A/N:
Peruna
Thanks. This is the 'wtf happened while Chikako got eaten and spit out again?' chapter. At least the first half is. That should answer most questions I think.
I thought about ending the previous chapter without making it obvious that Chikako was fine, but that seemed really silly. As you said, we all know she is a human axolotl. I'm glad you liked the ending and the fight. Especially the fight, I rewrote that stupid thing twice, because the first two versions just wouldn't play nice (number one went too smoothly and number 2 was a mess with way too many people jumping around).
It's been a while since I've read DoS (almost half a year I think, gotta catch up with that). I don't know how that Sanbi fight went, but my calculator says that the chapters of Here Be Monster are on average only about 200 words longer than those of DoS. I think the main difference isn't the chapter length, but my bad habit of leaving out a lot of description.
It's not like I'd cut a fight into several pieces because of the chapter length anyway. I just stop writing whenever it feels like the next thing I want to say belongs into a different chapter (glad that I'm getting better at finding a good cut). I've never paid particular attention to the chapter length though and as a consequence the longest chapter has almost three times as many words as the shortest.
soapsopas
Welcome back. When you say 'whos-with-who', do you mean relationships? Because I don't know where I'm going with those either. Lets pretend they evolve organically and then claim it was all planned in the end.
It's more like the mid-season finale, but I'm glad you liked it.
Kragh50
Thanks. What happened to Kisame should become obvious in this chapter, so I'm not going to comment on that. As for Chikako, she didn't absorb anyone's chakra, she's just a little idiot that thinks she can get hit by a giant shrimp tail and end up with nothing more than a bruise.
Elise142
Thanks. Itachi's whereabouts are ... well not explained, but mentioned in this chapter.
cassianaswindell123
Aw, but what about poor Kit? He's going to get jealous if Kisame takes his place as the favorite.
Diehard gamer
Thanks for the critique. When you say everything felt rushed, do you mean the chapter as a whole or just the fight? Also, if there is a really big/drawn-out fight, would you rather it be split into multiple chapters or would one long chapter be better?
Roroy
Thank you. Technically the yokai aren't really an addition. I just changed what exactly summons are. So just to clarify:
The only difference between say Jiro and Pakkun or Gamabunta, is that he doesn't belong to a family of summons that has it's own realm, and that he isn't bound by a contract.
The summoning tattoo Chikako received theoretically allows her to call on any of the unbound yokai. None of them have any obligation to help her though, unlike bound yokai (summons). And even if they do, as seen with Anwei, they aren't necessarily acting in good faith. That is why Chikako doesn't just summon random yokai, but the process itself costs no more or less than summoning a bound yokai would.
As for her bond to Kit. That is a summoning contract. It technically makes him a bound yokai, but in this particular case he is only bound to Chikako and the contract will be voided upon her death.
If you ignore the stipulation that Chikako has agreed to stay with Kit and Sune after her death (provided his assumption that she'll turn into a yokai and remain aware holds true), there is no difference between the contract she has with Kit and the contract Naruto has with the frogs. Ergo there should be no extra cost to that.
Her eyes have nothing to do with her summons. Those are because of Orochimaru's fuckery with her chakra (and may or may not result in more changes/consequences later on).
. . .
XII - So, how was your day?
After her not-so-miraculous recovery - and nearly getting the life chocked out of her by Haku - Chikako spent an hour in the biggest, most luxurious bath she'd ever seen. The floor was heated, the towels were fluffy and big enough for three people and the tub had little jets that created water currents, strong enough to massage her back and shoulders.
It was heaven and only got better when Jiro and Sune climbed through one of the high windows, carrying two bags of food each. Apparently they'd been trying to use the new Mizukage's tub since the second they'd discovered it, but so far Haku had thrown them out every time, claiming they were being disrespectful.
Chikako didn't mind in the least, especially because the bribes they had brought were very tasty. They were also both eager to share what had happened while she'd slept, or rather been in a week-long coma as it turned out.
Kisame had practically set up camp right in front of her door and allowed no one but her summons in, which had led to frequent arguments with Zabuza, Haku and even Mei and Saburo, albeit for different reasons. Not that the sharkman had cared, he'd told all of them to fuck off and it seemed nobody wanted to get into an actual fight with him. No surprise there, after all he had proven that he could actually rival a freaking bijuu when it came to his chakra reserves and the control he had over that massive amount of energy.
Kit's claim that anything that didn't outright kill Chikako would heal eventually, had been backed up with a little more evidence as well, seeing as she was still alive and ostensibly fine. Not quite as well as she'd initially assumed, but most definitely still alive and without any permanent damage. If she put too much pressure on her left side she could tell that the bones hadn't completely healed yet, but otherwise there wasn't a single mark on her.
Of course she'd refused to play tag with Jiro and Sune anyway. Lying, sitting and walking around didn't hurt, but her ribs would probably snap again the moment anyone so much as poked them a little too hard. She was pretty sure she'd felt something shift when Haku had hugged her earlier. So, skin, muscle and lung tissue were fine, but the bones would likely need another week to heal completely.
Her own theory that yokai could in fact successfully use genjutsu on her had also been proven. While Jiro had puzzled the pieces of her rib cage back together so she wouldn't have to completely regrow the bones, Sune had used an illusion to keep her unconscious, which had turned into a mini coma. Apparently the demon's chakra really was similar enough to her own that her natural defense had no effect. She'd still have to ask Kit if that was how he, seemingly telepathically, communicated with her when in fox form, but that could wait. It was better if at least one of the kitsune remained in the Void at all times so they could do their job of herding new shades properly. Sune had earned some time outside of the weird dimension.
"-and then I jumped on his head and turned into a bucket!" Jiro said excitedly, waving around his paws and sloshing water everywhere. "He had no idea what was happening and ran straight into a wall."
"Pff, that was my illusion you second rate trickster," Sune sneered. She threw a cookie at his head. It bounced off his nose and landed in the water before he could catch it. Chikako took the soggy cookie away from him before Jiro tried to eat it anyway. it wouldn't taste good with soap on it and he'd just spit it out again.
The two yokai had been bickering for a while, both claiming they had been much more helpful than the other one during the attack on Kiri.
Chikako had told Sune about Obokeyokai and the stories of ghost children while they'd still been in Wave, so naturally she'd taken it as a challenge. The kitsune had spent all of her time using genjutsu to make people believe there were ghosts haunting the place, all kids of course. She hadn't stopped afterwards either, which meant Zabuza still got daily reports of people that heard crying, but couldn't find the source or that saw horribly mutilated children that disappeared as soon as they looked away for a moment.
Sune thought it was hilarious, but Chikako was pretty sure that the new Mizukage would drown her the second he found out. Right after he was done with Jiro, who had taken it upon himself to steal kitchen utensils as well as tableware and randomly distribute them all over the place.
During the attack on Kiri he had mostly just thrown the things at shinobi to distract and confuse them, or he'd transformed himself so that there was suddenly something in the way for them to stumble over or blind them. Now he was following Sune's example though and played tricks on the general population.
The two of them were a menace, but they were also cute and had taken care of Chikako for the past week, so she'd let them play a little longer. She hadn't seen any reports yet, but while their retelling of events sounded rather fun and innocent, she knew that they'd both been responsible for multiple injuries and likely deaths. Sune had turned several of the shinobi loyal to Yagura against each other with her illusions and Jiro's accuracy was good enough that a thrown pot or kitchen knife would have left a mark on his target.
When they were all fed and clean Chikako had half a mind to go back to bed, but unless she wanted to climb out of the window like her little demons, she'd have to walk through Zabuza's private quarters and the only way out of those was through his new office, meaning she'd have to talk to him first.
In Konoha and Suna the kage's office was completely separate from their home, but according to her snooping yokai, most people in Kiri lived in the same building they worked in.
Chikako sighed as she stepped out of the tub, toweled herself dry and put on the clothes Haku had provided for her. Apparently her old ones hadn't been salvageable, all drenched in blood, biju slime and with several punctures from when splinters of her bones had torn through the fabric. It wasn't like she'd really miss the things she'd salvaged from the prison in Earth though, unlike the Wushu uniform Gaara had given her when she'd left Suna.
As she put the clothes that Haku had brought on, it became immediately obvious that they were of the highest quality. The fabric fit like a glove, neither too loose nor too tight and it wasn't scratchy either. She pulled it in various directions, noting that it stretched to a point, but didn't rip and snapped back into place as soon as she let go. It seemed resistant to cuts as well and a short dip in the tub proved that the material let air through, but not water.
Chikako had only ever seen Kiri Hunter-nin, most in the green kimonos her quiet friend seemed to prefer himself, but she was pretty sure this was a modified version of the regular ANBU uniform. The black pants and sleeveless top looked exactly the same as the ones Zabuza wore, and so did the gray, striped leg and arm warmers that Chikako ignored. She didn't need them to help regulate her temperature and she wouldn't hide her tattoos. They were part of who she was, just like the necklace Shikamaru had gifted her. The only reason she kept the wakizashi she'd gotten from Kakashi in a pocket dimension rather than on her back or at her hip, was that it made the most tactical sense, otherwise she'd show that one off as well. Most people wouldn't recognize a Summoning Tattoo when they saw it, but there weren't all that many reasons for a shinobi to carry a sword.
Unlike Zabuza, Chikako did put on the gray flak jacket. The ones they wore in Earth had seemed like a joke to her, especially with the giant pouches in the front and back, but this one looked like it might actually be useful. It didn't have a neck-guard or special shoulder padding, but was inlayed with a material that was light and pliant, yet hardened on impact and, as far as she could tell, distributed the force evenly across it's surface. Whoever had designed that thing deserved a promotion.
The shoes were her favorite though. Proper boots with flexible soles, instead of the sandals most shinobi wore. She could have kissed Haku for that alone, and when she noticed that they too were made with that odd material that hardened on impact Chikako started to grin like an idiot. Maybe she should let herself get smacked around by Tailed Beasts more often.
The grin vanished the second she remembered that she wasn't the only one who had been hurt during that fight. Haku, unlike her, wouldn't be left without any scars. He'd lost his right arm. Because of a clumsy mistake he claimed, but Kisame had told how the Sanbi had torn it off. Mei had tried to catch the Tailed Beast on her own at first, dismissing Haku as nothing more than Zabuza's pet and ignoring his warning about how fast the Tailed Beast was.
It hadn't worked out very well. She'd initially managed to encase two tails in hardening lava because she'd taken the Sanbi by surprise, but then it had ripped itself free and almost crushed her in one of it's clawed hands. Haku had gotten there just in time to get her out of harms way, but hadn't quite managed to avoid the claws himself.
In the aftermath Terumi had cauterized the wound and because he'd perfected one-handed seals Haku had still been able to fight, but he'd never get the arm back. All because of the woman's arrogance, and he didn't even blame her.
Well, Chikako could resent Mei for both of them. Which was also why the first question she asked Zabuza when she entered his office was, "Want me to kill Terumi?"
"Really?" He groaned, putting his head in his hands. "You've been awake for less than two hours."
"Is that a yes?"
"No, now sit the fuck down and let me lecture you for getting eaten and almost dying," he growled at her. The Mizukage's new hat lay on his desk and the white cloak hung over the back of his chair. Easily visible even though he wasn't actually wearing them. Chikako also noted that the Kubikiribocho leaned against a shelf to his left, close enough to grab in less than a second.
"She just let you have the hat?" Chikako asked, both because she was curious and in an attempt to keep him from actually lecturing her.
Kisame and Haku stood by the door and Zabuza pointedly glanced from one to the other before he answered.
"Didn't really have a choice, did she?"
"So you trust her?"
"Fuck, no."
Yeah, Chikako hadn't thought so. Mei's people at the very least would be loyal to her and there were probably a number of shinobi that weren't happy with a former nukenin as Mizukage. Not to mention the ones that had actually liked Yagura. Couldn't be all that many, but then one was enough.
Zabuza was strong, but he wasn't a jinchuriki, which made him exponentially easier to kill. If Chikako used a Body Flicker and her chakra claws right now she could lay his throat open before anyone even realized that she'd moved at all. And then there were of course the more subtle methods of killing, poison for example. Something Kiri nin liked at least as much as those from Suna, probably even more.
Chikako didn't even have to look at Haku to know that the boy hadn't left his master's side for a second during the past week. He might not be a real Hunter-nin, but he knew how they operated and could think like them. He'd have come to the same conclusions as her. And so would Zabuza, otherwise he would have thrown at least Kisame out of the office when he told her everything he knew about Mei, what he planned to do now that he was kage, where potential problems lay and which factions he was worried about.
That Zabuza trusted her with all of these things wasn't surprising, considering that they were friends and she was part of the reason he now sat in this office. The sharkman was more like a distant acquaintance with uncertain loyalties and motives though. He didn't wear his Akatsuki cloak or the scratched out Kiri hitai-ate anymore, but neither had he put on a new headband or even a uniform. His clothing was simple, plain black and he wore no weapons or any kind of shinobi gear except for his sword.
Kisame shrugged when he noticed her scrutiny. "Waiting for your decision kiddo."
"What?"
"He means this," Zabuza told her, putting a Kiri hitai-ate down in front of her.
She starred at him, then at the four wavy lines that symbolized his home and back at him again. The offer was completely unexpected and she didn't even know why she hadn't seen this coming. If Chikako had become kage she would have offered Zabuza a place in her village as well.
"I can't take that," she said. It was almost a question, an apology. She wasn't loyal to Konoha, but she was loyal to her friends and most of them happened to be Leaf shinobi. If she took that hitai-ate Zabuza would become her kage and Kiri would become her home. That meant she'd either have to betray him by keeping secrets, or them by telling him everything she knew about Konoha and it's people. And if she didn't do either she might as well not join Kiri at all.
When the Sandaime Hokage had made her the offer of becoming a shinobi there hadn't been much of a choice. This was different though. If Chikako ever again chose to wear the symbol of a Hidden Village she wanted it to mean something. Not just a pretense of allegiance, but actual loyalty, no holding back, no secrets.
Zabuza didn't look disappointed. He'd made the offer, but he hadn't expected her to accept. His next words were another surprise though.
"Just keep the damn thing," he said when she tried to push it back towards him. "I don't care if you wear it, I mean it's not like you ever listen to me anyway, but as long as I'm Mizukage you're welcome in Kiri."
Chikako didn't cry. Her eyes watered a little because there was dirt in them and she had to rub it out, but she did not cry. She did however hit Kisame in the stomach on her way out when he told her not to be a baby. He complained in a rather dramatic and entirely fake manner that involved a lot of completely unnecessary limping.
Zabuza had offered him a place in Kiri a few days ago, in keeping with his policy to allow any nukenin that had left during Yagura's reign back into the village. The Hunter-nin had been called off for the time being and a new batch of Bingo Books would be printed before the end of the month.
Since Chikako had opted to remain independent, Wraith would receive an entry that marked her as an ally of Kiri, just like the one Kankuro had wrangled out of Suna's council. Everyone who was eligible to come back home would simply be removed from the new version of the book. Unless they committed any other crimes against the village they wouldn't be hunted, no matter whether they actually did return.
That was actually one of the few things Mei and Zabuza agreed on. The other was that Bloodline Limits should no longer be outlawed. They also both wanted to reform the shinobi academy and bring back the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, but their ideas on that front weren't exactly aligned. Especially when it came to the former.
Mei wanted to model the academy after Konoha's, prioritizing teamwork above all else and forming three man teams that would be trained by a jonin sensei. Something that was as much a political move as it was because she actually cared about the next generation. She also wanted to completely do away with the fight that was still part of the graduation exam, even though opponents weren't required to kill each other anymore. Instead her idea was to test students in the basic disciplines twice a year and make their scores public, so that potential senseis could choose which three students they wanted to train.
Zabuza on the other hand was of the opinion that one on one training as someone's apprentice or individual study would be best. He'd made the academy classes non-mandatory and opened them up to everyone. Over time he intended to add new courses for more advanced shinobi that would rotate depending on who was available to teach. In his short summary he'd only said that Mei hadn't been happy with that. Kisame had later informed her that the woman had actually gone on a tirade about why Zabuza was a fool for thinking young children were mature enough to not skip school when they didn't have to go.
He didn't give a shit how old his genin would be though, and he thought if they weren't mature enough to take all the courses they needed rather than just the cool ones, they weren't mature enough for the battlefield anyway.
Chikako had to say she agreed with Zabuza's stance, even though Mei's concept seemed more familiar. Shinobi, even fresh genin, were considered adults, be they six, thirteen or forty. Kakashi had graduated from the academy at five and been promoted to chunin at six. Granted, that had been during war time and as far as she knew no Konoha shinobi had ever graduated younger, but she didn't think age should be the defining factor.
If a thirteen year old didn't know how to handle confidential files and that leaving the village could result in death, then that person shouldn't be a shinobi. Likewise, if a seven year old understood these things and could fight, then Chikako didn't see why he or she would have to wait five to six more years before officially joining the military. It was a different matter if a child didn't want to graduate yet or even become a shinobi at all, but there was no reason to artificially hold someone back.
Zabuza's system meant that nobody who was ready would be forced to wait and nobody who wasn't would be forced to make a decision between graduating or giving up on becoming a shinobi.
There was also the graduation exam itself. What he planned on implementing reminded Chikako rather a lot of her chunin exam. Fighting, mind games, information gathering, simulated real world situations in which everything suddenly turned to shit, and no guarantee that you made it out alive. Anyone would be able to take the exam on their own, without needing the permission of a sensei or other authority figure though. Half of it was designed to be completed alone and for the other half teams would be created randomly.
That would ensure genin could fight and work in groups as well as on their own and that they actually knew what being a shinobi meant before they were sent out for the first time. Which was especially necessary because the next batch of rookies wouldn't start of with something as simple as yard work or babysitting as their first mission.
Yagura had already weakened his village and quite a few shinobi had died during the coup. There weren't nearly as many casualties as there could have been, but Mist needed to look strong, now more than ever. Their military was small and without allies to rely on they made an easy target until things stabilized.
Zabuza would have his hands full in the coming months, but lucky for him he didn't have to do it on his own. He could count on Haku and her. Even Mei - despite arguing about everything - hadn't disobeyed a single order so far either, and Kisame had promised to help out as required. There was also the Watari clan, whose members were very eager to prove themselves useful.
. . .
"Why didn't you take the hitai-ate?" Chikako asked her big, blue shadow as she walked through the village after the conversation in Zabuza's office. He seemed very determined to follow her around and ignored any and all other people that crossed their path. Unless they tried to get in her way, then he'd offer one of his saw blade smiles and put a hand on the handle of his sword. So far nobody had been stupid enough to see if he'd actually draw it.
"Well, how the hell am I supposed to leave with you if I'm a Kiri nin and you're not?"
She stopped short at his cheerful reply. The ocean was visible from almost everywhere in Kiri, sparkling blue water on the horizon. Right then Chikako was too busy starring at her companion to admire it though.
"Wait, were you actually waiting for my decision?"
"'Course I was kiddo," he frowned at her. "Why else would I have said that?"
"I thought that was a joke. Why the hell would you let me decide something like that for you? You barely even know me!"
He shrugged, looking over her head and out at the ocean.
"Itachi says you're family, that's good enough for me."
She stared at him some more, not sure what to say to that. Itachi had told her that Kisame was a good man and she would have taken his word for it even if she hadn't met the guy herself, but she wouldn't just make such a drastic change. Not unless-
"He asked you to keep an eye on me didn't he?"
"Look out for."
"What?"
"He asked me to look out for you. I'm no spy."
"Whatever," Chikako grumbled. "Where is he anyway? He can't just cast a genjutsu on a freaking biju and leave again without even saying hello."
This time Kisame was the one staring.
"What the hell are you talking about? He didn't come with me."
"I- What? No, I know what I sens-" Chikako started, only to realize that she hadn't actually sensed Itachi. She'd felt a genjutsu with characteristics that were specific to the Sharingan, but she'd never once felt Itachi, or any Uchiha for that matter.
"Kid?" Kisame asked, he seemed worried by her sudden silence, so she just thought out loud.
"Yagura was definitely under a genjutsu. I'm certain it was cast by a Sharingan-user, but I can't tell if it was Itachi. I mean I don't know why he would put the former Mizukage under a genjutsu in the first place if it wasn't to help with the fight, but Sasuke is the only other Uchiha I know and there is no way he could have done something like that. He told me that there was another Uchiha though. Actually, Itachi told him that and-" she frowned when Kisame held up a hand to stop her rambling.
"Madara," he said. "He isn't Akatsuki's leader, but he's involved somehow. Are you saying Yagura was controlled by a genjutsu the whole time?"
"I don't know. I didn't even notice at first because it was such a tiny trace of foreign chakra. It only became obvious when Zabuza and I were trying to kill the Sanbi. I remember being happy that Itachi was there as well, but I was kind of out of it at that point.
"I didn't actually sense Itachi though, just inferred his presence from the illusion and I'm certain now that that was already in place before the fight started. I would have definitely been able to tell if someone had used a genjutsu before the rest of you showed up, and I assume there was no surprise Uchiha visit while you were playing without me?
Kisame shook his head. He seemed angry, but there was also a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth in response to her last words.
"Fucking liars everywhere," he growled.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," the sharkman sighed, slowly relaxing his muscles one by one. "Just promise you won't lie to me kiddo? You don't wanna share something that's you're business, but don't make shit up."
"Okay, I can do that," Chikako agreed easily. She wasn't sure what exactly to do if he actually decided to play babysitter twenty-four seven, but honesty wasn't too much to ask. "So, Madara Uchiha? As in one of the people who founded Konoha more than half a century ago?"
"Doesn't look that old to me, but neither do the Zombie Twins."
"Who?"
"Hidan and Kakuzu, freaky fucks. One doesn't die and the other is stitched together like a rag rug."
"Wait, isn't Hidan ten years younger than you?"
"How the hell would you even know that?" Kisame grumbled and Chikako started laughing. She'd told Itachi and him about looking for them, but only the short version that glossed over any and all deaths involved and especially those of the Jashinists she'd come across in River and their devotion to Hidan. She rectified that now. If the sharkman was really going to stick around he should know what he was getting into.
"Well, at least your life isn't boring," he said when she was done. He actually seemed happy about that, which was a nice change from the worried looks she usually got.
. . .
A few days after she'd woken up Yatagarasu had arrived with a scroll. The crow was keeping his distance from Kisame most of the time, but frequently tried to steal the swordsman's food, which led to a few really odd chases through the village.
The scroll he'd brought was the one with Jiraiya's notes she'd been waiting for. Part one of many if the title was to be believed. Chikako got the distinct feeling the Sannin was trying to hit her over the head with so much boring theory that she'd give up. Little did he know that she'd already worked through the basics and could not only concentrate on all his little notes in the margins, but also understand how significant some of them were. For example the almost illegible scrawls that casually mentioned how a certain seal could hypothetically be modified to work with natural energy instead of the user's chakra.
"Problem?" Kisame asked, when he saw her features shift from anger, to glee and then annoyance. He was currently on the other side of the little room she'd first woken up in - and that they now shared because he'd only end up sleeping outside of her door otherwise. On his lap sat Samehada. The sword was unbound and he was petting it like one might a cat. Chikako couldn't decide whether that was more or less weird because the thing seemed to be sentient and actually purred every so often.
"Pretty sure Jiraiya is trying to wriggle out of our deal, but either he hasn't decided if he actually wants to risk pissing me off or he thinks I'm stupid."
"Why the hell would one of the Sannin be afraid of pissing you off kiddo?" Kisame grinned. "You're not that scary."
"I totally am," Chikako pouted, but it quickly turned into a mean smile. "Also, I'm friends with very mean and a few exceptionally annoying people."
Kisame's answer were an eye roll and a deep laugh. Humor in all it's forms seemed to be his default reaction to anything. It wasn't fake either, the man was just genuinely upbeat. Not in the same way as Naruto though. Her former teammate always saw a spark of goodness in people, no matter how horrible they seemed at first glance. The sharkman on the other hand just tried to enjoy whatever situation he found himself in instead. Where Naruto would have talked to Yagura in hopes of changing his mind, Kisame had trash talked the Sanbi to amuse himself. She wished she could have heard that, Haku's retelling had been seriously lacking in the sarcasm department.
Not that she couldn't listen to Kisame's remarks every day now. Chikako really enjoyed his attitude. It kept her from getting frustrated when her sealing experiments turned out to be colossal failures. What she liked even more about him though were his uncompromising honesty and the fact that he really seemed to have accepted her as family, simply because Itachi had told him she was.
Kisame never took shit from her and he called her out the second she was being unreasonable or pushed herself too hard during research and training. She'd managed to rebreak her ribs anyway during their first sparring match, something he made sure to remind her of every chance he got. He'd bicker with her and generally behave like a rude asshole half of the time, but if someone even looked at her sideways the big, blue guy was right there, ready to have her back - be that in a verbal confrontation or an actual fight. Good thing too, because it had become necessary more and more often with every day they spent in Kiri.
At first people had been pretty tolerant. Even among the ones that didn't like Zabuza there were only very few that would have preferred Yagura remain Mizukage. Kisame and Chikako staying in the village was fine with them because they'd helped free their home.
As time passed though, some grew resentful or suspicious. Neither her nor the sharkman wore a hitai-ate, yet Zabuza frequently had Chikako relay his orders, which at this point automatically included Kisame.
Usually when someone didn't want to play nice Chikako took a step back, as not to strain her ribs, and let Kisame handle matters. The sharkman would then either scare his victim into compliance, or beat them up a little and drag them in front of the Mizukage for punishment if they were especially stupid.
The whole thing would probably be less of a problem if someone else was delivering the orders, but the only people Zabuza really trusted were Chikako and Haku. Two children, and not only that, since Haku rarely ever argued with Zabuza and even then only about his safety, the Mizukage tended to bounce ideas of off Chikako instead. He'd include Mei, Saburo or some of the higher ranking jonin in some of his decisions, but he always talked to Chikako first. He didn't necessarily listen to anything she said, yet she'd somehow become his adviser, something that did not sit well at all with most people. Especially the ones that thought she was trying to grab power for herself.
She was young and even worse, an outsider. One that had refused to join Kiri and wasn't even fighting her own fights as far as anyone could tell. They weren't wrong that she shouldn't be giving orders on her own, but so far she hadn't done that even once. Everything she'd ever told any of them to do had come directly from their kage. It pissed her off immensely that they thought her weak and doubted her word.
Chikako wasn't fool enough to risk breaking her ribs a third time though. Kisame was there and more than willing to put a few assholes in their place, so she let him handle matters while she recovered. A month after Yagura's death though, she felt confident that the bones were finally done knitting themselves back together.
"Where are we going?" Kisame asked when she deviated from their usual morning route, that would have taken them straight to Zabuza's office. He sounded only mildly curious, still half asleep. The swordsman was not a morning person.
"To teach some people a lesson."
"The fun kind I hope," he yawned.
Chikako shook her head at that comment, but she was smiling anyway. Kisame was likely to be the only one who would have fun today. He didn't ask for an actual explanation, more than happy to go with the flow and see what happened. Just as well, if he had any idea what she was going to do he might get it into his head to stop her. Zabuza would probably have a cow when he found out.
She'd have to worry about that later, right now Chikako needed to concentrate or things might turn ugly. Her feet took her past the mission office, down increasingly seedier alleys and directly to Hunter-nin Headquarters. It wasn't actually named that of course. Officially the Hunter-nin didn't have headquarters.
The building was just an old warehouse that looked abandoned from the outside, but Chikako had made it her business to know where everyone that might want Zabuza dead could be found. With her sensing abilities it was an easy thing to scout all the meeting spots and hidey holes. The chakra sight had even allowed her to see past ANBU masks and watch the elite train when they thought they were away from prying eyes.
None of the Hidden Villages ever openly stated how strong exactly there were, but the official consensus was that of the five major ones Kumo and Iwa had the strongest military. The former because of the quality of their shinobi and the latter because of the quantity. Then followed Konoha and lastly came Suna and Kiri.
From what Chikako had seen though, if Wind and Water were to start a war right now, there was no way Kiri would win. She knew Gaara and his techniques well enough to fight him and Kisame was simply strong enough to hold his own against the Kazekage, but neither of them were actually Kiri nin. The forces that Zabuza now commanded had lost their best and brightest during Yagura's reign, either to death or defection, and the Hunter-nin had suffered worst of all.
There were only eighteen people that actually had the training required to be part of the division. Everyone else had simply been forced into the role because Yagura had demanded that all traitors be found and executed. Those people had gone back to their actual jobs as soon as Zabuza had allowed them to.
Of the rest only about half had been Hunter-nin for more than a few months. They were the people that knew the protocols for defection best and also who would come after them if they ran, consequently their division had seen the most defectors. On top of that, the fact that they were usually sent out alone made it especially easy to simply not come back.
What was left was an odd mix of veterans stuck in their ways and rookies too new to have opinions. They met in the warehouse once a week to go over Bingo Books and train, but even then there were only small groups at best. Lone wolves, the lot of them.
Chikako had read and memorized their files, thinking that a bunch of trained assassins would be the greatest threat to Zabuza. Hunter-nin were the best of the best, ANBU's elite. At least they were supposed to be. This group was certainly deadly, but they hardly deserved the kind of respect and fear that their predecessors had earned.
She didn't knock on the door, merely walked into the warehouse and motioned for Kisame to close it behind them. Every last person in the room immediately turned to stare at the newcomers. There were a few angry looks and some sneers, but most of them wore either blank or slightly confused expressions. They also all focused on Kisame, completely dismissing Chikako as a threat.
The sharkman didn't say anything. He just stood there, grinning like a madman and waiting for the fun to begin.
"Who am I?" Chikako asked into the silence. Gaze's snapped to her, but it took a moment before someone actually answered.
"Some kid," a man scoffed. Ren Iwasaki, short, reddish-brown hair, not broad in the shoulders, but a lot stronger than he looked. Prefers mid to close range combat, primary weapons are two daggers. Not a rookie.
Chikako smiled at the man that was often referred to as the Angel of Death. An impressive name to be sure, but there was far too much information about his kills, which told her that he was neither as fast nor as stealthy as he should be.
She picked up a pebble form the ground and threw it at him, using a burst of chakra for extra speed. The little rock collided with the hitai-ate that covered his forehead, denting the metal and knocking him out cold. Nobody even reacted until he hit the ground.
"Lets try this again. Who am I?"
The next answer came from a woman with long, emerald hair. Lyn the Viper. She was fast and exceptionally skilled with poisons. There was a chokuto strapped to her hip, not dissimilar to the sword Sasuke carried.
"The Mizukage's adviser," she said, voice clear but laced with menace.
"Good. Anyone else?"
A young woman raised her hand. Rei Iwasaki, Ren's younger sister. Her nickname was the Dancer, because she specialized in infiltration, luring her targets in with shy smiles and sinuous movements before she killed them.
"Wraith," she stated when Chikako raised an eyebrow at her.
"Is that all you got?"
They fidgeted, or shuffled their feet, looked away or stoically tried to stare her down, but not a single one spoke.
"Who is Wraith? Where did she come from? What can she do?" Chikako prompted after two minutes had gone by in silence. At that another one finally found his voice. One of the rare shinobi that liked bows, Takehito Koyasu. His white hair was at least five shades lighter than his skin tone, which made him look quite exotic.
"There is no way to know," the rookie told her and then proceeded to give a number of reasons. For example the lack of a headband and the different styles of clothes she'd been seen in as well as the fact that no Village had declared her a missing-nin, apparently made it impossible to find out where she came from. No Bingo Book even mentioned her fighting style, at best declaring her dangerous.
It went on like that for a while. Chikako listened to the whole spiel, but behind her Kisame snickered as if he was having the best day ever, something that clearly made the Hunter-nin nervous.
"So let me summarize that," Chikako said with a bland smile. "You are Kiri's elite and all you know about your Mizukage's adviser, after a whole month of being allowed to use your time however you see fit, is that you know nothing?"
"Seems kinda incompetent to me," Kisame commented. She could hear the wide grin in his voice. She was also pretty sure it would vanish soon.
"Is that why you came here? To mock us?" Another man asked, Saizo Shingaki. At thirty he was the oldest of the Hunter-nin, only two years younger than Kisame. His file noted him as untrustworthy. Chikako rather thought that was because, while he had always been loyal to Kiri, he hadn't made a secret out of the fact that he disliked Yagura's policies.
"I wouldn't dare," Chikako told him, voice dripping with sarcasm. Then she added in a more serious tone, "I came here to give you a chance to kill me. Everyone gets one shot."
Kisame made a choking noise at that, but didn't move a muscle to interfere. That was exactly why she liked him so much. He might have tried to change her mind before they'd entered the warehouse, now that the decision was made though, he'd trust that she knew what she was doing.
Lyn wasn't nearly as supportive. The woman didn't even wait to see if Chikako was joking. The Viper threw a pair of senbon almost before she'd finished talking. The needles struck true and the woman smiled.
"I hadn't said go yet, but I guess I should have expected that," Chikako said with a mock frown. She politely kept standing in place and looking at the other kunoichi. It took a moment for Lyn to realize that her poison had no effect at all and the second her expression changed from a triumphant grin to confusion Chikako used a Body Flicker to appear right in front of her. She pressed the tip of a kunai into the woman's throat and cheerfully called, "Next!"
Lyn did not look happy, but she wasn't a sore looser and actually sat down to watch the rest of the show.
The next attack came from behind. Takehito had shot an arrow at her back, not even aiming for anything vital. Either he was a really bad shot or unwilling to risk her death. Chikako sidestepped, then turned on her heels, leaped forward and punched him in the solar plexus. He went to his knees wheezing. If she'd released chakra with that hit his lungs would have exploded.
"Okay, admittedly this is a little unfair, because none of you stand a chance," she mocked, "but you could at least try." And she really needed them to, because otherwise this was a waste of time. The whole point of this exercise was to prove that she was the better assassin, even when they had the advantage of being allowed to strike first.
Or at least when they thought they had the advantage. Thanks to her little round of ask and answer she knew that none of them were aware of her skill set. All of this was a set-up, entirely in Chikako's favor, because she wasn't suicidal.
If bluffing could convince a whole clan to back off and follow her lead, then playing to her strengths could damn well get these assholes to behave. At least she hoped it could, because if she made the same offer of letting people try to kill her to the regular ANBU or jonin she'd likely end up with her head caved in.
Chikako was about to throw out another insult when Saizo moved in to strike. He was good. Fast, silent, no warning, from above and behind her. Without being able to sense his chakra she wouldn't have known he was there. In fact, she was pretty sure a regular sensor wouldn't have been able to tell.
As it was however Chikako used her own stealth techniques, ostensibly vanishing into thin air. She ducked Saizo's blade, then put a kunai to his throat and became visible again. His eyes flared, but it was with admiration rather than resentment. He held both hands up, palms out and took a step back.
"Apologies Wraith-sama," he said with a bow. She nearly gaped at him, but didn't get a chance to contemplate the unexpected behavior further before the next Hunter-nin tried his luck.
It didn't take long to get through all of them. Assassinations, even mock ones, were a matter of seconds. The whole point was to kill the target with the first strike. None of her attackers gave up without trying, but after it became clear that she was faster than all of them, seemingly immune to poison and genjutsu and that they could neither detect her nor hide from her, the attempts were halfhearted at best.
Chikako wasn't only a good assassin, she was also very well suited to fighting other assassins. That didn't make her a well rounded shinobi, but the rest of Kiri didn't need to know that. Precisely why she'd chosen to go through with this little charade.
That the Hunter-nin were respected among all of Kiri's shinobi forces was a nice bonus. To many people perception was reality and defeating the elite as if they were nothing more than a bunch of rookies would make people perceive Wraith as strong. Hopefully worthy of respect as well, but she'd settle for being someone that shouldn't be fucked with.
That would afford her the necessary authority to actually help Zabuza and strengthen his position. And not having to convince everyone that taking orders from her wasn't, in fact, optional would give her enough time to concentrate on her sealing studies.
It was a win-win situation.
Really.
