Snowy Heart. (Naruto FF)

"Papa...where's Onii-chan?"

   "What the hell do you mean I can't go!?" Saruko stomped after her newly recovered father, who was denying her the chance she's been training especially hard for all week. "You allowed me to go last time without any issues! Not to mention I trained my ass off to get my hands around those Leaf Ninja's throats!"

   Zabuza, finally having enough of her yelling, turned around and stared sternly down at his daughter. He had a feeling, and he didn't want her tangled up in the results. "Saruko, have you heard from Yukiharu all week? Other than when she is complaining about something."

   Saruko froze, fiddling with a lock of her hair as Zabuza continued. "If all you're doing is training your body, then you're not living up the the potential power that you should be at. You have an amazing power inside you, one that almost every ninja would kill for. Do you want to waste it? The opportunity to surpass Haku and I?"

   "Of course not! I want to become stronger, but that doesn't mean-"

   "Saruko, as your father and mentor, I forbid you to leave this house until you and Yukiharu come up with a way to make you stronger." Zazbuza cut off the redhead, turning around sharply and shouldering his Kubikiribocho.

   Angry and frustrated, Saruko clenched her fists and stomped outside, bumping into Haku on her way out. Mask in hand, Haku looked confused at his sister's sudden fussy nature, and instantly turns to Zabuza.

   "Zabuza-sama, is something wrong?" The man sighed, leaning his forehead against a wall.

   "You know, I'm going to die on one of these missions. And I was told that, if you go down swinging, then nothing can bother you about death. However, that girl...one that I didn't even know existed before we found her, she is that one thing..." Zabuza trailed off, clenching a fist at the thought of her face just now, filled with anger and betrayal.

   "She is the one person I can not stand to lose." Haku nodded in understanding, a small grin on his face as he thought of her smile.

   "Yes, I can understand that."

   Meanwhile, now far into the woods, Saruko began to vent her anger out on a tree. Blow after blow, slamming into the side of the bark. Deep impressions were left of the fiberous plant as Saruko muttered to herself in rage.

   "Damn him, thinking I wasn't strong enough. I'm strong, and tough. He's had me kill almost as many shinobi as he has, if not more. And he decides NOW is the perfect time to talk about honing in this demon's power. His such a damn idiot!!" With a single punch, she knocked a hole through the tree with her fist.

   Pulling it out, she sat on the grass and took some deep breaths, making her feel slightly calmer. "Fine then. You want demon strength, I'll give you demon strength." With her personal declaration, she crossed hee legs and went into a meditating position. Within seconds, she was sucked into the cell within her mind.

   The room was extremely large and extensive, with dark blue tiles and walls to far back she couldn't even see them. The floors were ankle high in water and room was lit by a candle on top of an open scroll, which was hanging by a wooden contraption out of range of the liquid soaking the ground. Directly in front of her was a large cage, thick iron bars covered in a thin layer of ice. Within the air was a constant, almost electrical feel and, strangely, the area was both boiling hot and freezing cold at the same time.

   Saruko walked right up to the giant cage, water sloshing with ever determined step, knocking on one of them with her fist. "Helloooo! Anybody home!? I need you to show your ugly mug, pronto!"

   Taking the bait, a loud snarl echoed throughout the air as a large pair of teeth snapped at the girl, forcing her to back away quickly.

   "Beat it, you little brat. I've got better things to do than to talk to a shrimp." She growled out, her pearly canines fading back into the blackness of the shadows.