Chapter 53
That Anbu team was damn lucky to have found fresh Kiri Anbu bodies. I had seen how meticulous the Kirigakure ways of erasing everything could be. The animals would eat away the flesh, the fire would burn away the bones, the water would wash away the blood, and the mist would hide the scent of violence.
After a death occurred, be it an enemy or a fellow comrade, their bodies always got erased along with their existence. That was the way of the Kirigakure Anbu.
The only instance where this was not fulfilled was if, for that moment, no one was alive to take on the role. That was the gap in time where our village's Anbu team walked upon the horrifying scene.
We had scouted around the reported location for three days already to no avail because as expected, there was nothing left.
However, slip-ups were bound to happen. All we needed was a hint for a direction.
"Does this … look like acid to you?" I asked Owl as I tilted a piece of leaf upward, revealing the blackened edge that seemed to corrode outward ever so slowly.
"It looks corrosive, acid would fit," Owl responded, his white Byakugan gleaming through the mask as he looked around, trying to find any other sign he had missed.
This was a sign of a jutsu. Meaning, this place used to be a battlefield.
"This appeared to be the right direction. For this leave to still be here, the battle couldn't have happened too long ago," I said to my teammates as they gathered around me. Silently, I reoriented our directions and drew a map in my mind.
This direction … it's getting close to Fire Country's southern border, which was also where Zabuza was last sighted.
A moment later, I made my decision. "Now that we have a direction, we need to start thinking about the other objective of our mission. This is getting close to the area of Zabuza's sighting, so the team will split off, each focusing on a part of our objectives."
I looked at my teammates and gave it a thought. "Falcon, Raven, Moth, the three of you will continue to scout for trails of our mysterious party. No matter what you do, make hiding your presence a priority and investigate discreetly. Moth, use your ink techniques to contact me regularly."
I waited for the three of them to nod before turning to Owl. "Owl, you'll be with me, we are going to look for Zabuza. Our mission will also be focused on scouting, but if chances present itself, we will move to eliminate the target."
"Now, where would Zabuza go, when he's still lingering around the Water Country like a pest," I muttered to myself after my team parted.
Momochi Zabuza, once a legendary soldier of Kirigakure, was a perfect product of the Bloody Mist education. However, not long after that, he defected from his village and staged a coup d'état.
For that reason, he was heavily wanted by Kirigakure, even after Terumi Mei took over. While Mei offered some missing-nin pardon and allowed them to return to the village, those privileges were reserved for those who had been driven out due to their opinion on the Kekkei Genkai hunt.
Zabuza was too violent and uncontrollable. His motivations for usurping the village did not align with that of Mei. Furthermore, since he had taken one of the Seven Great Swords of Kirigakure, the Kubikiribōchō, he had special attention on Kirigakure's bingo list.
Yet, even with hordes of Kirigakure Anbu coming for him, he loitered around the Water Country border, so he must have something he wanted to do, for example, finishing his coup d'état.
"Where would a missing-nin go, if they wanted to gather funds for a coup against a hidden village?" I asked Owl, who was catching on to my train of thoughts.
"Bounty only gives so much, so maybe a benefactor?" Owl suggested.
"A benefactor huh, someone who will have a large amount of fund and is willing to hire missing-nin who are known for their disloyal past," I elaborated. If someone was willing to hire missing-nin for a job, that job was usually not very legal and not very moral.
When you added all those traits together, within Konoha's watch list, there were only a few names that came into mind. One of them happened to have their business in this area if I had recalled correctly.
"Gatō cooperation," I said and Owl nodded in agreement.
On the outside, Gatō cooperation was a business empire built on the transportation of goods over the waterways. However, underneath all that golden facade, he used his transportation routes to amass fortune and control over poorer lands, using the empire he had built to cover up his illegal activities like drug and contraband smuggling.
It just so happened that he had footholds all over this region, with one rather close to us, near the Land of Waves.
"Shall we go pay him a visit? Without him knowing, of course."
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
The last time Sasuke had to face a true intent to kill, was during the Uchiha Massacre.
He had grown arrogant since then.
Perhaps defeating the two Kirigakure Chunin had left them a taste of victory - not the kind in friendly sparring, but against an actual enemy. That made his adrenaline rush at the moment and after that, he was too relaxed.
His feet felt sluggish and his hands had lost their steadiness. Beside him, the same was happening to Naruto and Sakura.
In front of them, Hatake was battling the Kirigakure missing-nin, emitting killing intent at each other as thick as the mist they were in.
He had told him this was not a battle they could engage in, followed by that stupid smile he hated from Kakashi-sensei, telling him that he would protect them no matter what.
Once again, the frustration of not being able to do anything overwhelmed him. It seemed that nothing had changed since he was eight. He was still a kid who needed protection, from Maiko-nee, from Itachi, from Hatake.
This wasn't even baby steps. This was no step at all.
"Sasuke … we should help." Naruto managed to squeeze out the words despite the pressure. Despite Hatake's warning, he nodded, and that set motion for everything that had happened after that.
"Sakura, stay close to Tazuna-san, make sure he is protected," After Sakura nodded to his words, he turned towards Naruto. "Bring that shadow clone jutsu of yours, let's go."
When Zabuza was busy duelling it out with Kakashi using water jutsu, Naruto's clones joined in, staggering the missing-nin by sheer number. His clones were fragile, so Sasuke never meant for it to do much but to create an opening.
With a quick substitution, Sasuke switched places with one of Naruto's clones, hidden in the mix as clones around him popped off.
Making the hand seals, he blew out three chains of dragons, aiming at the missing-nin. He saw the missing-nin turning around and met him in the eye, seeing his red Sharingan.
That was when he realized that things were not as simple as he had thought.
Hatake was quick to cover for them, changing his jutsu and sending a whirlpool of water under Zabuza's feet to ground him so that Sasuke's jutsu would hit.
Nevertheless, water was Kiri-nin's playground. Zabuza escaped by bringing up a curtain of water around him. Under his Sharingan, Zabuza's signature disappeared faster than he could blink.
"Naruto, back!" It took him a second to realize where the missing-nin would go.
Just then, they heard a yell behind them. "Come back!" It was Sakura, who threw two kunai into the air.
Sasuke and Naruto didn't hesitate to substitute themselves with the kunai. However, when they came to their senses, Zabuza was already looming over them with the giant cleaver ready to taste blood.
Before the blade could come down, Hataka popped up in front of them, bringing up an Earth wall.
"You guys never listen, do you?" Sasuke heard him mutter as the giant blade shattered the earth wall and hit right on Hatake's handguard.
Blood touched Sasuke's face, and that was enough to calm him down and freeze his rushing adrenaline.
"We need to fall back, you too, Tazuna-san," Sasuke told his teammates, grabbing onto Naruto when he wanted to charge in.
"But we can help!" Naruto shouted back, dissatisfied that their earlier attack didn't work.
"We are disrupting Sensei's rhythm." Sasuke managed to explain as he pulled Naruto back.
Hatake was using an endless string of ninjutsu and taijutsu to push Zabuza back and to get the missing-nin's focus back on him. By the end of it, Hatake managed to gain an upper hand and subdued Zabuza, until the masked hunter-nin appeared and drove two senbon into the missing-nin's throat.
Sasuke saw the breathing stop using this Sharingan and Hatake confirmed that the man was dead. However, something didn't feel right, not the way the hunter-nin interjected at such a point, not the way Hatake let them go so easily.
Before he could muse it over, he saw Hatake's body go limp as he fell down towards the ground.
Hatake's body never hit the ground because someone caught him. The Rabbit mask stared back at them, inciting fear and caution as the intruder placed Hatake's body over hers.
"Who are you!" Naruto yelled as his hands tightened on the kunai. All of them did the same.
"Rest easy, I'm not your enemy. We're from Konoha." The familiarity of her voice hit Sasuke just as the Owl-masked shinobi appeared behind her.
Sasuke moved his eyes to the Rabbit mask and saw the flash of Sharingan through the eye holes. His hands calmed as he told his teammates and their client, "She's telling the truth."
"It seemed that your Jonin sensei had fainted due to chakra overuse, but he'll be alright." Rabbit reassured them before asking, "We're here on missions, can anyone give me a summary of what happened?"
Sasuke compiled without hesitation, summarizing their meeting with Zabuza as concisely as possible.
As soon as she heard the involvement of Kiri Hunter-nin, she turned to Owl and asked, "Do you see them?"
Sasuke couldn't tell what the other Anbu did, but Owl went silent for a moment before finally shaking his head "They're out of my range."
Rabbit turned silent for a moment as she looked at the unconscious body over her shoulder. Finally, she ordered, "Owl, scout around the premise, see if you can catch their general direction, come find us when you're done. Right, where were you going to take him?"
She turned to Sasuke, waiting for an answer that he hadn't thought of.
"Shinobi-san, we can take him to my house to rest. It's just up ahead in the Land of Waves." Tazuna-san pointed towards the direction in front of them. Owl left immediately, wasting no time, leaving just Rabbit with them.
"Sounds good. Let's go then."
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
I never expected to see my brother's genin team during my mission.
We went to Gatō's foothold and gathered some intel, using a mix of sneaking around and genjutsu.
We were right, Zabuza was there - he was the talk of the town, a fearsome missing-nin, hired by the boss specifically - but at the same time, he was not there physically.
It seemed that he had already gone out to complete his job - to assassinate the last resistance to Gatō's plan to dominate the Land of Waves, a bridge builder named Tazuna.
Zabuza must be desperate, to allow himself to associate with a gang like Gatō's, because boy, those so-called shinobi had no awareness of danger whatsoever.
Still, meeting Kakashi was not part of the plan as we made our way to the Land of Waves, hoping to catch Zabuza on his way to the assassination. In hindsight, given how heavy he was, I should have just let him hit the ground.
"How far you've fallen, Kakashi," I said as the figure on the bed awakened. The moment he saw me, I was greeted with his dead fish eyes.
"Has it been a year since you've left, and you're already fainting from chakra exhaustion?" I chided, taking off my mask a little just so he could see that I wasn't impressed.
"What can I say, babysitting is harder than I thought," Kakashi rebuked back, trying to raise himself from the bed.
The commotion made by Kakashi made everyone notice. I put back the mask just before the children rushed in, followed by Tazuna-san's daughter, who came in to check on Kakashi.
"Kakashi-san, you shouldn't be moving so much if you want to recover faster." Tazuna's daughter said as she helped Kakashi lie back down.
"So, what is Anbu doing here?" Kakashi asked and sure enough, that drew everyone's attention.
"We're here to track down and eliminate Momochi Zabuza," I told him through the mask. The second part of the mission was not for everyone's ears. "We went to Gatō cooperation to find him, but it seemed that we just missed him."
"Well then, Anbu-nee-san, your mission is finished! That missing-nin is dead!" Naruto yelled from across the bed. I'd hate to be the one who broke his bubble, but sometimes reality had to be said.
"Zabuza is most certainly not dead," Kakashi said the words before I could.
"But you checked that he's dead, and Kiri-Anbu, he put the Senbon into his neck," Naruto argued, voicing the confusion of his teammates.
"That's most likely a technique to keep him in a near-death stage and make him appear dead. Someone once told me that Kirigakure's Silent Killing Technique can make a dead person appears alive and a living person appears dead." Kakashi gave me a look before retreating back to his bed, seemingly too tired to continue, so I took over for him.
"Why would a Kiri-hunter-nin want to keep Zabuza alive, if he is a missing-nin?" Sakura asked next.
"That boy was probably not a true Kiri-hunter-nin. First of all, there shouldn't be only one Anbu tracking someone of Zabuza's status. Second of all, true Kiri-Anbu had plenty of ways to erase a body within minutes on the spot. They didn't need to take the body with them, they only needed to take Zabuza's sword. It's very likely that he's Zabuza's ally who had come to save him instead."
The children went silent upon hearing my explanation and I gave them a second to process.
"Sensei, if you had known that Zabuza was faking his death, why did you let them go?" Sasuke asked Kakashi.
I looked at the man on bed rest, silently asking him if he wanted to answer that or should I. He didn't look like he wanted to answer that.
"Remember, he didn't know we're coming. With his state right now, who would be able to protect you all and fight off the fake Hunter-nin with a not-dead Zabuza?" I asked the children in the room, and no answer came.
After a moment of silence, I said to the crowd, "Can I please have a moment with your Jonin Sensei please?" That was a nicer way of telling them to get out, not that the children wouldn't find a way to listen in, but what I wanted to discuss with Kakashi did concern them as well. I just thought that the number of bodies crowded in this small space was giving me a headache.
After the door was closed, Owl appeared from the shadows, unwilling to make himself visible in front of everyone else.
"I can't find them around the area. By now, it's likely they already went back to Gatō cooperation," Owl informed us.
"We'll go check later, but if that's true, Gatō's stronghold is not the best place for an assassination," I commented, raising my head a little to think. While I called Gatō's band of shinobi a raga bunch of no-good, their sheer number spelled trouble for anything assassination-related. Not to mention the number of protection barriers Gatō paid with money that would make our infiltration a real hassle.
Killing someone of Zabuza's calibre, especially with a fake Kiri-hunter-nin by its side, both well-versed in Kiri's assassination tactics, was not something we could deal with without alerting others in that fort.
We were here for something else as well and Zabuza was our perfect cover. Therefore, I'd rather not let the news of Konoha Anbu killing Zabuza spread around by hired shinobi.
Which meant, the only other time that Zabuza would be out of the fort, away from civilization …
I looked at Kakashi, who immediately knew what I was thinking.
"Zabuza will come back to finish Tazuna-san, one failure is embarrassing enough for a missing-nin of his rank," Kakashi confirmed, or more like mocked. I didn't imagine that his battle with Zabuza went easily, especially when he had to fight while keeping in mind all the people he had to protect.
"That technique, to make someone appear dead, it'll make the patient feel weak for a few days as they regain their bodily functions," I explained, pointing towards the two spots behind my neck. "For someone with Zabuza's training, maybe faster, so at worst, you have three days and at best, you have a week before he comes back."
My question was obvious: what were you going to do with your genin team?
"They decided to stay and protect their client," Kakashi answered, despite my raised eyebrow - right, he couldn't see that. "I don't think I should disrespect their commitment, don't you think?"
I let out a laugh, but there was no humour in it. "This is not some C-rank mission where they have to fight off some bandits or low-level shinobi. This is a missing-nin that even Konoha had to send Anbu against." What the hell are you thinking? I left those words out to save him some dignity.
"If we left, are you going to be able to watch Tazuna-san 24/7?" Kakashi retorted back, making me frown. "You really think Zabuza will be the only one looking for trouble? Gatō's thugs, with or without Zabuza, would come to stop Tazuna-san."
"Rabbit-san, I know you have your mission, and we have ours. They don't have to interfere with each other."
I got what he was saying. Even if we killed Zabuza right now, Gatō would just send someone else after Tazuna-san. Killing Zabuza did not equate to protecting Tazuna-san.
Zabuza was an anomaly in their mission, and he would leave that part to us so that his genin team would finally get the mission they signed up for.
"Plans could go wrong, you know that as well as I do," I warned, still not very convinced. Owl and I could plan to strike the moment Zabuza left the fort, aiming to kill him before he could reach his target, but there was always the chance that we could get caught up with something else.
We were not perfect, so we always tried to make sure things were not unsalvageable when our plans failed.
However, to my worries, Kakashi responded, "I know, and I don't do things without fail-safe."
I see. If worse came to worst, Kakashi was the last fail-safe.
"Somehow, seeing you here after your last confrontation with Zabuza doesn't inspire confidence," I said. Kakashi couldn't argue with me on that, not when he was laying in bed because everything was hurting.
"Maa, we had some issues in team synergy, but this is a perfect time for training." There it was again, that stupid face he used when he was the laidback Kakashi-sensei. He was settling into his education role very well. Too well, it seemed.
Before I could say anything else, I caught the jet-black bird soaring outside the window. Immediately, I tapped the storage seal on my arm, catching the empty scroll that popped out.
I rolled open the scroll and let the ink bird dive into it, forming a report a second later.
They found another trail. The same acid markings were left behind on plants, but nothing else. It was towards the North from where we left off, inching away from Water Country.
I showed Owl the message before destroying it with a fire jutsu.
Kakashi was right, we had our missions. We couldn't afford to be tied up in this protection detail between Gatō and Tazuna.
"Fine, we will try to get rid of Zabuza and his friend before they can come again. You better remember what you said." I stared at Kakashi until he gave me another nod to placate my paranoia.
"Let's go," I whispered and Owl followed me out. It was time to arrange a stake-out outside of Gatō's strong fort.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Sasuke leaned on the wall, watching Naruto trying to etch himself into the wall in order to catch an inkling of what the adults were saying.
The details were muffled, but they got the gist of things. They were to continue the mission to protect Tazuna-san, while Anbu would take care of Zabuza. That was the deal that Kakashi-sensei had struck with his sister.
"Wait, I can't hear anything now," Naruto whispered, still glueing his ear on the door. Sasuke rolled his eyes. The Anbu probably already left by this point, so he didn't hesitate to open the door, sending Naruto flying forward.
"Teme, can't you give me a warning?" Naruto yelled at him as he climbed up from the ground. On the other side of the room, Kakashi looked at them, eyes mocking, not at all surprised that they were eavesdropping.
"Maa, since you're all here, have a seat. Let's discuss our plans for the next couple of days," Their sensei said, nodding towards the bedside.
"First of all, let me just say that what you guys were trying to pull on Zabuza back in the forest wasn't all that bad." Kakashi curved his eyes for a smile, but all it did was giving Sasuke a bad feeling.
"However, it did almost ruin everything, so any idea why?" Despite the fact that Zabuza almost killed their client because of the slip-up, Kakashi looked at them as if he was asking what's for dinner.
"Our jutsu clashed," Sasuke managed to say after much silence. The scene replayed in his mind so many times, engraved into his memory by the Sharingan.
He had seen Kakashi use other nature releases with high proficiency. However, even with his signature lightning release, he continued to battle it out with Zabuza using water releases. Psychological battle was one thing, but another reason was that water releases had the best effects in that environment.
Then, Naruto and Sasuke, with their shadow clone and fire jutsu, had to come and ruin it. They clashed with Kakashi's water jutsu - the shadow clones blocked his aim and the fire dragons would cancel out his water - forcing him to change his rhythm.
Kakashi seemed content with his answer. He said, "Usually training with genin start with basic chakra control, using tree-walking or water-walking exercise. However, I see that you guys had been busy, even Sakura."
Sasuke shouldn't be surprised that he knew. One day, Sakura found them by the training ground, asking them what she should do to start training in ninjutsu, stating that she wanted to become a better teammate.
Naruto, of course, encouraged her with excitement, happy that he could have another friend. Sasuke gave her a once-over. She still had that blush on her face whenever she glanced his way, but he told her how to do tree-walking anyway.
It was almost unfair how she caught on so quickly.
Naruto couldn't believe that she had done something that he had spent a month on in the first hour, so he dared her to try water-walking, something even he had trouble with to this point.
A day later, Sakura waved at him from below the bridge, eyes gleaming in pride, while Naruto dropped his jaw like his world had been shattered. At that point, he was just looking for pain.
"So, I think we can skip that part and move onto something more practical, like team synergy." Kakashi-sensei decided with a snap of a finger.
"Team syn … what?" Naruto was having trouble comprehending.
Sakura rolled her eyes and explained, "It means making the combined effect of a team greater than the sum of its members."
"Bingo! If my water jutsu and Sasuke-kun's fire jutsu attacked the same enemy at the same time, what is most likely to happen?" Kakashi-sensei asked and Sasuke felt his ears turning red from embarrassment.
"They would probably crash, wouldn't they?" Naruto yelled, scratching his head a little.
"That's true. However, what if I was able to restrain the enemy first using a water jutsu, then let Sasuke-kun's fire jutsu hit?"
"Oh, then Sasuke-kun's jutsu would have a better chance of hitting the enemy because the enemy would have a hard time running away." This time, it was Sakura who shouted out the answer.
"Exactly, so team synergy meant knowing other teammate's attacks and figure out how your attacks can complement theirs," Kakashi-sensei summarized with a smile. Just then, he turned towards Naruto and Sasuke, eyes piercing, and added, "It also means knowing when your attacks will do the exact opposite."
Both of them lowered their head by the sheer pressure of his gaze. Know when to step away from a battle, Maiko-nee taught them that from day one. It wasn't cowardness, she emphasized. It was intelligence.
"Maa, not to worry, we got time to train for that." Kakashi-sensei's gaze turned into a smile so fast that they might have just been imagining things.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura called out weakly from the side.
"Yes, Sakura-chan?"
"I don't know how my attacks can help my teammates. I don't … have any ninjutsu." Compared to Naruto, who was well versed in shadow clones, and Sasuke, who had a library of fire jutsu, Sakura's reservoir stayed at the three basic jutsu taught by the academy. Similarly, her mediocre taijutsu and bukijutsu never found their uses.
"You'll learn with time, I'm sure. As for now, a little bird told me that you're quite good with chakra control, is that right?" Upon hearing Kakashi-sensei's words, Sakura glanced their way. As if remembering that she took way shorter than anyone of her teammates in learning tree-walking and water-walking, she nodded, straightening her chest a little.
"See, that usually means that your ninjutsu control will be a lot more accurate. Body flicker, clones, and replacement techniques, while they don't have attack power on their own, frequent use of them allows one to be highly mobile, and that will be helpful in getting an overall picture of the battlefield, no?" Kakashi-sensei threw out an idea, but not before adding a disclaimer, "Maa, that's just my idea, I'm sure the possibilities are endless."
"Now, think it over, my dear students. We'll start training tomorrow. Oh, and one more thing," Kakashi called them just before letting them leave. "No one says a word about seeing Anbu here. Otherwise, we might have to silence you."
He made a cutting motion across his neck and immediately, Naruto and Sakura sucked in a cold breath, nodding furiously, making Kakashi smile with joy.
The next morning, Sasuke and Naruto raced to the forest behind Tazuna-san's house, with Sakura running behind them.
"Yo." The first thing that came insight was two replicas of Kakashi-sensei, both waving at them.
One of them was an earth clone, Sasuke determined that with a flash of Sharingan.
"So, as you can see, 'I' am fragile, so please protect me as a team." The real Kakashi-sensei pointed to the earth clone, who had stopped waving and instead, smiled at them with a curved eye.
"What are we protecting him against?" Naruto asked in confusion. As if answering his question, Kakashi took a step forward and stretched his arm.
"What about your chakra exhaustion?" Sasuke asked, already regretted asking as soon as the words left his mouth.
"That's cute, you think that I need to be in full health to deal with you guys." Sasuke didn't know about Naruto, but that already riled him up.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Inari, Tazuna-san's grandchild, had made Naruto both mad and sad.
Sasuke watched their argument unfold silently. However, when the child shouted at Naruto, saying that he had no idea what true sadness felt like, Sasuke wanted to laugh.
Who doesn't know what true sadness felt like?
But tragedies shouldn't be used to compare with each other, his sister used to say. A tragedy was a tragedy, that was all.
Still, Naruto, being an idiot, took the words of an angry child to be a denial of his dream. So, like an idiot, Naruto decided to prove him wrong, determined to complete his mission no matter what thugs, scumbags, or criminals that Gatō decided to send.
"One more chance, please!" Naruto wiped his face, plastered in sweat and dirt, while Kakashi-sensei stared them down from a few metres away, not breaking a sweat.
From the third day and onward, Kakashi-sensei started giving them a shadow clone, to 'help' them attack. In theory, of course.
Whether it was a shadow clone or not, it retained a Jonin's skill. They couldn't follow the shadow clone's reaction time and predict his movements. Just a little more, Sasuke felt his body strain to react in time, his mind strain to tell what his shadow clone Sensei was going to do next.
Just a little more, that was the point. Hatake Kakashi dangled the bait in front of them, controlling his power so that they'd always felt like they were close. Just one more, and for sure, they would understand enough to help instead of being a hindrance.
They'd get three tries per day. After the third clone popped, they were done for the day.
"Maa, Naruto, Sensei is tired. I'm still injured, remember?" Kakashi rubbed his heart as if his body was truly weak and fragile. Despite the soreness all over his body, Sasuke found the strength to give him the biggest eye roll in his life.
"Solitude reflection is also a good way to train," Kakashi said before flickering away, making the decision final.
"Oh come on, just one more! I'm feeling something important!" Naruto yelled to the empty space, before flopping down in exhaustion. However, the growl from his stomach soon ushered them back to Tazuna's house for dinner.
When the dawn broke, Sasuke woke up realizing that Naruto's snoring was gone. That idiot. Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitched when Naruto was still absent despite the smell of breakfast in the pot.
"Where are you going, Sasuke-kun? The breakfast is almost ready." Sakura asked as he pushed open the door.
"To find that idiot," Sasuke answered without turning back.
Sasuke waded through the forest, seeing the light mist catching the sunlight, making his vision spotty. No one who had gotten used to the sight behind Sharingan could settle for a flawed vision.
Yet, he was the only one left whose vision was still pure and pristine.
Sasuke resisted the urge to turn on the Sharingan to push away the imperfection. It was a part of him, but it shouldn't be all of him.
He saw Naruto sitting on the ground, eyes gleaming under the sun as if he had just been awakened by the piercing sunlight.
A few more steps, a figure passed by, half-veiled by the sunlight. When the person passed by, Sasuke smell the strong scent of medicinal herbs. Driven by curiosity, he turned slightly, but all he caught was the pink yukata and the long-flowing black hair.
Never mind that, his mind turned back to the idiot, who looked as if he was in some sort of trance, questioning the meaning of life.
"Wake up, idiot, you're gonna miss breakfast." Sasuke smacked him in the head, hearing Naruto let out an 'ouch' but finally back in the mortal realm.
"Can't you see that I'm awake already?" Naruto complained.
"Well, with that stupid face, who could tell?" Sasuke shot back, "What were you thinking that fried your brain?"
For once, Naruto didn't argue back, instead, he tilted his head and said, "How is it possible, for boys to be prettier than girls?"
Suddenly, Naruto stood up, almost knocking Sasuke backward. Naruto stared at his face, examining him with his blue eyes. After a moment of silence, he muttered, "Hmmm, not quite like this, the aura is kind of different."
A lot of question marks went up in Sasuke's head. Naruto had been pretty confusing, but he was really outdoing himself.
"What the hell were you doing, staying out here in the middle of the night," Sasuke asked, directing the conversation to something he could understand.
"Since Kakashi-sensei made shadow clones to train us, I thought I could use my shadow clones to train by myself in taijutsu," Naruto replied, raising his head to show that he was proud of his idea.
"You idiot, when shadow clones sustain damage, they'll pop." Sasuke couldn't understand how it would work well in taijutsu when clashes would be a constant factor.
"Then I'll just make more," Naruto shot back. Right, how could he forget, this idiot had a crazy amount of chakra that seemed like it would never run dry.
"You could have just told me and I would have trained with you," Sasuke said it out loud before he could stop himself.
Naruto turned towards him and let out a big, bright smile. "Thanks, Sasuke, I know you will! But you're really tired every day, aren't you? When we train with Kakashi-sensei, you're always planning our attacks, we're always so close!"
That's because Hatake let us think that we're close. Sasuke wanted to scream, but for some reason, he decided not to tell Naruto.
"Naruto," Sasuke suddenly squatted down so that he would be at the same level as the blonde-haired boy. Naruto looked confused and startled. Very rarely, Sasuke called Naruto's name.
"You don't have to prove to Inari, or anyone, what your ideals are," Sasuke said. Long ago, he realized that there would always be 'blind' people in the world. They refused to see the truth in front of them, only believing what they could conjure up in those biased, prejudiced brains of theirs.
They refused to see how much the Uchiha were suffering because of the unreasonable suspicion dumped on them. They refused to see what Maiko-nee had put on the line when she executed Danzō. They refused to see Naruto's hard work, his sweat and tears when he tried his best to be a shinobi when everything seemed to work against him.
Those who wanted to see would see. Those who wanted to believe would believe.
At the very least, Sasuke would see.
"I know that!" Naruto said and Sasuke narrowed his eyes in skepticism.
Rubbing his nose, he said, "No matter what Inari said, I won't give up! I will become the Hokage, a hero who can protect everyone!" He paused a little, deciding to lie down.
Facing the sky, he said, "But Sasuke, I want to let Inari know, that he shouldn't give up hope, you know? That's the kind of Hokage I want to become, the kind that will tell people not to give up!"
Because if we give up, then life would truly become unbearable.
Sasuke said nothing as he looked down at Naruto, who flopped down on the grass as if he had no spine.
A moment later, Naruto sprung up and a growl sounded from his stomach. "Ah, Sasuke, I'm so hungry."
Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes at him, "That's because we didn't eat breakfast." You idiot with the attention span of a fish.
"Haha, oh right," Naruto said as he rubbed his hair. Suddenly, something came to his mind, "I wonder if Miss Anbu would come again."
Sasuke shook his head and Naruto looked a little disappointed. He knew that when Maiko-nee left, she had put a genjutsu on every civilian who had seen them, overwriting their memory so that they would forget ever seeing Anbu.
Letting Kakashi-sensei and his genin team know her existence was the last bit of trust she had given them, on the basis that they were Konoha's shinobi.
"Whatever, let's go back and eat. We have training afterwards."
None of them noticed the silent shadow that hid in the tree, catching the last bits of words in their conversation.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
The mist was particularly thick today. The visibility was almost null if I didn't turn on the Sharingan. However, my companion with the Byakugan barely felt anything.
Five days had passed, if Zabuza couldn't recover by now, then I'd say I was disappointed.
Owl shifted straighter, usually a sign that he had seen something worth noticing.
"What is it?" I asked.
Owl narrowed his eyes a little, before answering me with uncertainty. "Two figures are moving in the bridge's direction. They looked like Zabuza and the fake hunter-nin."
"How do their chakra look?" I asked again. If they were clones for diversion, then their circuit would look messy and incomplete.
"Complete and flowing powerfully," Owl confirmed. Then, there was no point in waiting.
"Let's go, keep your eyes open, in case they are willing to shell out shadow clones." As soon as I gave the order, we flickered towards the moving signature.
They shouldn't be knowing our existence. Owl's sensing range was quite far and we made sure to keep our presence low.
As we made our way around Gatō's strong fort, catching onto the Kirigakure duo, I noticed the fact that they were slowing down.
"They noticed us. Prepare for attacks, we need to move out of the perimeter surrounding Gatō's fort." A fight couldn't break out here, otherwise, all of our waiting was for naught.
However, before we could move, a pale blue barrier was erected a few meters in front of us. It's the defence barrier around Gatō's fort, the highest-tech of the most expensive grade, prevent jutsu and people from getting in and out.
With it, was an alarm and the gathering of most shinobi guarding this corner.
Zabuza walked out of the mist, stopping just a few meters from the barrier. Behind him, I saw his small accomplice, dressed up exactly like a Kiri-hunter-nin from my memory.
"Konoha Anbu, was it?" Zabuza said, almost mocking. This was pre-planned, the fact that they decided to activate the barrier from the outside so that we would be trapped here.
I didn't know how they found out about us but that didn't matter right now. Solving this slip-up was the more pressing matter.
Behind us, dozens of shinobi were gathering, raising their arms against us.
"I'd imagine no Anbu wanted to let their allegiance be known, have fun with these good-for-nothings. They may be pests, but that's exactly why they were pesky to deal with," Zabuza said. What could I say? black-ops knew black-ops the best. All of those that had gathered here had heard Zabuza calling us Konoha Anbu.
We had no choice but to watch Zabuza and his little tail disappear into the mist.
"Cover for me," I told Owl, who immediately sprung into action, pushing his fist into a fatal tenketsu of the shinobi nearest to us.
I made the hand seals and let the crimson arrow form in front of me. I shot it towards the barrier, where it got absorbed by the barrier after a moment of sizzling. Without stopping, I called Hama Ya again, shooting it towards the same spot again and again.
Even Konoha's protection barrier could be broken with enough damage, and this definitely couldn't compare.
Five arrows? Ten? Twenty? I didn't keep count. A dozen shinobi were already dead around us, courtesy of Owl and his taijutsu.
Finally, the barrier cracked at the spot when I forced my Hama Ya through, creating an opening just large enough for a person to get through.
"Go, leave this to me." Owl didn't protest my order. He was sufficient at combat, don't get me wrong, but I was just faster at killing. We needed to deal with all those gathered already before even more came.
After Owl left the barrier, I turned around, feeling a large chunk of my chakra drained in the span of minutes.
Without wasting a second, I unsheathed my swords and flashed.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Something must have gone wrong when Zabuza showed up at the bridge, unscathed, unhindered, and looking as smug as he possibly could.
Plan A was dead, so they needed to pull their weight and deal with plan B. Despite all the last-time training, Sasuke could feel his battle instinct improved, but not to the level that he would be useful in a fight between Kakashi and Zabuza.
Sasuke decided to deal with the other boy, Haku, and for once, Kakashi let him go.
The world became clearer under his Sharingan, and he landed a strike on Haku, knocking him onto the ground.
Zabuza let out a 'tsk' amidst the thick mist, telling Haku to get himself together. Another puppet who can't live for himself, Sasuke thought as Haku looked at him with a newfound determination.
The maze of icy mirrors formed around him in an instant. Without thinking, Sasuke blew out the great fireball and let it crash into one of the mirrors.
"That kind of firepower won't do anything." Haku's calm voice resonated across the mirrors, giving him a headache.
Without answering, Sasuke did the same thing, aiming another great fireball at the exact same position. However, before he could repeat for a third, a senbon rain down, aiming at his chest and he had no choice but to stop his jutsu and dodge.
Just a few more, he could see the water droplets on the mirror forming little by little. Outside, Sakura stood guard by Tazuna-san, eyeing him with worry. After some thinking, she pulled out some kunai and threw them towards the same mirror that Sasuke was attacking.
Finally, her aim was bearable, at least against a stationary target.
Sasuke recovered quickly after dodging, planting his feet onto the ground, blowing out a fireball towards the mirror. However, as soon as the fire left his mouth, he felt the danger locking in on him.
Sasuke ducked, letting a senbon sail over his head. He turned around, quickly parrying the rest with his kunai. A few senbon scratched his skin, making stinging marks on his arm. The wind brushed against his neck, a figure appeared in his peripheral vision and he only had time to turn around to watch Haku move in front of him at lightning speed, piercing senbon steady in his hands.
It was always like this with Sharingan. Seeing didn't mean reacting.
However, the sharp senbon never pierced his skin because, from the sky, a cannonball of orange fell down, pushing Haku away to the side. The ice boy quickly slipped back into the mirror, leaving Naruto on the ground to recover from the fall.
"Where the hell have you been?" Sasuke felt his eyes twitch because goddamn he thought he had seen a lot of things.
"Saving Inari, I'll have you know," Naruto shouted with pride in his voice. "Now I'm here to save you too!"
Sasuke resisted the urge to punch him in the stomach. Instead, he nodded towards the mirrors surrounding them. "See those, it's the structure made by the fake-hunter-nin. I'm going to destroy it, and you're going to help me."
Just then, Haku's voice sounded again, "I don't want to hurt any of you, so please don't make me do it."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored him. He gathered another surge of fire chakra in his throat and blew it out. He could see the senbons aiming towards him, determined to stop his attack before he would fire it. However, Naruto was here.
A dozen shadow clones surrounded him, protecting him with a circle of orange jumpsuits. A few shadow clones bursted as his fireball hit the mirror. It was barely visible, but Sasuke didn't miss the vapour that floated out from the side.
"Use your weapon to parry, you idiot," Sasuke managed to squeeze out as Naruto's shadow clones formed a shield in front of him, blocking another ambush from Haku. Catching that moment, Sasuke threw out a few shuriken, seeing them curve and corner the masked boy, cutting his sleeve before he went back to the mirror.
"I thought you're gonna destroy the mirrors, where's the progress?" Naruto yelled as he generated even more shadow clones, clearly not going to heed his advice.
"Working on it, dumbass!" Sasuke couldn't help but yell before blowing another fireball towards the mirror.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Kakashi waited.
The mist was thick with chakra, effectively blocking all aspects of Sharingan sensing. He couldn't find Zabuza, nor could he pick out Zabuza's chakra from the ocean of chakra in his vision.
So he waited, inviting Zabuza to attack. Hakuryuu would be confused if he tried to tell it to follow Zabuza's chakra because his chakra was everywhere. Instead, he needed something more distinct, like Zabuza's blood.
The ground seemed to shiver when the giant cleaver sliced from above. Kakashi moved, narrowly dodging the blade as it hit the bridge, sending wood splinters into the air.
Kakashi twirled the kunai in his hands, slashing it horizontally, feeling it clash with another metal weapon. He ducked, feeling the blade sailing over her head, then he reached out, grabbing onto Zabuza's arm.
He sent a jolt of electricity down his body - it wouldn't damage anything major to someone like Zabuza, but it was enough to stun his enemy for a millisecond. Kakashi slashed his kunai upward, feeling the blade draw blood.
Kakashi blocked Zabuza's fist using his arm. He didn't have time to dodge because Kubikiribōchō was flying towards him. The blade made a slash on his leg as he took a step back, calling down the Narukami to force Zabuza back into hiding.
"Are you going to keep defending and waste time? Is that all from Copy Ninja Kakashi, without the Sharingan?" Zabuza mocked, his voice resonating from everywhere in the mist. It was a technique of intimidation from Kirigakure, using chakra as a medium of your voice, to make it seemed that you were everywhere, psychologically haunting the target of assassination.
"Perhaps you're waiting for Konoha Anbu to come and save your ass." Kakashi felt his muscles tighten. "Too bad, they are caught up with being dead."
Oh god, this will be annoying.
Zabuza's voice reached far and wide, enough for the kids trapped in the ice maze to hear. Fair enough, he heard an angry yell from the other side of the bridge.
The thing with Uchiha was that when they got mad, they got really mad, and all of their intelligence just went into an explosion of emotion.
After all, not everyone was Itachi.
When they got back, Maiko would want to kill him, but not before Kakashi mocked her for letting Zabuza screw her over in the first place.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
The first thing of being a shinobi - nothing good ever came out of being emotional.
Emotions clouded judgements and that was fatal in a battle where decisions were made in seconds.
But none of that crap changed the fact that Sasuke was angry. Moreover, nobody would understand his anger, understand what that specific Anbu meant for him.
So yes, he was beyond mad.
The mirror wasn't breaking fast enough despite Sasuke's nonstop effort. Naruto was trying his best to protect him, but they were running out of time. He was running out of time.
He needed something stronger, something more explosive.
"Naruto! To the mirror!" Sasuke yelled as he threw a long ninja wire towards the sky, hoping that one of the clones would hear him.
"What now?" One of them grabbed the wire and passed it along, dodging Haku's attacks in the meantime, eventually managing to wrap it around the half-broken mirror.
Sasuke didn't have time to answer him, instead, he sent a stream of fire down the wire. The mirror sizzled where the flame touched, but the cracks refused to expand.
Whatever, Sasuke felt his logic go out of the window as he pulled out a kunai and injected lightning chakra into the blade.
His hands felt numb because he was definitely not in control of this ball of lightning, and this stinging numbness was the only thing reminding him of what the hell was happening.
"Wait, Sasuke!" Naruto - already battered with senbons sticking out of his body - yelled from behind him, but Sasuke was determined.
He ran out of the protective circle of 'Naruto' and immediately a senbon pierced into his leg, almost staggering him. He refused to fall down as he drove his kunai into the crack in the mirror, letting the lightning chakra touch the flame and just explode.
Sasuke watched the explosion happen in slow motion as he fell down onto the ground. That goddamn ice mirror finally broke into pieces, creating an opening in this stupid ice fortress.
The hall of mirrors always functioned as a whole, resting as an arena for Haku to attack and defend perfectly. That also meant a break in the overall integrity would decrease the effectiveness of his technique dramatically, allowing Naruto and his immense shadow clones to finally go from defence to offence.
A shadow loomed over him. It was Haku.
Sasuke stared at him, his Sharingan opened wide, but he had no energy to use a genjutsu.
He thought he heard the masked boy mutter a sorry. Then, he felt a sting on his neck before his blood seemed to freeze in his body.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"Sasuke!"
When he felt the surging chakra rising from the other side of the bridge, Kakashi didn't hesitate to let the white ball of lightning leave his finger.
It brought back bad memories. For Kakashi, he could never forget the sinister chakra that dominated his senses twelve years ago.
Hakuryuu shot out and within a second, Kakashi heard the jutsu piercing Zabuza's flesh. It wasn't the heart, by the sound of that.
That was the problem with using the blood signature instead of the chakra signature. With chakra, it would home to the most concentrated reservoir of chakra in a person's body - the heart. However, with blood, it would most likely home to the wound where the smell of blood was the strongest.
The mist dissipated little because the person in control was heavily injured, clearing up the fog that had occupied Kakashi's vision. Just before Kakashi was about to finish the strike, he heard a hard thump and the next second, Zabuza staggered closer to him, clutching onto his bloodied shoulder, almost blown off.
A figure landed beside him. It was Owl, his hands outstretched in the Hyūga gentle fist.
Through the thinning mist, Kakashi could finally see what the hell was happening across the bridge.
The crystal maze already shattered because the boy who controlled it was pinned down by another boy who was almost taken over by the beast. A few feet from them, the boy who was the trigger of all of this, lay motionless on the bridge.
"Please go help them. I'll handle Zabuza." Kakashi said to Owl after letting out a sigh. In the blink of an eye, the Anbu dashed forward, hoping to at least take the injured to safety if the Nine-Tail had truly broken through the seal.
Then, Kakashi turned back to Zabuza, who had switched his sword to his left hand, letting blood soaking through his right arm without care.
He needed to be quick now. He had a tailed-beast to suppress.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Sasuke let out a large breath when his body suddenly felt unclogged. When his vision finally refocused, he saw the Owl mask hovering over him. He felt a tap on his body and suddenly, the soreness felt lighter now.
He turned his head and saw the orange cloak wrapping around Naruto as his teammate froze in front of their enemy. The sinister energy made him feel danger and in defence, his instinct forced the Sharingan to open.
A broken hunter-nin mask lay on the ground now, revealing a boy fairer than any girl he had seen. Naruto, despite the smell of destruction that ran rampant around him a second ago, stopped in shock.
"Naruto," Sasuke yelled, feeling his voice coarse as if he hadn't spoken for days.
Naruto seemed startled, as he turned in an instant. The beastly feature that seemed to fade a moment ago was reignited as soon as their eyes met.
The Nine-Tail Fox. Sasuke realized in a second. The source of its reignited rage? It was the Sharingan.
Sasuke heard the Anbu next to him suck in a breath as he raised his hands, ready for battle.
Fighting the survival instinct in his body, Sasuke forced his Sharingan to close. He raised his eyes just as Naruto, cloaked in the raging orange, charged forward.
The impact never arrived.
Naruto's cloak of orange as well as his beastly features faded in the smoke as their eyes met, stopping just a few centimetres before reaching Sasuke and the Anbu.
"Sasuke," Naruto muttered in disbelief before yelling at the top of his lungs, "You're alive!"
A few metres away, Sasuke saw Haku smile at them, and he couldn't help but feel pissed off. "What are you looking at?"
Haku shook his head, still with that peaceful look on his face, despite the blood running down his mouth. "Forgive me," He said, "It just … brings me joy to see that both of you can protect your most precious person."
"Now, if it's possible, please kill me."
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Kakashi's Raikiri never missed, whether he wanted it to or not. Its speed was a necessity so that rarely anyone should be able to react to it.
That was why he was surprised. During that few frames, before his lightning-filled hand struck Zabuza, it appeared that a lot of things had happened.
Kakashi couldn't stop his attack when the boy moved in front of Zabuza, only managing to shift his direction a little so that hopefully, it wouldn't be as damaging. However, it didn't look like it would matter.
Then, a flash of lightning zoomed across him and the boy, leaving only an afterimage as Maiko pushed the boy out of the way.
Kakashi felt his hand plunge into Zabuza's flash. It missed the heart, but the Demon of the Mist wouldn't have long to live with that hole in his abdomen.
People seemed to gather - Naruto and Sasuke running towards him - as Kakashi pulled his hand out, leaving Zabuza staggering back, breathing heavily as he struggled to live for the next few minutes.
Again, a lot of things seemed to be happening.
Haku screamed in anguish as he saw the only reason he was living - the only person he was living for - dying in front of him.
All that emotion bursted as Haku summoned up his mirror maze again, entrapping the person who had cursed him to this fate.
Naruto was ready to go again, thinking that just because he had broken one, he could do the same for a second time.
Kakashi stopped him with a firm grip.
"But …" Naruto never finished his sentence because as soon as the maze was up, Hama Ya shot through one of the mirrors, breaking it in an instant. With it, the boy fell to the ground, the fabrics at his shoulder gone, exposing the burns on his skin.
He never meant to kill Sasuke, so she didn't kill him. That was the last of her mercy.
"Instead of this, you should go to him in his last moments," Maiko said through her mask as she walked out of the shattered maze.
"Stop, Haku. You're useless against her." Haku turned around to the sound and his rage dissipated in an instant.
Zabuza leaned on his giant cleaver. Despite the hole in his stomach, he looked as calm as anyone could be.
Somehow, that sentence ticked Naruto off as he screamed at Zabuza, "Hey! How could you say that he is useless? He treats you as his everything, the light of his world!" Before Sasuke and Sakura could stop him, he shouted out the last of his words, "Act like you deserve it!"
Kakashi couldn't tell what Zabuza was thinking, but at the very least, the missing-nin knew that he wasn't going to live long. Whatever tricks Zabuza and Haku used to delay Maiko and her teammate, the moment they showed up here, the chances of their escape were sealed.
Maiko didn't rush them as Haku knelt in front of a silent Zabuza, shedding tears that he didn't even have against the blows of a Jinchuuriki.
A lot of things seemed to become clearer when you were about to die.
Zabuza strained his neck to look up so that he would be at the same level as Maiko. "How's Kirigakure recently? I heard that woman, Terumi, became the Mizukage."
"Kirigakure has changed. They're pulling themselves together," Maiko answered as if they were just having a chit-chat. Finally, Maiko said the words that Zabuza cared the most about. "The Kekkei Genkai hunt was over a long time ago. With two Kekkei Genkai herself, Terumi is doing all she can to make Kirigakure safe for them."
"Those words coming from Konoha Anbu, Kirigakure must be doing something right." Zabuza let out a mocking laugh that quickly turned to a bloody cough.
"Zabuza-san …" Haku wanted to say something, maybe to tell him to stop straining himself, but Zabuza ignored him and cut him off.
"Take Haku to Konohagakure, to Kirigakure, I don't care." He said to Maiko, and to Kakashi, before finally turning to the pleading boy and telling him, "You are no longer anything to me. Don't ever mention me again."
Haku looked up with disbelief, but as Zabuza said, he and Haku were no longer connected by anything. No matter how devastated the boy seemed, Zabuza refused to acknowledge his existence.
"Teme!" Naruto was about to unleash his anger again, but Sasuke clasped his mouth with his hand, preventing him from exploding.
"Naruto, sometimes, things are more complicated than what they seem," Kakashi told the boy.
Maiko turned her head a little, noticing something coming. Immediately, she made a few hand seals and the mist thickened around them, not to the extent as when he had fought with Zabuza, but enough to make the visibility dwindle. After that, she flickered behind Kakashi along with Owl, hiding behind the shadow of him and his genin team.
"Zabuza! You idiot, how dare you fail such a simple assassination and destroy my barrier!" It was Gatō who had arrived, getting off his luxurious boat along with a few of his bodyguards.
He waved his hands in annoyance as if the mist disgusted him. "Get rid of this mist, you useless tool." He rested his eyes on the injured figure of Zabuza and laughed in sadistic pleasure.
Haku, the boy who never gets angry, fished a fallen senbon in his hand, but before he could charge in. Zabuza laughed, making Gatō take a step back. He said to Haku without even looking at him. "Who are you to fight my battle?"
Zabuza pulled himself straighter, right arm still limping, but he removed his left hand from his wound and asked, "Got a sword for me?"
It was unfortunate that Kakashi didn't have one, but a ninjatō did flew from behind him and landed into Zabuza's left hand.
Behind him, Kakashi could hear Maiko whisper to her stunned teammate who was the owner of that ninjatō. "What? You don't even use your sword."
Biting another kunai in his mouth, Zabuza charged in like a true demon. Gatō screamed as he ran backward, calling his bodyguards to stop the Demon of the Mist.
The bodyguards readied their weapons, but none of them hit the right place while Zabuza just charged past them. With the way he jumped in front of Gatō and kicked the man down, one wouldn't have ever guessed that he had suffered a fatal wound.
Zabuza sent the ninjatō through Gatō's chest without a moment of delay, twisting the blade until Gatō let out his last breath, before pulling the sword out. Kakashi turned his head slightly to catch the swirling red irides through Maiko's mask. His suspicion of a genjutsu was confirmed when a series of screams sounded from the bodyguards.
"Zabuza! He's a demon!"
"I saw him killing the boss before running away. He's still out there!"
"Run, before he comes back for us!"
The bodyguards rushed to the boat and left without hesitation, leaving only Gatō's body and Zabuza on the bridge.
Zabuza laughed, giving Maiko a look, finding it funny that his legacy would continue in this manner even after his death.
He turned around, wanting to walk back towards them. However, he faltered halfway, falling on the ground as life finally seemed to drain out of him.
He craned his neck, resting his eyes on Haku at his life's end and let out a sound so quiet that it might have gotten lost in the wind.
"Live, Haku."
"No ..." Haku let out a raspy scream before Owl tapped his tenketsu from behind under Maiko's instruction, making him fall like a ragged doll.
It was Naruto who caught the boy's falling body. He looked up and stared at the rabbit mask. "Will you let Haku live?"
"That depends on you guys. If you can make him want to keep living," Maiko answered, walking towards Zabuza's body without stopping. She put a hand on the ground and a crimson lotus arose from under Zabuza, enveloping his body as a whole, burning everything left into nothing but ashes. With a blow of the wind, the ashes flew into the air, disappearing into the mist and the sea.
Owl wrapped a scroll around Kubikiribōchō that was still stuck on the ground and with a puff, the giant cleaver was stored into the storage seal.
Naruto said nothing as he looked at Haku in his arms, uncertain of what to do.
"How about let's take him back to the village first, then, we can ask him what he wanted to do when he woke up," Kakashi suggested, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder as a comfort.
It was the deal made between Maiko and Zabuza, or perhaps a more accurate description would be a plea Zabuza made to Maiko. He will play his part, killing Gatō, taking on all the blame, and then disappear, erasing the existence of Konoha Anbu, while they would let Haku live.
He had no way of knowing that Maiko would keep her words, but it was the only thing he could count on.
Maiko stood on the bridge, her eyes glanced over Sasuke, battered, injured, but nevertheless alive. Quickly, she turned to Kakashi and said, "The villagers are coming, you know what to tell them. As for the boy, I'll let you take care of him. We're leaving."
Kakashi nodded, having long guessed that they had another mission - more secretive, more dangerous - they had to conduct under the shadow of Zabuza's elimination.
As soon as Maiko left, the thin veil of mist lifted, revealing the warming sunlight beneath it.
True to her words, Kakashi saw the band of villagers rushing to the bridge, with homemade weapons in hand. Their leader, the young boy Inari, looked confused when the bridge looked like it went through so much, but no enemies were in sight.
Kakashi curved his eyes at them, giving a smile to Inari and explained, "It seemed that Zabuza wasn't all that happy with his employer, so he killed him and fled."
Tazuna was also within the range of Maiko's genjutsu, so he nodded in confirmation, still holding a hand over his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.
"Rest assured, Neither Gatō nor Zabuza would come looking for trouble again. Missing-nin doesn't take jobs without pay," Kakashi said as Naruto and Sasuke carried Haku's unconscious body towards him. "Now, I've got some injured kids, can I trouble you again for some medicine?"
A/N: so that's how the 'Land of the Waves' ends for Team 7, but not quite the story of Haku. I still want Team 7 to face off against Haku and Zabuza because it's kind of important for them and for the future plot. Maiko has been on the sideline in this chapter because the bulk of her mission hasn't been finished yet, so she'll stay near Kiri for a little longer. Anyway, I tried to imagine how the mission will change in this alternate timeline so I kept some original story and added some new stuff, hope they all make sense. The chapter is choppy because a lot of things were happening at all kinds of places, so you know, gotta explain a lot of things and all that XD
Again, updates will be random, depending on if I have time and on how far I can write them.
A/N again: A reader brought up some good questions that they find confusing during the Danzo arc, and I think they are great questions that I was unable to explain well in the story, either because I wasn't able to put it into the story or because I forgot XD. Thank you for taking the time to bring it up! They said they want to know my input but I can't message them, so I just want to leave some notes in case they are still confused.
1. Kotoamatsukami timeline. I did suggest that Danzo used multiple Koto in the span of days, while Itachi said that he wouldn't be able to use the technique again for another few years. So my explanation for this was the scale of the jutsu and the fact that Danzo has Hashirama cells transplanted, which as we can see, works wonders on Obito. What Danzo planted was simply small suggestions. As you can see, it didn't work on Maiko, it worked for Inoichi and in the last battle to some extent, but the suggestions were weak and only worked when it was not against the fundamental assumptions of the victim. However, what Itachi did for Kisame was basically mind control, it basically rewrote his belief system and exerted strong control over his mind. Greater power always required greater sacrifice. Why can't Danzo use the more powerful version? Cause he's trash a using Sharingan XD.
2. Eternal Mangekyou (EMS). From my understanding, the EMS required two sets of eyes to take effect on one person, as suggested by the Manga panel. To me, swapping eyes doesn't work, because it felt 'too cheap' for something that is so emotionally tragic in the original series. I don't know how it works, maybe the old eyes lose effect when their users have EMS, or maybe powers need to be transferred. Maiko doesn't oppose gaining more powers because she knows she will need them to better protect her loved ones. However, if that sacrifice is Itachi's own eyes, then she'd rather not. Like I said, greater power requires greater sacrifice, they simply don't have enough spare Uchiha eyes right now XD.