Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Three Days Later:

The short pudgy businessman Gato sits in his grand mansion surrounded by swordsmen and archers. In front of him is Zabuza the Demon of the Mist. "So you want me to take out the bridge builder?" the missing nin grunts dangerously. He is leaning forward in a chair with his massive blade over his shoulder.

"That's right, Mr. Zabuza. I will of course pay you the agreed upon amount for it," Gato says. He puffs on an expensive cigar and his guards keep a careful eye on their guest.

Zabuza grins under his bandages, "Alright, I will kill this man for you, but if you do not pay me what you owe I will kill you myself."

"Of course, of course," the greasy businessman assures him. "Do you have any associates that I should know about?"

Zabuza answers, "No. I will return when the job is finished." He walks out. The mercenaries stay out of his way, a few of them with knocking knees.

Once he is out of sight, the doors are slammed shut. Gato laughs loudly, "Rogue ninjas are so trusting! They believe anything you tell them. Isn't it funny, boys?" The mercenaries laugh with their boss.

Outside the mansion, Zabuza disappears. He reappears an hour later at the hideout. A small cave behind a waterfall has shelves built into it with rough wooden chairs and tables inside. The two boys practice their sword katas in perfect unison. They face each other and their blades come within a centimeter of each other's skin at any given time. Rin sits at the table with a scroll.

She sends chakra into the blank paper to bring to light the current condition of Kimimaro's body. She looks at the blood and chakra network along with his bone structure. Her eyes carefully examine the lung diagrams for any sign of the cancer coming back. After an hour or two, she proclaims that they are both in perfect health. She slides the scroll back into her backpack when Zabuza reappears.

"How did it go?" she asks respectfully.

Zabuza rests his sword against a chair and collapses into the other one. "He says he will pay us, but I have news of other ninja being hired too. I am going to observe them. If they kill our target, we will kill them and take the head back to Gato."

Rin frowns darkly as she stuffs her backpack with more force. Zabuza ignores his resident medic while the boys answer, "Yes, Master Zabuza."

"Such good tools," Zabuza says proudly. "Your training is coming along well. I have never seen such natural potential for swordsmanship." The boys' faces light up. They stay that way despite him continuing harshly, "But don't let it get to your head! A cocky tool is a useless one." They continue their training in silence.

The Next Day:

Zabuza watches from a high tree perch with binoculars. "Well, well. If it isn't Kakashi the Sharingan. It looks like they managed to rummage up more money than Gato thought," he chuckles. "This is exciting." The Uchiha runt dodges the initial surprise attack from the Demon Brothers, mildly surprising Zabuza. A loud mouthed punk stood there helplessly with a pink haired fan girl. Who let these babies out of their nursery?

The Demon of the Mist watches with interest when the loud mouth, the one with the name that sounds like ramen, cuts his hand open to let the blood out. What an idiot. Effective method, but too showy and life-threatening. Zabuza scoffs under his breath, "Demon Brothers, that was sad. Truly. Kakashi, not bad. Perhaps I will let my boys take a swing or two at your cannon fodder before I kill the old man." He waits until Kakashi and his team has passed on, leaving the Demon Brothers unconscious. By the time he arrives at the scene, they are starting to wake up. They pull the kunai out that was pinning their connecting chain to the tree.

"Demon of the Mist," one brother says gruffly. "Is the bridge builder dead?"

"No," Zabuza replies casually. "Who hired you?"

"Gato," says the other brother. "Are you here to help?"

"Something like that," Zabuza grins. His blade is out and decapitates the older brother before the second can react. This is a demon indeed! The bandaged swordsman ducks under a slow punch from the remaining ninja and is sliced up the middle by the massive blade. Zabuza cleans his blade as he examines the mess he left. "This should pay the bills until I kill the bridge builder," he muses. "Not big fry, but their heads are still valuable."

The Next Day:

The young dark haired ninja holds his bunny tightly in the bushes. He spies on the passing ninja guarding their target. Haku cautiously and silently uncorks his water bottle. He makes a fluid outward hand gesture to draw out the water when the loud mouth in orange throws a kunai randomly in his direction. Haku dodge the blade, rolling into the surrounding shrubbery, but Mr. Fluffy Thumper is left behind. Haku is about to reach for the rabbit when Rin appears next to him, gripping his wrist, and putting a finger to her mouth. He watches helplessly as Kakashi of the Sharingan investigates, only to find a terrified rabbit with the kunai barely touching the top of its furry head.

The pink haired girl bashes the loud mouth in the head while shouting. Kimimaro watches from the branches on the opposite side of the pathway. He thinks, 'Are these really ninja?'

Zabuza spins in a quick circle before launching his sword at Kakashi's head. The veteran ducks under it, pushing his wards to the ground. Zabuza leaps high in the air, flips, and lands feet first on the handle of his sword just after it impales a tree. Splinters fly in all directions. "You dodged. As expected of Kakashi of the Sharingan," Zabuza chuckles darkly. "It would seem this village was able to scrounge up more money than I was led to expect. Hand over the bridge builder and I'll let you walk away with your life."

Haku recovers Mr. Fluffy while the attention is on their master. Kimimaro waits for a signal, but Zabuza is too caught up in terrifying the Leaf Genin. Rin frowns as the battle begins.

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