The tension in the air was thicker than a bowl of day-old ramen.
Raiga's right leg had been turned into modern art by Yuto's foot, and a follow-up punch sent him straight to dreamland.
Now, only Zabuza was left, crouched like a grumpy cat who just realized the food bowl was empty. Yuto and Konan had him cornered, watching with the patience of two people who know the Wi-Fi's about to come back on.
'This? This was just entertainment now.'
Yuto was dying to see what Zabuza's final act would be. A dramatic speech? A hidden weapon? A last-minute confession about his secret love of gardening?
'Failure? Please. Zabuza wasn't Naruto. He couldn't just yell "BELIEVE IT!"and suddenly grow a third tail.'
'Pfft if he somehow pulls this off, I'll personally teach his entire family the art of upside down taco eating.'
Yuto's grin was downright wicked.
Across from him, Konan looked about as stressed as someone who'd just remembered they left the stove on which, for her, meant mildly concerned.
Honestly, this mission had been one awkward mess after another for the so-called "Angel of Amegakure"
She'd signed up for "quick rogue-ninja disposal," not "Oops, almost got poisoned by discount bandits."
And then her own client had to save her in a way that left her face hotter than a miso soup left boiling too long.
Could she complain? No.
Did she want to? Also no.
…Was she maybe, slightly, replaying it in her head?
'No! He's just a kid! That doesn't count.'
Her thoughts were spiraling faster than a shuriken in a tornado when
"Sooooo," Kushina's voice piped up in Yuto's mind like an uninvited radio. "How was Konnan's lips taste? huh?"
"Pretty moist WAIT, I MEAN what 'taste'? No taste! Purely life-saving measures. That's it." Yuto played dumb, eyes darting everywhere. "Nothing else."
"Uh-huh. noble of you"
"Obviously. Back in Konoha, they called me 'Honest Little Gentleman.'"
"They called you 'That Little Menace' and you know it."
Yuto deployed his signature topic-dodging only for his wandering eyes to accidentally lock with Konan's drifting gaze.
Both instantly whipped their heads away like they'd just seen the other picking their nose.
"AHEM." Yuto coughed so hard he might've dislodged a lung. "Uh. Fight. Still happening. Focus."
"Fight? Looks more like "Ninja Speed Dating to me," Kushina sing songed.
"SPEED DATING ?! 'MOM'. I'M TWELVE."
"Oh, now you're twelve? Last week you were 'mature for your age' and stop calling me mom. Call me sis!"
"But… I'm technically Naruto's…"
"Different relationships, different titles. Problem?"
Yuto was baffled. Since when did she care about titles? But before he could overthink it, Zabuza finally made his move.
In a move that screamed "I didn't think this through," he chomped onto his sword, backflipped (show-off), and yanked the shivering, bald meatball hiding under the desk blade now at his throat.
"Let me leave, or he dies!"
"H-Help! Please!" The bald man flailed, but against an elite ninja's strength, he might as well have been a twig fighting a hurricane.
Konan's eyes narrowed. Hostage situation? Zabuza really did have some tricks left.
She glanced at Yuto, waiting for his reaction. Surely this guy was important, why else would Zabuza use him as a bargaining chip?
But the boy just tilted his head, confused.
"Uh who's this old man again?"
'He doesn't even KNOW him?!' Konan blinked.
"Quit screwing around!" Zabuza's patience snapped. "I know you were hired by those villagers to get their wages from this bastard!"
"Wrong. I'm the one who hired them," Yuto muttered under his breath.
"Tch didn't expect those useless commoners to hire someone like you. Fine, I admit defeat this time." Zabuza exhaled sharply. "Let me go, and I'll hand over Gato."
"What if I say no?" Yuto's deadpan stare vanished, replaced by something far more intense.
"Then your villagers' employers get nothing," Zabuza hissed. "A ninja like you wouldn't want a failed mission, would you?"
"So in your mind, it's Gato feeding those villagers?" Yuto smirked. "Wow. This is how a legendary ninja thinks? Pathetic."
"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Zabuza's grip tightened Gato's neck, now bleeding.
"P-Please! I'll pay anything!" Gato whimpered, a far cry from his usual tyrant self.
"Exactly what I said." Yuto ignored Gato entirely. "Workers feed their bosses, not the other way around. That thing you're holding? Just a bloodsucking parasite. Go ahead, kill him. I'll applaud."
"Y-You think I won't?!" Zabuza's hands trembled. "Y-your bluffing"
Konan's mind whirred. "Workers feed bosses?"She'd never considered that before.
"Am I?" Yuto leaned in then SMACKED Zabuza's sword forward.
SQUELCH.
Gato's gurgle was almost comedic.
"Welp. No hostage. Now" Yuto yeeted Zabuza into the floor.
Cornered, Zabuza spat a senbon from his mouth.
Yuto caught it right through his palm.
Then, without flinching, he yanked it out with his teeth, the wound healing instantly.
"W-What are you?!" Zabuza's voice shook.
"A monster?" Yuto scoffed. "Compared to scum like you who treat people as tools? I'd say I'm way more human."
Zabuza had no retort.
"Bite down. This'll hurt." Yuto's fist crashed into Zabuza's skull.
THUD.
Out cold.
"Thanks for the assist." Yuto stood, turning to Konan. "So Miss White Tiger of Akatsuki?"
"My name is Konan." She finally introduced herself properly.
"Konan-nee?"
"…Mn."
"Give me a sec to clean up. There's something I wanna discuss, just us. Cool?"
"Fine." Konan nodded calmly. Outwardly, at least. Inside? She was panicking.
'Is he about to confess?! Like in those romance novels?! What do I do?! He's a kid'