~Chapter 5~
Naruto != mine
Ren awoke with the sensation of pins and needles all over his body, and a pounding headache. "What the hell…" he groaned out. He could feel that he was bound and blindfolded. Whoever had tied him up obvious had some form of shinobi training, as his fingers were bound also, tied together in order to prevent him from making handseals and escaping with a kawarimi or other jutsu. "It seems our guest is finally awake," a familiar voice said, making Ren stiffen. "Zabuza," he growled out. "You recover remarkably quickly," a feminine voice said from behind him. "And his accomplice," Ren added sourly, a scowl forming on his face.
Ren was then blinded by the light as his blindfold was lifted, revealing Zabuza sitting on a bed and a pale girl with long black hair and matching eyes standing next to the chair to which Ren was bound. She wore a pink kimono and a black choker around her neck. "I'll admit, I didn't imagine that Zabuza's accomplice would be so young. You can't be more than a few years older than I am, Tenshi," Ren said, making the girl blush with his comment and his intense gaze. "Shut up. You are our captive, and you will answer our questions," Zabuza said, punching Ren in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him.
"First of all, how did a pathetic little genin like you get a hold of one of the most powerful swords ever made?" Zabuza asked, holding up Mizuchi in front of Ren's face. "Mizuchi is one of my family's most treasured possessions, Momochi," Ren answered, his eyes hardening.
"Ah, so you are a Senju. I had my suspicions based on your resemblance to the Nidaime Hokage, but this confirms it. Konoha will pay a princely sum to get you back, won't they? After all, you are the sole remaining heir to the clan, quite valuable to a village as crazy about it's bloodlines and families as Konoha is. Yes, you're worth a great deal to those tree-huggers," Zabuza said, rising from the bed and pacing around Ren's chair. "Sending them the ransom message would make you the target of so many ANBU that you would never be able to escape alive. And even if I do die, I still get the satisfaction of knowing that you will suffer with Ibiki down in T&I," Ren spat back, "Besides, you'll need more than just my ransom to fund another rebellion. You need enough to set up a safe house for when this one fails just as miserably as your first attempted coup." This comment made Zabuza quite angry, and the Kiri nuke-nin punched Ren in the face, resulting in a bloody nose for the Senju. "I'm going to enjoy beating the answers out of you," Zabuza said, cracking his knuckles.
Over the course of the days after Inari's outburst leading up to Zabuza's expected reappearance, the Konoha contingent was in a state of tension and unrest, with Kakashi upping the training of the remaining members of Team 7 and sending out one of his nin-dog summons, a small pug named Pakkun who was capable of speech and had the ability to 'smell' chakra, to search for Ren, who had gone missing after speaking with Naruto. Naruto, meanwhile, felt responsible for his teammate's disappearance, and was training himself into the ground over it. It wasn't until late in the afternoon the day before Zabuza was expected to attack that Pakkun found a trail. Since Kakashi was busy training the genin, Hayate was the one who followed Pakkun to the small house where Pakkun smelled Ren's chakra.
Ren was on his third day in captivity. After the first day, in which Zabuza tried to get information on Tazuna and the Konoha nin protecting him, the missing-nin gave up due to a limited time frame and the fact that all he got were insults and smart remarks from the Senju. So, he simply broke his left ankle to keep him from moving quickly, and also broke the fingers and wrist of his right hand to prevent him from using jutsu. In addition, Zabuza arranged for Haku, his accomplice, to check on him when delivering meals. Over this time, he managed to slowly gather information on where Mizuchi was stored by talking with Haku, and began to formulate a plan for his escape.
Ren laid with his back against the ceiling over the door, waiting for Hakuto enter with dinner. The door swung open, and Haku entered as normal but got a suspicious look and put the tray aside when she didn't see the captive. Ren, seizing the opportunity, dropped down and wrapped his good arm around her neck as they both fell to the floor, Ren on top. "Sorry, but I have my duty," Ren said, wincing as his broken wrist protested to being pushed against Haku's back. Ren gritted his teeth and choked Haku until she passed out before he fled the scene as fast as he could, stopping by Zabuza's room to grab Mizuchi before limping into the woods to rendezvous with his team.
It had taken Ren a day to find the clearing where he had been captured, and he was in a sorry state. His ankle was swollen and felt like it was on fire, and his wrist wasn't much better, having been fallen upon several times. Ren was currently lying facedown in the clearing, utterly drained. "Ren!" he heard a shout in Naruto's voice. "Naruto?" Ren croaked. "We've been looking for you for days!" Naruto said, helping Ren up and slinging his arm over his shoulder to help him up and half-carry him to Tazuna's house. "Pakkun said Hayate-sensei went out to rescue you!" Naruto said, helping along his teammate, who looked quite haggard, with shadows under his eyes and a number of rips and tears in his now-dirty clothes. "We need to contact him. Tell him to call it off, or else he might be killed," Ren said, trying his best to keep moving. "I'll ask Kakashi-sensei when we get back," Naruto said, before the two of them continued, Ren sporting a constant grimace of pain as he limped along with Naruto.
The two got back to a relieved Team 7. Kakashi sent out Pakkun to find Hayate and warn him off, and Sasuke, of all people, actually cracked a smile, albeit a small one. Ren was immediately sent to a bed to rest while Sakura bandaged and splinted his ankle and fingers, and fashioned a sling for his wrist. Once he was in bed, he followed her orders to the letter. After all, she was the medic, and anything was better than the terrible pain and inflammation that he had experienced earlier.
Hayate returned to Tazuna's house in terrible shape, accompanied by a shamefaced Pakkun. "I was too late," the pug said mournfully. Hayate was holding his blood-soaked side and coughing blood. Ren, who was resting outside, saw his sensei collapse and hobbled over to help. "Hayate-sensei! What happened?" Ren asked, looking frantic. "Zabuza was waiting in ambush when I arrived. I couldn't draw fast enough and got a pretty nasty wound," Hayate said. "I'll get Sakura, she can patch you up," Ren said. "It's a bit late for that," Hayate responded with a grim smile, "Ren, take my sword and forehead protector and give them to Yugao Uzuki back in Konoha. Keep the scroll with my personal style, it is my gift to you. Learn it well…" With this, the sickly man died, his eyes going dull as he gasped his last word. "I will do my best to live up to your teachings, sensei," Ren said in a quiet tone, almost a whisper, as his eyes grew stony. He carefully closed Hayate's eyes and went into the house to fetch something.
"Why do you need me?" Sasuke asked as Ren led him outside. "Because Hayate is dead, and we new to burn the body. Seeing as burning things is your specialty, I got you to do it. One thing first, though," Ren said seriously, carefully removing Hayate's sword and sheath from the belt on his shoulder in addition to his forehead protector before Sasuke immolated the body with a Gokakyuu no Jutsu. "Thank you, Sasuke. Much obliged," Ren said in a distracted manner as he looked with a sense of trepidation at the blade and forehead protector of his late sensei.
The day Zabuza was expected to attack, Ren was sitting in the kitchen of Tazuna's home with Mizuchi unsheathed and held in his left hand. Naruto had recently set off to the bridge, leaving Ren to hold the fort. He was unsurprised when the wall besides him was destroyed by a pair of swordsmen, one shirtless and heavily tattooed and the other clad in a wool hat and hoodie. Both carried cheap, low-quality weapons. Ren stabbed the shirtless one in the side of the throat and tore out the blade in a shower of blood.
"What the hell!" exclaimed the other, blocking a slash at his throat. Ren rose to his feet and took an unusual posture, weight primarily on his right foot and Mizuchi held in a reverse grip. The remaining swordsman charged at him, only for Ren to pivot out of the way and cut him down as he passed, spilling his blood all over the already stained floor. Ren fell into a seat and wiped Mizuchi's blade clean on the second swordsman's hoodie. It was at this point that Tsunami ventured into the room, having heard the ruckus and come to investigate. "Gato tried to take a hostage, it would seem. Sorry you had to see the result. But you might want to check on some of your neighbors," Ren said grimly, concentrating chakra into the blade in order to cleanse it fully with the water produced. "Inari, I need you to do something," Ren said, giving the boy a serious look, "I need you to warn the village that Gato may be sending more of these goons their way." Inari nodded and ran off into the village.
When Team 7 returned to Tazuna's house they found the kitchen to be a gory mess and their teammate in the sitting room with Tsunami. "I take it you ran into trouble?" Ren asked from the couch when Sasuke was half-dragged by Naruto into the room, followed by an unmarked Sakura and a drained-looking Kakashi, who recounted the tale to the injured member, with additional input from Naruto and Inari, who had apparently spearheaded the preemptive strike against the army of Gato's hired muscle, which earned a small smile from Ren which vanished as he turned to face Kakashi.
"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, for getting captured. I should have been more aware," Ren said. "It is not your fault. Zabuza's accomplice was very fast and very good at hiding their presence." "But I got Hayate-sensei killed," Ren said. "He knew the risks of going alone. I wish you had gotten to us sooner, but what's done is done," Kakashi said, putting his hand on Ren's shoulder. "I doubt Yugao Uzuki will agree. Thank you for trying, though, sensei," Ren said, giving Kakashi a sad smile before hobbling upstairs to rest.
Team 7 went home once the bridge was completed, and arrived back with minimal delay. When they entered the Homage's office for the debriefing, Kakashi stepped forward and delivered the mission report, with Ren filling in the gaps regarding his captivity and Hayate's death. Once it was over, Team 7 was dismissed, but Ren stayed behind. "How may I help you, Ren-kun?" the Hokage asked. "Hokage-sama, do you know where Yugao Uzuki lives? Hayate-sensei asked me to deliver his sword and forehead protector to her," Ren said, looking grim.
Ren looked at the door to Yugao Uzuki's apartment with a great sense of foreboding. He looked down at Hayate-sensei's sword and forehead protector in his hand before, steeling himself, he reached up and, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, knocked on the door.
It was opened by an attractive woman in her twenties with waist-length purple hair and dark brown eyes. She was clad in a black shirt and ANBU pants. "Yugao Uzuki?" Ren asked, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Yes?" the woman replied uncertainly. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Hayate Geko died in the line of duty, and he asked me to give you his sword and forehead protector," Ren said, looking down, unable to meet her eyes as he presented her with the items. He was caught by surprise when he was decked by a sobbing Yugao.
"I'm sorry, Uzuki-san. Were it not for me being captured, he would still be alive," Ren said, pinching his now-bleeding nose as Yugao took the weapon and forehead protector from him and slammed the door.
At the hospital Ren was quickly taken in and had x-rays on his ankle, wrist, and hand, which were, according to the doctor, in need of casts. Also, Ren had his nose, which had been broken by Yugao, set and bandaged as well.
It was early in the morning the day after Ren's return home after a brief hospital stay, and he was just sitting at home exercising his grip while studying the scroll Hayate left him when he heard a thunderous crash at the door, followed by a loud female voice shouting, "Alright, where is the little bastard who cut off my access to the clan accounts!" "That would be me," Ren said pleasantly, hobbling into the foyer with Mizuchi held, sheathed, in his usable hand. Standing before him amid the wreckage of the front door was a blonde wearing a green jacket over a tan top and black pants with a set of high-heeled sandals. Her hair was in a dual-ponytailed style, and she had a small black-bordered diamond mark on her forehead. She also had an extremely large bust, though Ren was currently focused upon her honey-colored eyes, which were currently burning with rage.
"Lady Tsunade, was it strictly necessary for you to destroy the door?" a timid voice asked. Its owner was a woman with short black hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a black kimono with white edges and carrying a pig which wore a vest and a string of pearls. "Be quiet, Shizune, I'm trying to find out who the hell this brat thinks he is to cut me off," the now-identified Tsunade said. "I am Ren Senju, heir of the Senju clan, great-grandson of Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, and also the 'brat who cut you off' as you put it. You, I presume, are my second cousin once removed, Tsunade Senju, the Slug Sannin and, unofficially, the Legendary Sucker," Ren said, sounding rather disinterested, "And with you is Shizune, niece if your deceased lover, Dan Kato, who bled out on you during the last war, and whose death, along with that of your younger brother, Nawaki, prompted you to up and leave with your lover's young niece as your apprentice."
"How do you know all of this?" Tsunade asked, bewildered by the barrage of information. "I pieced it together through various correspondences and dossiers on members which I found in the clan records, and also by asking my ANBU guards about you. The silver-haired one with the dog mask and the orange book was usually quite a good source of info for some reason. And then he'd start reading his book and giggling while red stuff leaked from the bottom of his mask…" Ren trailed off and got a look of realization. "I just realized something. Inu was a pervert. Explains why he went on about how attractive you were," Ren said, stroking his chin. "Anyway, the reason I locked you out of the clan funds was because I wanted to keep the clan out of bankruptcy. The rate at which you were spending it on sake and poker, we'd have run out before I was sixteen years old," Ren said, going deadpan at the final statement.
The rest of the morning was spent chatting with Tsunade and Shizune, getting to know his cousin and her apprentice, also having his fingers, wrist, and ankle healed by Shizune, who volunteered her help when she realized that he was injured. "Now, wait at least a week before you get the casts removed. I managed to knit your bones together again, but your body needs some time for the muscle to recover fully. Understood?" Shizune asked in a manner which, while gentle, held an edge of command that made Ren quite compliant. "Am I alright to walk?" Ren asked politely. "That depends, where are you going?" Shizune asked, getting a glint in her eye. "The Higurashi weapon shop. My kenjutsu teacher told me to get Mizuchi checked out there, and I don't want to disobey orders," Ren replied before heading out, Mizuchi in hand.