Bab 26: Infiltration CH 26

Naruto cleaned up their camp after breakfast and hammered out the details of their agenda for the day. Once done, he summoned a dozen one-tailed wolves as scouts while Anko did the same for her snakes.

He instructed the wolves on what to do. He rolled his eyes when he noticed that his summons were like eager puppies since their tongues were lolling out the side of their muzzles and tails wagging furiously. Anko cracked up seeing that and he could have sworn that the dozen or so snakes who were watching the whole thing were snickering as well.

He gritted his teeth and fought with himself from lashing out at them. There was something about the snakes hissing at him that made him surly, especially when he knew that THEY were laughing at him and his wolves didn't help with all their excited yips and howls.

Anko, her snakes, and his wolves left afterwards to do their jobs leaving Naruto with nothing to do since Tazuna usually goes to work on the bridge somewhere mid-morning. He decided to hang-out with Team 7 to get rid of the boredom.

He left the camp towards Tsunami's house thinking of different ways to kill time. He considered roughhousing with some of his more playful wolves like what he usually does in Training Ground 44 but he didn't want to waste any energy just in case the client is attacked during his guard duty.

He was out of the security of the forest when he saw Kakashi and a surly Team 7 leaving the house.

"Yo. Where are you guys off too?" he cheerfully greeted them, ignoring the scathing looks directed at him. He inwardly rolled his eyes while thinking that the team didn't like waking up too early.

Kakashi gave him a smile that was quite visible under his facemask. "We're going to the forest to train. How about you?" the Jounin asked in an overly cheerful tone.

Naruto shrugged at the question. "Anko-sensei left already to scout the island along with my wolves. I got nothing to do until Tazuna leaves for the bridge since I'm his bodyguard for the day."

"Good. Why don't you join us? You might learn a thing or to." invited Kakashi, beckoning him to follow.

Naruto grinned at the invitation. He was always eager to learn something new. "Sure. Lead the way Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto and Team 7 went into the forest where Kakashi started his lecture on Tree Walking. He snickered a bit at the reaction of Sakura and Sasuke when Kakashi demonstrated the exercise by walking up a tree easily without the use of his hands. Sai was just as stoic as always so nothing new there.

To rile up Sasuke, Naruto walked up the same tree Kakashi used to demonstrate the exercise and walked to one of the high branches which gave the Genins below a clear view of him looking down at them. He couldn't help but grin when he saw the Uchiha fume and glaring up at him. His grin widened at the sight. He definitely caught some of Anko's sadism but he didn't mind it at all if his target was the Uchiha.

The exercise was quite funny to Naruto and couldn't help but chuckle a bit when the Uchiha was blasted off the tree he was practicing on after putting too much chakra on his feet. He was surprised however when Sakura and Sai got the exercise in one go. Sai wasn't a surprise since he had the air of a seasoned Genin around him but Sakura was another matter entirely.

He saw Sakura settle on a branch in the middle of tree beside the one he was perched on, cheering at how the exercise was easy much to the ire of the Uchiha…again.

He noticed that Sakura didn't continue with the exercise despite getting it on the first try. He learned from his lessons with Anko that those with lower chakra reserves tend to master chakra exercises the fastest since they have no trouble regulating the small amount of chakra in their system. The next step, however, was more draining since Water Walking requires a continuous flow of chakra to maintain and Sakura had no intentions of stretching her reserves by continuing with the exercise.

He decided there and then to help Sakura a bit. Jumping off from his perch towards the tree Sakura was using, he landed on one of the top branches and walked down to where she was happily sitting and checking out her idol.

"Hi Sakura. Mind if I join you?" asked Naruto when he neared the pink-haired Genin.

Sakura looked up and saw Naruto approaching her. She gave him her approval and saw him walk down to the branch she was using and sat down beside her.

"What do you want Naruto?" she asked in a neutral voice.

Naruto noticed Sakura's tone but shrugged it off. He was here to help her not cater to her emotions. "I noticed that you stopped doing the exercise. I suggest you continue doing so." he said with a smile on his face.

"Why? I already did it so there's no reason to continue." She replied, scowling at being told what to do.

The blonde werewolf shook his head and explained the benefit of the exercise.

"Ok Sakura. Let me explain the exercise as Anko-sensei taught me. There is a reason why Chakra Control exercises have different levels. We already learned the basic Leaf Balancing exercise in the Academy right?" seeing Sakura nod, he continued. "It was taught to us then because we don't have that much chakra to begin with and it is used as an introduction on how to control our chakra. The next level is the Tree Walking exercise which you guys are doing now. This exercise has two purposes: first, the exercise improves your control over chakra by channeling it to the soles of your feet which doesn't have any tenketsu points to release a steady flow of chakra. If you can channel it there then you can do it anywhere in your body."

"The second function of the Tree Walking exercise is to help those with small reserves like you to increase their own chakra potential to prepare them for the next level, which is Water Walking. It is similar to Tree Walking except for two differences; one, the water is continuously moving so you need to time it perfectly and adjust it according to the water's movement; second, the exercise requires a lot of chakra to pull off since you have to extend the chakra into the water underneath your feet to help you stay on top. So my advice is for you to continue Tree Walking despite getting it on the first try so you can greatly improve your reserves for chakra usage in the future."

Sakura listened to Naruto's explanation and couldn't help but agree that the blonde was making a lot of sense. "How did you learn all of this?" asked Sakura, inwardly miffed that Naruto, the previous dead-last of their batch, was teaching her something she didn't know.

"Simple. Anko-sensei practically drilled me with it during our 1-month training program. I had too much chakra to begin with so I have to learn everything from ground up about chakra so I can understand it better to increase my level of control." explained Naruto in a neutral voice. "This is one of the reasons why I don't do Genjutsu since the amount of chakra I have make it impossible for me to control fully."

Sakura was about to say something when a voice above them interrupted her. She looked up and saw Kakashi squatting on one of the branches above them.

"Naruto is correct, Sakura." interrupted Kakashi without looking at them. "What he told you is the basic and advanced theory of chakra control. These levels aren't in place according to difficulty but there are pre-requisites before you can proceed to the next. What Naruto didn't tell you is that your mastery of the exercise on your first try is because of your low chakra reserves. The lower amount of chakra you have, the easier it is to control. If you stop now, then you won't be able to develop both the physical and spiritual component of chakra to properly increase the amount you have. With your current reserves, even if you master Water Walking, you can only stand on the surface for 5 minutes before suffering from chakra exhaustion which would take days before you can recover properly to do it again." He explained while observing Sasuke and Sai below. He was inwardly proud that Naruto took the time to help his team with the exercise, as well as him knowing and mastering it already.

Sakura was forced to concede and agreed with what she learned from Naruto since Kakashi backed him up. She frowned when Kakashi told her that her reserves were low but she already knew that since kunoichis always have lower chakra amount that their male counterparts but compensates it with their superior control. Deciding to continue the exercise, she stuck her foot on the tree and run up and down again with that thought in mind.

Both Kakashi and Naruto gave a nod of approval when Sakura continued the exercise without having to convince her some more.

"That was a good thing you did Naruto," said Kakashi and giving him a grateful smile "helping out Sakura by explaining to her the reason of Tree Walking."

Naruto shrugged and continued his observation of Team 7, snickering a bit when Sasuke gave Sakura a glare as she continued to flaunt her mastery of the exercise without her meaning to do so.

"It was the least I could do sensei. Besides, they are Konoha Shinobi and we should help each other out. Who knows; this might help her in the long run and make her a better kunoichi than she is now." explained Naruto while not being entirely hopeful if Sakura can get out of her fangirl stage.

Kakashi nodded and both lapsed into a companionable silence as they continued to watch Team 7 train with a few snickers and guffaws from Naruto destroying the peace every time the Uchiha made a mistake.

It was after lunch that Naruto left with Tazuna to the bridge. The old man apologized for not leaving sooner since he decided to sleep in due to the stress of the journey and yesterday's battle. Naruto easily forgave him and told him that it was understandable due to him being a civilian without any training to sustain himself on long journeys. It didn't help matters that his nerves were shot due to being attacked by Zabuza along the way.

When they got to the bridge, Naruto was awed at the sheer size of it. Not just its length but its overall size. He could never deny the fact that making this megalithic construction took a lot of planning and muscles to pull off and having seen that it is almost finished increased his respects for the old man.

Naruto took up his position in one of the piles of lumber on the side of the bridge, extending his senses to make sure that he is prepared just in case of an attack. He noticed that there weren't that many workers pitching in with the workload. He asked Tazuna about that and the old man surly explained that the current manpower was a fourth of what he started out with. It seems that morale was pretty low and Gato's threats caused more workers to back down.

Wanting to lend a hand, Naruto created two dozen clones to the shock of Tazuna and told him to direct them where he needed them to work. Not refusing the manpower so easily provided, he happily gave the necessary instructions and gleefully observed the group carrying lumbers, hammering large nails on huge beams, and cutting down rocks to size with ease. Naruto went back to his vigil of the bridge but not before telling Tazuna to approach him if he ever needs more hands since he can make a lot of clones for him.

The day ended for Naruto without seeing any action much to his relief and he was happy to note that construction was speeding up with the help of his clones.

It was around dinner time that Anko returned to camp and immediately sat in front of Naruto who was busy adding spices to the fish soup he was making.

"So Anko-sensei, what did you find?" asked Naruto while stirring the soup after adding a few herbs on the pot.

"Nothing much Gaki." said Anko sourly. "We combed the island easily but there was no sign of Gato anywhere. However, we did find a makeshift wharf on the other side of the island. Found some footprints there so I guess that is how Gato enters the country without being too obvious about it." She finished while giving the soup a hungry look. Her stomach growled when she smelled the delicious aroma.

Naruto grinned when he heard Anko's protesting stomach. "It's almost done sensei, just need to let it simmer a bit more. So what are your plans for tomorrow?" he said while adding a few more herbs to the soup.

"I need your help in checking out the small islands surrounding Wave. I'm sure his base is in one of them. I'll talk to Kakashi later and tell him to take up the bridge duty from now on so I can take you with me." she mused while pulling out two bowls and spoons from her pack and handing it to Naruto.

Naruto gratefully accepted the offered bowls and placed it beside the soup pot and sniffed his creation. Deciding that it was ready, he took one of the bowls and scooped a generous portion before handing it to Anko who greedily accepted it and started eating.

"This is quite good gaki." exclaimed Anko while relishing the taste of the fish and herbs in her mouth. "Where did you learn how to cook?"

Naruto took another bowl and got his own portion and dug in. "I learned to cook when I was 9 years old. I have enough money from working with Saji and he was kind enough to buy my groceries for me since the villagers usually throws me out." This got a growl from Anko which Naruto ignored. "Anyway, I learned how to cook from Saji since he was busy with the forge at that time so he let me man the kitchen. I read some cookbooks in the library and started to experiment." He finished then dug in to his own meal.

Anko nodded excitedly, the prospect of getting good meals during out-of-the-village mission. "Good. You are now the official cook when we go on missions. I expect food like this all the time gaki. I don't like rations all that much." She shuddered as she remembered the taste of ration bars that is a staple of shinobis during missions. Sure it was healthy but it tastes like dirt.

Naruto just gave her a long look which she returned with a grin. He shrugged. "Anyway, did you get any information from the locals?" he asked after swallowing the fish he was chewing.

She shook her head and fed herself another spoonful of soup. "Nope. The villagers are afraid of Gato and didn't want to say anything that might earn his wrath. From the looks of it, we are on our own." She made a face that indicated that she didn't like it. "This complicates the mission but there is nothing we can do about it."

Naruto nodded. Anko was never fond of long boring missions like this. She prefers short, direct-to-the-point mission, preferably those that can be ended with a kunai or two and a lot of spilled blood. And the screams, don't forget the screams.

"There is nothing we can do about it sensei. I guess we should turn in after eating so we can get started early tomorrow." He declared then slurped down the remaining soup in his bowl.

Anko nodded. "You do that gaki. Fix up the camp after we eat then I'll talk to Kakashi about tomorrow's arrangement."

After dinner, Anko immediately left the camp to look for Kakashi while Naruto was pouring over a map of Wave he acquired before leaving Konoha. There were 5 small islands surrounding Wave Country. It would take 30 minutes of their usual travel to get to the makeshift wharf at the other side of Wave then it would take an hour or two of scouting each island before moving on to the next.

It was an hour later when Anko came back to camp and informed him that Kakashi will take care of the guard duty while they proceed with their plans for tomorrow. They immediately went to sleep to make sure that they have the energy for their mission tomorrow.

It was around 4 in the morning when Naruto was woken up by Anko. He groggily exited his sleeping bag, did a few stretches to get the kinks out of his back and prepared his equipment. He came out of the tent in full gear and finalized their equipments before eating the leftover stew to tide them till later.

It took an hour for both of them to arrive at the wharf Anko mentioned and Naruto immediately sniffed around for scents. He confirmed a few minutes later that there were a lot of human scents in the area and all of them were leading towards the town so it was a definite success that they found Gato's entry point. Considering the islands were not far away, both decided to Water Walk to avoid wasting time.

The first island only took 5 minutes to check since Naruto told Anko that there weren't any human scents around then preceded to the next. They hit the jackpot around noon upon reaching the fourth island when Naruto declared that he smelled the fading scents of humans on the beach. It seemed Gato chose the location due to the dense forest that can perfectly hide anything from a bandit camp to a small army. They immediately took to the woods, this time Naruto leading the team since his sense of smell was stronger than the other.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at a sizable bandit camp surrounding a large mansion. Since it was still in the middle of the day, both decided to stick to the woods and scout the surrounding area gathering information.

Infiltration will happen tonight.

Gato's base became a hodgepodge of activities when the moon rose from the horizon. Random bandits started huge bonfires in various areas of the mansion to push the shadows back to the trees while others proceeded with their routine of patrolling the camp to detect and stop any intruders.

Unknown to them, two figures were observing their activities from the shadow of the trees, two pairs of eyes taking in every detail of the area.

Naruto and Anko were perched on top of a large tree overlooking the bandit camp and Gato's mansion. They were suppressing their chakra to make sure that no shinobi can detect their presence since it is quite possible for Zabuza and his apprentice to be in the same building as their employer.

It didn't take long for Anko to tap Naruto on the shoulder as was their pre-determined signal to start the mission before slinking into the shadows to infiltrate the camp.

Taking one last look of the clearing, Naruto jumped deeper into the forest before expanding his senses to make sure that no one is in the area. Satisfied that he was alone, he jumped down to the forest floor and proceeded to summon some of the wolves he would need for this mission.

A puff of smoke later, 4 wolves appeared in front of him looking around expectantly awaiting orders.

"Ok guys. We are going to make a distraction in the forest surrounding a camp south of our current location." said Naruto to the excited wolves, jerking his thumb over his shoulder indicating where the camp was. He got yips and a lot of tail wagging. He inwardly sighed. Why were his summons acting like puppies every time he brings them out.

He decided to expand his orders a bit since the four in front of him looked ready to do more than just distractions that might complicate the mission. "We are NOT to engage the enemy but I want you guys to make a ruckus at the edge of the camp under the shadow of the forest to keep them occupied. Understood?"

All 4 of the wolves nodded before running off into the forest. The howls began a few minutes later and the shouts from some bandits reached Naruto's ears.

This was a tactic he and Anko devised during their month-long training and used it effectively during their first mission. The wolves would act as decoys to lure the attention away from them by making it as if the camp is surrounded or plagued by wolves. It wasn't the usual hit-and-run tactics employed by wild animals. It was modified to scare-the-heck-out-of-them tactic. He got a few laughs from Anko and the wolves when he told them the name of the strategy.

He immediately went into action when he heard his wolves at play. Anko was in charge of scouting inside the camp and Gato's mansion since she was small enough to do so without getting discovered and her summons were natural at stealth. His job was to observe the movements in the camp since his frame wasn't built for such mission or provide another distraction, which involves a lot of explosions, just in case Anko is discovered and needs to make a run for it.

Jumping back to his perch overlooking the clearing where Gato's base is located, he snickered a bit seeing the patrolling bandits run around the edge of the camp like headless chickens due to the ruckus his wolves were making in the forest. He did note that the howls and growls they were making made it seem that there was a large pack of wolves ready to attack. He almost laughed out loud when some of bandits jumped out of their skins as another howl punctuated the silence of the forest.

He counted the number of bandits in the camp using his exceptional vision and noting down their weapons just in case they were to attack. He was also checking out areas where explosives will be strategically detonated to maximize destruction just in case Anko needed a distraction to escape. He drooled at the thought. He made a mental note to destroy the ships as well to make sure that they won't be leaving anytime soon. Come to think of it, he and his sensei need to check the island to find where Gato docks his vessels since they didn't find any at the beach they used to enter the island.

Anko was using the shadows to her benefit as she slinked around the camp, making her way towards the mansion in the middle of the clearing. Infiltration was easy since the bandits patrolling the area were concentrating on the perimeter due to Naruto's distractions. She grinned at the usefulness of her apprentice's summons for these missions and made a point to come up with more strategies with the versatile wolves.

She stuck to the shadows as she made her way to Gato's mansion, ducking from one tent to another to avoid detection. She paused for a bit and crouched low when a dozen or so bandits came out of the mansion towards the perimeter of the camp, shouting all the way about attacking wolves. Good. They were properly distracted.

With a burst of speed without using chakra to avoid detection in case Zabuza and his apprentice was in the mansion, she dashed towards the shadows on the eastern side of the towering structure and paused for a bit to catch her breath. Speeding up without chakra is tiring but quite useful if you want to avoid getting noticed by shinobis.

Not sensing any presence around her, she summoned a dozen tiny snakes and told them to scout the mansion. The snakes nodded and spread out.

She stuck to the shadows again, going around the mansion to find an entry point. She saw a window at the back of the dwelling and silently peeked in to see if it was occupied. Not seeing anyone, she pried the window open with a kunai and opened it wide enough for her to go through. She closed the window upon entry and noted her surroundings.

It was a plain room without any furniture. However, what made this room special was the number of weapons stuck on the walls and boxes. Jackpot. The walls were lined with racks upon racks of weapons, like swords, pole-axes, hammers, scythes, and bows. The crates were filled to the brim with throwing knives, kunais, and shurikens. She frowned at the crates since these were shinobi weapons and not simply used by thugs and mercenaries unless they have training to use them.

She shrugged and summoned another batch of snakes to scout the mansion and to report to her any conversation that the inhabitants might have. She also told them to return for debriefing in an hour. When the snakes left, she whipped out a storage scroll and unsealed a dozen empty scrolls, inks, and brushes. She was thankful that her apprentice taught her basic seals, especially storage seals, which was pretty much the extent of Naruto's knowledge in the art.

She grinned and happily went to making a lot of storage scrolls to take the entire armory with her. She paused from her work and thought if she should give them to Naruto as a birthday present since all these metals could easily supply him for a month of sellable products for his store. Of course, she will be splitting it 50-50 since they were a team.

She grinned again and happily went back to work, humming all the while.

Zabuza was currently in bed being attended by his masked assistant. His right shoulder and arm was covered in bandages, his right cheek was slightly swollen due to the chakra-enhanced punch he got from the snake jounin.

"Are you finished with that?" he grumbled as he scratched bandages on his arm. It was starting to itch and he didn't like it.

The masked shinobi turned towards Zabuza before going back to grounding the herbs in a bowl with the ring at the end of a kunai. "Not yet Zabuza-sama. I just need to add one more herb before its finished." said the masked shinobi.

Zabuza gave his apprentice a sour look. "If I didn't know any better, you're taking your time just to spite me Haku. And why don't you remove your mask when were inside?" he said to the now named Haku while increasing his scratching of the itchy appendage.

Haku sighed and removed the mask revealing a face that would make quite a lot of men drool despite the fact that he was clearly a boy. One of the reasons he wore the mask is to hide his feminine looks since he would get repeatedly flirted on by men who prefer to think with their second head down south, usually to the point of him turning them into pincushions. He sighed again and finished grinding the herbs into paste before bringing it to her master.

Both lapsed into silence while Haku removed Zabuza's bandages revealing wounds that he got when he crashed into the tree. He gently applied the healing paste on the wounds making Zabuza wince at the sudden sting.

"Owww. Why can't you be gentler Haku? I swear that you find a perverse pleasure in making it painful." whined Zabuza, sounding almost childlike despite his menacing looks.

Haku gave him a long look before scooping another paste with his finger and dabbed it none to gently on an inflamed wound which made Zabuza squawk in protest and pain which he ignored. "THAT is painful Zabuza-sama. Now just shut up and take it like a man." he said spitefully without a hint of mercy before going back to gently applying the paste.

Zabuza grumbled about sadistic apprentices and having no respect whatsoever. "So when do you think I'll go back to being battle ready?" he asked, wincing at some of the stings coming from his wounds.

Haku finished applying the paste and now wrapping the area with a fresh batch of bandage. "I would say a week. Some of the wounds are deep and you were just unlucky to get your sword arm injured. You are also healing slowly because of your chakra exhaustion. It was easy enough to set the shoulder back into place but the wounds need to properly heal before you can use it freely and you need a lot of rest to properly replenish your chakra stores." he explained as he finished tying the end of the bandage in place.

Zabuza nodded. "Why didn't you stick with the plan of putting me in a death state with your needles instead of using your technique to get me away from there?" he asked while poking the fresh bandages with a finger which was swatted away none too gently by Haku who was glaring at him. Zabuza just glared back.

"You were already unconscious so I don't need to put you in death state." he said in a tone that he didn't care what he thinks which made Zabuza frown. "Besides, I need to get you out of there in a hurry since the blonde shinobi was already planning to impale you with that huge sword of his. I could use shunshin but I don't want to be defenseless while I activate the technique. My ice mirror is immune to weapons so it is the best thing I came up with to get your out of there with both of us in one piece." he finished his explanation while wiping his fingers on a towel.

The Demon of the Mist nodded while thinking about the blonde werewolf. "Any idea what his abilities are? It scared me when he came into the clearing and killed all my Water Clones easily. Sure they were just 10% of my total power but a mere Genin shouldn't be able to take them down." He mused, inwardly scared and curious at the same time about the golden werewolf. He was exposed to a lot of bloodlines when he was in Mist but he was sure that he never heard of one that actually turns you into a werewolf.

"I think it's a bloodline since he changed back after fighting your clones and there was no hint of illusion. I observed him while he was battling out your clones and I can say that he is powerful. Very powerful. His speed and strength is amazing and his chakra levels are off the charts. His kenjutsu looks a bit sloppy but he could hold his own against you if ever both of you dish it out. His strength and speed, however, is beyond yours I'm afraid." explained Haku, his thoughts going back to the battle in Wave.

"I know. That kid is something else and if he is the apprentice of Mitarashi then we can be sure that he is properly trained. That woman is as sadistic as I am when it comes to killing. Did you get his name?" he asked his apprentice.

Haku shook his head. "No, I didn't. I was busy keeping an eye on you during the battle so I wasn't able to listen carefully to their conversation."

Zabuza grunted at the lack of information. "We need to know what he is capable of. I am familiar with the skills of Copy Cat Kakashi and Snake Mistress Anko since they are quite famous. I can take Kakashi easily with my Silent Killing technique and you can practically hold Anko in place to give me time to finish him. Not defeat her but keep her occupied while I battle Kakashi. The Genins Kakashi brought with him are easily spooked but I wouldn't put it past him to train them for the next round. We lack information on the werewolf and I don't like it." explained Zabuza. He can easily combat Kakashi's sharingan with his Hidden Mist technique while Haku acts as a decoy pinning Anko in place. But the blonde werewolf could be a problem. He is the only wildcard in the equation.

Haku nodded at his master's explanation of the Konoha-nin's skills. "I can go to the mainland and scout around. I can pretend as one of the locals to get more information on the Konoha shinobi before we attack them in a week. Do you have any plans?" he asked with a thoughtful frown on his face, thinking on ways to get the information without getting captured or killed.

"None so far. We could always commandeer Gato's thugs as a distraction but I think it wouldn't do much good with the werewolf's clones. I swear that kid is a chakra powerhouse to bring out that many solid clones that packs enough power to do some damage and my gut tells me he can dish out more. I say we attack the bridge directly and kill the bridge builder there." said Zabuza while weighing the options of getting the mission accomplished without getting killed in the process.

The ice-wielding shinobi shook his head at his master's strategy. "It's too straightforward. We need a better strategy Zabuza-sama." chided Haku, not wanting to be in the frontline since his mode of combat doesn't rely on strength but more on speed, preferring to stick to the shadows and attack when it is to his favor.

"I know but we don't have enough information to come up with a strategy. We need…" Zabuza was interrupted when the door to their room opened revealing a short man in an expensive business suit flanked by two samurai bodyguards in full armor. "What are you doing here Gato?" he grouched at upon seeing their employer. He never did like the man and is quite happy to forego the company if not for his money. He was a rich tycoon after all and he needed the money.

Gato sneered at the two missing-nins and said "It seems that I hired the wrong group to take care of my problems. Demon of the Mist my ass. You can't even take care of a group of small-time ninjas from the Leaf and your accomplices were easily defeated in the hands of kids."

Haku was about to attack Gato for the disrespect towards his master but was stopped when a hand gripped his shoulder.

Zabuza growled at his employer while holding his apprentice in place. He winced at the sudden pain in his arm from the effort of keeping Haku rooted to his side. "This is just a minor setback Gato. We didn't expect the Leaf to send reinforcements, powerful ones at that. We won't be caught in surprise this time to kill the bridge builder. Just make sure that you have our money ready when were done with the contract." said Zabuza while giving Gato a glare and filling the room with a tiny bit of his killer intent making the trio by the door shudder.

Gato mustered up what's left of his courage and leveled Zabuza with a glare of his own, though it wasn't that convincing due to his height. "See that you do Zabuza. I don't pay for incompetent help." With that, he left the room followed by his bodyguards banging the door shut.

"You should have let me kill him Zabuza-sama. He was disrespectful." he complained to Zabuza in a frigid tone while eyeing the closed door with disdain.

Zabuza grunted before lying back down on the bed. "Gato is of no consequence Haku. We don't need his respect. We need his money. Once we kill the bridge builder, we get our payment then hightail it out of here." He explained before closing his eyes to rest.

Haku grunted before going back to the table to make more medical paste to get his mind off their employer.

Both lapsed into silence, none noticing a pair of amber eyes listening to everything from the shadowed corner of the room before slithering out the window unobserved.

Gato returned to his office after meeting with Zabuza and his apprentice. He hated shinobis with a passion but can never deny the fact that their training makes them perfect mercenaries, especially missing-nins like Zabuza who works for money instead of their village's honor.

He sat himself on his expensive, plush office chair and turned to one of his samurai bodyguards. "When is our reinforcement going to arrive?" He asked in a silky voice.

"In a week. It will take a while to bring your own troops from Demon Country with only two vessels. The weight will slow them down. Why don't you get more of your ships to bring them here sir? Cramming 300 thugs in 2 ships is pushing it." asked the samurai.

Gato gave his samurai a glare. "Shut up. Don't tell me what to do. My ships are earning me money and I don't need to pull them out from their deliveries just because I want to bring my reinforcements here faster. Besides, a week is more than enough time for my plan to work." said Gato while chuckling a bit at what would happen when they arrive.

One of his bodyguards shifted nervously from his position. "Are you sure you want to go ahead with your plan sir? I heard of Zabuza and is very dangerous." He said nervously, looking at the door as if expecting the Demon of the Mist to appear any second to kill them all.

The businessman snorted. "Demon of the mist? Yeah right. The Konoha shinobis that Tazuna hired whipped his ass that he is now bedridden for a week." He suddenly grinned. "Besides, that is what I do with missing-nins. Hire them by offering them a huge paycheck then kill them with numbers when they're done. They're not worth the money." He finished, smirking evilly at his plan to double-cross Zabuza and his apprentice.

The bodyguards nodded at their smirking employer and went back to their positions by the door to keep watch over their master.

All three in the room didn't notice a snake slither out the open window after their discussion.

Naruto immediately took off from his perch when he saw a shadow leave the mansion from the side. He took to the darkness of the trees towards the rendezvous point to meet up with his sensei. It took him 5 minutes to reach the place since he was careful not to alert the sentries with his presence.

He jumped down from his perch when he saw Anko sitting down enjoying a stick of dango. He sweatdropped at the sight. Anko ALWAYS has dango when she's away from the village on mission.

"Sensei, how did it go?" he asked upon arriving at the clearing.

Anko saw Naruto jumped down from his perch and beckoned him to come closer. She offered him a stick of dango, which he gratefully accepted, and gestured for him to sit down. "We got what we came for and some extras." she said with a grin.

He gave her a confused look while biting on a piece of dango. "Extras?" he asked.

"I was lucky enough to get into the mansion through their armory. I always knew that putting your weapons in a room with a window wasn't a good idea." She grinned at him and pulling out a green scroll and waving it at him. Naruto's eyes widened and a grin appeared on his face. "Yep. I got all their weapons here. I'll bet my next paycheck that they won't find out till morning and we will be long gone from here. Zabuza and his apprentice are in there by the way. Zabuza is injured from the fight according to my snake and this Haku seems to have some medic-nin training since he was fixing Zabuza up. It would take a week for him to be battle ready." said Anko before biting the last Dango from the stick and throwing it away.

Naruto nodded at the information and a bit excited at the weapons his sensei managed to steal from the mansion. "Anything else sensei?" he asked.

Anko gave him a sadistic grin. "Yes. It seems that Zabuza is quite worried about you my beloved werewolf. In fact, he can't come up with a strategy to take us on because you are considered his 'wild card'" she added the last part with glee. "Another snake reported that Gato is planning to betray Zabuza after he offs Tazuna. It seems that the slimy bastard makes a habit of hiring missing-nins by luring them with huge bounties then kills them using the number of thugs at his disposal. Missing-nins aren't usually in top shape since they aren't required to train daily so you can expect their strength to deteriorate over time. Zabuza is the same way. He has a fearsome reputation so me and Kakashi should be having troubles in defeating him even with the two of us attacking him together." She explained to her apprentice.

He nodded at the report. So far, they have the element of surprise and anything they do should prove to be a success if they can come up with a good strategy. "So what are we going to do now, sensei?" he asked Anko after making a clone to tell the wolves to dispel. It saluted and gave them both a cheeky grin before running off into the forest.

Anko went into a thoughtful pose before grinning at Naruto. "I…don't know." she said sheepishly.

Naruto simply sweatdropped at his sensei nonchalant approach to missions. He was about to say something when he got a rush of memories from his clones, telling him that the wolves already went back to the summoning realm but not before one of them bit one bandit on the rump. That one won't be sitting well anytime soon.

His attention came back into focus and saw Anko looking at him strangely. He sighed.

"You know sensei. Knowing you, I suspect you want to storm the place and level it to the ground. Right?" he said while giving her a pointed look as if daring her to try and deny what he said.

She gave him a sheepish grin and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment at being caught at her simple plan of destruction.

"He he he. Why don't we head back to Wave and tell Kakashi what we discovered. Maybe old one-eye can come up with something good for us to do." She declared before standing up and jumping back into the forest towards Wave.

Naruto sighed again and shook his head before taking off after his sensei but not before hearing screams of rage coming from Gato's mansion. It seems that thieving businessman just found out he was robbed.