Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I never will, so leave me alone.
After watching some early episodes of Naruto, I happened upon some thoughts for what I considered a nice plot line. Mind you, this is set after most of the events after Kakashi's team has taken the bridge builder back to the land of the waves and dealt with many of the initial difficulties. I'm sure many more things will be made known to us after that, but, for this story, they aren't. I have also noticed many apparent difficulties with the technologies and such of the setting as shown to this point in the show. I will attempt to deal with them, and some of them will conflict with the actual show as it continues to unfold. Unfortunately, I can't see any easy way around it, so the changes will show up as necessary. I will explain some things in the actual story text, some in author's notes, and some I will leave up to the readers to ponder for themselves.
There will be few Japanese terms used other than those introduced in the show, but I will try to give an explanation of all I use. I will use the standard character names as much as possible, but when I need a name and cannot find it, I will create one. If someone does know a name I wasn't able to find, I would appreciate hearing it.
I really don't think the subject matter contained requires much of a rating, but, if I manage to pull this off at all, much of it probably won't make much sense to anyone that isn't well isn't already well into their teenage years. I personally enjoy a good story more than a series of marginally connected fight scenes, and I'm poor at writing the fights anyway, so this will focus on other areas of, primarily, Kakashi's world.
Anyway, enough of that: on to the story.
In the Land of Waves
Prelude
The Aftermath
Kakashi Hatake was actually glad he didn't have to finish off Zabaza, as, in the end, even he had demonstrated determination and even honor. In truth, he felt dead on his feet, and there was still a lot of work ahead of him. The fact that he'd lost significant quantities of blood from a serious slash in his left hand and a gash in his chest weren't helping any. Although his vest had taken the brunt of the punishment, he figured he still had at least 2 broken ribs and had lost a good deal of blood. This was going to make waking up after the last fight feel like a night at the hot springs.
He was also glad Zabuza had taken out Gato himself. It was rather surprising Gato would risk his own neck to be seen at such a relatively insignificant event, but it certainly made things easier since he had. Gato had undoubtedly left instructions to inform the tracker ninja from the City hidden in the Mist of the whereabouts of Zabuza and company. However, since the afore mentioned ninja were all dead, and there was the certain power struggle of those left after the big man had passed on, those remaining had almost certainly moved that notification down the list to somewhere after hauling out the evening trash.
Still, there were plenty of things that demanded. It seemed the locals were doing well enough, having driven off Gato's hired thugs, so at least that wasn't going to be his concern. Dealing with the bodies of the fallen ninja, though, was. He sighed: it was time to get on with it. Tazuna Hashidan, the bridge builder, was a man of local standing and just about his only contact; he hoped he would be enough.
"Hashidan-san, Sakura-san, Naruto-kun, I need you here--now!" Kakashi shouted from the side of the bridge where he was leaning.
Naruto was the first to arrive, although he looked less that enthusiastic about doing so. "Naruto-kun, take these sample bags and fill one with blood from Haku-kun and one with blood from Zabuza-san. I realize this is will be difficult for you to do, but it is very important. Our medical specialists would much prefer their entire bodies for study, but they will have to be satisfied with a blood sample; I won't allow them to defile the bodies, however much they may desire it. If you wish, save a few senbon or such to remember Haku-kun by. Everything else will be buried with the bodies. Do you understand?" Kakashi demanded.
"Yea, but..." Naruto whined.
"Good. Do it immediately. This is critical," Kakashi interrupted.
"But..." Naruto started.
"GO--NOW!" Kakashi shouted, causing Naruto to scurry to accomplish the task.
Tazuna and Sakura came up, trailed by Sasuke, who was now sans needles. They hurried as they heard Kakashi shouting orders at Naruto. "You wanted us, sensei?" Sakura asked timidly.
"Yes," Kakashi answered. "Hashidan-san, I need you to find me a sailor with a boat capable of carrying himself, Naruto-kun, and Sakura-san to near the port of Kakou tonight. Although I can only give a small advance at the moment, Sakura-san will be able to pay him the balance upon arrival. It is critical that the boat is ready to leave as soon as it can be prepared. I also need some paper and pen for messages."
"I'll see what I can do," Tazuna said, barely managing to keep the grumble out of his voice. Still, he immediately moved to collar one of his neighbors he knew to be trustworthy.
"Sakura-san," Kakashi continued, "I am trusting you to lead this mission. Sasuke-san and I are too injured to come with you, so you'll do it with Naruto-kun, but I'm placing you in charge. I'm going to be writing a letter for the hokage's eyes only. I will seal the letter with my blood, and you are to show it to noone other than the hokage himself. To gain an audience with him, I give you this kunai. They will recognize it, and it should allow you to talk with him alone. The secrets contained in the bodies of Zabuza-san and Haku-kun are of immense value, and they must be treated as such. Because all these rogue Hidden Mist ninja are dead, I don't think you'll have any difficulties, but you can't be too careful. Once you reach the coast, you are to draw the rest of the sailor's payment from our detachment there, and have them send you to headquarters immediately. They will provide transport and a driver, and you must not stop until you have reported to the hokage. If you cannot protect the blood samples, destroy them. Can you do this?"
"I don't know, sensei. I'm not ready for this. They didn't teach us any of this this in class," Sakura almost sobbed.
"You must, Sakura-san," Kakashi encouraged her, placing his good hand on her shoulder. "As I said, the trip will almost certainly be uneventful, and Naruto-kun will be with you."
"Yes, sensei," Sakura answered determidly.
Tazuna then approached carrying some of his personal writing supplies and bringing a man. "This is Ichiro Kawamura-san. He's an old friend who's an excellent sailor and has a boat that will meet your needs. Tell him what needs to be done, and he'll get to it right away. Also, here's some stuff to write on. I wasn't quite sure what you needed, so I brought a selection."
"Thank you, Hashidan-san. They'll do nicely. Sakura-san, go help Naruto-kun prepare for the trip. You'll need to get a cooler filled with enough ice to keep the blood samples cool. When you're ready, wait for Kawamura-san and I near the end of the bridge. I'll join you as soon as I tell Kawamura-san what he needs to know. Kawamura-san, if you'll join me here, I'll show you exactly where to go, and I'll get you your advance," Kakashi said.
In truth, Kakashi never did really remember any more details after that. He had foggy memories of writing notes, giving instructions, and seeing a boat sail off into something that would always seem, no matter how often he recalled it, fade to black...
Authors notes
-san A general way to address someone as you would use Mr. or Ms.
-kun About the same as -san, except that it is normally only used for young men.
-sensei A form of address usually used for teachers, doctors, and such
kunai ninja throwing knife
senbon throwing needles
This is where we start. Some of this does not match with the anime, and less of it will as the story goes on. I will probably be using approximately modern technologies from here on out, and that will surely mean things like cars, planes, and guns when needed. That will not be the focus of the story, but it will make it easier for my small brain to deal with. Don't worry, Kakashi won't need any of them for the next chapter, anyway.