Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of Explosive Youth! ❯ Team 6: Wave Hello! pt 1 ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: dialNforNinja 
It's time for another C-rank mission! This architect seems fishy...
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.28.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 473 | Status: Completed
It's time for another C-rank mission! This architect seems fishy...
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.28.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 473 | Status: Completed
txy06_wave_hello.txt
2007-12-13 - initial file created, notes transferred from DWMB saves
2008-05-09 - found Naruto/Shikenenai segment, pasted it in before it got lost again
2008-05-16 - Zabuza's motivation became clear, campfire scene
2008-05-20 - filled in from Konoha departure to campfire
2008-05-22 - watched the filler eps again for opponent's details
2008-05-23 - to Intensive Special Training! Man that was long.
2008-05-25 - omake, bridge arrival, attack on Tsunami
2005-05-27 - draft complete, edit/proofreading pass. This chapter still feels a little choppy, though.
Somewhere in Lightning Country, a tall man looked at a small turtle and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Another 'urgent message'?" he asked rhetorically.
"Uh huh."
"And you got here in, what, six months?"
"Five and a half," the turtle said proudly. "I've been practising."
"Merciful Amaterasu." He shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, what's up?"
The turtle looked quizzically at the sky, forcing the lean shinobi to cover a chortle by coughing into his fist. The turtle didn't say anything - he didn't have to - but there was a twinkle in his dark eyes.
After a moment, the turtle retracted one forepaw into it's shell and rooted around for a moment before producing a small scroll.
There was a rustle of paper as the scroll was unrolled. Then a whimper of disbelief: "Sandaime made him a jounin-sensei - again!?"
---=- + -=---
Shikanenai looked up as a shadow fell across him. "Shikaku-niisan," he said in greeting.
The scarred ninja nodded and set down the bottle of sake and two cups. "I didn't know you were back in Konohagakure. You never come by anymore."
"Your wife keeps trying to set me up with her nieces," the younger of the two Nara cousins replied, pushing aside his empty bowls so that he could reach across the table for one of the cups.
Shikaku snorted. "Even Shikamaru will get married someday. If your sensei found someone then so will you."
Both flinched them at the familiar but disturbing idea of Gai reproducing.
"Shikamaru is a genin now?" Shikanenai asked, filling his cup and his cousin's. "I'm surprised he can be bothered."
"Yes, he's teamed with Inoichi's daughter and Choza's boy - Shika-Ino-Cho again," Shikaku said proudly.
They drained their cups together.
"So, how is Sunagakure?"
"Still standing. Surprising, given the way they treat that Gaara kid. He'll level the place someday, and it couldn't happen to a nicer Kage."
---=- + -=---
Lee jumped into a defensive posture as the tall Nara clansman appeared out of nowhere, the only warning of his presence being the growling grunt that preceded him.
"So," the chuunin said bluntly. "You're the apprentice." He looked Lee up and down with a calculating look in his dark eyes. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know?"
Lee blinked, then beamed. "I admire Gai-sensei greatly," he admitted, eyes wide with sincerity. "I swear that I shall one day to be such a truly excellent ninja as he, or I shall carry an Akamichi matron around the village with both legs tied behind my back!"
Shikanenai closed his eyes and repressed a shiver. "Your motivation is... admirable," he managed to say between clenched teeth. Pulling a small, folded piece of paper from his pocket, he studied it. "Says here that you can't manage ninjutsu or genjutsu at all?"
"Yes!" Lee agreed proudly. "But I shall become a great ninja nonetheless or I shall -"
"Whoa, whoa," Shikanenai interupted. "Don't get carried away or we'll have no time to train today."
Lee remained silent, almost vibrating with eagerness.
"Riiight..." the chuunin drawled, tucking the paper away. "Well, I gather you've had to face ninjutsu before and that your taijutsu was up to the task. How about genjutsu?"
"I -!" Lee broke off as Shikanenai shushed him. "I have great difficulty, Shikanenai-san."
The chuunin nodded. "Understandable. The usual counter to genjutsu being a form of genjutsu itself, I can see that you would be unable to counter in the conventional manner. Since your sensei will doubtless polish your defenses for ninjutsu to 'reflect the burning passion of your youth', I shall teach you to detect genjutsu." He smirked. "Once you know you're caught in one, escape is merely a matter of..." He'd usually say 'willpower', but edited the assertion for the audience: "the 'burning power of youth'."
"YOSH!" Lee shouted. "I will master Shikanenai-sempai's counters to genjutsu or I shall do a thousand push-ups, one-handed!"
Legend of Explosive Youth Part Six
Team Six: Wave Hello! Resurgence of the Passionate Spirit!
Shikenenai and Neshan's appearances written by their creators Drakensis and Valles, the the rest by ClassicDrogn aka dialNforNinja. The other characters and setting are Kishimoto's except for Rikou, who remains a team effort between myself and my co-conspirators.
"Hmm... This looks like an assignment your team would be suited to, Gai-kun," the Hokage mused, looking over his list of C-rank requests. "The protection of a traveler. It came in late yesterday, but only rookies were left by that time, so the client is anxious to begin."
"Oh, oh, another escort mission!" Naruto, as he had been since the team fulfilled the rookie quota of D-rank missions, was immediately enthusiastic. "Do we get to safeguard a daimyo this time? Or, or a princess, whose love for the prince of a neighboring country will end a war with their wedding!?"
Smiling fondly, Sarutobi said, "Not quite so grand, I'm afraid." He signaled to one of his assistants and requested, "That person, please come in now."
Rather than an elegantly attired lord or a vision of beauty, the grey bearded man who came through the door from the client lounge was unkempt, drunk enough that the smell of booze filled the room in an instant, and dressed in sturdy peasant's clothes with a rope of twisted rags for a headband to keep sweat out of his eyes. Even so, he was already carrying a heavy-looking travel pack.
He scanned the curious team of genin with a skeptical eye before pushing up his glasses and taking a heavy hit off his bottle, then grouched, "Eh? These are the super ninja that are supposed to protect me? They're a bunch of super runts! Especially the short one with..." He trailed off, and gave Team Explosive Youth another bleary glare, then shook himself before tossing the bottle into a corner.
"That's it," he declared, "I'm staying clear of this cheap Fire Country rotgut from now on. There's no way you all have goofy faces like I think I'm seeing..." He belched and forced himself up in the door frame, ignoring the blond's sputtering. "Fine then. You guys... I'm the Wave Country's super expert architect, Umida Tazuna! I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge. Anyway, let's hurry and begin."
---=- + -=---
They met up again at the east gate of Konoha, Tazuna chafing against even the small delay for the ninja to gather supplies for an extended mission, though he'd taken the opportunity to buy a conical straw hat to keep the sun off his balding head and looked over the nearby Fire Daimyo's Palace with a professional's appreciative eyes. He'd picked up some better quality hooch, too, but left it in his pack for now, figuring that he needed to cut back a bit on the road.
Naruto was the last to arrive as his apartment was the furthest away, though only by a matter of less than a minute. He was skipping and bouncing with excitement like a small child as he ran up, prompting another skeptical look from Tazuna. "Are you really a ninja? You're barely up to my waist!"
"Hey, hey!" Naruto protested. "I might still be short, but my springtime is in bloom and my flames of youth are as tall as a volcano, dattebayo!"
"... What the hell is that supposed to mean, you super runt?"
"OI, OI! DON'T LOOK DOWN ON NINJA, OLD MAN! One day I'll gain the elite ninja title of Hokage, and bring a shining sprintime to all of Fire Country! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, you'd better remember it, dattebayo!"
Still doubtful but unwilling to wait any longer before getting on the road, the architect shrugged it off and moved out, pushing his ageing knees for the fastest walk they'd allow him to keep up.
The blond's bad moods seldom lasted long, and soon enough he was back to springing along like a clockwork ferret, humming random snatches of music and occassionally singing "Mission, mission... Mission to the sea!"
More amused than irritated, Tazuna finally asked, "What are you so excited about, anyway?"
Naruto skipped up beside their client and explained, "Well, I've only been to the sea once, and it was really cool! That was out first mission outside Konoha, so that was cool too. And, and, I got to learn how to summon frogs out of nothing, which was awesome! If it wasn't for those missing-nin suddenly appearing, it would have been the best ever, but even that was okay because we totally kicked ass!"
"Ah, yeah... Sounds... super-fun." Gai noticed the way the man faltered slightly at the mention of enemy ninja and narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as they continued along the road.
---=- + -=---
They were just getting ready to find a place to stop and eat lunch when one of Konoha's road patrols met them coming the other way, two of the team carrying large, shrouded bundles over their shoulders. The leader stopped to speak with Gai, a wiry man of medium height with his dark hair up in a pineapple ponytail and a Nara clan crest on his shoulder. "Maito-san," he greeted. "I had a talk with Shikenenai-kun the other day. He mentioned you'd sent a message that brought him back in town... it was nice to have the chance to chat."
Flashing the other jounin a quick Nice Guy Pose, Gai replied, "Indeed, it is always good to speak with family after a long absence!" More calmly, he nodded to their cargo. "Who...?"
"Tch, a couple of ex-Mist that were hiding under a genjutsu on the road up there. Really troublesome guys, the Demon Brothers... they had this chakra-pulse ninjutsu that was a real pain to break. Then, they used a poison tooth instead of being captured, so we're bringing them back for the Medical Division's body disposal group to study. Oh well, at least maybe my share of the bounty on their heads will get the wife off my case."
"I see," replied Gai, who did see. Specifically, he saw Tazuna going white as fresh rice paper and fishing around in his pack for a bottle, then taking a long slug out of it. He waited until the patrol had left again before quietly demanding, "Umida-san, perhaps you should tell us how you recognise the infamous Mist's Onikyoudai. This was supposed to be simple protection, until you finished the bridge, but if there will be opposing ninja it becomes at least a B-rank. I have confidence in the youthful power of my subordinates... but they are still cute genin. If you lie about the mission, problems can occur."
The old man looked down, abashed, but replied, "It's true... this mission probably is outside your duties. It turns out, there's a super-dangerous man after my life... you've probably heard his name before. The wealthy shipping magnate, a man named Gatou."
All four of the Konoha-nin showed varying degrees of shock, from Lee's exaggerated gasp to Rikou's sweatdrop, Naruto's growl to Gai's fractional narrowing of the eyes. "Gatou," the jounin repeated, "From 'that' Gatou Group, that hides smuggling and drug dealing with the face of a respectable trading company?"
"Heh... I shouldn't be surprised that the Leaf had heard about such a person... he's a super-evil man, who uses money and rogue ninja to take over businesses and small countries alike. About a year ago, he set his sights on the Wave Country. With his wealth and violent gangs, he quickly took over the entire shipping industry and now has a monopoly on all traffic to the Wave. The only thing he has to fear is the completion of my bridge."
Lee pondered for a moment, then raised his hand as if asking to be called on. "OOH!! I understand!" he shouted. "Because his heart is closed to the youthful spirit of Wave Country, he seeks to prevent the bridge being completed!"
"So that means, those Demon Brothers were hired by Gatou?" Rikou asked more than stated.
"But, but, how did you know that? And even if there were ninja after you, why not say so?" wondered Naruto, who hadn't quite followed his team mate's deductions yet.
Assuming both questions were meant for himself, Tazuna sighed, pushed up his little wire frame glasses, and pinched his nose. "He sent them around to threaten us, first, to stop working on the bridge. That's when I came to Konoha to hire you guys. As for the rest... Thanks to Gatou, the Wave Country is super-poor. Even the daimyo doesn't have any money left, let alone our small village. There's no way we could afford a super-expensive B-rank mission."
He pressed his eyes closed, a resigned look on his face. "Well, if you quit now, I'll definitely be killed. BUt... don't worry about it!" Eyes still squeezed shut as if not seeing his escort leaving would keep it from being real, he made one last appeal to try to keep them on his side despite the deception. Putting on a false front of high spirits, he added, "If I die, my cute ten year old grandson will just cry for a few days! Oh, and my daughter will live a sad, lonely life, hating Leaf ninja forever... but it won't be your fault, so it's not your problem at all!"
Quite without warning, he was lifted off his feet into a massive bear-hug, and hurriedly opened his eyes again to see the face of Maito Gai only inches from his own, cascades of manly tears streaking his cheeks at the thought of such plight. "Have no fear, Umida-san!" he bellowed. "Team Explosive Youth will safeguard the springtime of Wave Country with our burning power!"
The three genin quickly joined into a group hug from behind and either side, as well, adding their own tearful reassurances to the mix.
*I... feel kind of bad... taking advantage of such super suckers...* Tazuna thought, sweatdropping heavily.
---=- + -=---
It was a few days later that they finally set foot in Wave Country itself, a gondolier who owed Tazuna's family a huge favor for saving his boat during a flood having ferried them across from the Fire Country coast hidden under the early morning mist. The huge pilings and deck of the bridge had loomed out of the fog like some titanic multi-legged sea creature fishing in the narrow strait between the two countries, prompting amazed comments from all three younger ninja though they were well enough used to keeping a low profile on missions by now that they remembered to keep their voices down.
Debt or not the boatman hurried them onto the dock and motored away as soon as possible, though he at least took a minute to wish Tazuna good luck.
"This is it!" the architect told everyone happily. "We're almost there, we should be able to reach my house by sunset!"
"Ah, it's that close?" Gai asked rhetorically. "Now that we're within the hateful Gatou's power, an attack will probably come today. All of us should be on our guard," he ordered quietly. "Naruto, perform your 'Ouki Gundan' technique to keep watch."
"Ossu!" the boy acknowledged, forming the hand seal for 'kage bunshin.' Instantly a dozen duplicates formed around him, then without further orders turned into squirrels, rabbits, foxes, and even a small deer before spreading out into the trees along the road.
Knowing the time limitation faced by the transformed bunshin Gai set out down the trail, Tazuna again moving at his best pace, eager to be home after the two week trip to Hidden Leaf. Suddenly, Naruto froze and there was the squeak and smoke puff of a disrupted kage bunshin from a nearby bush. Tension skyrocketed for a moment in the silence of the windless day, before Naruto laughed uneasily and concluded, "Eheheh... He just tripped and landed on a sharp stick..."
Sweating and trembling with nerves, Tazuna snapped, "Hey, you midget! Stop acting like a super moron!"
Another squeal and pop, and a muttered explanation of "... stuck in a bramble bush..." made the architects teeth grind, and the third, with the sheepish admission, "...I dunno what that one was, he was just standing under a tree..." prompted a painful noogie and more shouting.
Gai was too focussed on the ground where the last bunshin had vanished to pay close attention, however. *Those holes in the soil... senbon?* He'd felt a faint burst of killing intent at the same moment Naruto had paused that time.
Suddenly he jumped back, pulling the blond along by the collar of his jacket, as a huge blade whirled out of the underbrush and slammed into and halfway through the trunk of a nearby tree.
In a moment of shocked realization, Gai recognised the owner who appeared standing balanced on the long hilt. "Ah! The Hidden Mist's missing-nin... Momoichi Zabuza!" He reached out and held back the two boys who'd tensed to attack, but Rikou darted by outside his reach.
"UNCLE ZABU!!" she shouted happily, leaping up and tackle-hugging the man right off his feet, balance overwhelmed by ninety-some pounds of equipment and ecstatic teenage girl. Landing on his hands and the balls of his feet, the fearsome missing-nin was soon pulled back upright, the better for Rikou to glomp on like... well, like she usually did with Naruto, only with a completely different attitude. Getting the good look he'd been denied by the need to dodge those animal scouts at last, he recognised the Leaf jounin and cringed as the man came up to grab and shake his (one) free hand, babbling about youth power and long separated family.
He was starting to get a bit short of breath and wonder if this wasn't really an amazingly cunning capture ploy when the girl spotted Haku perching in the branches overhead, and (finally!) let go to face his partner. "You must be Hyaku-chan!" she declared. "Of course Mom heard about the child Uncle Zabu saved from abandonment and adopted... Such a gesture, to atone for his murder of one hundred by raising an orphan named 'Hundred!'"
Haku too fell prey to the terrible power of the tackle-hug, landing flat on the mossy ground with Rikou astraddle. "OH HYAKU-NEECHAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHOWING UNCLE ZABU THE PROPER WAY of... ah?"
The Leaf kunoichi blinked, sat up, and patted Haku's chest. "Eh?" she muttered. "Even I've got at least a handful..."
"I'm a boy," he told her. "Also, my name is Haku."
A Rikou-shaped cloud of smoke dissipated off his chest with a muffled "Eep," as she appeared ten feet away, face beet red.
Leaping back up to his sword and collecting his scattered poise, Zabuza tried to regain his customary air of menace but was all too aware that the tense atmosphere he took such pains in creating around his targets was completely destroyed - to the point that even he couldn't muster much in the way of killing intent. Not with such shining eyes looking up at him, wordlessly proclaiming his niece's love and trust. *How could anyone feel such things and call themselves a ninja?* he complained mentally, forcing a sneer under the bandages that covered his lower face. "Sorry, you kids," he growled, "but that old man, is mine."
Dancing happily around the small clearing, Rikou stopped as she linked hands with their client. "You hear that, Tazuna-san? Uncle Zabu is here to protect you too, for the dreams of all of Wave country! That Gatou snake's thugs won't have a chance now!"
Zabuza shared an incredulous look with Haku, and manfully resisted the urge to palm his face. "You misunderstand," he grated. "I'm not here to protect the geezer. My mission..." Here he vanished in a blur, the massive sword cutting the rest of the way through the tree truck as it sliced free, only to reapper pressed against the back of Tazuna's neck. "...is to kill him!"
Staring into his sea green, browless eyes over the terrified architect's shoulder, Rikou protested weakly, "...take it back." Her wide, dark eyes began to tremble as she repeated, "Uncle Zabu, take it back! My uncle Zabu would never do such a terrible, nasty thing... My uncle Zabu isn't the kind of evil person I always got teased for being related to... YOU TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW, UNCLE ZABU!!"
So... shiny... He almost folded right then, under the trembling weight of those eyes, but it was the kunai that suddenly appeared in his niece's hand, pressed against the edge of his blade and amazingly, managing to push it away from the old man's neck that finally did it. "You take that back right now, or you're not my Uncle Zabu," she told him warningly. "Even before that, I'm a proud kunoichi of the Leaf, and I can't let you hurt the person I'm supposed to protect." Even with their difference in leverage, she had to have some serious strength to oppose him, an A-ranked elite.
It was a good thing he'd long ago fallen out of the habit of grinding his teeth, or Zabuza would have done serious damage to his tongue with their filed-sharp points. "Kids wearing headbands and playing at being ninja," he growled in frustration, slinging the massive zanbatou into the harness across his back.
"HEY! HEY!" Naruto shouted, before he could rant any more. "Rikou-chan is an excellent ninja!" the blond asserted.
"YOSH!" Lee agreed. "The power of her springtime of youth is truly amazing!"
Gai too favored the infamous missing-nin with a subdued (for him, meaning it only went a third of the way across his face) smile and reminded him, "It did overcome even you, you know."
"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto enthused. "But now everything's okay and we'll get to have a big party to welcome you to the Leaf! DATTEBAYO! PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY!"
Between the shouting, the arguing, the celebrating and the old civilian's heavy drinking as he tried to either make sense of the sudden turn-around or get so sloshed he didn't care, they were still on the wrong side of the lake by the time night fell.
---=- + -=---
Late that night, Zabuza and Gai stared silently across the campfire into each others' eyes. The genin had climbed into their bed rolls hours before, and even Tazuna had finally exceeded his tolerance and drank himself into unconsciousness. Haku and some of the Leaf jounin's summoned turtles were keeping watch - on each other as much as the surroundings, of course - so it was just the two men.
"The real reason?" Gai asked, at length.
The Demon of the Bloody Mist had unwrapped his bandages when they made camp to eat the evening meal - his own trail rations, of course, trust between even nominally allied ninja was a scarce commodity let alone in the kind of bizarre semi-truce they'd somehow found themselves in.
The missing-nin flashed sharpened teeth in a predator's grin at his brother-in-law and rumbled, "Want to make sure I'm not just insinuating myself into the group, to strike from behind as I choose? Heh, maybe I am..." He smiled more widely still at the lack of reaction to the teasing threat, then became serious again. "I fight for my own ideals, and that will never change. A ninja is a tool, made to kill... But all tools must have a hand to wield them, and killing must have a reason, even if it is only for a test, or known to a ninja's client. Even more than that..."
He reached out to stroke the spine of his massive sword, leaning against the log serving as his seat. A faint pulse of chakra twinged in Gai's senses and he had the oddest impression that the infamous zanbato was purring, though no actual sound or vibration manifested.
"... A ninja is no simple blade, a cheap kunai to be thrown and forgotten. Shinobi are a tool like my Kubikiri Houcho, a fearsome sword but one that can turn in the hand of an unworthy user and strike them a mortal blow." Zabuza's fingers played along the smooth metal for long seconds. "How is my big sister, these days?" he asked, but gave no time to respond before adding, "I heard from her, you know, just before I made my attempt on the Mizukage. She said that her daughter Rikou had entered the Leaf's Ninja Academy ... She was very proud."
He looked up at Gai's eyes again, before continuing. "I had a plan to deal with that corrupt fool of a Mizukage, but due to certain circumstances I had to act before it was fully prepared, and so it failed. Yet even in failure, I have counted myself a success... How good is the intelligence division of your peace-loving Village Hidden in Leaves? Did they ever find out the reasons why I acted prematurely? Would they even have told you, married to an ex-Mist-nin, one who formally retired to avoid being declared outlaw and could legally return to the Water Country at any time?"
Gai simply quirked one of his abundant eyebrows at the man on the other side of the flames. Zabuza chuckled, hardly needing to be told that any details about Konoha's Espionage/Counter-Espionage Division would be among the least likely things he'd be hearing tonight.
"The Village Hidden in Mist's spies are very good, especially within the village itself. If they weren't, the Mizukage would have had a dagger in his back long ago courtesy of one clan head or another. When I heard from Keiunko... The seal of that letter had been opened. The Mist's spymaster didn't know his assistant was on my payroll, so when the Hunter-nin were ordered to bring her head and the heads of the Leaf-nin who'd turned her and their child, soon to begin training as a soldier who might be used against the Mist, -that- was when I acted."
Shaken out of his professional calm by the coldly delivered threat his family had faced without ever even knowing it, Gai took on a striken look. Certainly they'd known his wife's old superiors had been less than pleased with her change of allegiance, even if their countries were supposedly at peace and she had held true to her oaths to end her ninja career and keep what secrets she knew. As a lowly chuunin only recently promoted there weren't many to begin with, and it had seemed unlikely that any serious action would be taken; the more so as time passed and nothing had come of it beyond a few sternly worded diplomatic exchanges. Of course, if two of the major countries were unlikely to go to war over a single retired chuunin, they would be no more likely to do so over her death, or even her jounin husband and their child.
"Haku assassinated the captain of the hunter-nin squad assigned the duty and took his place long enough to delay them until I could strike... And even when I failed, they were reassigned to chase me instead of going after a meaningless target only chosen because the Mizukage needed to make an example of someone to remind the clans who was in charge. -Unfortunately- they had bad luck in the pursuit, and that failure weakened the Mizukage's influence so now it's basically the Council that runs the Mist... Not that those old farts are much of an improvement," he sneered sarcastically.
"Hm, bad luck? Your youthful companion Haku-san perhaps led them astray to make an escape?" the Green Beast suggested, brighening visibly as his thoughts turned back toward more positive, familiar channels.
"Escape? Oh no, none of them escaped. The bad luck was, they found me!" That predator's grin was back and dripping with remembered malice, as the man and his zanbato both quivered for an instant like the string of a drawn bow. The moment passed, and the two jounin relaxed again as Zabuza wrapped up his explanation.
"Ninja are tools made to kill, to bring their village, their country, and the ones who live in it money, power, and the respect of other countries. That is the ideal for which I have always fought, though now I must choose the hand as well as being the weapon, and can bring benefit only to myself and Haku. Just because Keiunko-oneesan found a life in another country, another village... I will not abandon her. Just because some walking -scum- has money to buy the death of a man, does not mean there is enough money in the world to buy the death of my cute niece, or my sister's beloved husband!"
Again, between ninja of their caliber it went without saying - the Leaf-nin would defend the client to the last drop of blood. Holding back impassioned cries only out of respect for his sleeping students nearby, Gai's cheeks still flowed with manly tears as he surged to his feet. Zabuza was up and in a guard stance with his sword just as fast, warning, "Death is one thing, but if you try to hug me, I WILL cut off your arms, Maito Gai."
---=- + -=---
(continues in part b)
2007-12-13 - initial file created, notes transferred from DWMB saves
2008-05-09 - found Naruto/Shikenenai segment, pasted it in before it got lost again
2008-05-16 - Zabuza's motivation became clear, campfire scene
2008-05-20 - filled in from Konoha departure to campfire
2008-05-22 - watched the filler eps again for opponent's details
2008-05-23 - to Intensive Special Training! Man that was long.
2008-05-25 - omake, bridge arrival, attack on Tsunami
2005-05-27 - draft complete, edit/proofreading pass. This chapter still feels a little choppy, though.
Somewhere in Lightning Country, a tall man looked at a small turtle and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Another 'urgent message'?" he asked rhetorically.
"Uh huh."
"And you got here in, what, six months?"
"Five and a half," the turtle said proudly. "I've been practising."
"Merciful Amaterasu." He shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, what's up?"
The turtle looked quizzically at the sky, forcing the lean shinobi to cover a chortle by coughing into his fist. The turtle didn't say anything - he didn't have to - but there was a twinkle in his dark eyes.
After a moment, the turtle retracted one forepaw into it's shell and rooted around for a moment before producing a small scroll.
There was a rustle of paper as the scroll was unrolled. Then a whimper of disbelief: "Sandaime made him a jounin-sensei - again!?"
---=- + -=---
Shikanenai looked up as a shadow fell across him. "Shikaku-niisan," he said in greeting.
The scarred ninja nodded and set down the bottle of sake and two cups. "I didn't know you were back in Konohagakure. You never come by anymore."
"Your wife keeps trying to set me up with her nieces," the younger of the two Nara cousins replied, pushing aside his empty bowls so that he could reach across the table for one of the cups.
Shikaku snorted. "Even Shikamaru will get married someday. If your sensei found someone then so will you."
Both flinched them at the familiar but disturbing idea of Gai reproducing.
"Shikamaru is a genin now?" Shikanenai asked, filling his cup and his cousin's. "I'm surprised he can be bothered."
"Yes, he's teamed with Inoichi's daughter and Choza's boy - Shika-Ino-Cho again," Shikaku said proudly.
They drained their cups together.
"So, how is Sunagakure?"
"Still standing. Surprising, given the way they treat that Gaara kid. He'll level the place someday, and it couldn't happen to a nicer Kage."
---=- + -=---
Lee jumped into a defensive posture as the tall Nara clansman appeared out of nowhere, the only warning of his presence being the growling grunt that preceded him.
"So," the chuunin said bluntly. "You're the apprentice." He looked Lee up and down with a calculating look in his dark eyes. "They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know?"
Lee blinked, then beamed. "I admire Gai-sensei greatly," he admitted, eyes wide with sincerity. "I swear that I shall one day to be such a truly excellent ninja as he, or I shall carry an Akamichi matron around the village with both legs tied behind my back!"
Shikanenai closed his eyes and repressed a shiver. "Your motivation is... admirable," he managed to say between clenched teeth. Pulling a small, folded piece of paper from his pocket, he studied it. "Says here that you can't manage ninjutsu or genjutsu at all?"
"Yes!" Lee agreed proudly. "But I shall become a great ninja nonetheless or I shall -"
"Whoa, whoa," Shikanenai interupted. "Don't get carried away or we'll have no time to train today."
Lee remained silent, almost vibrating with eagerness.
"Riiight..." the chuunin drawled, tucking the paper away. "Well, I gather you've had to face ninjutsu before and that your taijutsu was up to the task. How about genjutsu?"
"I -!" Lee broke off as Shikanenai shushed him. "I have great difficulty, Shikanenai-san."
The chuunin nodded. "Understandable. The usual counter to genjutsu being a form of genjutsu itself, I can see that you would be unable to counter in the conventional manner. Since your sensei will doubtless polish your defenses for ninjutsu to 'reflect the burning passion of your youth', I shall teach you to detect genjutsu." He smirked. "Once you know you're caught in one, escape is merely a matter of..." He'd usually say 'willpower', but edited the assertion for the audience: "the 'burning power of youth'."
"YOSH!" Lee shouted. "I will master Shikanenai-sempai's counters to genjutsu or I shall do a thousand push-ups, one-handed!"
Legend of Explosive Youth Part Six
Team Six: Wave Hello! Resurgence of the Passionate Spirit!
Shikenenai and Neshan's appearances written by their creators Drakensis and Valles, the the rest by ClassicDrogn aka dialNforNinja. The other characters and setting are Kishimoto's except for Rikou, who remains a team effort between myself and my co-conspirators.
"Hmm... This looks like an assignment your team would be suited to, Gai-kun," the Hokage mused, looking over his list of C-rank requests. "The protection of a traveler. It came in late yesterday, but only rookies were left by that time, so the client is anxious to begin."
"Oh, oh, another escort mission!" Naruto, as he had been since the team fulfilled the rookie quota of D-rank missions, was immediately enthusiastic. "Do we get to safeguard a daimyo this time? Or, or a princess, whose love for the prince of a neighboring country will end a war with their wedding!?"
Smiling fondly, Sarutobi said, "Not quite so grand, I'm afraid." He signaled to one of his assistants and requested, "That person, please come in now."
Rather than an elegantly attired lord or a vision of beauty, the grey bearded man who came through the door from the client lounge was unkempt, drunk enough that the smell of booze filled the room in an instant, and dressed in sturdy peasant's clothes with a rope of twisted rags for a headband to keep sweat out of his eyes. Even so, he was already carrying a heavy-looking travel pack.
He scanned the curious team of genin with a skeptical eye before pushing up his glasses and taking a heavy hit off his bottle, then grouched, "Eh? These are the super ninja that are supposed to protect me? They're a bunch of super runts! Especially the short one with..." He trailed off, and gave Team Explosive Youth another bleary glare, then shook himself before tossing the bottle into a corner.
"That's it," he declared, "I'm staying clear of this cheap Fire Country rotgut from now on. There's no way you all have goofy faces like I think I'm seeing..." He belched and forced himself up in the door frame, ignoring the blond's sputtering. "Fine then. You guys... I'm the Wave Country's super expert architect, Umida Tazuna! I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge. Anyway, let's hurry and begin."
---=- + -=---
They met up again at the east gate of Konoha, Tazuna chafing against even the small delay for the ninja to gather supplies for an extended mission, though he'd taken the opportunity to buy a conical straw hat to keep the sun off his balding head and looked over the nearby Fire Daimyo's Palace with a professional's appreciative eyes. He'd picked up some better quality hooch, too, but left it in his pack for now, figuring that he needed to cut back a bit on the road.
Naruto was the last to arrive as his apartment was the furthest away, though only by a matter of less than a minute. He was skipping and bouncing with excitement like a small child as he ran up, prompting another skeptical look from Tazuna. "Are you really a ninja? You're barely up to my waist!"
"Hey, hey!" Naruto protested. "I might still be short, but my springtime is in bloom and my flames of youth are as tall as a volcano, dattebayo!"
"... What the hell is that supposed to mean, you super runt?"
"OI, OI! DON'T LOOK DOWN ON NINJA, OLD MAN! One day I'll gain the elite ninja title of Hokage, and bring a shining sprintime to all of Fire Country! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, you'd better remember it, dattebayo!"
Still doubtful but unwilling to wait any longer before getting on the road, the architect shrugged it off and moved out, pushing his ageing knees for the fastest walk they'd allow him to keep up.
The blond's bad moods seldom lasted long, and soon enough he was back to springing along like a clockwork ferret, humming random snatches of music and occassionally singing "Mission, mission... Mission to the sea!"
More amused than irritated, Tazuna finally asked, "What are you so excited about, anyway?"
Naruto skipped up beside their client and explained, "Well, I've only been to the sea once, and it was really cool! That was out first mission outside Konoha, so that was cool too. And, and, I got to learn how to summon frogs out of nothing, which was awesome! If it wasn't for those missing-nin suddenly appearing, it would have been the best ever, but even that was okay because we totally kicked ass!"
"Ah, yeah... Sounds... super-fun." Gai noticed the way the man faltered slightly at the mention of enemy ninja and narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as they continued along the road.
---=- + -=---
They were just getting ready to find a place to stop and eat lunch when one of Konoha's road patrols met them coming the other way, two of the team carrying large, shrouded bundles over their shoulders. The leader stopped to speak with Gai, a wiry man of medium height with his dark hair up in a pineapple ponytail and a Nara clan crest on his shoulder. "Maito-san," he greeted. "I had a talk with Shikenenai-kun the other day. He mentioned you'd sent a message that brought him back in town... it was nice to have the chance to chat."
Flashing the other jounin a quick Nice Guy Pose, Gai replied, "Indeed, it is always good to speak with family after a long absence!" More calmly, he nodded to their cargo. "Who...?"
"Tch, a couple of ex-Mist that were hiding under a genjutsu on the road up there. Really troublesome guys, the Demon Brothers... they had this chakra-pulse ninjutsu that was a real pain to break. Then, they used a poison tooth instead of being captured, so we're bringing them back for the Medical Division's body disposal group to study. Oh well, at least maybe my share of the bounty on their heads will get the wife off my case."
"I see," replied Gai, who did see. Specifically, he saw Tazuna going white as fresh rice paper and fishing around in his pack for a bottle, then taking a long slug out of it. He waited until the patrol had left again before quietly demanding, "Umida-san, perhaps you should tell us how you recognise the infamous Mist's Onikyoudai. This was supposed to be simple protection, until you finished the bridge, but if there will be opposing ninja it becomes at least a B-rank. I have confidence in the youthful power of my subordinates... but they are still cute genin. If you lie about the mission, problems can occur."
The old man looked down, abashed, but replied, "It's true... this mission probably is outside your duties. It turns out, there's a super-dangerous man after my life... you've probably heard his name before. The wealthy shipping magnate, a man named Gatou."
All four of the Konoha-nin showed varying degrees of shock, from Lee's exaggerated gasp to Rikou's sweatdrop, Naruto's growl to Gai's fractional narrowing of the eyes. "Gatou," the jounin repeated, "From 'that' Gatou Group, that hides smuggling and drug dealing with the face of a respectable trading company?"
"Heh... I shouldn't be surprised that the Leaf had heard about such a person... he's a super-evil man, who uses money and rogue ninja to take over businesses and small countries alike. About a year ago, he set his sights on the Wave Country. With his wealth and violent gangs, he quickly took over the entire shipping industry and now has a monopoly on all traffic to the Wave. The only thing he has to fear is the completion of my bridge."
Lee pondered for a moment, then raised his hand as if asking to be called on. "OOH!! I understand!" he shouted. "Because his heart is closed to the youthful spirit of Wave Country, he seeks to prevent the bridge being completed!"
"So that means, those Demon Brothers were hired by Gatou?" Rikou asked more than stated.
"But, but, how did you know that? And even if there were ninja after you, why not say so?" wondered Naruto, who hadn't quite followed his team mate's deductions yet.
Assuming both questions were meant for himself, Tazuna sighed, pushed up his little wire frame glasses, and pinched his nose. "He sent them around to threaten us, first, to stop working on the bridge. That's when I came to Konoha to hire you guys. As for the rest... Thanks to Gatou, the Wave Country is super-poor. Even the daimyo doesn't have any money left, let alone our small village. There's no way we could afford a super-expensive B-rank mission."
He pressed his eyes closed, a resigned look on his face. "Well, if you quit now, I'll definitely be killed. BUt... don't worry about it!" Eyes still squeezed shut as if not seeing his escort leaving would keep it from being real, he made one last appeal to try to keep them on his side despite the deception. Putting on a false front of high spirits, he added, "If I die, my cute ten year old grandson will just cry for a few days! Oh, and my daughter will live a sad, lonely life, hating Leaf ninja forever... but it won't be your fault, so it's not your problem at all!"
Quite without warning, he was lifted off his feet into a massive bear-hug, and hurriedly opened his eyes again to see the face of Maito Gai only inches from his own, cascades of manly tears streaking his cheeks at the thought of such plight. "Have no fear, Umida-san!" he bellowed. "Team Explosive Youth will safeguard the springtime of Wave Country with our burning power!"
The three genin quickly joined into a group hug from behind and either side, as well, adding their own tearful reassurances to the mix.
*I... feel kind of bad... taking advantage of such super suckers...* Tazuna thought, sweatdropping heavily.
---=- + -=---
It was a few days later that they finally set foot in Wave Country itself, a gondolier who owed Tazuna's family a huge favor for saving his boat during a flood having ferried them across from the Fire Country coast hidden under the early morning mist. The huge pilings and deck of the bridge had loomed out of the fog like some titanic multi-legged sea creature fishing in the narrow strait between the two countries, prompting amazed comments from all three younger ninja though they were well enough used to keeping a low profile on missions by now that they remembered to keep their voices down.
Debt or not the boatman hurried them onto the dock and motored away as soon as possible, though he at least took a minute to wish Tazuna good luck.
"This is it!" the architect told everyone happily. "We're almost there, we should be able to reach my house by sunset!"
"Ah, it's that close?" Gai asked rhetorically. "Now that we're within the hateful Gatou's power, an attack will probably come today. All of us should be on our guard," he ordered quietly. "Naruto, perform your 'Ouki Gundan' technique to keep watch."
"Ossu!" the boy acknowledged, forming the hand seal for 'kage bunshin.' Instantly a dozen duplicates formed around him, then without further orders turned into squirrels, rabbits, foxes, and even a small deer before spreading out into the trees along the road.
Knowing the time limitation faced by the transformed bunshin Gai set out down the trail, Tazuna again moving at his best pace, eager to be home after the two week trip to Hidden Leaf. Suddenly, Naruto froze and there was the squeak and smoke puff of a disrupted kage bunshin from a nearby bush. Tension skyrocketed for a moment in the silence of the windless day, before Naruto laughed uneasily and concluded, "Eheheh... He just tripped and landed on a sharp stick..."
Sweating and trembling with nerves, Tazuna snapped, "Hey, you midget! Stop acting like a super moron!"
Another squeal and pop, and a muttered explanation of "... stuck in a bramble bush..." made the architects teeth grind, and the third, with the sheepish admission, "...I dunno what that one was, he was just standing under a tree..." prompted a painful noogie and more shouting.
Gai was too focussed on the ground where the last bunshin had vanished to pay close attention, however. *Those holes in the soil... senbon?* He'd felt a faint burst of killing intent at the same moment Naruto had paused that time.
Suddenly he jumped back, pulling the blond along by the collar of his jacket, as a huge blade whirled out of the underbrush and slammed into and halfway through the trunk of a nearby tree.
In a moment of shocked realization, Gai recognised the owner who appeared standing balanced on the long hilt. "Ah! The Hidden Mist's missing-nin... Momoichi Zabuza!" He reached out and held back the two boys who'd tensed to attack, but Rikou darted by outside his reach.
"UNCLE ZABU!!" she shouted happily, leaping up and tackle-hugging the man right off his feet, balance overwhelmed by ninety-some pounds of equipment and ecstatic teenage girl. Landing on his hands and the balls of his feet, the fearsome missing-nin was soon pulled back upright, the better for Rikou to glomp on like... well, like she usually did with Naruto, only with a completely different attitude. Getting the good look he'd been denied by the need to dodge those animal scouts at last, he recognised the Leaf jounin and cringed as the man came up to grab and shake his (one) free hand, babbling about youth power and long separated family.
He was starting to get a bit short of breath and wonder if this wasn't really an amazingly cunning capture ploy when the girl spotted Haku perching in the branches overhead, and (finally!) let go to face his partner. "You must be Hyaku-chan!" she declared. "Of course Mom heard about the child Uncle Zabu saved from abandonment and adopted... Such a gesture, to atone for his murder of one hundred by raising an orphan named 'Hundred!'"
Haku too fell prey to the terrible power of the tackle-hug, landing flat on the mossy ground with Rikou astraddle. "OH HYAKU-NEECHAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHOWING UNCLE ZABU THE PROPER WAY of... ah?"
The Leaf kunoichi blinked, sat up, and patted Haku's chest. "Eh?" she muttered. "Even I've got at least a handful..."
"I'm a boy," he told her. "Also, my name is Haku."
A Rikou-shaped cloud of smoke dissipated off his chest with a muffled "Eep," as she appeared ten feet away, face beet red.
Leaping back up to his sword and collecting his scattered poise, Zabuza tried to regain his customary air of menace but was all too aware that the tense atmosphere he took such pains in creating around his targets was completely destroyed - to the point that even he couldn't muster much in the way of killing intent. Not with such shining eyes looking up at him, wordlessly proclaiming his niece's love and trust. *How could anyone feel such things and call themselves a ninja?* he complained mentally, forcing a sneer under the bandages that covered his lower face. "Sorry, you kids," he growled, "but that old man, is mine."
Dancing happily around the small clearing, Rikou stopped as she linked hands with their client. "You hear that, Tazuna-san? Uncle Zabu is here to protect you too, for the dreams of all of Wave country! That Gatou snake's thugs won't have a chance now!"
Zabuza shared an incredulous look with Haku, and manfully resisted the urge to palm his face. "You misunderstand," he grated. "I'm not here to protect the geezer. My mission..." Here he vanished in a blur, the massive sword cutting the rest of the way through the tree truck as it sliced free, only to reapper pressed against the back of Tazuna's neck. "...is to kill him!"
Staring into his sea green, browless eyes over the terrified architect's shoulder, Rikou protested weakly, "...take it back." Her wide, dark eyes began to tremble as she repeated, "Uncle Zabu, take it back! My uncle Zabu would never do such a terrible, nasty thing... My uncle Zabu isn't the kind of evil person I always got teased for being related to... YOU TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW, UNCLE ZABU!!"
So... shiny... He almost folded right then, under the trembling weight of those eyes, but it was the kunai that suddenly appeared in his niece's hand, pressed against the edge of his blade and amazingly, managing to push it away from the old man's neck that finally did it. "You take that back right now, or you're not my Uncle Zabu," she told him warningly. "Even before that, I'm a proud kunoichi of the Leaf, and I can't let you hurt the person I'm supposed to protect." Even with their difference in leverage, she had to have some serious strength to oppose him, an A-ranked elite.
It was a good thing he'd long ago fallen out of the habit of grinding his teeth, or Zabuza would have done serious damage to his tongue with their filed-sharp points. "Kids wearing headbands and playing at being ninja," he growled in frustration, slinging the massive zanbatou into the harness across his back.
"HEY! HEY!" Naruto shouted, before he could rant any more. "Rikou-chan is an excellent ninja!" the blond asserted.
"YOSH!" Lee agreed. "The power of her springtime of youth is truly amazing!"
Gai too favored the infamous missing-nin with a subdued (for him, meaning it only went a third of the way across his face) smile and reminded him, "It did overcome even you, you know."
"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto enthused. "But now everything's okay and we'll get to have a big party to welcome you to the Leaf! DATTEBAYO! PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY!"
Between the shouting, the arguing, the celebrating and the old civilian's heavy drinking as he tried to either make sense of the sudden turn-around or get so sloshed he didn't care, they were still on the wrong side of the lake by the time night fell.
---=- + -=---
Late that night, Zabuza and Gai stared silently across the campfire into each others' eyes. The genin had climbed into their bed rolls hours before, and even Tazuna had finally exceeded his tolerance and drank himself into unconsciousness. Haku and some of the Leaf jounin's summoned turtles were keeping watch - on each other as much as the surroundings, of course - so it was just the two men.
"The real reason?" Gai asked, at length.
The Demon of the Bloody Mist had unwrapped his bandages when they made camp to eat the evening meal - his own trail rations, of course, trust between even nominally allied ninja was a scarce commodity let alone in the kind of bizarre semi-truce they'd somehow found themselves in.
The missing-nin flashed sharpened teeth in a predator's grin at his brother-in-law and rumbled, "Want to make sure I'm not just insinuating myself into the group, to strike from behind as I choose? Heh, maybe I am..." He smiled more widely still at the lack of reaction to the teasing threat, then became serious again. "I fight for my own ideals, and that will never change. A ninja is a tool, made to kill... But all tools must have a hand to wield them, and killing must have a reason, even if it is only for a test, or known to a ninja's client. Even more than that..."
He reached out to stroke the spine of his massive sword, leaning against the log serving as his seat. A faint pulse of chakra twinged in Gai's senses and he had the oddest impression that the infamous zanbato was purring, though no actual sound or vibration manifested.
"... A ninja is no simple blade, a cheap kunai to be thrown and forgotten. Shinobi are a tool like my Kubikiri Houcho, a fearsome sword but one that can turn in the hand of an unworthy user and strike them a mortal blow." Zabuza's fingers played along the smooth metal for long seconds. "How is my big sister, these days?" he asked, but gave no time to respond before adding, "I heard from her, you know, just before I made my attempt on the Mizukage. She said that her daughter Rikou had entered the Leaf's Ninja Academy ... She was very proud."
He looked up at Gai's eyes again, before continuing. "I had a plan to deal with that corrupt fool of a Mizukage, but due to certain circumstances I had to act before it was fully prepared, and so it failed. Yet even in failure, I have counted myself a success... How good is the intelligence division of your peace-loving Village Hidden in Leaves? Did they ever find out the reasons why I acted prematurely? Would they even have told you, married to an ex-Mist-nin, one who formally retired to avoid being declared outlaw and could legally return to the Water Country at any time?"
Gai simply quirked one of his abundant eyebrows at the man on the other side of the flames. Zabuza chuckled, hardly needing to be told that any details about Konoha's Espionage/Counter-Espionage Division would be among the least likely things he'd be hearing tonight.
"The Village Hidden in Mist's spies are very good, especially within the village itself. If they weren't, the Mizukage would have had a dagger in his back long ago courtesy of one clan head or another. When I heard from Keiunko... The seal of that letter had been opened. The Mist's spymaster didn't know his assistant was on my payroll, so when the Hunter-nin were ordered to bring her head and the heads of the Leaf-nin who'd turned her and their child, soon to begin training as a soldier who might be used against the Mist, -that- was when I acted."
Shaken out of his professional calm by the coldly delivered threat his family had faced without ever even knowing it, Gai took on a striken look. Certainly they'd known his wife's old superiors had been less than pleased with her change of allegiance, even if their countries were supposedly at peace and she had held true to her oaths to end her ninja career and keep what secrets she knew. As a lowly chuunin only recently promoted there weren't many to begin with, and it had seemed unlikely that any serious action would be taken; the more so as time passed and nothing had come of it beyond a few sternly worded diplomatic exchanges. Of course, if two of the major countries were unlikely to go to war over a single retired chuunin, they would be no more likely to do so over her death, or even her jounin husband and their child.
"Haku assassinated the captain of the hunter-nin squad assigned the duty and took his place long enough to delay them until I could strike... And even when I failed, they were reassigned to chase me instead of going after a meaningless target only chosen because the Mizukage needed to make an example of someone to remind the clans who was in charge. -Unfortunately- they had bad luck in the pursuit, and that failure weakened the Mizukage's influence so now it's basically the Council that runs the Mist... Not that those old farts are much of an improvement," he sneered sarcastically.
"Hm, bad luck? Your youthful companion Haku-san perhaps led them astray to make an escape?" the Green Beast suggested, brighening visibly as his thoughts turned back toward more positive, familiar channels.
"Escape? Oh no, none of them escaped. The bad luck was, they found me!" That predator's grin was back and dripping with remembered malice, as the man and his zanbato both quivered for an instant like the string of a drawn bow. The moment passed, and the two jounin relaxed again as Zabuza wrapped up his explanation.
"Ninja are tools made to kill, to bring their village, their country, and the ones who live in it money, power, and the respect of other countries. That is the ideal for which I have always fought, though now I must choose the hand as well as being the weapon, and can bring benefit only to myself and Haku. Just because Keiunko-oneesan found a life in another country, another village... I will not abandon her. Just because some walking -scum- has money to buy the death of a man, does not mean there is enough money in the world to buy the death of my cute niece, or my sister's beloved husband!"
Again, between ninja of their caliber it went without saying - the Leaf-nin would defend the client to the last drop of blood. Holding back impassioned cries only out of respect for his sleeping students nearby, Gai's cheeks still flowed with manly tears as he surged to his feet. Zabuza was up and in a guard stance with his sword just as fast, warning, "Death is one thing, but if you try to hug me, I WILL cut off your arms, Maito Gai."
---=- + -=---
(continues in part b)