Metalmancer


Getting Wet


A Plea from the Mists

Konoha: as the Demon Brother's attack.

It was a long trip from Water Nation to Fire, especially when one had to stay off the Main Highways, go along Smuggler's Routes, and take back trails, the way Mei Terumi and her entourage did, to prevent warning getting to the Fourth, about going to the Hokage for help in deposing, Yagura. In truth, the seventeen-year old Jonin of Mist was not holding out much hope, that Tsunade would be willing to help her cause. The Sanin would leave her village in a precarious position, politically, if the rebellion lost and it was discovered that the Leaf helped them. It could cause a war, but as one of the leaders of the rebellion, she needed to do everything possible to secure an advantage.

Mei is a tall, slender woman, with fair skin, green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair, styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Now, most kunoichi like to keep their hair short and manageable, even if they still keep it styled, to keep it out of their eyes while training, and to keep your enemy from grabbing it during battle, which would be a mistake to try with Mei, because it will get you killed. She has concealed a few poisoned barbs, throughout her mane, and if that does not work, she will do it personally, she always says before she ends someone's life after they touch her there, that only her lovers may touch her hair.

Even her bangs are styled to draw the gaze where she wants it to go, because there are four of them, two short and two long. The short ones are completely asymmetrical, the left one is curled out, around the left-eye, extending to just below it, while the right bang is grown to completely cover, Mei's right-eye, which has led many an opponent to assume her vision would be compromised on that side. Those opponents are all dead, because while there is some loss of visibility, that lock of hair is pretty thin, and does not hinder her sight at all. The final two bangs, the long ones, trail down until they barely touch, the off-the-shoulder mesh-bodysuit, clinging to her like a second skin, rising just above her dress to cover her cleavage, and act as trim for her dress. The bangs perform the function of misdirecting the eye, guiding it down to her bust, without revealing anything, it is an instinctual, minuscule shift, but enough to distract an opponent, possibly, long enough to kill them.

Mei was a powerful kunoichi, and her well-developed body, is just a side-effect of years of brutal, grueling training, to get where she was right now, and she used it to her advantage. She wore a deep, blue long-sleeved dress, which emphasizes her voluptuous frame, descending from her bust, down to her waist, separated from the skirt by a white belt, and covering the left-leg to her mid-calf, leaving the right-leg bare. The only visible flesh on Mei's body was her face, shoulders with some small levels of cleavage, and her hands, everything else, from her right hip down to her feet was completely covered, with part of her bodysuit trailing down her legs, a thigh-length mini-skirt, and knee-high shin-guards, leading down to high-heeled sandals.

Simply walking along the street from the gate, while under escort from the Uchiha Police, she could feel several eyes upon her at once, most of them men, but a few women seemed to ogle her too, her mode of dress just screamed provocativism. Her attire was chosen with the express purpose of distraction, it promised much without compromising anything of herself to her opponent. Early in her career as a ninja, Mei realized that most of her opponents would be men – who would likely underestimate her for being a woman – but men are pathetic creatures, they are led, more often than not, by their baser instincts, the instinct to spread their seed as far and wide as they could. So, she decided to exploit that instinct for two purposes, the first was to distract her enemies with her femininity. In battle, the first few moments are usually the most crucial if she wanted to win, and live, so she turned her sexuality into a weapon.

All of it was deception though, because Mei is probably one of the most powerful kunoichi in the Elements, said to be nearly as strong as Tsunade Senju of the Sanin, with not just one, but two, kekkei genkai, to make that claim fact, and she was only seventeen. What most did not know about her however, is that her mother, was an Uzumaki, who was married into the Terumi Clan before the decimation of Uzu. She was from a different branch of the Uzumaki than Kushina and Kasumi, a sister branch of Mito's tree, so, far enough removed that the only thing connecting the two branches was their name. When Whirlpool fell, the Terumi clan decided to keep their connection to the Uzumaki a secret, even though Mei secretly continued to train under her mother, in the Uzumaki nindō. The other reason she wore her clothes the way she did was to get a boyfriend.

Accompanying the Kiri-kunoichi were two men, two of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist both with large swords strapped to their backs. One of them was a tall, dark-haired, tan-skinned, slender shinobi, no eyebrows, a cross-shaped scar on his right cheek, and a grid-like red tattoo over the lower-half of his face. He wore a black, tight-fitting, sleeveless shirt with two light, thin stripes on his chest, a striped cloth belt, and light pants, along with black arm covers, extending from his hands to his biceps. He also wore bandages around his neck and face which also covered his ears, and like most of the members of the Seven Swordsmen, also had pointed teeth, a Kirigakure forehead protector, and had his fingernails and toenails painted green. He carried a zanbato, on his back, but it was unusual because it was shaped like a crescent moon and made of Damascus steel, there was no tsuba, but the hilt was made of silver, and the man carried it on his back, attached to a magnet, slanted over his right shoulder. The funny thing is whenever anyone looked at the blade from a certain angle, it appeared to glow like the moon. His name was Juzo Biwa, known as the Nightmare of Mist, former wielder of Kubikiribocho, which was stolen from him by Zabuza Momochi, right before the cowardly bastard deserted the village, according to Juzo, himself.

The second man walking through the Leaf with them, was a man about the same age as Mei, with short, tufty blue-hair, and dark eyes. He wore square, black-rimmed glasses, connected to ear protectors, a blue, pin-striped shirt, and camouflage pants. He had pointed, shark-like teeth, like his fellow, members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He wears his forehead-protector on the front of the holster on which he carries, Hiramekarei, the sword itself is wrapped in bandages leaving only the double hilt visible. He also has shuriken holsters strapped to both of his legs. His name is Chōjūrō, and he is the youngest member of the Swordsmen in the history of the unit. Both of these men are utterly devoted to the young kunoichi in front of them, Chōjūrō because he is still young enough to allow his libido to decide his passions, Mei is rather beautiful after all, and Biwa, because Mei saved him from certain death after he was waylaid by the Demon of the Mists. She found him with a hole in his gut, leaning against a tree and was able to use her life-force to keep him alive, long enough to get him medical attention. It was something that went against the Way of the Sea, survival of the fittest, and only winners deserve mercy.

Mei and her escort, walked through the village, observing the changes Tsunade had made since taking office, and the difference between ninja and civilian was very noticeable. The uniforms the ninja were required to wear, were intriguing to the young woman, she wondered if there was an equivalent raiment to be required in Kiri, once their internal struggles were resolved? Ninja would never, and should never, be considered a conventional army, which was their strength, but maybe some manner of morale could be gain by requiring a certain uniformity in dress.

They were escorted into a lobby and sitting behind the desk, was none other than Kakashi Hatake, thumbing through a magazine and looking rather bored. He popped to his feet as his guests arrived, but when he saw who it was, he sighed in resignation. Kakashi's notoriety was rather wide in the Elements, especially among Mist village shinobi. Everybody knew Kakashi was a Jonin, and an Elite Jonin at that, and desk duty in any village, was not a task such a powerful shinobi should be assigned, it was usually reserved for Chunin, or at the most, Tokujo. To add insult to injury, each of the Kiri ninja had worked missions in the past that involved, running into the Copy Ninja, and said ninja usually able to best them in some fashion on those missions. Neither of them had anything but respect for the Sharingan-wielder, and none of the missions they failed because of him were any big deal, even Yagura did not make a big deal of those missions, other than just not paying them, which happens to every ninja once in a while, but seeing him humbled like this, even if they knew not the circumstances for it, fairly tickled their laughter.

Mei and Juzo had a smirk plastered on their lips, and Chōjūrō had his mouth hanging open, as he stared at the veteran Jonin. "Terumi-san, Biwa-san, Chōjūrō-san, welcome to Konoha, how may the Leaf aid you this day," Kakashi asked by rote, though his lone visible eye was twitching, when Biwa barely held back a snicker, only to be silenced when Mei smacked him lightly on the belly? Though even she barely kept a smile from her face.

Mei decided to speak, "We, of course, are here to speak to Tsunade-sama on a delicate matter, Kakashi-Jonin-san."

This was when the silver-haired ninja sighed, and explained, "I'm sorry but that's not an accurate form of address for me, any longer, because of a small bad habit of mine, I have been demoted back to Chunin."

This surprised even the Kiri ninja, and almost forced the next question from Mei, "what, of course, was this bad habit of yours," she wondered aloud, "did you get drunk and break a bar with your power or something, causing some deaths?"

"No," Kakashi, shook his head, "it wasn't that bad, I was just a little late to a few appointments, that's all."

"They, of course, demoted you for being late a few times," Mei asked in wonder, "how late were you?"

"Three hours, every time," Kakashi answered his colleague from Mist.

"How many times were you late, Cyclops," Biwa wondered?

Kakashi turned his head away from them, every time he told this part he lost any sympathy from any audience that was willing to listen to his woes (also known as his bitching, when Naruto heard it,), before answering, "every appointment, except for missions, for the last thirteen-years."

His answer caused them to begin blinking as they processed his words, which would have caused Sharingan no Kakashi some concern if this were uncommon, sadly it was not. This was usually where he began losing any sympathy, he had earned from friends and in this case former opponents, when they meet him like this, "you were late for a total of three-hours in the last thirteen years," Chōjūrō asked?

"No, I was three-hours late, for every appointment, except missions, for thirteen years," Kakashi explained, "since the deaths of my sensei, my father, Obito-kun, Rin-chan, and Kushina-nee-chan," he elaborated hoping they would show him mercy. Anyway, to prevent from hearing their judgements, he went on with his duties, "let me have your ninja identification," they all nodded as they very obviously were still processing his information, so he went about following the same procedure Naruto had to when he visited a few months ago.

His tasks completed, and their weapons stored safely in scrolls, and placed in wooden cubbyholes, located behind Kakashi's head. This procedure was added since Naruto's return, at his suggestion, in case an assailant was able to overpower their escort – not unreasonable with the Nightmare present, then Mei, and even Chōjūrō – and take their weapons back, so they are left in the lobby in a special set of sealing scrolls, which can only be accessed with the owner's chakra. The rebel Kiri ninja's faces returned to professionalism, as their escort moved them to the Hokage's visitor room. They could feel the ANBU presence in the room, the way they felt it in the lobby, and will likely feel it when they were shown into see the Hokage. You do not get to be as powerful as these Kiri ninja, nor live as long, if you could not sense where your enemies were hidden. To their credit, the ANBU were well concealed, and would have fooled anybody below Jonin, or A-rank level, unless they were sensor-types.

This appointment was not a spur of the moment thing, the Mist ninja had actually been waiting a couple of days for this meeting. One did not just show up at a Kage's office and be granted entry, they were very busy, and their time was scheduled meticulously, only their shinobi and kunoichi were granted immediate access, but even then, only in emergency situations. So, Mei and her bodyguards, cooled their heels in the, rather comfortable, waiting room, but waited in silence, what they had to ask and how they asked had been rehearsed quite a bit over the last two days. Plus, the ANBU in here belonged to Tsunade and were bound to report on what was said in this room, it would make too much sense, not to have as much intelligence as possible before making important decisions. The waiting room was quite comfortable, with calming color's painted on the walls, paintings of the forests around the Leaf, and the padded chairs lining the walls. There were two doors entering the room, the one they came through, which their escort, a kunoichi of the Uchiha clan, stationed herself at, and another door likely leading into the Hokage's office.

After a few minutes, the door to the Hokage's office opened and a young, dark-haired kunoichi, stood aside, and said with a polite bow, "Hokage-sama will see you now, please enter."

They file in through the door and find that the Hokage is not alone, because flanking Tsunade on both sides were three people, and they were all powerful legends to say the least. The one closest to the Hokage was a former Hokage himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the one known throughout the world as the 'God of Shinobi,' and sensei of the Legendary Sanin, two of which were in the office. Standing outboard of his sensei, was the other Sanin in the office, the infamous Gama-seijin, Jiraiya, also the author of the Icha-Icha series, Mei had to cast her eyes to her right to see how Chōjūrō was handling meeting his favorite author in person. The young Swordsman loved reading the Icha-Icha series, it was his only flaw as a man, in Mei's opinion, but big enough to prevent her from making him her boyfriend, though she wouldn't trade his friendship for anything. Except maybe if my boyfriend, became marriage material. Finally, to the left of Tsunade, was Uchiha Mikoto, the former Devil-woman of Konoha, because of her Katonjutsu, and of course her Sharingan bloodline.

Tsunade sat at her desk with an expectant grin on her face, sitting back in her chair with her hands neatly folded in her lap. It was communicating several messages at once, her grin was welcoming, but offered nothing to the Kiri ninja about her current state of mind, and the ease with which she greeted them, leaning back in her chair, hands folded, showed that she did not feel threatened, at all, by their presence. Why should she, Tsunade by herself, could take on any one of them and be, almost assured of victory? Tsunade and Jiraiya, together, could mop the floor with all three of them, then you add in the Professor, and the Uchiha, and if any of them decided to act anything less than polite, they will not be leaving this village alive. And that, is not even taking into account that they were unarmed, with the Copy-Ninja guarding their weapons, with a building full of ninja of various strengths and notorieties, including the ANBU, then you have a cold sweat, going down the back of even the shinobi known as, the Nightmare Who Paints the Battlefields.

"Welcome, Kiri ninja, to Konohagakure no Sato," the Hokage greeted them, as she began introductions, "as you may know, I am Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, to my right are my sensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage, my teammate, Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, and to my left, last but not least, my student, Mikoto Uchiha, Leader of the Uchiha Clan, and Head of the Uchiha Military Police Department." Tsunade was not wearing her Kage robes today, which were hung on her chair, with the hat, behind her on the bureau desk against her back wall. The formal, but not overly formal, greetings, their mode of dress - they were dressed the way they normally were during the day, business casual - Tsunade was giving them their due respect, but not more than she would an actual delegation from Mist Village. Meaning Konoha knew, they were not coming here under orders from Kiri, they were here for themselves and not acting as representatives of Yagura Karatachi, the Yondaime Mizukage.

"Thank you, of course, for meeting with us, Hokage-sama," Mei greeted her kunoichi counterpart, "as you are a very busy woman, I will get straight to the point. I am sure you are aware of the current political climate in Kiri, more of our ninja are becoming dissatisfied, with the way our Yondaime is running the village, his abuse of power and the persecution of those with bloodline limits is getting more desperate every day. We have father's murdering their own families, when he learns that the woman he married, and his children are 'blood freaks,'" she growled with gritted teeth, and clenched fists, "and Yondaime-sama has begun what he calls a culling, an ethnic purification that will wipe out all people with bloodlines in Water country. The atrocities are horrendous, men, women, children, have been outright slaughtered, even those whose bloodline was artificially implanted, the way Kakashi's Sharingan was, and have been nothing but loyal to Yagura are not exempt."

"Kage have been known to take similar measures in the past, to ensure stability within their villages," Sarutobi stated, "what is the difference between this 'Culling,' as you say, and other such atrocities in the past? We received information a few years ago, that Sandaime Raikage, overthrew his father, and began purging entire clans, because they followed his father's philosophy of stealing strength. They liked to kidnap children from their families, and turn them into breeding-stock," Sarutobi told them, then added, "Konoha was hit twice by their raids, in two separate incidents, about twenty years apart."

"Look, if this was about one or two clans getting belligerent, then we wouldn't be here," Biwa spoke up, "ninja need that much control, if left to our own devices, we could depopulate whole villages. So, a Kage, or village leader, needing to take a hard line every once in a while, is understandable," the S-ranked swordsman explained, "but this isn't about exerting control over unruly ninja, this is blatant genocide!"

That outburst garnered much surprise from many in the room, this coming from the Nightmare, himself, was telling, and one voiced their astonishment, "This is truly enlightening, Biwa-san," the white-haired pervert sounded amused. "You've been described, by the few who have survived your passing, as a maniac," Jiraiya wondered, his tone was not accusatory, merely curious, when he asked, "what makes this spate of atrocities any different from your resumé?"

Juzo was not offended at all, if anything, he gained a flattered smile after Jiraiya's question, "yes, I like that nickname," then answered with a nostalgic grin on his face, "and you're right, I myself have no problems painting a battlefield, here and there, and have fond memories of doing just that. I've killed men as old as Sandaime-sama, here," he bowed his head slightly to the old man, out of respect, who inclined his head to return it, then continued, "or Genin, as young as twelve. Did you notice on that last one that I said Genin, which are adults, regardless of age," Biwa pointed out, "well, none of the bastards I've killed were children, and the deaths I inflicted on adults were for a reason. Something they did brought me down upon them. What Karatachi is doing, is being done to children, who aren't even out of the Academy yet, or never went," the man actually had tears in his eyes, "I've had to watch kids as young as three, be burnt alive, civilians, who never hurt anybody, were literally stomped to death, and I was told not to stop it!"

Tsunade and the others looked at the S-ranked Swordsman, who had tears welling up in his eyes, and Mei put a hand on her grieving friend's elbow. Juzo looked up at his savior, and a warm smile passed between them, there would never be a romantic relationship between this man and woman, because the man just did not see women in that light, but they were as close to each other as a man and woman could be, without any inclination of taking that final leap. They all witnessed the exchange, and smiled at it, before Tsunade got this meeting back on track, "What do you want from Konoha, Mei-kun?"

Mei and Juzo, turned away from each other, while Mei addressed her fellow, if more senior, kunoichi, "we need two things: one, those who do not wish to fight, to find a safe haven to alight when things break off, in Mist." That caused some surprise of their hosts, but Mei answered the not uttered question, "even if they have kekkei genkai, some of these people are ill-suited for battle, due to either, being unfit for battle, not being ninja, or simply being unwilling to fight and kill their own countrymen."

Tsunade leaned her elbow on her desk and thumbed her chin in thought, "that is quite acceptable, having a fresh set of bloodlines living here in Konoha, could reinforce our strength quite nicely, but they would have to swear loyalty to the Leaf for the rest of their lives. No switching back, once the current situation in Mist is over with, and all of their able-bodied children will be required to enter the ninja academy," Tsunade told them her demands, then asked with narrowing eyes, "what else do you need?"

Mei sighed, knowing this could be the part where they left empty-handed, at least I was able to secure a place for those not willing or unable, to fight, "it's going to come down to a fight with Yagura sooner or later," she began, "we've all been on enough missions, to know that nobody willingly gives up the reins of power. They need to be forcibly removed or have their power taken from them," Mei added in a lecturing tone, though it was hardly necessary as everyone in the room, was nodding their head knowingly, "so we need to take the fight to him, but without too much in the way of collateral damage…"

Mei trailed off as realization dawned on Tsunade's face of what they were asking, "that's not possible," the Hokage spat, "if we get caught it would mean certain war, between Mist and Leaf. We cannot take that kind of risk," Tsunade insisted adamantly!

"I'm just going to lay it out for everyone to see," Jiraiya added, "you want us to try assassinating Yagura Karatachi, the Yondaime Mizukage, a man who is second only to the Daimyo in political power within Mizu no kuni, and that's just for starters," the Toad Sanin told them.

"He is a formidable ninja in his own right, S-ranked to be sure," Hiruzen informed them all, "he is a master of Wind and Water techniques, and an accomplished bojutsu-bukijutsu fighter, he will be a tough adversary and won't go down easily."

"Which isn't saying anything about his other classification," Mikoto put in, "he is also, the Jinchuriki of the Three-tail, and if Intelligence is correct, he is a perfect Jinchuriki. He has full control of his tailed-beast, and can use all of its chakra," she brought up, "so even if you get passed his other defenses, he's got more than enough chakra to take on everybody in this room."

Chōjūrō's eyes seem surprised, and his mouth was open again, "That's a pretty thorough way to break down an opponent, but I'm not hearing a 'no,'" he stated.

"Really, then, no," Tsunade answered, "The Hidden Leaf shall not take part in the assassination, of Yagura Karatachi," she answered definitively, "if it failed, and the assassin fell into enemy hands, they would learn who orchestrated the operation. Konoha cannot be a party to any rebellious actions, nor can we know anything about that kind of operation," Tsunade concluded, while discretely passing a piece of paper to Mei, who took it, read it, folded it, and put it in her bodice.

Mei fumed at her, and yelled, "fine, we're leaving, we will remember this, Hokage-sama," Mei sneered, "we will remember this, when Kiri is a strong nation again, we will remember everybody that helped us, and repay each kindness in kind. Come on, boys," Mei said, as she turned on her heel and marched toward the door, "the stench of cowardice in this room, is beginning to nauseate me, we'll find another village to aid us in saving the lives of innocents." The two shinobi followed their superior, both of them giving the Leaf leadership baleful glares, as they left the office.

Mei and her bodyguards were escorted to the lobby, where their weapons were returned to them, but were ordered, not to open them until they reached the gates of Konoha. The party was silent as they strode purposefully through the streets, once they reached the gates, their blades: Hiramekarei and Mikadzuki, were placed where they belonged, along with their ninja tool pouches, and it was a good kilometre outside of the village before they stopped.

"Alright, Mei-chan," the Nightmare demanded, "what was all of that about, we were expecting to be turned down, so what was the reason for that display back there?"

Mei simply smiled with fondness, "you know me so well, Juzo-kun, of course, it's too bad you're not into women. I'd love to make you, my boyfriend." She sobered and answered his question as she reached between her cleavage, to draw out the piece of paper the Hokage had sent her, "this is what it was all about, so if word ever got out that we were there, Yagura would think we left empty-handed."

"What did she give you, Mei," Chōjūrō asked? She opened the paper, which read, Go to the Land of Waves, ask for the Maelstrom, he will always help one of our clan.

Mei was astounded by what she read, it seemed as if Tsunade and the Leaf, knew about her mother's clan, which was a closely guarded secret, in the Mist, the only people who knew of her clan status were trusted friends. Not that it was an actual crime to be an Uzumaki anymore, nor was she ashamed of her mother's clan, it was just inconvenient for people to know, because then they will know, at least some of her skills and be ready to counter them. "Maelstrom," Biwa asked, "our clan, what does that mean?"

Mei folded the paper and put it away, "Maelstrom, of course, is a code word between members of the Uzumaki, when used, no Uzumaki may refuse to aid the other in times of need. It is also the title of the head of our clan, whomever this person in Nami is, he is my superior within my clan, and as is fitting for a leader, he will never abandon his clan in times of need." Mei looked at them as they stared at her, "Let's go gentlemen, the longer we delay, the more our people suffer," and with that, Mei took to the trees, with a couple of thoughts, who is this person, and will he make an excellent boyfriend?


Reflection of the Mists

Ferry into Nami no kuni: the day after meeting the Brothers.

The air was as opaque as a blanket, visibility, was down to zero, and the wind was utterly still, it was as quiet as a tomb. Through this foggy atmosphere, a boat moved through the water, normally this boat, a small-time fisherman's vessel too insignificant for Gato to even try to buy out, would be maneuvering through the channel between Fire and Wave with its tiny motor going full blast. This morning, however, was different because as insignificant as this ferryman was in terms of acquiring businesses, it would not be the case if he were caught by Gato, helping the very man trying to break-up his business venture. This auxiliary for Charon, had some truly august passengers today, Nami no Tazuna, Shino Aburame, Karin Uzumaki, Hinata Hyūga, and Kurenai Yūhi, were making their way to the not-so-sunny coasts of Nami no Kuni, to guard Tazuna from the minions of the fiend known as, Gato.

An enterprise the unscrupulous tycoon, would surely frown upon, therefore, it behooved the boatman to conduct this service as quietly as possible. "This fog is so thick, you can't see anything," Shino commented, sitting on the port-side gunwale, directly opposite the Hyūga, toward the aft section of the boat was their sensei, behind her was Tazuna, directly in front of the steersman, and in the bow was the crimson Uzumaki.

"The bridge isn't far, now," the ferryman's voice, seemed to cut through the silence like a knife in the stomach, "our destination, the Land of Waves, is just ahead."

Karin's Eye was not picking up much in this fog, having her shemagh up, was just a waste of time, so she kept it pushed back and down on her shoulders, like a scarf. Being in the front of the boat, allowed her to understand the scope and scale of the bridge their client was trying to build, they passed along the bridge quite close, but even as close as they were, they could not see the top, barely making-out the scaffolding and construction equipment. "Whoa, it's huge," Karin suddenly yelled!

"Wha… quiet," the boatman scolded, "I told you, no noise, why do you think we're traveling like this?" The ferryman, continued to berate the Genin, "turning off the engine and rowing, moving… in the dense fog, it's so they don't see us!"

Karin humorously clamped a hand over her own mouth, Shino was looking at her in rebuke, Hinata was sporting a condescending smile, but Kurenai was looking hard at the bridge builder. "Tazuna-san," Kurenai began like a mother chiding her child, "before we reach the pier, I want to know something." Tazuna refused to look at her, "the ones who are after you, I need to know, why? If you don't tell us, this mission ends as soon as we put you ashore."

After a long explanation, which was all for the ears that were definitely listening in the mists, they were sensed quite easily, with Naruto's Heart's Eye. Well, there were only two, and the amount of chakra they had stored, definitely said they were ninja, they were quite powerful, both of them equaling or exceeding, Kurenai-sensei.

They approached an entrance tunnel to the wharf, it would take them well into Wave Nation, "Tazuna-san, we are very fortunate," the boatman said to the bridge-builder, "no one has noticed us, so far."

"Nice going," Tazuna appraised. Oh, but they have noticed us, boatman, Naruto thought, as overhead a faint streak of light flashed through the fog, and what sounded like thunder, sounded far away, it was the only sound that could be heard in the still atmosphere, that's the point, I'm sorry to say, but you're expendable compared to our client. As am I, Naruto thought grimly.

The fog was starting to lift, by the time they set foot on a lonely, secluded dock, just within sight of the magnificent bridge. "That's as far as I go," the ferryman declared, "good luck."

"Right," Tazuna accepted, "thank you for taking such a risk."

"Just be careful," the ferryman admonished, as he started up his motor, and sped away into the distance.

Tazuna turned to the rest of the party, "okay, take me home, and I mean get me there in one-piece!"

"Of course," Kurenai confirmed. Momochi-san is definitely going to attack, he must be impatient to get paid, Naruto surmised, then chuckled to himself, he must really despise working for Gato, all articles I've read on him say that he's a real bastard, conducting his business like a crime syndicate.

Karin, was leading the way again, using her senses to tell her exactly where her adversaries were, she suddenly ran a few paces forward and stopped. She took out a kunai and threw it randomly, into the bushes, "over there," she shouted, like an over-eager puppy.

Kurenai rushed over to the place Karin sent the kunai, and chuckled, "good news, kids, there wasn't an enemy behind these bushes," she stated holding up a dead, snowshoe hare, extracting the crimson-haired kunoichi's kunai from its skull, "bad news, Karin-chan is cooking dinner tonight." They all chuckled along with her, though it was on the outside only, that's a Yukiusagi, Naruto thought, they only have white-fur during winter, when snow is on the ground, it camouflages them allowing them to escape from many of their predators. It's the beginning of autumn, they don't begin changing their fur for another six-weeks, meaning it's been raised indoors away from sunlight, which can only be for one purpose, a substitution technique. So, they're going to try me here, he deduced, plus, according to Susumu-nee, it's not native to this part of the world, they stay up north and are said to infest Earth, Iron, and Lightning countries, like a plague.

Zabuza had been watching this group from the trees, with a critical-eye, he did not get to where he was today, by taking chances or underestimating his opponents. While on the surface, this appeared to be your typical Konoha, Genin team, the efficiency of movement the red-head displayed spoke of considerable skill. Plus, she was able to actually inflict a mortal wound on a substituted opponent, also said a lot about her skill, it is possible there was more to her than met the eye. This Karin's sensei also happens to be the famed Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha herself, second only to the Nidaime Mizukage's Genjutsu skill. This meant fighting this group will be difficult, because he will not be able to trust his senses, he will have to rely on his instincts and experience, luckily, he had faced a few genjutsu masters in his time, and he was still alive while they were not.

The Demon of the Mists raised his great sword, and threw it, in a whirling motion directly toward their necks. As the great blade left his hand, Zabuza leapt after it in an overhead arc, but just as the sword would have reached them, a hand suddenly reached out of nowhere and caught the flying blade… by the blade. In fact, it was by the very edge itself, but it was too late for Zabuza to change the trajectory of his leap, so he completed his jump by landing against the tree, at which, he aimed his sword. Most people would have landed face-first, but Momochi was an A-ranked Missing ninja, and he did not get to this stage in life by allowing himself to remain surprised.

There was a deep cry of, "KAI," then there was a shimmering in the air, like from a hot furnace, and all of the people down below disappeared except a teenage boy. Overhead, a flash streaked across the sky illuminating the surrounding area like lightning, Zabuza paid it no mind, thinking it was a meteor, since when did they glow red, came a stray thought, before he focused all of his attention on the brat in front of him. He had long crimson-hair, violet eyes, wearing a navy-blue utility suit, with a ball-cap, and wearing a katana on his left hip. He wore a gray sheathed, dark-hilted tanto, with a streamer the color of the sky, and a large scroll on his back.

The kid had a polite smile on his face, as he casually held Kubikiribocho above his head, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Zabuza-san," the red-head greeted his elder, "your subordinates have spoken very highly of you." As the kid was speaking, he casually spun the great blade on his fingers, while moving his arm behind himself, ending with the blade driven into the ground behind him.

Zabuza narrowed his eyes at the boy's antics, it was a display of skill, without giving away his true abilities, "who are you, brat," he interrogated, "and what did you do with Meizu and Gozu?"

"Not to worry, Zabuza-san," Naruto assured him, "they're cooling their heels inside a Leaf village jail cell, they'll be released in two weeks, regardless of the outcome here in Wave."

The Demon of Mists stood perpendicular to the ground, he was tall with a muscular bare-chest, with only a strap, crossing the torso which probably would have held the sword in place, if he still had it. He wore bandages over his face, most likely to hide his affiliation with the Seven Swordsmen, by concealing his shark-like teeth, had his forehead-protector turned sideways, and wore striped baggy pants, with mimetic wrist and leg-warmers. "So, you are a Hidden Leaf tree-hugger, eh," he scoffed, "I've never heard of any other prodigy, except Uchiha Itachi, but you do not look like an Uchiha?"

Naruto just shook his head, and introduced himself, "my name is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, and I am a wandering ronin, and journeyman metalworker by trade."

Zabuza's eyes widened in recognition, "I've heard of you," and began to chuckle, "so you're the one who killed my sempai, a few weeks ago. You killed, Raiga," he continued to chuckle, which took on a derisive tone, "I thought he was one of the more powerful shinobi in the Seven, and other than Kisame-sempai, was one of the few, of the Swordsmen, that could defeat me, when we trained, now to know he was bested by a little pipsqueak like you…" Zabuza's chuckle suddenly evolved into a bark of laughter, "how pathetic, he must've come to rely upon that little cripple too much. Tell me, what did you do with Ranmaru, did you kill him too," Zabuza sneered?

"No, but I was able to get him away from Raiga before the fight started," Naruto said with a nostalgic smile, "he's been adopted by the Dragon monks of Iron. They told me, he has sworn to kill me when he gets strong enough," Naruto's smile changed to fondness, "at least he's found a reason to keep living, and getting stronger."

"Enough talk, gaki," Momochi barked, "I have to eliminate, Tazuna, the bridge builder of Wave." He looked around before glaring at the kid, "you have obviously met him, and judging from the genjutsu, you're protecting him, now, where is he? If you tell me, I won't have to take revenge for the death of my former comrade," Zabuza finished in what he believed was a charming voice.

Naruto remained silent, then shrugged, before gesturing vaguely in the direction behind the Nuke-nin from Kiri, before ending with a confirming, confident nod. Which confused Zabuza Momochi, who chanced a quick look away from the boy to see what he was miming about, "what," he asked, trying to understand? Naruto repeated his actions from just previous, but only got halfway through them, before Zabuza's frustration got the best of him, "why aren't you saying anything, you insufferable little shit?"

Naruto's expression became mischievous, "I'm just respecting my elder's wishes, Zabuza-san," which caused the older shinobi to look even more confused, before the red-head explained himself, "you said, 'Enough talk…' and I'm a good boy. I was always taught to obey my elders, so I did and remained quiet when you, asked about my new boss."

Zabuza and Haku, who while concealed, was close enough to hear what they were saying, face-faulted upon hearing Naruto's obnoxious brat-like answer. As soon as he returned to his feet, Zabuza growled in frustration, "then as your elder, talk to me, and tell me the location of Tazuna!"

Naruto took on a condescending smile, "sorry, Zabuza-san, I don't like repeating myself," Zabuza's eyes became incensed. The red-head continued in his condescending voice, "I did it once, because I thought an old man like you, must be getting hard-of-hearing, but I won't repeat myself a second time," he finished with resolute will, then his face took on a mock-sulky expression, "plus, you so rudely interrupted me, when I was being gracious enough to repeat myself. That quashed any feelings of respect I had for my elder, so no more well-mannered kid," then he grinned viciously, "now you get the bastard version of me."

Zabuza ground his teeth in anger, "you wanna play, you little shit," he roared, as he jumped down to stand on the surface of the stream flowing through the clearing? He visibly calmed himself, as he brought his hands into the Ram seal, and began to concentrate, "Ninja Art: Art of the Hidden Mist," causing an opaque wall of mist to condense out of the atmosphere. The fog roiled with the anger of its caster, billowing like a stormy ocean, but that was the only sign of activity, because everything had gone quiet. As soon as the Kiri-nuke-nin closed the curtain, Naruto went silent, and of course he moved from the spot he was in when his visibility dropped. Only foolish genin, would stand in the same spot they were in, when the enemy changed one of the fundamental features of the battlefield; the ability to see. In this atmosphere even the sharingan would be useless, if I used a regular sharingan that is.

Kitsune-Jiki no Sharingan, he thought, when his fox-magnetic Sharingan manifested, it cast the world into a reddish-blue hue. The way his bloodline eyes worked, was by allowing the UV-light rays emitted from the sun, and the ambient infrared energy emitted from all living organisms – animal life more than plant – to collect in his eyes, while his brain interprets the signals and modulates the frequency of the light into images he can see. His color-vision is severely limited, in these low light conditions, most plant-life emitted very little IR, and because of that, was cast in various hues, from dark-violet, to light-blue, depending upon the angle of perception. Animals, however, which includes warm-blooded people, are struck by the UV-light the same as plants, emit a ton more IR especially when they were active, which added-in shades of red to Naruto's perceptions. It goes without saying that greens, yellows, and oranges were cancelled out, when Naruto found himself in low visibility situations, and only those situations. When the light was normal, Naruto perceived the world normally, through the entire human visibility spectrum. Naruto could see Zabuza quite clearly, not to mention his blood-flow, the beating of his heart, the respiration, the expansion, and contraction of his muscles, they were all in shades of red. The rest of him was outlined in violet, with the various shades of blue closer to the red-zones. Naruto saw Zabuza make three water-clones, which appeared to the ronin as blue outlined in violet.

Not that Naruto even needed to see, to know exactly where his enemies were, Kokoro no me, came another thought, as the Eye of the Heart, expanded his awareness to a quarter-mile radius. He sensed the chakra flowing through, every living thing in that clearing, even the trees and plants held a form of chakra, which almost seemed passive, but was still powerful in its own right. It seemed strangely connected to each species of plant, as if they were just small pieces of a whole. There were smaller, separate forms of chakra moving here and there through the area, and two, slightly larger chakra signatures moving through the same clearing. Actually, one was moving, one was stationary, looks like Haku is here, too, but why is he being held back?

Naruto's metal-sense also helped him locate his adversary, similar to the way he detected the other animals on the night he escaped from Konoha. He could sense the iron-saturated hemoglobin flow through the veins of both opponents, as well as every other creature in the clearing. He felt the calcium in their bones as they moved, or did not, in Haku's case. He felt the sweat from the sodium, that made it up, leaking from their pores, of course, Zabuza more profusely than Haku. Naruto has learned to use his Kankaku kinzoku, to read the body chemistry of any creature, within a hundred-yards of Naruto. He mainly used it, along with his Buddha's palm technique, to diagnose ailments in patients, as part of his role as a medical ninja. But he could also, apply it in combat, to judge the general health of his foe, or to determine just when his assailant was going to attack.

Which was one of the lessons, among many more, imparted to him by his best friend, a bond that unfortunately, would never be able to grow, because she was the leader of a place he can never love, which tarnishes his feeling for Tsunade. Naruto reflected on his return visit a few months ago. He had been back there for only three months, and the hatred of the Konoha villagers was still as strong as ever while he was there. A Hokage's power came from the love of their village, they must put the needs of their village over personal interests at all times. Naruto would always love Tsunade and would go for a visit, every now and then, but while she remained Hokage, it could never grow beyond that of a friend.

All of that was overkill, of course, when one considers his more mundane senses. Senses that came from his partner, the Nine-tailed Fox, hearing that allowed him to hear a pin drop, a mile away, or hear the heart-beat of his opponents. His whiskers being actual sensory organs, coupled with his ears, allowed him to sense different pressures, and atmospheric distortions as bodies moved through the area, or as air moved around still objects. His sense of smell showed him the mode Zabuza's body was in, it told Naruto how soon he could expect to be attacked, as he reached into his kunai pouch and fisted a pair of the titular blades.

It is a well-known fact that Mist ninja, are perfectly capable of fighting in heavy fog, such as this chakra created mist. So much so, that they have perfected a method of assassination, called the Quiet-Kill technique, they move silently into position and strike just as silently. The target is said to die before they even knew they were under attack, passing from this world without ever seeing their assassin. Another well-known fact, at least among ninja, the man who is reputed to be a Master of the Shizukana-Ansatsu hōhō, was Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mists.

That mastery however, had only been acquired through hard-work and experience, experience earned through the deaths of a lot of people. People from all walks of life, from regular, ordinary citizens, to nobles of nearly every nation on the continent, even ninja of most skill-levels had fallen at the hand of Zabuza. Because as a Master of the Quiet-Kill method, they never heard more than the rush of air as he moved, but by then, they were already dead.

Naruto listened to Zabuza's heartbeat, even as he saw through his Uchiha birthright, how the man moved, when he was himself hampered by the low visibility of his own jutsu. Zabuza was not moving any slower than he normally would, on the contrary, his movements seemed quicker, as if he were more confident with himself when his enemy could not see him. Neither were his movements measured, he moved with an economy of motion, he was more relaxed, and seemed… to Naruto at least, to concentrate more on the transitions of his movements, than moving from point A to point B, he was… for lack of a better analogy, moving like water. He was flowing along the path of least resistance, moving from on high, down into the sea, and even if the pathways to the Sea of Naruto, change, either because of outside forces – erosion, interference from wildlife, or human actions – or because of the riverbed shifting about – terrain changes (sticks in the way, rocks and pebbles crunching under foot) – even when the Sea of Naruto moves to a different location, the water will always find its way to the sea.

Naruto's hearing allowed him to hear Zabuza's heartbeat, slowing to a relaxed cadence and noticed the roiling motion of the Mist, calming down. He was letting go of his emotions, or at least, suppressing them. Zabuza's breathing became measured, and Naruto mimicked him, if the master of Quiet-Killing, was silencing his own breathing, then it was for a reason, perhaps that was how he found his target, by listening for their breathing. Naruto decided to apply an Uzumaki-hiden technique, he learned it from the scrolls of the Uzumaki compound in Konoha, he suppressed his chakra-signature.

When he discovered this technique, he and Karin began practicing it together, and became masters of chakra suppression, especially once Karin learned the Kage Bunshin technique. They became so good at it that they disappeared, even from Karin's Mind's Eye of Kagura and Naruto's Heart's Eye sensory techniques, and so good, that unless they did it in full view of each other, they became invisible from detection. Luckily, the only thing that could thwart the suppression was the use of outward displays of chakra, like using a ninjutsu, or genjutsu. Even what Konoha classified as the Academy Three: Kawarimi, Henge, and the basic Bunshin technique, would be enough to negate the purpose of chakra suppression, however, things like channeling chakra to different body-parts for augmentation, or to use sensory techniques, including dojutsu, were still undetectable.

When Naruto learned, Karin was being teamed with a Hyuga, he charged her with a clan-driven mission, to see if she could use chakra suppression, and hide from the Byakugan. They already know from their personal experimentation that the Sharingan is, somewhat, hampered in chakra reading, when one of them uses chakra suppression. The Sharingan can only detect chakra usage, when chakra is being used anyway, not when it is dormant. The Byakugan, can detect chakra, even when it is not in use, thus the purpose of the clan mission, to see how thoroughly the chakra was, or could be, suppressed.

They taught it to Tsunade, in honor of her Uzumaki heritage, and informed her of the clan mission, but Naruto, as Dai Uzu, classified the mission as a clan secret. Meaning, even as Hokage, Tsunade could not pass the information to anyone outside of the clan, not even another Senju, which also meant, Naruto could not inform the Namikaze of the information either.

Naruto and the clones he used to help him trick Zabuza into confronting him, began to adopt the manner in which Zabuza and his clones, maneuvered through the open area. It quickly became apparent what Zabuza was after, he seemed to be making his way over to the Great Blade, so that's the backbone of his psyche, his strength seems to be supported by the possession of Kubikiribocho. I still can't afford to underestimate him, though, all intelligence says he was a strong ninja, even before he became a Swordsman. I hope he likes my surprise, when he tries to grip the hilt, Naruto grinned maliciously, if I were him, I would've sent one of my clones for the sword, to check for traps.

Naruto no sooner thought that, when Zabuza placed his hand on the hilt of the blade, he began to hear a hissing sound, followed almost immediately by a bright-white light, as the Executioner's Blade, quite literally caught fire, causing the nuke-nin's eyes to widen in surprise. He knew instantly what was going to happen, he substituted himself with one of his water clones, a millisecond before… "BOOOOOM!" The Great Blade, because of its intense heat, combined with the rapid cooling, and oxidation from the mist, plus the fact that Naruto, while he was holding the blade, converted the parts he touched into aluminum. When Zabuza called up the obscuring fog, the clone placed explosive tags, on the blade. Naruto has modified his explosive tags, by basing the ink he used on them, with magnesium and fortified it with iron-oxide, and added his inferno-chakra as an accelerant. Oh yeah, he made thermite, which while not normally explosive, it was still a paper-bomb, and the metal of Kubikiribocho, had already softened significantly from the super-fast heating, and thus the Great Blade became so much shrapnel, as it exploded.

To anyone else, being in that clearing when the sword exploded would have meant certain death, from the torrent of metal that was propelled away from the explosive epicenter. The Metalmancer ronin was not anyone else, he and everyone of his clones absorbed every shard of metal and heat, that struck them, and it seems there was another unforeseen lucky break for the metalworker. Kubikiribocho has an unusual, and quite gruesome reputation, if it ever got damaged, it could repair itself by absorbing the iron from the blood of its victims. This trait has now been transferred, through the absorption properties of Naruto's kekkei tota, into his healing factor, now the healing given to him by Kurama is no longer necessary. He can heal in minutes, what would take even his unaided Uzumaki blood, days to heal, then when combined with his Hiraishin, that factor is reduced to seconds, and even more spectacular, if someone ever succeeded in maiming him, he could regrow that appendage in hours. All of this information was relayed to Naruto within milliseconds, in his mind by the Nine-tails, kyūbi even suspected that cutting off his head, would only inconvenience Naruto for a few hours, until one of his clones can reattach it. [A/N: I realize, this may seem like I am overpowering Naruto at this point, but don't forget, there is already a character in the Naruto-verse that can do everything, I just mentioned. Hidan is just as unkillable as I've just made Naruto, and he'll still feel the pain of each injury, which doesn't preclude emotional scars; A/N end.]

Zabuza managed to substitute with one of his clones, but was unprepared to deal with how violent, the explosion had been. As soon as he substituted, his leg was punctured with shards from his very own sword, but unlike the Jinchuriki of the Kyūbi, he did not have a kekkei tota to negate the damage. He was bleeding like a stuck pig, the force of the explosion, shoved him end-over-end until he came to a stop against a tree. When he was injured, he broke concentration on the kirigakure ninjutsu, causing the mist to immediately disperse, revealing Naruto making his way to the downed man. His countenance was solemn as he looked down at the man he had just fought. When Zabuza looked up, he saw no gloating, nor did he see pity, he saw remorse and resolve filling the young ronin's eyes. Unlike most of his colleagues, who enjoyed killing like it was a sport, this kid seemed to view it as just a part of the business, nothing to celebrate, but nothing to be fearful of, and he seemed to be determined to show each of his downed opponents marvelous respect.

"I feel like I must apologize to you, Zabuza-san," the red-head with violet-eyes began, he had shut-down the Sharingan when the sword exploded, "for my blatant disrespect to you at the beginning of our battle. I can only make the excuse, that it was meant to keep you off balance and make you angry," Naruto admitted, "you're too powerful for me to be able to fight head on, without some kind of advantage in my favor. All of my sensei, have pretty much beat it into my head, to remain calm in battle, even during the most dire of circumstances, so I figured if that was the universal philosophy of the ninja way, then the best way to beat an opponent was to unbalance their emotions, before the first punch is even thrown, therefore, I would ask your forgiveness for my disrespect earlier."

Zabuza reached up to his face and pulled-down his mask, there was a slight smile covering his face when he spoke, "don't worry about it, kid," he chuckled, "if I was stupid enough to fall for a trick like that then I deserved to get my ass kicked." Zabuza grunted, before adding, "it'll serve me right, and make me do better next time, and teach me to keep my head."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at that last part, before shaking his head in resignation, "there won't be a next time, Zabuza-san," he informed his downed opponent, "I was already taking this mission with the expectation of short pay to come, I was doing it as a favor for a friend," he answered the other man's inquiring expression. "When I heard you had hired your services out to that bastard Gato, I realized here was a chance to kill two shinobi with one kunai," Naruto explained, "I could test myself against two A-ranked ninja at the same time, and get a nice bonus from your bounty, if I got lucky enough to win that is, that would give me an extra five-million-ryo, to add to the thousand I was already getting for helping Tazuna stay alive. What more could a budding ronin ask for," Naruto wondered with glee?

Zabuza was half-smirking and half-sneering at the young ninja in front of him, "you're right, kid, that would be a great opportunity, but you shouldn't count your shuriken until you've retrieved them all."

"Why, because you think, Haku-kun is going to save you," he asked calmly, he had felt the ice-user moving into position to the left of them, and it seemed his timing of that sentence was nearly perfect? Naruto felt him release a pair of 'steel' senbon in their direction, and he could have stopped them a few ways, but he needed to destabilize Haku before they fought, and the senbon were already flying toward Zabuza. What that was supposed to accomplish, Naruto could only wonder at, but they would serve his purposes quite well? He reached out with his senses and using his magnet-release, accelerated them greatly, causing a crack like thunder as they broke the sound barrier, and altered their trajectory a touch, which caused them to shoot into the ear at the speed of sound, which sent them through the skull and into Zabuza's brain. The kinetic force Naruto imparted on the senbon, knocked the Demon of the Mists on his side, his demise so sudden and swift, and a complete surprise to the elder ninja. He was dead before he hit the ground.

"ZABUZA-SAMA… NO…" came a shrill voice!


Author's Notes

For some purists out there, angry that I'm changing too many things from Naruto canon, get ready for more disappointment. Among the changes that will take place, one major alteration I've made is to exclude the group known as Akatsuki from my story. The individual members of that group in canon, will still exist, and Naruto will encounter them. They won't all be his enemies either, for instance, I think Kisame and Naruto would get along quite well, and Itachi will help Naruto unlock his Mangekyō Sharingan without having to kill his best friend, they'll become like brothers and Naruto will be instrumental in redeeming Itachi and allowing him to return home. There will be no Zetsu, and Obito's body was retrieved by Minato, and he was given a proper hero's funeral from the Leaf, and Madara is dead. The ultimate antagonist will not be revealed for some time yet, I bet it will completely surprise many of you, I'll give you a hint, I've already mentioned that person at least in passing, and this person's likely agenda.

You may make educated guesses in the Review Section, but I will neither confirm nor deny, your guess, so keep a weather-eye open for more updates.

Author: out.