Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters except Kanashimi and possibly some other OC characters. If I did own Naruto and all of the characters, it would go like this.

Itachi: Hey Kisame...

Kisame: Yeah?

Itachi: Let's make out. Please?

Kisame: ALright! *they start making out furiously, leading to a hot sex session*

Sakura & Ino: *Dies for no reason*

There you have it. My idea of Naruto. Now onto the story.

The water moving and the squeak of the – the whatever it was – that the paddle rowing the boat was attached to was all Tazuna heard on a boat out in the middle of an ocean. He wasn't the only one on the boat; he was one of the 6 people on this boat. These people were himself, the four ninja that were supposed to be guarding him; Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, and the…guy rowing the boat. Sakura speaking up broke the eerie silence that previously filled Tazuna's ears.

"This fog's so thick, you can't see anything," she says. She sat across from Sasuke, Naruto being in front of them. Tazuna sat across from Kakashi, and the guy rowing the boat (I think I'll call him Kyashu) was behind them. For a few more moments, almost complete silence again filled the air until Kyashu spoke up.

"The bridge isn't far now. Our destination's just ahead, The Land of Waves," Naruto slightly leans forward, making a curious 'hm?'. As they moved closer, the outline of the bridge came into view through the fog, and then the bridge's figure was visible, though it was quite shadowed. As they got even closer, they could see people working above.

"Whoa! It's huge!" Naruto suddenly yelled out. He could actually imagine the stupid grin on his face and his big eyes, and he hadn't even known him for more than a couple of hours. How sad is that?

"Quiet! I told you no noise. Why do you think we're traveling like this, huh? Cutting off the engine and rowing, moving through the dense fog so they don't see us," Kyashu says in a hushed tone. Naruto covers his mouth up.

"Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi says. Tazuna slightly lowers his head, knowing what was coming. "Before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore." He felt the ninjas' eyes on him, waiting for his reply. Finally, he did reply.

"I have no choice but to tell you. No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow," Tazuna says.

"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi asks. "Hmm…who is it?"

"You know him, at least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, the shipping magnate, Gato."

"Hmm? Gato? Of Gato Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him."

"Who who? What what?" Naruto asks, being nosy.

"Gato…is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true, but below the surface, with the same methods he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband using gangs and ninja. It was one year ago, when Gato first set his sight on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply…disappeared. In and island nation, a man who controls the sea controls everything; finance, government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears, the bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the land and break his control. I am the bridge builder."

"So that's it. Since you're in charge of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way," Sakura says.

"So that means those guys we fought in the forest, they were working for Gato," Sasuke says.

"I don't understand. If you knew he was dangerous, you knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you. Why did you hide that from us?" Kakashi asks.

"Because the Land of Waves is a small nation. Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an 'A' or 'B' ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home. But don't feel bad about that. Of course my sweet little grandson will be upset. He'll cry 'Granddad, I want my Granddad'. Oh, and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Hidden Leaves, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow. And I couldn't forget my loving granddaughter. She only be adopted, but she would be so sad, maybe even shedding a tear for once. The loss of another person close to her would push her over the limit." The kids, mainly Sakura and Naruto, looked like they felt bad. "Oh well. It's not your fault, forget it." Kakashi looks away and brings his finger to his hetai-ate, as if he were thinking.

"Well," he says as he…he scratches his hetai-ate? "I guess we have no other choice. We'll have to keep guarding you."

"Ahh. I'm very grateful." I win! Tazuna thinks. For the next half hour, there was little conversation on the boat.

I stood in the shadows between two buildings on the pier, waiting for my grandfather Tazuna and these…ninja to pull up. I didn't see why my uncle needed ninja that he didn't know to help him back home, when he could have easily called me and let me guard him. He knew I was strong, but maybe he felt he needed more than just one person. But then again, me guarding him was free. Before I was adopted by Tsunami about three years ago, when I was twelve, I had traveled from place to place, sometimes finding people to train me just so I could take care of myself. I was skilled with my sword, which was on my hip at the moment, and I found out about six years ago, when I was nine, that my chakra nature was wind, and I was able to figure out how to use and master Flying Swallow, which was when I fed chakra to my sword to increase the length and density of my sword. Along with having mastered using a sword, I also excel in Taijutsu. If I wasn't using my sword, I was using Taijutsu. If I wasn't using Taijutsu, I was using my sword. Flying Swallow was the only Ninjutsu I ever used.

I adjusted my position to leaning on my right leg as my left leg was getting tired. I blended in with the shadows really well, as I was wearing all black. My shorts reached the very middle between my knees and my hips and had no design on them. They were just black. My shirt was just a black tank top that hung down to my waist, and my ninja shoes were black. The seethe for my sword was also black, as was the handle of the sword. I was often labeled as 'goth' or 'emo', but those were just stereotypes. I guess I saw why, considering my shoulder length hair was also black, as were my eyes, and I also never wore an expression on my face, but I was neither of these. I looked at myself as…misunderstood. My parents died when I was around 4 years old, which is when I started traveling from place to place. I often loved staying in the shadows, not being really sociable. Just…I was never normally around people I didn't know. I was ok with the people in my village, seeing as I new everybody, but I always felt a little uncomfortable around people I didn't know. What reassured me about new people, sometimes, was their heat. My skin, my body, was different. I didn't feel heat as everyone else would, but I felt heat according to how truly evil or good they were. The actual air around me I couldn't feel at all. I believed it ran in my family, but I couldn't say for sure.

As I was getting close to nodding off, I hear a boat approach to the pier. A few seconds later, I hear people walking on the pier.

One…two…three…four…five…five of them, I think to myself.

"That's as far as I go. Good luck," I hear a voice say. I guessed it was the man who rowed the boat.

"Right. Thank you for taking such a risk," I hear my grandfather say back.

"Just be careful." I hear the boat driver guy start the engine for the boat before I hear the boat go away. I roll my eyes and step out of my little hiding place. My grandfather looks at me.

"Just like you, hiding in the shadows. I wondered where you were," he says as I walk over to him.

"It's not like it makes a difference. Sun or no sun, the heat's the same," I answer in a bored and emotionless tone

"So…who's this?" The man with grey hair asked. His hetai-ate was covering his left eye. It had the Konoha symbol etched into it, showing he was from…well Konoha. Actually, the only visible part of his face was his right eye, for the rest of his face was covered with a dark blue mask. As for his attire, it was basically a regular leaf ninja uniform, and I knew what they looked like; I trained under one of the ninjas there for sometime. The only thing different was his iron guard gloves, which easily told me he used to be an ANBU.

"This is my granddaughter, Kanashimi. I mentioned her, I believe. She told me she wanted to meet me here when I got here." I was standing behind and beside my grandfather. I wasn't shy, just…well, uncomfortable. I said I was uncomfortable around people I didn't know earlier, right? But these people were warm, so I guess I wasn't as timid, though the boy with raven hair felt slightly colder, not gaining my trust fully. I didn't decide to mention it to my grandfather. The boy with raven hair, his bangs fell to his cheeks, and the rest of his hair looked like either a chicken's ass or a cockatoo. It was kind of funny. His eyes were charcoal black. He wore a short sleeved blue shirt with a raised collar. I never did get why most ninja had raised collars…well, at least most ninja I knew had raised collars. His shorts were white, and his ninja shoes were blue. He looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The other boy had spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore an orange jumpsuit, and…well that was about it, besides his blue ninja shoes. Oh, he also had 3 whisker-like stripes on either cheek. The only female – I sort of felt sorry for her – had long pink hair that reached her middle back and green eyes. She wore a red cheongsam dress – a body hugging dress – with white circles on it, wearing dark green shorts under it. Just like her teammates, she wore her blue ninja shoes. Honestly, her hair looked so conditioned and brushed and girly that I easily figured she was the type to obsess over boys instead of fight and learn new jutsu.

"Oh, yes, you did mention her. I'm Hatake Kakashi, and these are my students, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto," the older man with grey hair says.

Uchiha? No wonder he looks familiar, I think. One of my many sempai's was an Uchiha. Normally, I would've asked my sempai at the time to train me only in Taijutsu. You'll find out why later on.

"Ok, now that you're introduced, take me to my home, and I mean get me there in one piece," my grandfather says.

"Right," Kakashi says. We all start walking off the pier and towards the forest.