A petite girl with tanned skin, whiskered cheeks, and neon yellow hair stared back. It was a perfect copy, but for the pupiless crimson irises held in eye sockets of pure black. Naruto raised one trembling hand to the mirror, and her mirror-image copied the action. Then the mirror-imaged put down her arm, and a petite girl stepped out of the glass.
Naruto stumbled back. "Who are you?"
The mirror image's face broke into a sharp-toothed smile.
"Isn't that obvious?" Even her voice was a perfect mimicry of her own, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
…
Naruto's body was coiled in tension as her mirror-image began to move. Rather than step closer, the red-eyed spirit languidly encircled her body, forcing the other girl to follow her movements lest the spirit move out of sight. There was an oppressive silence as rich sapphire met iridescent crimson, and neither blonde spoke.
"You," the uncanny similarity of the spirit's tone made her counterpart shiver, "Are a very stupid girl."
"And one that doesn't like herself much, huh?" Naruto quipped, tapping the spot besides her right eye, "Red eyes. Very evil. Must clash terribly with all of that orange."
The spirit smiled, and Naruto wondered if she looked equally silly when her whisker marks bunched up like that. "I find that it adds character."
"I prefer blue myself," the Uzumaki hurriedly took a step back, as the spirit drew closer. "What are you?"
"Didn't I already answer that?" the spirit jumped forward, and Naruto threw her body to the side. The darkness below her feet felt entirely solid, as her body tumbled into a crouch, and then rose. She looked warily at the spirit, that hadn't move to attack when she was down. "I'm you. And more."
Under the Uzumaki's stunned gaze, four pale-gold, glowing chains burst out of the spirit's body and rushed towards her. She barely dodged the first one, when the second slapped her aside, and the remainder fastened her arms to her body. The chains slunk around her- solid, burning, unyielding- and the blades lay ominously against her collarbone, visible against the shared pale-gold hue of her skin. Naruto screamed.
There was a single, high-pitched shriek of terror, before the sound tapered off. And then silence. No echo. No return. Naruto was left with pools of darkness, dim lighting, and the iridescent crimson eyes of her merciless mirror-image.
"What are these?" the blonde demanded, each word extending her vocal box to the warm tongue of the blade, "What are you?!"
"Come on now," the spirit frowned, "I expected better from myself. Tell me your suspicions, and I will give you a true answer. We've never liked to lie."
'She's holding me captive, and wants to play mind games,' Naruto thought, terrified, 'Her chains can kill me at any moment…'
"They can, but I won't do so," her mirror-image admitted, her smile returning at the obvious horror in those blue eyes, "You deserve so much more than a quick, painless death, Naruto. And yes, I can read your thoughts. They're available to anyone in your mental scape, and thus, open to me."
"You said that you're me," Naruto replied, voice trembling. Her best recourse was to humor the spirit, until Shino and Hinata could find an adult to save her from this mess. As soon as the thought formed, she saw the mirror-image's mouth curl into an even less benevolent expression. "The Yamanaka jutsu was supposed to help me reflect on my sense of self. And, if it worked, then you're my inner reflection. But you also said that you're more..."
"I am," the spirit cheerfully replied, her wary crimson eyes oddly contrasting with the childishly round face and bright blonde bangs. "Let me tell you a few things about the Yamanaka jutsu that our selfish, vapid classmate couldn't be bothered to say. It's supposed to show you the parts of your personality and experience that you've naturally suppressed, in order to come to grips with it and prevent the break off of a separate consciousness. I'm sure you can understand why."
"So it doesn't take over their bodies," the Uzumaki's voice grew steadier, though her entire body turned cold. The Mind-Body switch was the basis of most of the Yamanaka jutsus; that was common knowledge, even to the civilians of Konoha. For her to see this, the spirit must have splintered…
"I'm more than just a splinter, thank you," the mirror-image's voice became positively glacial. It could have matched the icy pit forming in Naruto's stomach. "We've lived a harder life than that spoiled little clan princess, Ino, haven't we? I represent everything that we've gone through; the life that you're so happy to ignore! All those times they shunned a child barely old enough to walk or speak! Every ugly thought, every moment of anger, every wish that we made for someone to give a damn about us!"
Her iridescent crimson eyes flashed, and the darkness broke around her. But Naruto cringed back against her burning chains, desperately wanting to close her eyes, as the world around her broke into screens. Memories. Ugly, bitter, unhappy, sad. And her body refused to close her eyes.
Skinny arms wrapped around the thin, orphanage-issued pillow. Lightning crackling outside. Scared and crying, but none of the matrons came. They would never come.
A spring festival, and the sense of good cheer and beginnings in the air. No one would smile at her, but they didn't glare either. A fistful of money from the Old Man. A pretty fox mask being thrown at her head. The shopkeeper's angry jeer, and the averted faces of the ninja around him. She fled.
Her first day of school. So excited that she had arrived almost an hour early. Introducing herself to the class, but dismissed to her seat before she could even finish. An indifferent instructor and children that grew scornful of the child that was too stupid, and too slow, and too useless to accomplish anything.
Failure. Exam after exam after exam. Trying so hard, but nobody cared. Nobody ever did. A fit of anger inspiring paint thrown at the sensei's face. A moment of attention- and she wanted it so much, it physically hurt- that instigated a second, and then a third. The burst of joy turning into ash in her mouth when she realized that it changed nothing.
A note. More notes, in a slanted, graceful script that answered her questions, and encouraged her to practice further. Support and affection to a child that had been starved of either. Then anxious whispers in the night of hidden identities. Frustration that her first friend may have been ashamed of her warring with the guilt of suspicion. Her regret voicing the thought that she wasn't worthy of the ANBU's kindness.
"Stop it," her voice shook, and then escalated into a shriek, "I don't want to see this! Turn them off!"
"This is our life," the spirit's voice purred, "You wonder why I have so much power? It's because I've fed on every negative part of our lives that you've pushed down. I'm filled with all of the hatred and pain that we've suffered, and it made me strong. And all it did was make you weak. You're crying."
It wasn't until the mirror-image said this, that Naruto became aware of the warm tears running down her cheeks. The screens thankfully flickered off, but their damage was done. The onslaught of memories caused her breath to come out in strangled gasps, as though she had just run for hours.
"Why?" Naruto managed, "Why are you doing this to me?"
The spirit stepped forward, and her features calmed down into an expression of serenity. The brief upturn of her lips could even suggest a hint of compassion. Naruto shuddered when her small hand rose up to cup her cheek, almost kindly. The iridescent crimson eyes glittered.
"I need you to remember," the spirit answered sympathetically, "They hurt us, Naruto, but you're too weak to hurt them back. But I'm not. I'll make them suffer for everything they've done to us."
This caused the Uzumaki to stir. "You can't," she croaked, "I won't let you."
Her mirror-image stepped back, and Naruto saw her cupid-bow lips turn down. "I'm doing this for us," the spirit insisted, "For the little girl that would have given away the world for a single kind word."
And, despite not being able to explain it, the blonde somehow knew that her counterpart was being entirely honest, that she genuinely believed herself to be in the right. "And what will you do to me?"
"You'll stay here," the spirit assured, "Safe from people that will only want to hurt you."
"And Shino? Hinata? The Old Man and the folks at Ichiraku?" Naruto demanded, "My ANBU?"
"Silly girl," her counterpart's voice was almost affectionate, "They may be kind to you now, but they'll turn on us soon. Everyone does. I'm the only one that you can trust. I'll never hurt you."
Naruto closed her eyes, acknowledging- for a heartbeat- that the potential of her words were true. Hadn't she doubted the sincerity of Shino's friendship at the beginning? Didn't the impetus to seek her ANBU's identity come from her doubt that he truly cared? The anger, hurt, and frustration of the memories that her counterpart had shown filled her body, but then rich blue eyes opened.
"They're my friends," Naruto's voice was soft, but determined, "And I'll never let you hurt them."
Iridescent crimson eyes flashed, and an ugly sneer crossed the bewhiskered girl's face. "And how do you intend to do that?"
The pale-gold chains tightened around her body, causing Naruto's breath to catch, and the blades jangled threateningly.
"The Adamantine Sealing Chains are our inheritance from our mother," the spirit informed her, "An Uzumaki bloodline that was vaunted to hold down beings as powerful as the Bijuu. If you weren't so busy chasing after the Yamanaka parent that we don't have, then maybe you would know this."
"Maybe I would," Naruto agreed, because even in her fear, there was a sense of wonder at inheriting a bloodline from her mother, "But if you're every bad thing about me… then you must have terrible chakra control."
Then the energy that she had been building up to this point- a painful pressure pulsating under her skin- overflowed, and ruptured through her skin to the chains holding her down. There was a struggle between violent-tinted blue and silver-tinted gold, but Naruto couldn't see this as she screamed. Pain. Pain. Pain. So much, that her skin rippled and tore, her blood burned hotter than fire, and bright spots blotted out her sight. So much, that Naruto thought she would prefer death.
"The Hyuuga's don't have many defensive moves tailored to their taijutsu," Hinata had explained, under the warm spring sun, as their ankles slipped into the cold lake, "We do have the Kaiten though. It's a full-body shield that can disrupt the chakra of other jutsus, by expelling a continuous stream of chakra from every tenketsu point in the body."
"Why the tenketsu points?" Shino wanted to know, "It would make the attack less costly, of course, but can't the chakra be expelled from any point in the body?"
Hinata's pearlescent eyes widened in alarm, and she rapidly shook her head. "No! Chakra should only be released through the tenketsu points of the body! Or else it'll rip through the muscles and nerves as it tries to get through. That would cause irreparable damage to the body!"
It hurt, but more importantly, it worked. The chains were disrupted, and Naruto was free. Her regenerative abilities kicked in rapidly, even more effective within the mindscape, as tendons repaired themselves and the blood flow became sluggish. Her mirror-image looked appalled.
"You said that there was a little girl that would have given the world away for a single kind word," Naruto's body swayed, as she tried to get a handle on the pain wracking through her body. Regardless, there was a triumphant smile on her face. "I guess that little girl never really grew up."
"Foolish, stupid, reckless child," the crimson eyes narrowed, "You would hurt yourself for the hand that would slap you away instead?"
"You talk too much," was Naruto's reply, because her vision was still a bit too blurry for her own good.
There was a snarl, and white-gold chains burst out of the other girl's back once again. They dove forward, but the Uzumaki refused to move as they pierced her body. A second later, and the body crumbled down into tens of thousands of tiny kikaichu bugs, that flew towards her counterpart.
'This is my mind,' Naruto thought fiercely, as the crimson-eyed girl's wave caused the kikaichu to be consumed in a curtain of fire, 'And you're not welcome here!'
A wave of water met the curtain of fire, and steam obscured the dim lighting around her. This had come down to a battle of wills, and Naruto was determined to win.
Shisui had been the first one to detect the ambush.
"Move!" he shouted, and Itachi angled his jump to take him to a tree branch several meters to the left, because he trusted that voice without question. A moment later, a water cannon blasted through the spot that he was about to land.
The Uchiha calmly perched on his tree branch, as his sensor ability expanded to assimilate the given information. Shisui and Yugao had dodged to the right, but a tense Miroku was to his direct left. This brought their ANBU team into a pincer formation against the six- five male, one female- Kiri ninja landing in the clearing. Itachi's ink-toned eyes blinked once, and the spinning tomoe of a fully-matured Sharingan appeared.
'There are two ninja missing,' was Itachi's first thought, before he released his chakra, and fell below the tanto nearly striking at his head. One chakra-laden foot against the bark propelled him back up, and the Uchiha fell into the rapidstrike movement of a Jounin-level taijutsu match.
'Ninjutsu specialist,' was his second thought, as the man tried to jump away, but the Uchiha followed closely behind, and refused to allow him an advantage. His eyes began to analyze the movements and his hands gracefully parried each strike, but Itachi's attention was on his sensor ability, to discern where the creator of the water Bunshin had hidden.
'Why are they risking the treaty?' was this third thought, as he nearly forced himself through the watery body, and across seven trees in two jumps. Itachi's arm jutted forward, and the warm, thick, familiar copper scent of blood assaulted his nose. Stomach wounds were never instantly fatal, so the dark-haired teen had to jump backwards, and avoid a furious rain of kunai from the man's partner.
"What are you doing here?" Yugao shouted furiously, one hand forming hand seals, while the other used her katana to hold back two of the male nin, "Our villages have a Kami-damned treaty!"
"No problem to us, if you're dead," one of the nin stated, "Kiri doesn't have a Sharingan after all." A shriek of pain then, as Yugao spit out a beach ball sized ball of fire directly to his face.
'Suggesting that they do have a Byakugan?' Itachi mused, sending a human-sized Great Fireball no Jutsu to the kunai-happy Kiri nin across him.
Dammit, this was one of the worst times for an ambush! They were half a day of travel away from the Land of Fire borders, there mission had just recently been completed, and Itachi's body couldn't handle a second soldier pill to replenish his quarter-filled reserves. Once again, the teen was forced to deal with the frustration of completing high-level missions on a fourteen-year-old's reserves.
'At least that fireball took one of them out,' Itachi acknowledged, his regret carefully filed below the forced detachment of battle.
The next seventeen minutes left the dark-haired teen insensate, as he fell into the patterns of battle. A thin shuriken cut on his left thigh, a water whiplash on his arm, a handful of bruises, a crack to on one of his ribs, and yet, Itachi simply kept on moving. Genjutsu required minimal chakra, and his Sharingan enhanced the scope of visual illusions, as the the Kiri ninja, who was foolish enough to look an Uchiha in the eye, was forced to find out.
Vines splaying him below a red sky, red ants running across his body, his skin shrivelling under the relentless heat and strips of flesh torn away to feed the crows, and Itachi's blade to his throat became a mercy. Then the Uchiha drew back, coiled his chakra in, and released another pulse to the field.
Eight ninja, of mostly Chuunin level had come in. Five of them were dead, one Jounin-level ninja was fighting Yugao, and another one was surrounded by the dozen after-images of Shisui's Body Flicker. The final one was being matched, katon jutsu against suiton jutsu, by Miroku, on the forest floor.
Itachi's hands quickly snapped through the first futon jutsu that he had ever learned, and the only jutsu that he had ever gifted Naruto with. He may not have the blonde's chakra reserves or powerful wind affinity, but his Gale Palm was enough to triple the size of Miroku's next katon jutsu. The brunette's opponent worse goggles, but the expression on his face turned slack as the fiery wall of chakra threw his body back and led to his death.
Itachi averted his eyes. The rancid smell of burnt flesh had always sickened him.
Miroku turned to him, with a relieved look. "Looks like we made it through."
The dark-haired teen would have replied, but his Sharingan was still active, and the barest flicker of his consciousness drew his attention to one of the dead bodies. His first opponent, the water ninjutsu user with the deadly stomach wound, had thrown a kunai, and, as Itachi's arm automatically rose to deflect it, he noticed that it hadn't been aimed at him.
"Mir-" Itachi's voice soundlessly screamed, as the man thought he'd killed, the man that he was supposed to kill, threw a kunai that skewered through Miroku's neck. The cheerful, flirtatious, and quick-witted teammate, whose eyes opened wide in a moment of surprise, and then glazed over.
Dead. Miroku was dead. Because he left an enemy alive.
"Itachi!" Shisui's voice made him look up again, and Itachi didn't know- couldn't know- that his appearance had suddenly changed. The three tomoe in his crimson eyes had spun and merged and separated, as three spiralling curves formed around a black pupil. Tears of blood fell soundlessly from his eyes, the entire world falling into sharp clarity, before chakra exhaustion finally took him.
As the Uchiha heir slumped down in exhaustion, he didn't feel his cousin's arms catching his falling body or hear Yugao's equally worried shout of his name.
Miroku was dead.
Inoichi Yamanaka didn't even bother to give his cringing daughter a second look, as he accepted the hastily-made sandwich from his wife, and rushed back to the hospital. Despite the fact that he had already given her a thorough reaming for the sheer and utter stupidity of giving out a clan technique- much less for another child's private clothing- Inoichi was still furious. Ino's selfish and thoughtless actions had caused a massive clusterfuck that was known to almost every shinobi clan in the village.
The Nara and Akimichi clans knew, of course, due to the treaty that required Inoichi to share any potential political mishaps with the allied families. Two of the other noble clans, Aburame and Hyuuga, were informed, due to their heirs involvement in the matter. The Uchiha Clan, having been an inadvertent party to that disastrous bet, were informed of the events. And if the Inuzuka weren't aware by now, then they certainly would be within a matter of days, with the gossip involved.
Inoichi had been forced to convene an emergency Yamanaka Council, after his initial prognostic of the Uzumaki, and his kinsman were understandably angry. Their clan didn't have bloodline-specific abilities, but had gained some level of prominence through techniques that they had developed through laborious and deadly trial-and-error. Since anyone could steal their hard work, they put many mental and physical failsafes on their scrolls, and impressed countless warnings on their shinobi to keep those jutsu secret. A warning that was disregarded by the heiress of the clan, in order to barter one of their precious techniques in exchange for an illegal act.
Even members of the clan that despised the jinchuuriki, were calling for Ino to be removed from the heiress position for her decision. Inoichi had managed to prevent that- barely- but knew that his daughter would have to be given a severe punishment. The older Yamanaka had no idea what convinced her to trade a Yamanaka jutsu for a pair of Sasuke Uchiha's boxers.
A Yamanaka jutsu that had put the Kyuubi jinchuuriki in a coma.
The Sandaime's fury could have put the most irate, traditional Yamanaka Elder to shame. The venerable man had managed to hold his expression during the children's explanations- the Aburame's pragmatic, but worried summary and the Hyuuga's stuttering, but forceful answers- but the adults didn't receive that allowance. Everyone had been at fault. Hiashi and Shibi were told to instruct their heirs on the dangers of using unknown clan jutsu, Fugaku had been asked why the break-in wasn't reported, and Inoichi had been ordered to scan the unconscious girl.
Had his Kage's ire not been enough to shame him, the image of the tiny blonde laying pallid and still against the stark white bedsheets would have. Inoichi didn't like looking at Naruto Uzumaki often. She was the picture-perfect copy of her father, and forced the Yamanaka Clan Head to recall the easy-going blonde genius of his Academy class. She spoke and moved like Kushina Uzumaki, and the blonde man was almost tempted to check his back for a 'kick me' sign. Inoichi never saw the Kyuubi, but he couldn't see Naruto Uzumaki either.
"Have there been any changes to her vitals?" Inoichi asked, once against inserting the barest thread of chakra into her forehead, and receiving the same impression back. The Inner Mirrors of Reflection jutsu had taken, and there was nothing to be done, but allow it to run its course. Breaking it could shatter her mind, but Inoichi wondered if that was not the kinder path should the Uzumaki girl be facing her literal demon.
"No, sir," the nurse's reply was just as rote, because the Yamanaka had asked this many times before.
Withholding a sigh, Inoichi nodded, and took a seat beside the bed. He would spend another night here, in the hope that an opportunity would present itself to insert his own consciousness into the girl. This entire clusterfuck was a series of terrible news to him.
Well, except for the assurance that Mikoto Uchiha refused to press charges. Thank Kami that the girl Ino had tricked, was also being courted by the woman's eldest son.
x
'Because I want to be your friend.'
The wind howled and spun into a tornado that tossed all of the rock projectiles back. But then arrows were pressing down on her, and Naruto's body melted into another puddle of water.
'You should know about your family… I copied the relevant passages down here, for you.'
Concentric rings of glowing pink energy pinned her counterpart's leg to the floor. The crimson-eyed girl stumbled, and Naruto had the chance to raise a pillar of stone, that brought her away from the quicksand on the floor.
'L-let us train together, Naruto-chan!'
Nets of golden light, golems of lava, daggers of glass, and glowing chakra chains that were far more versatile than they had any right to be. Naruto could feel exhaustion press down on her, as the two blondes continued to mentally batter one another with no end. Her only saving grace was that the crimson-eyed spirit was also tiring.
'I can't have a battle of attrition with her,' the Uzumaki admitted, frustrated that her most powerful trait had been negated, 'We have access to the same amount of chakra, and I nearly crippled myself at the beginning of our fight.'
Her body was enfolded into the cloak of shadows, giving her a chance to pause and catch her breath. The mirror-image paused too, fingers twitching and crimson eyes warily tracking the darkness, as she momentarily rested. Her sweat-drenched blonde locks were pasted to a damp forehead, the pale-gold skin flushing dark pink in exhaustion.
"You're being foolish," the uncanny voice rang out again, "Why are you fighting me? I'm doing this to protect us!"
"You just want to hurt everyone!" Her voice echoed from every corner of the room, because that was a lesson that Naruto had only needed to learn once, "You want to hurt my friends!"
"Because they're only going to hurt us!" And under the fury within her voice, Naruto could hear hints of tears and pleas, "We can't trust any of them!"
"You can't trust any of them," Naruto retorted, "That doesn't mean that I don't."
"But you do," her counterpart snapped, "If you trusted them, then I wouldn't be here. I am you!"
That brought Naruto up short, because she was right. Her counterpart was bitter and ruthless, but that was because Naruto had been bitter and ruthless. The mirror-image symbolized every ugly thought that Naruto had, every moment of anger that Naruto didn't act on, and every unfulfilled wish that Naruto put her heart into. Her counterpart wanted to lash out at the world, because there was a vindictive child inside of her that was willing to trap another child's clothes with poison ivy.
"But I didn't," Naruto whispered, "I didn't do that."
And if that vindictive child was there, then so was the little girl that would have given the world away for a single kind word.
"What are you doing?" the counterpart asked, as the Uzumaki showed herself again. Naruto merely smiled at her, before closing her eyes and concentrating.
'I think your golden hair makes you look like a Yosei.'
Freshly grown grass brushed ticklishly against her ankles as it spread in an ever-widening circle from her body. A brisk breeze whistled through the air, and a burbling creek appeared, with fragrant wildflowers dotting its banks. Ancient trees stood as giant sentinels against the backdrop of the sky. She could see swathes of clouds canvass above, and feel the warmth of the sunlight encompass her.
Naruto opened her eyes, and walked forward. The crimson-eyed girl refused to move.
"I'll admit it's pretty," her mirror-image said mockingly, "But how do you plan to defeat me with it?"
"I didn't make it to hurt you," Naruto hesitantly raised a hand, and her counterpart grew utterly still when it lay on her cheek, this time, "I think that every Yosei deserves a woodland home of her own."
Then Naruto took one final step, brought her arms up, and enveloped the crimson-eyed spirit in a hug.
Momochi Zabuza had nearly half-a-dozen bandages wrapped around his face, so he didn't bother to prevent the scowl on his face as he trudged to the madman's office. It was also his Kage's office, which was fitting since Yagura was somehow both the absolute leader of Kirigakure and the greatest enemy Kiri's bloodline clans had ever suffered from.
The jinchuuriki's secretary was a squeaky little thing, and Zabuza was disinclined from listening to him regardless, because he simply refused to obey the orders of a Chuunin. Much less a rich, first caste, civvie brat that was probably only promoted because his father blamed the bloodline wielders for being unable to protect his business in the last war. The widely-named Demon of the Mist had no respect for those kind of people, and, if he was being entirely honest, little respect for his Kage either.
'I knew that Yuki brat was making me soft,' the Demon thought, considering the dark-haired, absurdly pretty boy-child that kept following him around. He had made the mistake of tossing the kid bread once, and somehow ended up with a (potentially useful) stalker in exchange. That his apprentice was a bloodline user exacerbated Zabuza's initial dislike of the regime's policies. 'Maybe Harusame had a point about leaving when I had the chance.'
They were in similar situations now, since both of their apprentices would be targeted under Yagura's policies. Though Harusame had left with a fully-grown, Jounin-level apprentice, whereas Zabuza had to deal with a girly-looking ten-year-old boy, so he probably couldn't pull off the same wandering trick. There were some sick bastards among the Kiri Hunter Nin, and Zabuza wouldn't want to hand a kid like Haku over to them.
'And running leaves a cowardly taste to my mouth too,' Zabuza admitted, acknowledging his prideful nature. There was a shadow beyond the wall of the Yondaime's door, and the Demon of the Mist channelled his chakra to his eardrums, in order to hear them.
"Activated… successful attack… final stage of the eye." Was Yagura's voice always so deep?
'The fuck?' Zabuza thought, straightening up, as the shadow moved away, and the door swung open. Resisting the urge to reach for the Kubikiribocho, the tall man stepped into the office, and took it in.
There were only two people present, even though Zabuza could have sworn that he'd heard three heartbeats. Yagura was sitting behind his desk, of course, on a special chair designed to compensate for his miniscule height. There were still his youthful features, ash grey hair, and a single, stiched scar running down his cheek. The other man was new.
Zabuza's first impression was the color white. The child- because he could hardly be older than fifteen years- had pure white hair, white bandages covering half of his face, and a high-collar white jacket over his body. It was fastened to his body by means of two thick belts, and were the only non-white color of his outfit. The sole other distinguishing feature were pale pink eyes that stared at him with the gaze of an experienced killer.
Even to a man who was no stranger to bloodshed, those ancient eyes on a youthful face, were strange, and the Demon of the Mist turned away. Instead, he hid his sneer, curled his chakra in, and forced himself to bow. "The mission was successful, Mizukage-sama."
Mostly. Zabuza certainly couldn't be blamed if Mangetsu's annoying little brother managed to escape the purge of the Hozuki Clan.