Gentle Caress

The Battle of the Bridge

Naruto looked up from his work. A fog had started to roll in and he could feel the chakra that coursed through it. Something big was going to happen. He could sense it. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up straight. There was a very malicious intent in that fog, Kakashi was feeling it too if his usually relaxed and lazy stance stiffened ever so slightly was any indication of that.

"Kami..." Tazuna cursed. "You can barely see a darn thing in this fog. I think we might need to delay the build and wait it out." Naruto agreed, already tugging on the rope attached to his harness. Ryo started to lower him to the ground. When his feet finally touched the ground, they wrestled the harness off.

There was a sudden quake, the water level rising and churning. They grabbed onto the closest anchored objects to keep from falling into the tempest below. Menma looked over the railing he was holding onto, and into the water. It was hard to see, but there was something in there. A giant something, like a massive fish. It jumped out of the water and he caught a human face, a scaly torso, and finned hands and feet. Whatever that was, it used to be human. It was probably still human.

Shouta shook the salt water out of his hair. Thank Kami for waterproof ink. "What is that?"

"How am I supposed to know?!" It's stupid, yelling back and forth like they used to when they were younger but this was a stressful situation and it was a stupid question.

"Okay, better question: how are we going to get out of this one?!"

"I don't know!"

"Can you two quit it!? It's not the time and the place to be arguing!" Yoshie screamed over the constant roar of the water. "Our focus is to make it out alive!"

The waters calmed down ever so slightly and a tall figure stood in the middle of the bridge. Oh, come on! How big of a sword does a person even need!? Every turn that day had been a left. "Oh give me a break! Who are you?" They knew who he was, it was Zabuza. One of the former seven legendary swordsmen. Nicknamed the Demon of the Mist. There was also an A-rank bounty on his neck.

He had the audacity to laugh. "Civilian? Ha, you'll be easy. Too easy. Lucky for you, you aren't our target. I also have a bone to pick with a certain someone..." He turned, now pointing his blade at Kakashi. Shino and Mio had positioned themselves in front of their client. "Don't think I've forgotten."

Kakashi offered nothing to their exchange. He just stood there, hands tucked into his pockets. What was he planning? The former anbu pulls a hand from his pocket, pointing at the ruckus happening below with his thumb. "I'm going to assume that she's our mystery Kiri hunter. It was a good play, took me and my team by surprise."

He nodded. "A little monster. An excellent find, that one."

"Does she have a name?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Actually, I would. That's why I asked."

Zabuza drew his sword. "I don't have much interest in pleasant conversations. And you are no exception."

"They do say that actions speak louder than words." Naruto mentally rolled his eyes, ninjas and their flare for the dramatics. He looked over at Haku, who nodded as he received his approval. The young teen tapped his toe to the ground and a thin blanket of frost crept down and across the surface. Hopefully, people suspect that it was just a product of the cold rather than a kekkei genkai. A lost kekkei genkai.

The rumbling of the water below ceased and a humanoid fish girl landed with a slight wet splat on the bridge. Her fish-like features started to melt back into her, revealing a young girl with dark purple hair and green scales on her face. She looked around, her eyes landing on Haku. They stared at each other before the girl looked away, almost like she was ashamed to look him in the face. What was that about? Naruto tucked that question away for later. Now was not the time or place for questions. Granted in this state of the world, there never seemed to be a right time or place for questions. But that wasn't the main focus, they still had a promise to uphold.