Master and Weapon
The Bridge
Naruto caught sight of the bridge just a little before noon. Despite the heat, there was still a good amount of fog cover concealing the massive construct. He turned and pointed at Hinata. "You thought we wouldn't make it in time. Ha!"
The Hyuga girl came to stop and bent over to suck in huge breaths. They had run most of the way, stopping only occasionally to drink and soothe their aching sides. "Y-yeah..you win. Whoopity doo.."
Naruto chuckled and stretched his arms, casting his gaze back at the bridge. He was no judge of construction, but guessed that it must've taken the better part of a decade to near this last stage of completion. Kakashi had said that all that was left to complete on the massive bridge was to connect the two separate ends. Naruto guessed that meeting point had to be a good mile or so out over the sea. He heard Hinata walk up beside him and felt her lean against his arm. "Happy now? Kiba and Tsubaki are just over that bridge, probably taking a little vacation before returning home."
"Oh? Wouldn't that be romantic?"
Naruto turned his head and grinned down at the girl with her head rested against his bicep. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Yes, it actually would, but Kiba is too much of a freak to have any fun with..romantically," she stated.
"Oh I'm sure you have found him charming once or twice.." He dodged a swipe from Hinata and loped towards the ramp leading up to the bridge. Hinata started to chase him, but stopped and squinted past him into the fog. Curious, Naruto turned and looked through the fog himself. Two figures leaned against the bridge railing a few yards away. The two men wore identical black robes, the hoods pulled down to conceal their faces.
Naruto snapped his fingers and Hinata slowly walked up to his side. "What do you think?"
"Not at all suspicious.."
He smirked and grabbed his partners pack, lifting it up as she raised her arms and slid out of the straps. Carefully, he removed the bag of soldier pills from within and popped two in his mouth before crunching them into powder and swallowing. He took another out for Hinata and pushed it in between her lips. "Get that down and then we'll try to pass them. Get ready to catch me if they attack."
Hinata nodded and locked arms with him. He cocked an eyebrow at her as they began walking up the bridge ramp. She looked up at him and winked. "If they ask..our cover story is that I am your young bride from Fire Country that you are bringing back to meet your parents in Wave."
"Uh huh..and why would we need a cover story?"
"You never know.."
"Don't get too comfortable, punk rock. I wouldn't marry into your crazy family as long as I still had strength enough to slit my own throat."
Hinata punched his arm with her free hand and scowled. Naruto was about to ask what the sour look was for, but they were nearing the cloaked men so he turned his attention to the matter at hand. He kept his gaze straight forward, but watched the two cloaked figures in his peripheral vision. It was a good thing too, because had he been any more lax in his observation, he would've missed the slight nod that passed between the two strangers.
"Hinata move!" Out of pure reflex, Naruto pulled the girl in front of him and pushed her ahead as something whistled past his chin. They had aimed for Hinata's head!
With a growl he rolled sideways and transformed his right arm into a blade in one motion. One of the men had a gauntlet pointed in his direction - a hole in the palm indicating where to projectile had been fired from. Naruto kicked off the ground and flew across the ground towards his attackers. In the blink of an eye he was upon them, bringing his blade arm across in a wide sweep in an attempt to split their bellies.
Die, his inner voice hissed.
The two assailants apparently hadn't expected retaliation and barely dodged as his blade ripped through one of their cloaks. Not pausing, Naruto darted left and caught one of the men with a sweeping kick to the stomach before he could land. His opponent flew backwards and smacked against the railing with enough force to crack the thick concrete. Naruto hissed and leapt over to his stunned foe, closing the gap between them. The cloaked man swung at him as he advanced, but Naruto caught the man's wrist and pulled it aside as he plunged his blade arm forward. There was the gratifying sound of ripped flesh and snapped bone as his blade arm punched through the poor bastard's ribs.
The fight had last all of 20 seconds and already their first opponent was skewered and dying.
Naruto ripped off his attacker's hood and scowled when he saw the man was wearing a ninja mask and had a hita-ite across his brow. The unknown ninja's eyes were wide and frightened. "You..t-too fast.." the man blurted, crimson bubbling between his lips.
There was a flash of red in Naruto's vision and he had an urge to bite – like really bite into the dying mans neck and rip out his jugular. "Wha-?" he spat, shaking his head and stepping backwards away from the man. What the fuck was that?
He didn't have time to collect his thoughts however, as an anguished scream rent the air. He quickly looked over to where the other stranger was standing frozen in place. He hadn't noticed during the fight, but the other mystery ninja had shed his torn cloak and looked identical to the man he had just gutted, their masks, their outfits, even their weapons were identical. Both men wore large clawed gauntlets on their left arms.
Twins?
They may have looked the part of killers, but Naruto was slightly disappointed. He snorted and turned back to look at the man affixed to his blade-arm. "What is your name?"
The dying man looked into his eyes in bewilderment and confusion. "M-meizu.."
Naruto could've sworn he had heard that name before somewhere.
"Meizu and Gozu, the Demon Brothers of the Hidden Mist, they were ranked Chuunin before going rogue." Naruto turned and looked to where Hinata was scanning the pages of a small, red book. The girl had recited that information straight out of the Bingo book, so it must've been true.
Naruto returned his gaze to the dying ninja, but the man's eyes were closed and he was slumping over onto his blade arm. Naruto felt a shiver of excitement run up his spine, he had just disposed of a dangerous and highly-wanted Missing-nin in less than half a minute! He didn't have much time to reflect on that however, as the other ninja charged him. The other brother, Gozu, was obviously in a rage and his attacks came fast and wild. Naruto had to retreat and use everything he had to just block the seeking gauntlet weapon.
After one especially nasty side-swipe from the older man's gauntlet, Naruto kicked the back of Gozu's knee and the man tumbled forward. Using the pause in combat, the blonde jumped away from his opponent and transformed completely mid-air. He flew over to Hinata, who caught him and twirled him before leveling the blade towards the enraged twin.
Hinata smirked when Naruto jumped away from their attacker and flew over to her. He finally wants to work as a team.
She caught the familiar blade and twirled it expertly before settling into a defensive stance. She felt Naruto's wavelength mix with her own, and felt his power wash over her. It was something she had never gotten used to; the sudden ocean of power that flooded out of Naruto when he transformed never failed to awe her and give her goose bumps.
Gozu paused for a moment and tilted his head in confusion. It was almost comical, but Hinata could sympathize with the man. It wasn't every day one saw a teenage girl swinging around a zanbatou the size of a canoe. She beckoned the man with her free hand. "Come Gozu, fight me."
"You will die, little girl!"
Without further words, Gozu flew across the gap between them and swung at Hinata's face. She backpedalled and brought Naruto around to deflect the blow. The metal claws screeched as they ran across the flat part of her weapon and she cringed. "Owww.."
"Incoming," Naruto's voice warned inside her head, "careful, the claws might be poisoned."
The man swiped at Hinata, aiming at her legs - she dodged by leaping into the air. Still airborne, Hinata brought the zanbatou around and slashed downward at Gozu. He jumped backward with a hiss and watched as she flew a ways before descending.
Hinata landed and immediately went into a roll as Gozu crossed the distance and slashed at her with his claws. Ducking under the gauntlet, she attempted to sweep his feet out from under him with a low kick, but he bent at the knee and trapped her foot between his thigh and calf. He chuckled and backhanded her with his freehand, sending her rolling a few times.
"Well we haven't seen that one before.."
She growled at Naruto's observation and pushed herself to her feet. Gozu was already running at her and she charged at him in return. Just before they were about to meet, she slammed Naruto's massive blade into the ground and grasped his hilt with both hands. Using her built up momentum she swung herself through the air and planted both booted feet in Gozu's face.
The enemy ninja howled as his head snapped back and he was laid out completely. Hinata smirked and used the rest of her momentum to swing herself back around and tug the zanbatou from the concrete in one smooth motion.
Hinata rested the blade on her shoulder as she casually paced around downed man in a semi-circle. "Surrender."
Gozu snorted and launched himself upwards off his back. The man landed on his feet and released a handful of shuriken at her, which she deflected easily. He then tried to advance on her as she batted the projectiles away - she was prepared for that. Hinata smirked as she brought Naruto around to slash at the masked man. The red sword whistled through the air and caught the edge of Gozu's gauntlet just as he did a back flip to escape the seeking blade.
It could've been counted as a lucky grazing, but even receiving a 'nick' from the demonic zanbatou had proved to be fatal in some of Team 5's battles. Naruto's serrated edge had ripped a deep gash through the thick metal gauntlet and a few of the metal claws had gone limp.
Gozu landed a few feet away and howled, punching the gauntlet with his free hand. "Stupid thing!"
"Your weapon is not a buki?"
The man scowled at Hinata and shook his head. "No, I don't trust them."
"I'm glad."
Hinata crossed the space between herself and Gozu in an instant, bringing Naruto around in a crossways slash. So distracted with his broken weapon was Gozu, that he didn't have time to blink before the massive, sawed edge ripped him open from shoulder to hip.
Zanbatou-inflicted wounds were never known to be graceful or subtle and that was especially the case with Gozu. The ugly wound was easily classified as mortal, and the man's eyes rolled back into his head as he fell backwards onto the cement. There was a sick crunch when his body landed; crimson and gore pooled around his corpse.
"Uh..wow, Hinata."
"Shut up, it's your fault for being so big. A normal sword would've just cut him, not sawed him in two.."
"A normal sword also might not have finished the fight in one blow.."
Hinata snorted and slammed the sword-boy's edge into the concrete for the second time that day. She didn't feel like arguing with Naruto about the finer points of weapon form, not now anyways. Unlike the blond, she didn't like taking lives and it still had an effect on her after all these months.
Warily she edged her way over to the dead ninja and began rifling through his pockets for something that would tell them why the two were here waiting for them. Hinata heard Naruto dispel his sword form and walk up behind her.
"Robbing the dead now are we?"
She growled at him and pointed over to the corpse of the other twin. "Just check him, will ya?"
Naruto whined as he cocked his neck to look over at the other brother he had skewered earlier. "Ah c'mon Hinata..he's dead already.."
"He might have information on him. Did you pay attention at all at the academy?"
"Nope."
He smirked when Hinata looked over at him and raised her eyebrows in annoyance. He immediately saw the girl was serious and decided to save the joking for later. Sighing loudly he made his way over to Meizu's body. The man was lying face down in a pool of blood and the blonde had to roll him over to get to his pockets. After a quick search revealed nothing, he wiped the blood on his cargo pants and stood up. "Nothing on this guy."
"Mm."
He turned and cocked an eyebrow at his partner. She had a small, blood-soaked note in her hands and was reading it intently. Naruto crossed the distance between them and squatted down to look over her shoulder. "..Konoha may send reinforcements before too long so keep an eye on the Fire end of the bridge. Do NOT kill anyone. Let them come to me. - Z."
Hinata noticed him reading over her shoulder and folded the note carefully before putting it in one of her coat pockets. He blew a raspberry at her and stood up. "Well whoever this Mr. Z is, he knew we were coming and planned accordingly. Although..we did make short work of his preparations.."
Naruto whistled and pulled his jacket out of his pack. He hadn't worn it most of the trip, but the fog and ocean spray was getting chilly. "What do you think, Hinata? We just beat the shit out of two Chuunin in like..5 minutes."
"Naruto.."
"What? I'm just saying we have improved is all!"
Naruto frowned when she rolled her eyes at him and rummaged through her own pack. He watched as she produced her canteen and a dirty shirt. The girl soaked the shirt and cleaned the blood from her hands before tossing the make-shift rag to him. "Clean yourself off."
He took the rag and wiped off his hands before tossing the rag back to his partner. Hinata's mood had changed considerably after the fight and he could guess as to why. The Hyuga heiress abhorred killing, no matter what name it was given. Assassination, pacification, self-defense..murder? It was all the same to Hinata and was the only thing that really ever came between them. "Hinata, seriously, this is like the twentieth time we've had to kill someone and you still get all moody afterwards. Get over it!"
She scowled at him and stuffed the bloody shirt back into her pack and zipped it up. "Get over it? We just ended two lives, Naruto, doesn't that bother you?"
"No. We killed two criminals that have killed far more than their fair share of innocents. I feel no shame in ridding the world of their scum."
"And who gives you the right to pass judgment?"
Naruto frowned, he knew where the conversation would go and just exactly would be the outcome. He and Hinata would argue until they were both blue in the face and he would end up apologizing a few hours later just so they could resume talking. So, instead of repeating yet another dramatic battle of words that would drive a rift in between them for a day or two, Naruto sighed and shook his head in defeat. "No one does. Let's go already."
He almost smirked when Hinata had to bite her tongue. More than likely she had readied a salvo of things to back up her accusation, but had been unprepared for his quick surrender. She blinked a few times in confusion and frowned at him. "W-wait, what?"
"You are right..about everything. Now can we please get out of here and find Team 4?"
"So..you agree then?"
Naruto sighed and shrugged before shouldering his backpack and setting off down the bridge, leaving Hinata behind with the two dead ninja.
As his stride swallowed up the distance between him and the village, Naruto pondered the predicament his friends might have gotten themselves into. It didn't take too long before the heavy clomp of boots invaded his thoughts and he was shoved roughly from behind. "Jerk! You just leave me to dispose of the bodies.."
"Hn."
He didn't pay attention as his companion went into a rant about chivalry being dead and other things he didn't really care about. In truth, Naruto wasn't really in the mood to talk and had spent the last half hour stewing over the note they had found. Someone knew that backup was being sent – hell, "Mr. Z" had even planted two well-known ninja to guard the bridge.
Something didn't agree with him and he wished he would've asked more about Team 4's mission before they had left home. The Demon Brothers weren't petty thugs to be put on watchdog duty by just anyone. Someone very rich or..very dangerous was pulling the strings and Naruto couldn't help but feel they were walking into a trap. "Hinata.."
"Oh now you wanna talk!"
Naruto cast his gaze over to the girl walking beside him. They were nearly at the connection point of both sides of the bridge and he could pick up chatter and noise coming through the fog. "Take off your headband and put it in one of the bags."
Hinata gave him a weird look but nodded and untied the fabric from her leg and stuffed it into her pack. Naruto undid his own hita-ite and put it away. His spiky blonde hair fell down over his eyes and he grumbled in annoyance. "This sucks, but I don't want anyone to know that we are ninja. Someone knows we are coming and he expects proud, Konoha shinobi to wander into his web blindly."
"You think this Z is really that clever?"
"To convince Gozu and Meizu to watch over a stupid bridge he is either very clever or very rich, let's hope it is the latter."
He knew he was probably grasping for false hope, but Hinata didn't need to get worked up, so he sugar-coated things. In truth he was pretty sure that they would be attacked when they least expected it and he would have to pull a miracle out of his ass to keep them alive.
Naruto turned when Hinata sighed audibly and peered off into the fog. "I hope Team 4 is alright."
They reached the middle of the bridge and crossed a tiny rope bridge that swung between the two ends of the massive construct. The bridge workers were quiet as they passed by and Naruto couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the hooded glances sent his way. The people of Wave were apparently very suspicious of outsiders, especially ones with blood-stained t-shirts and sharp teeth. Naruto almost laughed out loud when he smiled at a few of the workers and they brandished their tools defensively as if warding off a wild animal. One of the larger workers even took it upon himself to tail them until they were well into the village.
Other than the occasional glance or whispered conversation, the port-village was similar to any other village they had visited in their travels. The villagers weren't much different; the buildings were all built in the same familiar patterns and the village didn't seem to lack for shops and restaurants. One thing that set Naruto off though, was the lack of children. Nowhere were there children playing or causing mischief - it made the village feel otherworldly and a tad foreboding.
After wandering around a bit, Naruto managed to get directions to a hotel from a shopkeeper, who kept glancing out his door to see if anyone saw him helping the strangers. Naruto tried to pay the man, but was ushered out the door swiftly. "You would think we were cursed by people's reactions," Hinata commented quietly as they left.
He and Hinata reached the hotel and purchased one of the vacant hotel rooms, much to the delight of the owner. The few gold coins Naruto gave the older man had warmed his opinion so much so that he told Naruto that food and drinks would be sent to their room free of extra charge.
Naruto would've loved to have gone to the room and showered before plopping down to take a nap, but he had questions that needed answers. So, when the owner's young daughter came around to show them to their room, he sent Hinata with the girl and promised to join her soon. The Hyuga heiress scowled at him, but caught sight of her reflection in a mirror behind the front counter and seeing the filthy state she was in, didn't argue very much before following the girl to their room, leaving Naruto with the old man.
Once the two women had left, the old man's face brightened and he shot Naruto a crinkled smile. "So what can I do you for? Scented oils? Chocolates?"
Naruto paused for a bit and cocked an eyebrow. "Uh..what would I need those for?"
The balding man winked and tapped his bent nose. "For that pretty little bride of yours, boy!"
Naruto blanched at the man's words and almost corrected the owner, but his ninja training caught him first. To visit foreign places without a laudable alibi had been the downfall of countless ninja and spy master. Just traveling around for "sight-seeing" didn't cut it in the tense age that he had grown up in. Nowadays there were so many spies and counter-spies that giving someone the wrong time of day could have you thrown in prison. "Uhh, yeah my bride, right.."
The old man didn't seem to notice Naruto's pause in speech and cackled before reaching underneath the counter and producing a tall green bottle and a corkscrew. "This bottle is on the house, but extra's will cost you."
Naruto tried to protest but the owner waved him off and put the items in a bag before handing them over. He knew Hinata would get a kick out of this later. Accepting the gift, Naruto put the brown bag on the floor beside him and leaned across the counter towards the older fellow. "I really appreciate it, but I have other things I need from you."
"..and just what kind of things do you need, sir?"
Naruto sighed and looked around the room quickly before turning back to the hotel owner. The older man squinted at him curiously and absentmindedly began scrubbing the pristine counter with a dirty rag. "Two of my friends came into town a week or so ago. I haven't heard from them in a while and was hoping they were still around."
The older man paused at that and looked around the room before motioning for him to get closer. Naruto obliged and leaned over the counter as inconspicuously as he could. "A young couple showed up about a week ago with Tazuna the bridge builder, they stayed here for a night and left the next morning. Some..shady fellows came calling on em', but they had paid their bill and left by then; I haven't seen hide nor hair of them since.."
Naruto couldn't help but grin at the thought of Kiba and Tsubaki using the same alibi he was, more importantly though, Team 4 knew someone was tracking them, and that gave him a glimmer of hope. He deftly slipped a single gold coin onto the counter which the older man palmed quickly. "Thanks."
The owner smiled widely and winked. "You have a good time! Call if you need anything else!"
Naruto smirked and walked out of the lobby. As he made his way into the hall he caught the owner's daughter as she was returning and she gave him another room key and his room number. After a short walk, he reached his room, unlocked the door and stepped inside, tossing the brown bag onto the bed and stripping off his bloody shirt. The room was cool and he shuddered before flopping unceremoniously onto the bed and falling asleep within minutes.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the port-village..
Kenji Tomora was known around the village as bad news. A sword for hire and ex-soldier, Kenji had killed more men than he had aged in years. Scars decorated his ropey muscles like badges of honor, tokens of a life lived on the edge.
Normal men trembled in his presence, and more than a few "killers" themselves gave him a wide berth. Today however, it was Kenji feeling uncomfortable as he made his way into his employer's makeshift office.
The dark room was dusty and unkempt, and he squinted through the dim light as he made his way over to the lone desk occupying the room. A lantern hanging in the corner cast an eerie red glow across the office and shadows of midnight lurked in between the shafts of crimson light, filled with imagined threats and assassins.
Kenji was on edge. "I came here as soon as I could, boss.." he mumbled, addressing the lone figure occupying the old, leather armchair behind the desk.
Not once, in the past few weeks that he had worked for this "Mr. Z" had Kenji seen the man's face. He could make out long, almost delicate fingers twirling a knife expertly from the darkness of the high-backed chair, but that was about all he could glimpse in the darkness. It was like talking to a shadow with hands, and it was oddly unnerving for the mercenary.
"The brothers..?"
Kenji felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. Mr. Z's voice was deep and smooth, a hint of mischief or barely concealed delight in it – Kenji couldn't say which. "Uh, the two kids killed em', the chick blew fire on the bodies and torched em'."
There was a short pause in the knife twirling. "A fire jutsu? Interesting.."
Kenji shuffled uncomfortably and glanced back at the door to the room. He immediately turned his attention back to the other man in the room, when the chair squeaked and rolled backwards from the desk.
"Uh..boss?"
"Kenji you have been a good mercenary, taking orders unquestioningly and carrying out your duties. This whole time you have worked for me, you have been expecting pay for a job well done with no questions asked. Correct?"
Kenji began backing towards the door as he nodded his head. If there was one thing you gained from being a sell-sword, it was a knack for sensing a double-cross. The game had gone sour and he was almost certain things were about to get bad. "I'm just going to leave now. You keep the money."
The lantern went out and the room went pitch-black. A light chuckle emanated from the darkness and Kenji drew his sword when he heard the old chair squeak as weight was lifted from it.
"Sorry, I didn't have any money to give you in the first place. The other two people I hired thought I had money as well..but those two kids spared me the trouble of informing them otherwise."
The dark swallowed his senses and Kenji slashed out at the enclosing blackness, hoping against all odds that he would back into the door and make his escape.
"Hehehe, you nearly got me just there.."
Kenji lost control of his extremities at that point, warm liquid trickling down his leg. The mysterious man had crossed the room and was circling him like a snake in the dark!
"Get away from me you freak!"
Those would be the last words Kenji Tomora would ever say. Just as the last syllable left his tongue, the lantern came back on and flooded the room with light.
The mercenary blinked twice..then died.