Praise Be to Jashin

Chapter 5: Who are you again?

Disclaimer: Obvious statement is obvious.

Naruto sat on the edge of his "bed", counting the number of leaks in the ceiling of their safe house. Really, there were no beds, only some wooden frames with some sheets strung across them tautly, but they worked fine. Like everything else in the impoverished country of wave, their hideout was a dump.

Rich people like Gato got their money from somewhere, as there is only so much money to go around. In this case, he simply sucked it from anyone who happened to be naive enough to let him get close. The greedy little man had hit a veritable gold mine in the land of the waves, as it had no ninja to enforce laws mandating worker benefits. As such, he could maintain an economic stranglehold on the country, taking as much money as he possibly could whenever he wanted to. With no money left for the people, wave was slowly dying.

That was why they were there in the first place, wave needed their help. Naruto wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that, after this was all over, wave was going to ask to become a vassal state of the land of fire. However, there had been a hidden village there at one point, and it was obvious that, given enough time and money, the country could once again support a village. The only other country remotely capable of this would be snow, but a fierce dictatorship there prevented that from happening. Naruto was interested in possibly founding a village sometime in the future, possibly after the current generation had died, and he wanted wave to be a free country at that point in time, as it would prevent many unnecessary diplomatic negotiations. Oh well… that was something he needed to talk with Yakuro about.

Speaking of Yakuro, where was that cheery immortal? He had told them he was leaving to interrogate the prisoner in a friendly setting, but he most definitely should have returned by then. Perhaps he was engaged in a show of power? Such things were not uncommon ways of changing the allegiances of nuke-nin. Yakuro was certainly eccentric enough to attempt something, so that was likely the case. Knowing Yakuro, their young female hostage was probably wrapped around his finger by now.

Naruto shook his head, then resumed his examination of the ceiling. He had no idea how his sensei managed to interrogate hostages so quickly. There was simply something about the way he talked that made people want to trust him. He just seemed to radiate a feeling of general contentment that permeated a room. Naruto had growing suspicions that he used pheromones to accomplish this, but he wasn't sure Whatever his sensei did, it seemed to work anywhere, with anyone. Well, that is, except when he went on bloody killing sprees, since people were typically dead before they realized he was there. Yes, even after studying under him for almost a decade Naruto knew relatively little about his sensei, who had once comically proclaimed that he refused to talk to anyone under the age of 500.

Just as Naruto began chuckling, the door of the old warehouse they were in slid open, squeaking on its rusty hinges. Peaking around a stack of long empty boxes, Naruto's hand traveled to his kunai pouch slowly, ready to protect him from assailants. To his immense relief, it was Yakuro, not some unknown assailant, standing in the doorway. He seemed to have been running for quite some time, as his hair was slightly more wild than normal. In his arms was the massive form of Momochi Zabuza draped in his arms, with the nuke-nin's massive sword sheathed on his back. Next to him stood Zabuza's young accomplice, who looked completely out of breath. It seemed as though Yakuro had traveled fast, as so to keep up the charade that they could not easily defeat Gato's army. He still didn't see the point in such a venture, but who was he to question someone with so much more experience?

"Anyone home?" Yakuro sang into the empty building.

Sensing his cue, Naruto stepped out from behind the boxes, waving merrily with a smile on his face.

"Glad you made it" he said enthusiastically.

"Yes," said the unnamed apprentice, "so am I."

Naruto frowned at this. She seemed very shy and introverted, as if she had grown up with limited human contact. Furthermore she seemed mournful, and, dare he say it, scared, most probably because her sensei was not there to help her. How strange that one so powerful was so insecure…

Naruto shook his head, then replied, "Don't mind me." He jerked his thumb towards Yakuro, "He's just my sensei. Been teaching me for the past decade."

The unknown Shinobi frowned, "But he can't be a day over 25, which means he started teaching you at 15!"

At this, both immortals burst out laughing, pent up stress setting them off like firecrackers. It took a good few minutes for them to calm down enough to talk coherently, but once they did, Yakuro interrupted, completely ignoring Haku's puzzled face.

"Naruto, meet Haku. She is apprenticed to Zabuza, and has agreed to help us fight Gato. As she is his apprentice, I believe that she can sufficiently vouch for his actions."

He paused for a moment, seeming worried, then continued, "Sadly, thing are moving much faster than I expected."

Naruto's ever-present smile turned downwards. "I take it that Gato knows of our presence?"

Yakuro nodded solemnly, responding, "There were simply too many bandits at his base. It wouldn't be economical to hire that much help on a daily basis. I sent Sarutobi and Sasuke out to collect information on what happened. It appears that we have a leak in our intelligence. I believe that we might have been set up."

Naruto nodded in response, "Good training for Sasuke." He paused, then asked furtively, "You believe that he wants to kill us, thereby sending a message to all other villages." Yakuro nodded at this, and Naruto continued, "So, then we need to prepare. He will probably be pulling out all of the stops, as he probably expects us to simply try to guard the completion of the bridge. If we decree the seizure edict at the final confrontation, then we can keep some of the bandits alive and use them as witnesses to legalize it."

Yakuro smiled, "My thoughts exactly. You really are growing into a fine Shinobi, Naruto." Naruto beamed at that, "But my main concern in all of this is Sasuke. He is more of a ninja versus ninja fighter. He'd get swamped in the kind of free for all a bandit army incites. We need to train him, and fast."

Naruto nodded, "Agreed. He needs some help, as his new seals seem to be throwing off his chakra manipulation ability."

Yakuro smiled, then turned to Haku, nodding his head for her to follow him. The silent missing-nin trailed along after him as he bounded off into the darkness of the rest of the warehouse. Sadly, there were only a few lightbulbs in the whole building, but the team managed to make due.

Naruto smiled, then went back to his "bedroom" to continue thinking. It had been decided that he would be in charge of Sasuke's training at this point, so he had to think up a good regimen before the Shinobi got back. Perhaps a bit of shadow-clone-aided chakra manipulation exercises would be in order? Sasuke had about enough chakra to pull off 5 clones and still be able to work on other things. But Sasuke needed attacks that could take out multiple enemies at once, of which his current arsenal was limited. Perhaps the best way to achieve this would be to teach him swordsmanship. Hmm….

On the other side of the building, Yakuro, with the aid of Haku, was beginning to work on reviving Zabuza. As the bandages around his torso slowly came unwound, his quickly healing wound came into view. Haku visibly winced at the sight, as it looked quite painful. Yakuro, however, seemed completely unperturbed.

Turning to the apprentice, Yakuro asked, "You know the mixture for a good healing paste, correct?" Haku nodded at this. "Then could you make me some? I'm going to heal your master through a jutsu, but the skin will be slightly weak there, and a herbal paste will help strengthen it quickly."

Her eyes widening slightly at the revelation that her companion was a medic, she nodded, then jumped to the catwalk above and exited through the high window. Watching her leave carefully, completely certain the she would return to help her master, Yakuro set to his task. With a look of determination, his hands flew through handseals for a good thirty seconds, then began to glow green with the telltale sings of a medical jutsu. Ever so carefully, Yakuro brought his hands to the wound, which began to sizzle and pop as it was disinfected. After a good thirty seconds, the gash began to creep shut, new skin and flesh forming where old had been lost. Yakuro's brow furrowed in deeper concentration, as his task became harder and harder.

After five long minutes of grunting and straining, the swordsman was completely healed, and Yakuro flopped back with a sigh. Medical jutsu were not his forte at all. He simply had too much chakra to perform them easily, as he could overload the delicate balance of healing the justu brought on if he channeled too much chakra. Still, the jutsu had been completed correctly, and now he could rest, content in the fact that he wouldn't be disturbed for at least another hour.

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Naruto awoke to the tandem sounds of loud coughing and a door squealing on its hinges. He looked down at his lap, where his latest invention, what he had dubbed an exploding seal on steroids, lay half finished. Apparently his acute ADD, a problem that Yakuro had been struggling for years to combat, had caught up to him again.

He mentally praised his sensei for what seemed to be the millionth time. The man was a complete genius in regard to mental facilities. He had put Naruto on a strict mental training regimen at the age of 6, directly after realizing that his attention span was the root of his inability to learn properly. Thankfully, the results paid off, and he had developed into 'a fine shinobi', as Yakuro had said. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he had been left to his own devices. Orange always seemed like a nice color before he left…

Breaking his increasingly morbid train of thought, he gave a woeful glance at his half completed work. It appeared that his amazing display of pyrotechnic perfection would have to be completed at some other point in time. Reluctantly, he removed himself from his work, sealing it into a traveling scroll along with his ink and brush. Standing up, he stretched his stiff neck, then ventured off to see what was happening.

As he strode through the stacks of empty boxes, dim lights flickering overhead, he began to discern comforting murmurs interspersed in the loud groaning. Moments later, he walked into the area designated for Yakuro to sleep, immediately noticing Zabuza lying on the bed, groaning weakly, if loudly, and rubbing his side, where a large patch of recently-healed pink flesh was slowly becoming red. Fussing over him dutifully, much like a nurse, was his apprentice, Haku. The doctor, Yakuro, was no where to be found.

Slowly, Zabuza lifted the arm not pawing at his no doubt aching side, then motioned towards the jug of water sitting on a crate nearby. Haku's eyes widened, and she rushed over to grab it, jumping back in surprise as she noticed Naruto standing there watchfully. Naruto smiled at her surprise, then silently handed the jug to her, motioning to give it to Zabuza. He was no stranger to medical jutsu, and new that they could leave a nin severely dehydrated if not given water regularly.

After drinking about half the jug, Zabuza spluttered for a minute, then coughed for a good extra minute. After allowing his breathing to return to normal, he turned to Haku, questioning, "Haku, where the hell are we?" Thinking a moment, he added, "And where the hell is my sword?"

Smiling, Haku responded, "It's good to have you back, Zabuza-sama. To answer your question, after you were defeated, I completed the extraction as planned. On my return to the hideout, I was intercepted by an additional group of Konoha ninja." She grimaced, and Zabuza's expression turned sour, "I was soundly defeated in battle, after which a deal was struck. In return for our aid in defeating Gato, Konoha will use some of the assets it will gain to fund our Coup."

Zabuza's frown turned to a greedy grin. "Then our mission is half over. With all the money we're gonna get from this, we'll have the Mizukage's seat in no time!"

Haku smiled, "Yes, as soon as Gato is dead, our struggle will be half over. As to where your sword is, I believe Yakuro, the man who healed you, has it."

Zabuza frowned once more, "Well, he'd better give it the fuck back!"

Haku frowned in turn, "I would appreciate it if you did not use such vulgar language to describe the man who saved your life!" Realizing her unintentional mistake, she quickly looked down in submission, waiting for the verbal beating that she was sure would follow. To her chagrin, Zabuza broke out into loud laughter.

"So that's what sets you off, eh? 'Been tryin' to figure it out for years!" He lightly snorted, then continued, "We'll make a true Shinobi of you yet!"

Noticing the other occupant in the room, he frowned yet again. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh!" said Haku, "I haven't introduced you yet! Zabuza-sama, meet Naruto, Yakuro's apprentice."

Naruto waved, and Zabuza eyed him critically. "Doesn't look like much to me." he said, dismissively, "He's a little on the short side, and his muscle tone looks a little weak."

Naruto's eye twitched, and he replied angrily, "Hey! I'm not done growing yet, give me a few years, and I'll be taller than you! And not all of us happen to wield a zanbatou enough to build the kind of muscles you have!" He paused, seething, then added indignantly, "I'll have you know that I specialize in elemental jutsu. Jackass."

Zabuza sweatdropped, then said placatingly, "Geese, ok! I'm sure you're a great Shinobi! Just, don't hurt me while I'm injured!"

Haku brightened, then interjected, "Actually, due to Yakuro's careful healing, you're perfectly fine, just a little stiff!"

Zabuza's eyes widened, and he slowly clambered off of the bed, joints popping as they realigned. With a quick stretch of his arms, the nuke-nin was battle-ready once again. Yakuro chose that exact moment to walk in, his poufy hair rounding the corner in front of him. As he entered, a small bundle of fish resting in his arms, Zabuza eyed him critically. After he dropped the fish, the quartet stared at each other in silence, waiting for someone else to explain what was going on.

Zabuza broke the ice, hesitantly turning to Yakuro and clearing his throat. "I heard that I have you to thank for my speedy recovery," he said begrudgingly.

Yakuro smiled warmly, recognizing that apologies were hard for the callous nuke-nin. "Yes, I was the one who brought you here and healed you. It was part of the agreement that I made with your apprentice."

"Yeah," said Zabuza, "I guess it would work out. It's going a bit fast for me, but I'll catch up soon." He eyed Yakuro for a minute, "So our job is to beat the shit out of Gato, right?"

Yakuro grinned, then nodded, "Yes, as you so eloquently put it, we must "beat the shit" out of Gato, then seize all of his assets, a portion of which will be delivered to you in exchange for your services.

They continued to talk on the subject for quite some time, ironing out the specifics of the plan, how much money would be involved, things of that nature. As time wore on, the group found themselves increasingly disinterested, and so they resigned themselves to lounging around the room. They were still missing two members of their party, and the discussions weren't really complete without them.

After a good two hours of waiting patiently, they heard the front door of the warehouse slam open hurriedly. All the Shinobi present immediately jumped to their feet, drawing various projectiles for defense. To their chagrin, Sasuke and Sarutobi came dashing into the room, breathing heavily, as if they had sprinted for a good 10 minutes. Their clothes were torn and burnt, and light cuts adorned their bodies, although they had escaped much of the heavier damage. Sasuke was much worse off than Sarutobi, and so the aging Hokage struggled to speak to the group.

"Sasori…Deidara…Akatsuki…Gato." He gasped out.
Yakuro's eyes widened at this proclamation. The remaining trio of Shinobi looked at him questioningly. After a moment of complete silence, he said, in the gravest tone, "We have two S-classed Shinobi bearing down on our location. Prepare yourselves, because the shit is gonna hit the fan."

A/N: Hehehe… CLIFFY!!!!!!

I win at life, don't I?

Anyway, here's the newest update, hope you liked it. I sure as hell enjoy writing it, when I can get the time. This one's still a little shorter than the earlier chapters, as I'm trying to change the structure to one major scene per chapter. Next chapter is going to be epic fight scene, and it's going to be at least 5000 words.

On another note, I noticed that a lot of you seem to be reading, and a crapload of people have signed up for alerts, but almost no one has left a review. Please, take a couple seconds out of your day and tell me at least one thing I did right/wrong. Hell, I'll accept nitpicky technical errors as well. Just give me FEEDBACK!!!! I always reply to criticism, so if there's something you don't like or don't understand, maybe I can clarify it for you. My mind does not think with the same logic that everyone else's does.