The Iwa Shinobi Chapter 3: Attack in the Land of Waves
FINALLY! It took FOREVER to write this. This is my longest chapter yet! ^_^
Just for reference: Minato and Kushina had agreed to name their son Naruto in case Akahana was a boy, so when Naruto Namikaze arrived on the scene, Akahana had already been living under the alias for a couple years by that time.
I have no memory of this place - Gandalf
^_^Konoha^_^
Sasuke Uchiha had grown up in a loving household: his father loved him and would be happy with whatever he did; his mother spoiled him whenever she got the chance; and his older brother, the great Itachi Uchiha, would train him whenever he got time off. Yeah he was living the life, at home anyway. Outside the Uchiha complexes walls the people of Konoha despised them with a passion. He always tried to get other people to see that they weren't the bad guys, but no matter what he said or did, they refused to believe him.
Whenever he went outside the villagers would give him hate-filled glares and say terrible things like, "They killed the Fourth's daughter" or "They are nothing but thieves." The reason behind the last one was because now that the Uchiha clan had fallen out of the good graces of the village, the people made a great deal of trouble over the fact that their eyes allow them to copy other people's jutsus, in effect, stealing the hard work of others without even bothering to share said knowledge with anyone else. In other words, thieving bastards.
Today was July 4th, twelve years after the Kyuubi attack. He has been a Genin for four and a half weeks now, and he is bored out of his mind. Sakura won't shut up about how great Naruto was, and Naruto wouldn't say two words beyond "go away" and "shut up." Stuck-up prick, just because he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage and a genius didn't mean he had to act like a spoiled prince. He only graduated two years early. Itachi became a Chuunin when he was eight and Kakashi-sensei when he was six. And they have done that damn capture the demon cat mission 5 times already. He was not happy with how things are going.
He had been placed on Team 7 and labeled the "Dead Last" because none of the teachers wanted him to pass the exam and constantly tried to sabotage him, but the day of the exam Iruka Umino had been the examiner and because of his equal treatment policy they were unable to mess up his chakra for the jutsu part of the exam.
Sakura wore a red dress and shorts underneath (basically what she wore at the beginning of the show), and had a medical kit attached to her hip. She had enrolled in the medical course that Tsunade of the Sennin ran at the academy (all in the hopes of impressing Naruto of course). Sasuke wore his blue shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back (like in the beginning as well). And Naruto wore a pair of black shinobi pants with a blue turtle-neck and a vest on top of it , combined with his spiky blond hair and ocean-blue eyes, he looked like a chibi Minato. They had just returned the cat for the sixth time this month when Sakura started shouting about how it was beneath them to continue to do the D-rank missions. Iruka immediately went into a lecture about the mission ranking system and why Genins got the D-rank and that they were too fresh out of the academy to get anything higher. He agreed with Sakura, but he wasn't about to say that out loud because then she would start fawning over him, again.
The Yondaime Hokage looked at the scene before him with a smile on his face. He looked at his son and smiled and then he looked up at his former student and asked, "So Kakashi, do you think they are ready for a C-rank mission?" He already knew the answer, but he had to ask.
Kakashi sighed, "Yes sensei. I believe that my team is ready for a C-rank mission."
Minato looked through the pile and grabbed out a scroll, "This is an escort mission to the land of Waves. You will be escorting a bridge builder back to his homeland with the possibility of bandits attacking. His name is Tazuna. He motioned for the Anbu at the door to let in the client. The man walked in holding a bottle of beer wearing a fishermen's hat and a bored look on his face. Minato looked at him and said, "Tazuna, these will be your bodyguards for your return trip."
Tazuna looked down at the Genins and said, "These little brats are supposed to protect me? Hah! It would probably be the other way around. I mean look at them, especially the girl, she doesn't look like she's worked a day in her life." Sakura's forehead got a tick mark.
Kakashi grabbed her while she screamed, "Let me at him! Let me at him! I'm gonna kill him!"
"Stop it Sakura, we aren't allowed to kill our clients." He said trying to reason with her.
Sakura stopped flailing her arms and lowered her head, "fine." Kakashi released her but as he did he could have sworn he heard her say under her breath, "But the moment he's not…"
Shaking his head he said, "Good to hear," Kakashi looked at his students, "Now I want the three of you packed and at the gate in thirty minutes, okay?" They nodded, "Good, now off with you." They ran out the door toward their respective homes leaving Tazuna, Iruka Kakashi and Minato behind. Tazuna said he would be waiting at the gate and left. Kakashi looked at Minato, "You know, sensei, Kushina will kill me if Naruto gets hurt."
Minato grinned, "Yeah, I know, that's why you're their teacher and not me." He said cheerfully.
Kakashi sweatdropped, "You really like to torture me don't you?"
"Yup."
^_^The Iwa Shinobi ^_^
Meanwhile in Iwa, Deidara was getting ready to leave on a mission with his new team, consisting of Naruto, Hiro Tagesi, and Jinsoku Sensui. They were given a mission by the Tsuchikage to visit the Land of Waves and approach Gato the millionaire business tycoon with a business transaction. Deidara was wearing a black cloak with all black beneath (A/N: kinda like when we meet him at the beginning of Shippuden, although without the red clouds). He preferred to not wear his jonin vest. His clay pouches at his side prepared for any attacks that might come their way. He looked at his team and smiled. He knew his team was special. And they were the most versatile of all the Genin teams in Iwa, heck, in all of the five Elemental Nations.
Naruto (still under the henge) was the recon, using her shadow clones to scout ahead and overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers, also her patented Sexy Jutsu(which portrayed her as a sixteen year old with a voluptuous body that men would drool over and women envious. But the girl looked surprisingly similar to a certain redhead in Konoha) which could be used for distractions and possible knockouts if the target is a pervert. Hiro was the protector, using his Kekke Genkei to create walls of dust to surround their team if caught in an area-effecting jutsu and was also able to use the Dust Cone Technique as an offensive last resort, as it was extremely powerful and Onoki practically forbid him from using it unless he had no other options remaining. Plus, he seemed to have inherited that flight technique that his grandfather was known for. And then there was Jinsoku Sensui, he was the runt of the team. No one knew what he was capable of because he was always the last one to finish, and when he was in school he only did just enough to pass. But there was this underlying aura of power that just seemed to radiate off of him. Everyone knew that he was smart, but how smart or whatever else he can do remained a mystery. And on top of that Onoki-sensei had insisted that he be placed on the team.
Deidara chuckled, he really liked his team, and being the Sandaime's apprentice helped make sure he got who he wanted (all for the purpose of protecting Naruto of course). And on this mission, Roshi would be accompanying them.
(A/N: Roshi is wearing the outfit seen in shippuden, if you don't know what that looked like, LOOK IT UP!)The Four-tailed Jinchuuriki had grown fond of the little blond/redhead. He was, of course, aware of the henge that hid her true identity, not that anyone else knew that. He had detected it one day while he passed her by and his tenant started screeching that she was under a henge. So he followed her home-stealthily of course- and waited until she was asleep and then the henge came down, probably because she thought that no one was watching. And it was at that moment that the Monkey pointed something else out as well, that the girl was a Jinchuuriki as well, just like him and Han, the Five-tailed Dolphin-horse's Jinchuuriki, although he wasn't around very often. And even though Han hated humans, he, like Roshi couldn't help but feel pity for the child. They knew the stories about the events that took place twelve years ago at Konoha when the Kyuubi attacked and then that very same night the newborn child of the Yondaime Hokage went missing. And then suddenly Deidara turned up with a child little older than a handful of weeks and claimed it was his(they had been told this because they knew that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki and would not be fooled by the claim that it was Akira's child. Sometimes it was nice to have a demon sealed in your belly. But like the others that knew Naruto wasn't Akira's, Han did not know, until Roshi told his that is. And now they were both very protective of her, not that she knew that of course. Sometimes Roshi would just watch her to see how she spent her days; no one knowing whether or not she had already met her literal inner demon. During the trip he was going to try and find a way for her to contact the beast inside her.
Naruto was bouncing around like a bunny rabbit with not-so-controlled excitement. She was wearing a black (A/N: now who's favorite color is that?) suit with a blue shirt and tie, for when they would meet Gato, but was also carrying a storage scroll that held her battle attire, which consisted of a black long-sleeve shirt. She kept a pair of trench knives at her side in case of conflicts on the road. She also secretly packed a kimono for when she got away from her teammates. Her henged hair was short and straight. Her blue eyes looked like oceans ready to sweep you away. But there was a hint of violet in those blue eyes.
This would be her first time outside of the village, and she would be going all the way to the Land of Waves to boot! For some strange reason unknown to her, she really likes water (A/N: I wonder why? ^_^), and this would be the perfect opportunity for her to sleep by the sea, however corny that might sound.
Naruto looked up at Deidara and said impatiently, "Deidara-sensei when are we going to leave?"
Deidara laughed, "Well, Naruto, we have to wait for your last teammate to get here." Hiro, Deidara, Naruto and Roshi were already there.
"Jinsoku." Naruto sighed, "Why can't he ever be on time for anything?" Naruto for the most part was quite energetic, although she had been working on getting those tendencies under control. She was actually pretty intelligent when you got passed the youthfulness.
^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^
Meanwhile in Konoha, a man and a boy, wearing the same green spandex suit and sporting identical bowl haircuts, perked up their ears as if receiving a frequency that only they can hear.
The adult looked at the teenager and said, "Lee, I feel as if there is another fellow in the ways of youth!"
The young man, now known as Lee, said, "I agree Gai-sensei, I can only hope we meet this youthful person."
Gai looked at his student and had tears come into his eyes. "Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
The two males ran at each other and hugged. All of a sudden, their unbreakable genjutsu took effect, a sunset appearing behind them and waves crashing into the rocks that appeared beneath their feet. It would have been cute, maybe even romantic, had it not had those two spandex-wearing fiends in the middle of it.
People passing by ran away, holding their eyes screaming, "My eyes! They burn!"
^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^
Back in Iwa, everyone at the gate suddenly felt a shiver go down their spines. Naruto looked around, "What was that?"
Deidara shuddered, "I don't know, but I have a feeling that Konoha has perfected their Springtime of Youth genjutsu."
This time it was Hiro who responded. He was wearing a brown suit with the Tagesi clan symbol on his collar and jacket. He had a back-up set of clothes in case there is to be conflict or training on the road.
His red hair sticking out at odd angles.
"Well whatever it is I hope we never have to see it, I think I would die."
The horrors of the Youth Nightmare Jutsu were legendary. Anyone who has ever seen it has run away clawing at their eyes screaming, "Make it go away!" after multiple attempts to dispel the technique from hell.
And, at that exact moment while everyone was looking back into village where Jinsoku should have been coming from, they all heard a voice behind them say, "What are you guys looking at?"
Everyone jumped ten feet into the air. They all spun around upon landing and shouted, "Where the hell did you come from?"
Jinsoku was wearing a black dress shirt with the image of a cheetah on the collar. He also wore a pair of black dress pants to go with the shirt, his brown hair flowing in the breeze. Wait. Breeze? For the journey he had his katana strapped to his back, although he has never been seen using it. The boy shrugged, "I walked right past you guys. Apparently you guys aren't as observant as you think you are."
They looked at each other and all shared the same thought, Are we really that blind?
Of course they weren't, Deidara and Roshi were both experienced ninja and on top of that Roshi had his tenant which would have told (or rather screeched) that the kid had passed him. Narrowing their eyes, they decided to log that away for later.
Deidara looked at his team and said, "Well, now that we're all here we can leave. Naruto, you're with me. Roshi will go with me as well while Jinsoku will be with Hiro." He put his right hand into his pouch filled with clay and let it chew. In the meantime Hiro was preparing himself for the trip ahead, hovering above the ground using his grandfather's flight technique.
Moments later the clay was ready and Deidara quickly turned it into a bird, and threw it into the air where it expanded. (The same size as in Shippuden) Roshi, Naruto and Deidara all climbed on the clay bird and took to the air, while Hiro and Jinsoku held hands and took off as well. The trip was going to be a long one, but it wouldn't take them too long what with their aerial capabilities.
^_^Iwa Shinobi^_^
With Sasuke and co.
On the road to Waves, Sasuke noticed a puddle on the side of the road. Looking up at the sky he saw there wasn't a single cloud in sight, and he recalled that it hadn't rained in weeks. Tch, idiots probably think we won't notice.
He caught Kakashi's eye and he motioned toward the puddle. The older man inclined his head acknowledging. They continued walking past the 'puddle' seemingly ignoring it. Naruto probably saw it but was being a prick about it. And of course Sakura had absolutely no idea what was going on as she was still fawning over the son of the Yondaime Hokage.
Just as they were walking past it, the puddle reverted back to its true form, or forms in this case. They charged at Kakashi with a chain connecting them and proceeded to tear him to pieces.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried, thinking her teacher had kicked the bucket.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, it was obvious the man had used the substitution jutsu. Going through the handsigns for the Uchiha's signature jutsu, Sasuke brought his hand to his mouth and shouted, "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball expanded in the air and flew toward the first enemy nin. The man, having been rushing forward didn't have time to dodge and flew backwards, and he would have taken his partner with him had he not disconnected the chain tying them together. Sasuke took off after the downed attacker and continued his assault.
The remaining foe saw Naruto and Sakura guarding Tazuna and charged, thinking his brother wouldn't be far behind. Sakura looked at the opponent fearfully. Just as he was about to hit her out of the way, she lifted her left hand covered in chakra and pounded it into the man's chest, sending him flying all the while saying, "Get away from me you freak!"
The man flew backwards into a tree hitting his head. He fell onto the ground unconscious.
Back with Sasuke the mist nin was trying to find some way to beat the little brat that had the nerve to shoot a fireball at him. He absolutely hated kids. The only reason Haku was on his good side was because she was Zabuza's apprentice and she could kick his ass from Wave to Iwa and back without even breaking a sweat.
He ran forward swinging his gauntlet at Sasuke expecting to take him out in one blow but got a shock when he jumped over it and delivered a spinning kick to the side of his head, sending him spinning in the air. Righting himself midair he attempted to break past him to Tazuna and the others but was knocked unconscious by a chop to the back of the neck by Kakashi.
Sasuke grunted, About time he showed up.
After they finished tying up the two nins, Kakashi turned toward Tazuna and gave him a one-eyed glare.
"So, Tazuna, when were you going to tell us that you had ninjas coming after you?"
Tazuna started to sweat, everyone's eyes were on him. "Our country is very poor. We didn't have the funds to pay for a higher ranked mission. Gato has been sucking our nation dry."
Kakashi's lone eye widened, "Gato, as in multi-billionaire shipping magnate Gato? That Gato?"
Tazuna nodded sadly, "Yes, him. He has been taking all our money and goods before we can even sell them without paying. We need this bridge to be completed or we will never be free."
Sasuke looked his teacher straight in the eye and said, "Sensei I believe that we should continue this mission."
"We should help them out Kakashi-sensei. These people need our help and we should give it to them. Right Naruto-kun?" Sakura said batting her eyelashes at her long-time 'crush,' hoping that by agreeing with Sasuke that he would find her brave.
"Hn," was all she got in response.
Kakashi sighed, "Okay, I guess we'll keep going." Tazuna sighed in relief; Sakura thrust her fist into the air and shouted "Shannaro!" Sasuke smirked. And Naruto just hn'd.
Continuing on their way they made it to a dock where they boarded a boat that took them across the sea to the island that is the Land of Waves.
After a few hours of boredom and/or throwing up from seasickness, they reached their destination, passing by the incomplete bridge on the way there.
Reaching land they all got out of the boat save the driver who promptly turned the vehicle around after wishing them god luck and speeding away.
^_^The Iwa shinobi^_^
Meanwhile with our heroine and her team, they had just passed over the Land of Hot Water and were now crossing the open waters to the land of Waves. Upon reaching land, they flew a couple miles inland and set down. After returning the clay bird to its original hand-held size, they continued onward to Gato's base of operations, naturally bypassing the village on the way there.
When they walked up to the front they were stopped by a couple mercenaries.
"Stop right there foreigners, what business do you have Gato?" they asked snootily.
Deidara, as the Jounin-sensei stepped forward as spokesperson. "We are here to meet with your employer in hopes of coming to an arrangement that could benefit both our village and him. He said to come as soon as we were able and here we are."
The mercs eyed them suspiciously, but after taking in the groups' present outfits they decided that only a fool or someone who liked to kill while wearing fancy clothes would be stupid enough to attack him in the heart of his own organization.
Nodding the two stepped back and opened the doors for them to go in. Walking inside they went up the stairs as for some strange reason the elevator was broken. After reaching the top they headed to the door where another pair of mercenaries eyed them before opening the doors and letting them in.
Once inside the office they spread out with the adults at the ends and Naruto in the middle. Then Gato addressed them from behind his desk while sitting on a phonebook to make him seem taller, which it didn't it just accentuated the shortness.
"So, this is the team from Iwa hmm? Well it's about time. Now normally we would just sign on the dotted line and the deal would be done but right now I am in a bit of a conundrum. A man is attempting to build something that would make me lose a lot of money and I need him taken care of. I already hired another team to stop them but it seems that they have already failed me. If you could do this for me I would throw in a bonus contract. What do you say?"
Deidara and Roshi exchanged looks. Neither wanted to get involved in another countries affairs but they were ordered to do whatever was necessary to get the deal finalized up to senseless murder.
Getting a silent nod from Roshi, he looked Gato in the eye and said, "We will take care of the bridge builder, but as soon as we are done we want that paper signed. Understand?" He said menacingly, his hands inching toward the pouches of clay at his side. To add to the effect, Jinsoku reached for the handle of his katana.
Getting the idea that it would be bad to double-cross them, Gato nodded his head furiously. "Crystal."
Nodding that they understood the terms, they left after being given a house to stay in outside the village. It was almost as if he didn't want them to go in there.
Walking to their temporary home they unsealed their things and put them in their chosen rooms; it was a very big house.
^_^ The Iwa Shinobi^_^
At the same time Sasuke and crew are walking down the road toward Tazuna's house when all of a sudden Sasuke noticed movement in the bushes on the side of the trail, throws a kunai into the bushes which elicited a shriek from Sakura. Walking over to the bush he pushed aside the shrubbery and saw a snow-white rabbit shaking like a leaf with his kunai resting between its legs.
Sakura upon seeing the rabbit glared at Sasuke shrieking, "You attacked an innocent animal Sasuke what is wrong with you?"
Kakashi looked at the rabbit in question and noticed the color of its fur. That's odd, they only have that color during the winter or if they have been… kept… indoors. "Everybody get down!"
Kakashi grabbed Sakura while Naruto grabbed Tazuna and threw their respective charges onto the ground taking themselves down with them. Sasuke already leaning down where his kunai was trying to pull it out didn't need to move and instead made one last pull and yanked the weapon out of the tree.
All of a sudden a giant blade came shooting out of the woods, slicing through the air above their heads and slamming into a nearby tree, burying itself into the wood. Once the sword was in the tree, a figure dashed out of the forest and stood on the weapon.
After standing up again, they got a good look at their assailant. He was wearing a belt across his bare chest, his headband was tied around his head and the metal facing sideways. He had two wrist-warmers on his arms and also wore a pair of matching leg warmers. His grey camo pants adding to the image as well as the bandages covering the lower half of his face.
He looked down at the group before him and laughed. "So, this is the famous Copycat Ninja? I must say I was expecting better."
Kakashi looked up at the man lazily and said, "Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist."
Zabuza laughed, "I am flattered that you have heard of me Kakashi Hatake," his face, from what they could see, grew serious, "But I must ask that you give the bridge builder to me. If you do I will let you walk away with your lives."
Kakashi narrowed his visible eye, "I am afraid I can't do that Zabuza."
Zabuza sighed, "Very well." His voice grew cold, "It's your funeral."
Grabbing the sword by the handle he shot off from the tree and landed on the water nearby. Running through the handsigns, he called out, "Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
Unseen by Zabuza because he was performing the jutsu, Kakashi had lifted the headband off his left eye, revealing a fully matured Sharingan.
A thick mist rolled in obscuring everyone's vision. Even Sasuke with his Sharingan couldn't see through it, although he could see blobs here and there. And one of said blobs was coming straight at him.
The killer intent that Zabuza was releasing had varying effects on the members of Team 7: for Sakura, she was simply paralyzed and couldn't do anything, having never faced a dangerous situation before in her life beyond capturing Tora (which didn't say much); for Naruto, who was used to assassination attempts by foreign ninja because of his father being the Hokage, was unaffected by it, and kept the stoic look on his face; and as for Sasuke, well, the last time he was in a dangerous situation was when he had activated his Sharingan. He had been attacked by some villagers while out and about who were screaming, "Murderers!" "The Hokage should have killed your kind for killing his baby!" "Demon-lord!" The last one came out as a result of the whole Sharingan-controlling-the-Kyuubi rumor that had gone around. Well, maybe rumor isn't the right word, more like gossip. The reason that people were punished for attacking the Uchiha's was not the reason many had heard. It was not because of the act itself, but for saying that their little girl was dead. The Yondaime and his wife were still believers that she was still alive, although that belief was starting to find itself harder to believe every year that passed by.
The Anbu had stepped in to stop them killing him, but they did not even bother trying to stop the beating. They also believed that the Uchiha's should have been punished for taking the Yondaime's baby girl from him. Suffice to say he activated his bloodline that day.
Back to the battle Zabuza was running forward through the mist pulling back his giant sword ready to cut Tazuna in half when a hand latched onto the blade, the man's hand inside the sword's hole, stopping him in his tracks.
The mist cleared when a sudden burst of KI from Kakashi came forth. Needless to say the person holding the blade shocked everyone.
It was Sasuke.
Somehow he had managed to slip forward without Zabuza noticing and raise his hand at just the right time to stop the Executioner's blade, which was just a couple feet away from cutting Tazuna in two. Needless to say Tazuna was sweating bullets.
Kakashi taking advantage of the situation stabbed Zabuza in the stomach, but what surprised the others was that he turned into water.
"A water clone!"
Suddenly another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and sliced him in half, only for him to collapse into a puddle of water as well. The missing nin's eyes widened in disbelief, When did he use that jutsu? I could have sworn that he didn't have his Sharingan active.
Then a kunai was across his neck with Kakashi holding the handle saying, "It's over Zabuza."
Then he started to laugh, "Over? No, it has only begun." Suddenly spun around and kicked Kakashi straight out into the water. Coming to the surface, he realized something, This water is incredibly dense. Could he be . . . shit! He's got me!"
Zabuza appeared in front of Kakashi and went through some handsigns saying, "Water Prison Jutsu!"
Then sticking his hand forward a giant sphere of water encased Kakashi and that was the end of that, or se Zabuza thought.
Naruto, who had been standing by the whole time, decided that it was probably time to actually do something, and, despite his father's warnings, was going to have to use that jutsu.
Grabbing a tri-pronged kunai, he threw it at Zabuza who caught it midair, obviously not knowing what it was, otherwise he would have dodged it. Then activating the seal, he powers up a Rasengan in his right hand and in a bright yellow flash appears next to Zabuza thrusting his Rasengan-filled hand toward the nuke-nin, forcing the man to release the jutsu and leap backwards. Kakashi, now free, took the initiative and immediately started a counter-attack. Zabuza used the Water Dragon Jutsu and he used the same. Then, activating his Sharingan, he used a Genjutsu on Zabuza causing him to slip on his next jutsu, which Kakashi kindly finished. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"
Water swirled around Kakashi, turning into a ring of water in front of him until he released it aiming it straight at Zabuza. He flew backwards slamming into a tree. Right before Kakashi could finish him off two senbon shot out of nowhere and slammed into Zabuza's neck.
Then the assailant made himself (or herself?) known to the group. He (or she) wore a hunter nin mask with a moss green, striped turtleneck sweater and a split skirt in matching colour that reached down to his knees. On the outside of that, he wore a green blue short kimono with white edges, and around his waist a green brown obi, in the same fabric as his sweater, with a fringed trail. He bowed to the group. "Thank you in your assistance in the extermination of the Missing Nin Zabuza Momochi. I shall tell my leader in my report that a group of Konoha Shinobi helped in the effort." Leaping down to the ground, He lifted Zabuza up onto his shoulder and shunshined away.
After that Kakashi collapsed from Chakra exhaustion and they had to carry him the rest of the way to Tazuna's house.
^_^The Iwa Shinobi^_^
Back With Naruto and company, they were meeting up with Gato and their fellow shinobi. Zabuza was lying on a bed temporarily paralyzed from the removal of the senbon. Gato, his bodyguards, and the Iwa team all walked in and were met with the image of one of the Seven Swordsmen lying on a bed unable to move. Quite laughable wouldn't you say?
And laugh was exactly what Gato did. "So this is the infamous 'Demon of the Bloody Mist'? Ha! These ninja from Iwa could probably do better than you!"
Zabuza glared at Gato, "Well it would have gone easier if you had told us that he had hired ninjas to guard him!"
At that remark the all Iwa shinobi looked at Gato who was beginning to sweat a little.
"Do you have something to tell us Gato?" Deidara asked, eyes narrowed.
Gato managed to keep a straight face, his glasses were really coming in handy, "The bridge builder is obviously determined to ruin me, so apparently he hired some bodyguards, although I am sure that they didn't give the correct amount of money and after facing Zabuza will turn around and go home to their village."
Naruto, tired of being quiet, said, "Well, if they beat you then there must be a strong ninja on the team, care to say who?"
Roshi nodded in approval. Naruto had come a long way from being a hyperactive brat with no sense of decorum.
Zabuza turned his attention to the blond haired boy that had spoken up, "Yeah there was a strong ninja. Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye." Deidara and Roshi exchanged glances, and, though missed by all but Zabuza, Jinsoku gave a small smirk. Raising a thin eyebrow he continued, "And there was also the child of the Yondaime Hokage."
Deidara stiffened at that last part, and unconsciously cast a glance at Naruto, drawing the attention of Roshi, Haku, Zabuza, and Hiro. Gato would have noticed had he been paying attention, but he was too busy wetting his pants to care about what was going on around him. Jinsoku didn't even appear confused by the look Deidara gave Naruto. And as for Naruto herself, well, let's just say that she had something else on her mind.
And that something was the giant sword that was propped up against the wall to the side. She was looking at it with stars in her eyes. Subconsciously she slowly started walking toward it. Zabuza, seeing the blond walk toward his prized possession, barked, "Hey, no touchy." Real smooth Zabuza, real smooth.
Naruto, hearing this whined, "But whyyyyy? It looks so awesome!"
Zabuza nodded his agreement, "That it is, however it is still not yours, and will remain not yours as long as I hold breath so back up, gaki." He finished childishly.
Haku rolled her eyes, boys and their toys. Yes her. Haku had been masquerading as a boy for many years now in fear of a man happening upon her and trying to rape her. The last time it happened she was saved by Zabuza and in return she offered her undying loyalty to the man. And, being a girl pretending to be a boy, she was able to locate others doing the same thing, and from what she could tell Naruto was just such a person.
Gato, done peeing his pants, grunted and said, "Well, I expect results Zabuza, I am paying a hefty fee for your services and I want this man killed. These ninja from Iwa will assist you in this, since you can't seem to do it alone, and as such the payment will be split."
Zabuza's eyes narrowed angrily, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it, but hey, even half of what he was originally promised was enough for his goals. Not that Gato needed to know that, the extra money was really only for extra padding for after he took down the Yondaime Mizukage.
With the meeting over, Gato left with his guards and went back to his estate.
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Next time in The Iwa Shinobi: Sasuke meets Akahana and a secret about a certain member of team Deidara is discovered, leading to many questions.