Never Let You Go [Zabuza Momochi]

Chapter 14

Work had been slow, and that did not sit well with Zabuza. They needed money and missions to improve their status. In order to take on missions that were well paid. Sadly, the ones they had been coming across were very minor. At most they could be C or B-Ranked. Even Lacey could tell the young man was growing restless. While she sewed a tear in Haku's shirt, Zabuza's leg tap unconsciously.

"I'm done, Haku." The young woman held the article up to get a good look at it.

"Thank you, Lacey," he said.

Her attention turned towards the young man. "You need to relax."

He glared in the dancer's direction. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Haku chuckled.

"And how, pray tell, am I supposed to do that? Unless you can pull money out of those clothes of yours, I won't be relaxing any time soon."

"Sorry, fresh out." Zabuza grunted, looking away. He was surprised when a set of hands pressed against his shoulders, massaging the muscles. "I'm being serious."

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you unwind." He gave another grunt, but did nothing to stop her. "What about the East side of this island?"

"There isn't anything over there," Haku said. "We usually try to avoid that area."

"But there's a party."

Zabuza's brows furrowed at the comment, staring at the floor.

"What party?" the teen asked.

"I heard some men talking about it in town today. Something about a slick character making their presence known in the area. How he's hosting a gathering for his associates."

"Do you have any names?" Zabuza asked.

"Um... I think there was a Yoko..." It didn't ring a bell. "Oh, Shoji was another name. They were really whispering under their breath about him."

The young man's head snapped up, looking over a shoulder at Lacey. "What was that?"

"Shoji. Why, do you know him?"

"He's a very well-known criminal," Haku said.

"He's in everyone's black book," Zabuza noted. He stood, rolling his now loose shoulders and picking up the weapon. "Let's go, Haku. We're going to see if we can gather any more information about this party."

Before moving out the door, the teen grinned. "Nice job, Lacey."

The dancer returned the smile.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the next day the three were on the move to the East. The said party was to take place in the forest where a secluded summer estate sat out of the public eye. It'd been abandoned for years, though no one had known that it belonged to Shoji. Even Zabuza was surprised when the news proved to be accurate. The criminal had been in hiding for the last ten years. Some believe he died at some point. If they managed to eliminate him, he would fetch a fair share of money.

"But how will you get the money?" Lacey asked. "You can't just bring it to anyone's doorstep."

"I have an acquaintance in this area that I usually drop my bounty with," Zabuza answered. "He will know of clients I can work with."

"Oh."

The three checked into cheap lodging, the ninjas left behind the dancer to talk with the bounty collector. "Zabuza?" the man cocked a brow. "Haven't seen your face in these parts for years. What can I do you for?"