Reborn in the Mist

There was a lot different about this mission and not just that it wasn’t so much a mission as it was Kiri shinobi being sent to war but Zabuza didn’t discriminate, they’d be paid either way regardless, even though the pay was cut as it was a loyalty mission and not a contract one.

But besides that the mission was different than all other A-rank he’d had the chance of being a part of. One major difference was the size of the team. A simple four-man team for an A-rank mission was not the norm. All the A-ranks Zabuza had gone on had at least six Chuunin along with a pair of Jounin, at the very least. Zabuza obviously counted as Chuunin tier so he filled that spot for those teams with less expense to their pockets and the mission reward.

But this team was made up only himself, Mangetsu who was recently promoted to Chuunin via some nepotism no doubt, a Chuunin from the Funato clan and of course, the only Jounin among them, Juzo.

Another difference was in the mission brief scroll, it had far more information about the mission than Zabuza was used to getting. Usually, he got his mission scroll later than everyone else because who would trust a low caste demon with the entirety of the mission objectives? But now he saw it all as though he were Jounin or Chuunin himself and because of it, he had time to prepare.

As a loyalty mission the mission brief scroll acted as a voucher to any shinobi art store, assigning each member of the team a certain number of points to use and purchase equipment or even food at a slashed price or even for free. Zabuza had only gotten to take advantage of the generous system on a few B-ranks that were led by shinobi in mid caste who trusted him enough to share.

As it turned out, the points for an A-rank mission were bountiful enough for Zabuza to rearrange his entire combat wardrobe with far better gear. No longer did he have to sharpen rusted five-year-old shuriken, no longer did he have to use kunai sparingly, no longer did he have to make armour of thick, Fuuinjutsu toughened bandages.

Even though what he got was paltry in comparison to what his teammates had on naturally, Zabuza was ecstatic to begin the mission. And under impatient Juzo, they wasted no time scouting out the patch of land the coastal fort occupied, the wharf and tavern in the small village settlement that hasn’t been burned down on suspicion of hosting Bloodline users.

A third thing that was different about this A-rank was that it didn’t feel like one. Perhaps it was simply Mangetsu’s child pride flaring up but when time came to recon within the fort itself, all three of them were eager to volunteer for the chance. In the end it went to Mangetsu of course, his [Hydrification] technique made it so that he was the practical choice to slip past the Samurai guarded moat and escape out through their well.

On a classic A-rank no one was ever so eager to volunteer their hide for a run behind enemy lines. Zabuza thought this might be because, once again, this was a loyalty mission, they were serving the will of the Mizukage and failing this meant failing him. None present wanted to return and confess a failure to their Kage, least of all Zabuza now that the man had taken a direct interest in him.

I suppose Mangetsu is the same, it is his Master. And there was the fourth difference; Zabuza prepared in whole to dismiss all subtle aggressions thrown at him during the mission but very little came his way. Juzo had few words for him except orders and the one-time praise of him being a ripe candidate for the swordsmen of the mist and the Chuunin from the Funato clan seemed to know his place amongst the team.

Mangetsu was ice cold and going over Juzo’s strategy for taking down the fort was not as grating or demeaning as Zabuza originally expected. Mangetsu seemed to respect that he lost to him and even though he glared cold daggers at Zabuza when he wasn’t looking, there was nothing as deep as animosity between them.

A pity rival, heh, fool thinks he can catch up.

“Fodder! Round up!”

At the sound of Juzo’s barking voice, Zabuza snapped up from his tree branch amongst the half-burnt forest no one goes into. They’d chosen the forest as their mission base for its proximity to the coastal fort but also the aversion of locals since many believed Bloodline wielders had been run off into it.

But there was no such thing, only the crisp corpses of the Barons victims laid at the border of the burnt half of the forest, though some had thrown themselves further in, burning as they ran for their lives haplessly.

Zabuza and the team made camp where the stench of human wouldn’t reach them but it was still prevalent, not that anyone complained. One last thing that was different from this mission was the fact that unlike many other A-ranks that took place within the Land of Water, they weren’t provided a boat transport or perhaps they had been and Juzo simply expected them to live up to his standard.

And so, starting all the way north of Kirigakure where towns and cities bloomed under the Daimyo’s watch, the team ran up north towards Yureisen, crossing the large body of water splitting the mainland from the now warring islands. Zabuza believed himself strong but an entire day and night of water walking, no, running across the sea trying to match a Jounin’s pace taught him he still had a long way to go.

In the end the Funato Chuunin had to be carried by Juzo in the last lap while Mangetsu and Zabuza binged on one too many chakra enhancement pills. Afterwards Juzo gave them little rest and they five days scouting, planning, reviewing and updating their scout plans even though it was perfect as is a day ago.

As Zabuza hopped down the tree and met up with Mangetsu, Juzo and the Funato Chuunin, he shared a knowing glance with his pity rival as their captain set an owl free into the night. The owl was approval no doubt, the war had begun.

Juzo turned to the assembled team, glancing over them once, “Get your things, break camp. We move now.”

“Now?” The Funato whelp yelped, no doubt beginning to enjoy the slow pace of the mission and expecting to take his time cosying up to Juzo of all people.

“Would you rather yesterday?” Juzo sneered, “Mizukage-sama expects immediacy, let’s go over the plan while you break camp.”

Zabuza subdued a grin from breaking out as he went about helping Mangetsu rip a tents forks from the earth. There was only one part of the plan he cared about, the part where he’s left with an entire platoon of Samurai and expected to hold them off until Juzo finishes up with their Named Samurai lord.