My sources used for the Houkou demon and the general Tailed-Demon mythology is in the following-
forums. narutofan. com/ show thread .php? t(equalsign) 33015& highlight(equalsign)demons (delete spaces to get correct adress)
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Up in a tree, the three held their breath and watched their… campfire (oh no, not the campfire) be desecrated by the Konoha ninja scouring the area, each wearing a blank white mask.
"This fire's fresh! They should still be around here. Look, they were even trying to make some breakfast." One of the ninja noted, nudging one of the slowly grilling fish on a stick.
The lone eyeball of the group twitched.
"Naruto. This is why I said raw fish for the next couple of weeks. Bloody idiot." A 'monkey' hissed out as a mating call from up above.
"Hey! We didn't take the scroll, isn't that enough?" A 'bird' squawked out.
"No! So what, we didn't take a scroll! We killed how many ninja? Plus you're goddamn 'Kyuubi', and if that Iru-whatever is a real ninja, then they know I'm goddamn 'Houkou' too! Why else do you think they're sending such high level hunters after us?"
"Sensei, Naruto, don't talk so much, they'll hear us." A 'squirrel' for some reason, managed to chitter out.
One of the ninjas looked up at the commotion. "They're they are!"
Obviously, the three samurai needed lessons in how to imitate the various animal calls of tree dwellers.
While the remaining shinobi merged in to capture the escaping convicts, the three just gave their mental equivalents of sighing.
Queue fight number… what, seven? Seventh fight of the month.
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Evil: Marine Corporation Extraordinaire!
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You have defeated Hunter-Nin (4) for 120 EXP.
You have received: Several meters of bandages, various throwing weapons, yadda yadda yadda. Oh, and some of them were carrying some food, that's should be worth something.
"Oi… sensei… this is getting ridiculous…" Naruto mumbled as he hunched along, bored and tired of the whole fighting ninjas and everything. The dried meat was a bit of a plus though.
Tetsuya returned a hum as he chewed on his… whatever it was. What did they call pieces of meat wrapped in flat breads of pancakes?
"Tetsuya-sensei… do you even have a plan of how to deal with this?" Haku put bluntly. Her teacher's avoidance of the issue was generally, pissing everybody off.
"… Do you even want to know?"
"You don't even have a plan, do you, sensei?" Naruto deadpanned.
"AGH! Fine!" Tetsuya turned around to look back at his procession, "I never took a job as big as this! Usually when I piss somebody off, I just run far, far away."
"That's it?"
"Yes!"
"Tetsuya-sensei. These are ninja we are dealing with."
"I know that! So what if they don't forget as easily as any other random thug! As soon as we get far away, they'll have a hard time finding us!"
"Sensei! But we are already far away! They still keep finding us!" Naruto pointed out.
"That's why… WE ARE RUNNING AWAY!"
"Agh! My sensei is an idiot!" The younger male dropped to the ground with a cry.
"WHAT YOU SAY?"
Badump-a-crash-a-thump-a-kill.
Haku closed her eyes and gave another sigh. Leave it to the women to stop these sorts of things.
She delicately cracked her knuckles.
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"So, Tetsuya-sensei. Do we have an idea now?" Haku asked in her kneeling position, as she regarded the two piles of dead swordsmen in front of her.
"I guess." Went the one-eyed samurai, who lay face down on the ground. It was a wonder how he wasn't suffocating, or even being heard through the dirt.
"Will this idea actually work, sensei?" Naruto dully asked on his back.
"Eh… there's a chance for everything to screw up or work perfectly." Tetsuya shrugged, "I heard of a small out of the way place in my travels. I don't go there very often, though. It's known as the Wave Country. It doesn't have a ninja village, so word of evil-samurai should take longer to get there, plus it's a backwater place, so ninja don't go there very often, too."
"Oi, sensei. But if there is no ninja village there, that still makes it free game for any ninja to come by."
"Yeah, pretty much. But I think it's far enough from Konoha to hide."
"How much farther is it?" Haku inquired.
"Prolly not too much. But it's pretty much cut off from the main land by water. We'll need a boat."
"And where do we find a boat, sensei?" Naruto asked.
"I think there's a pretty popular port in the direction we were headed in…"
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Cuttlefish Port. What an ugly name. Then again, the place wasn't particularly special. It was more like an industrial port, in anything. Cement squares that ended abruptly in front of the water, stone buildings that were bastard children of stores and warehouses. Boats were plentiful, and not too many looked like they were around for pleasure cruises. A few lazy trails of smoke led up into the sky.
"Alright, let's check our resources. Cash out!"
Silence.
Damn it, we shouldn't have bought those snacks for lunch…"Aw! What the hell? We shouldn't have bought those dango!" Naruto exclaimed, as the wood stick that once held the snacks was being chewed up between his teeth.
"We can't even rent a rowboat with this money, Tetsuya-sensei." Haku glumly calculated.
"Well… no worries! We were always piss-ass broke anyways!" Tetsuya happily noted, swinging his arm around in a 'you can do it' fashion.
"You say that like it's a good thing, sensei…"
"Shut up! As I was saying, we'll just do what poor people do when they're on the move!"
"Beg?"
"Hitch hike!"
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Hitch hiking, in the general insane dialogue of the Inukage was more like 'Hitch hijacking'. The three would force their way onto the nicest boat and force them to drop them off at Wave Country. So the three made their way along the edge of the gray docks, gauging each boat by something. Perhaps they were checking the fate meter see that was best for them.
"Oi, check out that one!" Tetsuya pointed to a red steel boat. It was still being loaded with whatever it was that boats of the time were loaded with, and damn that was a rich boat. People in suits were entering along with the regular punk chest-bearing idiots, and the boat was huge and everything and-
"That one?" Naruto scrunched up his face at the immense vehicle, "I don't think rich people let poor people hitch-hike on their boats."
"Aw, don't worry. Watch the master at being a poor bitch get to his magic…" Tetsuya said as he paced over.
Naruto and Haku already knew this was going to hell, but before they could do anything, the watched in horror as their teacher stopped right in front of the procession of ugly bodyguards and rich people, and thrust out his arm, a single thumb pointed up in the air.
"What the hell do you want?"
"I'm hitch hiking."
"Well take that shit somewhere else!"
"Hey! You don't know about hitch hiking? The shit I'm doing is supposed to annoy people until they admit defeat."
"Get out of the way or we'll kick your ass!"
"Bah! You're just some no name fat-assed Yojimbos who can't fight for shit! I am Inukage Tetsuya, samurai! Ass kicker! Reader and Student of Super Shinny Spinny Attack, whose omnipotent fighting techniques recorded within are a hundred times superior to your skills! Plus, I have an eye patch and a cloak that billows out all awesome in the wind! I have a higher bad ass rating than you! BITCH!"
"Bastard! I'll cut your ass to pieces!" A particular figure that was to board the boat screamed. Armed with his bare chest and vest, Mohawk and some sort of curving blade scimitar whatever, he charged forwards.
A single hand reached out of Tetsuya's cloak, and in a single deft motion hammered a knuckled into the bodyguard's face while his weapon was still raised in the air, eliciting chokes and stumbled gasps as the Mohawk man was trying to figure out what just happened. Sauntering back and forth with raised fists, Tetsuya easily pummeled his 'opponent' several more times, before dastardly kick to the bodyguard's crotch brought him down low in a shriek of pain.
Perfect set up for-
"MIGHTAH FIST UPRAH!" (Volume 16, Chapter 260)
The bodyguard sailed through the air from the uppercut and disappeared behind the group of shocked ship boarders. Tetsuya himself stayed in his dramatic pose of his fist being in the air for a while until his arm lowered to eye level.
A thumb was raised next to a badass eye.
"So… can you guys let me on?"
Naruto interjected here, "Sensei! I wanna hitch hike too!" and the youngest of the three samurai raised his thumb too. Haku gaped at her fellow student.
"Naruto! What are you doing?"
"But Sensei beat up that guy really easily! He didn't even need to use his sword! At this rate we can all get on the ship really easily!" The object of berating argued.
At this Haku sighed and raised her own thumb, "Alright, I'll hitch hike, too."
One of the rich guys in a suit pointed his finger angrily at the living roadblocks. "You bastards! You think you can get away with this? That was just one guy, and I doubt you can take all of our bodyguards at once!"
Tetsuya frowned at the comment, "Hey, we took down a lot of ninja. In fact we took down a lot of ninja at once. You should be the ones doubting if you can take all of us at once. Or you can just let us on the ship."
The man who originally said so felt a bead of sweat run down his head, "Well, that's big talk! Let's find out, boys!"
An accompaniment of vicious cheers followed before the small crowd rushed at the three.
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A certain businessman sat in the richest and most decorated room in the ship that a certain three were paying passage onto. This one had a suit much like the other ones outside, but his suit was the one that set the standards for others to follow. This man was short, with slightly balding scalp of brown hair, wearing a pair of small round sunglasses that covered his eyes, and the undisputed king of his boat, and many others in his corporation. In his plush seat, the man rapped one finger on the arm of his throne, while another held the side of his head at the temple, as if he were trying to massage a headache that was being caused by the man cowering on the floor in front of him. On either side of the king of the business were two of his most trusted protectors. Both were swordsmen by the fact katanas hung on belts on their hips. One had his patterned kimono thrown off scarred and tattooed torso leaving the excess cloth to hang from his belt, while the rest of his robe covered his legs. The other was the complete opposite, a dark cap hiding his hair while a large and floppy gray winter jacket and a pair of pants covered his form.
"Captain," said the King, "why aren't we taking off?"
"M-my apologies, Gatoh-sama. There is an interference outside that is delaying us."
"Inteference? What sort of outside interference could possibly stop a ship like this?" The king, Gatoh snorted. He wondered if it was worth killing him now or later for this. He didn't need ships piloted by idiots.
"W-well, you see, uh, some vagrants have started a commotion outside, and th-they're stopping any more of your employees from boarding until they are allowed to board as well…"
"And since when did you lose in that void you call your idiotic mind, that we have BODYGUARDS for those sort of problems?" The man on his throne sneered down on his subject.
One of the swordsmen, the half-naked kimono dressed one, during this exchange absentmindedly looked out the immense window beside him. As great as his boss was, this sort of berating never entertained him, unlike his overdressed partner. He rather preferred cutting things. A bored gaze out to the dock quickly turned a shocked one as all his attention and body turned to gaze at a spectacle below him.
"What the-"
"What is it now?" Gatoh turned his snorting attention to his surprised bodyguard.
"Gatoh-sama, you have to see this!"
The tycoon lord raised his eyebrow, but decided it was worth it to see what the whole thing was about.
Suffice to say, he was surprised and greatly entertained by what he saw.
Below him, he saw a widening circle. Each widening of the circumference was marked by the numbers of his utterly destroyed ranks of bodyguards that lay on the ground. Inside the circle, three figures were moving about vigorously, beating the shit out of any body that dared enter. Even when two of them had swords on his back or poking through his mantle, they still all were handling their armed enemies without even looking like they needed a sword. Gatoh chuckled as he watched the pointless antics of these attention seekers.
They could have just asked…"Captain…"
"Y-yes?"
"So, these are the ones who want to board my ship?"
"Gatoh-sama, I cannot see from my position, but it is most likely, given your amazing perception, that you are most likely correct." The poor captain groveled.
The CEO grinned. "I want those three," He turned to his two swordsmen, "One of you test them."
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"What? You guys still think you can beat us? Then come and get us! Or just let us on your stupid boat already!" Tetsuya taunted as he rounded the circle of thugs that cautiously neither approached the three nor let them enter their watercraft.
Naruto released a drawn breath of boredom, his enthusiasm for hitchhiking long gone, while he sat on the unconscious body of a particular bodyguard and watched the spectacle. Haku stood nearby, observant, but more wary of the perimeter of enemies around all of them.
"Sensei… can't we just go on another boat?" Naruto called out from his position.
"Naruto's right, Tetsuya-sensei. I don't think we're going to accomplish anymore or gain passage by this method."
"What! Shut up! We're in this too deep to just back out! You two are such a bunch of pansies!" The pansies' mentor shouted back
"Everybody, step aside." A smooth voice commanded. Immediately, the low price thugs cleared a path in the direction between the circle controlled by the samurai and the ship they wanted to board. Leaving the craft with an obvious intent to approach the hitchhikers was Gatoh's personal swordsman, the overdressed one.
"Which one of you started this?" The Yojimbo asked.
Naruto and Haku immediately pointed. "His fault."
"What! You bastards! Don't you dare shift blame like this!"
"You got interesting skills." The fourth swordsman continued, "What are you? Ronin? Bandit? Duelist?"
"A wandering poor-ass bitch with two delinquent students who all call themselves samurai and want to ride on that boat."
"Oi! We're not delinquents!"
Before another argument erupted at the worst time to start one, the floppy sleeved guy caught their attention here; "I can let you on the boat, if you want."
Noises escaped all over the crowd in front of the swordsman. The other bodyguards protested at the idea, while the hitch hikers made their noises of surprise at the offer.
"But on one condition."
"What?" The lone female in the crowd asked.
"Dodge three attacks from me."
Tetsuya groaned. It was fucking volume 127 all over again. "Oh, for the love of- FINE!"
Gatoh's swordsman brought a hand to his scabbard, where his thumb pushed against the hilt of his sword and freed the blade's thickest section from the cover. "I believe you're the strongest one of the three. I'll test you."
Tetsuya turned back and blanched from the lack of support from his students, who continued to merely shrug. Apparently, this was still his idea.
"Dodge three attacks from me! I swear to god, this is fucking hazing or something…" The samurai grumbled as he marched towards his waiting attacks. Seeing the possible trouble this particular fellow might have, Tetsuya's arm moved through the empty sleeve before pulling his sword out of his sheath. Holding his weapon with both his hands, his stiff pose suddenly charged forwards towards the bodyguard of bodyguards who was awaiting the approach of the slightly hunched samurai.
It was here a flash of light arced at the samurai's legs, but the tested was already ahead of it. Years of experience had his skin already sense the feeling of air being separated by a gleaming blade of light, while his right eye already noticed and was swarming his brain with mentions of hundreds of subtle muscle movements all over the enemy's body that painted the slow motion image of him aiming downwards and swinging his armed hand at the samurai's legs-
Tetsuya jumped up in front of the other swordsman suddenly, pulling his legs high enough to completely avoid an attack that drove a deep gash into the cement beneath him. Falling down, the poor-ass bitch that called himself a samurai spearheaded a retaliation of his own, sword first. Gatoh's swordsman knocked the attack out of the way with his sheathed blade, throwing the samurai away from him. Tetsuya landed on his feet beside and facing away from his tester, and turned around in time to have his blade clash against a powerful, invisible strike that knocked him backwards several feet.
"Eh? What the hell is going on?" Naruto exclaimed. He couldn't even see what was happening. One moment his teacher was getting up while his opponent was facing him, the next Tetsuya was being tossed around like a rag doll by unseen forces.
"That attack couldn't be achieved by pure physical strength… what sort of ninjutsu would do that?" Haku observed darkly.
"That wasn't ninjutsu, Haku." Tetsuya called back, as he stood back up and kept his blade and eyes on the other swordsman, "I've seen this kind of attack before…"
"What is it?"
"Iaijutsu. That skill teaches attacking straight from the drawing of the blade and re-sheathing right after. Ken-Jin used it in volume 80, chapter 62 of Super Shiny Spinny Attack. But…"
…Sensei will never change "But?" Naruto reiterated questioningly.
"I've never seen somebody ever use Iai with this sort of speed and strength before. This is like, Super Ultra Mode Iaijutsu or something…"
"That's why Gatoh-sama choose us to be his elite bodyguards," The overdressed swordsman announced with a bit of a sneer, "I'll still admit, you managed to dodge two of my attacks already. That's an impressive feat in itself around here. If you're the one who taught those two kids, who taught you?"
"The god of wanderers taught me Champuru Kendo." Was the answer in slang.
The Iaijustu user snorted at the words, "You're too good to have learned from just petty street fights and experience. Somebody must have honed your skills."
"And that's not for you to know." The student of so-called champuru kendo responded with a wagging finger.
"Hpmh, fine. But remember, you still have to dodge one more attack from me" The Bodygaurd grumbled in annoyance before hunching down and gripping the handle of his contained weapon once more, "I'll end this before you even blink."
"Oh, good. I was afraid this was going to go past our dinner." Tetsuya chortled as he spread his legs evenly across the ground, his sword in one hand held parallel to the ground. In a burst of motion, the two moved towards each other. Tetsuya acted first, suddenly flipping head over heels through the air to land beside the Iaijutsu fighter, who barely managed slide away from the katana that cut through the air where the middle of his head was supposed to be. While the floppy clothed bodyguard managed to swing his shoulders and body away from each attack, the one-eyed samurai continued to chase forward, deft wrist motions and trails of reflected light chasing after Tetsuya's sword.
The tension of the climax finally broke onto the crowd milling about, of whether these vagabonds would access the ship or not. One cheer, then another, then soon enough everybody was shouting, cheering, mocking.
"Get him! Don't let that fucker on our ship!"
"What you waitin' for? Cut him back!"
"Go get him, sensei!"
"Go for it!"
Damnit! This guy isn't giving me any chance at all! The Bodyguard swore inwardly. Judging by the outlook, the samurai was obviously trying to stay close to his opponent so that he wouldn't have the time or space to draw his sword correctly.
However, the Iai skill trained one to find the perfect moment's weakness, even in the best of strategies against that style, and this bodyguard's eyes were keen.
Tetsuya was bearing down on his enemy with a fierce yell again, this time his holding his sword back in his sleeved arm for a downward chop. That one moment left his front open for just an instant. In that instant the Iaijutsu swordsman dashed forward in a blur.
There was a momentary clash as the two passed by each other. Everybody stopped cheering at that moment they saw that final connect, and they all paused to see who was the victor.
The Bodyguard smirked to himself as a quick motion slid his sword back into his scabbard. The moment the guard hit the wood cover; his initial expectation of the sound of blood flying was cut short by the sound of the explosion of ninja smoke. The Bodyguard turned around with a wide face of horrified shock when the body of the samurai was comprised of cut wood instead of cut flesh. Lying under the wooden article was a body on its back, legs and arms in the air in the exaggerate manner of a dead animal. Tetsuya's arm managed to push its arm under the wood to push it out of the way, revealing an angry face.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
The bodyguard pointed back with an accusing finger. "What the hell was that? How the heck do you know kawarimi?"
"I learned how to do that!"
"Samurai aren't supposed to use ninja techniques!"
"Fuck you! I dodged your three attacks anyways, so I win!"
"No you didn't! You let that last attack hit you on purpose! You didn't dodge that one!"
"Hey! Don't you dare try to reinterpret what you said before! You just wanted me to avoid the attack, not purely dodge them!"
Naruto pointed his finger at the Iai user, "Sensei's right! You're being a stupid cheater!"
"You shouldn't change your words like that." Haku also advised.
The Bodyguard growled at the two while his hand moved to his sword again, "You brats, I oughta-"
"That's enough." A somebody said while he exited the ship from the same ramp everybody was previously vying entrance to.
"G-Gatoh-sama!" The Bodyguard exclaimed and bowed down on one knee. Generally everybody else did too. Except three of them.
"Who the hell are you?" Naruto shouted indignantly of all times with a pointed finger and the shortish man with a cane.
Tetsuya, still on the ground, raised an eyebrow. "The guy said he was Gatoh."
"I know that! But who IS Gatoh?"
"Him! I just told you!"
"Aggh! I didn't mean my question like that, I mean who is Gatoh supposed to be?"
"Idiot! You're just asking the same question over and over! Gatoh is that guy over there!"
"You're the idiot, sensei! You keep saying the same answer over and over!"
Haku blankly stared at the argument breaking out again, wondering if her sighing would be worth it. She just shrugged at looked at Gatoh straight in the eyes (That were behind the sunglasses).
"What do you want with us, Gatoh?"
The man grinned, "I knew you were all great fighters, but for somebody as skilled as you are to use ninja techniques… you guys are perfect for this job."
Naruto blinked, "What job?"
Gatoh turned slightly back toward the entrance of the ramp, as if returning. "Do you all like to come inside? Perhaps we can discuss this over… dinner."
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The three of them were led to Gatoh's personal entertainment quarters on the top of the ship, where the richest and friendliest with Gatoh would sit for the night and enjoy the good food, music and company. Currently, it was just the 'three' of the samurai inside the room, listening to the music and watching the dances and shows of the entertainers.
"I don't know about you Haku, but seeing sensei like this is kinda weird." Naruto murmured as he was hunched over his plate of food, silently observing the spectacle.
"I agree, Naruto. Seeing this side of Tetsuya-sensei is… disturbing." Haku deadpanned as she gently held her own bowl of rice.
Before them, Tetsuya had two gorgeous (if not rather idiotic) women hanging off his shoulders, while their loose kimonos hung off their own shoulders, while all of them had cups and bottles of rice wine Sake being drunken and poured freely and laughs of drunken good cheer were secured easily.
"…and even with that stupid ninja's giant water dragon thingy flying at me, all I had to do was swing my sword, and the whole thing fell apart. You should all have seen that look on his face when I did that!" The one-eyed depraved warrior announced heartily.
"Oooh, maybe you can tell us, Tetsuya-sama?" One of the women purred.
"Oh geez, the look on that guys face. I wasn't surprised if the guy was peeing in his pants! His eyes were so wide and scared, it was hilarious!"
"Oh, you're so strong, Tetsuya-sama…"
"That's right. That's because I am friggin' TETSUYA-SAMA! Drinks all around!"
Giggles, sake pouring, students blanching.
"Oh-ho, what's this?" The rich king's familiar voice cut in, while the shortish man, dressed in the same business suit as always, entered the room as well. Flanking his sides were his two favorite personal bodyguards as always.
"Hey, Gatoh! What did you do to my sensei? The women and the drinks are making him weird."
"Shut up, Naruto. I'm not overcome by alcohol and women yet."
"That's debatable…" Haku quietly mused.
"Oi!"
Gatoh chuckled as he moved to a raised plush throne on one side of the room that was reserved to him, "You like the women, samurai? You can borrow them for the night if you want."
"Perhaps if the circumstances of my being here wasn't for a job."
"I see. You like to be sober before a fight, huh? In that case, all the entertainment is dismissed from this room." With that, all the musicians and beautiful women dismissed themselves with a bow and left the chamber. The older samurai's sudden lack of warmth made him quickly wonder if his dismissal of those women was such a good idea.
Gatoh nodded to his bodyguards, "Make sure this room is secure." After that, only four people remained in the room.
"Okay, so what do you want from us?" Tetsuya asked.
"You three should know, that my success comes primarily from maintaining a monopoly on all sea trade and movement around this area."
"I assume that those men we fought with outside will be used by your to maintain that monopoly by force?" Haku stated like it was proven fact.
"Of course. Just like people buy ninjas, and the lords buy samurai, how else do I get my own power?"
"So what? We just fought well, so you wanted to hire us as some more boxers for you?" Naruto grumbled.
"No, no I need you for a specific task I have in mind."
"Yeah, I think you were about to tell us what that job was." Tetsuya said.
"You three have heard of Wave country, correct?"
How coincidental.
"…Yeah?" Tetsuya answered again.
"The country's main income comes mainly through sea based trade. Since I recently assumed control of that since a year or so ago, that essentially means I now control Wave country."
"So the problem is…?"
"A few months back, a rather… idealistic individual named Tazuna came up with an idea of bypassing my control by constructing a bridge that directly links to the mainland. If that happens, trade can bypass the traffic I control."
"I assume that this Tazuna is an upright moral citizen that refuses to have his bridge bought by legal means by you. So you want us to…"
"Kill him, if it means that will stop the bridge from being finished."
"Won't other people finish it for him?"
"No. The whole country fears me except him."
"You know… this kind of assassination is usually a ninja's job…" Tetsuya wondered. His students were less that pleased by that conclusion.
"Sensei! Are you saying ninja are better than us?"
"When have I never said that? I'm more surprised as to why you two still follow a weakling like me." Tetsuya returned harshly.
Gatoh interrupted the lovely family squabble here, "It's true, I have sent talented ninja after them, however it appears that the old man hired ninja of his own to defend himself."
"So why not hire more ninja?"
"To tell you the truth… I don't trust those ninja. I rather prefer people who have their feet set with their loyalties. People like you three. I was surprised to find samurai as talented as you left, even more so that you use ninja techniques to accompany your skills. So far, you three are the most powerful I've seen yet, next to my bodyguards. I need people like you to help me keep my ninja problems in check."
I also have a feeling it's because we're cheaper to hire.
"I promise, the rewards will be handsome if you help me… clean this mess up."
Tetsuya gave Gatoh a half lidded kind of unamused look. "I'll… have to consult…"
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Under the night sky, three samurai stood on the exposed deck of the ship watching the dark waters give way to the red boat that cleaved through its surfaces towards the general area of Wave country.
"So, Naruto. It's not a ninja asking us this time. You not going to be a stupid angst-bastard this time?"
"Sh-shut up! I don't have any problems!"
"Tetsuya-sensei. I don't trust this sort of person. He seems to enjoy tricking and using people."
"True, true that. But at the very least, we should remove the ninja presence from Wave country. We were planning to go there originally to escape from ninja, and now we find some old fogey is bringing them there."
"That doesn't address the situation of how we will escape if Gatoh does decide to kill us."
"I don't think he will. We're still not considered in the same league as ninja. He might try to buy us. That at least gives us a chance to escape if worst comes to worst. However, I do think he was telling the truth when he said we were the strongest he met in a while. The only real challenge from those guys was that Iaijutsu swordsman. We could get away pretty easily if we wanted."
"So the only question we need to ask is if we really want to take the job or not for the money, since we probably might be killing those ninja anyways, and since we can get away pretty easy if Gatoh doesn't like us after." Naruto concluded.
"I personally, am willing for any chance for a bit of fight and some cash. What about you two?"
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"We decided that since everybody is going to Wave country anyways, we might as well entertain ourselves with the idea of killing some ninja." Tetsuya said as the three samurai re-entered the entertainment room.
"Excellent!"
"Yeah, yeah, we just want some beds now, okay?" Naruto yawned as the night caught up to him, leaving him to stretch his arms behind his head.
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The next morning came quickly enough. About as fast as two samurai barging into Gatoh's throne room again, which had the man seated upon his chair, like he was expecting this.
"Where the hell are we?" Tetsuya demanded.
"Why did we land on the mainland again?" Naruto whined.
Behind the two glowering individuals, Haku trailed behind them, since they had all day to run around demanding answers from the world.
"It's less conspicuous for you three to enter Wave country without this ship. I also just wanted to check in on a ninja I assigned to kill Tazuna. Since you're both on the same job, that makes you… partners, right? That means it would be best for you two to know each other as soon as possible. Like to come along for a visit?"
"Ew…" Tetsuya made a face at the thought.
Still, the three samurai found themselves following Gatoh and his two bodyguards off the docked boat and into a misty tall-treed forest. Deep within its cavity, a giant structure suddenly broke into view. It looked like a giant child's spinning top that was driven into the ground, and had chains winding around the structure itself attaching to various tree around it to provide extra support.
"A ninja lives there? How the heck did that… house even get there?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the idea of a ninja managing to drop such a home in such a location.
"Robots I tell you. He prolly summed a giant robot to burst out of the ground and carrying that thing over. It's all that ninjas know how to do."
"I wouldn't say that to this particular fellow. He may have been beaten, but he at least had some legend before he decided to do something like lose." Gatoh called back.
"Who's the legend anyways?" Tetsuya asked.
"Mist country's own Silent Killer. The Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza."
"Demon… that sounds…hmmm…"
"Coming?"
The group crowded as best they could into an elevator that came down to the base of the giant house-top thing. A ride up deposited them into a corridor that Gatoh last reported to have met Zabuza in. A walk down the pathway found everybody settled in front of a fair sized pair of double doors.
"This is him you three. But don't be scared. He's not that strong, I found out" Gatoh snickered as he pushed the doors open.
Inside a familiar man from a childhood story looked up from his current task of binding his injured form. "What do you want?"
Here, Naruto made a wide shocked face and pointed his finger at the man. "You?"
Haku likewise, "What are you doing here?"
Tetsuya? He just laughed. It seemed that every time he was going to see this man, he would be found with his ass handed to him
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Next Chapter: The fated reunion ends, and the three acquaint themselves with the situation. From there the three head out into the country of the waves to see what life is like, there and what they're exactly up against.
A/N: (I obviously have some confusion between the difference of Iaido and Iaijutsu. Some expert advice could be used here)
Sorry I'm late everybody, you see, my road of life was obstructed by this giant boulder, and seeing that I had no alternative, I had to climb it. Half way up I tripped and fell on a few volumes of manga here and there that were left lying around, so I had to go and pick those up as well, and so before I knew it, the giant boulder grew to be a size of a mountain, so I spent a whole month trying to find a secret passage in its side, but to no avail, I had to go all the hard way through.
Also, writing this chapter's second half was pretty tough. I wrote one half, then a giant snowstorm hit Hong Kong and cut the power in the city, so by the time I had my computer on, all my flair was gone, so I struggled a bit to wonder if I got my characterization right, and to exactly figure out what happens next. I know what happens chapter by chapter, not scene by scene.
