Kuushou was surprised to find that Anko was actually faster than him.
They had both agreed that, at least for the first part of the trip, they should move as quickly as possible. Once they crossed into Wave they would sacrifice speed for awareness of their surroundings, but until they point they would push as hard as they could. They had traveled together before, but Anko had always set the pace and hadn't pushed for more speed even when she saw he could keep up.
This time, she raised the pace and kept on raising it. Kuushou pumped more and more chakra into his body, but eventually he reached the point where he was literally doing more harm than good. Pushing his muscles that hard, even with chakra reinforcement, was tearing them apart. He managed to push past that point a bit, healing the damage as they ran, but ultimately he simply couldn't maintain his body's motion while distributing his chakra and youki while also healing the damage caused.
Anko didn't say anything – in fact, she looked pleasantly surprised – but she dropped her speed to match his and stayed there. He was annoyed to find that she was using significantly less chakra than he was, and she certainly wasn't having to heal damage while she ran. He suspected that it was simply a matter of size – his legs were shorter and his muscles, no matter how dense, were simply smaller. There was also the matter of his lost conditioning – he couldn't recall ever having to match pace with a veteran ninja going all out, but he suspected his old body would have managed the task much better.
On the other hand, when they finally reached the coast many hours – and a few short breaks – later, Anko was panting steadily and her reserves were nearly halved. He, on the other hand, caught his breath easily and didn't even notice the chakra drain.
"Alright, Blondie, we're moving into hostile territory from here on out. Don't let your guard down," Anko said as she caught her breath and swallowed a chakra pill she had pulled out of her pack.
"How are we getting into Wave?"
"Gai was going to hire a boat to make the crossing, but he had genin with him. You up for running it?"
Kuushou smirked. "Are you?"
Turned out she was faster than him on water as well.
"Hmm...," Anko mused as she knelt on the ground and conferred with the snake. "Blood from two different people over here, one much more heavily injured than the other."
She stood and moved away from the edge of the water, towards an area where the earth and surrounding trees had been pierced by a large number of irregularly shaped projectiles.
"Blood from four different people over here, none seriously injured. Location of the ambush suggests a water-user, possibly another missing-nin from Kiri. The scent puts this at two days ago, same day we got Gai's letter."
"Looks like he was right to request backup, then," Kuushou mused.
"Looks like," Anko agreed. "What bothers me...," she added, straightening up, "is that there were seven people in the fight."
It took them less than an hour to follow the trail of the larger group and arrive at a two-story home situated a short distance outside of a village.
They were met outside of the home by the three genin on Team Gai. Neji stepped forward and bowed slightly. "We have been expecting you," he said.
Kuushou surveyed the team, noting the bandages all of them had festooned on various places on their bodies. They had bags under their eyes, indicating that they had not slept well, and Tenten and Lee both looked like they had been crying recently.
Anko frowned. "Where's Gai?" she asked without preamble.
The team flinched, Lee looking particularly upset. "Gai-sensei was injured in a battle with a missing-nin and is currently incapacitated," Neji explained, his voice hollow.
"Time for you to get busy, Blondie," Anko said, motioning for everyone to move inside.
Injured, it turned out, was something of an understatement.
Gai was laid on his stomach, blood-soaked bandages packed around and into a massive gash across his side and back. He was sweating profusely and his skin deathly pale.
"He said that his opponent was Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Bloody Mist," Neji began to explain, his eyes staring at Gai's prone form. "He was winning the fight, but I noticed that there was another ninja in the area. She was dressed as a hunter-nin, but was traveling alone and studying our team rather than focused on the missing-nin that should have been her prey. I concluded that she was in fact Zabuza's accomplice.
"I alerted Gai-sensei to her presence... which proved to be a mistake," he paused, and took in a deep breath. Once he had himself under control, he continued, "The fake hunter-nin created numerous shards of ice out of thin air and hurled them towards ourselves and the client. Our injuries likely would have been much more serious had Gai-sensei not intercepted and deflected a large number of them. Zabuza used that opening to strike at him from behind."
When Neji next spoke, his voice was tinged with respect and awe. "Even as he was wounded, Gai-sensei managed to counter-attack as well. Whatever he did to Zabuza caused the missing-nin to immediately collapse. His accomplice took Zabuza and retreated rather than continuing the assault."
"Anything of note after that?" Anko asked.
"No," Neji said, shaking his said. "We have kept the client and his family confined to this house and shored up our defenses here. Our efforts have been focused on healing him as best we could and holding on until reinforcements arrived."
Anko nodded. "Good move. I would have preferred if you'd manage to scout a bit, but I can see why you didn't. What's he lookin' like, Blondie?"
"Pretty bad, all things considered," Kuushou replied. "He's overdosed on blood pills, which is preventing his wound from clotting properly. There's also some sort of poison in his system that's messing with his recovery as well, and the wound has gotten infected."
Tenten choked back a sob and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry," she said, "he was just losing so much blood and-" she stopped when Kuushou held up his hand, an annoyed look on his face.
"I didn't say you did anything wrong; given the size of the wound he might have died from blood loss otherwise. Besides, it's nothing I can't fix."
"Why bother?" a voice asked from the hallway. The attention in the room shifted to a little boy dressed in overalls who was glaring at the ninja from under the brim of his hat. "You're all just going to die anyway – Gato's going to kill all of you."
"Just shut up!" Tenten snarled, rounding on the little boy with fury etched on her face. "You-"
She was restrained by Lee before she could say anything further, but the entire team was glaring at the little boy.
Before anyone could say anything else, a young woman came up behind the boy and pulled him down the hallway. "Inari," she scolded, "I've told you to leave the ninja alone."
Anko watched the two disappear back downstairs before turning back to the room. "Well that's an unpleasant little shit," she said.
Lee frowned. "He is most unyouthful," the green-clad genin said. He shook his head and slapped his face rapidly. "Yosh!" he suddenly cried out, whirling back towards Kuushou. "Your Flames of Youth are burning brightly, to be able to help Gai-sensei! I will assist in any way I can!"
"You can assist by leaving me to work in peace," Kuushou growled, pointing towards the door. The genin nodded and quickly left the room, shooting glances towards him and Gai as they went. Anko remained behind, leaning against the door frame.
"How long til he's up and about?" she asked.
"Hmm...," Kuushou mused, already beginning to repair the damage and flush out the poison, "about an hour."
"This isn't the time for jokes, Blondie," she snapped. "I need to know when I can count on him being up and about so we can get to work."
Kuushou turned to her, one eyebrow raised. "Who's joking?"
"Lee!" Gai cried out, spreading his arms wide. He still looked a little pale and had lost a bit of weight, but he was standing firmly and moving energetically.
"Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed, rushing forward and embracing his mentor tightly.
"Tenten!" Gai called, holding out one arm.
"Gai-sensei!" Tenten sobbed as she clutched at him, tears streaming down her face.
"Neji!" Gai beckoned.
Neji stood nearby as if he was frozen in place, his face taut with restrained emotion. When he didn't immediately reply, Lee and Tenten both reached out and pulled him into the group hug. He still didn't say anything, but he wasn't fighting the embrace either.
Kuushou turned to see Anko watching the scene with an odd expression on her face. "Is that normal?" he asked.
Anko shrugged. "For Gai, it kinda is, yeah. For anyone else... well, it's the rare team that manages to bond that closely. Sometimes it turns them into a powerhouse, like the Ino-Shika-Cho... and sometimes it backfires," she said, rubbing the side of her neck.
She didn't say anything else, just turned and went back downstairs. Tazuna and his family were gathered in the living room, the old man's gaze turned upward as he tried to make out the shouting from upstairs.
"Is everything alright?" Tsunami asked from her spot on the couch. She had a tight hold on Inari, who was sitting next to her and glaring balefully at the two ninja who had walked into the room.
"They're fine," Anko replied, waving her hand dismissively. "That's just Gai and his team."
Tsunami's face crinkled with worry. "They should really let him rest," she said.
Anko snorted in amusement. "Ha. Something tells me that he'll be the one running them ragged soon. They've missed... what, three days of training now? That's practically blasphemy."
"But... he was seriously wounded," Tsunami protested.
Anko reached over and messed up the hair on Kuushou's head. "Blondie here took care of that. Gai's already up and about, and he'll be at full strength in no time."
Tsunami and Tazuna stared at them stunned, while Inari wrenched himself out of his mother's arms and shot to his feet. "You're lying!" he yelled. "Nobody could survive getting hurt like that!" He turned and rushed up the stairs. Tsunami started after him, her face pained, but before she even reached the stairs the sound of a door slamming shut echoed through the house.
Her shoulders slumped. "Inari...," she whispered.
"Cute kid," Anko said sarcastically.
"Inari wasn't always like that...," Tazuna began.
"Don't care," Anko said. "C'mon Blondie, we're going to patrol a bit while Team Gai is still out of it."
Kuushou joined Anko and Gai in the kitchen early the next morning, while Gai's team and the other occupants of the house were still asleep. Gai had quickly summarized everything he had learned about Zabuza, his accomplice, and their supposed employer, Gato.
"So what did you do to Zabuza?" Anko asked eventually.
"I struck him with the Midnight Viper technique," Gai said, his expression grave. "It is one of the ultimate techniques of the Iron Fist; when executed correctly, it crushes the opponent's heart."
"Now that's my kind of technique," Anko said, smirking. "So Zabuza's dead then?"
"When executed correctly," Gai stressed. "The technique was only partially effective; at best, it merely stopped his heart. Even if that is the case, his accomplice could easily have restarted his heart after retreating."
Anko leaned back against the kitchen table, frowning. "Tch. He's had three days to act since then. Why hasn't he done anything? We're at the client's house, for fuck's sake – it's not like it would be hard to find us."
"Just because he is not dead does not mean he is uninjured, but I share your concern. His accomplice at least was completely unharmed. However, Neji has reported that neither Zabuza nor his companion have approached the house at any time. He could not have his byakugan active at all times, of course, but there has been no sign that they have been anywhere near here."
Anko nodded. "Fair enough. Now then, I believe it's time for us to get on with our work. Plan A is to check in tonight and let you know if we've found anything. If we go two days without contact, assume we've been KIA."
Gai frowned but nodded. "Now that the most youthful Naruto-san has healed me, my team will be protecting Tazuna-san and his family while he resumes work on his bridge. We shall also keep our eyes and ears open in case we encounter anything suspicious."
Gai turned to Kuushou and bowed. "Thank you again, Naruto-san, for healing me. You saved not only my life but likely the lives of my team as well. If there is any way I can repay you, please do not hesitate to ask."
Kuushou grinned. "I'll keep that in mind," he said.
"Alright, Blondie, here's the deal," Anko said as they came to a stop somewhere deep in the forest behind Tazuna's house. "We know from Tazuna that Gato is essentially paying bands of thieves and two-bit thugs to do his dirty work for him, and that he uses them almost exclusively. The deal with Tazuna is apparently one of the few times he's pulled in actual ninja. He's also greedy as fuck, and so I doubt he's going to pay ninja to do things his thugs can do."
Kuushou nodded in agreement, wondering where she was going with this.
"So, there are two ways we could do this: the boring way, where we break into Gato's headquarters or home to find evidence that he's the one hiring missing-nin; and the fun way."
"And what is the fun way?" Kuushou asked when Anko didn't continue.
She grinned maliciously, an eager glint in her eyes. "We start killing all the thugs until Gato sends out the big boys."
Kuushou eyed Anko for a moment, reflecting on how odd it was to be talking with someone who had just as little regard for human life as he did. Well, almost – she seemed to take attacks on Konoha ninja personally, even when she didn't have any personal connection with them. She hadn't actually known any of the group of chuunin who had died during their first mission, for instance.
"It's a two-for-one, even," Anko added when he didn't respond immediately. "The thugs are bothering everyone in Wave, and if we do it my way Konoha will not only be visibly protecting the guy building the bridge that's going to save everyone's asses, but we'll also get credit for cleaning up the short-term problems too. How's that for making a good impression, huh?"
Kuushou snorted in amusement, then shrugged. "The fun way it is."
It had been trivial to track down some of Gato's men. A group of ten had swept into a small town about eight kilometers west of Tazuna's home, terrorizing the civilians they encountered and smashing a few windows – apparently just for the hell of it. Their work done for the day, the group had then descended on the nearest bar and begun consuming everything that even smelled like alcohol.
A couple of pointed questions about the recent damage was all it took for one of the shaken civilians to point them towards the bar.
When they paused outside, Kuushou could hear the raucous laughter and coarse yelling clearly through the walls of the building.
"You don't want to go in there," a man said from behind them. They turned to find a merchant running a small food stand seemingly intent on his cooking, though he was watching them and the bar warily out of the corner of his eye. "It's best just to let them drink themselves stupid and move on. Less trouble for everyone that way."
"Aww," Anko cooed, clutching her hands over her heart, "I'm touched that you're worried for little ol' me. Thing is, though," she added, smirking, "that I like trouble."
Anko then marched across the street and threw the door open, striding into the bar like she owned the place. She walked past the three tables occupied by the thugs and slapped her hand on the bar, gesturing grandly as she yelled, "I'll have the best you've got, on the double!"
Kuushou walked in behind her at a more sedate pace, closing the door behind him. He eyed the few remaining customers who were huddling in a corner and looking as if they wished they were anywhere else for a moment, then shrugged and discreetly jammed a kunai into the doorframe, wedging the door shut; if the civilians hadn't left by now, they weren't going to leave before the fun started.
Sure enough, only a few seconds later three of the thugs walked up to Anko, surrounding her as she leaned back against the bar, her coat gaping open to reveal her tight clothing.
"Whaddya say you bring that bottle over to our table, huh? You look like you want a good time, and good times is our sp- spek... speecialty," the thug leered, his voice already slightly slurred from the alcohol he had consumed.
Kuushou slid along the wall, going almost completely unnoticed as the room focused on the drama unfolding at the bar.
"I don't know," Anko demurred, her voice managing to somehow sound innocent and sultry at the same time, "you guys look like you're the rough type."
That got a round of laughter from the group. "Don't worry, babe," one of them said, stepping forward and sliding his arm around Anko's waist, "we can be real gentle-like."
Anko pouted, bringing one hand up and touching it to her bottom lip. "That's a shame," she replied, her voice gaining an eager edge, "I like it rough."
She spun suddenly, a kunai appearing and stabbing through the hand that had been gripping her waist, pinning it to the side of the bar. The bar was silent for a moment, everyone staring at her, then the wounded thug let out a yell of pain and the room exploded into motion.
Anko was a blur, a wide grin on her face and maniacal laughter pouring from her lips. While the thugs were struggling to move away from their chairs and pull out whatever weapons they had at hand, she had gutted one of the thugs and sliced open the throat of another.
Kuushou leaned against the wall, more than willing to give in to Anko's whims and stay out of this particular battle; it wasn't like any of them would be challenging anyway. He smirked as Anko threw the two kunai she had in her hands, one drilling through an eye and the other lodging deep in a throat. She didn't even bother to pull out another kunai, instead going in with bare fists against their swords and knives. She wasn't even actively using her chakra to boost her speed or strength.
His eyes watched closely as she twisted and spun her way through the melee, her hands darting out suddenly and striking with speed and precision, leaving choking and gasping men in her wake. A few seconds later she spun away from her last opponent, coming to a stop before him and taking an elaborate bow.
"Thank you, thank you," she said, continuing to bow before some imaginary audience. "If you stick around, we'll be putting on an encore very soon," she added in an amused tone.
"You missed one," Kuushou pointed out.
Anko's hand blurred as she threw a kunai over her shoulder, the projectile striking home with a dull thud. "No I didn't," she retorted as the thug who had been pinned to the bar slid downwards, his body coming to a rest on the floor while his arm remained elevated.
Kuushou chuckled, prompting Anko to smirk triumphantly, but they were interrupted by the sound of someone retching in the corner of the bar. They turned their gazes in that direction only to find the few legitimate patrons staring at them in horror, while one of them continued to empty his meal onto the floor.
One of them stood up, his gaze shifting from them to the dead bodies Anko had left in her wake and back. "What have you done?" he yelled, his voice hoarse with fear. "When Gato hears about this, he's going to send even more of his men, and they'll just kill all of us in retaliation!"
"You're half right," Anko agreed as she moved to the bar, picking up the kunai she had used on the way. She jerked the last one out of the wood and the thug's hand and, picking up a dirty rag from behind the bar, began to methodically wipe the blood off of her kunai. "He will send more of his men, no question. In fact, if you want to get off your asses and actually do something to help yourselves for a change, you'll head out to the other towns and villages and tell everyone you know that someone who is willing to stand up to Gato just showed up in your town and butchered some of his men."
The man paled, staring at her with wide eyes. "You're insane," he whispered.
"You're half right," Anko agreed again, smirking.
Kuushou watched as Anko strode through the town, her eyes darting back and forth as she memorized the layout and analyzed the terrain for any potential advantages. While her mind worked, she was also keeping up a running commentary, supposedly for his benefit.
"I guess I can add 'depopulated a village' to my list of accomplishments," she noted wryly. "Although it wasn't quite like I had imagined. There was a lot of terror and chaotic running about, just... not so much death and destruction. Takes a lot of the fun out of it."
"Yes, not the way I would have gone about it either," Kuushou agreed, letting his own amusement bleed through into his voice.
"Oooh," she said, stopping suddenly, "when they come back, does that mean I technically repopulated one as well? Although, that wasn't actually on my to-do list...," she added, frowning. "Eh, I'll take it."
"Anyway," she said, focusing back on the task at hand, "I expect we'll get about two or three groups like that one in the next wave, and they'll be sober and looking for a fight this time. They'll probably arrive together along one of the main roads, making a big show about putting down the upstarts and so on. I figure we'll draw them into the middle of the town, then kill the lot of them."
"And then?"
"Then we start planning for a ninja to show up. That's where you come in. I want you to start whipping up some exploding tags with proximity seals, as well as a few chakra flares. We'll give our missing-nin friends a welcome they'll never forget."
"Come out, you fucking cowards!" one of the hired thugs yelled as a large group of them swept into town. All of them had their weapons out and eager expressions on their faces.
"I think they all ran away once they heard we were coming!" another boasted.
"Sounds like we get to loot the place then! The boss did say we could do whatever we wanted!"
"I don't like this, guys," one of them said, looking around nervously.
"Then leave, ya chickenshit. More loot for the rest of us."
Kuushou glanced over at Anko from his position on the rooftop. She shook her head slightly, motioning for him to wait.
The group continued to move through the town, staying clumped together even as they called out threats and taunts and bragged about the valuables they were going to take from the small village.
Once they had moved to where Anko wanted them, she grinned. "Remember; weapons only," she said, then leapt forward off the edge of the roof.
The greater number of opponents, despite supposedly coming prepared and expecting a fight, fared no better against their onslaught than their allies in the bar had. Less than a minute all of them had been dealt with... except one. Kuushou pretended not to notice the terrified man as he tried to slip away without drawing their attention, and Anko did the same.
"So now we're waiting for Zabuza and his accomplice to show up?" Kuushou asked as he cleaned and stored away his own weapons.
"Hmm... nope," Anko replied.
Kuushou's eyes narrowed. "I believe your plan was to force Gato to send out the so-called big boys, was it not?"
"Oh, Gato is going to send them out, sure; we've just carved through nearly forty of his men and he can't afford to just let that go. But this whole setup just screams trap to a ninja, so there's no way in hell any ninja worth shit is going to show up here.
"No, we're going to follow our cowardly friend and see where he goes. And, on the off chance one of Gato's ninja really does show up here, we've left some presents for them, haven't we?"
A few hours later, Anko was frowning as she stared down at the hive of activity that was Gato's massive mansion. Their new "friend" had made a beeline for this place, and charged in screaming his head off about crazy ninja killing everyone. Gato himself had come out, smacking the man about with his cane – a humorous sight, given that the man was taller than Gato even when on his knees – and started making a grandiose threats about showing everyone what happened when they messed with him. He was promising huge bonuses for whoever killed the people responsible and everything else they had expected, except for one thing.
Neither Zabuza nor his mysterious accomplice were anywhere to be found.
Kuushou could have told her that no chakra signatures were anywhere near Gato's mansion, but even he was surprised to hear Gato ranting about how the ninja he hired had disappeared without finishing the job; it seemed that they hadn't even contacted him indirectly.
They waited until they confirmed that Gato was going to wait until morning and more men before he made his move, then pulled out.
They returned to Tazuna's house and met with Gai and his team late that evening. They all gathered in the living room, the genin looking worn out but considerably happier than they had been while Gai sat in one of the chairs, his hands clasped under his chin and his gaze solemn.
"We've got a problem, Gai," Anko began without preamble. "We provoked Gato into sending out Zabuza and his partner by taking out some of Gato's hired thugs, only to find out that Gato hasn't had contact with either of them since your fight with them."
"I see," Gai responded thoughtfully while his team glanced at one another. "It seems unlikely that they would simply abandon the job, especially since I was seriously wounded in our previous encounter and was, at the time, the only ninja capable of taking on Zabuza directly."
"Yeah," Anko nodded. "I think they're still around too. Either you did a lot more damage than you thought," she said, her tone making it clear that she doubted Gai would misjudge the effect of his own technique, "or they're cooking something up." She continued pacing around for a while, then asked, "How long until the old guy finishes the bridge?"
"Tazuna-san believes that the bridge is still several weeks from completion at its current rate. That rate may slow even further, as some of his workers have quit and others appear to be considering doing so as well."
Kuushou noted that Anko looked disgusted, but refrained from commenting.
"Since he no longer has ninja at his command, what was Gato's response?"
"Oh," Anko said airily, "he's gathering up all of his thugs for one big showdown. Based on what we saw earlier he'll be showing up at the trap around noon."
A startled gasp from the kitchen revealed that Tsunami and her family had been listening in on the conversation, not that they had taken any real precautions to keep her from doing so.
"I told you!" Inari yelled, pointing at the ninja accusingly. "I told you he'd kill you all!" he continued, then turned and ran upstairs before his mother could stop him.
Tsunami had other things on her mind, however. "Do we need to flee?" she asked nervously, her hands clutching at her apron. "We need to warn everyone, and-"
"Relax," Anko interrupted, looking annoyed. "Did you not hear me say 'trap'? Those guys are as good as dead already, and Blondie and I will be making sure none of them get away."
"But, there must be dozens of them," Tsunami pointed out.
"Probably well over a hundred by the time the rest of them show up," Anko corrected, grinning. "But we're talking about your average two-bit thug here. Blondie over here could take care of that many without even slowing down."
Tsunami turned to look at him, her eyes wide. Kuushou just shrugged.
"What of the civilians?" Gai asked pointedly.
"They've already evacuated," Anko said. "They all cleared out as soon as we took down the first group of Gato's men."
"Very well," Gai said after a moment. "I will leave that matter in your hands. That still leaves the issue of Zabuza and his accomplice. It is probable that they are aware of the situation by now and are prepared to take advantage of it."
"The information the Bingo Book has on Zabuza says that he's a skilled assassin, but that he always gets up close and personal to do his dirty work. That seems to be confirmed by his attack a few days ago."
"I agree," Gai said, "but we know nothing of his accomplice beyond the use of a single ice-based technique. The speed and skill of the attack suggests either a high level of experience or a bloodline. The Yuki clan has long been associated with Kiri, so we may be looking at a survivor of their Purges; the timing of Zabuza's defection would also fit with that."
"Makes sense," Anko replied, "but doesn't help us much in predicting what they'll do."
They went back and forth for nearly twenty minutes, proposing various avenues of attack and ways to counter or negate them. In deference to Tsunami and Tazuna, Gai began to couch their suggestions in highly technical terms and ninja slang to avoid disturbing them with the frank discussion. They quickly lost the genin as the younger ninja had yet to encounter the terms, and even Kuushou wasn't sure about some of the slang. "Family dinner" probably referred to using Tsunami as a vector to poison Tazuna, but what was a "red egg" and why did Gai look so angry at the suggestion?
"Have you considered that Zabuza may be using Gato as a cat's paw?" Gai asked after they had run out of ways to threaten Tazuna's life.
Anko shrugged. "Doesn't fit the profile we have, but he could be. We'll be ready for it in any case."
Gai frowned slightly. "I do not mean to dismiss your youthful skill," Gai began, "but I had a solid physical advantage over Zabuza and still found myself pressed on occasion. He is every bit as skilled with his blade as I would expect of a former member of the Seven Swordsmen. Are you certain that you can take him one-on-one?"
Anko smirked. "I don't plan to make it a fight at all," she said. "My orders were to kill him, plain and simple. I don't have to face off against him for that."
His frown grew. "And if you find yourself fighting him after all?"
She shrugged. "I'll have to make the call. We've got some emergency measures in place to help us get away, or I may have Blondie work his magic."
He was frowning deeply now, openly concerned. "You would have a chuunin battle a ninja of Zabuza's caliber? I am thoroughly impressed by his most youthful skill as a medic-nin, but surely his combat skill is-"
"Triple-B," Anko interrupted, "at least. No offense to your team, Gai, but from everything I've heard you would have won if they hadn't been there, even if you were fighting both Zabuza and his accomplice."
"... I likely would have," Gai admitted after a few seconds. "I do not for a moment regret my decision to protect them, however. It is my honor to preserve their Flames of Youth until they have grown into the bonfires I know they will be." His voice was filled with absolute conviction as he met Anko's gaze.
A loud sniffle drew their attention to the couch, where Lee was wiping his arm across his face. "Gai-sensei!" he called out suddenly, jumping to his feet and revealing the tears streaming from his eyes. "Yosh! I will train twice as hard to meet your expectations! And if I can't do that, I will-"
"Lee!" Tenten hissed, grabbing his shirt and pulling him back down. Her eyes were a little watery as well, and even Neji seemed to be swallowing thickly as he stared at Gai.
Kuushou noted that Anko looked a little pained as she watched the display, but the expression was gone quickly and she cleared her throat to regain the room's attention.
"The point is, I trust Blondie to hold his own well enough that he could help out, whether that be helping us getting away or helping me take out Zabuza and his accomplice. I know that you're stronger than I am in a straight fight, but I also won't be dealing with the same problems you had."
Gai still looked uncertain, but he didn't press the issue.
"Uzumaki-san," Kuushou heard Tenten call out as he made his way down the stairs the next morning. He turned to see her coming out of the bathroom fully dressed, her hair still slightly damp from her recent shower.
"Yes, Higurashi-san?" he asked as he paused.
"I remember you from the Academy, you know," she said. "I mean, I didn't at first. You've changed... a lot since then. You were the orange-wearing kid a year behind me who was always getting into trouble."
"Was I?" he responded curiously. "In any event, as you say, I have changed."
"That's the thing, though... you're good at seals, good enough that Dad's willing to sell your stuff in the store, you know enough medical jutsu to heal Gai-sensei, and now you have a Triple-B combat ranking... How? Not even Neji or Lee are that good yet."
"I'm surprised you haven't heard yet, actually."
Tenten frowned uncertainly. "Heard what?"
"About the look-alike who was pulled from a different world against his will. The one who was promoted to chuunin and has been training some of the most recent graduates."
Her eyes widened slightly. "I'd heard bits and pieces, but I thought...," she shook her head, cutting off whatever she had been about to say. "That still doesn't explain it though."
Kuushou shrugged. "I've been very focused on my sealing studies. As for the combat rating and medical jutsu, I have some unique advantages that I have learned to make use of."
"What, like a bloodline?"
"I wasn't born with this advantage, but I... acquired it shortly thereafter." He let out a bitter laugh, his expression turning rueful. "I never wanted to be like this, and wouldn't have done it if I'd had a choice, but then I couldn't have saved your teacher's life without being... what I am."
Tenten looked confused. "What does that mean?"
He shrugged, turning and continuing down the stairs. "Who knows?"
"Uzumaki-san," Kuushou heard again. He turned to look at Neji, who had followed him outside after breakfast.
"Yes, Hyuuga-san?"
"I wished to express my gratitude for saving Gai-sensei's life. I had feared it was his fate to die on this mission, and ourselves with him."
"You are welcome, of course. I'm happy that I was able to heal him. Don't discount your own efforts, either. If your team hadn't managed to stabilize him as well as you did, I might not have been able to do anything."
"Nonetheless, we are in your debt."
Kuushou's eyebrow rose. He'd spent enough time around Hinata to know that all Hyuuga were brought up in a very traditional manner and that formal declarations of that sort were not made lightly. Neji's words hardly bound the Hyuuga clan – he had neither the standing nor authority for that – but it would influence the genin himself greatly.
And if the reserved Hyuuga was willing to go that far, it was almost certain that his teammates felt the same way.
"Very well. Was there anything else?"
Neji straightened, his eyes searching. "I overheard your conversation with Tenten earlier, and I wished to ask you... does this mysterious ability have anything to do with the unusual nature of your chakra?"
"I can't say."
Neji frowned slightly. "I am referring to the color of your chakra and the way it seems to... surround you without being expended. Surely there is-"
"I can't say," Kuushou repeated, stressing the words.
Understanding dawned. "I see."
Later that day, Kuushou and Anko caught up with Gato and his horde of mercenaries roughly three kilometers outside of the town. Thick, dark clouds hung overhead, making it seem as if it were more towards evening when it was actually nearly noon. While a storm was clearly brewing, no rain had begun to fall yet.
There was still no sign of either Zabuza or his partner.
Anko was flipping a kunai through the air as she thought. A flick of her wrist would send the blade spinning upwards lazily, making precisely four complete rotations before she caught it once again.
Flick, spin, catch.
Flick, spin, catch.
"They sure are taking their time," she muttered. "I'm going to die of boredom before they even make it to the village."
Flick, spin, catch.
"We could just take them out now," Kuushou suggested.
Anko paused, holding the handle between her thumb and forefinger as she eyed him consideringly. After a moment, she shook her head.
Flick, spin, catch.
"Nah, better to wait until they enter the trap. Much more likely to get them all at once that way. I don't want to waste my time chasing the idiots down one by one if they all decide to run."
Flick, spin, catch.
Kuushou shrugged, and turned his attention back to the stream of mercenaries marching towards their doom.
Flick, spin, catch.
"Oh hell no," Anko snarled, glaring at him. "I will be doing the honors, Blondie. This assignment has been shitty enough as is, no way am I letting you take the best part."
"I am the one who did most of the seal work."
"And I directed you on where to put everything."
"You've gotten more kills than I have."
"So I've earned the privilege."
"That means you've already had your fun."
"That wasn't fun, that was a chore. This is fun."
Kuushou shook his head in mock disgust, but stepped back. "Fine. I get the ones outside the village, then."
"Except Gato."
"Including Gato."
"... fine, and Gato."
"So generous."
"I can still change my mind."
"Far be it for me to question your infinite wisdom. … what are you waiting for?"
"I'm savoring the moment. It's not often I get to do this, you know."
"You're going to miss your chance."
"You can't rush these things."
"... they're already starting to trickle back out."
"Aaaaaand... now."
With that, Anko pumped her chakra into the tag in her hand, triggering the traps linked to it while Kuushou darted away, heading for the small gathering of people outside the village proper.
Kuushou had to admit that she had timed it well – the men Gato had brought with him were spread throughout the village, true, but most of them were actually back out in the streets where the majority of the traps were located, rather than inside the buildings.
Anko had made the call to avoid "excessively" damaging the village unless necessary, though he had no doubt that her definition of the word was far more lenient than the Hokage's. He doubted there were any windows left intact in any of the buildings, but other than some minor scorching the structures should still be sound and liveable.
The first set of explosions occurred in a ring around the village, separating those who had been looting the buildings from the group Gato had kept around himself – an unintended but convenient bonus. Several mercenaries were caught in the blasts, their screams and death cries serving to sow further fear in their fellows.
A few seconds later, as the survivors retreated into the village and its cover, the tags buried under the streets triggered. From what he had seen before the clouds of smoke obscured his view, the vast majority of the men Gato had brought had been caught in the second round of blasts, caught completely unaware as their focus remained outside the village, searching for whatever group was now attacking them.
Kuushou could make out Anko cackling madly behind him as she moved into the village to take care of the survivors, but most of his attention was focused on his targets. Most were staring at the carnage, shock clear on their faces, but two of them, the only two that had enough chakra for him to even sense, were grasping their blades warily as they looked around. Gato himself was already starting to back away, his skin pale with fear as he found himself suddenly exposed.
He leapt high into the air, his form arcing over their heads. Gato must have seen something, because his head rose and his eyes widened as he caught sight of Kuushou's falling form. A feral grin spread on Kuushou's face as Gato eyes locked onto his own.
Anko clearly preferred to play with her victims, enjoying their growing fear as each was cut down in turn. He could appreciate the sentiment, but such effort was better reserved for use against opponents who were actually worthy of the name. Against common humans such as these, he much preferred efficiency.
Gato's hand began rising into the air, visibly shaking. "Ki-" Gato started to say, but he was cut short as Kuushou landed in the middle of the group. As his feet touched the ground and his legs began bending to absorb the impact, earthen spikes began rising out of the ground in a circle around him. By the time his hand touched the ground and his momentum had played out, the spikes were nearly one and a half meters high and completely obscured his form.
With a slight push of his legs, he rose, the spikes retreating back into the ground as he did so. They had completely disappeared by the time his legs straightened, allowing the men they had impaled to collapse back to the ground. He scanned them with a critical eye, noting that all of their heads were still intact, even Gato's. No need to waste any potential bounties, after all.
He turned and looked for any other mercenaries that were still standing, noting three that had frozen roughly a dozen meters away. All of them were staring at him in shock and horror, and didn't even have a chance to recover before he was upon them.
"Even if Zabuza never showed, that wasn't too boring, I suppose," Anko commented as they made their way back to Tazuna's house.
Kuushou shrugged.
"I do hope we get a chance for a real fight before we head back, though. I haven't even seen a missing-nin yet."
Kuushou nodded absently as Tazuna's house finally came into view. He caught a flicker of movement near the window before the front door opened and Tenten walked out.
"Welcome back, Mitarashi-jounin," she said, smiling. "Is everything finished on your end?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's done," Anko said dismissively. "Anything happen here?"
"No, ma'am," Tenten replied, her tone becoming slightly more formal. "There has been no activity."
Anko nodded. "Righteo. Guess we'll-"
Her words were interrupted as a distant shrieking whistle rose up and a chakra pulse pinged against their senses.
Tenten paled and opened her mouth to speak, but Anko cut her off. "Keep the family inside and make sure your traps are activated," she snapped.
The girl didn't even have the chance to argue before Anko disappeared in a shunshin, Kuushou following close behind.
When they arrived, both of them paused for a moment to take in what they were seeing. Somehow a long section of the bridge had completely collapsed, the surface almost entire submerged while jagged steel beams rose out of the water. Further out into the water, cut off from any easy access and barely visible through the thick mist, the most recently built piece still stood tall. The storm clouds were even thicker this far out to sea, and lightning was flashing in the distance. A few drops of rain served as warning that the storm would be breaking soon.
Even as they made their way closer to the bridge and the battle that Kuushou could feel raging upon it, a construct made of ice emerged from the sea and slammed into one of the bridge's supports. They could see now that it must have been attacking like that for some time, as five more supports along that side of the bridge had been broken as well. This last attack pushed the last section of the bridge beyond endurance, and the entire thing groaned ominously, the surface tilting towards the water as the sound of snapping cables and twisting metal filled the air.
Kuushou leapt from support to support, using the shattered remains of the bridge as stepping stones to rapidly close the distance. He could feel five signatures currently locked in combat, but the mist was laced with chakra and made identifying their exact positions of each difficult.
When he reached the top of the bridge, he found that the surface was slick and would have been nearly impossible to stand on without using his chakra to aid his grip. He could see equipment and stacks of building materials sliding towards the edge and off into the water, and even as he began to move towards the nearest signature, Neji's, the bridge shuddered beneath his feet and the incline steepened sharply.
The Hyuuga had his eyes activated and was currently straining as he attempted to make his vision pierce through the mist. He had a kunai clutched in each hand and several senbon sticking out of his body, though none had struck him in a truly vital area. Tazuna was cowering behind him, his arms and legs wrapped around a post as he struggled to remain on the bridge; the old man also had a couple of senbon sticking out of him as well.
Neji whipped around to face him, a grimace crossing his face as one of the senbon twisted sharply with the movement, then relaxed. "Naruto," he said, relief clear in his voice. He shook himself and began speaking quickly. "Zabuza's accomplice has been sniping at me while also taking out the supports on the bridge. Lee has been attempting to combat her, but is severely hampered by the location and some jutsu the enemy has used upon the water. Even I had trouble walking upon it, and Lee is unable to adjust nearly as well... unfortunately, my byakugan is all that has allowed us to keep Tazuna safe, so I am needed here."
Kuushou nodded, considering the situation for a moment. His mission was technically to take out any missing-nin in the area, but they were also supposed to support Gai and his team, and leaving a genin in such a situation probably wouldn't be the proper thing to do. Then again, they were targeting Tazuna, and would likely focus on him if the old man was in danger of getting away...
"Take Tazuna and make for the shore. I'll cover you."
Neji nodded, putting away his kunai as he moved over and hoisted Tazuna onto his shoulder. The old man grunted in pain but made no other protest at the treatment; if anything, he looked relieved at the thought that he would be away from all of this soon.
The Hyuuga moved to the edge of the bridge then tipped over it, his feet making contact with the metal supports as he ran down the side. Tazuna let out a muffled shout at the sudden change in orientation, and one of the signatures Kuushou didn't recognize abruptly shifted direction, heading towards Neji.
Kuushou grinned, trailing behind Neji as he waited for the pursuing ninja to make their move. The first attack came as a hail of senbon needles formed of ice; easily taken care of with a wind jutsu.
The second attack came as Neji made the leap to one of the supports that was jutting out of the water. This time it was a small hail of ice senbon mixed with large spikes of ice. Once again the wind jutsu sufficed, though he had to push more power into it.
The signature – which must have been Zabuza's accomplice, given the ice techniques, Kuushou concluded – seemed to hesitate, possibly surprised that the large projectiles could be countered in such a manner. Then the signature moved with impressive speed, darting ahead of Neji and Tazuna and flaring as the ninja began using a more powerful technique. Unfortunately for her, this also meant that she moved to an area where the mist was much thinner, allowing Kuushou to determine her precise location. With a burst of speed, he made his move.
Another ice construct was forming in front of the ninja when he appeared, his arm already raised and thrusting forward. Even caught by surprise, the ninja reacted swiftly, one hand deflecting his attack while the other continued to form handsigns. Kuushou took in her appearance as he attacked, noting that she was dressed in a dark blue robe that blended almost seamlessly with the choppy water and wore a white mask with the markings of a Kiri-nin upon it. She had no visible weapons and the only exposed skin was her hands; even her ears were covered by long black hair.
Kuushou continued to strike at the ninja, absently noting that, as Neji had indicated, water-walking actually was considerably more difficult than it should have been. A foreign chakra was laced into the water and was actively disrupting his own chakra – or at least trying to. It would take far more than this to seriously hinder him, but it was an... interesting technique.
Tiring of the ninja countering all of his attacks, he swiped his hand and sent a stream of wind towards the ninja, launching his opponent backwards and finally disrupting the ice construct. As the construct collapsed, Neji moved out of the mist completely and picked up speed, carrying Tazuna away from the battlefield and towards safety. The ninja looked as if they would pursue for a moment, then stopped and turned to face Kuushou.
No words were uttered, but her stance spoke of anger and frustration. The masked ninja's hand formed a single handseal, and ice senbon began lancing towards Kuushou from all directions. Rather than following up on the attack as he expected, however, the ninja disappeared, her signature revealing that she was heading back towards the standing section of the bridge. The ninja was also sending out chakra pulses in what Kuushou assumed was a prearranged signal.
The ninja also did something odd under the surface of the water. Kuushou couldn't make out if she had used any handsigns or not, but she left behind a large amount of chakra – nearly a quarter of what she had remaining – arranged in a rectangular, nearly flat sheet. He couldn't discern what the purpose was, but made sure to note its location as he continued his pursuit.
His pursuit brought him back to the surface of the barely-standing section of the bridge, where he found a tense standoff. Zabuza was backed against the edge of the bridge, his large sword held defensively in front of him. His partner was standing by his side, hands held in a seal. Gai stood about five meters away, a large pair of nunchaku held in his hands. Anko was roughly the same distance away to Zabuza's left, three snakes coiling near her feet and hissing dangerously. Lee stood at the opposite end of the bridge well away from the fighting, his eyes sharp as he observed the older ninja.
Kuushou came to a stop near Anko, crouching on the railing. He twitched as he felt another sheet of chakra forming off the side of the bridge, out of sight. Clearly they were meant to do something or the ninja wouldn't be wasting time creating them, but what?
"You Konoha-nin are like cockroaches," Zabuza growled through the bandages wrapped around the bottom of his face. "You should have just stayed out of my way."
"We are not so unyouthful as to allow you to murder an innocent man!" Gai declared.
"Talk to somebody who gives a shit," Zabuza retorted. His head slowly panned around, his eyes studying each and every face on the bridge before coming back to rest on Gai's. "Next time I see any of you... you won't see me."
With that threat lingering in the air, he and his partner both stepped backwards, dropping off the bridge. They crossed through the sheet of chakra a few moments later... and disappeared.
Kuushou's eyes widened in surprise before he caught their signatures reappearing back where the fake hunter-nin had placed the first sheet. The two of them immediately began moving across the water towards the mainland, though not in the direction Neji had gone.
Gai and Anko moved forward, ready to fend off any attacks as they tried to track Zabuza's movements. Kuushou was at their side a moment later, looking over the edge to find shards of ice tumbling through the air and vanishing into the mist below. That mist was already thinning, sped along by the stormwinds that were beginning to pick up.
Gai stared down at the sea for a few moments before turning away. He scanned the bridge quickly, spotting Lee, who was moving to join them.
"Where are Neji and Tazuna?" he asked tensely.
"Already at the shore; they should be heading back to Tazuna's house."
"Then we shall do the same. Zabuza may be seeking to strike while we are occupied here." His voice brooked no argument, and they all disappeared a moment later.
They gathered in the living room, Tazuna's daughter clinging to her father in relief while the old man stared into the fireplace, his expression almost devoid of emotion.
"It's over," he said quietly. "With the bridge damaged to that extent, it'll be months before we can get caught up, and with the threat of another attack like that hanging over us, I doubt any workers will show up from now on."
"Father," Tsunami said softly. "Don't give up hope. The bridge can be repaired, and the workers will come back. You'll see."
Tazuna just grunted softly, staring into the fire.
"So what happened out there?" Anko asked Gai.
"It seems that Zabuza and his accomplice were sabotaging the bridge in preparation for their attack. They weakened the structure without leaving any obvious signs, though they avoided the newer section, I believe because Tazuna and his workers would have spotted tampering that close. Then this morning they launched a series of water and ice jutsu that took out the remaining supports, collapsing the sections closer to land and effectively isolating us out in the sea.
"Zabuza used the terrain and his mist to good effect, preventing me from engaging him as I did before, while his accomplice took on both Neji and Lee while also threatening Tazuna. If you had not arrived when you did, I would have been forced to use some of my more dangerous techniques. With their ability to retreat underwater to avoid the worst of my strikes, even that may not have sufficed. Zabuza's accomplice and the ice bloodline she employed proved to be particularly devastating in that situation."
"Why are you still here? Just go away, before Gato kills all of us to get at you!" Inari screamed suddenly.
Anko and Kuushou shared a glance before bursting out laughing. Tenten, who had rounded on the little boy angrily, and Tsunami, who looked like she was about to deliver a particularly harsh rebuke, turned to look at them in confusion.
"That would be an impressive trick, brat," Anko said mockingly, "seeing as how Gato's dead."
Tazuna's head jerked upwards as he stared at her. "What?"
"Yep. The idiot showed up to our little trap in person, along with...," Anko paused, turning to Kuushou and asking, "what was the final count?"
"One hundred seventeen mercenaries," Kuushou replied easily.
"Right, along with all those mercenaries. Needless to say, he didn't make it out."
"You're lying!" Inari burst out, tears welling in his eyes. "No one could kill Gato!" With that, he turned and ran upstairs again.
Anko watched him go then turned to look at Tsunami. Tazuna's daughter was, for once, focused more on the ninja than her son as she stared at them.
"He's really dead?" she breathed, desperate hope shining in her face.
"Unless he's found a way to survive having his head cut off, I'd say so," Anko nodded.
Tsunami surged forward, wrapping Anko in a hug as she began sobbing. "Thank you, thank you."
Anko's hands twitched and she had a disgruntled look on her face, but she managed to control her reaction as she slowly peeled the weeping woman off of her. "You're welcome," she muttered. Then she grinned. "Although it was Blondie over there who actually did the deed," she added, lightly pushing Tsunami in his direction.
Kuushou's eyes narrowed as he glared at Anko, then his vision was cut off as he found himself swept up in Tsunami's grateful embrace.
Anko accepted the message from her snake and unrolled it, her eyes scanning rapidly as she parsed through the code. "Oh, thank Kami," she moaned, sagging in relief. "Start packing Blondie, we're finally out of here."
It had been two weeks since the last battle with Zabuza at the bridge, and there had been no sign of the missing-nin or his partner in all of that time. Both Anko and Gai had eventually concluded that he had left Wave upon discovering the death of his employer; he might want revenge against the Konoha-nin for interfering with his job, but money and supplies came first. His Bingo Book entry would be updated with the latest info and a warning issued that he may be looking to take revenge on Konoha in some fashion, but for now they were done with him.
It had also been two weeks where Anko had nothing interesting to do or look forward to. She'd been growing more and more agitated and aggressive over that time, and he honestly thought she was going to kill someone when she found out that no one within fifty kilometers of Tazuna's home sold dango of any description. Only Tsunami's intervention and cooking skills had prevented bloodshed.
"Are you leaving already?" Tsunami asked from the kitchen.
"Just got our new orders. My team has been recalled since our mission seems to be done, and Gai's team will be getting replaced in two days."
"I see," Tsunami said, looking a little sad. "At least let me make you some dango before you leave."
Anko paused in the act of replying, then nodded. "We can stick around that long," she allowed.
Kuushou snorted in amusement. He doubted Anko considered the woman a friend, but after Gato's death they had settled into an oddly companionable relationship. He'd even caught Anko demonstrating how to use the knives Tsunami had in her kitchen as deadly weapons, the civilian paying rapt attention to Anko's words and movements.
Tazuna had bounced back from his depression with the news of Gato's demise, and the rest of Wave seemed to be following him... both literally and figuratively. The man had put life and limb on the line for his country, and news that he was ultimately, if indirectly, responsible for breaking Gato's hold on Wave was spreading quickly. Workers were arriving in droves to help complete the bridge, and already new merchants were arriving, all of them competing to establish a foothold in the recovering nation. Even Inari had become less annoying, though the child seemed more confused and uncertain than relieved. He had at least stopped provoking the ninja, which had done wonders for his life expectancy.
For his part, Kuushou was just glad that this mission was finally over. It had started out well, but once Gato died everything settled down and he found himself impatiently waiting for a chance to resume his seal work or his study of the Forbidden Scroll in the privacy of his apartment. Even training the genin was more interesting than this.
Even the time he spent with Gai's genin was largely unproductive. They were still expected to remain battle ready and so couldn't engage in any strenuous training – though their "light" training would have run any of the more recent graduates into the ground. Anko also kept him scouring the countryside in the vain hope that they would find missing-nin or bandits to fight, so opportunities for conversation were also limited.
"I would like to congratulate you both on a successful mission," the Hokage said, smiling. They had reached Konoha early the next morning and had just finished delivering their final report to the Hokage.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," they both replied.
"I will be awarding additional pay in light of the extended time frame of the mission and the better than expected results, and will be making a note in both of your files as well. Now then, strictly speaking this next matter is for Anko only, but as it is not classified or sensitive information I have no problem with Naruto remaining. I suspect that it will save all of us some time if he remains," he added, smirking.
Anko eyed the Hokage curiously before shrugging.
"As I'm sure you are aware, Konoha is hosting the Chuunin Exams this year and they are now less than two months away. Ibiki has already agreed to oversee the first phase of the exam, and your name was on the short list of candidates to oversee the second phase. Given Ibiki's recommendation and your impressive work recently, I have decided to give you the first chance to accept the position."
Anko's eyes gleamed and a grin spread over her face. "You're giving me the Battle Royale phase?"
The Hokage nodded. "You will have two weeks to present your plans for the exam. You will be provided with the full rules and regulations, and may request up to four tokubetsu jounin or chuunin to assist you in the preparations. You will of course be provided as many ninja as your plan calls for during the exam itself, should it be approved.
"I accept," Anko said quickly. "And I request Blondie here as one of my assistants."
The Hokage smirked. "I thought you might." He turned to Kuushou. "You are not required to accept, but missions like this don't come around often and look very good on your record. It's also listed as a B-rank, despite the fact that it doesn't require you to leave the village."
"What exactly does the 'Battle Royale phase' consist of?"
The Hokage blinked for a moment, then let out a barking laugh. "Ha. I forget that you never actually participated in the Exams yourself. As the name implies, all of the contestants are pitted against one another in combat, drastically reducing their numbers until only a handful of teams remain to advance to the third phase. Unlike the first phase, deaths can and will happen."
Kuushou thought that over for a moment. They were asking him to help plan an event where genin would be pitted against one another in deadly combat, and not only was it considered something of an honor to assist, they were going to pay him to do it. The sheer irony of it all almost had him howling in laughter.
"I'll do it," he answered, fighting to keep his grin from growing too large.
A/N: Yosh! Another fic where I made it past the Wave Arc!
Hopefully I managed to keep things fresh and interesting. I had initially planned to have Zabuza and Haku ambush Anko and Kuushou while they were fighting Gato's thugs, but scrapped it because a) Kuushou would sense them coming and thus eliminate a lot of the danger and b) Zabuza has no reason to care about those two. Even in canon he's actually quite focused on taking out Tazuna directly – it's only after he's stopped that he focuses on fighting the ninja protecting Tazuna.
Gai also made sure to leave someone (who was awake) behind to guard Tsunami... which of course means that no one actually tried to go after her. Such is Irony.
"Naruto" played a much smaller role from the perspective of the people of Wave, despite the fact that he's the one who actually killed Gato, so no bridge for him. I'm actually thinking of having them name it the Phoenix Bridge, to symbolize both the fact that they had to rebuild it and what it meant to Wave as a whole.
In canon, I think that Gato didn't just have someone sabotage the bridge because he wanted to take it over for himself. There's plenty of circumstantial evidence to support that, and he likely would have made not damaging the bridge a condition of Zabuza's contract once Tazuna actually made it back to Wave. Too bad Zabuza didn't check in with him this time...
I'm not entirely certain that Haku can use her mirrors like that in canon (and yes, she's a girl, because because), but it's close enough to what has been shown in canon and makes for an interesting ability.
As always, thanks for reading and thanks for all the reviews!