Disclaimer: All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies and all Naruto characters are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites.

Warnings: AU for parts of both worlds (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), mild character bashing, mild to moderate violence (there are shinobi involved after all), and a few others that will be announced as they crop up.

AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.

CHAPTER WARNING:

This chapter (and the entire Wave Arc) contains a MAJOR divergence from canon. If that is something that will offend you because you have a Canon Purity Obsession, you might want to close your browser out and find a different story to read because this story's purpose is not to regurgitate the original story. Any complaints or flames that bitch about the changes I made will be ignored or deleted depending on contents.

You have been warned and if you chose to ignore those warnings, then that is your problem; not mine.

Chapter 28: Murphy's Law

Saturday, August 02, 2003, Afternoon
Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni

Harry tried not to fidget impatiently while he waited in line to grab his team's next mission. He'd drawn the short stick that morning when Kotetsu decided that he was bored enough to want a mission outside of the village. Normally, Yamato would be the one to pick up a new mission for their team but the Jounin had been sent out of the village on a high priority mission not that long ago. Before the Jounin had left, the three Chuunin had been given permission to either take gate duty or take missions for the month that Yamato expected to be gone.

They had originally opted to take gate duty since it would have been a rather nice change from their intense training sessions and the grueling missions that Yamato inevitably rustled up for them. Kotetsu had lasted a full two and a half days of gate duty before he cracked under the strain of boredom and declared that he needed to be entertained. The end result was that the two older Chuunin had pulled the age and experience card and sent Harry to fetch them a C Ranked mission that would take them out of the village for at least a week.

Eventually, the line of shinobi in front of Harry waiting to collect a mission for the day dwindled until Harry was standing in front of the mission desk facing Iruka and the Hokage, "Konnichiwa, Hokage-sama; Iruka."

"Hey, Takeshi," Iruka replied with a smile while the Hokage absently grunted a response as the older man flipped through his paperwork. "What brings you here today? I thought that you were on gate duty with Kotetsu and Izumo?"

"Kotetsu decided that he was bored and the two of them promptly volunteered me to collect his entertainment in the form of a mission that involved travel and a week or two's worth of vacation time out of the village."

"I'm surprised that Kotetsu lasted as long as he did; he hates gate duty," Iruka quipped with a laugh that Harry echoed as the older Chuunin flipped through the list of C Ranked missions still available to see if he could find an escort mission.

As he was waited to see what Iruka could find, Harry found his attention diverted by the arrival of Team Kakashi. The twenty-three year old wizard soon found himself being glomped by all three Genin; the three teens (or near teen in Naruto's case) behaving as if they hadn't seen Takeshi just six hours earlier when they'd eaten breakfast together.

"Keshi-nii, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on gate duty?" Naruto demanded once the trio of Genin had settled down and released the Chuunin.

"I am and I was but Kotetsu got bored and after a short team meeting, I was drafted to pick up a mission that we could take instead."

"Here you go, Takeshi; I have a C Ranked mission to escort Tazuna the Bridge Builder back to Nami no Kuni and guard the bridge he's building from a gang of local bandits."

"Sounds perfect; travel, a sea-side vacation, and entertainment all rolled into one," Harry commented with an amused snort as he accepted the scroll from the Chuunin. "That should keep Kotetsu happy for at least a couple of days before he grows bored again."

The other shinobi present laughed over that declaration since they were all aware of just how short of an attention span Kotetsu had and how easily he grew bored. Once their amusement faded, Iruka signaled for Harry's client to be brought in so that he could be introduced to the Chuunin. Harry turned to face the door when it opened to reveal his team's client and the wizard took a moment to intently study the bridge builder.

The man was easily in his fifties or sixties with pewter gray hair that stuck up in disordered spikes about his head, an equally gray beard and mustache that were neatly trimmed, and small oval glasses that looked too small for his face and were obviously intended for reading based upon how low they sat on his face and how comfortable he appeared with them there. He wore a sleeveless dark gray tunic belted around his waist, a white towel draped around his neck, and tan pants that ended mid calf.

The man was also very obviously drunk despite the fact that it was only two in the afternoon.

The man didn't improve Harry's first impression when he opened his mouth and drunkenly demanded, "You're sending me with a trio of wet behind the ears gaki? I requested a team of shinobi… not a team of children! The midget in orange doesn't even look like he could scare a squirrel, let alone a bandit!"

Harry growled in response to the insult directed at his cousin but was prevented from verbally threatening his client when the Hokage spoke up first, "Please do not insult my shinobi, Tazuna-san. All of Konoha's shinobi are trained professionals that are more than capable of doing the jobs for which they are hired and we diligently work to assign each mission to the team or individual that is most suited to handle our clients' requests; regardless of their age. That said, Team Kakashi was not the team that has been assigned to escort you back to Nami no Kuni; that honor was given to Team Yamato."

"Sumimasen, Hokage-sama; no insult was intended. I was just shocked to learn that children were allowed to become shinobi."

"Shinobi are not made overnight, Tazuna-san; they begin training from the moment they show an interest in learning the shinobi arts," the Hokage pointed out after silently acknowledging the man's apology. The aged shinobi then signaled for Harry to step forward as he continued, "This here is Takeshi; he is the Chuunin in charge of the team escorting you back to your bridge."

The Hokage's declaration that Harry would be leading the team was enough to snap Harry out of his anger and he cast a startled glance at the older man before he adopted a blank mask as he turned back towards his client and stated, "Please allow me to escort you back to your hotel while we discuss the mission details and our travel schedule."

"Will I get to see you before you leave, niisan?" Naruto asked loudly as Harry began herding his client out the door.

"Most likely, Naruto-kun; unless you leave the village on a mission before I get home," Harry replied and he had to suppress a smirk when he saw Tazuna flinch and grow pale as the man immediately realized that the kid he'd insulted was related to the man in charge of the team that had been assigned to escort him home. Once they were clear of the building, Harry let his focus shift to the upcoming mission as he inquired, "How many people are traveling in your group, Tazuna-san? And did you arrive in Konoha on foot or do you have a wagon with you to carry supplies?"

"It's just me and I walked to Konoha; I didn't come to purchase supplies, I came to hire someone to stop the bandits and thugs that keep harassing my workers."

"Roughly how many bandits are we talking about?"

"I don't know; a few dozen at least," Tazuna replied with an unmistakable undertone of bitterness while he twitched and fidgeted nervously. "Their boss is pretty ruthless too; threatening anyone and everyone to get what he wants and unafraid to have those that dare to defy him beaten and executed."

"And I take it that he sees your bridge as a rather major act of defiance on your part?" Harry asked leadingly as he watched the man out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes."

"What are the chances that the bandit leader had you followed the moment he knew you were leaving to hire help?"

"I don't know. I didn't tell anyone other than my foreman, my family, and one friend where I was going and I slipped away in the dead of night. I never saw anyone following me and no one attacked me on my way here."

"So basically a fifty-fifty chance since whoever was sent might have trailed you just to see where you were going and what you were doing instead of killing or capturing you while you traveled," Harry mused to himself before he fell silent as he carefully considered the situation until the two of them arrived at the hotel where Tazuna was staying while in Konoha. "Thank you for answering my questions, Tazuna-san; I will meet you right here at six forty-five tomorrow morning in order to introduce you to my teammates. Please do not be late as I would like to leave Konoha as soon as the main gates open at seven."

"Hai, shinobi-san," Tazuna agreed with a wince in response to Harry's desire to leave so early in the morning. "Ano… shinobi-san, you do know that I didn't really mean those things I said earlier about your otouto, ne?"

Harry purposefully gave the man a blank look before he walked away; he might not maim the man for insulting Naruto (he was a client, after all) but that didn't mean he wouldn't let the man sweat for a bit. The only reason he hadn't once considered pranking the man was because of the fact that the Hokage had basically told him that he'd be leading the mission; meaning he had to be on his best behavior and stay focused on the mission.

That was probably one of the reasons why the Hokage did it, Harry thought to himself as he headed for the Ranch in order to prep one of his wagons for the journey to Nami; there was no sense in leaving Konoha on foot when any potential hostiles would expect them to be traveling on foot.

As he walked, Harry created four Kage Bunshin and sent one to let Kotetsu and Izumo know they had a mission, one to start gathering non-perishable supplies (such as extra weapons), and the final two to keep an eye on his client through the night to make certain the man wasn't harmed while inside of the village. After taking another two steps, he created one more clone that he sent to warn Arata and Eri of his pending mission. He'd barely taken two more steps before he paused and wondered when he'd stopped thinking of his cousin as Dudley and he supposed it probably had a lot to do with how thoroughly his cousin and his wife had embraced their new life.

That realization made Harry wonder if there would ever come a day when he shed his old identity completely or if he'd forever cling to the last remnant of his old life (his name) until the day he died.

As he started walking again, Harry let his thoughts swirl around everything that his birth name meant to him. What that name represented to him and the bonds that had been formed during his first nineteen years of life under that name. As he reached the next intersection, Harry stopped once more and stared off to the west… towards the portal… towards the doorway to his past and to the world he left behind. He then made his way up to the nearest roof and let his eyes take in the village that had become home to him at some point during the past twenty-two months.

Harry shelved his contemplations when he realized that he was wasting time and Shunshined directly to the Ranch so he could enlist the help of his elves in preparing the horses and wagon he'd be taking. While he was there, he checked on the mares that were carrying foals, on the foals that had been born within the last six months, and the yearlings that were almost ready to begin their training. He even stopped to give attention to a few of the kneazles and kneazle mixes that were running about the Ranch (some of the latter descendants of Tora and the rest descendants from the few strays that Harry had taken in from around the village).

After visiting with the five elves that ran the Ranch, Harry popped over to the Farm to ask the five elves there to prepare enough food for ten people for a full month. They could supplement their supplies with fresh meat and fish as needed but the situation with the bandits probably meant that there would be little in the way of fresh produce and grains to be found when they reached their destination and Harry preferred not to tax the local supplies. Food and transportation set, Harry made his way back to his flat above the Namikaze Wheelhouse in order to pack his personal supplies and dig out a set of portable ward stones to protect their camp at night.

Halfway home, Harry found himself with company in the form of Uzuki Yuugao.

Harry greeted the vivacious kunoichi warmly as he tried to suppress the rush of emotions the woman's presence had begun to stir in him ever since he'd first saw her without her ANBU mask. His track record with romantic relationships was deplorable and while he knew there was no chance that Yuugao was a fan-girl, he just couldn't bring himself to ruin the friendship he had with the purple haired kunoichi. It didn't help that his experience was so limited when it came to the fairer sex and relationships. That didn't stop his heart from skipping a beat whenever he heard her voice, it didn't stop his stomach from doing back flips when she smiled at him, and it didn't prevent his eyes drinking in her beauty each time he saw her.

"You're preparing for a mission," Yuugao stated without preamble as she fell into step with him without breaking her stride.

"Hai; Kotetsu was bored."

"That doesn't surprise me; though I am surprised it took him this long to grow bored with gate duty."

"He originally wanted a break from Yamato's grueling training between missions and I think he enjoyed the down time in front of the gate for the first three hours before he began sighing dramatically and twitching nervously. I think the only reason that he didn't say anything sooner was the fact that Izumo flat out told him he wouldn't last a day on gate duty before he got bored."

Yuugao laughed and Harry found it infinitely harder to ignore the growing crush he had on the younger woman. He glanced sideways as a small, lopsided grin tugged at his lips in response to the fact that he'd been the one to make her laugh; his eyes tracking the wild swaying of her long, purple hair as he tried not to think about the way his fingers itched to run through that glorious mane of silken threads. Pupil-less chocolate eyes dancing with amusement met his for the briefest moment before Harry shifted his gaze forward while a slight flush crept up the back of his neck over being caught staring.

"Where are you going and how long are you going to be gone?" Yuugao asked once her laughter trailed off.

"Nami no Kuni and we'll probably be gone at least two weeks if not closer to three; depends on how long it takes for the client to finish his bridge," Harry replied in a low voice after letting his eyes sweep the immediate area for potential eavesdroppers. "We'll have a small bandit infestation to deal with but for the most part we'll just be standing watch over the unfinished bridge to make certain nothing happens to it or the workers that are building it."

"So, basically, you've just traded guard duty at the main gate for guard duty on a bridge?"

"Yep… makes me wonder if Kotetsu will appreciate the irony."

The kunoichi laughed again and Harry was torn between feeling inordinately pleased with himself for amusing his crush and castigating himself for letting her laughter affect him. He hadn't quite brought his emotions under control when the two of them reached the Wheelhouse and Yuugao bid him goodbye after ordering him to be careful on his mission. He watched her go for a moment before he sighed and made his way around to the back of the restaurant where the stairs leading up to the living suites were situated; he had a mission to prepare for.

Sunday, August 03, 2003, Morning
Traveling though Hi no Kuni

Harry whistled a jaunty tune under his breath as he scanned the road in front him from Felix's back while one of his Kage Bunshin drove the wagon and another two Bunshin trailed along behind the wagon (all three clones henged to look like random people). Kotetsu and Izumo were henged to look like children and were currently running along the road in front of Harry to scout the way forward. Tazuna was sulking inside of the wagon; the man less than pleased that Harry had sealed away his sake first thing that morning before he told the man to get in, sit down, and shut up (though his exact words were far more politely worded).

The wizard wasn't quite certain which had upset the man more; the fact that Harry had taken his booze or the fact that Harry implied he didn't want to see or hear from the man for the duration of the trip.

There was a method to his madness though; he wasn't taking the risk that Tazuna would be spotted by one of the bandits if the man had been followed all the way to Konoha. To further the deception, Harry had left behind two clones, one of them henged as Tazuna, to hang about the gates for another hour or two before his second clone (henged as a Weasley) escorted him out of the village near ten. That would give any potential stalkers a visible target to focus on and allow Harry to place close to eight miles between them and the potential watcher. The clones would then dispel at the end of the first day's travel in order to make their trail completely vanish to further confuse any potential stalkers.

Some might think that Harry was being overly paranoid but the wizard hadn't survived for as long as he had by ignoring his hunches and his survival instincts had only been further honed during the past two years. Even if there was no one following the bridge builder, taking precautions meant that any scouts watching the routes into Nami would be less likely to spot Tazuna returning. Having his two teammates disguised as children also meant that their group would have a better chance of being dismissed as relatively harmless.

The first day of travel would pass uneventfully with the group camping off the road near sunset. Tazuna's mood improved a bit when he was allowed out of the wagon after Harry warded their camp against intruders of the two-legged variety. The second, third, and fourth day passed by without any trouble as well and the group made excellent time. On the afternoon of their fourth day of travel, Harry set up camp early and made the wards slightly more permanent as he'd be leaving both the wagon and the two shire horses behind as they continued on foot (there currently no way to get the wagon and heavier horses across the water available to them).

One of Harry's elves would see to it that both the camp and the horses remained undisturbed and well looked after once they continued on their way.

Before sunrise on the fifth morning, Tazuna led the trio of shinobi to a secluded cove where the man had made arrangements to meet up with his friend in order to hitch a ride back across the ocean to the small island country. There was a small argument when Tazuna's friend saw Harry leading Felix (the wizard currently using the Andalusian as a pack horse) and refused point blank to carry the horse in his boat. Harry gave the man a disdainful look before he led the gelding out onto the water; the magical Chuunin circulating his chakra through the soles of his feet, his horse's hooves, and the first two inches of the water that sat directly beneath their bodies in order to create enough surface tension for both of them to walk on the water.

He couldn't extend his chakra enough to escort more than one horse over the water that way and it wouldn't work for non-living objects like the wagon but a single pack horse or an unburdened shire horse was doable. He probably could have created an ice bridge to take the wagon over but that would have required far more magic than he wanted to expend right that moment. Kotetsu and Izumo were both doing their best not to laugh at the two civilians as they openly gawked at Harry leading a horse across the ocean's surface. The two older Chuunin then climbed into the boat; they would ride with the client in order to watch over the man while Harry scouted the way forward.

Once the boat was moving, Harry disillusioned himself and Felix so they wouldn't be as noticeable. He couldn't do much for the chakra aura he was putting out (what with the way he was circulating his life force through himself, the gelding, and the water) but he was at least able to contain the chakra to a ten foot circle (just large enough to cover both himself and Felix) using the specialized seal and rune containment ward he'd created that prevented anyone from sensing his chakra unless they crossed over the barrier.

The ward was something that Harry had cobbled together using a combination of seals and runes after learning the hard way just how large of a beacon his massive chakra reserves represented during one of his joint training sessions. The size of the field was usually smaller but the inclusion of his mount meant that the field more than doubled in size. Naruto also had a pendant bearing the same seal and rune combo that he was required to wear when he left the village on missions for pretty much the same reason.

Harry would get his first glimpse of the half finished bridge three hours after first setting foot on the ocean and he was mildly impressed with the sheer size of the incomplete structure. He couldn't help but marvel over the engineering feat of creating something so massive with the limited technology that he'd encountered since entering the Elemental Countries. He also had to admire the sheer audacity that Tazuna had in designing, financing, and building such a large structure while thumbing his nose at the local band of thugs that were terrorizing Nami no Kuni.

Harry would be far less impressed with the bridge builder once he learned that the man had lied about the mission details and the exact nature of the threat that the trio of Chuunin would be facing.

The mage scanned the small, fog enshrouded cove where the boatman had delivered Tazuna and his two teammates with jaded green eyes. He'd been twitchy and irritable since he'd spotted land a half an hour earlier and he wasn't certain if it had to do with the attitude of Tazuna's unpleasant friend, if it was the thick fog that had rolled in out of nowhere, or a premonition (such as the one he'd felt in the days leading up to the bandit ambush on his family's journey to Konoha) that was bothering him. There was also a nagging sensation at the back of his skull telling him that he was overlooking something important.

Knowing better than to ignore whatever it was that was unsettling him, Harry dropped the Disillusionment Charm and formed a couple dozen Kage Bunshin the moment he stepped onto dry land and had all of the clones henge into different insects, animals, and birds before he sent them out to explore the island and search for the bandits. He then created another eight shadow clones and had three of them henge into copies of his teammates and the client before he sent them on ahead to scout their trail with a fourth clone. The final four were given a set of ward stones and told to stick close to Tazuna (so they could throw up a quick barrier around the old man the moment it looked they would run into trouble).

"Feeling paranoid much, Takeshi?" Kotetsu inquired as he watched the decoy team disappear into the fog.

"Can it rightly be called paranoia if they really are out to get you, Kotetsu?" Harry countered without missing a beat as he recast Disillusionment Charms over the entire group and tied the spells in such a way that they could still see one another through the spell; a nifty little trick the Japanese magicals had taught him. "Besides, something isn't right. We should have seen at least one bandit patrol or at least seen evidence of their passing by now; especially if there are as many bandits as Tazuna suggested there were."

"Or his buddy could have just dropped us off at a point that is off the beaten path from their usual patrols," Izumo pointed out logically as he joined the other two alongside of the client. The four of them then began following in the wake of the decoy team that Harry had sent on ahead.

"If this was a larger island, I'd agree with you; but this is a small island and the leader of the bandits is bound to be worried about someone sneaking a small army in to arrest them…"

"There is no one to hire an army," Tazuna interjected miserably. "The Daimyou, the Daimyou's family, and anyone who spoke up against the group's leader were murdered two years ago when the thugs first arrived. Scraping up the money to hire a group of shinobi from Konoha was hard enough…"

"Be quiet!" Harry hissed softly as he stopped in his tracks and held up his hand to stop the others. "The decoy has just been attacked but I don't know who it was that attacked them. Only one clone was dispelled from behind…" Harry trailed off as another clone was dispatched and he scowled over the information he'd just learned as he turned to face his teammates. "Kuso, the decoy was attacked by a single missing nin; either of you recognize the name Momochi Zabuza?"

"Chikushou, Zabuza is known as the Kirigakure no Kijin," Izumo cursed as he too scowled. "He's listed in the Bingo book as an A Rank criminal; he's a Jounin level shinobi, a former member of Kiri's ANBU Corps, and one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu."

"Rumors also place him fleeing from Kirigakure five years ago after a failed assassination attempt on the Yondaime Mizukage along with a handful of other including the Oni Kyoudai; the latter of whom are both Chuunin level missing nin," Kotetsu added as he frowned at their client.

"Funny, I don't recall there being any mention made of missing nin being involved in this mission," Harry commented in a deceptively light tone with the slightest undercurrent of irritation as he glanced at their client. "We will be discussing the fact that you withheld important information once we've reached the relative safety of your home, Tazuna-san; since the involvement of known missing nin indicates that this mission was improperly ranked by the mission desk."

"What are we going to do about Zabuza?" Izumo asked as he searched the mist for any signs of their enemy. "He's bound to have realized the group he's been killing is made up of nothing but clones by now and he'll be looking for us."

"He's only killed two of my clones so far and as far as I could tell from the memory of the second Bunshin, he hadn't noticed that first one he killed was a clone; the fog hid the dispersing smoke. Though that will probably change soon, if it hasn't already, since the lack of a body will be quiet telling," Harry absently stated as he looped Felix's reins around a low hanging branch on a nearby tree that was well off the road before he addressed the four clones still with their group. "Set up a fifteen foot perimeter off the side of the road and then make certain that both Felix and our client stay inside the safe zone while we deal with the problem."

The trio of Chuunin stuck around just long enough to insure that their client was secure (Harry asking Minato's spirit to stick around and help keep an eye on the man). Harry then led the other two towards where the decoy group had been ambushed by Zabuza. They arrived to find eight extra clones facing off against four Zabuzas (three of which had to be solid clones) while the decoy clone henged to look like Izumo protected the Tazuna look-a-like. Harry immediately realized that the eight extra clones had either been created by one of the remaining two decoys or they were part of the group he'd sent out to explore the island.

"We're going to have to take him alive," Harry grimly pointed out in a low voice that wouldn't carry far. "We'll need whatever information we can pull from him in regards to what is going on here because I don't trust our client to be truthful at this point. I can take him down and keep him down but the method I plan to use won't work on clones and if the real one sees me attempting to take down a clone, he will know to dodge."

"Izumo can trap them all with his Mizuame Nabara and then we can help you dispel the clones the old fashioned way," Kotetsu suggested as he pulled the two giant kunai from his back and passed one to Izumo.

"He's from Kiri; he's bound to have a far better grasp of Suimen Hokou no Waza than I do which means that he will be able to easily counter the syrup," Harry countered with a shake of his head. "I'll make another four clones and have them each target one of the enemies from behind with a low powered Rairyuudan in order to dispel the clones and then the two of you can harry the original and keep his attention on the two of you so that I can sneak up behind him and drop him."

Both older Chuunin nodded and Harry quickly created the required clones and assigned each of them a target before he disillusioned them in order to make them harder to notice. Once they were sent after their targets, Izumo and Kotetsu split up and circled around the area using the trees until they were on opposite side of the fight from Harry and from each other so that when they attacked, Zabuza's back would be to Harry; giving him a clear shot at the other man. Harry then watched the plan unfold as his four clones attacked at the same exact moment just five minutes after they'd split up.

Two of Zabuza's clones exploded in a shower of water as the raging dragons of lightning slammed into them from behind while Zabuza and his remaining clone managed to escape from the attacks by the skin of their teeth. Even just taking out the two clones was a big help though as all twelve of Harry's Kage Bunshin on the field (bar the ones henged as Izumo and Tazuna) split into two groups to attack the two remaining Zabuzas. The instant that the third water clone was dispelled, Izumo and Kotetsu rushed out of the trees to attack what they believed was the real Zabuza.

The first indication that the final Zabuza on the field was nothing but a clone came when Kotetsu dispelled it with a swing of his giant kunai. At the same exact moment, Harry was nearly sliced in two from behind as the real Zabuza attacked him directly. Harry avoided the killing blow by a hair's breadth when he'd sensed the man's sword entering his personal space and had thrown himself out of the tree he'd been hiding in before he spun around to face his opponent.

"I had wondered when you'd be brave enough to actually show yourselves," Zabuza taunted as he sent another four Mizu Bunshin to keep Izumo, Kotetsu, and the rest of Harry's clones busy before he immediately attacked Harry with another swing of his sword.

"I wouldn't have bothered but I just had to see for myself if you were really as ugly as you appeared to be in my clone's memory," Harry fired back in response as he ducked under the swung at the very last second and rushed closer to Zabuza as he brought his wand up to bear; casting a silent Full Body Bind Curse on the man.

The spell unfortunately missed its target when Zabuza knocked Harry's aim off by shoving Harry's wand arm up with his free hand. Harry was then forced to apparate away when Zabuza attempted to trap him using his large sword; no need to allow himself to be taken as a hostage or potentially killed so easily. He reappeared not too far away and fired off a chain of offensive spells that were designed to put an opponent down as quickly as possible; any one of the spells guaranteed to disable a person no matter where the spell connected. The problem with most of the spells that Harry was using was that they were all visible and therefore easy for Zabuza to dodge or deflect with his sword.

"Do you really think you can take me down with such a pitiful little display of pretty lights?" Zabuza demanded as he batted away yet another stunning spell before he dodged a sizzling blue light.

"Pitiful? I suppose it would seem that way to you but I have no need to pull out any of my more devastating moves when I can keep this up for days without needing a break or breaking a sweat. In fact, all I have to do is tire you out enough for one of my jutsu to land or give my teammates enough time to finish off your clones and help me take you down in a more conventional way," Harry replied without letting up the steady stream of curses, hexes, and jinxes he was firing.

The real reason that Harry hadn't bothered to use his shinobi skills was because he'd had no way of knowing whether or not he could have gone toe to toe with the unfamiliar Jounin. He also refused to take any chances because even the smallest mistake could mean death for both him and his teammates (not to mention their client) and he'd never forgive himself if he left Teddy and Naruto virtually alone (though he knew Arata and Eri would still take care of both boys). Plus there was the fact that his death would unleash half of the Kyuubi and he'd really rather not be responsible for the destruction of an entire island and who knew how many deaths.

Zabuza snarled beneath the bandages that covered the lower half of his face and Harry knew he'd touched a nerve with his declaration. The wizard smirked as Zabuza tried to skewer him with a half dozen kunai in an attempt to disrupt his casting. Harry merely caught the six blades and whipped them back at the man in rapid succession without breaking his stride (or his spell chains); much to the other man's annoyance. Next, Zabuza attempted to put enough distance between them in order to cast another jutsu but Harry hounded him endlessly; preventing him from having enough time to fully form all of the hand seals required for whatever jutsu he wished to use.

Harry then upped the ante as he began apparating randomly around the man in order to make it harder for the man to predict where the next attack would be coming from. The way Harry continued chaining his spells together seamlessly even as he moved from place to place meant that he was raining a steady barrage of attacks on the other man from all sides and eventually the man failed to block or dodge from one of the many colored bolts of light. As the flash of pink washed over the man's left elbow, he grunted and staggered like a drunken sailor; he'd been hit with an Impairment Jinx that warped all five of the senses to the point where a person couldn't function.

The next spell to connect was the Disarming Spell followed quickly by a Summoning Charm to remove the man's weapons. He was just about to cast the Stunning Spell when a rain of senbon flashed through the air and Harry cast a wide area Banishing Charm to prevent any of them from striking their target. He then quickly dropped Zabuza with a Stunning Spell (causing the clones the man had made earlier to collapse into puddles of water). Kotetsu and Izumo made their way to his side while Harry's Kage Bunshin began gathering up Zabuza's many scattered weapons that had been flung away alongside of the senbon. A second rain of senbon was sent their way and Harry again banished the attack.

"Show yourself or I will attack you instead," Harry ordered loudly in hopes of drawing out their unseen attacker while he, Izumo, and Kotetsu scanned the surrounding trees for any sign of the individual.

"Thank you for taking care of Zabuza; now please step away from the body so that I may collect him," a masked shinobi ordered in return as he appeared in the tree closest to where Harry was standing over Zabuza.

"Ah, no, I don't think so; I'm not finished with my prisoner yet," Harry countered without any hesitation.

Kotetsu and Izumo both became more than a little nervous as Izumo tugged on his sleeve and hissed, "Takeshi, that's one of Kiri's Hunter Nins; he won't take too kindly to you stepping between him and his target."

"No, I'm not buying it," Harry stated as he stared up at the masked shinobi who couldn't be more than a few years older than Naruto. "What kind of Hunter Nin would stupidly attack the group that took down his target instead of announcing himself first in order to avoid being skewered?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the masked shinobi cursed and attacked them. The fight wouldn't last more than twenty minutes as Kotetsu and Izumo hounded the masked teen while Harry took two minutes to secure their prisoner behind a set of protective wards before joining in the fight. This time, he had to be far more careful with his casting; least he take out one of his own teammates instead of the fake Hunter Nin. The battle ended when Izumo tripped their opponent by catching him in his Mizuame Nabara for a split second and Harry used the opportunity to wrap the teen in conjured ropes and chains before apparating directly behind the teen to stun him in the back.

"Told you," Harry drawled as he glanced up at his now sheepish teammates.

"How'd you know he wasn't the real deal?" Kotetsu asked curiously as he helped Izumo start removing all signs that a battle had been fought in the area.

"I was told that Hunter Nins always traveled in groups of four or more," Harry replied as he recalled Minato's many lessons on the way each of the various Kages ran their villages. "A team of Hunter Nin would have shown themselves to us either before we engaged their target so that we could all work together and not get in each other's way or right after we had subdued the target; they would not have wanted there to be any chances of their target escaping in the confusion if our team confronted their team. They also would not have attacked during the middle of the fight when we would see their attack as interference or an attempt to help the target escape."

Nothing more was said as Harry summoned the masked shinobi's weapons and sealed them into a scroll alongside of Zabuza's weapons (including the Kubikiri Bouchou). He then ordered two of his clones to take the place of the two that had been dispelled earlier before he sent the decoy team on their way in the event there was another ambush waiting for them somewhere down the road. The remaining clones then henged back into animals, birds, and insects before scattering back into the forest to continue their original objective.

The last two things that Harry did before trio headed back to where they'd left Tazuna, was to secure both prisoners in a conjured wheelbarrow with a tarp over top of them and create an additional clone to push the wheelbarrow.

No sense in letter their employer and any other co-conspirators know they'd been captured.

Translations: Japanese to English

Chikushou – damn
Kirigakure no Kijin – Demon of the Mist
Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shuu – Seven Swordsmen of the Mist
Konnichiwa – hello or good afternoon
Kubikiri Bouchou – Decapitating Carving Knife or Executioner's Blade
Kuso – swear word
Nami no Kuni – Wave Country
Oni Kyoudai – Demon Brothers
Sumimasen – I'm sorry; slightly more formal than using gomen nasai

Techniques/Skills:

Mizu Bunshin – water clones
Mizuame Nabara – Starch Syrup Capture Field
Rairyuudan no Jutsu – Lightning Dragon Projectile Technique (non-canon – created by author)
Suimen Hokou no Waza – Water walking

Notes:

Travel distance between Konoha and Nami – 115 miles (less than 2 day's journey for shinobi at 65 miles per day)

Haku's seemly easy/quick capture – there are a couple of reasons for this; first, three Chuunin are far more skilled than a pair of barely trained (if talented) Genin. Second, Haku had been caught off guard by Harry seeing through his disguise as a Hunter Nin. And third, Haku's attention was split between defending himself and collecting Zabuza so that he could escape with the Jounin. The same applies to Zabuza's capture as well; though Harry's approach to that fight also played a factor in his capture since Harry didn't play a round of my reputation is bigger than yours with Zabuza like Kakashi did in Canon. He also didn't have to worry about protecting a trio of children and a vulnerable client like Kakashi did.

AN: I will leave those unhappy with this chapter with these words; Canon? Who needs Canon? This isn't a castle, it's not a pirate ship, and it is most assuredly not an army; there is no need for any stinking canons here.

For those concerned that I am having Harry push Naruto out of the spotlight, keep in mind that this arc and this story are no where near finished and that Naruto will have plenty of other moments to shine. And technically, it's not Naruto's spot light that Harry has stolen from this arc anyway, it was Haku's; since Harry has already taught Naruto the concept that it is protecting one's precious people that makes one strong. Or, in Harry's case, fighting for one's friends and family is what makes a person strong.

In any case, the next chapter picks up roughly from where this one left off and will be posted tomorrow. And, chapter 27 was updated with a few minor spelling and grammar corrections but there's no need to go back and re-read it since I didn't make any plot changes. ~ Jenn