In Konoha's Root headquarters, Zabuza lay on the bed in his holding cell, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the peace of the moment.
He had finally gotten away from that twitchy Green-skinned Kappa. Though it was a little gloomy here, the accommodations weren't bad, and more importantly, it was quiet. Zabuza didn't even want to leave.
Still, things didn't seem all that peaceful in Konoha either. Weren't they jointly hosting the Chunin Ninja Exams with Sunagakure? Why had so many Sand ninja suddenly been brought to Root the day before yesterday? They were all pretty quiet, though. It looked like they had lost badly.
Zabuza understood how they felt. He was a prisoner of Konoha too, after all. He had simply come to terms with it.
Konoha was full of freaks. There was no need for him to provoke them anymore. If he really did, he might as well surrender early.
He could understand Sunagakure wanting to take a gamble. They had simply overestimated themselves.
He wondered what Haku was doing now. Konoha kept a much looser watch on Haku than on Zabuza. Perhaps it had something to do with that brat, Naruto Uzumaki.
Click, click, click.
The crisp sound of high heels rang through the coldly lit corridor outside Root's holding cells. Zabuza's body instinctively tensed, then relaxed again.
He was already a prisoner anyway. Whatever happened, happened.
"My, my, isn't this our senior, Zabuza~? How did you end up like this?" A voice he hadn't heard in a long time reached his ears. He immediately sat up on the bed and looked through the clear glass at the woman outside wearing the Mizukage's hat.
"Mei Terumi? How did you end up here... Wait, you became Mizukage?"
Zabuza was first shocked by Mei Terumi's appearance, then his gaze