It was fairly standard affairs for ANBU operatives to move to and from their missions as quickly as they were able. This was both to show their efficiency to the client and so that they were able to perform more missions during their usually limited stint in the corp. That was why as Naruto found himself wandering at a rather slow pace along the roads of the Land of Fire towards Wave Country he couldn't help but enjoy himself. It reminded him a lot of his Genin days of laborious escort missions, parcel deliveries and the occasional bandit hunt. There was also the intense amusement he got from seeing the hopeful, expectant looks of his Genin's faces.
Briefly he glanced over at the old bridge-builder they were escorting, Tazuna; he seemed to be an alright man, if not a bit heavy on the bottle. However Naruto had been getting strange vibes from the man all day and he had long ago learned to trust that kind of gut instinct. Tazuna seemed to feel his gaze and nervously looked around but by that point Naruto was already back to the scroll in his hand, reading over the Nidaime's original notes on the Hiraishin he had recovered. Or at least he was pretending to; in reality he was keeping a wary eye constantly on the road and the other on his students.
When The Sandaime had first shown him the rather brief list of C-ranks that were available to him he had been about to choose a fairly standard envoy mission to the Land of Fangs. However when he had spotted the dossier right at the bottom, stamped with the symbol of Wave country, he just had to take it. Naruto normally wasn't one to believe in coincidences, there were rarely such things in the Shinobi world, but having his students' first mission be to the same place as his own was too much. The fact that it had been pending for a few days before they arrived only sealed the deal; it was like this mission was specifically for him.
After a few hours walking though it seemed his suspicions were for nothing, at least until he spotted a shallow puddle on either side of the road… on a summer's day… when it hadn't rained in days. A single eyebrow quirked, if only for a moment before the tiniest of smiles lifted his lips.
Perfect.
"Guys, you carry on ahead for a moment." His Genin and the client looked back at him in surprise before he made a gesture towards the woods. "I have some business with a bush." Sakura screwed her nose up in disgust at that, huffing as she turned back to the road.
"Sensei! We don't need to know stuff like that." Sasuke just rolled his eyes while Ami seemed a little nervous at the prospect of their Sensei leaving them, even for a moment. Naruto just eased their concerns with a flippant salute as he veered off into the path, making sure to walk right over one of the puddles, slamming his foot right in the middle a little harder than he normally would have.
"Just keep your eyes open guys and protect the client; I'll be right back." Out of the corner of his eye Naruto just caught Sasuke looking at him strangely before looking down at the puddle he just stepped through, his brow furrowing. However by the time he looked up Naruto had already vanished into the surrounding forestry.
"I'll take point." The young Uchiha stepped calmly into the leading position, however he couldn't help his gaze drifting over towards the other side of the road where another out-of-place puddle lay. His eyes must have just lingered too long though as, without warning, it seemed to raise up and transform into a man all in a single instance. Sasuke's eyes widened as he was suddenly forced to jump back, a gleaming metal gauntlet passing a few inches from his face. That close, every rivulet of virulent purple liquid that coated the claws were visible.
"Sasuke!" Sakura stood stock still, her eyes widened as she saw Sasuke brush a few centimetres from death. However the Uchiha merely flipped back, drawing out a handful of kunai and sending them in a flurry towards his attacker.
"It's poisoned!" The attacker grunted at that, a horned Kirigakure headband on his head while the majority of his body was covered by a long navy cloak. He batted away the kunai with ease before turning straight towards the bridge builder, taking off in a dash any of the Genin would be hard-pressed to match. However just when Tazuna saw his life flash before his eyes the assailant's attack was once again halted with the clang of metal on metal.
"Argh!" Ami cried out in pain as she felt one of the dripping metal claws on the gauntlet tear a faint line across her shoulder. She had managed to interpose herself between the Kiri-nin and the client just in time, sword ready; however the older man had proven to be stronger. She held him at bay with her strong stance but he kept pushing, the weapon on his arm digging further into her shoulder. Luckily her cry finally seemed to rouse Sakura from her panic-induced paralysis, having previously just been standing there with a kunai clutched in both hands.
As quickly as she could the girl went through her carefully memorised hand signs before directing her Chakra straight at the attacker. For a moment she feared she had messed up, but a moment later and the man's eyes seemed to grow heavy and his arm lost its tension. Ami took the opportunity to push him off her, collapsing to her knees and clutching at her shoulder; it was bleeding but not too heavily. The man quickly shook off the small Genjutsu on him, his eyes narrowing in annoyance as he turned back towards the bridge-builder.
"Alright, I think that's enough of that." The missing-nin's eye widened at the new voice only to immediately close as he crumpled to the floor like a puppet with his strings cut. All three Genin breathed a sigh of relief as they saw their Sensei right in the middle of it all, his hand retracting from a chop. Over his shoulder was a man dressed very similarly to the one they had been fighting and when Sasuke looked over, the puddle Naruto had stepped through was gone.
"Sensei!" Sakura almost seemed to want to collapse to the ground in relief at the sight of that familiar shock of red hair.
"Hey guys, sorry I took so long." His tone was casual but he was already moving towards Ami, a critical look in his eye as he glanced over the wound in her shoulder. It was shallow, her collarbone blocking the claw from going in too deep, but that wasn't the problem.
"Where were you Naruto-Sensei? Who are these Shinobi?" Naruto ignored Sakura's questions as he crouched down next to Ami, offering her a handful of what looked like dried herbs from a pouch at his waist.
"Here, eat these." Ami winced as she moved to take them, a trickle of blood escaping past her fingers. "They'll help flush any poison from your system." Ami quickly took them and swallowed them in one go. "Although I should probably warn you…" Ami almost immediately swooned as he eyes became uncomfortably heavy and her body lolled to one side "…they're fairly potent." He quickly caught the falling girl and hurried her over to a nearby tree, propping her up and bandaging her shoulder in short order as his other two Genin watched on. While the young purple-haired girl was still in the land of the waking Naruto gave her a bright smile and gently patted her head.
"You did great Ami, you should feel very proud of yourself." The girl smiled weakly before her head nodded forward and she was out like a light. Naruto quickly got up and turned to where the two missing-nin were propped up against one another in the middle of the road.
"Sensei?" He turned towards Sakura, offering the girl a kindly smile as he walked over and hauled both men up and on to his shoulders.
"Don't worry about it Sakura, I was always around; I thought this would be a good opportunity for you guys to test yourselves against some real opponents." The pinkette's eyes widened at that. "Don't worry; you guys did great." He briefly ruffled her hair with that usually confident grin, making her wince in annoyance. "Good job with that Genjutsu." He leaned his head towards Sasuke as he began to walk off into the woods again. "And nice response time Sasuke; now if you don't mind I need to have a chat with these two about a few things." A clone popped into existence next to him and kept watch over the three as the original walked off. After all, it wouldn't be good for their young eyes to see.
Gozu awoke with a start as cold water was splashed in his face; he was only given a moment to sputter and cough though before he found himself violently thrust up against a tree, an arm against his throat.
"Hello Gozu… or is it Meizu? Your Bingo book profiles weren't all that clear." A pair of frosty purple eyes bored into his own before the man in front of him leaned back, revealing the Jounin Sensei of the kids they had attacked. "You know, those puddle trick may work a treat in Water Country, but out here in the Land of Fire, you have to pick your approach a little more carefully." Gozu simply glared at the man, he wouldn't tell him anything. This only made Naruto sigh as he leant back, leaving an arm behind him to prop himself up.
"Not much of a talker are you." Absently he began to play with a kunai, flipping it up before catching it, balancing it by the point, sinning it by the ring. "Strange, your brother had no such compunction." Gozu's eyes hardened but with a quick glance about he realised Meizu actually wasn't there.
"What did you do with-" Suddenly the kunai that was innocently spinning around Naruto's fingers was imbedded up to the hilt in the tree, right beside Gozu's head. He could still hear it hum lightly from the vibrations of the impact and it immediately shut him up as he gulped nervously.
"Not really in a position to be asking questions you know." Another kunai was in Naruto's hands, as if it had never left; Gozu was watching this one a bit more warily. "Now, we'll start with who you were sent after; that's an easy one." Gozu spat on the ground in front of him giving Naruto as hard a glare as he could muster.
"I'm not telling you Leaf trash any-" He was cut off again with a cry of pain as this time the kunai shaved so close it cut lightly into the side of his ear.
"You know…" Naruto leaned forward again, yet another kunai twisting between his fingers "…I'm not usually one for torture or interrogation; I leave all that kind of stuff to my girlfriend. She's much better at this than me; after all she gets results without leaving the body all mangled and unrecognisable." Another unconscious gulp escaped the poor Chuunin's throat; he swore Naruto's eyes had flashed red for just a moment.
"Unfortunately for you Gozu, those were my little Genin you went and attacked out there… so I'm not in the most forgiving mood right now." There it was again, a flash of crimson as the red-haired man's pupils became slitted like a cats for just a fraction of a second. "Did you know, that in ANBU, operatives are trained to resist all kinds of torture?" Gozu felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his head; it felt as though the air around him was pressing down on him. However Naruto was looking at him expectantly so, still looking at the kunai, he nervously shook his head.
"Oh you don't? Well, they take you into a room and leave you in there a while, all alone, never telling you what's going on." The air began to shimmer around the man as Gozu's breathing became more heavy and laboured. "Then a man comes in holding nothing but a single Kunai; do you want to know what the man does Gozu?" Naruto's eyes were now fully red and Gozu felt as though a house was resting on his shoulders as an aura of anger, hatred and hopelessness radiated off the Jounin. He shook his head quickly; he didn't want to know what the man did.
"Are you sure Gozu? It's very easy to demonstrate." Gozu's eyes followed the kunai with rapt attention as it spun and danced between Naruto's nimble fingers. Again he shook his head, although it felt like his whole body was moving through treacle.
"I-I'll talk, I'll tell you anything you want to know." Suddenly it was all gone, the Kunai, the aura, the red in the Jounin's eyes; just… gone, like that.
"Oh, good." Naruto had a bright smile on his face as he patted the missing-nin on the head almost fondly. "I knew you'd come around." Gozu breathed a sigh of relief as Naruto leaned away from him, standing back up and absently stretching his neck.
"W-What are you?" Naruto looked back down at the man in amusement, his eyebrow quirking up in what looked like genuine confusion.
"I have no idea what you're talking about Gozu; now, about those questions…"
Naruto walked out of the forest whistling almost happily, tossing a small scroll up and down before quickly sliding it into a pouch. He would figure out how to deal with the demon brothers later; for now…
"Alright guys, things are only going to get tougher from here; I hope you're prepared." Sakura's eyes widened as she watched Naruto carefully hoist Ami up and onto his back, letting the girl hang limply with her arms around his neck.
"We're continuing the mission Sensei?" Naruto gave her an easy grin as he began walking along the path again.
"Of course Sakura, we're Leaf Shinobi, we don't just abandon our client half-way through a mission." Behind them Tazuna let out a sigh of relief before freezing up as Naruto levelled a cold, hard stare at him. "Even if they are lying cheats." He began walking again, leaving Tazuna standing stock still in the middle of the road. After a moment or two he snapped out of it and quickly hurried after him.
"Wait, you don't understand; our village-"
"-Has been taken over by the Shipping magnate Gatou; I know." Tazuna started in surprise as Naruto easily rattled off some of the information he had gleaned from the Demon brothers.
"Yes, but he's-"
"-Closed off trade routes in or out of the country, taxed the people to the brink of starvation and built a monopoly on business. I know." Tazuna blinked again, confusion setting in on his wrinkling features as he once again hurried after the Jounin that was setting a fair pace.
"But then why-"
"-Am I helping you, despite the danger posed to my Genin? Despite the fact Gatou has the resources to send, and already has, powerful missing-nin after us? Despite the fact your nation isn't even wealthy enough to pay for the difficulty of the mission we're taking on?" Tazuna hesitantly nodded, a little worried about the answer when Naruto put it so bluntly like that.
"Yes, despite um, all those… things." Naruto chuckled from up ahead, making Ami stir from the vibrations.
"Who knows? Maybe my cold cold Shinobi heart has a trickle of warmth in it. Maybe I think its good training for the Genin. Maybe I'm just thrilled by the challenge." Sakura was looking up at him strangely now while Sasuke was looking ahead, keeping pace with his sensei with a determined look on his face. He turned back, offering the bridge-builder a warm, if not slightly disconcerting smile. "Who knows right?" Tazuna simply chuckled after a moment's hesitation, albeit nervously; he was now sure there was something wrong with every Shinobi out there. He wasn't going to tell that to the ones willing to help him though.
"So Tazuna." The older man looked up, spotting Naruto waving for him to join him by his side. "Tell me a bit about your country; the more we know the better we can help." Tazuna, for the first time in a long while, gave the red-haired man a genuine smile as he quickened his pace. "Just…" The bridge-builder paused mid-step "…how about the truth this time?"
After the quiet boat trip across to the main island of Wave Country the natural mist of the island began to set in, limiting everyone's lines of sight to a few feet in front of them. While to the untrained eye it might have seemed like just an unusually thick mist Naruto's every hair was prickled and on end. Lightly he grumbled under his breath as he walked along, making sure to keep Ami in a comfortable position.
"Why did it have to be Kiri-nin?" Seriously; in ANBU the one country he never had much contact or missions in was the isolationist Water Country. Embroiled in whatever civil war they were in now many countries simply left the war-torn nation alone, waiting for it to either collapse under itself or finally get itself back on its feet to take advantage of their extensive trading routes. Information was scarce since they closed down the borders and only the occasional scouting team was ever sent in just to get a sense of the political status. Naruto himself knew next to nothing about what was going on; that was all well above his pay-grade even as an ANBU captain.
Suddenly though all of that became the very least of his worries as his ear twitched.
"Down!" Around him his two Genin dropped to the floor, thankfully having the mind to pull Tazuna down with them. Just in time too as an enormous blade came flying out of the mist, spinning like a buzz-saw. Unfortunately with Ami on his back Naruto was in no real position to simply duck so in a split second he pivoted on one foot, grounded his other, reached out and grabbed the hilt of the massive cleaver. He swore his arm was nearly wrenched out of its socket but with one foot stuck firmly to the ground with Chakra he managed to pull the blade down, carving a neat circle into the ground around them with the tip. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he stood there, sword planted firmly in the ground.
"Phew, now that's a big sword; somebody over-compensating for something?" Naruto paused and blinked after he realised what he had just said. "Damn, I have been hanging around Anko way too much recently." However a small grunt of annoyance broke his brief monologue as a figure appeared on a nearby tree-branch.
"You may want to step away from the sword kid; you're twenty years too young to be playing with a weapon like that. Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to pick up strange weapons?" Naruto grinned at the man, making a show of hefting to sword up off the ground and resting it against his shoulder, carefully lowering Ami to the ground with his other hand. Damn if the sword wasn't heavy though.
"Zabuza Momochi; didn't anybody ever tell you that it's stupid to throw away your weapon for a flashy entrance?" A brief chuckle was his only reply as the large man leant against the tree trunk casually, seeming self-assured with his own ability despite his current lack of weapon.
"What a cocky brat you are; although it seems my reputation precedes me… shame the same can't be said for you tomato." Naruto chuckled as his eye twitched once; he really… really hated that nickname.
"Don't worry, you just don't recognise me without the mask; give it a few moments." Zabuza simply grunted though as he straightened back up, his hands coming up in a seal that Naruto knew many water Jutsu stemmed from.
"Last chance kid, give me back the weapon, hand over the bridge-builder… and maybe I let you leave with at least one arm." Naruto's grin faded into the mist as the surrounding area's moisture all converged on that one area, bathing the entire clearing in a thick white fog.
"Big words; time to back them up." Just before Zabuza lost sight of the glint in Naruto's smile he heard a multitude of thuds sound out all around the clearing as well as the larger thud of Naruto planting his cleaver into the ground. It was the tell-tale sound of kunai striking the trees and earth; one even happened to land near Zabuza, although with mist this thick he couldn't see it; not that he needed to.
"Think you could hit me with a rain of Kunai kid, that's pretty amateur." His voice sounded throughout the mist like he was everywhere at once, sending shivers down the spines of the still conscious Genin and Tazuna. They felt an intense weight press down on them as they felt all of Zabuza's focus, his intent to kill them, his sheer bloodlust, permeate the mist. Every minute sound echoing through the fog made their muscles twitch to the straining point as their white-knuckled hands grasped their kunai like lifelines.
"Here peachy peachy peachy!" And just like that it was ruined; Naruto's flippant voice echoed through the mist, tauntingly calling the master of the silent killing out to face him. "Here peachy peachy peachy!" The Genin felt like a weight had been pushed off their shoulders, their beings filling back up with warmth knowing their Sensei was still out there protecting them.
Zabuza on the other hand grinned; the fool of a Jounin had so easily given away his position. Using years of honed training Zabuza moved through the smothering mist without making a whisper, instantly locking on to the source of the noise. He thought about retrieving his blade first but figured a kunai was good enough for this joker. However as his blade passed through the spot he had last heard the noise it sliced through nothing but air. That was impossible though, there was no way the Jounin could move silently enough to escape his ears.
"Here peachy peachy!" His eye twitched as the voice called out again, this time from almost the opposite side of the mist. Once again he moved with all the noise of a shadow, appearing right behind his target, cleanly slicing right through… air, again. "Come one Zabuza; I'm right here!" Zabuza wasn't sure how many times this… game, or whatever, repeated but eventually he reached his breaking point. It was impossible for some upstart leaf-nin to so easily best him at his specialty, something that even in the seven swordsmen he was feared for.
"Boo." Zabuza span as something patted him lightly on the back without him hearing it approach but there was nothing there. "Nope." Again he spun around, his eyes moving madly and his ears straining to pick up the faintest of noises as something patted him on the back again. "So close." He lashed out with his blade as his hair was ruffled like he was some kind of child but all that met his ears was silence. "Having fun yet? I know I am." This time the voice was from above him, however this time when he looked up Naruto was right there, standing above him, upside-down on a tree-branch.
"Who the hell are you?" Zabuza blinked and when his eyes opened again Naruto was gone, like he was never there at all.
"I don't think that's too important." Zabuza looked down to see Naruto lazily lying on his back, head resting on his hands as he looked up at the cloud of mist above him. The swordsman lunged towards him only for the redhead to vanish again, almost instantaneously. Finally growing too frustrated Zabuza made a move for his cleaver; he had made a note of where it stood by the vibrations it had made when planted into the ground. He swiftly darted across the clearing, easily spotting the massive weapon as it appeared out of the mist. He reached out a hand for it only for the blade to suddenly disappear.
No, that wasn't quite right; suddenly Zabuza felt disoriented as all the sounds he had been hearing shifted, the dull vibration of his blade sounding behind him now. Sure enough when he turned it was right there, looking for all the world like it had never been touched. Zabuza reached for it again only to have that rush of disorientation and his blade vanish again only to once again hear it behind him.
What the hell was going on?
"Feel like giving up yet? Because I could do this all day." This time when Zabuza lunged for the sword only to have it disappear he turned to see Naruto sitting atop the handle in a crouch, hand on chin and a grin on his lips.
"Give me back my sword kid, or you'll severely regret it." Naruto quirked an eyebrow as he hopped off the massive cleaver, leaning against the blade casually.
"As much as I think I might enjoy a Kenjutsu bout with you Zabuza, I don't think giving the swordsman his sword back is the best idea." Zabuza growled as he rushed through a quick set of hand signs.
"We'll see if that cocky grin stay on your lips after I show your little Genin a dose of the real Shinobi world." Out of the mist, a few water clones of the large camouflage-wearing man condensed and quickly rushed off into the mist. Zabuza had expected Naruto to rush right after them, leaving his sword open; however the red-head simply continued to lean against the blade, seemingly unconcerned.
"I was going to do this the easy way, but if you're really insistent on playing the clone game, I'm sure I can play along." Zabuza furrowed his brow in confusion at what the man meant, at least until he felt his water clones all dispel at roughly the same time, all from almost simultaneous slashes if his ears were to be believed. "But hell, let me do one better." Zabuza suddenly heard the tell-tale sounds of skin hitting skin as a multitude of people suddenly rushed through the exact same hand signs at the same time. Most alarming though was the fact that it was coming from every direction.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" The simultaneous call rang out through the thick mist as a sudden gale blew all the mist first inwards, then up and away from the clearing, finally revealing everything. Zabuza could only stop and stare for a few moment s as he found himself surrounded by a ring of almost twenty Naruto clones. However they weren't even the reason he was staring; no, that privilege belonged to the various kunai scattered about the clearing… very recognisable, almost infamous kunai.
"You're-" Zabuza could say no more as Naruto suddenly appeared behind him in a red flash and delivered a few strategic punches that took the large swordsman out of commission.
"Naruto Namikaze, at your service." The redhead looked up for a moment as if waiting for something before grinning as another of his clones emerged from the tree-line, what looked to be a bound Kiri hunter-nin slung over his shoulder. "Ah good, we're all here now." He looked about, surveying the damage before nodding to himself with a smile.
"Sensei!" His eyebrow rose as he looked over to see Ami now fully awake and looking about the clearing in confusion. Next to her, Sakura and Sasuke were looking on at the scene in absolute shock; Tazuna seemed to have fallen unconscious at some point due to the high levels of Chakra Zabuza was throwing around.
"Ami, you're up; that's good." The girl blinked in confusion as she looked about to see many of her sensei scurrying about collecting what appeared to be odd tri-pronged kunai.
"W-What's going on?" Naruto just chuckled as he once again came over and slung the girl onto his back.
"Long story; now Tazuna, you were taking us to your home right?" The man had just awoken as one of the Naruto clones poured a small water Jutsu over his head and quickly nodded, looking about the clearing in alarm and relief.
"Right, uh, right." Just what did he sign on for when he hired these Ninja? They were all insane… insane!
Gatou kicked his feet back and slowly tapped one up and down, trying to keep a measure of calm on his face. He was a short man so his comfy leather chair, backed by a panorama window of Wave country, was lifted to the max to let his rest his feet on the pristine polish of his oaken desk. His features, normally quirked into a self-assured smirk, was twisted into a scowl of frustration as he let out a growl while simultaneously swiping a large pile of documents off his desk. One of his attendants immediately scurried to pick up the loose sheets but the shipping magnate ignored him, instead turning to his assistant.
"What did you just say?" The tall Wave country native gulped nervously as he looked back down at the short report he had just read out.
"T-That ah, Zabuza and his accomplices have been captured by a team of Konoha Shinobi who are currently taking residence in the bridge-builder Tazuna's home." Gatou's eyebrow twitched as a tick mark appeared on his brow; his face the very visage if irritation.
"Dammit, I should have known better than to hire missing-nin; so unreliable!" He slammed his hand on the table, causing another stack to fall messily across his desk.
"Ah sir, if I may…" The meek man by his side offered up quietly.
"What?!" The much taller man quivered under the short businessman's gaze before handing him a sheet.
"There was another group offering their services for jobs like these; their track record is very good." Gatou quickly scanned over the report, his scowl slowly turning into a thoughtful look as he considered the group for a moment. "However sir." Gatou turned his ire on the man once again, making him cower slightly. "You may not be able to double cross them quite so easily; I've been told they are very powerful." Gatou huffed irritably as he placed the sheet back down on his desk.
"Well, we'll come to that bridge after we cross it." He chuckled at his own joke for a moment. "Alright, I'll give this new group a chance."