AN: Hmm. It's been a while since I updated this one, but oh well. I'm sorry for any inconvenience, but I've been very busy with college (pursuing an Engineering Major is time consuming) and writing my Naruto trilogy. I actually just posted chapter 49 of the latter. Thanks for waiting and I hope you enjoy!

Cosmic Twists

“And just who exactly are you?” asked Kakashi warily, eyeing the strange Ninja dressed in the blue robes who had appeared without a sound by the side of Zabuza’s corpse. “Did you come for Zabuza? Are you a hunter Nin from Kiri?”

The Ninja in blue didn’t answer. It only looked down at Zabuza’s corpse through its white mask for a long few minutes. The Ninja stood so silent and still, Naruto, Ino and Hinata all would have mistake it for a painting or statue. The blonde Kunoichi moved to step forward but Naruto held her back.

“Kiri owes you a great debt of gratitude,” said the strange Ninja through its mask, turning to face Kakashi. “This Zabuza was one of their rogue agents. He tried to assassinate the Mizukage and fled when his attempt failed. They’ll be glad to know he’s dead.” There was a taste of remorse in the Nin’s voice that Naruto’s finely tuned ears did not miss.

Kakashi folded his arms across his chest. “You’re one of Kiri’s hunter Nin then?” asked the Copy Ninja, pressing.

“I’ll take care of the body here,” said the Ninja in blue, nodding once. “But because his corpse may contain information valuable to Kiri, I’ll have to wait until you all have left before I can dispose of the remains… so if the five of you could all be on your way I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Kakashi grimaced but turned to his team and Tazuna. “Move out,” he said in a commanding tone. “We don’t have any more business here. Let’s get to the Wave as quickly as we can.” The Jounin threw a leery glance over his shoulder at the Ninja in blue standing beside Zabuza’s body as Team Seven and Tazuna all turned away from the battleground and began marching away.

Kakashi followed behind, letting Hinata lead and making sure that he was between the Genin and the Hunter Ninja.

“Is it just me?” whispered Ino to Naruto, “or did that Ninja sound really hurt.”

Naruto nodded once, stepping closer to her and positioning himself between Ino and the Hunter Nin defensively. “I think so,” he said quietly and nervously, feeling something, a very subtle but intense energy emanating from the Ninja in blue. “We should probably pick up the pace.” Hinata, overhearing Naruto and agreeing silently, quickly lead the group away even faster.

The Hunter Nin waited until Team Seven was completely out of sight and out of earshot, vanished into the encroaching forest night, then kneeled down by the Missing Nin’s corpse. “Zabuza-Sama…” the Ninja muttered, its words breaking on the inside of the mask like a watery vapor. “I don’t know how they did this to you... the battle was going well for you. Kakashi-Kun was unable to use his Sharingan against you, then you suddenly fell and lost… How?”

The Nin in blue reached into the folds of its robe and silently removed a Kunai, wickedly sharp, serrated, and curved at the point. It looked at the knife, unreadable behind it’s mask, then suddenly drove the point of the Kunai into Zabuza’s chest just above his sternum with a fluid sweep. In a quick sawing motion the Hunter Nin raked the saw-toothed knife down one side of the corpse’s ribcage, cutting through the bones with little resistance, then plunged its milky fingers into the unbleeding incision.

“Forgive the desecration,” said the Ninja, taking hold of the body’s ribs and slowly prying the bones out and away. A single snap rang out in the dark as both the Hunter’s arm and

Zabuza’s chest lurched and the bones all broke away, leaving the Hunter Ninja holding the corpse’s appropriated bones in his bloodied hand. “But I have to know what happened to you.”

The Hunter surveyed the rent open chest cavity for any abnormalities, tossing the sternum and severed ribs aside like a plate. Quickly the Ninja looked for anything unusual; a lung punctured by a senbon, a bit of tissue cooked by chakra, anything that would cripple Zabuza… but there was nothing on the surface.

“Cardiac arrest then,” muttered the Ninja, reaching into the corpse’s chest and beginning to saw away the large veins and arteries running to and away from the heart. “He clutched his chest without taking even a single hit so that must have been it. There’s no other explanation”

The Ninja gingerly removed Zabuza’s heart, holding it in its left hand as it flipped the kunai in its right point down and slowly pressed the tip into the muscle. With a surgeon’s precision, the Nin opened up the heart, looking into the left ventricle with razor-like eyes… but still there was nothing. For the next hour the Ninja carefully dissected the heart, but found nothing. Zabuza was a model of health as far as his core was concerned.

“There’s no way he simply had a heart attack,” muttered the Ninja, thinking about the battle, scrutinizing every detail he had seen from its vantage in the trees. One image stuck out plainly; the blond writing in the page he’d covertly torn from his jacket. It had seemed an extremely strange thing to do in the heat of battle, but the Hunter Nin saw no sane connection between the book and Zabuza’s death.

“Why would he hide the fact that he was taking a page from a book concealed in his coat?” he wondered aloud, reviewing the memories he’d garnered from spying on the Genin and their teacher hours in advance of Zabuza’s ambush. “It makes no sense.”

On the other hand though, it was the only thing that seemed even remotely out of place… the battle had otherwise progressed as expected until a few seconds after the boy wrote on the paper. “How silly of me to think something so absurd,” said the Hunter. “But… then again, why not? If there are no rational answers, then the there must be an irrational one. Maybe it was the paper…”

SC

“So this is the site huh?” asked Naruto as he and Team Seven stood atop the small hill at the edge of the forest. They all looked out over and down at the beach which sloped down to the channel disappearing into the dark some two or three hundred yards from where they stood. It was just after midnight, but still the lights of dozens of houses and buildings and shops twinkled in the gloom from the village beneath them.

“Yep,” said Tazuna. “The decision was made to base the construction site in an established village so the manpower and resources would have a viable location at which to be assembled. The beachfront community of Minzuki was perfect for the job.”

Team Seven and Tazuna all began to walk quickly down the beach towards the village. “Why’s that?” asked Ino.

“Simple,” said Tazuna. “Minzuki isn’t technically a village in the Wave Country, since it’s on the mainland but it is, for all practical purposes, a Wave village. Meaning when we ship materials here for the bridge we get the benefit of actually shipping them to the Wave without having to ferry them across the channel; it saves us a lot of money both on tariffs and moving costs.”

“And it keeps you from having to send supplies through Gato’s ferry systems,” said Kakashi.

“Exactly,” said Tazuna as the travelers passed by the first building and into the village itself. “You’re not going to see much until dawn, but the bridge is actually about fifty percent of the way done. Over three quarters of a mile of the main platform and walkway is complete and extending out over the channel but nonetheless, there’s a lot of work to be done but it should progress rapidly.”

Naruto looked around at all of the buildings passing by the group and mentally noted that the community looked to be laid out on a loose grid of unpaved streets. There was nothing particularly special about the several dozen wooden structures; they looked like most of the lower-end houses he saw back in Konoha every day except that they sat a few feet off the ground on sturdy, wooden stilts.

This is kind of impressive, Naruto thought to himself. All of these houses built on something as unstable as sand look plenty strong.

“Where are we going?” asked the Uzumaki as they passed down a quiet street, the sand shifting under their feet. “And how do all these buildings stay up if their built on sand?”

Tazuna grinned. “I helped build this village,” he said. “Minzuki is actually built on top of a very sturdy stone foundation I had installed beneath the surface. You see those stilts the buildings rest on? They’re actually piles fifty feet long that run down to a reinforced grid of sandstone and concrete beneath the surface which rests on bedrock. I know it doesn’t look like much, but these houses are just as secure here on the beach as anything on dry land.”

“Impressive,” said Kakashi. “But where do we go from here?”

“We bunker down for the night,” said Tazuna. “I’ll get us a couple of rooms at the Inn and tomorrow I’ll actually get to work on the bridge and the real fun begins…”

SC

Two Days Later

“This is an outrage!” shouted the old man in the white robe, glaring at Sarutobi and growling furiously. “You cannot do this you pig! I don’t need to tell you who I am and I demand you release me at once!” He whirled on the tall man in the ANBU mask who held his arms behind his back and refused to let him move.

“Forgive me Councilor,” said Sarutobi, crossing the dimly lit interior of the Village Council Chamber and standing directly in front of the old man. “But I have decided that it would be in the best interest of Konoha if the Village Council was to be liquidated as a position altogether. Your power is to be stripped from you redistributed under myself and my subordinates and you have no strength with which to stop me… You’ve lost Councilor.”

The old man spat at Sarutobi. “The people will never accept this and don’t think you can hide it from them. You know they’ll all find out and when they do-”

“Oh, well this only shows how in touch you are with your own people; the masses of Konoha already know Councilor,” said the Hokage, silencing the politician in front of him. “They know all about what you did. They now know that it was you who ordered Uchiha Itachi to slaughter his clan. They know that it was you who exiled him from the village, and they, the people of Konoha are far from happy.”

“Treason!!” screamed the councilor. “Revealing that information is nothing short of treason. Guards, arrest this man!”

“Please,” Sarutobi almost laughed. “I didn’t reveal anything. It was all Itachi’s fault. He was the one who revealed all of your dirty little secrets. He was the one who exposed you as the spineless worms you are, not me. Blame him for costing you all your precious power.”

“You bastard!” hissed the old man.

“And furthermore,” said Sarutobi, ignoring him. “My first action with the executive power to be given to the position of Hokage, will be to pardon all the crimes committed by, and expunge all sentences to be leveled against Uchiha Itachi. Guard, take this man away. He is hereby exiled from Konoha. See to it that he never steps foot in this village again.”

“Sir,” acknowledged the ANBU as the Councilor began ranting and screaming. “What should we do about the other one; the woman that escaped?”

Sarutobi hesitated for just a moment. “She has no power now. Her position has been completely done away with… Apprehending her is not a priority.”

“Sir,” said the ANBU again, lifting the Councilor from his feet, carrying him towards the rooms open door, and stepping outside into the evening light.

The Hokage breathed a deep sigh of relief as he heard the man’s screaming and ranting growing fainter and fainter until they had faded altogether and it was quiet in the room once again. He waited for a moment longer before walking to the door and looking out over the village from the top of the Hokage’s complex.

“I should have done that years ago,” he said, setting his hands on the guardrail and looking down into the street five stories below.

“So does this mean I’m welcome again?” said a quiet voice.

“You’re welcome here as long as I’m Hokage,” said Sarutobi as Itachi stepped out of an especially dark shadow and stood beside the old man. “You’ve done more for this village than anyone will ever know and you bore the village’s torture to do it…”

“At least the record is straight now,” said the Uchiha. “I pulled a few strings around town and every newspaper in the village ran ‘the True Story of the Uchiha Massacre.’ No evidence was spared.”

“I get a copy of the morning post, it was a truly moving story about betrayal and self-sacrifice,” said Sarutobi, grinning like some sort of accomplice to a successful burglary. “I like the new outfit.”

The Uchiha had traded in his black and red cloak for an especially sheen-less black, tight fitting robe with the silhouettes of leaves and branches carefully etched into the tough fabric; his scratched-out forehead protector exchanged for a fresh and polished steel band emblazoned with the Leaf insignia.

“I’ll admit,” said Itachi, ignoring the Hokage’s comments on his tastes in fashion. “It surprised me how quickly you turned on the Councilors.”

“Please Itachi,” said the Hokage. “You’re making me sound like some kind of traitor.”

The Uchiha walked forward and rested his hands on the guardrail beside the old man. “Sorry,” he said nonchalantly. “But I just thought you would have been more hesitant to do away with such a deep-seated village institution.”

“They needed to go,” said Sarutobi. “Their political maneuverings were wonderfully successful at lining their own pockets, but overall they were disastrous for the village. The War with Iwa, the Grass Insurrection, the Uchiha Massacre; all were orchestrated by those… politicians, not to mention all of the taxes… I don’t need to explain it to you of all people though.”

Itachi just nodded. “I took the liberty of dispatching hawks to all the Jounin on A-Ranked and lower missions so they’ll know what to expect in the way of changes in policy when they get back. And I also sent out a message all of the other Kages to warn them about the ex-Councilors possibly trying to get into their villages and stir up trouble.”

“Good,” said the Hokage, standing up straight and popping his knuckles once each. “I’m glad to see you’re on top of things as usual.”

“Hokage-Sama,” said Itachi, blinking. “We’ve spent the last two days moving to secure the village politically so I haven’t had time to adequately explain things to you, but we need to start securing Konoha militarily as well.”

“Yes,” said Sarutobi. “You mentioned Akatsuki and their being a threat to Konoha’s security.”

Itachi nodded. “While I was working for them I was also acting as a spy, collecting every tidbit of information I could get my hands on so I could relay it back to you here, and what I’ve learned is… frightening.”

“Walk with me,” said Sarutobi, turning and beckoning for him to follow. “We’ll discuss it in my office.”

“Alright,” said Itachi as the pair set off down the elevated walk. “First, and possibly most importantly, Uchiha Madara has returned.”

Sarutobi stopped instantly.

“He’s the head of the Akatsuki organization. He leads it through a man named Pein under the alias of an idiot named Tobi, and he’s been working ceaselessly since his defeat at the hands of the first Hokage to uncover something he’s calling the ‘Demon’s Breath.’ Madara believes the Demon’s Breath to be what brought about the ruin of the Maiban Empire some millennia ago and he’s hoping to use it to destroy Konoha.”

“I take it he hasn’t found it yet?” asked Sarutobi, resuming their march towards the Hokage’s office.

“Not yet sir,” said Itachi. “As far as I can tell he doesn’t even know what it is for sure, but all of Akatsuki’s research points to it being something linked to the Nine Biju, which would explain why Madara is so set on recovering the nine of them. Madara said at one point that if he succeeded in capturing all the Biju, he would become a veritable Shinigami on Earth.”

“Itachi,” said the Hokage as they arrived in front of his large oak door. “What do you think the Demon’s Breath is?”

“I’m not sure,” said the Uchiha as Sarutobi unlocked the door and stepped inside. Itachi followed him in “I’ve got my theories, but there’s very little evidence to point to one thing or another.”

Sarutobi hesitated, staring about his room. “That is very bothersome, what would you recommend we do about it?”

“For the present,” Itachi shrugged, his words toneless. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do. Akatsuki is based in the Hidden Rain Village but they’re too mobile to confront directly. I think the best thing we could do would be to refocus all our efforts on finding the Demon’s Breath before Madara does… frankly though I don’t see him coming up with anything anytime soon. He’s got no leads to operate off of.”

Sarutobi nodded. “That’s good,” he said. “I’ll reassign a few research teams to scouring the archives for anything pertinent. If they turn something up then maybe we’ll have room to do something productive.”

“Agreed,” he nodded. “But now we need to talk about the upcoming Chuunin Exams and Orochimaru.”

“Chuunin Exams,” said the Hokage, a little taken back. “What about them?”

Itachi walked across the room and sat, shifting into a comfortable position in one of the large, leather backed chairs across from the Hokage’s desk. “Before he left Akatsuki, Orochimaru and I had a little… conversation. You see he tried to take over my body so he could attain the Sharingan for his own purposes. I managed to fend him off, but not before he swore to get the Sharingan for himself.

“Now that Orochimaru knows for sure that he can have neither my eyes nor Madara’s, I believe that he’ll go after Sasuke’s, and the easiest way for him to catch Sasuke almost undefended would be during the Chuunin Exams next month. Sir, it’s my recommendation that you allow the exams to continue uninterrupted but also allow me and a select group of ANBU and Jounin, perhaps Hatake Kakashi, to watch over everything from the shadows, maybe even draw Orochimaru into a trap.”

“Wouldn’t that put Sasuke at risk?” asked the Hokage.

“Not in the least,” said Itachi. “If you allowed Kakashi and I, perhaps with the aid of someone like Mito Gai, to ensure everything ran smoothly, we might be able to kill Orochimaru if he even shows his face.”

“Do it,” said the Hokage. “I’ll inform Gai of the upcoming mission and ensure that his schedule is clear, and once Kakashi returns from the Wave I’ll pass this information to him as well.”

SC

Naruto couldn’t believe it was so cold. Team Seven and Tazuna had been on the bridge for two days now, and work had been progressing rapidly, but for the whole forty-eight hours he’d been there, the temperature had not once risen above thirty degrees Fahrenheit.

Tazuna blamed it on the melting Icepack flooding the channel with icy fresh-water. Knowing why it was frigid however didn’t ease the numbness that had become more or less a constant presence in Naruto’s extremities. Naruto didn’t even have a job active enough to keep warm. Kakashi had ordered him to maintain a stationary post and watch to make sure no one suspicious got onto the bridge.

At least Ino is comfortable, he thought to himself, sitting on a crate at the entrance to the bridge’s mainland platform. He’d loaned his coat to the girl, knowing it would be enough for her to keep warm in, despite that she and Hinata were both more active than he, patrolling the edges of the bridge and watching for any possible threat while Kakashi himself guarded Tazuna.

There had been no trouble though. From the moment Team Seven arrived, there hadn’t been one accident or any sign of danger, and Naruto had actually become so bored he’d long since resorted to covertly pumping massive amounts of chakra into the Death Note via the torn off page he’d decided to keep in his pocket. If he got too bored, he’d train a bit with his leg and arm weights, doing some simple exercises which to his own embarrassment he discovered helped stave off the cold. He didn’t however neglect his duties.

All day, Naruto had been carefully watching everyone who came and went from the worksite, memorizing faces and names, familiarizing himself with the work staff. After sunset, just as the sun dipped below the cloud-skewed horizon, Naruto turned around as a familiar pair of footsteps came patting up beside him.

“Evening Hinata,” said Naruto, seeing the Hyuuga girl walking sheepishly towards him, a steaming Styrofoam cup in her hands. “What’s up?”

He saw her swallow once before she spoke. “Some of the workers took a dinner break and were passing out ramen cups,” she said quietly, but loud enough to be heard over the constant drone of heavy equipment back on the bridge. “Kakashi-Sensei, Ino and I all got some and I thought you wouldn’t mind a break from the cold too.”

Naruto smiled and took the cup she offered to him. “Thanks Hinata,” he said kindly, taking a long sip from the steaming soup. “That was nice of you.”

Hinata blushed and nodded. “Ino was getting ready to bring you some,” she said, almost like she was admitting to something, “but Kakashi-Sensei asked her to look after Tazuna for a moment while he attended to something and Ino asked me to take you some.”

“Well,” said Naruto. “I appreciate it. I was getting ready to shrivel up and freeze.” He chuckled and Hinata smiled. She was exceptionally glad the cold air was reddening her face and making her blush less noticeable.

“So,” she said, “how are things here?”

Naruto leaned back against the box and sat down on top of it as Hinata continued standing perfectly straight. “It’s been dull,” he said good-naturedly. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad nothing’s gone wrong, but to be honest I was kind of hoping there would be some kind of action.”

“Well,” said Hinata. “At least nothing bad has happened yet-”

Twack! Naruto tossed his ramen aside and tumbled over the back of the box as something shiny struck him square in the chest with incredible force. The blond yelped in pain and crumpled to the ground, clutching at his wound.

“Naruto!” Hinata gasped. “What-”

The air filled with the sound of screaming missiles and immediately Hinata ducked behind the crate Naruto had collapsed behind. Clattering and thudding echoed all around as needles fell from the sky. Hinata looked up and saw hundreds of surprisingly thick needles, clear as ice and wickedly sharp, whizzing through the air overhead and exploding in mid air; shattering and raining death and dozens of smaller projectiles all over the ramp.

Two men walking up the bridge and carrying a long box between them were instantly pincushioned by the needles and collapsed in crying heaps, dropping the box which broke open on the ramp, spilling out dozens bags of nut and bolts. Five or six more men collapsed under the deadly rain and began crying out as the needles pinned them to the ground.

Hinata looked down at Naruto as the air continued to darken and undulate in wave after wave of the glassy needles, racing from somewhere she couldn’t see inside the village and pummeling the box shielding her and Naruto. Screams began to echo from the bridge as random workers collapsed under the volley.

“Are you alright?” Hinata gasped as Naruto growled and jerked the needle out of his chest, leaving a pinhead little hole. The wound was much too small to be from a senbon. “Naruto, what’s happening?”

Naruto grimaced but didn’t answer, only watching as the needle in his hand melted into a shallow pool of water. He looked up as a thick fog rolled out of nowhere and completely enveloped Hinata and himself. “I have no idea,” he whispered. “But whoever is doing this is really good with ice and has a lot of chakra.”

He looked out from behind the box and into the incredibly dense fog which had rolled up the ramp and begun enveloping the bridge. “Thank goodness these things aren’t that deadly.”