Sakura managed to make it to Gato's office before she encountered any problems. Gato's security was built around defending against mobs of civilians, not against a lone competent shinobi, especially one small enough to fit into tight spaces and athletic enough to get to the hard-to-reach areas. The security at night was that much worse, because Gato did not have any sort of official security system or patrols, which meant that most of his men simply congregated into a single room on the bottom floor to play cards.

The door guards fell for the simplest distraction, a rock thrown outside their field of view. Instead of sending one member out, or calling the disturbance in to be checked by another, both guards had simply wandered casually into the darkness. She had considered taking them out, but Naruto's reluctance, and Kakashi-sensei's acceptance of it, made her leery of killing guards, especially those who held no threat to her. She slipped into the door, they left the door unlocked, and started making her way up, under the probably reasonable assumption that Gato's office would be the highest one.

Security inside was remarkably simple as well. A few lone guards patrolled each floor with flashlights, and rather than making methodical sweeps and looking closely at places large enough to hide in, they just walked around in case they noticed something. At one point Sakura had ducked behind a coat rack, certain she would be clearly visible behind the thin obstruction, but the guard had passed not even a foot in front of her and never so much as twitched.

Sakura made it to the top floor, opened the door to Gato's office, and found that she was not the only one who noticed the security holes and had decided to use them. A pair of thugs were gathered around a wall safe behind Gato's desk, listening closely as they tried to find the combination to the lock. One was facing the safe, but the other had his ear to it, and when she swung the door open, his eyes began to widen.

Her kunai entered his skull hard enough to make a clicking sound when the point tapped the safe door on the other side. His compatriot managed to turn, his arm dropping to his sword, but that only resulted in him catching the second blade with his throat instead of his skull. He released his sword and grabbed at his throat desperately as his life flowed between his fingers, leaving himself open to a third and unarguably final blade to his forehead.

Sakura held her breath, listening carefully. After thirty long seconds, with no sounds of alarm or alert, she relaxed, calmly shut the door, walked over to the corner of the room, pulled aside the leaves of an office plant, and puked as quietly as she could into the planter, her entire body trembling.

They were thieves, she told herself as she heaved. They were thieves, and a danger to my mission. I could never have trusted them to be silent, and I had no time for anything fancy. She let the tears flow rather than trying to hold them back and risk sobbing, desperately wishing she had brought her bag so she could rinse her mouth with her canteen.

Eventually, the adrenaline shakes ended and the crying stopped. She pulled herself together to get her job done. The bodies were moved under the desk, the blood cleaned as best she could, and the window unlatched and quietly teased open. She then crouched in the corner of the office, behind what little cover the potted plant could give her, and waited for daylight.

"You got the plan down, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded cheerfully.

Kakashi was a little worried. The plan for dealing with the enemy shinobi relied a great deal on Naruto, and in things that could not be trained in mere days. Kakashi's plan was to fight his foes with his mind more than his body, and for all his cute little genin's perseverance and strength of character, Naruto was not famed for his intellectual prowess. Still, it's not like I haven't seen him do something very similar back in Konoha.

"We'll be fine," said Sasuke from the kitchen table where he sat, his meal untouched. His hands were clenched together on the table, and Kakashi saw those hands tremble slightly before they tightened that much more. Sasuke's smile, however, felt genuine, and his eyes sparkled as he looked at his teacher. "If it comes down to it," he said with a smirk, cracking his still slightly charred lips, "we can always use his clones for cover to escape and come to you for aid."

"You gave Naruto... the thing?"

Sasuke nodded, and Naruto pulled back the collar of his shirt and coat to demonstrate.

Kakashi nodded to his students, then waved at Tazuna and took off. Behind him the young shinobi grinned and started to put the plan into motion.

Kakashi stood at the edge of the bridge, peering into the mist nervously. Something felt off about the day, and he was full of adrenaline and processed baked grains, a queasy combination. He idly twirled a kunai on his finger and turned to look at Tazuna for the fifth time in the past hour. "Everything going okay?"

Tazuna grunted, partially in irritation and partially with effort as he lifted another stone and slid it into place on the edge of the bridge railing. "Yes, the same as it has been, so quit..."

Kakashi was by the bridge builder's side immediately, sensing something was wrong when the old man went quiet. They both looked out into the still waters surrounding them, then down. The water level below the bridge was dropping rapidly, the currents and eddies drawing the water away into the mists. Then they heard the sound of rushing waves.

Kakashi didn't wait for the attack to arrive. He grabbed Tazuna roughly, tossing the man onto his shoulder with a grunt, and jumped as hard as he could. Even as he began to rise in the air, a huge wave flowed out of the mists, crashing into the bridge with enough force to sweep everything into the water below, from their lunch to the crane used for the heaviest of work. The bridge itself shuddered and groaned under the impact. When Kakashi landed, there was nothing but the very stonework of the bridge and the water around it. From the mists, he heard a laugh, a sinister chuckle that echoed and changed positions rapidly.

"You're not fooling me this time, Kakashi," said Zabuza, stepping out from the concealing mists. He stood, sword still on his back, shaking his head and laughing.

Kakashi didn't bother to talk. He tossed the kunai still in his right hand, and then lunged forward, following the thrown blade as fast as he could with a second blade ready. Zabuza turned slightly, catching the thrown weapon in his left hand. He then caught Kakashi's right hand with his own, pulling the gray-haired shinobi to one side, then casually threw the captured blade into Tazuna's chest.

Tazuna vanished in a puff of smoke.

Far from becoming furious, Zabuza laughed even harder as Kakashi stood, leaving the second kunai in Zabuza's hand. "Stop, please," the missing-nin said between chuckles. "I know that you must be another clone, so spare me the bad act."

Kakashi stood up straight, and after a moment, he nodded. "How?" he asked, his voice confused but polite.

"I have been watching the bridge each day, observing both Kakashi and the bridge builder. The real Kakashi acts alert for a short amount of time and then ignores the mists. You, Kakashi, act too nervous. An obvious ploy to try and draw me out. I am shocked your clone would make such a mistake."

Zabuza began to walk forward casually, blade still on his back. "As for Tazuna, he drinks like a fish, and yet his clone has yet to take a sip from their bottle. He also cusses a lot more than the clone did when he is working." He stopped, just out of arm's reach, and beneath his cloth mask, Kakashi could see him smile.

"The real Tazuna isn't here, is he? He's back home, quietly relaxing under your guard."

Kakashi was silent, but even silence could be telling at times. Zabuza laughed, then shook his head. "You're right, that's too obvious for you. I've been reading up on your history in the Bingo Book. Kakashi, Master of the Double Bluff. The Mystery of the Thousand Jutsu. Shogi Master Kakashi. Sharingan Kakashi. Titles you have earned, I see. No, back at home is too obvious. Which makes it an even chance, I am guessing"

Kakashi bit his tongue, and regretted it immediately when Zabuza's eyes began to sparkle.

Zabuza walked past the clone, certain, then paused and turned slightly. "My own little student is scouting the forest around his home, watching for your genin to show up, possibly while escorting the target. If he finds them, which I am sure of, he'll deal with the bridge builder." He spun the kunai in an idle motion, an open mockery of the clone's own actions earlier, his mask stretching from the wide grin on his face, then he raised his arm to throw.

"Still, you are known to double bluff, a great deal in fact. So I think I'll pay the house a visit anyhow."

He threw the dagger.

"Shit," said Naruto, landing on the next tree in line and waving at Sasuke. The black-haired boy landed with a grunt several trees down, doubled over from the weight of the bridge builder, then jumped back. When he landed, Naruto leaned in. "Zabu noticed the fakes at the bridge. He has eyes everywhere, it seems."

Sasuke gave a silent nod and waited.

A slight whistle, barely audible, announced the arrival of a trio of senbon. Sasuke turned away, shifting Tazuna as he did so, and took all three on the arm with a hiss. He dropped to the ground below and released the old man, then straightened when Naruto landed next to him.

Naruto looked around carefully, wiping sweat from his face nervously, then whispered, "I'll go left, you go right, we'll find them all in the middle, right?"

Sasuke nodded, and in the middle of the nod, lashed out with a fast kick, striking Naruto in the gut. The blonde stumbled back, clutching his stomach, and glared at Sasuke. "Your impersonation is weak," said Sasuke, tucking his hands into his pockets. Behind him, Tazuna turned and ran behind a tree. "As hard as he works, I've never seen Naruto sweat, and he's too stupid to get nervous over a handful of senbon. He knows as well as I do that we've got two opponents, and one is at the bridge. And his grasp of tactics is so bad that when we planned out this little session, every one of the plans involved him running straight at the nearest opponent." He shrugged and gave his foe a sharp smile. "Well, all but one."

The fake Naruto stood and released their technique, revealing the hunter-nin Naruto had reported on earlier, the one he had talked to in the forest. "Admittedly, under those circumstances, I performed poorly. I should have guessed some, if not all, of those things. But if he's not already on me, then where is he?"

Sasuke grinned, his eyes glancing just over Haku's shoulder before refocusing on the missing nin.

Haku turned, impossibly fast, arm raised to throw... but there was nobody behind him. He gasped as he followed through with his turn, desperately willing his body to move faster, arm still ready to throw, but in the end, even his speed was insufficient, and he turned back to Sasuke just in time for the mass of sand strike him in the face.

He screamed as the coarse cloud of particles spread into his eyes, his mouth. They burned where they touched him, a searing pain without real heat. He threw his senbon where he knew Sasuke used to be and jumped to one side, ripping off his mask and rubbing desperately at his searing eyes, but if anything, the pain intensified.

"I'd stop rubbing, if I were you," said Sasuke from one side. Haku threw another handful of senbon blindly, then stumbled over something on the ground and fell. Sasuke's voice had already moved, and his tone was both sinister and cheery as he explained. "It's ground glass, seeped in capsaicin, mixed with salt." I keep a handful in each pocket now, and thanks for that little trick, Kakashi-sensei, he thought, dipping his hands back into his pockets. He dodged another wild senbon throw, then shook his head as Haku continued to rub his eyes. "Surrender, and I'll get our sensei to help you out. That dust can cause permanent damage if you don't take care of it right."

"Never," said Haku. With one hand, he threw more projectiles... and with the other, he made a sign.

Sasuke turned quickly, dodging the throw and looking around. A small dome of ice, sectioned into small panes like a mirror, was rising from the ground, surrounding him. He crouched, ready to jump out, but Haku started tossing countless senbon in his direction, fast enough to block his leap, and by the time he found the timing of the throws, the dome was closed.

"I may be blind," said Haku, backing into one of the mirror clear ice panes, "but I don't need to see to hit you from within my Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals Dome." Sasuke charged, but Haku had already entered the ice, and from all around him, Sasuke could sense incoming projectiles. He turned away, sharingan activating as he did so, and started spinning rapidly and gracefully across the circle, taking a few hits but avoiding any truly deadly injury. He bore each strike quietly, minimizing the sound he made as well as he could, waiting for the chance he needed.

Then his trusty eyes caught sight of Tazuna, charging at the mirrors on the other side of him, his hands raised in the Snake seal. Sasuke smiled and started preparing his own surprise.

Kakashi was waiting patiently, with several copies of Tazuna gathered behind him, when Zabuza showed up at Tazuna's home. He was largely unchanged, wearing nothing more than loose pants, arm warmers, and the sling for his giant blade. Kakashi waved cheerfully, then held out both hands, palms out. "Any chance we can have a chat first?"

Zabuza laughed, but he also drew his sword. "So talk, then. I'll be good for a few moments before I slay you."

Kakashi stepped out, palms still raised, and approached without the clones. "You know, Gato is probably going to betray you. And barring that, he certainly won't pay you. He has quite the reputation."

Zabuza paused, and theatrically raised his finger to his mouth in contemplation. "I never thought of that. Thank you, wise Kakashi, for warning me about the nature of those who hire nuke-nin for dirty jobs." He hefted his sword to his shoulder and shrugged. "How can I ever repay you? Maybe a very close hair cut?"

"Ha ha. Seriously, Zabuza. You won't win this. As smart as you may be, I've been preparing for this for a week. None of my kids wants to kill you over Gato's fake promises, and to be honest, I dislike the idea myself. You're far too effective to be wasted like this."

Zabuza grinned under his mask, then set his blade, point down, on the grass. "Hatake Kakashi, listen well. You know my history, I am certain. You know what I am, what I did, what I killed. And you know what a stain my homeland is on this world. I am going to change that. I am going to kill the Mizukage and every last one of his allies. I will cleanse Kirigakure with a tide of blood. And to do that, I need money. I will do whatever I must to achieve my goals. Sacrifice any pawn, slay any innocent, and crush anyone who stands in my way. And that would include you, Kakashi."

"Then step away from this fight, Zabuza." He stepped forward, just within reach, hands still up. "Konohagakure is not above hiring others outside the village, especially effective fighters and leaders. Join us, and we'll gladly pay for your efforts, and give you a chance to prove yourself as a leader. If you really want to destroy your foe, you need strength and money to do it, and you can get more of both with us than against us."

Zabuza paused for a moment, his cheerful, bloodthirsty grin fading away under his mask. Instead, he looked worn, tired. "I do wish Haku had a better home. Someone so young should not suffer as I did, as I do." He took a step forward, dragging his blade in the dirt behind him. "Can you really provide that for us? Somewhere to rest?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Very well." Zabuza raised his sword and hooked it to his back. "We will yield, in exchange for your promise of money earned and rest taken. Give me a moment to contact Haku."

Kakashi nodded and turned away, feeling slightly put off. I can't believe that worked. I've never seen a nuke-nin with that much common sense. Kakashi knew he was unusual. In a world dominated by flashy techniques and excessive blood feuds, Kakashi had no interest in fighting beyond his immediate goals. Rarely did he meet a shinobi who was willing to set aside their own hubris, even for their own benefit. It might almost make one believe in hope for a better world.

Then his one visible eye widened. Zabuza wore very little in the way of clothing, and had no visible pockets or bags on his person.

And he wore no radio.

So how could he contact Haku?

Behind him, blade shining in the sunlight, Zabuza smiled as he silently swung the sword. The weapon bit deep into Kakashi's side, even as the gray haired shinobi spun away in a desperate attempt to dodge. Zabuza roared with glee when he saw the blood on his blade, the blood leaking out of Kakashi's side. Finally, the real Kakashi is in my grasp!

"Stirring speech, Kakashi," he said casually, walking towards Kakashi as the man backed away. His voice rose into a mocking falsetto. "Give me a home for my poor little minion, please, oh please." He swung his sword, a huge overhanded blow, and laughed as Kakashi desperately tried to scramble away.

"Did you not hear me call them pawns, Kakashi?" He swung his sword, making Kakashi jump again, then spun into the attack to kick the man in the chest. Kakashi fell and landed face down, spraying blood from his mouth onto the dirt. Zabuza kicked him again. "Did I not say I would do anything?" He kicked Kakashi one last time, flipping the man into his back. He raised his sword high. "I'd do this if Haku was between us, even." He brought the blade down.

It stopped, halfway down. Zabuza grunted, straining, desperately trying to force the blade to continue, but the clones had finally made their move. Several had attached themselves to him, clinging to the extra long grip of his blade, pressing against his elbows, one in particular having wedged itself bodily between Zabuza and his sword. Near the house, two more copies remained, one shrinking back towards the house, the other standing still and glaring at the nuke-nin.

"I'll get you yet, Tazuna! Run, you rat, I know which one of you is real now!"

Zabuza removed one of his hands from the handle, ready to start smashing clones, but froze when he saw Kakashi raise his own hands, his fingers blurring through several seals before ending with the Snake. He blurred slightly, substituting for the distant copy of Tazuna, which appeared with an angry look in its eye and its hands still in the Snake seal. Zabuza snarled, even as the clone started to hiss loudly.

"You gave Naruto the thing?"

Sasuke nodded, and Naruto pulled back the collar of his shirt and coat to demonstrate. Kakashi could see, just barely visible, the edge of the explosive tag.

He was leery of giving Naruto such a tool this early, but when they had made this plan the other night, he had made its uses quite clear. Tools duplicated with a shadow clone worked just as the original, so long as they held no chakra at the time, which suited Kakashi just fine when it came to exploding tags. He'd had a long talk on safety and usage with Naruto, and was fairly sure the boy would never use the original tag while it was attached to him.

Fairly sure.

The roar of the two explosions reached the town nearby, making windows shake. Sakura, standing next to the office door, smiled tiredly. Gato had no particular hours he kept, and she had been waiting for some time for his arrival, but if anything might get him to hurry up and get to his office to direct his men, it would be that.

She steeled herself as she heard the shouts, the stomping of many feet approaching. She drew a kunai in her main hand and a bread knife, stolen from Tsunami the night before, in the other. She stood straight and flat behind the door, near the hinges, holding her breath.

The door was opened with some force, swinging wide until it stopped against her sandals, and she heard Gato shouting at his bodyguards to hurry up as he strode in. Sakura exhaled, then pushed against the door in front of her, hard.

In the time it took for Gato to reach his desk, she had the door shut. It clicked almost silently as she turned the lock.

In the time it took for Gato to notice the bodies stashed under his desk, she had already slammed her first kunai firmly into the lock, wedging it into place.

In the time it took for Gato to notice her, the second kunai was already in flight.

Gato never even noticed the blade before it had pierced his skull and ended his life.

Sakura rushed forward, even as he fell. The bread knife flashed in long, quick strokes as she collected the proof of the deed. She wondered at her actions, feeling nothing but a vague unease as she worked, but she accepted the feeling of disassociation gladly. She'd spent the night miserable, alone with nothing but her thoughts and the smell of death to keep her company, and the potted plan had been visited several times as the night wore on. Now, when it came time to finish what she had come to do, she was happy to simply get it done and examine her feelings later.

She stuffed her trophy into the small bag she had tucked in her belt, and as the door shuddered under the blows of the dead man's bodyguards, she leaped out the window, hoping that she wasn't too late.

Haku noticed the clone too late to stop it. The explosive tag, fueled by the clone's chakra, exploded violently, shattering several of the mirrors and melting the edges of several more, knocking Haku and Sasuke to the ground. Haku cared very little about his broken trap, however, because he heard the second explosion, off in the distance, and realized that his mission lay elsewhere. He raised his hand, drawing forth some of the water from the ice around them, and splashed it in his face, clearing his vision slightly. It still burns, but I can see well enough to avoid the trees at least.

"I'll leave you here, in this prison, until the fight is over." He raised his hand, and the surrounding ice grew thicker, the panels stretching out, until they formed a thick, icy barrier. He passed through it, and started to jump through the trees.

Behind him, Sasuke smirked and started making hand seals. He raised his fingers to his lips, sighting on the fleeing figure beyond the ice, and blew. A single thin line of fire, no thicker than his smallest finger, flew from his lips. It struck the ice barrier, but instead of flowing around it, wasting its heat and power, the thin blast of superheated air burned through it and continued on unimpeded.

The ice was riddled with imperfections, however, and the distortions from looking through it threw his aim off. Instead of striking the fleeing figure of Haku, it landed to one side, less than a foot away. Sasuke shifted his stance slightly, trying to aim through the hole, but he struck the ice again in doing so, spraying the inside of the dome with fire. He dropped the technique and charged at the small hole he had burned through the ice, sharingan eyes nearly glowing, taking in every detail of that single block. He lunged, fist cocked, and struck just above the hole, where a tiny crack had formed from the heat of his attack.

The ice shattered around him as he stumbled out. He fell face down into the dirt, then pulled himself up. He ran fast as he could for Tazuna's house, hoping that he wasn't too late.

Naruto looked up sharply from where he was sitting. Kakashi had sent him into town to find a place to hide, and he'd eventually settled on an abandoned warehouse, filled with rotting crates and pallets. He, Inari, and Tsunami had been hunkered down in this building since late last night, alert and prepared.

Kakashi-sensei was right, he thought, looking around the warehouse carefully. He could see Inari napping in a corner, his mother holding him lightly and trying to stay awake. Zabuza went for the family when he learned we had planned for him. Her frowned as he sorted out his new memories. The memory of Zabuza's cruel declaration of intent surfaced, and he could not turn away from the thought. He'd do anything. Kill an ally, a friend, an innocent family, anything.

Naruto felt suddenly heavy, like the very weight of the world had landed on his shoulders and decided to stay. He considered for a moment, doing his best to think carefully like Kakashi had taught him instead of jumping up and acting quickly, immediately, whatever it took to make things happen.

Where can I do the most good, right here and now?

Then some new memories popped into his head, and he had an answer. An obvious and painful answer. He stood and looked at his charges. "Stay here. I'll leave some clones to defend you."

EDIT: Thanks to Pom Rania, who has now gone over this chapter in an effort to finally stamp out the early installment weirdness *GLUG*

Author's Notes: Kakashi and Zabuza had an odd interaction. This is because Kakashi, in this story, does have a flaw, a major one, one that will come up regularly. He is an intelligent and reasonable person, and like many of such people, he assumes that others are just as reasonable.

Oh. I recognize that, under normal circumstances, something like what Sasuke has in his pockets would be crippling for a long time. I also recognize that we're discussing a world where ninjas throw fireballs at each other. I chose concept over reality in this case.

euroteres: I have changed the summary. Let's see what happens to numbers. FOR SCIENCE!