Sculpting Tools
By Daniel Walker
Author's Notes: Momochi Zabuza, Haku, and the Hidden Village of the Mist are not my property.
Chapter 3
The following morning, Takeo quickly made his way downstairs to the kitchen. It was five-thirty in the morning and he was full dressed and equipped for the day's mission. Enjoying his precious sleep as much as the next eight year-old, he didn't usually wake up this early. However, he had wanted to talk to his father before the man left for work. Kyojin Jiro was the captain of one of the Hidden Mist's elite ANBU teams, which were completely outside the normal chain of command. They were the right arm of the Mizukage and they reported to him alone. As a result, they often were given very short notice when assignments came up. Takeo had been woken up by the phone ringing and knew that his father was being called away. He made it to the kitchen just in time to see the door close. He ran to the door and stepped outside, looking all around for his father. The man was nowhere to be seen.
Takeo sighed. He had meant to talk to his father last night, but Jiro had come home late. He was about to go back inside and try to get some sleep before he had to meet with his team when he sensed a small object flying down and towards him. In a flash he fell into a handspring and turned about in mid-air. When he landed, he had readied two kunai in overhand positions and gotten into a battle stance.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down there, squirt! I'm just messing with you!" came a voice from the roof of Takeo's house. Takeo relaxed. The voice belonged to none other than Oka Kenji, a neighborhood boy who was seven years older and had babysat for Takeo in the past. Despite their age differences, the two had grown nearly inseparable over the years. However, that had recently changed a few months ago when Kenji had been promoted to chuunin, a rank that Takeo sometimes felt Kenji did not merit. For as long as he had known the older boy, Kenji had been nothing but a troublemaker. It was actually strange that the two got along as famously as they did. Kenji seemed determined to be a kid forever, while Takeo already seemed to have the cold, calculating exterior that was stereotypical of ANBU. However, despite his jovial attitude, Kenji was nothing but deadly on the battlefield and a strong leader.
Kenji jumped down onto the snow-covered ground and rustled Takeo's hair. After picking up his errant shuriken, he smirked at the genin. "What are you doing up at this awful hour? Does your mommy know that you're up and running about?" he joked good-naturedly. He was quite aware that Takeo had just become a genin and therefore ought to be recognized as a well-trained ninja, but he just couldn't resist a good ribbing when the opportunity presented itself, and sometimes when it didn't.
Takeo narrowed his golden eyes at the chuunin. "I was trying to talk to my father. I needed to ask him something but he left before I could get his attention." He lowered his eyes and grimaced.
Kenji's smile dropped. He knew that it was hard on Takeo. Anyone could tell that Kyojin Jiro loved his son more than life itself, but it was hard being an ANBU, especially the captain of the AA team; that is, Abduction and Assassination. Sometimes you just couldn't spend the time you wanted with your family. Kenji moved his hand from Takeo's head to his shoulder. "He got called for a mission, huh?" Takeo nodded. "Is it anything that I can help you with?" Takeo looked unsure. "Oh, come on. Don't sell your old buddy Kenji short. I may not be an ANBU but I keep my ears open. I got dirt on a bunch of people, so whatever you need to know I probably got it." He grinned from ear to ear, hoping to cheer the kid up.
Takeo did manage a small smile. "All right. What do you know about Momochi Zabuza?"
Kenji's eyes widened for a second. "Whoa. I didn't know you wanted the goods on him." He sighed. "Well, the guy keeps to himself so much that I don't have much. I also have never been on any missions with him, so all I can give you is the word on the street. Anyway, the guy's ANBU. As a matter of fact, he's on your father's team." Takeo's interest piqued at this. "He's also one of the seven practitioners of the Angel Sword Style. That means that he carries around one of those crazy zanbatou. Don't think that that slows him down, though. The guy was made for ANBU. I don't know he does it with that huge sword on his back, but the way I hear it he can sneak up on and kill an entire team without a single one of them knowing he was there." Kenji stopped and took a breath, the look on his face indicating that he was slightly uncomfortable. "That isn't even the half of this guy. He never actually attended the academy. Six years ago, back when they still held matches to the death between newly promoted genin, he showed up out of nowhere and single-handedly slaughtered over 100 kids. Instead of exterminating the little demon child, Mizukage-sama thought he'd be a good addition to the ranks and so he made Zabuza a genin. A few months later he made chuunin. One year later he was a member of ANBU. As usually happens with ANBU, somewhere down the road he got a field promotion to jounin." Kenji shook his head. "This guy is bad news, squirt. If I had my way Momochi 'Demon' Zabuza would have been killed the minute he showed his face six years ago. Stay away from him at all costs." Takeo looked uncomfortable at that last piece of advice, but Kenji failed to notice. "By the way, why did you want to know about that freak anyway?"
It took a few moments for Takeo to find his voice. When he did, it came out squeaky. "He's my jounin sensei." Cautiously, he looked up at Kenji to gauge the older boy's reaction.
All the blood drained from the chuunin's face. It just as quickly filled his face again in order for Kenji to let Takeo know just what he thought of that bit of information. "Sweet mercy, Mizukage-sama let that monster near children?" He would have screamed had it not been so early in the morning.
Takeo looked offended. "Hey, I can take care of myself. I'm eight years old, not some little kid. Besides, Zabuza-sensei is a great teacher. He's been helping me perfect my genjutsu."
Kenji raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" He grinned mischievously. "Follow me." With that, he took to the rooftops. Takeo quickly pursued, a bit confused as to what the chuunin was up to. After a minute or so they had gone past the boundaries of the city and into the forest where the genin training grounds were. Reaching a clearing by the frozen lake, Kenji leapt to the ground. "All right, shrimp. Let's see your best moves." He reached into his hip pouch and pulled out a single kunai. Takeo eyes narrowed.
"Very well," the boy replied coolly. Instead of pulling out a weapon, his hands went straight into a "tora" hand seal position. Kenji was confused. Tora? He doesn't know any katon. Wait a minute. Isn't that also the seal that he uses for... Oh, crap! Anticipating Takeo's Nekome no Jutsu, Kenji quickly averted his gaze. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" Huh? Kenji looked up to see himself surrounded by Takeo's.
Kenji smiled. "Not bad. You tricked me into thinking you were using Nekome no Jutsu so I wouldn't see which one of the bunshin you switched with." All the Takeo's drew two kunai from their pouches and gripped them overhand. At once they leapt into the air towards Kenji. Very good. This way your footprints don't give you away. However, using bunshin is tricky. You're going to mess up eventually. He picked a random attacker and threw the kunai at it. Unfortunately, it passed right through, causing the bunshin to instantly dissipate. His hands free, Kenji began a rapid sequence of hand seals.
Takeo was confused. The first four seals are the ones used in Kawarimi no Jutsu, but he didn't stop there. Oh, well. He won't have time to finish his jutsu. The five remaining Takeo's thrust their kunai at the same time, all aiming for non-vital areas. However, as soon as the real kunai made contact, Kenji's body burst into smoke. When it cleared, all Takeo's kunai was embedded in a log. Takeo's eyes shot wide open. In his confusion he lost focus and the bunshin disappeared. He didn't have long to think about it as the real Kenji came up from behind and launched a powerful thrust kick into the young genin's side. Takeo barely had time to fling his body to the side. Jumping to his feet, he grimaced at how well he was duped. He did use Kawarimi no Jutsu. The rest of the seals were purely for show. His thoughts were interrupted as thick mist rose from the ground. After a few seconds, Takeo could barely see a foot in front of him. So, that's how you want to play it. His eyes narrowed as he began to form seals.
Kenji smirked as he audibly monitored his prey. He may not have been a hunter-nin, but he still knew a few tracking skills. He readied a few shuriken. He was about to throw them when all trace of Takeo suddenly vanished. Instead, all he could hear was a faint buzzing noise all around him. Crap, where is he? I have to end this quickly. This technique takes up way too much chakra. I can't believe that he's giving me this much trouble.
"Having trouble, Kenji?" Takeo's voice seemed to come from everywhere.
Not bad for a genin. However, I know how to flush out elusive prey. "Well, I have to admit. Your genjutsu has improved a little. Did Zabuza teach you this?" As he was giving away his position, Kenji let the mist drop. Before he became visible he quickly created a bunshin in his place as he leapt into the air. Sure enough, a shuriken flew out of the trees and passed right through the bunshin. Kenji smiled as he formed seals, ending with "tora". "A ninja shouldn't fall for the same trick twice! Katon: Jigoku Kaze no Jutsu!" A wide stream of fire erupted from the chuunin's mouth and engulfed the clearing below.
Takeo cried out in pain as the very air around him caught on fire. His flesh seared and he felt like he was breathing flames. He had never heard of the technique before, but it was definitely powerful. His control slipping, he fell out of the tree. "Give!" he managed to yell out. His vision was hazy, but he saw Kenji land on the ground and rush towards him. At first he thought that the older boy was coming to see if he was all right, but as Kenji got closer he twisted his body into a crushing side-thrust kick. Takeo clenched his eyes shut. After a second he heard the kick connect and grunt followed, but strangely he felt no pain and the grunt wasn't his. He opened his eyes to see a man standing in front of him. The man had a zanbatou strapped to his back. "Momochi-sensei?"
Zabuza turned his head. "You all right, kid?" Seeing the boy nod, he turned his attention back to Kenji. His glare could have frozen hell in an instant, but surprisingly Kenji did not back down. He looked a little nervous, but he refused to let his gaze turn aside. "You could have really hurt the kid with that kick." The voice was calm but held such malice that it shook Takeo to the core.
After Zabuza released it, Kenji lowered his foot to the ground. Taking a breath, he mustered up as much courage as he could. "I wasn't aiming for him." Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "How long were you watching us?"
Zabuza chuckled. It did not sound pleasant. "You're pretty sharp. If it wasn't for your atrocious fighting prowess, I'd think about recommending you to ANBU." Kenji didn't know whether to feel complemented or not. "As for your question, I've been on you guys since Takeo's house." Kenji's eyes widened at this. All thought of keeping a calm and cool exterior vanished. He gulped audibly and unconsciously took a step back. "That's right. How about I give you the chance to correct the Mizukage's 'mistake'? You think you can take me?"
"Momochi-sensei..." Takeo was quickly silenced by Zabuza's raised hand.
Realizing that he had seriously lost this battle of wills, Kenji gathered himself and bowed low to Zabuza, although his shaking almost caused him to fall over in the process. "Momochi-san. Please excuse my earlier comments. I spoke out of line." Earning a nod from the jounin, he raised and hurriedly left the clearing.
It was then that Takeo noticed that there was absolutely no sign of the katon. The grass wasn't scorched and there was no smoke in the air. He realized that he wasn't harmed nor were his clothes damaged. He looked up at his teacher in confusion.
Zabuza quickly figured out what had befuddled his student. "It was a genjutsu," he explained. At Takeo's stare he continued. "Remember this. Genjutsu is powerful. However, even some of the trickiest illusions can become completely useless once your opponent knows that he's being tricked. Some genjutsu users are talented enough that their illusions dig their way deep into the subconscious, becoming very hard to break. For others, a great way to mask their illusion is to pass it off as ninjutsu."
Takeo seemed to understand. He switched subjects. "Momochi-sensei, Kenji was taking it easy on me. He really is a very skilled chuunin."
Zabuza chuckled again. "Believe me, kid, I know." He rubbed his left hand, the one that had caught Kenji's kick. "The punk broke my hand."