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To Zabuza's surprise, Ann mastered the Hidden Mist Jutsu by lunch time. Granted, she couldn't control how thick to make it, but she could control its radius and height individually. Even he couldn't do that on his first day of learning it.
Ann~That jutsu really was easy.
Zabuza scoffed~I told you so, brat. Eat up so you can nap.
She groaned
Ann~Do I have to?
Zabuza~Yes. You might not feel it, but you used a good amount of chakra. It recovers faster when you sleep.
He was about to eat another bite then stopped
Zabuza~You also grow when you sleep. You're small
Ann~You grow in your sleep?
Zabuza hummed and nodded.

After lunch, Ann settled herself next to Zabuza so her back was pressed against his leg to take her nap. He brushed her hair back once then went back to eating. When he finished, he put away the bentos and grabbed a sharpening stone to work on the sword while he thought.
Zabuza originally wanted to continue her sword training when she woke, but with her quick mastery of the mist jutsu, it made better sense to teach her the Silent Killing Technique as those skills were always used together. Or maybe he could teach her how to walk on water. She has literally crawled on the wall and ceiling to hide from him. To him, that was mastery enough to further advance her chakra control without worrying about overworking her chakra reserves. Once that was mastered, she should be able to hold the sword without straining and control the mist's density. The advanced chakra control should also make it easier to heighten her hearing.

By the time he finished sharpening the sword to his liking, Ann stirred awake and stretched against him.
Zabuza~Ready to get up?
Ann~Huh?
She rubbed her eye and wiped her mouth
Zabuza~Training. We still have a couple hours of daylight
Ann~Sword training?
He moved the sword to the other side when Ann pushed it to get up. He watched her stretch.
Zabuza~No. You're gonna learn to walk on water.
Ann~Really? I finally get to learn that?!
Zabuza~Yeah. Go use the bathroom, and we’ll get started when you get back.
He pulled her to her feet and nudged her towards the treeline. Then he got up and stretched, groaning as his back and shoulders popped again. At least it wasn't like the last time he sat like that for a few hours. When Ann got back, he motioned for her to follow him to the shoreline
Zabuza~Tree climbing you figured out how to release a constant amount of chakra. We've also been working on concealment and enhancing strength.
Ann~Yeah. Isn't water walking the same thing? Why do we need to review?
Zabuza~Same principle but a different kind of control is needed.
He ruffled her hair then he walked out on the water a couple steps.
Ann looked down at the water and tried to step on top of it, but her foot slipped through the surface.
Ann~I can feel that it's sorta solid. But it isn't working
Zabuza~Water is fluid. The surface changes so the amount of chakra to stay on top will also change.
Ann~How do you do that?
Zabuza~Figure it out. I can't explain everything. Some things you need to experience to learn. Now, come here.
She made a noise. Did he really expect her to figure it out that fast? Crawling on the wall still took her a while to figure out from running up trees.
Zabuza~You’re burning daylight. Get to practicing before I throw you in instead
Ann~Okay! Okay!
She huffed and watched the water as she took another step forward. Her foot sank a little as well, but she still had enough stability to not be on the gravel below
Ann~What kind of directions is that? That isn't much to go on…
Her next step stayed on top of the water, and her eyes widened. She made another step, with the same result, but when she looked up to tell Zabuza, she fell to her knees from falling through the water's surface and then forward onto her face. Ann pushed up, gasping
Ann~It's cold!
Zabuza~Then don’t fall in. We can’t change your clothes until after training either. You'll run out of clothes and keep falling in until it's mastered anyway.
Ann~Not helpful!
Zabuza~Then stop stalling. You can climb on top of the water too
She looked at her hand then placed it on the surface. She felt the water stay solid so she pushed her weight forward to get up.
Ann~That’s so weird
Zabuza watched her stand on the surface as she inspected her hand. With her focus someplace else, she was unconsciously adjusting her chakra as needed to stay on top of the water. He suspected that she was overthinking it like with the Mist Jutsu. If she can keep her emotions in check to keep from breaking focus and if she stops overthinking her chakra control, he could actually start training her on the Silent Killing Technique within the next two hours or so. He whistled for her attention.
Ann~Yeah?
Zabuza~I think I see something. Come here and get it.
Ann~You’re already there though.
Zabuza rolled his eyes. He should have expected pushback ever since he told her to fight every chance she got.
Zabuza~And I told you to get it. You’re already wet anyway.
She pouted and walked over to him, completely unaware that she was walking on water to him.
Ann~I'm here now. What'd you see?
Zabuza~I saw you walk on water.
Ann~Huh?
He watched her look at him in confusion then look down. Her head kept bobbing up and down between him and the water.
Ann~Zabuza– ah!
She fell backwards into the water and yelped again from the cold. Zabuza actually laughed at her.
Ann~You’re being mean! Stop laughing!
She swiped at the water to splash him. He still didn't stop laughing but kicked the water to splash her back. Zabuza didn’t try to stop either, because he felt some more of his tension leave.
Ann wiped the water from her face and got up to tackle Zabuza. Instead of bringing him down, she went through him as he used a substitution and fell into the water.
Zabuza finally calmed down enough to stop laughing
Zabuza~Pull yourself out of the water to keep practicing. You'll get sick if you stay in the water for too long. One hour or until your fingers turn purple. I'll get a fire going.
He walked off.
Ann~Those are bad directions!
Zabuza~You're overthinking what you need to do.
She groaned and tried to pull herself up, but she fell back in when she was halfway out.

Zabuza sighed when he sat back to watch Ann struggle walking on water with the fire going nearby. She didn't splash him very well, so he'll get dry pretty quick.
That laugh caught him off guard though. The last time he laughed like that was probably when he was about Ann's age when his sister would still terrorize him. He didn't exactly like it, but it helped more than swinging Auron's sword earlier that morning.
He could probably focus better now that he wasn’t as wound up from Yagura and that Abyssal. No one was going to take Ann. So long as he breathes, he'll make sure Ann makes it to the Leaf. He doubted he could live with her too, but if he isn't there, then he could still be here and eventually take care of Yagura and clean up the hierarchy. Could he pull off a coup d'etat?

It wasn't close to an hour before he had Ann stop, and even then he had to get up to lead her out of the water.
Ann~B-b-b-but
Zabuza~You're getting hypothermic. Time to warm up.
When they got to the fire, he helped change her into dry clothes.
Zabuza~Hold your hands to the fire before your fingers fall off. You can have a snack once you stop shaking.
She nodded and sat as close as she could. Zabuza pulled her back a little to keep her away from possible embers.

Ann eventually laid down and fell asleep instead. Zabuza woke her after an hour.
Ann~Huh? What happened?
Zabuza~Time to eat.
He gave her a bento and a hot drink
Ann~What's this?
Zabuza~Tea. Better than just hot water to warm you.
Ann~Have I had tea before?
Zabuza~I don’t think so. I don’t make it often.
She slowly took a sip and let it dribble back into the cup. Zabuza eyed her and took a sip from his own cup. Nothing was wrong with it.
Zabuza~I know you don’t like it, but you should still drink it. It’s going to help.
She grumbled and made a face.

Zabuza made her drink the tea before it got cold. After they ate, they got up for more training.
Ann~Are we gonna keep going until nightfall?
Zabuza~Or until you pass out from pushing too hard.
Ann~I’m not walking on water again, am I?
Zabuza~No. Remember how I was telling you about the Silent Killing Technique this morning?
She chewed her lip.
Ann~Yeah…Will I…?
Zabuza~No. It’s just a name. Think about what I said about it.
Ann~Oh…Right. Uhhh…
He rolled his eyes but decided to throw her a hint anyway. She’s had two naps since then.
Zabuza~You need to listen better.
Ann~Oh! You hear better, and your movements are quieter
Zabuza~Better.
He wished that he had something to blindfold her with, but they didn’t have anything in their bag. He couldn’t quite trust she wouldn’t peek during training, either. She’s still a child after all. But he wouldn’t be a ninja if he didn’t know how to improvise.
Ann~Soooo, how did you learn it?
Zabuza~You’ll learn better than I did. I’m a better teacher. At least I won’t expect you to avoid kunai being thrown at you. Stupid Ane.
Ann~You’re just saying that.
Zabuza~You’ll see. No peeking.
Ann~What? I won’t cheat
Zabuza scoffed~You’re still a kid. Children cheats when pushed.
He removed his headband and tied it over her eyes.
Ann~Hey! Why do I have to be blindfolded?
Zabuza~It’ll force you to listen and not rely on sight. If I used only the mist you’ll still try to see.
Ann pouted~Fine…But I want actual instructions.
Zabuza~You’ll focus chakra to your ears. I want you to focus on listening. Tell me what you hear. See if you can count how many. You’ll eventually hear so well that you can hear me blink
Ann~Really? You can hear something that quiet? That’s why I can never sneak up on him.
Zabuza~Yeah. Once you can hear things a certain distance and sensitivity we can work on suppressed movement. Tell me what you hear to the left.
Ann~My left, or yours?
Zabuza~Yours.

Zabuza made her focus and directed her to listen for things he was pointing out to her, and she adjusted to it fairly quickly. It also didn’t take long for him to figure out that she couldn’t adjust to hear quieter sounds yet, but she was able to hear past the treeline and a bit further.
The training they've done in the past couple of months were finally coming together. Her use in chakra was recent, about a month or so ago when he first taught her the water clone jutsu, but he saw how quickly she’s refined her chakra control as he taught her more skills. Zabuza even noticed how the skills were becoming second nature to her, even if she didn’t notice it yet.
Ann just might become the youngest assassin the Mist will ever see. And yet he still didn't like that thought. So, even though he'll keep teaching her those skills to protect herself, he'll keep her from killing someone if she doesn't have to cross that line.