DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.
Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Mito speaking to Kurama - his name now known - in her mindscape," etc.)
Emphasis
Bijuu, etc. speaking
Bijuu, etc. thinking
"You… You broke my sword, you bitch!"
"Mmm. It appears I did," Mito observed, tilting her head as she looked over the big man she was sitting on – oops: make that nearly straddling. She turned and glanced up toward Mei before getting up as she kept her right boot firmly planted on the two halves of the shinobi's big sword. Mei looked exasperated but happy to see him. "You sure this guy's on your side? He's definitely been hanging around Yagura."
"Hai, hai," Mei laughed uneasily, helping Fox off the shinobi whom she'd literally gotten the jump on. Since she was a medic (although Fox had said she was a combat medic,) Mei had worried that Fox wouldn't be up for the fight that was to come against Yagura, his forces, and of course that Uchiha she was after. It now looked, however, like she had more in her fighting arsenal than only insanely strong punches - something that Fox said anyone could do but gave no details on how that was humanly possible. –Even for a ninja. She'd heard Fox was fast but the speed she'd just shown was more than surprising. "Fox-chan," Mei whispered, having begun to call the woman she thought younger than her that (unless she really is Tsunade Senju, and wouldn't THAT be surprising) because she was secretly so fond of her, "Zabuza-kun is our spy in Kiri."
Mito hummed, standing and wondering how much damage she'd done to this guy. "You sure? He looks suspicious with that mask and everything." Yeah, Mito was fucking with him: she was wearing a mask, too.
"You broke my sword, you damn bitch. Mei! She broke my sword!" Not only did Zabuza feel humiliated - and why should he have expected a "greeting" like this when finally back with those he was loyal to - but… "Who the fuck are you?" Damn: how much did this bitch weigh?! He was in a fucking crater that he was positive hadn't been there before.
"I'm Fox."
"Fox is from Hi no Kuni," Mei said happily - and as if that was something acceptable to say, Zabuza thought.
"What?!"
"I'm only after a rogue; don't freak out, my dude." Mito's lips were screwed up as she better assessed the new situation. She figured that she should heal this guy since she'd kinda broken him. And his sword: oops.
"You're a hunter," he assumed with a groan, raising an eyebrow at her while he squinted his other eye, something Haku always called "the look:" a supposedly "very scary" look. - Although her mask isn't right for a Hunter-nin. "Fox" bent back down and her hands had lit up in iryo-ninjutsu, running across him which was another surprise.
"Nah," Mito said. She was hoping (as usual) to surf or kick Obito's ass to the other side this morning but it looked like those things weren't happening, at least not at the moment.
Zabuza rested his head somewhat, appreciating (not that he'd ever say that) that he began feeling his legs again. "Bitch broke my sword."
Mito snorted while Mei leaned down and patted his hand, making Zabuza get all twitchy and swat her away.
"You're going to pay for that sword!"
"I don't think so." The guy tried to grab her hand but Mito instinctually flicked his hitai-ate with the fingers on her other hand, giving him a headache as his head was plowed deeper into the sandy dirt. Hopefully, I didn't give him a concussion: I'd better check. "Sorry."
It took Zabuza a while to respond. "You know how you're going to pay for my sword, bitch?"
"You best stop calling me that, asshole!"
"...With your blood! Kubikiribōchō can only be mended with blood!"
"Reee-eally," Mito drawled, terribly interested and grinning maniacally at the big broken sword from behind her mask, mischief dancing in her eyes as she thought of taking it - at least to better observe it! "Seals, huh?"
"Shuddup," Zabuza said under his breath as he was finally able to sit up. His great sword was supposed to be a mystery, almost as alive and blood-thirsty as Samehada was actually chakra-hungry. …You couldn't even see the damn seals on Kubikiribōchō so how the heck did she know?! Haku sneezed and coughed behind him - his little apprentice was not hiding well; he'd have to speak with him about that - but Zabuza was even more alarmed to see that Fox was already looking in his direction. "Don't you dare move!"
"Is that the little apprentice you've mentioned, Zabby-kun?" Mei asked with a kind smile, also looking in Haku's direction. She hadn't had the opportunity to meet the boy before.
Mito grinned at the nickname. She'd heard of this guy but hearing Mei call "The Demon of the Mist" Zabby-kun and treating him like a kid when he was so gosh-darn big and tall was cute. Then again, she was (secretly, of course) "The Reaper" and Mei treated her nicely, too.
Zabuza was said to have killed all of his classmates and Mito wondered if that had been under orders - and how old he'd been when it happened. Who was she to judge him, though? The thought of hurting children was absolutely antithetical to her but Mito had killed hundreds of her comrades: citizens of Konoha whether they were Danzo's men or not. Mei seemed to care for Zabuza and obviously trusted him.
Mito could give him a chance to prove himself.
"CAN I SPEAK TO YOU ALONE?" Zabuza asked his leader, in disbelief of this whole situation with this Konoha Fox person. He picked up the two halves of his sword and internally groaned: he really was going to get this bitch's blood!
"Are you sick, honey?"
Haku jumped when the… Leaf ninja! She'd sunshinned behind him, leaving leaves behind her where she'd… "You attacked Master." Haku wasn't sure what he should do! He knew he should've already moved in when Zabuza-sama was on the ground but the kunoichi he was quite sure was Mei-sama had moved in and seemed to trust her. Mei-sama was his master's leader. "Stay back!"
"Okay," Mito said, holding her hands up. "Zabuza-san is your master?" The adolescent looked panicked but clearly feverish. "The thing is, sweetheart, I think you're sick. I'm just getting the kids here healthy and I can't have you getting them sick again."
Haku sniffed. "I'm fine. …I promise!"
Mito bit her lips. "You look flushed and feverish - and you're all stuffed up. Are you sure you're fine?" She also couldn't be sure if he sounded the way he did because of illness or simply puberty.
Haku sniffed and tried to smile before rubbing his nose. "Yes ma'am."
Mito cooed at him; she couldn't help herself. This boy was a-DOR-able! "You'll make me feel old calling me that! My name's Fox. How old are you, honey?"
Haku was uncomfortable. "Fox" was treating him like a kid and being… warm! He drew his senbon from his obi, proving that he was a threat. "Stay back!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! …Alright, alright," Mito bemoaned. "I will - but you seriously have to stay here for now, okay?" The boy slowly nodded at her as she took a few steps backward, trying to show that she wasn't a threat. He had poison on those senbons, she'd bet her right arm. She popped back toward Chukichi, Utakata, and a group of mostly kunoichis who had been watching the whole thing. Chukichi was standing with his arms crossed and relatively unbothered by the always ready-to-rumble atmosphere most of the others moving with their HQ presented but was concerned about Zabuza's new tag-along. "That boy is ill."
Everyone within hearing range groaned. The children of Water Country, embroiled in war, hadn't been fully immunized (some of them at all) and were always bringing not only sickness but diseases to the camps. Fox wanted to begin immunizing their kids but she wasn't trusted enough. Their children were too precious and although the Treehuggers had always been softies - one of their allied Uzumakis in the far distant past was supposedly the first to immunize anyone - and even Senju Tsunade hadn't poisoned vaccines in the shinobi wars… Fox giving the children shots was simply too risky, they thought.
Unknown to their shinobis, however, when Mito had asked Mei if she could begin immunizing the kids, she'd received an interesting answer:
"If only it were so easy. My shinobis don't trust you enough for that. If only there was a way to immunize the population without them knowing..."
And so, Mito began using her own "fever (and other) patches:" little cold packs kids especially loved that had tiny seals on them that contained vaccines that would seep through the kids' skin. Mito also put them on some of the sick adults who picked up the crap the kids were constantly passing around. She kept careful records that would transfer to Mei (and her father: just in case) once Mito left: dead or alive. Everybody loves a hot or cold pack when they're feeling unwell. It was all a drag but Mito was not going to live with a bunch of whack-jobs that couldn't - and worse, WOULDN'T - vaccinate their kids! She valued children and her own health too much to leave the ongoing health disaster in Water Country alone.
Konoha would be fine with it, she tried to assure herself. Sick shinobis or travelers anywhere would transmit diseases to their citizens otherwise…
Sometimes Mito wondered if her father or T&I might have her head when she went back to Konoha for the help she was giving the people here. She was actively searching for Obito through her senses and any intel she could pick up on the ground (she had highly-disguised clones all over the country, even a couple in Kiri,) but she'd been gone quite a while at this point and had already told 'Ruto-chan and her allied cats that she needed to go dark. The big battle with Yagura was quickly approaching and would take place any day now.
I really do wonder what T&I is going to do with me if I survive to go back. Mito had gone back to Konoha for a normal visit right before her cats reverse-summoned her for the first time and had managed to avoid the supposed psychos in that division for the few hours she'd been there but knew she wouldn't be so lucky once this thing with Obito and Yagura was over. If I live through it. Tsunade and her father had also kept her away from those damn Yamanakas and their creepy jutsus when she had her little surgery but Mito knew she wouldn't be so lucky next time she went "home."
"Home" and "next time…" Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being in Konoha now. Being in Water Country as long as Mito had, she'd gotten a little more used to being around people and chakra signatures she didn't know well. She glanced at the rather hot men quietly talking next to her - yeah: Mito thought "you need to get laid" to herself all the damn time but she couldn't do that here. Sometimes she'd go to sleep on the beach or a tree, wondering what it would be like to take Utakata up on his half-assed or occasionally very well-played pickup lines, etc., but then the fox, Kurama, would start gagging and going on about her shitty seal which made him experience her "horrible human imagination," the effect her romance novels supposedly had on that, and incest…
Getting her mind off carnal things, she reconsidered the fox she was sharing space with.
Kurama felt that Mito doing anything with Utakata was incestual since the bubble-user was holding his brother. Not that I'm actually going to do anything with him, anyway.
Shit. Even in Konoha, Mito probably wouldn't have a shot at love or just relief: damned hot shinobi bodies tempting me so…
It's good, though, that my first thoughts on intimacy aren't about violence anymore. -Or at least all the time, anymore.
"SHUT IT!"
"Sorry." Mito unknowingly let out a needy little sound, grabbing the men's attention for a few moments. Anko had often said she needed a "great big, beautiful vibrator."
She could just picture their surprise at her wedding reception. "I'd like to introduce you to my partner in life, my much-loved family and friends! This is my husband, Neck-o Massage-o! That would be a good alias for what he really was, right?
"Bzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzz. BzzBzzzzzzzzzzz," her partner would respond.
Mito knew she couldn't ever have a real relationship because of the fox and other things - plus, she had her career, of course - and her father, the oh-so-scary Hokage, was probably going to be a major cock-block if he was anything like he used to be.
"Asuma-kun: tell me. What do you think of Mito-chan? Do you think she's pre-etty?"
"Oh, no, Tou-san: not again! Stop it!"
Asuma tilted his head innocently - he was still in the Academy then, Mito remembered - "Yes? I mean, I think I told you that before, Minato-san. Her hair's weird, though…" Mito tried to punch him but her father, completely unnecessarily, flashed in front of her.
"That's it! You two living together stops now!"
"What?! No!" Mito had liked living with the Sarutobis and she got to see her Mom, especially, more back then.
"Minato-kun, knock it off, 'ttebane! You're such a baka!"
"Hmm… But I'm YOUR baka, Shina-chan!"
She and Asuma had gagged as her parents got all lovey-dovey. Then her father went back to interrogating poor Asuma.
"Earth to Fox," Utakata said, suddenly too close to her.
Ha. Mito softly pushed him and his occasionally tempting lips away, trying not to think of how muscular his chest was as she did so. Yet he lets it basically hang out there, along with Saiken's seal - which was really weird. "Sorry."
"You're good," Utakata seemed to purr, smiling charmingly. He smiled, even more, when he saw her shiver. "You know… I've made clear that anytime you want to warm up or just anything else, I'm readily avail—"
"In your dreams, baka," Mito replied easily - knowing that she was blushing like an idiot anyway. Thank goodness for the mask.
- AND thank goodness Mito knew that Utakata was just playing around. Because of his status, some shinobis held him at a distance (pissing her off on his behalf) but Mito had found that he was incredibly loyal to those who let him in. Utakata didn't have much patience with children but with the elderly or infirm? -That's where his kindness really showed.
"Hey," Mangetsu said, interrupting them. Mito reached over and ruffled his hair when he complained about being "out of the know." He swatted her away. "What did Zabuza-senpai say?"
Chukichi blew out his tattooed cheeks. "He's reporting everything to Mei-sama now."
Mito knew that she'd already missed something in their conversation while she was being an apparently horny mental degenerate and needed to get her shit together! "Should I stick around? –I seriously need to check on that sick kid. Can I leave a clone for now?"
Why the hell was she even asking?! Yeah: she needed to go pound on something or better still…
"If that's what you wish," Chukichi said.
Mito swallowed hard, refusing to look into Utakata's pretty eyes. "I'll do that." Hell, she even thought big-cheeked Chukichi was decent enough to look at the more time she spent around him.
"Wait," a kunoichi named Ami insisted. "Why don't you stay and hang out? We were going to play cards."
Mito smiled at her tightly: something's off about that kunoichi. "I'm afraid I need to take care of some things."
"Ami" nodded, reaching out her senses in what she knew was a futile effort to track Hokage-sama's daughter. When Jiraiya-sama reached out to her, surprisingly adding a mission to shadow the kunoichi better known as "The Reaper," she never guessed it would be so difficult. Mito-hime just kept disappearing! Sometimes she'd find her lecturing parents, delivering babies, or in surgery but there were times that Konoha's princess simply vanished in an unallied country. Where she took off to, she didn't know.
- Of course, I also didn't know that Hokage-sama had a daughter.
Namikaze Mito was in a few Bingo Books, but she'd thought that at closest, Mito was Hokage-sama's younger sibling.
Mito made a clone and promised to return soon. (She did it all the time now, including every time she even needed to clean up after The Hair Incident with Mei; she didn't want to ever be caught with red and blonde roots.) The temporarily purple-haired kunoichi sunshinned into the trees on the closest (abandoned, war-torn island,) made sure she was alone, and then flashed back to Uzushio.
"Hmm." Sometimes Mito just HAD to get away. The first thing that she always did was confirm that she was alone again. She looked toward Hi no Kuni but no one seemed to be waiting for her on the shores this time - or that's what her senses told her.
She supposed that it wasn't all that surprising that she missed her big brother, Asuma. He had been more of a constant in her life than anyone, ever.
Mito had only returned to her mother's homeland a handful (alright: maybe a few handfuls) of times since her hunt for Obito began, but staying in Water Country and retaining her strength and sanity was impossible if she didn't bug out of there now and then. Surfing definitely helps, at least. She HAD been able to spar every now and then although Kiri ninjas were more likely to attack out of nowhere (rather than begin what she considered a normal training session,) Mito couldn't use many of the jutsus that might identify her.
When she finally got her hands on Obito? –Then she'd put it all on the line. While she was hunting him, though, she needed to train.
She sunshinned here and there, remembering the route to her favorite "training ground," although she wondered what the Uzumakis who'd "disappeared" (a less painful word to use than admitting they'd blown themselves and their enemies up) had called it. Mito used the long, man-made, oblong river here to speed skate.
Her father said, in a letter, that he had constructed something like this for her in Konoha a long time ago…
Mito went through three hand seals and bent down to place her hands on the water, concentrating on quickly cooling the liquid: manipulating the molecules to move more and more slowly until the ice she needed began to form. Once it was deep enough, she stretched - and then she was off.
Thankfully there were straight runs on each side of the "track." Her vision, otherwise, couldn't keep up with her speed. Mito concentrated on the burn in her muscles as well as keeping her feet moving so her chakra wouldn't freeze her to the ice and pushed as hard as she could, working her entire body. This particular exercise also helped her chakra control.
If only the Elemental Nations were connected to the rest of the world, I could totally kick ass in their "Winter Olympics."
Four hours straight was normally a decent cardiovascular workout for her but Mito hadn't been able to stay away from HQ long enough to do that in a while. For the first time in a long time, she remembered her one-time friend - she'd like to think they were friends - Gai-san, and wondered if she could keep up with him after being relatively inactive in her current mission. He'd been a bit of a training maniac when they were young.
Geez: that was over a decade ago. "Youth," she panted to herself, grinning behind her ever-present mask.
In Konoha, a man in green stood to his full height before striking a pose. "I feel the Call of the Wild! Come, Genin students of mine! Come! Let us find the Springtime of Youth!"
Two of his students groaned while the other broke into tears. An odd, terribly elaborate sunset showed itself for the first time ever, even though it was mid-day.
Today, for once, Mito's clones left her alone. And that meant that they were handling things in Water Country for her.
Later that night, she exhaustedly stumbled into the former main city's center and summoned Kei to keep her company while she read through some particularly helpful fuuinjutsu scrolls she'd earlier found there.
When she first came to the island of Uzushio, Mito had been overwhelmed by emotion (and the need to acquire and secure what she could before she had to return to Konoha.) Then she'd almost immediately been frantic to get to Obito - to equip and make herself strong enough to beat him - when she realized that the bastard was nearby. She hadn't really soaked in all the beauty of the island and still hadn't fully. In fact, just today she'd found a small, gorgeous beach with pink sand opposite the side of the island that had incredible black sand.
If only things had been different.
It wasn't difficult to imagine this beautiful place full of happy red-heads doing insane things with fuuinjutsu. Mito wondered if being in Uzushio should psychically wound her or something. Instead, she felt energized and welcomed by the small island the more time she spent on it. "I'm nuts, eh, Ancestors of Mine?"
I really am. Mito had felt no remorse at removing (stealing, she sometimes tortured herself into thinking) so many things that had been left behind by the Uzumakis and their comrades who had died fighting for their homeland.
"You'll be the Clan Head one day, My Little Ocean. Long before that, we'll go back to Uzushio and get all our stuff - and I mean EVERYTHING! We can't let someone like those Kumo jerks get hold of it, after all."
"I think I got almost everything, Mom." She'd even found all kinds of INCREDIBLE wetsuits (not to mention the weapons and booze) and a brand new ANBU uniform that fit her. It had soft blue armor over black but otherwise looked like the ones worn in Konoha. Uzushio's ANBU uniforms had all kinds of places to add seals and scrolls, though. Mito was already wearing one of Uzushio's unmarked Jonin vests: it was a dark royal blue that was similar to the ones a few shinobis wore in Kiri.
Kiri shinobis wore all kinds of weird shit, so it didn't exactly matter there. Wasn't that new guy, Zabuza, wearing leather spotted-cow pants? How can those be comfortable?! And his apprentice was wearing a really pretty but SILK kimono! Mito had observed Mei's (non-)reaction to her latest vest and had even tossed a super-awesome wetsuit into her pile of them but the older kunoichi hadn't seemed to notice anything different about them.
Or she already knows about me…
I hope not!
Kinda.
.
Mito made her way back to HQ the next day, leaving a few clones behind in Uzushio to practice some new fuuinjutsu techniques that might prove especially handy. They were also working on equipping that ANBU uniform into her clothes.
Here, her clone was arguing with Zabuza about his broken sword again and Mito frowned, watching from a distance as the guy threatened to cut her. The clone glanced up at her and was probably smirking behind her mask. "Go for it: cut me. I dare ya!"
"Suit yourself," Zabuza sneered angrily before reluctantly carefully - gingerly: no, no, no. She's from Konoha. I should just do it - placing the blades against the kunoichi's arm. She popped. The real Mito laughed her ass off and gained his attention.
"Shadow clone? How long have I been dealing with a fucking shadow clone?!"
Mito went through her clone's memories, making what she was doing obvious as she tapped her mask's chin - and taking longer than necessary as the man stewed. "HOURS!" Leather Daddy-san. She threw her head back and laughed at the idea of calling him that, not getting those pants of his at all.
"Sh- stop laughing, Bitch!"
"Stop calling me that." Mito continued snickering before reaching up to wipe the tear that had formed in her eye. "I do need to talk to ya, Zabuza-san, seriously."
Zabuza crossed his arms over his chest and flexed a bit: women always liked that, his dearly departed brother had once told him. The kunoichi didn't seem to notice.
Mito definitely noticed.
"What?" he asked.
"Your apprentice: he's ill."
"It's just a cold."
"I don't think so. I've seen a lot of crap since I got here, Zabby-kun," Mito continued seriously (except for using Mei's nickname for him because she couldn't stop herself) while the big man began sputtering up a storm. "I'm guessing he hasn't been immunized and there are terrible, potentially fatal, or disabling diseases that could sneak up on him. I don't know if he's been at the camps…"
"He hasn't," Zabuza replied hotly, knowing that some of the camps the rebellion had set up ended up being breeding grounds for spreading diseases. Not that the Mizukage's side is much better. "He was waiting for my orders elsewhere."
"Uh-huh," Mito said robotically while pulling out a scroll. She began quizzing him on the boy's immunizations and allergies, prompting him to yell at her. Not that Mito cared…
.
"Say 'Ahhh!'"
"Ahhhh," Haku parroted with big, glassy eyes as he looked back and forth from his master to the Konoha doctor. His throat hurt. He'd been told that Konoha had the best med-nins and Fox seemed very, very nice. He felt bad for the way he'd treated her earlier. They'd had a long conversation before she began her examination. She'd also teased his master into apologizing to her and now he wasn't calling her that bad name anymore - well, as often. It was kind of… amusing! –Not that he'd say that to his master, of course.
"Oh my goodness! You, Haku-kun, have an infection!"
"WHAT?" Zabuza shouted, deeply afraid of the kid getting ill. He'd tried to keep Haku away from all that sickness that was traveling around! He'd tried to be a good role model! Not that he knew much about being a role model…
"Tonsillitis," Mito said and began digging around for some other scrolls.
Zabuza's sword-filled hands went to his head: half a sword on each side. "He needs SURGERY?!"
"Surgery?" Haku cried, freaking out.
Mito glared at Cow-Pants Mask-Face and put an arm around Haku's shoulder and patted his head. "No! YOU, Haku-kun, just need to take medicine once a day for ten days! As long as I'm here, I'll be checking to make sure you don't forget…"
Zabuza remembered getting a shot for tonsillitis or some kind of throat thing once. "Does he need a shot?" he asked in a quieter but still deep, gravelly voice.
"A shot?" Haku parroted in a little squeak - even though he thought he was being brave. Wait: aren't shots like senbons? Maybe shots weren't a big deal. Zabuza-sama seemed like he might be afraid of shots, though - but that was impossible.
"He does NOT," Mito said, getting irritated that the sick kid seemed calmer and more in control of himself than the man he was apprenticed to. Haku was definitely picking up on his master's anxiety. "Sorry, Zabuza-san," Mito said after taking a deep breath, "I understand that you care about Haku-kun very much but I can assure you that his case is easily managed." She frowned as she saw the man flush: is he sick, too? He looked like he was going to vomit so she turned him around and pointed him toward the latrines.
He didn't leave the boy, though, which was sweet. Deciding to finish up with Haku before she pressed forward with the Leather Enthusiast she gave Haku a "cold pack" for his throat that contained vaccine boosters since the boy was fairly sure he'd had them when he was very young. Mito also gave him his medicine and instructions for when to take it, what reactions to watch out for, and an icee with a lollipop inside it that she partially cooked up on the spot. It was the best she could do right now.
Haku made one for her, too (minus the popsicle,) and smiled up at her so sweetly… "You used one-handed seals!" She turned back to Zabuza. "Your kawaii apprentice is incredibly talented! I am VERY impressed!"
Zabuza crossed his arms over his broad chest and shrugged his shoulders back. "He's a Yuki. I want you to heal him so that he can go back to being my effective tool. Got it?"
The smile under Mito's mask fell as she refrained, for the moment, from punching him into the earth's core. She got the same vibe from this guy as she almost constantly got from Kurama (who still wouldn't allow her to use his "great name.") And Zabuza had just hurt Haku - but not as badly as Mito would've assumed his words should have. "You're a lying dickhead!"
"What did you just call me, Foxface?" Is this chick's hair rising? Is her chakra really that dense? Nah - it had to be the wind: it was a windy day and the flaps on the tent's windows were open. Although, if her hair is doing that thing...
Only three kunoichis have been reported in the Bingo Books as having hair that was supposedly "alive."
Mito turned to pet Haku's amazingly shiny hair. "Don't worry about your master, honey. I can sense emotions and he must be kinda like a tsundere. I can tell that he loves you very much."
Zabuza regretted making repeated choking sounds before he screamed at her. "CAN I SEE YOU OUTSIDE?"
"Just a second, sweety," she said to Haku before marching the big liar out. "WHAT?" Their yelling had caused a bit of a scene and Mito noticed Mei and her entourage had already been making their way toward them. Entertaining trouble usually followed the lava-wielding rebellion leader. Unfortunately, so did Yagura's wrath.
"That's MY apprentice: you don't go around telling my kid that kinda bullshit!"
"Oh, no you don't, Creep! You telling the boy you care for that he's 'a tool?' –What do you think that's going to do to him psychologically?!"
Zabuza bent down to her eye level, spilling KI everywhere. "Haku's strong!"
"Haku worships the ground you walk on! And you just basically told him because of his Kekkei-Genkai he's EXPECTED to do something extraordinary: that his talent and what I assume is his hard work had nothing to do with it! How does that make you different from Yagura?" Zabuza looked like he'd been slapped. "And he's sick! He needs love and affection right now! Attention and…"
Mei's sweet voice finally made it through the crowd noise as she approached them. "Do we have a problem here?"
Zabuza shot up to his full height. "No, Mei-sama!"
"Oh yes, we do! Dipshit here told his apprentice that he's a TOOL! Or called him that!" Mito was so upset she could barely speak right.
Mei tilted her head up at Zabuza, concern evident in her beautiful features. "A tool? That doesn't sound like a nice thing to say, Zabuza. …And you love that boy!"
"Sh- shut up!"
"Mind your tongue," Ao sneered from behind her. "In my day..."
Mei pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ao. Shut up!" Her latest death threat to his person went unsaid.
Haku peeked through the tent as Fox-sensei was explaining his diagnosis, some stuff about "transmission rates," and that Zabuza was a tsundere; Mei-sama nodding repeatedly in agreement or at least acknowledgment of the foreign kunoichi's words.
Was it wrong that it brought a smile to his face?