A/N: It has been more than a year since the last update. I apologize for that if there is anyone at all still reading this. Life got the better of me, so I had to put this story on hold. Just like I've written in my bio, I will post new chapters when I have time, so please do not expect a regular update. After all, this is just a hobby and something I feel like I want to share to my fellow fan-fiction readers: crafting a story of our own imagination when an interesting fan-fiction to distract our mind from the reality hasn't been found yet. Anyway, enjoy this rather humble piece of writing. Of course, I do not own Naruto.

Just as Zabuza was about to finish off his fight with the famed Hatake, a new face showed up and completely ruined his plan. All the swordsman remembered was Haku and him being bombarded with multiple fireballs, courtesy of the unknown figure. Even though Haku managed to negate all of those fireballs, the next jutsu was something that Zabuza did not see coming at all. A giant reddish-orange orb floated above them before violently exploded at the same time as he released his jutsu with his remaining chakra. Then, everything went white as he lost consciousness. Now, he woke up finding himself tied to a tree with a seal on his chest in the middle of a forest.

Haku was nowhere to be seen. He didn't even know whether she was still alive or not. There was nothing he could do, and that pissed him off the most.

"I see you are awake." Uttered a voice.

Zabuza looked up to see the perpetrator who made him end up like this. Nezu was sitting casually with his legs hanging off the branch of the tree.

Always on a tree. No wonder they were called tree huggers.

Zabuza sneered at the masked ninja and said, "Come to finish the job, lap dog?!"

"I'm not in the mood for a verbal banter, so I'm going be short with what I have to say." Replied Nezu. Contrary to his posture, Nezu sounded pretty serious.

Zabuza just snorted at the tone of indifference from the ANBU.

Nezu continued, "I am keeping you two alive because I have a proposal for you."

Zabuza raised his eyebrows, surprised by what he heard before narrowing his eyes in suspicion of what the ANBU was planning. At least, now he knew Haku was alive.

"I know what your goal is, Momochi Zabuza. And apparently, it's aligned with mine. So, here's the thing. Should you accept my deal, I will let you go free." Declared Nezu.

"If I refuse?" asked Zabuza, deciding to entertain himself with the offer. "And what makes you think I'm gonna accept it?"

"So, you're saying you will risk your disciple's life for your pride when she has risked her life for yours?"

Zabuza growled at the implication, his nose flaring out in anger. Even if he had never shown it, the missing-nin did care for Haku. This time, it seemed his hands were forced. He would have to swallow his ego if he wanted to survive. Curse his luck!

"You don't have to give the answer now." Nezu continued, switching to a lighter tone.

That got Zabuza to halt his train of thought. "And what do you get from letting us go?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes, remaining tense and focusing on every word the ANBU uttered out.

"An alliance between Konoha and Kiri."

This sounded increasingly fishy to Zabuza. Of course, it would be; there were so many variables that would put the deal in jeopardy for Konoha's side. Nezu was surprisingly being lenient for a ruthless killer. Why would the ANBU before him put so much trust in a missing-nin? Or was this just a cruel sadistic joke, giving him hope only to crush that hope later?

"Now I know what you are thinking. What would guarantee your delivering your end of the deal or your participation in the war at all? You could just 'accept' the deal just to escape and I would gain nothing but the freedom of my two enemies." Said Nezu, with a careless shrug of his shoulders. "Well, let's just say her immense sense of loyalty didn't come from nowhere. And you'd like to save your country, correct?"

For once, Zabuza couldn't find a retort. Nezu had hit all the right buttons.

Taking the silence as a yes, Nezu left after saying, "Then there you have it. The fate of your country and your disciple are in your hands right now."

"His reputation as a former member of the Seven Swordsmen's strongest generation is proof of his immense physical and mental prowess. So, it's not gonna be easy getting anything from him through mere interrogation. Plus, what else would we get besides the information we already have about the Mist's civil war?" Kakashi inquired, already putting away his book deeming their conversation as a more important task at the moment. "Are you suggesting letting them go freely? Isn't that contradicting your mission?"

Nezu shook his head, "No. I'm suggesting we let them return to their home village. We've received news that the Rebel forces led by Mei Terumi are gaining the upper hand over the Loyalist's force."

It caused a raise of an eyebrow from Kakashi. Crossing his arms, the jounin was still unsure about that decision. "That is quite a risk you are taking. Is he even planning to join the Rebel side? Last time I checked, Zabuza is raising money to fight back the Mizukage on his own."

Nezu nodded his head, understanding his former colleague's question. "I do not know for sure, but let's just say I have a hunch that he will."

Kakashi had an inkling idea of where Nezu got that hunch from. "You talked to Zabuza's disciple, didn't you?"

"Yes. Easily made her slip out some confirmation. She sounded honest enough."

There was a slight glint in the older ninja's eyes as if he had his suspicion figured out. "You are surprisingly trusting this time. You normally don't make judgments based on a mere hunch." Kakashi said, with a sign of amusement in his voice.

Before Nezu got to reply, the door slammed open interrupting the conversation. It was the brown-haired student of Kakashi's who entered the room. He looked excited, probably having some good news to tell his teacher. Hayashi saw Kakashi resting on his bedhead, but the boy felt as if there was another presence in the room. Pushing that thought away, for now, Hayashi told his teacher, "Kakashi-sensei, you won't believe this! Gatou is dead!"

Feigning a surprised expression, not that it was shown with his mask veiling his face and all, Kakashi blurted out, "Really now?"

"Yeah! His mansion was burnt down to the ground along with him and his thugs." The kid answered with a huge grin on his face, obviously believing justice had been served to the corrupted vile merchant.

The Jounin went along with his student's excitement, "And do you know who did it?"

"Unfortunately no. The one witness said when he arrived at the scene, the mansion had already turned coal black."

"Well, what a pity." The Jounin said with a rise in his normally drawled voice tone.

Hayashi continued, "Anyway, we are having a gathering today. The villagers want to celebrate their freedom, and they want us to join."

"Good. Go prepare yourself. I'll be downstairs soon." With that, Hayashi rushed back to the living room, looking happy as if he hadn't faced death just a day ago.

As his student closed the door, Kakashi said to Nezu who had been using the camouflaging technique, "You didn't confide in me about your plan." Though there was no hint of anger at all coming from him.

"You don't look surprised." Replied Nezu, his hand crossed and his head tilted.

The Jounin just shrugged his shoulders, not caring enough about the outcome. "Technically, you don't need my authority anyway. I figured your saying that you would discuss with me on how to eliminate your target was just a courtesy in and of itself. Save me from any more work." He finished with his usual eye smile.

Nezu just shook his head in exasperation at the older ninja's typical lazy response. But make no mistake that the man wouldn't be willing to end your life with that same smile on his face.

"You know, you still haven't told me the exact reason why you left Zabuza's disciple alive." Said Kakashi, stopping Nezu from taking his leave.

The young captain replied with a slight rise in his voice, "As I've just told you, I let them live so that they could return and join the Mist's Civil War-"

"The disciple reminded you of her, didn't she?" With that, Kakashi dropped the bomb, ending Nezu's retort. The ANBU was rendered silent by that. "You know, it was not your fault that the mission failed."

Right there and then, Nezu's emotionless façade faltered. When kept for too long, all the reined in anger and guilt could break even a ruthless and intrepid shinobi who was trained to face deathly situations without a hint of fear. "It WAS! So stop saying that it wasn't.", said Nezu gritting his teeth.

Kakashi sighed before continuing, "Accidents during missions happen. You know that as well as I do."

"But their deaths are on me, Kakashi!" yelled Nezu turning back to face the Jounin. "Her death is on me!" His voice cracked at the end.

But that still didn't faze the more experienced man. Kakashi had to be strong for Nezu, a person among the few whom he considered his loved ones. Otherwise, the boy in front of him would become just like him, a broken shell spending his remaining days angry at himself for not being able to save those he called family. "There was nothing that you could do about it."

"But-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi uttered with a sense of finality. The Jounin's eyes softened when he saw Nezu lowered his head in defeat. "You are on the right track. You've saved that girl's life. That is the least you can do to finally have some sort of closure, so I hope you will finally move on with your life."

With that said, Kakashi got up from his bed and exited the room, leaving the young ANBU captain alone. For a person being so in-controlled in mind games, Nezu's feeling was in turmoil because of a past mistake. How ironic that Nezu was now tasting his own medicine, being left to contemplate on others' words. He let out a sigh before leaving the room as well. His destination: on a branch of a tree somewhere in the forest.