Having Zabuza and Haku as the starting enemies is the greatest decision they've ever come up with. They were the reason I was a fan. I dunno if I'm the only one, but when they showed Itachi and Kisame it made me think that it's the Akatsuki version of Haku and Zabuza. One's young and extremely powerful and the other is the older veteran being one of the 7 Ninja swordsmen with a big sword.
Man, having cut back at Suigetsu and the 7 ninja swordsmen is pretty sad. His brother was reanimated and he never got to see him or those blades ever again. Unless he hated his brother, I have no clue.
