Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the Naruto characters used in this fic. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own any original characters that I choose to include, as well as any of my own original plot ideas.

Chapter 7: Encounters and Alliances

A/N: Although I already know how I want everything to turn out, I still enjoyed writing this. I mean, I really enjoyed this chapter. This chapter contains the most interesting twist I could think of for this story. But just in case you guys don't find said twist, I'll be pointing it out at the beginning of the next chapter. :) So, without further ado, please continue reading! :D

"Midori, wait up!" Yuta cried as he rushed through the trees after his sister.

Of course, Midori ignored her brother's requests, laughing as she sped up. The Stone shinobi grinned to herself. Yuta never did know when to give up. Even when they were just kids living with their parents in the Hidden Stone Village. Although he'd been far younger then, poor Yuta hadn't learned anything after all. Midori turned and made a face at Yuta as she flipped over a branch. Could she have just teased him without flipping? Sure. But she didn't want to. She wanted to rub her flexibility in Yuta's face, because he didn't seem to have any.

Yuta furrowed his blond brows as he reached into his pocket, his hand closing around a handful of small stones. Unknown to Midori, he had gathered up the stones before Zabuza had told them it was time to leave. The blond boy grinned. Midori wouldn't know what hit her! Well, she would, but it wouldn't change the fact that she'd been hit. Drawing his hand back to throw the stone, Yuta heard a familiar voice scolding him.

"Yuta, you silly boy. You know better than to throw things at your sister. Try to play nice, will you? For me?"

It was the voice of his late mother. Yuta sighed and emptied the stones from his pocket. He knew that, if she were with him, his mother would be disappointed. Although she had never shouted at him or been bitter about the childish things he did, he knew that it had bothered her. And now, when he'd finally gathered up enough guts to apologize, he couldn't. For she was gone, and he was still alive and well. And that was the way she had wanted things to be. Yuta felt his eyes welling up with tears. He missed her tremendously, and, now that he had left the village, he would never be able to pay his respects to her grave or that of his father.

Zabuza turned his head, glancing back at Yuta. The boy had fallen behind... again. The Demon ground his teeth. He didn't have time to babysit some runny-nosed brat. Catching the boy's glance, the Demon motioned for Yuta to catch up. The boy flinched, but obeyed, keeping time with his sister and Kaoru. Satisfied with the boy's response, Zabuza returned to his thoughts, contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to go meet up with an old "friend."

Given his current circumstances, Zabuza didn't have much choice when he thought about it seriously. Although he had a significant number of followers awaiting his orders, he still found himself in need of a little more brute force. And no one knew brute force better than the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. Which brought the Demon back to his initial idea of recruiting the man who had earned himself a reputation as the Monster of the Hidden Mist: Kisame Hoshigaki.

The last thing Zabuza wanted to do was go to a man like Kisame for assistance. But, as he was plotting to take down Konoha, he didn't have much of a choice.

"Hey, what's that?!" Yuta shouted, pointing up ahead at a massive tree that seemed to tower above the others.

Upon further inspection, several structures could be seen in the higher branches of the tree, linked to each other by rope bridges and wooden pathways. High up, near the center of the tree's trunk, was a hole. Probably the entrance.

"What does it look like? It's a fucking tree," Kaoru snapped, pulling on Yuta's blond hair as Midori laughed. "What are you, stupid?"

Zabuza sighed. As of late, it seemed he was surrounded by idiots. "It's the Akatsuki hideout," he said, glowering at the teens. "Now, stay here, keep your mouths shut, and stay out of trouble. I'm going in."

Leaving the teens to themselves, the Demon sped through the remaining trees with haste, wanting to get through the negotiations as quickly as possible. As he neared the hideout, a light fog began to descend around him, emitting a familiar chakra. He stopped in his tracks, feeling another presence nearby. "Well, I'll be damned," a voice said through the fog. "Never thought I'd see you, of all people, around here, Zabuza. How long has it been?"

The Demon grimaced as the fog began to thicken. Relying solely on his hearing, he could tell that Midori and Yuta had huddled together in fear, while Kaoru, crunching some leaves beneath her feet, stood up as she anticipated an attack. Oh, how little they knew about Kisame. If the man had wanted to kill them, he'd have done so already instead of wasting precious time with idle chatter. Of course, Kisame's sudden appearance certainly confirmed Zabuza's suspicions about him being a member of the infamous Akatsuki.

The air around him chilled, and Zabuza, feeling slightly uneasy about seeing Kisame again, placed a hand on his sword, prepared to attack if necessary. For a brief second, a slight gust of air flew by the Demon, signaling Kisame's presence. With a sigh, Zabuza opened his eyes to see Kisame standing before him, that damned grin on his face. Looking the other man over, Zabuza stifled a laugh at Kisame's ridiculous attire.

"I never imagined I'd ever see the likes of you wearing something that eccentric," Zabuza said with a laugh as the fog began to dissipate.

Kisame's eye twitched, assuring the Demon that his remark had struck a nerve. "Well, it's not by choice, I'll have you know," Kisame replied, turning around and motioning for Zabuza to follow. "But I highly doubt that you came here solely to discuss fashion sense, Demon. So, what did you come here for?"

"Business," Zabuza said as Kisame opened a teleportation scroll. "We'll leave it at that until I've had a word with Madara."

The other man's eyes widened. "It seems word's gotten around about our leader, eh? Well, considering all the noise the Hidden Leaf's been making about our organization, it's not much of a surprise."

Wind whistled in Zabuza's ears as the spell began to take effect, transporting himself and Kisame inside a large hallway within the treetops. Dim orange light glumly lit the wooden walls of the corridor as Kisame led the Demon through the hideout. Getting in had been much less of a challenge than Zabuza had expected, but he didn't expect negotiations with Madara to be quite so simple. Kisame's footsteps ceased, and he stepped aside, pointing Zabuza to a door.

"You'd best watch what you say, boy," Kisame said mockingly. "Unless you have a death wish of some sort. But, seeing how you brought those talented little brats with you, there's certainly something on your mind."

Ignoring Kisame's comment, Zabuza pushed the door open, coming face to face with Madara Uchiha himself. The masked man stood by a window on the far side of the room, flanked by a group of four teenagers, each dressed in the flamboyant Akatsuki garb. Upon further inspecting Madara's company, Zabuza realized that one of the four was Suigetsu Hozuki, the brat who had relentlessly nagged him about gaining entrance into the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

Suigetsu's eyes widened when he caught sight of the Demon. "Whoa! What the hell're you doing here, Zabuza?!" Suigetsu practically sprinted across the room, his blue eyes set on the Demon's sword.

Such a sight was sickeningly familiar. The young fool had the same idiotic look on his face now as he'd had eight years earlier in the Hidden Mist Village. As the boy neared, Zabuza side-stepped him, allowing Suigetsu to run straight into the wall by the door. "Don't even think about it," he said, placing a hand on the sword's handle. "Stupid boy. You weren't going to get it then, and you're not getting it now."

"Suigetsu," the dark-haired boy on Madara's left said. "Quit screwing around. It's pathetic."

Zabuza's gaze flew to the other boy, their eyes meeting for an instant. Immediately, the Demon recognized him as one of Kakashi's brats. The only one who had ever managed to keep up with Haku's speed, Sasuke Uchiha. The boy's eyes, despite the Sharingan, were far different then they had been during the battle in the Land of Waves. They seemed to burn with the fires of rage, hatred, and darkness. Surely, he'd long since left the Hidden Leaf.

Sasuke stepped forward, a slight smirk on his face. "What're you here for?" he demanded coldly. "Come back for a rematch, have we? Well, you're wasting your time searching me out. I've long since ceased playing around with the Konoha crowd."

"Don't start with me, boy," Zabuza sneered, looking Sasuke in the eye. "You're far from the top of my list, so you'd be wise to stop with your whimpering. I don't have the time nor patience to listen to your idle ramblings about your pathetic mistakes. I've no interest in you... Or your worthless clan."

I'm sorry, Sasuke... This is the last time... Itachi's final words echoed in Sasuke's mind, driving him over the edge.

The young Uchiha flinched at the memory, causing his guilt to resurface once again. The young Uchiha's eyes blazed with maddening fury. He dashed across the room, reaching within his cloak to withdraw a katana as he neared his target. Roaring with rage, Sasuke swung his blade towards the Demon's head with as much force as he could muster. Steel sang as Zabuza managed to parry the blow with his own sword, sending Sasuke flying into the wall with a well-placed kick to the ribs. Dropping his katana, Sasuke's eyes changed, revealing his Mangekyo Sharingan.

Before he could unleash his attack, Madara stepped in, having recognized what the young Uchiha was plotting. "That's enough, Sasuke," he said firmly. "If you're unable to behave in the presence of our guest, then I'll be forced to remove you from this meeting." Without so much as waiting for a response from the young Uchiha, Madara turned his back on him and approached Zabuza. "I believe you wanted to discuss something. I hate to be so direct, but I'm running on little time at the moment. What do you want?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed viciously as one of the other teens, a large boy with orange hair, pulled the Uchiha to his feet. Without so much as a word, Sasuke stalked out of the room, Suigetsu and the others following him, leaving Madara and Zabuza alone in silence.

Zabuza waited to hear the door close before saying anything. "It pains me to say this, but I'm proposing an alliance. An attack on Konoha is in order, and more force is required to achieve something of that magnitude."

Madara's eye narrowed. "In other words, you need my assistance. Well, this is certainly getting interesting." The masked man turned, his mind flying with possibilities. "Understood," he said. "But there is a condition."

The Demon grimaced. He hated being trapped under someone's thumb, even if it would eventually work out to his own advantage.

"I'll require the Nine-Tails brat, should this succeed, and... an allegiance to the Akatsuki is required, as well. Temporarily, of course. Once the Hidden Leaf has fallen, you'll be free to do as you like," Madara grinned behind the mask. "Well?"

0 -- 0

Leaves fluttered silently to the ground far below the treetops as Kaoru pulled wads of leaves from nearby branches, crushing them in her hand. She was bored to death waiting for Zabuza to return. She had no idea how long he'd been gone, nor did she really care. All she wanted was to have something fun to do. The branch behind her rustled as Yuta burst forth from the cover of leaves, attempting to launch a surprise attack on Kaoru.

With a sigh, the young Mist ninja sidestepped the attack and watched as Yuta collided with the trunk of the next tree. "You're hopeless," Kaoru laughed, leaping to the next tree to drop leaves on Yuta's head. "A real ninja knows how to create and use a diversion to their advantage before going off and attacking their designated target, genius." She spat the last word with venom and sarcasm. "At this rate, you're never gonna be a successful shinobi."

Although Kaoru couldn't see the boy's face, she knew he was burning with embarrassment simply by looking at his bright red ears. The blond launched himself off of the tree trunk, clumsily grabbing hold of a branch as he scowled at the older ninja. "And who made you the expert?" he demanded with a scowl.

Kaoru let out a laugh, pointing at Yuta's head where a squirrel had decided to curl up. "I'm not saying I'm an expert," Kaoru said as Yuta scared away the squirrel. "I'm just saying..." she hopped onto Yuta's branch, looking down into his blue eyes "...I'm a much better ninja than you are."

For a moment, the young Stone ninja scowled, only to drop his head in shame as he realized the truth of what Kaoru had said. So maybe he hadn't been the most talented young ninja in his age group. But he certainly wasn't worthless. Trying to move as slowly as possible, to avoid drawing attention to himself, Yuta reached into his pouch, clenching a kunai knife in his sweaty hand as he dashed away to hide in the leaves of a nearby tree.

"Coward!" Kaoru mocked from below. "You know I'm right, and so you run away to hide your shame! Just knowing that the fools in your village were naive enough to make someone like you a ninja is enough to make me sick!"

Don't listen to her! Yuta scolded himself. You know that it's not true, so just ignore it. Focus... Focus, and wait for the opportune moment... Watch and wait for the moment in which to strike!

The instant Kaoru turned her back, Yuta sprung into action, sending a flurry of clones at her. In the blink of an eye, Kaoru disabled the clones, turning them into nothing more than a pile of dirt that fell to the ground below the trees. She clenched a fist, opening it to allow bone to creep through the flesh of her palm. The sound of rustling leaves caught her attention, the bone flying into the treetops where Yuta had taken cover.

There was a loud thud as the bone lodged itself in the tree trunk, inches from Yuta's face. "See?" Kaoru said, ruffling her short, shaggy hair. "A good shinobi knows when to attack and evade. You only managed to accomplish half of that."

Before Yuta could open his mouth to release a string of vulgarities, Midori appeared beside Kaoru. "I'm not trying to sound whiny or anything but... When the hell is he coming back?" Her green eyes narrowed beneath her red hair. "I'm bored out of my fucking mind here."

Kaoru grinned, glancing up at the Akatsuki hideout. "He told us to stay here and stay out of trouble, right?"

Midori glanced at Kaoru suspiciously. "Yeah... Why?"

"I don't intend to do a damn thing he says. That's why. Like I always say: 'I do what I want, and people get the hell over it.' Now, let's go have a little fun, shall we?"

0 -- 0

"Yo, Sasuke!" Suigetsu ran after the Uchiha, following him straight to the opposite side of the hideout. "What the hell were you thinking, attacking Zabuza like that? Are you fucking stupid?!"

Sasuke turned on the white-haired shinobi, grabbing him by the throat. "Don't you dare patronize me!" he barked, slamming Suigetsu against the floor. "I couldn't give a shit as to who he is or how much you idolize him!! To insult my brother or my clan is entirely unforgivable!! So don't start shooting off your mouth about your beloved idol! I don't care!"

Eyes burning with blinded fury, Sasuke pulled Suigetsu from the floor, flinging him across the room. The Mist shinobi grunted as he felt his body being caught in midair. He looked up to find that Juga had managed to catch him. Without a word, as always, Jugo simply set Suigetsu on his feet as Karin rolled her eyes at him with disapproval. The young Suigetsu felt his body tense as he met eyes with Sasuke. But before he could so much as make a move, Jugo had grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Don't," the taller boy said firmly. "It's not worth it."

Suigetsu sneered, slapping Jugo's hand away. "Fuck off," he snorted. "I didn't ask you to interfere, you know. And I'll decide if it's worth it or not."

A flash of sudden movement to his right caught Suigetsu's eye as Karin, who was now in his face, gave him a good blow to the jaw. "You're stupid," she muttered as Suigetsu tried to regain his balance. "Who the hell do you think you are, huh? Picking a fight with Sasuke... He saved us, you douche bag! So start acting a little more grateful, will ya?!"

Sasuke turned his back on the squabbling "couple." He couldn't care less if Suigetsu disapproved of his methods... or of him. If he didn't like it, he could leave. He'd be easy enough to replace, anyway. The young Uchiha scowled, clenching his fists as he tried to suppress the incident that had taken place only minutes ago. If the Demon hadn't spoken out against his clan, Sasuke would have been fine. Perhaps it was simply his guilt acting up again... His guilt of relentlessly pursuing Itachi for eight long years, eventually cornering him and bringing him to his death. He had been living a lie, believing that the clan had been destroyed for his beloved brother's own selfish measures...

And now that he knew the truth behind the clan's slaughter, it was far too late.

He would never be able to repay the debt he owed to Itachi.

Something wet stung his dark eyes, and he blinked, trying to rid himself of the irritating sensation. He touched his eyes, finding that a small trickle of tears had started weaving their way down his face. He caught one of the tears on his finger and watched it fall to the floor. Swiping at his eyes, Sasuke removed the rest of the moisture, not wanting his followers to see.

As Sasuke removed his hand from his eyes, a shout rang through his head, and a human figure rushed at him from the left, weapon in hand. He reached into his cloak, grabbing the katana that he kept behind his back, parrying the intruder's blow just in time. Sasuke sneered, staring into the face of a young girl with short dark hair. A grin was plastered on her face; a sign of obvious enjoyment. The Uchiha glanced at the weapon in the girl's hand.

A bone.

Clearly, this girl wasn't ordinary in the slightest. Like him, it seemed that she, too, carried a kekkei genkai. Clamping his eyes shut for a brief second, Sasuke's Sharingan spun into focus, showing the different colors of chakra that were in the room. Like his own, the chakra of his attacker seemed to flare like a wild forest fire. Unrelenting, and unforgiving.

"Who are you?" he demanded, struggling to block the move.

The girl smirked, raising her free hand towards him as if she were attempting to grab him. "You don't need to know who I am. But I certainly know who you are, little man," she taunted. "Up until three years ago, you were praised as being the most promising young ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. Isn't that right.... little Sasuke boy?"

Sasuke's eyes began to burn as the the Mangekyo Sharingan began to awaken, sending rivulets of blood streaming down his face from his eyes. He let out a cry, and gathered the energy needed to send a violent wave of electricity through his katana. Surely, an attack of this magnitude was sure to silence the loud-mouthed girl that had shown up to mock him. Sasuke grinned, noting the worried look on the girl's face as a mass of electricity gathered at the hilt of his katana.

Before unleashing his assault, Sasuke managed to grab the girl by the shirt, pulling her close enough to whisper in her ear, "Die."

The mass of chakra energy surged, flying down the katana with fantastic speed as it chirped like a thousand crying birds. There was a large flash of light as the shrieking electric mass made contact with the bone the girl had clasped firmly in her hand. A loud crack echoed throughout the room, and the sound of flying pieces of bone falling against the wooden floorboards pleased Sasuke immensely.

He grinned, dropping his katana and letting out a laugh. Oh, how he wished that Madara and the Demon had seen such a display of his power. Sasuke's laughter calmed to a chuckle as he knelt to pick up the blade, tucking it securely into its scabbard. The light began to fade, and the young Uchiha grinned wider, eager to see the bloody mass of flesh that he had turned the girl into. When the light finally faded, Sasuke grabbed hold of his katana once again as he found himself staring into the cold, dark eyes of the Demon.

"Let me go!" a voice cried out. Sasuke turned to see the girl, still whole, being held back by two young ninja from the Hidden Stone as she attempted to attack him. "I'll kick his ass!!"

Sasuke turned away, ignoring her. He'd have preferred it if she had been blown to bits by his assault. A firm hand on his shoulder caught his attention, and Sasuke swung his free hand back, only to have it trapped by Zabuza. "Enough of the games, boy," the Demon said, throwing Sasuke to the floor. "You're under my command."

Oh. My. Gosh! It took a while for me to finish this. There's been so much going on, it's hard to believe. What with classes and all the crappy weather, it's a wonder I'm still sane. XD I don't see how Kishimoto-Sensei can put out a chapter each week. I mean, I can't even finish writing a chapter a week! XD Anyway, I'd like to thank triggerspec for reading AND reviewing ALL chapters of this fanfic. So, thank you! :) And now, my dear readers, I must say goodbye for now. But fear not! Chapter 8 will come soon!