Disclaimer: My hands may draw Naruto, but they were not the first hands to do it.
Another day had passed for Team 7, and Yoriiji's beard was considerably longer than it was supposed to be when he stormed into town with the remainder of Gato's bitter entourage. Aside from his personal hatred for an orange-clad ninja, whom he had been denied the pleasure of killing thanks to a mist ninja, With their employer dead(some of them actually witnessing the event), they were now broke and not too keen on the classified ads. They had done some things to secure their immediate futures, such as looting the bungalow for all it was worth, but the verdict was still the same.
Their payroll was on permanent hold, and they had to take it out on somebody.
With a surprising stroke of intelligence, the thugs had carefully marked out the area of the settlement they were going to ravage, ensuring it was reasonably far from the bridge and definitely out of earshot. Until they could be sure that the remaining Konoha ninja had left the area, they had to be very cautious.
The villagers in the marketplace didn't hesitate to hide and bolt the doors when around thirty heavily-armed men stormed down the lane. That didn't save the stores, however. Starting with the florist, and working down the street, various weapons smashed through wooden and glass entryways, eliciting shrieks of various pitches. The rampage quickly turned violent, people getting mugged and having their very clothes stolen from them until there was a reasonably noisy explosion in the center of their vicinity. Despite all the miscreants' careful planning, they forgot a rather important detail-
Ninjas ate lunch, too. Aside from that, they weren't very happy shinobi, and were more than happy to lay the smack down, which they did.
The attack was silent at first, the three getting up from the luncheon counter and not reacting when a particular group of the marauders threatened them. As the social rejects approached them, however, they whipped around and felled the first group with reasonable ease. A blow to the face here and a jutsu there did wonders for the miracle of ass-kicking.
Yoriiji's accomplices fell all around him, and when he was the only one left standing, he couldn't help but wonder why the children(if they could be called that, as they were efficient combat machines) hadn't caused him grievous bodily damage yet. They simply stared at him with an unreadable expression. He found out the cause of their inaction shortly after the adult warrior came in, masked and formidable. There was no pity or emotion in his experienced grappling. Five seconds with Kakashi saw Yoriiji sprawled on the floor with a knife uncomfortable close to his throat.
"Why did you attack?" the questionnaire began, causing the thug's stomach to churn. Nobody in their right mind(or not in their right mind, for that matter) wanted to be interrogated by a ninja. No one could go into the mercenary line of business without hearing the horror stories. Unsurprisingly, the next twenty minutes were not enjoyable to Yoriiji in any way. Every time he shut his mouth, the girl with pink hair was all too willing to hurt him. Honestly, though, he couldn't help but question what he had done to merit such special treatment.
The information flowed out of the lowlife's mouth quite easily, so Sakura didn't get as much torment in as she would have liked. Gato was dead, and as far as they knew, Zabuza and his tag-a-long had long since departed. Gato's remaining forces had consisted of the people the ninja had already thrashed, and the chances of them attacking again were, at most, minimal. The man received an unearned bit of abuse, of course, upon disclosing their blonde comrade's fate.
"Dead," he had grunted at them, slightly amused to watch the pink-haired bitch's face contort,"-the masked kid nailed him like nothing' else."
Those words were the last he'd be able to speak for about three days, as the unreadable leader of the rag-tag team delivered a blow to his skull that would leave a new scar for the collection already adorning the thug's body.
Sakura didn't even dare breathe. She had done her crying.
"We're going to find that masked kid, right?" Sasuke asked, outraged beneath his calm mask.
Silence permeated throughout the room before Kakashi made a simple announcement, voice dangerously quiet.
"We're going back to the bridge."
Sasuke growled under his breath, "Why? Our informant just told us the danger's OVER."
"This is still a C-rank mission, Sasuke. If there is a chance of even a wild animal attack, we have to cover the builder until the construction is over." came the apathetic reply.
"Bull." Sasuke hissed, eyes flashing. "You think I'm going to sit back and play the good little ninja?! NARUTO IS DEAD. Someone KILLED him, and you aren't going to do a damned thing about it?! I thought you were a great man. What happened to the 'Man of a Thousand Jutsu'?!"
Kakashi's back steeled, making him look like the scarecrow that was his namesake.
"What would you have me do, then? Go out of my way to antagonize a ninja who shares my rank while still being responsible for you brats?!" Sasuke recoiled at this, causing the gray-haired teacher to continue, "Has it ever occurred to you that I might be trying to keep you safe?"
"We don't need your protection!" Sasuke spat in retaliation. "We aren't infants, Kakashi!"
"THEN STOP ACTING LIKE ONE, UCHIHA SASUKE!" the addressed adult bellowed, taking even himself by surprise. "You aren't invincible."
Sasuke bit his lower lip and bowed his head, humbled but unable to apologize. Sakura stood in his shadow, biting her pink hair. Kakashi had yet to turn around, and it didn't seem he was going to. Despite this, his tone became much gentler.
"Come on. We're burning daylight." the jonin urged, causing Sakura to groan despite herself. The man had no right to talk.
Haku leaned over the slowly-rousing Naruto. Mask in place, he regarded the boy curiously. It had been two days since he knocked the boy into a death trance, and all things considered, he recovered quickly for a person his age. After all, Haku hadn't hit him in a spot where the effects were brief. He should have, now that he thought back on it, but he had been afraid. Had the black-haired Mist Ninja not been able to find the documents supporting the blue-eyed boys nearly impossible claims, the death trance would have been the only thing to spare the genin from Zabuza's fatal wrath.
Haku didn't make a sound as the child from Konoha struggled to sit up and rub his eyes. Like he had on many occasions, the kekkai genkai user just watched carefully. The blonde opened his mouth and let out a loud yawn before looking over at him. With a flash of recognition, the blue-eyed genin reached under the blanket with his left hand for what Haku assumed was his misplaced weapon holster. However, after a few moments, it was apparent the kid was only scratching his butt After finishing that, the boy lifted up his right hand to wave.
"Yo." he greeted, strangely unperturbed by the situation he was in.
"Good evening." Haku replied before needlessly adding, "I see you're awake."
Naruto regarded his host blearily, accentuated by his growling stomach, causing Haku to smile behind his plaster mask. A few more seconds passed with the foreign shinobi just looking at one another before something in the blonde's brain snapped.
"Evening?!" Naruto stammered, face paling. Haku, once again baffled by the child's behavior, just nodded.
"How long…how long have I been sleeping?!" the Uzumaki demanded, energy streaming back into his frame at an impossible rate.
"Two days." Haku informed him before turning to the fire behind him and plucking up a roasted fish and handing it to his guest. "Here. Eat."
Naruto wolfishly devoured the meal provided, unable to ignore his belly's plea for satisfaction despite his discomfort with being late. After swallowing the last bit, he looked to Haku pleadingly.
"I gotta go!" he sputtered, wiggling out of the blanket he was provided and staggering to his feet. Haku let him go about his frantic movements for a moment before shaking his head.
"You can't leave yet," Haku stated and was promptly ignored. Naruto quickly found his shirt and jacket and put them on before scouring the campsite for his other things.
"I said you can't go." Haku repeated, moving his head to watch the blonde's stamina return with bewilderment.
"Why not?" Naruto asked, slightly frustrated.
"Zabuza told me to make you stay here until he comes back."
The Uzumaki groaned. "When will that be? Sakura's going to KILL ME! I am so freaking late!"
By this point, Naruto was gesticulating wildly.
"Calm down…" Haku sighed, bringing a graceful hand to his face. Naruto carried on, however, ranting about the horrible fates that awaited him for about two minutes straight before he was interrupted by a man carrying a giant sword.
"…." Zabuza leered down at the noisy intruder of his peaceful camp, instantly quieting the outburst.
"Welcome back, Master Zabuza." Haku said cheerily, handing the older man the remaining fish from the campfire. There was no sound of gratitude before the 'demon' sat down and ripped into his meal with his fang-like teeth, all the while watching Naruto fidget nervously.
It took some time for Naruto to gather the courage to speak, but when the words finally came out, they were resolute.
"I.want.to.go.home." he annunciated in Zabuza's direction, face drawn in a sulk.
"Whatever." the man grunted, disinterested in the words of the boy.
"Okay, then. I'll just be on my way-"
"Like hell." Zabuza interrupted, his sword suddenly barring the kage's son from leaving the way he had intended. The movement also had the side effect of making the lad yelp, which was immensely satisfying.
"What do you want from me?" the blonde youth demanded after recovering from the shock.
"Nothing." the infamous criminal answered, sounding as if the answer was obvious.
"Then it's easy. Just let me go."
"No." Zabuza finished his meal and stood up, the difference in height causing a shadow from the campfire to cover Naruto's face, which was suddenly passive.
"I don't like to be in debt." the man said, once again sounding like he had answered the questions that plagued mankind's existence.
"So?" Naruto deadpanned.
"You aren't leaving until it's paid." he insisted, causing Naruto to become very confused. It wasn't a threat, but the words were still not soothing in any way. The former ANBU leader motioned to his underling and pointed to the clueless Uzumaki. Haku bowed his head, instantly understanding the request.
"As you wish, sir." Without any further prompting, Haku seized Naruto and began to drag him backwards into the woods.
"…I'll let you know that if you are going to attempt to kill me again, I shall not hesitate to kick your ass." Naruto muttered at his captor, who let out a hollow chuckle.
"You aren't even CLOSE to my league, silly ninja."
"Oh yeah?" Naruto asked, "On what basis do you say that?"
"I beat you, didn't I? It didn't take much." Haku giggled, once again making Naruto question his true gender.
It was Naruto's turn to laugh. "Did you think I was trying or something?"
Underneath the mask, Haku lifted an eyebrow, amused. "It seemed that way, didn't it?"
"Well, I wasn't, just so you know." Naruto said lazily, his bare feet trailing in the dirt as Haku pulled him. "What are you doing, anyway?"
"Zabuza wants me to teach you a jutsu." Excitement welled up in the Uzumaki's heart, but was quickly pushed aside for a reasonably question.
"-and then can I leave?" the blonde asked nervously.
"Of course. It'll probably only take you a month to master it, during which time the three of us shall move all over the countryside."
"THE HELL? I CAN'T BE GONE FOR A MONTH!"
"Then take it up with Zabuza."
"….damn."
Author's note: 2k words in one day. Somebody give me some Visene!