Orochimama

I knew going in that I would say something to hint at Obito. Before I had even approached Tazuna's house I wanted to get him thinking in that direction. However, when the words left my mouth, when I said that there were two students of the Yondaime Hokage still alive, I couldn't say the rest.

Kakashi's face, even mostly covered, flashed through so many emotions. Guilt, rage, sadness. All of them were so powerful on his face I immediately knew that I couldn't turn around and say that same person was also responsible for the death of his second father.

Realistically, Kakashi wouldn't believe me if I'd said all that anyway. The idea in his head of who Obito was would not be able to match up with who he had become. I'd give more hints before they left Wave for home, but I certainly couldn't give the whole story.

Not yet.

In the meantime I needed to start on one of my other major objectives.

To seduce a man into going home with me.

Within moments of travel I arrived at Gato's headquarters. A massive structure in the middle of the woods. The only reason I could think of for that is that the man didn't have his base of operations at his docks was to make it harder for angry mobs to get to him.

The woods actually made it easier to approach undetected. Though that was a bit of bias from a Konoha shinobi. We were trained to navigate trees until it was second nature, and that training didn't go away. Even from soul absorption apparently.

The approach to his hideout was noticeably easier as well. Either a different person set up the security for the docks, or Gato was confident no one would attack this location. Regardless, it was a cakewalk for me to open a window and slip into my desired room.

It was only slightly more difficult to bat the senbon needles out of the air and grab a slender wrist before it could jam a weapon into my throat.

"Ara ara. You must be Haku-chan." I greeted as I shifted my grip to a handshake. "I'm here to speak with your master."

"I won't let you touch-" the androgynous voice responded before being cut off.

"Haku." A deep baritone interrupted, "Stop. I will hear what she has to say. Besides, if she wasn't here to talk, you'd be dead."

A hiss sounded making Haku glance down. A black mamba had its mouth centimetres from her leg. With my grip on her arm, she wouldn't have been able to get away if it tried bite her.

It wouldn't, because I told it not to bite anyone unless I specifically ordered it to, but ninja need these "look how badass I am" moments when they meet each other.

It was stupid, but apparently showing that you can kill them is pretty much the only way to make a ninja respect you on initial meeting. That or just showing yourself as a really hard person to kill, though that involved more steps.

"Zabuza! It's a pleasure to meet you." I released Haku and gave a curtsy.

The Demon of the Mist looked up at me from his spot in the bed. I wasn't sure if his skin was always so pale, or if it was from being clinically dead for so long, but the man's complexion was almost the same as my own.

His hair was ruffled and messy, and his sheets were perfectly straight, showing he hadn't really been moving at all since he got into the bed. Everything spoke of weakness but his eyes. His eyes looked at me without fear. But with a grim acceptance. If I was here to kill him, Zabuza would have no hard feelings about it.

"Who are you? You have snakes. You look like Orochimaru. And I know you aren't Mitarashi. So, who are you?" Zabuza asked.

"Orchimaru is no more. I am Orochitama." I replied.

Zabuza stared at me for a moment, analyzing my response for deeper meaning. I kindly waited for him to finish his thought process. It didn't take long.

"And what do you want?"

"I want you to come home with me and help me make little ninjas."

Zabuza quirked an eyebrow and notice Haku take a glance at their master, obviously asking what to do with that information.

"I don't do that. Though I know a brothel that could accommodate." Zabuza replied.

"Ara ara. That's not what I meant at all." Though it was what I meant intended to imply. I valued a sense of humor in my employees and his dry sarcasm was appreciated. It made me more certain of my decision. "No, what I meant was I have some ninja's that need training, and missions that need doing. Someone of your strength would be of a great help to me."

"Have you not heard how I got the name Demon of the Mist? Go away. I'll slaughter any students you have." Zabuza said dismissively.

"Yes. I've heard of it. And I've seen some of your mission reports as well. Near the end of your time in the Bloody Mist you had one of the highest records for missions where your comrades returned alive." I said as I cocked my head to one side, "Then you tried to overthrow a tyrant and were kicked out for your efforts. You then picked up a stray and gave them life skills and molded them into being a splendid shinobi. Your resume is impressive."

"So you want to be my boss because I tried to kill my old boss and because I've shown I can bend people to my will?" Zabuza asked.

"Yes. If I'm a tyrant, feel free to rebel again." I said with a nod, "And my people could use some bending. Just don't break them, or I'll be mad."

Zabuza stared at me, deciding how serious I was. I gave a serene smile in response. Finally, Zabuza started to give a deep chuckle.

"Sounds interesting. If you're good for the cash, I might be interested. But I'm on a job right now, so I can't. After the bridge builder is dead we could talk terms." Zabuza promised.

"I don't suppose I could make you drop the contract?" I asked, "It's not time sensitive, but I'd like you to start as soon as possible. Plus fighting the Copy Ninja again will probably not be good for your long term health."

"It might not." Zabuza acknowledged. "But I accepted a contract. I don't give up part way." Professional pride shined in his eyes.

"Ara ara. Lines like that just make me want you more, Zabuza-kun." I replied. "Though would you feel the same if you found out Gato means to betray you at the end of your contract?"

Haku actually gasped. Zabuza shot them a reproachful look.

"If you have proof, I'll kill him myself. If not I will continue my job as intended. If he tries to betray me I'll take my money from his corpse." Zabuza responded simply. The man had a clear picture of who he was and what he was about. It was respectable.

"Well you stand by your principles. If you didn't I wouldn't want you." I stated firmly, though the assassin frowned.

"Ninja are tools. They don't need principles." Zabuza spoke with conviction.

"Then maybe this isn't such a good match after all." I responded as I began to walk towards the window. "Tools don't build nations. People do."

Zabuza's eyes widened. The talk of building a nation was no small thing. The balance of power in the world was an unstable one. Zabuza wasn't stupid. He knew that signing on for my proposal would be very likely to end in war.

Though if I had my way it would only be a little one.

"If I'm too much for you Zabuza-kun, it won't break my heart for you to say you aren't interested."

"Hatake Kakashi is too much of a threat to bother worrying about your offer right now. If I'm alive in a week I'll give you my answer then."

I gave a small laugh. "Well I can't begrudge you that." I turned to jump out the window but paused and turned to Haku. "I'm sorry. Do you have a preferred gender, Haku-chan?"

Haku, wearing a mask, gave no apparent show of emotion.

"No?" Haku's response sounded like a question.

"We'll talk more." I promised before hopping out the window. I had things to do, and only so many hours in the day to fuck with Gato's head after all.

-----

Zabuza watched the woman go. Leaving both himself and Haku alone.

"Zabuza-sama. Who was that?" Haku asked.

The Demon of the Mist contemplated the question for a moment before responding, "Someone dangerous."

His apprentice removed the Hunter-nin mask to expose worried eyes. "Do you think she intends harm on you?"

"No." Zabuza responded. "But I don't think she's saying everything either. She was testing us just as much as she was offering us a job."

"Testing for what?" Haku asked.

"I don't know, but she was good at it. She kept giving responses specifically to unbalance someone. She was able to control the conversation because she kept making sure we were still figuring out what she meant by the time she said something else, unless she boiled things down to a simple yes or no answer."

Zabuza had to hand it to the woman. She knew the right way to distract. There was potential double meaning to everything she said. She purposefully took advantage of a ninja's habit of looking deeper into another person's words, and said things that could be interpreted in so many ways it could make one dizzy. She only made two things absolutely certain though.

This Orochitama wanted him alive and well for a job, but also wanted to challenge his view of the world. In negotiation it made no sense so directly oppose someone's world view. She even made working with her contingent on a change of belief.

Though it might be a ploy to make them think she cared for them personally. A lie many villages and employers tell. He'd play along with her whims for now, if only to solve the dangerous puzzle presented to him.

"Haku. Don't fight that woman." Zabuza ordered.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama. I won't start anything with her."

"No." Zabuza corrected, "Even if she comes for my life, don't try to stop her."

"What!? Why?" Pain flashed across his apprentice's face.

"There is no sense in you dying too."

"I am a tool for you, Zabuza-sama. It's my job to-"

"We are tools, Haku." He agreed. "However, there is a difference be a tool used and a tool wasted. She is strong. I know you felt her chakra too. She was making no attempt to hide it from us. She would kill me, and she would do it quickly. You dying too would be a waste."

"I can't accept that, Zabuza-sama." Haku argued.

"Not my problem." He grunted in response. Though a small part of his mind pointed out that tools didn't argue back at those that wield them. Just as tools also don't care about what they create.

Besides, all of that was a distraction. He had other, more important, things to think about.

"Run me through the fight again. When did my behavior change again." Zabuza ordered. He had a Copy Ninja to prepare for.

-----

With my meeting with Zabuza behind me I started on my next task, which was thankfully very close by. Gato's office. I needed access to all his paperwork. And his booze cabinet, because I had found it very difficult to find any alcohol other than sake here. At the current rate I'd have to go find some agave and start making my own.

Finding the office wasn't hard, even if I hadn't had Tayuya's directions. I just had to look for a really big room with really gaudy furniture and with a massive window.

Gato was many things. Subtle wasn't one of them.

I quickly riffled through the man's files. They had plenty of information on employee records and shipping logs, but those weren't what I was interested in. My real target took a bit longer to find. Gato's transaction books.

Those I found in a secret compartment in the desk. I flipped to the most recent pages and began scanning through the contents, looking for days where unusually large transactions were made. The amount of shinobi weapons and exploding tags he had would lead to single transactions that were much larger than his normal day to to day stuff.

I was quick to find the number that had one more zero than all the other entries had. No name was tied to the transactions, simply an account number. Cross referencing the days of the deposits to the shipping manifests didn't show any consistent drop off location. So the client was paying for things to be sent to many different locations.

That didn't answer much. Any giving missing-nin or hidden village had multiple locations they wanted to stockpile weapons. Though the sheer number of weapons implied that this wasn't a lone ninja.

"Couldn't just leave a convenient piece of paper saying the name of your mysterious client out and about, could you?" I grumbled. It was then I took a brief moment to raid the liqueur cabinet as well.

It was equally as disappointing.

"Can you people make any alcohol out of something other than rice?"

I did grab a bottle of umeshu, which was at least also made with plums.

I returned to the desk and looked through the files once more. I looked through the transactions again. This time not looking at the amounts, but the names associated with the payments.

"There you are."

In the books there was another account that was only a number. It also made a much smaller payment than the big ticket ones I was looking for at first. But they were linked. One small payment then several weeks later, a larger one.

"A down payment." I acknowledged.

Back the shipping manifests I found another pattern. Every time a down payment was made, there was a delivery from the Land of Lighting. It wasn't damming evidence, but it strongly implied Kumogakure were the ones backing Gato.

"I guess now I just have to see how much they actually care." I commented as I left the room.

I did not clean up all of the files behind me.

------

Gato was very confident that he was an extraordinary man.

Objectively it was true. He had come from being a nobody, some random fisherman's son, to being one of the richest men on the continent. From being someone who didn't even have a family name, to being someone who had business meetings with Daimyo. All thanks to the fact that he knew how the world worked.

The strong lived, the weak got crushed. Same way the big countries with their hidden villages kept every small country from growing too large. The same way that a lord took the wealth of his subjects so that none could challenge him. The same way ninjas killed everyone in a little shopping district, including his mother, just to get at the one ninja in hiding. Even the same way his dad came home drunk and beat the shit of him to blow off steam from work.

It was just the way the world worked. You need to strength to take what you want, and you need to use that strength to keep anyone from taking it from you.

That was the failure that finally ended his father. His father failed to stop Gato from hiding enough money to buy a knife. And he certainly failed to stop Gato from stabbing him in the throat while he slept. It was a powerful lesson. One Gato kept to this day.

You can't allow anyone to challenge your strength, or you'd find a knife in your throat. So that's what he did with his business. If he got a rival, he exploited their weaknesses, and if that didn't work a blade in the night worked just as well. Everyone had a vice and way to get to them.

However, as Gato stared at his office, piles of paperwork tossed about and his secret ledger of his accounts left out in the open, Gato knew that he wasn't strong enough.

He hadn't been strong enough since he'd started accepting contracts from ninja. They were stronger than him. There was nothing he could do to stop them. He could probably have his men handle one or two of them, if they ganged up together. Most of the strength of ninja was preparation and illusion. But the raw resources and reach of a ninja dwarfed what he could accomplish.

All just because they were born in a hidden village.

"Going to business with ninja was a mistake." He said as his blood ran cold. His most personal room, even more than his bedroom, had been violated.

All because those damn ninja had made him an offer he couldn't refuse. That or because the stupid ninja that they had helped him hire couldn't kill one guy and his three kids. There were forces at play that went above him, that he had no control over.

He hated it. He swore no one would have that kind of power over him again.

"Yama! Kodo! Get your asses in here! What the hell is this! How did you two dumbasses let someone in here!"

There wasn't anything he could do about the ninja. Shinobi had to deal with shinobi. In the meantime he could make sure that no one challenged him outside that.

"Next time one of you screwups misses something like this again, I'll have you whipped!"

He would leave his contacts out of this for now though. The last thing he needed was more ninja running around.

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