Author's Note: A short little filler chappie before a REALLY BIG ONE that's going to be pretty different from canon.

Chapter Four

"Reputations are a funny thing. First impressions tend to create them."

They made it through the pathways, past the forests, and onto a black pebble beach. A chilly sea wind whipped their faces as they stared out over the mists floating above the foamy, iron grey water.

"Don't fall in," Ino muttered. "It looks freezing."

Hinata smirked humorlessly and Sakura shuddered.

They found a man waiting with a small fishing boat to take them to the island of the Wave. They all climbed in, the boat bobbing and rocking, and plunked themselves down. Silently, he began rowing them, as they swayed this way and that, toward the Wave.

"Why are we rowing even though the boat has a motor?" Sakura asked uncertainly. "And… why aren't we taking some more… official means of transportation into the Wave?"

Tazuna laughed harshly. "There is no longer any 'official means of transportation' into the Wave. We've been sealed off from the rest of the world. We're rowing instead of using a motor because we're trying to pass unnoticed, so keep your voices down."

They lowered their heads, gazing around nervously, and spoke in hushed tones. Only Kurenai seemed calm, staring at Tazuna piercingly.

"Who cut you off?" Hinata asked, concerned.

"Tazuna-san," said Kurenai icily, "now would be a very good time for you to start talking."

Tazuna sighed, and nodded. "Alright," he said. "The Wave used to be just as you said. A small, poor, but happy fishing island. Then the great corporate magnate Gato set his sights on us."

"The millionaire?" said Kurenai, pausing in surprise.

"Just him." Tazuna nodded. "He's a black market dealer who specializes in hostile corporate takeovers, but he is one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. He quickly took over all shipping on the island, choking us off. He now controls all means of transport and the entire economy. He's been squeezing us until we gasp our last breath ever since. He's a mafia dealer, basically - he exacts harsh penalties of money, institutes public executions, and he keeps us from leaving. He is an evil man. We were already poor; now we truly have nothing. And morale has been lost.

"I am a construction manager, so I did the only thing I could think of to do. I began building a bridge that should eventually stretch all the way to the mainland, a way of getting on and off the island that Gato can't control. It has thick, strong stone supports and it's damp and surrounded by water, making it almost impossible to destroy. It's about half finished -"

"But Gato decided to target you personally," said Sakura thoughtfully. "Because you're the only thing keeping him from full control over the island."

"It's psychological warfare," said Ino knowledgeably. "If some resistance leader gets killed, everyone will become even more afraid."

"They will lose what little hope they had left," said Hinata sympathetically, troubled by this story.

"So he's been sending powerful Kiri missing nin after you to assassinate you," said Kurenai. "That truly is ugly fighting. Kiri nin are already some of the most vicious ninja there are. They do not come from a kind place. Missing nin acting as mercenaries - that's even worse. And a more powerful person will probably be sent this time."

"All the same - I'd say that qualifies as a damn good reason to help them," Ino offered. "Guarding him while he finished the bridge is the least we can do."

"Yes. I would like to help," said Hinata firmly, her eyes fierce. Hinata had always had a bit of saving the world in her, and Ino's grinning smugness hid her good heart.

"We can't just turn our backs now," Sakura admitted. "We made a promise, didn't we?" Raised by people who were essentially civilians, Sakura had never truly lost her sense of honor.

Kurenai sighed. "Very well," she said. "I agree. I am willing to fight a fellow Jounin if it means helping an entire island. Besides, this would be an excellent way to prove ourselves, yes? Hokage-sama said he was counting on us. What would it look like if the first all women team turned back with their tails between their legs?

"But you should know, girls," said Kurenai seriously, "this qualifies as an A rank. When dangerous and high ranking ninja are involved, the mission goes from B to A risk level. There is a high probability we could die."

The girls nodded, nervous.

Tazuna sighed, sagging in relief. "Thank you," he said quietly. "You are good people. I will take you to my home and you can stay there during the mission, guarding me while I come and go. There's the bridge," he added, pointing, as a huge, hulking shape appeared through the mists. The girls looked around and gasped.

Already the half finished bridge was humongous. It was a massive stone thing supported by pillars, with a surface at least twice as wide as a boardwalk. The salty sea air slapped against its bottom pillars. Construction equipment arched, ghostly and empty in the fog, across its length.

"That's amazing…" more than one girl whispered. Tazuna beamed in pride, the first happy expression they had seen on him.

They rowed underneath the bridge and through a wide opening in the rocky cliff face. This was clearly not the established route. They rowed down a dark tunnel glowing orange by warning lights, and came out on the other side, squinting with their hands raised against the sudden burst of sunlight.

The mists had cleared and the Wave was beautiful. They drifted up to a little pier. Ramshackle white plaster buildings on wood stilts were set right on the water before slowly fading away into dark green, twisting land. The scent of salty sea air still pervaded the entire area.

They bumped gently against the harbor wall and climbed out, still swaying slightly, onto wood planks.

"That's all I can do for you, Tazuna," said the rower, obviously a local, seriously for the first time. "You take it from here."

"I understand. Thank you," said Tazuna meaningfully. The man turned on the motor in his boat and sped away. Tazuna turned to Team Eight. "Please lead me home safely."

They followed him around the main market and center of the village, toward the trees on the outskirts.

"Where are we going?" Ino asked, hurrying to keep up.

"My home is set away on some cliffs, not an official part of the village," said Tazuna. "I built it myself," he added, with some modicum of pride.

"Why don't we go through the market?" Sakura asked cannily. "Isn't it quicker?"

"No, this way's quicker," said Tazuna, deliberately shifty and evasive. Hinata turned on her Byakugan and looked closely at his heart rate.

He's lying, she said through the mind link, his physical stats are up, and Team Eight exchanged dark looks. Why wouldn't he want us to see the village yet?

They eventually entered trees, winding down a narrow dirt path. Just as they came to a large clearing with a pond, Hinata paused, her Byakugan still active. "Someone is watching us," she said sharply. "A ninja." There are actually two, she said through the mind link, but the other is a masked Kiri ANBU Black Ops agent and he does not seem keen to move.

Suddenly, a giant sword flew out from the surrounding underbrush - Team Eight and Tazuna were cleaved in half - and then the illusion fazed out. A massive Kiri ninja landed on the sword that had embedded itself in a tree trunk on the edge of the clearing, looking around sharply.

The final illusion fell and Team Eight and Tazuna revealed themselves, behind Kurenai and safely off to the side. She was watching the Kiri missing nin warily. He had a bare, muscular chest that was, most terrifyingly, completely unmarked. He wore camo pants, a cloth face mask, and brutally buzz cut dark hair. His eyes were fearsome, small, dark, cold, and wild in his wide-jawed, angular face.

"That's Momochi Zabuza," Kurenai told her Genin quietly. "He's a very famous Jonin level Kiri missing nin. He was one of the brutal Seven Swordsmen. Girls, stay back. I'll handle this."

"I'm honored you have heard of me. I'm afraid I can't say the same for you," said Zabuza in cruel amusement.

"Then that gives a fellow Jonin the advantage, does it not?" Sakura asked sharply before Kurenai could stop her.

Zabuza paused and gazed at her seriously. "One has the Byakugan, one can set up nonverbal communication links, and one is surprisingly intelligent with strategy," he said assessingly. So he had a brain on him, too. "Your kids aren't bad."

"They're far from kids," said Kurenai frigidly, giving him a contemptuous stare.

Zabuza sneered. "They look like kids to me."

Team Eight moved forward angrily, but Kurenai held out a hand silently and forced them back. They'd never seen her so quiet and solemn. "Don't interfere," she said simply. "Not this time. Form a swastika protective formation around Tazuna and stay there. You'll just be in my way."

"You really think an unknown Jonin can defeat me?" Zabuza asked, still with that same cruel curiosity.

"Everyone will certainly have heard of me," said Kurenai coldly, "once I have killed Momochi Zabuza in armed combat."

Zabuza grinned a terrifying smile. "You have a little fight in you… all four. I like that in a set of victims.

"I would ask you to just hand over the old man, but that's not going to happen, is it?"

Four fearful and defensive glares answered him.

He sighed. "Thought not. Very well." He smirked, eyes dancing with carefully repressed eagerness. "Let's begin."