DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
Longest chapter yet for this one. Just want to reassure all of you that this won't be following the anime to a T. I figured that would be obvious considering the premise of the story, but you never know. Anyways, read, review, and as always, enjoy!
Chapter 7 - Encounter with a Demon
"So the lack of funds from your oppressed country forced you to list this as a C-rank?" Sasuke asked Tazuna.
The bridge builder nodded regretfully. "Yes. A shrewd businessman by the name of Gato took over our entire industry and is driving us into the ground. On paper, he seems like a legitimate businessman, but he parades around with gangs of armed thugs to intimidate us. Building the bridge is the only way to rid ourselves of him and bring commerce back to our poverty-stricken country."
Obito crossed his arms. "You realize that I have the authority to cancel this mission for the safety of my Genin, correct?"
"I wouldn't blame you," Tazuna admitted. "I lied, after all."
"Are you kidding, Big Bro Obito?! This is exactly the kind of mission that requires my skills!" Naruto said excitedly.
"Yeah! Besides, we're already halfway there. Going back would take us the same amount of time as it would to get there," Sakura pointed out.
Obito raised an eyebrow at his last student. "Sasuke?"
"Hn," was the only response, but a playful smirk was etched on the Uchiha's lips.
Obito facepalmed with a groan. "You idiots are gonna get me killed."
"Not if all attacks just slip through you," Sakura said. "What was that, anyways?"
Obito stared passively at the group in front of him. "If we survive this mission, I'll tell you. Agreed?"
"Hold on, what do you mean if?" Naruto demanded. "Those guys were chumps!"
Obito looked at Naruto seriously. "I mean whoever they send next will be a lot stronger."
A lone figure sat with one leg hanging off of a small balcony. A massive sword was propped up against the railing beside him. Bandages covered his face like a mask, and his headband and forehead protector was turned sideways. His broad shoulders were clearly visible from his shirtless form.
A smaller boy approached from behind him with a small bow. "You summoned me?"
"Have the Demon Brothers reported in yet?" the first man growled.
The boy shook his head. "No, Master Zabuza. It is possible that they were removed from the equation."
Zabuza chuckled at that, his raspy voice seeming to bounce off of the walls as he turned to look at the boy behind him. He was garbed in a long robe, and a porcelain mask with the Kiri symbol covered his face. His long black hair framed it, the rest pulled up in a bun on the back of his head.
"Looks like we're finally getting our hands dirty, eh, Haku?"
Rin always enjoyed her visits to the Hokage's office. Seeing her old sensei always seemed to bring a smile to her face, even if the topic was less than friendly. She usually came by once a week when Minato wasn't busy, which was rare, but still.
She was allowed in by Minato's assistant, thanking the woman graciously before coming to a stop in front of Minato's desk. The Hokage was pushing forty, yet he still seemed to have that youthful twinkle to his eyes as he looked up at his former student.
"So how'd it go?" he asked plainly.
Rin blinked, tilting her head. There were many possible situations that he could be referring to, so he would have to narrow it down. "What?"
"Obito. I know you went to see him, that was pretty evident when you left my office the other day."
"Oh," Rin dropped her head.
Minato sighed, taking that as her answer. "Did he at least hear you out?"
Rin frowned. "It was like I was speaking at him, not with him."
The Hokage nodded. "The same for me when I went to see him a few weeks ago. He's withdrawn deep within himself. Frankly, at this point, I don't know if anyone can pull him out of it."
"I can do it, sensei," Rin said with a determined look. "Obito underestimates me if he thinks that I'm giving up that easy."
Minato gave a soft smile as he stood. "He's too reckless. Sometimes, I worry that I shouldn't have given him a team of Genin, much less my own child. I'm afraid that his recklessness in battle will get all of them killed."
"Sensei, this is Obito. He may be different than the one we used to know, but there's no way that he'd allow your son to die. Himself on the other hand…"
Minato nodded, stepping towards Rin. "I know."
The pair embraced in the center of the office. "I just want my friend back," Rin said softly into his chest.
"So do I, Rin. So do I."
Mist had started to seep into their field of vision as their journey drew on. Tazuna had informed them of their crossing into the Land of Waves some time ago. The path they were currently on ran parallel with a wide river to their left, which they followed. Apparently, there would be a ferry at some point that would take them across. Though discretion usually came at a hefty price.
Nonetheless, Obito was just glad that Naruto was less fidgety. Normally, the hyperactive blonde would be complaining about the monotony of the mission at the top of his lungs, but it seemed that the gravity of the circumstances had shut him up. In addition, the possibility of enemy shinobi lurking around in the mist seemed to have the Genin on edge.
What they failed to realize was that Obito, with his sharingan always active, would be able to detect any threats lurking around. Though if the mist got any thicker, he may have a few issues with that.
The Uchiha had to admit, though, that he was growing a bit uneasy himself. At least as much as an emotionless Jonin could grow uneasy. Sasuke seemed to feel it as well, one shared glance between the pair of them saw to that.
Even Naruto, who wasn't exactly the most perceptive of shinobi, picked up on it. Credit to the blonde, he responded incredibly quickly with a kunai thrown into the bushes on the side of the road. Sakura tensed up, pushing the bridge builder behind her as Obito stared intently with his hands in his pockets.
Naruto, Sasuke flanking him for support, crept towards the bushes and parted them to reveal an extremely scared white rabbit with a kunai embedded in the tree above its head. Sakura visibly relaxed, which then turned to anger at Naruto for scaring her. Naruto busied himself with apologizing to the animal as Sasuke put away his kunai, but Obito knew immediately that something was off.
"Hit the deck!"
The three Genin and Tazuna slammed their chests to the ground in response to their sensei's warning. Not a second later, a rapidly spinning blade flew from the trees, sailed over the space where their heads had been, and lodged itself in the trunk of a tree several meters in the air. A lone figure flickered to stand on top of it, his back turned to them, but his head faced sideways so that he could stare at them out of the corner of his eye. He had bandages that covered the lower half of his face, and a leather strap hung diagonally across his back, clearly meant for carrying that massive sword.
Obito, his hands in his pockets, slowly walked forward until he came even with his prone students and Tazuna. "Mangi formation," he ordered forcefully without taking his red eyes off of their opponent.
"Aw, come on, sensei! We can fight, too!" Naruto protested as the four of them rose to their feet.
Obito turned to look at him, his eyes and facial expression immediately turning the blonde's face white with fear. "What the hell did I just say?" Obito demanded.
His three Genin quickly took up his orders, falling back and forming a wedge-like formation with Tazuna protected on all sides. Satisfied, Obito crossed his arms as he gazed back towards the tree, where their opponent began to cackle in a low, raspy voice.
"Trying to get them out of the way, huh? Smart," the man complimented.
Obito looked unimpressed at the attempt of intimidation. "Judging from that sword, you're Zabuza Momochi. Word got around that you tried to start a coup a while back. How'd that work out for you? Not very well, apparently. If it went well, you wouldn't be doing assassin work for a businessman."
Zabuza grasped the handle of his sword and landed on the ground with a thud. Hefting the massive blade onto his shoulder, he grinned beneath his mask. "No wonder the Demon Brothers failed. You're Obito Uchiha, of the Fire Storm. Last I heard, your bounty was pushing almost a hundred million."
"One-twenty," Obito corrected with a small shrug. "At least that's what it was this morning. I could check again if you want," he offered, reaching behind his back to produce his Bingo Book. He began to thumb through the pages until he found his page. Nodding to himself, he replaced the book in his pouch and returned his hands to his pockets.
Zabuza smirked. "They said you were dangerous, they never said you had a sense of humor, too. Oh, this is gonna be fun."
"Not for you, though," Obito said with a yawn.
That seemed to anger Zabuza, and he dashed forward, his blade coming downwards in a deadly arc. Obito leapt to the side, feet lightly touching the ground as the blade made a sizable indent in the soil.
Seeing the fight begin several meters away, the three Genin tasked with guarding Zabuza subconsciously tensed. Sasuke even activated his sharingan, as he wanted to take no chances. Obito had trusted them to take down the two fromm earlier, but if he had immediately dismissed their help, this foe was on a whole other level.
"Stay sharp, Naruto. Be ready with clones," Sasuke warned.
Naruto nodded from the opposite side of the formation. "Yeah, I gotcha."
Meanwhile, Zabuza had yet to force Obito to remove his hands from his pockets. It was as if the Uchiha knew exactly where the sword would be at any given moment. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Zabuza disengaged and weaved a few hand signs.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
A fog so thick rolled in that it made Obito unable to see his feet, all in a matter of seconds. The Uchiha sighed with an unamused smirk. "So this is your genius plan? What a joke. Hide in the mist and use the supposed Silent Killing that you're so famous for? While it won't work on me, I suppose that I have to do something to protect my students," Obito sighed, his recklessness in a fight beginning to show.
Finally removing his hands from his pockets, Obito made a few hand signs of his own before bringing the final one near his mouth. Taking a great breath, the exhale came out as a massive stream of fire that seemed to take the shape of a wall.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
The fire spewing from Obito's mouth expanded, the wall growing larger and larger as it flowed outwards. The sheer heat coming off of it began to evaporate the mist around it. Eventually, the flames grew so big that all of the mist that Zabuza had conjured with his Hidden Mist Jutsu were completely gone.
Zabuza was now visible as the flames died out, and he was on the move. Not for Obito, though, his target seemed to be the Mangi formation of Genin. Obito knew that the real target was the bridge builder, though. Putting some urgency in his step, Obito dashed forward to intercept the missing-nin from Kiri.
Zabuza saw Obito move in his peripheral vision, and he swept his blade in a horizontal arc across his body, but its progress was halted with a metallic clang. Obito stood there, holding a kunai with one hand against the massive blade.
"You know, you're pretty strong. Not everyone can wield a sword this big very efficiently," Obito commented.
Zabuza chuckled. "Well I am one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
"The Demon," Obito nodded in recognition, then cocked his head to the side. "But aren't demons supposed to be scary?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Naruto had to stifle a laugh, something that only served to further enrage Zabuza. He slid his sword back across Obito's kunai before switching his grip so that it rested against his forearm. Sweeping it in short lengths now, Obito was forced to dodge much faster. Power may be on Zabuza's side, but Obito had the sharingan going for him.
He dodged all of Zabuza's attacks effortlessly, reading and anticipating every subtle movement of the blade, the tensing of his shoulders, where his eyes were aimed, Obito saw it all. With each and every strike, Zabuza seemed to grow angrier and angrier until it finally seemed to burst within him.
Disengaging from Obito, he landed on the surface of the river beside them, his feet standing on the surface of the water. Naruto and Sasuke already knew of such techniques, but Sakura's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Zabuza looked at Obito with hate in his eyes.
"I have to hand it to you, Uchiha, not very many people push me this far. Usually, I can finish any fight with my stealth, but your use of the Fire Style is the greatest that I've faced. So let's settle this with ninjutsu, shall we?"
Obito watched with a disinterested expression as Zabuza began to fly through a long series of hand signs. When he finally weaved the last one, he came to strike a pose as a the surface of the water behind him began to be disturbed. As they watched, a pillar of water grew off of the surface of the river, seeming to grow scales as it did. Finally, when it had reached a certain point, the head of a dragon with bright yellow eyes formed, sharp fangs of flowing water appearing in its mouth.
"You know, I could have copied that, but water really isn't my style," Obito said as he weaved hand signs of his own. The stream of flame that Obito now spat began to take shape in front of his mouth. It condensed and flowed together, taking the shape of the head of a dragon, similar to the water dragon that Zabuza stood in front of. Obito continued the stream of flame until the creature grew in size, matching that of Zabuza's.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Both elemental dragons rushed towards each other simultaneously. Their maws opened as they neared, until their noses collided, beginning a war of power. Both sides poured chakra into their jutsu, but it was a stalemate. Zabuza looked to be the one straining, though. Obito looked as passive as ever, though it was always hard to tell without the tells that a normal person's eyes would give off.
Eventually, a cloud of steam wafted its way into the air as both jutsu died out. Obito placed his hands back in his pockets and watched the panting Zabuza. Beads of sweat coated the assassin's forehead as he glared at Obito menacingly. That turned out to be a mistake, as Obito's tomoe suddenly rotated, and Zabuza froze.
Slowly, the Demon of the Hidden Mist began to sink into the waves, but just before his head could go under, a strong hand hauled him up by the leather harness that crossed his shoulders. Obito slung the unmoving Zabuza across his back and turned to face the three Genin from the water.
Sakura had a wide smile on her face. "Sensei, that was amazing!"
"Yeah! Way to go, Big Bro!" Naruto cheered.
Tazuna let out a hearty laugh before taking another swig of sake and wiping his mouth. "Sure am glad you're protecting me and not the other way around!"
"Is he dead?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.
Obito shook his head. "Just a genjutsu. He thinks we're still fighting."
"So what do we do with him?" Sasuke asked.
Obito's eyes shifted once again to reveal the three red scythes from before. "Excuse me for a moment."
To say that the three Genin and Tazuna's jaws hit the floor would be an understatement. One second, Obito was in front of them, and the next, he was gone, pulled into some black hole by a strange spiral pattern.
"The hell was that?" Naruto asked, head darting from left to right to try and discern the location of Obito.
Sasuke's brow furrowed even more at the use of those strange, perverted sharingan. "Was that a transportation technique?"
"Have you ever seen a black hole eat someone like that?" Sakura asked, trembling slightly.
Tazuna simply had no words as he studied the three distressed students before him. "Hey! You idiots are supposed to be protecting me!"
"But he already got the guy," Naruto pointed out.
A mere second passed between Naruto saying that and a new figure appearing on the scene. This one wore long, flowing robes of blue, and wore a white porcelain mask on his face. His hair framed his face, but the rest of it was tied up in a tight bun at the back of his head.
"Where is Master Zabuza?"
Obito materialized in the familiar darkness of his pocket dimension. It was expansive, with no clear end in sight, and was lit only by pale blue colors that ran along its surfaces. The landscape itself was made purely of prisms and cubic dimensions that sprung up and sank into the ground, giving it a feeling of blockiness.
Upon the discovery of his Mangekyou, Obito had spent a great deal of time in this dimension, since he could come and go as he pleased. It even served as his private training ground. The Uchiha often came here so as not to be disturbed by anyone. Here, he could think in peace, without interruptions from annoyances.
When Obito slung Zabuza off of his shoulder, the impact jarred the Swordsman as Obito dispelled the genjutsu. The Demon's eyes flitted back and forth, taking in Obito and his surroundings.
"Where the hell are we?"
"Not important," Obito crouched in front of Zabuza, his red eyes shining as a bright contrast to their pale surroundings. "But your only way of leaving rests with me, so don't get any ideas about trying to fight."
"Take me back, you bastard," Zabuza growled from beneath his bandages.
Obito shook his head in disappointment. "So prideful, even in defeat. You realize that I could have killed you, right?"
"Not like anyone cares," Zabuza muttered.
Obito rose to his full height and crossed his arms. "Something tells me your little friend would disagree. Did you run out of real ninja? Or are kids just easier to brainwash?"
Zabuza's eyes widened. Had Obito really known that Haku was there from the beginning? Just how skilled was this guy? The former Kiri ninja paled when he realized just how much of a mistake it was to engage this foe. But he decided to put on a brave facade and let out a cackle.
"If you knew he was there, then you also know that he's fighting your pathetic students."
Obito shrugged. "I'm confident in their abilities. But we're not here to talk about them."
"Why the hell am I still breathing, Uchiha?" Zabuza's eyes showed pure outrage.
Obito blinked emotionlessly, his eyes seeming to bore into Zabuza's very being. "Because I'm willing to make a deal."
"What kind of deal? Doesn't look like you pay much," Zabuza said skeptically as he looked Obito up and down.
Obito shook his head. Zabuza had misunderstood. "I'm not paying you. But I'll let you live if you take out Gato and all of his thugs for me. My mission is to protect the bridge builder while he completes the construction of that bridge. Having Gato and his private army breathing down my neck is more than I feel like dealing with. Not that I can't, I just don't feel like it."
Zabuza snorted with amusement. "You're too soft, Uchiha."
"You read my file, that sound soft to you?" Obito asked.
Zabuza had to admit that Obito had a point there. Some of the scenes that Obito left behind on the battlefield were gruesome to say the least. Some of the corpses had been burned so badly that they were completely unidentifiable. Obito left many scenes like that, the first being the one that earned him his name.
"Fire Storm," Zabuza chuckled. "They should double your fucking bounty."
"They do that and half of the ninja world would be hunting me," Obito replied.
Zabuza was a prideful individual, but he also preferred living to dying. If betraying one grubby businessman would mean that he could keep living to work towards his goal of ruling Kirigakure, then he was all for it. Perhaps he could even rob the rich midget after he killed him.
Obito raised one eyebrow at Zabuza's silence. "So? Your answer determines your fate."
"Where is Master Zabuza?" the figure repeated.
Naruto glanced to Sasuke and Sakura, who were on either side of him. He dropped into a stance, brandishing his kunai at the newcomer. He wore the mask of a Kiri tracker ninja, but he had also called Zabuza 'Master', so that was likely just a cover.
A simple meeting of eyes between him and Sasuke confirmed that the Uchiha was also thinking the same thing. The new figure pulled out two handfuls of senbon from his sleeves, holding them between his fingers. Naruto knew by that simple choice of weaponry that he was a fighter who used speed to his advantage, just like his father.
"Sasuke, plan C," Naruto said.
The Uchiha chuckled. "Not my first choice, but I see where you're going with it. Sakura, protect the bridge builder."
The pink-haired kunoichi nodded, taking up position between their enemy and Tazuna for the third time. Naruto made three shadow clones next to him, then pulled out a second kunai. "Go."
Two of the clones rushed forwards, causing their enemy to react. A handful of senbon was sent to both of the clones, who deflected them with their kunai. The enemy then pulled out two kunai of their own and leapt to meet the two clones. Before the two sides collided, Sasuke moved his arm as if he were pulling backwards on something.
The two charging clones suddenly were wrenched backwards, the sunlight glinting off of the ninja wire tied to their waists. Not a second later, the real Naruto and the other clone materialized behind the two clones, using them as springboards to launch into the air. Sasuke then substituted himself with the airborne shadow clone at the same moment that he flew through the signs for a jutsu.
Their enemy was now directly beneath Naruto and Sasuke, and the Uchiha wasted no time in spewing a fireball beneath him. Naruto unleashed a gust of wind, adding to the flames and aiding in their growth. They released their jutsu just before they hit the ground, the pair of them landing and dropping into a roll before shooting to their feet and turning to face their opponent.
When the smoke from their jutsu cleared, they saw a pristine dome of a crystalline substance that they realized was ice. It looked to be completely undamaged, and their opponent was completely secure inside of it. His posture was one of confidence, but it was hard to read because of the mask that covered his face. Upon a command, the dome of ice faded away, leaving him open to the world again.
Naruto threw his head back and groaned. "Are you kidding? Plan C did nothing!"
"My fire couldn't melt that ice," Sasuke said. "And my sharingan can't copy that jutsu for some reason."
"A kekkei genkai?" Naruto proposed.
Sasuke nodded, never taking his eyes off of their enemy. "Possibly. If that's the case, then we need to be extremely careful."
Sakura had no idea of what they were talking about. Kekkei genkai was a foreign term to her, but she never faltered in her stance, for she knew that if she got caught up in her own thoughts for too long that it could spell death for both her and Tazuna.
Even if they couldn't defeat this enemy, they would at least have to hold out long enough for Obito to return. No one knew where he had gone, but he made it seem like it wouldn't take long, so they had faith that he would be back soon.
"Plan A?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke.
The Uchiha shook his head. "No, physical weapons are going to be useless against that ice dome. We need something with enough power to shatter it."
"I don't know anything like that," Naruto shrugged apologetically. "I'm more of a speed fighter, like him. I guess I could try and get inside of his defenses and use my Flying Raijin, but I don't know how he is in close combat."
"I should be the one to go in close," Sasuke said. "My sharingan can read his movements, I'll be more successful. Try and surround him with clones in the meantime. Use them to go back and forth, hit him in his blind spots."
Naruto nodded, a few dozen clones forming behind him. "Got it," they all said in unison.
Sasuke drew a kuna and dashed forward as the army of Naruto's spread out behind him in a U formation. As they neared, they had to deflect senbon from their acrobatic enemy, keeping them on their toes. Sasuke reached him first, engaging in a series of hand-to-hand moves, deflecting kunai and palm strikes with ease. His sharingan was reading the enemy's movements well, but his chakra reserves were starting to run low. The constant use of his dojutsu, as well as the fireball from before had depleted them considerably.
Naruto encircled the two fighters with his clones and began to toss shuriken into their enemy's blind spots. Frustratingly, he always seemed to be aware of them, and would turn just in time to deflect them before blocking more strikes from Sasuke. As the fight drew on, Naruto began to get frustrated, so he changed up the tactics.
Ordering all of his clones forward, the circle began to collapse on Sasuke and the enemy. Naruto intended to use their superior numbers to pummel their enemy into submission, and Sasuke had to admit that it was a decent tactic. Unfortunately, A sudden leap and spin from the Kiri ninja sent out a tornado of senbon that dispelled all of Naruto's clones simultaneously, and left two sticking out of the real one's right shoulder.
Before Naruto or Sasuke could react, their enemy stepped backwards, performing some hand signs. "Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"
At that, ice began to form in a circle around Naruto and Sasuke. It began to take the shape of a dome, making Naruto think that they were being trapped inside of the barrier from before, but upon closer inspection, that wasn't the case. Instead, they seemed to form panels of ice that reflected their images back at them wherever they looked. In front of them, the Kiri boy stepped backwards and phased into one of them, his body disappearing. His image even faded from the mirror.
"Okay, what the hell?" Naruto said in exasperation.
Sasuke shrugged and pressed his back to Naruto's. "Stay alert, we don't know what kind of jutsu this is."
"Right."
"Sasuke! Naruto! Do you need help?" Sakura called, beginning to run towards them, but both of her teammates raised their hands to stop her.
"Stay there!" Sasuke said sharply.
Naruto nodded, a grave but determined look spreading across his features. "Remember, they want the bridge builder. He's their real target. We got this," Naruto said with a thumbs up and his trademark grin.
Sakura nodded, returning to Tazuna. She made a mental note to learn some elemental ninjutsu or genjutsu so she could finally be of some use to the two of them. So far, all she'd done was stand guard by an old man while they fought.
As Naruto and Sasuke slowly rotated their heads around, watching for any sign of the enemy, they instantly snapped their heads to one side. Separating, they watched as senbon flew past the area where they just stood. A second later, Sasuke was forced to do a backflip as more landed where his feet had just been.
Naruto dodged to the left, his feet sliding across the ground. They couldn't dodge indefinitely, so the blinde formulated an idea in his head. Dodging the next set of senbon, he used his forward momentum to run headlong into one of the ice mirrors. Leading with his shoulder, he expected to burst right through it and escape, but that wasn't the case. The masked form of their enemy appeared directly in front of him.
Too close to dodge, Naruto was helpless as two handfuls of senbon buried themselves in his arms and upper chest before Sasuke managed to drag him away. The sharingan user quickly plucked all of them out of his friend and hauled him to his feet. Naruto nodded his thanks as droplets of blood began to leak out of each of the holes, staining his orange clothes and spattering on the ground.
Naruto crossed his fingers one more time, and clones suddenly covered the entire area inside of the dome of mirrors. One clone leapt at each of the mirrors, and Sasuke watched intently, waiting for any sign of their enemy. A puff of white smoke directly above them informed him of the enemy's position, so he turned his sharingan to observe.
It was incredibly fast. He wasn't phasing through all of the mirrors, nor was he in a separate dimension, he simply mirror hopped faster than the normal eye could follow. Five seconds later, three quarters of Naruto's clones had been put down with the senbon that were starting to annoy.
Finishing the rest of the clones off, their enemy appeared in the very first mirror, the one he entered through. "I will give you one last chance to tell me where Master Zabuza is before I end your lives."
Naruto laughed out loud. "Come on! Try it! Those needles haven't done anything so far!"
"Please try not to antagonize him," Sasuke said, running a hand across his face in response to his friend.
The figure in the mirror produced two more handfuls of senbon and was clearly about to attack before a voice halted him. "Stand down, Haku."
Instantly, the mirrors of ice faded away, and Haku stepped out, turning to face the direction of the voice. Suffice it to say, everyone was shocked to see Obito and Zabuza standing side by side, the latter with his sword secured across his back.
"Master Zabuza?" Haku asked quizzically.
The Demon of the Hidden Mist cleared his throat. "We, uh...we have a new mission."
"Sir?"
"We are no longer enemies of these Konoha shinobi you insolent brat," Zabuza snapped, losing patience with trying to explain things to his comrade.
Even Naruto and Sasuke raised their eyebrows, looking to Obito with questioning looks. The Uchiha's cold eyes told them that he would explain later. The two boys nodded, still uneasy, but they trusted their sensei. They returned to stand by Sakura and Tazuna as Zabuza and Obito turned to speak one last time.
"I won't say it was a pleasure," the Kiri missing-nin said in his gravelly voice.
Obito gave a subtle nod. "Just make sure I don't see you again."
Zabuza chuckled. "Oh, trust me, if we ever meet again, I'm fighting on your side."
The Swordsman and Haku dashed off into the trees as Obito sighed with relief, his shoulders drooping and hands in his pockets as he returned to his usual position of poor posture.
All three of his students crossed their arms with raised eyebrows. "You have some explaining to do."
"I suppose I do."
No dead Zabuza and Haku, yay! I figured that would be a great way to introduce the way Obito fights and add some depth to his character. Let me know what all of you think, and I'll see all of you next time!