Hello readers guess whose back, well obviously me. Anyway sorry for the leave of absence but you know how it is, the responsibilities of the real world and what not. But enough about that let's just get on with the chapter!

Chapter 17: Confrontation

In a tree house like hide out, deep within the forest a man wearing bandages around his face and an impossibly large sword resting at his side sat leisurely on a couch as his subordinate reported to him.

"So the demon brothers actually failed in their mission even with you providing them subtle aid?" The man spoke in a gruff tone.

"I'm sorry Master Zabuza but that's the way it happened. A boy who appeared to be in his mid teens, with shoulder length brown hair that covered the left side of his face confirmed. "There where four of them in total, one adult while the three remaining appeared to be around the age of twelve or thirteen."

Zabuza quirked his brow at the information he was told as he assessed what he learned. "So it would appear the demon brothers were bested by a team of Genin and their Sensei. That almost sounds comical to think they would be done in by that."

"Actually all three Genin proved quite efficient in combat, there were no weak links in their group." The boy confirmed.

"For you to give them praise they must have been something quite special then ay Utakata?" Zabuza pried.

Utakata was quiet for a moment before he answered. "They were indeed and if I'm not mistaken one of them was surely a Kaguya."

Zabuza's eyes slightly widened upon hearing that. "A Kaguya you say, I thought those mindless fools had all been wiped out, but I guess the leaf managed to get their hands on one before that occurred then."

"Yes although the Kaguya were a blood thirsty clan that thrived on battle, this one seemed different. He was calm and collected and wielded his kekkei genkai to an extent I didn't know the Kaguya were capable of."

"What do you mean?" Zabuza questioned.

"Well all Kaguya have incredibly dense skeletal structures do to their kekkei genkai, and some talented ones even have the ability to sprout bones from their body. But the results are quite devastating as they lose a great deal of blood upon doing so. But this boy was able to draw his bones without any ill effects, no blood lost and his openings healed just as fast as they were created."

"This brat does sound like a problem, but what of his Sensei?" Zabuza asked curiously.

"I couldn't get much of a read on him considering he allowed his students to do all the fighting. But he did radiate a confidence only extremely skilled ninja would possess." Utakata answered just as a man bursted into the room they were having their discussion in with two goons at his side.

"God damn it Zabuza!" A short greasy looking business man shouted upon his entry. "Kill a bridge builder is the soul reason I hired you, and you're already fucking it up!"

Both Zabuza and Utakata stared at the man in front of them with obvious distaste written across their faces.

"Don't speak to me as though you are my superior." Zabuza warned as he drew his massive blade at lighting speed and positioned it to the man's throat. "It shall be handled so make sure you got the cash on hand, is that understood Gato?"

The man that was referred to as Gato took an uneasy step backwards and Zabuza withdrew his blade. "You just make sure you get the job done, I don't want any more screw ups you got that!" Gato shouted before taking his leave with his two goons following close behind him.

Utakata frowned in the direction Gato had left. "I know were in desperate need of funds, but surely we don't have to sink so low as to work for a grub like that man."

"High paying jobs like this don't come along too often; it would be ashamed to let an opportunity like this go to waste." Zabuza reasoned.

"But I've done some digging around on this man." Utakata confirmed. "All his employed are always betrayed by him when the time for payoff arrives."

"Hehe maybe so, but the little gnome has never tried to stab one of the seven swordsman or a Jinchuuriki in the back before. I don't think it will work in his favor wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose not, although I say we should betray him before he does it to us." Utakata suggested.

"Stop your worrying Utakata." Zabuza stated. "We'll get our money and leave Gato's scattered remains across wave." Zabuza remarked. "It'll be a message to any future employer to think twice about crossing us."

"Understood." Utakata acknowledged as he watched Zabuza stand from his position. "Now let's go, we've got a one way ticket to the shinigami that needs to be delivered to a bridge builder."

"Right master Zabuza." Utakata stated as he followed Zabuza.

(The Following Morning)

Naruto, Haku, and Hinata stared down at the make shift camp their targets had constructed. Locating the two men known as Kotowari Izuki, and Riyan Kusaka had proved just as easy as Shizune had predicted.

The two men despite their obvious low status were either completely oblivious to their stupidity or apparently over confident in their skills. Haku couldn't decide which it was considering how the two men made no attempt in hiding there presence. Not to mention they had managed to round up at least thirty men, and frankly put hiding that many non shinobi would be an impossible task.

Shizune for her part was situated some distance away observing the proceedings through a pair of binoculars. She was more then sure her assistance would not be needed after gauging the enemy's numbers and Kotowari's and Riyan's glaring lack of tact.

How they escaped prison confinement was beyond her, as she watched the two men divide up their spoils among each other, not paying attention to their surroundings in the slightest.

If not for the fact that the two men were known for killing civilians and indulged in sexual activities with their female prisoners she'd assume they were no more harmless then bandits. But ninja committing any act of unauthorized killing was strictly forbidden and was punishable by death, a sentence that would be carried out on the two shortly.

"So how should we go about this?" Haku questioned his two teammates quietly.

"There's a total of twenty seven men down there including both Kotowari and Riyan. I assume that the four females in that tent are their prisoners." Hinata confirmed as she deactivated her Byakugan.

"So their safety is priority number one." Naruto confirmed. "I figure the best way to proceed with this would be to obscure their vision first. Hinata-chan won't be hindered by your mist, so she'll be responsible for securing the prisoners." Naruto summarized. "But don't hesitate to take out any thugs on your way to the tent." Naruto added, getting a meek nod from Hinata in return.

"I understand." Haku acknowledged, as he placed his hand into a hand seal the area around them became gradually harder to see in.

Naruto grinned while pulling a bag of seeds from his pouch. "I think I'll get the battlefield prepared in our favor." Naruto stated as watched the men finally take notice of the mist rolling in.

"Where the hell did all this mist come from ay?" some random bandit called out.

"It's just mist you dumbass were in the forest, shit happens." Kotowari, answered.

"Yeah but I ain't ever seen so much of the damn stuff move in so quickly." Riyan countered. "It's definitely weird."

"Weird?" Kotowari repeated. "It's just fucking mist, who gives ah shit?"

Riyan frowned as he pulled a kunai from his hostler. "Something's going on, I can feel it in my bones."

"Paranoid jackass" Kotowari grumbled as continued to divide up their shares, which was becoming increasingly difficult considering the amount of mist that had come in.

'At least one of them isn't a complete moron.' Naruto thought as he gave the signal for Haku and Hinata to move out.

Shizune from her hidden position watched carefully, as team eight made their move.

Hinata was the first to fly into action. Using the cover of the mist and the aide of her Byakugan she was easily able to maneuver around the bandits unnoticed. But recalling Naruto's words decided to help eliminate some of their forces.

A man who was positioned against a tree literary had no idea of what hit him as he collapsed unconscious from a well placed Juken strike. Five more fell victim to Hinata before she finally made it to the tent with her objectives.

Meanwhile even through the mist Haku was an excellent marksman, proving his skills as he fired senbon after senbon into unsuspecting bandits, rendering them unconscious. Spying another target Haku prepared to strike the man but his wrist was caught mid thrust.

"What the hell is going on!" Kotowari shouted as he held on to Haku's wrist. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing brat! Attacking all my men!"

"Carrying out your sentence issued by the hidden leaf village." Haku answered truthfully.

"My sentence huh, and what would that be?" Kotowari asked conceitedly.

"Death" Haku answered with no amusement in his tone, as he collapsed into a puddle of water.

"What the hell!" Kotowari muttered before he became aware of the incoming senbon and just narrowly avoided them.

As this was going on Naruto was finishing up the remainder of the bandits courtesy of a highly potent sleep powder, he'd concocted from a rare species of plant. 'This is too easy.' Naruto thought as he noticed the mist was beginning to lift. 'So I guess the real show is about to start.' Naruto assessed as he moved into position.

"So the mist wasn't a coincidence?" Kotowari assessed as the mist cleared enough for him to see the entire camp had been rendered unconscious.

"No shit it wasn't a coincidence."Riyan piped in obviously angry with what had happened. "Had you only listened to me this could have turned out differently."

"Would you shut the hell up nagging?" Kotowari fired back. "It's only one punk kid, we can handle it."

"Yeah then where the hell is he?" Riyan countered.

Kotowari shrugged. "Beats me, the little brat escaped using a water clone."

"Water clone?" Riyan muttered with widened eyes. "This brat obviously isn't normal then." Riyan assessed. "Look at how quickly he dispatched our men."

"That doesn't mean anything." Kotowari returned. "Even a Genin is worth at least twenty average men."

As the two men squabbled with one another Naruto signaled for Haku to make his move. Haku nodded his understanding and launched himself out of the trees completely exposing himself.

"There Riyan!" Kotowari shouted as he pulled out a hand full of shuriken and Riyan did likewise and they both let them fly.

The bladed projectiles flew towards Haku swiftly only to be batted out of the way by vines that seemingly sprang from the ground.

"What the fuck!" Kotowari shouted at seeing the vines spring to life. "What the hell is going guwa." Kotowari gurgled as he became ensnared by the grass underneath his feet.

Without warning Haku fired off a senbon directly into Kotowari's temple killing him instantly. Kotowari's body dropped lifelessly to the ground and Riyan stared around in shock before he launched him self into the trees, fearing that the grass would ensnare him next.

"How did you manipulate the grass like that?" Riyan questioned, not letting his partners death bother him in the slightest.

"That's of little concern to you." Haku answered simply, as he readied another handful of senbon.

Riyan grinned. "I suppose you're quite confident considering you managed to kill my dimwitted partner? But let me assure you I'm no where as near weak as he was." To further his point Riyan ran through some lighting fast hand signs as he leapt off the tree branch he was stationed on. "Earth style sticky torrent!" Riyan shouted as a stream of tar shot from his mouth, and barreled towards Haku.

Haku nimbly avoided the sticky substance and returned fire with his senbon, in an attempt to heard Riyan in the direction Naruto was hidden.

Naruto watched as Haku pushed Riyan closer and closer towards him. Swallowing hard Naruto held on to his rose whip tightly. His mind was racing for what he was about to do. Naruto recalled how Haku had managed to do it without batting so much as an eyelash, surely he could do the same?

"You know what kid play time is over!" Riyan shouted as he clasped his hands together and stopped avoiding the senbon.

Haku looked on curiously as he threw another round only for the tar that littered the ground to rise up swiftly and block the incoming senbon.

"Hehe" Riyan chuckled. "I told you play time was over didn't I?" Riyan mocked as he flipped through more hand seals. "Earth style: Tar Shuriken!" Riyan shouted and the tar he had been using to shield him self formed into hundreds of Shruiken and barreled towards Haku.

Haku's eyes widened as he flipped though some hand seals of his own and formed one large Ice mirror to shield himself from the incoming attack.

The tar shuriken impacted with Haku's ice mirror with much more force then Haku counted on. The mirror began to give way to the relentless torrent of shuriken as they rained down on him.

"Haha, just a little more and bye bye ice shield." Riyan chorused.

"Shit Naruto grumbled as he leapt out of his hiding position and dug his hands into the ground. "Ninja art: Ballistic Barrage!" Naruto shouted as the roots beneath the ground erupted from it, and plowed towards Riyan."

Riyan's eyes widened as he watched the incoming roots that towered over him travel straight for his position. "Fuck" Riyan grunted as he was struck with terrific force and plowed into the ground."

Riyan coughed up blood after the devastation and Naruto knew it was time to make his move.

Gripping onto his rose whip tightly, Naruto launched himself above Riyan and shouted. "Rose whip lash!" Naruto then began to slice through Riyan in quick succession, only for Riyan to burst into a cloud of smoke revealing a shredded up log.

"Shit!" Naruto shouted as he felt the presence of Riyan directly behind him.

"Out of the way Naruto-san!" Haku shouted as he watched a battered and bruised Riyan try to drive a kunai into Naruto's back from behind.

"Die you little shit!" Riyan barked only for him to stop mid thrust.

The Kunai Riyan had been holding dropped to the ground and he coughed up blood before he too collapsed in a heap.

Both Naruto and Haku stared at the person standing behind Riyan with widened eyes, before their attention landed back on Riyan.

"He's dead." Haku muttered.

"I-I didn't mean t-to." Hinata confirmed as she stood trembling above Riyan's corpse with her palm outstretched. "I-It was just all I could do to stop him."

Naruto and Haku simply stared at Hinata for a moment before Naruto grinned at her. "Thanks a million Hinata-chan, you just saved my life."

Hinata just stared blankly for a moment until Shizune landed in the clearing, drawing their attention. Surveying the area Shizune smiled approvingly.

"Well done team, you were able to eliminate your targets and by the looks of it without any casualties." Shizune confirmed. "Mark your first C-rank as a full success."

"Thank you for your praise Sensei, but if I can I'd like to go on a brief walk to clear my mind." Haku requested politely.

"Sure thing Haku-kun, take all the time you need." Shizune offered.

Haku nodded his understanding before disappearing into the woods.

Naruto squinted his eyes in Haku's direction with a confused expression on his face. "What was that all about?" Naruto questioned aloud.

"Haku-kun just needs time to sort things out. It's never easy taking your first life." Shizune explained. "I'm sure both he and Hinata-chan are both troubled about it." Shizune added.

Naruto turned his attention to Hinata. "Is that true Hinata-chan? Do you need some time alone like Haku?"

Hinata shook her head in response. "No I'm fine, besides we need to attend to the captives I escorted away from here." Hinata answered, doing her best to maintain her composure.

"Oh yeah I'd almost forgotten about that. So where did you hide them anyway?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Just a short distance from here." Hinata answered. "I wanted to get back as soon as possible so I didn't take them very far."

"I see" Shizune piped in. "Well give me the coordinates and I'll check on them before sending them on their way. In the mean time you and Naruto-kun search the camp for any thing that could prove useful to us." Shizune summarized.

Hinata nodded her understanding and recited to Shizune were she had taken the captives.

Once Shizune had gone Naruto and Hinata got to the task of searching the camp. For the most part they had only managed to find money, weak Jutsu scrolls, and a random assortment of pricy artifacts.

"Well it's plain to see these guys were only interested in one thing." Naruto grumbled while shifting through another pile of what he deemed to be junk.

Hinata was about to agree with him until her eyes found something looming in the corner of the tent they were searching in. "Wait Naruto-kun I think I've found something." Hinata acknowledged as she made her way over to the object and lifted it up."

"That's scroll is huge." Naruto remarked once Hinata lifted it for him to get a view of it as well. "I bet it's filled with Jutsu!" Naruto pondered aloud.

"Perhaps" Hinata skeptically agreed as she began to unravel the scroll. Naruto by that point had walked up to Hinata and peered over her shoulder to see what was in the scroll.

"What the heck is this!" Naruto questioned as he observed the scroll that just had numerous names written on it. "Must be some useless document or something."

"I don't think so." Hinata countered. "Just look all these names, they're signed in blood."

"And that means what?" Naruto asked dumbly.

"I think it means that this a summoning contract." Hinata answered.

"What! Like what Kassan has that allows her to summon Katsuyu!" Naruto shouted in disbelief.

"I believe so." Hinata confirmed.

"But what were a couple of morons like those two goons doing with something like this?" Naruto asked while observing the scroll carefully.

"Not sure." Hinata stated. "But we should tell Shizune-sensei about this right away."

"Agreed, but shouldn't you sign it first?" Naruto questioned.

Hinata's eyes slightly widened. "M-me sign it?"

"Yeah, if we tell Shizune-sensei about it, she might take it and turn it in to the old man or something. At least if she does you would have already signed it, so it wouldn't matter." Naruto assessed thoughtfully.

"But why me?" Hinata questioned.

"Well you did find it after all, and besides I'm still hoping to one day get to sign the slug summoning contract." Naruto answered.

Hinata pondered on Naruto's assessment for a moment but the assurance in Naruto's face was the final push she needed, before biting down on her thumb.

(Elsewhere)

Kakashi sighed, as he traversed the dirt path with his client and students in tow. A simple C-rank was that too much to ask for? Apparently so considering how complicated things had become in such a short amount of time.

Not only were they dealing with a man of incredible financial power, but there was still an unidentified enemy lurking about that was obviously under Gato's employ. His students were strong, and surprisingly functioned well as a team, something he thought would be nearly impossible considering Sasuke's ego. But that was a moot point if their enemies proved too powerful, which Kakashi had a creeping suspicion they were.

Sure Kakashi was confident in his own abilities, but even he had his limits, and no delusions that he was invincible. But regretting his decision to continue on with the mission was a waste of time considering him and his team had already accepted to help Tazuna despite the old drunks' lies.

Hadn't his cause and reason for lying to them been as noble as it was, abandoning the mission would have been Kakashi's first choice. But here they were on their way to waves to see the mission through to the end, no matter how bad the situation became.

Meanwhile Sasuke was out in front of the pack considering Kakashi had placed him there for his vision was keener then any of theirs even without the use of a Sharingan. While they walked his eyes remained vigilant while his mind was deep in thought.

He really couldn't have cared less about Tazuna's sap story, but the thought of one greedy man indulging in the suffering of others for their own gain did infuriate him. It reminded him of what Itachi had done. All for the sake of his own gain he mercilessly slaughtered their entire family in clan something he deemed unforgivable.

Yakumo for her part had been completely taken in by Tazuna's story. Although she considered Tazuna lacking better character, he was definitely a good man for what he was trying to accomplish. She would definitely help out to the best of her abilities.

Lastly Kimimaro who had taken the position at the very tail end of the group was also mulling things over. His decision to continue with the mission had come simple enough. He liked to be needed and useful, and the thought that an entire village needed him at the moment was easily fuel to his fire. He would put his life on the line to see to it that Tazuna succeed in his endeavor and that Gato would get his just desserts.

As this was going on Zabuza grinned to himself as he observed the group approaching. "Hehe, well I'll be." Zabuza chuckled mirthfully. "The famous copy cat ninja has got him a group of babies to baby sit."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan?" Utakata questioned.

"The very same." Zabuza acknowledged. "What do you say we give them a proper greeting?"

At this point Kakashi's senses were on full alert. 'So it's about that time huh' Kakashi thought while observing his blissfully unaware students. 'Neither Sasuke, nor Kimimaro has noticed, truly our enemy's are just as strong as I imagined.' Kakashi reasoned sourly although his face portrayed nothing.

A moment later Sasuke caught a slight shimmer off in the distance approaching them swiftly and he shouted. "Everyone duck!"

Kakashi wasted no time in pulling Tazuna to the ground, while Yakumo and Kimimaro followed Sasuke's warning and dived for the ground just as a massive blade flew over their heads, and impacted with a nearby tree. A tall man dressed in no shirt, pint stripe pants, face wrappings, and a crooked mist headband stood confidently on top of the blade.

"Hehe, evening" The man greeted.

After helping Tazuna back up, Kakashi cursed his luck when his eyes landed on the man standing before them. 'Damn, him of all people.'

"So Kakashi of the Sharingan eye huh? It's truly a pleasure." The man mocked.

"No the pleasure is all mine Zabuza Momochi" Kakashi returned light heartedly.

"So you've heard of me, who'd had ever guessed?" Zabuza returned casually.

"Don't flatter yourself." Kakashi warned. "But do tell me, what's one of the seven swordsman doing out in a place like this?"

"I think you know the answer to that." Zabuza answered. "Now why don't we a make a deal?"

"I'm listening." Kakashi played along.

"You hand over the old man, and I let you and your team leave here unharmed, how does that sound?" Zabuza offered.

"Hm as enticing as that sounds, I'm afraid I have to decline." Kakashi answered while moving to remove his head band from over his eye. "You know what to do Yakumo." Kakashi added while keeping his attention solely on Zabuza.

Yakumo nodded her understanding and whipped out a scroll and slammed her palm on it. A small cloud of smoke erupted and a canvas with a painting popped out.

"So what's this? You're actually considering sending your students in to fight me?" Zabuza mocked as the idea of it almost made him laugh.

"Not exactly." Kakashi answered with no humor in his voice.

Yakumo had then showed Zabuza the painting on the portrait, which was a painting of Tazuna. "Now you see him." Yakumo stated before smearing a smudge across the painting completely erasing Tazuna from it. "Now you don't." She added as the real Tazuna began to fade from existence.

"What the hell!" Tazuna shouted in a panic as he faded away into nothing.

Zabuza's eyes widened at what he'd seen. "Where the hell did he go?" Zabuza asked coolly.

"A place you could never reach him." Yakumo answered, while resealing the scroll.

"Good work Yakumo." Kakashi praised his student. "Now you three stand back and let the grownups settle things from here on out." Kakashi ordered.

"Hm, I like your style Kakashi." Zabuza confirmed. "But the kiddies look bored down there, why don't I provide them with their own fun?" Zabuza offered.

Without warning Sasuke, Kimimaro, and Yakumo became ensnared in their own personal bubbles.

"What the hell is this!" Sasuke shouted as the bubble he was in popped and he was no longer there.

Kimimaro's eyes widened as the same thing happened to Yakumo and her bubble and soon his afterwards.

"What the hell have you done to them?" Kakashi demanded.

"My associate only transported them to a place where he can entertain them without distracting us." Zabuza answered casually. "But you needn't worry about them, well at least the girl." Zabuza mocked. "We need her alive after all to get the old man back."

"You bastard!" Kakashi shouted while preparing himself to take the man down in front of him.

Well there you have it folks, chapter seventeen. I hope it was to your liking. Anyway I don't enjoy leaving people with a cliffhanger so I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Also I haven't actually decided on what the summon contract holds just yet, so if you want to suggest something feel free to do so. But let's be reasonable here, with what you pick, and try to keep in mind that none of her summons will reach massive sizes like Gamabunta. But maybe the largest could be about half the size of Gamabunta. So if you will please review I'll catch you with the next chapter!