Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Mei's narrowed eyes lingered on me with a suspicious gaze for a heart stopping moment. My mind raced, trying to figure out how exactly I managed to do enough that Mei herself had shown up. It could be that Zabuza somehow tipped her off, which was bad news for my whole 'Recruit Zabuza' thing that I had going on. Still I quaked appropriately under her gaze and didn't break character.

I was a professional.

Her glare slid from me to Gato.

"I see that you are finding time to beat helpless women, but can't find time to make sure that our supplies reach us in a timely manner." Mei stated as she looked away.

There was no way that Mei didn't know I wasn't a civilian. The henge could do quite a lot, but it couldn't disguise the fact it was currently using chakra, which quickly ousted you when you were trying to pretend to be a civilian.

Mei was apparently playing this one by ear.

"Not my fault. Something has been attacking my ships. Locals are blaming some sort of golden crab thing." Gato snarled, spittle flying form his mouth.

"And you didn't feel the need to contact us over this problem?" Mei's voice was cold and sharpened with killing intent.

To his credit, Gato didn't back down. "It was my problem. I was going to handle it. Bad business to make customers deal with my problem."

"It's our problem when out troops don't get their equipment." Mei scoffed. "I will deal with your crab problem. In the meantime, I will take this girl as well."

Yeah, I saw that coming.

"No! This bitch was caught stealing from me! She had a partner on the inside and I need to get the information out of her!"

"You...caught her stealing?" Mei asked with a raised eyebrow and looked down at me.

"No! I didn't! I swear, they were gifts!" I begged.

"Quiet you!" Gato swung the cane at me.

Mei caught it.

"Allow me. These thefts and your problem with crabs might be related." Mei stated and shot me a knowing look. "I'm going to question her while I fix all your other problems"

"What!? You can't-"

Chakra size and the intensity of killing intent are directly linked. Killing intent was like an emotion that flared brightly in chakra. Something that humans had always been aware of, training or not. Something in our lizard brain, something more primal and raw than most humans deal with, screams at us that death approaches. Screams that we should be afraid. When backed by all the chakra of a Kage level ninja? That scream is very loud.

"I can do exactly what I want. We warned you what consequences would come if you failed on your end of the bargain. Be glad I am only giving a warning." Mei turned to me. "Come. You have explaining to do."

Gato's face had vein's bulging and so much blood pumped to his face it had gone past red and was turning a shade of purple. His fists clenched at his side in rage, he said nothing as I stood up and walked out the door with Mei.

Well, if nothing else, this adventure was worth it just for seeing that face.

It was a short walk down the hall before Mei spoke.

"Stop right there." She stated before backing up several more steps from me. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

A thin layer of mist started to creep into the room. Mei's acid mist. The technique was not one I wanted to face indoors. Smaller space meant it concentrated quicker allowing it to ramp up to deadly levels quicker than an open space would allow.

Lava in a confined space had similar issues. Splatter effect was a major problem in a narrow hallway.

I considered that for a moment before dropping my henge, showing my true self, floral dress with gaudy jewelry and all. I brought my own chakra to the surface. Chances are Mei wouldn't want to fight here unless she was very confident she could win. My reputation tended to not make people feel confident.

Mei jumped even further down the hall from me and got into a fighting stance.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

"Ara ara. No need to be frightened." I said soothingly. "I'm not here to fight."

"You're..." Mei paused in consideration before continuing with clear confusion, "Orochimaru?"

"Well yes, but no." I answered. "I go by Orochitama these days."

"Orochi...tama." She asked in disbelief, but got herself under control adopting an aloof and haughty expression. "Fine. Whatever you wish to call yourself. What are you doing here? What are your intentions with Mist?"

"Mist?" I asked lightly, "Don't you mean the Mist rebellion?"

Mei's expression never changed. "Rebellion? Mist has no rebellion."

"Of course. How silly of me." I chirped back. "Well I wasn't here about the Mist rebellion. Oops. How silly of me. I wasn't here about the incredibly legitimate business that you have with Gato. I was here for Gato himself. I knew he had some sort of ninja backer but I wasn't sure who. I was simply beating around the bushes to see where he'd run to."

"And what is it that you plan to do now that you know?" She asked.

Now that was the question here, wasn't it? There were plenty of causes that I'd just screw out of this deal and leave them, but the Mist rebellion was a cause that I actually agreed with. Plus it was a poke in the eye of Akatsuki to help them. The number of people that could move product on a large scale and were willing to it with dubious legality were few and far between. Not to say it didn't happen often, just that the people that did it often found themselves having unfortunate accidents. There is a solid chance that Gato was the only person that could have met their shipping needs. Losing him might very well kill the rebellion before it could truly take off.

"Well I had need of my own lines of transport and some capital. Gato Shipping seemed like an excellent choice. Assuming that Gato had no part of it."

Mei didn't move outwardly at that, but her hands were starting to stray slightly closer together, probably restraining herself from throwing ninjutsu already. Mist didn't want to share. Which made sense. When it came to knowing how to share the various hidden villages where like greedy toddlers, only with even more biting.

"As you can see, his services are unavailable currently. So sorry that you had to waste your time." Mei stated in a tone that was anything but sorry.

"Good. If you're still alive after all this and she comes to you, accept, it'll give us a man on the inside. She's a chaotic element that can throw a wrench in our plans, but she could also be a wrench we can throw in Yagura's plans."

"This mean you aren't going to melt my face off with acid?" Zabuza asked dryly.

Mei scoffed. "Please Zabuza, you're a friend. I'd have killed you with lava."

----

I watched the window to Zabuza's room from a distance, Kusanagi at the ready, but Mei walked out of the room with no attempt on anyone's life. She was leaving him alive. Good.

I had fallen into a mental trap. I honestly had been expecting Akatsuki would be the ones to show up. This sort of thing seemed like it would have Kakuzu all over it. I missed the obvious. Zabuza tried to kill the Mizukage and got exiled. Of course the dissidents of Mist would want him. Location wise it was optimum for Mist.

Mei showing up had been pretty low on my expectations.

Which was a failure on my part. The realtor that read a manga in her teenage years overrode what the experience of a 50 year old ninja that trained his whole life thought might be going on. Which I'd probably think was a bad idea if that thinking didn't also say vivisection on children was a great way to pass the time.

"Hey, Boss Lady." Tayuya said as she approached. "Are we compromised?"

"I'm not sure yet." I answered. There was clearly no love lost between Gato and Mei, but I had no idea if she'd go to him and let him know what was going on. "Did he fall for it?"

"Oh yeah. As soon as you left, he threw a tantrum for a while then went to go count his money like a baby sucking on a pacifier. I know where he keeps his stuff now. If you move his bed, pull up his rug, and then remove some specific stones you'll find where he has a big ass safe hidden."

Under his bed? What was this, amateur hour?

"Ara ara! Excellent job, Tayuya-chan." I congratulated, the pink haired girl still clearly didn't know how to take praise. Not sure if it was because it came from me or if it was just because it was praise. "Well lets just hope Mei leaves soon. I don't want to fight her if I don't have to."

"You don't wanna fight her? Shit, who is that lady?" Tayuya asked.

"Terumi Mei. If things go how I expect, she'll be Mizukage within three years." I answer.

"Oh." Tayuya responded. "You..um-"

"No." I interrupt. "I don't want you or Kidomaru to participate in fighting her. You should run if it comes to that."

"Yeah." She said slowly, sounding relived and confused. "Good. Okay."

"You two might need to inconvenience Kakashi or Zabuza though. I'll probably be busy handling her."

"Inconvenience?" She asked.

"Don't go in for the kill. Even together those two have a decent shot of killing you." I answered before continuing with my orders. "Lay low for now. Give Gato some breathing room. Mei will be watching him for a while and we don't need her grabbing you."

"Sure thing. What about you Boss Lady?" She asked.

"I need to pass on a warning and give Kidomaru some orders." I replied.

"Sure. Meet you tonight at the bridge?"

"Yes. Stay safe Tayuya-chan."

I leapt away quickly. Kidomaru needed to be sure he didn't deploy anymore of his spiders. I was very confident that if he did it now it would end with his spiders, and possibly him, being turned into puddles. More importantly I needed to warn Kakashi.

Unlike with Zabuza, Mei could destroy the house and everyone in it with no warning and just a few seconds.

In seconds I found my way to Tazuna's home. For once I didn't release my hold on my chakra and announce my presence beforehand. I simply walked to the door and rapped a knuckle against it. Within moments Sasuke cracked open the door to peek through.

"Hello little boy, is your sensei home?" I chirped.

The door slammed shut.

I gave a soft giggle before a few moments later Kakashi came to the door and half opened it, hiding his right side, which was doubtlessly clutching a weapon just out of view. It really was commendable how much he still clung to his illusion of being able to actually do anything.

"What do you WANT!?" He said with the tone of desperate man screaming at the sky.

"Zabuza called for back-up. A kage level ninja showed up." I stated simply. "Another Mist nin. You might want to keep a closer eye on the kids. I'm gonna disappear."

The man flashed rapidly through a series of emotions before finally settling on a flat stare.

"So you're leaving then?" He asked.

"For now." I replied kindly. "Tell Tsunami-chan I'll catch up with her later."

The level of seriousness I was displaying seemed to be effecting Kakashi. I could actively see the weight of the world stacking up on his shoulders. Poor guy.

"Keep them safe Kakashi-kun."

"Of course." He responded without hesitation.

I leapt away. It appears my vacation in Wave would be coming to an end.