and guard the bridge workers as they built the bridge. Naruto had trained too hard the night before and was still recovering in the house. Kokoro shook her head at his antics and wondered if he ever thought about taking breaks while he trained. She opened her eyes and almost gasped at what she saw. The sight that they stumbled upon was worse than they could imagine. Every worker was laying on the bridge with pools of blood surrounding them. Their expressions were frozen in a state of shock and fear. They didn't have any time to think about what had happened as thick mist appeared and surrounded them.

"He's coming!" Kakashi warned them quietly. Kokoro, Sasuke, and Kakashi surrounded Tazuna. They stood in defensive positions with their kunai at the ready.

"You're still hanging with those brats. Seems like one of them is shaking. Pitiful," Zabuza's voice rang out. They couldn't see him, but they could hear him. He was closer than they thought. In the blink of an eye, his clones popped up and grinned evilly at them.

"I'm shaking with excitement," Sasuke said with an edge to his voice. Kakashi encouraged him to attack, and he did. Sasuke stabbed every clone with ferocity and eliminated all of them. He ended the last water clone and landed beside Kokoro. She gave him a wavering smile and tried to focus on the enemy. Honestly, she couldn't stop thinking about how dangerous it was; how dangerous it was last time.

"Don't back down now," Sasuke told her solidly. Kokoro stared at him in shock. He smirked at her and looked away from her. She looked at her dad and met his eyes. He firmly nodded, which she took as a sign of reassurance. She took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders, and schooled her features.

"The brat's improved," Zabuza said. His form appeared through the mist and Kokoro's hand clenched tighter around her kunai. Beside him was the hunter-nin. She narrowed her eyes at his appearance. She knew there was something fishy about the way he had dealt with the missing-nin.

"Looks like you have a rival, Haku," he said. Her eyes knitted together and she stared at the hunter-nin in anticipation. Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe there was someone else in the area with the same name. There was no way that the hunter-nin standing beside Zabuza was her cousin.

"It appears so," the hunter-nin said. Her face fell and her heart dropped in her chest. The voice was the same, and when she sniffed the air, so was the scent. There was no denying it; the hunter-nin was her cousin. She stared at Haku with hurt in her eyes. He had met up with her two more times after they first met to train. He was so nice and sweet. He had never shown any ill intent towards her or any signs that he could be the enemy.

"I'll fight him," Sasuke said. "I hate conceited guys like that."

"You don't know what he can do," Kokoro warned him. He glanced at her sideways with a questioning glance.

"And you do?"

She bit her lip and refused to answer him. She knew how much trouble she would be in once her dad figured out how she spent her time training. She wasn't ready to face the repercussions just yet.

"Tell me," Sasuke demanded. Kokoro didn't have time to answer as Haku jumped into action. Haku spun towards Sasuke with immense speed and met Sasuke head-on with his senbon. Sasuke deflected his attack with his kunai and struggled against Haku to gain the upper hand. Kokoro ran to help Sasuke.

"Kokoro, stay with Tazuna," Kakashi ordered. Wildly, she glanced from Sasuke and Haku to Kakashi. She didn't know what she should do. She took a step towards the fighting boys but stopped when Kakashi yelled at her. "That's an order!" he yelled.