Disclaimer: Do I really need to do this again, people?

Woot! Two chapters within four days of each other! And this chapter was written in about two days! Yay!

Well, enjoy the chapter, people! :D

Chapter Six

Kakashi made a small sign with his hand: Wait for my signal. I nodded slowly, slipping into the familiar position from when Kakashi was my Captain.

His hand twitched. We shot into motion, Kakashi's hands flowing through seals. I brought my katana up in a reverse grip, the flat of the blade laying along the side of my arm, a long strip of ice on my skin.

I ducked, sensing Kakashi's approach, hand sparking with the deadly electricity of the Chidori. He jumped over me, aiming for the stunned Missing-nin.

The other ninja, Haku, suddenly was in front of Zabuza, and took my former Captain's Chidori to the chest, dying almost instantly. Zabuza leapt away from Kakashi as he struggled to remove his hand from the corpse.

I raced forward again, in a half-crouched position, before springing up, sword flashing as I blocked the Kubikiribochō from beheading me. I ducked to the side as I tilted my katana, causing the larger sword to slide off the end of my blade as I drew a kunai, lashing out from behind Zabuza's guard.

The Missing-nin jumped away from me, avoiding the attack. I swiftly put away the small knife as Kakashi took up a position at my side.

I took a moment to survey the area, noting that Tora had withdrawn with the Genin and was crouched beside Sakura, tending to the two boys. He glanced up as though feeling my eyes, and I felt heat in my tattoo.

'Do you need me to aid?' Tora asked. The ANBU tattoos could work almost like radios, and worked over extremely long distances, though my squad preferred to use birdcalls and hand signs. However, given the circumstances, the tattoo-transceivers were the best bet.

I turned back to Zabuza. 'Take Tazuna and the Genin back to Tsunami. You and Hebi can decide which of you should return. We may need backup from you.'

I felt Tora's affirmative, and barely heard him and the Genin leave.

" 'Kashi?" I asked, using my former Captain's old nickname. He nodded, understanding.
We sprung forward in unison, blades in hand, a kunai and a katana respectively. The smell of ozone began to fill the area as Kakashi and I charged our weapons with Lightning chakra, arcs of blue and gold sparking and dancing over the metal.

Zabuza ducked and twisted around Kakashi's kunai, simultaneously blocking my sword with his own. His grip on the hilt faltered slightly as electricity lanced up the Kubikiribochō from my katana.

I thrust upwards, taking advantage of the brief moment of weakness. Zabuza barely avoided my blade, retreating swiftly.

Chakra channeled into my feet, I lunged forwards again, using the chakra to help me stop and turn sharply, sliding just beneath Zabuza's attack.

Kakashi came up on the former Mist ninja's other side, electricity snapping and cracking along the length of his kunai.

I was about to reengage once again, but I paused for a moment as I detected a Chakra signature approaching swiftly, taking a moment to identify that it was Tora returning, not Hebi.

Zabuza spun around as Kakashi struck, creating a long, but shallow, cut, which was cauterized by the electricity in the blade.

I drew back, away from the fight, as Tora appeared from the trees. He immediately flashed over to me.

'Situation?' He asked before standing.

'Using Tai- and Kenjutsu to wear him down. Lightning-nature Chakra in the blades seems effective. Haven't tried Ninjutsu yet,' I said shortly.

As we were speaking, Kakashi withdrew to stand at my other side. 'There's a large number of people gathering on the bridge,' he warned us. 'It's most likely Gatō and his men.'

I nodded. 'Stay on your guard. We'll wait and see if they decide to show themselves.'
Zabuza stood, watching us, then spun around suddenly and slipped into a combat stance, obviously sensing the people that Kakashi had.

The fog finally began to dissipate, revealing a huge mob of people standing behind a short, rotund man.

"Gatō," Zabuza growled.

"My, my," the man identified as Gatō mocked. "I must say, I'm disappointed. You can't even take care of an old man?"

Tora and I moved to opposite sides of the bridge as the Missing-nin and corrupt businessman glared at each other.

"Well, I'm sorry to say, Zabuza, but you no longer have a paycheck from me. If you can't do your job properly, then I have no use for you," Gatō continued. He gestured at the mercenaries behind him as Tora and I slunk along the sides of the bridge.

"That's why I hired these guys. They ought to be able to do the job."

I sent a signal to Hebi, telling her to come to the bridge as fast as possible.

Zabuza continued glaring at Gatō. "Had you not intervened I would have been able to take them down," he said. Kakashi warily watched Zabuza in silence, crouched in the center of the bridge.

I felt Hebi's Chakra signature approach rapidly- she was not holding back at all in terms of speed. I explained to her and Tora what my plan was. About a minute later, Hebi was at my side.

'Go!' I ordered. The three of us Shushined into the midst of the bandits and mercenaries, weapons drawn.

"Stand down!" I roared over the shouting from the people around us. They had all cleared away from the three of us, leaving a large circle around where we had landed.

Gatō spun around, eyes narrowed. "Who are you to be ordering my men around?!"

I turned my left shoulder towards him, pumping a small amount of Chakra through my tattoo, causing it to glow. "ANBU squad Captain of the Hidden Leaf Village," I said in a monotone. "And you will stand down."

Gatō sneered. "Think I'm scared of a couple of masked foreigners? Go!" He ordered his thugs to attack the three of us, Kakashi, and Zabuza.

Hebi, Tora, and I all released explosive bursts of KI that froze the bandits in their tracks.

"I said to stand down," I said flatly. The bandits, released from the near-Genjutsu created by the KI, slowly inched away from Kakashi and Zabuza, staying as far as reasonably possible from my squad. Soon, the only people left were Gatō, Kakashi, Zabuza, Hebi, Tora, and I.

Gatō looked between the five of us nervously. Zabuza shot me a look, and I nodded slightly. He grinned maliciously behind the bandages that covered the lower half of his face, and hefted the Kubikiribochō.

"Looks like I get to assassinate someone today after all," he said. Gatō paled.

Oh, boy. I had fun writing this. For some reason, I write better when I'm up late(like, 10:30-11:00pm late). I was feeing really melancholy while writing the first half, so I'm not sure how it may have affected the way things were written(I often write when I'm hyper, not somber).

Eh, I should probably stop rambling now. I need to work on a different story so that my best friends don't murder me with forks the next time I see them.

¡Adiós!

~H.S.