Let's start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

V

"So we have do deal with a number of Konoha-nin, huh?"

The other person snorted. "Who cares about them? Zabuza is with them!" He then threw the masked man in front of him a hard glare. "And don't even think about attacking him. He's mine."

Although he knew that Jinin couldn't see it behind his mask, Kushimaru rolled his eyes. "I'm much more interested in that Uchiha boy myself anyway. Remember, he's the one who supposedly got the stone rolling to get Konoha involved in Kiri's affairs."

"You still care about that shithole of a place?"

"I care about the fact that it was much easier to have some fun before we were hunted down by everyone on the damn continent."

Jinin's lips curved upwards. "Fair enough." Then he suddenly grew more serious. "I guess it's good that you're more interested in him. Our host might be displeased if these tree huggers find his base."

Let him be annoyed, Kushimaru thought with a scowl. As far as he was concerned, they have relied on that person for way too long now. However, he knew better than saying that out loud when there were several pairs of ears listening in to their conversation.

"Well," Jinin continued. "This means you take the Uchiha boy while I play a bit with Zabuza." He chuckled. "That leaves only the Copy Ninja for that bitch, then."

That thought brightened his mood. "At least she will be much easier to deal with as long as she has a good fight to look forward to." And who knew? Maybe she and the Copy Ninja would kill each other, getting rid of two annoyances for them at the same time.

And once we dealt with these troublemakers, we will leave. Jinin might be comfortable with their current situation, but he wasn't. If push comes to shove, I will just leave on my own.

Itachi hadn't been to any of the capitals in this timeline yet, but he could remember doing so in the previous one.

Take the Land of Fire, for example; while Konohagakure had by far the largest shinobi population -almost 95 per cent of it in fact- and the strongest military force in the country, the village was only its second largest population hub. The first place in that respect went hands-down to the capital where the daimyo resided and which had nearly twice as many inhabitants as Konoha. The city had wide, clean streets, magnificent buildings, gorgeous parks dotted with masterfully crafted statues and fountains, and in the city's centre stood the daimyo's great palace.

Dozens of buildings of which even the smallest could easily house over a hundred people at a time and often spanned several floors were scattered over the area, white and light grey walls framed by a mixture of red and black roof tiles with golden accents, and sprawling gardens with ponds and small streams were everywhere; the imperial palace of the Land of Fire was a testament to pure wealth and luxury that extended even to the interior where hundreds of priceless paintings hung alongside artefacts that had been looted over centuries in one war or another.

The capital of the Land of Waterfalls was much smaller than that, and the palace much less impressive. Still a place where wealth could be found, of course, but lacking compared to its neighbours.

Still, when their team finally reached the city, it was a sight for sore eyes. No matter whether their reason was worry about the daimyo himself or the desire to be here when their targets tried to assassinate him, all three of them were relieved to have finally arrived. Regardless of what they would find, at least they would have an answer at all.

The good news was that the daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls was in the best of health when they arrived at his palace.

Unfortunately, the bad news was that he didn't take their warnings of a possible threat seriously at all.

The man had black eyes and grey hair most prominently shown from his moustache that fell down his grim and serious face. He wore a long-sleeved shirt under a yellow, sleeveless jacket with red trimmings, and he also carried a fan and wore a headdress with his nation's symbol on it. Contrary to his grim appearance, however, he was a rather… relaxed individual. No, even calling him laid-back wouldn't do him justice; he was a prime example of a person who enjoyed all the advantages of being born into a royal family and ended up squandering all the wealth of his ancestors on parties and the likes.

He was the kind of person that couldn't understand that his status alone wasn't enough to keep him safe. Even the dead shinobi they showed him -to his great disgust, of course- wasn't enough proof to convince him.

To use his words, 'shinobi die all the time, so what does one more or less even matter'?

Thus, while he was more than happy to play host to "his good friends from Konoha", he ignored every and all attempts to convince him of the danger he was in. They were given luxurious rooms in the main wing of the palace, had the permission to walk around freely through the entire complex, and even were invited to dine with him every single evening, but having a real conversation with him was impossible.

They had arrived here three days ago and Itachi had almost reached the point where he actually considered going behind the daimyo's back to talk with his security staff regardless of the risk of accidentally offending their host. The only thing that still held him back from doing just that was that they were unlikely to take him any more serious. Furthermore, by the hidden glares he could feel on the back of his head almost all the time, the hidden watchers weren't well disposed towards them either.

Although the entire situation was exhausting, he probably would have felt more patience towards it if he weren't the only one in his team to regularly interact with the daimyo, but alas…

Kakashi had told him early on that he found himself unsuited for prolonged exposure to a such 'esteemed person' as the daimyo and that Itachi was much better suited for the job, citing that as the Uchiha heir, he was the closest thing Konoha had to royalty aside from Tsunade. Then, before Itachi had the chance to tell him how ridiculous that notion was, the daimyo in question appeared and Kakashi used the opportunity to escape.

His appearances since then were far and wide in between, limiting themselves to the absolute minimum required to be polite while spending the rest of the time searching for their Kushimaru and Jinin in the area surrounding the city.

Zabuza, on the other hand, hadn't even tried to be subtle and used the first opportunity that presented itself to vanish in the name of looking for traces of their targets as well. For that, Itachi was actually a little bit thankful as he doubted that the swordsman would contribute anything useful in a polite discussion anyway. In fact, it was much more likely that his character would only result in another incident Itachi and possible Kakashi were forced to clean up afterwards.

Needless to say, Itachi was tired of dealing with this situation.

"You're one of the shinobi from Konoha, aren't you?" a deep voice from behind him said. "The Uchiha brat?"

Turning around, he saw a middle-aged man with a powerful stature standing in the doorway to the building Itachi had just left on his way to the nearest garden.

"I am," he said. "I don't think we have had the pleasure to meet yet. In Konoha, it's polite to introduce yourself first before speaking to someone."

The other man scoffed. "I don't care what you tree huggers think is polite or not. However, what I do care about is whether you guys were the ones who killed Tani."

The forehead protector around his arm easily identified him as a shinobi from Takigakure, so the person he must be referring to was…

"If you're talking about the man we brought with us as proof of the danger your daimyo is in, I must disappoint you. Although you should already know that, considering you were listening in on that conversation."

That was actually just a fair guess, but going by the grimace on the man's face, it was true.

"As the ones in charge of Daimyo-dono's safety, it's only right that we're close in case anyone like you tries something funny. We're always by his side to protect him with our lives."

You're not supposed to be noticed, though. However, saying that would escalate the situation even further and no matter how bad his mood was, Itachi didn't want to start a fight in the daiymo's gardens. "If you're so worried about his safety, maybe you should consider if we're telling the truth and prepare for-"

"I don't want to hear that ludicrous tale about those former Swordsmen of the Mist again," the man interrupted him with an angry glare as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "As far as I'm concerned, the only one of that cursed group currently in our country is the man with you who's known as the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist'. If you're asking me, he's probably the most likely suspect right now."

Inwardly, Itachi cursed Zabuza for having plunged his weapon into the corpse's body. It was fortunate that nobody had thought about how much the wound on its chest matched Kubikiribōchō, but when they did, it would be hard to explain away.

"And why would we bring him here if we were the culprits, then?" Itachi said, appealing to the man's sense of logic.

Unfortunately, it wasn't very effective.

"You tell me that," he spat, saliva flying out of his mouth. "What are Konoha and Kiri planning that makes you play such a double game? Is it a ploy to take over the Land of Waterfalls? Especially you murderers from the Hidden Leaf got it in for us for a long time now! What, do you plan to outright annex us now that you already have the daimyo's favour and-"

"Akame!" a joyous voice came from behind the man, cutting him off. "Why, what are you doing here? Aren't you usually visiting your sister at this time of the day and- oh, is that you, Uchiha-san? What a pleasant surprise!"

The person that appeared and whom both Itachi and the man that was apparently called Akame greeted with a bow was none other than the daimyo himself.

"I was just on my way there, Daimyo-sama," Akame said, his voice now perfectly polite. "I merely ran into one of our guests and got a bit delayed. In all our chatting, we must have lost track of time."

That is definitively one way to put it.

Unlike Itachi, the daimyo was easily fooled. "Is that so? I'm glad you're getting along so well! Our nations are allies, so we all should strive to become good friends!"

Akame bowed again. "As you say, Daimyo-dono. Now, if you would excuse me…?"

"Of course, of course. And please, give my regards to your sister. Also tell her that she's always welcome in my halls."

"Thank you, Daimyo-dono. I will." He then vanished, but not before Itachi saw him throwing a dark look at his liege. It seems the daimyo is as unpopular with his native shinobi as I have heard.

That unfortunately meant that the other man's attention was now fully on him. "Say, Uchiha-san, I was just about to have a late brunch in the gardens. Would you like to join me? I'm sure you must have many more interesting stories to tell!"

He didn't. In fact, he could think of few things he wanted less. However, he also had no good reason to decline, and if there was even the slightest chance he could finally bring him to understand his current position…

"You honour me with your invitation, Daimyo-dono. I would love to join you."

Kakashi threw a look up the sky from where he sat on the balcony of his quarters, frowning when the first rays of light of the just rising sun hit his face. So it's already this late, huh? I guess I should prepare to continue the search soon…

It was still early in the morning, of course, but every bit of daylight was important. While he, Pakkun, and the rest of their pack had already searched through vast stretches of land -while they didn't have anything with their targets' smell to look out for, there shouldn't be many other people in the area who ran around with traces of blood- with little success, there was still a lot of it left.

And if they were wrong and the two missing-nin weren't after the daimyo's life, well, then they would probably continue to fruitlessly search for a trail for a long time to come. There was a reason the Hokage hadn't put a time limit on this mission, after all.

That didn't mean he enjoyed getting up early to continue the search right now. And just when the book was starting to get interesting too…

However, he was a shinobi through and through. Like it or not, he would do his job, and he would do it right. This wasn't some meaningless task of little importance, but an elimination mission; Kakashi didn't allow himself to slack on those.

As soon as Zabuza returned from his shift, it would be Kakashi's turn to be back out there.

For a moment, he felt pity for his poor teammate who was forced to spend most of his time in the daimyo's presence and thus had no time to actively contribute to their mission. Kakashi didn't think he could do what Itachi was doing; dealing with an ignorant, pompous fool and a noble court must be so much more frustrating than merely returning without anything new from a search. Ultimately, none of them expected this to be a short mission, so not finding anything this early into it was hardly bothersome.

Thinking of the devil…

"Well, Itachi, is there anything new you want to share with me or why do you search me out this early in the morning? Shouldn't you be with our gracious host right now?"

The slight irritation he could see in Itachi's eyes when the younger boy gave him a narrow-eyed look spoke volumes over how annoyed he must be. He was usually much more composed than that.

Although to be fair, Kakashi didn't think he would show even that little if there were anyone else present. The both of them had gone on many missions in the past and consequently knew each other rather well while Zabuza, for example, was not only a stranger but a stranger from another nation.

But still…

Yeah, I definitely got the better deal in this. Searching for our targets all day long seems much less troublesome.

"Daimyo-dono decided that he felt in the mood for a celebration, so he feasted the entire night and went to bed just a few minutes ago." Although Itachi used the proper honorific, there was no respect whatsoever in his voice when he said it. "I doubt he will have the need of any company for the foreseeable future aside from maybe one of his mistresses."

Aside from maybe the latter part, Kakashi actually knew that already. He had just wanted to tease the boy a little bit. "Is that so? And can I assume that your attempts at persuasion were no more effective in his no doubt intoxicated state than usual?"

Itachi didn't even bother replying, his dry expression being all the answer needed.

"Well, if it's any consolation, our own efforts weren't any more successful than yours."

"It isn't."

Kakashi shrugged as if to say 'well, what can you do?' as he leaned back against the balcony's wall with both his hands in his pockets.

"However," Itachi continued after a few seconds, "I did have an engaging conversation with one of the daimyo's guards in the afternoon."

"Oh?" Now things were getting more interesting. "And what did this guard have to say?"

"It appears that he and probably his comrades as well think that we were the ones to kill the shinobi you found and that we did this in name of some sinister plot to conquer the Land of Waterfalls for Konoha."

Now that was unexpected. "And why would we bring the corpse here if we were the culprits behind his death?"

"I'm afraid his reasoning wasn't entirely cogent," Itachi said with a slight upturn of his lips. "However, he seemed quite confident that it was part of our aforementioned ploy."

"And he had no further arguments to back this theory up?"

"It didn't seem like it, no."

Kakashi just barely resisted the urge to make a face. He understood that Takigakure didn't like Konoha very much, but one of them actually confronting Itachi with such half-baked accusations spoke of a level of anger that went above mere dislike.

"He also referred to us as 'murderers of the hidden mist'."

His eyes widened at Itachi's words. "Then this is really still about that incident?"

Itachi nodded. "That's what I think, too."

"That's a long time to hold a grudge over such a small thing…"

The Third Great Ninja War was a result of countless smaller conflicts between the various smaller nations on the continent in which the Great Nations intervened and that ultimately got out of hand. One of these small conflicts had been between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Iron that was the result of Taki-nins crossing the border for scouting missions and killing a number of samurai in the process.

Konoha, who was present at the time in form of a team that was there on a diplomatic mission, intervened to curry some favour with the local ruler by tracking down and eliminating the intruders.

However, one of them managed to escape and tell his tale.

Konoha had the more powerful military and even was in the position of actually having had a legitimate reason to act as they did, meaning Taki couldn't do much about this incident. Furthermore, having your shinobi die on secret missions in enemy territory was a common enough thing, so this entire event shouldn't have had any meaningful impact at all to begin with. Unfortunately, the fact that one of the killed Taki-nins was not only the village leader's son but also the carrier of a rare Kekkei Genkai meant that people were much more emotional about it than they usually would have been.

Kakashi pulled himself from his thoughts. "You would think that after all the bloodshed of the last war, such a small event that happened before it would be long forgotten."

Surprisingly, Itachi shook his head. "While much smaller in scale, this event was also much more personal. The team that died wasn't part of any big battles where their killers were faceless entities but victims of a small group of Konoha-nin specifically."

"Which then makes it easier to blame us," Kakashi finished, realizing where his teammate was going.

That didn't mean they had any hard feelings towards their other enemies as well, of course, but considering this incident happened even before the war meant the emotions had already existed by the time armies finally crashed against one another. The outbreak of fighting had probably only deepened the already existing wounds even further.

He was about to open his mouth to continue the conversation when a sudden cawing interrupted him, and a crow landed on Itachi's shoulder shortly afterwards.

The Uchiha instantly grew serious while Kakashi tensed as well.

"I sent that crow after you and Zabuza whenever you went outside the city," Itachi explained, looking him straight in the eye. "It had the order to return to me immediately when one of you was in trouble."

This revelation didn't come as much of a surprise; Kakashi had noticed the crow following him, and while Zabuza hadn't said anything, he was sure that the man had noticed it as well. They both understood what it was doing, so Kakashi would have been able to guess what its sudden appearance meant even without Itachi explaining it to him.

He would have liked to be wrong, though.

There was no need for any further conversations after that.

On a silent command, the crow took off Itachi's shoulder to lead the way while the two of them ran after it without speaking as much as a single word.

Zabuza had never really thought about the possibility of signing a contract with an animal clan. Aside from the fact that those contracts were exceptionally rare and thus almost impossible to get your hands on, he also hadn't seen a good reason to actually go after one. Sure, he had heard stories of the likes of Hanzō of the Salamander or the Legendary Sannin and the strength of the summon that had given them their reputation just like everyone else, but honestly? He had always assumed they were little more than pets that were mostly useless. Intelligent pets to be sure, but pets nonetheless.

Now, however, he realised that he might have been a little too hasty with his judgment. While Zabuza was still not entirely convinced of the idea that they could be helpful in a fight, there were definitely some uses for them if the dog at his feet was anything to go by.

After all, it was only thanks to it that he might have finally found his dear old friends.

"You're sure they're there?" he asked the brown dog that was crouching behind a bush to his right.

"The smell of blood comes from that cave, no doubt about it." It then tilted its head. "There is also a yucky smell of sickness, though."

Zabuza snorted. "So one of them got sick? Sounds good to me."

"No, no. I don't think it's them… there seem to be a lot of sick people, I think. Or at least there used to be many sick people. Most of the scents are quite old, so either some got better and left or-"

"Or they died, huh?"

While Kushimaru and Jinin never went so far as to actually kidnap and torture their victims, they did like to drag out the agony of their beaten foes. Now that they were missing-nins and thus had less opportunity to fight to their hearts' content, it wasn't entirely unreasonable to assume that they would resort to torture to amuse themselves.

The dog still seemed to be thoughtful. "If they did, the corpses were either destroyed immediately or aren't anywhere close." It took a few deep sniffs. "I can't smell any scent of decay anywhere close by."

"Of course you can't," he said dryly. "Who would like to have their base filled with the smell of corpses?" As soon as he finished talking, he cautiously stepped out of the woods onto the open plain that lied between it and the cave around a hundred metres in front of him.

The dog naturally panicked immediately. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? We need to go back and get-"

"We can get them after we confirmed whether they're actually here or not," he interrupted with a sideways smirk. "We don't want them to come all this way for nothing, do we? Though if you really insist, I don't mind if you go ahead and get them while I check this out on my own."

It whined and complained, but in the end, it followed him just as he had thought it would.

Whether they were dogs or humans, inhabitants of Konoha were all the same.

The two of them slowly but surely crossed the open plain, prepared to jump away in case they walked straight into a trap. However, much to Zabuza's surprise, they reached the entrance to the cave without anyone or anything trying to stop them. If this is really Kushimaru's and Jinin's hideout, they have grown really careless.

"There are probably traps inside," the dog said as if it had read his mind. "Traps on the outside run the risk of attracting unwanted attention while on the inside there is not only much less space to dodge attacks but also the advantage of the whole complex collapsing and burying intruders alive."

"I know that," he growled, annoyed at being lectured by a dog.

Seeing as the cave was empty, he took a few careful steps inside, paying close attention to the ground as to not accidentally trigger a trap and proof that furry little shit right.

A single glance revealed that the cave itself was a rather small, circular room with a downwards leading pathway as its only feature worth mentioning. Or to be more precise, it wasn't the path itself that was noteworthy but the big rock that had obviously been pushed aside to open it.

He smirked. "Got ya."

"Wonderful," the dog said impatiently. "Now that we confirmed that they're probably here, we really should go back to get Kakashi and Itachi-san."

Zabuza rolled his eyes but conceded the point. It was probably a bad idea to fight both his former comrades on his own.

Of course, it was just when he turned around that he could sense the flare of a chakra signature.

A moment later, an explosion blew up the cave's entrance.