Chapter 15

With the vast sword resting upon his back Zabuza Momochi walked down the long well polished corridor. The footsteps of his sandaled feet echoed around the large but cold corridor. Beside him the boy, Haku walked in silence. Neither had said barely a word since being 'welcomed' into the large mansion. The long haired boy looked up towards the man.

"Do you think we can trust him?" he asked.

"As long as I receive payment trust is not important" replied Zabuza. "I have no personal interest in whatever we are to do apart from payment."

"I understand."

"Do not do anything stupid here Haku. These people are wealthy and have security. A broken tool is useless."

"I understand."

Zabuza reached out and pushed open a heavy wood door, laced with brass finishing. He stepped into the twilight of the room, Haku standing beside him, looking out for potential danger. Zabuza growled. He didn't like this.

"I'm sorry, I always forget to be kind to guests" said a voice, "I just love this atmosphere, the lingering shadows, possibly hiding things. Just so…dark."

"I have come here to perform a mission."

"Yes of course" said the man as the lights suddenly came on. He stood up. "I am Mr Harima. My associate has dispatched me to give you instructions. I am the person you will report to Mr Momochi."

"I see" replied Zabuza in his rough voice. He didn't like this man.

"We understand you are a man who kills for money" said Harima disdainfully. "Fortunately we have plenty of money available, so we were able to hire you- one of the people considered to be the best assassin for hire. They say if you want someone killed- they will die."

"I haven't heard that myself" mused Zabuza. "But that is often true."

"I'm sure it is" continued Harima. He held up a small pouch. "So you don't think we plan on messing with you, here is half of the fee given to you. Of course, I assume you realize when you get the second half."

"Indeed."

"Yes well this mission may be relatively easy for a ninja of your calibre. We only want one man dead. I will give you the specifics in a moment. He isn't even a truly trained ninja. Basically a normal man- however wealthy so not entirely normal."

"Then why call for me?" asked Zabuza. "Why spend that money for one simple man?" It wasn't as though he truly cared. Money earned meant he would be closer to his goal. But this Harima person had caught his interest slightly.

"We don't want mistakes. We want a man dead. As soon as possible. Therefore we call in the best. That is supposedly you."

"I'm flattered" replied Zabuza sarcastically. Haku stood beside him, unmoving. The boy had merely been an observer throughout this entire conversation, but he hadn't moved an inch, hadn't shown any signs of boredom. He appeared almost as though totally unresponsive- but the boy was carefully listening to every word being said.

"Well then Mr Momochi, if you and your companion will come over here, I can provide you with more details on the target."

---

Slowly Keeler opened his eyes. He groaned and shut them again as the sun shone brightly down. He moaned and tried to move, finding his hands wouldn't respond. Surprised he opened his eyes again and looked down, to find his hands were tightly bound several times by rope. He knew that couldn't be good news. He yelled out in surprise as he found a bespectacled man staring at him. He recognized the face but his memory was hazy. Slowly he began to remember a battle. Those idiots charging…swirling dust and a flying blade. A Jonin.

"Kimura" muttered the man. He remembered the name, knew the face. Knew that this man was a Jonin. But why hadn't Kimura finished him off?

"You remembered me after being knocked out. I'm privileged" stated the man. Well this Keeler person didn't appear to be suffering any long term effects. He was so popular with his former squad exactly zero people had attempted to try and get him back. Kimura was glad that Keeler didn't seem to be in bad shape- it meant the man could walk without having to waste time helping him.

"Is he dying Kimura-sensei?" asked Osaka.

"No I'm not" said Keeler turning to face the girl.

"Ack, zombie!" yelled out Tomo, Osaka ducking behind the cart.

"I'm not dead damn it!"

"You're probably right. Dead people are much less feisty and probably don't bother breathing or maintain vital signs" observed Tomo. "But I've got my eye on you- if your hand falls off or you start eating Sakaki your secret is out buddy!"

"Sakaki?" asked Keeler confused.

"Yeah, her" said Tomo pointing to the tall girl.

"Why hello" said Keeler kindly. "I did not know we had a lady among us." Sakaki blushed wildly and turned away.

Tomo looked across from the girl to the man…slowly noticing the rugged good looks… "Hey what about me?" she asked. Please praise me handsome man.

"You're more of a tomboy" suggested Osaka.

"What?!" yelled Tomo.

"I think that you are a lady" said Kimura in a creepy (but normal for him) slightly seductive voice.

"Get away from me!"

Failure again! "Why?" asked Kimura, turning away sobbing. Keeler smooth talks the girls and they swoon- he does the same and he's a pervert. "It's not fair damnit!"

The chubby Nakasone approached the captive Keeler, satisfied now that the man was restrained and unarmed. He crouched down and looked at the man.

"So, you wanted to kill me huh?" he asked.

"Kill? I had no interest in killing you Nakasone."

Nakasone stumbled back. "You know my name?"

"Of course I do. I was hired, given details. I had no intention of killing you. I was sent out to steal a large sum of what you owned so the rich bastard who hired me could get richer."

"Steal? But those people wanted to kill us liar!" stated Tomo in a completely (non) polite manner. "I had to stick a shuriken up someone's butt to save myself!"

Keeler grinned before laughing. "That's a great one. Please, please tell me it's true."

"Of course it is." Great one- praise!

"Glad to hear it. I don't know why they stuck me with those idiots. It seemed they possessed just enough brainpower to get enjoyment from the possibility of killing. But hey, you can only work with the tools you're given."

"I know the feeling" agreed Kimura, quickly glancing at Tomo and Osaka.

"Hey! What was with that look?" asked Tomo. "We're great tools!"

"Am I a screwdriver?" asked Osaka. "I don't want to be a hammer, those things give me headaches."

"You…aren't a hammer?" said Sakaki trying to make the girl feel better.

"That's good to know, I was kind of worried there when no one said anything."

Kimura lifted Keeler to his feet. As roughly as possible. Bastard, bet you get all the women you want don't you? Bet they just swoon over you don't they? Kimura cleared his head of such thoughts. He should save that for a sleepless night in the village. Calm blue ocean…

"So what are you doing with me? You didn't kill me and I doubt you'll just let me go."

"We're taking you with us" said Kimura.

"Really?" asked Tomo dreamily. Kimura sobbed slightly again. He wished Tomo would look at him like that.

Bastard bastard bastard! "Yes. I doubt the village we are going to reach soon will be big enough. But Mr Nakasone I take it you have a prison in your village?"

"Of course."

"That is your destination. You will be punished for what you have done, and justice will prevail!" said Kimura in an over the top manner. None of the girls responded. "That's it I give up for today" he muttered to himself.

"What are we doing now sensei?" asked Sakaki.

"We are taking our prisoner and continuing with the journey. Tomo."

"Yes Sensei?"

"Grab the cart. I'll keep a watch over our new friend. Now onto the village where we can have a bit of rest before heading out for Nakasone's own village."

"Yay, the village" said Osaka dreamily.

---

Within the small room the withered man placed his bowl down on the table with a loud bang, shivering greatly. His young daughter pulled open the door and saw the distraught man. She rushed across to him, and gently held his hand, looking into his eyes.

"Father are you ok? What's wrong?"

"You ever get the feeling something bad is coming?"

---

"Pulling the cart, oh I'm pulling the cart, pulling the cart on the way to the village" sung Tomo. She glanced across at Sakaki. She hoped the tall girl didn't decide to start singing too. She'd heard her voice- Sakaki could sing. If she started singing all of Keeler's attention would be on her again. I mustn't allow that!

Kimura glanced up at the sky, the sun still hanging high. They should have a good few hours of sunshine left before night came. Hopefully they'd be able to reach the settlement in good time. He couldn't deal with sleeping on the floor again. He knew his back definitely couldn't. Nakasone sped up to catch up with the Jonin.

"I just want to thank you for your help Kimura" said Nakasone.

"It's isn't a problem Mr Nakasone" replied Kimura. "It's the job of a ninja to protect those who need protection. As well as several other tasks too. It also provides my students with some valuable experience."

"I see. Please call me Shiro" said Nakasone.

"Ok then."

"I respect you Kimura. But I respect those girls more. They aren't even adults yet and they are braver then I can ever hope to be."

"At this moment in time I don't know if it's bravery or stupidity" replied Kimura.

"Sure they may be a bit goofy…but don't you have respect for them?"

"At this moment I am deeply proud of all of them. They have worked as a team, and defeated an attack without any input from me. And they're cute!"

"Aha, I see. Well that Sakaki is a bit of a beauty isn't she?"

"I heard that!" yelled Tomo. Sakaki had remained out of earshot, fortunate enough not to hear two middle aged men talking about her like that. Tomo suddenly noticed Osaka was missing. We haven't left her behind have we!? She searched desperately, before turning to see the girl sitting on the back of the cart.

"How long have you been sitting there?" growled Tomo.

"I'll start walking" said Osaka, wishing to keep all of her limbs. Kimura smiled underneath his black mask. However it disappeared. He sensed something was wrong. He sensed a presence. A blade landed at his feet, delivered to miss. He looked up towards the tree line.

"Ninja of the village hidden in the leaves you have something I want" said Zabuza, resting upon a branch. "Take time with your answer."