Chapter 5
The Land of Waves
The Conclusion
"It's high noon,"
-McCree, Overwatch soldier.
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Operation Sand Shield.
Or rather, one of the Third Hokage's biggest gambles, but one he would bet all his chips on, all the same. It started with one of Naruto's current affairs lessons. These were lessons that Naruto had insisted on being taught in preparation for his eventual rise to the Hokage status. He was learning about economics, namely of the various hidden villages. On the matter concerning the hidden sand's economic recession, Naruto had, rightfully so, suggested the fact that it's economic instability could be grounds for a conflict, one that might leave Konoha devastated if not taken into account. The reason that Konoha could become a target was mainly due to the convenience. The Chunin exam was right around the corner, and the circumstances were opportune.
The Hokage was no fool, despite what his age might suggest. He had already considered that the hidden sand might cause aggression but had dismissed it as a foolhardy endeavour, and one that might leave the hidden sand in an even worse state than it is already in. Naruto begged to differ.
Desperation could lead to anything, and Naruto had reminded the Hokage about that, using the failed invasion of the hidden grass at the hands of the hidden rain as a reference point. The hidden rain was out of options, and needed to strike, lest their resources reduce to a number which had no possibility to sustain such a large amount of people. The hidden grass forces had eradicated the aggressors using superior tactics and manpower, leaving the hidden rain at a worse state than before, but luckily, they had secured a treaty of non-aggression which stated that rain would be given resources as foreign aid, but on the condition that they never attempt another invasion, and to drive the point home, sever half of their military, reducing their manpower by 50%. Despite the hidden rain's blatant loss, the hidden grass didn't leave unscathed, either.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was hardly a man that resented being wrong, but for the good of the village, he had hoped desperately to be right about this matter, but it still hadn't stopped him from sending his ANBU black ops team that specialised in stealth operations on a possible one-way mission to the hidden sand to retrieve data and information that could either prove Naruto or the Hokage wrong. With specialised communication seals salvaged from the ruins of the hidden whirlpool, they were to report the Intel exactly where it was found, and at the discretion of the Hokage, leave when ordered.
The fact of the matter, however, was that this needed to be done in utmost secrecy. The ANBU were instructed to destroy themselves if their covers blew. If the hidden sand ever found out that the hidden leaf was onto them, that could very well be grounds for another war in the worst case scenario. The best case scenario, however, would be that the hidden sand would demand reparations, something that they definitely would do, considering their recent recession.
The hidden sand could also have made their own alliance with an unknown entity, such that their invasion might even succeed, but it was all in the hands of the ANBU black ops squad to dig up, now.
Unfortunately, his pupil was right. Intel gathered from the ANBU black ops squad did indeed suggest that they were preparing for an invasion, but it was to be done in tandem with another third party, which unfortunately couldn't be deduced as to what this third party really represented. Out of this one lesson with his pupil, Hiruzen had been coerced to gather intelligence which would definitely allow his village to be more prepared for the upcoming invasion, one that would be scheduled to be in the final phase of the Chunin exam. With their Jinchuriki at the ready, the hidden sand was prepared to strike, like a cornered cobra.
Until then, however, the prime directive was to pretend to know nothing. The best way to deal with a trap was to spring it, knowing what would come, but preparing for it such that the one who set the trap suffers the full brunt of it.
The Hokage was ready, now more than ever. The Chunin exam would be in a few weeks' time, and when it would come, they would be ready to fend off any intruders.
Despite all this, Hiruzen just couldn't seem to stop his hands from tremoring. His age had definitely caught up with him, and he knew that himself. This might just be his last battle where he'd still be in office, or maybe even alive. Finding a successor was secondary, however. The village always comes first, anyways.
Miraculously, the bridge that Tazuna had scheduled to be done in five days had, with the help of a certain Kunoichi, just about to be done, and with two and a half days to spare. The entire team 7 had gathered on the bridge, watching over Tazuna while their resident Kunoichi did the heavy work. Naruto and Sasuke were taking a break, in the order of their sensei. They had both been working tirelessly the past few days doing nothing but ninjutsu training. Naruto had also done some earth-release training on the side, just so he could test out a combo he had conceived before going to sleep once.
Sasuke had begun to move out of his comfort zone by using the fire-release in conjunction with his taijutsu, while Naruto had been working on cutting wind techniques which utilised wind-based chakra to deal slicing blows from far distances. Needless to say, large portions of the Wave forests were cut before he had properly mastered the technique. However, Kakashi had not neglected to teach any of them Jutsu which would strengthen their Bukijutsu. Their weapons could be imbued with elementally transformed chakra to provide more damage.
Of course, after all, this, Kakashi had demanded that none of them trains any further. Mastering a ninjutsu usually requires breaks, and during these breaks, a ninja was to continuously visualise their newly learned ninjutsu.
The wind blew softly at the still lake. The stillness of the lake definitely betrayed the name of the country which the lake was situated in, but it did give Kakashi an eery feeling that something was about to happen.
Kakashi was seldom wrong about his hunches, and not long after, the part of the bridge connected to land was crowded by thugs and bandits. Behind this crowd, however, came a man shorter than any of the three genin that was each twelve years old. He wore circular shades and had a black suit. His hair was long and rough, which contradicted his otherwise smart attire.
It was Gatou the shipping magnate.
"I don't know who you guys are, and frankly, I don't give a fuck. Just get the hell out of our way and we'll get this done quickly, eh?" offered Gatou. Kakashi pocketed his novel and stood straight.
"Did your dad let you play with his suit or something? How old are you?" asked Kakashi, acting the role of the aggressor. Bad move thought Gatou's retainers. The man's face grew increasingly red.
"I could literally rip your fucking children's testicles off, fry them, and serve them to you on a silver plate, and you know what? You'd eat them. I will fucking haunt you, you one-eyed lanky piece of shit. This is the first, and the last time you'll ever belittle me, you fucking imbecile," snapped Gatou, barraging Kakashi with insults.
"'Belittle?' That's a funny choice of a word, really. Funny you should say that, though… I think god already belittled you… literally," replied Kakashi. Gatou pulled out his shades in pure anger, crushing them within his palm before throwing it down. Kakashi, though, still had more to say.
"I don't have children, though, but even if I did, they'd still be taller than you," he continued.
"ZABUZA, YOU LAZY PIECE OF SHIT, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" yelled Gatou in his blind rage. In the blink of an eye, Zabuza materialised right in front of him in the extreme speed body flicker technique.
"Gatou, I've had enough of you. I just came here to tell you this. One, you have no money, so you can't pay me. Before you ask, I took the money, check your bank balance. Two, I've come to kill you, and anyone who wishes to stop me from doing so," ranted Zabuza. Gatou's retainers, upon hearing this, raised their katanas in preparing. Before they could even approach Zabuza a single foot forward, four senbon were hurled to their necks, two for each. Both fell down, unconscious as a result.
Zabuza pulled out his Kubikiribocho slowly with his right hand, and his left hand he raised two fingers and rotated his hand sideways, directly in front of his face. The whole crowd that was behind Gatou now cowered in fear at the Demon of the Bloody Mist and his killing intent. The Kubikiribocho was now unsheathed, and with a vengeful demeanour, brought the giant blade down vertically. Gatou's wild scream was cut short as he fell apart. He was cut into two parts from the head downwards, and not a moment passed before Zabuza's feet were drenched in the pool of blood that came from Gatou's gruesome corpse.
All the while, team 7 observed in utter confusion. Zabuza turned around before walking casually towards Kakashi, now with his blade sheathed on his back. Kakashi had also relaxed his guard, knowing what had just occurred. Missing-nin weren't always to be trusted if they weren't paid adequately, but Gatou had learned that the hard way, and when an assassin had no payment, they also had no targets.
"Hey, one-eye. I guess I owe ya an explanation, don't I? The guy pisses me off, end of the story. He's a really rich man, but I've taken everything he owns," he dug into his pocket, pulling out a sleek paper that turned out to be a cheque. "I suppose this might pay for the old bridge builder's mission fee," suggested Zabuza. Kakashi accepted the cheque, much to the three genin's confusion. Naruto couldn't resist butting in. A body-flicker and a millisecond later, Naruto appeared before Zabuza.
"Care to explain just what the ever-loving fuck just happened?" asked Naruto, more annoyed over the fact that he didn't get to fight. Zabuza replied, disgruntled.
"Let me make it clear. I fuckin' hate that bleeding pile of flesh back there, and what I don't like is dying, so why the fuck should I listen to that short fuck, and throw my life away by fighting you lot?" he asked, effectively shutting down any more need for explanation. "Here's this. I'm giving you money, something I'm not obligated to do, so why dontcha accept it and move on with your life?" continued Zabuza. Haku appeared next to the man shortly after, with his mask still on.
"Well if it isn't the 'hunter-nin'," mumbled Naruto.
"I'd like to thank you for your cooperation and emphasise that we are no longer enemies," he removed his mask, revealing a strikingly effeminate face, topped with long hair. "We must get going, although I hope that we may still remain allies when the time comes. We only needed this disgusting man's money to fund our rebellion to topple our inept Mizukage, Yagura. In other words, our work is done here. I wish you luck on your journey, leaf ninja," finished Haku. Kakashi simply scratched the back of his head in pseudo-modesty.
"Ah, I'm at a loss for words, really," revealed Kakashi. The workers, who were all on the opposite end of the bridge, rejoiced as they were no longer in danger. Throwing their tools in the air in relief, they yelled celebratorily. "Good luck on your rebellion," said Kakashi, waving at the departing duo.
The workers eventually finished the bridge on the same day, and luckily, Tazuna now had a way to pay the leaf-nin outside of his own pocket, using Gatou's illicitly acquired money. Before sending the leaf-nin off, he had a small party, which ended with them naming the bridge 'The misty leaf' after the missing mist-nin and the leaf-nin. Kakashi loved the idea, but his genin team weren't too interested.
"Kakashi-sensei, when are we leaving?" asked Sakura, ready to leave the place now more than ever. The three genin were assembled closely to him, within the radius of a smoke bomb.
"Now," he replied, detonating a smoke bomb. In the midst of the confusion, he had grabbed all his students, rushing them out of the general vicinity before the smoke cleared. The people were left dumbstruck, more so than the three genin, who were rather grateful to their teacher.
"Thanks, sensei. I was beginning to wonder when we'd get the hell out of there," commented Sasuke.
"I'll have to agree with Sasuke on that one. This place was really getting boring, anyways," added Naruto. "I can't wait to get back to the village to collect our pay," exclaimed Naruto.
"I dunno, guys, I think we should take it a bit easy," complained Sakura. Kakashi liked that idea, though, and thus, the rest of their journey was spent walking, taking their time to allow Sakura to recover from the exhaustion that came with her training.
Hidden Sand – Kazekage's quarters
Gaara~, Gaara~. Let's kill someone! Was the same thing that kept on repeating inside of his head, over and over and over.
"…but remember, Gaara. You are not to make a single move unless told so…" ordered Baki, Gaara's squad team leader, not that Gaara paid much attention to him. Inside his head was an itch, directly in his brain. The itch wouldn't go away. It kept on enticing him to kill, as though the blood of his victims would ease the itch.
Kill, kill, kill, kill sounded inside his head. Gaara had long-since learned how to ignore the voices, but every now and then, he would listen to what it had to say.
"Gaara, are you even listening?! Alright, how about this? Once you are given the order, you are allowed to kill whomever you please," tried Baki. The word kill attracted Gaara's attention like a moth to light. Inside Gaara bubbled a hotpot of excitement. The word 'kill' kept on repeating inside his head in a crescendo.
Kill, kill, kill, kill, KILL, KILL, KIIIIIIIIIILL!
It was there that he released it, or rather, his tailed beast released it. It was a wave of chakra that continuously poured out of Gaara, cascading violently. It took the suna guards their everything to not fall to the ground because of the oppressive chakra. His siblings didn't mind, as they were used to the poison chakra. Baki had also resisted the chakra.
"Way to get his attention am I right?" joked Kankuro, Gaara's elder brother, the puppet master.
"Shut up, Kankuro," scolded Temari, the eldest of the three siblings. By now, the voices inside Gaara's head began whispering 'Kill', faintly but repeatedly. His clarity came back to him, and he was now able to concentrate.
"I understand," he stated in acknowledgement. Baki gave a ghost of a smile at his minor success but continued the mission briefing. Gaara couldn't care less about anything that man had to say. Shukaku was still tugging at his brain, coercing him to kill everyone in the room in a bloody rampage, but Gaara knew better.
He couldn't dare oppose the Kazekage, his father Raasa, the only man in the entire village that was stronger than him. The last time an assassin was sent his way was weeks ago, and Gaara had come to miss the iron-like smell of blood by now. Little to his knowledge was that this was done deliberately to increase Gaara's bloodlust, in order to maximise his blood thirst when the time came. The kazekage could be called many things, but one thing he definitely was, was a tactical genius.
The gourd containing all his sand was beginning to circulate within the container. It commonly happened whenever Gaara became excited. The best thing about it was that it was not possible for anyone to detect it, and he could mould his emotions into the sand, without anyone seeing it. The gourd was his little enclosure of emotions.
Team 7 had returned from their long trek ranging from the Land of Waves all the way to Konoha. Naturally, their missions still weren't finished. Not before they hand in their mission forms. The three genin had wasted no time in filling them in before taking a deserved rest.
"Here," mumbled Naruto as he handed his form to the secretary. Sasuke and Sakura did the same.
"Oh, Mr Naruto, Lord Hokage wishes to speak to you. He told me to relay that to you," she informed Naruto with a smile. Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't know you were that cozy with the Hokage," muttered Sasuke under his breath.
"Hokage…? Naruto, what does the Hokage want with you?" she asked curiously.
"I'm not really sure, could be quite a few things, though I don't really know," replied Naruto, genuinely ignorant as to what the Hokage wanted with Naruto. "Guess I better go," said Naruto before walking out of the building, and a split second later, vanishing out of sight.
The Hokage's building wasn't too far away, so he did end up there at a relatively quick pace at around one minute. He walked up the stairs of the building, too the Hokage's office. He knocked twice before walking in.
"Honestly, Naruto, you didn't even let me allow you in. You should be ashamed of yourself," scolded the Hokage. Naruto shrugged.
"Does it matter?" he asked.
"Well… at this point, I guess not," replied the Hokage. Naruto sat on the chair in front of the Hokage's desk.
"So, what's the matter?" asked Naruto, wanting to know what the old man had called him for.
"Remember your… suspicion about how the hidden sand was in a position desperate enough to want to attack us?" asked the Hokage. Naruto's interest in this conversation suddenly spiked. He grinned faintly.
"…I was right, wasn't I?" taunted Naruto. The Hokage let out a sigh.
"The next Chunin exams are going to be held in the leaf village. They don't know that we know, so we better keep it that way. If the time comes, we'll have to utilise your raw power to hold our own against their own Jinchuriki. I trust in your strength fully and wholly," stated the Hokage.
"I was right, then. So who's the third party?" asked Naruto, much to the Hokage's surprise.
"Either my intelligence archive security is exceedingly lax, or you're too clever for your own good. We haven't discerned who the third party is, and frankly, this could prove very detrimental to our efforts, but nonetheless, we are somewhat prepared.
"However, I called you here for one reason. Tell no one, not even your 'friends', about this whole thing. Operation Sand Shield will remain a secret until it will become declassified, years after my resignation. Only a select few know everything regarding this operation, and you aren't among them. Your nondisclosure is paramount," said the Hokage. Naruto frowned at the fact that he wasn't allowed to hear everything operation Sand Shield entailed, but kept his calm.
"You just came here to tell me not to tell anyone, didntcha?" realised Naruto.
"In case you haven't noticed, Naruto, you're a ninja, a shinobi of the hidden leaf. Secrecy is pretty much our schtick," replied the Hokage dryly. "Crying about how you're not allowed to see what the big people do upstairs won't help you at all, child, so I suggest you obey my orders unconditionally," added the Hokage.
"You think I'm some kinda two-bit genin fodder-"
"ENOUGH! You will not jeopardise this operation due to your own emotions! Grow up, Naruto! With that attitude, you'll never become the Hokage," the Hokage snapped. Naruto stood up abruptly, pushing his chair backwards, breaking it in the process. Naruto, too, had snapped. A small shroud of a red gaseous substance oozed out of the boy.
"I'll show you just how much I can become the Hokage," spat Naruto, his calm voice betraying his emotional state. The Hokage sighed, disappointed.
"You lash out at the first sign of confrontation. With an attitude like that, how are you capable of leading anyone? You think you're so much stronger than everyone just because of that cursed fox spirit's chakra. My child, the world is bigger than you can comprehend. You aren't even the strongest person in this room, much less this entire village," stated the Hokage. Naruto calmed down gradually, the red chakra no longer oozing out. Looking back at the chair he had unintentionally destroyed, he bowed to the Hokage shortly.
"I'll get it replaced," he declared solemnly. "And as for my non-disclosure: I will keep the secret," conceded Naruto. The Hokage grinned faintly, closing his eyes in relief.
"I appreciate it," replied the Hokage. Naruto took his leave shortly, heading to his apartment now since it was getting dark and he needed his sleep.
Team 7 assembled once again in Kakashi's favourite place to be, training ground 3.
"Alright, first thing in the agenda: missions," stated Kakashi. "Only this time, we'll spice things up a little. I mean, when my cute students set out for a C-rank, but ended up doing an A-rank and surviving, that does, indeed warrant an upgrade, doesn't it?" said Kakashi gleefully.
"So are we doing a B-rank?" asked Naruto, expectantly.
"Close, we're doing an A-rank again. Fun times, right?" exclaimed Kakashi, much to Sakura's horror.
"B-but we're not Jonin level! We can't be expected to do A-ranks, can we?!" protested Sakura. Naruto, however, couldn't resist grinning.
"What's the mission?!" asked Naruto, excitedly. Sasuke was also somewhat surprised at the revelation.
"Yeah, what are we up to?" asked Sasuke.
"We're hunting chakra-mutations!" revealed Kakashi.
"Wait, animals are within C-rank scope, right? Or don't tell me that these animals are something else," Sakura couldn't imagine what 'something else' could mean, so she didn't make an attempt to.
"Chakra-mutations are like animals, but they can use chakra, only in extremely crude ways," informed Kakashi. "They only know how to enforce their body with it, but they're many, and that's why it's A-ranked," stated Kakashi.
"Uhm, quick question, sensei. Why are we doing this?" asked Sasuke.
"It's fun, no?" asked Kakashi. Apparently 'fun' was very subjective, especially when it comes to Kakashi. Nevertheless, Kakashi handed out the mission fliers and set out towards the outskirts of the Konoha forest. Not long afterwards, the team found themselves stepping into a terrain that was different from the regular forested look of the Konoha forest.
The grass there was a dark indigo hue, and the tree leaves were red. The clearing was as large as training ground 3.
"Here we are. You'll be fighting til…" he checked his pocket watch "…erm… you can stop when the sun goes down," said Kakashi. The three genin didn't know what to expect, really. Once Kakashi had disappeared from the clearing, the shrubs were beginning to make noises. Out from one of the shrubs jumped a wolf, only that this particular wolf's circulatory system was bright blue, visible by the naked eye.
The wolf lunged at Sakura, but to her fortune, Sasuke had managed to stab the wolf with his Kunai, getting the wounded wolf to jump away in pain. The wound, however, quickly closed up, showing a newly formed scar.
"Fuck me, this thing is crazy," swore Naruto as he viewed the whole process in disbelief. That's just like me! He thought.
"Sasuke, use fire-release!" yelled Naruto. Sasuke made the tiger seal.
"Fire-release, fireball Jutsu!" he shouted, spitting out a great fireball from his mouth, targeted directly at t he lonesome wolf. When the smoke cleared, the wolf was charred to its bone.
"Alright, a few things we've learned. Ninjutsu is the only thing that'll work on them," observed Naruto. Not a moment later, a pack of those feral chakra-wolves jumped out of the forest and into the clearing. Sasuke took the vanguard, snuffing frontline out with his fireball Jutsu. Naruto bought Sasuke time by blowing the wolves back, such that Sasuke could take the rear out with a fireball.
Sakura was back to back with the two boys, using her chakra enforced fists to kill the wolves with surgical precision. The more she did so, the more she realised how to optimise her chakra usage to maximise the destructive force. She tried applying a surge of chakra upon contact with a wolf, and the results were explosive. The wolf that she defeated had been completely obliterated, but the chakra usage was too much to do so continuously, so she resorted to taking the wolves out using her previous method.
Naruto, having seen Sakura obliterate the wolf, took the information into account. The wolf onslaught had faded down, and the clearing was now silent, reeking of the corpses of hundreds of wolves.
"This isn't the end, guys. Not by a long-shot," warned Sasuke, and he was right. Tremendous and rapid footsteps were heard, coming closer and closer towards the clearing, until a giant chakra wolf jumped into the fray. It sized its prey up, waiting for the right time to pounce.
"Sasuke," whispered Naruto. "Metal dome," he hinted. Sasuke grinned smugly, anticipating the moment.
"Earth release! Earth Dome Jutsu!" yelled Naruto. A rough and jagged earth-dome sprung out of the ground, encapsulating the giant wolf. Naruto had no affinity for earth, but that hadn't stopped him from trying his hardest to learn the Jutsu. Besides, he had to see whether this would work. It was Sasuke's turn, now.
"Fire release! Great flamethrower Jutsu!" yelled Sasuke, letting out a continuous stream of fire from his mouth. The earth began solidifying more and more, becoming metal in the process. When the stream ended, the earth dome was now a rather rough hybrid of an earth and metal dome.
"Sakura, blow it all to bits," ordered Naruto.
"Huh? Oh, that thing? I'll try, but don't expect much," was all Sakura had to say before going for the kill. She pulled her arm back, as well as her body, applying chakra in key areas necessary for her punch. A split second later, Sakura threw the punch into the dome, using most of her chakra reserve in the process. The place she had attempted the punch wasn't even scratched, though.
"Oh, come on. You totally obliterated that wolf, I saw it!" complained Naruto. "Or… do you take me for some fool? Try again!" ordered Naruto, disgruntled by the less-than-satisfactory display. Sakura had few words, though, for she had poured her everything into that punch.
"I threw most of my chakra into that punch! I can't do it again, I'm all spent!" protested Sakura. Sasuke noticed something was fishy, though. He approached the back of the huge dome that housed the wolf and marvelled at Sakura's destructive power. She had managed to push the impact through the initial point of contact, destroyed the wolf that was kept inside the dome, and obliterated the backside of the dome, showing a bloody mess of wolf entrails.
"Uhm, guys, you might want to see this," hinted Sasuke. Naruto let his conflict with Sakura go, in favour of seeing whatever Sasuke was so excited about. Approaching the back of the dome, Naruto was met with quite a pleasant sight.
"Sakura… I apologise," Naruto was hardly upset about having to apologise but more excited over Sakura's show in strength. "And to think someone like you could pull this off. One question, though… how, exactly?" asked Naruto. Sakura exhaled slowly.
"I focused the required amount of chakra on my fist and did a quick chakra surge on the surface of my knuckles at the exact time that I made contact with the dome. It's really hard, and I don't think any of you could do it, what with your large chakra reserves negating fine chakra control," revealed Sakura. "I think I need to lay down for a while," she said faintly, falling downwards in the process. Sasuke had caught her before she fell on the ground. Sakura was asleep at this point. She had used too much chakra and was so close to getting chakra-exhausted. She took measures to avoid that, though, so a single night's rest would be enough to rejuvenate her.
By now, the sun had set, and their sensei had come back to greet them.
"Hi, my cute genin! So, how was the A-rank?" asked Kakashi, expectantly.
"Pretty fun, actually," grinned Sasuke, carrying Sakura on his back.
"Two A-ranks in a row, huh? I might just be able to move out of my crappy apartment," smiled Naruto. Kakashi smiled brightly, despite only his one eye showing, roughing his students' hair in the process.
"Attaboy. Well, judging by this weird metallic contraption, I'm guessing someone thought that it'd be hilarious to splice earth and fire, huh?" asked Kakashi.
"You got us," smiled Sasuke. Team 7 headed homewards, to the mission office to collect their pay, while Sakura would be in her bed, resting for the night.
Kakashi observing team 7 completing the mission
"Hmm, what the hell is going on...?" asked Kakashi to no one but himself. Standing at the top of the tallest tree in the vicinity, he was observing his team destroy the wolves. "They were supposed to be at least ten times this amount. They don't call it a damn A-rank for nothing..." observed Kakashi. What could be repelling the rest of the wolves from jumping into the fray?
Almost like an anvil to his head, Kakashi realised what exactly was happening.
"Huh... so the wolves are able to detect the malevolent chakra? That's something... They got off easy with this mission, but still... their teamwork is impressive!" said Kakashi. "I should stop talking to myself, this is getting sorta weird,".
"…and that makes around two hundred men, including the ones we already have contact with," summarised Haku. Zabuza held his chin, pondering.
"And what about those two numbskulls. The demon brothers Gozu and Meizu?" asked Zabuza. Haku halted for a second, before revealing the bad news.
"They're both dead. They were most likely killed during their ambush, seeing as how they haven't returned yet, while at the same time, the leaf-nin weren't even scratched," replied Haku.
The duo of the mist was in an abandoned storage warehouse in the outskirts of the Land of Water, just a stone throw from the notorious Kiri. They were currently discussing their manpower. Gatou's money, although astronomical in amount, hadn't gotten them too far. Money could by men, but not always skill. Zabuza learned that the hard way, now. The two hundred that Haku was talking about were none but a few missing nin who had defected from Kiri simply due to their leader's ineptitude, which has given rise to several theories stating that he was being controlled by a third party, one that was possibly in possession of the Sharingan.
"Fuck... what about Utakata, huh? Where the fuck is he?!" asked Zabuza, stressed by his circumstance.
"Nowhere to be found, but I don't think tussling with the six-tails Jinchuriki would do us any good, anyhow. Utakata defected for reasons not related to Yagura's pointless reign," informed Haku. Zabuza smashed his fist on his table, breaking it in the process.
"This rebellion... it's all gonna be for nought if we don't bring in some big guns...!" exclaimed Zabuza. As though she was summoned, a lady with auburn hair entered the abandoned warehouse. Haku detected her before Zabuza did, but he reached instinctively for his Kubikiribocho when he did detect her. The cover of the night did well to shroud her, preventing the two missing-nin from recognising her.
"No need to get hasty, Zabuza," she purred. Zabuza loosened the grip on his sword handle.
"Well, I wasn't expecting you here," admitted Zabuza.
"Let's just cut to the chase. I want in," she persisted. She was now close enough to the duo that they could see her clearly.
"Who am I to stop ya? The first thing I want to know, though, is this. What can you provide for our efforts?" he asked.
"Manpower, and I mean actual manpower and not that gang of bumbling fools that just so happens to be missing-nin. I've also got the connections to arrange for a swift coup. The only thing I really need is your fodder to back me up in case a civil war breaks out," she revealed. Haku, still wearing his mask, whistled impressed.
"As smart and clever as ever, huh, Mei Terumi?"
"Can you blame me for wanting to clean up my home?" she joked. Not a moment later, Ao, the head of the hunter-nin section of the local ANBU appeared right next to Mei.
"And look what the cat dragged in," observed Zabuza in a bored tone.
"Save it, you brute. I only want what is best for my village, but as long as that buffoon still reigns, count me out," replied Ao. Haku chuckled at what the man said.
"Calm down, everyone. Anyways, let's get to business, shall we?" declared Mei.
A/N:
A new chapter, and so fast :O.
This is for the one-monthlong hiatus. A double upload on the same week! (hey what'supguysitsscarcehere). I just couldn't NOT write! I've got so many ideas laid out in my head, and not writing them down will churn my brains into melon juice.
As always, follow, favorite and review if you liked this chapter, and due to popular demand, most of you guys seem to appreciate Gatou and his interactions with people. Therefore, for next chapter's bonus, I'll have him interact with any given character in the Narutoverse, which will be decided by YOU THA REVIEWER. And when I say that, I just mean I'll read suggestions and pick out the one I like the most.
And pick fun ones, like Kaguya, Hagoromo, Hashirama, idfk. I'll do my best to write them in.