The boat's motor whirred in the water below, creating a small wake as the slightly overloaded craft made its way through the mist darkened water. Around them, sound was muffled, only the gentle crashing of waves against the reefs and rocks could be heard. It was slow going too, they'd been on this boat since early that morning, their sixth away from the village, and soon to be within a day's walk of Tazuna's village, according to their boatman, Kaji. The man himself seemed nervous as they silently slid their way through the water. At first, one could assume it was because the sea around the Land of Waves was full of hazards and debris of wrecked ships, but as they drew closer, his nerves only grew more rattled, until he nearly jumped out of his skin when Naruto shouted.
"Look at the size of that!" he said, pointing towards a nearby shadow in the mist. The group looked where he was pointing, and slowly but surely that shadow resolved into the form of a bridge. It was a large one too, one obviously designed for dozens of people and carts to cross at a time, a bridge to the future that Tazuna wished to leave for his people.
"Be quiet!" said Kaji in a venomous whispered shout, getting everyone to look at him funny, even as the bridge builder himself shook his head at the man.
"Kaji, just get us to land. Once we're there, you can run away, and never look back," the older man told him, and Kaji nervously nodded his head as he gently began to carry them forward. The others looked from the young to the old, but then sat back down, Naruto told quietly by Shino to maintain silence until they were ashore again. Naruto made to protest, but his Onee-sama's touch on his shoulder made him bite his tongue. Several minutes later, showing just how far the bridge had come, the team made landfall again, getting off the boat just as the rays of the sun began to burn away the fog. Stretching themselves, the Genin watched as Kaji, who said nothing more to them, sped off into the sea, leaving them there.
"He's fearful of Gato, I presume," said Shino, more as a statement of fact than anything else. Tazuna, for his part, just stared after the man in response, before turning to them.
"Everyone here is afraid of that man. And with reason. He's a monster, and we know he's behind dozens of disappearances. Entire towns are gone, just because of his ambition," said Tazuna as he shouldered his pack, and then started on towards home. The Genin, staring out after the man who fled, found themselves not so negatively disposed towards him as they followed the old man's lead and walked on.
"So he's taking slaves then?" asked Hinata, a slight chill to her voice. Slavery was, for the most part, illegal within the Elemental Nations. Treaties and such said pretty words that told any who would take another as property that they would pay for such a violation of a human's(Or other intelligences) right of freedom. In practice, it wasn't always so cut and dry. Iwa had their POWs, people grabbed from villages and forced into hard labor. Ame was said to treat its entire population like slaves, all in service to their leaders.
"We don't know," said Tazuna after a moment of dark reflection. It was true too. None of the 'disappeared' had ever turned up, and it wasn't like Gato was afraid of letting people know he was a killer.
"Heero, your knowledge is better than mine. What crops or the like can be raised in Wave that are either difficult or impossible to do elsewhere?" asked Shino, and the silver haired boy stopped in his tracks, before he began to rub his chin in an odd way. The thumb holding just under the jaw, while the pointer finger scratched at the tip of the chin. He seemed lost in deep thought for many moments, everyone waiting, before he finally snapped his fingers.
"Dust. It's cultivation is difficult in the drier air around the Nation's. Mist and Wave would be some of the few places the plant could thrive, and Mist banned the stuff a generation ago," he said at last, and the others looked at each other. Dust, a powerful narcotic, was said to increase a man's reaction time an order of magnitude or more. It made the stuff very valuable to warlords and the like, but it came with dangers. Most people who took it became berserkers at best. They would lash out at those around them, enemies, comrades, even family. To the one under the effects of Dust, it didn't matter, just more blood to fuel them. Of course, this condition persisted until the user literally died from their heart bursting in their chest.
"That could be problematic. How long ago did Gato begin his operations here?" asked Shino, motioning for everyone to continue on their way, Tazuna followed suit, wracking his brain for the information.
"About three years ago, or at least, that's when we started to notice. He could have been doing things for a bit longer," said the man at last, and the Genin in sunglasses nodded, a few lines of worry leaving his face.
"Good, then he wouldn't have had his first crop yet," said the boy, and Tazuna sighed in relief. He knew the drug they had spoken of by reputation only, but he knew almost nothing about how to grow it.
"Two more years though. He'd have to clear out every civilian in that time, or risk someone learning of the source. Most of his thugs would need to go too," said Hinata gravely, and the Genin all fell silent as they absorbed that bit of information . So they walked on in silence, none of them speaking as their heads went over and around the information they had.
The walk was peaceful at least, as the morning began to wane a little, the sun rising high into the sky. It failed to burn away the dark mood as it had the mist, but at least without said fog it was easier not to fall into depression at what they were stepping into. Unluckily, focused as they were inside, none of the Genin, even Hinata who had her Byakugan on, though focused straight ahead to give her the longest range, noticed the attack coming. Instead they were startled when their Jonin sensei brought them up short with a held out hand, her ears perking up and listening.
"DOWN!" she shouted suddenly, diving for Tazuna, whom she forced to the ground. Her students needed no such effort on her part, and fell flat against the dirt, waiting for the strike. It came a heartbeat later, had her warning been any slower, it most certainly would have cleaved into them, as a huge sword, larger than even Shino, burst from the shrubbery, and then embedded itself with a dull wooden thunk into a tree a few feet down the road.
"Damn, I was hoping to get him with that first strike," said a voice, and everyone turned from scanning the woods, to face a man who was now standing on the handle of the massive blade. Leaping down from the thing, as the Genin rallied and drew weapons, or merely assumed fighting stances in a protective line in front of Tazuna, the man hefted the blade out of the tree. The sword came free with a crack, tearing a huge chunk of the trunk out with it, and causing the massive tree to fall to it's side, as the man turned to face them.
"Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist," said Kurenai, causing her young Genin to tense as they realized who it was they were facing. This man, his body covered only by a pair of pants and a set of straps across his chest, while his face was covered completely by a mask, stood tall and proud. His head bore one other accessory as well, a hitai, which was emblazoned with the symbol of Kiri, which had a long, deep scratch through it. The symbol of a Missing-Nin.
"I see those two idiots blabbed about me, Miss. Knowing that though, I have a proposal for you," as he spoke he brought his weapon, which must have weighed more than all four Genin combined, around to point at them. The motion was slow, deliberate, but so smooth that it was obvious he felt the weight of his weapon only slightly. Had he chosen, he could have simply tossed it again, and instantly resumed the attack.
"That man is my target, not you. Surrender the Bridge Builder, and I will allow you to leave here alive," offered the man, and the Genin only tightened their ranks more, as Kurenai kept her eyes focused on Zabuza, their red sheen in the open air starting to glow just a little.
"A kind offer, but one we must decline, I'm afraid. Our mission is to protect this man until he can complete his work on the bridge. Nothing will deter us from that charge," she said simply, and the man sighed, while shrugging his shoulders.
"Nothing to do about it then, other than kill you," he said easily, and stooped down, his legs cocked back, as if they were catapults, ready to vault his body forward.
"I couldn't agree more," said the Mistress of the Mind, and then locked eyes with the man in the mask. Instantly her eyes shone like small suns, and the mind of Zabuza found itself lost in the darkness, the infinite void about it impossible to escape, as lungs, heart, and brain, now separated from that thing called a soul, all stopped. Of course, this would have been an instant victory, had Zabuza and his weapon not collapsed in on themselves, like they were made of paper and someone was crumpling them up. As they fell, the solidity of man and tool became liquid instead, and he landed with a loud splash on the ground.
"Water clone!" said Kurenai, looking towards where he had fallen, and then twisting around. Her senses, heightened by chakra, reached out as far as she could. Nearby she heard the loud breathing of Tazuna and her students, and farther out, she could hear the rough, coarse laughter of the enemy.
"An interesting technique, Genjutsu Master, Yuhi Kurenai. Yes, I know you too. You have quite the bounty on your head with Iwa and Ame, though to be honest, my current job will pay more than ten times what your worth. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, however," said the man, and Kurenai's eyes suddenly turned to find him at the edge of a small lake she was sure hadn't been there a moment ago. A subtle Genjutsu then, one she hadn't noticed. Worse than that though, it gave him ample supplies from which to cast more of his water clones.
"Assume defense pattern Delta-Niner-Alpha. Make no moves unless I order it," whipsered the kunoichi into her collar, and watched as her Genin tightened their perimeter around the old man. Heero, even without a bug to relay the order, fell in perfect step as well, his hands forming an inverted turtle, as he made the black chakra to guard himself and his friends.
"I'm afraid I can't offer you your life again, but if you don't move too quickly, I can promise you your death will be quick," said Zabuza as he hefted his sword again. Kurenai looked at the weapon, one of the Seven Swords of the Mist. It's edge had ended the lives of score of shinobi, and even as she began to think of ways to kill this man, she realized that sword was going to be one of her biggest problems.
"I'm afraid I can't promise the same to you," she declared, and then struck forward. her hands going to hidden pouches in her sleeves. It seemed to those watching that she somehow produced a dozen kunai, and a hundred senbon needles out of thin air. The shower of weapons struck at the male shinobi, his blade whipping out like a whirlwind, scattering the weapons away, even as Kurenai got close to him. Her eyes tried to lock with his, tried to force him to gaze into her deep orbs, but she was denied the chance as a second Zabuza suddenly blasted out of the water behind the first, and then brought his blade down towards her, ready to cleave her in two.
A second later, and she was gone, her form seemingly melting away into nothing, as the Zabuza from the water found he couldn't stop in time, so his blade instead came down hard on the one who had been standing at the water's edge. That one felt the touch of the sword on him, and then nothing, as this clone burst into froth, which spilled all over the ground, as the Zabuza from the water landed almost exactly where he had been. Standing, he looked out towards the targets, and found the kunoichi standing there as she had been before, seemingly not having moved.
"You cast a genjutsu that made me think you were coming right for me, in order to get me to attack you. An interesting tactic," commented this Zabuza, who had his eyes closed now, as he faced his opponent. Her Genin wondered why she didn't take that moment to attack, but then saw the older ninja spin around and toss a kunai at something in the woods. Whatever it had been, animal or bug, or something, was gone in a flash the next instant. Kunai with explosive tags, and as they watched, he pulled out a dozen of them, ready to throw at the slightest sound.
"Still, don't think a single trick will save you. I have a few of my own, after all," as he said this, he crouched, the kunai vanishing from his hands as he made a single hand seal. Whatever he was doing seemed to take a moment, and Kurenai looked around, trying to see some other angle to attack from. Those kunai were a danger, to be sure, but nothing she would truly have to worry about. No, it was that sword of his, the kunai were merely there to pin her in, so he could use his weapon to take her down. Still thinking, she was startled when a low hissing sound came from behind the shinobi, and then cursed her indecision as the water behind him erupted into a geyser that leapt a hundred meters into the air, and then evaporated, casting a cloud of mist over the whole area.
"Damn!" said the kunoichi as the mist covered her. The stuff was obviously chakra infused, and it dampened every sound around her. Drawing a kunai, she let her senses spread out again, only to hear nothing around her. Everything was blocked, and her eyes saw only the mist. That was doubly bad for a Genjutsu user like her, as all her best methods of attack relied on eye contact, an eye contact that had just been rendered impossible to make.
"Heh, I can feel your muscles tense. Worried?" came a voice from behind her, and Kurenai spun around, her weapon brought up to defend herself with, only to find that the mist behind held nothing, instead the attack came from her left, a kick to her side that she only just managed to dodge, flipping away from the shadow of movement, and then landing a few feet away.
"Ha! You're just as good as the Bingo Book says," came the voice again, this time from her right, and she quickly charged it, scattering the mist behind her a bit as she tried to drive the kunai home, only to be brought up short as she realized that she would be near where the Genin were.
"You can project your voice with this mist," she said suddenly, so the Genin could hear it as well. The laughter in the fog now seemed to come from all around her, like there were dozens of Zabuza's surrounding her.
"Good call there, Mistress. More importantly, I can feel every move you make while you're in my mist. Make any move to leave, and I'll just kill those kids and the old man. I might do that anyway, if you don't provide enough fun," said the man, his voice coming from behind her. Then he attacked from the same direction, his shadow suddenly visible in the fog, and causing her to only just catch him out of the corner of her eye. Holding her kunai up, focusing chakra into it, she took the blow from his sword head on, hoping that her power would neutralize his. Unfortunately, his blade was better suited for chakra focusing, and so it sliced through her defense, and would have cut her in two, had she been even a little slower, sliding away from him, and then facing him through the gap in the mist her movement made.
"Excellent. It's been a long time since I got a real work out," claimed the man, before swiping his hand in front of him. This caused the mist to coalesce again, concealing him once more.
"Sensei, I can see him now, but only barely. He's coming in on your left...NOW!" the voice of Hinata came from her collar, and with a desperate tone, she warned of the attack. Luckily, Kurenai was faster than the big brute, and so her counter was quick enough, knowing where he was coming from, to stab him with a few senbons as she darted past, causing the man to cry out in pain as the unexpected attack hit home. She had hoped, somehow, that her needles might blind him, but her luck was not that good today, and instead they merely peppered his arm with pain, making him scream a little as he pulled the needles free from his flesh.
"That hurt you little bitch!" said the man, before he charged again.
"Forward left, six degrees to," said Hinata's low voice, and Kurenai reacted as he came in view, again dashing past him, and throwing a few more needles, and cursing her lack of kunai. These needles bit into his flesh as well, but somehow he was able to spin on his heels. She was already too far gone for the sharp edge of his blade, but with her senses dulled by the fog, she couldn't see the flat side of it until it struck her in her chest, driving the air from her lungs in a single wheeze, and then tossing her back. She flew through the air a short ways, until she finally slammed with an almost bone cracking crunch into the trunk of a tree. Her vision began to tunnel, but she forced herself to remain awake as she shakily rose to her feet.
"Onee-sama!" came Heero and Naruto's voices through the mist, and she knew the two were prepared to come to her rescue, foolish as that might have been.
"Stay back you two. This is my fight, and I won't have your interfering," she declared, trying to keep desperation out of her voice. She wanted to order them to run, to just take Tazuna and go, or maybe just abandon the old man, but she knew neither of them would. Shino and Hinata would refuse the same order. This was a mission, and you didn't give up on one, and you never left a teammate behind. That was the shinobi way of life.
"Bravado will only get you killed faster, Mistress of the Mind," said Zabuza's voice, and Kurenai turned towards the source, only to be blind sided as he came from behind her instead, where the tree should have been, causing her to roll forward, and then suddenly keel over in pain as her back muscles refused the order to bend the right way.
"Hinata, target. Shino, DnD. Naruto, secret and rescue!" shouted Heero's voice suddenly, and Kurenai wondered what he was babbling about, only to be shown a moment later when suddenly a pulse of chakra washed over her. More importantly it washed over the mist as well, causing the stuff to be pushed away as if by some great wind. The next second, she found herself grabbed by Naruto's his arms coming under her's, and dragging her off the ground, just as Zabuza swung at her position, intending on bisecting her. In the distance, she saw Shino and Heero charging Zabuza, while Hinata ran into the woods, then she saw nothing as green covered her vision, leaving her two young Genin to battle.