BSWS CH-25 Oriole: Smart, Efficient or Vicious?

"Well Well Well" A voice full of loathing echoed on the bridge along with a slow clapping sound "How the mighty have fallen. Zabuza Momochi, Infamous demon of the Hidden Mist. Yet he could not take care of four Shinobi from the leaf, three of whom are children."

"Gato?! What are you doing here?!" Zabuza forcibly turned his body a bit to see the owner of the voice. It was a midget man in a suit with scarecrow-like hair and an ugly face. He wore round sunglasses and held a walking stick in both hands.

"What am I doing here? I am here to see my investment of course!" Gato said with a sneer at Zabuza "And based on what I have seen so far, I would say you are the worst investment I made ever."

"Is that so? What is up with that posse of dogs behind you then?" Zabuza asked with a sneer of his own.

"Oh, these guys?" Gato asked with fake surprise "I told them about how much you are charging me just to clean up the tiny bit of resistant forces in this village. They claimed they can do it in one-fifth of the price you charge."

"Intrigued by that, I have brought them for a test. The test is of course to cut off the leech that has been stuck to me for so long, which goes by the name of Zabuza Momochi!!!" Gato shouted at the end with nerves bulging from his forehead. His hatred of Zabuza was clear from the pure loathing on his face.

"I see.." Zabuza said as he took a breath "It seems as we are no longer opponents Kakashi. As my employer is no longer employing me, I have no motive to fight you."

"Yeah, it seems that way is it not?" Kakashi said as he took his arm back from Sakura's support. Clenching his fists, he stood before Gato's forces firmly. He also gave Sakura a signal to release Zabuza and Haku.

Sakura nodded and made a hand sign. The next moment, all the bindings on Haku and Zabuza faded away. Zabuza and Haku stood up shakily, strengthening themselves with the chakra to recover faster.

Sasuke had removed Haku's mask after his capture, leading to Naruto and Haku having a long talk to understand each other. Hence currently Naruto had a completely friendly atmosphere towards the one who had attacked him just a little while ago.

Currently, Naruto supported Haku and helped him walk to Zabuza. As Haku and Zabuza stood side by side, preparing to die together, Kakashi came and stood beside them. He was followed by Naruto and Sasuke, who looked at Gato's forces while cracking their knuckles.

"You don't have to fight along with your brats for us Kakashi," Zabuza said as he clenched his muscles to stem the bleeding, while Haku swiftly froze his own wounds with ice "This is our mess and we will take care of it."

"It is alright," Kakashi said while stretching and rotating his arms "I should do warm-up fights like this every once in a while without the Sharingan, else I might get too rusty."

"You too, Naruto, Sasuke. This is not your fight. No need to put your lives at risk for us." Haku said, his voice like quietly falling snow.

"An Uchiha never backs down from a challenge," Sasuke said as he gripped his Kunai tighter.

"I am Naruto Uzumaki, someone who will be the strongest Hokage one day. I can't back down in front of a bunch of thugs like these," Naruto said as he got ready to unleash his clones.

Sakura looked at the five males in front of them and their muscle-headed attitude. She shook her head in exasperation and tiredness.

'Men…' Sakura thought as she walked forward "You know, if you want to clean that garbage, all you have to do is just ask."

The five males in front of her all looked at her uncomprehendingly. Sakura gave another deep sigh as she raised her hand in front of her. Making them look at her hand, she snapped her fingers.

Immediately, a series of blast-like sounds echoed behind them, making the five turn towards Gato and his army again. However, the difference was that they were no longer there. In the place of the large group of mobs, there were just messy piles of meat, tattered clothes, and blood. Lots and lots of unending blood turned that part of the bridge completely red.

While Sasuke and Naruto rushed to the side of the bridge to lean down and puke, Kakashi turned to Sakura with a bewildered expression in his eyes.

"Sakura .. ? How .." Kakashi muttered.

"Oldest trick in the Shinobi book, Sensei." Sakura said with a calm look "Infiltration and espionage!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

(A few hours ago - Gato's Hideout)

"What is it now Kuro? Didn't I already tell you what to do? Go and do it!!" Gato turned and yelled at the assistant who tapped him.

"Of course Sir, I will do it." The assistant said with a calm smile "But before that, there is something I have to show you."

"Huh? What is that?" Gato asked puzzled.

"This.." The assistant said as he made a hand sign. Gato's mind sent alarm signs throughout his body, however, it was too late. Darkness spread through his senses and that was the last thing he knew.

Tens of minutes Later, 'Kuro' had finished trapping and binding Gato in his Genjutsu completely. Under his control, Gato personally went and gathered the thugs, bringing every thug available nearby into his forces.

Telling them his intention to wipe out Zabuza and the Leaf Shinobi both, Gato agreed to give them half their payment in advance. He was approached by each thug and he personally gave them a small bundle of Ryo each, in the name of being fair and trustworthy.

However, unknown to them all, 'Kuro' had made tiny changes in the bundles in the past few hours while Gato was gathering them. In the midst of every bundle was a compact explosion tag, blended carefully with the rest of the Ryo notes.

Gato kept a huge bundle of Ryo notes inside his suit. He said that the moment he saw the cut-off heads of Zabuza and the rest of the Shinobi, he would give this stack of Ryo to them. This motivated the thugs and they all rushed along with Gato to the bridge.

'Kuro' traveled with them, Genjutsu cast on the thugs making them ignore 'Kuro'. Just as they were about to reach the bridge, 'Kuro' moved away from them before popping into smoke silently. The mist around the bridge prevented them from noticing the small amount of smoke.

The minute 'Kuro' faded away, all the information of the espionage performed in the past few hours rushed to Sakura's mind. Sakura prepared herself for the set of actions she would take and turned her head towards the end of the bridge.

Kakashi followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes as he watched Gato and his thugs.

"Well Well Well… It seems we have company.." Kakashi muttered before turning to Zabuza "… and you have been double-crossed."