It has been almost two weeks since Ko had seen Kankuro. She was frustrated that it took her two weeks to extend her chakra out far enough to meet his expectations. She rushed towards the nearest hotel searching for Kankuro; he never told her where he was staying which also made her angry. Once she was close to the hotel, she activated her Subete Miru focusing only on the hotel looking for Kankuro. She scanned each floor trying to find him but she didn't see any of the sand siblings.

Thankfully, she had healed her leg herself making it easy to run towards the furthest hotel which was on the other side of the village. It did take her a little longer than she hoped since she started to wear training weights so she could work on her speed. She finally reached it and found Kankuro on the third floor. She reached the door and knocked on it twice. Temari opened the door looking at Ko with a confused face.

"What?" She questioned looking down at the girl with a stoic expression.

"Get Kankuro," Ko ordered getting straight to the point.

"W-what? What do you want with him?" Ko's request caught Temari off guard making her look over at her brother from her peripherals.

"Ugh I don't have time for this," Ko sighed as she pushed Temari out of the way letting herself in their room.

"Hey!"

Ko walked in seeing Kankuro sleeping on the couch. Ko strode over towards his sleeping figure and pushed him onto the floor.

"Hey what was that for!" Kankuro shouted glaring up at the Himura.

"Come on Kitty, time for training!" Ko shouted back at him.

Ko heard Temari chuckle at his nick name which made her smirk. Kankuro glared at Ko then Temari as he got up from the floor.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well you told me to search for you when I'm ready for more training and here I am. Now let's go."

"You don't order me around."

"Of course not Kitty-sensei but your sensei does." Ko said with an evil glint in her eyes.

"F-fine, let's go." He replied with a defeated sigh and collected his things. "I'll be back." He said to his siblings and left with Ko.

Since they ran, they made it to the training grounds quickly standing in the same opening as last time.

"So let's see what you have," Kankuro said leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

Ko lifted her arm focusing on her chakra. Kankuro watched as her chakra extended from her fingers towards him attaching to his limbs.

"Alright good, now let's see if you can control a puppet." Kankuro said as he pulled a small mannequin out of his bag.

Ko gave him a questioning look and eyed the mannequin.

"It's what everyone starts out with." Kankuro explained.

He placed it on the grass and motioned for Ko to control it. Her chakra strings attached to the mannequin's limbs attempting to control it. With a flick of her index finger, she made the mannequin's arm move a few centimeters. Her blank face turned into one of frustration as she kept trying to move it but it hardly budged.

"You have trouble with your emotions don't you?" Kankuro questioned breaking Ko's concentration.

"It's the curse of being a girl. These emotions get in the way...gets me in trouble. I had them under control when I was little but, this village changes you."

Kankuro was at a loss for words, the way she said 'this village' didn't seem right to him, she said it as if she were a foreigner. He watched as she continued to struggle to move the mannequin with her words replaying in his head. She knew the dangers of her emotions but still couldn't control them. He remembered the tone in her voice when she was finishing her sentence. It sounded as if she was scared or sad, he couldn't really tell.

"Arg why is this so hard for me?! I thought this would be the easy part!" Ko shouted in anger.

"Ha, before was the easy part. This is only the beginning of a long journey kid."

Ko ignored his comment making Kankuro irritated. He hated but also liked how she acted as if she were the most powerful in the world. He took a seat at the base of a tree watching her knowing he was going to be sitting there for a while. There was nothing he could actually teach her if she's having trouble with it; it even took her a few seconds to extend her chakra. He watched her for a few hours even dozing off through most of her training but woke up to Ko's frustrated yell.

"Look, you're using too much chakra in the strings. Let's take a break to replenish your chakra or you're going to pass out." Kankuro spoke up.

Ko replied by sitting on the ground panting slightly. Kankuro sat a few feet away from her letting her rest.

"So, are you from the Mist Village?" Kankuro spoke up trying to strike up a conversation. He had heard of her clan once when he was in the academy and figured from the way she talked about the Leaf, she couldn't have been born here. "What was it like there?"

"I don't remember, I was really young." Ko replied as she stared up at the clouds passing by above her.

"So you came to the Leaf right after?"

"I lived with my father." She spit out without thinking.

Ko's heart sank after she heard what she just said. She held her breath knowing she didn't stick to her story.

"I thought your clan was extinct?" Kankuro questioned.

"Uh well some survived but my dad wasn't a Himura which explains my black hair instead of brown." Ko explained covering up her mistake.

"And he's reason why you hate failing?" He knew there had to be something about her father. She didn't seem like the type of kid to have a loving Father figure in her life.

"W-what?" Ko stuttered shocked by his question.

"By your reaction I'm taking that as a yes."

"Ah what do you know? You don't know anything about me."

"Well, I know what it's like to disappoint your father. Being the first born son of the Kazekage isn't an easy life." He admitted.

Ko looked over at him with a surprised look not expecting him to know how she felt. Kankuro was staring into space in front of him not noticing Ko staring at him. Before he could notice her stare, she laid on her back staring up at the sky above them.

"Do you know why my Father wanted me to train you?" Kankuro questioned making Ko's heart stop.

She didn't know what to say. She could see why he would be curious as to why he would be forced to train an outsider their technique. Kankuro turned his head to look at Ko who was at a loss of words.

"You're part of the plan aren't you?" Kankuro questioned narrowing his eyes at her.

"W-what?" Ko stuttered.

"Don't play dumb. My Father wouldn't have had me train you one of our Village's techniques for no reason especially with what he's planning."

Ko knew she had been caught. After seven, almost eight years of being a spy here, she slipped up and was caught with just one conversation. She couldn't deny it but she knew he wouldn't tell anyone since he was also going to help with the destruction of this village.

"Fine you got me. I am part of the plan but I don't know what I'm doing yet. I haven't been told what I am supposed to do."

"I knew it, so you knew this whole time about the plan?"

"Uh actually no," Ko chuckled nervously. "I wasn't informed of the plan yet, but I know I'll be part of it."

"Why would you betray your village? What kind of shinobi are you?" Kankuro asked with a hint of anger in his voice. For someone who has so much pride in his village, he couldn't understand why she would betray the place that took her in and she called home.

"I don't answer to this village Kankuro. I have another I am loyal to and I would destroy this village for him."

It was silent between the two once again until Kankuro got back to his feet.

"You should get back to training." Kankuro wanted this conversation to end. He knows what it is like to be a loyal shinobi but he would never go against his village for someone else.

Ko got back to her feet extending her chakra again.

"Don't use so much chakra, when in battle you need as much chakra as you need. Some puppet masters can control tons of puppets at once still able to conserve their chakra."

Ko did as Kankuro said holding back her chakra making her focus even more.

"Good, now close your eyes."

"What?"

"Just do it." Kankuro ordered clearly getting impatient with her.

Ko closed her eyes like Kankuro said unsure of what he was planning.

"Now as you move the puppet, imagine your own arm moving as well."

Ko found his instructions strange but she listened. She moved her index finger to move the mannequin's arm while imagining her own arm moving.

"There you go, much better." She heard Kankuro say.

Ko opened her eyes seeing the mannequin's arm raised in the air. She was surprised his suggestion actually helped her.

"It worked!" She shouted with joy as she looked at Kankuro. Her face was filled with pure joy just like when she ate her dango. Kankuro couldn't help but smile at her small victory. He had to admit, he likes her more when she smiles.

"I'm guessing you're not use to someone actually guiding you through your training."

"I was left to figure it out myself."

"I'm surprised you're actually strong. Even the best shinobi have had someone help them along the way."

"I'm a prodigy, if I wasn't then I wouldn't have made it this far."

Kankuro left Ko to train while he took a nap against a tree. Ko was left to her thoughts thinking about what she had said to Kankuro. She knew that if she weren't a prodigy, Orochimaru would've deemed her a failed experiment and would've been terminated. She knows that it still is a possibility no matter how much she had improved. For the next few hours, she practiced moving the mannequin with her eyes closed then moved on to keeping her eyes open.

"I think it's time to stop. You've improved a lot since we started. I don't have anything else to teach you so training is over." Kankuro spoke up breaking Ko's concentration.

"This is all that I have to learn?"

"Once you master moving that puppet, you can make your own infused with weapons. I'll see you at the Final Exam."

Kankuro turned on his heal and walked away from Ko giving her a wave saying goodbye. Ko looked down at the mannequin then back to the direction Kankuro left in. She couldn't help but already miss his presence but she forced that feeling down knowing it didn't mean anything.

Edited April 18, 2020