Naruto smiled when he saw Pakkun enter the cave. He hadn't seen Kakashi's dogs all that often, but he'd met Pakkun before and liked him. Aside from being one of Kakashi's better trackers, Pakkun was probably the least threatening of the man's dogs. Non-threatening was good right now, because he didn't want his new allies to be spooked and do something that couldn't be taken back as a result.
He was reasonably sure that he had pegged his new allies correctly, but there was always the chance that he'd made a mistake. While he'd learned alot about reading people throughout his life, especially over the last couple of years, he wasn't perfect. He'd made mistakes before, and could do so again. He was reasonably sure that he was right in this case though, and as long as his current allies didn't feel too threatened by his team, things should be fine.
Those amongst the criminal classes tended to divide into two categories. Those whose morals were slightly bent, but drew the line at some things, and those who were beyond redemption and didn't draw the line anywhere. He had pegged this group as the sort who would draw the line somewhere, and do their best not to cross it. These guys weren't the usual rabble that had left their villages for a life on the road as Missing-nin. They had a cause, a cause that had attracted someone like Haku, and the sort that remained loyal to a cause was slightly more likely to keep their promises than the sort that didn't. The fact that they were in a group and that they looked to have traveled together for a long while spoke well for his team's chances of survival because, those who ran in packs tended to be less likely to turn on you unless they viewed you as a threat to their well-being, as those who traveled in packs tended to care for and be able to work with others, and since they had a support system were less likely to become paranoid wrecks.
Since he'd allied himself with Zabuza's group, he had been doing his best to make sure his team wasn't seen as a threat, and working hard to be seen as useful to them. The fact that he, Sasuke, and Sakura were still children in these people's eyes also helped to a degree. Based on the way the children who had been rescued alongside his teammates had been treated, these people would be less likely to harm those they perceived to be children.
Despite the fact that until Pakkun had shown up he'd been more hoping than certain that Kakashi and Tetsuo-sensei were alive, he had been frequently warning Zabuza's group about the Jounin so they wouldn't become too startled when they arrived and do something everyone might regret. As long as Kakashi and Tetsuo-sensei were willing to hold up their end of the bargain, everything should turn out fine. One mission, and they could all part ways and never see each-other again if they so chose. He'd miss Haku since he had been kind to him both times they had met, but he wasn't sure that he'd miss Zabuza or Mai.
After happily greeting Pakkun who had provided confirmation that both Kakashi and Tetsuo-sensei were alive and in good health, he pulled his marker out of his sandal, and a small scroll from the storage seal in the other one. A civilian probably would have expected him to have kept spare weapons in those seals but, there was no point in doing so since the old pulling a weapon from your shoe trick was so old that it was one of the first things a ninja knew to watch out for. It was a good place to covertly stash writing supplies for those times when your only hope might be getting a note out however.
"I'm beginning to see why it took three of the Big Five to bring Uzu down." Gozu said appreciatively as he wrote out a note for Kakashi and Tetsuo-sensei. "So kid, you carrying an armory in your underwear?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied as he wrote out that they were pretty much all fine, and that coming in weapons drawn would put them in an untenable situation at the moment.
Meizu, Renji, and Mai found his rejoinder to be uproariously hilarious for some reason. Their boisterous laughter woke the two kids who started panicking slightly, calling for their father and someone who was probably their nanny. Haku moved in to calm the two crying children who barely resembled the fat slob he'd run afoul of on the first day of the festival as best as he could.
As soon as he was finished with his note, he handed it over to Pakkun to bring back to Kakashi. The instant he did so, Pakkun raced out of the cave as fast as his little legs could take him, which meant that Kakashi and Tetsuo-sensei probably weren't in the mood to wait for him, and were probably already gearing up to attack. Hopefully, the note would stop them from doing something rash before it ended in disaster as it was sure to do. Everything was as fine as it could be under such circumstances at the moment, and if it remained so, it'd be great.
Zabuza watched as the ninken departed. Up until now, he had thought that the boy had been lying about the pair of Jounin being on the way. The boy hadn't sounded convinced of the fact that his sensei and the other one who was most likely guarding the Uchiha while they were outside the village were alive, and he'd been reasonably certain that a group that had managed to successfully knock out said Jounin and escape with a trio of baby ninja, which Konoha ninja tended to be overprotective of, wouldn't be stupid enough to leave the Jounin alive if they had them at their mercy. He'd apparently been wrong however.
About the only reason that he had taken the brats on, aside from the fact that the next mission looked to be a tough nut to crack and that he would need all of the help he could get, including a bit of cannon fodder, had been because the blond Uzumaki had helped Haku get out of Kiri alive when he'd gone to pass that message for him early this year, and he owed the kid who had so far done his best to hold up his end of the bargain rather than run out on them the first chance he got. He wasn't entirely sure what he would've done with whichever of the kids survived the next mission if the Jounin hadn't shown up but, he had leaned towards trying to convince them to join him through whatever means necessary because, he couldn't afford to let them go and put the Hunter-nin on their trail. Based on the pink haired girl's reaction to them upon discovering that they were missing-nin, that was something at least one of them would be stupid enough to do should he let them go.
The presence of Jounin made things more complicated, and potentially made them easier as well. Jounin tended to know all about the sort of under the table deals that made the ninja world go round. Right now, trying to kill him or turn him in wouldn't be to their advantage since he was holding all of the bargaining chips. If he played his cards right, then it was possible that everyone would be able to walk away from the table alive, and with something they wanted. And, as a bonus, the Jounin who should be well aware of the situation in Kiri might be inclined to give them a bit of a head start and possibly even distract any Hunter-nin who might have picked up their trail in exchange for having rescued their precious Genin from a bunch of unscrupulous kidnappers if they were the usual sort of bleeding heart Leaf nin.
After a bit of a wait, the dog returned bearing a missive for the Uzumaki who was apparently team leader because he was the closest to being an actual ninja rather than being a brat who was playing at being a ninja like the pink haired girl and the Uchiha, who had tried to come across as tough but overplayed it and showed his almost complete inexperience, were. After reading the note, the Uzumaki asked how he wanted to arrange the meeting which was the opening of the bargaining session for all their lives.
"You and I will go out and meet them of course." he replied as he strapped his sword to his back.
He'd selected the Uzumaki because he was sure that the kid would be less likely to do something stupid like run the instant he caught sight of his sensei. The kid seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, and was lacking in nothing but experience. Haku had vouched for him, and Haku wasn't the sort to vouch for anybody without good reason.
They both got up and exited the cave at the same time. When they got outside and onto the beach, the two Jounin were standing in the open waiting for them, apparently ready to bargain. His heart nearly stopped when he realized that one of those Jounin was Sharingan Kakashi the Copy Ninja but, who else would be entrusted with the teaching of the Next to Last Uchiha? Considering the Hatake's reputation, if it came down to a fight, there was a chance that none of them would survive. The brown haired ninja that was there with the Copy Nin signed something at the Uzumaki who signed back. The Uzumaki's response apparently satisfied the man because he relaxed fractionally.
"If you gentlemen would step inside my office..." he said, gesturing at the cave, and doing his best to seem unconcerned about the situation which could rapidly devolve into a total shitstorm if it wasn't one already. Ninja generally didn't kill unless they had to and, considering the fact that he had Kakashi's students in what could arguably be considered captivity, the Konoha ninja might just decide that they had to.
There was a bit of shuffling at the cave entrance as each of them did their best not to turn their backs on a potential enemy but, in the end, it was them who were in a lower bargaining position at this point and knew it who had entered the cave first, with him and the Uzumaki following close behind. Upon entering, both Jounin's eyes flicked across the cave, pausing briefly on the Uchiha, the pink haired girl, and the two children, relaxing fractionally when they saw that all were in good health and that they didn't appear to be unduly stressed by their situation. As the Jounin were taking in the situation, he moved to an easily defensible spot in the cave where there was a good wall at his back and no corner to be backed into nearby.
"Momochi Zabuza," the Copy Ninja said eventually, taking on the role of spokesman. "You don't seem to be the sort to take on strays."
"If I think they're actually worth anything, I might." he replied, well aware of how his statement could be taken considering the multiple meanings of the word "worth", especially in the current situation.
Both Jounin's eyes involuntarily flicked towards the Uchiha (expected) and the Uzumaki (not expected), completely bypassing the pink haired girl and the merchant's children as if they were unimportant. Apparently, despite the fact that the Uzumaki clan was all but extinct, and most of the sealing techniques they had been famous for were lost, the Uzumaki was actually worth something aside from his value as a ninja.
"How much are they worth to you?" the brown haired Jounin asked.
"Not all that much really, but the Uzumaki brat did offer your services in exchange for the services we rendered to him, and I would like to receive the agreed upon payment." he replied, doing his best to sound casual despite the tense situation. "Besides, it'd be a bit too troublesome to try selling the Uchiha in my current position. It would attract all sorts of unwanted attention."
His moving the possibility of him selling the Uchiha off to the highest bidder off the table should put the two further at ease, and stop them from doing something drastic to get him back. As long as there was a chance of them doing so, they would probably keep towards non-violent approaches of negotiation. There was less of a chance of the Uchiha being accidentally killed in the crossfire that way.
"Exactly what are our services needed for?" the Copy Ninja asked.
"Just your standard smash and grab on a crime-lord's hideout." he replied. "The client wanted them to be made an example of, so there's no real need to be neat about it so long as we get the hostage out alive."
"And, after the mission we go our own ways and pretend we never met?" the Copy Ninja said eventually.
"That was the general idea." he replied. "Though if you have something else to offer, I would be open to bargaining."
The pretend they never met bit was the most valuable part of the bargain at the moment as far as he was concerned. While he needed cash, and lots of it, he couldn't overthrow the Mizukage if he was dead, and with Hatake Kakashi as an opponent, that was a very real possibility. With the head start that their team's pretending they never met would provide, he should be able to get away and find another lucrative job that would provide him with much needed funds. There were plenty of unscrupulous men with a lot of money out there who were perfectly willing to hire missing-nin after all, and after his next mission was complete, there would be one less of them in the world.
"Yes, I suppose you do deserve some compensation for rescuing Shimura's Genin and Futoru Kinmaru's children, and housing them for the night." the Copy Ninja said. "We were offered a great deal of money to rescue that pig Futoru's little darlings, and it would be completely unfair of us to not share that pay with with the people who did all of the heavy lifting."
He almost collapsed in relief over the fact that the Hatake was willing to seriously talk business. Things could have turned into a massive bloodbath if he hadn't been, and he didn't only have himself to think about. The first to die in this situation would have been Gozu, Meizu, Renji, and Mai, as they were merely Chunin, and didn't have any special talents that were worth writing home about, and it would have been really crappy if they had followed him this far only to die now.
Edited 10-6-12