Back in Iwa the three Chunin were given a B-rank mission. Their objective was to assassinate a missing-nin from the Hidden Mist named Zabuza Momochi who is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He is more commonly as the Demon of the Mist. He was said to be hiding out somewhere in Lightning Country, laying low after assassinating one of the two Feudal Lords in Bird Country.

Apparently some ninja from the Hidden Leaf are going to be working with the Iwa Chunin on this one. Lightning Country is very large but having Konoha and Iwa working together was quite unusual seeing as Iwa has launched multiple attacks against Konoha in the past and even started a war against them. Maybe the Tsuchikage and the Hokage were calling a truce.

The Tsuchikage had said that the Iwa Chunin are to meet up with the Konoha Chunin in Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds and then figure out how they are going to go about taking Zabuza out. So on their way they went, moving at top speed toward Lightning Country. Naruko didn't know why this mission was classed as a B-rank when it clearly should be A-rank or S-rank. But she was confident that she and her squad could take him out, especially with the help of Sora and the other spirits. She hadn't told Haruka or Sadao about her Kekkei Genkai because she didn't feel like she should. She didn't feel like she should trust them. Or anyone else. She had kept to herself ever since returning to Iwa, only ever speaking to Sora and a few other spirits. She only spoke to someone who was still alive when she had to. Otherwise her lips were sealed.

The three Iwa Chunin had not stopped moving since they had left which was yesterday so they stopped and rested at the first inn they came upon. They were in Rice Country, half way to their destination. They were up and moving even before the sun rose the next day and they had made it to Kumogakure at nightfall. They slept at an inn in Kumo from the moment they got there till noon the next day.

Shikamaru, Choji and Shino waited at the gates of Kumo for the Iwa Chunin to show up. Choji munched on some dango while Shino played with one of his bugs. Shikamaru was leaning against the wall, relaxing and thinking about how doing anything other than sleeping was such a drag when the Iwa Chunin showed up. "Hey, you're the ones that completely smashed it in the Chunin Exams." Choji said through a mouthful of dango.

"Yes, that was us. Me in particular though. I am fabulous, no need to tell me again." Sadao said, being his usual conceited self.

"You guys were awesome. I never knew that Iwa trained such great—"

"Anyway, we have a mission to complete so we should get to it." Shino said, interrupting Choji mid sentence. With that, the six Shinobi planned out what they were going to do. Shino and Choji were going to ask questions around the Hidden Cloud, Shikamaru and Sadao were going to go to the residences and villages surrounding the Hidden Cloud while Naruko and Haruka went to scout the areas that were not occupied by anyone.

Shikamaru was having a hard time keeping his cool while moving about with Sadao. All that Iwa Chunin ever talked about was Sadao, Sadao, and oh, Sadao. It made Shikamaru want to punch him in the face. But of course that would destroy his 'perfect' features. This is such a drag, Shikamaru thought, rolling his eyes. He would rather be anywhere else than here but he had to try and dig up as much information as he could. The two had already been to three different small villages outside of the Hidden Cloud but they had found nothing of interest. It was at the fourth that they finally got some sort of useful information.

They were at a tea house and they had asked a lady working there if she had heard any news about the Demon of the Mist.

"Well, rumour has it that he resides near one of the mountains to the west. That's just what I heard so I wouldn't listen to me." The plump lady said, smiling broadly at Shikamaru and Sadao. They thanked her and left, going to see if they could find out anything more.

Naruko had run away from Haruka so she could tell some of the many spirits that floated around them to search as far as they could and report back to her if they saw any signs of Zabuza Momochi. They nodded and left but Sora stayed at her side, as she knew he would have. With Sora with her she made her way back to Haruka.

"Why did you run off like that? We have a mission to complete." Haruka said, way too loudly.

Naruko just shrugged, "I felt like it." Haruka decided to just let the girl be. He had noticed that she didn't want anyone's company lately. She had even rejected her uncle and it looked like she wanted to seriously hurt someone when the three of them from Iwa had been travelling to get to Kumo. He wondered what was up. She never used to act like this.

Naruko kept her eyes wide open as she, Sora and Haruka looked for anything suspicious. Naruko really only wanted to be in the presence of those who were dead and not with anyone who was still alive. But she decided that she would put up with Haruka so that she wouldn't fail the mission. Naruko felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned her head so she could see the person. I was a spirit.

"Zabuza is one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, yes?" The spirit said. Naruko nodded. "Follow me." The spirit said before turning and going in the opposite direction that Naruko and the other two had been heading in.

"This way." Naruko called out to Haruka.

"But we are heading back to the Hidden Cloud. That's where we came from." Haruka argued. Naruko ignored Haruka, knowing that she didn't need his help to defeat Zabuza. Haruka followed her anyway. But when they got to the Hidden Cloud, Haruka broke away from Naruko and the two spirits. He was going to get the two Konoha Chunin who were in the village. When he found them he made them hurry so that they could catch up with Naruko. They had her in their sights pretty quickly. As they got closer to her, they could see that she was talking to herself. The three ninja looked at each other in confusion. As they passed another village, Sadao and Shikamaru joined them. They hung back and watched as Naruko spoke to herself as she travelled west. It was quite a sight. Naruko halted suddenly and hid amongst the thick leaves in a tree. The boys slowed down for a stealth approach, trying to see what had stopped Naruko dead in her tracks. They watched as she started talking to herself again. She nodded and then jumped down from the tree.

"Oh, Zabuza! Please will you come out?" Naruko said, smiling deviously. The boys didn't understand. Zabuza was nowhere in sight and there really was nowhere he could be hiding. Then out of nowhere, a giant sword sliced through the air, embedding itself in a tree. Zabuza jumped from wherever he was hiding and landed on the sword.

"You called?" Zabuza said.

Naruko smiled wider. "Hi."

Who was this girl trying to kid? Seriously, she should know that she was about to die. Zabuza jumped off his sword but caught the hilt on his way down to the ground, dislodging it from the tree.

"Dear child, meet Kubikiribocho." Zabuza said, holding up his sword and admiring the sharp blade. "Remember that name when you die." He said before charging. The girl still had that stupid smile on her face. Zabuza was almost in striking range of the grinning girl when he felt a sharp pain in his back. It felt like he had been stabbed. He was struck again and again until he could no longer stand and his clothes were soaked through with blood.

"Naruko and Sora! The Spirit Lord and her dead best friend." Naruko said, moving toward Zabuza. She held a kunai to his throat. "You remember those names when you die." She said before slitting Zabuza's throat. She picked up Zabuza's mighty sword and collected up the kunai that Sora had stabbed Zabuza with before giving Sora a high five. She thanked the spirit who had showed her where Zabuza was before turning to leave. When she turned around, sitting in the trees were the other five ninja who were on the mission with her. How could I have been so careless? Naruko thought as she stared wide eyed at the five ninja in the tree. She had known that Haruka had followed her for some time but she thought that he had stayed back at the Hidden Cloud. Obviously he had brought along the whole gang. Naruko felt like punching herself. She just ignored the five of them and made her way back to the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

Yay, Shikamaru's in this chapter! Everyone do the Shika-Shake! LOL :D

Thanks to all who read and reviewed, you guys are legends:D