A/N: And were bringing you your next chapter of Children of the Fire... or is it just children of fire? Meh, too lazy to go check. Anywho... This chapter should be fun to write. Finally getting to the wave arc... God, I want to get to Chunin exams. I have sweet stuff planned... torturous to all characters involved but hey, writing is all about gleefully putting your characters into crap storms for the sole amusement of yourself and others. Or something like that... Anyways, please review! And enjoy. Preferably both.

Disclaimer: I would never want to be associated with Naruto canon right now... So no, I don't own it. If I did... I'd have rounded up my fav fanfic authors and it'd have a... what is it called... PLOT THAT DOESN'T SUCK!

Chapter 6

-Several weeks later-

Jace yawned audibly as he sat under a large shaded tree watching Team 7 chase after what he had decided had to be the most demonic zombie cat in history. The last time they had been after the hell creature, he had caught it, snapped its neck, and watched in slight horror as the bones realigned and the furry monstrosity hissed at him and jumped away. After talking to Naruto and Gaara they too had tried similar methods of dispatching the creature to be met with the same result.

Jace's mind soon drifted to other matters however, most notably the lovely and slightly unbalanced woman he had been spending his nights with, talking. (Yeah, just talking. You dirty minds can go away for now... You know who you are) Neither was willing to admit how much they enjoyed the other's company, as both had been royally screwed over in their early lives and had trust issues the size of Gamabunta. Jace was slightly better off than Anko as he had let his kids into his life, and he did have close friends before that as well. Sure, they had all died in various horrific manners, but hey, who doesn't have people like that? Oddly enough none of their deaths had anything to do with Jace, well aside from Dray... Jace shook his head clearing such thoughts and resumed thinking of Anko.

"Jace, c'mon, mission complete." The copy cat nin said as he made his presence known.

The phoenix holder sighed and got up, for once not holding a slurpee. "All right. We getting another mission after this?"

"Yeah... If I read our students right, they're at their breaking point. Probably gonna ask for a C rank."

"...You're a sadist you know that?" Jace said with a half smirk, "Not that I mind."

"You wouldn't. Not with as much time as you've been spending around Anko."

Jace raised an eyebrow at that. "How'd you-"

"Enhanced senses, I can smell her on you. Though from the strength you've just been around each other and not... Closer." He gave his patented eye smile to Jace who shrugged.

"Yeah. Who knows, it may change." He winked at Kakashi and laughed as he saw a small trickle of blood come from underneath the younger man's mask.

The silver haired jonin shook his head, "When or if you guys get there... and want a third party, let me know."

Jace laughed again. "Mayyybe."

"Tease. Anyways... So, are you gonna take up the Hokage's offer?"

Jace cracked his neck to the side before he answered a slightly thoughtful look on his face. "The one about becoming a registered Konoha nin? I doubt it... No offense to the Leaf or anything, but I have too many friendships in other hidden villages. And I refuse to break their trust. Nope... I'm neutral to the end... Well, there was one village, but that was a long time ago. And it ain't around anymore." A slightly distant look filled his grey eyes as he stared off into the distance. "Oh well. I do enjoy it here... But my allegiance has been to my friends first. A 'true' ninja must put his allegiance to his village first. Something I've been trying to beat into the Uchicha kid's head but he is NOT getting it."

"Ah well, what can you do?"

"Mass killings. Always worked for me in the past."

"I... I... Don't know how to respond to that." Kakashi said flatly.

They continued their small talk until catching up with their team at the Hokage tower. The first thing they noticed was Team 9's presence, also wanting a C rank mission. Jace waved happily at his adopted sons as he stood behind his more than vaguely whiny team. Sakura was fawning over the brooding Uchicha, Kiba was next to Naruto both of whom were demanding a C rank. Ino, who had gotten over her Sasuke addiction due to extreme intervention on Kurenai's part, was looking at the self proclaimed avenger as she thought, Was I really as annoying as Sakura? Nah... Kurenai looked like she was about to, yet again, restrain the hyperactive blond male. And Gaara? Gaara was standing quiet as always as close to his Sensei as possible without it being a drastic invasion of personal space.

The elderly Hokage sighed at the barely restrained chaos before him. He looked down and flipped through a few files before settling on one. "Hmm, since both of your teams are here... You can go on a joint mission. This one here." He said handing the paper to Kakashi. "A bridge builder named Tazuna needs an escort to Wave and while he finishes construction, I can assume all here are up for it?"

At the mention of finally going on something more than a thrice damned D rank mission all the Genin in the room shut up immediately, and nodded in a somewhat vigorous manner. Naruto and Kiba more vigorously then others, Sasuke with a half nod because the stick in his ass restricted his spinal movement, and Gaara with a half nod cause he didn't want to seem immature in front of his crush. That and he never did anything with 'vigour'. Except hunt people who promoted breakfast cereal, and clowns for entirely unrelated reasons.

Jace mused silently to himself as the Hokage went on with the mission details. Wave... Lessee haven't been in Wave for like... 18 years? No, we did go through it once 2 years back, but we only hit a small border town. Tazuna... Wonder if it's...

His trail of thought was broken as an old, more than slightly drunk man holding a bottle of sake looked around the room incredulously and was about to give off a string of sour comments when he spotted Jace. He stopped and stared mouth slightly agape as he stared at the lilac haired man. "Jace?"

Jace looked the old man up and down with a smile. "Tazzy! It is you! I bet you haven't been sober once in the last 18 years."

Tazuna laughed, "Damn straight, I haven't been. Damn, boy, I barely recognized you."

"The hair right?"

"Yeah, I mean... From silver to purple is kinda a big step. You dye it?"

Jace waved dismissively, "Nah. It just changed color due to... Uncontrollable circumstances."

The bridge builder chuckled. "Nothing is normal with you, is it, Brat? Anyway, where's that giant you call a friend?"

Jace looked sullen for a moment, "He died... About 6-7 years ago."

"Oh, sorry, I knew how close you guys were." He said with a sad smile. He remembered the pair of teens quite fondly, and knowing one of them was gone was slightly harsh.

"Yeah well... That's how life goes sometimes ya know? I adopted kids though, if you can believe it."

Tazuna spat out his sake at that, "They let you around kids?"

Jace, Naruto and Gaara laughed, "Yeah man, they did. Two of them are here. Blond Whiskers, and Red." He said, gesturing at Naruto and Gaara.

Tazuna raised an eyebrow, "Well... If you were raised by him, then I guess I don't have anything to worry about, eh?"

Jace patted the man on the back, "Fuck no! Not with me around. So, " he paused and looked at the audience who had been staring at them, "When do we leave?"

-2 days later-

"I'm fucking happy to be on the road again.

Oh, so damn happy to be on the road again."

Jace was oh-so-merrily skipping ahead of the group singing. As he had been for the last 2 days... Straight. Needless to say some people were at their breaking points.

Ino, who was walking beside Naruto in the back, mercifully the farthest away from Jace, looked at her blond companion, "Your dad is.. "

"Touched in the head?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Naruto laughed at that. "You have no idea... But personally I can't blame him. According to him being in Konoha is the longest he's been in any one place." Which is almost true, it's the second longest, but that's a fascinating story for later... "He really does like to travel."

Ino nodded at that, "What about you? You don't seem so... Annoyingly exuberant about it."

"Exuber-what?"

"Means excited... Baka..." She said bopping him on the head lightly.

"Oh! Then no... I liked traveling with Dad... But I love Konoha." He said with a flash of his famous foxy grin. The blond girl blushed ever so slightly, not that Naruto noticed as his eyes were closed when he smiled. "I don't think Sis would mind if we were travelling though... She'll probably request some assignment like that when she's a jonin."

"Your sister... The red headed bitchy one I've seen with the crazy snake jonin?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Yeah her... But tell me, do you think you should be calling someone bitchy?"

She glared at him for that, "I am not a bitch!"

"Yeah, you're right." She smiled at that, "You're a super bitch."

"BAKA!" He laughed as he dodged a quick punch to the region his face had been occupying.

"But hey, you're fun to be with because of that. I mean, you're not boring at all."

She huffed a bit, then smiled, "Well I suppose I can forgive you..." He smiled, then got a fist in the face, "...Now I can." They both laughed at that as she helped him up, neither noticing the two oddly conspicuous puddles behind them. Well, not until twin bolts of lightning came from the sky scorching the two small bodies of water, which shimmered into two extra crispy missing nins. Everyone had turned and stared at that, except for Jace, who just laughed.

"Ah, the beauty of delayed Raiton Jutsu... So, Tazzy... Any reason you may have ninja's after you?" He said with an oh-so-sweet smile.

Tazuna gulped, "Well, you see, there's this merchant named Gato and-"

"Say no more... I've heard about him. Hmm... Well, you helped me and Dray out way back when,... So how about I kill this guy for you? Sound like a deal?" Everyone stared at the nonchalant attitude of Jace.

"Jace, shouldn't we consider going back, I mean if he has enemy ninja, this is most definitely worthy of a higher rank..." Kurenai started.

Jace waved dismissively, "Nah, it'll be great practice for the brats. Besides, you guys can go back if you want... But I'll stay on. Though Tazzy, you owe them more money. I'll do it for free." He said with a predatory grin. He was dressed outside his usual manner, wearing a tight black muscle shirt, and black cargo pants. Throw in a black hooded cloak with a white phoenix rising from flames on the back and steel toed boots and you had his current attire. The grin made him that much more threatening.

They walked in silence for a bit longer before Kakashi decided to attempt to start a conversation, "Jace... Why do you wear steel toed boots? I mean... It's not exactly standard shinobi attire."

Jace shrugged, "I've never claimed to be a standard shinobi. But specifically... It's in remembrance of a very dear friend of mine who wore them. That, and have you ever been kicked by steel toes? I can attest to the fact it fucking hurts."

"..All right then... One more question, what's with the getup? I mean, I've never seen you dress like this." Hatake said.

"Hmm? Well, I plan on using the Bird's chakra, after all I don't rely on my... inner self's abilities like most in my position... But exercise and practice are needed if I don't want my skills to dull."

"That doesn't totally answer my question..."

"Oh, I guess not, eh? Well, nostalgia, I suppose. This is how I was dressed when I met Tazuna here," he said nodding at the elderly bridge builder, "Besides, I look badass in this cloak."

Kakashi nodded in approval. "I certainly won't deny it."

Jace laughed, "You wouldn't would you?"

-A day or so later-

The group was a few miles from town when an unnatural fog, or rather, mist rolled in. Everyone was immediately on alert... Yet still managed to get caught off guard as a massive zanbato hurtled through the air at them, Kakashi only managing to duck out of its way at the last second. Jace, Gaara and Naruto glanced at the sword, then each other and smiled. Jace made a quick motion with his hands silencing them before he bit his thumb and spread it on a seal on his shoulder before he faded into the mist himself.

"Well well well... Sharingan Kakashi, and the Genjutsu Mistress Kurenai... This should be fun..." A man seemingly appeared on top of the sword currently lodged in a tree. The two jonin, not noticing the disappearance of their comrade, tensed slightly. Kakashi spoke up, "Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Mist. Master of silent killing..."

Zabuza grinned, well, not that you could tell with the bandages and all, "Ah! My reputation precedes me. How wonderful... I'm here for the old man. Let him die and you all might just live."

Kurenai stepped forward this time, "He's under our protection. Kids, get into a-" She looked back and saw that Naruto, Gaara and Ino had dropped into a formation around Tazuna, while Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba just kind of looked stunned. "Well, my students don't have to be told what to do." Kurenai said with a half smirk.

"Not. The. Right. Time." Kakashi mumbled, glaring at his students to do the same.

Momchi shrugged, "I'll deal with you two myself... I have allies to kill the brats." As he spoke, ninja's with Ame forehead protectors stepped into view, twirling their weapons with sadistic expressions on their faces. Everyone tensed, not waiting to make the critical first move. Kakashi uncovered his sharingan, drew a kunai, crouched, and... Managed to cover his face in time as the tree Zabuza's sword was in seemingly exploded as an ivory white zanbato blade shattered through it. Zabuza swore as he grabbed his blade and back flipped, dropping into a battle stance.

"Hehe... You're getting rusty in your old age, Zabby." Jace said, emerging from the mist. His massive ivory colored blade resting on his cloaked shoulder. His hood was up shading his face, save for a pair of white glowing eyes. Tips of his hair showed from under the hood, a pale glowing white strand fluttering in front of his eyes.

Zabuza relaxed, then laughed, "Fuck, Jace! I nearly crapped my pants."

Jace laughed as well, "Heh, not my fault that you can't notice when people are quieter then you. By the way your 'backup' seems kind of afraid of me." He said shooting a fiery glance in the direction of the Ame nins. All of whom were visibly shaking.

"Well, can you blame them? I heard about what you did to Ame. I bet the survivors still have nightmares... And then you come up in that outfit and sword? How are they supposed to react?"

"Oh, how they are works fine for me..." He said still glaring at them. "...BOO!" He yelled with a demonic edge to his voice. The was the last straw for the other nins; they turned and booked it as far from the demon of their nightmares as they could get. Jace sighed and flipped back his hood, his glowing hair receding to its lilac color and his eyes dimming back to grey. "Fucking cowards. I mean, you burn one measly hidden village to the ground..."

Zabuza laughed as he made a hand sign, the mist dissipating into the wind. "Hey, is that a couple of your brats?"

Naruto and Gaara beamed, "Uncle Zabuza!" They yelled running up and hugging the man. "Hey, is Haku around?"

The supposed 'demon' smiled and ruffled their hair, "Yeah, she's around somewhere. Hey, HAKU! Get out here!"

The hunter clad ninja stepped out from behind Tazuna and tapped him on the shoulder, the old man nearly passing out as he felt the contact. "Right here, Zabuza-sama."

Jace groaned, "Oh my god, she still calls you that?"

"Hey, I tried, but I'm not gonna beat her out of it, am I?" He said motioning his adoptive daughter over.

Haku smiled and nodded at both boys before giving Jace a small hug, "Uncle Jace! Always good to see you." Jace smiled and mussed her hair slightly.

"So what brings you guys here?"

"Uh, to kill Tazuna." Zabuza said pointedly. "You?"

"Kill Gato, rob him blind." Jace said equally as pointedly.

"Well... Quite frankly I'm not even gonna try to get in your way..." Zabuza said somewhat sheepish at admitting weakness.

Jace grinned, "Ha! Good. Hate to have had robbed Haku of a father." He paused and scratched his chin. "Don't you get tired of the whole on the run thing?"

Zabuza shrugged, "What am I to do? Only scum hires me."

"Well, it just so happens Old Man Sarutobi owes me... How's sharing in my mental anguish and becoming leaf nin sound to you?"

Zabuza and Haku looked each other, then Jace, and back to each other. "Deal."

Kakashi, Kurenai, Team and Ino finally snapped out of their blank stares. "Wait you can't just offer Nuke-Nins-" Kakashi started to say, before he was cut off by a wagging finger of Jace's.

"Ah! But I can. The Hokage owes me. Big... And who wouldn't want the second strongest of the seven swordsmen? Besides, we'll just hang around until I can get conformation from the old man. Not like there aren't still enemies out there..." Jace grinned as he spoke. "Now grab the drunk and let's go. If I remember he lives in this direction..."

.....................................................

A/N: And there's chapter 6, start of the wave arc! A chapter that brings up a fascinating point... In this world there is no Ame. Jace destroyed it, it's how he earned the title of White Phoenix. More will be delved into that later on but it brings up one important point, Pein is dead. Akatsuki while there (as it's founded by Madara, the bastard prick) is quite different from the Canon one... Though again, much more on that later.

Fun bit of NaruIno action. Not alot but it's the start of something more. More on Jace's sword(s) next chapter as well...

Next time: The (probable) end of the wave arc

Fun Facts: None for you this time! Sorry.

Beta's Note: Come on now, that's not fair to our beloved readers. So I'll just introduce myself as this chapter's fun fact. I'm Kolor, the reason that the above is not plagued with 'teh's' and other glaring grammatical and spelling errors. You are all most welcome.