Chapter 16 – A Wave Goodbye

I made a hand seal, and the dozens of paper bombs ignited, starting their one-second detonation countdown. Haku's eyes widened as he realized what was coming, and the two Naruto's grinned impishly. One had the audacity to throw his stack into the air to make it rain. Haku had just enough time to leap backwards out of the mirror, and then the tags exploded.

The ground shook at the blast, and the concussive wave was enough to stagger us, despite our relative distance from the epicenter. The powerful boom was accompanied by the sound like shattering glass, and followed by an intense heat wave, causing us all to shield our faces. I saw Haku's body go flying and took off towards him as the debris of dirt and ice began to settle.

The blow certainly drew attention, and the fight between our sensei and Zabuza paused as they looked over to survey the damage. Zabuza looked genuinely shocked, Kakashi looked exasperated, and Anko beamed with pride.

I also noticed that Zabuza had been taking the worse of the exchange. He had cuts, burns, and bruises across his body, while Anko and Kakashi looked unscathed. Kakashi had even covered his Sharingan. It probably rankled Zabuza as a sign of disrespect, but judging from Kakashi's flagging chakra levels, I suspected that he needed to fight without it to prevent collapsing from chakra exhaustion again.

I raced over to Haku and checked him over. He had several minor burns, and the powerful blast had knocked him out cold. His breathing was a bit labored but steady, and nothing seemed life threatening, though I wished we had a medic ninja on hand to confirm that. Then I remembered the herbs that Haku had been picking earlier, many of which would soothe his injuries and aide his recovery. We could fetch that later.

Silence lingered for a moment after the dust settled, and a look of frustration marred Zabuza's face. Finally, he spoke up, bitterness lacing his voice. "Useless tool. The kid couldn't even handle a couple of academy fresh brats. Go ahead and dispose of it for me, finish the job. A broken tool is no good to me."

Naruto and I both paused, stunned at his callous words, before Naruto went livid.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Naruto yelled angrily. "Haku saw you as the most important person in the world, and you want to dispose of him like a chipped kunai? No. No! I don't accept it. I won't. Haku called you his precious person! I refuse to believe that's how you feel towards him. So shut up, quit your bull, and treat Haku with the dignity you know he deserves."

I looked at Naruto in surprise, and I wasn't the only one.

"What do you know about the shinobi life, brat!" Zabuza seethed. "You, who haven't had to look death in the eye even once! You, who haven't had to watch a comrade die in your hands- or worse, by your hands. You know nothing of the cruel world we live in, where only demons can survive the harsh truths of reality. I am still alive, so I too am a demon. There are no precious people amongst the hell-damned, boy. Only tools- those who are use others, and those who get used. If you can't get that idea into your thick skull, you'll be long dead before you can amount to anything resembling a real shinobi."

Naruto growled, and I could feel his killing intent rise- not the fox's, but his own passion. "Well, I couldn't care less about what you think makes a real shinobi. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be Hokage. And I'll show you and the whole world a new shinobi, one who fights for his precious people, a shinobi like Haku! That's a promise, and I never go back on my word. Haku is ten times the ninja you are! And you know it!"

There was an awkward silence for a moment, and Zabuza began shaking, though from what emotion I couldn't tell. He was spared from having to reply by a nasally voice approaching from the direction of town.

"Well, well, well. I thought I hired a demon, but it looks like all I got is a washed-up, second-rate vagabond, seeing as how you can't handle a cyclops, a hooker, and a handful of children," said a diminutive man.

"Tch. Gato. You came to see the end of show, did you?" Zabuza growled. He seemed to have his emotions under wraps again. He shot me a quick, pointed look, and I could see the curiosity in his eyes, acknowledging that I had predicted Gato's play correctly and questioning if I was serious about joining forces against a common foe. Then he turned and stared at Gato. The mafia leader stopped his approach a short distance away, an army of thugs at the ready behind him.

"Well, to be honest, I expected you to win," Gato mocked condescendingly. "And then we would have finished you off. But I guess we'll have to do your job for you- after killing you, of course. No way am I handing over A-rank levels of money for a job as simple as an assassination. I always did think ninja were overpriced and overrated, and it seems my beliefs are being proven true before my very eyes."

Zabuza glanced again at me, then looked to Kakashi. "My client has cancelled my mission. If you'll spare the boy, I'll not lay a hand on the bridge builder."

Kakashi hesitated, then nodded. "Fair enough."

"Good. I have a herd of animals to slaughter."

Zabuza turned towards the army of thugs and released a wave of killing intent so powerful that a full third of their number dropped to their knees in shock and fear. But physically, the Demon of the Mist was running on fumes. He was in bad enough shape when Haku brought us into his room; after this second run-in with Kakashi, I wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep on his feet.

Still, he held his sword out in front of him threateningly. "You think you can double cross the Demon of the Mist, and live?" he said coldly. "Did you think you were the first to come up with such a plan? Have you heard of the last client who tried to cross me? Damn right you haven't, because there's nothing left of him. One tenth of my strength is all I need to mop up you idiots. Let's finish this."

He dashed forward, and with a mighty sweep of his blade, bisected three men in one strike before anyone could react.

"Don't just stand there, get him!" Gato yelled, backing away hastily. "10,000 Ryo for whoever lands the killing blow! Get moving!"

Most of the thugs shakily pushed past their initial fear and charged Zabuza, who used wide, sweeping swings to beat them back. He was panting heavily, his chakra was flagging, and it took him considerable concentration and effort to make each swing.

Naruto glanced at me, looking for confirmation or assurance. I knew what he was thinking, and I nodded. "Let's go."

The two of us charged towards the mob, and soon after, the rest of our allies joined in. It quickly became a massacre. Zabuza had no qualms with cold blooded murder, but the rest of us had enough control to merely injure or incapacitate our opponents. It took about ten seconds for the first man to turn tail and run, and soon after, every remaining able-bodied thug took off after him.

Gato had come with about seventy men. A two dozen corpses laid strewn around Zabuza, and another thirty or so men were limping away or lying unconscious. The scant few in good health fled unhindered, as we deemed it not worthwhile to hunt them down.

Gato, however, was too important to let flee. I had kept track of him the entire fight, and when he saw that his men were going to lose, he was the first to turn and try to slip away in the chaos.

I pulled out a shuriken with ninja wire attached and flung it at his retreating form. It struck him square between the shoulder blades and stuck there, causing him to stagger, but he kept going. No matter, that's what the ninja wire was for.

I channeled lightning chakra into my hand and sent it into the wire, which readily conducted it to my target. Gato's entire body seized and convulsed, then collapsed. I couldn't suppress a small smile at the result; using a conducive material was so much easier than trying to direct lightning with mere chakra control.

Zabuza, who had hardly moved from his initial spot of attack, now limped to where Haku's body lie.

"Kid…" he muttered, kneeling at his side. "I guess the brat was right. You weren't just a tool to me." A tear formed in his eye, and he collapsed to the ground, chakra exhausted and uncouncious.

There was a silence in the clearing now, as we pondered the fact that the Demon of the Mist had just shown affection. Kakashi and Anko must have been reevaluating the bogey man of Kiri.

Some of our number, however, had no such respect for sentimental character development. "What now?" Sasuke grunted. Naruto groaned as our friend broke the emotional moment.

But he had a point. There was work yet to be done, so I spoke up. "Naruto, do you remember that basket of flowers that Haku was carrying earlier? They are sitting in Zabuza's room now; can you send a clone to get them? Zabuza's comatose state appears to be mostly due to repeated chakra exhaustion, but the herbs in that basket will be helpful for Haku's recovery."

"I'm on it!" he said, and a clone materialized and ran for the base.

"We also need to figure out what to do with Gato," I said.

Tazuna and Hinata had joined us now, and the old man spoke up. "You let that old dirtball live? Why not just kill him?"

"Zabuza and Haku took the job because they needed money. I'm guessing they are going to want to milk him for all he's worth once he wakes up," I explained. "Gato probably has some liquid funds around here that he could be persuaded to part with. I bet Zabuza is an excellent, er, negotiator when it comes to those kinds of things, and I'm sure he will be happy to leave Wave in peace if he can access Gato's funds as his going away present."

Tazuna grunted. "Bah. Whatever. As long as the little scoundrel and his goons never mess with the town again, I suppose I don't much care what happens to him. Handing him over to the Demon of the Mist is a fair enough fate for the bastard."

Kakashi clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Excellent. However, we are becoming quite a large group, and I doubt Tazuna and Tsunami have the space or desire to host all of us. Since Tedashi and Naruto seem to have allied with our enemies, they can stay with Anko and I here at Zabuza's base while we oversee their recovery and terms of release. The rest of you, head back with Tazuna and fill Kobi in on all that's happened. In the morning, I want Sasuke and Akiko to oversee the bridge construction crew, since that is technically our mission, and the rest of you lot come back here for training. We'll rotate shifts until the bridge is built and our mission is complete. Understood?"

There was a chorus of, "Yes, sensei," and Sasuke, Hinata, and Akiko began leading Tazuna back home. Naruto's clone returned with the basket of herbs and handed it over to me.

"Alright, patch them up a bit and we'll bring them inside," Anko said, who began to look over Zabuza as I tended to Haku. "Then we'll talk about what a headache this is going to be once they wake up and recover."

-o X o-

Our Kiri frenemies slept through the night, and the next morning our designated teammates arrived for training, with stories of their own.

"So anyways, I was just hanging out at Tsunami's, kinda feeling sorry for myself since everyone else got to go off and rescue you two while I was stuck resting because of my injury, you know?" Kobi told us excitedly. "And they have that annoying kid Inari, and he just wouldn't shut up about how it's hopeless, and no one can stand up to Gato, and how I'm so lucky I escaped with just a couple of lost fingers, blah, blah blah," he made a corresponding mouth motion with his good hand. "And so I told him that he doesn't know jack, and that ninja are way more awesome than this Gato fella, and that I could take on a bully like Gato even if Zabuza cut my whole arm off first. And before he could say anything else, two of Gato's thugs kicked down the door!"

Naruto was enraptured as Kobi told the story of what happened at Tsunami's place while we were fighting Zabuza and Haku the previous day. When Kobi and Hinata had shown up this morning for training as instructed, we agreed to postpone a few minutes and hear the story first.

"No way! What did you do?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Well, the thugs looked inside and only saw Tsunami at first, and said, 'We came here looking for the old drunk, but I guess this young lady will have to satisfy us in his absence,' or something like that, and just strode inside. And then, brave little Inari, despite his fear, ran forward and got in their way! It was a bold move by the little tyke, but they just backhanded him to the floor and laughed. Well, I only had one good hand, but I couldn't let that stand, right? So as they approached Tsunami, I snuck into the kitchen, used my tree walking training to crawl up to the ceiling, then dropped down in a surprise attack! I landed on one and managed to slash the other in the face with a kunai as I fell, and he collapsed to the ground in pain. Then I knocked them both out, and Tsunami helped me tie them up. She's a tough lady, I tell ya. When the other guys got back, Hinata hit 'em with her Jyuuken magic to paralyze them for a while, and Sasuke took the bound-up goons to the bridge with him today, since we didn't know what else to do with them and I didn't want to carry them all the way out here."

Kakashi nodded in approval. I was also impressed. I never expected much out of Kobi, since he wasn't part of the original Konoha Rookie 9, but he did admirably for being a lone, injured genin in an unexpected hostile, high-pressure situation. Not bad at all for a civilian born genin on his first C rank. Naruto cheered as Kobi ended his story, and Kobi beamed.

"Well done, Kobi," Kakashi said seriously. "I didn't expect that Gato would send anyone directly to Tsunami's house, and your presence there likely saved two civilian lives. I'm sure your teammates already told you our story, but we have Zabuza, Haku, and Gato here. Sasuke and Akiko can drag the other two thugs here when they come to train tomorrow. Anko and I will put the fear of Kami into them and let them go; they aren't going to be much use to us."

Anko had a slightly manic look in her eyes that I was about 60% sure was an act, and I suddenly remembered that she used to be a part of T with Ibiki.

"Uh, yeah, sure, ok," Kobi said slowly. "Anyway, what are we going to be working on today?

"Hmm, let's see," Kakashi said, looking us over. "Kobi, please continue working on chakra control. It's not the most glamorous, but until we get you looked over by a Konoha medic, I want you taking it easy. Hinata, you can continue practicing the clan jutsu you were working on."

Anko looked at Naruto and I with a smug grin. "And for the troublemakers who managed to get themselves captured by enemy ninja," she said mischievously, "what am I to do with you? I know! I'll create a bunch of clones and henge them into pretty girls. Then when they ask you to follow them back to their base where their evil boss is lurking to kidnap you, you practice saying 'No!' and run the other way! That ought to be good practice for avoiding seduction attempts."

Naruto looked confused, but I blushed again. "Ok, first of all, that's not what happened," I said with a huff. "We knew Haku was an enemy ninja and followed him covertly, which I'm sure Naruto's clone told you when he let you know what we were doing. And secondly, Haku is a boy."

Anko shrugged, still grinning. "Ah, but he looked like a cute girl, so my point still stands. Unless," her smirk grew, "you somehow knew that he was a boy, Tedashi kun. And just how would you have checked that, hmm? Were you looking at the pretty girl for something you shouldn't, and get an unpleasant surprise from Mr. Haku instead?"

I blushed more, especially since most of Team 7 was still here and listening. "That's not…" I sputtered. "I didn't… I just… Hey, Hinata told us he was a boy! Remember?" I said, deflecting.

"He was wearing a mask and was clearly an enemy combatant when I analyzed him," Hinata said with a disapproving frown. "If Haku met you yesterday in the same pink dress he battled us in, then he must have looked like an attractive civilian female when you decided to… ahem… observe her."

Anko looked gleeful and waggled her eyebrows, and I ground my teeth. "I was suspicious and could just tell something was off, ok?" I said with a huff, then gave up. My humiliation was unrecoverable. "Whatever. Let's just move on to training. What do you have for us to work on, Anko sensei?"

"Ah, well, if you're sure you don't need training in resisting the wiles of feminine seduction, then let's have you work on that atrocious lightning control," she said, earning another huff from me. "And Naruto, you can keep working on the leaf splitting exercise to practice wind manipulation-" he groaned in response, "-unless you give up, that is. Then I could think of something else."

She pushed the right button. "No way!" he shouted, suddenly eager. "I'm going to master this stupid technique, split this thing in half, and forever the world over will fear the name Naruto, the Great Leaf Tearer!"

"The Great Leaf Terror is surprisingly apt," I muttered, but he was too engrossed in his concentration to hear me.

"Kakashi sensei, what can I do to develop my earth affinity?" Hinata asked. I looked at her in surprise, as did Kakashi and Anko.

If word got out that she 'wasted' her training time learning an earth technique instead of further honing her Jyuuken techniques, it would cause a minor scandal in the clan. Nothing monumental; it wasn't prohibited for her to learn other jutsu, it would just be considered impractical and wasteful, especially for a talented clan heir like herself.

Kakashi took her aside and put her to work doing something with a clod of dirt. I didn't pay much attention and instead started working on my own elemental nature, while Naruto stared at a leaf in his palm with a burning vengeance.

-o X o-

Early that evening, Zabuza and Haku woke up. Kakashi had a clone watching over them, and once we were informed, we called it a day for our training and headed inside to have a little chat.

"Well, well, what to do with you lot," Kakashi said flippantly, as if it were no big deal that we held an A rank rogue ninja and potentially the last practitioner of a rare kekkei genkai in our custody. "You did cause us quite a bit of hassle, most notably," he glanced at Kobi, "a crippling injury that will never be fully recovered from. Want to give me a reason not to turn you into the bounty collection agency and take Haku back to Konoha to revive the bloodline for ourselves?"

Zabuza's face darkened at the last suggestion, but I was 70% sure Kakashi was bluffing. Scratch that, 50% sure. Haku's bloodline actually made him more valuable than Zabuza… maybe he wasn't bluffing.

Zabuza was silent for a minute as he considered his options. Finally, he sighed. "Damn it. I'll be direct with you, Hatake. We don't have anything of value beyond what you could take from us right here in this room." He looked to me. "Hey, Shocky. Yeah, I'm talkin' to you. What would you say if you were in my position? Apparently, you're a damn sight better than me when it comes to negotiating for your life."

I glanced to Kakashi, who shrugged and gestured to let me speak. "Alright, sure. You don't have anything of value right now, so your best option is to promise us some future good or service that will outweigh what we could get as an immediate payoff." I glanced at Haku. "Honestly, considering the value of Haku's bloodline, that's a tough order."

Haku glared at me. "I'll kill myself if you turn Zabuza over to Kiri or the bounty hunters."

I nodded. "I believe you. And I may be tipping my hand here a bit, but honestly, I don't want to turn you guys over to the bounty hunters either. Naruto and I meant what we said, Haku. And I'm sure you heard that conversation as well, Zabuza, considering Naruto's lack of whispering skills. I'd rather be your allies, and at least with Haku, friends. But the best thing you can give us right now to help your own case is information: full disclosure of the situation in Kiri. We know about the Rebellion in Kiri, and it's not hard to deduce that you two are with the rebel side. As far as I know, Konoha does not have any positive relations with the current Mizukage. If half the rumors we hear are true, then he's a deranged genocidal lunatic, and needs to go down. And if the rebellion succeeds and happens to install a leader who has a positive view towards Konoha, well, that's an awfully big payoff for us. I'd say that Konoha being on friendly terms, perhaps even allied terms, with the next Mizukage would outweigh your bounty and a new bloodline."

Zabuza looked at me skeptically, but Haku seemed in awe, and the younger of the two spoke up. "Are you saying… are you saying that Konoha may be willing to back the Rebels in overthrowing the Mizukage?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. You'd have to discuss that with the Hokage. But if your leader is willing to discuss a deal, I'm sure the Hokage would at least be willing to hear you out. Again, we have no affection for the current Mizu administration, and I'm sure we could expect suitable compensation if our assistance helps your cause achieve your goals of retaking Kirigakure. We won't throw our ninja into a meatgrinder, if that's all this rebellion is, but if you have a legitimate plan to retake Kiri, I think the Hokage will at least consider it."

Haku looked sharply at Zabuza, who looked out of his element in the political negotiations. So Haku looked back to me and took over. "We'll take it," he said firmly. "This level of support, even the idea of sponsorship from a great village, is beyond anything the Rebels could have imagined before we took this mission. I assure you that our leader will be interested and will be willing to discuss and negotiate what kind of compensation Konoha can expect once she is in power."

I glanced at Kakashi, who looked placid as ever, but I was sure he was getting just as much if not more from this conversation as I was. Haku had essentially admitted that the rebellion had a clear leader, a female at that, and that their goal truly was to take over command of Kirigakure- not just dispose of the current Mizukage. He also confirmed that they were in desperate need of funds, though we were rather certain of that already."

Zabuza glanced between Haku and myself, then to Kakashi. "Well, I've never been one for negotiations that go beyond demanding more money. If Haku thinks it's a good deal for us, we'll take it."

"When and where should we meet to discuss more specific terms?" Haku asked eagerly.

"I'll take it from here," Kakashi said. "The Chunin exams are coming up in a few weeks, and Konoha is hosting this time around. Visitors from all the over world come visit to watch the finals. It would be a good time for a foreign political body to come visit without drawing overdue attention, though I suggest you not broadcast that you're Kirigakure rebels. The Hokage will want to keep his potential support of you, even the appearance of potential support for you, as secret as possible until real progress is made."

Haku nodded. "Of course, Hatake san."

"Very well. When you recover, go tell your leader about our terms. Come to Konoha one week before the finals are scheduled to begin. We will arrange with gate guards to admit your retinue on that morning. Bring a party of no more than six shinobi, for the sake of our village security. We can use the week leading up to the finals for negotiation, and you can stay longer for further discussion, if deemed appropriate. Understood?"

Zabuza merely grunted. Haku hesitated, then looked back to me. "I understand what we are supposed to do. But I feel obligated to mention that you haven't asked for any collateral. You are, essentially, letting Zabuza and I go free for no immediate compensation. And there is no guarantee beyond our word that we will show up in Konoha like you ask. What prevents us from, hypothetically, just going back to what we were doing before and ignoring your offer completely?"

I shrugged. "For one, it will be a mutually beneficial decision if you come to Konoha to negotiate, and I think that's clear to both parties. But beyond that, friendship requires a degree a trust. I'm willing to trust you first, I suppose. For the record, Naruto would have led with something like that, and this whole conversation wouldn't have felt like a negotiation at all. He would have used the power of friendship to get us all to work together without any underlying logic. I stand by what I said about this being mutually beneficial, but I would also agree with Naruto that this arrangement is worth it for the sake of friendship, even if we could eke out some greater monetary concessions by playing hard ball."

Zabuza snorted but didn't protest.

Haku also grinned and nodded. "Thank you, Tedashi. Thank you, Hatake san, and shinobi of the Leaf. We will not disappoint you."

-o X o-

Late that evening, I was preparing for bed when Kakashi and Anko approached me.

"Color me surprised, kid," Anko said with a grin. "That was some smooth talking back there. Who knew you had such a silver tongue to pursue your perverted desires! Careful how you wield that weapon, or you'll have more kunoichi swooning over you than the Uchiha brat."

"I'm more interested in your negotiation tactics," Kakashi said as I blanched. "Have you had any training in the arts of economics, negotiation, or persuasion? You spoke well, but you backed it up with a solid logical foundation. Don't let Zabuza fool you with his charade about not knowing how to negotiate. The only reason he didn't protest was because you convinced him with solid reasoning."

I shrugged and considered making a joke about being an economist in a previous life but decided against it. "It just comes naturally, I guess. I like logic and persuasion, and everything I said was true. It really is in both of our best interests to work together, and that fact makes negotiation fairly easy."

Anko was still beaming. "Whatever you say. This is definitely a skill we are going to develop. In a few years time, we'll have you selling sand to Suna and making them think they got better end of the bargain."

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile at her praise. "Sure thing, sensei."

"Alright, get some sleep kiddo. We'll send you and Hinata back bright and early tomorrow to serve on guard duty," Anko said. "A couple more days and we'll be done with the mission and on our way back to Konoha."

-o X o-

The next week passed without incident, and Tazuna and his crew successfully finished the bridge. Most of the town was invigorated by the news that Gato had been overthrown, and Tazuna had an influx of volunteer labor to expedite the final steps of construction.

As for the crime boss himself, we handed him over to Zabuza once the Demon of the Mist had sufficiently recovered. I wasn't privy to that, er, negotiation, but I know it ended with Zabuza learning the locations of a few physical strong boxes of valuables that Gato had strategically hidden in the nearby towns and villages. To my surprise, Zabuza let the man live after he extracted the information, with the promise that he would hunt him down and execute him if any of the locations turned out to be a bust. Maybe the gruff swordsman was going soft, or maybe Haku had convinced him to show mercy.

Our mission culminated with the grand opening of the bridge. To my surprise, they named it "The Great Kobi Bridge," in honor of the shinobi who shed the most blood in the defense of the bridge. The whole village, and especially Tazuna, had been awed by Inari's retelling of how the injured shinobi had saved the boy and his mother, and the whole town rallied around it. Kobi was shocked and delighted at the reveal.

"Well, looks like this is goodbye for now," I said, as we prepared to part ways with the Mist rebels.

"Only for a couple weeks though!" Naruto added, causing Haku to smile. "We'll make sure Anko sensei enters us into the Chunin exams, and then you can come watch us kick some butt in the finals when you visit Konoha! You won't want to miss it!"

"I'm sure you will perform admirably," Haku replied. "I don't know much about the Chunin exams. I look forward to seeing you all compete."

"You better make it to the final round, you runts," Zabuza chided. "I expect to see some quality entertainment if I have to leg it all the way to Konoha and sit through a week of negotiations. You better improve that half-baked electric porcupine jutsu too. Word might get out that you used it to deter me, and if so, you better at least make it look like an impressive jutsu."

I nodded, pleasantly surprised at how Zabuza had lightened up a bit over the past week. Maybe securing Gato's money had that effect on his mood.

"Come on, daylight's burning," Kobi said, eager to get home. I couldn't blame him, considering he still had injuries that needed tending to.

"Alright, back to Konoha!" Naruto declared. "See you in a few weeks, friends!"

-o X o-