章 57: Chapter 057

"That's the mask worn by Kirigakure's special hunter-ninja team," Kakashi answered. "They are also known as body erasers. Their duty is to completely dispose of a body without a trace. A ninja's body within it has many secrets that can be revealed with a proper examination of a medical ninja. Things like ninjutsu, different chakra types, herbs and many other secrets that will reveal things about the village. For example, if I died, the secrets of the Sharingan could be revealed. If you're not careful there's the danger that the enemy will steal your jutsu."

Naruto nodded to himself, he had recently read about the hunter ninja forces. Konoha had its own force of hunter ninjas, designed to hunt down missing ninja and kill them before they could become a problem.

"That's why the hunter ninja are around," The rest of the group turned towards Naruto. "In order to protect the secrets of their village, hunter ninja have the jobs of going into the world and hunting down the missing ninja of their village. They're specialists who guard their village's secrets."

"So that Zabuza has been chopped up and disposed of?" Sakura asked with a pale complexion as she spoke. "Scary!"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not so sure…"

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura as she looked over at Naruto. "What are you not sure about?"

Naruto frowned as he remembered what he had read about hunters. "When a hunter ninja disposes of a body, it's supposed to be on the spot. That way no one has a chance to discover the secrets they might hold before they can get rid of it. They usually cut off the head and then burn the body with a Katon jutsu. However…"

His mind went back to their encounter with the hunter ninja. "However that ninja didn't do that…instead he left with the body in tow. On top of that, he used senbon to kill the target," having spent as much time as he had with Tenten, Naruto knew a lot about ranged weaponry. After all, when someone is throwing weapons at you and has a huge fetish for said weapons, one tends to learn more then they initially bargained for, "and it didn't look like he was carrying any kind of heavy equipment that could decapitate a person… I'm just…it seems odd that a hunter ninja would be so ill-equipped to deal with the disposing of a body."

"You're absolutely right Naruto., Kakashi said, sounding proud that his genin had been able to figure all of that out. "I've been wondering about that myself. And I have a theory…"

Within the forest just a little ways from where Zabuza had fought the Konoha ninja, the hunter-ninja looked over Zabuza's body. Reaching into a pouch, the hunter took out a tool kit and unrolled it on the ground. The ninja grabbed a pair of clippers and brought them towards Zabuza.

"First I'll cut off the mouth cloth and drain some of the blood." The ninja mumbled, carefully bringing the clippers to bear near Zabuza's clothed face.

Just before the hunter could cut the cloth, Zabuza's hand shot up and grabbed the hunter's arm.

"That's alright, I'll do it myself." Zabuza said in a slightly gasped breath.

"Oh." The hunter said, sounding both surprised and amused. "You've already come back to life."

Zabuza grunted as he grabbed the senbon in his neck and gave them a yank. "Damn, you sure are rough," He grunted as he pulled them out.

"Oh! You're pretty rough yourself, pulling them out like that; you may really die if you pull them out so carelessly." The hunter said.

Zabuza just gave a non-committal grunt. "How long are you going to wear that stupid mask?" he asked.

"I like this mask," The fake hunter replied, "It reminds me of the old days." Despite that, the fake hunter reached up and pulled the mask off, "Plus it was useful for this act. If I hadn't saved you, you would have definitely been killed."

Zabuza glared at his partner, and decided to let the fake hunter know just what he thought of the hunter's selection of pressure points. "If you were going to put me into a temporary death, you didn't have to aim for the neck you know. You could have used a safer acupuncture point," The Kiri missing ninja put the cloth back around his mouth. "You're brutal as always."

His partner merely smiled, "You're right. But we both know how you would get angry if I scarred that flawless body of yours. And the neck doesn't have much muscle; it's easier to hit the acupuncture point there."

The fake hunter examined Zabuza's vitals to see how much damage was done to him that both the fight and the temporary death state had given him. The man had a lot more wounds then usual due to who he was fighting, but the hunter determined he would live.

"You shouldn't be able to move much for about a week. But…knowing you, you'll probably be up and about sooner."

Zabuza at his partner out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "You're so pure and clever, that's what I like about you…"

"Of course," His partner smiled, "I'm just a kid after all." The fake hunter ninja stood up and looked around, "The mist has cleared."

Looking down the fake hunter ninja asked a question, "Will you be alright, next time?"

Zabuza's eyes narrowed and let out something akin growl. "Next time I will defeat the Sharingan."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ZABUZA'S ALIVE!" Sakura screeched, causing everyone to hold their ears and the windows to rattle.

"Keep your voice down Sakura," Kakashi said before clearing his throat. "Think about it, the hunter ninja used senbon to kill Zabuza. But unless it hit's a vital organ, the probability of actually killing someone is low. It's an item used by doctors in acupuncture. Hunter ninja have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the human body. So putting a person in a momentary death-like state would be easy. Let's look at the facts. First, he carried away the body of the much heavier Zabuza. Second, he used a weapon that has a low probability of killing."

"So basically what you're saying is that Zabuza is alive," Sasuke stated, though it almost sounded like a question.

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying."