Speech
Thought
Jutsus
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"Zabuza, you ASS! That's wasn't funny!" Naruto yelled at the man, who by now was chuckling to himself.
Kakashi's head whipped between the two so fast the others almost heard the bones pop, "Zabuza Momochi..A-Rank missing-nin, better known as 'The Demon of the Mist". Naruto..you know him??"
"Yeah...me and Kasumi met him a couple of years ago, a few days after I finally got over my first kill.."
"What?!" Sasuke blurted out, "How could a loser like you have already killed somebody!?"
"We were jumped by a group of bandits a while back. I saw one try to sneak up on her and I reacted. It's not something I'm all that proud of." The blonde replied, his eyes telling the Uchiha to drop the subject, "Anyway, we traveled around with him for a while. Hell, who do you think taught me how to fight with my blade?"
"It's been a while, Naruto." Zabuza said as he collected his sword, "Though, aren't you forgetting someone?"
Naruto glanced around, "Now that you mention it.." Before he could act, a figure clad in a green battle kimono wearing a hunter-nin mask suddenly landed on him from out of nowhere. The two rolled a couple of times before stopping with the newcomer on top, and in a rather...provocative way.
"Who the hell's that?" Kakashi asked. He started to go help his student when Kasumi stopped him. He started to protest until he saw the bemused look on her face They watched as the person removed the mask to show an attractive girl around Kasumi's age. Her skin looked like it was made of ivory and her jet-black hair was done up in a covered bun.
"Hello, Naruto-sama!" She chirped happily, "I've missed you!"
"Uh..hi, Haku." Was all he could get out before realizing their current placement gave him a clear view down the front of her kimono, letting him see her rather impressive 'assets'. He quickly scrambled to his feet, shaking his head to clear the onset of any perverted thoughts, much to Kasumi's amusement.
"Uh, so..what brings you two out here?" He asked, trying to take his mind off what he saw, "She did that deliberately."
"Well, I was hired by Gato to kill that old man behind you and anyone he was with." Zabuza stifled a snicker as the others tensed up, "Although, seeing you two here is giving me second thoughts .."
Kakashi blinked in confusion, "How so?"
"I may be an ex-Mist shinobi, but I'm no fool. The gaki there can put up a hell of a fight, and there's no way I'm crossing HER." He pointed at Kasumi, "Besides, Haku would probably castrate me in my sleep if I tried to kill the guy she's hot for.." He was quickly silenced by the heel of Haku's foot colliding rather hard against his shin.
Naruto pretended he didn't hear that last sentence, as well as Kasumi's gigglefit, "Well, you could always doublecross Gato. So far from what I've heard about him he's an asshole and a half, and I can't really see either of you taking orders from someone like that. Besides, something tells me he'd probably try to renege on the deal anyway, one way or another."
This caught Zabuza's attention. Quite frankly, even though he had been hired to do a job, he despised the man. He may have had a certain fondness for killing, but even he would make sure it was quick. Gato enjoyed making people suffer beforehand. That and he already had to resist the urge to gut the repugnant little turd after he tried to buy a night with Haku. All things considered, he wouldn't be surprised if the little rat already had planned to do a doublecross himself.
He noticed the way Haku kept looking at Naruto Haku's face and sighed. He kept telling himself she was just his tool, but the notion of seeing her more as a daughter managed to sneak in. That and the blond was damn near the only boy he'd trust around her. "Ah, what the hell..all right, Gaki. You got a deal, on one condition." He ran a hand along the edge of his sword, "When the time comes, Gato's all mine."
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Just under a day had passed since Zabuza and Haku agreed to accompany them. At first, Kakashi stayed on alert, in case they tried anything funny. That lasted until he saw the missing-nin take out his own copy of Icha Icha and asked to trade. After that, the two were almost like brothers, much to the chagrin of the rest of the group.
Haku, on the other hand, spent the time with her arms wrapped around an exasperated Naruto's neck, happily nuzzling him.
It wasn't long before they had to take a boat to finish the trip. They quickly noticed the man piloting the boat was going as slow and quiet has he could, looking around nervously every so often.
"Hey! Why don't you just start the motor!" Sasuke snapped impatiently, earning a smack in the head in response.
"You wanna swim the rest of the way, runt?!" The driver whispered angrily, "Gato's goons patrol all over these waters, making sure nobody sails without his permission. I don't know about you, but I'd like to stay alive, thank you very much!"
As they made their way across, Tazuna motioned towards a huge structure in the water. "There she is; the reason he wants me dead so badly."
The group looked to see a massive bridge under construction. It looked to be over a hundred feet up.
Zabuza let out a low whistle, "Damn.."
"Once it's finished, Wave'll have a direct route to the mainland and won't have any need for Gato's shipping business."
The memory of the impressive structure was quickly squashed, however, when they made land and saw the state of everything. Abject poverty; just about everyone looked as if they were hovering between hunger and near starvation.
"This..this is horrible.." Sakura said, cringing at the sight.
Haku scowled, "He hired us to make sure things stay in this condition?"
Tazuna sighed, "Right now, Wave is completely dependant on Gato to bring in everything. His men have orders to attack anyone on a boat he didn't give the ok for, even if it's just to fish. We're little more than prisoners unless we get the bridge completed."
The bones in Naruto's fist popped as he tightened it, watching a little kid trudge by. Without a word, he took out one of his scrolls and pulled out a box of dango. They watched as he got the kid's attention with a brief whistle before tossing the box over, "Change of plans, Zabuza. I get to rip off the son of a bitch's arms, THEN you can kill him.
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Meanwhile, in a warehouse by the docks...
"You sure about this?"
"I'm afraid so, sir. It seems they've both joined up with the shinobi protecting the bridge builder."
A snort echoed in the building, "Send word to Kumo; it's time to call in a favor. Those insects are gonna learn exactly why you don't screw with Gato."
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Naruto may prefer to kill only as a last resort, but that doesn't mean he's above maiming. :p
It's short, I know; but I figured I should send in something so you guys know I'm still among the living. (so no complaining)
P.S: Yes, what do you think should be Sakura's fate? Redemption (finally seeing Sasuke as the ass he is) , or Inner Sakura finally taking over? It's a toss-up.