Chapter 11
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me
Jayne sat in front of the window watching the tavern down the street. Kin went in the tavern almost an hour ago. How much longer is this going to take? The door to the tavern swung open and Kin walked out. She started heading the direction of the inn then stopped to look up at the window. Jayne watched as she started walking again coming across the dark alley next to the tavern. As soon as she stepped past the darkness her body was pulled in and she disappeared from Jayne's sight.
"Kin!" She quickly got up and ran out the door and hurried to the alley where she could make out two silhouettes. She pulled out a kunai, "let her go or else you'll get a kunai to your eye!"
She heard a deep chuckle from the man holding Kin, "Well, what do we have here? A little kid thinks she can take me on?"
"Abby, it's too dangerous, he's-"Kin tried to warn Jayne but was interrupted when the man shoved her into the wall.
Jayne could hear the impact of Kin hitting the wall and clenched her fists, "Come out of the shadows and fight me," Jayne backed towards the street where there was more light.
"You have a lot of confidence for such a small child," he smirked.
"I'm not a child!" Jayne got in a stance ready to fight.
"We'll see about that," The man emerged from the shadows of the alley. His mouth and nose were under some wraps and he held a large sword in one hand.
The man launched his body towards her swinging his large sword. He was so quick Jayne didn't have much time to react. She quickly went on the defensive and threw a few hand signs together. A wall of ice rose between the two opponents. His sword crashed into the ice and shattered it. It was enough to protect Jayne but not enough to stop him. He raised his sword again and was ready to attack.
Jayne made a few quick hand signs and then blew a large force of water out of her mouth. Ice Release: Ice Bullets. The water pouring out of her mouth formed into senbon shaped ice and showered over her enemy. He was able to block most with his large sword but one or two were able to get by and graze his arms.
"Abby!" Kin finally got back on her feet. "That's Zabuza."
Jayne's eyes widened and the man scoffed, "I didn't realize I'd become so popular lately."
"Zabuza Mamochi? You were a friend of my father," Jayne said. She didn't want to say the Kushinada name here. Ayato said it would be dangerous and she wasn't stupid. She just hoped Zabuza wasn't either and he'd be able to figure it out.
"You have an ice release Kekkei Genkai. The only people I know with that are the Kushinada clan, who all happen to be dead. So who are you?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes. Her ice release caught his eye the moment she made that ice wall.
"I found a letter in my father's chest where you said you were his student. You said that you would be here at the waterfalls if he needed help," Jayne said hoping the letter would make him realize she was a Kushinada.
His narrowed eyes now widened, "You are Rindoh's kid? But that's not possible, the baby was reported to be killed in the massacre. How did you survive?"
"Er, well I don't know. But I've come to find you so you can tell me about my family and teach me my clan's jutsu. I know you can't perform ice release but you were close to my father and probably knew his jutsu. You can tell me how my father did it, like what kind of stances and techniques he used," Jayne rattled on.
Zabuza looked around their surroundings, "We can't talk about this here. Come with me to my base."
Kin spoke up again, "Hold on. We aren't going anywhere tonight. I worked hard to steal the money to pay for our room at the inn!"
Zabuza seemed amused by the pirate, "Then come to the third waterfall to the right at sunrise."
"Nuh-uh, check out is at 10. We are getting all our monies worth out of this place," Kin crossed her arms.
"We will be there as soon as we can after checking out," Jayne reasoned. She knew there was no coming between Kin and her money.
"Come ready to train. There is also someone I want you to meet," Zabuza said and then poofed out of sight.
"Let's go back. I need an explanation of what's going on so I'm not confused," Kin started to lead the way back to the Inn.
"Yeah, I will tell you all that I know once we get back. I'm sorry I lied about my identity. I just wasn't sure if I could trust you at the time," Jayne apologized. Once she had gotten to know Kin and they became friends, she felt bad about having lied to her. But it's what she had to do to stay safe. "My name is actually Jayne Kushinada."
"Well, it looks like you got a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Get some rest," She smiled. "Goodnight, Jayne."
*The next day*
Zabuza waited with his little ninja tool, also known as Haku, standing next to him. The young Kushinada girl and her busty friend appeared before them ready to train. He noticed the girl had a similar hairstyle to Haku but the back of her hair was tied in a loose braid while Haku had his usual bun. They had a similar face shape but Haku's eyes were rounder and dark brown. Being part of the Yuki clan meant his physical features were different enough from the Kushinada so nobody would expect his Kekkei Genkai. As for the Kushinada girl, she looked exactly like a Kushinada clan member. Those blue eyes and light brown hair. Zabuza kicked himself for not realizing it the moment her saw her. He just wasn't prepared to ever see a Kushinada again.
"Ready to train?" Zabuza asked.
"Wait, can't you tell me about my father first?" the girl asked.
"We can talk after training," Zabuza spoke sternly. He then pushed Haku a little bit forward, "This kid is going to train with you. "
Since they have the same Kekkei Genkai, Haku would get good training. Because of Zabuza's relationship with Rindoh, he will help the Kushinada girl the best he could, but who's to say he can't get a little something out of it as well. His little ninja tool will become much stronger.
Jayne looked a little confused as she stared at the boy, "Isn't he too young to be my sparring partner?"
"You're not sparring with him. You are training with him. Both learning the same thing."
"He has an ice release Kekkei Genkai?" The girl's eyes widened.
"He is a Yuki. The Kushinada and Yuki clans have the same Kekkei Genkai. Like you, he is the only one left," Zabuza said. He figured telling them they actually had a closer relationship would be distracting.
"Yuki? Wait, that was in the letters! My dad said he had a cousin in the Yuki clan who you were supposed to check in on every once in a while," the girl seemed proud of her memory.
Zabuza sighed. I guess I will tell them after all. "This is her son. So your second cousin."
Jayne stared at the young boy standing quietly next to Zabuza. Is this really my cousin? Am I not alone in the world? He looks like he is about the same age as Sasuke.
She approached the boy, "Hello, I'm Jayne. Let's work hard together to get stronger."
The boy who's been quiet until now finally spoke up, "My name is Haku. I look forward to training with you." He seemed a bit stiff and awkward, like he didn't talk much to other people.
Jayne pulled out the scrolls from her backpack that had the clan jutsu on them. She unrolled one and read it aloud, "Ice Release: Blasting Ice."
"Hold on. Before Ice comes water. Without water you can't create ice. You need to make sure you get good control of water release jutsu first," Zabuza said.
"I know a couple water jutsu. My sensei doesn't have a water affinity so he doesn't really know very many to teach me. Anything I do with my ice is something I've figured out naturally through training."
"Well I happen to be an expert. We will start with the water dragon bullet," Zabuza put together his hand signs and water began to raise from the nearby lake in the shape of a dragon. It had incredible force and speed as he shot it at one of the water clones.
"Wow," Jayne watched the incredible move. "Alright, let me try."
Kin was sitting on a nearby rock from where the training was happening. She sighed as the sun began to set. They've been at it all day and Jayne was already working on her third water jutsu. The smaller boy, Haku, struggled more due to his size and age and had to take more breaks.
Finally Zabuza said the words she'd been waiting to hear, "We are done for the day. It's starting to get dark and I'm sure everyone wants some food.
Kin felt her heart leap for joy at that word. Food. Something she hasn't had since early that morning for breakfast. She didn't want to interrupt their training to ask for food. No, she was too prideful to admit she was losing a battle against her stomach.
Zabuza led them to his hideout under the frozen waterfalls. There were some other thuggish looking men around and a communal dinner was already set up. Zabuza took them to his private dining quarters so they could finally discuss the topic Jayne had set out on her journey for.
"So, what do you want to know about your father?" Zabuza asked.
"Everything! But I guess you can start with how he was as a sensei," Jayne was excited. Kin felt happy for the girl, she wanted to know about her family so badly, which was understandable.
"Well, I'm sure you heard the story of how I graduated the academy. Killed every single one of my classmates," Zabuza paused to study the girls reaction.
Kin was proud at the poker face Jayne put on. Something the girl clearly learned from her.
Zabuza continued, "Your father was the only one who was willing to take me on as a student. He didn't care about my past but rather who I was then. Your parents both had a strange sense of optimism and he thought with the proper guidance someone, even like me, could do good. I did do pretty good, stayed out of trouble for a while.
"You're father always showed everyone respect even though he was much higher up on the cast system than them. That's part of the reason I never acted out against him. However, during my anbu days, I acted against the fourth Mizukage, when he was still new. I was immediately classified as a missing-nin and had hunter-nin chasing after me. Despite all of this, your father never gave up hope in me. We continued to exchange letters. After the massacre of your clan, a couple years later I tried my own coup and failed. Ever since then I've been laying low out here."
Jayne was listening intently to all that he was saying. "Do you know anything about my mother or brother?" she asked.
"I met your mother a few times. She was a kind women. I never got to meet your brother," Zabuza said.
Kin watched Jayne as she seemed to be deep in thought with a complex look across her face. Although Zabuza may have known her father, it didn't mean he was a good man. In fact, he really wasn't that good at all. If everything Kin has heard is true then they are lucky to be alive right now.
"Now you're a hired hand that lurks around waterfalls waiting to be paid to kill," Kin rolled her eyes.
She could see the grin under his mask, "I get to do something I enjoy while being paid a lot of money. No harm in that. I made enough money from my last kill that I could pay for your services for a whole month."
"Services?! Who the hell do you think I am?!" Kin raged and her blood boiled. Right now murder didn't sound like such a bad idea.
Jayne quickly stepped in between them before the situation got any worse, "I think it's about time we headed to bed. I have to get good sleep so I can train tomorrow."
Jayne quickly grabbed Kin's arm and dragged her away to the sleeping quarters they were given earlier. Kin was still fuming as she paced around the room muttering explicits at Zabuza.
Jayne sighed as she watched her friend, "I just need a little bit more help from Zabuza and then we can leave. I just need a couple more days."
Kin huffed, "I know. But he thinks he is getting any of my "services" he's got another thing coming!"
A/N: So I kind of lost my inspiration since I've become busy again. I working hard to finish this arch. If you guys have ideas for another I'd love to hear them! If not, I have a few things floating around in my head.
