His nostrils twitched at the smell of cooking meat. It smelled really good, but his belly was sated. In fact, at that moment, he wouldn't mind never eating again. Shikamaru's friend Chouji on the other hand, was a different story. That's why the smell of cooking meat remained. Chouji just kept on ordering it. Shikamaru sighed to himself. His wallet would soon be empty if this kept up.

Of course Ino wasn't going to help him pay for this. No, she'd just saw he'd dug his own grave by making that bet with Chouji. He couldn't believe no one in the village would challenge Chouji to an eating contest. Not even challenge him. This was too troublesome.

Shikamaru also wondered how Chouji could eat after seeing Naruto like he was. Shikamaru had eaten his meal with his eyes closed, preferring not to see a flashback of some of Naruto's charred flesh because of the meat. Besides, they shouldn't even be eating. They should be looking for Naruto.

Shikamaru wasn't worried though. Naruto could handle himself, plus even graver news had come up.

A facility had been broken into within the hidden village of the mist. The attacker took out three guards, and stole only one thing. He hadn't managed to find out what was stolen, but he had found out one of the guards was a veteran of over a hundred battles, and he was found just like Naruto, except a lot less extreme. He was still dead though, and that worried Shikamaru. If the same person who was here had escaped from the hidden village of the mist, who's to say this person wasn't back in Konoha already?

Ino flicked him on the side of his head, waking him up from his daydream. He glanced over at her annoyed. "What was that for?" he asked

"You were muttering something. What was it?" she asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "It'd be to troublesome to tell you." The truth was that he had obtained all the Information illegally. If this got out, it would not be good for him.

Ino was about to respond, but a jingling at the entrance to the restaurant stopped her. She and Shikamaru looked at the person who entered. It was a cloaked ninja, but Shikamaru could easily see the headband for the hidden village of the mist on his forehead, since it was slid down to the side.

"He must be here because he's tracked the thief." Shikamaru muttered to himself. The ninja sat down at a far table and ordered something. Shikamaru squinted. The ninja had something strapped to his back.

As if almost on command, the thing on his back dropped a little bit, and Shikamaru caught a pretty good glimpse of it before the ninja put it under his cloak again.

It was a sword, a gigantic sword. Shikamaru had never seen one so big. He had heard of one though. Naruto told him about it, but he forgot what it related to.

Shikamaru made his thinking seal and tried to remember. Naruto had just come back from a mission. The mission had been a tough mission. Team seven had encountered a very powerful ninja…with a big sword.

Shikamaru's eyes snapped open at the realization and disbelief of who this ninja was. It was Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist. When his eyes were open however, they were staring into the other ninja's eyes. "I suggest you keep your mouth shut, if you want to keep it on your face." was the growl that echoed from under the face wrappings.

This caught Ino and Chouji by surprise. Who did this guy think he was? Shikamaru knew the situation was hopeless at the moment, since he hadn't readied a weapon. He nodded. "It was said you died though…" Shikamaru stated softly. The other ninja just chuckled. "Demons don't die." With that, he departed from the restaurant swiftly.

Kakashi watched as Gen'ei left the restaurant. If he had decided to impersonate any other person then Zabuza, Kakashi might have been amused. However, this presented a serious problem, especially since Gen'ei had managed to steal back Zabuza's zanbato. This was very serious indeed. It was even more pressing since the real Gen'ei was behind Kakashi, watching him watch his water clone. "You can come out Gen'ei. Please don't underestimate me like Zabuza did."

Gen'ei revealed himself from the shadows of the alley they were both in. "I would appreciate you calling me by Zabuza, at least for now," came the response.

Kakashi shook his head. He didn't understand why Gen'ei would do this. Gen'ei's voice was very nice to listen to, not all like Zabuza's. Also, Gen'ei was actually a nice person. In short, he and Zabuza were total opposites.

"Gen'ei, why are you doing this? You are just Zabuza's nephew. You don't owe him anything." Kakashi turned to face him. The real Gen'ei was wearing a simple blue cloth shirt and shorts. He had his short black hair spiked down, and his headband on normally. Nothing about him spoke of Zabuza.

Gen'ei smirked. "I know I don't owe Zabuza anything. I'm just using him as my image to get my plan to work. That's all."

Kakashi shook his head. "What ever it is that you're planning, you know it won't succeed. This world is filled with powerful shinobi, and currently you're only a little bit stronger then Zabuza at the moment."

Gen'ei turned his back on Kakashi. "True, but I have something he didn't." With that, he started walking into the deep recesses of the alley. "Oh, Kakashi, out of a matter of respect, let me warn you. Tell anyone you care about to stay off the streets tomorrow. If they are on the streets, they'll die." With that, Gen'ei disappeared.

Kakashi shook his head. This was going to be bothersome indeed.