-Zabuza-

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"You worthless freeloaders! What the hell have you all been doing?! We have smugglers setting up a successful business and reinvigorating the country, and no one can even catch a glimpse of them?! Some ninja! I paid for a master ninja to ensure my grip on this country's economy, not some worthless overpaid amateurs who let rivals in to undermine my rule! You're lucky I bother to keep you around, but you won't be so lucky if you keep failing so miserably!"

Zabuza's idiot employer quickly found a giant sword nearly chopping off his head and digging halfway through the wall behind him. Zabuza himself was extremely unimpressed.

"That's what you get for hiring so many flunkies, you cheap shit. Don't compare me to your worthless thugs and Academy dropouts."

Gato was quick to run his mouth again.

"And how are you better than them? You're just more money doing an equally pathetic job!"

Zabuza narrowed his eyes threateningly. Honestly, dealing with this narcissist just wasn't worth it. He was only here for the big payout. Still, Zabuza has his pride as a shinobi, and he refuses to let some stupid smugglers best him. Might as well send the Demon Brothers to deal with it, if Gato's stupid thugs couldn't catch them.

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-Naruto-

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Naruto was going about his business, completely unbothered by the obvious stalkers following him across the border. He's more than capable of slipping past two guys who definitely aren't even close to Kakashi-sensei's level, and it doesn't really matter if they map out the route he's taking. He takes a different route every time anyway, and there are plenty of foxes hauling stuff in other places. Getting caught might actually be kinda funny, though. Naruto ponders the merits of messing with whoever's chasing him by being the most unconcerned prisoner ever, but he dismisses the thought (mostly because he's looking forward to Tsunami-san's cookies. He really hit the jackpot when he hired her as a baker!).

Well, this was meant to be a bonding activity/vacation for Naruto and his foxes. Might as well let them have some fun!

Naruto made a bunch of clones to send the foxes' way. The clones can take the foxes' loads so they're free to do... other things.

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-Zabuza-

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Zabuza is mildly annoyed. It's been three whole days since he last saw the Demon Brothers, which means they've most likely been defeated. Killed or captured, Zabuza doesn't particularly care, but this means that he's going to go have to put down whatever upstart caught them. Of course, Zabuza's not stupid. The Demon Brothers aren't the strongest ninja out there, but they aren't completely useless either. And it never hurts to be over prepared.

So Zabuza took Haku and tried staking out that strange coffee restaurant that most of the smuggled goods seem to be going to. A school and some other building, seemingly some sort of apartment complex, are also being built (presumably by the same person), but this seems to be the heart of their operations.

There are a bunch of weirdly identical blonde kids bringing in the goods, but it's not like Zabuza hasn't seen weirder in his career. It doesn't matter anyway. A kid wouldn't have been able to stop the Demon Brothers, and any ninja who've been doing the actual smuggling wouldn't be stupid enough to show themselves. The strategy is mostly to just take out the head; kill the guy in charge and the whole operation falls apart. Although if the guy isn't a ninja doing the smuggling himself, he most likely wouldn't be stupid enough to come here himself. Still, they can probably get some good information here.

Zabuza doesn't do infiltration very well unless the goal's just to be an unseen assassin. Haku's much better at blending in with citizens (which might be due to the lack of a very conspicuous sword and general bloodlust, but that's besides the point). Haku gets into the surprisingly lax shop with all the ease of a toddler raiding a poorly-guarded pantry, but reports a very odd lack of adults in general. There are bakers, of course, but the counter and inventory are manned solely by more blonde kids. Zabuza squints suspiciously at one of the weirdos. What are they, ten? What sort of idiot business magnate would trust a ten-year-old with his inventory and register? Maybe they're the boss' kids? How many twins... quintuplets... who cares! Maybe the boss just has a weird sort of dress code and hair dye rule for his child workers and just employs children so he can pay them less.

"Are you too scared to go in, mister?"

To give Zabuza some credit, he absolutely did not flinch. Certainly he didn't practically jump out of his skin. Only a skilled ninja should be able to sneak up on him, so how in the world did one of the blonde brats manage it? Zabuza reconsidered his theories and decided this might be a ninja in disguise. But Zabuza can't sense any transformation, so this kid is actually a kid. He must be some sort of prodigy. That means that all those clones are literally clones that he made... and all of them are solid. And does that mean all these foxes milling around are summons, instead of pets? Zabuza immediately upgraded the blonde horde to a legitimate threat in his head and discreetly signalled to Haku (hiding to the best of his abilities nearby) to be on his guard.

"It's a stakeout, kid. I advise you to let me continue before I chop your legs off."

Perhaps Zabuza could be a bit more tactful about it, but he isn't paid to bother with tact. Besides, if this is a prodigy ninja ten-year-old, he's probably heard worse.

The brat has the audacity to look vaguely amused.

"They'd just grow back, and Fuzzy would disintegrate you almost as brutally as the last guy."

"Fuzzy? What kind of name is that?"

The kid brightened.

"It's an Alice!"

"Alias?"

"Yeah, that!"

Perhaps this "Fuzzy" is the boss? Presumably a very strong ninja, and very attached to the kid, given his absolute faith that his boss would avenge him in such a brutal way. Or maybe it's a pair, like Zabuza and Haku. Haku may be just a tool, but he's a damn good tool and Zabuza wouldn't hesitate to take out his frustration on whoever would ruin his tool.

The kid darkens out of nowhere. Zabuza isn't sure whether to be concerned, but he's more confused about what set the kid off. He probably isn't in the mood for probing for information, so Zabuza figures he should change his approach. Obviously this kid is plenty good enough to notice him, and to know that he's been around for a while, but he hasn't seemed to notice Haku yet. Haku can continue the stakeout and Zabuza can go stalk the smugglers. But the moment he turns to leave, another identical blondie appears to get in his way.

"Hey, you're here 'cause you want me to stop smuggling stuff, right?"

Well, at least the kid's jumping straight to the point. Zabuza hates bothering with all those delicate maneuverings to tease out information. Better to take advantage of this kid's apparent lack of care with revealing stuff when he's in the mood for it.

"Are you working with someone, or are you just a freak of nature?"

"Both! Maybe? I guess Fuzzy kinda counts, but he's napping. And Dad's cool, but he can't really do much to help except talk. Oh! But I'm working with my foxes, so I'm working with someone!"

Sounds like this kid doesn't have a boss, or doesn't count the boss as working with someone. So if Fuzzy's the boss, he's... napping? This kid probably isn't coherent. Darn shame, but it's not particularly uncommon for child soldiers to be weird and traumatized. Well, either that or he's being weird on purpose to confuse Zabuza. Which totally isn't working. But he has to have some understanding of what's going on around him, or he wouldn't be able to function.

Yeah, this kid's probably just messing with him. That's infuriating, but any half-decent ninja knows that banter like this always has some truth in it. Might as well put up with it until he learns something useful.

"Maybe the cult counts? We're starting a branch over here. I can't always do all the smuggling, after all, and it's about time we start spreading our message in earnest!"

Zabuza's brain promptly short-circuited. He stared unseeingly forward as the kid rambled on.

"They're all trained child-prodigy-brainwashed-ex-soldiers, they can totally handle it! And it'd be kinda impractical to use clones to run my shop why they disappear in one hit and I won't even know it, but the cultists would be absolutely thrilled to have the privilege of working in the sacred Foxbux! We can even see if any fox would be willing to honor the workers with the privilege of caring for them! Oh, maybe we can even recruit some of the natives? Oh! Do you wanna work for me instead of whatever wimp is sending you to mess with my business?"

That's it. Zabuza isn't paid enough to deal with this shit. He tries to sneak away, but the kid just keeps rambling.

"Actually, I bet the guy you're working for is a total cheapskate. I can totally pay you better than him! And you can stay in our new apartment complex once it's finished, rent-free! You won't even have to join the cult! I bet your kid will fit in great!"

And that's how Zabuza definitely didn't join a cult and drag Haku in with him.

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A/N - took a break because Christmas season is really busy, but I got a break today miraculously and I figured I'd finish the chapter I started writing last week. I'm gonna write out a Christmas chapter next :D

Not gonna lie, adding Minato made writing the dialogue way harder. It's really fun, but also really difficult. And if adding Minato is this hard, we're probably gonna have to wait a while before I'm confident enough to add Kushina into the mix. Sorry to everyone who wants that, I really love Kushina and want her to join the party, but we're gonna have to wait until I get the hang of Minato first.