The boat ride was peaceful, mostly.  The fog was thick, and the paddler was constantly reminding Naruto to remain quiet.  

"We'll be able to see the bridge in a minute.  On the other side of it is the Land of Waves."

The bridge loomed up over us, it's unfinished state a sorry sight to see when faced with the implications of its incompletion.  It reminded me of what importance our mission has become.  Keep the bridge builder safe, and we save his country.  Let him die, and the greedy tyrant will force poverty on this nation til his dying day.

"Whoa!  It's HUUUUGE!!!"

The paddler removed his paddle from the water and hit Naruto upside the head with it before returning it to the water.  Naruto rubbed his head and pain as he was scolded...again.

"This mist may keep us hidden from sight, but it doesn't mask the sounds we make.  We'd be in big trouble if Gato caught us."

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.

"We'll be there soon.  Tazuna...so far it looks like we've been overlooked, but just to be safe, we'll take an inland waterway through town to a point where we can make landfall under the cover of mangroves."

Tazuna thanked him as I stared at the paddler.  The way that he held himself, like he was always on edge, told me that he had had some sort of experience when it came to such violent dangers.

He docked the boat at an old looking house that could have easily been torn down by the slightest of breezes.

"This is as far as I go.  Take care of yourself."

Tazuna turned to the paddler and shook his hand.

"Thanks...for taking such a risk. I shouldn't have asked it."

He turned back to the rest of us, and we left the paddler with his boat.

Walking along the forest path, we assumed a protective formation around our client.  First was Naruto, who was running around from one side of the path to the other, and looking like an overall idiot.  The rest of team 7 walked behind him, sweatdropping more each time he crossed the middle of the path.  The were followed by Tazuna, who was flanked by the twins.  The twins were chatting with Tazuna quietly, and he cheerfully responded back at the same volume.  Yugi-sensei and I brought up the rear of our procession.  I turned to Yugi-sensei as we walked.  

"Did we make the right choice?  I had an uneasy feeling about that fog from earlier."

He glanced at me.  "Really?  How so?"

I shook my head.  "I don't know.  It was thick, like fog usually is, but it just seem too...heavy.  Almost like it was hard to breath in.  Do you know what I mean?"

He stared at me, before nodding slowly.  "Yeah.  I know what you mean."

We looked forward to observe the latest scolding of Naruto, this time about being careful of where he threw his shuriken.

He waved it off and continued walking.  Suddenly, he stopped again and threw another shuriken into the brush.

"THIS TIME! OVER THERE!"

Sakura punched him on top of the head, furious.

"I TOLD YOU TO QUIT IT!"

Naruto tried to defend himself, as Kakashi-sensei went to inspect what Naruto threw his shuriken at.

Yugi-sensei called out to him when we saw him freeze.  

"A white rabbit..."

As Naruto was panicking over the rabbit he traumatized, the senseis looked around before looking at each other.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!"

We all torpedoed to the ground, the twins grabbing Tazuna, and Sakura grabbing Naruto.  Personally, I dived down and landed at the base of a tall tree.  Not even a millisecond later, I felt and heard a thumb.

I looked up from my spot right on top of the tree roots.  The gray-silver of a large metal blade was not even half a foot above where I was sprawled out, and very unninja-like, to boot.

I heard the sound of leather gently landing on metal, and the blade quivered above me.

"Well, well...If it isn't Momochi Zabuza, the kid who ran off and left the Land of Mist!"  I heard Kakashi-sensei's voice ring out clearly from where I was.  After that statement, he made a comment to the other leaf ninja, but I was too busy focused on the words being muttered under the breath of the mist ninja standing on the sword above.

"One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...and the old man."  He paused in his muttering, seemingly to count again.  "I could have sworn that there were eight ninja with the geezer."

I froze, trying not to breathe as I slowly tried to shift forward without making any noise.  I was curious to see what this mist ninja looked like, but he was around the corner of the tree.  However, luck and ninja stealth were not in my favor as I accidentally shifted some of my weight onto a nearby twig.

SNAP

The ninja on the sword started, and leaned forward on his sword to get a look at me.

"And there is number eight."

I was frozen under the glare of Momochi Zabuza.  I saw his eyes shift to something on the ground next to me, and they widened.

"Why do you have one of those?!"

I glanced down to see what he was talking about, and was shocked to see that half of my great-grandfather's forehead protector was peaking out of my kunai pouch on my leg.  The battered metal gleamed as patches of sunlight caught its reflective surface through the trees.

I hurriedly shoved the item  back in the pouch, scrambled to my feet, and attempted to dash back over to my team.  

Key word: attempted.

A hand wrapped around my throat, and lifted me off the ground.  My hands instantly flew to the one gripping my neck.  He swung me around like a rag doll to face my teammates.

"Why does this brat have a mist headband?!"

Everyone of the leaf ninja below us looked up in confusion.

"But...he is wearing a leaf headband..."

Ayana was very hesitant and confused in response to my captor's question.

Zabuza looked at me before digging through my pouch with his available hand.  I tried to look him in the eye, and shake my head.  I didn't want him to show them that I had it, damn it!  It was only supposed to be there for my knowledge and comfort, and to remind me to never give up on my team!!

He stared me in the eye as he pulled it out, holding it up by the worn out fabric it was adhesived to.

"Why does this brat have this?!"

My team, specifically, looked between the protector and my contorted face.  I was having some troubles breathing, especially since the jerk holding me tightened his already extremely painful grip on my neck.  I cursed in my head.  

If I got out of this alive, I'm gonna have a bruise the shape and size of Zabuza's hand wrapped around my damn neck.

Yugi-sensei glared at us, more specifically, me.  

"You actually brought that with you?"

I was shocked, to say the least.  Yugi-sensei sigh before addressing Zabuza.

"None of us know why, except for maybe the kid that you are strangling in your hand.  I you release him, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to tell you why he has that."

I sucked in air as Zabuza dropped me to the ground.  I laid crumpled, taking gasping breaths to try to fill me deprived lungs.

Zabuza loomed over me.

"Explain."

I was finally able to calm down my breathing, and sat up, staring at the man.  I rubbed my neck.

"My great-grandfather was Utagawa Nobunari."