Shrouded in mist
It was nighttime. There was a cold breeze in the air, and a heavy fog was eating away at the landscape on that hill that ended abruptly to an abyss only ended by rocks and the seawaves roaring at them. The crescent moon was shining a murderous red aura.
A tall shade walked along the cliff, its head hung slightly low, as if the man behind it was being extremely cautious, sometimes looking at both sides, as if looking for someone. From the shade, one could only see that the man in question was tall and it carried something big on his back. There were also eyes. Raging bloodshot eyes.
The appointment said 1 o'clock in the morning. An anonymous appointment sent to him in a small peace of parchment by seagull. No explanations or indications of what the appointment was about. And yet, he found it intriguing and chose to appear at the place and time indicated on the parchment.
Suddenly, he felt a presence.
"You came, Kisame."
The shade turned torwards the voice, his hand instinctively grabbing the hilt of the giant sword on his back. His sharp teeth gritted.
Then another shade appeared from where the voice came, slowly walking in the direction of the first one. A shade much like the other: tall, though a little shorter than the first, and carrying something huge on the back.
"Hou, so it was you who sent me the notice, ne?" The first shade answered. "Can't say I expected it from you. Especially since I haven't seen you around the village or at the headquarters lately, ne." He loosened the grip on the sword's hilt, but did not release. "Ke, though now that I think about it, it could only come from a shady guy... one much like yourself, Zabuza."
"I've been busy." Was the only answer from the second shade.
The first one, smiled. A wicked smile full of razor sharp fangs which, combined with the eyes, made him look like a savage beast.
"Congratulations on the promotion, by the way. Commander of the Assassination Squad, ne. And at such a young age. Is that why you've been so busy that people can't even see you around the base anymore? People talk, you know?"
The second shade did not answer, but maintained its eyes fixated on the other.
"Anyway, can you vanish this damn thing? Not beeing able to see you is pissing me off." Said the first shade. "It's your doing, right?"
"This is a basic jutsu of our village, and you, as a shinobi of the Mist, should not be bothered by it. Besides, this way people won't see us or venture out on this cliff right now and we can be more at ease." Said the second shade.
The first one smiled again. "Come on, endulge me a little, okay? I'm your senpai, after all, ne."
"You're only little older." Said the second shade.
The mist shrouding them faded a little, only enough for them to see each other perfectly, but everything else was still a blur. A tanned scarred man was looking at a tall blue shark-like man. They stared at each other for a moment, before Kisame broke the silence.
"So, what business do you want with me?"
Zabuza took its time, as if weighing his words, and then answered. "I have a proposition for you."
Kisame's eyes changed. He finally released the hilt of his fateful Samehada, crossed his arms and looked with an interested expression at his fellow Mist jounin.
"I'm planning a rebellion. A coup d'état." Said Zabuza plainly.
Kisame tensed. "What?"
"I'm gathering the Swordsmen. In order to kill the Mizukage."
"Are you insane?" Asked Kisame. He never trusted Zabuza. Not since he himself had become a chuunin. On that same day was the graduation of the ninja academy. When he got there and saw a single kid, cowering in the middle of the field, bathed in blood and a flood of corpses laying around him, he felt something strange emanating from that kid. His eyes... were as if a sleeping dragon had been slightly awaken.
"You know? I never really liked you." Kisame took his giant sword out and pointed it at Zabuza. "Why don't I kill you right now?"
"As if you could." Answered Zabuza in a defiant tone, but Kisame's sword was already swinging down towards Zabuza's head. The jounin only had time to deflect the giant barbed sword with his own giant cleaver, before jumping away.
The two Swordsmen stood approximately 20 meters from each other, in a fighting stance, clutching at their swords.
Then Kisame shot several hand seals. "Suiton! Suikoudan no Jutsu!" He yelled. And from his mouth came surfing a big shark, shooting like a torpedo aiming at Zabuza.
Zabuza merely looked at the jutsu and did not react.
Then the shark stopped in its track, freezing over the wave it rided on. Then the wave froze too. Then a sudden path of ice created from the shark, galloping towards Kisame who could only jump away before he could be frozen too.
"What the..." Kisame cursed.
Zabuza chuckled. Then another shade appeared from the mist surrounding them. A much smaller shade. It walked towards them, approaching Zabuza. Then where it once was, a little boy appeared. Pale skin, lithe complexion and looking not even 10. He stopped by Zabuza, and took his side.
"Quite the companion you found, Zabuza." Said Kisame, still in a fighting pose. "You into little girls now?"
Zabuza stood silent for a second, eyeing Kisame. Then he relaxed from his fighting pose and guarded his cleaver. "This is meaningless, let's stop."
Kisame was a bit surprised, but something inside him told him to do as the other.
"Are you really happy the way things are now in the village?" Zabuza started, opening his arms. "We haven't been to the chuunin exams in 6 years and the number of our missions has been decreasing abruptly since the Yondaime took power. The "Bloody Mist" is no more than a mere thought trapped in the past. We've been rellying on the Water Nation's requests to maintain our village's structure. The other nations no longer trust us. We have lost half of our mainland territory ever since Yagura refused to let us participate in the Third Ninja Wars. The Fire, the Lightning and other minor countries shared it amongst themselves." Zabuza yelled out, explaining the situation in order to make a point.
Kisame seemed to think for a second. "I don't really care about all that. I'm fine as long as I can kill, ne. We still have plenty of assassination missions. Well, you better than anyone else can agree with me on that, ne." Kisame smiled, defiantly. "I don't really care about Yagura either."
"I don't trust him." Said Zabuza, in a warning tone. "I heard the council members speaking, the other day. He hasn't been showing up to meetings or reunions. No one has really seen him for over three months now. And there are also rumours..." Zabuza's expression turned a little darker, if possible.
"What kind of rumours?" Kisame's voice lowered instinctively, as if understanding that what Zabuza was talking now had left the realm of the publicly known and statistics.
"Rumours that he's been dealing with very advanced and dark kinjutsus. And demons... Bijuus."
Silence fell abruptly. Haku stared at Kisame. Aside from the waves roaring at the cliffs, half a hectometer bellow them, nothing else could be heard.
Then Kisame laughed slightly. "Bijuus, huh?" Speaking more to himself than to Zabuza, although the other could hear him just fine.
Then, after thinking for a few seconds, he spoke.
"I'll let you in on a secret, ne." Said Kisame, his murderous eyes staring at the younger jounin. "I was planning on leaving the village. In a short amount of time. I've recently been contacted by an organization of..." Kisame stopped. "Anyway. Why not?" His fangs gritted in a twisted smile. "I'll assist you in your... task. If we fail, which I believe we will anyway, I can leave with no regrets, since I was already planning to go, ne."
"Good." Zabuza closed his eyes and smiled darkly. "I've already got a positive answer from other three Swordsmen, including Kurosuki Raiga, and from several inside men who work on the Mizukage tower. Now, only one is left."
Kisame seemed amused. "Raiga? He's weak! Of what help could he be?"
Haku looked up from Kisame to Zabuza.
"You've been to the Wind Nation too often, lately. You're the one who's beggining to lose track of what happens here. He's been displaying some interesting shows lately."
"Whatever."Said Kisame, guarding is own sword and turning away. "Let me know when the time comes and all the details, ne. I'll be waiting. But don't forget." He looked defiantly to Zabuza one more time. "I'll leave the village anyway, so even if you become the Godaime, this will be our last job as fellow ninjas."
Zabuza returned the look. He then too turned away from Kisame and was prepared to leave.
"Oh, by the way." Kisame called one last time. "What do you plan to do if you fail?"
Zabuza answered without turning back "I'll leave the village immediately." and glanced down at Haku, without Kisame noticing. "And I'll take with me only the very essential."