I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Suigetsu
Naruto opened the letter and carefully read it three times before setting it aside and sighing.
"Naruto, the time is near. Orochimaru is dead and his power is mine. I am putting together a team, the Hebi, and we will track Danzo. I will send you another letter when we pin him down. Use the Bikochu that you have kept hidden for two years to find Danzo when you receive the letter. Do not tell anyone in the Village. Bring Itachi. The Hebi will keep the Akatsuki from interfering in our fight. Soon, we will end this. I grow anxious to see my friends again. I will make it as fast as I can. Sasuke."
Naruto lit the letter on fire, deciding to remove the risk of others finding out before he got the letter. Then, he stood. If Sasuke was beginning his search, Naruto needed to accelerate his efforts to ready the surprise he planned for Danzo. and he would definitely have it ready when they went after him.
Miles away, Sasuke walked into one of Orochimaru's bases where the first member of his group waited.
"I knew it was you," a voice from inside of a tank filled with water stated. "If you're here, it must mean that you killed Orochimaru."
"That's right," Sasuke stated. "But don't worry about that now. First, let's get you out of there, Suigetsu."
Sasuke drew his chokuto and slashed the tank before putting the sword away as water began gushing out of the tank. After a moment, Suigetsu began to stand, forming out of the water, nude.
"Thank you," Suigetsu smiled. "Now how about some clothes?"
"You're the first," Suigetsu stated. "I'm also enlisting Jugo of the Northern Hideout, and Karin of the Southern Hideout."
"Karin huh?" Suigetsu questioned eyes distant but mouth grinning betraying his cocky nature. "So you're taking my advice after all huh? But why Jugo? He's a psychopath."
"We need his fighting abilities," Sasuke stated. "Now hurry up and get dressed so we can leave."
"Ordering me around like a big shot huh?" Suigetsu questioned appearing beside Suigetsu. "Let's clarify our relationship okay? You're the one that chose to rescue me, you made that decision on your own. I never said anything never said anything about following you if you came back for me. Just because you defeated Orochimaru doesn't make you better than me. Everybody wanted to kill him. You were Orochimaru's favorite, he let you stay by his side while the rest of us were confined. So you just had more chances to kill him than the rest of us."
They both stood silently for a moment before Suigetsu grinned.
"Got you, just kidding," Suigetsu snickered backing away and walking over to the clothes that had been left beside his tank. "But I did just let you go when I didn't have to. Which means makes us even for letting me out of that tank. I'm free of that prison at last. And that means that I'm free to do whatever I want at last."
"I see," Sasuke stated. "That's too bad."
Sasuke left the base and walked along the road for a ways before Suigetsu rose out of a puddle in front of him.
"Hey I forgot to ask you," Suigetsu spoke up. "It was your squad wasn't it? You guys took down my predecessor Zabuza Momochi didn't you?"
He began swimming around the puddle which was as big around as a good sized pool.
"So tell me, what ever happened to his sword, the Executioner's Blade?" Suigetsu questioned.
"What, cat got your tongue?" Suigetsu questioned. "Come on, I'll make you a deal. You tell me where to find the blade and once I get my hands on it, i'll agree to join your team."
"Follow me," Sasuke ordered walking through the puddle.
Several days later, they reached the bridge they had fought Zabuza on and stopped looking up at the name.
"The Great Naruto Bridge," Suigetsu read. "That's a strange name."
"Especially since Naruto wasn't even the most useful to fighter that day," Sasuke smirked. "Oh well. The grave is this way."
"Hey, did Master Zabuza put up a good fight?" Suigetsu questioned.
Sasuke was silent for a while before nodding.
"We were only able to beat him because he lost the use of his arms then allowed himself to be fatally wounded killing a drug lord for insulting his student, Haku," Sasuke stated. "Haku could have killed us all himself if Naruto wasn't...never mind."
After some time they reached the two graves of Zabuza and Haku but found that the sword was gone.
"Sorry, but without the sword, I can't help you," Suigetsu apologized.
"What are you going to do?" Sasuke questioned as he and Suigetsu walked back along the bridge.
"What else?" Suigetsu questioned. "Look for the blade. The blades of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist are passed down through the generations. That's the tradition. I was all set to become one of the swordsmen. That's what I was training for. So it makes sense that if Master Zabuza is gone, it only makes sense that I be the one to inherit his Executioner's Blade."
Suddenly, Suigetsu bumped into someone and turned to yell at him but Sasuke caught his arm as he moved to point.
"You got a problem buddy?" the man questioned turning around but freezing when he saw Sasuke.
After a moment he turned and left mumbling about idiots.
"Man you are way nicer than I am," Suigetsu snickered. "So it looks like you owe me for not starting trouble. So, how are we going to settle up?"
Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting in a diner as all of the waitresses stared at Sasuke and Suigetsu gorged himself on yogurt.
"This is great," Suigetsu sighed finally. "She may have saved my life but she could have gotten me some better food. So, why are you putting a team together anyway? What are you trying to do?"
"I'll fill you in later," Sasuke stated. "Once the team is assembled."
"Suit yourself," Suigetsu shrugged as a waitress walked past. "Hey, you've heard of the Great Naruto Bridge right? You ever heard of a large sword being taken from there? Or maybe where it might be now?"
"A sword?" the waitress questioned. "Y-yeah I might have heard something about that once. Why?"
"He's looking for it," Suigetsu stated pointing at Sasuke with his spoon. "He'd really appreciate the help."
The waitress instantly began a super fangirl episode and ran off to see if someone else knew about it.
"You might have to kiss her Sasuke," Suigetsu joked.
"You might have to cough up a Chidori," Sasuke stated calmly.
"Okay, so, we think we might know who would know!" all of the waitresses squealed appearing beside her faster than a ninja could. "Tazuna! He lives by the river!"
"Tazuna," Sasuke muttered. "Should have known. Let's go Suigetsu."
He stood and the waitresses parted for him. Suigetsu walked to the door with him before Sasuke stopped and looked back.
"Thank you," Sasuke said and all five fainted.
Sasuke grinned and left and Suigetsu raised an eyebrow.
"Fangirls are easy," Sasuke stated.
Suigetsu rolled his eyes and they headed to Tazuna's house. Unfortunately he wasn't home.
"Maybe you can help us," Sasuke said to the worker who told them Tazuna was away. "Have you heard of a large blade that was left by the Great Naruto Bridge?"
"That old thing?" the worker questioned. "Sure, Tenzen Daikoku took it. He came here to fight the ninja that wielded it but once he found out the ninja was already dead, he just took the sword and left."
"Now we gotta find Tenzen," Suigetsu sighed as they walked back through town. "He was an aid to the Futile Lord of the Land of Water. Apparently a whole lot of his men were killed when Zabuza staged his coup in the Hidden Mist Village. And he's held a big grudge ever since."
Suddenly Suigetsu walked into the same man as before again.
"Hey why don't you watch where you're going loser!" the man snapped.
"How lucky," Suigetsu smiled. "You're just the guy we were hoping to find."
The man turned to run but Suigetsu caught him instantly by the back of his jacket.
"Who the hell are you?" The man demanded after Suigetsu had thrown him into a back alley. "What do you want from me?"
"You just seem like the kind of guy who'd know all sorts of things," Suigetsu grinned.
"I don't know anything about Tenzen!" the man pleaded.
"Tell us what you do know," Suigetsu grinned drawing a kunai. "Anything at all is fine. But don't make me ask you twice. Well?"
"Alright," the man stated. "He's a politician but also the head of a huge band of thieves. He bribes everyone so the Futile Lords let him do whatever he wants."
"See you know a lot," Suigetsu smiled crouching down and holding the kunai out. "So where does he live?"
"His place is to the south, deep in the forest," the man stated. "Rumor has it that several thousand mercenaries guard it. It's supposed to be impenetrable."
Several hours later, Sasuke arrived inside Tenzen's personal room, sitting on the headboard of his bed with his sword over Tenzen's face just as Tenzen woke up.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Tenzen demanded.
"The day after tomorrow, over ten thousand men will lay siege to this place, make sure to gather every available troop," Sasuke advised. "And don't forget my name. It's Suigetsu."
With that, he left. He would test Suigetsu. He had to know if he had chosen correctly.
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