Four Letter Words
Story Thus Far- The pursuing ANBU have been dealt with, and Naruto has been reunited with his beloved doll. Kin is starting to get annoyed by the constant attempts on her life and Haku is wondering how to explain everything to Zabuza-sama. Konoha continues to move on with life, returning to the everyday grind barely giving a thought to the missing demon container. On the border, a message is sent about a leg.
Chapter Nine: Team
It was still early in the morning, and yet somehow Leslie found herself trudging through the streets of Takara searching for a bar. Not just any bar, however, a bar that stayed open twenty-four seven. The former prostitute rubbed her shoulder as she debated which direction to go. She was looking for a respectable mercenary that would accept her form of payment, which was turning out to be surprisingly difficult. Oh, Naruto-sama, please guide your faithful servant!
Two drinking buddies were stumbling down the street, having just exited a hotel that catered to one night stays, singing about fat bottoms and rocking worlds. They passed the redhead with a few catcalls before taking a few more swigs from their wrapped bottles and continuing along their way. The redhead watched them for a moment while considering her options, and saw someone bash them on the head with a wooden board and steal their money.
Mind made up, Leslie decided to go down the street that didn't have robbers hiding in the shadows. She purchased a dango from a stand and read the names of the drinking establishments wishing she had enough cash to buy several bottles of good liquor. She had been up late cleaning her modest home, recently purchased with all her savings, and was feeling it in her limbs.
Smiling at the irony of it all, Leslie walked into a bar dubiously named The Devil's Hideaway. The door creaked when she entered. Several heads looked to see who would enter so early and unsurprised by the well stacked woman they returned to their mugs. Leslie sniffed the air; it smelled horrid, like the patrons hadn't bathed in weeks. For all she knew, they didn't.
She also knew that these were the only kind of people that would even think of accepting her offer.
Leslie marshaled her emotions and scanned the room. She moved to the bar and ordered a shot of sake while using the back mirror to reapply some blush. It was early, and yet she had to look her best for her plan to work. Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.
"Thank you." Leslie sipped the drink, thankful that the rice wine was so incredibly cheap in the country where the main ingredient was its major export. They had plenty.
"How you doing, Miss?" The voice had a slur, but Leslie was fairly certain it was natural rather than from inebriation.
Leslie cracked her neck, a very unladylike action, and replied. "Perfectly fine." She then ignored him with the practiced ease of a woman that had been using and been used by men for years. There were some benefits of her profession, after all.
The woman sighed and rose to leave the establishment, convinced that what she was seeking could not be found, when she saw him. The man was in the back, partially hidden by shadows cast by a guttering lamp, but once the woman spied him he stood out like a wolf among sheep. Judging from his clothes that might have been exactly what he was.
Leslie smacked roaming hands away with her good one as she made her way to the table. "Good morning, sir." Prim and proper time.
He did not respond, and truthfully Leslie did not expect it the first time around.
Now that she was closer, Leslie could see that his clothing had several rips probably from battles. His katana reminded her of her angel and inspiration, which further cinched her decision. The man had obviously been sent to assist her; he just didn't know it yet. Leslie chewed on a finger cutely and inquired about his morning.
The man didn't move, but Leslie felt his gaze shift to her. After six bars, two gambling halls, and one bathhouse (she hadn't quite figured out what made her try that) she had finally found the man she needed. "I don't have anything you would want."
It was said in a tone that carried weariness, the voice of someone who had lost everything but the clothes on his back and fought simply to keep those. He was going through life, but it held no more purpose for him, about how Leslie was when she had been stuck in her rut working for Tsuki. That had nearly killed her but she survived and had a new purpose.
"Yes. Yes you do." Leslie gave him a soft smile. "Leslie Fujiko."
The man blinked and opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it quickly with a sigh. Oh, they took his name, too? That's really bad... or does he just not want to give it? Doesn't matter for me, all I want are his skills. "Ronin?" Her voice was a barely audible whisper, but by the way the man tensed she had been clearly heard. "That's fine with me, you'll find people around here aren't too concerned with samurai. They prefer their," she let dislike drip into her speech. "Ninjas."
"Ninja, honorless bastards." That was something the two of them could agree on, after the incident the other day when they came to her house Leslie found she didn't think as highly of them as she once had. Their seemingly super-human abilities were very cool, but their attitude left something to be desired. With a mutual dislike of shinobi as a grounding point the two people began to discuss other matters.
"What did you do, if you don't mind my asking?"
The samurai leaned back and actually examined the woman. Who was she to come barging into his misery and ask questions? What was she planning with those soft, luscious curves? His attention drifted to her bandaged wrist. Who would do such harm to a woman?
"I failed in my duty, that is all that matters." He sipped from his cup and his shoulders sagged. Leslie hummed and thought.
"But you are skilled, despite having failed, yes?"
It was like a dark cloud was hanging over the man. "No amount of skill could have helped..."
The red head motioned for another drink. "Well, I need someone who can at least pretend to have skill. A guard, if you will." Here she subtlety drew attention to her damaged wrist. As far as the samurai would know she was just a beautiful woman in a bad town that needed protection. "Things have been getting worse here ever since the daimyo allowed that hidden village to be founded."
"You are asking for my services?" It came out in a dead pan. Apparently the man wasn't so down on his luck that his faculties had completely left him. He knew she was hiding something. All the better to have a thinking man.
"Yes. You know your way around a sword, which is just what I need. Now I can't pay much... really just food and board... maybe a little extra..." the last was said in a whisper as she hinted at what a little extra entailed. The samurai looked as if he was seriously considering it before dismissing the thought.
"I'm afraid I must decline your offer. I might do a few odd jobs but I cannot-"
"Do you have a place to go? A home to return to?" She spat out the words with slight disbelief, but it was barely detectable.
The samurai paused. He had been planning, after his failure to his master and subsequent ousting, to simply travel from place to place until he died. Maybe learn a few new tricks, but mostly wander aimlessly. Who would really want a former in their entourage anyway? He had a few temporary escort jobs from those too poor to pay shinobi, but all in all he'd been left alone. Now there was a woman that was offering him a roof over his head... "Not anymore."
Leslie slammed her drink down and stood up. "I don't care about what you've done, or how many you killed or whatever! I need a man that can fight, that can get the job done and won't be sneaky about it! I need you samurai, and unless your status detracts from your skill I could care less. You won't be fired if another comes along with a better pedigree, I assure you."
Somewhat startled, the samurai stared at the woman. Slowly he pushed his chair back and stood up, heedless of the people watching them. He bowed to the woman that had hired him. "I accept your offer, Fujiko-san."
Leslie smiled and began heading towards the door as the samurai followed her. "What shall I call you?"
"Whatever pleases you, My Lady."
Walking past a table of poker players, Leslie only felt a slight breeze by her bottom before her thoughts were interrupted by a scream. Whirling, the woman greeted the sight of her samurai sheathing his katana as one of the poker players whimpered and clutched at his stump of an arm.
"He was going to molest you, Lady."
Leslie beamed. "Well then, good job... Samurai-san." It was the start of a legend, but they didn't know that.
Haku had a decent beside manner, but his fingers were ridiculously cold. Kin fought down a shiver as the ice user prodded at her bruises and applied more numbing salve to them. Most of her cuts had healed up (her arm was permanently scarred), but her ribs were still in the 'floating around' stage. It would be a while before they remained stationary long enough to fully heal.
"Naruto-kun, don't kill Usa-chan." Haku murmured as he leaned away from his patient and reached for fresh bandages.
Naruto stuck out his tongue and cuddled the white snow rabbit closer to his chest. "I'm not going to kill her." He then proceeded to stroke the captive rabbit's ears. It kicked half-heartedly, already growing used to the treatment, before going limp in the demon vessels arms.
Kin grunted as Haku tightened the bandages and tied them in place. "Now, I really must insist you don't go into battle, if you do those ribs will never set properly." The missing-nin smiled.
There was a grunt from the corner. Zabuza was sitting at the desk looking over the Scroll of Seals with interest, but he had made it no secret he thought Kin was a waste of space. After the fight with the ANBU Haku and Naruto had dragged her to the small cabin to heal. When Zabuza opened the door Kin nearly had a heart attack.
She recognized him from the Sound's bingo books as the Demon of the Bloody Mist, the civilian that wiped out an entire generation of shinobi hopefuls. The fact that he was a renegade ninja and boss of Haku didn't help to still her fears. The man took one look at her and scoffed. "She may be a kunoichi, but she's a piss-poor one. Useless."
Naruto on the other hand had something to offer the man, and after hearing that Kin and the blonde were connected he decided to spare her life. She was being largely ignored by the mercenary. Currently Zabuza was reading Naruto's scroll, as the boy didn't care who read it so long as they didn't carry it off. Zabuza was taking full advantage of that fact. "Haku, next time we're close to a town get some seal ink."
"Yes, Zabuza-sama."
"Boy, have you learned anything from this?" The gruff voice asked, and Kin found herself paying attention. Despite his obvious nonchalant attitude there were inflections in his speech that told the Sound trained shinobi much about his thoughts.
Naruto held the rabbit up by it's front paws and made it dance over to Kin's bed. "Yeah. I'm good with the Shadow Clone. The rest of the shadow stuff I don't like, and that's as far as I've read. Up! Up! Usa-chan!"
Not needing to be told twice, the rabbit slipped from the boys grip and leapt up to the bed and into the safety of Kin's arms. The girl rubbed the animals head and worried. The swordsman sounded excited, almost like a kid in a candy store.
"How many can you make?"
"What? Shadow Clones? I dunno, I never count them, it's too much trouble... but I've never been unable to make more!" Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Is that good?"
Zabuza let out a deep laugh and rolled up the scroll. "That's great. You must have more chakra than me... great. Haku, where did you find this kid?"
"While gathering herbs. As I understand it Hunter-nin from Konoha were after him."
The man propped his chin in his hand. Naruto wondered how he could talk without his voice being muffled by the bandages, which led him to wonder why the man wore them in the first place. It was several seconds before his mind caught up with the question and formulated an answer. Annoyance tinged his words. "I'm not a ninja."
Even Haku was surprised by that statement. Zabuza cracked his neck. "What do you mean?"
"I failed the genin test...four times. Then I left with the scroll."
Zabuza leaned back as he recalled what the genin test had once been for Kiri. It had been a silly technicality that denied him entrance into the academy, but after surpassing all their students they had been forced to allow him into their ranks. Perhaps some similar bias had been working against the kid. "That must have been a difficult test. Who did you have to fight?"
Naruto shook his head in agitation. "No one. I had to make three bushin."
"Three? I thought you said you had no trouble making those?" Something's up with this kid. The missing-nin closed his eyes momentarily and focused on sensing chakra. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but when he actively looked for it the blonde brat was like an explosive tag set to go off.
"No. I can make Kage Bushin just fine." Naruto stood and walked over to his fox plush. "I just can't do bushin. For some reason they turn out all dead or deformed."
Zabuza went out of his chakra-sensing mode with a new appreciation for the small boy. He was no expert in chakra manipulation or types, but he was an assassin by trade and had learned the tricks of being the best. One was the ability to locate your target at night, or in dense fog. Sensing differences in chakra was difficult, but like how a seasoned shinobi could fight an opponent and estimate their capacity Zabuza could sense each person's individual signature.
Naruto's happened to be a scary thing, because it was far from normal. It's no wonder the kid couldn't make a simple clone, his chakra isn't near stable enough for such a weak jutsu. His chakra practically moves by itself!
The large shinobi watched the blonde child as he played with his toy, grinning beneath the layers of bandages. He was innocent, almost like Haku. He was also a freakish powerhouse, and the missing-nin was fairly certain it had to do with a bloodline. It wasn't like the average ninja showed up with chakra that had a mind of its own.
Heh. Two bloodline carriers under my command. With a little training...
Zabuza shut down that line of thought and turned back to the scroll. He would consider his vengeance later, first he had a mission to do. Shadow clone, uses more chakra than my water one, but it does have some advantages. Self-awareness, better to adapt to a given situation, can even eat and interact with others. Oh? Original purpose was to get out of doing paperwork? Heh. Can't believe they didn't even bother to code this thing...
"Well, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time?" A silver haired jounin asked amiably. Saukra glanced at her teammates, and felt her eyebrow twitch. While she was happy -ecstatic even- that she had been put in a group with Sasuke she felt slightly out of her depth. Their new sensei was smiling with his one visible eye crinkled from the force of it.
Her other teammate, a boy with freakishly pale skin and dark smooth hair returned the smile. It was the exact same facial expression, only it held no warmth in it. Sakura laughed uneasily. "Um. What are we supposed to say?"
The jounin shrugged. "Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that."
The pink haired kunoichi wanna-be nodded. She glanced at Sasuke fully expecting her crush to take the initiative as he had always done in class. When the Uchiha failed to move she switched her attention to the new boy. He hadn't changed, and she certainly didn't want to start. "Why don't you tell us stuff first, sensei, so we can see how it's supposed to work?"
The man pointed to himself lazily and rested against the rail lining the roof. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future... hadn't really thought about it. As for my hobbies? I have lots of hobbies."
All we learned was his name! The sole female of the group sighed and risked a peek at her teammates. Why were they not reacting to this man? He was infuriating! Then again... Sasuke's coolness was what attracted her in the first place. His ability to remain level headed and aloof was second to none in their class, the prime example of a ninja. Her light green eyes shifted to the paler boy. Sai's face was a mask of pleasant indifference, and the blade handle poking over his shoulder added a certain mystery about him that Sakura found herself drawn to. No! My love only belongs to Sasuke! Sasuke!
Kakashi, despite his lazy attitude, began to grow impatient with his new team. "Alright. Girl. You go first."
He probably picked me because I'm the only one that's talked this whole time. Damnit! She smiled, easily concealing the feelings her 'inner voice' expressed. "I'm Sakura Haruno! I like," her cheeks mimicked her hair. "My hobby is, ah," a giggle. "My dream is to marry a strong man..." Sakura squealed as her hands came up to cover her face as her whole face went red from embarrassment. Damnit! What if Sasuke thinks I'm weird now! Stupid Sensei! I hate him!
Unaware of the pink haired genin's newfound ire for him, Kakashi rolled his eye over to her while wondering what happened to the quality of kunoichi. I guess girls her age are more concerned with boys than training. Shame. "And what do you hate?"
In a different time and place, in another universe, Sakura Haruno would respond to this question with the first thing that came to mind. That thing was a certain blonde, blue eyed demon container. In this universe, Sakura hadn't seen the usual suspect of her anger for several days and as such had not thought about him. She was an out-of-sight-out-of-mind girl. In a sudden fit of ripe annoyance Id (inner) Sakura launched to the forefront and delivered an answer with absolute sincerity before the Ego (outer) could restrain it. "You."
The jounin blinked and scratched the back of his worriedly. Not for himself, he could take down the greenhorn in a split second, but more for her sanity. After watching her emotions fly from calm genin to lovesick fan-girl to murderous wench in two minutes he supposed something was up. If he wasn't confident the three would fail his genin test like every other group he had he might of suggested she go in for psychological testing. As it was Kakashi was known for several things, among them unparallel laziness. "You next."
Sasuke didn't even look up to address the silver haired man. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and obliterate a certain someone."
Sakura's mouth popped open in mild shock at the statement. When had Sasuke gotten so bloodthirsty? I hope he wasn't talking about me. Then again... that's kind of hot. Sasuke you're so cool!
Kakashi appeared unmoved by the statement. As expected.
The new boy smiled at Sasuke, and for a moment Sakura's mind held a flash of insight. She could see all three males standing together, each with a story behind them that had some significance. Sasuke and the new boy were the same. She should-!
Sakura shook her as the pale kid began talking after being prompted, and lost whatever life altering idea had come from her mind.
"I am called Sai. I do not like anything, but nor do I hate anything. My hobby is drawing. I have no dreams or ambitions."
Wow. He's... sexy. Sakura's eyes trailed down the speakers chest to his exposed abs. I wonder what Sasuke would look like in that.
Their sensei clapped his hands. "Good. You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." He pushed himself off the railing and turned to leave.
Sakura stood. "Um. Kaka-sensei, what kind of mission are we going to have?" Sakura put her hands behind her back in an effort to conceal her nervous twitching. To her mind it was a little soon for them to be going out on missions, and he should have to decency to tell them what to bring!
"It's a mission that the four of us will perform together. Survival training."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. The man was starting to get on his nerves too. "We already did that in the academy."
"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi laughed. He could see the team was destined for failure. Sai might realize what was going on, as well as Sakura, but the Uchiha would drag them down. He didn't think he needed help. "Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will actually be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a pass-or-fail test and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent. Be at the designated training zone at 6 a.m. And bring your shinobi gear." He brought his hands together in to form a sign, "Oh. and don't eat breakfast or you'll puke."
Sasuke fought down rage, his hands shaking. Sakura watched the jounin vanish in a swirl of leaves while wrestling with her own anger. Sai remained passive and stood to leave. "I shall see you two, in the morning? Sasuke-san. Sakura-san."
The pink haired girl glanced up blushing. "Yeah. Sure. Good luck, Sai-san."
Sasuke grunted still staring at the point where their sensei had vanished from. Sakura brought her hands up to her chin and glanced from Sai's departure point to Sasuke. Should she stay with her true love, or go home?
"Sakura."
He spoke to her! She smiled coyly. There was always the chance that he had been waiting for them to be alone. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"
"I hate that man."
Sakura paused and sat down next to the Uchiha, following his gaze. He didn't appear to be shuffling away from her. True love found in mutual hate! Alright! She pulled her legs to her chest and thought. "If we can't eat breakfast, we'll have to eat a big dinner."
Sasuke grunted. The two of them sat in silent contemplation trying to puzzle out what survival training entailed.
Sai left his new team at a leisurely pace, though once he was out of ear-shot he nodded toward a masked shinobi. The posture told him who it was, a fellow Root member. The masked man made several hand motions. Leader expects your presence.
Sai's crossed fingers made a circular motion. Understood. After all, they were in the open and one could never be certain who was listening in. Sai quickly took to the shadows and ghosted beside the masked ninja. They were nothing more than a pair of dark spots traveling across rooftops. At the Hokage tower the nameless Root member broke off and while Sai entered the building and headed down to the lower levels.
"They call you Sai now. A good name for a weapon such as yourself."
Sai turned his false smile on the old man who had spoken. An eye patch and multiple scars marked him as a veteran of countless ninja battles. "Danzo-sama."
"Don't give me that fake grin."
"I apologize, Danzo-sama. I try, but I'm afraid my efforts result in sub-standard quality. I'm not sure why." The pale boy's face went slack while his voice became near monotone from lack of emotion.
The old man raised a hand and waved off the matter. He walked out into the room. "That does not matter. Your placement can be of some benefit to Ne. The last Uchiha... I do not need to impress on you the importance of that line to Konoha. Who is the sensei?"
"Kakashi Hatake."
The old man rubbed his chin smirking. "Interesting. This is good news. Sarutobi thinks this will hamper me... he thinks he can out maneuver me. Not likely. Sai! You will remain on Team Seven, you will watch the Uchiha and see that the sharingan is not lost to us. In fact... encourage it's spread. There is a kunoichi on the team, correct?"
"Correct."
"Perfect. Now listen, Kakashi has a reputation for testing on teamwork. You'll have to get them to help each other and take down the Copy nin together..."
The short paper was a welcome excuse for a trip. Kotaro folded the message and slipped it into his robes with a flourish. "Well, well, well. Kurumi dear! Get the bags!" The old puppet maker cheered as he practically danced down the stairs.
His apprentice let out a squeak as the man took her hands and began waltzing around the room. "K-Kotaro-san! What's going on?"
"Vacation my dear! Vacation!" He raised his arm and spun her around before sending the slight girl into a stuffed sofa. Kotaro pulled his pipe from a pouch in his sleeve and lit it. "I'll be out of this blasted desert and in a forest. Konoha! Village hidden in the leaves, should have been called village hidden in the hot springs."
Kurumi straightened her light blue robes and tried to catch her breath. She was not used to dancing over furniture. She never had any form of shinobi training, unlike her master who had been considered for genin before quitting the academy in favor of work in the puppet arts. "We are going to a hot springs?"
Kotaro held a hand to his heart. He just knew the girl would be disappointed with his next statement. "Ah. So sorry Kurumi dear. You can't come."
Her lip quivered. "W-why not K-Kotaro-san? D-Did I do something wrong?"
Maybe I should stop accepting them based on cuteness. She's been talking to Haruhi, learning about my weakness. Hah! Clever girls. The sofa sagged slightly as the man sat next to the girl. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Now, now Kurumi dear. It was nothing you did. It simply isn't possible to make a get-away with you, someone needs to cover for me."
Kurumi looked at her knees with a pout. "What do you mean? Why would someone need to cover for you? It's a legitimate business thing, right?"
"Well yes. But you know how picky and annoying bureaucracy can be. With the recent, ah, tensions between Sand and the Leaf it'll take a week for me to get the papers to get out of the country! There's some poor slob that needs my help!" Kotaro finished his speech with shining eyes.
You just don't like the sand. The young girl took his word with a grain of salt, but quickly realized there was no dissuading her master. "How am I supposed to cover for you?"
The old man rubbed his hands together and grinned. "We ARE puppetmakers. I've designed the perfect disguise for you. If anyone enters the shop you can take their orders and use a little puppet I've set up to act as me."
"...Kotaro-san, I don't know puppetry!"
"Nonsense! Of course you do, just keep the lighting dim and no one will realize you're using real wires instead of chakra strings. Now, let us go pack. I'll think I'll take the models 23 and 44 legs. And some arms.." he glanced at the slip of paper before stuffing it back in his robe. "or not. A couple hands just in case though. Save space. Kurumi-dear! The bags!"
She jumped off the couch and rushed to the assembly room. "I'm on it, Kotaro-san."
"Haku, you'll pose as a woman while I henge into... yes?" Zabuza asked with quiet hostility. He had been explaining the plan to his protégé, when said boy raised his hand in question. It was a strange and seldom seen occurrence. Haku was a genius ninja though most of that could have been because of his bloodline. Zabuza was a master or sneak attacks and planning.
Completely at ease with the situation, Haku gestured to Naruto who had thus far been excluded from the briefing and was content to pet his stuffed fox occasionally glancing at the Scroll of Seals. "I believe that Naruto-kun will make a much better woman than I." Zabuza wondered if the earlier ANBU battle had knocked a few screws loose in the effeminate boy's mind. "Hear me out Zabuza-sama. While I posses natural traits that allow me to resemble a female... Naruto has a technique that can withstand any scrutiny. Naruto-kun?"
The blonde looked up, but judging from the oblivious grin on his face he had not been paying the slightest attention to the two seasoned shinobi's discussion. "Yeah?"
Haku stifled a chuckle. After the dreary, I-want-to-kill-everything attitude of the demon brothers and the constant damn-why-won't-mizukage-leave-me-the-fuck-alone grumblings of his master Naruto's I-want-to-hey-look-a-butterfly hyperness was a welcome change. "Would you please demonstrate the technique you used to comfort Kin in the woods?"
That little statement caused Zabuza to sneer beneath his mask. Further proof the girl was useless.
Naruto stared with wide eyes at Haku. For the moment all thoughts of Kyuu, learning new jutsu, the strange messages of his conscience, and ramen flew from his head. Haku wanted to see the Sexy no Jutsu, his sole original technique. His mouth opened to form a little 'oh'.
No one in the history of it's invention had asked to see it. Once used, men would yell at him for using such a dirty trick and forbid it. Women would gasp then quickly recover their wits as they pummeled him into the ground. These reactions had confused Naruto for a long time as Sexy no Jutsu was a great tactic in battle. How many people would, even if only for a split second, pause in shock/surprise as a well built naked woman appeared on the field?
Tears gathered in Naruto's eyes. Any misgivings he felt about Haku's friend disappeared as he realized the jounin was waiting expectantly. "Y-You really want to see it?!"
Haku smiled and nodded.
"Alright! Here goes!" Naruto jumped up and brought his hands together. "SEXY NO JUTSU!" Red hot chakra wormed it's way through his system and his body became like play-doh as it morphed. Breasts grew larger and round, average lips became full. His hair lengthened while a bit of chakra morphed into hair ties to hold it back.
As everything happened in less than a second behind a wall of white cloud, neither missing-nin found the thing disgusting or strange.
Zabuza gave a wolf whistle to the cloud concealed naked woman. The kid deserved it to be able to mimic the female form that well at his age. "Looks nice. I'll grant you that, but some of the guards have experience with shinobi. They'll see the discrepancies in the illusion soon enough and make things harder. No, Haku can take the position."
Naruto crossed her arms beneath her breasts, which incidentally lifted them dangerously close to the top of the cloud cover. "Excuuuse me? My Sexy technique is unbeatable! No stupid guard will see through it! It can't be seen through!"
Perhaps he failed his genin test because he was truly stupid? "Listen brat, it's only an illusion and unless-"
"IT'S NOT AN ILLUSION!!"
"...care to repeat that?"
Naruto marched over to the large man with anger in her eyes. Sexy technique was her pride and joy, and she would not let anyone call it a mere 'illusion'. Illusion my ass! With that thought Naruto took Zabuza's hand, a move any other ninja would have recognized as suicidal, and placed it against her bottom.
As Kin watched the scene unfold in muted horror form her bed, two things happened. The feared demon of the bloody mist visibly blushed and giggled as his hands roamed over the ample curves of Naruto lingering on her breasts. Naruto herself stared defiantly at the man daring him to find a fault in the technique, not even considering that the man's actions easily crossed the boundary into molestation.
Zabuza's brilliant mind finally threw off the effects of SNFS (sudden naked female syndrome) and came to a several conclusions. "I'm convinced. Naruto, you will take Haku's place and Haku, you will hang back and take out anyone that manages to sneak past us. This is some bloodline you got here, brat. Practically ensures that it's carried on. Probably comes with a higher healing rate too."
"Bloodline?"
The two other black haired ninja's in the room leaned over to listen in. "Bloodline. Has to be. It would be physically impossible any other way."
Confused, female Naruto stepped back. "What do you mean?"
Haku stepped in and gave Naruto a pat on the arm thinking that the boy turned girl may be afraid of kekkai genkai prejudice. "Even a normal shinobi can't change that much. We make illusions to look different, but to change a body that drastically that quick would put too much stress on it and... self destruct. You are very special Naruto-kun."
Zabuza grabbed his sword. He could have gone into deeper detail, but both nin instinctively knew anything more would shot far over the blondes head. "Change into the pink kimono. Make sure it's off the shoulder, and pretend to be a little drunk. We don't want them to suspect anything until after we start killing."
Kyuubi laughed. The sound shifted from high pitched yips to deep booming bellows. It just couldn't stop. The whole situation just kept getting better and better for the imprisoned demon fox. "Oh that's rich! I thought he might have tried to jump the boy there for a second but... bloodline ability! Hah! My work's practically taking care of itself... Ahahaha!"
As the demon fox continued to beat a paw against the floor in a fit of laughter, a thin paper-seeming seal cracked.
Naruto leaned against Zabuza as the two of them walked toward the wherehouse. It felt weird holding the older man's arm. There was a tingle where they touched from the henge Zabuza was under, and if Naruto didn't match her pace just right the overlap would become obvious. It normally takes lots of team training to match another so well. I guess that means I'm a natural... girl? Ew!
"Oi, Shinji-sama! You finally decide to drop the ice-bitch?" One of the guards called with a lazy smile. He made no attempt to hide his ogling of Naruto, and the blonde couldn't blame him. She was dead sexy.
"Not quite. I was hoping Sakura-chan here could teach the bitch a thing or two." Zabuza replied easily, his voice pitched higher than usual. The guards nodded and allowed them in. Naruto jumped when one reached for her backside. Haku's gonna kill him. Heh. "Sakura."
"I'm fine, Shinji-kun!" Naruto flashed a smile at a low-class thug watching them. Under the guise of adjusting her robe, the shoulder had fallen far too low for modesty, Naruto scattered a few pebbles along the hallway. It would have been better if she could progress to making shadow clones without hand seals but since she couldn't several clones had transformed into small decorative rocks and sat waiting in her purse.
Zabuza had already created some twenty water clones in the time they had entered the building. Wearing the face of yesterday's kill, the assassin groaned. "Damn hangover. You got any painkiller in that bag, Sakura-chan?"
It was kinda fun for the demon container. She didn't think the serious Zabuza would be so good at acting. The blonde pulled open the drawstrings and appeared to shuffle through it as they approached the center of the complex and their goal.
"Ne! Shinji-sama, your father wants a word with you." A thug that had obviously seen some heavy action commented, his one eye roving over the couple.
Naruto stuck her tongue out at the man. "Oh poo! I called Shinji-kun first!"
"Now, dear."
That was the signal. Instead of using the agreed upon name of Sakura-chan he called her dear. Naruto released her hold on Zabuza's arm and tipped forward, her purse falling open. "My bag!"
At Naruto's outburst the thug turned, and Zabuza impaled the man on his sword. Blue and orange marbles rolled along the floor and turned into male and female Narutos that jumped up and ran to scour the building.
Red eyes watched as Hinata moved back and forth across the river in a complicated dance. Every once in a while a splash of deadly blue chakra could be seen leaving her hands; it was an exercise in both control and strength. The Hyuuga shifted the output in her body from her feet and cart wheeled across the water.
"It's kinda weird, sensei."
"How so?" Kurenai asked Kiba as they watched their teammate go through her chakra control routine. The genjutsu mistress had them all start with water-walking as the survival test. They had to all be able to do it decently by the end of the day. Including Akamaru.
Kiba scratched his nose. "Well, I knew Hinata back in the academy, and she was always quiet. Real introvert, ya know? Now... well she's still quiet but she's kinda dead. I remember she used to blush a lot and really freak out if anyone tried to start a conversation with her. I liked her because she wasn't always hanging off of Sasuke."
Kurenai hummed and her eyes flicked to the side where Shino had emerged from the brush, a butterfly perched on a finger. He took his seat on the other side of Kurenai away from Kiba, the dog user had yet to get used to the constant buzzing of the other boy's hive, and turned his attention to the dancing girl on the river.
The woman closed her eyes. She would not normally share private information about another Konoha shinobi, but they were her teammates. "It's good of you to worry about a teammate, Kiba, but I doubt there's anything you can do. I don't want to go into details as it's really Hinata's place to tell, but I did visit with her father yesterday." Kiba nodded, his mother had gotten a visit from her as well. It was a little odd coming home to see the two lead females in his life sharing a drink, but it had made sense. Kurenai felt that she should as least meet with the parents of the genin she was commanding. "From what I observed, they do not have a... pleasant... relationship. The Hyuuga is not a loving, happy, or supporting family." She flashed Kiba a smile. "But you've known her longer, so maybe you can find a way to help."
Kiba shook the melancholy air off and grinned back at his sensei. "I guess. She's really good at that, huh?"
Shino's voice was a near monotone, with a light background buzz. It still freaked Kiba out but he was getting used to it. "The Hyuuga fighting style requires extreme precision and control, Hinata was the best of us at water walking for a reason."
"Well, yeah. But look at that. I could have sworn I saw some of the water pick up just now."
"Perhaps her element is water."
That gave Kurenai an idea. "Well why don't we find out? Hinata! Come in!"
The short haired girl tumbled out of a flip and dropped onto the water, crouching. "Coming sensei!" She ran along the water, her sandals dipping into the current. Her reserves were running low after the exercise, and the loss of perfect control showed it.
Kurenai stood and examined her students. Shino was offering the butterfly to Hinata, who blushed momentarily like her old self and stammered a thank you as the orange monarch walked over to her hands. Kiba watched the exchanged with a jealous eye. He was a good kid, but he simply didn't know how to deal with distraught women. Shino on the other hand... well. If it weren't for the stigma of being an Aburame she was certain he would be a lady killer.
"Alright. This is a little early, but as you all have good control I've decided that you three are going to get tested for affinities."
Hinata glanced up from the insect. It's proboscis was tickling her fingers as it lapped at her sweat. "Affinities?"
"Yes." The raven haired teacher entered lecture mode. "Some, not all, shinobi have a certain affinity for an element. As you know there are five chakra bases that are mixed in different amounts to perform different jutsu. We are going to test to see if any of you have one."
Kiba grinned as Akamaru climbed on top of his head. "We can take anything you throw at us, sensei!"
"I'm not going to be throwing anything at you. It's a simple test. There are special slips of paper that when you channel chakra into them they tell you what your element is. Tomorrow meet at training field 34, they'll be waiting for you at the end of an obstacle course. Dismissed!"
The three students bowed and headed off to their respective homes though there was a definite drag in the girl's step. Having taken what his teacher said to heart, Kiba paused. "Eh. Hinata."
"Yes, Kiba-kun?"
"Would you, like to come over for dinner?" Akamaru barked something at him, and the Inuzuka turned red for a minute before muttering something back and turning to Shino who had gotten some distance. "Oi! You're invited too, Shino!"
The Aburame stopped. "Accepted."
Hinata rested her hand on her shoulder and let the colorful insect climb onto it so her hands would be free. She didn't want to go home. There she would be ridiculed for trying to do the impossible, improve, or be ignored. "I would like that, Kiba-kun." Maybe she could convince them to spar with her after dinner?
As the three walked off Kurenai smiled to herself. Now that's how a team is supposed to act!
The rough, hastily scribbled words on the report gave Ibiki a headache. All the usual signs of false tales had been undetectable and if Umino's description was true the interrogator couldn't blame Kyo. With his pupils stretched the max, constantly, it was hard to tell if there had been any dilation. Hyped up on relaxation drugs the ninja wouldn't increase blood pressure either.
Then there were the drugs themselves to consider. He would have to find a way to wrangle the chunin's medical report out of the nurses. If he knew just what they were pumping into his suspect he may be able to figure out what reactions could be considered true or drug induced. I hate tradition.
He shuffled to the next page, noting with bemusement that the handwriting had suddenly become much clearer when dealing with conversation. Guy uses the kids name, not 'demon brat', 'boy', or 'my student'. Makes the issue personal. If that's the case he could just be delusional. He might actually believe everything he says is true, even if it's not. Denial. Damn. I hate dealing with head cases.
Ibiki leaned back and pulled a flask from his pocket. As old and as scarred as he was, people tended to overlook some of his more paranoid habits. After all, the shinobi of old were a bunch of sneaky bastards and he wouldn't put it past a traditionalist to try poisoning first. He took a sip from the flask and replaced it while his eyes continued to scan the dialogue and footnotes. Guy gets annoyed when you try to contradict him. He probably was aware of the true purpose behind this whole thing. Clever. If he turns out clean he'd make a good recruit and those eyes of his will be a plus to intimidation.
He keeps trying to implicate this 'Mizuki' character. I recall a Mizuki, light blue hair, I think. Odd one. Hmm. Ibiki pressed down on the intercom and after a beep his door opened to admit a woman in a skin tight body suit and boots. One of his lesser known jounin, torture division. She was also rather good at gathering intel when in civilian garb. "Onna, find out about this Mizuki. Who he hung out with, what were his habits, especially his mission files." Now I remember. Little bastard had one of the most questionable records before becoming a teacher. "Oh, and see if you can search the house of Umino Iruka, but leave it intact. I want to see if he left any plans about the scroll incident."
The woman saluted, brushing her hair back with the action to revel a small scar. Ibiki nodded and she turned abruptly, vanishing into the shadows. Onna was a woman who said very little unless assignment required it. She had a frosty attitude completely at odds with her old self.
Hn. Old self. Hard to believe after a senbon to the frontal lobe she'd go from bubbly inexperienced genin to cold hearted killer. Ah well. Less work for me!
It looked like a war zone and truthfully it was. The sound jounin leapt from his perch on a tree branch to examine the area. He gave an appreciative whistle toward one of the bodies as it was half dissolved. One of his favorites was the boy with the straw cloak. He had a wound that turned black as the skin around it had bubbled and dissolved. "I wonder what kind of jutsu does that."
"Looks like acid, maybe Mist? Acid is watery." The first man was joined by a second and third. The two newcomers explored the devastated area with a cynical eye. One prodded a blood covered chest with his foot.
"This one's missing a heart. Whoever did it was brutal."
"So, ah, how do we write this up?" The first man asked as he produced a small notepad from his ninja pouch. He tapped the top of the pen and made a few marks. "Complete and utter failure?"
"Well, they are all dead. What else can you call it?"
One of the Jounin shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "They were just genin, cannon fodder. Orochimaru-sama won't care at this point... though some of these wounds do look interesting. Get some chunin out here to retrieve the bodies."
The note was made, and the sound ninja ripped the sheet out and crumpled it in his fingers. A burst of chakra and the paper was gone and in it's place was a grey colored clay ball. "They'll be out here shortly." Kawarimi on a small scale was extremely useful, the only problem was the smaller the target the greater control required.
"Wait a sec." The third man paused and began counting the corpses. "We're missing one. There was a girl, Kin. Her body hasn't been found yet."
"So? She could have been buried with an earth technique, or burned to a crisp."
"What if she's alive?"
The ninja with the notepad answered somewhat bored. At this point all he cared about was returning to base and getting some much deserved rest. He'd spent all night and the majority of the day looking for their wayward students corpses. It had not been fun. "If the girl somehow survived," his arm swept to take in the clearing. "and she comes back she'll get promoted. Genin, possibly chunin if this was her work. If she doesn't why do we care? It's not like she's one of the experiments. No special implants or training schedule. Nah. We'll just write this up as mutual annihilation."
The last one opened his mouth to protest, but he just sighed and adjusted his forehead protector. "Whatever. If that's all, I'm outta here."
"Me too."
"See ya."
"Babysitting." Ino deadpanned.
Asuma exhaled a long stream of smoke and rubbed his forehead. "Don't think of it as babysitting. Think of it as guarding, protecting a high class dignitary."
The young genin crossed her arms and shot her sensei a look that told him exactly what she thought of that. "Babysitting."
Next to her Chouji opened a new bag of potato chips and offered some to his best friend. The shadow manipulator took a few, they were barbecue flavored, and sat down on the bench to wait out the argument. Ino was rather good at it, if only because there was no way to fight her feminine logic. She put up road blocks and derailed any attempt at coercion with cold eyes and a stubborn will.
Frankly, she would make a good intelligence agent the Nara privately thought. They were starting to gather a crowd in the street which was quickly putting more pressure on Asuma. He didn't want to suffer the teasing that would come from the other jounin if it was discovered he had been arguing with his students in the middle of the village.
"It's the Hokage's grandson. Come on, his normal babysitter," point to Ino! "got roped into taking a mission. He won't be back till tomorrow and someone needs to make sure the kid doesn't kill himself."
The purple clad girl held her ground. "We shouldn't be doing anymore missions! Why don't you train us! I'm sick of babysitting and gardening! If I wanted to do those kind of things I would never have signed up at the academy!"
Asuma groaned. He had to end this fast! He had passed the Ino-Shika-Chou trio because he had hoped that the outlook of their parents had passed to them. Great teamwork coupled with laid back attitudes, what every lazy jounin instructor hoped for. Shikamaru and Chouji fit the bill but their female comrade apparently had some drive that would not be tempered. "I will teach you spying techniques!"
A delicate golden eyebrow rose. "Oh? We'll actually learn something new?"
Asuma nodded and motioned for his team to move. Kurenai's gonna give me so much shit about this. "I was once a guard to the Daimayo of Fire you know, I know quite a few tricks of the trade. I'll tell you and you can practice with Konohamaru."
Ino grinned, her eyes flashing toward her two teammates. They stood up and Shikamaru snorted. Mission success.
The Ino-Shika-Chou trio was about to go from being famous to infamous. Their teamwork was spot on, but their goals were not. Asuma sucked in another lungful of smoke and leapt to the roofs intending to get away from the crowd. His students followed him with minor difficulty.
"Shikamaru, you sure you want to do this?" Chouji asked, at a loss as to why his buddy would want to take the mission. It had taken some work to manipulate the scrolls so that they would be elected for the mission, and the Nara clan was famous for laziness.
"Yeah. Think about it. Ino gets the information she wants, and we can lock the brat in a room and take a break. Everyone's happy."
"Actually, Shikamaru, if what Asuma-sensei has hinted at means anything the technique's he'll me teaching us means we can't lock the kid up." Ino snickered.
Unbothered the Nara just shrugged. "We can take shifts then. I take it to be stealth techniques?"
She nodded with a smile. "Stealth, as well as some jutsu that can be tied to the targets clothing to listen in. The only problem is it has limited range."
"That might actually be worth it."
Chouji smiled, happy that his friend and teammate where getting along. Perhaps the girl would want to be his friend too? "Hey, Ino, would you like a chip?"
The girl blinked as they arrived at the building where they would be picking up their charge for the evening. "I'm on a diet..." at Chouji's shocked look she suddenly found herself uncomfortable.
"You don't need a diet! You look good, and it's bad for a shinobi not to eat! Unhealthy."
"Chouji's got a point."
Ino looked back and forth at the two boys. Well I do want to be a great kunoichi. Better than Sakura, and she's on a diet too. "I guess."
Asuma followed the small boy with the scarf out of the building, an ominous feeling settling in. All three of his students were eating chips. The Hokage's grandson pointed at them, angry. "What! You're not awesome ninja's! You're pigs!"
Ino crumpled her bag in her hands, a light killing intent radiating off of her. "What-did-you-call-us?!"
As the girl began to beat the kid they were supposed to be looking after, Chouji couldn't help but think: Us. I guess that means we're friends now.
Asuma held his head in his hands. "Ino! If you punch him anymore his nose will break!"
Kin braced her side with a hand as she walked toward the building. They should have returned to the cabin earlier, but hadn't. She grew worried. Would the missing-nin convince her Naruto-sama to leave without her? The recovering kunoichi bit her lip as she did not take her promises lightly and would follow her master until her doom. Even if he was a little crazy.
She stepped over a senbon pricked body and entered the building, the scent of fresh blood filling her nose. Blood spotted the walls as if something had come through the pinned bodies to them with knives. Every now and then a pool of blood with gore floating in it could be seen a shadowed corner.
Kin had to be careful not to step in glass from where a light bulb had been put out. She rubbed the handle of a kunai to sooth her nerves and directed a small portion of chakra away from her ribs to her ears.
"Somewhere... over there." The sound specialist followed a blood trail easily to the back of the building. Bodies of the dead had been dragged to one room and searched before being tossed onto a pile. No respect for the dead.
"Kin-chan." Naruto looked up from his purloining of the dead man's purse. Zabuza was glaring at a large safe and Haku was standing off to the side. "You're supposed to be in bed!"
"I'm sorry Naruto-sama. I grew worried when you didn't return at the agreed upon time." She looked down and calmed her heart. Haku just watched her with a small knowing smile.
"Oh. Well, we did kill everyone, but then we found that." Naruto pointed at the source of Zabuza's ire. The massive door was nearly a foot thick and made of hard steel. Apparently their goal had been shoved in the safe while they slaughtered the underlings and Zabuza couldn't simply cut open the safe. Doing so would require a lot of chakra to enhance his blade, and could also endanger whatever else was in there.
Kin inched forward but kept her distance from this disgruntled Mist ninja. "I recognize this build... my old hometown had one in the bank. Combination lock..."
Zabuza's eyes gained a cool gleam. "Can you open it?"
"I think... it's got a randomizer key... so it changes every time..." Seeing she wasn't going to get out of it, and Zabuza's somewhat threatening grip on his sword, Kin got on her knee's and ignored the blood getting on her legs.
Her fingers lightly gripped the knob as she pressed her ear to the door. Slowly, she began to spin it. "Nobody breathe."
0..58...43...35...click.
Kin licked her lips and shifted. 35...37...48...52...click.
One left. If she messed up the lock would begin the randomizing sequence and timer. There was no way she would be able to outwit that, or find the key. 52...49...45...40...34...30...29...28...26...click!
Kin scrambled backward as the door released and popped out. "Well look at that. I guess you aren't totally useless after all, girl."
"Yay!" Naruto ran over and lifted Kin by the arm. "Hey, you didn't tell me you could pick locks!"
"It's not really lock picking... and I hadn't tried before."
Haku walked forward and placed a hand on Kin's shoulder while smiling. "Welcome to the team, Kin-chan."
A loud sobbing hit their ears as Haku entered the safe and left with a bruised woman. Her brown hair was a mess and one of her eyes was swollen shut. She clutched the ice users clothing and cried hysterically. "Shh. It's alright, miss. You're father sent us."
"F-father?"
Naruto watched Haku rub the woman's back and apply medicine to her bruises. She seemed like a nice lady. Why would people do that? His blue eyes shifted over to the pile of bodies.
"They deserved everything they got." The voice muttered with happiness.
"But why would they do that?"
The voice was silent for a moment before answering. "Because they could."
"Naruto-sama?" Kin questioned.
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing."
Zabuza was practically bursting with happiness. The safe was filled with money and jewelry, not to mention a few weapons. It was only after he had entered that he noticed the failsafe trap built into the safe, had he tried to force entry it would of exploded and everything would be lost! The girl would make a fine addition to his collection of weapons.
"There's got to be over a million ryo in here. Not to mention how much I could get for the jewels."
Zabuza was a happy man.
END.
A/N- heh. heheh. i have to say, SNFS makes me warm and fuzzy inside. I dare you to go into a bar, walk by someone, and say 'Wow, naked chick!' See how many turn around.
On another note, I liked this chapter. I'm going to take a break from fighting in here. As you noticed I didn't go into much detail about the wherehouse battle, and Zabuza is a man of many talents. I had intended there to be a few more Kin oriented scenes with her trying to deal with Zabuza's dislike of her but this was getting too long. I also wanted an animal scene, but I had to move it the next chaper. Konoha's genin are in here for the simple fact that I wanted to show things aren't going cannon for them. And I love Sai. They all have to develop their teamwork among other things.
Senior Project is done and published. Thank GOD!