Despite realizing exactly who he was up against, Zabusa didn't let it deter him from attempting to kill the bridge builder. What Zabusa didn't count on was the fact that Hermione had long since perfected the temporary ward that could be cast in less than a minute.

Not exactly fast for a shinobi, but if given a chance to use it in the field, it would stop anything short of a kekkei genkai. She knew, because she had it tested it extensively.

It could stay up for as long as she needed, and it barely cost any magic once you got the ritual done with.

The only real downside was that you were essentially trapped in a bubble with the only way out was to break the circle.

If you had done the ritual correctly, then it could be set up with a single word.

"Reflecto!"

While Haru and Anko distracted Zabusa, the shield went around Hermione and Tazuna. He was very, very surprised to find that he couldn't get to the bridge builder as long as the bubble was up.

Which meant he had to take out the two shinobi first.

Zabusa inwardly winced...taking out two of the three biggest sadists in Konoha was going to be a major pain in the ass.

He tried hiding in the mists...and decided to skip using his killing intent. It wouldn't work on two shinobi who specialized in torture. If anything it would make them laugh.

He bent over backwards almost literally when Anko sent her snakes at him...only to find Haru's massive shuriken being thrown his way. He barely avoided getting his head cut off.

He did wonder what the odd contraption on the Green Eyed Demon's arm was though.

He found out pretty quick when the thing launched fifty shuriken at him with deadly accuracy.

He raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Why a shuriken launcher?" he asked.

"...I can't throw worth a damn," Haru deadpanned.

Zabusa found that rather...amusing. You had to be able to throw in order to get to that level, so finding out that the second most feared male in interrogation couldn't throw was funny.

He quickly revised that thought when another massive shuriken came his way with deadly accuracy.

"Now aiming is something I'm rather good at," he said in a bored tone.

Which is how Zabusa came face to face with the other part of Haru's arsenal. Since he couldn't throw worth a damn, he found another way to send projectiles to his enemies.

For the shuriken he used Hermione's launcher...but for kunai he used something completely different.

It was a modified crossbow, with an automatic reloading mechanism. It was something he developed after he became chunin.

Zabusa retreated to the water...only to find Anko waiting. On a giant marine snake. Who looked hungry.

He was so screwed if Haku didn't hurry up.

He tried to ensnare her in a water prison, but Haru wasn't letting up. It took a moment to find out why he wasn't in the water jutsu.

The brat was flying...on a stick.

Hermione facepalmed.

"You still kept your broom? I would have thought you had found a decent substitute for it by now."

"And miss the looks on their faces when they see it? Not a chance in hell!" cackled Haru.

Suddenly a pair of senbon was lodged into his neck. If he could breathe, he would have let out a sigh of relief. Haku had cut it close.

Anko cheerfully whistled on the way to the house. Zabusa was out of commission for at least a week. She just wished she could have seen the look on that fake hunter shinobi's face when she told him to work on his acting skills before trying out for the big boys again.

Haru was walking with Hermione, and being forced to listen to her questions about the modified crossbow he used. She seemed a bit miffed he wasn't loading his launcher with both kunai and shuriken.

Even after he patiently explained that he had modified the weapon himself, she still didn't get it.

Finally Anko rescued her boyfriend by explaining to the girl that sometime shinobi gained a preference towards one way and refused to budge. Since Haru had been using the crossbow before he even gained his launcher, it was his preferred weapon. The fact that he had modified it himself only added to it.

The fact was, that Haru had used the crossbow for kunai and an enlarging charm for the shuriken for the past two years. The fact that the shuriken launcher wasn't handed out until four months ago apparently never figured into Hermione's rant.

Once Anko offered to take first watch just in case, Haru went to his designated room and crashed.

Anko and Haru worked out a schedule. While one guarded Tazuna, the other would train. And then switch places the next day.

Hermione would guard the house and help the daughter. It gave her some peace and quiet while she worked on her new inventions to help the magical refugees integrate more smoothly with the shinobi.

The shinobi bore the newcomers with patient ease for the most part, but there wasn't any doubt in Haru's mind that eventually the other shinobi would figure out the weak links and go after them specifically. Hell, the only reason why aurors were even allowed on out-of-village missions was so they could handle the paperwork for the shinobi.

It was more or less the only thing that kept the ninja from complaining about the sudden increase. They hated paperwork with a passion.

Though in a bizarre case of reverse specie-ism, the shinobi almost always sided with the goblins whenever the more close minded magicals got into a fight with them, despite the fact that they weren't even human. That always confused the offending party, at least until they figured out the mutual respect the shinobi had for the goblin clans and their warriors.

Haru was taking a nap when he awoke to someone poking him. The low, constant chakra hum under the skin told him that this was the fake hunter that had rescued Zabusa earlier.

Haru sat up, amused more than anything. If she had just passed on by he never would have noticed (or cared) that she had been so close to him.

"You do realize I have a girlfriend, right?" he said dryly.

She backed off as if stung. The subtle joke was a hint that he knew who she was. The fact he hadn't killed her yet spoke volumes about himself.

"You knew?"

"You didn't shut off the chakra hum. Be glad you didn't wake Anko up, or she would have killed you for it."

The girl (or was it boy?) stiffened.

"Relax. It's too nice a day to have a ninja battle. Out looking for herbs to heal your master?"

The kid nodded. He couldn't be older than Naruto or Sasuke by a year, if that.

"Let me help then. Wouldn't be fair to Anko if she went after someone who wasn't at their best," he chuckled.

"Why are you two together? I would have thought you and the brown haired civilian..." she asked.

"Anko and I had more in common. Besides, 'Mione is more of a sister than a girlfriend. Though never stand in her way of a good book... You'd be likely to get killed or worse," he grinned.

The kid grinned.

"So are you really from Kiri or the outlands?" he asked.

"A small village outside of it. Because of my kekkei genkai, my father killed my mother and tried to kill me."

Haku couldn't help himself. Even if he was the Green Eyed Demon, he was relaxing to talk to. Even knowing that he was an enemy, Haru Uchiha had made no move to attack. If anything he was positively laid back.

"Ouch. Sounds almost as bad as mine."

He looked at him.

"My aunt and uncle were forced to take me in, despite the fact that they hated my parents. I was stuck in their house for ten years as little more than an unpaid slave until I was eleven, when the man who left me there without a word retrieved me. Took me four years to get away from him and now I'm a jounin level shinobi from a civilian background."

"...You have a kekkei genkai too?"

"I suppose you could call it that, but where I lived it's so widespread that it's more like chakra than anything. You can be born to it through a family connection or by chance. It's kinda like how some people have what is needed to become shinobi and those who don't."

That made more sense than it didn't. Because of his kekkei genkai, he had a better chance of actually being a shinobi than most civilian children who unlocked their chakra coils.

Haru cheerfully chatted with the boy, despite being on opposite sides of the battlefield. When Haku finally left, he found himself with a sense of unease.

Haru Uchiha was like no one he had ever gone after. He could cheerfully chat up enemies without caring that they would soon have to kill each other. It made no sense. And his sense of humor was definitely not as morbid as his master, despite having the same level as Zabusa.

It made absolutely no sense.

Anko glared at her boyfriend. He had run into the second shinobi who was on Zabusa's side...and all he did was chat with the boy?

"You're supposed to kill enemy shinobi, not flirt with them," said Anko crossly.

"I'm fairly certain the kid was male, love."

"That's not the point! Why did you let him leave alive?"

"Because you would pout and bitch if Zabusa came back half strength instead of giving you a good fight," he countered.

Anko quit whining. He was more or less right. Zabusa was the most action she had gotten in the battlefield in a while, since she usually spent her days in the T and I building cooped up. Torture was fun and all, but she needed more action than that.

"I wonder how Naruto and Sasuke are handling their first C rank," Hermione said to break the silence.

(Elsewhere in Sand)

Naruto and Sasuke sneezed, which cleared out their clogged sinuses. The sand was giving them stuffy noses, along with Kiba who had proclaimed he couldn't smell anything but sand at this point.

Kakashi was at his wit's end with the five of them (he counted Hoshi and Akamaru who were whining as much as their owners at this point) and was about to boot them out of the guest quarters.

About the only good thing to happen during this mission was that Naruto made a friend in what appeared to be Sand's jinchuriki.

Gaara was rather happy to find out he wasn't the only one to suffer, and had taken Kakashi's suggestion to meditate instead of sleep seriously. According to the insomniac, it helped to alleviate his desire to murder Kiba Inuzuka for whining so much.

Because of the unusual friendship, Gaara and his team gave the Leaf genin a tour of the village...and a warning that all was not right in Sand.

Temari and Kankuro were both of the opinion that something was very wrong with the Kazekage...who also happened to be their father. Even Gaara admitted something seemed off, and he normally wanted nothing to do with his father.

Which was why Kakashi had Naruto let go of Hoshi...who had the curiosity of a cat sometimes. Sure enough, once Naruto managed to get control of the pup, he reported that the man who claimed to be the Kazekage reeked of blood, snakes and chemicals.

Which fit one of two people. One of which was in Konoha last he checked.

He would have to report to the Hokage that Orochimaru was currently masquerading as the Kazekage. This...would not end well.

Haru woke up a little too late.

He should really quit reading whenever he couldn't sleep. The book he found in the village was so interesting he had difficultly putting it down. And that was after he checked that no one had placed any magic on it within a couple of chapters.

Now he was tired as well as late. It was his turn to train today. At least that was the plan.

Instead he took out two samurai who were trying to use Tazuna's daughter as leverage.

Once he took out the trash, he decided to inspire little Inari into action. The kid was brave...he just needed a reason to let that show.

He actually reminded Haru of Neville a little bit.

Haru found Hermione with Tazuna, in the ward like before. Anko was going after Zabusa alone while her clones attacked his apprentice.

So Haru went after the boy he ran into in the woods.

Haku suddenly found himself confronted by the same odd jounin from before. Only this time he wasn't so calming.

He did raise an eyebrow at the fact that Haru could only use large shuriken normally, but it didn't stop him from landing senbon in the man's arms.

Haru grinned. While Haku had somehow disabled his chakra points with some accuracy, he still had his fallback option.

Haru used the full body bind on Haku once the boy came out of the mirrors, assured that Haru couldn't use any jutsu. While he couldn't direct it safely with his wand or any hand signs, he could aim it somewhat in the direction of Haku.

Padfoot was too busy helping Anko to assist him.

Haku went ramrod straight, unable to move. Anko's clone removed the senbon, though his arms were rather numb.

When the mist suddenly parted, Haru could see that Zabusa was suffering from the poisons in Anko's favorite snakes. If he was lucky, Anko would deliver the anti venom.

(She only carried it because of the Hokage's complaints...and because Ibiki proved it would make the victim's suffering longer if she kept them barely alive.)

At that moment, Haru stared. At the end of the unfinished bridge was a large group of a hundred and fifty mercenaries and what appeared to be a well dressed dwarf.

"Who the hell is that?" he asked.

"That's Gato," said Tazuna.

"That runt is Gato?" said Haru incredulous.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

When Haru saw the look in the man's eyes, he knew. Gato was planning on killing Zabusa and Haku.

"Oh Anko dear...I believe you just gained fifty new playthings. Perhaps Manda-dono would accept them as sacrifices?" suggested Haru sweetly.

Anko gained a glint in her eyes. Manda usually only helped if the summoner fed him human sacrifices. She just kept some poor schmucks from the T and I department on reserve if she had to use him.

Haru's suggestion actually made her insane grin a hundred times worse. The poor mercenaries shivered at the sight of it.

"Can you send them to that room? Who knows what sort of info they could give us," she grinned.

"Toss me a few chakra pills. Little Haku somehow screwed up my control, so it might be messy."

Zabusa stared past him to see Haku on the ground, almost perfectly straight. At first he thought the boy was dead, until he realized that the chest was still moving up and down.

"Relax, I only put him in a bind. Once we deal with these idiots I'll take it off," Haru assured him.

Anko tossed him a few pills. With the overabundance of chakra now in his system, he sent forty of the mercenaries to Anko's special holding cell. The other ten didn't survive the trip.

Gato was completely exposed...and Zabusa was pissed. Seeing the look in his eyes, Haru gave him a kunai. Zabusa ran right into the mess...and while being wounded he managed to cut off the head of the man who tried to destroy an innocent village.

Haku's eyes widened in horror. With that many wounds it was unlikely Zabusa would survive.

At least, that was the consensus.

Hermione broke the ward, and promptly brought out her full healer's kit. The Hokage made it mandatory for any magical who went out into the field to carry healing potions and to know basic first aid. She used her magic to deduce where he was injured and went to work.

To the shock of everyone except Haru and Anko, Zabusa was actually sitting up in twenty minutes. Her potions always worked fast.

"That reminds me! Finite Incantatum," said Haru.

Haku sat up, and winced. That had been rather uncomfortable for him.

"So now the only question is what to do with you two?" said Haru.

Zabusa was still recovering, and since the main threat to the bridge builder was gone, Haru had gone with the two to their hideout. Anko would switch with him in a few hours.

Just because Gato was dead didn't mean they could ignore the two being in the area.

"If I could, I would go back to Kiri. But I still haven't earned enough cash to kill the Mizukage."

"Actually..." said Haru.

Haku and Zabusa stared at him.

"The Mizukage was replaced a year ago. Someone found out that he had a kekkei genkai and the shinobi were rather pissed about that. I heard a rumor he went and joined a criminal organization but I don't know if that's true," said Haru.

"Haku couldn't return to Kiri...they would kill him on sight," said Zabusa.

"He told me about his kekkei genkai. I think that's the reason why the Hokage refused to send any magicals anywhere near Mizu."

Zabusa couldn't leave without taking Haku with him, but his apprentice wouldn't be able to go near his home country without being killed on sight.

"Perhaps there's another solution. Why not have Haku return with us to Konoha while you return to Kiri? That way you can get stronger and he'll be safe from Kiri assassins. It's not like he was in their shinobi records to begin with."

"How do I know you wouldn't stick him in some cell?" asked Zabusa. It was better than anything he could come up with.

"One, I would never hear the end of it from Hermione, and two, he reminds me a lot of my little cousin and brother."

"Who's your brother?"

"The container to the Nine Tailed Fox," said Haru bluntly.

Haku's eyes widened. He had run into one of the Bijuu containers once...and the man had been insane.

"Oh would you relax? Naruto is the biggest prankster in the village. The worst he's every done is pranked the Hokage with his own jutsu."

"What jutsu is that?" asked Zabusa, morbidly curious.

He really should have known better than to ask, particularly when Haru gained an evil glint to make Anko proud.

"SEXY JUTSU!"

Seeing the eyes of Zabusa and Haku widen, he went to the secondary form of Naruto's technique.

"And of course...HAREM JUTSU!"

"GAH!" Zabusa was knocked out from massive blood loss, and Haku's face was entirely red.

"To think a nine year old came up with this!" cackled Haru. Zabusa just twitched.