Praise Be to Jashin

Chapter 4: What's the amplitude of the wave? Hmmm…

Author's Note:

I'm back, I'm back, I'm ready for attack!

Sorry this is so short. I figured you probably wanted something to hold you over. My inspiration has kind of died. It's still there, just about 5 chapters ahead of where I am right now. Gaah!

Thanks to all the people putting me on their story alerts. It warms my heart, it really does. I would like to request that if you can take the time to do so, at least leave a small note about why you like the story. I would really appreciate it.

Just letting you know, but Haku is really trusting because, unlike normal interrogations, there is absolutely no hostility from her captor. It's the same reason that she's nice to Naruto in cannon. She knew who he was, but he didn't seem hostile, so she decided to talk to him. Plus, what better source of information than an unsuspecting child?

Haku came back to consciousness slowly, her bearings completely lost. The last thing she could remember was extracting Zabuza from the fight. She began pondering: 'Blackouts in memory are generally indicative of forced unconsciousness, most probably from overexertion. Proper mental stimulus should help revive the memory, as well as grant proper lucidity of thought.'

With that, her mind began to wander… 'Hmmm… Zabuza was injured… that rarely happens, since he has his Zanbatou and ungodly strength to aide him. He was defeated by his general weakness, a Genjutsu mistress, who was able to detect him through the mist with the aid of a Hyuuga. Perhaps I am under a genjutsu? …No that would not be possible, I could just use my ice mirrors to escape, since strong genjutsu require direct eye contact to initiate. Wait… Ice mirrors…'

In a rush, her memory returned, and she began struggling. 'I have to protect Zabuza…' To her chagrin, she had been bound at the wrists and ankles, using ANBU grade detention knots, which were impossible to work undone, and actually tightened as the detainee struggled further. Trying to open her eyes, she realized that her face was covered with a blindfold, she could feel a paper seal attatched to her stomach, which appeared to be leeching her chakra, leaving her with barely enough to survive.

"You are perfectly safe," a voice called out from somewhere to her left. "We are in your personal quarters in Gato's hideout. Not hidden much if you ask me." A small chuckle punctuated the statement, and a long pause insued.

Stuttering slightly from nervousness, Haku interjected, "Wh-what do you want?"

"Ah, my little shinobi friend, that is why you are here. I mean you no harm, but I want some information." he said, his voice still friendly.

"I will try to answer you to the best of my ability," responded Haku, sensing no KI or negative emotions from the other shinobi.

"Good!" he said, enthusiastically. "Then I might as well take off your blindfold."

There was a momentary shuffling of her captor moving across the room, then, with a few quick tugs, her blindfold fell loose. She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the sudden influx of light, then took in her surroundings.

She was most definitely in her borrowed room, that was obvious. Small, tidy, spartan, it suited her perfectly. In the corner opposite her bed were a few boxes, holding her collection of stolen Hyouton scrolls and her weapons of choice, senbon. However, something had been added that was not previously there. In the center of her room sat a complex piece of twisted metal that came out into about 18 different points, looking vaguely like a star. In the center, in a hollow, was a small scroll covered in complex sealing matrices. She could only guess as to what it did, and she had a feeling her captor wouldn't tell her if she asked. Glancing back up, she studied her captor up close.

It was the same shinobi who had so easily bested her, looking at her with the same infuriating smile. He had taken off his coat and metal mesh, and was now wearing only a slightly tight undershirt and a waaay to tight pair of spandex pants. Pants that were, in fact, so tight that she found herself unconsciously staring, and had to force herself to look away. Although she couldn't see this earlier, he was fairly young, around 18 probably, which seemed miraculous in itself, as he seemed ridiculously strong. The exposed skin on his body was covered in seals, which glowed a strange reddish color, giving him an ethereal look.

Clearing his throat to get her attention, he began his 'interrogation'. "What is your name?"

"Haku."

"You are of the Hyouton clan. I assume that you were saved from the purges by your master?" Haku nodded. "That makes sense." he said, now deep in thought. He glanced at her, and questioned, "How old are you?"

"About 14" she replied monotonously.

"Really?" he said in surprise. "Either Zabuza is a great teacher, or you are an exceptional shinobi."

Haku's cheeks flushed slightly at the comment. "Thank you. I try my best to be useful."

"Ah" said Yakuro with a smile. After a slight pause, his face turned more serious, "In that case, I need your help. I have information that tells me that Gato is prepared to betray you. He is readying a small bandit army, no doubt in hopes of taking you out. Strangely enough, paying the bandits will cost less than paying you."

Haku's eyes widened, "Yes, I have suspected that he was planning something for a while now. I assume this device on the floor will aid us in leaving?"

Yakuro's mile grew slightly wider, and he nodded warmly, " Yes. This device drains variable amounts of chakra from everyone in a certain radius, in this case one mile. The device is one time use, and requires direct contact to activate, and so is normally not very practical. However, I will be using this device to drop all non-shinobi in the base from chakra exhaustion, which does not require much drain. Sadly, this device is also incapable of killing people, as the chakra system shuts down when in chakra exhaustion, preventing people form unconsciously killing themselves. This will give us a considerable amount of time to escape. I have a hideout elsewhere in wave, and we can take Zabuza there to be healed."

Haku nodded, then looked up with determination in her eyes. "Simply allow me to pack, and we will be on our way."

A few minutes of awkward positions and sealing things into scrolls later, the duo was ready to leave. "I will go collect Zabuza from his room," Yakuro stated, "which will give you time to recuperate, When I return, we will leave." And with that, he dashed out of the room, his newly donned cloak allowing him to melt into the shadows. He returned some minutes later, the unconscious form of her master in his arms.

"I need you to activate it" he said bluntly. " I fear that I would overload it, as I have much too much chakra to give it so little."

Realization swept across Haku's face at this statement. "You planned this from the beginning." She said, mistrust in her voice, "you didn't drain my chakra because you were afraid of me escaping; you simply wanted me to have enough control for this delicate task."

He nodded a guilty nod, then hurriedly asked, " Could we please activate it? We really need to get going before we are discovered."

She glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "Pray tell, how do you do such a thing?"

"Oh, yeah." he said, slightly sheepishly, "Ummm... dog, rat, boar, horse, ram. Then channel the desired amount of chakra into the device."

She quickly followed his instructions, and the device lit up with a greenish glow, a small buzzing sound heard from within. It steadily grew louder and brighter, until the glow was blinding and the buzz was deafening. After about a minute of torture, the device let out thousands of small green 'bolts', which shot unerringly towards the chakra coils of everyone within a mile radius, drawing some of their chakra back into the machine. Its work completed, the noise and light from the machine died, and it quickly imploded in on itself, turning into a solid, misshapen hunk of iron.

Regaining their senses, the pair quickly got up and dashed away, headed for Yakuro's safehouse on the other side of the island. In their wake, a small piece of paper was left as a note, saying simply, "Consider our contract void."