"Target indentified. He's engaged with some Konoha nin. Two jonin and two genin."
"Only engaged? Good, I don't feel like making another poor women a widow today."
"Kisame..."
"Yes, Zabuza-kun?" The blue-skinned teen said with a smile, looking far too pleased with himself.
"Time and place." The teen with a bandaged face said as he dropped to the ground, Kisame following behind him as they went north.
"What? We are going to see sempai, might as well make the reunion fun."
Zabuza simply grunted. "Just stick to the plan."
"Chibi demon." Kisame teased.
"Guppy fish."
Juzo Biwa. A man that certainly lived up to his reputation of strength and brutality in Kakashi's opinion. The ex-Kiri nin was fighting with Kubikiribocho as if it was a standard issue kunai, instead of the six foot long monstrosity of steel it was. He barely had time to block the first strike while he shouted orders at Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura that under no circumstances were they to join the fray as things devolved into a brutal slug-fest between sword and hastily drawn kunai.
But those complaints would have to be dealt with later as Kakashi parried another strike, feeling the muscles in his arm ache from the constant abuse. His ribs weren't doing much better. If he'd had a warning earlier, he might have been prepared for an ambush from someone of Juzo's caliber, but when that warning is a near face full of steel, one has to improvise. Ninja's are not omnipotent after all, and are just as susceptible to a good surprise attack as anyone else.
Kakashi thanked whatever god there was that they'd ran into the Demon Brother's earlier, or the situation could have devolved further.
He had to think of a way to end things fast. There was no way Juzo would be satisfied with just the bridge builder's blood, the Swordsman would probably kill his genin as a matter of course. Or a bit of petty vengeance for Kakashi drawing things out. The white-haired jonin didn't really want to give Juzo the opportunity to try if at all possible though.
Kakashi took the offensive, matching Juzo strike for strike as the man laughed at the jonin's attempt to take an opening.
Thankfully, an opening presented itself, just not in the form either combatant expected.
"Suiton: Shark Bullet Jutsu!"
Reflexes honed through years of experience were the only thing that saved both combatants. Kakashi leapt back, using the reprieve in combat to uncover his sharingan, while Juzo simply tanked the blow with his sword, a small smirk on the missing-nins face as he recognized both the voice and the technique.
"Kisame! You little guppy shit! I don't see you for five years and you lose the balls to come out and face me like a man?! Fuguki's would be rolling in his grave if he could see ya now!." Juzo shouted into the forest, his assignment momentarily forgotten at a the prospect of short chat with an ex-comrade. Or more importantly, killing the brat.
"Funnily enough, I don't think there will be enough left of Fuguki-sensei to warrant a grave when we bury him. But, I suppose optimism is a necessary trait in a missing-nim. Keeps them going for however long it takes for us to show up."
Kakashi took a moment to look over the new arrival as he appeared in the clearing. Hunter-nin, plain and simple. A touch of light blue skin showing behind a white oval mask, with three red lines painted over each cheek and probably no older than fifteen. A loose black t-shirt, dark forest green cargo pants, the patented misty grey, pin-stripped arm warmers and open-toed sandals. Nothing aside from 'Kisame's' skin color struck Kakashi as odd, but there were two things of note. The casual mention of Fuguki Suikazan, the leader of the strongest generation of the Seven, and the familarity of which Juzo and the boy spoke to each other
Just what he needed, Kakashi thought. Not one Swordsman, but one Swordsman and a trainee. Hopefully they'll tire each other out in the event the Hunter-nin deemed his team a loose end.
"But, while I hate to be rude. I'm not here to chat. You got something that belongs to the village, and I'm here to take it back. So, what do you say sempai? Want to make this easy and come along quietly, or we going to do this the hard way?" Kisame did nothing to hide the blood-lust in his tone, showing which option he would prefer the older shinobi to take.
Jozu just snorted as he hefted his sword onto his shoulder, waving a hand dismissively. "One ninja, two ninja, green ninja, blue ninja. I wish I gave a shit Kisame. Gato might decide to pay me by the body. So go ahead and try me, I'll take you and the leaf fucker over there at the same time. Hell, I wish you brought more for the bloodbath! You seem to forget who the fuck you are talking to!" The Missing-nin flared his chakra, watching as Kakashi settled into a stance, and enjoying how the genin seemed to flinch at the increase in killing intent. The defector could almost taste the killing-intent it was so thick.
"I am Juzo of the Red River Rapids!" The man continued, taking a threatening step forward. "And I-!"
"Talk too fucking much..." Zabuza said as he he appeared behind Juzo, plunging his tanto into the back of the man's neck, severing the spine before jerking the blade out the side of the man's neck. It was brutal, it was quick and it was efficient.
Zabuza didn't even wait for the corpse to drop to the ground before he was cleaning the blood off his blade. "And here I thought Kisame was the only one who could run his mouth..."
Kisame just laughed. "Kinda a packaged deal Zabuza-kun. A big sword generally comes with an even bigger mouth. I'm sure you'll grow into it."
"Mmm." Zabuza just snorted as he bent down to retrieve Juzo's head. Kisame would take care of the body, but the initial search was his responsibility. Kisame on the the other hand just stood guard in case the Konoha nin wanted to take the corpse or any other spoils. It'd be a shame to lose the goodies to some Leaf punks.
"Well, in that case. Thank you for your assistance. Jozu-sempai has been a pain in Kiri's side for years. I apologize for not interfering earlier, but one of us wished to ensure that Juzo's attention was focused on you and I." Kisame gave a short bow, scanning the crowd as he continued, acting as they hadn't just executed a man less than thirty seconds ago. He'd ask Zabuza his burning question later.
Kakashi for his part just nodded. "Kiri hunter-nin.." He blew out a lazily impressed breath, getting past his innitial surprise at the execusion with ease. "Thank you for your assistance regardless." He made sure to keep an eye on the boy that was searching Jozu's corpse. Kakashi was by no means an excellent sensor, but he still had some skill in the area, which made trying to decide who the bigger threat was, a pain. While the blue kid seemed to have enough chakra to match Naruto, his companion wasn't too far behind. The sinister aura to the boy's chakra did nothing more than further confuse the manner.
Kisame just shrugged. "Oh, we do our part. A random act of kindness a day really helps the karma-"
"What the hell was that?! Who are you two?! Kakashi-sensei was kicking that guy's butt, then you two showed up!" Naruto shouted once he had recovered from the rather brutal death that taken place in front of him, further incensed by the casual conversation going on in front of him.
Still, he was taking it better than Tazuna, who'd wandered over to a nearby tree to promptly loose his lunch, while Sakura was looking rather green around the gills. Sasuke had managed to keep up a facade of stoicism, even though he wanted to join Tazuna by the road side. Old memories back at the front of his mind.
"Naruto, calm down. He's not an enemy." Kakashi did his best to reassure his hyperactive student as Zabuza finished his work, walking up to hand Kisame two scrolls he'd pilfered from Jugo's body. The jonin didn't miss the fact that the Executioner's Blade was now strapped onto the boy's back. Kakashi just looked on at the unpainted oval mask, half-listening to Naruto as he studied the second hunter-nin. The Kiri emblem was the only decoration on his mask, and he wore a loose, black jumpsuit with pinstripe gloves and open-toed sandals. Simple and effective, just like the assassination.
"That's not what I'm asking! Jugo was.. Jugo was strong. Even I can tell that! And a guy that strong was killed by a kid not much different than me! We look useless! How can I understand that?! We didn't even do get to help, at all!" Apparently Naruto had noticed the age difference or lack there of between Kisame, Zabuza and himself. In Kakashi's opinion, they couldn't be more than three years apart at most, if that.
The jonin just shrugged as he cast a side glance at Sasuke, making sure he was paying attention to the conversation. "That's the truth of the world. At times there are kids younger than you, but stronger than me."
Zabuza just snorted. He and Kisame were both fully aware of the Konoha-nin's reputation. It'd be a brutal fight, but Zabuza was willing to bet a weeks pay the Copy Cat would come out on top against Juzo. "High praise indeed." Kisame flashed through the hand seals needed before applying the jutsu to destroy Juzo's body.
Kakashi just nodded, ignoring Naruto's protests as he put his headband back in place. They stood in silence, the genin taking care to avoid watching Juzo's corpse break down in front of them. The jonin making a note to run them through some Chakra exercises in the event Gato hired more muscle. The kids would need to be ready.
"Well, if there is nothing else. We will take our leave. Good luck out there kids." Kisame gave Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura a reassuring smile as he walked up to Zabuza. The younger teen just rolled his eyes before he disappeared in a swirl of mist, with Kisame following shortly behind.
Only Zabuza heard the blonde kids protest at being called a kid. Well, aside from his teammates, they heard it loud and clear.
"I'm thinking sashimi tonight."
"Loose ends first, then we'll eat." Zabuza said, as he jumped from branch to branch.
"Don't see why. We can always take care of Gato tomorrow. High-ranking Missing-nin aren't something you can just pick up on a dime at the local corner store." Kisame argued back.
"Juzo might have had to report to Gato. The more time we waste, the more likely it is that Gato goes to ground. And I don't feel like having to track down a slug like Gato."
"You know, you could just say you miss M-."
"Shut your mouth and get moving."
"Yes sir, of course sir. Whatever you say sir." Kisame's smug tone overshadowing his actual words.
Zabuza couldn't help but feel like he lost some sort of battle. He made it up to himself by ignoring Kisame for the next hour. Seemed fitting enough.
An: So, new story cause reasons. As usual, Zabuza centric but teen aged! This was semi-inspired by Orphans of Time by olehoncho which I recommend you check out, even if it is discontinued, just cause it's great for what it is.
Anyways, pairings and such are more or less decided but we'll see what happens. Next chapter will give a clearer view of what some of our favourite kiri nin are up to in this au and more of the twists
Regardless~ I hope you all enjoyed the starter and hope you have a good day :)