The Scorpion's Apprentice

Chapter VIII

Hope you enjoy and be sure to leave your thoughts! I always enjoy hearing from you!
~~~~~~~~

Kakashi stared at the three shinobi that were standing in front of him. First was the Inuzuka head Tsume Inuzuka with her partner Kuromaru. Next to her was the pride of the Aburame, Shibi Aburame. His insects deadly to any foe that came in his path. The last one, Kakashi was pleasantly surprised the Hokage would send. Hiashi Hyūga. The head of the Hyūga clan.

"Isn't this a bit excessive?" Kakashi asked. "The Third wanted to keep it as convert as possible. It's obvious that the ANBU doesn't partially have a fondness for Naruto, so he sent us," Shibi said monotoned.

"And if anything from your limited report was any indication, Naruto is a danger and a threat," Hiashi said just as monotonous as Shibi. "I get that, but I'm surprised that he would send you, Hiashi. If the Hokage wanted to make this a covert operation, I wouldn't think he would send the head of one of Konoha's most influential clans," Kakashi reasoned.

"Yes, well, the Hokage more or less panicked when he got the message he sent for the best trackers in the village," Hiashi said. "Well, it's good to see you in the old Jonin vest anyways," Kakashi said. "Indeed, it reminds me of better times," Hiashi agreed with a nod.

"Enough of this. I believe we have a renegade Genin to find," Tsume said a bit impatiently. Kakashi nodded. "Right, we need to find and get Naruto under control. His main source of attack are puppets, so we need to come at him all at once. He can control at least four puppets at a time, but that's as far as I've seen," he explained.

"So we aren't sure how many puppets he can control? Just great." Tsume muttered. "With the Kyūbi sealed within him, the number of puppets he could possibly control a small army to a nation," Shibi noted.

"And if we reach the worst case scenario, this village and its people might be caught in the crossfire," Hiashi continued. "And we would need an army of our own to combat him," Kakashi finished. "So, we're screwed. Just great," Tzume muttered.

"We should have brought Shikaku," Shibi commented and the others nodded in agreement.

~Naruto Uzumaki~

"There, all better now," Naruto said as he snapped the wooden arm back into place. The blonde puppeteer held his hand up and chakra strings shot out of the tips of his fingertips and attached to Daburu. Naruto's fingers began to move and Daburu stood up off the table and flexed its fingers.

"It's looking good, kit," Kurama's voice sounded behind him. "Thanks, after that training session with Zabuza, I'm glad that Daburu is better," Naruto replied as he continued to move his puppet around the room.

"I swear, if I didn't see it first hand, I wouldn't know that you had a soft side," Kurama said. Naruto turned around to face the mirror that had darkened to only show two malicious red eyes. "The reason I show my soft spot to my puppets and my puppets alone is that they cannot betray me. Besides, in the unlikely chance that they do betray me, I can break them just as easily as I made them," he said. "You're scary, kid, even for me," Kurama said.

Naruto smirked in satisfaction before he turned back to Daburu and the puppet stood back up. Daburu walked back to the waiting black coffin in the center of the room and stepped into the coffin and lowered itself down into the coffin. Naruto walked over to the coffin and two dark red chakra arms came out of his shoulders and picked up the coffin lid.

A polite knock sounded on the door and Naruto glanced at it as the coffin was closed. "Come in," he answered as the two chakra arms disappeared.

The door opened slightly and Haku slide inside. "How are you, Naruto?" he asked as he closed the door behind him. "Just fine. Finally got Daburu fixed after that master of yours had the audacity to cut one of his arms off," Naruto growled as he walked back to his desk. "I see you're still bitter about that," Haku murmured.

"You have no idea," Kurama murmured. "Shut up, fox," Naruto snapped as he glanced at the mirror. Haku looked at the mirror perplexed but didn't comment on why the puppeteer was talking to himself. He was used to Naruto's odd behavior of talking to himself by now.

Haku walked over to a chair next to Naruto's desk and sat down next to the puppeteer. Naruto was playing around with a single wooden arm, its fingers mimicking his own. "I really do enjoy watching you play with your puppets. I've never been to Suna, so I've never seen puppets in battle before," Haku commented. "Really? I would think that you've been there before, with you and Zabuza taking on different clients," Naruto said.

"No, Master like to keep it in the Land of Water. We've never been anywhere else," Haku replied. Naruto hummed. "I guess with the Mizukage up and about, I'm sure that Zabuza wants to keep a close eye on Kiri," he said. "He still cares for his village, despite his rough appearance," Haku said softly.

"I know that, Haku. I've grown to understand the Demon of the Mist during these last few days," Naruto said as the door opened behind them. "Speak of the devil," Kurama said as Zabuza slipped into the room. Naruto snorted as he glanced over his shoulder. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear," he said with a smirk.

Zabuza rolled his eyes before he closed the door and leaned against the wall next to it. "Gato's almost at his limit with you," he said. Naruto snorted. "I'm surprised that he's not already there," he said before he turned away and went back to tinkering around with the different parts on his desk.

"Yeah, well, he wants me to try and convince you to work for him," Zabuza said as he folded his arms. "You're not going to try it?" Naruto inquired.

The mercenary snorted. "Hell no, I'm having fun watching you toy with the little prick," he replied. Naruto laughed. "Good boy," he praised teasingly. "Did you fix your puppet?" Zabuza teased back. "Yeah, I did. No thanks to you," Naruto snapped.

Zabuza smirked underneath his bandages but didn't say anything. A wooden bug buzzed into the room through an open window and Naruto raised one of the puppet arm's fingers. The little wooden bug landed on the finger and buzzed softly.

Naruto sighed annoyed. "Just great," he muttered. "What's up?" Zabuza inquired. "Bakashi put out a code blue for me," Naruto answered. "Meaning?" Haku asked curiously. "Renegade ninja. Knowing the old man, he probably wants these people to drag me back to the village alive," Naruto said.

"I've heard that before. The Mizukage wants me dead," Zabuza snorted. "Reasonable, you do have a killable face," Naruto hummed. Haku rolled his eyes at the twos' bickering. "Who's coming for you, Naruto?" he asked.

"Well, the old man sent the heads of three of Konoha's best hunting clans to come and find me," Naruto answered. "Even the Hyūga head? That's a bit much, don't you think?" Zabuza asked with a nonexistent eyebrow.

"He knows that if I don't want to be found, I don't get found. So he sent the best trackers of the Hidden Leaf to come and find me," Naruto informed the two. "So what's your plan? Knowing you, you've probably already thought up ten different ideas," Haku said.

"Oh, you know me all too well already," Naruto said with an evil and mischievous smirk. "Is there anything we can do to help?" Haku asked. Naruto chuckled as he stood up and walked towards the open window. "Actually, I think you can," he answered. "We're all ears, kid," Zabuza said. A sinister smirk formed on the puppeteer's lips.

"Alright, here's the plan..."