Chapter 76: Ch.75. The Invitation

Yamato and Kakashi looked at each other and nodded.

"I believe you are Zabuza Momochi, correct?"

Zabuza shrugged as he kept his hands in the air.

"I haven't heard of anyone else by that name before, so I'll have to say yes."

"I see. It's not everyday you meet the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"Hmph! I only became a demon because the village wanted one."

Zabuza looked over everyone in the room and chuckled.

"It's pretty rude if I'm the only one to introduce myself, right?"

"...Right."

Kakashi and Yamato both weaved a seal and dispersed their transformation.

*Poof Poof*

Yamato and Kakashi both appeared in their normal mission gear and sat down in front of Zabuza and Haku. Zabuza put his hands down as he scanned the two.

"Hah! Konoha ninja, huh? I even get to see the Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. I wonder who has the honor to meet who in this situation?"

"How about we just call it a draw and continue where you left off? You want to team up with us?"

Zabuza nodded his head and grew serious.

"I have information on Gato and his forces. I just need enough back up to get what I want."

"And that is?"

"The Executioner Blade."

Kakashi and Yamato looked at each other and back at Zabuza.

"For what purpose?"

Zabuza's eyes gleamed with a cold light as he responded.

"Revolution."

"...."

The two sides stared at each other in silence as they slowly exerted pressure at each other, filling the room with suspense.

The Genin all tried to hold their ground, but the tension between the three ninja was becoming too much to bear.

Hiyo, however, felt something else besides the tension of the room. There was a shiver of excitement running through her body. She wanted to pull out her blade and strike at him!

Zabuza turned his gaze over to the other girls, but he lingered on Hiyo.

He felt a smile coming over his face as he could feel a tinge of bloodlust coming from her. His started to pour out as well!

"Ahem!"

The two snapped their heads to the source of the sound and saw Yamato clearing his throat.

Zabuza focused back on the task at hand and looked at Yamato.

"...So. What is your objective here?"

Yamato looked over at Hii, then back to Zabuza.

"Our objective is to protect Tazuna and see to the completion of the bridge."

"I see. That's good."

Zabuza crossed his arms and leaned back into the couch.

"At least we don't clash on objectives."

"That doesn't mean we can work together."

Zabuza shook his head with a chuckle.

"I think it does."

Kakashi and Yamato waited for Zabuza to continue in silence.

"I know for a fact Gato doesn't want that bridge to be made. Haku has kept a few eager ninjas in check from entering this house while Tazuna was gone. He probably wanted to finish the job with that fisherman."

"....."

"My group and I won't stay here long after I get that blade. You can have a easy time waiting for the bridge to be completed while I become the next Mist Swordsman. Benefits for both of us."

Kakashi quietly thought of the conditions and he could also see the benefits.

He still didn't agree just yet.

'There is still some information we need.'

"What are we up against exactly?"

Zabuza smiled as he began to lean forward.

"Gato has a hired mercenary named Juzo. He's part of the older generation of Hidden Mist Swordsmen and a member of some new organization. He also has around 20 rogue Mist ninjas with him."

The faces of the Yamato and Kakashi grew serious as they assessed the information.

"We took care of 8 of them on the way here. Shouldn't the number be lower?"

Zabuza shook his head.

"Those guys were most likely recruits. They only had the bare minimum of training. I would only count them as meat shields."

Yamato frowned in silence.

"What about the ones with him? How strong are they?"

"From the clashes we've had before, I'd say around Chuunin level. Only some could be considered Jonin."

Kakashi and Yamato were both silent as they analyzed the situation.

"Heh. Haku can probably take care of all of them, but I'm not going to risk my weapon on small fries like that."

Kakashi and Yamato frown at the mention of weapon, but Haku nodded his head in agreement.

"What?! You just consider him a weapon?!"

Naruko snaps at that while Haku turns his head and smiles.

"Yes. I am Zabuza's trusted weapon."

"What?!"

Naruko was too shocked to respond back to the sincere look in Haku's eyes.

Zabuza looks at Haku for a moment and then back to Naruko.

"Konoha seems to only have pretty girls left to be ninja?"

Kakashi turned to look at Naruko and Sasuki and nodded his head.

Naruko and Sasuki both raised a handsign, releasing their Jutsu.

*Poof Poof*

Naruto and Sasuke appeared once the smoke cleared, both glaring at Zabuza for different reasons.

'How dare he treat someone like Haku as a weapon!'

'This guy! He's strong!'

Hiyo sighed and also undid his transformation.

*Poof*

Hii reappeared after the smoke cleared, shocking Zabuza and Haku.

"Huh?! I thought you were the actual girl in the group?!"

"No. I'm a boy too."

"Oh my. We have a lot in common, don't we?"

Hii looked over at Haku with a wry grin.

"People don't confuse me for a girl, Haku-san."

Haku giggled at his response.

"I bet if you just dressed like me, they would."

"......"

Hii decided not to respond to that and just looked over at his Sensei for assistance.

"Ahem! Anyway, did you have a plan in mind to get the blade?"

Yamato came with the assist, bringing the topic back to the main problem.

"I had an idea, but I need to know how many people we have to work with."

Kakashi and Yamato look at each other once more and then back to Zabuza.

"There's just 5 of us he-."

"That's a lie."

Haku coldly interrupted Kakashi's sentence with a serious face.

Kakashi frowned for a moment and sighed.

"...There's 8 of us."

"Heh! A rather big group. Well, adding in our group as well, we have 12 people total."

Kakashi and Yamato both scanned Zabuza for any lies, but found he was being honest.

Kakashi scratched his head and sighed.

"How can this benefit us? Seems like you would get everything you want for cheap."

"...What conditions do you have on your end then? If they aren't too crazy, they can be done."

Kakashi thought for a moment and raised up 3 fingers.

"There are three conditions for us to cooperate. One, you have to assist in protecting Tazuna-san and his family while he makes the bridge."

Zabuza thinks for a moment and nods his head.

"Fine. What about the other two?"

"You have to let Haku be my model!"

Yamato yelled out in passion, catching Zabuza off guard!

"...Model?"

"That's right! If Haku-san is my model, the project will have a much better chance in being successful!"

Yamato quickly rose up and reached for the photo album he worked on earlier and handed it to Zabuza.

"See?! Haku-san has a talent for it! Look at the synergy between the four! There's also his awareness of the camera! It's perfect!"

Zabuza looks at the photos with a frown. 

He checked them out of obligation to make forming an alliance possible, but he began to feel strange as he looked through them.

'These are....'

Zabuza couldn't believe it. 

He actually thought they were pretty good!

"....."

Zabuza handed the album back in silence and turns to look at Haku.

"Haku. What do you-"

"I want to continue modeling, Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza looks into Haku's eyes and notices a strange feeling of determination coming from him.

They stare at each other for a moment until it's Zabuza's turn to sigh.

"...Fine. The third one?"

"Yes!"

Kakashi looks over at the three Genin in the room and Yamato celebrating a small victory.

Naruto was scowling at Zabuza while Sasuke looked at both ninja with a frown.

Hii, on the other hand, had a thoughtful expression on his face, but Kakashi could see his knuckles clenching rather tightly.

"...How about you spar with the Genin after we push Gato out of the village?"

""Huh?!""

Everyone was shocked by Kakashi's suggestion!

"You can consider it practice with your new blade while the kids can get more practical experience fighting someone of your level. It would be a much better experience than fighting their teachers."

"...Hahahaha!"

Zabuza started to laugh heartily for a moment before he calmed down.

He then suddenly exuded harsh killing intent towards everyone in the room!

"Guh!"

"Ugh!"

"...."

The three Genin flinched at the direct onslaught of pressure, but they all slowly stared back at Zabuza!

Hii was the quickest to recover while Naruto and Sasuke both quickly stood their ground!

"...."

Zabuza slowly retracted his pressure with a smile on his face.

"These brats aren't half bad. I thought one of them would've piss themselves for sure! Fine. I could use all the practice I can get. Don't cry over any injuries though. I'm not known to be nice."

Zabuza nodded his head and looked at Kakashi.

"I have a condition as well. I just don't want you to tell the Hidden Mist any of us were here. You can't try to capture us as well afterwards. Otherwise, I'll show no mercy."

"...Fine."

Zabuza stood up and reached his hand out to Kakashi. 

Kakashi also stood up and the two shake hands on the agreement.

"Haku will keep in touch with you to contact me. My other two comrades will keep an eye on the old man and his family as well. I'll inform you once I finalize a good plan."

"That's fine. You keep your end of the deal and we'll keep ours."

Zabuza nodded his head and weaved a hand seal.

*Poof*

 He transformed back into a frail old man and started to head out of the house. Haku quickly followed behind him as he grabbed Zabuza's arm to support him.

"Wait!"

The group all turned to see Tazuna standing near the stairs as he looked at the old man.

He suddenly bowed his head low towards Zabuza!

"Even if it wasn't intentional, I want to thank you for saving my son-in law and my family!"

"...Hmph."

Zabuza just snorted and continued out of the house with Haku's assistance.

Tazuna lifted his head back up only when he heard his front door close.

"Grrr! What's with that guy?!"

Naruto growled in anger as he clenched his fists.

"Calm down, Naruto. Some people are just like that. You have to learn to deal with all kinds of strange characters in the future. It's a requirement to be Hokage."

Kakashi sighed and looked at Tazuna.

"I imagine you heard most of that, correct?"

Tazuna nodded his head.

"If Gato can get kicked out of the town faster, I'm all for it!"

Kakashi nodded his head and looked over at the boys.

"For now, just tolerate Zabuza's attitude. You can let your aggressions out at him after this is over."

"Hmph! I'll punch him in the face for sure!"

"Be quiet, idiot. Just don't get in the way."

Naruto burned with motivation while Sasuke seemed eager to fight him as well.

Kakashi turned to Hii and noticed he was looking over at the door in a daze.

"You alright, Hii-kun?"

"Huh?! Yeah! Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good. Now let's see what happened with the girls."

Yamato slapped his head in shock!

"Right! I nearly forgot they were in the other room!"

He quickly jumped up and went to the room they hid in.

"Girls! Are you okay in there?"

"Y-Yeah! Just give us a moment!"

Shizuka's nervous voice shouted out from behind the door.

The boys were puzzled as they heard a lot of movement from behind the door until it finally opened.

Shizuka and Maka came out first while Sakura came out with a dead expression.

"Hey? Are you okay, Sakura-chan?"

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Sakura's face was devoid of color as she slowly nodded her head at Naruto's question and walked towards their room like a zombie.

'Hmm?'

Hii seemed to notice something as he watched Sakura leave.

'Wasn't she wearing a different pair of pants before?'

[....Just leave it alone.]

{Poor girl. That's real embarrassing.}

Hii quickly realized what happened and looked over at his squad mates.

They both sent a sharp glare towards him. He quickly nodded his head, making the two slowly retract their gaze.

"Nee-san? What happened to Sakura? She looked down."

"Don't worry about her. We just took a bit of damage from Haku-san earlier when we peeked in."

"Damage?! Are you hurt?!"

Shizuka patted Naruto's head with a smile.

"It's a girl thing. Don't worry about it!"

"...Well, if you say so..."

Shizuka nodded her head and quickly chased after Sakura along with Maka.

Sasuke came over to Hii and leaned close to his ear.

"Hey. Do you know what happened?"

Sasuke had noticed their interaction early and figured Hii could tell him.

Hii looked over at Sasuke and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sasuke. You will probably never learn what happened in there. I suggest you just forget it ever happened if you value your life."

Sasuke became even more confused at the advice until he felt a freezing glare on his back.

He quickly turned around and saw Maka staring at him from behind the door.

She slowly shook her head from side to side as she stared at him and closed the door silently.

Sasuke felt cold sweat pouring down his back as he took a deep breath.

"...I think you might be right."

Hii nodded his head.

"You'll live longer if you listen."

The adults quickly made themselves scarce as Tazuna went to check on his family, Kakashi pulled out his book to reread, and Yamato began to filter his photos once more.

"...Seriously?! What happened?!"

No one answered Naruto's question.

**********

Juzo was reading a scroll in silence as Gato stood nervously beside him.

He was very curious as to what the scroll said, but he kept his mouth shut despite his burning curiosity.

Juzo sighed and rolled the scroll back up.

"Looks like the bridge builder has teamed up with the little demon."

"What?! T-That can't be! He shouldn't have any money to hire a group like that!"

Gato shivered at the thought! He could still remember the sinister aura that man had. It was no less than Juzo's!

"Haaaa. That's the problem. If he doesn't have money, then what would he have that made him decide to even team up?"

Juzo looked over at Gato as he waited for his response.

"What could he have?"

Gato thought for a moment, then he suddenly grew pale.

"He has reinforcements!"

"Right. He has power that Zabuza needs. Power that can even the odds."

Juzo tossed the scroll on the table and smiled.

"Well, at least this mission won't be too boring. Those two brothers have been spotted around the bridge when the old man works everyday now. Looks like their injuries weren't that bad. They recovered rather quickly."

"W-What are we gonna do?!"

Juzo began to fall into deep thought when a Mist ninja appeared beside him.

"Juzo-sama! A guest with the same cloak as you is waiting outside!"

Juzo smiled and turned back to Gato.

"It looks like we have reinforcements as well. I guess it's time to end this little problem."

"Great! Now we can take them out once and for all!"

Gato grew excited as Juzo stood up.

"I'll go meet him. You just make sure everyone gets ready. We'll strike once the plan is made."

"Yes! I'll have it done!"

Juzo smiled and followed after the Mist Ninja.

"Juzo-sama. How long must we work with that man?"

The ninja had a look of disdain on his face as he looked over at Gato back.

"Only a few more days."

Juzo smiled viciously as a sharp gleam shined in his eyes.

"His usefulness has run out. Alive, anyway. Find his safe and any stashes he has hidden around. He won't need it soon enough."

"Yes, Juzo-sama!"

Juzo made his way to the front of the house and saw his companion standing out front.

Juzo smiled happily as he came towards him.

"Glad you could make it. It looks like we will have a lot of fun on this mission."

**********

*Ka-chik*

"Perfect! I'm loving the energy! Just give me a few more shots!"

Yamato's passionately snapped more photos.

The "girls" watched the shoot with strange expressions.

"Naruko."

Sasuki called to her friend with a confused expression.

"Yeah?"

"You did teach him how to do this stupid Jutsu, right?"

"....I did."

*Ka-chik Ka-chik*

"Fantastic! Please take a break for now! I'll sort out the photos!"

"Thank you very much!"

Sasuki looked over at Yamato and the girl with a frown.

"Then why did he not change much at all?"

"......"

" I think all he needed were breasts."

The three looked over at Yuki as she made her way over to sit with them. 

She was catching up with their photo themes during the past few days.

The day's theme was for swimsuits, showing off her new figure in a cherry pink bikini.

Her face and body, however, was not much different from her original form!

Naruko crossed her arms over her chest and pouted her lips.

"I guess she was already sexy?"

Hiyo giggled while covering her mouth.

"This is a very strange situation. I don't think we could tell the difference between them if she wore baggy clothes."

Sasuki and Naruko looked at Yuki as she sat down next to them.

She noticed they were all looking at her and smiled.

"What? Is there something wrong?"

"Yuki? Are you sure you are a boy?"

Yuki chuckled slightly and nodded.

"Positive."

'I'm not too sure about that.'

All three of them were thinking the same thing as Yamato came towards them.

"I think these photos came out fantastic. There are only a few more places we have to go to before the calendar for here can be considered complete!"

"Yay! We can stop using this Jutsu!"

"I can't wait for this to be over."

"You do realize he said "here", right?"

"I thought this was quite fun. I wonder where else we'll take pictures?"

The girls all responded in their own way as Yamato chuckled.

"Well, if this works out well, I'll have you all make one for each nation!"

"'Ehh!!?""

"That sounds exciting."

The girls all exclaimed, except for Yuki.

Sasuki and Naruko both thought of the same thing.

'Please let this fail!'

Hiyo would join them, but she had a feeling that it would catch on much faster than they could imagine.

{These things were really popular in our world. Models are used to show off beauty everywhere.}

[You could've been one if you tried.]

{Nah! Not my style! I only wanna look good for one man.}

"Oh! That's it!"

Yamato clapped his hands as he thought of a great idea!

"Okay! How about one more picture with everyone just looking natural?"

Sasuki sighed heavily.

"Do we have to?"

"Alright! Let's do funny faces!"

"Come on! It's just one more photo."

"Let's do it."

The girls all got together and posed for the photo. Sasuki was just looking in the distance since that was all they could get out of her.

"Alright! Say cheese!"

"Wait! Can we say Ramen instead?!"

Yamato shook his head and smiled. Hiyo and Yuki both giggled at her antics.

"You really love Ramen, don't you? Fine then. Say Ramen!"

""Ramen~!!""

*Ka-chik*

"Perfect! Let's head on back!"

Yamato put his camera away and smiled from ear to ear!

'I can feel it! This one is gonna be special!'

*********

As the group headed towards Tazuna's house, they noticed a large group of people gathered around a post in the center of town.

"Hey? What's going on?"

Naruko decided to get a closer look, but was stopped by some villagers.

"Don't look at it, missy! It's too gruesome for your eyes!"

"Yeah! Please just run along! There's nothing good to see here."

"Huh?! What happened?!"

The group came closer to the crowd and spotted Kakashi looking over at something.

"Hey! What happened, assistant?!"

Yamato called to Kakashi, but he didn't seem to hear him. He continued to look at whatever the villagers were trying to block from the girls until he finally walked over to them.

Kakashi whispered in Yamato's ear what happened.

The girls all watched as Yamato's face became serious.

"Ah! Wait!"

"You shouldn't look, Miss!"

Hiyo turned to see Yuki moving the villager aside and finally seeing what the fuss was about.

"!!"

"...I see."

Hii was shocked while Yuki sighed with a sad expression.

On the post hung Gato's head hanging from the end of a rolled out scroll, dried blood puddled on the ground from his severed neck.

His shocked expression was frozen on his face as he blew in the wind.

What made the display all the more sinister was the message written in what looked like his blood.

Tomorrow night in the North forest! We'll settle it all with the town and the blade on the line! No distractions this time!

Yuki looked at the message with a cold gleam in her eyes.

Hiyo looked at the head and started to feel sick.

'This guy. He's cruel.'

Hiyo started to sweat as the opponent this time was definitely the real thing.

A cold-blooded ninja who had a reputation for killing.

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