Demon of the Hidden Mist: Part One

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the mist that surrounded their boat. Something was wrong; he could sense it. A thick killing intent that swirled around them like a blanket. Meanwhile, Azula slowly loosened her arm around him, trying to reason the strange phenomenon in her mind. However, something wasn't right about this mist.

"The air is too cold to form such a large mist," Azula said. "It isn't natural."

Suki reached for her golden fans around her waist. She could tell when a battle was about to go down. Unfortunately, they were all sitting ducks for the enemy that was hiding in the mist. Who knows when they will suddenly attack.

"Could that person be a waterbender?" Suki suddenly asked.

Azula nodded, "It's the only logical conclusion."

Naruto cracked his knuckles with a confident grin on his face, "If it's a fight they want, it's a fight they're gonna get."

However, unlike Naruto's confident attitude, Tazuna couldn't help but feel a shiver coursing through his spine. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as he stared at the mist with fearful eyes. He easily recognized who would do such a thing.

"He-he's here..." Tazuna stammered in fear. "The Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"The Demon of the Hidden Mist?" Tenten asked.

"A monster born from the endless slaughter that he left behind in his wake," Tazuna answered.

"Sounds awfully a lot like my father," Azula said.

"He's definitely working with that bastard Gato," Tazuna gritted his teeth.

"You mean... THAT GATO?" Yulah's eyes widened with shock.

She knew a lot about that man in question. He was a cruel and greedy businessman that would do whatever it took to get what he wanted, even if it meant assassinating his rivals. Gato ruined many lives and slaved away those that couldn't pay their debts. There are even rumors that suggested that he even worked with the Fire Nation. Yulah hated that despicable man to the core.

A whistling sound echoed from the mist cloud, approaching them with incredible speed. It pierced the cloud, revealing itself to be a kunai. Tazuna felt death approaching as the kunai aimed directly for his neck.

"Ah!" He shouted with fear, instinctively raising his arms out to block it with closed eyes.

Cries of steel suddenly rang out in the air. Tazuna slowly opened his eyes and saw Naruto standing before him with a kunai in hand. He saw the look of Naruto's face that oozed with complete confidence as he glanced back at him.

"Scared, old man?" Naruto grinned at him.

'He saved me...' Tazuna thought to himself.

Naruto felt the sharp sting in his hand after he blocked the kunai. There was no mistaking it; they were facing off against a shinobi. He ignored the pain as he focused vigilantly over his surroundings. Although, Naruto felt a tinge of excitement coursing through his body, he needed to take this fight seriously. He couldn't allow the same carelessness just like last time when he went against The Wolf Horde bandits.

"Tenten, Azula, help me guard Tazuna," Naruto commanded. "Suki, take Yulah and the old man inside the cabin."

Nodding their heads, Azula and Tenten encircled Tazuna while Suki brought Yulah and Temujin inside the cabin. A creeping silence swallowed them as they stood in battle ready stances. Suddenly, Tenten's instincts went into full drive, and she quickly raised her sanjiegun in front of her. A star-shaped weapon struck the pole of her sanjiegun before it fell flat onto to the floor.

Kunais and shurikens were thrown from different directions, but they were easily repelled. In response, Azula fired several of her azure flames into various directions. Her brows scrunched with worry. Were there more of them? She might not have see where exactly her targets were located, but perhaps she can hold them at bay with suppressive fire.

"There's unexpectedly a firebender here," A gruff spoke within the mist, much to the sudden shock of everyone present.

"Who the hell's there!" Naruto shouted towards the mist.

Suddenly, a giant sword, The Executioner's Blade, smashed into the deck, imbedding itself in thick wood. Much to everyone's astonishment, Zabuza landed on the handle of his enormous sword with incredible balance and poise. His intimidating glare gazed below everyone with contempt and scorn. The gang grew extremely cautious of his presence as they lowered themselves in combat stances.

"Who are you?" Naruto quickly stepped forward, "What do you want with us?"

The twin tails of his blue headband fluttered against the wind as Zabuza glanced down at Naruto. He noticed the unwavering confidence of the boy and smirked to himself.

"Zabuza or Demon of the Hidden Mist as others like to call me,". Zabuza nonchalantly hopped down from his sword. He then pulled the Executioner's Blade out with incredible strength and pointed it at them. "I have a simple order to kill that man over there, so hand him over."

"As if we would," Tenten said with furrowed brows. "Back off or else."

Zabuza simply chuckled, "Is that suppose to be a threat? Listen, little girl, those who get in my way will always die by hand. You will only be included in that long list."

"Oh?" Azula stepped up next to Tenten as she smirked at him. "We'll like to see you try."

Zabuza suddenly charged at her with incredible speed much to Azula's shock. She hastily shook herself out of it and launched streams of azure flames at him. Zabuza scoffed as a sudden trail of water formed across the edge of the blade. He swung his sword across and dissipated the flames with ease.

Azula couldn't believe that her azure flames were extinguished so easily. The flames that she had prided so much on were dealt with that easily. Azula stood there frozen as a towering figure stood before her. She never felt this small before.

"Die," Zabuza swung his sword down without hesitation.

However, Zabuza only struck against hard wood, missing his target entirely. Naruto had managed to tackle Azula to safety just before the blade struck her by a hair's breadth. Naruto winced as he felt a sharp pain on his back; a thin cut appeared as trickle of blood trailed down.

"Whew, that was close one," Naruto said.

Noticing the wound on his, Azula shouted with worry, "Naruto, are you alright!"

"Heh, this is nothing," Naruto smiled at her. "I've always been a fast healer."

Zabuza ripped his sword from the wounded deck as chips and splinters flew everywhere.

"You're quite the fast one, kid," Zabuza said.

Scrunching his brows, Naruto stood up and turned around to face Zabuza, "And you're going down, asshole." He spat out.

Naruto conjured flames onto the blade of his kunai and threw it at Zabuza. Clashes of metal against metal rang as Zabuza blocked it with his sword. However, Naruto anticipated this and waved his hand out. The golden flames on the kunai suddenly expanded outwards and engulfed Zabuza instantly.

"You cheeky fucking brat!" Zabuza shouted in anger. The golden flames around him suddenly burst into steam. The steam disappeared which revealed a shield of water that surrounded Zabuza.

"He really is a waterbender..." Naruto murmured. Not only that, Zabuza was incredibly agile and an amazing sword wielder. This was going to be a tough match. However, a light bulb flashed above his head. He suddenly remembered the final thing Jiraiya had taught him. However, he wasn't sure if he should let it be exposed this early on. On the other hand, this was a shinobi they were dealing with.

"I'll make sure to cut you up real nicely," Zabuza rested the giant sword over his shoulders. He immediately sensed an ambush to his left side. He quickly caught the staff pole that nearly struck his head and turned his head towards the girl that attacked him.

"You really think that was going to work?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes at Tenten. He pulled the sanjiegun out of her hands and threw a vicious kick at her.

Tenten managed to barely block it, but the strength behind it made her slid a distance back. Her eyes widened as the shadow of The Executioner's Blade blotted out the sun. Tenten somersaulted backwards as the sword crashed into the deck.

"Azula, we need to help her!" Naruto voice shook Azula out of her thoughts.

Azula clenched her fists. Now wasn't the time to be afraid. This was was another opponent that she needed to overcome.