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zabuza~how'd this happen?
fugaku~not sure. But the girl does need a guardian. Aren't you her uncle?
zabuza~yeah. I'm a bit concerned that she hasn't ran to me yet.
fugaku~probably still trying to understand why this happened
zabuza~probably. I'll see if she'll want to talk about it later. I'm sure you want to know what the "witness" saw
fugaku~yeah, but take your time. She's still a child
zabuza~glad to know you understand that
fugaku scoffed as zabuza went to the kitchen where his niece was sitting and being checked over by a medic
zabuza~ann, i'll be taking you home
ann~okay...
medic~she's fine from serious injuries. A few cuts though, probably when the window was broken in
zabuza~alright. Thanks. Come on
she raised her arms and zabuza carried her back out
fugaku~take your time. It'll be a while anyway with this
zabuza gave him a nod and left the house. He buckled ann into the front seat then went to the other side and started the car
zabuza~is there any place you wanna eat?
ann~no...
zabuza~say something if you think of a place
ann~okay...is...mama and...and daddy...are they...
zabuza~i'm sorry ann. They're not coming back
she nodded and wiped her eyes, and as he drove off she began to cry
zabuza~i should probably choose a drive through...but I don't think she'd be able to handle it
he quietly sighed and drove on with a destination already in mind. By the time he pulled into a small plaza, ann had already fallen asleep. He parked, rolled the windows down a bit, and left the ac on, then went inside

when he came back out, he saw a woman standing by the passenger side of his car. He sighed and pulled the woman away
woman~let go of me!
zabuza~what were you doing to my car?
woman~so that's yours? Why would you leave your child in there when it's so ******** hot outside?!
zabuza~look lady, the car is running, the ac is on, and the window is down. Air is flowing. That child is my niece and I just got her from witnessing her parents being murdered in front of her. So ******** off. If I see you did anything to her or find you around my car again, i'll sue you for all you're worth. Got it?
She glared at him, trying to think of something to say, then stormed off. Zabuza sighed and went to the passenger side
ann~what did you tell that lady?
zabuza~that there was nothing really to worry about for leaving you in the car. Then if I find her again doing that to you or near my car, i'll sue her for harassment
ann~hehehe you're such a meany
zabuza~i might be
he placed the take out boxes at her feet
zabuza~but only for my family's sake. Do you still want anything?
He went back to the drivers side and got in
zabuza~i got you eggrolls and orange chicken. There's also terriyaki pork and walnut shrimp
ann~can we get apple pie?...
zabuza~sure. Do you want soda too?
ann~no. That's okay
zabuza~alright kid
he patted her head and turned down a street.

Back at home, he helped her out and lead her into the house
zabuza~we'll eat first then i'll give you a bath
ann~okay zabi
he kissed her head and sat her at the table. After they ate, he carried her to the bathroom
zabuza~do any of your cuts hurt or sting?
ann~it stings...but it's not bad...i guess
he nodded and started the shower
zabuza~do you want to grab your pajamas? Or do you want me to?
ann~i can get it
he nodded as ann left. While waiting, he pulled out a few bottles from under the sink that he keeps for when ann is staying with him.

After her bath and dressing her, he carried her to her room
zabuza~will you be fine sleeping by yourself tonight?
ann~can I have the night light?
zabuza~yeah. Anything else before bed?
ann~ice cream?
zabuza~you already had a bowl. And it wasn't small either
ann~hehehe then i'm good
zabuza~hehehe alright. Good night my little demon
he kissed her head and tucked her in
ann~night uncle zabi
he plugged in the night light and left the room, leaving the door open, then went to his room
zabuza~she's taking it pretty well so far. I hope she can tell me what happened tomorrow. I hope she doesn't have nightmares for that matter
a knock came. He pulled up his pajama pants and opened the door for ann
ann~we left my toy...
he picked her up and hugged her tight
zabuza~i'm going back there tomorrow. I'll grab it for you. Want to sleep with me?
ann~can I?
He hummed in response and laid in bed with her. She pushed up against his chest
ann~it has to be the tiger you need to get
zabuza~that one from vegas?
ann~yes. She's my favorite
zabuza~alright. But you're not sleeping with that in my bed. It's too big
she giggled and yawned, soon falling asleep

later that night, ann woke screaming
zabuza~ann! Ann, it's alright. I'm here. no one will hurt you
ann~i want mama and daddy...
zabuza~i'm sorry ann...they're gone...
she hiccupped and contrinued to cry.
zabuza~i know...i know...i can't replace them...but you still have me
she cried and nodded. Zabuza brushed her hair back and rubbed her back

hours later, zabuza woke sitting up. He groaned and laid ann in bed then walked off to the bathroom. While making breakfast, he called the office to report
zabuza~fugaku? Yeah it's me. Rough night with ann last night, so i'll be in late...alright, thanks. Hey, what's being used for forensics and evidence?...i need to grab one of ann's toys and I need ann's documents to transfer legal custody to me
he placed a few plates and cups while listening to fugaku speak
zabuza~what do you mean legal issues with the will?! I was with them when they wrote it and ann's birth certificate says i'm her god father anyway...they're not taking her into an orphanage until the legal issues pass...what do you mean there's nothing you can do?!...fine i'll take her with me to the office, but you're watching her when I go to the house...i was gonna leave her with hatake but since you need her there...nope there's no way to talk yourself out of it and you can't leave her with sasuke at the nursery either hehehe
he hung up on him and went to his room. He sat ann up and gently woke her
ann~rrrmmm...
zabuza~time for breakfast. Get up
she groaned as he helped her up and lead her to the bathroom. After, he sat her at the table
zabuza~eat up. We need to go to the office
ann~why?
zabuza~they want to ask you what happened and they need you for legal issues. So while they do that, i'll get your stuffed tiger. I won't take too long so i'll be back before they finish that
ann~okay...
zabuza~a man named fugaku is supposed to watch you while i'm gone. If you make it difficult for him without bothering the other workers and destroying papers, i'll get you a tube of mini m&ms and ice cream later
she grinned big
zabuza~and if you can make him call me before I get back, i'll bake brownies
ann~really?!
zabuza~yeah kid. I promise. But remember, you can't bother the other workers and you can't ruin any papers. That includes stacks of paper
ann~i can do that! Mama makes that deal with me at the day care sometimes so she can leave work early
zbauza~no wonder it's so hard to find you a day care center...

at the office zabuza lead her straight to fugaku's office
zabuza~here's ann. I'm gonna go
fugaku~that's it? You're gonna dump her on me without instructions?
zabuza~make sure you help her sit on the toilet since it's too high for her to do alone. Ann, be good and don't cause trouble
ann~i won't uncle
she winked at him as he left
fugaku~ *sigh* I guess we should do the questioning over with first...ann?
He looked up to find her gone and the door to his office wide open
fugaku~not even ten seconds and I already ******** lost the kid...ann?
He sighed more and left his office. Ann giggled from the front of his desk and went around and sat in his seat. She spun around to face away from the door and fell asleep

when zabuza came onto the premesis, he was greeted by one of the uchiha cops
zabuza~hey, I just came for a few things. Fugaku already gave me the okay
uchiha~alright. I know you know your way around, but since it's become a personal case, someone will escort you around
zabuza~yeah, just stay out of my way
he went to auron's office and grabbed the documents for ann, and while in her room to grab her toy, his cell rang
zabuza~what do you need fugaku?...you lost her? I haven't even been gone 20 minutes...so you've checked everywhere?...where are you right now?...well that's your problem. You assumed she left. She's probably still in your office and sleeping in your chair...she's there? Hah, just leave her be. I'll be there soon
he hung up the phone as he headed back for the car
zabuza~guess she really wanted her sweets...normally that'd be her last trick to use on someone

zabuza came back with the documents in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
zabuza~how was she?
fugaku~asleep in my chair the whole damn time
zabuza chuckled and gave him the cup
zabuza~well, i'll have you look at these and i'll take ann to lunch before you start questioning her. Atleast she didn't cause a ruckus
fugaku~she may as well have
zabuza~i'll tell her next time
fugaku~just take her to lunch
zabuza chuckled. He placed the folder on the corner of fugaku's desk and picked up ann
ann~zabuza?
zabuza~yeah. Let's get lunch
they walked out as fugaku face planted on his desk
ann~did I do good?
zabuza~yup. You get candy, ice cream, and the brownies. He called before I got in the car with the stuff
ann~yay!
She hugged him tight causing him to sigh and chuckle

after lunch, and coming back, zabuza took her to the questioning room
zabuza~wait here. No one will come in until I come back
ann~okay. What's gonna happen?
zabuza~need to know what happened yesterday. So we're gonna ask what you saw and heard. And if you saw anyone, then we'll get an artist to draw their face
ann~and no one will come in until you come back?
zabuza~yeah. If it's fugaku tell him that I want a cup of coffee
she nodded and went to sit at the table in the middle of the room

outside, zabuza almost walked into fugaku
fugaku~zabuza. I was told you came down this way. Ann in there?
zabuza~yeah. I told her that no one else should be coming in until I come back, and if it was you then she needed to tell you I wanted coffee
fugaku~i'll get you coffee later
zabuza~alright. Ibiki isn't the one doing the interrogating right?
fugaku~he really wanted to, but I kept telling him he'll scare her. I've called in genma to question ann, and I have sai in the office in case she saw any faces
zabuza~good call. Just tell genma to not have that toothpick. It's very distracting
fugaku~sure. We won't be much longer, so you can wait with her

after a few minutes, genma walked in
genma~hey zabuza. Guess you must be ann?
Zabuza grunted and ann nodded
genma~alright, so all i'm gonna do is ask a few questions. There is no right or wrong. Just tell me what you know. Can you do that?
ann~yeah
genma~alright, can you tell me what you were doing before they broke in?
ann~i was playing with my toys. It was new so I was putting it together
genma~by yourself?
ann~uh huh. It snapped together so mama and daddy thought it was okay I do it myself
genma~okay, sounds fair enough. What were they doing while you did that?
ann~daddy was watching tv in the big chair. Mama was reading a book
genma~what happened when they came in?
ann~the window broke first. And and there was gunshots. Mama took me and hid me in the cabinet. She said not to come out
genma~so do you think the gunshots broke the window?
ann~well...when I looked up...there was a few holes above the fireplace
genma~okay. And the windows breaking was how you got the cuts? Why were you there?
ann~uh huh. It's so I can see all the pieces. It's a big room with big windows, so there aren't any lights in the ceiling.
genma~okay. So did you see what happened next?
ann~there were three men. The third one was short, he was half the size of daddy and he had a cane. The other two dressed weird and carried swords
genma~like gladiator swords?
ann~no. Japanese swords. Ummm...katanas?
zabuza~were the swords curved?
ann~it looked like it...they didn't turn to the side but the sword looked skinny
zabuza~it probably is then
genma~so your parents fought against two men with swords?
ann~yeah. Then the short one got angry...because they were still standing...he pulled out a gun from his coat and...he shot daddy...he didn't get up...then he shot mama in the leg...
genma~then what happened?
ann~the short man hit the two he was with...then went to mama...he, he said something about not running the family business anymore...then there were sirens so...he shot mama too and ran off...
genma~did you stay in the cabinet?
ann~i didn't come out until I saw fugaku...
genma~okay. Do you remember how any of the three men looked like?
ann~the short one...the other two were wearing a hat so their faces were shadowed...
genma~alright. Thank you ann. I'm gonna go out and grab the artist. He'll draw a picture based on how you describe him
ann nodded and genma and zbauza stood
zabuza~do you want anything ann?
ann~no...
zabuza~wait here. I'll be back
he kissed her head and she nodded before stepping out with genma

genma~what's the family business?
zabuza~our father used to run the yakuza and loan sharks. My sister and I ran it for a while, I stopped because of my studies, so ane continued. She stopped being power hungry when she got pregnant and had an underling start ruling for her. I guess now he's trying to take it over and turning it into a drug dealing business.
genma~should I let fugaku know?
zabuza~may as well. It sets up as a motive. Ane and I agreed that ann won't know about it. I don't believe auron knew
genma~alright. I'll go get sai
zabuza nodded and they walked off. In the coffee room, zabuza grabbed two bottles of water before heading back to the room

sai~so...can you describe how the short one looked?
ann~he had a square face, and a big nose. Big poofy hair too. It was like a triangle? He had small beady eyes, and he looked like he was always mad. And he wore big round glasses
said~like this?
He turned his drawing pad around
ann~no...he's older. He had wrinkles on his forehead and lips. I think he had a mustache too
when he showed her again, ann fell silent. Zabuza placed his hand on her and she looked up at him
zabuza~it's only a drawing. Did you see the other two's faces?
ann~they wore a hat...i didn't see
zabuza~alright, run that face and see if you can get an id. I'll tell fugaku we're gonna go
sai nodded and left
zabuza~come on ann. I still owe you
he picked her up and headed to fugaku's office
ann~why did he kill my parents...?
zabuza~they had power. That man wanted it for himself
ann~that's stupid...

some months had passed, without any leads on the men who killed ann's parents. In the mean time, since ann wasn't in school yet, zabuza took her to day care when he worked and personally taught her martial arts.

Today, after picking ann up, they stopped by at a friend's house
zabuza~hey kakashi
kakashi~oh, zabuza, long time no see. What brings you by?
He showed them in
zabuza~need to talk. Oh, ann, this is kakashi. We went to school together. Kakashi, this is ann, my late sister's daughter
kakashi~nice to meet you ann. Oh, come with me. I'm watching a friend's son. You're about his age
the two followed him down the hall to a room, with a blonde boy with whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks
kakashi~naruto, this is ann. Ann, this is naruto
ann~hi
naruto~hi. Do you like video games?
ann~yeah. What do you play?
She walked in and sat with him
kakashi~now we can talk without worrying
he lead zabuza back to the living room
kakashi~so what is it that we need to talk about?
zabuza~my sister and her husband were murdered. The guy who did it is trying to gain all the power that my father held. So since I know what he did, and the reasons behind it, he'll try to kill me next
kakashi~how do I tie into this?
zabuza~you're the only one I can trust to take care of ann. I don't want the chance of her being with bad foster parents. I went through five and threatened three of them
kakashi~i know...but we can't
zabuza~you're taking care of that naruto kid aren't you?
kakashi~i mean we can, but we can't. Iruka and I don't make enough for four people. I don't even know how we made it for three this past year
zabuza~won't be an issue. You'll be more than well funded to get necessities for ann. I just need you to be able to take her in
kakashi~alright. I'll talk it over with iruka
the door clicked open and in came iruka
iruka~kakashi i'm home. Oh, hello zabuza
zabuza~hello iruka. I wish I could stay longer, but it's already getting late
iruka~Oh, alright. Take care then
zabuza~we will. Ann, we're going!
ann~coming!
iruka~oh?
zabuza~my niece
ann and naruto came out from the room
naruto~iruka!
iruka~hello naruto. Is this your friend ann?
ann~hello, nice to meet you
zabuza~let's go. We're gonna be late. Thanks kakashi
ann bowed to them before following him out
iruka~what was that about?
kakashi~he asked if we could watch ann incase anything happens suddenly. remember that double homicide a few months ago? That was his sister and her husband. The guy is still at large and he doesn't want the chance of her living with bad foster parents
iruka~what about finance? We won't be able to feed four
kakashi~he said we'd be more than well funded. So I guess he'll be leaving money

later that summer, the house had been broken into. The man and his two henchmen that killed ann's parents found where zabuza had lived, and intended to kill him and even ann

the two weren't able to hold ann down, she had fought back and knocked them out when she caught them off guard. The man, that ann later found out his name was gato, held a gun pointed at her
gato~i should have looked for you when I killed your parents. You're more annoying than they had been. Where's that zabuza?
Ann stayed quiet, so he shot a bullet that grazed her arm, causing her to scream
gato~so brat? Where is he?
She stayed quiet, holding her arm. He growled, and was about to shoot again when the door opened
gato~there you are. Glad you finally showed
zabuza~after all these months you chose now to hunt me down? What took you?
gato~i'd explain, but there's no point when i'm just gonna kill you and the brat
he pointed the gun at ann again, and pulled the trigger. Zabuza had jumped infront of her, and stood back up holding his stomach
zabuza~you lowly swine. I knew you were no good when you first showed your face
he pushed ann back and took the sword from her and went forward. Gato shot him again, but zabuza kept walking. He shot him a few more times
gato~why won't you die?!
zabuza~because i'll take you down to protect ann
he knocked the gun out of his hand then pinned him with the sword. Zabuza took his hand cuffs and cuffed him to the heater. He took a few steps back to ann before falling
zabuza~call fugaku. He'll take care of the rest...
ann~zabi...
zabuza~i love you
ann~i love you too...
gato~like you'll be able to. Those two will wake soon
ann found some zip ties and tied their right hands together and their opposite foots
ann~now they can't move...
she sat by zabuza and took out his phone to call fugaku at the office
fugaku~what do you want zabuza?
ann~zabuza's dead
fugaku~what happened?! Where are you?! Are you alright?
ann~the men that killed my parents came...one is pinned and the other two are knocked out. I'm at home. My arm is bleeding
fugaku~alright. I've already sent out a team and the paramedics. Do you want me to stay on the line?
ann~just get here...
she hung up and snuggled up to zabuza's body
gato~i still have another gun to kill you
ann~go. I lost everything already. The cops will catch you long before you'll be able to get away

the cops and paramedics soon came. They cuffed the bad guys, tended to ann, and took zabuza's body in a bodybag
fugaku~is there anything you want to take with you? Zabuza's already given me instructions in case something like this happened
ann~no...what's gonna happen to all his things?
fugaku~we're gonna move it all to your parents' home then deal with it when we get his will
ann~okay...
he picked her up and carried her out
ann~where are we going?
fugaku~do you remember kakashi? He agreed to take you in
ann~okay...

when they got there, kakashi had ann sit at the table
kakashi~so it happened only an hour ago?
fugaku~yeah. And it seems like she's still trying to understand what happened since she had called me. Try not to force it, but she does need some comfort
kakashi~alright. Thanks. I'll tell iruka too. Do you know if she's already enrolled for the school year?
fugaku~no. I'll call around and tell you what school if I find out
kakashi~thanks
he left and kakashi went to ann
kakashi~how are you feeling?
ann~empty...
kakashi~i know that feeling. It helps when you have someone to be with
ann~i don't want anyone...
kakashi~i lost my family too
he tried placing a hand on her, but she swatted him away
ann~i don't care!
kakashi~follow me. I think if we sparred it'd help
ann~huh?
kakashi~i can tell he trained you in martial arts. I think if you can blow off some steam it'd help. Now come, there's a court yard in the back
ann~fine...

after a few minutes of blind rage, ann had collapse, crying. Kakashi picked her up and took her back inside for a bath
kakashi~things will be alright now. Nothing this bad will happen ever again
she nodded

as the days passed on, ann began to speak less and less, and it got to the point where she had to write (very badly) what she wanted.
kakashi~alright ann, this is getting ridiculous and difficult. Why aren't you speaking?
Ann shook her head and shrugged
kakashi~alright. But you can hardly spell, so we need to do something
ann wrote "wat?"
kakashi~the word "what" has an "h". first off is that you need to spell better. To do that aside from reading a dictionary is to read books. Or your can read the dialogue for your games
ann~ "what els can we doo?"
kakashi~if you won't speak soon, then you're gonna need to learn sign language
she cocked her head to the right
kakashi~it's how mutes speak. They use their hands
ann~ "i can lern it b4 skool?"
kakashi~yes. Now, let's go to the library too. You'll really need to learn how to write so you can still talk to us while learning sign language