A/N: To help me get back into the Naruto mood
"Where's my damn sword…" muttered Hozuki Suigetsu as he looked at the remains of what had previously been the battleground between Hawk and the 8 tails host, Killer Bee. Suigetsu snarled as he looked at the barren wasteland. There was absolutely no sign of his sword.
"Karin's such a stupid whore…"
"Really now? If she was a stupid whore, why did you protect her?"
Suigetsu turned around at the sound of Juugo's voice. The child approached him, a small smile on his face.
"The hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the lakeside conversation we had not too long ago. You know, where you didn't care about Sasuke or any of us?"
"What about it?" asked Suigetsu, looking at Juugo in annoyance.
"If you don't care, as you said, then why did you sacrifice yourself?"
Suigetsu froze and stared at Juugo. Ever since the psychotic bastard had used his flesh to heal Sasuke, he had turned into a kid who, while for the most part retained his normal personality, had childish bouts in which he would not shut up.
"Sasuke…was the only one strong enough to defeat the host. If he died, then I would have died as well, and I wanna stay alive."
"Funny. If you insist so much on staying alive, you sure didn't seem to care when you tanked that chakra blast. Now what's the real reason?"
Suigetsu sighed. "I liked it better when you talked less," he grumbled. He turned away and closed his eyes. Juugo watched him quietly.
"Go back."
"Sasuke-"
"Fuck Sasuke, I'm telling you I don't need your help to find my sword," Suigetsu snarled. Juugo gave him a long, hard stare. It was the kind he used to give back when he was around their age, before Killer Bee had kicked Taka's collective ass. Finally, his eyes diverted.
"As you wish."
Juugo walked away and Suigetsu turned around. He pressed forward towards the village outskirts.
Hozuki wasn't stupid. He knew that if he walked in he'd probably be taken for questioning on grounds of trespassing. Thankfully, the Cloud's wanted posters didn't depict him (probably because he had been nothing more than a puddle when Taka escaped) and Suigetsu was smart enough to ditch his Akatsuki cloak. However, he still had no means to infiltrate the village. He would stick out like a sore thumb if he walked in pretending to be a pedestrian. After all, white hair and purple eyes was not common in the Cloud village.
"Where is my sword…"
Suigetsu continued to hide in the shadows of nearby cliffs and looked at the village entrance. He tried to find a body of water that ran into the village, but was unable to locate one. He growled in frustration and his earlier conversation with Juugo came to mind. He claimed he wasn't loyal to anyone other than himself, so why did he protect his teammates with his life? A memory from long ago came to mind.
Flashback
"What's a coup d'etat?" asked a young Suigetsu, looking at his older brother.
"It's nothing," replied Hozuki Mangetsu, giving Momochi Zabuza a glare. The Demon of the Mist snorted.
"It's an idea, runt," Zabuza told Suigetsu.
"Go to bed Sui, I'll be there soon." Suigetsu nodded and went to the tent he shared with his brother. Once Suigetsu was gone, Mangetsu glared at Zabuza.
"I'd appreciate if you didn't fill his head with those kinds of ideas sempai," he said. Zabuza snorted from his position, which happened to be a log in front of the small fire that the 3 of them had built after a long day of training. He grabbed one of the fish that had been planted into the ground with a stick and began eating it. Neither of them had noticed that Suigetsu was listening to their conversation.
"I don't see what's wrong. Our Mizukage is an outsider, and a fucking Uchiha to boot."
"Uchiha?" Mangetsu asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Zabuza said, picking fish bones from his teeth. "It's apparently some asshole that's supposed to be famous. He's supposedly dead, but apparently not, looking at things."
Mangetsu stayed quiet fro a few minutes before speaking. "What about your loyalty to the village? You can't just assassinate the Mizukage. He's stabilized this village from the War!"
"My loyalty IS with Kiri," Zabuza growled. "Don't you ever insinuate I'm not loyal to my village." His eyes had flashed and his killing intent was suffocating Suigetsu. Mangetsu had flinched.
"This guy has taken the village by force and has only raised us specifically to be sacrifices in his war with Konoha," Zabuza said. "We're nothing more than meatbags and pawns. I will not let my village become a sacrificial piece. I'm killing him."
"You honestly think you can assassinate the Mizukage?" Mangetsu asked.
"It's worth a try."
"Then why not just warn Konoha?"
"Are you retarded?" Zabuza asked. "This seal that was put on all active ninja and older civilians was to keep our mouths shut," he said, signaling to his back. It had been the first thing the new Mizukage had done. "Suigetsu will probably get one soon, the way he's advancing. He's got talent."
"He does, with you and Kisame teaching him he'll be an excellent swordsman," Mangetsu agreed. His eyes widened. "What about Kisame? He's the Mizukage's bodyguard. He would help you if he knew what's going on. So would the other Swordsmen of the Mist."
"Kisame's loyal to the Mizukage and he knows of his true identity. The bastard's already chosen a side. And since Raiga bailed, there's only 5 of us Swordsmen. And none of them want to risk their necks. Cowards, all of them," Zabuza growled. He got up.
"Kisame knows where his loyalty lies, as do I," he said quietly. "And now it's your turn to choose." With that, Zabuza left for his tent, leaving Mangetsu alone at the fire.
End Flashback
Suigetsu was shaken out of him daydream by the feeling of a presence near him. Swiftly, he turned himself into a puddle of water just as a man walked by. Suigetsu resisted the urge to reform himself and kill the man right there. The guy had Suigetsu's sword strapped to his back! Suigetsu continued to watch as the man approached a small cottage on the village outskirts and entered it.
Suigetsu grinned his terrifying pointed grin as he approached the house.
Kawazaka Aoi was glad to be home. It had been a hard day for him and he wanted nothing more than to take a shower and go to bed, despite the fact that it was only the afternoon. As he removed his sword from his back, his eyes passed over his Kumo headband and anger filled him. He had been a Chuunin of his village until a mission with his squad had ended in absolute failure. He had been the only survivor, but this was because he had ditched the mission half-way. As a result, he had been discharged from military duty. He still remembered when Samui had knocked on his door to summon him.
He still didn't understand why he had been punished. He had realized that the mission was dangerous and had informed his squad leader that he was leaving. Wasn't analyzing a situation supposed to be key ninja trait? But no one else seemed to view that way. They felt he had abandoned his comrades and thus was trash. He had moved out of the village because the looks he received, full of scorn and disappointment and shame, had been too much. Only his childhood friend Setsuna had stuck to his side.
He glanced down at the sword. He had decided that he was going to propose to Setsuna and had been taking odd jobs as a mercenary (with the Raikage's permission of course). Since he had acquired that sword, his work had become much easier. He almost had enough to buy the ring he had seen Setsuna ogle at so many times.
"Man, I'm lucky I found you, eh?" Aoi spoke to the sword, "You must have belonged to one of the Akatsuki members who kidnapped Bee. I'm glad too, that bastard Raikage deserves whatever pain he's going through for the way he mistreated me." Aoi stretched. "Man, a shower sounds good right about now. Can't wait to soak in the water and-"
"Water, you say?" a voice said from behind him. Aoi turned around, kunai in hand, but was blasted back into a wall by a torrent of water. He slumped down but was quickly grabbed by his assailant, who slammed his head down into the ground. "Alright, I've got no time to screw around.
"You know that sword you picked up?" Aoi's head was slammed down into the ground before the attacker raised it enough so that Aoi could see the great blade. "That one? Guess what, dipshit, it's mine. And I don't appreciate others using my sword, especially weak idiots like you."
"Weak?" Aoi asked, enraged. 'I'll have you know I was a Chuunin before I left the military and w-Ugh." His head had been slammed down into the ground a third time.
"Really?" asked the assailant in an amused tone. "You sure as hell don't look like one from up here." The assailant released his head. "Alright, Mr. Chuunin. Stand up and show me what you're made of. And if you try to call anyone for help, you'll be dead before you know what happened."
Aoi struggled to his feet and got his first glance at the intruder. It was a boy of about 16 with white hair and purple eyes. He had a horrific grin plastered on his face that showed off his sharp, shark-like teeth. "You…"
"Well? Bring it."
Aoi charged in with a quick kick that the intruder easily dodged before slamming his elbow into Aoi's stomach. As Aoi staggered backwards, the assailant took his sweet time in delivering a punch to Aoi's nose. The unmistakable crack of a nose shattering followed. The attacker went for a quick kick of his own, but Aoi expertly dodged it and maneuvered past the boy's following punch before grabbing his kunai and slitting the sharkboy's throat in one fluid motion. As the boy slumped down, Aoi sighed and turned around to see his nose in a mirror when he heard "Any ninja, even a Genin, knows to make sure his or her opponent is dead before turning their back."
The kick that followed sent Aoi crashing right into the mirror. It shattered as Aoi struggled to look at the intruder. "And you call yourself a Chuunin?"
The boy's throat was regenerating. It almost looked like..."Water?" Aoi said in disbelief.
"Yup," the boy answered. "You know, you fight like a Genin, Mr. Chuunin. I let you do that." He brought his foot down and pushed Aoi's throat. "Like I said, I have no time to screw around, so I'll be taking my sword now."
"You…Akatsuki…" Aoi gasped out.
"No, my loyalty does not lie with Akatsuki," the boy answered.
"Then…who…loyal…." Aoi struggled to get the words out. The boy stayed silent for about 30 seconds before responding.
"My loyalty…lies with Uchiha Sasuke."
He picked up his sword.
"Well, it's been fun, Mr. Chuunin, but I can't have any witnesses. Nothing personal, really, except that you took my sword."
The boy gave Aoi that haunting grin. It was an image that would stay with him forever. "Well," the boy started, lifting the sword, "bye now."
The sword came down, and Kawazaka Aoi thought no more.
Suigetsu was lounging around, his sword by his side, while Juugo was sitting down and Karin was reading a book, when Sasuke stood up. "We're leaving."
"Your wounds healed?"
"Yeah, Sasuke responded quietly. "We're heading for Konoha."
Suigetsu caught Juugo's eyes as Karin stood up. The child was analyzing him critically. Suigetsu smiled.
"Let's roll."
A/N: Something to help get the juices , I took some liberties with Mangetsu and Zabuza. Zabuza never struck me as being power-hungry, so his assasination attempt seemed odd. But with Madara having been releaved as a former Mizukage, it makes sense. I think Zabuza did what he did because he knew what Madara was. Anyway, This story is either done or in-progress, depending on what Suigetsu does in the future. Now for Confidence…
