Chapter 20
"What the hell were you thinking?" Zabuza nearly screamed at the scum in front of him, as the bastard had the audacity to laugh as he answered.
"I just did not know a so-called ninja would be so fragile," and he had the audacity to laugh, for he did not realise the sheer trouble that he was in.
There would be consequences for this. Severe consequences.
"What does it matter if the girl lives or not!" and it was that little runt who spoke now, and if it were not for his connections and ships aiding his own village, Zabuza would have struck him down right then and there.
"I gave the Konoha shinobi my word," Zabuza retorted angrily, his chakra roaring forth as the suit-wearing Gato scoffed.
"The word of a ninja. You lot are hired killers, so what weight does your word hold?" and the bastard beside him had the audacity to laugh, as Zabuza shook his head.
They had ruined his plan, and now it seemed to him that he would need to leave soon.
"The plan is simple. That jounin girl should still be recovering from her injuries. We attack the town, and put down the builder and forget about the girl," and if only it were that simple.
That woman kunoichi was troublesome and had managed to escape him using a rather troublesome genjutsu. If it were not for her, he wouldn't be in this mess, but given that she had recognised him and that Haku had been forced to reveal himself, she would have obviously reached out for backup.
"So be it," Zabuza agreed, for if he were to wrap this up, then he needed it to be clean and complete.
"But first..." and in the blink of an eye, he had swung his blade and cut through the neck of the bastard who had made him break his word.
"Boss..." he managed to eke out, before his head rolled off his neck and he and Gato were in blood, as Zabuza added in a cold tone.
"You made me break my word," and with his henchman dead, the bastard had lost his tongue, as Zabuza looked him in the eye.
"And that comes at a cost," and the bastard was angry and frustrated, but he was also smart enough to know that he needed Zabuza more than he needed him.
"Four times the payment," Zabuza asked, as those eyes widened.
"How dare you..."
"Or I can simply leak to Konoha what it was you did to one of their kunoichis," and that shut him up.
"YOU!" he gritted his teeth, but he had no choice now.
"Four times and you make an example out of that shipbuilder," and he laughed.
"Sure," he agreed, as he ran out of the room, probably to clean up after himself, given the stench in the air, and as the door closed, Haku stepped out of the shadows as he ordered.
"That woman would have reached out for back up by now," and if so, a new team would be rushing towards them to save that useless girl, for the tree huggers were soft like that.
"They will surely try to rescue her," and if they reported back on her condition, they would find themselves a target of their most lethal and dangerous hunter-nins, and while Zabuza did not care for his life, they would spare no one involved in this mess, including Haku.
"When they come, kill them and escape to Kiri," and that one-eyed bastard had reached out to them a dozen times for their support for the rebellion, and with Konoha at their back, they could use them.
"The village?" Haku asked in surprise as Zabuza nodded.
"Yes, our work here is done," and with that, he made for the door.
"Clean up and leave...," he ordered.
"Do not wait for me. I will meet you there...." even though he knew that was nothing but false hope.
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INO YAMANAKA
The plan was rather simple. Despite the deception from the shipbuilder Tazuna-san, the top brass had decided to continue with the mission.
She was not surprised, for the town's location made it rather pivotal for trade routes going towards the West, and with the town and its people indebted to Konoha, merchants from their village would have an easier time expanding into the West.
But the integral nature of Waves did not lessen the danger of the mission, given that they faced one of the most famous and dangerous shinobi of Kirigakure. Even Ino had heard of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and their notoriety, and their enemy had somehow managed to hire one of these seven men for himself.
This was what worried them all, for one of their teammates had been taken in by that ruthless man. Zabuza Momochi had offered a trade, but they could not accept it. So, their only option was to rescue Sakura before the time for negotiations.
The task had been given to her and Hikari, and the two of them scouted the entire area searching for Gato's base of operations, as Asuma-sensei and the rest stayed behind just in case Gato decided to storm the town, trying to take advantage of Kurenai-sensei's injuries.
Gato had hidden his base well, and it took them a day to find one of his men. In the end, they followed him through the forest and its winding paths as he led them to the hidden base.
"Now," she whispered, and Hikari blurred through the forest, and the hat-wearing hunchmen had no time to react, as he struck him on the head, and quietened his scream with a firmly placed hand on his mouth.
Ino had begun to understand the enigma that was Hikari Hyuga and was somewhat grateful for his presence on the team. She had almost forgotten about Hinata's cousin, and it was only at Shikamaru's prompting that she really began to look into the young shinobi.
The Yamanaka clan specialised in intel gathering and sorting, so it had not taken her much time to piece together his story, which was rather tragic in many ways, especially with how he had been robbed of his doujutsu first, and even his clan name.
He had lied to her about his absence from the academy, for obvious reasons. The skills he demonstrated and his sheer prowess were far beyond those of a fresh genin, and his absence from the academy was all explained by only one word.
ANBU.
She wondered if he was the reason that the Hokage-sama had chosen to dispatch their team. No matter, while initially she had been angry and frustrated by his presence on her team, that very presence now brought her much assurance.
"We have him," he whispered as he dragged the body back to her, and Ino nodded that the rest of the plan relied on her.
"You will need to take care of my body while I am away," for Hikari was here to watch her back. As a Yamanaka, she was tasked with infiltrating Gato's base to locate and rescue Sakura.
"I could always use the transformation jutsu," Hikari suggested, and her lips thinned.
"We don't know the capabilities of the ANBU nin within the enemy ranks," but Asuma-sensei had warned them that if this hunter nin was a sensor, then he would be on the lookout for a transformation jutsu.
And if he sensed that they were trying to rescue Sakura, going against the terms of their deal, it could put Sakura's life in jeopardy.
"I am the most suited for this task," Ino replied firmly, and her black-haired teammate knew that as well and nodded nonetheless.
"Be careful then. And if anything happens, just give me a signal and I will be ready to step in," and she nodded as she began to cycle through the handseals, and focused her eyes on the cap-wearing, light blue-haired henchman named Zori.
"Ninpo: Mind Body Transfer technique...." and in a split second she felt her entire body change, and the next time she opened her eyes, she found herself groaning from the pain in her head, as she stared at her own blonde, lifeless form resting in Hikari's form.
Zori was one of Gato's most high-ranking henchmen and, despite not being a shinobi, had some training in kenjutsu and chakra usage, which was rather rare for bandits and common criminals.
"You sure hit hard," she joked, trying to calm her nerves, as Hikari smiled.
"I am sorry," he apologised as she jumped down the tree and picked up the wild board that the henchmen had hunted. She swung it over her shoulder and began to walk towards the building, and the two grunts spotted her, they perked up.
"Zori-san," they saluted, as Ino snarled in the bastard's tone.
"I have brought lunch. Open the doors," she commanded, and the two men seemed somewhat surprised upon seeing for some reason, and this was the stuff that her clan trained in extensively—to read people's facial expressions, and postures to gather intel most effectively.
"But sir..."
"Open the door!" she repeated, and they followed his command, but one of them still managed to eke out.
"But Zori-san, everyone's gone already," and her mind reeled with shock at that, yet she steeled her expression as she asked.
"Gone where?" she asked, and the two guards glanced at each other.
"To the town. Gato-sama gave the order while you were away, and everyone left with him," and this was exactly what their sensei had feared.
"What about the girl?" she asked, putting her cover in jeopardy, but thankfully, the two guards had little sense of that as they frowned strangely again at her question.
"What about her?" they asked.
"Did they take her with them? For the exchange?" and they laughed at her for some reason, as her heart stilled.
"With her condition, how could they!" and her blood boiled at those words.
"Where is she?" she asked quickly, the calmness about her now fraying, as one of the men answered hesitantly, finally sensing that something was wrong.
"In the basement," he answered, and she had a room.
"But Zori-san, Gato-san had strict instructions for you to follow after the men upon your return. He will need you when he takes out that leech ninja, and show him the consequences of disrespecting the great Gato," and that changed much, for there seemed to be a split between Gato and Zabuza Momochi. She filed that away in her mind so that they could exploit this information later.
"So, will you be leaving?" they asked again, and she nodded.
"Yeah, but let me drop off this boar," she said, pointing towards the hunt.
"We will roast it once we deal with that damned builder and ninja," she added, with a fake laugh, as the two guards let her through, and as soon as the door closed behind her, her fists balled up as she remembered the guards' words.
'Given her state,' he had said, and she could hardly imagine what they had done to Sakura. Still, she was here now, and she was going to rescue her and then tease her all year about being better than her.
"I am coming," she whispered, as she dropped off the boar on the ground and searched for the passage to the basement. The building was not entirely empty, and Gato's men still roamed the Halls, but he had taken the bulk of his force with him, making an escape for her rather simple.
They all seemed to be Zori's underlings, and skidded away as she made a face at them. As she walked down the stairs, the man there woke up, and she saw nearly a dozen doors.
"Zori-san," he slauted quickly in fear, as she nodded coldly.
"Where is the girl?" she asked, and the man hesitated.
"Ummm...The ninja gave clear instructions...."
"Let me deal with the ninja," she barked angrily.
"Give me the keys to that girl's room," she asked, and she placed her hand on the katana at her back, as the man moved quickly.
"Here it is," he quickly sifted through the keys on her belt, and passed her a key, and she noticed the number on it.
"Forgive me, but it was actually Zaraji-sa..." Yet before he could say anything else, Ino was at his back as she struck the hilt of her blade on the back of his head with all her might.
"AGHHH!" and the man fell to the ground with a thud, as she rushed towards door number twelve and put the key into the lock.
CLUNK!
The door untwisted, and it was the smell that hit her first. Being a ninja, she had smelt it often, and though most thought blood to have no smell, it was false. Blood, if given time, had a rather distinct smell, and as she entered the room, she felt it under her soles as her entire body stilled.
"Sakur..." but the words were lost mid-way as she saw the scene in front of her. Her childhood friend lay in front of her, still and lifeless. Her beautiful pink hair had turned half red with blood having caked on her face and body.
"Sakura! Sakura!" she screamed as she rushed forward and slapped her face to get her to wake up, but the girl refused to answer, and Ino's heart stilled as she felt the sheer coldness of her skin.
"No..." she gasped, as she slowly reached for her neck to feel her pulse, and as she did, the guard's words from earlier began to make much sense.
"NO!" she screamed, as her eyes turned wet, when suddenly she felt a massive chakra from back, and she whipped her head around and saw a masked ni ja standing there, with blood covering his clothes and mask.
"Zabuza-sama was right," it whispered, and all her instincts screamed at her to let go of the jutsu and return to her body, but Ino did not wish to abandon her friend again.
"He was sure that you people would try to save your comrade. He said that you, Konoha nins, are predictable like that," and then she saw him make seals with a single hand, as he struck the ground wet with Sakura's blood.
SPLAT!
"No matter, it is time for me to clean up..."
"Ninpo:..." and the blood formed hundreds upon hundreds of senbon as the masked nin's eyes narrowed.
"Thousand Needles of Death!" and they all rushed towards her as Ino refused to abandon her oldest friend, and she prepared herself for the pain, but it never came as a sudden explosion rocked the building.
BOOOOM!
"Doton: Mud Wall!" and suddenly a mud wall rose up from the ground in front of her, as a shadow figure blurred in front of her, eyes sharp and sword drawn.
"Hikari..." and she had never been more relieved to see anyone ever than him in that moment, and she saw him glance back towards her and Sakura's lifeless form, as a very complicated expression came over his face.
Guilt. Anger. Fear.
She could spot only the three, for his face turned stoic in an instant as he cut through the chains holding Sakura in place.
"Go," he whispered, as the mud wall fell, and he stood face to face against the masked Kiri-nin.
"I will handle this...."
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