Glad I managed to get this out without breaking my 3 day max rule. I caught a bug and was pretty blank for a while, which is why this is a day later than usual. Ah well, it couldn't be helped. Besides, I doubt a single on of you though I'd abandoned from that, so I'll not make a big deal of it. Damn, now I gotta work out what to do next. Is it time for a return to Ame, or should I have a couple more training missions first I wonder?

Disclaimer: Out of strange curiosity, I wonder if there are any Gato fangirls/boys/hermaphrodites out there?

The shroud of mist, the silent killer

A damp smell filled the air as mossy ground and mossy tree filled every corner of vision. The squelches caused by each of Kisame's footsteps was disgusting, yet for the most part ignored. The silent forest bid welcome to its new visitor, the lonely atmosphere broken by his presence. He glanced up at the peculiar structure ahead of him, a site that baffled the eyes and would put most diligent architects into angered mutterings of nonsense and impossibilities.

This building, what could at best be described as a lavish tree house, stood with only a tree offering any sort of base support, even though it was far from centres to the structure. In fact, what seemed to be holding the domicile was by no means appropriate, they were in fact several thick cables connecting the building to the earth and surrounding trees.

The structure itself was of outlandish design too, bearing a striking resemblance to the roof of a hut, its conical shape strangely suited to the comparison considering its suspension. Walkways connected from several openings to the building, leading off to who knows where? At the base of the absurd abode, there was another walkway spiralling down to the ground. It was that walkway which Kisame stepped on, taking a slow rise as he made his way into the lair of Momochi Zabuza.

"Not bad." he thought, as he began a steady climb. It looked like Zabuza had made himself a pretty comfortable den up here, something one didn't really expect of a missing-nin. It was enough to make him wonder if Zabuza really had abandoned this place, since few would want to really.

A small smirk appeared on his face, it looked like the others were doing a good job. Had he not known they would be where they were, he would most likely have missed them. Of course, that was mostly in part to Samehada. The giant blade had been practically giddy when Utakata and Yagura joined up; their chakra had nearly made the blade cry out in excitement.

"Report?" Kisame called, pressing his fingers to his earpiece. He listened to the static that came with the oncoming reply.

"First floor, it looks like a meeting room." Gaara's voice said, the walls in between causing his gravelly voice to hiss slightly.

"Second floor, supply store." came Yagura's response, "Food, weapons, money, there's a lot of stuff here."

"Fourth floor, bedroom." Naruto said, before he suddenly exclaimed, "Wait a minute, WHY'S THERE ONLY ONE BED HERE?!"

"Naruto, quit breaking order!" Kisame barked, his brow creasing in annoyance. He looked up as he drew nearer to the building, it was all shadows up there, "Utakata-san, how's it going?"

"Third floor, seems like the underling's quarters." Utakata replied.

"Oh… forget what I said." Naruto muttered, embarrassment evident in his voice. Kisame sighed again, lowering his hand from the transceiver. Though Naruto had become an intermediate in some advanced forms of the ninja arts, and even a master in some, he still seemed to have trouble grasping the more basic aspects. Like not making a lot of noise when in enemy territory.

Inside the building, on the first floor, Gaara cautiously searched each of the rooms for anything suspicious. At the moment, he stood in a broad room with little furniture other than a sofa placed in the middle of the room facing the door, and what looked strangely like a bar along the wall opposite the window. From what he could see, this place was hardly ambiguous. However, he made his way to the door by the bar, deciding to inspect further.

He stepped into a room which appeared to be where the information was kept. Files were laid out neatly in wooden drawers, while some were strewn across the table in the middle of the room. Gaara stepped over to the table, and began studying the files with blank interest. After a few quiet moments, he raised his fingers to his ears to report.

Using his staff to prise open one of the sealed crates, Yagura searched the contents of the unmarked box with a creased brow. It seemed Momochi Zabuza had prepared for just about every situation. This crate was filled literally to the top with explosive notes, each formed into high and perfectly stacked piles. That had made for the third such crate he had encountered, others containing kunai, shuriken and senbon.

"Geez, is this guy going to war?" he muttered, once more slipping the lid back into place. He cast his eyes around, everything was in place, in top condition and most importantly, fully stocked. It didn't take genius to work out that even if this place wasn't in use, it was far from abandoned. He turned back and made his way to the door, intending to search the other rooms.

Utakata glanced down at the floor as he heard another bang. It seemed like Yagura was searching the stores down there, and making quite a bit of noise in the process. That hardly seemed a problem though, considering that Naruto had already made enough noise that if there was someone here, they would already be on alert. Fortunately, Utakata could detect no one in proximity to him. However, considering the person they searched for that could be far from fortunate.

He turned around on the spot, letting his eyes flit around the bedroom of one of the inhabitants. He was certainly surprised; he hadn't been expecting to see so many plants in the area. But further study confirmed that each of those plants were used in poisons and antidotes respectively, so he doubted they were just to make the room seem more attractive.

"Looks like he's got someone who's good with their chemistry here." he thought, lightly touching a bright yellow flower. He then cast his eyes over to the single bed in the middle of the wall to his right; it had been made so that there was scarcely a crease in it. Looking around, the rest of the room was in similar condition too, "I know missing-nin try to make it look like they were never there, but this is just plain obsessive compulsion."

He stepped over to the window, looking outside to the light from the forest. This room was in immaculate condition, there wasn't even any dust lying around. He placed his hands on the sill, letting out a sigh. But then his eyes dropped down to the wooden surface, and to the earth settled between his fingers. It was still damp, but then in this humid environment that didn't really stand for much. However, the moss caught in it certainly didn't belong to any of the plants.

"Oh well…" he thought, casually raising his bubble blower to his lips, "Looks like someone was in a hurry to leave."

Up above, Naruto rested his back against the wall of what seemed to be Zabuza's bedroom. He had his arms crossed and wore an annoyed look, his fingers fidgeting uncontrollably as he looked his target's room.

It was rather unassuming, though the king size bed off to the right certainly seemed lavish for a ninja. Then again, considering his bed was usually the forest floor, a bunk would seem lavish to Naruto. Nonetheless, the place looked luxurious enough that he almost doubted a missing-nin lived here. Though he had been anxious before, now that he was here he could see Kisame's point. Missing-nins that settled usually had a hard time.

He straightened up, stepping towards the bed with his arms still folded. He glared down at the large surface, it looked undeservingly comfortable. He glanced around once more, aside from a couple of bedside cabinets and a chest of drawers there really wasn't all that much here. He then dropped his eyes to the mattress again, his hands dropping to his sides.

"If this guy isn't here, I'm so taking a leak on this thing." he announced, making an oath to himself that his body was already preparing for. He sighed, he knew doing such a thing wouldn't make him feel any better, but at least it could-

"BEHIND YOU!"

But Eko's warning came too late. Before Naruto could so much as see the threat, it had already met him. His head now rested in the round circle of a massive blade, a zanbato if he remembered correctly. He looked on ahead into the eyes of the person holding the giant sword, recognising that face only from the vaguest recall. The brown spiky hair, the off centre Kiri forehead protector, the tan skin and the gauze wrapped around the lower half of his face. He hadn't forgotten, not even the small, demented eyes with the shrunken pupils escaped his recall.

"Uzumaki Naruto…" murmured Momochi Zabuza, the coverings on his face failing to hide his anger, "Why is it after all this time you're still in my Bingo Book?"

"Guess I'm just the guy everyone wants to meet." Naruto replied, with a cocky smirk. Then, with one fluid movement, he dropped down to a crossed legged position, throwing his left hand up to Zabuza while his other reached for Eko. The wind blasted from his palm and pummelled Zabuza's stomach, sending him flying back to the other side of the room. But he managed to regain control before impact, pressing his hand against the wall to keep himself from hitting it. He watched as Naruto raised his blade over his head and lowered it to the floor. He could clearly see what that stance meant, and was intrigued to no end.

"Nice sword." he said, straightening up. He lifted his own into the air and rested it on his shoulder, studying Naruto's with faint appraisal, "You got rid of that worthless blade then?"

Naruto's arm twitched slightly as Eko flew into a sudden rage. The blade tried to take control like he used to, but Naruto suppressed that action and kept Eko in place. He watched Zabuza with a spreading grin, to the missing-nin's annoyance.

"Bet you regret not taking him now huh?" Naruto asked, copying Zabuza's pose by resting Eko lightly on his shoulder. Granted with Eko being a double edged blade it didn't look that realistic, but the motion was enough to prove his point; Eko was bigger than Zabuza's blade, "All you got is that oversized butter-knife."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he leered at Naruto, before looking at the blade again. Naruto could see that he detested the condescending tone he was being spoken to with, and also with Eko being the way he was. He swing his giant knife so the blade was back on the ground, giving Naruto a hateful look which frankly, Naruto felt was a little uncalled for.

"So that's the same blade then?" Zabuza asked, his brow twitching in contempt. He changed his grip on the lengthy hilt of his knife, and Naruto already knew the attack he was going to make, "Looks like that bastard pulled one over on me. Well that's fine. I can take you down and take that blade for myself!"

With that he disappeared, flickering away into nothingness. Naruto was momentarily stunned by the great feat of speed displayed, but regained his sense quick enough to defend against the oncoming attack. He whipped around and raised Eko, sparks flying as Zabuza appeared standing on his bed with his knife bearing down on the blond.

"Come on man, what kinda swordsman jumps his opponent like that?" Naruto asked, more in a goading manner than actual distaste. He released a hand from Eko's hilt and slid his arm out of his sleeve, "You could at least give me time to get this off, it damn near killed me to get it y'know?"

He watched Zabuza closely, scanning his body in the instant he had to do so. The straps he wore to holster his blade on his back made Naruto smile, it practically screamed out that the knife wasn't one of the seven swords. Beneath the straps he wore a black muscle shirt, and striped pastille blue protectors on his forearms. He also wore black trousers; his dress was completely different from how Naruto remembered. Fortunately, from what he could see Naruto and Zabuza had something in common; they didn't like using other weapons in one on one fights.

Zabuza leapt back from Naruto, raising his weapon defensively as the boy followed him, slipping his other arm out of its sleeve and discarding the haori onto the bed. He then slashed down, his weapon recoiling from the impact as he continued with a sideward cut. Zabuza dodged it, but a section of the wall was scarred badly by the attack.

"Damn it, let's slice this bastard in half!"

Naruto chuckled right before he disappeared into thin air. Zabuza did the same, and sparks began flying all over the place as the sound of blades clashing rang out. Naruto was fairly certain even Kisame knew the situation now, and wondered what was going to happen.

Suddenly, Naruto's hand whipped up as something whistled through the air. He grabbed the thin projectiles, not needing to look to know that they were senbon. He smirked as he sensed the presence to his left, bending the senbon with his strong grip.

"How's it going Haku-chan?" he asked, keeping his attention on Zabuza, who remained still as he watched the interaction between his opponent and his back up.

In the doorway, like a giant porcelain doll, Haku stood. Dressed in almost exactly the same clothes as the ANBU of Kiri, Naruto came to understand a little something about these two. Aside from the baggy shorts, the only defining feature of Haku was his mask with the fire like design.

"Zabuza-san, shall I take over?" Haku asked, disregarding Naruto's words as he glanced to the older Shinobi.

"No, I'll deal with this guy myself." Zabuza replied, his eyes fixed on Naruto. Haku nodded in understanding, before his attention was suddenly drawn to the window.

"Look out!" he exclaimed, whipping a pair of senbon to the open frame. A large bubble had floated in, filled with a thick purple fog. The senbon pierced the bubble and popped it, spreading its contents through the air. Naruto grinned, recognising his chance. He dashed past Zabuza and through the cloud of smoke, leaping outside and onto the walkway below. He then turned on the spot, watching the opening as he waited with anxious excitement. Moments later, Zabuza leapt out too, trailing smoke behind him as he descended. He landed opposite Naruto, holding his blade at the ready as he faced the boy with narrow eyes.

"At least there's more room to breath out here." Naruto commented with a cheeky grin.

"Don't get used to it!" Zabuza growled, before charging forward.

He swung out a horizontal slash, throwing his whole body into a spin in the process. Naruto easily stepped out of the attack's range before rushing in and bringing Eko down upon Zabuza. But the attack was blocked as the bounty hunter made another spin and raised his arm, defending with the tip of his blade facing the ground. Eko bounced off the other sword as they clashed, and Naruto leapt back to avoid a counter.

Zabuza ran at Naruto, slashing in a furious flurry that drove the boy back step by step. With scarcely room to defend, Naruto was forced to continuously back off along the long bridge, until he finally found an opening to counter. But just as he made his attack, Zabuza struck the bridge with his sword and forced it to snap, sending the two of them plummeting down below.

Naruto landed into the soft earth, the foot of one leg and shin of the other sinking in a couple inches. He whipped his head up to Zabuza, who had landed perfectly on a small pond of water. His sword was replaced on his back and both of his hands were held in single seals, one above his head and the other to his face. Naruto tensed, watching Zabuza with a creased brow, "A Jutsu?"

Zabuza stood firm in his position, not moving an inch as a slow mist began to gather around him. Naruto ground his teeth, he was already aware of what was going on. Kirigakure no Jutsu, that's what Kisame had called it.

"Well hell if I'm letting him get the advantage!" he thought, sticking Eko into the ground. He then raised his hands into a seal, deciding to use a technique of his own, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The mist was too thick to see how many copies were created, but by the sounds of splashing water it seemed like it very well could be many. Zabuza then responded in kind by forming another seal, this time the tiger. The result was the water around him reacting irregularly, rising in piles and forming shapes oddly resembling his own. Then they actually took on his shape, and even his colour as they became near exact copies of him. Seven Zabuzas surrounding the original, each wielding a massive blade of their own. Then at once they all disappeared, vanishing into the mist.

Far aside, Kisame watched the fight from his seated position near the top of the walkway he'd been ascending. He rested his jaw on his hand as he grinned towards the thick cloud, wondering just how his student was doing. Of course, his other one was much easier to tell, he could still hear the sound of rushing sand easily from his place. He gave a small glance up as Utakata and Yagura walked down to join him, both with fairly blank expressions.

"Those guys with the chains weren't much." Yagura commented, as he and Utakata sat down near Kisame. Both of them immediately recognised what was happening down there, and understood all but one point, "So is that Naruto san or Zabuza's Jutsu?"

"Naruto doesn't know how to use Suiton." Kisame replied, returning his eyes to the match. He cocked a brow as the mist tore apart in places; the sound of wind blasting around suggested the reason, "Though I have been toying with the idea of teaching it to him."

"Hm…" Yagura grunted, raising his hand to his chin as he watched the fight. There wasn't too much to see, and the only things heard were blades clashing, wind blowing and water splashing. Despite this, a slow smirk spread across Yagura's lips, a feat not usually used by the generally stoic boy.

"Don't leave us in the dark here." Utakata said, nudging his friend in the arm, "What's going on?"

"You can see in there?" Kisame asked, giving Yagura a look of interest.

"Yeah, thanks to a little help from the Sanbi." Yagura replied, leaning forward to study the fight closer, "But I don't think telling you will be necessary."

His point was proven as moments later, the water in the pond erupted into the sky. However, instead of dropping back down it formed into a long, serpentine beast, like a dragon made of water.

"That moron let him use the Suiryudan?" Kisame muttered, with a slight look of incredulity on his face. Of course, his worry was not in Naruto's allowing Zabuza to use such a high level Jutsu, but that he had actually given his opponent the time to use that Jutsu of all things. However, the problem was soon rectified as a pillar if wind fired out of the mist and smashed into the water dragon, shattering it instantly, "Fortunately Naruto's quicker with his counterattacks."

"Hmph." Yagura sneered, with clear doubt in his tone. From his perspective Naruto was firing blind against an enemy that was barely taking him seriously, "And this guy has the Kyubi?"

Back down on the surface, Naruto whipped his head around for the faintest signs of shadows. But Zabuza seemed particularly skilled with this Jutsu, just as Kisame had said. Fortunately however he also told Naruto other aspects of the Jutsu, most importantly the key ways to overcome it.

"Too easy." he thought, covering Zabuza's tracks from beneath the surface of the water. From here it was a simple task of watching the feet standing atop the pond. He watched as his Kage Bunshin took on Zabuza's copies with surprising ease, apparently his Bunshin were of a weaker variant. In any case, it didn't take him too long to locate the original, the only one who was making no effort to move in the slightest. Naruto grinned, gripping Eko tight. Then, with a burst of chakra, he sharply rose to the surface to-

"And cue Suiro no Jutsu." Yagura muttered, with a self-satisfied sigh.

"What the?!" Naruto thought, whipping his head around in shock. The target whom he'd thought to be Zabuza had in fact turned out to be yet another copy, one intended to trick him into this situation. He now stood trapped in a sphere of water, the real Zabuza behind him with his hand pressed against the surface.

"What a worthless excuse for a Shinobi." the bounty hunter commented, looking down at Naruto with disgust. He then took his blade and struck Eko hard, forcing it out of the sphere and into the pond. One of the water clones then took the blade and tossed it to Zabuza, who replaced it with his own one in his grip. Raising it in the air, he viewed the great sword with interest, "Not bad, not bad at all."

Naruto glared up at Zabuza, giving the look of someone feeling as much hate for their opponent as they did themselves at that time. Zabuza smirked at this, returning his attention to the boy who was slowly realising his fading breath.

"Looks like Kisame just wanted to give this blade an owner." he said, with almost compassionate understanding, "Well, since he first intended me to have it, I guess it's no big deal if I take it now. You're hardly worthy in any case."

"Damn it Eko, hurry it up will ya?!" Naruto thought, looking up at the blade bewilderedly. But he heard nothing back from Eko; it was like the sword couldn't hear him. Was it because of the Jutsu he was stuck in, interfering with the signals? Or was it that he was in someone else's hands now? Either way was problematic, "Damn it you bastard, don't forget about me!"

"Will you shut up, I'm tryna concentrate!"

"Huh?!" Zabuza exclaimed, looking to the blade in shock. Eko then let out a long, drawn out sigh as Naruto mentally face palmed himself.

"Oh well."

Suddenly a grotesque sound filled the air as Futon chakra burst from Eko's hilt, slicing Zabuza's hand to pieces, "HRAH!"

Zabuza groaned in pain, and was forced to drop the blade back onto the water. But he did his best to keep the Jutsu Naruto was trapped in in effect, and just barely succeeded. Breathing heavily, and sweating just as much, he looked up at Naruto with narrow eyes, a hateful look on his face. The only sounds came from his lungs, and the coursing water of Naruto's prison.

"Nice try brat." he exhaled, locking eyes with the boy, "But no luck."

Those were his thoughts, right until he caught the flicker in Naruto's eyes. Whipping his head back, he saw three other Naruto's falling through the air, throwing their hands down towards Zabuza. Wind burst from their palms and struck his back hard, forcing him straight into his own Jutsu. The action caused him to break the technique and in an instant Naruto was back on his feet. Zabuza stood slumped against Naruto's shoulder, his eyes wide with shock as he felt Naruto's palm on top of his heart, and more specifically, the chakra already gathered there.

"Sorry about this." Naruto muttered, speaking into Zabuza's ear, "But I kinda have to look good right now."

"You-Grah!" Zabuza cried out, his eyes snapping as far open as they could. He stood steady for several long moments, blood staining the gauze around his mouth as his eyes rolled back into his skull. Then he slumped onto Naruto, who grabbed him before he could fall into the depths. As one of the clones grabbed the real Eko, he and the remaining Kage Bunshin dragged Zabuza onto firm ground as the mist slowly dissipated. They then laid him down, and once Eko was returned to Naruto's back, the Kage Bunshin disappeared. Naruto continued to look down at Zabuza's body while the mist was still thick, before turning away. He left the former member of the seven swordsmen of the hidden mist to lie in peace, considering it a last mercy.

"Not bad." Kisame said, dropping down and landing not too far away. He looked over to Zabuza' body with a nostalgic look, but one that showed no sadness. Naruto looked past his sensei to set his eyes on the two behind him. Utakata too had his eyes fixed on Zabuza, though his expression didn't really reveal anything. Yagura on the other hand gave one glance to Naruto before immediately averting his gaze; something the blond found strange, "Anyway, we're just waiting up for Gaara now."

"It's fine, he's here."

Kisame and Naruto both glanced up, spotting Gaara descending on a platform of sand. In moments he rejoined the group, looking as though he'd simply gone for a walk. He handed Naruto his haori, earning a thanks from the blond who threw it on.

"It's done." he said, with a bored expression. He gave Naruto a quick look, before turning his eyes to Kisame, "Now what?"

"Hmm…" Kisame murmured, looking from the building, to Zabuza's body, to somewhere deep in the forest. He scratched his head, before looking to the shorter Shinobi questioningly, "Who's hungry?"

Naruto resisted a sigh as Kisame, Yagura and Utakata began to suddenly move on. Though it had hardly seemed like a big deal to them, he had just defeated someone who was once ranked amongst Kiri's strongest. If nothing else, he felt at least entitled to a breather. But he persevered, and instead just walked alongside Gaara after the others.

"So did you do it?" Gaara asked, watching the three ex-Kiri-nin in front of them. Naruto looked at his partner with a raised brow, unsure quite of what he meant. But then it came to him, and he turned his gaze ahead again.

"Yeah…"